Quality Time

Steven went on a climbing trip this weekend.  While it would really be nice to get to spend time with him while I'm on my break, it has been so pleasant to get to spend some selfish quality time with Davie.  She is doing sooooo great these days (except for last night, yipes!).  I really appreciate being able to predict when she is going to wake up, get hungry, and get sleepy.  It makes me feel confident and of course it is convenient when your life seems anything but consistent.  

On an average day she goes to sleep around 7:00 or 7:30pm and then I get her up and feed her around 9pm (she stays asleep while she eats).  USUALLY, she sleeps til 7:00am and wakes up blissful . . . however, last night was a different story (see below). She usually eats around 7:30am, 10:45am, 2:00pm, 5:30pm, and 9:00pm (4-6 ounces each feeding).  She has been taking her longest nap after the first feeding.  Usually 1.5 - 2 hours.  She has another long nap after the next feeding, usually 1.5 hours.  Then after the other feedings she might have a little cat nap of 30-60 minutes.  

Yesterday she did soooo wonderful.  She slept without interruption between 9pm and 7am.  Then she slept 2.5 hours, 1 hour, another hour, 30 minutes, and then went to sleep at 7:15pm last night.  I think she got a little TOO MUCH sleep, because last night she woke up every 3 hours (midnight, 3am, 6am) for seemingly no reason - diapers were no big deal, wasn't really hungry, just awake.  So it took a lot of rocking and pacifying each time.  Oy.  Finally we both got up at 7:20am this morning to start the day.  We'll see how things go.  

Needless to say, I can't wait for Steven to come back this afternoon, so I can get a little break.

Some Pics

This is the Dread Pirate Davie!  The reason the costume doesn't fit just right is it's actually made for a dog.  Oh well!

This is her investigating the camera.  

I tried to take a picture of her curly top . . . but it didn't do it justice.  You can kind of see it in the photo above.  Just like her Poppop's.

This is Davie in her Christmas gear.  She looooves the Christmas tree and all the lights.  This is the smile I get to see ALL the time!  I love her.

So Davie has been sleeping 8-9 hours pretty consistently every night.  But the other night she slept ALMOST ELEVEN!!!  Why?  I'm not sure, but I think it had to do with our heater shutting off randomly.  We woke up and our house was 63 degrees.  Steven and I discussed this being the only thing that was different, and so I looked it up.  I found this on parents.com . . . 

"Regulate the temp.  

You know how you sleep better when the room's a little cooler?  Well, your bundle of joy is no different.  Keep your baby's room warmer during the day and cooler at night, Dr. Greene suggests.  The optimal temperature for infant sleep is between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit."

We'll experiment with that tonight and see if it makes a difference.  

Also, the other day my friend Chelsea came over with her baby Gracie.  Gracie was born 4 weeks early . . . and 2 weeks earlier than Davie.  Chelsea took some pictures of the two new friends.  I'm going to try and post some although I've never posted pictures here before.  

Overwhelm-ment

Some New Things

1.) Davie's new BFF was born this week.  Peyton Ann Grubbs was born to some good friends of ours.  I'm sure Pey-Pey and Day-Day are going to get along just fine.

2.) Jennie's baby shower is tomorrow and I'm SO excited.  I love that woman, and I'm so glad she is reproducing.  

3.) Davie went 11 hours between feedings last night . . . she didn't sleep the entire time however, but it is a grand step!  It's good to know she can do that and doesn't need food every time she fusses in the night.  (Babywise . . . I'm telling ya, Babywise).

4.) We are on a roll with bath time.  She is still not giggling and happy during, but she tolerates it without crying.  She just furrows up her brow and looks at me.

5.) DAVIE HAS CURLY HAIR!  We just discovered that THIS week.  She's always had a lot of hair with a lot of body.  And it just kept getting puffier and puffier, like hair plugs standing up off of her head.  Well, my very-curly-headed sister and I were giving her a bath this week, and as I was drying her off, before I rubbed her little head dry, I pulled back the towel and she had all these little curls all over her head.  So we just patted it dry, and it stayed that way . . . until she rubbed her head all over everything and puffed it up again.  Ah well, one day.  

The First (Almost) Cry-Free Bathtime

Tonight was monumental.  Tonight I gave Davie her first bath that was mutually enjoyed by both parties.  

It. Was. Awesome.  . . . and what's funny is that I don't think she really loved it that much, but she didn't cry.  And that is what counts.

I made a $6 purchase at Wal-Mart that made all the difference.  It's just a little mesh cradle thingey that you can put down in the bathtub.  It keeps most of her body in the warm water, but her head out.  I also got one of those little cups with the flexi-side thing so you can rinse their hair out without pouring it all over their faces.  Another thing that helped was I put a washrag over her belly that was sticking out and everyonce in awhile I'd pour water over it to keep her warm.  That child hates being cold.  

But I think above all of these little purchases, the main thing that helped our bathtime situation was our pre-bath conversation.  I reminded Davie of all the other bathtimes where she cried and screamed and hated me, even though I kept trying different things to please this child.  I reminded her of the trip we made to Wal-Mart to get these new gadgets.  I reminded her that I have never lost hope that one day we would have joyful bathtimes.  And I asked her that if she STILL didn't like the bath, could she at least pretend like she did, as to not hurt my feelings and make all of my efforts feel wasted.  And being a sensitive child, she felt my desperation and decided to go easy on me.  

But when I picked her up out of that bathtub and she felt the cooler air hit her little body, all bets were off.  It didn't last too long though.  I wrapped her up, dried her off, gave her a pacifier, and then we were able to really enjoy our nighttime baby massage.  

Ah.  Things do get easier as we go along.  I was thinking today, I have really only known this child for 10.5 weeks now.  We are still really getting to know each other.  I mean, there has never been a person that I knew for less than 3 months, that I knew all of their likes and dislikes and their schedules and their temperament.  So I'd say we are doing pretty good.

Bathtime

Any tips on how to help my 10 week old love bathtime?!

She hates it.  Therefore we put it off at all costs.  Should I just make it a nightly ritual and hope that she learns to get used to it.  

We stopped using the infant tub, and started putting a folded towel in the big tub and putting enough warm water in to cover her without getting in her ears.  She hates being cold.  So the infant tub did not work for us, because it didn't keep her down in the water.  She grew too big for the sink.  Anyways, I really want bathtime to be this fun thing, but maybe she's too young.

When do kids start having fun in the bath?

First Overnight Away

Davie is spending the night with my mom . . . her nana.  

I miss her and am anxious . . . but I'm tired.  So that wins.  

I am grateful to have a night with my hubby bubby, and to have a night of uninterrupted sleep.

MILESTONE!!! 8 HOURS!!!

Last night Davie Lucille Charles slept 8 hours.  It was delightful.  We had been trying to do the "dreamfeed" thing.  If you don't know, "dreamfeed" is the idea that you wake the baby up before you go to bed to try and get them to sleep a longer stretch.  For instance, we feed her at 8pm and put her down . . . and then get her up at 11pm to feed her and put her right back down, trying not to really even wake her up.  Well, the girl would still wake up at 2am and then again at 5am and then again at 8am, so what's the use?!  So one night Steven forgot to set his alarm for 11pm, and she still woke up at 2am.  Well, if she's going to wake up at 2 anyways, then we're not going to get her up at 11.  So just recently we dropped the dreamfeed thing.  The night before last she lasted 7 hours.  Then last night I fed her at 8pm, and she was asleep by 8:30pm.  I went to bed around 9 or 9:30, she cried once for exactly 1 second around 1am, and I thought, "Here we go."  I got up and walked into the other room and she was fast asleep.  So I went back to bed thinking she'll really wake up any minute.  But the next time she cried was 4:30am!!!  I couldn't believe it.  So I fed her and wondered if she'd be awake for good (she's an early riser), but she went back to sleep so easy, and then woke up right on time at 7:30 to eat again.  I'm so proud and can only hope that this is not a one night event.  

Also, for those wondering, we are using Dr. Brown's bottles.  They are BPA free and have this little vacuum thing to keep extra air out of the nipple.  We only have one and we use it nearly everytime.  Steven and I were talking about how many bottles we do NOT use.  We really use maybe 3 in rotation, but usually 1 or 2.  But then again we don't have a dishwasher, so we keep 'em washed by hand pretty quick.