Smiling for Daddy

Sometimes new ideas/thoughts need their own post. This week, Libby has started smiling at Todd when he comes home from work. I mean, of course she always smiles at him, but this has been different. It's definitely "Oh, there you are, I haven't seen you all day!" behavior, and it's just so cute. She just smiles and smiles at him. That's one thing that will make next week easier--looking forward to getting some of those smiles of my own.

Maternity Leave

Today is my last day home alone with Libby. Tomorrow Todd will be off of work, and then we have the weekend. So far, the day is going well. Libby went down easily for her morning nap. Hopefully, she'll sleep at least an hour so she can make it till 1:00 or close to it for her next nap.

If I am lucky enough to get to have another baby someday, I hope I can take at least 3-4 months for maternity leave. I really felt like it took 3 months for Libby and I to bond well and get nursing down, and this last month has really solidified our relationship. Of course, my real dream is by the time I have another baby that I'll be able to stay home at least part time with my kiddos.

Libby had her four-month shots yesterday. It went pretty well, except that there were FOUR of them, poor baby. She held her breath so long afterwards that the nurse blew in her face to surprise her into breathing. It worked. I'll have to remember that next time, because if I remember correctly, all I did was look at Libby sadly and say "Uh oh, uh oh" or something equally as un-helpful. I think it's because I was gearing up for the Mother of All Cries rather than that I was concerned that she wasn't breathing. She got over it quickly and was asleep by the time we left the office. (Note: it might be a good idea to make Dr. appointments so they conveniently end around naptime).

Wherein Libby Gets on Schedule

I told Emily about my 4 am ponderings: "Wherein would be a funny word to start a blog post title" - "Whereupon is also a funny word" - "Whereupon he ordered them to cut the chains that Joseph wore." The last one is part of a song from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, whose soundtrack cassette I'm surprised we did not wear out as kids. It was funny to me how I progressed, and how, of course, it ended in song.

This is Day Three of attempting to live on daycare schedule. It is going pretty well. Eating on a schedule is really pretty perfect. Sleeping on a schedule is not going as well, but I have hope. Libby did not nap well yesterday afternoon at all, but she slept really well last night (probably exhausted!), and today will hopefully be better. I don't know how the afternoon is going to go, because I'm getting my hair cut and going to a friend's house. Todd told me he might come home at lunch if he isn't feeling better (he has a horrible cold), and I secretly hope he does so she doesn't have to come to the salon with me and can take her normal nap.

Which brings me to a fantasy of mine. My dream is for a benevolent benefactor to appear in our lives to allow Todd and I to both be stay-at-home parents with Libby until she is at least five years old. I just love to be at home being a family together. Also, since I have become a mom, I've gotten much more out of housework. I like to take care of our home for us! I know I would love being a stay at home mom, but I don't think Todd could handle it. I think he would get too bored.

Living on Tulsa Time

I have a bad habit of not paying attention to what songs are about. Probably because when they are symbolic, I am pretty much worthless. Who knows what they are trying to say? Anyways, that Eric Clapton (I think) song came into my head when thinking about writing this post.

Day 1 of Transition to Daycare: so far, so good. Libby woke up just a little bit ahead of schedule and ate. She was ready for her morning nap an hour early, but only 1/2 hour early for her afternoon nap. Which she is currently enjoying. The eating is totally on schedule, so hopefully the sleeping will follow. Also, hopefully a daytime routine will help with bedtime. Todd has been having a lot of trouble with Libby's bedtime bottle. I think she's been getting overtired beforehand, but I'm not sure what the solution is. I don't think it's as easy as moving up bedtime. We'll see what the daytime scheduling does.

Now I'm going to work on lesson planning. Gasp! Sigh!

Dread

I am going back to work in a week. And I am not happy about it. Libby and I are going to try to stick to our work/daycare schedule this week and see how it goes. I am excited to get on a schedule. I am not excited to think about what it means.

Libby rolled over yesterday. She was on the bed at B & D's house. She has not yet repeated the feat. They say "be careful because you never know when they'll roll over." I didn't believe "them", but it really was all of a sudden. I looked, and she was over. She definitely had a surprised but proud look on. So fun!

Today, she gad a giggling fit. I love being the most hilarious person she knows. I plan to enjoy it while it lasts!

This post written with one hand while reaching over a cat on top of a baby in my lap.

Poor Mr. Raccoon

Libby's new thing this week is that she has discovered that she can reach Mr. Raccoon, a toy that hangs down over her bouncy seat. She will sit there and hit him over and over again.

I may be taking her to the doctor today. I left a message, so hopefully I'll hear from a nurse when the office opens. She's had cold symptoms that I've been treating for a week, and she just picked up crusty eyes as well. We'll see what they have to say.

I haven't written in a couple of days because almost all I've been thinking about is sleep, napping, and schedules. Today I decided that maybe Libby is a little too young for a strict nap schedule, so I'm just going to put her down when she seems tired. She started a nap at about 11:45, woke up maybe an hour later VERY cranky, so I changed her diaper, rocked her a little bit, and put her back to sleep. And she's still sleeping almost 1.5 hours later. Crazy!

I also decided yesterday that I was in denial about Libby growing out of 3 mos. clothes. It is time to move her up to 6 mos. size. There are some two-piece outfits she can still wear, but sleepers and onesies for sure need to be longer. Todd was wondering last night how much she weighs, but she's not going to the doctor for over two more weeks, so we'll have to try to weigh her with the Wii balance board.

I just remembered something from when we first brought Libby home. Marionette seemed so huge! Which is hilarious, because at 8-9 lbs, she's the smallest cat I know. But Libby was barely over 6 lbs when we brought her home, so the cat was gigantic. Libby is bigger than the cat now, of course. Lots bigger. She's been taking an interest in the cat lately, just watching her when she's nearby and reaching out to touch her. I think she grabbed her once, but the cat was surprisingly tolerant.

Libby and I went to meet Shawna, who is in charge of the daycare where Libby will go in January. There were only four other children there, and one is leaving before Libby starts! I think one is starting tomorrow, though. This daycare has two locations, one for infants and toddlers, and one for preschoolers. The woman who owns it told me yesterday that she is thinking of consolidating into one location in January. I'm glad she chose the one around the corner from my school! Shawna was very loving with Libby, and I'm sure she'll have a lot of fun there!

Day 3 of napping in the crib, and Libby did not cry at all. I hope we're on our way to 3 naps a day. Yesterday afternoon she was very crabby. She woke up after 1.5-2 hours nap and ate, but just wouldn't stop crying. I let her sleep in my arms till Todd came home, then he succeeded in waking her up and getting her in a better mood. She just needed her daddy! I think she wants to take a really long afternoon nap (like over 2 hours), but getting hungry and having a wet diaper gets in the way. She took a short evening nap for Todd while I was at Bunko.

Something new

We're trying something new with Libby's naps. For the last week or two, she has gotten fussy when it's time for a nap, then she'll calm down when I hold her and give her a pacifier, and very quickly go to sleep in my arms. The problem is that she has become aware enough of her environment that as soon as I put her down in the crib or anywhere else, she is awake, and sometimes refuses to go back to sleep.

So we're trying to teach her to fall asleep on her own. We're using a technique called the "Ferber method". When she's ready for a nap, we do our naptime routine, put her down in the crib, say goodbye, and leave the room. We let her stay for three minutes, even if she cries. Then we calm her down for a couple of minutes, and leave her again for five minutes. Then we repeat, leaving her for ten minutes. Yesterday for her first nap, she fell asleep before the 10 minute section was up. For her second nap, I think she fell asleep before the 5 minute section was up. At bedtime, she didn't even cry for three minutes. Just now, I put her down, and went to check on her after 3 minutes. We're in the 5 minute waiting period now, and she's not crying. I think it's working!

I'm trying to encourage her to be a little more regular with her naps. I feel like she's still napping just a half hour here and there like a newborn, and it seems like it would be better for her if she consolidated those naps. We'll see. If it doesn't work out this week, I'll wait another couple weeks.

Well, it's been five minutes and no crying. I think she's asleep! Now I have to quietly let the cat out, because she wouldn't leave the room with me.

I started reading to Libby this week. It has been really fun. I hadn't tried it yet because I felt kind of silly and wasn't quite sure how to do it. But I started laying down on the floor next to her, holding the book in the air while I read. She has three board books with photos of babies, which she loves. I checked some books out of the library last night, and I was a little apprehensive because they are illustrated (not photos), but she loves them, too. She will lie and look very enthusiastically at the pictures while I read. She's a bookworm already!

Dare I have hope?

Well, Libby has slept at least eight hours straight the last two nights. Is this the beginning of a new normal? I hope! Now we just have to get naps figured out!

I'm taking Libby to get her picture taken today. She's going to wear the cute outfit Georgiann (the Kdg aide at my school) made for her, except the booties. My friends with kids say not to put shoes on her in photos so we can remember how small her feet were.

Sleep Turnaround

I just had to share, since Tuesday night was so rough, that Libby slept 8.5 hours last night. It was awesome, especially following a night that really gave me reason to doubt. I was a little worried to go check on her, because I didn't hear a peep, even through Todd getting ready. He was already gone for the day when she woke up.

Labor Continued

During my pregnancy, I frequented a message board for women due in September. A few experienced women there said they would pack when they went into labor so they'd have something to do. I'm glad I didn't listen to them! Once I was pretty sure I was in labor, I wasn't up to doing anything but laying in bed paying attention to the contractions! Todd got everything in the car, and we headed to the hospital.

I felt weird approaching the desk on the OB floor and saying "I'm in labor." But they got me into a room and checked out. I was 4 cm dilated, and they admitted me.

I can't give things in a timeline, because I was too out of it to pay attention--and that was with no drugs! But they got me hooked up to an IV and monitors. Libby was very active and they had trouble keeping track of her on the monitor. Todd kept massaging through every contraction (until I started pushing! What a guy!). I think he called both of our parents when I was admitted, and my parents started their drive. I wanted Mom to come down for the birth, and Dad came too.

Dr. Perry got there at some point and asked if I wanted an epidural. I said no and Todd backed me up. The only drugs I had was a shot of Lidocaine when I was being stitched up afterward.

My mom got there when I had about 30 minutes left of pushing. Libby was born at 1:57 am on August 30th, less than 8 hours after I went into labor, and just 6 hours after I was admitted. The doctor immediately put her on my belly, and it was just so exciting to meet her! She had a lot of dark hair, and she squeaked when she cried, which she still does when she gets really upset.

After they took her measurements and got her cleaned up, they gave her back to me. She was so soft! Just her little face was sticking out of the swaddling and hat. We tried breastfeeding and were somewhat successful. I felt like it took 4-6 weeks to get the hang of it, and 10-12 to be really comfortable and confident. I'm glad I stuck with it!

LOL!

Libby laughed out loud for the first time today! I was finished changing her, and I did "how big is Libby?", which she already likes. Then I tickled her armpits and ribs going "Digga-digga-digga!" What a cute giggle! I made Todd come upstairs right away, and she did it again.

Sour Sleep

Our rough day was followed by a rough night. Libby woke up at 2:00, two to three hours earlier than I have become accustomed to. She then woke up every hour until 7. I fed her at 3 and 7, but only gave her the pacifier the other times. Is realizing she's lost the paci waking her up? I hope this is short-lived! (as in, never happens again!)

Sweet Sleep

Today has been a rough sleep day. Libby has napped in 20-minute bits and has been kinda cranky. So when she fell asleep while eating about 45-60 minutes ago, I decided to just let her sleep in my arms so she'd get a good nap in. I'm getting very good at one-handed typing!

The bad news about sleep is that Libby has started wanting to sleep with a pacifier. This is bad because I'm worried she'll always wake up when it's not there. That happened last night after 1 hour of sleep. She did go back to sleep about 10-15 minutes later.

The good news is that Libby seems to be headed toward 6-hour sleeps before waking up. She slept until 5:15 this morning, which was actually almost 7 hours if you don't count her little wakeup at 11:30.

I want to start back-blogging, if you will, about the past three months. I guess it would be good to start with August 29th. T and I went to help some friends move. I got the easy assignment of sorting baby clothes. I had my first painful contractions during the day, including back pain. I didn't really think anything of it since my due date was 2 weeks away and I knew you could have sporadic contractions for days or weeks before labor.

That evening, T and I went grocery shopping. I know we checked out at 6:30 because I kept the receipt. When we got home, Todd started a frozen pizza and I decided to start timing my contractions. By 7:00, they were coming 5 minutes apart and I was in Labor Land, where everything is kind of hazy.

I wanted to try the Bradley method of natural childbbirth because it really seemed like a good match for me. So I laid on my side during the contractions and focused on relaxing. Todd rubbed my back during every contraction because it was very painful. After awhile, he packed the car because it seemed like it was time! At a little after 8 pm, the contractions had been 5 min apart for an hour, so we went to the hospital. I remember asking Todd to wait for one more contraction to be sure--I couldn't believe it was happening so fast.

To be continued...

One of Libby's latest discoveries is her voice. She has making lots of "ooh" and "aah" noises, kind of figuring out that she can make noise come out when she breathes. It's so fun to have her make noises at us. On Thanksgiving at my family's house, she sat in the bouncy seat on the floor facing Todd, and she kept making noises so he would look down at her--she wanted his attention and figured out how to get it! She also had a coo-fest that night after I fed her. I am so excited for her to start babbling up a storm.

I really love to see Libby grabbing toys. She loves to hold on to toys and bring them to her mouth. She's putting her hands in her mouth, too, and likes the pacifier a lot more. I worry about being able to get rid of the pacifier someday, but it really helps her calm down right now, so I'm trying to just let it be.

At Libby's three month appointment on Tuesday November 24th, Dr. Kleber was very impressed by her growth. Libby has had higher than average growth for probably6-8 weeks now. She skipped from the 25th percentile in height and weight to the 75th in height and 50th in weight. She was 24 inches long and 12 pounds 5 ounces. She's about 5 inches longer and almost twice as heavy as when we brought her home from the hospital, and I can't believe how big she is. Todd and I were looking at pictures of her at 4 weeks old and thought she looked so little and skinny!

Dr. Kleber was not concerned about Libby's refusal to lift her head while on her tummy, so I decided to stop thinking about it. In the week since then, she has really started holding her head on her own when we're holding her on our shoulders. Today I put her on her tummy with a rolled up blanket under her chest, and she held her head up for a long time (couple of minutes) looking at the Freddie the Firefly toy. In other words, I don't think we have anything to worry about.

One more thing about the appointment is that Dr. Kleber mentioned we'd be talking about solid foods at Libby's 4 month appointment. I need to do some reading and deciding, because I've heard some debate about whether to start at 4 months or 6 or somewhere in between.

A Speedy Three Months

Libby is three months old today. The time has just flown, and I need to start recording the events of her first year before it's over and forgotten! She is waking up from her nap, so starting the blog and writing three sentences will have to suffice for now.