I'm a Believer!

On Sunday morning I did something very, very, very dumb. I took off Clare's amber teething necklace. Why I ever did that is beyond me. I think my reasoning was something along the lines of "this doesn't really match your outfit." This is what vanity gets you.....

I will be the first to admit that I wasn't really sure the thing worked. I had read all the reviews and talked to enough "not crunchy" mamas who swore by them to at least give it a try though. "It couldn't hurt, you know." She's done pretty well with teething so far, but Clare's laidback as it is, so I never knew if the necklace really had anything to do with it.

For those of you unfamiliar with the workings of amber teething necklaces, they are a natural teething remedy. The amber contains succinic acid which is released from the amber when warmed by the babies skin. This is absorbed and helps with pain, inflammation, and even drooling. This all sounds great, but... really? Reallllyyy??

No really.

After a horrible day of tears and whining, and a even more horrible evening trying to get her to sleep, I realized she hadn't been wearing her necklace all day. I couldn't imagine that this was really causing her funk but, hell, I was running out of other options so I went to get it. Unfortunately, it had gone missing. The 3 year old claims he "threw it in the playroom," but I don't know that he even knew what I was talking about when I woke him up in a panic searching for it. So I don't completely blame him. Completely. 

Regardless it remained lost and we decided to give her Advil as often as we could, which also helped. The next day her attitude was even worse and she wouldn't nap, so what does a crazy, sleep-deprived mama do? I overnighted a new one of those bad boys to us. Within an hour of putting it on her, she was back to her normal happy self. An hour! 

Nate and I are still in awe. 

So... I'm a believer. Big time.

I'm also hoping I can find the old one and try it out. Maybe it will help with soreness from running/working out? 

7 months...

Dear Clare,

7 months... Per the norm, this past month was a lot of fun! You've done so many new things, and I'm starting to worry my days with a "baby" are number as you race full steam ahead to toddlerhood. I blame Damian (as we usually do when you start to cry) because you are sooo intent on keeping up with him. I understand, he is a lot of fun. But darling, I don't know that your mama is ready for it all. Let's just go ahead and recap this month shall we. This month...

You started crawling! Woot woot! You are on the move and go go go go. After the second day of you crawling around, Damian finally noticed (typical male) and asked "Mama, what is Clare doing?" I said "She's crawling!" to which he responded "No, she's too little to crawl." My thoughts exactly.....

And now that you are crawling, you are pulling up on anything and everything you can get to. It's caused a lot of falls and boo-boos for you. You've probably cried more since crawling than you have since being born. However, you are also pretty good about rolling with the punches and getting back at it after a fall.

Because you can pull up on everything, you also want to walk. You love walking around holding on to our fingers and you take the cutest GIANT baby steps. You've started cruising some on the sofa, and even think it's fun to let go occasionally and see how long you can stand (only a few seconds.)

We went to the doctor last Wednesday, and you weighed in at 20 pounds 1 oz. and 28.75 inches long. You're off the charts for your height; both Daddy and I are tall, so that's not too surprising. He was very happy with all your development and couldn't believe how well you were doing. It was a proud mama moment, even though I know I have nothing to do with it. You're a motivated little girl.

Sleeping... Well girlfriend... It's still pretty inconsistent. We tried for a few weeks to not let you in the bed with us but you kept us up all night (even Damian) and after weeks of no one sleeping, I just gave up. You are definitely teaching me that every baby has different needs... So now you go down around 7 and sleep for a few hours, wake up and I feed you, you sleep until somewhere between 12-2 and then come to bed with us. I'm working on night weaning you in an effort to convince you that mama isn't the only place you can sleep. On a positive note, you have gotten a bit better about naps though and that's been really nice. Usually I can get 1-2 naps in the crib each day, and they can be anywhere from 15 minutes to over 2 hours. So while sleep overall is still not what I would love (you and Damian sleeping in your own beds for 12+ hours every night and napping for hours during the day) when I look at where we've come from since you were born, we are still progressing.

You love to talk and babble. You will say DaDa if we ask you to, and if I ask you to say MaMa you say BahBah which, considering you don't take bottles, is kinda appropriate for me... sigh... I guess that's just how you see me-- a giant bottle.

I bought you some 2nd Foods baby food and you like those much better than First Foods so you will let me feed you as long as you have something you can feed yourself. Therefore most "meals" include a squeeze pouch and finger foods.

You make some of the best faces. When you laugh, cry, or make your "I'm full" face your eyes completely disappear and you become all cheeks and mouth. You still only have your two bottom teeth, but I can see little swollen spots so I think the top ones will be coming in soon. I bought you an amber teething necklace so we will see if that helps.

Now that you are crawling I'm starting to notice that you are understand words/commands. You respond to your name and usually will come to us when we ask you to. It's always fun to realize when babies actually understand much more than you think they do. I'm also able to see what are your favorite toys, which are usually the 'not actual toys' (i.e. shoes, my purse, wipes) and then of course any lego project Damian is working on. I see a lots of fighting in the future over toys. Can't wait...

You hate hate hate diaper and clothing changes. I think you would much rather be my naked baby.

Well, that's about all for now! I'm looking forward to another month with you cuddle bug.

Love you!!

Mama

6 months...

 

Dear Clare,

Could you be any cuter?! You're killing me! 

Anyway, we've made it half a year and so far so good I'd say. It's been an exciting month for you, and after looking back at your 5 month letter, I realize how far you've come. At some point this past month, I think things finally clicked with me being a mother of two. Or at least it seems to have gotten a lot easier. Or maybe I've just forgotten how easy it used to be... Sigh... I still think having two of y'all around is much easier than having just one. You've got constant entertainment in your brother and that makes my job a little bit easier. But, back to you. Let's recap your month...

You have not only mastered sitting independently but you can now sit yourself up on your own. It's weird to come get your from your crib with you sitting up staring at us. It also means I've had to lower your crib down a level because...

You have also started, though not quite successfully, pulling up on things. The last thing I need is to not be one step ahead of you and have you falling out of your crib, sooo down it went.

Speaking of cribs.... And I mean this loosely, so very loosely, you are sleeping half the night in your crib. Woohoo! Usually you go down anywhere from 6:30-7:30 and then proceed to wake up between every 1-4 hours until I finally wave the white flag (usually between 2-4am) and bring you to bed with me. We've tried letting you cry it out, but that seems to have failed miserably in getting you to sleep longer stretches. I have my theories, but I'll save that for another day. Looking back at last month and realizing a month ago you were still in your swing and not able to put yourself to sleep gives me hope that maybe one day you will sleep long enough for me to get to REM cycle. Until then I will continue to keep all the coffee shops in business.

Since we're on the topic of sleeping, or really not sleeping, I should probably mention two of the reasons I think any 'sleep training' we attempted failed and those are your two bottom teeth. We said goodbye to that gummy smile and now you have two cute little teeth that are delightfully sharp and ready to chew.

And with those teeth, you've decided you are too old and mature for baby food. No ma'am. You will not be fed. You are a big girl and will do it yourself thank you very much. I have tried and tried and tried to feed you baby food with a spoon, but you break down into hysterics if I don't give you the spoon and "let you do it." You do get it in your mouth, eventually. It's only after all the baby food has been slung around the room. Tibi loves it. If only you could be fooled by us both having a spoon... So I've started cutting up things for you to eat with us, and you're happy as can be chowing down on an apple or pear or sweet potato fry.

You are still a huge fan of the raspberries and blowing bubbles. Each morning I wake up to you patting my face and blowing raspberries at me. It's cute... and I will probably miss that most when you finally sleep the night away in your room. You've also started babbling some. Hearing you say da da da da da has definitely melted some hearts. I'll let you in on a little secret... You've got daddy wrapped.

You aren't officially crawling yet, but using an interesting technique of sit, fall over and roll, sit, swing leg around, army crawl, roll, sit up, fall down, etc etc you can get wherever you want to go. I've lost number of the times I've witnessed you faceplant because you're legs go and your arms don't. I'm amazed at how well you take it in stride and keep moving right along. I went ahead and cleared out all of Damian's choking hazard toys. He wasn't amused, but I say it's pay back for how rough he is with you. He has no concept at all that you aren't a 3 year old little boy who loves to be tackled. I'm not sure what's going to happen once you're really crawling/walking and can go get back all those toys he steals from you.

In other news, I finally finished all your nursery bedding! I was hoping it's beauty would inspire you to sleep. I guess you just want to get up and look at it all the time. It's ok. I understand.

We haven't been to the doctor yet, so I have no official stats for you other than you are wearing 12 month clothing. I guess that means the 9 month dress I bought you before you were born for 4th of july will not be fitting you. Sigh. Maybe now that I'm not sewing your bedding I can make you one.

And that my sweet girl is about it! Keep being the sweetest little girl I know!

Love you, 

Mama 

5 months...

Dear Clare,

Is it really 5 months already?! This month has been "the best yet" just as all months have been. You continue to be so happy and sweet--full of smiles, squeals, and laughs. You're an absolute joy, and I swear you're getting cuter by the second. In other words, we are still completely smitten by you and wrap around your chubby little finger. 

This past month...

You began to sit independently. At your four month appointment, your pediatrician said that we should be on the look out for you pulling up on things around 6 months. I'm not ready for that. Ok?

Speaking of your 4 month appointment... Your stats are as follows-- Weight: 17 pounds 11 oz Length: 26.5 inches. You are "sturdy" for sure. But your cheeks and rolls are delicious.

We played peek-a-boo the other day. You thought it was hilarious to lean over to your feet and then pop up when I would say "Where did Clare go?" You've also started reaching out for me some, rolling over in the bed towards me to hug my face, and giving what I call kisses but I know is just you hungry and attempting to nurse my face. I'll take it though! It's fun seeing these beginning moments of social interaction and communication.

You've attempted to get into the crawling position twice.... And I may have stopped you... Once again, I'm not ready... I love you, so when I say this, I mean it will all the love in my heart, but I think you're buddha baby chub may keep you from moving for a bit anyway. This is a fun stage where you can just sit and play, so let's enjoy it a bit. Although, I do look forward for when you can go steal your toys back from your mean big brother who apparently has a new love for baby toys. I guess this is what being the second child is like...

You LOVE to bounce in your Johnny Jump Up. 

The newest trick you've got is blowing raspberries, and you are SO proud of yourself. It's also the way you seem to be trying to start conversations with us. If I say hi, you blow me some bubbles. And it's even more fun to blow them on my shoulder and arm. 

We're still working on you sleeping in your crib. You're doing better sleeping for 'longer' stretches in your swing, but the crib is still not working out well for you. On the bright side, you've got a bit of a schedule going. You nap 3-4 times a day starting at 9 AM, and then we start bedtime routine at 7 PM. We rock, nurse, and pray and it's really a nice way to end the day. Now if only you would stop waking up multiple times at night.

You still love your brother and seem to have finally noticed we have pets.

This is just a small thing but you got to ride in your stroller without being in the carseat for the first time and it was so thrilling you fell right asleep.

We tried solids with you considering your desire to put our food in your mouth. I wasn't expecting you to like rice cereal, but you were more than unimpressed by it. Mostly baby food in general does nothing for you. You'd much rather num on a whole banana or a piece of my lettuce. I guess I should look more into Baby Lead Weaning...

And that's about it for this month. 

Love you sweet cheeks,

Mama

4 months...

Dear Clare,

This has been my favorite month thus far! Every day you're moving more and more away from newborn and more and more into fun baby. It's been such a busy month for us too! Let's recap shall we....

You moved to a new house in a new city, which means you official have a room!!!!! YAYAYAY!!! Ok maybe mama and dada are more excited about the crib and closet situation than you are, but it's nice to finally have a place for everything.

I believe you've started teething. You have horrible cranky moments that are usually followed by lots of drool and lots of num num numing on things. You've also hit the EVERYTHING IN THE MOUTH NOW stage. Your favorite things are things that crinkle, like wipes bags and granola bar wrappers.

You also love your toys and are starting to need to be 'entertained.' It's so fun to see how excited you get for new things, and kinda fun to see you get upset when I have to take something away from you. You know that you're 4 months and not 3 years old, right? You don't have to have tantrums yet ;-)

We've moved you out of our bed and into your crib. Sleep at night is still very "fluid," but you're doing it and you're in your crib so that's awesome.

I said I was going to wait until 6 months to start you on solids, but you realllllllyyyyy like to eat. And I can't eat anything without you trying to grab for it and stick it in your mouth. I think you may have already gotten some of dada's sweet potato fries the other night. So we may start earlier. Considering you still aren't taking a bottle this may help with that though.

You're rolling over from back to belly like a pro. And you can even sit unassisted for a little bit at a time. You haven't quite figured out that when you're sitting you can't just fling yourself backwards in a fit of excitement.

You still absolutely adore your brother. I wish I got those same smiles that you give him. And you started laughing, but only for Damian. It's the best little laugh though and the combination of both of you laughing makes my heart swell.

While I'm still the mama and thus the "love of your life," it's become quite obvious over the past few weeks that your daddy has your heart though. You start to get cranky around 5 in the evening, but the second he walks in the door you're all smiles and happy to be in his arms. He calls you his 4 am buddy, and I think he secretly loves that time with you. You've got him wrapped already. Good job!

That's about all the excitement for now. Keep doing what your doing little girl!

Love you more than ever,

Mama

Also, if you missed the pictures I finally added to her other letters here those are
month 1
month 2
month 3

Sweet Sweet Baby Sleep

Dear world,

Let me apologize to you. I've judged you, and I am sorry.

I once thought I knew all there was about babies. Because I had one. But now...

Now I have two.

And I realize that nothing I have done has made them the way they are, they just are the way they are and it's my job to make sure they don't die basically. Basically.

I say all this mostly based on sleep--more specifically sleep training and baby sleeping and all that jazz. If you've ever wanted to cause yourself anxiety you should look up articles about infant/baby/toddler/people sleep. It's insanity. And everyone is right. And you are likely wrong.

Damian sleeping story had the following chapters-- The First Two Weeks Are Horrible Hell followed by Oh Wait, It's Just Liver Failure followed by A Newborn With A Feeding Tube Seems To Sleep All Night followed by Cry It Out FTW. I really had to do very little after I convinced him he could sleep in his crib and not my arms.

However, if there was one thing in the world I swore I would NEVER, and I mean NEVER, do (even after all those Never Say Never posts) it was co-sleep. Babies don't belong in beds.

And then I had Clare.

My foot is still in my mouth.

Yep. Still.

Anywayyayayyyy. Baby girl loves to snuggle and I love to sleep and I have a 3 year old version of the Energizer Bunny so really that's just how it was going down because everyone was winning. But now we've moved and baby girl has a room, and well... I don't really want to nurse allllll night long anymore. And I could tell she was functioning better without me some.

Lap nap. Sure.

Car nap. Why not?!

"But I looooveeee your memory foam mattress topper. And this tube of bugs!"

So we've begun to transition her. And it's all started with her swing.

I decided to start by trying to put her down at night in her swing instead of holding her while watching TV. It seemed to be working! So then we started to move the swing upstairs and let her sleep there until she woke up (usually around 1 am) and then sticking her in the bed with me.

Then I stuck the swing in the crib. Baby steps. Baby steps. And then I started nursing her back to sleep and putting her back in her swing until about 5 which is apparently "time to wake up" time. No Clare, no it is not.

And now... now she is sleeping in her crib sans swing. She still wakes up anywhere from every 2-4 hours but Nate and I have it worked out so that I get the 7:30 pm to 2:30 am shift and he gets the "after that until 5am" shift. He goes to bed early than me, so it actually works out well. After about 2:30 I start sobbing with her, whereas he somehow can function and walk marathons with her in the kitchen.

It's really weird not having her hanging out with me all evening. And all night. I'm starting to feel a little more me like, which is nice. I don't regret letting her sleep in the bed with us. I got to sleep and this transitioning hasn't been awful minus the two days of basically no sleep before Nate and I decided to tag team it and I was trying to figure out greige. And if anything it's taught me a valuable lesson....

I don't know anything. And everyone is just winging it.