Amish Country

On the first day of Mike's break, we decided to go to Amish country. We left the house, fully prepared, or so we thought. After following the directions I got off of Google maps, we were no closer to the Amish than when we left. Instead of being in Amish Berlin, we were in Berlin Township. (I might add that this is the second time this month Google maps has done this to me. When looking for a Native American burial mound, we never made it. When we got home we looked it up- we had bad directions. Mike says I'm not allowed to get the directions any more.) It was a one street area with no buggies.

We drove back to the main road and bought a map of Ohio. Two hours later we finally made it. We visited Yoder's Amish Home. There we saw a modern Amish house, barn, and went on a buggy ride. Bailey had been so excited about the buggy ride all day, but when it came down to it, she was terrified of the horse! Luckily, we conviced her to ride, and she loved it. She told Mike, "The horse was running fast. It was fun." She was not a big fan of the animal barn, but she enjoyed seeing the baby chickens, cows, horses and bunnies, as long as I was holding her.

It was interesting to learn about how the Amish live, although I think it is kind of weird to be visiting the Amish for vacation. I'm not quite sure how I would feel if my life was a vacation display. I can just see it:

Tour guide: "Here is where they cook dinner. They do use electricity. However, notice the absence of a coffee pot. They do not drink coffee or tea."

Tourist: "I hear they don't drink pop. Is that true?"

Tour guide: "And here is a modern Mormon bedroom. Contrary to popular belief, they do not have horns."

Tourist: "Do they use birth control?"

Yes, someone did ask this on the tour.

I am actually glad the Amish have opened up their community so that we can learn about their beliefs. Like us, they believe in modesty, keeping the Sabbath holy, and in protecting the family. We definitely need more people who are willing to stand up for their beliefs in the world.

Sleep Woes

I am having a serious dilema with Avery right now. I do not believe in letting babies cry it out. I want Avery to know that when she cries, I will be there for her. I don't want her to think that I am ignoring her, or that there are things more important than her. I worry that letting babies cry teaches them the wrong message- I will only come to you if it is convenient for me. We did however, let Bailey cry it out when she was old enough to talk and understand what we were doing. She didn't cry for very long, luckily.

Here comes the problem.

Up until recently, we didn't have any problems getting Avery to go to sleep. I usually nursed her on my bed until she was asleep and the left her there. Then for some reason, that stopped working. So, I nursed her swaddled (or even double swaddled because she really is too big for that) and put her in her bed. Things went downhill from there. My nights were turning into holding Avery festivals until she was in deep deep sleep. I was holding her for hours! Literally. I simply couldn't do that any more.

So. I've read lots and lots of books about sleep. One recommended picking her up when she cries, comforting her, and then laying her back down. You do this every time she cries. I tried it. The problem is, she starts crying just as soon as she starts moving towards the bed. Another suggested comforting her as she cries in her bed by patting her, singing etc. I did that, and it seemed to be working well until a few nights ago. Then I was up with her for three hours in the middle of the night. She was not crying, just playing. But as soon as I left, she would wail.

It was not an isolated incident. She took no naps the next day. At bedtime she refused to sleep. If I was in there, she was playing. If I left, she would cry, but would resume playing as soon as I returned.

I was desperate. She was a zombie. We let her cry it out. It only took thirty agonizing minutes.

And then 2:15 am happended. I was up with her for an hour, feeding her, trying to get to sleep. Once again, she just wanted to play. At 3:15, I let her cry again. This time she screamed for an hour. I went in there every 15 min. to give her a kiss and her pacifier. It was horrible. She felt awful, I felt awful, Mike was awake and feeling awful too.

I still don't know if I did the right thing. I didn't know what else to do. Tell me your sleeping stories! Did you let your kids cry it out? How old were they? Did you feel okay doing it? How did you get your kids to sleep if they didn't cry it out? If you don't have kids, how do you feel about it?

I really thought that by now, at seven and a half months, we would all be sleeping better. Here's hoping for a better night tonight!

So you think you can dance

Bailey has always loved to dance, but I have no idea where she learned this. It is her favorite, well, only move right now. Any time she hears a song, the hips start moving.

Tonight, we went and had dinner with Mike at the hospital (he is on call). We were walking through the halls when a couple of ladies glanced and her and said something like, "She's cute." What does she do? Does she say "Thank you" and keep walking? No, out come her dance moves. They started laughing so hard! So did I. It was hilarious.

This is one of those things that is funny now, but won't be so funny when she is a teenager...

Easter Egg Hunt

This year was Bailey's first Easter Egg hunt. Even though she was looking for candy, she had a pretty short attention span. It's a good think I didn't hide more than five eggs!

Avery did not get any chocolate in her basket, although I'm sure that's what she wanted!

Easter Eggs

Our friend Fran had us over to decorate Easter eggs. I was a little worried about the potential mess, but Bailey was actually pretty good. Here are some cute pictures:

Chocolate Pretzels

Despite all my attempts, Avery still does not want solids. She won't eat oatmeal, rice cereal, pears sweet potatoes, bananas, squash, or peaches. She won't eat it from a spoon from me, or in a mesh spoon thing she which can feed herself. Instead, she eats the plastic end.

Well, a few days ago, we found something she will eat. She was playing on the floor and was pulling bags out of her Aunt Shelli's luggage. I looked over, and she was chewing on a bag of chocolate pretzels. A few minutes later, I notice that she had actually opened the zipped bag, and had a chocolate pretzel in her mouth. She was clearly enjoying herself. I felt bad taking it away from her, and she was pretty sad about it. Maybe if I add chocolate syrup to everything she'll eat it!

Avery is six months old!

My baby is already six months old! Where has the time gone? With Bailey, I felt like time was passing so slowly. She was a baby forever. Now I look at Avery and wonder when she got so big (well, maybe not big, but so grown up).

Here she is hanging out with her baby friends.

She looks so little in the high chair!

She really started solids in the last few weeks. I was really excited to do it, hoping I would get a little more freedom. (She still won't take a bottle.) But, she does not like them. When I finally got her eating a little cereal, I introduced pears. After that, she would not open up her mouth for a week. Feeding her twice a day seems pointless right now, she just spits out the few bites she takes. I'm sure she will get the hang of it soon.

Avery has turned into our little roly-poly. She rolls all over the house and pushes herself around on the tummy using her feet. We are already having problems with Avery getting things that Bailey does not want her to have.

She is in love with her big sister. Anything and everything Bailey does makes Avery laugh. This last week, Bailey sneezed, and Avery thought it was hilarious. Bailey will run laps around Avery, making her giggle. It is cute to see the two of them together.

Unfortunately, Avery has a serious case of separation anxiety. She hates being left in the nursery at the YMCA, or in a room by herself. It is only recently that we have been able to get her to sleep by herself for longer than a half an hour. She is our little snuggly baby who does not like strangers, or being anywhere without her mom or dad. I guess it's nice to be so loved. Before I know it, she'll be Bailey, running off to baby sitting club without a kiss good-bye.

We love having Avery in our family. I already feel like she's been a part of us forever.