Some non-baby related sad events and an update on the sleep training

Well, I don't have a new video yet but I do have an update on a few things. First, I want to devote a few lines to my Grandpa Wilkinson who died yesterday. I think he was ready to go but I was a little sad that I didn't see him more often before he died. He is actually the reason why my first name has a 'y' in it (his first name was Jay). Anyway, I really think he is a lot happier now so that is the good part.

Another thing I want to mention is that my Uncle Ken, my aunt Victoria's husband and the driving force behind a lot of the donations we have received, recently found out that he has cancer and will began treatment very soon. We are all praying for him and he is writing a blog that you can read here at http://kennethcarlson.blogspot.com/.

Next, I would like to give an update on the babies. I mentioned in some of my last posts that we are doing sleep training. This was a very unpredictable task for us since there isn't a whole lot of data or books out there to tell you what to do with 5 babies. However, things are going pretty well. We started off in December with just doing a strict routine and putting them down at night awake and letting them fall asleep on their own. This took a few nights but now is very nice. In the beginning, a few of them, Ryder in particular, cried for a few hours before finally giving up and falling asleep. Over time, they cried less and on the third or fourth day, there really wasn't much crying at all. Now, we just do the big routine and then put them in their beds with smiles on their little faces and they go right to sleep without making any sound and without us doing anything more.

The next big step will be to actually help them sleep all the way through the night. More on that later...