Naps

Anya is still on 2 naps a day. This sounds great, right? Well, it is and it isn't. I love that she gets so much sleep. She will sleep for 2 hours in the morning and about an hour to an hour and a half in the afternoon. This gives me time to clean up and it also gives me a break.

However, now that we are going on 14 months all of Anya's friends have graduated to 1 nap a day. So when Anya is up her friends are asleep and when her friends are up Anya is snoozin'. It makes planning play dates with them almost impossible. There are also the library story times and play groups that happen during toddler hours which is usually 9:30 or 2pm... her nap times. We also belong to a wonderful mom group that does lake trips, berry picking, parks etc... all at those same times. We have been able to attend a couple things recently, when the times and stars all met up nicely.

Anya and I are trying to be creative. I set up her sun tent inside. I would have set it up outside had it not been an oppressive 100 degrees out there. She was apprehensive about the tent..

I also took out crayons and paper. She liked that but was more interested in holding the crayons than anything. She did point to my picture of a cat and say, cat. :)

We do use the baby pool and visit family and friends and work around it. I can push her afternoon nap a bit later and/or Anya can nap at other houses in her pack and play. It's weird to think that I am excited for her to be on only 1 nap, but I am. We will have so many more options on fun places to go! But for now, I will enjoy these nap times because I KNOW that I will miss it on crazy days when I just want to have a moment to myself. I know she will transition in the next few months and she will love to see her friends again... and I will love to see mine as well. :)

Eggs and Tails

Anya tried scrambled egg yolk yesterday morning. She loved it and ate it all up except for a few small pieces.

Herman joined us on the couch later on and Anya was reaching to pet him. She got a few fingertip strokes in. He layed down near us and was swaying his tail back and forth. I said, "Herman watch out for your tail". Before we knew it Anya had it in her fist. He jumped up as I pulled her fingers away. We got the death glare from him. Oops!

Last night Anya woke up around 4am again but fell back to sleep after 5-10 minutes.. she woke at 6am (a half hour earlier than usual).. getting better.. fingers crossed.

Today we had Meg and Camden over for a playdate. It was lots of fun. Look how happy Anya was to have them over!

sleep crusade

Last night Anya woke again around 4am. I had turned the monitor down really low so that I would only hear her if she was being quite loud. I woke to a cry and then it stopped. I turned the monitor louder to listen. I thought she had gone back to sleep but I heard another cry. She did a few whines.. stopped.. a cry... stop. This continued for about a half hour, maybe a little more? I was a bit delirious with sleep so it isn't played out in my mind perfectly. She did fall back asleep and slept until 7am (half hour later than usual). This morning I didn't feel as great about it. I think it was because when this happened a few nights ago I had already gotten up and given her 2 oz of formula. I knew that she wasn't starving. This morning she was smiling and happy but I felt guilt. What if she was up because she was hungry? What if she was scared? What if she was wondering, 'where is mommy?". I know she is fine and this is probably breaking her pattern of waking up at that time... but still.. It sucks. I can probably do one more night of it.. possibly two. If the pattern isn't broken I think mommy will be.. and I will go in and scoop up my little love and tell her everything is alright. I give those moms credit that go nights of hearing their little one scream for an hour a couple times a night... whoa I can hardly do a half hour.

During her naps this week she has been off as well. She will go down but it takes time. I used to put her in her crib and she would be asleep within 5-10 minutes. Now it has been taking a half hour for her to fall asleep. She doesn't cry.. maybe a whine or two in the beginning. She just talks and babbles and plays with her blankie and giraffe. I am thinking that life is just so exciting for her right now. She doesn't want to waste her time sleeping. There are more important things to do like look at, feel and taste everything. Every day is like Christmas to her.. such surprises. ;)

5 favorite times of the day

My 5 favorite times of the day

1. Before Anya's morning nap I always give her a bottle. After she drinks it I turn her towards me and hold her against my shoulder to get out any air bubbles. I take an extra moment just holding her there and feeling her soft head and looking at her beautiful face. Sometimes she puts her head down on my shoulder but most of the time she just looks around the room.

2. When I go and get Anya after her nap and she is excited to see me. She kicks her feet up and down and has a huge grin.

3. Watching Anya when she hears music on the radio or television. She rocks back and forth every time and smiles. She loves it!

4. When Dwight walks in the door after work. It is great to see him and I love seeing how happy Anya is to see him as well.

5. Bath time and our bed time routine. I love watching Anya play in the bath. I also love our time after bed time when we can relax and watch our shows, go on the computer, have dinner and sometimes a glass of wine.

** Sleep update: Last night she slept through the night.. go figure when I think extra about what the plan should be if she wakes up.. she sleeps all night.

Sleep stuff

Yesterday my parents came for a visit and I cooked Polish gwumpkis, yum. The cooking and peeling away of the cabbage was quite the task... but they came out pretty yummy. My dad was ecstatic to see Anya because he hadn't seen her in a while. She loved pulling his glasses off and even trying to put them back on his head, just so she could pull them off again.. little stinker. ;)After Anya was sick she has started waking up at night again. We have tried to let her cry but I end up going in and giving her the 2 oz and she will go back down to sleep right away. After this happens I end up laying there awake for quite a while unable to go back to sleep myself . Last night this happened and I got up to give her the 2 oz a little after 4am. I went back to bed and I heard Anya start crying again. I asked Dwight what he thought we should do. He said to wait it out and let her cry and she would eventually fall asleep again. This is against a mothers intuition and it really breaks my heart to hear her cry. I watched the monitor and listened for 15 minutes. I just wanted to go in and scoop her up and give her love. Dwight reminded me that she is okay and just wants to get up and play and it isn't time. I told myself that he is right and she is just excited for her day.. but too early. I told myself, 'she needs to learn good sleep habits for herself'. After a torturous 15 more minutes of crying (30 min total) she fell asleep. I am curious to see how tonight will go. I know some people are against crying it out and others are all for it.... I am just going to go with what I think will work... one night at a time. She was sleeping through the night for a month so I know she can do it well and that she doesn't need to get up and eat. This morning she was all smiles and slept an hour later than normal waking up at 7:30am instead of 6:30am.

On a happy note: 6 years ago on this date I (age 22) was at a dive bar with my sister and I saw a man I recognized meeting once before. He was with his friends and his cousin and came over to the bar to order drinks and I said "hello". We got to talking and ended up spending hours laughing and dancing and having a great time. I went to the ladies room with my sister and I said, "there is something about that guy that I really like". Well here we are 6 years later.. 2 and a half years of marriage.. and a cute little angel named Anya. ;) I wonder if I would have met him at another time in my life if we weren't out that night.. I hope so.

Sleeping

This morning I asked Dwight, "When was the last time Anya woke up in the middle of the night?"... and he couldn't remember. It may be 2 weeks ago.. it may be 3 weeks... I have no clue but she hasn't woken up and needed us to feed her those 2 oz to go back down in a while. When people asked us in December if she slept through the night I was telling them that she did half of the time and the other half would wake to eat 2 oz and go back down. I am hopefully not jinxing myself but Anya sleeps through the night now. We put her down at 6:30pm and we don't see her until 6:30 or 7 am. I do hear her in the monitor once or twice a night. When I hear her it is just talking or maybe a small whine and then she falls back down to sleep. She has never been difficult with sleep. I am not sure if this is her nature or that we put her in her crib so early on. I think she was sleeping in her crib in her own room at 3 weeks old. It is probably just the type of sleeper she is. Anyways, I don't know the exact time she started sleeping through the night officially but if I could guess it would be right after Christmas. Lets hope this keeps up :)

Routines

The past few days it has snowed, stopped, snowed, stopped. We have spent these days inside playing with Anya, snuggling on the couch, cooking and eating too much, moving the cars for the plows, organizing Anya's little clothes, taking the tree down, cooking Anya more pureed food and at night watching movies. It has been really relaxing. Since we have been home so much Anya has been on a nap schedule. It has been nice. She wakes up in the morning and this time varies. Sometimes she is up at 6:30am and sometimes it is 7am. This morning she woke at 6am and Dwight gave her 2 oz and then she slept until 8am! She always takes a nap 2 hours after she wakes up. Her afternoon naps were random until the past few days. She would sometimes fall asleep around noon in the car for a short nap and then I would struggle to get her to nap more later on. Sometimes she would be easy with a third nap and other times she would only take two naps. Well being home all of the time has made a second nap that happens 3 hours after the first nap and this one has been about 2 hours. It has been so pleasant to know that she is getting a good amount of rest and it has been nice to have time to relax alone or get some more things done in the house.

Our night time routine is basically the same as it has been. We pushed the time back a half hour but other than that it hasn't changed. We give her solids around 4pm and around 5pm give her 3-4 oz of formula. We play some more and at 6pm she gets a bath. After bath we put on her PJ's and sleep sack, lullaby CD (same one every night), and give her 4 more oz of formula in the glider with the lights dimmed. She definitely eats more in the last couple hours before bed. I turn on her mobile and rain forest toy and say goodnight. She is usually in bed at 6:30pm. I want to add in more stories and I sometimes do that before bath. I also want to start brushing her gums in some sort of way to get her used to that.

I'm not going to lie.. I love it at 6:30pm when she is asleep and we are finishing up making dinner. We have dinner together and watch our shows. It's so nice. I get my time with her all day so this adult time is wonderful.

When we are staying somewhere else like my sister's house our routine is off but we just go with the flow. When we return home after our trip Anya smiles away when she is put in the bath. I think she really enjoys knowing what is going to happen next. Life is easier when you know what will happen next. :)

Sleep Post

This past week Anya has been sleeping through the night. I am trying not to get too excited seeing that babies change patterns a lot. She will go down at 6:15pm and sleep until anywhere from 5:45 - 7am. Last night she slept from 6:15 and woke this morning at 6:55.. woah.. 12 and a half hours. Yesterday she went down at 6:15pm and woke at 5am. I gave her 2oz of formula and she went down until 7am. She goes down very easy at night now. She used to scream when we were trying to put her down.. (go back a couple months of posts and you will see).. We started bathing her at night.. putting the same CD on at bedtime.. and putting her down earlier. We were trying to put her down around 7:30.. no wonder she was screaming, she was exhausted. Now we bath at 5:30 and she is down by 6:15pm. I put her in the crib and she goes to bed.. we don't have to go back up there a couple times because of crying any more. I have heard that babies get really good at sleeping and then go through a time of horrible sleep around 4 or 5 months.. lets hope she doesn't do that! I am just taking it one night at a time and enjoying the sleep I am getting right now.

She has been doing really well with her morning naps as well. I put her in her crib around 9am and she will sleep until 10:40 or 11am. Today she slept from 9am to 11:30!!! Two and a half hours in her crib.. wow.. that is the longest crib nap for her so far. Her afternoon naps haven't been as nice.. she wants to stay up and see the world instead. Today we were extra lucky and she slept 2 hours in the afternoon. I had to wake her up because I had made plans to go to the town common storytime in Amherst with a moms group I have joined. It is an outdoor storytime.. very cute. She was all smiles when she woke and we had fun. Maybe she is going through a growth spurt.. or maybe it's the solid food she has been eating... but yes I love all this sleep.. good for her and good for me!

Here is a picture because I have a hard time posting without at least one photo. She loves her dolls..

*Bedtime update*

I am wary to write about Anya's bedtime because it has been going so well. I don't want to jinx myself! Our new routine has been great. I don't know if it's the fact that we do bath at night, we put her down earlier, that she is over a growth spurt of some sort, or she is just getting older and learning the routine. If she is napping (her naps are still pretty random) I wake her around 5pm and we play. I wait until she seems hungry and I give her a bottle but not where she is completely finished. Next we do bath time and I let her splash around. I trickle water on her and sing to her to wear her out (and we have such a fun time- I love it!). I give her the rest of the bottle or enough to make her not interested. Next, I rock and sing to her and put her down in her crib. Lately she has been awake at this time. I tuck her blankie under her arm, turn on her mobile and say goodnight. She has been making her 'talking' noises but not crying. On some nights she will get to a point where it is close to crying and I go in and press her mobile, say goodnight, and give her a pacifier. On most nights this alone has worked and she falls asleep all by herself. Some nights I end up going in twice to do this but after that she falls asleep. I have avoided picking her up out of the crib and it is actually working. If she was crying a lot I would pick her up but it is more of a frustrated whine. She has been in bed by 6:30pm on most nights. I have done some simple researching (nothing extensive so who really knows) and it says an earlier bedtime is better for the baby and babies actually sleep later when they are put down early. I feel like this is good for her -and Dwight and myself as well. I have time to get dinner ready (hopefully) and we have some time to hang out together. His schedule will be changing with the new job to make him home a lot earlier each night. :o) She still wakes once or twice a night to eat but that will change as she develops. Teaching your child how to get good sleep and go to bed is an important thing as a parent. I just hope that we are moving in the right direction. I know there will be a few bumps in the road but lately it has been a lot better. Oh and Tuesday I went to dinner with my girlfriends leaving Dwight alone to do this whole routine. He played, bathed, fed, rocked, and put her down.. and she was down.. hooray Dwight!

Bedtime routine update

Here is how it went down: (exact times may be off.. just guesstimating)
5:15- Began to feed her a bottle
5:40- Bath time!
6:15- Feed rest of bottle
6:35- Eyes are shutting.. burp to wake.. give more.. same happens.. burp and put in bed
6:36- Saying to myself "omg omg omg she is asleep?"
6:50- Hear her crying.. wait 5 minutes.. go up and feed her more.. she falls asleep so I put her down.. not really drowsy more like 'passed out'.. oops
7:05- Hear her crying (a lot more and I don't wait 5 min this time)
7:06- Give her a pacifier and push her blankie up closer to her arm for security
7:10- Complete quiet
7:20- I think she is down.. I hope she is down.. Okay so I'm praying she is down.
Sigh..
I am now thinking about how the bath time definitely helped calm her down for bed time. I was also told not to make eye contact with her last feeding. This is (I'm guessing) to not keep her waking just to have 'special mommy time'. I think if I could just get her in bed a little less asleep and a little more 'just drowsy' we will be good to go. If I was lulled to sleep by a comfy mommy and then woke in a bed all alone I would probably freak too.
For those of you who don't have kids and are reading this.. I'm sorry. I know I sound like a lunatic but the complete truth is that children = insanity. So there ya go.
PS- How do moms have clean houses? Mine looks like a baby tornado came through and dumped blankies, bottles, and nice new outfits everywhere.. hmmm.

Bedtime routine

Today at mom group it was suggested that I do bath time at bedtime. I am going to try it tonight. Our routine will start with 1. Bottle 2. Bath 3. More bottle 4. Rocking and Singing 5. Placed in bed awake but drowsy..
Ohh wish me luck.. I don't want to have to read up on exorcism (ha jk (I think)).. :o)

Bedtime demon

Lately our little angel turns into a bedtime demon somewhere between the hours of 6pm and 9pm. Sometimes it is just for a half hour (on a good night).. and sometimes it can be for almost 3 hours. It usually lasts for an hour or two. Ohhh- I am praying this is just a quick stage. She will finish a bottle and then get cranky and there isn't much we can do. We sing, rock, remove or add layers of clothing, swaddle, ect. Once we get her to fall asleep it is bliss. I will not give in to the swing (yet). I really want to get her used to the bedtime routine no matter how hard it is for mommy and daddy. I do the bedtime by myself on most nights because daddy works late (so I can be blessed with staying home.. it's worth the stress).. I love her even when she is crying but it can be frustrating when I can't get my little love to feel better and fall asleep. Once she is asleep she has been only waking up once or twice for a feeding and she goes back down easily (thank goodness!)..

She may be losing a little bit of her hair. It looked a little thin on the left side of her head....

On the left of the blog is a link you can hit to vote for our blog on a baby blog site. You can also find other baby/parenting/pregnancy blogs on this site. It's pretty neat..

I have started to count down the weeks that I would have left if I were going back to work. Right now it is down to 3...
Fall is really right around the corner.