Last night was night #3 of sleep training and I can say that things are getting better all around in our house! We have a rested baby, a better-rested momma, and a relieved daddy. Although we have the mostly the same routine at night, we have added a story every night, which we weren't good about before. Michael takes the story since I feed her, that way they have a bonding time during the evening. I love creeping on them during story time because I think they are adorable together!
Now that Eliza is getting better sleep at night and during naptimes, I now see that she was sleep-deprived before. When I talked to her pediatrician, she said that most babies are because they don't sleep enough during the day. Eliza should be getting about 14 hours of sleep a day, and before she was getting about 12-13. She is a very happy baby when she is awake, and so much more alert :) I am so glad we did the sleep training early and didn't wait until she was a complete zombie. For her first nap today, we turned off her fan so that she wouldn't be chili and let her sleep in just her diaper. There is nothing cuter than this cute baby in her owl diaper :)
My sweet girl woke up in a good mood from nap #2, so we had a good time while I ate lunch.
I felt like dad and I needed a pick-me-up, so I went and got us cherry limeades from Sonic. On the way home, she decided that her little naps have not been enough and that she needed to take another one. When I went to get her out of the car seat, she was asleep, hanging on to her toys :) Such a sweet little baby <3
For the past 2 to 2.5 weeks, Eliza has not been sleeping well. She is waking up every 2 hours and then it is taking a good hour for her to get back to sleep. Needless to say, she has a very tired mommy. At some point you just have to throw in the towel, so I called her pediatrician yesterday and said, "HELP!" She gave us some good pointers, but nothing concrete. So, when Mommy Group came to my house yesterday, Jenny Tyner suggested that we try The Sleep Sense program. At this point, I had nothing to lose. So, after they left, we went on a coffee date with Amanda, stopped by the Resource Center to say hi and then came home so I could start reading. I read the entire book by the time she needed to go to bed. Thankfully, we already had her schedule documented (because I am a nerd like that), and we already had a solid bedtime routine in place, so all we had to do was start!
Since Michael did not have time to catch up, I had him help me and just coached him along when we put her down. I must say, I didn't think Michael was going to make it while she was crying. The program says that you need to get rid of "sleep props" AKA pacifiers when putting them down. Poor miss Eliza cried for 28 very long minutes before she learned to put herself to sleep. We went in every 10 minutes to reassure her, but it was still the saddest little cry I have ever heard. While she was crying, Michael and I read through the workbook together and made a plan!
She woke up at 11pm and cried. The deal is that we let her cry for 10 minutes for before we go in to reassure her. This is very different than normal because I usually rush in to her room as soon as I hear her moving on the monitor. She cried for 3 minutes and then was able to go back to sleep. Amazing!
She woke up again at 2:45am and this time I fed her. When I put her back in her crib, she sang to herself for about 30 minutes, no crying, and then went to sleep. She then slept until 6:30 and woke up without crying. After giving her a few minutes to see if she was awake for good, I went in and gave her ALOT of loving.
After feeding her, I needed food and caffeine, so I sat her in front of the door so that she could look at the birds and flowers. She played just long enough for me to eat and then was over her toy for the morning. The poor thing looks tired :(
After an hour and change of being awake, she was getting pretty fussy, so I put her back down for a nap. On the way to her bed, I shot a pic of the cute little owl on her booty :) Thanks for the outfit Todd, Angie, Bryce and Alexis!
Nap #1: cried for 16 minutes and then put herself to sleep... It will get better.
She woke up in a great mood, so she must be feeling better.
Our little sweetheart is already 5 months old! I know I say it all the time, but I can't believe it has gone this fast! She is an absolute blessing and I would never wish to go back to pre-Eliza time. She is a joy for Michael and I, and will be even more so when she sleeps!
So, I got to thinking... Right now, the cutest thing is when she flips over for tummy time and there is a cute little picture on her butt. This outfit's theme is cupcakes, so she has a big cupcake on it. However, I imagine when she is middle school age, having things printed on her rear will not be allowed and I won't think it is cute. Funny how my views are likely to change over time.
For the time being, cute pictures on her butt are ok... ask me how I feel in 15 years ;)
Saturday, we decided to have a lazy day and an even lazier dinner. We had chicken sandwiches and so had all the fixin's on the table. It also happened to be one of those evenings that Eliza insisted on being held while we ate, so Michael took the dinner shift. She kept staring at something and cooing. We figured out it was the brightly colored mustard bottle when dad set it too close! Right now, she is totally into yellow!
Sunday, we went to Omaha with Brian and Kimmie to take a sight-seeing tour on an old riverboat. There wasn't a whole lot to see, but we had good company, a great breeze and a cheap outing. Eliza was loving the wind in her hair and just kicked her legs and sang the whole time. Now when we got off the boat, she realized she was tired and HUNGRY! So, things went downhill temporarily ;)
This is one of the only family pics we have taken lately, as one of us is usually holding the camera. Thanks, Kimmie!
This morning, we slept in a bit because she decided it was time to play from 1:30 - 3:30 am. While I was getting her much needed coffee and breakfast, I sat her in her exersaucer and noticed she had some awesome hair! We only wash her hair every other night so her little scalp doesn't dry out, so this is day two bow hair :)
Since Eliza is getting so much more active, we have been looking for a new toy for her. Since toys are so expensive, we looked into a used toy and found one today for $10! We think she likes it because she gets really excited at times and kicks her legs and moves her arms. I have even caught her smiling at the toys!
The only problem so far is that she is not quite strong enough to hold her body back, so we have to prop her little torso up with a receiving blanket. She'll grow into it :)
Last night, we had two great friends come over and play games. But, course, the main hit was Eliza!
Alan and Eliza
For a little while, Eliza got to stay up and play the game Colosseum. That is until she started grabbing for pieces and knocking things off of the table! Her little hands are becoming very skilled at grabbing for nearby things. She is getting so fun!
We are working at letting Eliza put herself to sleep, but it is so hard not to go into her room and talk to her. She doesn't so much cry as shriek! After a minute or two or high-pitched shrieking, she resorts to cuteness. She'll talk and babble, in hopes that we'll come play with her. This morning for her first nap, we let her do it all by herself. We walked in about 5 minutes after her last noises to find that she has found a way to soothe herself.
Lately, especially when she's eating, she puts her little arm over her eyes so that the world will be darker. I zoomed in below and you can see she's covering her eyes and got that cute little thumb in her mouth.
When we first moved into our house, we were told stories of the rose bushes in our front yard. I had a little anxiety about them because I thought roses were hard to care for. But, after almost a full summer, I still have roses! After doing much research, I have managed to keep them healthy and blooming all season, with no fertilizer :) Here are too many pictures of my front yard:
My dear daughter is starting to drive me nuts! Last night was the 7th night that she woke up more than 4 times. This means that I am only getting 2-3 hour stretches of sleep, and am basically a zombie. Early this morning, about 3am, I was frustrated because this was her 3rd time up, and she made it all better by giving me a big toothless grin. At that moment, I thought to myself, "That is why we don't eat our young." Who says stuff like that!
She gave me yet another reason "not to eat her" yesterday. I put some rattles on her feet just to see what she would do and she quickly realized she could make noise. Our little baby LOVES music :)
WE HAVE NORMAL POOP! I have been experimenting with my diet for 4 months now in an effort to cure her tummy issues, and I think we mostly have it!! It got much better after I took out the dairy and soy back in April, but still wasn't right. Now that I have taken out eggs, her stools are now the right color and getting to the right consistency. Amazing what makes you happy after you have a baby :)
Eliza is getting to be such a big girl, that she has gotten herself on a napping schedule. So each day, when it is nap time, I put her in her sleep sack, give her the snuggle giraffe and put her pacifier in. Lately, she is out in a few minutes after she talks for a bit. Well, today, I went in after about 5 minutes to check on her and the above is what I found ^..
After giving her a kiss, replacing her pacifier and giving her the giraffe back, this is what I walked in to find. My precious girl!
Today was the Water Communion service at church, so we decided to actually get up and not be heathens. The service is a cool way to begin the church year by everyone in the congregation (all 100+) to share a part of their summer with everyone. Each year is always fun because we have a potluck, but today was especially neat because we had the ground breaking ceremony for our expansion! Exciting times for Lincoln Unitarian Church :-)
Our baby is developing so quickly. From doing nothing to smiling, monster noises, raspberries, rolling over, playing with her feet and now ready to sit up, I am feeling like this is going too fast! Before I know it, I am going to be dropping her off at college. That may be a bit dramatic, but I am trying hard not to blink so I can catch everything. You know, she's only 4 1/2 months once :)
Speaking of playing with her feet, I caught her in action this morning and asked her what she was doing. This big smile was her answer :) Heart melting!
Almost all of my pictures on the blog are of her looking super cute and smiling. Well... today I am posting proof that she can throw some serious fits... and she still looks cute! Thank goodness that she does look cute!
Getting started...
Mad, even though she now has Sophie
Escalating...
Pissed!
Mom starts singing to me and gives me Sophie to chew on... All is good
Then to see my house! Poor Eliza did not enjoy the car ride once again and she has been fussy because she is so far out of her routine! Poor thing is so ready to be done. While on our way home, we stopped at a Panera Bread and Eliza was happy to be out of her seat. Here is a sample of her happiness.
For the rest of the trip she either cried or gave up like below.
After we got home and gave her a bath, she sure looked happy to cuddle with mommy :)
Today has been action packed but so fun! We got to the wedding venue at 8:15 am and the wedding started at 4. I initially thought, "there is NO way we need to be there this early!". Turns out, sure did! We had hair, make-up, and set up to do, while just having fun in general.
Friday started with delicious breakfast burritos (with no egg :( ) from Chiloso and mani-pedis for the rest of the bridal party. Eliza and I went to hang out with all the other people and had a wonderful time.
After nails, we had a lazy afternoon. Mindy, Sarah, Kate, Eliza and I went to Hobby Lobby to look for goodies for Mindy's new classroom. As we were putting Eliza in the car, she showed the non-mother women that is best to wait to have kids until you are ready to change a poop blowout in the middle of a parking lot :) Educational experience!
Friday for dinner, all of the wedding party and friends that were in went to Southern Junction. Its a cook your own steak place that has a live band and dance floor.
Minder and I with the Bride-to-be
We were able to stay out until 10:30 and then decided it was time to relieve the baby sitter. When we got home, sweet Eliza was sound asleep but had wiggled her way out of the swaddle. After re-swaddling her, she slept until 6 am! Happy parents :)
