210th post!

Tomatoes are doing well.

Jackson is having sleep issues that we are working on. He's waking in the night, not every night but 4 out of 7. He doesn't cry, just plays then goes back to sleep. The problem is, it's breaking his deep sleep and shortening his sleep cycles. This is shortening the amount of time his growth hormone releases or cutting it off almost entirely. Very bad news for our little Jacky. Luckily Sara is the one leading the crusade for better nighttime sleep. I'm very, very happy about this as many days I feel like the Sleep-Obsessor. She's been reading the Ferber book and thinks that he is in bed too long at night. I'm not sure that I agree with this theory but respect the work Ferber has done, one of my previous employers actually worked with Ferber for a few years in his sleep clinic, many of my previous parents have used his book as a guide to establishing consistent and healthy sleep habits, and I am willing to endorse Sara's suggestion based on Ferber's work for the greater good.

Our world it is a-changin'.

Starting this week bedtime will begin to move later. Ten continuous hours of sleep are better than twelve broken ones or two chunk of 5-6 hours. We will slowly move both tomatoes to an eight o'clock bedtime, from their current bedtime of 6:45-7:15 pm. In addition Sara and Roger will move the bedtime bottle earlier, something we've been talking about for awhile and they've been occasionally working on, giving Jackson his bottle before bath opposed to after. To make this entire transition easier and better for everyone we will begin FAMILY DINNERS.

Family dinners are an important part of childhood and family development. Taking time each day to sit together and socialize has an infinite amount of benefits, most of which are beyond what I can cover here. Sara, Roger and I have been talking about the benefits of family dinners since my interview before the babies left the NICU. Because they return from work later in the evening the exact date we began family dinners has been up in the air. With the institution of a later bedtime there is no reason not to begin immediately.

So, I'm giving up my desire to have a nice twelve hours in bed every night for the betterment of their family bonding, growth and better quality sleep, we hope. I don't do this lightly but Sara and I talked together and we both see the other's perspective and best needs of the tomatoes being at the forefront.

I have much more to tell, maybe later today or tomorrow.
Happy Tuesday bloggers and readers.