This has Gotta be the Good Life

I've been loving this song for the past few months.

"The Good Life" by OneRepublic

Great, upbeat song; only one bad word, so buy the edited (radio) version!

(But the music video's very clean!)

It's also how life's going right now...good! Just good!!

We're keeping our heads above water in classes and getting good grades,

keeping work schedules straight and getting good hours,

some good language skills developing in little Nathan man, who babbles constantly with the best of 'em nowadays,

no more constipation issues for the little guy, which makes for good moods most of the time,

and we've now trained Nathan to sleep for 8-10 hours STRAIGHT, so we're getting GOOD sleep!

I am loving it! I have energy to do my homework, church lessons, and even energy to play with my little man and enjoy family time!

We did, however, have to completely Ferberize him. It was not our first choice, but was a great last resort. We hated to let him cry it out all night, especially with neighbors upstairs and downstairs (who we owe cookies...), but it only lasted 3-4 nights and then he was waking up once and getting himself back to sleep...then just waking up in the morning!

We feel like Nathan was a good candidate for the Ferber method because letting him cry it out meant that, once he got to sleep, he wasn't waking up any more than he normally did when I'd go in and comfort him back to sleep.

(I never picked him up out of his bed when I did this, but it was still proving to be more destructive for him than helpful!)

Now we all enjoy full REM cycles. Man does having sleep make a difference! He also puts himself down for naps within a couple minutes and doesn't even cry anymore!

Now when he gets sick or has some ailment where he needs extra help at night we'll know exactly how to get him back on track, and hopefully he'll get the message.

I read this week that 2 days or nights (in a row) of doing the same thing is all it takes to solidify an expectation for a baby. Hopefully if we have to Ferberize him again anytime soon he'll get the message in just 2 nights!

He's babbling like a fool and has also learned how to click his tongue. It makes him very proud of himself. He sounds like a little tribal baby: it's so cute, and hasn't gotten annoying yet :o)

He still loves his "whoozit friend" and doesn't sleep well without it. He loves to wrap his arms around it and rub it against his face when he goes to sleep. I think it's a perfect sleep toy because it's shaped to not block his breathing, but he can still cuddle into it.

(this was back in April at his GG and Papa Dooley's house, but he still pretty much sleeps like this!)
Binky in mouth (where it STAYS, very tightly, all night, talented kid!) and whoozit where it can be his friend. And his gloworm off to the side where it can sing. He's just recently started picking it up. I love to see him cuddled up to both of them!

Mitch and I are getting antsy for change, which is weird to us. We got a new entertainment center with yard sale money from selling our stuff last weekend, and we absolutely love this babyproof version. (We'll need a lock for the doors, but it has DOORS!) Nathan loves to watch his reflection in the glass doors. It's adorable.

So, I guess that's all the change we'll have for now. We're antsy to redo some piece of furniture or rearrange or whatever...I think it's because this is the longest we've gone since we were married without change! We moved twice in the first 6 months we were married; after 6 months we found out we were pregnant; (the 9 months of pregnancy don't count as no changes...every day's a change!); then we had Nathan in November, and now he's 7 1/2 months old! We love our apartment, our friends, our church congregation, our classes, etc. so no changes that way...

Oh, well...maybe we'll buy a plant.

Next on the agenda: how to bring some of that Midwest warmth my family and friends at home are enjoying to Rexburg!! We can't seem to get above 60! I want to splash Nathan and his friend Burton around in a kiddie pool!!

And now, as a reward for getting to the bottom of this post, here are photos of what we've been up to:
Learning how to pull up his rug
(must...get it into...my mouth!!)

Anything's a toy...i'm waiting for the day when he learns how to pull off the caps of all the pens and markers I let him play with! For now they're just drumsticks.

(wait, is that a tooth!?...haha yeah right. In this kid?)
Nope, no teeth here! He's sure using anything to work them up, though!

Can you tell that we love playing in our room, though?
This look is the closest I ever get to a smile...shock that I have my camera out.
He should know by now that I always have it out!
Love these baby sunglasses! I only wish we could go outside more to use them! He actually keeps them on!

Thanks for reading :o)