Battle of the Wills, Final Chapter (hopefully)

So, erev Shabbos, Ron, Michaela and Talya were playing a game of Battleship and Ayelet and I settled down to read On Becoming Babywise together. I used that book very successfully with Talya - she was sleeping for 7-8 hours through the night by the time she was 9 weeks old. Well, Ayelet completely bought in to the Babywise method and has been sleeping well at night (3 hour stretches, whoo hoo!) IN HER BASSINETT since then. What a difference! She has also been more and more alert during the day which has been really fun for all of us!

Thank you Nona, we will miss you!

Battle of The Wills Part II

So, last night, determined to reclaim my status as The Boss, the battle began again... to be honest, I am not sure who won in the end. Here is the blow by blow:

9:00 pm - Ayelet went down (in her bassinet!!)
10:00 pm - I was asleep in my bed.
11:00 pm - Ayelet woke up to nurse.
11:30 pm - She finished nursing, I put her down in her bassinett.
11:35 pm - Ayelet fussed and fussed, I picked her up, calmed her down, nursed her again.
12:00 midnight - I put her down again in her bassinett.
12:05 am - She fussed and fussed, I picked her up, calmed her down, nursed her again.
12:30 am - I put her down in her bassinett.
3:30 am - Ayelet woke up to nurse - WOW, 3 hours of sleep felt really good.
4:00 am - She finished nursing, I put her down in her bassinett.
4:00-5:30 am - She fussed, nursed, lay down, cried, then finally went to sleep in her bassinett.
7:00 am - Ron woke us both up to go to our doctor's appointment.

So, who won? I will let you be the judge and let's see what happens tonight. ; )

Family Dinner Out!

Battle of the Wills

It is official, I have met my match in Ayelet! I didn't know that anyone could possibly be more stubborn than me, but alas, Ayelet is proving herself to be just as set in her ways as I am...

It is my opinion that co-sleeping is for the birds. As much as I have always loved to snuggle my girls, I have not wanted to sleep with them. I know that some would argue that co-sleeping allows mothers to bond with their newborns, but I insist that it is far more important that mother and baby be rested in order to maximize the bonding during the day time.

As such, I have made it my mission to transfer Ayelet to her bassinet for sleeping, just as I did with her sisters when they were about a week old. Unfortunately, Ayelet has other ideas.

Last night, determined to have her spend the entire night in the bassinet, I began to put Ayelet through baby boot camp. At first, she did fine. After her 10:30 pm feeding, I put her down in the bassinet and she went right to sleep. (Yeah, success right?) At about 1:30 am she woke up and I nursed her and put her back down in the bassinet. That lasted about 5-10 minutes, then we were up again. She fussed and fussed, and nursed and fussed for the next 3 hours. Finally, exhausted, I took her in my arms and the two of us fell asleep and stayed asleep until 9:30 am.

She did it - well, last night she did, just wait until tonight...

Ayelet's First Bath

This evening, Ayelet had her first bath. Of course, we all had to be involved, so Ron, Michaela, Talya, Nona and I piled into the bathroom to witness this exciting milestone. At first, Ayelet seemed to like the warm water, but the bath got old really fast. Once it was all over, she smelled so good, she nursed and went right to sleep.

Sisters!

Michaela and Talya have already discovered the joy of having sisters, soon enough Ayelet will be part of the club.

A Big Day In The Life of Ayelet

This was a big day for Ayelet! This morning, she had her first well-baby visit (she passed with flying colors btw)! She weighed in at 8 lbs 6 oz - almost back to her birth weight, clearly she is eating well! The doctor was pleased with her progress, everything is going well, she is the picture of health!

Tonight, Nona arrived from Boston. It was fun to watch Nona and Ayelet get to know each other. We are so lucky to have Nona with us for an entire week! Stay tuned for more highlights of our visit.

Life as a Family of Five!

So, we are adjusting well to life as a family of five and we are really enjoying getting to know Ayelet! Ayelet and I are staying close to home as we are getting into the groove of nursing and resting (both as much as possible). As for the rest of the family, life continues with its usual busyness of school, after-school activities and the routine at home. As you can see from the picture, Talya has added a piece to her bedtime routine, she sings lullabies to Ayelet.

By popular demand...

Welcome to the Seattle Yancey Blog

It has been a long time since we had our website up and running, and I suspect that until I learn some web design skills, it will continue to be down - as such, we decided to start this blog with the hope of being able to continue to share our latest and greatest with all of you, our family and friends! These are busy and exciting times for us! In the last two weeks, the following has happened:

Ron received news that he will be starting a new job, within A T & T on March 31!

Talya was accepted into the kindergarten class at SJCS (BTW she has also learned to read)!

Michaela has been officially assigned her Bat Mitzvah date, June 19, 2010 (yes, book your flights now!) AND she got braces!

And, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Ayelet Meira Yancey, at 12:30 am on Friday, March 14, 2008. She was 8 lbs, 9 oz and 20 inches long.

So, check back frequently for updates and photos and we will keep you up to speed on the latest and the greatest.