The Tale of the Baby Swing

Cousin Charley seemed to be the only one who liked the swing in the first couple of weeks. She was too big for it, but would hold on to it and bounce up and down. Now the swing has become Emmie's current bed. She gets an upset tummy quite often and the rocking motion seems to soothe her. Either that, or the rocking motion is actually giving her the sea sick sensation and causing her to be upset when she wakes up! Who knows. Many people might label her as a "colicky baby." If you look up the definition of "colic" you will pretty much find every symptom under the sun for fussy babies. We have pretty much concluded that every baby comes with his/her own manual that is left behind in heaven. It is up to us to figure out what would be written in these manuals that make our babies happy! Emmie follows the rules of her own book we like to call "Emmie Wise!" However, we have found one book to be most helpful. It is called "The Happiest Baby on the Block." by Dr. Harvey Karp. I recommend this book to anyone thinking of bringing a little one to their home. I wish I knew this during my babysitting years! Emmie is soothed instantly when we follow these suggestions. Lately we have found that Emmie doesn't like to hear our voices, or sweet lullabyes when she is upset. She would rather hear me blow drying my hair, or the running water as I wash dishes. So as of late, Jon has recorded the blow dryer and running water on to his computer. We put it on repeat and Emmie is lulled instantly into sleepy land. The noise might drive mommy and daddy absolutely insane, but to Emmie it is the sound of Beethoven's best concerto.