An Experiment in Sleep Training

Today I finally decided that I am ready to help The Baby Lady learn to sleep. Up to this point, I have been highly resistant to sleep training of any sort because of the apparent stress on the baby associated with a long crying stint. However, I reached the realization that The Baby Lady isn't going to teach herself how to go to sleep when Mama is always there rocking and feeding her. So I told Hub that starting today we should let The Baby Lady work it out after we did our bedtime routine. As usual she fell asleep with her bottle but when I put her down in her crib she woke up and started crying. Usually I would pick her up and comfort her until she fell back asleep again, but this time I let her cry. It was VERY tough but after 50 minutes she finally fell asleep. We'll see how things go over the next couple of days, but I'm proud of myself for taking the first step towards giving the baby the tools to survive in the world. Here are my five positives for the day:

1. I tried out my dependent care spending account! I turned in my first reimbursement claim for The Baby Lady's daycare last week and I got a check in the mail today! The dependent care spending account will only cover about half the total cost of daycare for the year, but it is still quite a treat to get a check in the mail!
2. Cash for Clunkers! I looked into the government program aimed at getting old dirty cars off the road and stimulating car sales. I like the idea, especially the discount although I'm not sure I'm really in the market for a new car.
3. This HOT weather. Its easy to talk up the hot hot weather when I'm spending most of each day in air conditioning. I took a walk around the block at lunch today to take in the furnace-like effect of the heat wave. It felt great for the eight minutes or so that I was outside. Even though I loved it for those few minutes, I have a great deal of sympathy and compassion for those without AC.
4. We're trying sleep training. As I mentioned above, I finally broke down and decided that The Baby Lady's sleep health is more important than catering to my wussiness about hearing her cry. After a great deal of consideration, I decided that she needs to learn how to self soothe and she can't do that if one of us constantly tends to her at the first whimper. It was very VERY tough listening to her cry for 50 minutes, but I think we'll all be better off in the long run when she learns how to sleep well.
5. Hub sent me a nice song today. Hub sent me a nice hippie song today called The Visit made by The Cyrkle. They're pretty good for hippie music and they have a pretty interesting background - managed by the same man that managed The Beatles; John Lennon spelled their name that silly way. Ever since I lost my Rhapsody subscription my work music selection has been limited so this was a welcome change.