Week 30: August 5 - 11

Nursing
We are doing well on 4 meals a day!

Sleeping
Going really well. More info in the Special Topic!

Solids/Food
(need to get better about her eating with us! We aren't used to thinking about her and meals with us!)
Thursday: She ate peach. And she didn't just gnaw on it, she ATE it. [Click to see bigger pictures]
Friday: Snack today was watermelon and cucumber. For dinner, we had roast with potatoes and carrots. The potatoes weren't cut into the right shape, but she really enjoyed the roast.
Saturday: Madeleine had watermelon, peaches (didn't eat them as well as Thursday), more roast, and carrot. She was really digging the roast and carrot again!
Sunday: We went to Marietta Pizza Company for lunch and Madeleine had some "rectangle pizza" (termed coined by Manning Chapman) and lemon.
Monday: Watermelon for a snack and some chicken (from Chick-fil-A sandwich)
Wednesday: Apple and yogurt for a snack.

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. Pushes up on hands and knees and rocks back and forth (check! She especially does this in her crib)
2. Holds two objects at same time, one in each hand (um, yes! check!)
3. Uses fingers to grasp objects (she started doing this a couple of weeks ago)
4. Understands that objects don't disappear when hidden (check. She knows my phone still exists when I hide it from her!)
5. Imitates sounds and series of sounds (dunno, maybe?)
6. Is learning meaning of "no" by tone of voice used (haven't said "no" to her much... haven't really needed to...)

Special Topic #1: Dropping a Nap and New Schedule!
We are in the process of dropping Madeleine's catnap. Like the 4-hour schedule last week, it just sorta happened, and she seems to be doing very well. She is still adjusting to going without the nap, so her bedtime is a bit early these days. But she's super happy and she is sleeping well at night, better actually then she'd been doing recently. No more early waking, yay! (At least, when we do it right!)

Madeleine's new schedule is great for everyone. We get way more time with her, and she gets great sleep. She eats at 7am, 11am, 3pm, and anywhere between 5:30-6:30pm for dinner. She's got a super early bedtime right now until she gets used to not having that evening nap. Eventually, she'll eat around 6:30 every night and get in bed by 7pm.

It's very important right now for her to get in bed on time. Saturday night, Matt and I were having too good a conversation with our friend Todd and I didn't feed Madeleline until 6, even though she was more than ready for bed. I should have fed her at 5:30, but again, we were engrossed. It took her about 30 minutes to fall asleep (not a single cry, just rolling around), and she woke early Sunday morning. I fed her and put her back to sleep. It wasn't her fault that she didn't get in bed at a good time!

New Things
On Thursday, Madeleine and I were playing on the floor. She was chewing toys, I was watching her (and probably taking pictures!). At one point, it seemed like she wanted to chew my fingers, so I let her. After a few seconds, I realized I felt something new on her bottom gum. Kinda pokey and sharp. So I paid attention, and sure enough, there was definitely something there. I couldn't really see anything, but I didn't get a very good look, either. I have no idea if it's a tooth, but what else would it be?

My little girl! About to cut her first tooth! I wonder how long it will take, if it will cause her a lot of pain. I will miss the toothless smiles, the gummy grins. I'm nervous about nursing with a tooth. I hope she'll be able to eat better, though I don't know how much one tooth will help.

Saturday, I saw the beginnings of the tooth! Just a tiny little mark on her bottom gum. She's so precious. So far, she's only been extra fussy when she is tired. I have no idea how quickly teeth emerge, but I hope it's over soon so she won't hurt too long.

Madeleine has started figuring out her wrist. She holds things at arms length and spins her wrist all around. Or she just stares at her hand and spins her wrist. It's very cute.

Just this week, Madeleine has started taking things out of her toy cube! For the longest time, if I put something in the cube, she stopped looking for it. But now, she knows she can remove her toys. It's very fun.

Misc
I can be absolutely certain that Madeleine got some food down this week, and not just a chunk accidentally swallowed. She started by eating about 1/3 of 2 different slices of peach, but then they both ended up on the floor. So I gave her a third slice, which she totally ate. All she left was the skin and a tiny chunk. SO COOL!

Ooh, on Saturday, there was a piece of carrot in her poop! And MORE carrot in Sunday! This is very exciting stuff. I know the novelty will wear off VERY quickly, but for now, I am enjoying it. Besides, as a dietitian, I have dealt with a lot of poop issues. Haha.

Mimi and Nana came for a visit this week! On Monday, Madeleine got to play (after she used to them) and eat with them, and she was quite charming. We wanted a "4 Generations" picture, and Mimi suggested doing something a little non-traditional. This isn't the best pic, but Madeleine really got the jist of the whole "4" thing!



Tuesday, she hung out with Mimi and mommy, and in the afternoon we ran a few errands. Mimi watched her that night while mommy and daddy went out to dinner! It was so nice. Of course, Madeleine was in bed, so Mimi just had to man the monitor. All was well.

Slideshow

Video of the week!