Random Rant

Here are some of the books I have been reading...

Collectively they confuse the crap out of me, individually they are great.  I particularly like the book I got as a baby shower gift from my friend Meredith; The New Basics... It has helped us to cope with Madyson's little "Witching Hours" she sometimes has at night and it has calmed both Kevin and my nerves about trying to put Madyson on a feeding and sleeping schedule.  For instance, I tried putting her on a sleep schedule at 4 weeks (I know, I know) a bit ahead of myself and wishful thinking.  But, after having read The New Basics, I am going with the flow or trying to be " Laissez-faire" , hoping it will make it easier to get her to sleep through the night on her own.  I do NOT want to make it to four months if the result is me having to put Madyson in her crib at night and not coming back to check on her until morning basically using the "cry it out" method.  I know my willpower is not strong when my little girl screams for me.  I can bear the little whimpers and slight crying... she is learning to soothe herself which is great!  But, the "COME AND GET ME NOW" crying, I don't think I could do.  Like I said, hopefully it won't get to that point.  Cross your fingers!

I also really like Babywise which was recommended to me by another friend Kris.  This book is primarily about Parent Directed Feedings.  Kind of a combination of Demanding feeding and Scheduled feedings.  Much of what I have gotten out of this book so far is how many feedings during the day and night parents should expect and at what intervals and how the Sleep, Feed, Wake cycle should eventually help babies sleep through the night.  Well, let me just say that while I attempt to keep Madyson awake after feeding her, more often than not, she is out.  Or it will go, Sleep, Feed, Sleep, Feed, waaaa Nope Sleep, Feed, Ooookay WAKE (usually around 2 am) and then repeat.  =D  She is finally coming out of her comatose state and is awake a little more during the day and sleeping more at night.  Mommy is happy about this!

Now, Happiest Baby on the Block suggest that babies are born one trimester too soon and how to deal with this is to use a method that has been used thouroughtout history to turn on your baby's calming reflex using the 5 S's: Swaddle, Side/stomach laying, Shushing, Swinging and Sucking.  Since Madyson was born she has never liked being swaddled with her arms in.  She will struggle and fight to get them out everytime.  Side/stomach laying seems to scare her.  Shushing does seem to work for a few seconds but the last two are gems!  She loves swinging (only during the day oddly enough) and loves sucking her Nuk Nuk (mostly at night but also while she's swinging).  During the day she seems not to like going to her crib but prefers being out in the living room with me while she swings herself to sleep or just hangs out with her faithful Nuk Nuk.

Caring for your baby and young child is a book from the American Academy of Pediatrics.  I have really only read the sections on what your child should be able to do by the end of Month 1 and the chapter in the back regarding sleep.  The chapter on sleep has been great because it reenforced The New Basics in that it states the baby's sleep will eventually settle into her own routine and that she will gradually be able to soothe herself.  So what I get from the two books is that if I leave her to be while she is only whimpering or slightly crying and let her soothe herself she will eventually figure out how to fall back to sleep rather than running to her side at the slightest hint of discontent "training" her that if she needs to be consoled, cry and mommy will come.  I have found that there are times when Madyson will get fussy, but will quickly find her hand, soothe herself and she is back to sleep before I even get to the door of her nursery.  Here's to hoping she gets to the point where she eventually "sleeps effortlessly through the night" and we don't get to the "cry it out" phase. 

Madyson has been doing awesome with sleeping during the night.  Still about 3 1/2 - 4 hours... the past two nights however, she has reverted back to waking up every two hours, I am hoping this is due to an early growth spurt.  She is now over 9lbs and is more than 25 inches long.  =O  She is getting so big so fast!  The time she goes down at night as moved up, the night before last I was able to get her to bed at 9:30pm and last night Kevin got her down around 10pm or so.  Whoo- HOO!  Much better than 11pm - Midnight.  I think the intervals at which she is waking up might be a growth spurt, her going down so easily and so early might have been all the excitement from the days.  Day before last we did some laundry, we walked over to the grocery store and got some things to make dinner (lasagna mmmm! and carrot cake) for Kris, Olivia and Alyssa since it would be their first evening home without Rudy since baby Alyssa's arrival.  Alyssa is roughly 5lbs.  She looks great and is still recovering from her surgery in the hospital but she is absolutely adorable and seems to be thriving!  We went over and visited for a little while. 

Madyson and Alyssa got along great!  Olivia on the other hand thought Kris had brought another baby into the house and was at first distraught.  Once I reassured her that Madyson would be leaving with me she seemed to warm up to her a bit.  =)  Olivia's a sweet baby and just hasn't learned what "gentle" means yet as she accidentally headbutted Madyson... Madyson took it like a champ though.  (No, no UFC in her future!)

Today we are headed out for a walk; our first one with just Madyson, Shaye and I.  We'll see how this goes.  UPDATE:  The walk went great!  I just kept Shaye on a shorter leash than normal and had him walk beside me behind the stroller and we were golden!  Afterwards, Madyson hung out by the garage and watched mommy and Shaye play fetch.  Shaye has been doing great with Madyson.  Basically just going over and sniffing her every now and then and whenever she is crying just to make sure she's okay.  Then he is back to loungin'.  Luckily he has grown up around Kevin (those of you that know him know what I am talking about) which will help as Madyson gets older and is learning what "gentle" means.  I know they will be fast best friends!

Ugh... got a text from someone at work asking when I was coming back... which brings me back to reality that I DO have to go back and sooner than I would like... in a week!  Really?  Sigh.  45 days went by waaay too fast!  Everyone said it would be hard.  Luckily the child care is close to work and if I need or want to I can jump in the car and head over there for lunch or something.  Four months will go by quickly!  I hope. 

                                      Daddy/Daughter Time

She has a variety of facial expressions!

"Show mommy your muscles and your stinkin' cute booties!"  Mommy loves hand-me downs!

WOO-HOO VIDEO!