All is still going well! No more infection pain since changing over to the usual nursing pads.
Sleeping
Sleep is rough right now. For the most part, nighttime sleep hasn't been affected, but naps are awful. Ever since Wonder Week 19, she's been off, though we had a week and a half recently that was pretty good. I've been searching high and low (all over the internet!) for information, and from what I've seen, a LOT of babies at this age go through a weird napping time.
The biggest problem is that she only sleeps for 30-45 minutes at a time, which isn't long enough to get really good, restorative sleep. It wasn't so bad when just one of her naps was short, but the last few days, since Friday, really, have been awful. Two days in a row she got only very short naps, and it clearly affected her mood and disposition. She's tired almost right after waking up. For quite a few naps, she'd wake up crying, but it was obvious she needed more sleep.
Helping her sleep hasn't been easy. We got a book which suggested a napping schedule in order to optimize baby's sleep. There are certain times of the day when sleep is best, so try to reach those times if possible. I don't think it's working. Her consecutive days of very short naps have been while adhering to this schedule. I dedicated 4 days to the nap portion of the book, and if things don't improve tomorrow, I'm going to do something else.
My theory is that she's getting--and STAYING--overtired. I've read that overtired babies can't sleep, and I see that in Madeleine. But I have NO IDEA how to help her get out of the cycle of poor naps she's in. Well, I do have one theory, but it will have to wait until Thursday. ;)
We've started implementing regular, consistent routines at bedtime and naps. All the sleep books advocate it, but we aren't the most routine people in the world and have been slow to adopt them for Madeleine. That changed this week, however! I suppose it will take a while before we see any effect, but I think it will be worth it. She has yet to get through an entire routine without crying. So I know we aren't quite doing it right--the timing, I mean.
Nap routine: change onesie if needed, socks if needed. Read a few books, sing a few songs, then cuddle and hugs, lay her in the crib, turn on the air filter (which is also our white noise), sweet words, then lights out. She's gotten to where she only cries for a minute or so, then gurgles and talks herself to sleep.
Bedtime routine: diaper change, sleep clothes, socks. Read a few books, sing a few songs, pray. Then I hold her while I kinda sway and bounce her gently and sing the Prayer Song my mom always sang to us. Then cuddles and hugs, lay her in the crib, turn on the air filter, sweet words, then lights out.
She is generally responding to it, though she'll need to catch up on her sleep before she'll really be able to enjoy it. I love the cuddly time with her! But the routine is cool because anyone can do it. Once I get it down, then Matt will do some bedtimes.
Solids/Food
3 weeks until we start solids! Well, at the beginning of the week it's 3 weeks, on June 30, it's down to 2! Yay!
According to the book...
We've got this book called "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week." This week, Madeleine should be:
1. Grab and hold foot in play while lying on back (check! She did that last week)
2. May manipulate objects (kinda vague...)
3. Turns when own name is called (check! She's been doing this for a week or so)
She still can't roll tummy to back, though!
New Things
She continues to want to sit. All the time. No more tummy time, and forget about being on her back! Psh-aw. That's for BABIES. The only problem is that her little muscles aren't developed well enough to let her sit for too long. She starts leaning over toward her feet. This leads to frequent and massive spit-ups, which tend to get on her, the blanket, and whatever toy(s) she's got in her mouth or around her legs. Oh, the joys of mommyhood!
Still sitting with help, still spitting. It's at unprecedented proportions. She's getting better and better, though.
Saturday night, she ALMOST rolled from her tummy to her back. Almost.
Madeleine has been moving around in her crib for a few weeks now. Sometimes she'll be completely perpendicular to the direction we laid her down, a few times even spun 180 degrees. Monday morning when we went to see her, she'd something totally new: she was on her belly! I don't think she'd slept that way; I think she flipped over sometime in the 15-20 minutes she'd been awake. But still! Her first rollover in a few weeks, AND she did it in her crib! Yay baby!
^^ She did it again! Rolled onto her tummy during a nap this morning. How fun!
^^ Yet another roll over at a nap. Guess it's going to stick. It's always neat trying to guess what position she'll be in when we go in after naps!
I think Madeleine's taste buds are starting to develop. At first, babies mostly taste sweet, which works nicely for nursing. Around 6 months, they start being able to taste the other tastes, like salt. On Tuesday, I noticed that when Madeleine spit up, she made a face like "ew, what IS that?" She's done it several times since then as well. It's amusing, and it's neat to see visible evidence of her growth and development.
Toys and Play
Favorite books: Where is Baby's Belly Button?, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Peek-a-Who?, Guess How Much I Love You.
Friday, Madeleine petted Layla for the first time. She smiles at the dog, but Layla continues to kind of ignore her--unless she thinks she can get away with a lick or two!
Misc
We purchased a baby gate today, but not because Madeleine is on the move (or close, it seems). We'll be having an extra guest, Vander, stay with us for a few days soon, and Matt wants to keep him and Layla in the rumpus room, away from Madeleine's room.
Matt likes to make up words. Madeleine has given him multiple opportunities to practice this skill. One such word that has become integrated into both of our vocabularies is "inhappinate." It means "to make happy." Used in a sentence: "Does that inhappinate you, Madeleine?" :)
Slideshow
Video of the week!
Coming soon!
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