Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Hurdle Updates

12 Weeks


Next bottle up: Dr. Brown’s... and he’s workin’ out! I didn’t think there’d be a chance because the nipple is SO small, but Nora seems to be taking to it well. Additionally, I moved my hand closer to her mouth, around the ring of the bottle and rest some of my hand against her cheek which may be helping too. So this made Tuesday and today much better. 


The true test is if Tim can give her a bottle as well as Nana and Gramma Batty! Fingers crossed...


Additionally, putting her down to sleep has been very good - we’ve had a few times where we’ve had to cry it out with her, but the longest she’s gone crying is about 45 minutes. It wasn’t as hard as I thought - getting her to take a bottle is actually more stressful for me. 


Not to mention this weather has been so awesome - I actually have the windows open and yesterday I read some magazines on the deck while Nora slept! Just lovely.





Monday, February 27, 2012

Hurdles

12 Weeks


This weekend was Cry It Out sleep training... and it went way better than we anticipated! Nora is actually fairly good at putting herself to sleep when she’s drowsy! We were proud of her! Of course Tim goes back to work on a Monday and I go to lay Nora down for her first nap when she’s drowsy and the fussing and crying begins... sigh. She doesn’t cry per se, it’s more of a whining and yelling out. I hope this isn’t how my whole day goes... 


Bottle: one step forward, two steps back. She took 4oz from Tim fairly well on Saturday - we used a Playtex bottle/tan rubber nipples instead of a clear silicone nipple which is softer. But then trying it last night didn’t fly well... so I’m going to try the rubber nipple again today. I have back-up bottles to continue experimenting with.



Thursday, February 23, 2012

Growin’ Boot!

11 Weeks


The peanut is breakin’ out of her shell! Those 0-3 month onesies are no more - I put on a onesie that has been hanging in her closet - size 3-6 months - and it fits like a glove - whoa! Better start shifting her wardrobe!


I feel like once Nora hit 8 weeks it was easier to dress her in actual clothes - before that, onesies just seemed to be more “baby” like. 

Her and I hit Buy Buy Baby yesterday to get some larger swaddlers too - that tall drink of milk is growing out of those too! 


Sportin’ booties from Spain - thanks Cousin Brian & Fayza!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Movin’ & Shakin’

11 Weeks


Tim put Nora to bed facing North-South. She woke up facing East-West - ! And she is swaddled twice like a burrito. That kid is wiggling in circles - wowsers!


[She has also had three nights in a row of sleeping 9+ hours straight - woot!]

Friday, February 17, 2012

Sleep Training

10 Weeks


So in one week we plan on sleep-training Nora. The Ped said we could have started a month ago - my instincts said “too young!”


A few of my friends have found success in the “interval” training - where you go in and console them every 3, 5, 7, etc minutes. So that makes me hopeful. 


So if anyone else has done any type of sleep training that worked for their kids, feel free to send me a message!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine’s Day

10 Weeks


Who is that baby in the nursery? She’s slept over an hour so she can’t be Nora : )


Nora has slept through the night three times now! And thankfully she did this past Saturday night when Mommy wasn’t feeling very good! 


And since she’s been sleeping over an hour just now, I know she can put herself back to sleep because I’ve heard her wake twice now, but was back asleep when I went in - so that gives me some hope for sleep training which I want to attempt in about two weeks here...


Tim was home with a cold two days last week - it was nice having him here even though he was in bed - I wouldn’t expect him to be so hands-on since he wasn’t feeling well. So he was only at work one day then back home for the weekend - we were spoiled!

However I got what he had and Mommies don’t get a day off! I’m glad I was feeling gross on the weekend, that way Tim could lend a hand.

Hope everyone finds a little sunshine on this dreary Valentine’s Day!


Friday, February 10, 2012

Mommy Time Part 2

I hadn’t mentioned that last week Thursday my team at work got together to celebrate one of the girl’s upcoming nuptials - Tim was great to take a half day so I could take off by 4:30. Even though Tim is my equal in this parent thing, I was so nervous leaving Nora - making sure she was content and they had everything they need; re: a full bottle. 


Getting out and seeing my coworkers at Local 127 was more fun than I anticipated - it was great to talk to other people than Nora and Tim [no offense lovies!] and having some apps and a champagne bevvie felt fabulous despite its trivial-ness. 


I was only there about an hour and a half and came home to Tim and Nora and a nearly-full bottle - DOH! Miss Nora has been spoiled by the boob and has forgotten how to drink from a bottle or, really, refuses because she knows she can get much fresher by crying enough that I succumb to her tears! 





Mommy Time

9 Weeks


During my 20 minute treadmill time this week I started to attempt a little running - and honestly 10 minutes was better than I thought I could handle! Even just 10 minutes feels great and I forgot how good it feels to sweat! 


My plan is when I’m home on Fridays to take Nora out in the jogger stroller and get some time running outside for myself - should be interesting because I know running with those things are hard. Plus if I can another sliver of time on Sundays to have alone running time and get longer mileage, I’ll feel like I have a smidge of my running self back. 

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Those 2-Month Shots

9 Weeks


Ugh, yesterday was all kinds of dramatic in the first half. 


I tried giving Nora her infant Tylenol before we went for her shots, but it never crossed my mind that she wouldn’t swallow the meds! It just dribbled out all over onto her outfit and the burp rag - I tried three times and even stuck my finger in her mouth hoping she’d ingest some of it! 


We got to the pediatricians; Nora is 11lbs 8oz [75th percentile], her head is 50th percentile and 24" long [90th percentile!]. She does not have acid reflux like we thought all the spit up and chunks may have been. And despite her panting and “anxiousness” we think she has, it’s just normal... she’s probably just a high strung baby as some may be. 


Those three shots... simply AWFUL. She cried hard after the first one, but then because she was so tense the next two were increasingly bad. She cried so hard, she was actually silent at one point, having to catch her breath - it was painful to watch and I was surprised at how emotional I became. My tears spilled over once I was in the car and she was passed out from exhaustion in the back seat.


I mentioned that Nora hasn’t been taking bottles well lately and our Dr said we’d better get on that fast - okay! Geeeez. 


She wasn’t concerned about the 1/2 hr cat naps and I’ve since come to terms that’s just Nora’s bag - she’s a power napper. I was a little taken aback that our Dr recommended Crying It Out already - ! I feel Nora is still a little young - I’d be more comfortable trying that in another 3 weeks. I’m not against CIO, but I’d rather try the gradual extinction where you go console the baby after 5-10-15 minute wait-outs. 


So Nora is on track still and we’re making our way through each day!


I will NOT swallow that cherry-flavored goo!





Monday, February 6, 2012

Sock-a-roos

Thanks for the cute socks Aunt Molly & Uncle Jonathan!

9 Week Growth Spurt?

9 Weeks


No Nap Nora has flipped on me again - she has been sleeping all day! At this point, I’m going to go on a walk around 3:30, then try to keep her awake after 4pm today! 


She had very few naps this weekend, and was up for 2+ hours last night as well as woke up at 6am - not common for her. So she’s been sleeping all day today which has happened before and we’ve attributed it to a growth spurt. 


She always keeps me on my toes!


You know I’m seriously tired when I actually sleep in this thing!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Punk’d

8 Weeks


The night after her miraculous slept-all-night, she punked us and woke up twice last night - 2:30am and 5am. On top of that, she has only fallen asleep for TWO half hour naps today. Fail! It’s frustrating because you think it’s your fault but the girl just doesn’t give in to rocking, swinging, or songs! This child does not fall asleep on her own by just lying her down in the crib! At least it’s the weekend and I have Tim as a partner in this instead of battling it on my own like weekdays : /

Friday, February 3, 2012

Shhh!

8 Weeks


She fell asleep during burp time around 3:15.


I needed to take advantage of this weather and go on a walk, so I disturbed her a bit while getting her dressed and in the stroller.


She slept all 40 minutes of the glorious sunny walk.


We got back home and I gingerly got her out of the pumpkin seat onto the couch cushion... and have left her there for half an hour now! I didn’t want to wake her up taking her to the crib! 


Am I crazy?



Oh, Sleep

8 Weeks


This week has been very good overall... 


I’m still frustrated with Nora’s lack of napping - her normal now is about 4 half hour naps a day. I worry this isn’t enough, but have read that some babies just don’t nap long - she wakes up fairly happy, but this lack of day sleep builds up and by evening she’s cranky and exhausted. 


I did some trials and she seems to nap better without being swaddled! 

And what’s interesting is that the day naps help with night sleep, but Nora’s few naps haven’t hindered her night sleep - in fact she only wakes once during the nights. Goes to bed typically between 7pm - 8pm and last night - she slept slept through the night!! 8:15pm - 6:45am! I know I can’t expect this to be her normal yet, but a very good feeling. Of course, I got just 7 hours of sleep before my boobs woke me up at 4:30am, but hey, I’ll take it!