Party Time!

I hosted a Lia Sophia jewelry party on Saturday. It was a decent turnout - 5 family and 3 friends. Lots of fun and it was great for some of my extended family to finally meet Carina. And of course the hostess benefits were a big plus too (nearly $500 worth of jewelry for about $60... yes please!). With all the excitement Carina only had two short naps but she was still a cheerful little co-hostess.

We're all sleeping great at night. It's a little shocking to have the downstairs to ourselves from 7-10 each night. I don't even know what to do! I've caught up on my magazine reading. I watch the Olympics. I've put myself on the hold list for a bunch of new movies at the library. Carina and I went and picked up 'Coraline' this morning. I'd love to make library trips with Carina a regular outing!

In non-baby-related news, I'm trying my hardest to get back into a regular workout routine. My current goal is 3 days a week. I wake up at 5:30 and do my Jillian cardio kickbox DVD. Eventually I'd like to add in 2 days of my pilates DVD. Bathing suit body - here I come!

And we're sleeping again!

I'm cautiously optimistic but it appears we have our good little sleeper back :) A few of our more experienced parent friends recommended letting her cry it out. I didn't like the idea at first (what parent really does?) but feeling we had exhausted all other options we gave it a try. Right away we wished we would have decided to do it on Friday because we had a 3 day weekend. The perfect opportunity to sleep train! Sadly we didn't seriously consider starting till Monday night after a very exhausting weekend. We considered waiting till the weekend but we figured we'd be losing sleep one way or another anyway and my Mom is spending the night Friday so that would not be ideal.

So Peter and I agreed on our game plan and Monday night we gave it a try. Lately I've been putting Carina in her crib after her bath and 7 pm feeding. She likes to hold my finger or hand while she falls asleep but Monday I didn't let her. I just stood by the crib till she fell asleep. She fussed only a tiny bit and fell asleep. I think this was a GREAT move because she didn't wake up again till 2:30 am. Much better than she had been sleeping lately. So when she woke up, Peter and I let her cry for 3 minutes. Then I went in to the nursery, cleaned the tears, snot and slobber off her face and sheets, gave her a kiss and told her it was time to go back to sleep. I went back to my bed and we let her cry another 5 minutes. Repeat trip to nursery. Let her cry another 10 minutes. Repeat. Then in less than 10 minutes after that she was asleep! We actually had to wake her in the morning. Something we haven't done in weeks because she always wakes before us and we bring her to our bed.

I was pleasantly surprised! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. She never got hysterical and it was obvious she really was trying to calm herself. She would cry a little, quiet down, cry a little more. Plus Peter and I make a good team. We just kept telling each other it was the best thing for everybody. We all need good sleep!

After a successful first night I was hoping it would only get better but preparing for another similar night. Last night I put her down at 7 and she was sound asleep. This is not ideal for sleep training because she's not learning how to soothe herself but there wasn't much I could do. She was asleep! I came downstairs, started reading a magazine and within 10 minutes she started screaming. Peter and I looked at the clock and said "Ok, in 3 minutes we'll check on her." But in less than 3 minutes she was sound asleep again. Miraculous! I could not believe it. And then to top it off... she slept ALL NIGHT. Hallelujah!

From what I've heard it's not uncommon for kids to pick up on sleep training in just a day or two. I just can't believe we got a good night's sleep last night. It was heavenly. So here's to hoping it sticks.

That's the biggest accomplishment of the week thus far but we're also introducing oatmeal back into Carina's diet. I know she needs some cereal in there. We've only been giving her fruits and veggies. When she was working through her tummy bug over the weekend I figured she could use something with a little more staying power. So this morning Carina and I went to Giant and picked up oatmeal, fruits, veggies, Puffs and biter biscuits. The oatmeal went over fairly well this morning. I mixed in some blueberries and apples. She gagged a couple times but I did make it just slightly thicker than her fruits and veggies. Not quite sure she's ready for Puffs or biscuits yet (and I know I'm not). We're looking into finding an infant CPR class to alleviate my choking fears.

But enough about sleeping and eating. Here are some tubby pics.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My friend Melinda and I made cookies yesterday! I don't usually make cut out cookies because they're too much work but my Valentine is worth it. And they taste so good!

2010: The Year of No Sleep

All the bragging about what an amazing sleeper we have... is now kicking us in the butt. I know when I don't sleep well I tent to exaggerate and lose perspective but it feels like I haven't had a good night's sleep in FOREVER. I tried to figure out when she stopped sleeping through the night and in reality it probably started shortly after Christmas. I can't figure it out! She now wakes about every 2 hours through the night now. Not fun.

She eats well throughout the day so although she does nurse once or twice overnight (if a cuddle isn't enough to put her back to sleep) I don't think that's the main culprit. I change her diaper if she's wet and won't go back to sleep so we bought overnight diapers. Didn't work last night (she was up at least 4 times - one of them from 3-4:30) but we'll keep on trying. I've been running the sound machine ("rain") and I've been putting her down for the night in her crib at 7 pm. Nothing works.

I think when she was younger she could put herself back to sleep but now that she's old enough to understand the whole "object permanence" stuff she knows we're not there and she doesn't like it. That and she moves and rolls around so much it's no wonder she wakes herself up.

I get so frustrated overnight (I want my sleep!) but in the morning everything seems ok again. On days when I don't work I try to catch a nap with Carina at some point. She's been such a happy girl all day (despite the little tummy bug she seems to have) that I can't stay mad. She likes to have me around and I love to spend time with her. Who can argue with that? It's just a whole lot more enjoyable during daylight hours.

And after a little bit of a struggle, she's finally down for a nap now...

Picture of the Day

Carina was playing silently in her exersaucer. I was playing on the computer. Peter was out "playing" in the snow. Then all of a sudden something moved or changed. It was like Carina and I had forgotten the other one was there - it was that quiet. Snow is quiet.

It Are Snow!

Big Steps for Little Feet

Up until this week, Carina's evening schedule has pretty much looked like this:

6:30 pm bath
7:00 pm nurse, possibly fall asleep
7-10 pm sleep on her Boppy pillow on the couch (if she does indeed fall asleep)
10:00 pm nurse, bedtime in crib

We had sort of a rough week. Carina had a fever Monday night (102) and threw up right before bed. I was too spooked to let her sleep in her crib in case she threw up again plus she was super fussy and didn't want to sleep in her crib anyway. So she slept (or didn't sleep) in our bed all night. Her fever was down to 100 in the morning but she was still cranky. The pedi said they would call back and check on us in the afternoon to determine if she should come in. I didn't want to but the pedi had us come in just to rule out an ear infection. Turns out it was just a sore throat.

Wednesday she was a smiley, happy baby again (after catching up on her sleep). She still didn't sleep through the night till Thursday though. After getting some ideas from my Mom we decided maybe we should start putting her in her crib for the night at 7 pm instead of having her hang out with us in the living room (even if she's asleep). If she would stay in her dark, quiet nursery for those 3 hours, it certainly couldn't hurt to get some extra good sleep.

So we gave it a try Thursday night and guess what? It worked! She slept great from 7-10 and then I still nursed her at 10 (I just can't bring myself to cut out yet another feeding - not just yet) but she slept right through it. We did it again last night and while she did whine once or twice, after a little cuddle she was right back to sleep. Catching up on sleep has done miracles for the entire family.

So in my opinion - this is a big step. Peter and I now have the downstairs (and the entire couch!) to ourselves for 3 hours at night now. It's great for cuddling and bonding and we don't need to whisper anymore. It's a newfound freedom. And while it feels very strange not to have her around at night, we know it's best for everybody. This feels good.

Eight Months

Nicknames: Sugar Booger, Sweetie Pie, Sweet Pea, Hunny Bunny, Little Nubbin, Bean, Cutie

Length: about 24 inches

Weight: 16 pounds 7 ounces

Hair: Blonde (and more of it each day)

Eyes: Blue/Grey

Likes: Peek-a-Boo, sneezing, blowing kisses and raspberries, green beans, sucking her first 2 fingers (backwards), tags, the remote, the phone, bath time, her buddy AJ and cuddles

Dislikes: Anything coming near her nose, putting on her jacket, getting stuck in traffic, overexcited strangers, having the hiccups, getting shots, being ignored and sun in her eyes

Accomplishments: Babbles (Dada, Baba, Gaga... and rarely Ma), rotates while on belly (like a compass), stands very well with help, drops toys for fun and looks for them, very rarely topples when sitting on her own

What's Next: Teeth, crawling, more babbling and "walking" with help