What works for us

Now that we know the gender of the baby, I can finally shop for him. Not that I need to do a lot, but we will have to get new furniture for Baby Carty. I have spent most of my evening looking at baby bedding and I think I have found something that I like. Well, I love it, to be honest. So, hopefully this weekend, we can get it ordered.

Jack started talking about his baby brother in a positive light today. Mike and I have pretty much decided that Little Carty will be called Owen, but we don't have anything to go with it. Jack says it should be Owen "Thomas". Can you guess why?

Today, we also paid Jack's tuition for K-3. He will start right after fall break and he can hardly wait. I am so nervous that he is going to "real" school. I know that he will fit right in because there are mostly boys in his class, which is good because he doesn't really care to play with little girls very much. He is growing up so quickly, I just can't seem to imagine him going to "big boy" school.

Jack starting school has made me think about the things that I have learned in these short 3 years. Some of the lessons that I have learned were learned the hard way and some were just common sense to me.

1. Not all kids require a strict schedule! I always put Jack to bed at the same time at night,

but I usually didn't make him take a nap. I didn't feel like I should waste both our time and

energy on something like that. Maybe I have an abnormal child, but he has never really

fought sleep that much. I just never made him feel like he absolutely had to take a nap.

2. If you wake a baby up every few hours to eat, how will they learn to sleep through the night? I know that babies need so many calories per day, but Jack always ate just as much

in his 12-14 hour day as some babies do in a 24 hour period. He also slept through the

night at 2 months and I firmly believe that the reason was because I didn't wake him up to

feed him.

3. Our doctor would not allow us to change Jack's formula, even with severe colic, I now

disagree! Jack's pediatrician in Montgomery was a very old school doctor. Apparently, he

never had a baby with colic! He always told me that changing formula was a last resort.

Stupid me, I never did the research to see that there is formula specially formulated for

babies with colic.

4. When you choose your baby bedding, don't forget that your baby will very soon be a

toddler and your toddler will probably outgrow that "babyish" bedding. When I bought

Jack's furniture and bedding, I made sure that the crib converted and the bedding would

also suite a toddler. When we converted Jack's bed to a toddler bed, I was soooo glad that

the bedding was just a tad bit "older" than the baby look.

5. I don't believe in making a baby sleep on his/her back. Yes, I know, research this,

research that! When we brought Jack home from the hospital, he would sleep for a short

time on his back, but when we put him on his stomach, he slept much better and longer.

When we were babies, the research said that stomach sleeping was better and we all

survived!

6. Allowing your child to make their own decisions teaches them to think on their own.

Whether it be a meal or what to do during the day, I always give Jack a choice, or at least

make him feel like he made the decision.

7. Most importantly, I have learned to do what is best for Jack, not what a book tells me

or a doctor tells me. Every child is different and not all methods and research are right for

all children!

Jack teaches me something new everyday! I have so much more to go!