11 weeks, where's my baby gone? :-)

Hello there, let me start ofF by saying this past week has gone from a very dark place to something quite extraordinary. Just last week I was shedding tears of frustration at Aria's sleep schedule. Monday night that all changed.

I put Aria to sleep at 1130pm on Monday night and wonder of wonders, she slept till 650am. Yes I remember the exact minute because I was laying there thinking could this be possible. Could my baby, MY BABY, who sleeps at the most 3 consecutive hours, have just gone 7 hours and 20 minutes without making so much as a peep??? I hopped up the second I heard her whimpering, inspecting her closely to make sure she hadn't been switched in her cradle. It was her, and she wasn't even that upset, she nursed and we cuddled and she went back to sleep!!

So here I am all day Tuesday, having rested for the first time since Aria's birth, the shroud of exhaustion that had so tightly gripped me was beginning to loosen. I was still thinking, this must have been a fluke, yet daring to breathe a prayer that she might revisit this fluke-ish behavior the following night. Tuesday night approached, same deal! Joy of joys! Wednesday night was also a 6 hour stretch, heck I'll take it! Which brings me to today. Is this real? Is this a new routine? Three nights in a row, I mean, could Aria possibly, after last weeks terrible regression, be SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! I still approach the idea warily. I don't want to feel too much exuberance just to have my joy wrecked with folly in a few days. But tentatively I say, I'm a hope-filled mommy now.

Not sure what has caused this remarkable change. One of many things I believe. I cut out most dairy from my diet after several moms told me this cured their little ones colic. I am very depressedly missing my chocolate, milk and cheese at the moment. I bought a "nogin nest", a little pillow with a hole in it to prevent flat heads. I have it in her bassinet. Might just be a coincident, buy it fits the time frame. I started sleeping her on her side and tummy. I stopped giving her gripe water. I let her cry one time and just patted her chest and soothed her with shhhshing until she fell asleep in her cradle. I don't know what did it, or if it was any of these things, but I'm going to keep at it for now.

Aria's personality has manifested so much in the past month. When she's not dealing with tummy pains, she is a very happy baby. She loves to be held. She hates her car seat. It's only sometimes bearable to her if I'm reaching back and violently shaking the seat from the handle She will sit like a perfect little gem at the table while we eat dinner so long as someone has her on their lap facing the table like a miniature grown up. She is very alert. She looks around at everything with interest and wonder. She loves her mobile and if you shake her yellow cow rattle in front of her. She turns her head so much that she has created little dread locks of hair on the back of her head. I had to cut them off so many times that she now has a giant bald patch on her sweet little noggin. She loves it if you sing to her and make silly faces. She enjoys when Auntie Gabby howls like a dog, emitting gurgling excited coos and radiant smiles. Paddy cake bakers man is one of her all time favorite games. She loves to have her arms grasped and moved. She has some mad skills. She loves to cuddle and will never ever turn down boobie time. She rolls her eyes back in her head when she first starts to nurse. I find this particularly funny, because it's like she is just enjoying it so much that she can't bother to think of anything else but the wonders of mommy milk and the joy it brings to her tummy. She loves to lay in the pac n play at Yaya and Pops's house as long as her feet can push against the mesh wall. She loves it when Daddy bounces her while she lays on his tummy facing out. She's still a bit cautious of bath-time. She does splash her feet after the initial concerned face fades to contentment. She still loves to be bounced high in the air and she pushes off before each lift off. She still loves music and the vibrations of her crib. She loves to be swaddled and will not sleep unless she wrapped like a little gordito burrito. She is a very warm blooded baby and often must be kept naked in her swaddle so that she doesn't become an unhappy sweat monster. She gets stinky neck folds and armpits so has to be wiped down everyday. She hates her pacifiers and acts like she is being gagged and tortured if you try to force one on her. She loves bottles, especially with mommy milk, but she won't turn down formula if there is no other option. She loves to be carried in the front pack and will mostly use this time to fall fast asleep, this conveniently allows me to go for walks with her. She loves her swing and will nap for hours while rocking away.

So as you can see she has quite the personality and has changed so much over these past 11 weeks. Everyday I am more in love with her. She's my little princess and I'm so blessed that God saw fit to give her to me. She makes me happier than any words could say.

10 weeks

Let me start by saying that I am the proud mommy of a 10 week old! Can't believe how time has just flown by since Aria was born. She changes everyday, becoming more and more like a little lady and less like a squishy newborn.

I think Aria might be a thumb or finger sucker eventually. Ever since she discovered her hands last week, they have not stayed far from her mouth. She sucks, licks, and slobbers on them and sometimes a finger will stay in her mouth and she will suck away, soothing herself. I think it's cute. Being that she doesn't take a paci, I am all for her finding a way to self soothe. We will see.

Now for the real issue. Aria has decided to regress in her sleeping abilities. By regress, I mean that starting at about 7 weeks, she was sleeping for at least one 4-5 hour chunk at night; usually the first bit. Now, well now, she sleeps for 1-2 hour increments all night long. It is extremely frustrating.

For example, last night, I attempted to put her to bed earlier (she usually sleeps at 1am). She went to sleep at 11pm. Now the nightmare begins, she woke at 1am, I nursed her and cuddled with her. When she fell asleep I laid her gently in her crib, thinking with joy how I was about to get some sleep myself, but noooo, as soon as her little head hit the bed, her eyes popped open and she began squirming. I knew that the squirming is a bad thing and usually something that doesn't resolve itself rather needs my attention. I held my breathe and prayed that she would stop, that maybe it was just an involuntary muscle spasm. Like a scared human in front of a t-rex I stayed frozen in front of her. Time ticked like molasses, but the wait was to no avail, the squirming turned to little whines, which turned to snorting and then finally to full out crying. I broke my traced state and scooped up the little lump. I rocked her to sleep again and 3 more times, after gingerly lying her to sleep, she awoke. I finally just decided to hold her all night. She did end up having some gas, which is probably why she wasn't comfortable sleeping on her back. I can't wait for my Angelcare monitor to arrive so I can sleep her on her tummy with peace of mind. To make a long story short, or rather a longer story shortened a bit, she slept in my arms and continued to wake crying every 2 hours or so. She peed while I was changing her twice (I change every time she makes a toot, because she has a bit of a diaper rash) and poo sprayed on me once. I changed her outfit twice.

It is now 10am and we are up for the day after a most retched night. I got new batteries for her swing (stole them from my parents) and she is sitting in it in a little swaddled bundle. She just smiled a huge smile. How can I be upset with her. I can't, all the frustration from last night is slipping away, like sunshine breaking a cold, dense fog. I love her.

9 weeks old and smiling!

This past week and half has marked a huge increase in Aria's smiling abilities. Before I had to wait long and hard to glimpse a second of that precious grin. While always worth the wait, I am seriously enjoying my new girl who is easy to smile and never holds back. She flashes her adorable toothless grin to Mommy and Daddy, to Auntie Gabby and even to "Cousin-Auntie-Sister-Nurse" Brig.

Aria has also been cooing a lot. She likes to "talk" especially when you initiate the conversation. She'll talk about, just about anything, as long as you bring it to her attention with great enthusiasm and Jim Carrey-like expressions.

She also loves it when I sing to her. Ever since she was born, she has been soothed by music. I'm constantly playing the "Rock-a-bye Baby" station on my iPhone's Pandora app for her. Nearly every time I sing to her, I inexplicably forget the lyrics halfway through and sometimes even one line in. Poor little Aria is such a good sport, and doesn't seem to mind the philandering words I substitute as long as I don't miss a beat.

Yesterday Aria had her 2 month check-up. She ways a whopping 12 pounds and 7 ounces and is 23 inches long. The doctor who spoke to us said she is doing fantastic on her growth curve and overall is a perfect healthy baby. She said I must be feeing her whipping cream. After much thought and deliberating, we went ahead and got her all her vaccines. She was a champ. There were 8 different vaccines combined into 3 shots. I though I was going to cry from stress before the nurse came in to administer them. Aria only cried a little for the first one then stopped before the next two. The nurse warned that the pneumonia shot burned immediately and that she was doing that one last. I felt so bad for my little Stinks, she was taken by surprise and went from looking around the doctor's office happily to letting out the saddest baby wail I have ever heard. It was the kind where she didn't breathe or even make a sound for the first 5 seconds. She got lots of mommy and daddy kisses after that.

On our way home she fell asleep in the car. We stopped at Rite Aid to get her some infant Tylenol. The doctor barely said anything about the dosage/what/where to get it, so I talked to Nurse Brig, who came to our rescue. As I unsuccessfully searched in Rite Aid for the "infant Tylenol" I finally decided to ask the pharmacist for help. She took me to the aisle where it was kept then unfortunately informed me that they were out. I left the parking lot and went straight to the car where Kevin was waiting for me watching Aria. Apparently I was missing a braincell, because I went right to a light blue Honda and when I looked in the back for my sleeping baby, I realized that she was gone and there was some roll of white paper sitting on the seat instead. I turned around in shock and then Kevin tapped on his horn at me. I had forgotten that we came in his tan Camry not my blue Honda Accord. We drove across the street to Wallgreens and luckily they had the medicine.

When we got home Aria continued to sleep on and off for about 6 hours. I gave her the baby Tylenol every 4 hours, .4 ml. She and I snuggled up in Brigid's recently vacated bed and napped the rest of the day. Needless to say, I needed the rest because I have been exhausted to the extreme due to my little lady's unfortunate sleeping schedule. Kevin went out with the boys to play some golf because he had had a dream the night before that my dad took him golfing and he couldn't get it out of his head. They went out to Jakes for pizza and beer afterwards. When Kevin returned, I was able to clean my disaster of an apartment a bit and then we watched Source Code. I had already seen it, but Kevin hadn't and wanted to and hey, I'm always down to love me some Jake Gyllenhaal.

Aria slept fairly well last night. In comparison to how she normally is, there wasn't much change. She slept form 1am to 4:30am. I fed her at 4:30 am and then dozed and held her until 6am when she started her morning ritual of grunting, squirming and crying, basically what it takes to try and get a poop out.

Right now my sweet baby is sitting in her swing, she loves sitting in it in the morning time, which is amazing for me because I can actually get a few things done. I am a bit concerned because I've notices that the swing is not swinging a hard as it used to. I fear the batteries are running low and while I know I should fix it asap to keep my girl happy, I can't seem to find that D batteries. They are here somewhere, I know it. I need to continue my search for I am definitely not ready to give up my mornings that have recently dawned a lingering semblance of a time seemingly so long passed. What did I used to do with my time. You don't miss it till it's gone. Of course I did used to work full time, so my "time" was considerable less.

Another thing I would like to mention; Aria does amazingly well in the Baby Bjorn. I can walk/hike for hours, literally and she just leans to the side like an angel and using the the time to catch up on some snoozing. It's really awesome, because I am desperately in need of exercise and this is something we can do together. I feel so much better when I can get out in the fresh air. Today I plan on hiking our 6 mile trail at Rancho San Antonio again -Wild Cat Loop, otherwise known as "Edward's Twizzley Log Trail", hehe, it's a very Schmedley hike.

Until next time,

Rosie

PS- I dreamed that Aria had about 10 teeth coming in. It was crazy, the first thing I thought, was oh no I wanted to get a picture of her toothless grin and second, I guess that's why nursing is starting to hurt. hehe. Dreams are weird.

8 weeks

Well, little Aria has made it to 8 weeks! She had her check up appointment today but I rescheduled for next Friday so Kevin could come. I'm still debating whether to get her shots or not. If I do I definitely need Kevin to be there with me. I will probably cry.

Aria's latest trick is sucking on her hand all the time and lots and lots of drooling.

Kevin and I are trying to decide if we are going to stay at our apartment complex for another year or not. We have to decide by September 1st. They raised the rent on us so I'm not sure if we can afford it or not.

I'm also trying to decide about going back to work part time. I really, REALLY don't want to. But I fear that I don't have a choice. They have offered me 3 days a week. I'm going to counter with 2 1/2 days (20 hours) and see if I can do that. I don't want to leave Aria at all. But it might be better for our family overall to have a little extra income. I want to be able to take care of Aria and give her the best of everything she needs. If I do go back it wouldn't be til Sep 5th… We will see.

Kevin's last day of Genius training at Apple is today! He is a certified Apple Genius, woot!

Cousin Auntie Nurse Brig is still here for a few more days. It's been wonderful having someone here to help and play with Aria.

Today Aria started to suck on her hand a lot. And not just her hand but her finger and thumb. She also smiled and looked super adorable. She slurps a lot when she sucks. :-) Love my baby.