Weight: At our six month appointment, we got some surprising news: Lizzie actually weighs about a pound less than we thought! When she went in to be checked out a few weeks ago for her cold, they weighed her with all of her clothes on. But at a Well Child visit, baby goes down to a clean diaper for their weighing -- so apparently she wasn't 14 and a half pounds that day :) So her real weight this week is 13 pounds, 10 ounces -- still hanging out in the fifth percentile for weight. Her length is 25 and a half inches (25th percentile) and her head circumference was in the ninth percentile.
Sleep: I'm not going to lie: it's been a rough week for sleep in the Bristow household. Lizzie has been waking some nights as often as every hour and 20 minutes -- not necessarily to eat, but just because. After a few nights of waking every couple of hours, I decided that maybe I needed to toughen up and try having her cry a little. So at 2:00 that morning, I let her cry for 10 minutes before swooping in. When I did come to her rescue, I tried the ol' "stand by the crib, rub her tummy and let her know Mommy is here" trick. Didn't work. She cried for a half hour straight that way, but I figured she had to get tired and fall asleep soon. Well, she did, and I thought I was an awesome mom: let her cry, but not all alone and abandoned like my vision of crying it out would be. So I went back to my cozy bed, was almost asleep, when not two minutes later, Lizzie woke up and gave a full-fledged cry with all that little lung power. So I nudged Andy and told him it was his turn, and gave very specific instructions not to pick Lizzie up, but to try soothing her by rubbing her tummy and letting her know Daddy was there. I asked him to do this because I felt like I'd just 'invested' 30 minutes in trying to break the habit of Lizzie needing us to fall back asleep, and I didn't want to teach her that if she cried long and hard enough, we'd give in. Anyway, he did those things exactly and just beautifully. But fast forward 30 more minutes, and poor baby was still crying, and we were still not sleeping. So at this point, we'd spent an hour total with Lizzie crying. Obviously, it wasn't working, and I felt like an hour was the limit. We abandoned ship, Andy picked her up, and right to sleep she went until morning. At that point, we felt a little perplexed -- do we pick her up, soothe her, and sleep soundly after comforting her in the middle of the night for five minutes, or do we continue to try to have her cry while we stand by her side for an hour? Decisions, decisions. Any thoughts or advice out there?
Which brings me to my next dilemma: bedtime routine. How many of you rock/rocked your babies to sleep completely? Because I enjoy it and don't mind it at all and want to cherish every second of it because I know it doesn't last forever, but will I "ruin" her for life?
Anyway, the nighttime wakings seem to be better, but not completely taken care of. Last night she woke twice -- once to eat, and once just "because" (I'm sure she has a good reason, but she can't share it with me, really :)).
Sleep: I'm not going to lie: it's been a rough week for sleep in the Bristow household. Lizzie has been waking some nights as often as every hour and 20 minutes -- not necessarily to eat, but just because. After a few nights of waking every couple of hours, I decided that maybe I needed to toughen up and try having her cry a little. So at 2:00 that morning, I let her cry for 10 minutes before swooping in. When I did come to her rescue, I tried the ol' "stand by the crib, rub her tummy and let her know Mommy is here" trick. Didn't work. She cried for a half hour straight that way, but I figured she had to get tired and fall asleep soon. Well, she did, and I thought I was an awesome mom: let her cry, but not all alone and abandoned like my vision of crying it out would be. So I went back to my cozy bed, was almost asleep, when not two minutes later, Lizzie woke up and gave a full-fledged cry with all that little lung power. So I nudged Andy and told him it was his turn, and gave very specific instructions not to pick Lizzie up, but to try soothing her by rubbing her tummy and letting her know Daddy was there. I asked him to do this because I felt like I'd just 'invested' 30 minutes in trying to break the habit of Lizzie needing us to fall back asleep, and I didn't want to teach her that if she cried long and hard enough, we'd give in. Anyway, he did those things exactly and just beautifully. But fast forward 30 more minutes, and poor baby was still crying, and we were still not sleeping. So at this point, we'd spent an hour total with Lizzie crying. Obviously, it wasn't working, and I felt like an hour was the limit. We abandoned ship, Andy picked her up, and right to sleep she went until morning. At that point, we felt a little perplexed -- do we pick her up, soothe her, and sleep soundly after comforting her in the middle of the night for five minutes, or do we continue to try to have her cry while we stand by her side for an hour? Decisions, decisions. Any thoughts or advice out there?
Which brings me to my next dilemma: bedtime routine. How many of you rock/rocked your babies to sleep completely? Because I enjoy it and don't mind it at all and want to cherish every second of it because I know it doesn't last forever, but will I "ruin" her for life?
Anyway, the nighttime wakings seem to be better, but not completely taken care of. Last night she woke twice -- once to eat, and once just "because" (I'm sure she has a good reason, but she can't share it with me, really :)).
Medical Issues: None! We did start Lizzie on multi-vitamin drops (that smell disgusting, by the by) to ensure she's getting enough iron since I'm nursing (formula has added iron to make sure baby is getting enough, but breastmilk doesn't have that, and apparently baby's "stores" of iron are used up by around six months).
Clothes: Our three to six month gear is a little big yet. Still wearing zero to three month jammies.
Clothes: Our three to six month gear is a little big yet. Still wearing zero to three month jammies.
Socialite!: Just continuing to hang out with the kids at daycare and with our families :) And being friendly with the people that sit around us at mass on Sunday mornings, of course :)
Diet:Still
nursing Lizzie exclusively while doing baby-led weaning. We've introduced mango and butternut squash now, and I continue to be amazed at how much her fine motor skills have advanced in such a short time. The butternut squash I made tonight was cubed into two centimeter cubes (roughly), and she could pick those up and even have enough room in her grip to nibble on it -- pretty awesome. She loved the mango and has really learned well how to hang on to and control avocado, so that seems to be a big favorite of hers as well. I've started putting cinnamon on her sweet potato fries as well. Antioxidants + exposure to new flavors = two great things :) Lizzie has also now tried (sucked on) a strip of pork loin, taco meat, sloppy joe meat, and a skinny strip of homemade pizza which she loved because of the sauce. So far, there's been no negative reactions to anything, which doesn't really surprise me because there's no family history anywhere. I know I've said it before, but I repeat: we l o v e baby led weaning! We continue to be amazed at how awesome Lizzie is at it, and we find it hard to carry a conversation at supper now because we're so enamored by her eating skills!
Baby Gear Love: Lizzie still loves that silly Fisher Price Go Baby Go! 1-2-3 Snail. It's one of the few things she looks interested enough in to consider rolling over for... We're still loving our Fisher Price Luv U Zoo jumperoo, our high chair and her OXO Roll-Up Bib.
The weather has taken a turn for the worst in Minnesota lately. Well, not the worst, really, but definitely so in terms of cold at this time of year. We've had some frigid, single digit mornings (with below zero wind chills, I'm sure!), so we've been very appreciative of our JJ Cole Car Seat Cover and Lizzie's "warm suit". She stays super cozy in there -- we're often amazed at how toasty she is when we pull her out of her car seat! We debated and went back and forth on what type of outerwear to get for Lizzie for winter, but I think the warm suit we went with is perfect -- not too warm that she'd overheat in the car seat, but still enough warmth to not worry about her (especially with the car seat cover).
The weather has taken a turn for the worst in Minnesota lately. Well, not the worst, really, but definitely so in terms of cold at this time of year. We've had some frigid, single digit mornings (with below zero wind chills, I'm sure!), so we've been very appreciative of our JJ Cole Car Seat Cover and Lizzie's "warm suit". She stays super cozy in there -- we're often amazed at how toasty she is when we pull her out of her car seat! We debated and went back and forth on what type of outerwear to get for Lizzie for winter, but I think the warm suit we went with is perfect -- not too warm that she'd overheat in the car seat, but still enough warmth to not worry about her (especially with the car seat cover).
Crying: She is one sweet baby. She's only fussy if she's hungry or tired :) Although I have noticed some "stranger danger" tendencies where she'll cry if a stranger gets too close.
Mommy News: Mommy is off for the rest of the week from work and is looking forward to not having to get Lizzie up and out the door quickly in the morning! Yahoo for Thanksgiving break!
Milestones: I've been working a lot on showing Lizzie how rolling is a means of travel to try and encourage her to roll from back-to-front (we've been rolling front-to-back since she was born), and I think I'm getting my message across. She's finally started to show interest in rolling from back-to-front, and I think it will be soon that she's successful :)
She's sitting like a pro now! Not that I'd sit her down and walk away, but I don't have to worry too much about her, really.
It seems like overnight, Lizzie realized she can reach for things. And I don't mean just reach -- she's been doing that for quite a while. I mean really stretch and reach and lean toward whatever it is she wants (which happens to be anything and everything, by the way!). She's also started leaning toward who she wants as well -- it's a pretty awesome change. She puts all her body weight into her lean and stretches that little arm and fingers so hard toward what she's got her eyes on.
She's also started throwing little tantrums, which we (currently) find hysterical. She often wants to look at the remote control for the TV or our cell phones, and sometimes we'll put them behind a pillow or under the couch so she stops being so distracted by them... but doing so elicits a breakdown for her. If she's sitting, she'll fold forward all the way to the ground and rest her forehead on the floor and just cry -- it really is pretty hilarious :) Poor girl is trying to get a point across and all we do is laugh!
And maybe one of my favorite things so far: she pats our backs now when we hold her :) So sweet. It kind of (er, completely) melts my heart.
Rock, rock, rock! I rocked and/or nursed all of our babies to sleep. By 14 months they all were putting themselves peacefully to sleep on their own and sleeping through the night. (except for Audrey, but I'm still learning that she is not your average child!) I'm a firm believer in a baby needs his/her mommy and does not wake out of "habit". There is always a reason, even if it is "just" a cuddle. When you're a teeny tiny baby in this big world, that cuddle is a BIG thing!
ReplyDeleteIt worked for us, which obviously means it should work for every other family out there. ;) Do what feels right for you! If you're ok with her crying, let her cry, but be consistent with it! If you're not ok with it, pick her up, give her some snuggles or nurse her and put her back down. This is a big reason why we bed-shared. So much easier to just roll over, feed baby and fall right back to sleep! :)