10-Weeks ... Wow!

Riley is 10 weeks old today. Weeks have never passed by so quickly in life - I assume this will hold true for years as well ... and for the rest of my life.

She continues to amaze Kevin and I. This week she has really started to 'play' more in the mornings and at night when we have her on her blanket or activity mat on the floor. She loves to look at herself in the mirror still, but now seems to enjoy interacting with us just as much if not more. She really gets those little legs kicking and those big eyes get even bigger and she just works herself up so much ... it's adorable. I've finally started capturing those times on video camera, although I can only tape her if Kevin is present as well. If it's just her, the video camera and me she freezes and focuses only on the camera. She still needs distraction and Daddy is that perfect distraction for her.

We've really been working on separating eating from sleeping with Riley. This came at the suggestion of Dr. K, as well as from some books I've read on getting your baby to be a good sleeper. The school of thought is that you want to keep your baby from associating eating with sleeping so that if they awake in the night, they are able to go back to sleep without thinking they need to eat first even if they aren't hungry. So our routine throughout the day is Eat, Play, Sleep, repeat. Along with this routine, we're trying to put her down to sleep at the point that she is drowsy, but not quite asleep. Again, this will help teach her how to put herself back to sleep without needing us should she wake up in the night. I don't know how well it is all working, but I think the reward will come with time. I have heard her wake up in the past few nights, suck on her little fist (it's her way of self-soothing now) and then she is back to sleep within minutes.

So tonight I fed Riley, had some playtime with her, and saw she was tuckering out fast. I wanted to get her down before she fell completely asleep, so we had story time, said her prayers, and then as I walked her to her crib, those little eyes that were drowsy popped open wide. I thought I'd take a chance, though, and put her in her crib. I laid her in there, rubbed her back, and put her fist near her mouth. As I was leaving her room I heard her begin to suck on her fist. By the time I turned the monitor on in the living room, not a sound could be heard. She had done it!! She put herself to sleep without a single cry. Here we are, over an hour later, and still no sounds from her room. I'm awful proud of my little miss tonight.