the 90 minute plan

I thought I'd take this quiet time to write one last post before I go back to work and I'm not sure what my life will be anymore.
Today, savoring every last minute with our Patrick has been so important.  He's really smiling now and I was feeding him just a little bit ago and we were gazing at each other and he cracked the biggest smile.  As milk trickled down my stomach, it warmed my heart and made me giggle.  He also has found his voice recently and will coo and make noises back at Joc and I when we do it to him.  Especially when he's chilling on the changing table and flailing his limbs around as he does.  We just love him so much.
We are trying a new sleep thing- trying to get PJ to sleep for longer during the night, called the 90 minute sleep program.  Basically, we pay close attention to patrick after he's been awake for 60-90 minutes and see if he's acting sleepy.  We then swaddle him or sooth him and he almost always falls asleep and naps for about an hour or more.  This "program" tries to get babies the sleep they need to grow their brains.  It's supposed to help with fussiness, and help them sleep "through the night".  We've only been doing it for a couple days... it's not that hard since Patrick is usually starting to get tired after he's been awake longer than an hour... so we just help him take a nap.  Gradually, over the next month (since he's 8 weeks today) he should have longer awake times and be a better nighttime sleeper.  Whatever, it sounds logical but I've been asking myself repeatedly how long should he be sleeping during the day?  Do I keep him up so he gets better sleep at night?  Any place I looked basically said he should be sleeping 15-17 hours a day... I mean, what is that?!  And many people you ask with kids say, "i don't remember how long my kid slept for... he was awake a lot."  (Not helpful!)  So, when a co-worker told me about this book and I've skimmed most of it.. it makes sense and while PJ isn't sleeping through the night, he's getting better daytime rest and he's still awake and interacting with in between those naps.  And really, I'm savoring the quiet night feeds that are time spent with Patrick in a way that he will soon grow out of (hopefully).
Being a mom is hard work!!  And I thought picking a name was challenging. (c: