Annika and I had a nice treat last night - Daddy! Kris took the night off and stayed home. We had a nice, normal family evening. We picked up the house since we had a showing later in the evening, Annika and I took a nap and then went out to dinner during that showing. After dinner, we played games and then Kris gave Annika a bath and I put her to bed. So, that's what normal families do!

Kris said that yesterday, Annika took a nap laying on a pillow in a laundry basket. I don't know why or how, but picturing that in my head is just too funny.

The last week or so, I've been teaching Annika to fall back asleep on her own without needing to nurse. We've been practicing in her crib. I rock her to sleep as usual then lay her down. When she wakes up (either right as I lay her down or later), instead of taking her out and rocking her back to sleep, I lay her back down in her crib and give her the pacifier back. If she's still really sleepy, she'll go back to sleep right away while holding my hand. If she's woken up a bit, she gets mad at the laying back down part. I comfort her by rubbing her back or hugging her (although not removing her from the crib unless she really starts crying instead of just whining). Then, I lay on the floor next to her crib and put my hand through the slats. Sometimes she'll play in her crib but eventually, she'll lay down and hold on to my hand and fall asleep. I also turn on the music-only part of her Ocean Wonders Aquarium to some quiet soothing music. After I'm asleep and she wakes up, I bring her to bed with me. The last few nights, she's been trying out her putting herself back to sleep routine while in bed with us. This usually involves her crawling/moving around on the bed to find a comfy place and then lays down and goes to sleep. However, the comfy part of the bed is usually ON mommy or daddy. If I'm laying on my back, she will drape herself across my stomach and go to sleep. Last night, when Daddy came to bed, she woke up and draped herself across his head and neck. Daddy didn't think that was the best place to sleep, so he moved her off his head. She settled for draping herself across his pillow and burrowing her head by his. It was just too cute. Later in the night, she moved around again and ended up by our hips/thighs but facing our feet. She was still there when I woke up and left this morning. It's very nice that she will put herself back to sleep without having to nurse. However, I'm still waking up, usually to give her pacifier back to her, but also because she's moving around so much. Still, it's progress and some day, I will sleep through the night again! That will be a happy, happy day!