Day One of Nap Training!!

Wow....today was tough!  I am proud of myself for staying strong though Costner's cry is still echoing in my ears.  The day did not start off well, that should have been my first indication on how the rest of day was going to pan out.  At six this morning I was awakened by Costner's cry but for the next hour he teetered back and forth from sleep to crying but by 7am he was full blown screaming and awake.  I went into his room to calm him down, give him a little Baby Orajel and lay him back down for some more sleep.  My plan, while being well intended, did not go over well with Costner.  He screamed for 30 minutes and finally went back to sleep.  I woke him a little while later for some breakfast and play time before we set out for our first nap.  I followed the "I'm tired" cues from my little man and put him down in his crib for what I hoped would be a successful hour morning nap.  Costner crawled around in his crib for 20 minutes before finally falling asleep.  Success!!  Or so I thought, he was back up 30 minutes later.  So again I let him cry it out in his crib in hopes that he would fall back asleep.  No such luck!  After what would have been his allotted hour long nap I went in to retrieve my problematic napper.

From the moment I went in to get Costner Operation Wear This Child Out commenced.  We played, we went to the Post Office, grocery store, dry cleaners, the local holiday bazaar with Aunt Jill, ate some lunch and finally played some more.  I put the adorable little stinker down for his second nap and what did I hear as I left his room.....nothing!!  No tears!  Could this be success?  Well, kind of.  Costner slept for an hour which was great but Dr. Engle said he should be sleeping for at least two hours in the afternoon.  So...again I let him wail.  A terrible wail!!  I started to organize my kitchen cabinets because I could not bear to sit there and listen to him cry.  I had to keep busy otherwise I would cave and go grab him.  In the middle of Costner's cryfest Ducati was nowhere to be found.  I went looking for him and I found him sitting outside of Costner's door.  The scene in front of me melted my heart, here was my dog who normally paid no attention to Costner sitting in front of his door listening to him cry.  This was Duke's way of showing his love for Costner.  After an hour of crying...that's right I said an hour...Costner finally fell back to sleep.  When he woke I gave him a big bear hug, my way of apologizing for not coming to him when he needed me.  He looked at me, smiled and pulled on my hair as to say "Mom, why are you so upset?"  We spent the rest of afternoon watching the snowstorm roll in, watching some football and snuggling of course!

I am hoping tomorrow and the coming days will be easier than what I had to go thru today but if not at least my house will be spotless clean from all my busy work.  Here are a few pictures from today!

"Mom, why do you let me cry?"

"Duke, why can't I get to you?"

Mom's attempt to wear me out!!

My organizing!!