Why don't these things come with instructions?

Another Sunday morning! Daylight savings today, which I completely forgot about. I think the computer sets it forward automatically, but for some reason it's still on BC time, so it says 4:37am and since we're four hours ahead, that would make it 8:37am. But I'm not sure if the clocks were set forward, so it could be 7:37am or even 9:37am for all I know. On my old laptop, I don't even think I ever changed it from Australia time.

I figured out a brilliant way to entertain Angus; put all his toys on the bookshelf and park him in front of it so he can pull them down. At first I would park him in front of the bookshelf and just let him destroy all my magazines but I started to get concerned about the amount of paper products he was consuming. This works much better. I can't believe I used to think a bookshelf was for BOOKS.
This is what he's doing right now, squealing with delight as he discovers yet another prize on the shelf. Little does he know these are the same old, boring toys he's shunned in the past!

So last night was night three of sleep training. This is a new technique by a lady known as "The Baby Whisperer." Her approach is much gentler than the cry-it-out (or "Ferberizing") approach, yet more firm than the "attachment" approach (Dr. Sears' approach -- co-sleeping.) I figure it's a happy medium. I've tried everything else already.
I've always nursed him on demand because at the beginning I subscribed to the whole attachment theory, but it's now come back to bite me. He's STILL nursing in the night every hour to two hours. I have not had a night of restorative sleep in over ten months! I miss out on that REM sleep that everybody raves about, because I don't ever get the chance to sleep for long enough. It's amazing that I'm even able to tie my own shoes. The other day, I apparently forgot to rinse the shampoo out of my hair, because I got out of the shower and there were suds behind my ear. I couldn't even remember if I put conditioner in. So yeah, the sleep deprivation is starting to get to me. At ten months, he's old enough to not need to eat in the night! I'm thinking it could be contributing to his obesity.


So, I've half-heartedly tried the cry-it-out approach, but I've always felt that it's not for me. It hurts my heart to hear him cry like that. I just can't do it. A few times I've just not gone to him, simply out of pure exhaustion, and he's fallen asleep pretty quickly, but it doesn't always go like that. Most times he gets himself so worked up he chokes. And now he gets himself up on all fours and rocks back and forth while he cries, which I think interferes with that whole getting comfy and falling asleep thing. It's heartbreaking, so I'm trying an approach that lets him know I'm there for him, but teaching him that at night, it's sleep time, it's time to SLEEP not time to EAT!!! I learned that he cries in the night, not out of hunger, but out of frustration at not knowing how to get himself back to sleep. So now it's all about teaching him the skillz.

So, this approach is called P.U./P.D. which means "pick up, put down." Sounds tedious and exhausting, doesn't it? Well, it is. Basically, when the baby cries, you pick him up, but you put him back down AS SOON as he stops crying. You do this as many times as it takes for him to fall asleep. Eventually he runs out of steam. This can take around a 100 each time he wakes up. Can you imagine how infuriating that is to a baby? It did work, the few times I did it. But by the fifth time of doing this in the middle of the night, of hauling my almost-30-pound kid out of his crib and putting him back down, again and again like a jack-in-the-box, I WAS EXAUSTED. I couldn't do it anymore. Tracy Hogg (R.I.P.), your theory, is great if your kid is small to averaged size, and if he wakes up less than 20 times a night.
So my problem now is inconsistency, which is probably confusing the hell out of Angus. By the midnight wake-up (usually the fifth one) I simply can't pick him up anymore, so I try and ignore him for a bit, which enrages him and eventually he just comes into the bed and gets what he wants. It's just so much easier.

We must be making some progress though, because I've been walking around with a Pamela Anderson chest the last few days as my milk supply adjusts  to fewer feedings.

I think my approach from now on will be to NOT pick him up. His crib is right next to our bed, so I can just reassure him with my voice.

I thought books would be helpful, because I'm the kind of person who likes to follow EXACT instructions to get an EXACT result. But it seems that babies aren't like that. Apparently they have personalities? It's a learning curve for me as I try to tune in to HIS little personality and find what works for him, rather than trying to find the answer in a book.

Mummy needs some good sleep soon, though. I just watched Angus pick up a potato chip off the floor and eat it and I was too unmotivated to go and stop him. At least it's food.