Sweet Sleep

At the risk of sounding like a plug for a really helpful book, I am going to say that the "No Cry Sleep Solution" and the "Babu Whisperer" techniques have already helped and it's only been ONE DAY! Now, I know we will still have our ups and downs, but I think this will really help our crisis.
Step one, though, was moving the crib into our room for a while. And for those who have never seen it, our room is T-I-N-Y and has a king size bed in it already. We had to take the door off the hinges to get the crib in, but after our last crib-taking-apart-disaster, we found that to be the best option. Kira thinks it's a new bed and isn't quite so terrified. She even played in it for a while today while we rearranged everything...just to get used to it.
Next, we established a routine. Bath, then 2-3 books, then feeding in the rocking chair with music playing, then lay down and get a back rub. This is our second night and it went great! Last night, she still ended up sleeping in mom and dad's bed, but at least fell asleep better. Tonight, I actually got her in the crib! She woke up as I was leaving the room, but I left her there (like the books say!) and started rubbing her back as I layed her back down...continued the back rub and finally she slept. And is still asleep 30 minutes later.
Of course, there is still the night ahead of us. Can I make it through all the usual wakings and get her back in her bed? Only the night can tell us that, but we are a step in the right direction!
Ah, the sweet sleep of a baby...in her own crib! Finally some "me" time again!

Edited 9.1.05 at 1:25pm She managed to stay the whole night in the crib! Woke up twice to eat and once needed a back rub to go back to sleep. She came to bed with me at 7:30 this morning only because she wanted to get up and I didn't...but managed to fall back asleep after a few minutes anyway!

Tooth Number Eight

Teething is usually not a huge deal...we use hylands tablets and tylenol for a night or two and the tooth pops through. We were teething on the flight to NY a few weeks ago and didn't even have too much trouble.
But, this tooth number eight has forever changed us. It should have come in right after tooth number THREE (at least symmetrically speaking) but it didn't show up until this morning. What a bugger it has been. I think it may have even been a huge cause of our sleep issues in the past weeks. Last night, I gave her motrin (for the first time...I always thought tylenol was better!) and she fell asleep easier than she has before, but still woke several times last night. Sure enough, this morning there was a new sharp spot in her mouth! I thought I was gonna have to pull that durn thing in myself.
She seems more content today and not chewing quite so much. Lets just hope it solves our sleep, too!

Lessons Learned

Parents are there to teach their babies, but sometimes the best lessons come from the babies themselves. I began to really wonder why Kira hasn't been able to fall asleep unless I lay down with her lately. Since I can't leave her alone on our bed and she wakes up when we try to move her to the crib...I layed down for good and took a nap with her today. I must have been exhausted, because I fell asleep immediately. I slept for 2 hours with her and woke up feeling so much better. The house is a mess and the laundry is not done, but I am rested. Maybe she was trying to tell me something?
"Mama, you are tired, too...I'm not going to sleep until you do!"
Maybe that's not it, but it sure is a good lesson learned! Here are some other things I have learned from Kira:
1. Smile at everyone you see and a good laugh never hurts, either.
2. Classical music is the best!
3. Take time to smell (and touch) the flowers.
4. Inspect everything you eat and take time to enjoy it.
5. Don't eat if you aren't hungry.
6. Be determined in everything you do!

A day with the sitter

Today was the first day with the new (and permanent) babysitter. Jamie lives across the street and has a baby less than a month older than Kira. We have been planning this arrangement for several months, but had to wait for them to return to Oklahoma after a summer in New York.
In the days leading up to the first day, we had just come home from a long trip, several new teeth popped in, Kira mastered the new skill of walking, AND discovered a new HATE for her crib.
Needless to say, I was worried. Not that I should have been. Jamie and I have the same approach to childrearing. Not that many people in today's society agree with us, but we believe in an attachment style of parenting. This does not always make naptime an easy or attainable task for the babysitter, though. IN fact, Kira refused her naps in the 2 days leading up to the big day.
I made a couple frantic calls to Jamie, who researched the issue and felt prepared for the day.
Jamie and Aviv spent the day at our house instead of theirs and had a swing and DVD prepared for an emergency. And wouldn't you know, (at least at the current time!) the day went well! Kira and Aviv actually and unexpectedly (or should I say MIRACULOUSLY) fell asleep at the same time! The girls played well together and staggered their eating times appropriately. Kira even took her bottle (see yesterday's post) AND her solid foods again (which she had refused for several days due to teething).
Success again! And a good thing, since mama and dada are working double shifts again for the month of September!

What's in my bottle anyway?

If you know me or have read anthing I have posted since I went back to work, you will know all about the nightmare we faced when we tried to introduce Kira to the bottle. After all the lactation visits and traumas with breastfeeding, the last thing we ever expected was that Kira would refuse to drink from a bottle. We started early and slowly, and we noticed that it took a very looooonnnnnnnnggggg time for her to down even an ounce or two. And the problem only got worse when I went back to work. Being the lactivist that I am, I ever so carefully pumped and filled each bottle with lovingly saved mama's milk. She ever so lovingly threw a huge fit to anyone who tried to give it to her. She only wanted momma and would rather starve than take that milk from the icky bottle. We tried various nipples and even bought a bottle shaped...well, like a boob! Nothing worked. Poor baby was so confused, but learned how to go about her day and simply wait for me to come home a feed her.
This has gone on for the past 6 months. Six months of pumping, six months of freezing, and six months of making sure she got nothing buy breastmilk in her bottles, even though she seemed afraid to drink it.
And then it happened. I went to New York to visit my parents and wanted to go to the mall. Since Kira had been nursing every 2 hours around the clock, I knew I needed to leave a bottle "just in case." The only problem was that I hadn't pumped any milk for her. So, I did what any tired, overworked, ready to shop mom would do. I grabbed my emergency single feed packet of Similac, showed my mom how to mix it up and left. I knew she hated the bottle anyway, so it was just a way to distract Kira until I returned.
To my surprise, when I arrived at the house a few hours later, I couldn't find my mom OR Kira. The house was quiet and the bottle was no longer in the kitchen.
I wandered upstairs and found my mom sitting on the bed with Kira happily sucking down the formula like it was a new found treat! Of all the sites!
Since I had to come up with a reason for this new found fact, here it is (in my opinion only!):
Kira doesn't hate the bottle, she just associates the milk with me and does not understand why this great comforting part of mama comes out of something that is definately NOT mama. Formula (while not as tasty as mama's milk, I'm sure) is not associated with mama at all and can be indulged in without confusion.
So, there you have it. All those months of agonizing over my starving baby. All those nights of make-up feedings. All those bottles of wasted milk. And all I had to do was fill them up with formula.
Now, just so you know that I have not been lactivist turned forumla promoter, I fill the bottles with just enough formula to change the taste. The rest is my carefully pumped and saved milk. Tricky, yes, but she is actually taking in MORE breastmilk than before.
Success at last.

Grammy's House

It was a week long adventure that we all enjoyed. Grammy got to spoil her baby. Grandpa got to rest a little bit (of much rest as grandpa gets!). Momma didn't have to clean or cook. Kira got to play with new toys and explore!
Kira had a set of keys (made from real metal!) that she was rarely without. They made all kinds of noises, too! Thanks, grammy!
And her best "comfort toy" became the toy frog that hopped around when you squeezed the yellow bulb. Of course, the tube that connected the frog to the bulb was also used as dental floss for a while. Or maybe it reminds her of the power cords she likes to try and play with at home. Sheesh.
Kira loved the fountain at the firestation and at the end of our daily walk, we would walk around it..she would giggle the whole time!
She had a couple encounters with her own size over the week, too. A playdate with Isabella and a meet and greet with a baby at the church.
Kira sat in grammy's old highchair to eat and played with some of mommy's old toys. She loved sitting in Debbie's lap and even gave grammy some much needed and rarely given snuggle time.
She slept in a diaper one night because of the heat and another in long sleeve jammies under the covers with mom because of the cold!
I know there is so much more I should journal about our time in New York, but now that we are back home, there is so much to do again...

flying: part two

It was the six hours on a single plane that finally did momma in. It sounded like a good idea at the time...flight 85 from Albany, NY to Oklahoma City without having to get off the plane. NO struggling with a stroller, NO having to chase after a very mobile baby in a busy airport, and NO having to get on and off a Southwest Airlines plane. I guess I didn't figure in that that also meant NO dinner for mom, NOwhere for Kira to practice her new-found walking skills, and NO place to feed Kira discreetly.
It went better than expected, though. She never got fussy and was easily distracted from the bumpy descents. It is very difficult to play "jungle gym" for Miss Monkey Toes for that long in that small of a space, though.
Thankfully, the first leg of the flight no one took the middle seat of our rown and the man (my age with a couple kids at home) was funny to Kira and he made her stuffed duck into a fun puppet. He was very reassuring about my nervousness to fly alone with her.
The second leg was the long leg...we landed in Baltimore where I managed to cram both of us into the tiny airplane bathroom for a much needed break...and scrambled back to my seat just as passengers were boarding. A very young mom and her 6 or 7 year old daughter sat with us in our row. The mom held Kira for 10 minutes while I gobbled up the sandwich I had bought way back in ALbany and the daughter played with her most of the flight. Kira tried to get a little snack nurse in, and the little girl looked incredulously at us...she was hispanic and quickly turned to her mom to ask what in the world I was doing (in Spanish, which I know just enough of to get me in trouble). Her mom reassured her that that is how babies eat and she seemed satisfied with that answer.
The last leg was the shortest and luckily, no one wanted to sit in a row with anyone cranky (and I'm not talking about Kira!). Very few people boarded so we had a row to ourselves. Kira got her much needed milk and fell asleep the rest of the flight.
All in all, successful, I have to admit, but it sure did wear me out! Maybe next time I'll buy her that seat after all...just to have a place to set her down for a few minutes!

the half circle of trust

We took Kira to the church in New Hartford tonight to let her play in the nursery during a small service. After it was over, my mom (also known as grammy) asked me to go and get "the entertainment." I brought Kira into the fellowship hall where the 12 or so adults were emerging from the sanctuary. I set her down on her feet in the "sumo position" so she could show off her walking skills and she had an instant audience. It was actually rather frightening! All the faces peering down at her and cooing and laughing and calling her name...but Kira just acted like the little star that she is! SHe smiled and wrinkled up her nose and laughed. They all gathered around her in a little half circle and bent down with their faces almost touching to see what she would do next. Not that she had a chance to DO anything! They all wanted to hold her, play with her, give her keys to shake about. She loved every minute of it!

flying

The flight to New York was actually surprisingly easy. I was so worried that she would be cranky on the plane. She was up bright and early that morning (4am!) so she was ready to eat and sleep the minute we hit our seats. And luckily, grandpa and I had an empty seat between us the whole way for her to sit in.
The first leg of the flight, she slept in my arms...OUCH! My poor arms. A 20 pound baby can get heavy really fast!
We landed and then took off again without deplaning. She stayed awake for that one, but played during the flight. She was ready to eat lunch at the airport and then spent the long layover entertaining the other passengers waiting for their flights. She walked around...loving all the extra space at the airport. And monkey crawled down the length of the moving sidewalk! She had a blast shaking a cup of ice and playing with an empty water bottle. She babbled and laughed. And just before we got on the plane...she toddled over to me, got in my lap, and fell fast asleep. She barely woke up when we got on the plane! She slept the rest of the way to NY, but this time we laid her in the seat between us. SHe woke up just as we landed.
The drive to grammy's house was a little more exciting as she was ready to be out of the seat and play with toys. I climbed in the backseat of a very small 2 door car that got even smaller with a full size car seat, 2 large suitcases, 2 carry-ons, a stroller, and 2 adults in it. It was a long drive.
Now we are here, though, and Kira is happy to be at our temporary home for the week. Room to explore, new toys to chew on, and a grammy to snuggle her!

Round and round

Kira has learned to WALK! Yes, I know that she is just barely 8 months old. Yes, I know babies don't walk that early. YES, I know that she looks like a little midget when she starts toddling across the floor! But, she IS WALKING!
It was a very exciting moment. She picked up her right foot and set in back down in front of her! We all cheered. And then she took another step...only it was with her right foot again! We all cheered! She seems to have trouble with that left foot, so it was several steps with the right foot only which made her go in a nice neat little circle! Round and round.
Of course, by the end of the day, she had figured out both feet and she had managed to take 4 steps in a row to get from the toy to the table. It's only a matter of time before she takes off in a full blown run!

surprise...more teeth!

I had just written an e-mail to mom lettting her know that we would NOT be teething since she had just gotten her 2 top teeth in. At lunch, though, I saw a mysterious white speck on her lower gumline next to her bottom left tooth. Sure enough, it is another tooth! And the top incisors also look to be heading our way! Ack!