Thursday, August 7, 2008

The Power of the Moose


OK...this is going to be a little lengthy, but bear with me...there are several aspects to the story and I have to include them all for the story to make sense...SO, here I go... First aspect of the story...A while back, we started putting the girls down with little silky animal blanket thingys that Merrill got the girls before they were born ( thanks Merrill!). Now, when we first got them out, we didn't really pay much attention to what kind of animal head was on the top of the little blanket. We would just lay the girls down and put it beside them so they could have something to snuggle with. One day Shane looked at the monitor and said .. "Great... Gabby has that Moose under her neck..I guess I'll have to go move it and wake her up". I was like.."what did you just say? what moose?". "That blanket moose thing". I said, "It's not a moose, it's a bear". Well, actually as we later examined it, we found out it wasn't a bear or a moose, it was a rabbit's head...BUT, because it was SO random that Shane called it a moose...that is what we decided to name it..."THE MOOSE" . Second aspect of the story....We have had a really hard time getting Gabby to sleep lately. For the past few months, the girls have slept on their stomachs and would sleep pretty decently. Well, about a month ago, Gabby decided she wanted to start rolling over to her back and then scream bloody murder! She COULD NOT fall asleep on her back. For weeks we would go in and roll her back to her stomach over and over again during her naps and at night (sometimes 7 or 8 times a night....maybe that contributed to my insomnia?!??). Third aspect of the story....Amy, my wonderful and wise friend/roomate, suggested we just start laying her down in her crib on her back from the beginning and letting her learn to fall asleep on her back. We knew this would be extremely challenging because she just screams and screams when she is on her back....but we had tried everything and I was really getting exhausted with the whole thing....so, we decided to give it a shot. Amy said that Jayden, her son, went through the same thing and would cry and cry until one day...she walked in to his room and he was asleep (on his back) with his silky little blanket pulled over his head. From then on, he would always go to sleep with his blanket over his head. I thought she was NUTS! I mean, I could NEVER let my baby lay there with a blanket or anything over her head....no way! Well, we started putting her on her back a few days ago. I was so nervous about it because I knew she was just going to fight and fight. When I first layed her down....she freaked out for sure...crying, kicking, etc etc. So, I went into the living room and sat down with Amy to try to distract myself for a few minutes. I had the monitor on the table, but there was really no need for it because I could hear her loud and clear. After a good while, Amy noticed the crying had stopped...I went a got the monitor and there before my eyes was Gabby ASLEEP ON HER BACK with the polka dotted MOOSE on her face. OK, so I know I said I thought Amy was nuts....I guess I am nuts too because she now can sleep on her back and LOVES the moose to be on her face and that is fine with me :). (now, i did go in and make sure she was breathing for all of you who think I am crazy...:). SOOOO, that is a really LONG story but if you knew how hard it has been the past month trying to get her to sleep...you would definitely understand how HUGE this is....OH, THE POWER OF THE MOOSE....

4 comments:

Amy said...

Hats off to you for giving it a shot. Now mom and baby can both sleep sweetly each with your very own moose to snuggle - just kidding shane :)
Those times are so hard when you know the very best thing is for them to sleep and you just have to let them learn. Remember this when and if they learn to stand up in their bed but won't let go and sit back down. Same thing all over again.

Bragans said...

Great job! Love the story!

danielle said...

That is great LaJuan. That is so exciting. I will definitely keep that in mind if Jeremiah starts doing that.

Jill Williamson said...

whatever it takes! funny story!Glad your back working...is it different there? Was it good to get away?