Out with the Old . . .

From this*:


To this:


We've been making some major changes in the Johnson household. Not long after our Easter vacation, Adam and I decided it was high time we broke Elizabeth of her swaddle habit. Okay, okay, it was my habit. I was scared to death to try to get her to sleep without swaddling her and putting a blanket over her face. But she had gotten too strong and would wake up mid-nap b/c she'd break out of what we affectionately called "the straight jacket." It was even disturbing her sleep at night, too, so I finally made the switch.

We started with just nighttime. We put her in a sleeper sack, did our normal good-night routine, laid her down and walked away. With her arms free, I couldn't put a blanket on her face because she'd just pull it off. (I also put mittens on her hands because she still scratches her face when she's overtired.) After just a little bit of crying, she got quiet. I tiptoed up to the crib to find her lying on her side, holding her bunny, fast asleep. Miracle of miracles, it worked!

Abandoning the swaddle for the nap was a little harder, but it got a lot better when we . . .


. . . switched rooms with Elizabeth.

For weeks I had been contemplating moving her to the room and us out to the front room. It had it's pluses and minuses. On the plus side, we'd be able to open our windows at night worry free, have a quiet, dark place for naps during the day, and also be able to watch the t.v., have lights on, and otherwise go about our normal business after her bedtime. On the minus side, the front room would be lighter, noisier, and, Adam pointed out, we'd look like we lived in a studio apt. In the end, the pluses (ie. the wife) won and Adam moved all the furniture in one Saturday morning. What a man!

The first few nights did not go well. We were in the middle of a heat wave and everyone was outside, late into the night. One night, Adam and I both awoke at 12 to the grating accents of a Brooklyn teenager talking on her cell phone on the steps next door. "Oh no, he di'nt! I know, right?" The conversation lasted an hour at least. By the end of the heat wave, I was a walking zombie. But Elizabeth was sleeping great! We finally solved the problem by moving the bed against the wall, away from the windows and the light. Then, Adam rearranged more furniture to make it look a little more like two separate rooms.

Now everyone is sleeping great. I put Elizabeth down for her naps and every time I'm amazed that she just falls asleep on her own. Why hadn't I tried this before!?!?! And it's also really great to sit on the couch and watch American Idol (Go Kris!) at full volume or talk to our family on the phone without having to hide out in our bedroom.

Here's our new "bedroom."


The view (clutter and all) from the front entryway.


To top it all off, Elizabeth has cut her first two teeth and has started eating solids. The first time I tried, I couldn't seem to shovel it in fast enough. Now she's slowed down (maybe since she realized rice cereal is as bland as breast milk) but she still enjoys it. We've given her green beans, carrots, applesauce, and banana. It's so fun and Adam, especially, loves feeding her. Here's a video of her first green beans feeding.



So all in all, the changes have been good ones. To end, here's one last picture, just for the grandparents.


*For the record, I didn't really swaddle her that way . . . I tried but she got out of it. That was a swaddle with the pink swaddle blanket (with arm flaps to tuck over her arm and under her back), topped with the stretchy Ikea blanket wrapped and tied over the shoulders, her favorite escape route.