Happy Easter to you all :)

I cannot believe Easter has been and gone for the year! Wasn’t Christmas just last week?

The End of Baby Wearing
This week saw me soaking up all the baby wearing I was doing with Casper. My plan for the long weekend was to focus on bassinet settling him. My back was really starting to ache by the end of the day and I was noticing that the quality of his naps on me was diminishing - this to me was a sign for change.

I was feeling a mixture of sadness and excited. Sadness because I’m letting him go a little bit and excitement because having him sleep more independently during the day means I can actually spend quality time with Otis.

Bassinet Settling - Day 1
Friday rolled around and I made sure the sleeping environment was spot on and he was awake for the right amount of time for his age - these are both crucial when it comes to any type of settling. I put a chair next to his bassinet so I wasn’t leaning over and I started settling him. I was so surprised when it took just half an hour for him to fall asleep. I stayed with him the whole time and was very hands on through the whole process.
I did this for all his sleeps. I never left his side, even once he was asleep. The day went really well and so did bed time. I was so relieved because I honestly thought I was going to have a bigger battle on my hands.

Bassinet Settling - Day 2
Saturday was even better. I did the same thing and Casper was so calm and happy about it. He was so happy that he even self settled that afternoon which wasn’t even my goal for the weekend. My goal was to simply have him sleeping in the bassinet - not self settling!

Bassinet Settling - Day 3 & 4 (self settling)
For Sunday and Monday I decided to encourage more of the self settling and he responded really well. Again I supported him the whole time and if he struggled then I made sure to be hands on so he knew I was there.

On Monday I started leaving the room whilst he was still awake to see how he went with settling without me and again he did really well. If he struggled I went into him and did some hands on settling but for the most part he was drifting off to sleep by himself.

Like most bubba’s his age, he was only doing one sleep cycle so for one nap a day I was resettling him. The first few days it took a while to get the resettle but as each day went by that resettling time was getting shorter.
It’s a draining process but so worth it. Eventually he will link his sleep cycles together on his own but until then I’ll keep helping him.

Bassinet Settling - Overall Thoughts
Overall I am SO happy with how the weekend went. Like I said my goal wasn’t to have him self settling but he showed me he was ready and capable so I encouraged him.
This is how important it is to really know your bubba, to understand what they are communicating and give them the best opportunities when it comes to sleep.
Our bubba’s are capable of more than we think. They are smart little cookies!

Missing Time With My Toddler
Ever felt like you’re missing someone even though you see them all the time?
This has been me. One thing that has surprised me is the fact I miss Otis so much. Since Casper came along I just don’t have the time I used to have with Otis.
I miss the one on one relationship we had. It makes me sad that I didn’t appreciate and soak it up more before Casper arrived.
I feel like no one warns you about this. I feel silly that I didn’t realise it would happen but I guess I was caught up being excited to meet Casper.

This is why it’s so important to really be present in life. Soak up each day. Don’t wish away the days because you can never get a day back. It just turns into a memory.

I look back at the day I went into labour with Casper. It was my last day as just Otis and I. I feel sad. I feel guilty. I got annoyed at him that morning because he threw a tantrum because he wanted to go to the playground after kindergym and I didn’t. I wanted to go home. I look back and think ‘why didn’t I just take him’ ‘you should have just gone for 15 minutes’. I was big & achy, but that’s no excuse. I could have taken him but I didn’t. That memory will always haunt me but it taught me a lesson. Now, I ensure I take the time to connect with Otis. If he asks me to do something I’ll do it. I try to be a yes mum as much as possible and obviously within reason. I want Otis (and Casper) to think of me as fun, to remember the games we used to play and the adventures we would go on.
They aren’t going to be thankful I vacuumed or did the dishes. They’ll be thankful for the laughs and happy memories.

So please, be a yes parent as much as possible. Be silly, play dinosaurs, wrestle and go to the park. This is what kids want. They want to have fun with you.

Now that Casper is sleeping in his bassinet for his day sleeps I can reconnect with Otis. This is something I am really excited for.
Bubba's Change So Fast
Casper is changing so fast. He’s such a happy boy. Always smiling and trying to talk with us.
He’s discovered his hands too so he’s always munching on them.
He likes tummy time and even rolled over twice, although he was on our bed and he was already leaning over slightly. Paul claims it as rolling over though haha #prouddad
Every day Casper gets chunkier and chunkier. His legs have these delicious rolls on them, it’s getting to the point I have to make sure I wash in between them haha.

Dreamfeeds
In the past week or so Casper’s bed time has become quite predictable. Generally in bed by no later than 7:30pm so I have taken this opportunity to introduce a dream feed.
With Otis a dream feed worked beautifully. I’d do it around 10/10:30pm and by 4 months he was sleeping through till the morning.
For us this worked so well because I’d go to bed straight after and basically get a full nights sleep.
I much prefer doing this than waking up in the early hours of the morning for a feed.
At first with Casper it wasn’t stretching his second feed of the night out but after about a week it started to take effect.
So generally I now dream feed at 10am and he then wakes around 4am for a feed. Eventually this 4am feed will disappear and then it’ll just be the dream feed over night.
Dream feeds don’t always work but I certainly encourage parents to try it out because Shen they work they are fantastic.

Easter
Easter was so fun! Otis is at an age where everything is exciting. He had a blast hunting for all the eggs and getting to eat chocolate all day. The sugar crashes were not that fun though and neither were the tantrums when he was told no more chocolate.
Last year he found my stash of special vegan chocolate so I have gone to extra lengths to ensure that doesn’t happen again!
It felt really strange being home for the whole long weekend. Usually we go to Victor Harbour with Paul’s family for the Easter long weekend but obviously this year needed to be different. It’s both refreshing and lonely.
On one hand I’m liking the slow day’s, the relaxed vibe of not having to rush out or feel obliged to see anyone but on the other hand I miss my favourite people. I miss socialising. I miss having the choice of being able to go visit friends and family.
We have had quite a few new babies born into the family over the past year so missing out on seeing them grow is hard but how lucky are we that we can send photos and video chat! It certainly makes this journey less lonely and isolating.

I hope you all had a beautiful Easter and enjoyed quality family time xx