A Bittersweet Triumph

As with all new parents trying to devise one brilliant strategy after another, Mike and I have been trying to master the sleeping situation with Miss Lacey. Admittedly, we have spoiled her from the day she was born and will probably continue to do so to some degree, though hopefully not to our detriment. For a while, I allowed her to sleep on top of me or beside me in bed. I graduated to getting her to sleep in her bassinet beside me after some time, though she still usually ended up in our bed at some point. When we moved her into her bedroom, we continued to rely on the aid of her swing to get her to sleep as she would always wake up as soon as we laid her into it otherwise. We've rocked her and fed her for sometimes hours on end, all so we didn't have to put her through the dreaded "crying it out" tactic. I've been told that I would never win that way. Triumphantly though, we seem to have made some progress. We do take our walks to get her nice and relaxed but once we get home, she eats a little and then lays right down to drift quietly into her sweet slumber. In the morning, she wakes at nearly 7 now to eat a little and then again drifts off to sleep for another hour or more. As I laid her back down this morning, I felt both successful and surprisingly, a little sad. She doesn't need to be rocked or held quite as much as she used to. At five and a half months, she has already developed a little amount of independence. Too soon for that!
Of course, I do realize that this week's triumph may not last. We'll take each night as they come and hopefully, things will continue to go well.
New pictures to come... my camera is misbehaving so hopefully I will get that taken care of. (It could definitely be a result of my stupidity about technology!) We'll soon have pictures of her first trip to the beach so look forward to those... we can't wait!!!