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Balian and I had a great day today! Well, it ended up great, but didn't start off that way. We're working through some serious teething... chomp, chomp, chomp! My dad so accurately appointed Balian's nickname as 'Chompy' or 'Chomps.' Balian woke us up at 5:30 this morning with what seemed like no hope for going back to sleep any time soon. We've been having rough nights lately! I told Sacha that I was not about to get up with Balian and be up for the day at 5:30... just wasn't happening! So... my wonderful hubby so kindly took Balian out to the living room, walked around with him, watched television, etc until he fell asleep. The little babe slept in his swing until a little after 8:00. I stayed in bed the entire time! I had the bed to myself for the first time since Balian's birth and it was AWESOME! Those couple of sweet, uninterrupted hours felt like the best sleep of my life! After everyone was up, dressed, fed, and so on, Sacha left for work, and Balian and I went about our day- playing, laughing, doing a few things around the house, making a couple of phone calls, napping, eating, napping, eating...

Sacha brought some yummy Japanese food home for an early dinner while Balian was on the tail-end of his late afternoon nap. After dinner, Sacha headed to church for the Lenten service and choir rehearsal. I was determined that Balian was going to sleep in his crib. Tonight would be the night! At 6:00, I fed him rice cereal and pears. He's not quite into the pears without the cereal just yet... we'll keep at it. He ate the entire bowl I had prepared for him! He's so good when it comes to eating solids (so far!). I make silly noises when I load up the spoon and he opens his mouth as soon as he hears me. Something struck him particularly funny during the last few bites, and we had a ten minute giggle fest. I LOVE those! After that, we played, he played in his Bounce Bounce Jungle Baby chair while I closed out a Celebrating Home party over the phone, and then it was time for the bedtime routine. At 7:00, he had a very fun, splishy-splashy bath, followed by some time to air out... diaper free (aren't I brave!?), then we got him into his jammies, sang some silly songs, had lot's of kisses, sat down to nurse and then he fell asleep around 8:30. I placed him very gently in his crib- it's 10:15, he's still in there and hasn't woken up once yet. Sacha and I are in our own room... with no baby in here and it feels completely strange. It'll take some getting used to, and I'm sure he'll wind up back in here with us after one of his early morning feedings, but that's okay. Balian usually wakes up EVERY time I put him in his crib, so this is a huge step! :) I'll let you know how our night ends up going!

And now- just to tide you over until the next post, here are a few pictures for your enjoyment!