The last week has been really rough. Louise has always slept like a champ, but last Saturday she suddenly decided she wanted nothing to do with it. We used to just put her in her crib at 7 when she was awake and she'd adjust and be asleep in a matter of minutes. Her naps were the same way. Saturday night she just screamed and screamed. I was afraid it was her teeth, so I put Orajel on her gums and it didn't do anything. I fed her, changed her, wrapped her in a blanket, unwrapped her, I tried EVERYTHING. She finally fell asleep at 10, then was awake and crying from 2 to 4. Sunday, Easter, her naps were the same. The longest she slept was 25 minutes. Normally, she gets around 16 hours of sleep per day and from Saturday to Monday she got 10 or 11. I felt SO bad for her! She was exhausted and grumpy. On Monday Justin and I decided that it wasn't her teeth or anything, so it was time so do something about it. I had heard about The Sleep Lady from Rachel's blog and bought the book in preparation for this day, so we started The Shuffle on Monday night. Monday was pretty rough on all three of us. Justin and I had NEVER let her cry like that. It was so hard to sit right by her and not pick her up while she was crying. The first night was 45 minutes, the second was 30, the third 15, and last night and tonight there was NO crying. We're so proud of Louise. She is such a champ. You can tell she's relieved to be able to put herself to sleep, too. And she wakes up so happy. She still wakes up in the night, where she didn't before, but we're working on that, and getting better everyday. I'm so thankful for The Sleep Lady. I also made her a little mobile to hang over her crib to help her get to sleep. She has always slept on her stomach, but now she rolls over (another reason for her sleep troubles last week) and wakes up. The mobile has helped a ton. 
We started her on rice cereal a couple of weeks ago (which also could have added to her troubles). She quite likes it. From the very first time we gave it to her she has been so good at swallowing. We should have known she was ready because she's been reaching and trying to eat everything. And whenever I hold her and drink from my canteen she needs to try it, too. :)
Louise is getting so close to both sitting up and crawling (another sleep interruption). She can sit up on her own for almost a minute before falling over.
She kind of has the same expression in every picture, doesn't she? This is a very typical look for her.
Louise and Grandpa at Babylon Mills.
Louise was very excited about seeing her cousin Stockton.
She is such a happy girl and we are cherishing every minute with her. We love her SO stinkin much.
That's awesome that you got her to sleep again! It's rough on everyone when those little cuties decide not to go to sleep anymore. lol. :p I noticed that you said you used baby orajel, but you didn't think it was her teeth...when she does start teething, if you want to, you should try Hyland's teething tablets (they dissolve immediately) they are all-natural, work better than anything besides medicine for teething and helping with restlessness/irritability from what I have tried, and they last for up to four hours at a time. :) They rock. You can get them at Wal Mart. Anyway, her mobile is really cute! You guys are such awesome parents. :)
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