Babies new foods: Squash

So on sunday we started monkey on a new food. We decided to try some squash. She sort of made a face at first but then continued to eat it so I guess that she liked it? lol. She made a wierd face when Chris pretended to take a bit off her spoon instead of giving it to her. So now around lunch time we are giving her a tablespoon or two of rice cereal and then at supper time a tablespoon of squash. She gobbles both up it makes me feel again she isn't getting enough breast milk. I think I am done with nursing, or at least mostly. I probably will not drop the just before bed, in the middle of the night or the morning feedings unless when we get to that point she doesn't want to nurse. I made it to 6 months so I am happy with that. The only thing that scares me about stopping is that I nurse her to sleep. I wish that I wouldn't have gotten in that habit but for my own sanity it was just so much easier. At night time Chris can get her to sleep but it takes almost an hour (if for some reason she wakes up when we try to put her in her crib) but then she has the natural it's night time so you should be sleeping clock going against her trying to stay awake. I have no idea what I am going to do during the day to get her to nap! I'm usually stressed enough trying to get her to sleep long enough, or get enough short naps in that she isn't cranky mccrank pants all day long. I guess doing it sooner then later is better since I will have to go back to work in Jan and I won't be around to nurse on demand anymore. The question now is when will I actually start to wean. I might wait until after her next baby well check (which is next week) and be able to talk to the nurse and the doctor. I have no idea what to do anymore....

Her not sure what to think face...

Not impressed that daddy is pretending to eat her food face...lol

My newest favorite site...blurb.com

I have always wanted to be able to print off my journal so that I don't always have to be sitting at my computer to reread it. I never thought it would be possible to have it printed in such a nice way. I figured I would just have to sent it all to my printer and print it that way. That was until I found blurb.com!

It was so easy! I just downloaded their application so I could make my book offline (you can just do it online at their website as well) and away I went. There are so many layouts and choices and you even are able to build a page from scratch. I finally was able to place my order and I finally got my book yesterday. I was a bit nervous since I wasn't sure of the font size and I had ordered two copies. The highly recommended that you don't order multiple copies on a newly uploaded book in case it doesnt turn out the way you though. But hey, they were having a promotion and I needed two and I didn't want to have to pay shipping twice. So I took a chance. I originally started my journal online to share my pregnancy and beyond adventures with family and friends that we do not see all the time.

The only person that really never was able to sit down and read my journal on a daily basis was my mom. She is not a computer techy person nor does she even have one. So I ordered one for me and one for her. I can't wait to give it to her! I now am planning a few other ones as well. One for the planning of my wedding and our building a house adventures! I think I will be even more creative with the design and layout of these ones. The only thing I will do different is that I will make sure that I edit all my photos! Some of them turned out a bit dark but that was due to not correcting the colour etc.

I also love that it was printed in Calgary which meant that I didn't have to worry about any duty or tariff fees if it came from the states. I was a bit worried about that. Here is a picture of the cover and a random page inside!

love, love, LOVE IT! :) It will be nice to share it with friends, family that don't have a computer and also with Monkey when she is older.

She really is a monkey... and some more firsts :)

 This past Sunday I was at my sister's house for my niece's bridal shower and monkey showed her true colours.... that she really is a monkey! LOL. My other niece was holding her when she did this to look around at everyone around her. :) Below are also some firsts from the few days or so...



monkeyness



first time eating rice cereal

Her TWO teeth. We thought it was only one before, but there are two!

Her first monkey toy!

First time she tried to put her toes in her mouth.

First time wearing the bird hat I made her.

First time in her new highchair!

She is a sweetie and continues to make us smile with joy everyday! Here's to many,many more firsts!

catch up...

So I haven't written in my journal in the last week. I haven't really felt much like blogging or doing anything really. I really didn't feel all that well last week. Mostly tired and felt pretty sluggish and no energy. Today has been much better. I don't know what changed but I sure am glad.

Lactitonist:

Last Friday the 26th we had our appointment with Heidi. We booked it at her suggestion the last time we saw her, so we could make sure that she is on track weight wise since we don't go see the doctor again until she is 6 months. Her weight was 14lbs 7oz (with clothes and diaper), so she estimated she probably was around 14lbs 4oz. She has dropped of her weight curve but Heidi said that is normal at this age. So in a few weeks it will be good to see if she is staying on that curve or if she is still dropping. She still is only getting about 2oz each feeding but she seems to be okay with it and has had enough diapers.

I haven't been logging when she eats anymore and I think it's helped me with my sanity. I felt like I was feeding her all the time, which I was, but I was always watching the clock. I think I am feeding her maybe 10 times a day instead of 12 but that is only because we are trying to get her into a nap routine. Not recording her feedings though is such a relief. A few times I needed to do so again just to make sure I was feeding her enough, but like Chris said, I can bf her anytime I want to. I don't have to wait until she wants to since if she isn't hunger she won't eat. 

Before seeing Heidi I was pretty convinced I wanted to ween. My original goal was to nurse until 6 months then switch to formula and start to feed her solids. I was just worried about how I was going to get her to sleep for naps since I always bf her to sleep. Plus I am taking donperidone and I wasn't sure how to ween while still taking that. But after talking to Heidi I've decided that somewhere between 6-12 months I will wean but only after she isn't dependant on breast milk as her main source of food. Heidi mentioned that eventually she would only need to bf about 3 times daily. That sounds pretty easy and she mentioned that eventually we will be able to give her cows milk. She made me feel like once again I can do this. In a few weeks we will have her 6 month checkup and shots and be able to discuss solids with the doctor. I seriously can't believe I have made it this far! It's so unreal to me since I remember when I was in tears crying on the couch because I didn't think I could continue but knew that in my heart formula wasn't an option. I am pretty stubborn like that :),

Sleep:

I am still having problems with her sleeping. The victory I felt last week was short lived. Today I am logging basically everything we do. Every time she yawns, gets cranky, rubs her eyes, eats, goes for a nap etc. Hopefully after a few days or a week or so a pattern will develop. So far today I have had her go to sleep easily with nursing and stay asleep when I transfer her to her crib. That in itself is a victory since usually between standing and trying to put her down she wakes up. She still woke up after about 20 mins. Both times I was able to lull her back to sleep. I was out of there again within 10 minutes.

I am doing something that Chris said to me over the weekend. He was trying to get her to nap because I needed a break from doing it and sometimes when someone else does it they find something that works. Well at one point he said to me that she was going back to sleep until I stuck my head over the crib and she saw me. Then she was all smiles and wanted to play. So today every time I had to go back in there to lull her I stuck my arm through the slats on the side to sooth her and that way we couldn't make eye contact nor could she see me. It worked! It actually worked.

 I still need to do a few things to make her room darker though, especially with the door. It's fairly dark in there now but anytime we go in or out the light from outside lights her whole room up. I might need to put two nails above the frame of the door so I can hang a dark blanket on it and open and close the door between the door and the blanket to minimize how much light from the hallway/front door goes into her room. I also think if I can ever find my book light I might have to spend a few days in her room while she naps so that at any sign of movement I can touch her / sooth her so she never wakes up enough to not go back to sleep. According to the no nap solution eventually she won't need you to do that so here is hoping. I don't mind staying in there to do that if I can read and sitting on the floor beside her crib I doubt she would see the light from the book light so it won't wake her up. It sucks staying in there in the dark and staring at the wall!

Simply amazing:

I have mentioned this to my mom before but I still find it amazing that every night I go to sleep and overnight I am always awake 5-10 mins before Monkey wakes up wanting to eat. This is never the same time so it's really neat how the mommy instinct kicks in after you have a baby, even if it doesn't feel like it. :)

Here's hoping that tommarrow and her naps are better yet again. Today I feel like there has been some progress but I know I have felt that before. Only time will tell I guess!

She sleeps!

11:44am

I *might* have found something that works with Monkey's naps. A few things sort of clicked and I really hope it's not just a fluke. It's really three things, room being dark, making sure she is warm enough and rubbing her hand to lull her to sleep.

Over the weekend my cousin Cindy mentioned that with her oldest he wouldn't nap unless he had a blanket on, even if he didn't feel cold. For the last week or so I have been putting a blanket on Monkey's crib sheet since it is cool in there most of the time and I keep the door closed to try and keep it cat hair free as much as possible. The front of our house is always cooler then the back where the great room and wall of windows are. We even closed one of the vents in there to try and warm it up a bit. Anyways I decided today on top of that bottom blanket to wrap her in another one. I also tried rubbing her hand to lull her to sleep. Chris told me a few weeks ago that that worked for him before he went to work once. I have been bringing her into our bed when she is up for the day and feeding her lying down soI can wake up slowly and maybe get a few extra minutes of sleep while she is eating. He rubbed her hand after she was done and she had went back to sleep. Even though she looked wide awake it worked! The best part was that she was already lying in her crib so I didn't wake her up when setting her down.

I really need to get her used to sleeping at certain times and to go to sleep easily since before long we will have to lower the mattress in her crib and I much don't want to be breaking my back trying to set her in there while asleep. She wakes up easily when it's at it's highest setting, I couldn't imagine what it would be like lower. I've had a bit of hope for awhile now that it would get easier since the last week or so at 4am feeding I am so tired that there is no way I am going to sit there and rock her to sleep when all I want to do is sleep myself. So I feed her, hug her, put her in her crib, give her a kiss, tuck the blanket around her, say good night and go back to my own room and you know what I never hear a peep out of her until the morning. That led me to believe that her room was not dark enough. So I have been on a mission to make it as dark as possible. I'm not totally there, there are a few things left i can do but it's 75% better then it was! So that is a start.

Tommarrow I am going to find my book light so that I can read in there while trying to get her to stay asleep. The no cry nap/sleep solution said that if your baby wakes up completely between sleep cycles you might have to sit outside her door for a week or so and run in there as soon as you hear them cry to help them back to sleep. Sometimes the don't cry right away so by the time you get in there it's already to late. If that is the case, and that is how monkey is, she suggested sitting in a chair right by the crib but out of sight. That way as soon as you hear them stir you can help them back to sleep and eventually after a week or so you won't need to help them. I look forward to that day, but today has given me hope! I have been in there a few times so far. I think a good time for her naps are 10am and 2pm although since her sleep schedule last night was messed up I held off her nap for a little longer and hope she will sleep until pm1 this time. I hope this really does get easier. It would be nice to get things done around the house!

5 months old! Where did the time go!?

Happy 5 month old birthday Monkey!

Today you turn 5 months old! I can't believe how fast time has flown by! It seems like yesterday that I was in the hospital in labour telling myself over and over again that before I knew it you would be here and this time would be past.

Weight: ~You are roughly 15lbs (Daddy over the weekend weighed you on the home scale)

Height: ~You are roughly 25 inches (also measured at home)

Hair colour: Your hair is dark like Daddy's, with a red tint to it when in the light.

Eye Colour: Your eyes are dark, almost black.

Diaper size: You are in size 2 now or M in Bummis Cloth diaper covers

Clothing size: You still fit into size 3-6 months, but we mostly put you in 6 month old pj's since your feet seem to be always squished in smaller sizes.

Sleep: You sleep pretty well at night...when we get you to sleep. You are in bed by 7, asleep by 8 and sleep until either 2am or 4-5am, then back asleep after a feed until 7am. So you only wake mommy up once or twice a night. Naps are another story since you are stubborn and will fight sleep but are much more fun to be around when you do nap :) We are both learning the best way to get you to sleep and stay asleep.

Feeding: You are still fed on Mommy's milk, with the very odd formula supplementation and only when we need to go somewhere and I was unable to express enough milk. You have also tried strawberry and cucumber but that was more to see if you were interested then actually getting you to eat any of it.

Favorite toy: Crinkle bug is your favorite toy that Uncle JP got for you when you were born. You take him everywhere with you. (He is so dubbed crinkle bug because he has a crinkly tail and is long and skinny with wings.)

Nicknames: Mommy and Daddy call you Monkey, it was Little Cashew before you were born, but turned to Monkey when you were able to kick and punch in the womb. You are also called baby mouse sometimes.

Funniest moments: When you giggle at the funniest things, (like crinkle bug being made to hop around your swing by daddy, or mommy shaking her head up and down).

Favorite moments (mommy): I love when I come get you in the morning when you are up for the day and as soon as you see me you smile. Love you monkey!

Milestones:

- You can hold your head steady when in an upright position, actually that is all you ever want to do. Being on your back on the floor is no longer interesting to you because you can't see anything.

- You can raise your chest when on your stomach, supported somewhat by arms. You in fact do the superman move. Your legs are lifted off the ground and your chest as well with your arms flailing about trying to reach and touch everything in sight. If only I had that kind of ab strength!

- You can roll over one way, although you haven't seemed to want to do this the last few days. You were once able to roll back to your back as well, but haven't seen that repeated yet.

- You follow objects when they are moved around in front of you.

- You squeal in delight and giggle more often.

- You reach for objects.

- You love to feel anything and everything in front of you.

- You smile spontaneously and when seeing mommy, daddy and other people.

- You can hold items, like a rattle and shake them, also you can hold objects with both hands, especially to put them in your mouth.

- You have started to jibber jabber, mostly saying ma-ma-ma or da-da-da (so cute).

- You also like to try and reach for things out of your reach and sometimes depending where you are, you sort of scoot on your back to get to them.

Firsts:

- You tried strawberry and cucumber for the first time. It was only a few licks but it's a start. You seem to like the strawberry but made a funny face when you tasted the cucumber. Very soon we will actually start you on some solids.

- You went into your Jolly Jumper for the first time. At first you weren't sure what to think but once you were in there for a few minutes you really loved it.

- You rolled over for the first time!

- You also have your first tooth! It has already poked through the gums a little bit. We can feel its razor sharpness! It's the bottom front one on the left side.
- You also found your feet for the first time and never waste any change to grab onto them, especially when you are on the changing table and mommy or daddy are trying to change your diaper.

I can't believe this much time has past. We are looking forward to seeing our little one continue to grow!

First tooth, Jolly jumping and Sleep frustrations oh my!...

TEETH:

Last night after Chris got home from work he was holding Monkey and he was letting her gnaw on his finger. He was like, 'wow there is something really hard in there since it hurts now when she chomps on my finger'. We put her on the ground to look. I washed my hands and felt along the bottom of her gums and sure enough I could feel her first tooth! We tried to get a picture of it but it was hard to get it to focus and take it fast enough before her tongue shot over it. This was the best I could get lol.

gnawing on Daddy's finger.

It's really hard to see but you can see the white line.

JOLLY JUMPER:

I also started to set up the Jolly Jumper before Chris came home so that we could put her in it for the first time. She didn't know what to think at first and kept looking down at her feet! It really didn't take her to long to get the hang of it after a little bit. She was having lots of fun. I'm sure it will only get more fun for her as she gets better at it. She was smiling and giggling. We only left her in there for less then 10 mins. I think we will continue that every night when Chris gets home. I didn't realize how much room it takes up though! I like that it's portable, since the only door frame we have are in the bedrooms and bathroom and that's no fun since it's not anywhere near the great room/kitchen.

Not to sure what to think.

Having lots of fun!

SLEEP:

Tommarrow monkey will be five months old. Is it normal at this age for babies to be hard to put down to sleep at night/nap time? More often then not, at least at night, she is nursed to sleep or at least to a sleepy state since by the time I stand up to put her in her crib she wakes up almost completely. Just now after she woke up at the 30min sleep mark, I once again had to finally burse her to fall asleep. She was crying a lot so I gave her some tylenol to see if that helped. She was gnawing and pulling at her ears so I don't think the tooth is completely through yet. I should have giving that to her at the start. I did try some baby oragel but it was really hard to get onto her sore spot since she like licks your finger and puts her tongue in the way. So I nursed her and took her off once she stopped sucking to eat. I'm pretty sure she had a let down. I don't see how she was hungry though since I just fed her 40 mins before. Do babies go through growth spurts at five months? Even if she got a let down I think it was more of a comfort thing.

Anyways, after taking her off and giving her her soother I rocked her for a few minutes since I had to shift her and put her into my arms a bit better, I stood up and rocked her back and forth until I was right in front of the crib, put her down and she of course woke up. This time though, I read somewhere that you can sort of push on the mattress gently beside her and that might lull her back to sleep. Since she was still drowsy it freakin worked! So hopefully she will sleep at least 1.5 hours.

Last night after we got fussy-stubborn head to sleep (after 1.5 hours!!!), I didn't hear her until 5am!!! I was in shock and at the same time worried that something was wrong, but I told myself that 'no you always wake up at least 5 mins before you hear her move around'. So I got up to go to the washroom and realized that my breasts were engorged and my left had leaked through my reusable breast pad. At that point I was like, 'awake or not I NEED you to eat'. She did and when she didn't drift right off to sleep after putting her back in bed I left the room to go back to ours. I didn't hear her until 7:15 am! She slept for almost 3 hours her first nap ( I did have to help her back to sleep a few times but I think she woke up more due to teething pain more then anything) and then another shorter 30- 40 min nap. According to the no-cry sleep/nap solution better naps during the day = better sleep at night. Now if I could just get her to go to sleep faster without crying most of the time that would be ideal. Anyone have any tips? I don't want to let her cry it out, at least not this young becaue I think she still is to young for that. Any opinions though are welcome :)