Fall Happenings

The weather is turning, the summer is over. What have the Gailans been doing? Mainly just hanging. That sounds boring, we know, but this little man keeps life interesting enough without trying to find adventure.

 When we get bored, we mess with his hair. Or hang him upside down.

 And try to make sure he's a well rounded individual who can make friends. Pooh is his current bestie and doesn't mind when Clark sucks on his arm. Or he does. We don't know. Pooh is pretty quiet.

 We spend a lot of our time now trying to keep Clark entertained. The bumbo used to be sufficient but clearly that's not going to hold him for long.

 Had to throw this one in. It's his Zoolander mouth.

 Oh, yes, we did tackle on big project this fall. I promised myself when I was a stay at home to finally give canning a real try. We dabbled last year but this year I did jams, tomatoes, and just last month my first applesauce. We have a really nice man nearby who lets people come and glean when the season is over. All I knew was to show up at Telly's in the morning. It was hilarious because half the ward was there so we were this giant caravan of Mormons going up the road:) But it made fun picking buddies. I was picking with Lizi and Brittany. I had a big purple bucket that got full super fast so I would muscle it down the row, rest, walk back and pick up Clark in his car seat, move him, rest, repeat.

He actually did pretty good considering he was just sitting on his butt in an orchard. Turns out, picking the apples was the easy part. Then we hauled them home, cored and peeled them, cooked them down, and finally did the actual canning. Not the easiest process with a baby who likes to be held but it worked. All in all we got 17 quarts which should be enough for some delicious cookies and a great, nutritious start when little man is ready for solid foods.

And last but not least, we took on our biggest parental challenge to date: the dreaded, feared, awful, horrible....sleep training. Yup. We did it. Or are doing it, I guess, it never really seems to stop. For the last five months, our spoiled little guy has slept double swaddled, with a binkie, in a soft, cozy, swaying swing. Doesn't that just make you tired? But, for the last month he's been waking up 3-4 times a night wanting us to come put the binkie back in. That got old--fast! So on the advice of my wonderful sister and mom, we decided to cold turkey him.

 Last Sunday, we came home from church, fed the little monster, zipped him in his new sleeveless sleep sack and....put him in the crib. A few kisses. A few pats on the head. And we were out the door. It didn't take him long to realize he was not being rocked to sleep. And his hands were free to smack him. So he cried. And cried. And that night he cried for probably 2 hours and then woke up a few times during the night to cry. Honestly, we felt like terrible people. The only positive was watching him on our video monitor and laughing at his funny hands as they tried to figure out what to do now that they were free. (Most of the time he still sleeps with them at his side like he's swaddled but occasionally ventures into touchdown territory)

But the next day he took a decent nap in the morning, less of a decent one in the afternoon, and that night cried just 30 minutes and then slept through the night.

Hallelujah!! Yes, he did it. The afternoon nap is still a work in progress but we are going on a week now and with just a few whimpers he sleeps all through the night without a peep and even takes a solid morning nap. He even fell asleep at church without all the wailing we usually get. It was the hardest thing we've ever done but totally worth it.