She's growing so fast....it really is amazing! She's been smiling a lot this week, as well as eating up a storm. It's been kinda taxing on the buffet o' mom, however, she was up every two hours for two nights in a row. Last night was great, though, she gave me a five hour stretch!! It was after about 3 hours of trying to wrestle her into her bassinet. She just isn't quite grasping the whole "sleep is good" thing. I can tell she's so tired at night, but nothing can get her from cranky and crying to sleeping until after 10pm. We tried to put her to sleep for two hours last night, rocking and shhhing her, but not much was working. Hopefully she'll get the hang of it. When we do our night feedings she has no problem getting right back to sleep after eating, so I'm not sure what we're doing wrong! Oh well. We've been a little lax in picture taking, but I'll attach a few...quickly, I hear the little monkey grunting for me next door!!
June 2006 Archives
I discovered the joys of breastfeeding in bed this morning...Audrey had a surprisingly good night last night, after a not so surprisingly horrid evening. She cried from about 6 until 9, when daddy blessedly took her for a car ride and gave me an hour sleep (I think Cory needed to decompress after Edmonton lost game 7 hence the cup, sorry Canuk's). When they got back at 10, she was right back at it, so I nursed her to sleep and she finally went down around 10:30. Then she only woke up at 2:30 and then again at 6:30 - two four hour stretches, so not too bad (I'm sure all of this time keeping is riveting blog material!). Anyway, I wanted her to go back down for a few more hours this morning, but she would have none of it. I tried until about 8, when I thought I'd try this whole breastfeeding in bed thing, and it was great! being able to nurse her and then not have to move her worked like a charm, she was out and then I could snooze. We did that till about 10:30, and it was great. I just hope we have a better day today. She still seems to be hungry more often than our 3 hour schedule. And she doesn't seem to want to nap as much during the day...I guess that happens as they get older. It's just like we discovered with Ollie...we were first feeding him food he wasn't so jazzed about, so he didn't eat much, hence his energy levels were pretty mellow. Once we found him a food he really liked, he required many more walks and romps in the backyard. We briefly discussed going back to the food that kept him near starvatation, but realized that would make us bad parents!
Audrey is in her vibrating bouncy chair on the coffee table right now, and it's giving me quite a nice foot massage since my feet are propped up on said talbe as well. Mommy needs a foot massage, as well as a whole body massage, after the last few weeks! Last night wasn't the best, it took us from 7:30 to 10:30 to get her to sleep. She was up again at 12:30, hungry for more, then again at 3:30 and 5:30 and 7:30. I think she's going through a "growth spurt"...they said to expect it at about 3 weeks and 6 weeks. I'm feeding her like there's no tomorrow! We had our second pediatrician appointment on Tuesday, and she now weighs 10 pounds 1 ounce. What a big girl! She's in the 90th percentile for weight and height, which is great, I'm glad I'm getting her enough milk and she's thriving! The doc was also surprised to see she's already following faces and objects with her eyes...she will follow my face from one side to the other, and she has enoug head control to move her head side to side, as well as hold it up on her own when she's over my shoulder. Cory & I always knew we'd give birth to a genius. :) I went to my first "mommy & me" class that the hospital hosts last week, which was nice! It was nice to share issues and realize that you aren't the only one that has them! I'll continue to go, and hopefully make some stroller buddy friends out of it. Well, that's about it...I'll need to take more pictures and upload them, but I haven't had time the last few days. Hope all is well with everyone!!
We had our first photoshoot at the house last Saturday, and the proofs are ready! I'm thrilled we did this, even though the afternoon was kinda stressful. I should've scheduled the photographer to come in the mornings, since Audrey is a little happier than in the afternoons, but I didn't know that about her yet! Anyway, the photographer was here for about 3 hours, and I had to nurse about four times to calm her down because she was getting pretty upset. I needed a beer to calm me down! It was like 85 degrees in the house, and made even worse by the lighting. But, it was all worth it becasue I think the pictures came out beautifully!! Here's a link to our online album:
http://www.tiffanyjohnsonphotography.com/Pictures/cat.asp?iCat=769&iChannel=3&nChannel=
now everyone will have a preview of the announcements we'll send out, but I don't care! I think these are really special and I'm excited to get a few 8x10's for the house, as well as let family pick out the ones they like for their homes. Yay!!
Well this is short and sweet, as I hear my baby stirring. I'm trying this baby scheduling methodology today, to try to get her on a more predictable eating, playing and sleeping schedule. I don't have much to complain about...she slept from 10 till 2 yesterday (and I had to wake her up at 2 to eat, she would've slept longer!) and then again from 2:30 till 6. We moved her bassinet into her own room. It seems early, but she sleeps fine by herself, and I certainly sleep better without hearing all of her little sleepy grunts and moans...I would constantly turn the lights on to see if she was still breathing, which she was of course. I think it just led to interrupted sleep for the both of us! Anyway, there are so many books and methodologies to follow, so I thought I'd try one and see how it works. Hopefully it will lead to getting her down for bed a little easier, because that's been the toughest thing lately! Anyway, more on how it's working later...bye for now!
First, here's my horoscope for today:
It's difficult for you to find relief when the waves of thoughts and feelings just keep rolling in. Now that wordy Mercury has entered the watery world of Cancer, you are more able to connect with others by sharing your emotions. However, don't expect the intensity to dissipate, even if it becomes easier to express your heart for the next few weeks.
How true! I've been quite moody lately, which I know is to be expected. So much has changed, and as much as I love it, it's also just a lot to take in. Cory has been great at dealing with me and my emotions; I don't know how much worse it would be if I had a less understanding husband! All in all, though, I know to count my lucky stars, because Audrey has been, for the most part, a pretty dreamy baby. So many typical problems a lot of new moms have we've avoided -- breast feeding is going pretty well, she's gaining weight, she sleeps pretty well and pretty much anywhere. The only big problem is afternoon crankiness, which I guess is typical in babies. They say babies get overwhelmed at around 4 - 8pm "Happy Hour" right as dad gets home from work and mom is trying to get dinner on the table, etc. She's definately a crankipuss around that time, and it's difficult to find the thing that would calm her down. Mostly it's to keep moving, but by that time in the afternoon all I want to do is sit down!! Oh well, I'll just have to get used to afternoon walks around the block, or a drive. Those always seem to settle her down.
Continued...
