AWESOME Photo Opportunity...

If you live in the Northern Virginia area, heads up! My friend Katie is offering a fantastic deal on professional photography through the end of the year. Check it out:

http://photobykatiehart.blogspot.com/2010/09/welcome-to-hart-photography_25.html

I don't think there's a better deal around!

Sleep "Solutions"

Most parents will vouch for the fact that when there's a baby in the house, a disproportionate amount of time is spent trying to figure out how to get the little bundle of joy to sleep. We've been experimenting with different options for Julia and thought we'd share:

Clever, but not effective:



Effective:


Okay, so the first picture actually wasn't one of our attempts to get her to sleep. That is what happens when you buy head squishers on clearance at Babies R Us, wondering why they're being cleared out. Now we know. They just don't stay put!!

Regarding the second picture, well, I've just gotta say that aside from the obvious difference of gender, Julia is a very different baby than the boys were. Both of the boys loved to be swaddled and we had to wean them from swaddling when they were 6 or 8 months old. I thought Julia loved to be swaddled too...in fact, I'd say she did until a few weeks ago. But recently we've discovered that if we swaddle her really loosely, so she can get her fingers to her mouth, VOILA! She will suck on those fingers and we don't have to go stick her binky back in her mouth a hundred times. Ah, beautiful day! I know that someday down the road I may wish she didn't suck her fingers, but after all we've been through with her, I am thrilled. She has been sleeping so much better since we made this discovery. And now I'm feeling just a little bad about swaddling her the last while, effectively barring her from using this self-soothing technique. Oh, well. Here's hoping we're all going to start getting more sleep around here!