I read a book!

I did it! I managed to read an entire book during the first two months of my child's life (and parts of other books too). Most of the reading occurred during the middle of the night and sometimes during feedings in the day as well. I highly recommend this book for people about to embark on the journey of parenthood!

The book outlines theory and a method for, as the title suggests, calming crying and helping your baby sleep longer, specifically, during the first three months of a child's life. The gist of it is combining the following five things ("S's") in this order in just the right way...

#1 Swaddling baby tightly in a blanket allowing no means of escape (see picture of Bram below - he ain't goin' nowhere!)

#2 Side/Stomach position (not recommended for when they're sleeping in bed - just as a position to put them in while you are holding/soothing them - the standard continues to be "back sleeping" to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

#3 LOUD Shushing (white noise)

#4 Swinging/motion/rocking/jiggling

#5 Sucking (soother, nipple, your finger)

This method has worked for our boys, for sure. We used these with Jonah, and in fact, swaddled Jonah for what seemed like FOREVER! Can't remember when exactly we stopped... anyone in my family recall?

Awww, look at our sweet little snoozing Brambi, pictured here in a double swaddle. I'll let you know how long he snoozes in this one.

Like his Bambi sheets? That's how I got the idea for his newest nickname. Brambi. I usually call children by their real names, however, when they are really small, I just can't resist! I used to get such a kick out of the nicknames my friends had for their son/nephew/grandson James. My two favorites were "Jimbly" and "Wams". So Bram has a few. There's the obvious "Bram Bram" said in a high-pitched voice after Bam Bam from the Flintstones. There's also "Brammy Bram" which can be infinitely lengthened to "Brammy Bram Bram Bram..." although I don't normally tag more than 5 Brams onto the Brammy. I also give him the very formal "Bram" said in an English accent (England) with a lengthly rolled r, and the very serious "Bramwell Timothy" spoken with an Irish accent. And there's also "the boy" and "the Bramster" and "scrammy Bram". There are also the affectionate "my boy" and "my sweets" and "gorgeous". And then the less affectionate "poopy pants" and "the pukester".

Jonah usually just calls him Bram or Bram Timothy.

Have I forgotten any, Glenn?