Dear Diary

I'm sorry it has been 3 months since I last wrote... (isn't that how you are supposed to start a diary entry?).

Let's see - since July everything has changed completely. Sam does not have a milk allergy. He just had horrible, horrible colic for 5-6 weeks. The prescription formula helped. Also, he was waaaay over tired and didn't know how to self-soothe. After a few painful days he was able to put himself to sleep on his own. At 5 months he still can't take a nap at home in his crib and has to sleep in the swing, but hey, at least he's sleeping!

As for sleeping, Sam was doing well for a few weeks and was even sleeping through the night. Then around 4 months he got a cold. And from there we started backtracking to waking up 1-2 times per night. Julia also gets up approximately 5 of 7 nights and comes to sleep on our floor. Our house is a zoo so to take control Chris and I decided to let Sammy 'cry it out.' Rather than Ferberizing we opted for "extinction" which basically means don't go in and check on the baby at all. For the past two nights we've turned off the monitor, closed the bedroom door & turned on the bathroom exhaust fan. We're not sure if the baby slept through the night, but Chris and I did :)

Life is busy and good. I've been back to work since August 19th. We spent 8 days at BHI over Labor Day with the DeFranks which was a wonderful break. Julia played soccer and learned some Espanol at Spanish for Fun this summer. Now she's back at MSR and is taking swim lessons. She's doing great with both the swimming & the reading. Every chance she gets she sounds out words and reads up a storm. Sam is growing like a weed. He's eating solids and a ton of them. He's giggling, found his toes & rolled over from tummy to back about a month ago. He's sweet & happy and goes from happy-go-lucky to cranky in 3 seconds flat when hungry. Daycare has been great for Sam. He has wonderful teachers who care a ton about him. 6 kids and two teachers - you can't get much better than that.

Tomorrow is Halloween and Julia is excited to be Izzy the pirate. Sam has his choice of a lobster, cow or pirate costume. Fun times ahead with the holidays quickly approaching.

Pictures to follow...I promise :)