Breaking news...

Approximately 48 to 52 hours ago, young Asher Swint discovered his thumb.  At first it was a smacking, clumsy affair.  Unable to make a seal on the thumb and lacking some coordination, the chunklet proceeded to become very frustrated when said thumb would fall out of his mouth just as he was drifting off to sleep after waking in the middle of the night.  But he would not be dissuaded, and practiced intently until late yesterday, when he perfected his aim and stamina.  Knowing the risks of palate malformation and long-term addiction, his parents are not thrilled on the one hand, but on the other hand immensely enjoy the short-term gratification of less crying and more self-soothing at sleep periods.  Young Asher appears to enjoy this new skill immensely and can be found at many moments of the day, awake or falling asleep, sucking away. 

In related news, today marks the 2nd day of Asher's introduction to entering daytime sleep while still awake, in a crib, rather than being placed into a moving swing, already asleep.  On day 1, he was extremely unhappy about this change of plan, and his mother nearly chickened out.  However, her knowledge that there will not be a swing available all day every day on the family's upcoming vacation gave her strength to persist.  Now on day 2, Asher successfully put himself to sleep for nap#1 and nap#2 in 2 and 20 minutes, respectively.  He did not even cry very hard today, thanks to the aforementioned thumb news.  The first nap lasted only 30 minutes, but the second is shaping up to be a decent one.  Key to helping him through this transition has been a very early bedtime and relatively short intervals of wakefulness.  His mother notes that Asher had become an avowed swing addict, and previous attempts to place him in non-moving sleep sites were wildly unsuccessful.  Perhaps the combination of age, the thumb and allowing a solid hour of crying on day 1 were the necessary ingredients.

Aah.  Life has just gotten way easier!