Crying it Out

Last weekend was horrible. Anna's sleep was frequently interrupted and we were very tired as a result. We shared this with one of the doctors wives at Lisa's work Christmas party (in January), and she began lecturing us on letting her cry it out, that we need to teach her to fall asleep on her own.

As you might imagine, I was in no mood to hear that we were doing the wrong thing as parents. We have tried some of the 'let her cry' in the past, and with some success. With Anna's congestion, however, she's woken more frequently, and has had to have saline shot up her nostrils.

In the process of getting over her cold, she unlearned some of her good sleep habits, although we had never got to the point of having her fall asleep on her own.

This weekend Lisa has been determined to change that.

Friday night, we let her cry, off and on, with periodic reassurance, for over an hour. Saturday night it was down to about 40 minutes. Today we tried to do the same with naps and has success early, but our attempts to get her to sleep on her own failed each time we tried, until we had to leave for Brittany's graduation party.

At the party, she was a perfect baby - no fussing, very little screaming, and she enjoyed all who held her.

She slept some each way in the car, of course, which meant she wasn't completely wiped out by the end of the day.

She had a great time during tubby time, Lisa rocked her for a bit, and she fell asleep inside of five minutes after Lisa put her down.

We hope the good work continues, but in the meantime, here's Lisa, Anna, and Lisa's grandmother Hattie during the party today.

Now that I know that at least Kay is reading...

Ok, ok, I know I'm supposed to be writing this for Anna. Trouble is, it's hard to get motivated for that since she doesn't even know what a letter is. Fortunately, Lisa's Aunt Kay said she tunes in from time to time. It's nice to know there's an audience.

Anna and Lisa are down for a nap after a morning in Janesville nixing our new auto's extended warranty. We took her to her first restaurant in a couple of months, since it's generally easier to get take out. The two previous restaurant adventures, an Indian buffet and Sala Thai, became a bit stressful when she began to fuss. No such trouble today.

Sleep has been much improved in the past few weeks, although she still likes to play the wake up game a couple of times in the evening before settling in. Last night, however, we battled her stuffy nose with saline spray a couple of times during the night and dealt with the crying and sniffling afterward. By 4:30, Lisa had had enough and Anna and I retired to the recliner so that mom could rest properly. Turns out Anna and I did pretty well for ourselves out there, too, as she slept till 8:15. That was when she turned big ol' eyes upward toward Dad, as if to say, "Oh, you've been my mattress for the evening? Now what have you got for me?"

What we had for her was a second attempt at cereal. This time she did pretty well and swallowed the majority of it. I still think the spoon is the main attraction, but so long as she gets a little iron, she can play with the spoon a bit.

Here's photographic evidence (actually, this is from the first attempt on Christmas day - had a video, but it wouldn't post!)

Daycare and Nightcare

Lisa's now back to work four days a week, which is causing her some consternation. Yesterday, when she went to the sitter's to pick up Anna, the area around her eyes was red from crying, which naturally broke Lisa's heart. It made her feel just a little better to be greeted with a huge smile. She still doesn't like to sleep at the sitter's. Fortunately, she took two naps while she was home with Daddy during the am hours.

Fridays are one of my days to stay home with our little girl, so I am pleased that, due to the largest snow storm of the season, Lisa stayed home from work. This also means that Lisa has time to make my favorite holiday cookies, mocha peppermint morsels.

We're almost ready to make the leap to cereal with Anna. I tried to get into Woodman's to get cereal, but it was jammed because of the pending snow. They have an organic rice cereal that Lisa read about in her 'Super Baby Foods' book. Since we do have a super baby, it's only fitting that we feed her based upon their recommendations.

We're also quite close to purchasing a safer winter vehicle - a Subaru Forester, for days like today when Lisa has to get to work, or when we have to drive her to and from the sitter's. I have noticed that if she ever had to get to the doctor while at daycare, our sitter has a monster truck that could endure snow, floods, and probably a tornado or two.

Here's a photo taken during her time at home with Dad and one of the photo that appeared on our holiday card.

A Change for the Better!

Quick update as the frustration of the last post has eased considerably. Anna's sleep is improving by putting her in her own room. Despite our best intentions to make a little more noise around her as she napped over the last months, she's a light sleeper. Lisa thinks our tossing and turning didn't help her much, and we (well, mostly Lisa and her bionic ears), hears everything Anna does when she's next to our bed. To make matters worse over the last month, my cough due to cold has disturbed her sleep and Lisa's, too.

So far, in our new arrangement, Anna wakes twice before 'morning', which is more tolerable for Lisa.

Naps are still a work in progress. Hopefully she'll improve as she gets better rest at night.

Here's a photo from Thanksgiving at Pamela's.

Sleep: The missing element

Last night was the worst night in recent memory, with regard to sleep. At just past four months, Anna has still been sleeping in her bassinet, next to Lisa's side of the bed. This made night time feedings a little less problematic for Lisa, and we assumed that having us near gave Anna a little added security.

Tonight we are trying something else.

Last night, we put Anna down at her usual 7 o'clock, give or take 20 minutes, and unlike most evening, she did not wake up crying 45 minutes to an hour later. I predicted that this would make for a good night's sleep for all of us.

Instead, when I went to bed at 11, Lisa had already placed Anna beside her. Our thought was that she slept better with us. Shortly after I showed up, she began her muted cries and whimpers, which it seems are her way of getting herself back to sleep. Whether it helps her or not, it's very hard to endure. By 1:30am, I burst out with some expletives, saying, essentially that I was going mad. Lisa encouraged me to go into the other room, but I was determined to help get her to sleep. Fifteen minutes later, I relented, but I was too upset to sleep for almost another hour and the guilt of leaving Lisa alone with Anna bore a hole in my gut.

I got up when Anna did and let Lisa get a little more sleep. All told, I had about 4.5-5 hours of sleep. I tried to help our mood by making light, but we both understood that this is very upsetting and agreed to try something, anything else. I did suggest that perhaps a timeshare arrangement with another parent/parents might be a good idea.

Tonight we put her in her crib in her own room, but she woke up 20 minutes after Lisa put her down and could not be calmed while laying down. We went back to the 'miracle' blanket the second attempt and switched her back to her bassinet, hoping that would prove a bit more familiar and comforting. So far, she and Lisa have been asleep in separate rooms for an hour and a half.

Anyway, since I don't know what else lies ahead, I'm off to bed, too. Wish us luck!

This photo is of Anna at 4 months, sitting on her mother's lap.

Almost four months

Anna's personality comes out a little more each day. So far, she's seems like the social animal that her mother is. She really draws people in with her wrinkly nose grin. Of course, she does best when she has plenty of sleep, as she did yesterday. It certainly seems like she knows when it's Sunday, for she took two sizable naps yesterday.

Tomorrow will mark my forth Tuesday taking care of Anna. Generally it seems to get easier. I recall that first five minutes when Lisa left for a full day of work. I wonder how many times I checked the clock to do the math to determine when Mom would be back again. I still check the clock, but it's less often and with less anxiety.

The bad news is that as it gets colder, walks outdoors will be fewer and farther between. Sue's gonna watch Anna tomorrow so I can get a haircut. Patti has delighted in taking her a couple of times, but she, too, enjoys the chance to walk the neighborhood with her.

Inside, her play is changing. She used to be content to whack a ball hanging from a string. Now, however, she wants to put everything in her mouth so she can slather it with a proper coating of drool. She is also less interested in Daddy's roar game, since she's captivated by whatever is happening over her left shoulder. Lisa says it won't be long till she rolls over. Like the rest of us, though, when she does, I imagine she'll think, "Okay, now what?"

She's pretty glad to take a bottle now, but, as I have explained to the feeder-in-chief, it nourishes her, but it doesn't soothe the way breastfeeding does. I suppose that's for the best, but it doesn't make Dad's time so easy. Napping is still a problem, too. I try to nap with her so she'll remain asleep, but, unlike Lisa, I can't breastfeed her back to bed, although I think I'll wield a bottle for tomorrow's am nap, just to see what happens.

Meantime, we'll keep growing her as long as she'll have us. She's heartbreakingly cute! Here's a photo taken during her post-bath massage time.

A Second Attempt

This a second attempt to write about my first experience of staying home all day with Anna. Last time, I wrote out the info, posted it, only to discover I posted it to the Wisconsin Library Association Blog. Fortunately, I figured out how to promptly remove it before anyone could see it.

I tried to write it out again, but I was interrupted by Anna waking from her nap.

Lisa went back to work on Tuesday because her 12 weeks of leave were exhausted. We were most concerned about Anna's stubbornness in refusing to drink from bottles. I hoped that if she became hungry enough, she would settle for a bottle.

On Tuesday morning, Lisa departed, and I glanced at the clock. How long before she would begin to demand milk? I figured we could be friends for the next 1.5-2 hours, at least. If things became really ugly, which seemed unlikely with such a cute baby, I could drive to Deforest, to Lisa's work, and she could have some lunch.

Fortunately, she chose the bottle. She napped. She did all the things that good babies should. Sure, she fussed some, but our fears were unfounded.

Today was a bit more difficult, however, since I had to drop Anna at the sitter's for the afternoon. Our sitter, Sally, is certainly kind and very experienced, but it's already hard to let go. I even changed a diaper so I could stay longer. Eventually, however, I had to leave for work, and I got choked up as I walked down the driveway. It was easier knowing that Lisa planned to drop by during her lunch.

Turned out she turned up her nose at the bottle later that afternoon, and we put up with a little extra fussing this evening. Lisa figured she was a little extra tired from a few new experiences.

Home again tomorrow, so hopefully we have a good day once again.

In the meantime, enjoy a fun video of what Anna and I do when we play:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt21cdog-pics/2945642921/Matt & Anna @ Play