An unfortunate development, a victorious day

Matthew STILL does not sleep through the night. Unfortunately, he learned to roll over (while we were in our NY hotel, all four of us sleeping in one king size bed). So now when he wakes up at night, he rolls over and flails like a cockroach and cries until consoled. Unfortunate. I'm trying to give him a binky instead of feeding him with the hopes that that'll make him eventually sleep through the night. What happened when I did that last night, however, was that he peed so much he leaked through his diaper. (I usually change him after I feed him, and I didn't want to change him and wake him up.) I got a good ripping-on from Peter's partner the other week for still feeding him at night. Apparently he's a big fan of the "cry your brains out until you learn" method.

One really cute thing about the rolling over is that when he's ready to wake up in the morning, he'll roll over and just start smiling like crazy. He doesn't even smile AT people. He just grins like a madman. So happy to not have his face mushed into the bed. Then when you DO look at him, he smiles even more. I almost don't mind the waking up at night when he smiles like that.

Ellie slept through the night when she was 7 weeks old, but putting her to sleep was always an issue (still is, really). She had to be fed, rocked, sung to, read to, cuddled, and stayed with (in that progressive order) until she fell asleep. Then she slept for at least 10 hours. Matthew has no problem going to sleep. If he's drowsy, I can pretty much put him on the bed on his tummy and pat him on the back a little, then he'll go to sleep on his own. He just wakes up after a few hours.

Anyway, he has also cut his first tooth. Three and a half months is pretty early. That means constant drooling and gnawing, but he's lacking the development to hold a teething toy in his hand and put it in his mouth. Again unfortunate. People always think it's hard to breastfeed a baby with teeth, but the truth is that you don't feel it. The tongue covers the bottom teeth, so we're OK in that aspect.

HOWEVER... Ellie and I decided that today would be the first real day of potty training. I put her in underwear, and she actually went in the potty three times! OK, so she pooped and peed in her diaper during/after her nap (thank goodness I had the foresight to stick a diaper on her), and she DID pee in the carseat on the way home from Grandma's, but still. Three times in the potty - MAJOR victory! And she's been going to bed by herself for the past few nights, too. We're making progress, people. There was a lot of dancing and cheering going on today.

So I'm happy, but at the same time I'm also kind of sad. She's growing up so much. I feel guilty because since she's become the older child, there are so many more expectations put on her. She's become so much more functional and independent, which I want... sort of. I really wish she'd just stay a baby, though. I don't want a big girl. I want my sweet baby forever. When she got up on her stepping stool and turned on the faucet, got soap, washed her hands, came down and dried them for the first time, I was sadly proud. When I got paperwork from her Mothers' Day Out program yesterday, I almost cried. When she pulled up her underwear by herself without the back hooking under her butt, I got a little misty. Sigh. My baby really is a big girl.

Maybe it's the breastfeeding hormones. Maybe it's my unhealthy attachment issues. Maybe it's normal. I dunno. I can't decide if I'm more proud or more sad about her accomplishments. At least I only have to buy one size of diapers from now on.

Oh - here's a video of Ellie from last summer riding one of those quarter ride things. I don't know why I find it so funny, but Peter and I couldn't stop laughing when we watched this (three times in a row). Sigh. Back when she was an only child, dependent on Mommy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCUsqwEE0yI