more!

Big Brother is staying up at Nana's, and Daddy's been working late, so it's been a lot of downtime with just me and Eden. my heart regularly feels wrecked with such an intense love for this little girl. i'm soaking it in. sharing hugs, kisses, and giggles. oh, i love that girl.

yesterday, we watched a little bit of Baby Signing Time, and you know what? she learned her first sign: more. basically, you tap your fingertips together over and over. she does it almost every time i ask her to, and she occasionally stops what she's doing just to practice, i think. she did it for her food and for applesauce tonight. her little hands signing "more" is just too perfect.

tonight, i got her ready for bed, and after a short while of nursing (oh the closeness was so wonderful), she stopped, turned, and slid off my lap. she looked at my face and signed "all done." she made her way to her crib, held on to the bars, lifted her foot up like she was trying to climb in, and then she looked at me, and lifted her foot up again and halfway fussed.

definitely communicating clearly. she's pretty much amazing.

one year

it's going by too fast. my little edie, you're growing up too fast.

we got all kinds of shots this last week, and she had a really hard time this time. her weight is not plummeting anymore, so that's good.

• Height 29 inches (45 percentile)
• Weight 21 pounds 4 ounces (53 percentile)
• Head circumference 18 inches (69 percentile)

i've been weaning since a couple of weeks before her 1st birthday. we're down to two nursing sessions (morning and night-ish), and two pumping/nursing sessions during the day. the day pumps only total 6 ounces, and the rest we're making up with whole milk. when we first started, she got really bad flare ups of dry, leather patches on her back and ankles. it's progressively getting better, so she's either getting used to milk, Lactaid is helping, or the Maum Goods Remedy Body Butter is really working. :) maybe all three.

she's really cruising well, sometimes with just one hand or just the wall to stabilize her.

she offers me food from her meal with such intentionality.

she got her 7th and 8th tooth last week. it might explain the early morning wakenings. who knows.

she hugs her little baby doll when she goes to bed.

she gets so happy when she sees me, daddy, or moses. especially moses. :)

she dances.

she kissed my lips for the first time today. oh, i love her. so much, i love her. she is a delight!

Eden might be the smartest baby, like ever

here are some ways our sweet daughter should be part of the gifted and talented program for 11 month old babies:

• when i'm dressing her, and she is holding a toy, she will get one arm in the shirt, shift her toy to that hand, and then get her other arm in the shirt. every time she does, it it makes me realize how much of an intentional planner she might be. 
• she is now able to get up two steps and stand at the bathroom sink. she likes to sit on the step stool too, like it's no big deal. 
• moses told me she was playing with shoes, and from the kitchen, i told her, "no Edie, shoes are not toys," and the next thing i knew, she had crawled into the dining room, and was playing with her toy kitchen! 
• if you start to fill the tub for a bath, and set her down to stand at it, and pull her pants down, she will lift each foot one at a time to step out of her pants. it's really the absolute cutest thing in the world. 

just when i think i couldn't possibly love her more, i do. 

The light in my world

Eden is such a sweet little baby. And so smart! I've been teaching her to slide off the couch feet first when she wants to get down. She's catching on quickly, and when she does it, her beautiful little face just lights up.

She's been crying at 5:30 in the morning on and off for about a month or so (which is killing me softly, honestly), so I recently did a little stint of going back to doing dream feeds. Her nursing been quick and straightforward. And when she's done, she just sleeps soundly in my arms. 

It's just lovely. Her warm, soft, lavender-scented little body, heavy with sleep on me. I hear her breathing that is so distinctly Eden. I feel her sweet footie pajamas with pink bunnies on them and comb my fingers through her wispy hairTime stands still. 

I wish I could just package up the moment and hold it softly against my cheek forever. I wish I could even record it, but that wouldn't be able to do it justice. 

She is my little Eden 😍

this girl

She has been clicking her tongue, making kissing sounds, and using her lovely voice for months. and now she has learned the joy of singing into a microphone! she also sings when we touch our hands to her mouth to make the "wah-wah" sound, as moses calls it, and she does that when shane jiggles her, too. all this probably makes no sense, but i don't care. i will remember and treasure these memories in my heart forever. eden, you are such a delight, and i just can't get enough of your sweet voice!

5:15 am: My guess is as good as yours

So, the past week or so, Eden's been waking up at 5:15 or so, which is really troubling because I've been going to bed late, and so 5:15 feels really quite early. Also, the I'm sure the neighbors hate us now. Oh, and Moses. 5:15 is too early for all of us to be awake. 

My recent hypothesis is that eden is not only more and more mobile and pulling up and stuff, but she is also very much into fussing for our food. She's not able to eat it very well, so a lot of it actually ends up pooling in the corners of her high chair, and she's simultaneously rejecting the baby food. So, she's probably not able to fill up her belly with much food in the evening. Then she probably wakes up famished. Can't blame her. But it does throw off the whole next day. 

Also, her eyes have been funky since Thursday and she is just so snotty. I hope it's nothing!

9-month stats and checkup

So, this week was her 9 month check up. I was sad about her stats, because even though she is technically quite average, she is still dropping percentiles:

* Height 28.75" (84%)

* Weight 19 lbs, 1 oz (51%)

* Head circumference 17.5" (62%) 

The last doctor I saw pretty much disregarded/minimized my concern, so I was relieved to be seeing our regular doctor. She took a look at Eden's chart and recommended that we start her on a high calorie high protein diet and come back in a month for a weight check. I felt so validated. :) And also empowered! :)  fyi: High calorie foods include: bananas, peaches, pears, sweet potatoes, peas, meats, butter, cheese, and formula.

I sent regular breast milk along with about 50% more high-calorie foods, including meat (which she LOVES). The doctor recommended mixing in peaches and prunes for every meal, so that has given me more comfort that she will be able to eat more and stay regular. I happened to be pumping more milk these days too, so that's been nice to send. She's been devouring almost everything, so yay! wrist rolls, please come back!

At home, we've been giving her more and more table food. I think her first official solid, non-pureed food was cherries. She basically fusses until we give her some of our food. She's also enjoyed nectarines, grapes, spaghetti, and puffs. A couple of weeks ago, I had tried puffs, but she somehow choked on one and completely threw up all her food. She's made so much progress since then! Baby's growing up too fast though.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, Eden got one shot and didn't even cry! She's going to be a tough girl. :)

Pulled up for the first time

Baby Girl pulled up for the first time today. She held Moses's bed and pulled up to look at us and then again to get a green frog from the bed. I couldn't be more in love with this little girl.

oh, and so, of course, over the last few days, she's been waking up during the night and earlier than usual in the morning. it's probably this standing up milestone. but also, she might be getting more teeth! and she might be going through a growth spurt! and she has been constipated on and off! lots of reasons to cry! 

Mum mum mum

I think her first word was dada and now her second word is mama. I love the way her little face looks when she's saying my name! She is such a little treasure. 

In other news, we managed to make it to the other side of Constipation 2015! It lasted four days and it was terrible. But we pumped her full of "P" foods, prunes, peaches, peas, pears, plums, and also apple juice and cherries. wow. 

Crawling

She's officially graduated from army crawling to regular crawling. As of yesterday. It's weird how things change so quickly. 

4 years

Whelp, we made it almost four years as parents before our first poop-in-tub incident. 

Mission Alphabet Magnets on the Fridge

I set Eden down in our bedroom with some toys so I could finish getting some things done in the kitchen before leaving for work this morning. She army crawled in a beeline to the alphabet magnets in the fridge. Sat up, grabbed a couple letters and looked up at me super accomplished. Wow, she knew from the other room what she wanted to play with, and without hesitating to fuss or think about it, she made her way there! What? I'm so proud. Also, note to self: I might need to sweep/clean under/next to the fridge, because she found some pretty serious dust bunnies to try to eat. 

Dada

Pretty sure her first word is Dada. So cute!!

A close second is her kissing sound. Because the smooching sound carries meaning, right? I love her. 

And she's almost pulling up. Today for the first time, we set her down in her room and I found her in the kitchen in a moment. She's still army crawling, but gaining serious speed. 

The other night, after we put the kids to bed, we heard them laughing so hard. When we listened at the door, we heard Moses yelling things like "Hulk smash!!" And they were both falling apart with laughter. My heart is so full. 

Little baby boo boo bop!

Crawling

When does it officially count as crawling? It's been a few weeks that Baby's been able to get around with ease, but it's still an army crawl. She's able to go from lying down to sitting up, and gets to her desired destinations without any complaint. Her knees get red if she's wearing shorts, but she doesn't seem to mind. I could watch her play all day. I love her. :) 

4th tooth, 5th cold, and projectile vomit

So, eden now has 4 teeth, but the third and fourth teeth are actually not the typical top front teeth; they're the ones right on either side of them. So, she's prob going to look like a vampire for just a little while. 

She's had a cold this week (interestingly, but awesomely, without a fever). I think that maybe what caused the projectile vomit last night after dinner. I think sometimes her congestion and drainage get so bad she barfs.... Although, she did also have an explosive diaper today. Who knows! Either way, she has still remained rather delightful. :)

3rd tooth

Her top right tooth has popped through, just as predicted! I'm sure the top left will follow suit before too long. She's still pretty awesome! 

In related awesome news, eden fell asleep in the car on the way home, and I transferred her to her crib, and she kept on sleeping!! Miracle baby!! I can't get enough of being with her. She's truly a delight. 

When it rains

Eden has still been the most delightful little baby I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Can you believe she turned 7 months yesterday? So fast. 

This weekend seemed to be the biggest one of her life, in terms of big reasons to be fussier: 

* She's been rocking on all fours. I sometimes found her that way in the crib,  crying! I'm sure she'll be crawling within the next couple of weeks. Yikes! 

* She is learning how to wave! 

* She is learning how to say, "Dada!"

* She has another cold. 4th one? 

* She is picking up the pace with eating, but her pooping has slowed dramatically. Which. You know how that must feel. 

* She now has both her front bottom teeth, but I think she could be starting on her top front teeth now. 

So, I think the hardest times for her have been early morning and pre-dinner. Which are usually kind of tough anyway. But today she slept until 6:15, so that was amazing! :) but she woke up grumpy, and I know she has the ability to wake up happy, so I know at least one of the things above must be tough on her. Sweet girl. :) 

kissing sounds

last weekend, little edy started making kissing sounds whenever she saw me. she must think that's my name. :) i love that little girl something fierce! she was just delightful all day long. she cried a bit tonight, but i think it's because she's getting ready to crawl. she's on all fours, rocking. :)

she's also gotten her second tooth in the last few weeks, and she may be working on more.

her favorite foods so far are chicken and turkey. she's also had peas, green beans, peaches, rice, oatmeal, pears, prunes, squash, sweet potatoes, and i think that's it. she hadn't pooped in the last couple of days, so we gave her a glycerin suppository, and it worked like a charm. just thought i'd [over] share. :)

Kids together

We put the kids in the same room last night to sleep. Eden had been waking up crying for the past week or so, but we were chatting with Moses about Eden sleeping in his room in the crib someday, and he got really excited about the idea. So, I figured now or never! Both have been quiet as a mouse all night! It's been a while since that's happened, and it's even 5:55 and meither one has made a sound. Yay!!

6 month stats

* Height 28" 98th%

* Weight 17#1 68th%

* Head circ 17" 69th%

She's so tall! But I guess she's not that chubby?? And, of course, I'm neurotic and wondering if our baby is eating enough... 

Lost earring and low grade fever

Thursday morning, I changed Eden and saw that one of her earrings were gone. Shane somehow found it under the cushion of her bassinet, but just before he found it, I thought, I can't go through piercing her ear again. She may just have to grow up with one ear pierced. Haha. Thank goodness the earring was not lost, and we were able to tag team and get it back through her lobe with just a few tears. 

Yesterday, daycare called me at work telling me that Eden had a 101.4 temp. By the time I got the voice message, it was two hours later, and her fever was gone. Not sure what it's from, maybe a cold, maybe teething, maybe something else. But it did make her nap for almost 3 hours this morning. I got her up to eat, but she's currently snoring at my breast. I don't mind one bit. 

I did want to mention that she did wake briefly about 40 minutes into the nap to turn over and complain for a little while that she wasn't able to pick the monkeys off of her sheets. Then she put her head down and went straight back to sleep land. I love this precious little girl. I hope she gets to feeling better before too long. She not really grumpy though, so she must not be feeling too bad. :)  

Solids

So, Eden started on solids this weekend. She ate rice cereal on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday. Now, three days in, she is opening her mouth when she sees the spoonful of food coming in her direction. She still actively spits most of the food out, but she actually seemed to eat some yesterday. And it made Shane and me so sad that our little girl is growing up. Boo. 

I started solids because she still has had a rash of crying during the night, which, Saturday night she cried for like a couple of hours through the night--so starting solids didn't really fix that. Plus, she will be 6 months in five days now. Plus, Nana and Gramdpa were here this weekend and it seemed like a cute thing to do altogether. 

I didn't give her solids on Monday, just to be sure she wasn't crying so much because of the food, but she still cried. So my official diagnosis is still the teething. Also, to seal the deal, when we give her teething tablets and Tylenol, she goes straight back to sleep and doesn't cry again. She's lying in her bassinet now sweetly talking about "bah," at 5:45 in the morning. I love that girl. She'll prob sleep another hour after this interlude. Or, rather, she would if we didn't have to take her to daycare. Ho hum. 

Naps

we love our daycare, but they're not great about naptime. i know that E is a pretty solid napper, so they kind of have no excuse with her. if she's been up for about 2 hours (it has gradually stretched from about 1 to about 2 over the course of the last 3 months), she is pretty well due for a nap.

this is what you do to put her down for a nap: you take her to her crib and put her down and walk away. she might talk to herself for a bit, but then she will sleep about an hour, sometimes an hour and a half. easy peasy!

but, of course, they usually have about 10 infants in the room and 2 teachers, so i guess it's not so easy peasy. kids often fall asleep on the rug while they're playing, and the teachers might move them to their cribs at that point, or even just leave them there. the problem with this approach is, well, pretty obvious, if kids are tired but playing, they are likely to just keep playing. so, there are days when eden will get only 2 short naps in during a 9 hour period. killer! they told me that she made her way over to the linoleum floor today (i can't believe she's able to move that much!), but instead of having a fit, she just fussed a bit and then put her head down, sucked her thumb, and fell fast asleep. it makes me feel a combination of pride (that she can sleep anywhere) and sadness (that she's so tired that she can sleep anywhere).

so, she's had a little bit of a fitful sleep this evening, but i think it's been because she's been overtired. hopefully she can catch up on some sleep this weekend.

I sometimes hold her for a while after she's fallen asleep. It is something of heaven. 

First little tooth

So, this might be why she's been waking up at night? We'll never really know, but it's just part of having a baby to keep on guessing. She is getting her first little razor-sharp tooth in her cute little gummy gums. I love her. 

She sits in this bumbo, but she bucks so much that I'm usually too nervous to use it too long. Ah well. Makes for a cute photo of our big girl. :) 

ba ba ba

as it turns out, Eden is still a thoroughly delightful child! she is just a pleasure to be around. she laughs or smiles almost every time she and I make eye contact, which makes me just want to look in her face all day long. she had been saying, "ah," and all the open mouth noises and raspberries, but yesterday, for the first time in her life, she started saying, "ba ba ba." and when I do it back to her, she thinks it's the funniest thing. I love that girl.

also, now she wakes up once or twice a night every other night or so. it feels random, but i'm sure it must not be to her. I wonder if she's ready for solids, since that's one of the signs the pediatrician said to look out for. but I don't want to yet. I don't feel ready. exclusively nursing is so much easier. but then again, she is taking about 6+ ounces 3 times at daycare, and that's a whole heck of a lot to produce/pump through my work day. I don't know if I can keep up anymore. this week, especially, my supply has taken a dip. we'll see, but solids may be in our near future.

also, I keep talking about putting her in Moses' room, but I still haven't done it. I did it this weekend at Nana and Grandpa's house, and it worked... sorta. one night, she woke up twice, and one was because of a dirty diaper. so, it was kind of a bad night's sleep. the second night was great though. huh. maybe I need to start solids and be done with this night walking (if it is definitely because she's hungry, but i'm not sure!!)

motherhood can be riddled with doubt. one second, you're super mom with everything figured out, and the next minute, baby changes things up, and you don't know what's happening! :)

Rolling over!

Well, it's official. Eden is rolling over like a pro now, according to the daycare teachers. Both Shane and I were told of her new skills yesterday. I'm just a little bit sad that we missed it (and actually still haven't seen it), but I guess that's just the way our lives are and will be with Eden. Oh well. We still thoroughly enjoy our time together. 

Maybe that's why she's been waking up this week at night. The last few nights she hasn't gotten up, so maybe it's getting close to time to put her in Moses's room. 

Okay, what?

Just when you think we're smooth sailing, there comes a rash of fussiness! On Saturday, she was not herself and sanded up eating an extra time during the day, and yesterday, she woke up twice during the night. Weird. I'm pretty sure she was hungry, and she ended up eating well both times. I suppose it could be a growth spurt, but they say they're at 3, 6, and 9 months--not at almost 5. Thankfully, in the in between times, she's delightful. :) hopefully, it will just be one of those blips on the radar and we can move on with our lives. I need to move Eden into Moses room and reclaim our bedroom!  :)

new skill: putting toys to her mouth

so, one thing that is so amazing about babies is their ability to learn and change day-to-day. today, for example, on March 18, 2015, i see that she has learned how to hold a toy and put it to her mouth. yesterday, she couldn't do it, today, she looked like she'd been doing it all her life! it's so so amazing.

i think this would be like me not knowing how to sew yesterday, but today, being able to put together a perfect quilt by hand. or today, suddenly realizing i know how to play the guitar. or suddenly realizing i can speak French. i'm sure it's just as surprising for the baby. it might be why she has had a little bit of a fussy patch these past few early mornings, since i think learning new skills affects their sleep. (sorry neighbors)

i'm thinking of putting Eden in Moses's room soon. i just have to make sure she really is sleeping through the night, and then also make sure we can really coordinate both bedtimes to be the same. but it'll be soon. and hallelujah, Shane and i will have our room back to ourselves again. actually, i don't think we've ever had a time in this apartment where we've slept just us two in our bed/room together yet. when we first moved in, i was pregnant, and in so much pain from PSD that i only ever slept on the recliner in the living room. and then after Eden was born, well, we weren't sleeping just us two. i do miss her already though. i miss our sweet nursing times during the night. i miss her sleeping heavily at my breast, drunk from deep slumber and milk. i love that sweet baby girl. i feel it in my joints how much i love her.

Exhausted!

So, I've been getting more sleep, because Eden's been sleeping through the night, like a boss. The bad part is that I'm more tired! I liken it to finals, when you just go like gangbusters for a while, and then you get to your parents' house and completely hibernate for days and days. Ugh. I fall asleep all over the place these days, much more than I did in the earlier days of Eden's life. I'm just so tired! Hopefully this will pass before too long. :) 

Thumb sucking and feet grabbing

I am so proud of our little girl. She started sucking her thumb a few weeks ago, and now she's a pro! If she's trying tot go to sleep and/or she's fussy, I've noticed her suck her thumb. And then it drops out after she falls asleep, and she's okay with that. It's soooooooo much better than a pacifier, honestly. 

Also, I didn't think she would (because she seemed so unflexible), but she found her feet. It's the cutest thing when she has both little feet, with all those cute toes, pulled up to her face. I LOVE that girl. :) she is living up to her name--she is a true delight. :) 

4-month stats and shots

So, as always, I was super nervous that baby girl wasn't getting enough to eat and that she wasn't gaining enough weight. She had not gained as quickly between the last visit and this visit as she had in previous visits, so I was worried. I'm neurotic, what can I say. Because here are her stats:

* Height 26.5" (99%)

* Weight 15 lbs, 15 oz (90%)

* Head circumference 16.5" (74%) 

So, I have nothing to worry about. :) for now. She did, however get 4 shots and an oral vaccine. Boooooooo.  She had been sick, cough getting worse over the weekend, so just after the vaccines, she was even more sick. Last night I actually held her all night because she was so sad and snotty and feverish. Ugh. It broke my heart. She still went to daycare today, and she mostly did fine, surprisingly. I'm not sure what to do tonight or tomorrow though, because I am so very tired, and I actually have a lot of work to do tomorrow, even though I'm teleworking. So, though she could stay home with me (and I would totally love it), I need to get some stuff done! Anyhow. I should prob even get to bed now...

one week of crying it out, and i'm so tired!

okay, so it's been a week, and last night, for the first time, she did not let out a peep all night from about 8 to 7:15!! that is a HUGE success! but we'll see if it was a fluke tonight. here is the play by play this week:

• sat
• 1:20 woke up briefly 
• 3:25 fussed 30 min 
• 5:30 fussed for 1 hour
• sun
• 11:30 woke up briefly
• 1:30 brief
• 3:45 fussed a while
• 4:40 fussed a while until the morning, tough!
• mon
• 3:40 woke
• 6:20 woke, fussed until morning
• tues
• 5 fussed (but i might have missed other wake ups because i was with moses this night with his GI sick stuff)
• wed
• 3:45 woke up briefly
• 5:30 woke for a little while
• thurs
• 4:30
• 5 
• 5:15 
• 5:30
• fri
• i put her to bed at 8, awake but very drowsy. i dream fed her around 11:30, and she had no wake ups until 7:15!!!

the only bad part is that i've been sick, so i was still up last night coughing and such. i am SO tired. i also decided that we would stop using pull-ups this week for moses. what?? why did i do this to us??? oh well.

it'll all be worth it if this beautiful child is able to sleep through the night and our wonderful son is completely potty trained. soon enough.

in related news, eden has been a much better eater during the day, finishing all her bottles at daycare and eating relatively well with me. i shifted her schedule to feed at 7:30, 10:30, 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10:30ish (dream). i am concerned she's not getting enough to eat, but i think i might just be my own neurosis. my supply that i am able to pump during the day dropped by about 2 ounces this week, but i am working hard to get it back up (pumping and nursing for more time each time). 

cheers! fingers crossed for a good night!

night 1: crying it out

i'm writing this entry with a real sadness in my heart tonight. we're going to really cry it out all night tonight. there are a number of reasons to start now. here they are in no particular order:

• eden slept more than 7 hours in one stretch twice this week
• i sat next to a mom this past sunday who cried it out with her kids, and she encouraged me to do it
• eden is more than 12 pounds, and ready to sleep 
• she wakes up at 2:30-3 am every day, which means that she may just be stirring and: need to learn to go back to sleep for the rest of the night
• i let her cry at 5 am the other day, and it only lasted 10 minutes
• if she learns how to be a good sleeper, that will be a skill she'll have her whole life
• i'm tired--sleeping 5-6 interrupted hours of sleep each night is catching up with me, and actually makes driving dangerous now
• there is never a "good" time to do it, but if i wait longer, it may take her more days to get the hang of it (which means sooner is better)

but it doesn't make me any less sad. this girl is such joy to me, and i love to see her, even in the middle of the night, several times a night. i love that girl so much, and i know it is just going to KILL me to hear her cry throughout the night tonight. i hope it's not too bad. :( and i hope i don't get mastitis again. sigh. 

i put her down at like 7:30 ish. i'm going to go in and do a dream feed, and put her down until tomorrow morning, sometime after 6:30 or so. but i don't think i'll feed her again until after 7:15 (due to daycare scheduling). we'll see.

my heart is so sad. i reeeeeeeally don't want to do this. :(

Will I ever get my brain back?

Little one, in case my brain will only get more and more careless and forgetful, know that I love you. :)

Here are some alarming things that have happened in the past couple months:

• I've tried to lock my keys in my car while it was still running
• I've washed my hands in the mens' bathroom, only noticing after nearly running into a man while drying my hands
• I've tried to drive off without buckling Moses in his car seat--this has happened more times than I can count 
• I've tried to lock the front door using our dog leash

Wow. Please come back, brain! We need you! 

social cues?

do babies know about social cues from birth? because seriously, if eden hears a loud sound or something distressing like moses crying, she looks right at me with a big frown to see if it's going to be okay. if i smile, she relaxes. isn't that amazing? this girl. i love her so much. i wondered today if my mom loved me as much as i love this little girl. and i believe she did. it's comforting.

Sleeping longer at night

So, you wouldn't believe it if you saw how tall and chubby Eden is, but she's actually not a fantastic eater. She gets distracted easily and often stops eating if we take a break to burp or switch sides. I think it's because she's so content and wants to smile and talk so much. So, I've been less diligent about getting her to take a full feeding at each nursing session (because smiling and talking are so fun for me too!!). Buuuuut I think this is why she's not sleeping through the night yet. When she does wake at night to eat, she eats very well, I guess because she's sleeping and not distracted. So, I think she may even be getting more calories in during the night than during the day. 

Moses started sleeping through the night (i.e. 6-7 hours at a stretch) on Babywise at 7 weeks. Eden has been on Babywise, except for the part about really getting a full feeding at each session... So I decided to up my game this week because I think I'll be a zombie at work if I still have to get up 2-3 times a night. 

I have been pushing her to eat more during the day and trying to only give her one side when we wake at night. And you know what? We almost made it to 6 hours the night before last!!! 6 glorious hours. I know she's old enough and big enough to sleep longer at night, so I'll keep pressing on to get it!! :) 

And an update about the swaddle, haha, she'll be just fine:

Oh, and an update about the end of the day. Just about two short weeks later, Eden is now able to stay up to eat at 7 and have a bath and go to sleep on her own, with no crying, somewhere between 7:30 and 8. Things change so fast. And the morning wake up is getting better. I've tried a bit to let her cry it out, but if she is congested, I pick her up, give her saline in her nose, hold her until she stops crying and her breathing sounds better, and put her down. She's been able to sleep until 7 or so for a few mornings this week! Yay. :)  

The end of maternity leave

I feel so so lucky to be able to have spent the last 11 weeks with Eden. It went by too quickly. I'm trying to move more slowly and really drink in and savor these last moments with out sweet girl. I love holding her little body, heavy with milk and sleep and I wish I could just pause life for a little while. 

I visited daycare yesterday to drop off Moses and get oriented with the infant room. It was peaceful and there were about 8 babies in there with 2 teachers. Lots of simple, matching cribs lined the walls, and each one had a baby's photo denoting who was to sleep where. A couple of babies were sleeping, but most of them were playing in the center of the room. No swaddles. No sleeping in car seats, swings, or toys. Not much crying either, honestly. 

I decided to try back off the swaddling right away when we got home, because I have a feeling this transition will be tough on everyone, and it'd be better not to go cold turkey on the swaddle with the start of daycare. I left her swaddle loose and one arm out. And you know what happened? Nothing. She napped just the same as usual. Babies change and grow so quickly. I'm sad I won't be able to watch every moment of Eden growing. But I have to trust, as I did with Moses, that because God's plan for me right now is to work, His plan for Eden is to be cared for by others. He is doing a work in of our lives, even now. But it's still hard on this momma's heart. I already miss her, even though I'm lying right next to her as she sweetly slumbers in her little bassinet. 

doctor's visit (10.5 weeks)

she is "advanced for a 2 month old" according to the doctor. and i'm bursting with pride! :)

her stats:

• Height: 25.5" (99th percentile)
• Weight: 14 lbs, 1 oz (97th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 15.75" (70th percentile)

we talked about her cradle cap, her smiles, her eating, her mucus in her stool, her occasional gasps for air, cleaning her little girl parts, and her stuffy nose. everything seems regular and good! :) 

babywise update: week 10

so, the good news is that baby girl can go down for naps with virtually no crying. it's wonderful!

the bad news is that the end of the day is still quite bumpy. and i've been nursing her to sleep at the end of the day. we've had times where she's cried for an hour+ if i've done it other ways (like ending with the bath), or going down too late (after 7:15 or so). so i'm a little shy to try something different again. i'm not sure what to do, because i really don't want to nurse her to sleep forever and ever amen.

the other bad news is that she wakes up in the five or six o'clock hour in the morning. it's too close to my goal of making it to 7am (plus or minus 15 minutes) to give her a proper feeding. and she falls asleep after just a few minutes of eating anyway. so i've started to let her cry it out. it's so hard because it's early morning, and i just feel so bad that she's crying so loudly (potentially) waking everyone up. but she does drift in and out of sleep, so that's good. it's been just a couple of days.

i'm sure we'll figure out these kinks over the next couple of weeks. i'll keep you updated.

YouTube, what would i have done without you?

so, as it turns out, YouTube has been the one that has taught me all the baby essentials: changing diapers, bathing, swaddling (and double swaddling), now even breastfeeding (latching on using the flipple technique). wow. what a great resource. what did people do before the internet? look in the encyclopedia? go to the library? i'd be lost.

officially the worst maternity leave

not at all because of my time with Eden--that has been glorious. :)

but because i got my period this week. my hair has started to fall out by the handful. and yes, it has only been 10 weeks. smh. and my breast is sore again. might become mastitis again if i'm not careful. bah. i don't want to go on antibiotics again. poor eden has had enough drugs.

but more than that, my mother is back in the hospital. her brain is swelling causing her to go back and forth between laughing uncontrollably and being unresponsive. she's on steroids, which i'm guessing has quieted her down, but she's not really even able to feed herself anymore. i'm sad. sad doesn't really describe it adequately, but that's what i've got.

also, we got into a car accident last week. our van has been out of commission this week. bah.

so, that's three more things to add to the list that i started at week 6 or so. i'm ready for things to get better already.

the upside is that i decided Moses should go back to daycare for my last two weeks of maternity leave, so i could really regroup and get some rest before going back to work. i miss him terribly, but it was/is a good choice for me. i think it will really help our relationship too, because all this time together has really been tough on both of us, i think.

and beautiful eden, please sleep through the night. please. pretty please?

Size 3 diapers

II was putting off going up another size, but honestly, everytime she pooped, I held the back of her diaper down so that it wouldn't blow out. Even so, we still ruined multiple outfits and pajamas. I was procrastinating because she's not yet 16 pounds (the low end of the weight range of size 3), but now that we've gone up, I see that they fit great, and I have peace of mind that we're protected against pool once again. According to our bathroom scale, she's about 14 pounds, but I guess it's the distribution of weight that must be making a difference. :9 #chubbybaby