2 is enough!!

Things have become a little more hectic around here lately. For the first month or so, Ben was a great sleeper. He took long naps, and never had a hard time going to sleep on his own. Then things changed! He is definitely a snuggler, and pretty much wants to be held all the time. I am lucky if he takes one good nap all day.

He usually cries for 10ish minutes when I put him down, and then falls asleep, only to wake up a half hour later screaming. And he doesn't cry himself back to sleep. He'll cry like mad for a while, and eventually gets himself unswaddled. He tolerates the swing or bouncy seat for a few minutes, but always cries to be held. I love to hold him, and would sit on the couch all day holding him if I could. But he has a 2 1/2 year old sister that needs attention, and I just can't hold him all day long. That leads us to long bouts of crying in the swing or his crib, when I just can't get to him and hold him. My stress level skyrockets when he's crying.

When Madi was a baby, she would be content to be in the swing or bouncy seat for even an hour. And she didn't cry much compared to him. She was sleeping through the night at 12 weeks, for 8-9 hours. Ben's 10 weeks now, so he better hurry up and learn how to go longer at night. Last week he had a couple 7 hour stretches of sleep. But last night he woke up every 4 hours and wasn't settled in between either. I was constantly reswaddling him, and putting the Nuk back in his mouth.

I am trying to go by the Babywise parent-directed feeding method, but it's very difficult because he is not sleeping well throughout the day. I tried putting him on his belly a couple times for naps last week, but it didn't make a difference. Any advise would be greatly appreciated!!

Aside from all that, we are doing well. On Saturday, Me, Gregg, and Ben went to Hershey for my cousin's wedding. Then on Monday, I went with my parents and the kids to my sister's house in Baltimore. The girls had so much fun together, and I am glad they got a chance to be together again. Wednesday (my birthday) was pretty crazy. Darryl was home and watched their friend's little boy, Owen. So we had 4 kids to watch. :) I don't think I want 4 kids. 2 is more than enough for me!

Here are some pictures from the last couple days.