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!

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!

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 : /

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! 

Childcare - CHECK!

8 Weeks


Biggest hurdle jumped! We talked to three possible candidates from care.com (well spent $35 to put in our "ad."


Candidate #1 was a 21-yr old Mother with her own 3 month son. We pulled up to her and her husband’s home... very bad first impression. I try not to judge a book by it's cover, but this house was BAD. Trash everywhere on the front porch and the husband’s over-filled ashtray. Red flags! We knocked... and knocked... and knocked. No answer! I tried to be nice and call her cell to ask where she was and it went straight to voicemail - weird. We left that place right fast. (She later left me a VM that her cell battery had died and had to run out to get a new one.)


Candidate #2 was a 46-yr old Mom who has watched kids in her home for 6 years. The neighborhood was cookie-cutter suburbs about 5 miles away, nice clean house and her husband and daughter were home and very nice. She was so nice and very sweet towards Nora. I felt very comfortable in her home and with her.


Candidate #3 was an 18-yr old with 6 yrs babysitting experience. She would actually come to our home, but one day with her rate would be more than two days with Candidate #2! She was very sweet as well. 


I felt so sure about Candidate #2 that we aren't interviewing anyone else and feel confident in our choice - what a major weight off our shoulders!

Nora is pleased!

Elephants & Owls

7 Weeks


Just a shout out to Jannelle and Jen for their lovely animals for Nora - so unique and cute!

Nora’s First Shopping Trip

7 Weeks


Nora isn’t fitting into newborn clothes anymore and her cloth diapers are making her rather bottom-heavy.  So all she really had to last through the winter were onesie jammies. Plus I mistakenly turned down some hand-me-downs from a friend - doh! We needed pants and long sleeve onesies. 


Soo I wanted to avoid school letting out in our neighborhood and the rain approaching so after the 11:15 feeding we headed out first to Target! The best prices seem to be there - Nora got a pair of camel pants and some grey sweatpants and a cute blue-striped long sleeves with yellow accents.


Then we hit TJ Maxx and found some cute casual play dresses. I was heading home on 129 and Nora was snoozing so I thought I’d throw caution to the wind and head out to Bridgewater Falls to Old Navy - I’m so nuts! Old Navy was actually a little pricey, but I knew they had long-sleeved onesies with really cute prints. Plus you can never deny the clearance rack at Old Navy. 


Nora did very well and woke up on the way home with no fussing. We’re heading up to Tipp City on Friday to meet Great-Grandma Heitkamp and have a 4-generation photo, so now Nora will look super cute for the day!

The Artistry of Naps

7 Weeks


Frustration: Nora fights naps. At least for me. She can fall asleep easily in Nana and Grandma’s arms but I get fussy and crying Nora. Supposedly there are signals I should be seeing to lay her down and she’ll simply fall asleep - ? I don’t seem to be hitting this window at the right time and it’s trying my patience and emotions as a good Mother.


So this week I’ll be experimenting laying her down at different times after being awake and see if she can put herself to sleep instead of me calming her down out of her fussiness. 


Wish me luck and please pass on any advice!