The Happiest Baby on MY block

Okay, so I don't know if my baby is actually the happiest baby on the block.  I do know that at least 3 other babies have been born on my little street alone, just since Gavin was born, and I also know that my baby is super happy and easy. When Jackson was a few months old I read The Happiest Baby on the Block.  It was very helpful and something I wished I would have read earlier in his life.  I've taken some of those techniques and put them into action with Gavin at a much younger age.  It could be the book.  It could be me.  It could just be the way he naturally is, but he really is a very happy baby. 

Here are some easy math equations for you:

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Let me break it down for you.  In that first picture is a miracle blanket and an exercise ball.  Those two things are the key to my happy (AND SLEEPING!) baby.  

I started swaddling Gavin from the very beginning. But those first two weeks, he seemed to constantly struggle with being swaddled.  He'd grunt and wiggle non-stop, as if he were trying to get out.  So I stopped swaddling and didn't notice any difference.  He was waking up every two hours, regardless of what I did. But around the 7 week mark, I decided to give it another shot, with a friend's borrowed miracle blanket.  And he slept for 9 hours straight!  SOLD!  Now, since then, he has managed to squirm his little arms and legs right out of the miracle blanket, no matter how tight I make it, so now I wrap him in the miracle blanket and then use the velcro wrap around part of the halo swaddle blanket and wrap that around the swaddled miracle blanket.  He hasn't managed to wiggle his way out of that situation yet. 

The second part of that equation is an exercise ball.  If he is ever fussy or crying or just not sleeping when I want him to, I cradle him on his side (so we are belly to belly) and bounce.  I mean really bounce.  High.  Like, however high you are imagining me bouncing, bounce higher.  He stops crying instantly.  Every time.  

I discovered this exercise ball technique by accident when Jackson was about a year old and was sick and I was at my wits end.  It's like Xanax for babies, without the risk of child-protective services coming after you. 

I think the second picture kind of speaks for itself.  Sleeping baby + sleeping Mommy = HAPPY Mommy!  Now if I could only get my three year old to sleep in!