About a month ago, family photographer Jenny Sherouse came to our home for Harlow's six month photo shoot. Jenny has graciously volunteered to photograph Harlow every three months to track her whole first year.
Here's the photo shoot from when Harlow was first born (or as Mazzy says, "when Harlow was bore-EN") and here's Harlow at three months.
What's that you say? By your calculations, Harlow is nine months now? Yes, that's true. Our timing got a little out of whack. That's what happens when two women have kids and jobs and what not. Coordinating schedules is HARD.
Like SLEEP TRAINING A BABY HARD.
This is Harlow's six month photo session actually taken at seven months and finally getting posted at nine months.
Still with me?
Harlow didn't seem to care about the timing snafu. She was too busy posing and preening for the camera.
But just so Jenny didn't get too comfortable, Harlow would whip out one of her evil glares, so Jenny knew exactly who she was dealing with.
At the shoot, Harlow was already an expert at crawling, standing, and cruising. It would have been impossible to get her to stay still long enough to snap a photo, except she also seems to thrive on EXTREME EYE CONTACT.
She just stole your soul, in case you want to ask for it back.
Harlow spent the day alternating betweem a Little Hip Squeaks headband and her signature combover.
I'm not sure at what point Harlow's Epic Baby Hair turned into Harlow's Hair Club for Men, but here we are.
My favorite picture is of Harlow sitting on Mazzy's bed. Those cheeks are as delicious as they look.
Of course, Harlow might look this cute because it's before we tried to break her of her bad sleep habits.
Speaking of which, should I give you a brief rundown of what went on for Sleep Training Day Three? (Click here to start sleep training from the beginning.)
I'll just continue to post cute pictures of Harlow (in happier times) throughout.
Day Three was a little rocky. Harlow didn't nap well all day (she cried straight through her first two naps and ended up passing out in the stroller at 2pm) so she was EXHAUSTED by the time I got home from work.
Erin (our sleep consultant) said we should put everyone to bed as close to 6pm as possible but Mazzy wasn't finished with dinner yet. I didn't want to risk Harlow getting overtired (she was already getting fussy) so I put her down first while Mazzy finished dinner.
This might have been the wrong call on my part.
After dinner, we went through Mazzy's routine in the living room before putting her in bed at 6:30. Then she came out of the room three minutes later because she pooped in her nighttime diaper so I had to go back in and change her. This meant both Mazzy and I disturbed Harlow multiple times throughout the first hour so the crying stopped and started a bunch before finally stopping altogether at 6:50.
Typically, each night of sleep training gets easier but I guess with a second kid in the room, all bets are off.
Mazzy continued talking in bed until about 7:15.
Then all was quiet.
Harlow slept until 3am when she started crying. I went in, gave her a pacifier, rubbed her blankie on her cheek and walked out. Every time Harlow wakes up, she stands up in the crib, hanging on the edge at the spot closest to the door. When I walk out after the check-in, she is still standing in this position. I need to get a picture so you see how sad this looks.
Thankfully, Mazzy slept right through Harlow's crying, as she has done every night so far.
Harlow stopped crying right after I walked out and slept until 5:50am. Erin had said to start the day if she wakes up at 5:30am or later but in my exhaustion, I forgot. I gave her the pacifier and tried to go back to bed.
Harlow didn't go back to sleep which woke up Mazzy, so we all went into the living room to start the day at about 6:05am.
Day Three was officially over.
I think Harlow still loves me, right?
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Thank you to Jenny Sherouse for continuing to document my family. Unfortunately for me (but maybe good for some of you!), Jenny is moving to Greensboro, North Carolina this fall. If you live in the area, I highly recommned her!
God her eyes.. she’s adorable.
Such great photos!!!
I want your wallpaper. What is it?
Your children are gorgeous. Almost as gorgeous as my own ๐ I love reading your posts, it’s like we share a brain sometimes.
Even if you didnt have a blog, i think you should be legally required to share your baby photos. That kid is so cute my eyes can’t even handle it. I hope you have a million more babies for me to awe over!
Ha! I really loved the story about everything going wrong while there are ADORABLE happy pictures. My brain was so confused. Oh that sucks. OMG SO CUTE. Oh no! ADORABLE! EEK.
Now I need more coffee to recover.
That last photo is the sweetest.
I know the sleep training is hard, but GAH your daughters are so gorgeous I can’t get past the pictures. I want to eat those cheeks…
I’m with Casey, this post was a roller coaster of “who should I hug first” . Hee.
Beautiful pictures! And I’m glad I’m not the only one who does pics late – I finally got my daughtee’s 6 month pictures done yesterday at 8 months! I should probably just call them her 9 month pictures because by the time we go again she might be 12 months! Lol
Inspired by your sleep training, I’ve been implementing an earlier bedtime. Yesterday didn’t go so well but I’m not giving up hope. The first night was wonderful, so I hope we can get there again. I’m shooting for 7:30. It’s nice to get a little time to myself instead of being so wiped out that I fall asleep when my girls do!
Keep up the good work and don’t forget we want to see Harlow glaring from her spot in the crib!
Your night three was identical to me. I posted a comment on Fb. It’s so crazy how similar really. I started my day today a lil earlier than I had liked to also which was 6:30 and it’s because she went to bed extra early last night. She has gone down for her first nap today around 8:30 though and that’s new :O I hope it works out for us both.
Oh and your pics are just to adorable for words. I really enjoy peeking into your life and not feeling like I am crazy or if I am I’m not the only one ;P Good luck today/tonight!
You and Mike make ridiculously cute kids. I think Harlow is starting to resemble Mike a bit more.
AWWWW, Harlow is so adorable, I can’t take it!! She and Mazzy are both so beautiful. I’m sorry to hear that Night Three of sleep training was kind of rocky, but hopefully tonight will go better!
Totes Gorg! That one of her looking the other way with a “ah!” look is PRICELESS. Seriously, you’ll have to stop or I’m going to have to make another baby. Ok, maybe don’t stop…
BTW, I tried putting both 7 yr old and 3 yr old to bed as close to 8:30 as possible last night – usually it’s after nine, I know, I’m a monster. OMG – They were the most joyful kids this morning. The only time the 7 yr old got upset was when I was combing her hair, but just a normal upset, not a “LET GO OF MY HAIR YOU BITCH! CAN’T YOU SEE IT’S ATTACHED TO MY HEAD??” kind of upset. Minus the bitch, but I know that’s what she means. No drama. Wow. Didn’t think I would ever see the day. I’m shooting for 8:15 tonight! Goal is to move up bedtime to 8pm, per Erin’s advice. I know it should be more like 7:30, but let’s start with 8:00.
good job!
Does Harlow need any extra “grandma” kisses? Because I could conceivably hop on a plane, kiss those sweet cheeks, and be back in time for work tomorrow.
Major cuteness. I love these post for the pictures and for sleep training. I feel like I am doing the right thing. Mine has been asleep 11 hours now. Woohoo. I should be taking a shower and things around my house but instead I am reading blogs.
I just wanted you to know that as a first time mom and reading this it has convinced me to sleep train my little man. I am going to start tonight. If it doesn’t work doing what you do I will go ahead and consult someone cause it appears that you are having some success and a goodnight sleep for my little man whom is 7 months would be fab ๐ thanks so much for sharing ๐
New to the blog and I am loving it! I’m sure you’ve answered this before, but where do you get Harlow’s headbands? They are darling!
I am a first time mom and we are in the middle of sleeping training too! We have definitely made mistakes along the way but we are getting there. Your blog helps me realize I’m not the only one out there going through it and you go through it with such humor I absolutely love it! Thanks for keepin it real for all us mom’s out there just trying to get through another day!
Little Hip Squeaks: http://littlehipsqueaks.com/
Welcome to the blog!
Thank you so much for posting! We are sleep training our almost 6 month old and the tears just break the my heart but I know she deserves to know how to fall asleep. This post helped me feel like we are on the right track!
is there a day 4…? or 5 or 6? ๐ I like the play by play! We live in a one bedroom apartment, so we are our daughters roommates. It is making it difficult to sleep train …. Thanks for the posts!
I’m 8 weeks pregnant with my first and know absolutely nothing about how to care for a baby. I’m moving away from everyone I love–except my husband– thank you for sharing your experience with sleep training as I intend on doing it right from the start and cannot afford a professional sleep trainer. This post has been invaluable for me, and given me some confidence I will be able to do it. You are a very good writer. Thanks again
I’m just in love with her big beautiful eyes! So cute!
Just found your blog and love it!
I am on Day 2 of Sleep Training my 11 month old – and almost every detail of your story is exact as mine. Including my babies temperament -etc. I did give up trying to keep both my girls in the same room – and moved my 3 year old’s toddler bed into our bedroom – at least I got her out of our bed! My goal is to get the baby asleep and then move the toddler bed back in to that room. I’m hoping and praying for the success you had – it’s been brutal so far! So happy to have found this blog tonight :).
Came across this old post in a search for answers as I’m getting desperate with my 10 month old’s sleep! I’m going to attempt something similar to you and just wondered- you noted in this post that when you’d leave the room she’d be standing in that spot… (My son does the same) but when she stopped crying and went to sleep had she lowered her self down on her own? My guy doesn’t seem to be able to do so without help. Which means this process prob wouldn’t work for me…
just wanted to reply to you. two things i’ve noticed with my other kids that may help. first, you can modify the sleep training a bit, although the experts caution against this. help him get down and pat his back a bit. after several tries, he may stay. but if you want to stay rigid, he’ll eventually lay down. he’ll either physically be too tired to stand up anymore or he’ll just figure it out. hope this helps.
ahhhhh, thanks for this. I have four kids. Each time i embark on the sleep training process i need reminder that the baby wakes up the next day a beaming, smiling child, and that my mental health is 500% times better, to boot. I’m about to start on #4, who just turned 1 year old.
When you go in to put a passy in her mouth and she is standing do you lay her down first? And then put the pacifier or do you just put the pacifier while she is standing? My 7 month old cries bloody murder and won’t take the pacifier. He has cried so bard that he is losing his voice. I really don’t know what to do so I have started putting him on the swing to sleep for naps.
Thank you so much for your blog, your sense of humor, and your honesty. I have an almost-9-month-old who is extremely strong-willed. Your description of your youngest pre-sleep training was an exact description of Giorgio. We took your plan and made it fit our situation a bit but just knowing Harlowe also cried for close to two hours that first night made us stick with it.
Now it is night #3 and the impossible has happened- after just 15 minutes of soft whining, Giorgi was fast asleep in his crib.
I am going to thank YOU, hugely, for our good night’s sleep !!
Thank you so much for being brave enough to post about your sleep training experience. Somehow I let my 4th baby decide he was a co-sleeper. He sleeps in his bed (in a room shared with his big sister) until about 2 am (or less), and then gets up insisting on nursing. I am so tired, I give in, bringing him to my bed, where he sleeps/nurses until morning. Occasionally, I can stay awake long enough to put him back in bed, but he often pops up the second he hits the mattress, only to cry unless I pick him up. He is 2 weeks shy of 18 months and I am so done. Sleep training night 1 is tonight. I hope to come out with a good result and a good night’s sleep soon. Thanks for Sharing your story! It has given me just the boost I needed to get this done.
I’m so happy I found this series of posts! Your energeticHarlow sounds exactly like my 7 month old Oliver. Always hyped up, terrible mapper and sleeper…
We also got trapped in a cycle of holding off sleep training due to sickness and then teething followed by more sickness and then we ere out of town for awhile and Back to sickness again… Excuses blah blah.
But we are going to try this! He’s not a pacifier taker or thumb sucker so hopefully he finds a way to self soothe. THANK YOU!!!
Came across your blog…and reading it to boulster me as I deal with day one of sleep training… First go at 9 months old…cos she still wakes up to breatfeed 4-10 times a night. depending on her preference haha. she’s definitely not starving. .being above avg weight percentile. ..just stuck in bad habits.. sigh. and my precious last born. clearly I haven’t learnt. we are about 1 hr and 15 mins in and no let up…poor baba. strong willed. good thing I have a strong husband . all this in same room as my 3 & 5 yr old who havent even woken once..miracle I tell you.
anyway…this post comes from deepest darkest Africa…Zambia to be precise. Thanks for your blog ๐
i can soooo relate..parenting issus are universal no matter your culture or country. ..
I just want to say thank you for posting this! I have tried to sleep train my 7 month old since he was 4 months. But could never stick with it long enough (the crying just broke my heart) but because of this post, I just sleep trained my baby boy in 35 minutes. I was surprised when I went in to check on him when he went silent. Asleep in the position I left him. I’m excited to see how he does the rest of the week. Thank you so much mama!
Thank you so much for posting this!!! By describing your daughter, you described my 11 month old son to a T! Tonight is night 3 and the past 2 nights he’s slept for 10 hours straight!!! He used to wake up countless times a night and this tired momma was so frustrated. Now we have our happy baby back and sleeping too.