We've implemented a new policy in the household: baby bedtime. At 8:00 Maggie gets a snack (either her usual liquid course or squash if it hasn't been all that long since a full meal). Then we go upstairs immediately and she gets a clean diaper and pajamas. After that it's lights out. If she complains, we pick her up. But the moment she's calm again it's back in the crib! When we started this routine, we'd have to go through a lot of pick-ups and put-downs. And singing and patting and rubbing. In the middle of the night too. Now she's pretty much got it down. We stand at her crib with a hand on her back for a couple minutes and voila! Sleeping baby. She wakes up at 4 to eat, then goes right back to sleep without any complaint for at least another hour. And that, my friends, is a full night's sleep and the recipe for happy parents.
Meanwhile, during waking hours, we've been taking her to the grocery store and church and shoe shopping. And people love to ogle her. We've even gotten one gasp, complete with a hand to the mouth, followed by "Oh she's so precious!" Oh we're so lucky!
