Wonder where he got that temper..... ;)

When we were in the hospital, I remember very clearly that one of the lactation consultants who came to help me learn to breastfeed noticed that Jamey certainly did have a temper.  This was evidenced by his refusal to breastfeed, although we were doing absolutely everything that we should be doing, meaning that the consultant had no advice for us.  Five minutes after she left, he ate.  Basically, even then, he did what he wanted when he wanted and showed his temper and stubborn streak.  

I saw that nurse the day we were leaving the hospital and she said, "He certainly does have a temper.  You are going to have a lot of fun with that one as he grows up."  I laughed with her and said, "Well, his dad and I both have bad tempers, so I'm not surprised."  Indeed, both Glenn and I are absolutely jolly the majority of the time, but when you make either of us mad, WATCH OUT!  And so it is, naturally, with Jamey.

If you meet him he is a happy, smiley, and definitely flirty baby about 95% of the time.  That last 5% is when he is mad because he wants to be doing something else, because he is beyond hungry, or if he is beyond tired.  That is when you hear "the angry cry."  The cry where the baby gapes his mouth open for a few minutes before letting out a loud yell.  When we drove down to my parents in August, we got to listen to it for an hour, because Jamey simply didn't want to sit in his seat anymore!

As we begin sleep training, we have been hearing a LOT of the "Angry Cry" lately.  The time is coming closer that I have to go back to work, and I don't want Monica to have to be the one to get Jamey used to napping in a crib.  In the past, he has napped in his swing or simply on me, which was of course my favorite time.  And, as hard as it was to give up, I recognized that I didn't want him to get to be able to walk and not sleep in his crib.  Better that he learn to soothe himself before he can get up and follow me out of the room.

So we have been using the Ferber method, in which you wait til the baby is tired, and then lay him down to soothe himself to sleep.  If he doesn't immediately fall asleep, you simply let him cry.  And then, in ever larger increments you check on him, soothe him, and hope he falls asleep.   When it comes to nighttime, the technique is working well.  He eats and goes to bed pretty easily.  On the rare occasions that I have to get him in the middle of the night, I am able to feed him and get him back down in as little as 20 minutes.  And the other morning, Glenn and I caught him simply hanging out in his bed, laying on his side, sucking on his hand quietly.  We went in and played with him, and he didn't seem to mind being in his crib.

Naps are another story....  Jamey is used to napping either on me or in a swing, or simply somewhere where there is motion.  Now suddenly, we are putting him down in a crib and he is a little shocked.  One day, he actually cried for about 2 hours before finally falling asleep for his one hour nap.  In the last two days, he hasn't needed hardly any time to calm himself to sleep.  However, once he is out, he will only sleep for 30 minutes.  I am trying to figure out if this is all he needs or if this is just another case of his temper striking again.  The coming days will tell.