Bloggers Beware
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It is very possible to jinx yourself when blogging. Particularly when bragging about your baby's sleep. If there is such a thing, Jane went on a sleep strike yesterday...*yawn*
Sleep Training
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It's so great to have older siblings that have done this parenthood thing, especially great to live near one. My sister had me read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. The Doc could have used a good editor as he writes in circles, but it's got some good research and valuable information. I recommend it. After I read it, I kind of laughed at myself. From the time Jane was born, the big concern was how, when, and how much she was eating. It never occurred to me that sleep requires the same attention.
We started out with moving her to the crib when she was deeply asleep, otherwise she'd wake up once she realized she wasn't being held. Then we were able to move her when she more lightly asleep and the last couple of days we've been able to put her in before she's even totally out. She's learning! Of course, we've had to let figure out that her crib is an OK place via some old-fashioned letting her cry... but it's so worth it.
We caught the face Jane makes just before she starts wailing! This would be an over-tired Jane.
So a couple of weeks ago we began transitioning Jane from our bed to her crib, once we finally got it set up, to help regulate her sleep (and ours!) We set up a night-night routine kind of by accident. Jane loves to be swaddled, bounced, and patted while listening to music. This works great even if we've overtired her on accident or if she's just starting to get tired. So I thought I'd post some pictures of my darling drifting off.
This is my wide-eyed Jane fighting sleep, keeping her eyes open so she doesn't miss anything.
This is my wide-eyed Jane fighting sleep, keeping her eyes open so she doesn't miss anything.
Slowly succumbing. We have a hard time not letting her get overtired at night.
And finally asleep.
I'm learning to treasure these moments with her on my shoulder as I can finally see an end in sight!
And finally asleep.I'm learning to treasure these moments with her on my shoulder as I can finally see an end in sight!
We started out with moving her to the crib when she was deeply asleep, otherwise she'd wake up once she realized she wasn't being held. Then we were able to move her when she more lightly asleep and the last couple of days we've been able to put her in before she's even totally out. She's learning! Of course, we've had to let figure out that her crib is an OK place via some old-fashioned letting her cry... but it's so worth it.
We caught the face Jane makes just before she starts wailing! This would be an over-tired Jane.Milestones
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So I'm inspired by a few friend's blogs to capture in bullets what Jane can do at 2+ months of age:
*She can hold her head up for a LONG time. She loves to sit in my lap and just hang. I love it, too.
*She discovered her hands a couple of weeks ago. Eric saw her holding them above her face inspecting them, really seeing them for the first time. Now she sucks them all the time. It's quite noisy, actually.
*She puts her hands together and tries to shove both hands in her mouth.
*She can grasp light rattles or rings and hold on to them, but only when we put them in her hands. She isn't reaching yet.
*She blows bubbles like an aquarium (yea, sleep deprivation=poor similes).
*She's progressed from kicking her legs like crazy, which she still does, to pulling them both up in the air like a Pilates move or reverse curl. She's got strong abs! I even saw her grab her feet a few days ago.
*She loves her mobile and her play gym (in the picture below, I caught one of her outbursts of joy)
*She's very close to rolling over, but not front to back. She still hates tummy time.
*She can nearly turn a full circle on her side like Donald O'Connor does in Singing in the Rain in his number "Make Them Laugh". Yesterday she was laying on her bed while I was getting ready. Every time I turned around, she had gone another 90 degrees. She started out facing the outside of the bed, did a full 270 degrees, and ended up facing the headboard.
*She has got the call and response thing done. I love having "conversations" with her. She even talks to her stuffed cow, Roxie.
*We have twice caught her trying to sing. No kidding, very different then all the sounds she makes, it was clearly trying to sing along. Speaking of songs, she has developed some clear favorites. She likes Kasey Chamber's "Don't Look So Sad." It's her fussy song and has become her goodnight song. In fact, we play it before we put her down for a nap. She also likes Eva Cassidy's "Baby Mine," Follow the Prophet, and Dr. Horrible's "My Freeze Ray." She's also a fan of some country, Regina Spektor, Chopin, and most recently Baby Einstein's Noah album and Beethoven album.
*And, I almost hate to mention this, but Jane has been sleeping like an angel (knock on wood). She had two nights this week where she slept four hours in her crib! And the last two nights she has slept for almost six in her crib! The sleep training we've been doing seems to be working. It's a little premature to say, but I think it's even worth all the crying it out we've had to do...
*She can hold her head up for a LONG time. She loves to sit in my lap and just hang. I love it, too.
*She discovered her hands a couple of weeks ago. Eric saw her holding them above her face inspecting them, really seeing them for the first time. Now she sucks them all the time. It's quite noisy, actually.
*She puts her hands together and tries to shove both hands in her mouth.
*She can grasp light rattles or rings and hold on to them, but only when we put them in her hands. She isn't reaching yet.
*She blows bubbles like an aquarium (yea, sleep deprivation=poor similes).
*She's progressed from kicking her legs like crazy, which she still does, to pulling them both up in the air like a Pilates move or reverse curl. She's got strong abs! I even saw her grab her feet a few days ago.
*She loves her mobile and her play gym (in the picture below, I caught one of her outbursts of joy)
*She's very close to rolling over, but not front to back. She still hates tummy time.
*She can nearly turn a full circle on her side like Donald O'Connor does in Singing in the Rain in his number "Make Them Laugh". Yesterday she was laying on her bed while I was getting ready. Every time I turned around, she had gone another 90 degrees. She started out facing the outside of the bed, did a full 270 degrees, and ended up facing the headboard.
*She has got the call and response thing done. I love having "conversations" with her. She even talks to her stuffed cow, Roxie.
*We have twice caught her trying to sing. No kidding, very different then all the sounds she makes, it was clearly trying to sing along. Speaking of songs, she has developed some clear favorites. She likes Kasey Chamber's "Don't Look So Sad." It's her fussy song and has become her goodnight song. In fact, we play it before we put her down for a nap. She also likes Eva Cassidy's "Baby Mine," Follow the Prophet, and Dr. Horrible's "My Freeze Ray." She's also a fan of some country, Regina Spektor, Chopin, and most recently Baby Einstein's Noah album and Beethoven album.
*And, I almost hate to mention this, but Jane has been sleeping like an angel (knock on wood). She had two nights this week where she slept four hours in her crib! And the last two nights she has slept for almost six in her crib! The sleep training we've been doing seems to be working. It's a little premature to say, but I think it's even worth all the crying it out we've had to do...
Oh so Lonely
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So since Jane decided to wake up at 5:00 am this morning, I took the time to finally put together my bloglines account and add the feeds of my good friends so I can stay updated easier. The result? One very lonely Marcee. Eric has another big week with school--I'll probably see him a total of 4 hours between last night and Wednesday evening, if I'm lucky. And while it's very nice to live near my sister, pictures of Ashley and Chaliese swimming with their boys, videos of Breanne's kicking Tucker and Michelle's weekly recaps of post-pardum life (...and that's just my friends with babies!), just about do me in. Yes, I teared up. And then I find myself getting irrationally mad at Eric (again) for taking me away from Austin. That's when I realize it's time to go back to bed.
But to all my friends scattered across the country, I'm glad I met you even if I never see you again. To those of you who blog, thanks for keeping me company.
But to all my friends scattered across the country, I'm glad I met you even if I never see you again. To those of you who blog, thanks for keeping me company.
Jane in Real Life
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...or at least in video. I've been meaning to get this up for a few weeks now. Jane and I got sick over a week ago and so it's been even tougher going... In between suctioning Jane's nose and blowing my own, I managed to put together these few clips.
Jane is apparently camera-shy. Or rather, she gets distracted from smiling by the camera. She is fascinated by technology. We've taken many a video that is only interesting to her parents. Hopefully this one will entertain a wider audience, help y'all get to know her better.
Just remember she is WAY cuter in person.
Jane is apparently camera-shy. Or rather, she gets distracted from smiling by the camera. She is fascinated by technology. We've taken many a video that is only interesting to her parents. Hopefully this one will entertain a wider audience, help y'all get to know her better.
Just remember she is WAY cuter in person.
Chunkin' Up!
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So Jane had her two month appointment on Thursday. She is chunking up nicely at 12 lbs 3.6 oz (90th percentile!). She's grown two inches since birth (75th) and I forget how big her head is, but it was in the 75th percentile. The appointment also meant immunizations or four shots in her legs I now know what her pain cry sounds like! We won't relive that experience on this blog, however. The point is, Jane is getting chubby! You can almost see her double chin in these pictures...
Picture Day!
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So my mom took pictures of each of her seven kids when they were six weeks old. All the girls ended up wearing the same dress and so it was really fun to compare our pictures as babies. As a kid, I would study the similarities between my picture and my sister Jena's thinking that if we looked a little bit alike as babies, maybe there was still hope that I'd develop a little bit of her beauty.
Anyway, I decided I wanted to take six week pictures, too. I bought a dress special for the occasion, Jane looks great in blue, and carefully planned my day so that Jane would be happy and clean, her dress would be clean and ironed, and so we'd get to the studio in plenty of time and hopefully with minimal stress. Jane is the sweetest in the morning, so I went for an 11:15 appointment. She's not on a schedule, but going by her habits of the past few days, I thought she'd just have finished her nap and be extra smiley.
The mischief started when Jane had a totally un-Jane night. She went to be later than usual and woke up every two hours. We slept in a little longer than usual, but I managed to get her bathed with no tears and dressed. I ironed her dress the night before and had everything packed. I adjusted our timing and decided I'd leave extra early so I could feed Jane out in the car when we got there. I live about five minutes away from the studio, but I hadn't been there before so I gave myself an extra 20 minutes for finding the place.I left the house on time. Jane didn't protest in her car seat (which almost never happens!) and I thought she'd probably remain calm on the short drive. We got on the freeway and just as we got up to speed, we started to slow down. And then we stopped. There was an awful rollover wreck a mile in front of us. And then Jane started crying. And we remained stopped for a half hour. I could have walked to the studio faster than we drove...
Why is it that Jane's crying causes me physical pain?
When traffic finally started moving, I was already late for our appointment. Jane was still screaming, and she kept screaming until we pulled off on our exit, i.e. the last minute of the trip. She had fallen asleep. They managed to squeeze us in at a later time, however, and my darling Jane woke up just before it was her turn to say cheese.
So, in the end, we got some good pictures. In fact, Jane had a small crowd watching her session and one lady asked what my secret of her good behavior was (then she dropped her voice and asked with narrow eyes, "drugs?") And I find myself once again counting my blessings that Jane is such a good baby. But even with a good baby, who knew it could all be so stressful?
Speaking of stress, I find myself more impatient when I'm out and about these days. When the line is extra long at the grocery store and I know Jane's had it, I think--don't they know I have a baby? And I want special treatment. Even stopped at traffic lights when Jane is howling, I think those lights ought to know what I'm experiencing and change a little faster. Doesn't make much sense, I know, but very true.
Anyway, I decided I wanted to take six week pictures, too. I bought a dress special for the occasion, Jane looks great in blue, and carefully planned my day so that Jane would be happy and clean, her dress would be clean and ironed, and so we'd get to the studio in plenty of time and hopefully with minimal stress. Jane is the sweetest in the morning, so I went for an 11:15 appointment. She's not on a schedule, but going by her habits of the past few days, I thought she'd just have finished her nap and be extra smiley.The mischief started when Jane had a totally un-Jane night. She went to be later than usual and woke up every two hours. We slept in a little longer than usual, but I managed to get her bathed with no tears and dressed. I ironed her dress the night before and had everything packed. I adjusted our timing and decided I'd leave extra early so I could feed Jane out in the car when we got there. I live about five minutes away from the studio, but I hadn't been there before so I gave myself an extra 20 minutes for finding the place.I left the house on time. Jane didn't protest in her car seat (which almost never happens!) and I thought she'd probably remain calm on the short drive. We got on the freeway and just as we got up to speed, we started to slow down. And then we stopped. There was an awful rollover wreck a mile in front of us. And then Jane started crying. And we remained stopped for a half hour. I could have walked to the studio faster than we drove...
Why is it that Jane's crying causes me physical pain?
When traffic finally started moving, I was already late for our appointment. Jane was still screaming, and she kept screaming until we pulled off on our exit, i.e. the last minute of the trip. She had fallen asleep. They managed to squeeze us in at a later time, however, and my darling Jane woke up just before it was her turn to say cheese.
So, in the end, we got some good pictures. In fact, Jane had a small crowd watching her session and one lady asked what my secret of her good behavior was (then she dropped her voice and asked with narrow eyes, "drugs?") And I find myself once again counting my blessings that Jane is such a good baby. But even with a good baby, who knew it could all be so stressful?
Speaking of stress, I find myself more impatient when I'm out and about these days. When the line is extra long at the grocery store and I know Jane's had it, I think--don't they know I have a baby? And I want special treatment. Even stopped at traffic lights when Jane is howling, I think those lights ought to know what I'm experiencing and change a little faster. Doesn't make much sense, I know, but very true.
Just Bumpo and Me...and Lizzy
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So someone from grad school suggested getting a Bumpo chair for Jane. I'm so glad I did. She's got such good head control and is SO alert and she loves looking around, as you can tell by her open-mouthed joy in the photo above. I put her in it for the first time at 5 weeks. It does tire her out, but she really likes the view. We all sat down for dinner together and she thought it was great.
These two pictures are of Jane and her very energetic cousin, Lizzy. Lizzy shows great restraint and doesn't wrestle with Jane like she does her 9 month old brother. She's learned how to be soft, as soft as she can, at least.
I've found that Jane prefers the noise and action of her cousins to our silent apartment. I watched Lizzy today while my sister was out and Lizzy's normal activities are more stimulating than Fisher OR Price...put together!
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