Cry-it-out, Night 16... No crying!

I already told you that Gage slept until 5:00 AM and then I put him in bed with us... he nursed for a while and cuddled, but didn't fall back asleep. He did sleep from 8:30-10:30, which totally screwed him up for afternoon nap, as in it didn't happen. I think we need to adjust his nap times if we can get a consistent night time sleep. I'm holding out hope that tonight will be that night. We did his whole bedtime routine (starting at 7:30 PM) and laid him in his crib at 8:00 PM. He never even cried after I lay him down! He popped his head up and repositioned, but he didn't fuss like he usually does. So I will take that as a very good sign. We are hoping that tonight will bring a long sleep. Brian adjusted the vent in Gage's room to blow away from the crib, and he also adjusted the flow so that it won't get as cold in there. Our goal is to have his room a comfortable temperature for his sleep, rather than having him freezing cold. We are curious as to whether the temperature in the room dropping as he sleeps is causing his late night/early morning wake ups. Fingers crossed that we have jumped the final hurdle... only time will tell.

We are looking forward to a long weekend. Brian has Monday off, but has a half day on Saturday. We have plans with friends on Saturday afternoon, so that should be fun. The rest of the weekend, thus far, is wide open. Next week Brian only has a three day work week. His cousin is getting married Friday, so he took that day off. We are SO excited for the wedding! I found a really terrific dress at Target today, on clearance, to wear for the wedding. I was excited to get a good deal and find a really pretty dress. I had really hoped to lose some weight before the wedding, but circumstances have sort of worked against me. I haven't been running (I missed my 5K goal, which made me pretty sad, but I'm just going to keep trying,) and I haven't been eating terribly well either. But I'm hopeful that as the nights get a little better, and I catch up this awful sleep deficit, that I can start running in the mornings before it gets too hot. Right now all I can do in the morning is sit on the couch and stare blankly at Gage while he plays. I am so tired in the mornings, it takes me a good long time to wake up. No way could I run in the mornings right now on 3-5 hours of sleep. I would be injured before I knew it. Maybe in the next few weeks! I really would like to lose some weight before my 30th birthday. I had hoped that I would turn 30 in the best shape of my life. I could still make that happen, but time is running down. I just need to be more active, and I need to be more rested to be more active. Ugh. I seem to be a master at giving myself excuses, but I'm not sure that exhaustion is just an excuse.

I guess that's about all I've got for now. I'll give you an update on how the night goes ... hopefully tomorrow!

Cry-it-out, Night 15

Gage is asleep after about 30 minutes of crying, at 8:30 PM. Last night he was out in about 2 minutes but awoke at 1:30 AM. Tonight I'm going to try nursing/rocking him in his room to calm him down, then putting him back in his crib. We shall see how that goes. It is hard to leave him cry at 1:30 when you live in an apartment building!

Tonight we are geeking out due to having received Google+ invites. So we are playing with that! Pretty exciting stuff there, haha!

Had a nice lunch and afternoon with my mom today. Gage really enjoyed running around in their yard and playing in the sandbox at my parents' house. It was pretty hot, but overcast, so not as hot as it could've been.

I made carne adovada for dinner tonight and it came out awesome. Brian is something of a carne critic so I was a little nervous but he really liked it. It cooked in the crock pot all day and man did our house smell delicious.

That's all I've got for now. Here's hoping there's a night of deep sleep ahead of us!

Update: the little guy slept until 11:45 PM, and woke up crying. I went in and helped him relax, rocking him, etc. I put him back in his crib and he cried for maybe 15 minutes before going back to sleep. He slept until 5:00 AM. So we will keep trying going in to comfort him and putting him back in bed. I also discovered that our AC vent in his room blows straight on his crib, so we will remedy that. Maybe the cold air is waking him!

What makes a marriage work? And how do you work on your marriage? Part 2

Sorry for yesterday's cliff hanger. I really don't like when people do that on their blogs, but sometimes it's necessary. Anyway, here are the rest of my key points of a lasting, happy marriage. Just a brief note, another disclaimer, if you will. As I'm addressing these key points of marriage, I am not addressing marriages that have recent "deal-breaker" actions. I'm not talking to those who are going through the aftermath of betrayal or abuse. I'm talking about your average, every day marriage where the couple is simply drifting apart or feeling like you're falling out of love. These things can LEAD TO deal-breakers, and they can help overcome those things, but these things are much more minor than actions that must be taken if a huge betrayal has taken over your marriage.

2) Strong communication skills. If you don't communicate with your spouse, your marriage will likely be doomed from the very beginning. Bad feelings and hurts will build up until you feel like you'll explode. Then you'll either blow up and say things you don't mean, or you'll just walk away, believing that there is nothing left to your marriage than a compilation of slights and hurts that maybe could have been corrected. If you don't tell your spouse that you take it personally when they never help you with the dishes when you've both worked all day, how would they know? Bring your issues up in a polite, kind way. Do not beat someone over the head with your anger. This is ALWAYS counter-productive. If you instantly make your spouse defensive, they are less likely to hear what you have to say. 

3) See the person you love as just that. Remember why you fell in love with your spouse? Remember those hundreds of thousands of tiny things that made you think, "This person is made for me?" Those little things can go a long way to getting you through the difficult times. If you can hold tight to even one or two of those things you love about your spouse, they'll help you get through a rough patch. Maybe it's something as outwardly small as you appreciate the way they always kiss you before they leave for work, no matter what - if it's meaningful, it isn't a small thing to you. If you can, think of these things when you're angry at your spouse. You may even want to tell them some things you love about them from time to time. It is always nice to hear what you're doing right, instead of what you're doing wrong. 

4) Share the bad times as well as the good. Let your spouse in when you've had a bad day. Just asking that they spend a little time with you, helping you unwind, can be huge. Likewise, you must do the same for your spouse. If they come home and tell you they've had an awful day, truly and completely listen to what they have to say. Be present. Ask them to do the same for you. 

5) Understand that you are not the same person. You might feel like your spouse doesn't love you anymore simply because they don't send you flowers on your birthday. Where's the root of that issue? Have you ever told your spouse how much you'd love to get flowers on your birthday? Don't expect your spouse to read your mind, or even not-so-subtle hints. If you think that flowers on your birthday would be lovely, let your spouse know. It may be that they really thought you would far more enjoy and cherish that new book they bought you from your favorite author, that you thought was an unromantic gift. We all show our love in different ways, and yours and your spouses may just not be the same. It's good to discuss this, and figure out how to work through it. (Please note, Brian, if you read this, this isn't a subtle hint for flowers on my birthday. Please do not buy me flowers on my birthday.) There also may be more at the root of this issue than you think, when you delve in. Maybe it bothers you that your spouse goes out with friends once a month... but do you actually cherish your alone time once it is upon you? Don't make your spouse suffer because you think your time is more valuable than theirs. Sometimes time apart is really vital for time together. Maybe it bothers you that your spouse goes out, but yet you yourself enjoy getting out without your spouse. Think of where you're creating a no-win situation for your marriage. 

6) Settle the money issue. I said above that the number one cause of struggles in marriages is money. This is likely due in part to the fact that communicating about money makes people feel acutely uncomfortable. Understand that when you get married, you will likely be sharing bills, even if you're not sharing a checking account. Learn to talk with your spouse openly and in a helpful (non-accusatory) manner about any issues you may have with money. It's not always easy - I'm still uncomfortable talking about money, but it is so necessary. You can't be a team if you're adversaries in any arena that counts (unless you're competing at a video game or other such frivolous competition) and expect to stay happily married. If you're not on the same team, you are definitely competing. 

7) Spend some time together just goofing off, having fun, being together. Maybe you happened to fall in love with someone who really doesn't have the same interests as you. I got lucky here. Brian and I like a lot of the same music, movies, games, cars, Android phones, etc. So we relate well in a lot of different arenas. It is fun for us to customize our Droids, talk cars, watch movies, talk music, etc. But if you don't have that with your spouse, all hope is not lost. First, figure out what you DO have in common. Maybe you like to read romance novels (I'm sorry) and your spouse like to read Westerns. You can enjoy your books together and even discuss what you're reading. Your spouse may not love to hear about your book, but it's an area you can relate on, and I bet if you give it a try you'll find they like hearing about what you like. And I bet you'll find you enjoy hearing about their book, too. This is also a good area to find compromise. If your idea of a perfect Saturday afternoon is going to a movie, and your spouse would rather be hiking, make a compromise. Get up early, go on a beautiful hike somewhere close by. Then head back home, get cleaned up, and head out to see a movie. It doesn't have to be an either-or proposition. 

8) If it really feels like you just butt heads about everything, consider the areas that you're each being too stubborn on. Is that area more important than your marriage? In some cases, it may be. For example, if Brian came home tomorrow and said, "I've decided God doesn't exist and I can't live with a Christian," I would obviously be crushed. There wouldn't really be a whole lot of room for compromise there, unless we could work out the complete 180 in his belief system. But I wouldn't give up my faith. That is an area I wouldn't compromise. (That would never happen, by the way, that he would say something like that.) Maybe the argument is a little different, though. Maybe it's more like... "I've always had my dishes in the cupboard above the stove to the left. There is no other place I will allow my dishes to be put away at." And your spouse says, "I refuse to have the dishes anywhere but to the right of the sink and there is no other way of doing it." Is that a fight that you would rather  have than enjoy the bounty of compromise on? Maybe you can concede this time, and ask your spouse if they can consider concession next time. Of put your dishes in a different cabinet altogether! If it isn't something that you'd stake your marriage on, it probably isn't worth the fight. Maybe it's time to just sit down with your spouse and hash out why you just can't come to agreements on the basic stuff. Where can you and your spouse give a little to get a lot? Just keep in mind, I'm not saying here that you should always give in, or you should be a doormat. But you'd be surprised to see how much you get in return when you give a little.

9) Pray! Pray like crazy for your spouse, for yourself, for your marriage. Ask for the strength to get through the rough patches and the knowledge to know where you need to work on yourself. Ask for your spouse to know where they need to work on themselves. You can't change someone, don't even try. Only God can. 

I think that's all I have for now. Do you see a theme there? The thread that runs through all of these things is being able to talk openly with your spouse. If you can't talk, and you can't relate, you really need to seek some kind of qualified counselling. If you're a Christian, it is very important that you seek out Godly counsel as secular therapists aren't quite as qualified to speak to the important biblical aspects of marriage. If you're a little bit before counselling but you're not sure of where you could implement these keys into your marriage, shoot me an email. Maybe I can point you in the right direction (despite my non-expert status.)

I'd just like to point out that these principles apply to people who are parents, or are not parents. I will add that parental discord can be damaging to children who live with it day in, day out. If you have kids and you feel like your marriage is going down a bad road, please seek help. Chances are good that even if you don't think they notice, your kids are seeing every bit of your displeasure with your spouse. 

What makes a marriage work? And how do you work on your marriage? Part 1

I will start this post off with a disclaimer. I have been married a whopping 4 years (just recently had an anniversary) and so I don't claim to be any sort of an expert. What I can say I feel confident about is having grown up in a home where my parents stayed married throughout much adversity. Some of that adversity was directly related to raising my brother and I, so I have insider knowledge that they went through a lot of hard times. They have stayed married for coming up on 40 years. I can also speak to the fact that Brian and I have stayed together for nine and half years, so there is something to that. You may or may not agree with co-habitation, (biblically, it is definitely a no-no; for some it fits a need,) but it worked for us. We worked out a lot of issues that we had both together and as single adults. There was nothing keeping us together except the desire to stay together. So, I will give you a little history on our relationship, then I will tell you why I think our marriage works, and how we work at marriage. I'm going to split this into two posts because it is really long for one.

We met when we worked together at a Nissan dealership; I've told you we started out as friends. We spent a lot of time together as friends. When we started dating, it was not super-serious, but we did decide to move in together after only a few months of dating. At the time we signed our lease, we had not even told each other "I love you." This is important to note because we moved in together as mainly a monetary arrangement. Yes, we were dating by then, but it was best for both of us financially. I was having issues with my apartment complex crediting my rent to me, and Brian lived with a terrible roommate. We made lots of rules on how things would go if we broke up, and we both kept ALL of our belongings, not condensing down plates, TVs, etc. So we had a lot of stuff between the two of us! You may know that we bought a house together in Castle Rock after living together for a year. You might not know that my credit was so poor that it was only Brian who technically "bought" the house. More rules were made about how he needed to give me notice if he was going to kick me out, etc. We both still kept all of our things in case our relationship didn't work out. A few years later, we decided to move to Albuquerque. We sold the house and prepared to move. At that time, I guess it seemed like we were finally pretty serious. Each of us got rid of a lot of things that were duplicates. We didn't make any rules about what would happen if we broke up after our move. Within a year of moving to Albuquerque, we were engaged. Eight months later, we got married.

It may seem weird and detached to some that we were so cautious about our relationship, but if you were there with us, you'd know it wasn't weird at all. We had our fair share (or more) of ups and downs, and we loved each other enough to make our relationship work, in spite of the things working against us. I really wanted to get married for many years before we became engaged. And I was moving way to fast, but I didn't know it then. I thought Brian was just dragging his feet. After our wedding, he told me that he had wanted to be sure that I had gotten my finances and credit issues worked out before he would commit to marrying me. That might sound cold, but if you've ever dated/married someone who plays fast and loose with your (joint) money, you know it is a very important factor. Many couples fight and even break up over money. It made total sense to me that he wanted to be sure we were on the same page before we signed on the marriage certificate. Of course, if he had told me that BEFORE we had gotten engaged, when my fervor for marriage had been at its peak, I may not have been quite so understanding because for a few years, I just wanted to GET MARRIED NOW, DANG IT!!!!

I won't go into detail on what the issues we had were; they are water under the bridge. Nothing was huge or unworkable, but knowing that we cared enough for each other to work through it was huge as we progressed into marriage. We had this couple friend in Albuquerque (they are no longer friends of ours for some good reasons) who told us to be ready, because marriage would change our whole relationship, and everything we thought we knew about being together would be turned upside down. They told us being married is not that great and that they sometimes regretted getting married. Of course, the female half of that couple also told me that I should keep my maiden name because it started with A, and that was good for going back to school, so you can see maybe her advise is a little skewed. As a side note, it was important to both Brian and I that we start our family sharing a last name. Anyway, we had some heavy discussions while planning our wedding about keeping our relationship the same. We didn't want to start taking each other for granted, or thinking that we were married now so we could forget being friends. This goes to the ROOT of a good marriage - we talked about it. We hashed it out again and again, how we didn't want to be married and let our relationship go down the tubes. A conclusion was reached, that basically we felt as though we were getting rings and a piece of paper to just declare what we already knew - we are together, and we love each other. Nothing more, nothing less. I recently told Brian's cousin's fiance (whew) that the ring and the paper only told the world what they themselves already know - how much they love each other. And that was definitely true for Brian and I.

Brian's dad was to officiate our wedding, and he asked that since we could not live apart for the duration of our engagement that we sleep separately. We did so for our whole engagement and it was totally, 100% worth it. He also asked that we undergo Christian marriage counselling, which was a very nice experience, especially when the counselors told us that we really didn't have many issues together and that we seemed to be on the right track to a successful marriage.

I can tell you that at the time of our wedding, my faith was not very strong. I can't speak as to why this was, it could have been 1,000 different reasons, but nothing huge or concrete. So I didn't have the distinct feeling that we were declaring our love to God, although I now know that He was an integral and deep part of our getting married. We did our vows, enjoyed our reception, and spent our first night together as a married couple. God was certainly present in every aspect of our wedding, even if I wasn't totally on board with Him at that time. Funny how that works!

We had a week off to spend together after our wedding, and we enjoyed some relaxing time at home. Suddenly, the wedding I'd been planning for eight months was over, and we were thrust back into work, life, and the mundane aspects of everything. We talked about being married quite a bit, and how we both didn't feel any different... except for a new sense of closeness that we had never had before. Can I tell you I still feel that closeness? Four years and a baby later, sometimes I still look at my husband and think I could not be closer to another human being. Well, I'm pretty close to my kiddo, but of course in a totally different way.

Brian has seen me in good times and bad. He's seen me at my best, and he has definitely seen me at my worst. He has never judged me, but he has held my hand and helped me walk through it. I try to support him in the same way. Our marriage is far from perfect, but we seem to be on fairly smooth waters these days. While I don't believe that we'll never have problems (someday we'll have teenagers, and then... yike, who knows,) I do believe that we'll be able to work through the issues. So here are the things that I think are key to a strong marriage.

1) A desire to work through the bad times. If you feel like when things get rough you just want to throw in the towel, there is no way your marriage will last. It is so important to get through the bad times. Just remember that the good times were there before, and they can be there again. Now, I'm not saying there aren't circumstances that dictate walking away. Abuse is definitely one. Adultery is another, and the Bible even offers you an out in the case of adultery that you just can't overcome. But if you have small issues that seem to be compounding, then it's time to get down to work. No one ever said marriage would be easy just because you love someone. Which leads me to my next key...

... which I'll tell you about in a separate post. I'm sorry to do that and I don't love it when people do, but I also don't want to make you read a novel. If I post it all at once, chances are good you won't read the whole post and I feel strongly about this topic. So check here tomorrow morning... more to come.

Cry-it-out, Night 13 ... so far so good!

This morning Gage woke up at 4:30 AM. We ended up just going to get him, as I had had a very difficult time going to sleep. We had some issues with our upstairs neighbors being obnoxiously loud at around 11:45 PM, suffice it to say their nocturnal activities were louder than they should have been for people living on the third floor of an apartment building. I ended up just getting out of bed for a bit and making another complaint to the apartment company about them... they won't do anything but it made me feel a little better. I'd only been asleep around three and a half hours when Gage woke up, so I didn't have the strength to let him cry. Hopefully we aren't messing things up by bringing him to bed with us when he cries in the night; I really don't know what else to do at this point. He often won't cry back to sleep when he awakes. My hope is that his sleep periods will just get longer and longer until he sleeps until 6:00 or 7:00 AM. We shall see. He won't go back to sleep at 4:30, in case you're wondering. He ended up staying up and playing until about 7:30 AM, at which point we both slept for another three hours.

Tonight was a pretty good night for cry-it-out, at least so far. We started Gage's bedtime routine at 7:15 PM, at his request. We decided that we would just try and space it out enough that it would get us close to 7:45-8:00 by the time we lay him down in his crib. After all of his usual stuff, including some time looking at a Nissan Titan, then a Nissan Juke sales brochure, and doing some colors that way, we rocked him for a bit, told him how much he is loved by us, our family, our friends, and God, we lay him down. He started off laying down, but popped up as we began to walk away, crying. But, he only cried for around 10 minutes! Then he settled right down and went to sleep. We got him down at 7:45 and he was totally quiet by 8:00. This seems an important victory for us. It's 8:45 right now, so hopefully he will stay asleep. I'll keep you posted.

I've been doing some thinking the past few days about marriage, as Brian's cousin is getting married next weekend. They are a couple that remind me a little of Brian and I. They dated/co-habitated for around 5 years before getting engaged. I would like to tell you a little about my thoughts on a successful marriage... but I'm going to do it in another post. I don't feel right lumping that into this post about our crying kid, because that in and of itself brings its own special sort of stressors to a marriage. But my marriage post will address that a little too. So, I'll update again on this post when I go to bed, it should be that Gage is remaining quietly sleeping.

Sometimes, my faith in the teens of today is badly shaken

My friend Alecia and I had lunch today. We ate, had some really nice conversation, and by the time we were done eating, Gage was done sitting. Not being done talking, we decided to walk around and talk, so that Gage could burn some energy. We were at an outdoor mall, so we just meandered down the sidewalk, in the shade of the buildings. In the shade, it was warm but not hot, and the mall was not terribly busy. As we walked and talked, we mostly tuned out the other shoppers. At one point, Gage was walking very slow, and having a hard time not stopping to try and play with his little red car that he was carrying with him. A woman and her teenage son, apparently in more of a hurry than we were, actually squeezed passed, walking on the edge between the sidewalk and the planter beds. I couldn't believe they didn't even bother to simply try saying, "Excuse us." I would have moved Gage to the side so that they could comfortably pass, if they would have just spoken. Instead, they rudely crowded through. I told Alecia, "Just think, she just taught her son that that sort of behavior is totally acceptable!" Now, lest you think we were letting Gage block the whole sidewalk, people were easily passing us on the other side of the sidewalk; I imagine they realized that when you're walking with a toddler you don't make the best time.

So we got passed that interesting scenario. We were back to walking, watching Gage, and talking about Alecia's new niece. I looked up at one point, because I heard loud, bass-y music coming from a passing car. I looked up just in time to see an SUV, window down, with a teenager hanging out the passenger window. He looked straight at Alecia and I and proceeded to make one VERY obscene gesture. I won't tell you what the gesture was, but it was more inappropriate than even flipping us off! With both of our mouths agape, and slack jawed, we watched as the SUV passed. I was so shocked, I couldn't have even told you what either teen in the SUV looked like, what color it was, or even what make it was. I was absolutely shocked that even a teen would make such a gesture at a mother and her child. I am so thankful that at least Gage was 1) too short to see over the plants at the edge of the sidewalk to see the gesture, and 2) is too young to have noticed, even if he'd seen. I don't know what I would've done if he had been a little older and said, "Momma, what does THAT mean?" Or worse yet, tried to imitate it. Here are two 30-ish women, walking down the street with a little kid, and getting a gesture like that! Absolutely disgusting. These were obviously middle to upper-middle class kids, I do know the SUV was newer and not in bad shape. Appalling behavior, to be sure.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I was the perfect teen, or that I've never done anything wrong in my younger years. In fact, that would be the opposite. I was a fan of hot rodding cars, so I would usually try to shock people by gunning the engine, doing burn-outs, etc. Totally inappropriate behavior, to be sure. But I never, never, never would have done something like that, especially with kids in the area. In fact, I once was gunning the engine and burning out in a parking lot of a movie theatre, when I was around 17. I got pulled over by a police officer in the area. He informed me that he couldn't give me a ticket, as we were on private property, but asked me to think deeply about what would have happened if a kid were crossing the street, and the car got away from me. I took that to heart. I knew I could never live with it if I hit a kid. Did I never speed again? Oh, no, I definitely did not stop speeding. But I did keep it down in parking lots. It took me a few more years to realize I needed to tone it down in neighborhoods, but I did learn that lesson too, fortunately not because anything bad happened. Now-a-days, I more often than not look down at the speedometer, feeling like I'm really going way too fast, just to learn that I'm only doing 3-5 MPH over the speed limit. It is much nicer on the ol' insurance rates.

If you have kids, please remember that your actions bear great meaning to them. You may teach them right with words, but are you teaching them right with your actions? It is far more important to be a good example of respect, kindness, and humbleness, than to simply tell your child how to act while you do the opposite. I am still learning this. I have, in my house right now, a little 18-month-old sponge. He sees and hears everything I say and do. With each passing day, it becomes more and more important to be the example of what we want him to be. We can all do with a reminder now and then that while we love our kids, and want them to love us back, we are first and foremost parents. We aren't made to be best friends or buddies, at least until our kids are a good bit older and well into adulthood. It is our responsibility to shape and mold this next generation into kind, giving, humble, polite, functioning members of society, and unless we provide good examples, that just cannot happen. Good examples and boundaries are key.

Anyway. Guess I'll get down off my soap box, and enjoy my evening with my husband. The kiddo has fallen asleep and we can relax.

Cry-it-out, Night 12

Last night's session ended about 3:00 AM. Gage woke up around 2:00 AM, crying like he had nothing good left in his life. We lay awake listening to him cry over the monitor, and talked about how long we'd let him cry. We settled on an hour, and lay there listening. Suddenly, after close to an hour had passed with the cries not subsiding, we heard a huge crash from somewhere in the apartment. Gage was silent for a moment after the crash--and then started crying a horrified, almost hurt sounding cry. Brian and I were out of bed in a flash, running as fast as we could for Gage's room. We discovered him standing in his crib. We grabbed him out of bed, and his cries subsided. We went back to our room, and checked our bathroom to attempt to discover the source of the crash. Finding nothing out of place in our bathroom, we went to bed. After laying in bed for a few minutes, it was decided that neither of us would be able to sleep without knowing the source of the crash. We headed to the kitchen, and there we discovered that a figurine I had made for our wedding had fallen off of the area above our cabinets. Secure in knowing what the source of the noise was, we all went back to bed. We let Gage finish out the night with us, because he had certainly been badly frightened by such a loud noise in the night. He slept until around 8:30 PM.

Tonight, we got the little guy into bed about 7:50 PM. We did his normal bedtime routine, and let him spend some time looking at the GT-R book. He seemed comfortable and sleepy. We said our goodnights to him, and Brian laid him down. There was a moment of happiness for us, as he lay quietly on his side. But then he popped right up and started crying. As of now, it's been around 10 minutes, and he's still sobbing. We had really hoped for a repeat of last night's quick sleep, but it seems it won't be so. Hopefully he'll fall asleep soon, and spend the night sleeping, laying down.

Update: He was asleep by 8:15 PM, so that's pretty good. Now just praying he sleeps through the night!