Being Momma G: Day 63

Sean has been a real trooper today, and if we had to give him a score out of 10, we would have to award him a score of 8.

Today was our 2nd day of sleep training with Sean. We were trying to teach Sean that the bassinet was for sleeping, and that every time we put him in the bassinet, this meant it was time for Sean to go to sleep. On his own.

For the last few weeks, our settling routine comprised of patting and shushing Sean to sleep in our arms, and once he was fast asleep, we'd put him in the bassinet. If he woke up, we would rock the bassinet, but more often than not, we'd pick Sean up and pat and shush him back to sleep in our arms before returning him to the bassinet.

Also, we had been allowing Sean to sleep in our bed in the middle of the night. I was often so tired during the night feeds that I felt it was easier to bring Sean into the bed and feed him there, and after each feed, I'd often been too tired to take Sean back to the bassinet. I'd let Sean sleep next to me, so there was no danger of me dropping him between our bed and his bassinet.

In doing what we've been doing, Sean had not learned to sleep by himself in the bassinet. Going forward, Jonathan and I were going to suffer even more sleep deprivation than we are already experiencing if we didn't teach Sean to sleep on his own, and armed with the tricks and tips gleaned from our full day stay at the Camellia Family Care Cottage, we were going to slowly teach Sean to sleep without too much help from either of us.

Overnight, Sean woke at 2am for a feed. I think I must be learning to ignore Sean's cries, because Jonathan got out of bed, picked Sean up from the bassinet and dropped him on my belly before returning to sleep, all as I was adjusting to waking up from my slumber. Sean fed well, but just as I was putting him back into the bassinet, he woke up and had some trouble going back to sleep. Jonathan took Sean to get a fresh nappy, and he spent about 15 minutes patting and shushing Sean back to sleep.

When Sean woke at 5am for his next feed, I brought him into the bed again and let him stay there. Sean fed on one side only, which meant he would probably want more within an hour or so. Sure enough, Sean woke again at 6.30am and wanted more milk. Jonathan was already at work, so I fed Sean and tried to get some more sleep.

Just before 9am, Sean woke up and would not go back to sleep, so we got out of bed and went to the feeding chair for a proper feed. Afterwards, we went straight into the sleep training, and amazingly, it only took me 10 minutes to settle Sean and have him asleep again. Sean slept for 2 hours before waking for his next feed at midday.

Again, after this feed, we had another session of sleep training. Jonathan wanted to try putting Sean to sleep, but within 10 minutes, Jonathan was starting to lose his patience. I took over and after another 20 minutes, the little man finally went to sleep. Margot had told me yesterday that it was normal to take around 30 minutes from the time Sean was put into the bassinet to when he fell asleep.

Regular as clockwork, Sean woke at 3pm for his next feed, and the sleep training continued. It took almost 30 minutes to settle him, but again, the little proved to us that he was capable of learning new tricks.

Unfortunately, he didn't stay asleep until his next feed. Sean woke around 4.30pm, and with a planned outing at 5.30pm (we were due at the Strata Committee meeting being held in Jeanette's villa), I put Sean in the Minimonkey sling and let him sleep for a bit longer.

At 5.30pm, Jonathan and I wandered over to Jeanette's villa and joined the meeting. Ana (No. 3) and Carol (No. 8) were already there, as was Rita (No. 5). Marie (No. 7) was to have been represented by her son Tony, but he was unable to make it. Lena from No. 1 was away in Italy, and is expected to be in Italy for another 6 months, so she was an apology right from the start. By the time Jonathan and I arrived at Jeanette's villa, we were waiting on Ming from No. 4. Jeanette popped over to see if he was going to be able to make it, but as it turned out, Ming was looking after his daughters as his wife Jessie was out, so he wasn't going to be able to attend.

The only villa unrepresented with no apologies nor notification was No. 9. Jonathan and I were to find out later that the lady who lived in No. 9 was a tenant, and the villa was actually owned by her son-in-law, and she was a bit of a trouble maker. Jonathan had had a couple of conversations with the tenant, and he's walked away from both conversations shaking his head. The first time Jonathan spoke with her, she asked how we were enjoying living in the complex. Jonathan told her we were enjoying life in Denistone and loving the neighbourhood and our little complex, and she told Jonathan rather ominously "It's not what you think". She went on to tell Jonathan that she had had a few run ins with the Strata Committee, asking for various things to be done and the Body Corporate not being forthcoming with assistance. The list of issues she brought up made Jonathan wonder what they had to do with the Strata Committee when they were all issues that she needed to resolve and did not fall under the Strata Committee's obligations. More on the lady at No. 9 later.

The meeting was very casual - Jeanette chaired the meeting, and Tony was re-elected as Chairperson and Secretary, with Rita re-elected as Treasurer. Ana, Carol, Jonathan and I were elected as Councillors, and the accounts and budget reports were passed without any problems nor too much discussion. The levies were to be raised to cover the rising costs of electricity, water and insurance, and the upcoming pest inspection, by $10 per quarter, which we were more than happy with. Jonathan and I would have been happy for the levies to be raised $40 per quarter.

There was very little correspondence, and very quickly, we arrived at general business. Jonathan and I asked if we were able to get a better back gate installed, to allow for easier access than the current chain and padlock system. When we first moved in, I had a lot of trouble with the chain and the padlock one morning on my way to work in the rain. I ended up with rust all over my hands and nowhere to clean them by the time I had finished struggling with the chain and padlock. Jonathan wasn't too enthused about the chain and padlock either. We were given a brief history of how the gate came about, and how the chain and padlock came to being in the gate. We requested that a proper Colourbond gate / door with a handle and a lock be put in, and it was agreed to be added to the 10 Year Plan.

Carol wanted to discuss the possibility of putting solar panels on the front roof of her villa. She had seen our solar hot water system from the bus stop, and had previously gotten quotes to put a solar hot water system into her villa, but was told by the installers that she needed to put her panels on the front roof of the villa, or raised on stilts on the back roof of the villa to get enough sun to power the system. There was also a matter of costs as well - the panels on the front would cost less than the panels on stilts on the back. Carol had previously asked the Strata Committee for permission to put the panels on the front, but the group denied her request, stating that it would ruin the uniformity of the complex. With new owners (us) on board, Carol again asked the Strata Committee to reconsider her request, hoping that we would support her. Jeanette and Rita were both against it, and Ana was indifferent. Jonathan and I love the uniform look of the complex, and we both thought any solar panels on the front roof of one villa would destroy the look and devalue our property, so we voted against Carol. However, if Carol was to install the panels on the back roof of her villa, then we would not have a problem with it. Carol was pragmatic about the votes, and resigned herself to having the panels installed on the back roof of her villa.

Then came the discussion about the lady at No. 9. Her name was never mentioned, so I'm going to call her Niner. Everyone groaned and rolled their eyes when Jeanette brought up the subject of Niner and her complaints. Jonathan and I told the ladies about Jonathan's conversations with Niner, and the others rolled their eyes some more. More stories emerged about Niner and how uncooperative she has been since moving in. Niner poisoned her pine tree, and told anyone and everyone who'd listen that she'd poisoned the tree. Niner also steadfastly refused repeated requests to maintain her garden at the front of her villa, which was overgrown with weeds and looked very ugly. The Strata Committee wanted to pass a by-law to state that each resident was responsible for maintaining the garden patches at the front of their villas. This was the last ditch attempt to force Niner to do something about her ugly garden. We all agreed unanimously to pass the by-law.

There were more stories about Niner. She was exceptionally rude to anyone and everyone who didn't agree with her or benefit her. She had tried to enlist the help of several people to weed her garden, but instead of asking for help, she demanded it. Niner had ordered Warren our gorgeous gardener to weed her garden, and had been so rude to Warren that he now refused to have any dealings with her. Niner had also tried to order Lena's son to help her, as well as Ana's son, and Carol's daughter as well. Niner's latest complaint was that she had metal eating bugs in her house.

Niner had badmouthed Jeanette and Rita to our neighbouring properties, and everyone in the area was well aware of Niner's loony tunes. Niner had threatened to sue Jeanette and Rita for some reason, back in the day when Jeanette was the Secretary of the Strata Committee. After Niner threatened to sue Jeanette, it was decided that Tony, Marie's son should be the Chairperson and Secretary, and Tony was more than happy to tell Niner where to go with her unreasonable demands. Niner had also made a name for herself with our complex's insurance company, as she was known to contact them to get things done instead of speaking with the Strata Committee. The insurance company had a black mark against her name and refused to engage with her directly. What a trouble maker.

I suspect there were more stories about Niner and the trouble she'd caused for everyone thus far. However, Jonathan had to get back to work, and as there was nothing else to discuss, the meeting came to a close and we thanked Jeanette for hosting us, and walked back to our villa. I would have loved to have stayed for a gossip, but I already had one crazy nut in my life, I really shouldn't go looking for more crazy! I couldn't help but think how well Evil Witch and Niner would get along.

Sean was ready for a feed by the time we got home, so we settled into the feeding chair and enjoyed our special mother and son time. It took only 20 minutes to settle Sean, who was doing such a great job with the sleep training.

I kept expecting Sean to wake up, but by 8pm, he was still asleep, so I went and cooked dinner for me and Jonathan. We watched a bit of TV while we had dinner, and reflected how well Sean was going on Day 2 of the sleep training.

It's almost 11pm, and Sean has been asleep now since 7.30pm. He's going to be one hungry boy when he wakes up! Here's hoping that after all the sleep he's had today, he will sleep some more at night without too many problems.