The Great Sleep Experiment, Part Two

Day 7:
Second day of fail. Day 6 was a total disaster, due to a confluence of factors including a late wet diaper, approaching hunger, and consistently escalating crying that we responded to with holding. In the end, there was 35 minutes of on and off crying with several attempts in the crib, and no nap. This morning we made sure to start earlier with the wind down routine, checked the diaper several times in advance of her drowsy state, and swaddled her early, but to no avail so far. It's been 15 minutes of ardent crying so far, Shaggy is in there with her singing George Harrison and holding her hand. Every once in awhile she pauses in the crying and it seems like she's almost asleep, but then she comes back with a vengeance. I think in part we're having to make up for some inconsistency yesterday. This is hard.

Wedding in Virginia

In the middle of September we took Lucy on her first plane ride: to Virginia, Shaggy's homeland, for his cousin Becca's wedding. The wedding was beautiful and festive, and Lucy got to meet several aunts and uncles and cousins, as well as her very excited Gigi.

Here are some pictures of the festivities:

 Emma, the flower girl.

Becca and Uncle Paul.

Becca and Andy.

Shaggy, Lucy, Gigi and Lloyd

Amber and Lucy.

Jordan, Austin, and Sam.

 

Lucy and her daddy.

 

Lucy napping at the reception.

 

The happy couple.

 

The flower girl, Emma, dancing with her cousin Jordan.

Congratulations to Becca and Andy!

Shopping for Two

The weather is getting cooler here and at the start of this week when we skipped Lucy's evening walk because it was pouring rain I had a sudden realization:  I don't know how to dress Lucy when she actually needs clothes for warmth. She's a warm blooded baby, and we've mostly gotten away with her living in a diaper this summer, with some added onesies or cute dresses (thanks to the two grandmas!) when we had to see the doctor or attend a special event. But now I'm starting to wear a sweatshirt around the house, so I guess it's time to start bundling Lucy up, or at least dressing her on a regular basis.

An evening of online shopping later, and the problem was solved: long sleeved onesies and baby legwarmers for every occasion!

The first package arrived today . . .

Rocking the polka dots.

Two Months

At her 2 month check in on Tuesday Lucy weighed 11 lbs, 9 oz, and measured in at a whopping 25.5 inches tall. No wonder she still looks skinny to me, she's just spreading it all out over quite the real estate. Clearly not a trait she inherited from her mother, as I don't think I've ever been described as long and lean.

Happy two months, Lu!

Lucy manned up for her first round of immunizations which included a possibly delicoius tasting oral rotovirus vaccine and three decidedly un-delicious shots in the thigh. I have never seen her face turn so red so quickly, and she actually cried so hard that she lost her breath completely for a good six seconds or so. Poor thing. So far the aftermath has been gentle: a longer than normal afternoon nap and some added fussiness for good measure. We're going with the old standby treatment--hold her continuously--with an added dose of children's tylenol for good measure. I'm crossing my fingers for no fever and a good night's sleep.

The Great Sleep Experiment

Day1:
On Monday morning we started on our quest to get Lucy sleeping in her own crib--so far she's taken daytime naps in somebody's arms, and spent the nights snuggled up next to a breast in our bed. It was working out quite well for her, but less well for us, so we decided to phase her into becoming a champion sleeper on her own. We read a book and prepared for lots of tears, but when we put her down for her first nap of the day on Monday, she cried for 6 minutes and went to sleep. While she was crying we sang, patted her, shushed her, and held her hands. I was prepared for a 45 minute meltdown, once again proving that the key to a happy parenthood is low expectations.


Day 2:
This morning (Tuesday) I put her in her crib alone (Shaggy was in class), and once again, it was not what i was expecting! She was down in the crib with no crying at all, maybe drowsy but awake turned into already asleep? Or maybe she's just a quick learner . . . I'll wait 10 minutes for the first stirring/partial awakening and see what happens, but if that goes well it's onto a shower.

12 minutes later, not a peep, and I've confirmed that she's still breathing.


Day 3:
I'm such a proud mama! We put Lucy in her crib this morning at 8:30, drowsy but definitely awake. She wiggled quite a bit, sucked on her hand for a few minutes, fussed a little, and then went to sleep. No crying at all, and we just sat nearby--Shaggy sang from a distance, but I didn't shush or pat her, and the whole thing took a total of 8 minutes.

Go Lucy!


Day 4:
Getting her to go to sleep in the crib (for naps) is turning out to be the easy part; getting her to stay asleep for more than 30 minutes is decidedly more challenging. I've read that infant daytime sleep tends to be disorganized longer than night time sleep, so now we have to decide whether to work on extending naps or just jump right in to the all-nighters. I'm looking forward to having the bed back to ourselves, but I have a feeling I'm also going to miss the little snugglebunny.

(who wouldn't miss this?)