The method behind our madness

Here's a link to the article on sleep training that we read and have been following (with a few personal touches and variations): http://www.parenting.com/article/Baby/Care/Sleep-Training.
The great thing is that it's actually working. The nighttime routine is going beautifully! Tonight I nursed Sebastian and put him down in the crib, then walked out of the room. He was awake, and we never heard a peep after that. I went back about 20 minutes later to make sure he was asleep (and breathing and all that other stuff I do when I check on him), and sure enough...he was fast asleep. Last night I put him down at 8:15 pm, waited in his room for a few minutes, then left quietly...and this morning at 7:45 am he let us know he was awake by making a little squeaky noise. We're on day 9 of the process... and it's definitely a process. But being on this side of the fence makes it seem like those long, drawn out nights a week and a half ago were very worth it!
We're still having to work a little harder on naps, but they seem to be getting better too.
Just wanted to share, cuz I think it's been a great method, at least for us. We had briefly tried a little "cry it out" and "Ferber" methods, but it wasn't for me (us). Plus, we were attempting it right about the time that Sebastian started to really struggle with teething, which made matters significantly worse.
I've begun to think that Kim West (the "sleeplady") is a smart gal. I like her. And I like a sleeping baby! :)

While the boys are sleeping...

I know I should be fast asleep too, but I wanted to get some more pictures posted, and I have to take the opportunity when I can get it! So humor me while I show you the cutest baby boy around...Sebastian seemed quite fond of the hammock. He really does love the outdoors!

And here are some photos of how I learned my lesson while trying to take pictures of the cousins with them all facing the sun (note to self - don't put 3 small, fair-skinned, blue-eyed children directly in the path of the rays of the sun if you expect to get anything but funny pictures out of them!):

I did eventually get some great shots of the cousins... stay tuned for more photos coming soon. Well, as soon as I get the chance. :)

But it may be sooner rather than later, because we've started sleep training with Sebastian, and he seems to be doing quite well - both at nighttime and during the day. The first three nights were great (hooray!), but last night was not so great... We'll see how things go tonight; all in all, however, we can't complain, because he's been a pretty darn good sleeper since we left the hospital (and didn't have Sergeant nurse knocking on our door and barging in every 1-2 hours!) with no interventions from us whatsoever til now.

Now it's off to bed for me... I dare not be foolish and stay up late doing frivolous Internet things! But aren't you glad I posted some pictures?!?

In case you didn't believe me...

Some things about my dad have changed over the years, but his sleeping position hasn't... and just like Sebastian showed us in my last entry, he is taking after his Grandpa, at least in this way. Now let's just hope he figures out how to sleep long stretches through the night AND take nice naps for his babysitters in the next couple of weeks (somehow Sebastian seems to have forgotten this information in the past week or so!). Oh, and we could do without the likes of Grandpa's snoring, too... ;)