"Gerberizing" and weekend

Last Saturday when I went shopping at the supermarket I met a friend and he told me that him and his wife were starting to "Gerberize" their baby that weekend. I was wondering whether he meant that their baby is eating "Gerber" baby food for the first time, but realized he was probably talking about "Ferberizing" their baby as he seems to be a bad sleeper, waking up every three hours.

We had said that once we were settled here we would do some sleep training with Lilli as well because while we were in Germany she had developed some weird sleep patterns (waking up three and more times a night). When we arrived here we wanted to give her some time to adjust. We have been here a month. She adjusted really nicely first and we were very happy. She slept from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., took a bottle, and went back to sleep until about 7:00 a.m. But the problem is that she always needs the bottle to calm herself down. I think I had mentioned before that she is not using a pacifier. She needs the bottle to fall asleep. We still were happy with that sleep pattern.

But as usual just when you think you have finally figured out your baby they are doing something completely different, because they are at a different developmental stage.

The last couple of nights she had been starting to wake up again at weird times. For example she woke up at midnight one day and at 1 a.m. the next. We decided to finally start some sleep training with her.

I hope you don't think we are cruel. But we actually let her cry it out the last two nights.

The first night was rough. I so wanted to get up and give her a bottle. But I knew she would never learn it if I would just give in. She screamed for what felt like a long amount of time. I finally got up and checked on her thinking she might have rolled over. She hadn't, but of course once she realized that her screaming had made me get up to look after her, she screamed even louder. Well, eventually she fell back asleep, but it took her a while. I think she woke up about three or four times that night. Yesterday during the day she was in a surprisingly good mood and also took two naps. Last night was much better. She fell asleep and only woke up at 5:35 a.m. this morning, but went back to sleep until 7 a.m. We will see how tonight goes. I hope it will go even better...

Yesterday we went to church. We are so happy that we have already found a church here. It is very different from our church in the States and much more conventional, but is international and has an English service. The pastor and his wife are super nice and they also have two children. Everybody in that church was so welcoming and we felt like we have found a new family here. Yesterday after the service there was a potluck at the pastor's house. It was awesome. Good food and good company made it worthwhile... It was one of the best days we had here so far. The problem is that security is a big issue around here. You always have to be aware of your surroundings.

I haven't really told you anything about our new place yet. We actually have three floors and a rooftop terrace with a great view over the city. Each of the four bedrooms has its own bathroom. We have 7 bathrooms in this place...

The building has a heated pool, sauna, steam bath, gym, and its own squash court... I really love this place especially because it has tons of storage rooms. I finally found a maid and she has started today. So far I am very happy. It is so good to have some help cleaning. We could never afford it back in the US, but labor is cheap here.

Because our apartment is so big, tomorrow night we are having Salsa lessons here. I am very excited as I have been wanting to dance salsa for quite a while. Some of dh's colleagues are coming over and we have a teacher come as well. It was a Xmas gift from his boss to the office. What a great idea!!! I am wondering what I can make. Dh thinks a cake would be wonderful. I only have the problem that everything is still new. Our stuff hasn't arrived. I am still getting familiar with the produce here. And we only have a pie pan. I haven't found yeast here. Do you have any ideas for a pie without yeast? Or any other ideas? You guys have given me all that great advice in the past and I hope that you will be able to give me some ideas.