Embracing the crib - for real!

We've had a momentous development here in the Rough household -- one I didn't think I'd EVER see.

Scott has learned to sleep in his crib. 

Now... I should clarify. Scott learned months ago that bedtime = cribtime. He's been very good about putting himself to sleep each evening and staying there until the wee hours of the morning.

But for some reason, he's been a bit learning impaired when translating that lesson over to his two or three daily napping sessions.

It usually goes something like this. Mommy or Daddy puts Scott in his crib. Scott screams. Then Scott rolls around and talks to himself. Then Scott cries. Then Scott slams both of his legs repeatedly against the crib mattress. Then Scott cries again. Then, finally, after about 30 minutes of us ignoring him, Scott finally sleeps.

All is blissfully quiet. For about 25 minutes. Then, Scott awakes. And refuses to go back to sleep.

As an adult, I don't really understand this. I would PAY for someone to force me to go to sleep two or three times a day. But I just can't seem to reason with him and make him understand how lucky he is.

Stubborn child. I think he takes after his father.

Since Scott was about two months old, the only way we could get him to take a decent nap (that's code for anything lasting an hour or longer) was to put him in his Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Swing. Dear readers of this blog might remember that this is our Holy Grail of baby items.

Put the Tank in the swing and he is guaranteed to sleep for at least an hour, and sometimes as long as three.

I wish they had one in my size.

But as much as I enjoy having a happy, well-rested baby, I've been actively trying to break him of the swing/sleep habit. This is primarily because my cherubic munchkin is now tipping the scales at 21 pounds and 6 oz. The swing has a maximum capacity of 25 pounds.

The swing says its good for babies and toddlers "up to two years." Yeah right. Somehow, I don't see us making that. I am not sure we'll make it to July 4.

So clearly, we had to make adjustments.

I'd love to take credit for it. But I don't think I did anything. For some reason, Scott simply decided that he could -- and would -- nap in his crib.

He first did it last week in the morning. I put him back to bed after an early wake-up call (on a Saturday  no less) at 6:45. He slept until 8:30. Unheard of!

I see the sleeping baby on the monitor, but I don't believe it!

It's true! Incidentally, I woke him up by taking this picture, but he'd already been sleeping for two hours, so I didn't feel too bad. Okay, I felt kinda bad.

The next day, he slept for an hour and fifteen minutes in his crib. Later that week, he took a three-hour marathon snooze at the crib in my mom's house.

Mid-way through the 3-hour marathon. Grandma is a stealth photographer. She didn't wake him up.

It's not foolproof yet - he still prefers to take his late afternoon, 30 to 45 minute power naps in the swing.

But it foolishly has given me hope that someday - hopefully SOON - he'll sleep through the night.

Silly mommy.