Tonight was hard... Lauren's been refusing bottles lately, and we've been using the gentle approach - offering tiny bottles before or after a feeding, and she always cries like we're feeding her poison. She absolutely has to be willing to take a bottle before we send her to daycare. Plus, in a week, we're heading on yet another 8 hour road trip, and it's soooo much easier to pump and feed while we're on the road.
This morning, I woke up with a really sore nipple, from too much nursing to sleep... It was the perfect opportunity to try and get her to take a bottle. For 3 hours, we distracted her and kept her entertained while she got hungry enough to finally break down and take the bottle. Zampano played the guitar, I walked circles around the apartment while holding the bottle in her mouth... She didn't cry, but she would just chew on the nipple, without sucking.
I was just about to break down and nurse her when she finally took the milk... one tiny bottle, and then a full big one... So I guess it's bottles from now on, at least most of the time. It's a shame, because nursing is so much easier for me, and I really enjoy it. There's nothing to wash, nothing to heat up...
In other news, I've been feeling really down lately, and I think I may have Seasonal Affective Disorder. Looking back at my patterns of depression, it always seems to get worse in the winter, and definitely got worse once we moved up north. I may consider buying one of those lights... one of my professors swears by it!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Almost 3 months!
Just a few more days until Lauren turns 3 months! She'll start daycare in mid-late December and so we're trying to prepare for that. Unfortunately, she's decided that she doesn't want to drink from bottles anymore, just from the breast. She cries and fights anytime we offer it. I don't know what we're going to do - for a while she'd take one a day and then now, none at all.
In good news, the dermatologist actually helped my skin a lot! She put me on Finacea, which is azelaic acid. It's just about the only thing you can take while nursing, and I can't believe it actually worked. I'm not acne free by any stretch of the imagination, but it's such a dramatic improvement that I'm amazed. I've got so many red marks that still need to fade, but hopefully makeup will help a lot with that.
I do have a fun Lauren story to share today... We bought an ocean wonders aquarium on ebay, and she really likes it. We've only had it a few days, but the other night we put her down and left the room. Then, over the baby monitor, we hear a thumping noise, and then music starts playing. In disbelief, we walk into the room, and she's actually turned the thing on by herself! She turned herself around 90 degrees and kicked it until it turned on. I thought it was a fluke until it happened again today! It won't be long till this kiddo is mobile so it looks like it's time to start babyproofing. Yikes!
In good news, the dermatologist actually helped my skin a lot! She put me on Finacea, which is azelaic acid. It's just about the only thing you can take while nursing, and I can't believe it actually worked. I'm not acne free by any stretch of the imagination, but it's such a dramatic improvement that I'm amazed. I've got so many red marks that still need to fade, but hopefully makeup will help a lot with that.
I do have a fun Lauren story to share today... We bought an ocean wonders aquarium on ebay, and she really likes it. We've only had it a few days, but the other night we put her down and left the room. Then, over the baby monitor, we hear a thumping noise, and then music starts playing. In disbelief, we walk into the room, and she's actually turned the thing on by herself! She turned herself around 90 degrees and kicked it until it turned on. I thought it was a fluke until it happened again today! It won't be long till this kiddo is mobile so it looks like it's time to start babyproofing. Yikes!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sleeping through the night
Last night, Lauren slept from 1:30 to about 8am! She's started to be increasingly fussy in the evenings, nursing lots and lots, to tank up for the long night. Last night we went to bed as usual (I nurse her to sleep) and even though she got lots of milk, she still fussed until we gave her an extra bottle. She's been sleeping around 4-5 hours at night but this was the longest ever, to my knowledge. After breakfast, she usually sleeps till about noon, and then all of us eat together.
These last few weeks, she's really started showing lots of personality! She smiles all the time now, and loves to babble. We're so lucky to have such a happy, sweet girl.
It shouldn't be long before she's able to play with more toys. When she plays on her play mat now, she's much better with her hands - grabbing the rings on her butterfly toy or the dangling ladybug. She also loves the Lamaze Giraffe toy with the jingling bell legs.
These last few weeks, she's really started showing lots of personality! She smiles all the time now, and loves to babble. We're so lucky to have such a happy, sweet girl.
It shouldn't be long before she's able to play with more toys. When she plays on her play mat now, she's much better with her hands - grabbing the rings on her butterfly toy or the dangling ladybug. She also loves the Lamaze Giraffe toy with the jingling bell legs.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
She Sings!
Last night, Lauren did something really cool. Zampano's been telling me for a couple days that she will mimic him if he sings to her. So I tried singing lots of songs to her - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the ABC song, Happy Birthday.... Didn't work. She didn't seem impressed at all.
So then he showed me what he was doing - just singing 3 notes at a time. If you do that, she'll sometimes give you a huge smile of recognition, and then she'll try and copy it. She doesn't always get it right - sometimes she doesn't sing back 3 notes, just 2, but it's incredibly cool that we're actually COMMUNICATING!!!! Even after we stopped playing the game last night she kept on singing - in her swing, on her play mat....
I shot an incredibly long video of last night's attempt, but it's too huge to put on flickr. I have to edit it down, or shoot a shorter one. It's coming though!
So then he showed me what he was doing - just singing 3 notes at a time. If you do that, she'll sometimes give you a huge smile of recognition, and then she'll try and copy it. She doesn't always get it right - sometimes she doesn't sing back 3 notes, just 2, but it's incredibly cool that we're actually COMMUNICATING!!!! Even after we stopped playing the game last night she kept on singing - in her swing, on her play mat....
I shot an incredibly long video of last night's attempt, but it's too huge to put on flickr. I have to edit it down, or shoot a shorter one. It's coming though!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Happy 2 Month Birthday!
Well, we're home from our visit to Virginia, which was lots of fun! Everyone misses her already and hopefully we'll be back very soon, by Christmas at the latest.
Right now Lauren's been sleeping in her swing for a few hours, which is way longer than she usually tolerates it. She's been sleeping through the night with me, which has done wonders for my mood, although my skin still looks like crap. Hopefully a trip to the dermatologist will help.
Usually Lauren wakes up a few times during the night to nurse, and then in the morning around 7 or 8 she starts kicking to let me know she's had enough and wants to go play.
This month she's really started smiling a lot and her eyes are much more focused. Zampano noticed yesterday that she was really watching him eat his dinner. She still loves playing in her play gym and practices standing up all the time. She has such an array of cute hats but really dislikes wearing them. Makes for a fantastic picture though!
Quite suddenly at around 6 weeks, she started pooping way less. It used to be with every feeding, and then all of a sudden it was once or twice a day. Big, huge yellow poops that smell oddly like buttered popcorn. Yesterday brought a giant blowout diaper that leaked in her cute new pants. I spent a long time trying to get the stains out but finally they faded to an acceptable level.
She has her 2 month checkup in a few days. Can't wait to find out her height and weight! She's grown so much I can't believe it. Our bathroom scale says she's 13.2 pounds!
Right now Lauren's been sleeping in her swing for a few hours, which is way longer than she usually tolerates it. She's been sleeping through the night with me, which has done wonders for my mood, although my skin still looks like crap. Hopefully a trip to the dermatologist will help.
Usually Lauren wakes up a few times during the night to nurse, and then in the morning around 7 or 8 she starts kicking to let me know she's had enough and wants to go play.
This month she's really started smiling a lot and her eyes are much more focused. Zampano noticed yesterday that she was really watching him eat his dinner. She still loves playing in her play gym and practices standing up all the time. She has such an array of cute hats but really dislikes wearing them. Makes for a fantastic picture though!
Quite suddenly at around 6 weeks, she started pooping way less. It used to be with every feeding, and then all of a sudden it was once or twice a day. Big, huge yellow poops that smell oddly like buttered popcorn. Yesterday brought a giant blowout diaper that leaked in her cute new pants. I spent a long time trying to get the stains out but finally they faded to an acceptable level.
She has her 2 month checkup in a few days. Can't wait to find out her height and weight! She's grown so much I can't believe it. Our bathroom scale says she's 13.2 pounds!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
8 weeks
This week Miss Lauren is visiting all her family in Virginia. We took our little traveler on her first road trip, down through Philly, Delaware, Maryland and finally Virginia Beach. It took 11 hours, but she was good for 80% of the time. Spent a couple days visiting with the grandparents and great-grandparents. She cried a lot, maybe because she was gassy or tired, but eventually charmed everyone with her sweet smiles. We got to go through Zampano's baby pictures and baby book, and I think she is really starting to look more like him every day.
And then it was up to Richmond to visit with my sisters, who were just dying to meet her. Right now she is napping in my sister's arms, while my other sister is still asleep upstairs. Later today we'll go shopping for some winter outfits. Tomorrow we head back toward home. I'm really sad and wish that we lived closer to everyone. You never know, fate may bring us back down here!
And then it was up to Richmond to visit with my sisters, who were just dying to meet her. Right now she is napping in my sister's arms, while my other sister is still asleep upstairs. Later today we'll go shopping for some winter outfits. Tomorrow we head back toward home. I'm really sad and wish that we lived closer to everyone. You never know, fate may bring us back down here!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
