Splish, splash, and stats

A tuckered out Henry is napping right now, following an event-filled first half of the day. This morning, we took our first parent/child swimming lesson at one of the local YMCAs in the area. It was awesome! Prior to the lesson, I was apprehensive of what Henry might do when submerged in water for the first time. This fear was made worse when Henry began crying the minute we stepped into the pool area. Our sensitive little boy was a little overwhelmed by the echoes and loud noises of other children playing in the pool. However, I soon learned that Henry loves, loves, loves the water. He wasn't sure about the first few seconds in there, but by the end he was splashing around like crazy and was pretty darn smiley. I wish I had video of the event, it was very cute. Today we sang songs, bounced and swayed with the babies, and best of all, went down the slide! The swimming instructor held the babies at the top of the slide and passed them to the moms below in the pool (it was a very short slide). Henry seemed okay with this, but preferred to play around in the water. By the end of the course, Henry will have learned more about being in the water, including how to blow bubbles. I'm already looking forward to next week.

After lunch and a brief nap, Henry's busy day continued at his six-month doctor's visit. He logged in at 19 pounds, 8 ounces and 28.5 inches. For those keeping track (maybe that's just me), he gained over 3 pounds in 2 months. Gotta love those solid foods. Everything else also looks normal and healthy according to the pediatrician. My only concern came at some talk about sleep habits...the dreaded question of whether or not we should be having Henry cry it out to learn to fall asleep independently. Right now, he falls asleep nursing most nights. And if he doesn't, then I bounce him until he drifts off and I can put him down. Otherwise, he cries and becomes escalated to all-out crisis mode wailing very quickly. I've tried doing some transitional type things to help him draw other associations with sleep, a lovey to hold onto and lullaby music playing as he falls asleep. We've also had a consistent, but brief, bedtime routine for quite a while now. But alas, I'm not sure these gentler methods are going to do the trick. Henry likes things to stay the same. Right now he likes his momma to put him to sleep. One of my mom friends just did a modified cry it out method this weekend, and has already seen some very positive changes in her son's sleep habits. So...Brian and I have to make the decision final, but I think we are leaning toward biting the bullet and helping Henry learn how to fall asleep alone through this surely painful but also seemingly successful process. It wouldn't kill him, right?? And it would pay off in the long run when he has good sleep habits, wouldn't it???