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@shopaholic: After she falls asleep, do you remove the seahorse? I was wondering if our babies were too young to actually keep it in the crib with them. I guess the suggestion is for when they are 6+ months? I'm soooo nervous about moving Xander to his crib and trying to get him to fall asleep there instead of in the swing!
@Smurfette: When Xander wakes up at 2:00/2:30, I always wonder if he's actually hungry. I try giving him the pacifier and usually he'll fall back asleep. Sometimes he doesn't though, and I have to feed him. Have you tried just giving R a pacifier (or some other way to soothe her) to see if maybe she just woke up and needs some help falling back asleep?
Also, which growth spurt are you referring to? I feel like Xander might have not had one he was supposed to... lol
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We survived our first round of vaccinations! Pete wailed like crazy for the first few seconds, but then the doc gave him the sugary oral vaccination (I'm not sure which one it was) last, and he loved the taste of it. He quieted down right away to enjoy the sweet flavor and then was calm for the subway ride home. Once we got home, he was cranky so I swaddled him and he pretty much slept the afternoon and night away. He is still sleeping now. It's actually been pretty nice, as I have been able to get so much done!
Does anyone have plans for Memorial Day Weekend? The weather in NYC looks pretty dreary (rain with highs in the low 60s), so I have no idea what we are going to do now! Maybe visit a museum?
So, the new moms group that I attend is run through a local pediatrician's office. I happen to go to a different pediatrician, but all the other ladies in my group use this one. This particular office actually pushes sleep training (CIO) at 8 weeks old. Seems so young to me! But, they claim it's better to do it now before bad sleep habits form. 3 of the moms in my group have done it, and their babies now sleep from 8 or 9pm until 5am consistently. I think I am too much of a sap to try it and I'm still following the, "this is the 4th trimester, you can't spoil a newborn" philosophy for now. I'm not judging them for trying it at all (whatever works!), but I was surprised that it was pushed by the doctor so early.
@shopaholic I love the pic of k snoozing next to her seahorse! I ordered the fisher-price 2 in 1 projection mobile for Pete's crib, and it arrived last week, but it's actually a tiny bit complicated to assemble (requires two different types of batteries that I have to buy, a screwdriver) and I haven't been able to find ten minutes to focus on it with Pete around. Maybe this morning since he is sleeping. I hope it works as well as the seahorse!
When do you leave for Italy? Your trip must be coming up so soon!
Definitely let us know how the wonder week goes...
Sorry to hear about the A/C!@smurfette I love that you guys played hooky and took an outing to the zoo! Nursing while wearing the k'tan is an accomplishment. And, it must be nice to get extra time with your DH before he leaves for work.
Have you tried the crib yet this week?@adira How did it go this morning? And, were you able to meet your pumping goal yesterday?
@ALV91711: Good luck with the shots today! Hopefully Isaac will sleep them off too. Just be ready to provide lots of kisses and snuggles right after he gets them, and he will do great!
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@Adira: She uses me as a pacifier. Doesn't have anything to soothe herself. It makes nap and nightime so much harder. I think she could go without eating but she is wide awake and nursing is the only thing to put her back to sleep in the middle of the night. Although maybe she is hungry she ate for 20 mins the first wake up. She is eating farther apart during the day so maybe I need to see if she will eat more then.
There is supposly a three month growth spurt.@QueensBee: Glad he took the shots great. R loved that oral one too. I am surprised a doctor pushed CIO so early too. I think DH wants to do it but I think it is too early and she wouldn't get the lesson in it. But I am also tempted cause it would mean more sleep for me!
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@QueensBee: We haven't tried the crib yet. Friday night, fingers crossed.
We don't have plans really for the weekend. DH needs to do yard work, need to go to BBB and exchange bottles. My parents are coming over Sunday night for dinner but that is the only real plans we have. We usually always took a short beach trip, not this year!
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@QueensBee: Glad to hear Pete's shots went okay!! When Xander got his, he got the oral one first - I suspect they were worried about getting him to swallow it if he was crying from the other shots. Glad it worked out for you though! And I remember the snooze-fest following the shots! It was so nice!!
It's going to be dreary here too this weekend. My parents are coming over tomorrow to visit and get lunch and on Sunday we have a birthday party to go to, but other than that, no plans. But I suspect I'll just want to stay home and cuddle Xander since he's been at daycare all week!
Wow, I'm surprised they push CIO so early, although I do remember at our two month visit, our ped told us that now was the time that babies could start sleeping through the night. Xander wasn't at the time, but he's definitely starting to now. I do his last feed at 9:00 and he can usually sleep until 5:00 (although he woke up at 4:30 this morning - thanks a lot, buddy).
This morning went well, although Xander woke up at 4:30 (my alarm was set for 5:00), so I had to get up earlier than I wanted to. And I was nice to my husband - I didn't wake him up and I changed Xander's diaper myself. But Xander had other plans and started crying pretty loudly, so I'm pretty sure my husband woke up anyway, haha! Oh well! I nursed him for about 30-35 minutes, then put him back to bed and got up for the day.
I was able to meet my goals yesterday! I pumped 16.5 oz!! I was only able to do so well though because I had pumped 4 oz in the morning before work, so hopefully I can continue doing that. This morning I was able to pump 3.5 oz, so I'll have to see how I do for the rest of the day. As long as I can get 15 oz and Xander only drinks three of his four 5 oz bottles at daycare, I think I'll be able to keep up with him!
@Smurfette: Ugh, that sucks R won't take a pacifier. It's been crucial for us getting Xander back to sleep! How many times does R feed during the day? Xander used to feed 8 times, but now he's down to 6 (5:00 a.m., 9:00, 12:00 p.m., 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00). You could try forcing her to cluster feed in the evenings (if she's not already) to see if that will help get her to sleep longer. I used to try to feed Xander at 5:00, 7:00, and 9:00 (or 4:00, 6:30, 9:00, depending on his schedule). Eventually though, I stopped forcing him and we dropped a feed, and he continued to sleep well.
Ohhh, Xander must be coming up to the 3 month growth spurt. He's 12 weeks, so I'm assuming it must be coming. Maybe he will start sucking down that fourth bottle at daycare... though that will really f up my supply. Oh well - at least growth spurts only last a few days (or do they start lasting longer as they get older?).
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@Adira: she isn't on a schedule since she is up evey say at a different time. We do cluster feed in the evenings. Last night she ate at 430, 630, had a bottle around 730 (2ozs), and then nursed around 830. But I think the nursing was more using me as a pacifier to go to sleep. I am hoping she gets back to one wake up soon!
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@Smurfette: Well, Xander's not really on a schedule either - those times I gave were estimates.
I know daycare will feed every 3 hours though (unless he seems hungry earlier), though they base it on the last time he ate, so we lie to them, haha. He eats at 5:00 a.m. and I tell them 5:30. I know he won't be hungry until around 9:00, so I don't want them to try to feed him at 8:00 and waste my BM! I guess yesterday, they fed him at 8:30, but he only had 1.5 oz. LUCKILY, they didn't just toss out the other 3.5 oz! They just fed it to him at 9:40 when he actually was hungry. Phew!Maybe she's going through her growth spurt early and that's why she's waking up more often to eat. Who knows! I can't figure out these babies.
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@Adira: seriously, I am still waiting for her manual!
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@Smurfette: I think as soon as you figure them out, something changes (like they hit a growth spurt, go through a wonder week, etc) and then you have to start all over again!
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@Smurfette: Oh and from the reviews I've read the music and light on the gloworm are different than the seahorse. The seahorse is SO calming, always wants to put me to sleep! But IDK how different. We were gifted the seahorse off-registry by my friend. Said her little sisters were obsessed with it! Yeah, I think we have a stormy week or two ahead of us!
@Adira: The first night I left it because it was such a miracle she fell asleep and I slipped out as quietly as I could. Last night, after she woke up crying and fell back asleep, I took it out of the crib. Not really a worry though - I left a couple of her stuffed animals in the corner of her crib. She's so swaddled up in the Miracle Blanket, I know she's not going anywhere.
You can start trying to trasition Xander into the crib with some short naps? I did a couple of naps in there. And now we do a little bit of play time just letting her hang out in the crib.
Yesterday was the FIRST time K grabbed onto a toy by herself and held onto it! Sure, she's held the rings attached to the hanging toys and my mom put a maraca in her hand, but I still call this a definite first! * It might have helped that I put toys all around her, but she did it!
@Adira: When you say you give Xander a pacifier in the MOTN, when and why do you give it and not nurse him? How long are you going at night without feeding him? K has been going 6-8 hours at night without eating. I can't imagine trying make her go back to sleep without eating? I'm just curious. And YAY for meeting your pumping goal!
@QueensBee: Awww... Pete.
Glad he made it through his shots. We still haven't gotten all of them yet. I think we get the 3rd one next appt. and I'd figure the oral at the same time since it's not a shot. A sleepy afternoon is amazing for how much you can get accomplished isn't it? It does seem kind of early to do CIO - but I've been told by SO many people to start sleep-training and even by 2 SAs to do it at 1 week old! I think people just really want babies to be on their schedules, and don't remember how little they really are. But a ped saying it is interesting.
Re: CIO - I thought I would do it before K arrived. But now, I don't think I'll have the heart to do it. Also, I've read that babies fall into one of two categories. Basically, one type can cry themselves to sleep/calm down. The other type cannot and gets worse and worse. I definitely think K falls into the latter category. And we've been a lot more successful getting her to sleep when we can get her calm and quiet. Never once has she cried herself to sleep. So I think some parents find CIO easier than others.
We still have a couple of months till Italy. We leave end of June and will be there still for 4th of July.
Memorial Day Weekend seems so low-key for everyone this year! We usually go OOT too, but not this year. I think we'll just hang out and relax at home. Even the beaches will be too crowded and crazy. Maybe BBQ with some friends at home.
We have K's photoshoot today - praying it goes well. It's at 4:30 for optimum sunlight, but I'm hoping she doesn't get too cranky if she starts her witching hours again around 6:30. I might cut pics short just so we can drive home in time. I feel like we're dealing with a Cinderella-Pumpkin here!
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@shopaholic: Yeah, maybe I'll try to get him to take some naps in the crib! I usually let him just nap in the swing because it works so well, but I don't want him to become dependent on that, so I should probably stop using it so much, haha.
Oh, if Xander's gone 6 hours without eating and wakes up, I assume he's hungry! If it's only been 3-4 hours, that's when I will give him the pacifier instead. I feed him at 9:00 p.m. and I know he can go until 5:00 a.m. (or around there) without eating, so if he wakes up at 3:00 a.m., I'll try the pacifier. If he's hungry, he'll just spit it out immediately, so that's my cue that he needs to be nursed instead! Hope that clears things up!
I'm impressed that K grabbed onto a toy!!! Xander can grab the rings hanging above him on his activity mat, but he doesn't grab anything else intentionally (well, except his blanket). But maybe I need to put more toys around him.
Oh my gosh, K is sooooo cute!!! I need to take more pictures of Xander. I feel like I was good about taking pictures in the beginning, but don't have any recent ones!
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@Adira: Yeah - DH was getting really dependent on putting her in the swing at night. I didn't want it to become necessary, so I've been doing bed-time for the past two weeks. It's tiring, but I've gotten her from bouncy and rocking to mostly gentle side-to-side swaying (and sometimes just holding her) to sleep. OK - That does make sense about the feeding. I was wondering if you were trying for the 10-12 hour stretches I've been told about already!
Yup - I read about having to give the babies a chance to even develop new skills. i.e. In order to roll over/crawl/walk/etc, you have to let them be on the flat surface and let them struggle a bit instead of always picking them up. Same thing for grabbing. You don't see it in the pics, but I basically made a circle of toys around K in her crib and she managed to grasp onto the elephant while she was kind of flailing around.
Thanks! She's rarely ever naked too. It was just so hot and we're getting our new A/C installed right now!
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@shopaholic: She is so cute!!! I think that I am going to agree with you on the CIO. I don't think that R is going to respond to it. She just gets more mad the more she cries. So I have no clue how I am going to get her to sleep on her own. First we need to work on putting her down once she falls asleep and not waiting 20+ mins. Which I will still have to do in the middle of the night cause of her reflux, so it will be a mixed message.
R has no interest in toys at all yet. I keep trying. She isn't anywhere close to rolling over either. She is getting better about liking tummy time though. Something at least.
Good Luck with the pictures!!
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@Smurfette: Thanks! Oh I don't know how intentional the toy grabbing was. Like I said, I basically encircled her with them and she managed to get ahold of one. But with more time and practice!
Same thing with rolling over. She only did that once on the bed, on top of the silky blanket. I put her on it on the floor yesterday and she was trying and could kind of get on her side, but that was it. I figure a few minutes of "exercises" like that everyday should help. Plus, she's sooo curious and alert these days, I have to think if things to do to keep her busy and entertained that don't require my arms to fall off!
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@shopaholic: Oh yeah, 10-12, I WISH! No, I'm not trying to get Xander to sleep that long, haha. If he goes 6-7, I'm pretty happy.
Do you have a bedtime routine? Do you find that helpful? We don't really with Xander and I'm wondering if we should adopt one to help get him to bed in the crib. I'm so nervous about changing things up when things are working so well right now! But I know we don't want him to get into the habit of sleeping in the swing so... haha
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@Adira: Yes. We started a bedtime routine at 2 weeks around 9:30 pm. Basically just: Bath, Massage, daddy-cuddle time or reading a 1 min cloth book, and rock to sleep. Of course, for many weeks, the rocking took a looong time. But I'd say since 8 weeks, she's been pretty good with the routine and I dare say, needs it! She shows tired signs and cues by 8:30-9pm now and we will start bath earlier or later depending on her cues.
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@shopaholic: Our routine is this: plop him in the swing and turn it on.
I definitely need to come up with something better I think, haha. I'd like to incorporate reading though because I really want him to grow up to be a reader like his Momma! Maybe this weekend when we move him to his crib, I'll try to implement a bedtime routine too and see how it goes!
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@Adira: What?!?! You're SO lucky! K will sometimes fall asleep in her swing, but I can't count on it.
Good luck this weekend! Let us know how it goes. FWIW, K LOVES her baths!
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@shopaholic: Yeah, Xander LOVES the swing. We can just put him in it, turn it on, and he'll just stare up at the mobile and mirror and eventually just pass out. No work needed! So I'm nervous about trying something different when this works so perfectly!
Xander loves getting a bath too! He hates when it's over though, haha! He's always like "WTF - now I'm wet and cold!" Or at least, that's what I'm interpreting his expression as meaning, haha.
I have put Xander down for naps in the PnP before, but I can't just set him down awake - I have to get him when he's about to pass out. So maybe if I can get him to that point, I can get him to sleep in the crib okay. Guess we'll find out!
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@Adira: We do bath, lotion, pjs, I want to read a book but so far no interest but I need to just do it. We just have to calm her down after bath and dressing so cries getting out of the tub. Then bottle, hangs with us for a bit, swaddle and nurse. I am going to do swaddle and bottle tonight and see how that goes.
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@Smurfette: So Xander has been putting these big gouges into his forehead and I realized he's probably itchy because he has dry skin! I'm just starting to use lotion now on him and I hope that helps! But that's a good idea to incorporate into the bedtime routine!
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@Adira: Can you try moving him from the swing to the crib? We use coconut oil for massages and as lotion every night.
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@shopaholic: Do you mean once he's asleep? Usually what happens is we put him in the swing, he falls asleep, then I wake him up at 9:00 to eat and he falls asleep on the boob, and then I put him to bed in the bassinet. I know switching from bassinet to crib will probably be fine in those steps, but skipping the swing step altogether might be a challenge, haha.
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@Adira: Yeah. I mean, have you ever tried taking him out of the swing and then into the crib or bassinet? Do you swaddle? I bet if you swaddled before putting in the swing, then the move to the bassinet or crib wouldn't be as hard.
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@shopaholic: Well, I think once he's starting to fall asleep (or is asleep) and I moved him to the crib, he'd be fine. There's been a few times where he'll be playing on the activity mat and just start drifting off and I'll pick him up, swaddle him, and put him in the PnP and he falls asleep just fine. It's when he's overtired or fussy that I can't just put him in the crib, though putting him in the swing calms him enough for him to fall asleep on his own.
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So this evening was sooooooo much better (for me at least)! Since Hubs offered to help out with my bottle stuff, when I got home from picking up Xander, I just threw everything in the fridge for him to deal with later. Then I played with Xander, yay!
Then while I fed Xander, Hubs dealt with all the bottles. He washed the used bottles, made up new bottles for Xander for daycare, transferred the pumped milk from today into storage containers, and then washed all the bottles and pump parts for me so I'm now good to go! I'm so thankful that I was able to spend quality time with Xander and I don't have to worry about having a ton of stuff to do!
And now we're ordering pizza, so I don't even have to worry about dinner!
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@Adira: yay! Glad you had some good QT with X!
Pics went well. I paid for a 1 hr session but it started getting windy and cold and K was getting tired, so we wrapped up after about 40 min. I think. Still think we should be able to get some nice shots. She was crying in the carseat when I put her in, but actually fell asleep about 3-4 min later and fell asleep until we got home. Then we had a guest waiting for us at home. She's DHs old colleague and stayed from 6:30 till 920! Basically until I was like, "gotta bathe the baby" because she started fussing. Anyhow, she's a grandma and super sweet, but both mom and baby are tired tonight. I'm exhausted but idk why I'm still on HB in bed!
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@Adira: Sounds like a great night!
@shopaholic: Can't wait to see pictures!
R would not nap late afternoon. She was so fussy tonight. So we did bath and bed early. I wasn't feeling good AT&T afternoon, so I put her down at 9 and climbed onto bed. Stinker woke up 10 mins later. So I nursed her, she fell asleep and handed her to DH to hold her till we could put her down. At least she slept till 330 getting closer to 530. I miss those nights!
Is anyone else still getting having night sweats? Mine is so bad still. Gross and annoying.
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@Smurfette: sounds like we had the same night!! A would not nap so I let my husband deal with him for bedtime while I slept. Woke up all sweaty too!
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@Smurfette: No, thank goodness no night sweats for me. But I'm actually always cold, I think b/c I end up in just a nursing tank or bra most nights. But I was so tired last night too. DH did bedtime and watched the monitor till he went to sleep. I didn't even brush my teeth or put away some of the food last night.
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Good morning, everyone!
We are having a pretty mellow inside day here, as the weather is gray and rainy. Pete had a good night of sleep- he started fussing at 6pm which was right when I was leaving him with DH to go get dinner with a friend. I was so nervous that he would be miserable with me gone, so I texted DH at 6:40pm to check in. He said Pete had a great bath and was sound asleep. Awesome! I was able to then relax and enjoy my dinner. He didn't wake up until 3am! And then he slept again until about 5:30am.
Call me crazy, but I really don't mind the 3am feeding. In fact, I actually kind of like it! It usually only takes about 20 minutes, I love snuggling with him on the glider in the dark, and then we both fall back to sleep easily. Once I start working again, I'll be eager for him to sleep through the night without needing to eat though. I'll need every minute of sleep I can get in order to have enough energy to teach 5 year olds all day long!
I'm also not quite sure about my feelings on CIO with him yet. I think I will have a really hard time with it, although I do feel like it works. @shopaholic, I've heard the same things re: it works for some babies while others rile themselves up even more. I'm not sure which side Pete will be on yet. I will probably start to consider some sort of sleep training in August when he is 4+ months old and I need to go back to work.
On a side note, I am watching The View right now and they are promoting a "Bringing Up Baby Royal Edition" with Barbara Walters and it is getting my absurdly excited for the royal baby!
@shopaholic I love that you were able to capture K grabbing the toy in the series of photographs! You are going to have all her milestones so well documented! Can't wait to see the photos from yesterday!
Sorry you had a such a late and exhausting night. Can you try to get in a good nap today to catch up on sleep?
@adira Sounds like a great day! We have a bit of a bedtime routine for Pete as well which consists of:
1. Playing on the bed in just his diaper, singing songs, etc. We call it "naked on the bed time" which sounds a little racy now that I type it out but I promise it's not! Lol
2. Bath
3. Lotion/oil rub
4. Swaddling
5. Nurse or diaper to sleep
Sometimes we start the routine as early 6pm or as late as 8pm, depending on how tired and fussy he seems and his afternoon nap schedule. I want to add in a bedtime story but right now he screams if I try to read to him during any of the steps. Maybe once he's a little older.@smurfette I still get the night sweats every so often, but not as regularly. Ugh I know, they are the worst!! And now that the weather is warmer, it's compounded even more. I can't wait until they are gone for good!
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@ALV91711: How's Isaac feeling today?
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Okay, I just have to post this photo from this morning. Will the smiling ever get old? I am a puddle on the floor every single time I see his gummy grin!
Any other Friday smiles out there? Please post!
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@QueensBee: Aww, what a cutie!!!!!
R was smiling this morning. It is her happy time. She is sleeping now otherwise I would post a picture. I will get one later!
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@QueensBee: Ooh! I'd like to see that Royal Baby episode!
K went almost 9.5 hrs (2nd time) in between feedings! She did nurse 2xs last night for ~25 min. each though (she's usually ~10 min.) So maybe that's why? But she didn't stay asleep in her crib after that feeding so she's been up since 8 am. Put her in the swing and she's been in and out of sleep. I hope this is not a new routine for her! lol!
I opened her box of LOOK! Flash Cards this morning and she seemed to really love it. Like squealing with joy. hehe... another "activity" now I can do with her on the play-mat for about 15 min. if I stretch it out.
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@QueensBee: oh man!
*heartmelt* He's got such pretty eyes!My lil girl woke up all smiles in her crib this morning and after her first feed, all smiles in her sleep. I try to get pics, but it's always dark in the rooms.
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@QueensBee: Isaac seems to be happy and back to himself today. Yesterday afternoon he was cranky and sleepy, he would wake up shrieking, almost like he was delving the shots. Because he was so sleepy yesterday he didn't eat too much. I fed him at 11 when I went to bed but he still got up three times. That is such a cute picture!
We have a bit of a bedtime routine. We do baths every other. Ought and the off night I wipe him down with a cloth. He then gets his nightgown on and one more feeding and rocked to sleep. He won't go down if he's not asleep. Sometimes there is a story, it just depends on the timing of everything. I try to start getting him ready around 7:30. He is usually asleep by 9:30.
Most of the time we do stories in the morning. Isaac usually gets up around 7 or a bit after to eat and is awake for about an hour. He is starting to look at the book when I read.
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@ALV91711: Glad he's doing better after shots!
We got a Sneak Peek already from yesterday's photoshoot!
ETA: I don't know why it shows up all blurry on here. Maybe b/c I snagged it from FB? -
@shopaholic: Those are precious!!
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@shopaholic: Sorry your husband's friend stayed too long!! I hate it when guests overstay their welcome! But I'm glad that photo shoot went well! Those pictures are ADORABLE!!
@Smurfette: I'm having night sweats, but I think it's because of my waterproof mattress pad. That and it's Spring here and the temps haven't decided whether they want to be hot or cold. Sometime I have the heat on, but then it gets too hot, and other times I have the A/C on and it's too cold. I feel like I go to bed cold but then always wake up in a sweaty mess!
@QueensBee: Before I went back to work, those last few weeks, I really enjoyed the late night feedings too! I knew that I was going to have less time with him in the future, so I really enjoyed snuggling him in the middle of the night and feeding him! Now that I'm back at work though, I'd prefer he slept until 5:00, haha.
Also, your son is so adorable!!! I wish I had been on Hellobee earlier - I would have definitely taken a picture of Xander smiling. He was super smiley today! I'll try to get a pic tomorrow! And isn't it crazy how happy those smiles make us???
@shopaholic: What are these flash cards you speak of? They sound interesting! I need another activity to do with Xander!
I know daycare will feed every 3 hours though (unless he seems hungry earlier), though they base it on the last time he ate, so we lie to them, haha. He eats at 5:00 a.m. and I tell them 5:30. I know he won't be hungry until around 9:00, so I don't want them to try to feed him at 8:00 and waste my BM! I guess yesterday, they fed him at 8:30, but he only had 1.5 oz. LUCKILY, they didn't just toss out the other 3.5 oz! They just fed it to him at 9:40 when he actually was hungry. Phew!
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