Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Crawling!
Violet started crawling hand over hand today. Several times she did right, left, right or left, right, left before flattening out. I can't believe it! I'm so proud of her!
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Sleeping
I have been at my wits end for a couple of weeks now. Violet just hasn't been sleeping. Mark and I have been switching off "taking her" at night so that the other can sleep. It's not sustainable... especially when he leaves for a week... again.
Mark left on Saturday morning for a week in Chicago (he was there for a week about 2 or 3 weeks ago). I cried when he left because I knew it would be so tough on me to have him gone. I was right. Saturday night I sobbed for hours and called my mom because Mark was on a plane and I couldn't reach him. I was just so tired and felt so daunted with the task of getting up every night for the whole week by myself. Saturday night she woke up every 45 minutes it seemed. I finally got her to go to sleep on my chest lying in bed and got a few minutes of sleep, but was very pessimistic about the week. Sunday I just pulled her into my bed the first time she woke up and laid next to her all night nursing her anytime she woke up, which was often.
Monday morning I planned to sleep while she slept, but ended up going to my friend Julie's house to buy some Stella and Dot jewellery from her at a discount because she's no longer going to sell it. She has a little boy exactly Violet's age as well as another one who is 2. I told her about my last few days/nights/weeks and she told me she would send me a pdf of a book written by a night nanny on sleep. I said I wasn't ready to let Violet cry it out. I hadn't hit rock bottom. Then I read the book.
It was perfect for me. I could sit next to her and comfort her if she needed it. I could listen to make sure she was ok. It was exactly what I felt I needed to do, so I did it... Immediately. I began with her nap before I had even finished the book. I read while she was crying. Her first nap was rough. She cried an hour and 10 minutes and then I picked her up and brought her downstairs for a bit of nursing and distraction before trying again. I followed this woman's advice to the letter. When I put her back she cried 20 minutes. At night she cried 30 minutes and then slept till 9. At nine when she woke up I went in to comfort her and it took 3 minutes for her to calm down. I went to sleep immediately afterwards. I slept straight through until I heard her cry. I thought it must be midnight........ but it was 4!!! She slept straight through without waking until 4. I was thrilled. I nursed her and kept her awake and then put her down and she went immediately back to sleep with almost no fuss. I was so excited that I texted Mark and my mom and emailed Julie and then called Mark and talked to him for a while. By the time I went back to bed it was 5 and Vivian woke up at 5:55 a.m. Violet slept until 7:30! She must have been so tired from not sleeping all of those nights!
Today she took 3 almost perfect naps with minimal crying. Tonight she cried about 6 minutes. I am THRILLED. After Mark gets home, I'll have him take her for the 4 a.m. wake up and not give her milk... if she's still waking up for that. I can't tell you how excited I am about this, and how proud. I have the best girls! I am hopeful about the future. Maybe I can handle being a mom after all!
Mark left on Saturday morning for a week in Chicago (he was there for a week about 2 or 3 weeks ago). I cried when he left because I knew it would be so tough on me to have him gone. I was right. Saturday night I sobbed for hours and called my mom because Mark was on a plane and I couldn't reach him. I was just so tired and felt so daunted with the task of getting up every night for the whole week by myself. Saturday night she woke up every 45 minutes it seemed. I finally got her to go to sleep on my chest lying in bed and got a few minutes of sleep, but was very pessimistic about the week. Sunday I just pulled her into my bed the first time she woke up and laid next to her all night nursing her anytime she woke up, which was often.
Monday morning I planned to sleep while she slept, but ended up going to my friend Julie's house to buy some Stella and Dot jewellery from her at a discount because she's no longer going to sell it. She has a little boy exactly Violet's age as well as another one who is 2. I told her about my last few days/nights/weeks and she told me she would send me a pdf of a book written by a night nanny on sleep. I said I wasn't ready to let Violet cry it out. I hadn't hit rock bottom. Then I read the book.
It was perfect for me. I could sit next to her and comfort her if she needed it. I could listen to make sure she was ok. It was exactly what I felt I needed to do, so I did it... Immediately. I began with her nap before I had even finished the book. I read while she was crying. Her first nap was rough. She cried an hour and 10 minutes and then I picked her up and brought her downstairs for a bit of nursing and distraction before trying again. I followed this woman's advice to the letter. When I put her back she cried 20 minutes. At night she cried 30 minutes and then slept till 9. At nine when she woke up I went in to comfort her and it took 3 minutes for her to calm down. I went to sleep immediately afterwards. I slept straight through until I heard her cry. I thought it must be midnight........ but it was 4!!! She slept straight through without waking until 4. I was thrilled. I nursed her and kept her awake and then put her down and she went immediately back to sleep with almost no fuss. I was so excited that I texted Mark and my mom and emailed Julie and then called Mark and talked to him for a while. By the time I went back to bed it was 5 and Vivian woke up at 5:55 a.m. Violet slept until 7:30! She must have been so tired from not sleeping all of those nights!
Today she took 3 almost perfect naps with minimal crying. Tonight she cried about 6 minutes. I am THRILLED. After Mark gets home, I'll have him take her for the 4 a.m. wake up and not give her milk... if she's still waking up for that. I can't tell you how excited I am about this, and how proud. I have the best girls! I am hopeful about the future. Maybe I can handle being a mom after all!
Friday, November 8, 2013
Downward Dog
Violet has been doing downward dog all morning. I can't believe it. This girl is so strong!
I know there is a big difference between strength and coordination, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's crawling before she's 6 months old. She's a determined little thing. But so sweet. Now if only we could get her sleeping through the night!
I know there is a big difference between strength and coordination, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's crawling before she's 6 months old. She's a determined little thing. But so sweet. Now if only we could get her sleeping through the night!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Rolled from Back to Front
I haven't seen it yet, but Vivian watched her do it just now. I know I put her on her back and then Vivian said she rolled over and I looked over and she was on her front! Times, they are a changin!
This girl is one strong little sweetie peetie!
This girl is one strong little sweetie peetie!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Launching Forward
Today we went out with our NCT group. They all go to a Gymboree class together in Wimbledon, so we joined them for a taster session. When I laid Violet down on her tummy she popped right up with the strongest back and neck in the class. Her head was really high and the other mums said, "Wow, she must do a lot of tummy time!" (It's true. She does.)
After some structured time singing songs and playing with them there is some free time where you move them around on the the toys in the room. I put her down on these sheepskins and she got right up on her hands and knees and started launching herself forward. She wasn't crawling, but she moved about two feet. I was amazed and the other mums in the class were just slack-jawed. She is just so strong. No one else was even close to that and many of them are a month or more older than she is.
What a stud!
After some structured time singing songs and playing with them there is some free time where you move them around on the the toys in the room. I put her down on these sheepskins and she got right up on her hands and knees and started launching herself forward. She wasn't crawling, but she moved about two feet. I was amazed and the other mums in the class were just slack-jawed. She is just so strong. No one else was even close to that and many of them are a month or more older than she is.
What a stud!
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Hands and Knees
This morning Vivian and I were eating breakfast at the table and she said, "Mom, look, Violet is up on her hands and knees." It was true! I looked over and our little 4 and a half month old was on her hands and knees!
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Squirmy Sleeper
Violet has been sleeping in the Pack n Play in our room the past few nights. Two weeks ago we put them in the same room together and it worked out better than I had expected, but it's not perfect. Violet takes a while to go to sleep still and Vivian is a bit sensitive before she's completely conked out. So... we will work that out and try again.
In the meantime, it's really easy to see how squirmy Violet is when she's in the small bed. She can move so quickly from one end to the next and the girl can't even crawl. She just squirms her way across the bed really quickly. It's amazing. The girl's got skills.
In the meantime, it's really easy to see how squirmy Violet is when she's in the small bed. She can move so quickly from one end to the next and the girl can't even crawl. She just squirms her way across the bed really quickly. It's amazing. The girl's got skills.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Bright Eyes
Ever since Violet was born I have called her "Bright Eyes." As a newborn she would look straight at me with these huge saucer eyes. They were so bright and smiley. Now she's almost 4 months and she's smilier than ever. What an absolute doll baby!
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
So Strong
Violet is not yet 4 months old and she is so strong... always has been. I can't even put her in the Bumbo because she can almost work her way out of it. Crazy! Vivian was in the Bumbo until 9 months. Maybe if I had a tray to trap her in?
Today when I went into check on her during her nap she had spun around in her crib. I have no idea how she did that! She will probably quite the active little handful once she can crawl.
Today when I went into check on her during her nap she had spun around in her crib. I have no idea how she did that! She will probably quite the active little handful once she can crawl.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Blowing Bubbles
Violet started blowing bubbles out loud today in the car. We hired a car from ZipCar so that we could all go down to Costco for the afternoon after church. It is usually one of our favorite things to do. In the car on the way home Violet started making such fun baby noises.
Vivian never made noises like that. I think it's super fun!
Vivian never made noises like that. I think it's super fun!
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