Apparently I forgot to knock on wood and cross my fingers and kiss my four-leaf clover. I wrote the post “It’s a miracle: swaddling” because Ryan slept most of the night after we wrapped him up in a swaddle blanket, two nights in a row!
But the 2 nights in a row after that were absolutely terrible. He was up at LEAST once an hour. Steve and I were not getting any sleep at all and we were cranky. I suggested we go back to co-sleeping and Steve reminded me that I complained about that before, because Ryan kept flailing and keeping me up.
Steve wanted to try the crib out for a few more nights – he thought Ryan could get the hang of it and that maybe it’s just because he’s teething right now.
Last night Steve got home from work just before midnight and I was standing over a screaming baby in a crib, near tears myself! At that moment we decided.… back to co-sleeping!!!
We slept like a dream. That’s not the only reason I love co-sleeping though… I love my cuddle bug and his warm little body, I love watching him sleep and waking up to his face in the morning, I love nursing his sleepy little eyes and I love making him feel safe, comforted and happy.
DOGHOUSE TO PENTHOUSE; With Groupon, Lefkofsky and Keywell bury the past. go to site groupon phoenix
Crain’s Chicago Business December 6, 2010 Byline: STEVEN R. STRAHLER A decade ago, Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell seemed to be turning themselves into business pariahs, with one failure behind them and an even more spectacular one looming. Today Groupon Inc., the fast-growing social-buying website they bankrolled two years ago, is so hot that Google Inc. offered $6 billion for it.
The two 41-year-old venture capitalists/lawyers were able to surmount the 2001 bankruptcy of Ha-Lo Industries Inc., a dot-com bust that quickly devolved into charges and countercharges of misrepresentation, by linking up with several of Chicago’s old-economy powerhouses. The pair then leveraged their elders’ reputations to launch successful web-based companies, starting with InnerWorkings Inc., which went public in 2006, that set the stage for Groupon.
Among InnerWorkings’ other early investors: former McDonald’s Corp. CEO Jack Greenberg, 68, and John Walter, 63, a retired R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. chief executive.
“The endorsement of someone of John’s stature certainly made it easier to sell the novel concept to other smart investors,” says Scott George, Chicago-based head of investment banking at P&M Corporate Finance LLC, who helped line up backing for the startup. (His son, Stephen, is Groupon’s director of operations.) Regardless of whether they hold on to Groupon, take it public or sell it, Messrs. Lefkofsky and Keywell could move to a bigger stage as tech venture capitalists. “It will increase their cachet and connections in other parts of the country,” says angel investor Ellen Carnahan, a former venture fund manager at William Blair Capital Partners LLC in Chicago.
NOT-SO-SILENT PARTNER Though Messrs. Lefkofsky and Keywell are partners in many investments and have been pals since their years at the University of Michigan and its law school, they don’t share equally in the spotlight. Mr. Lefkofsky is far more prominent, in part because he likes to talk and write and blog. Mr. Keywell, the Teller to Mr. Lefkofsky’s Penn, doesn’t even update his personal website.
Both declined to comment even after reports late Friday that Groupon’s directors rejected the bid from Mountain View, Calif.-based Google. In previous interviews, they described Chicago-based Groupon as one of their more iffy prospects, especially compared to more straightforward ventures that brought web efficiencies to printing, transportation and other established industries.
There was a hit-and-miss search for the right strategy at Groupon – stabs at advertising– and fee-based models fizzled, as did merger considerations – before they and CEO Andrew Mason settled on the concept of offering group coupons daily to consumers, for 50% of the sales. “Had we not been persistent and almost reckless in our continual attempts to try different approaches, there would be no Groupon,” Mr. Lefkofsky wrote on his blog. web site groupon phoenix
To date, Messrs. Lefkofsky and Keywell say they have returned $1.5 billion on more than $150 million in investments in five tech companies they set up. Their return on Groupon probably will make their previous gains look downright paltry: They launched the site with $1 million. Their combined controlling stake is worth more than $3 billion, based on Google’s $6-billion offer.
They just started a new fund, Lightbank, with plans to invest $10 million in startups annually over the next 10 years.
BUST AND BOOM Sam Skinner, 72, who was White House chief of staff and transportation secretary under President George H. W. Bush, chairs Echo Global Logistics Inc., a Lefkofsky-Keywell venture that went public last year. Mr. Skinner, a former chief executive of Chicago-based U.S. Freightways Corp., says the two complement each other: “They’re really seamless. Eric is more strategic-oriented. Brad is a guy who is more operationally oriented. Eric moves very fast. Brad is a little more measured in his response.” Messrs. Lefkofsky and Keywell stumbled in their first business deal. Fresh out of law school, they bought Brandon Apparel Group Inc. of Columbus, Wis., and shut it down six years later, leaving a trail of burned creditors.
Their transaction with Ha-Lo was more disastrous. In early 2000, they sold Starbelly.com, a 13-month-old e-commerce firm, to the Niles-based promotional products company for $240 million. As the dot-com bubble burst, the debt-burdened company wrote off its entire Starbelly investment and sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
After the débâcle, Mr. Keywell, who was president of Starbelly and Ha-Lo, stepped away for a while, joining Equity Group Investments LLC, run by Chicago billionaire Sam Zell, who had graduated from Michigan and its law school a generation earlier.
In a Q&A in a recently published book on Midwest entrepreneurs, “How They Did It,” Mr. Lefkofsky blames Ha-Lo’s collapse on Ha-Lo itself. “The company that acquired us was a failed rollup,” he says.
Baloney, retorts Ha-Lo founder Lou Weisbach, who stepped down as CEO a year before the Starbelly transaction. “I don’t think the rollup strategy was a failure at all. We grew the business every year for 27 years,” he says.
Now managing partner of Chicago-based Stadium Capital Financing LLC, Mr. Weisbach adds, “Having said that, I wish these guys well and am proud of what they accomplished.”
You’re so right. Those moments right before they fall asleep and the moments in the morning are absolutely priceless. Makes up for the hitting in the face in the middle of the night
Austin now rolls on his side, reaches for the boobs and nurses in his sleep and just cuddles. It melts my heart. You’re such a great mommy! They’re only this sweet for a little while. Let’s cherish it 
:):)
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I love those moments of cosleeping too. We’ll start the transition this summer but I will miss it!
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Awwww that’s too cute!! So what is it do you think? He just is use to having you near and prefers that?
Man, that gives me more to think about!! So glad you’re getting better sleep now!!
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I say don’t be in such a rush to end the co-sleeping. I know a lot of medical professionals say it’s bad, but I think it strengthens the bond between mother and child. Moo and I have been co-sleeping since her second day on this Earth and we love it. She’s almost two and I have to say that she has become my security blanket. Although, I think she’s the one who’s ready to depart into her own bed.
So, I’m trying to cherish these last few months of silent bonding.
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Such a sweet picture! That’s how my son and I sleep every night. My husband is anxious to move him to the crib (he’s 9 weeks old), but I can’t imagine waking up and not seeing his face snuggled up to my chest. I had never planned on bed sharing before he was born, but I love it.
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Yea I definitely think he prefers that! He’s just a little baby, you know? He wants his mama, he wants to feel comforted and safe. Someone on twitter said to me that we’re the only primates that leave their babies alone to sleep at such a young and vulnerable age. I agree… it doesn’t make sense! So, back to co-sleeping
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I agree! I love co-sleeping and think it helps us bond… and I’ll miss these days when they’re gone! My husband was the one a bit more anxious to get him used to his crib. But I think we’re on the same page now with going back to co-sleeping – I had him read a bunch of articles on the benefits of it
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So far I love having Samantha in our bed. She won’t sleep for more than 45 minutes in her bassinet, so I usually bring her in the bed with us. I am SOOOO paranoid about pillows and blankets though, I don’t know if I actually sleep any better!
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