Nursery Sneak Peak

5 Months

Maya hit five months on Friday.  But I've been slacking on the blogging.  She hasn't been sleeping very well so I haven't had much time or sleep.  She is sitting for short periods of time now.  She then gets tired or distracted by something and starts to fall over.  I'm not sure she stays upright long enough to really call her a sitter but it won't be long.  She is rolling from back to belly and belly to back whenever she wants now.  She rolls around the living room and turns in circles so it's impossible to keep her on the blanket.  Also, a few days ago she started pulling her knees up when she's on her belly and sometimes can push forward.  I'm guessing that this means crawling is just around the corner.  Hopefully she figures out how to use her arms to crawl or she'll have rug burn on her face.  

I'm guessing she's over 15 lbs now, probably closer to 16.  The bassinet she's been sleeping in has a weight limit of 15 lbs so we decided we should probably move her to her crib.  Friday night was her first night.  She did as well as she has been doing in our room, which isn't saying much but it went ok, no real change from her norm.  I think I cried more than she did that night.  The room felt so empty.  We will see if it gets any better.  If not I might be motivated enough to move furniture around, take the crib apart, and put it back together in our room. 

I've been working on stuff for her nursery during nap time and the evenings.  I've gotten some stuff finished.  And we picked up a bookshelf and lights for her room this weekend.  It's not all in her room yet but it's slowly getting there.

These are from July 22:

These are from July 23 (Late as usual on these.  We were out of color ink so I didn't get them printed in time for her actual birthday.):

21 Weeks, Tripoding, and Jumping

A few things I love about this age: Since we started not swaddling at night, she wakes up and talks to herself.  It's sort of a whisper. I usually wake up to it first thing in the morning rather than crying.  When I lean over and tell her good morning she gives me a great big smile.  She is generally happy these days. (Other than when she is too tired, then she acts like you are torturing her when you try to get her to sleep.)  When I talk to her she usually gives me a smile.  She giggles when you lift her into the air or pretend to eat her belly.  She is always learning something new. She is well on her way to sitting.  It seems too young to me but she is tripoding.  She is so squirmy these days.  Yesterday, she found that she really likes to jump.  She's always been bouncy. But now it's constant jumping.  She is always chewing on her hands, her feet, our hands, toys, my phone, or whatever she can get her hands on.  Nothing is allowed to be on the arm of our couch.  She will grab one thing, drop it, and grab another until the arm is clear.  She is especially fond of doing this when I'm folding clothes and have them sitting there.  She also likes to grab, pinch and yank my nose, lips, and hair.  I don't love that so much.  When she nurses she's always patting my face and neck, pulling on my shirt, or popping my straps.  The middle of the night feedings are the only time she's awake and still.  I think that I will miss them if she ever starts sleeping longer. She's also been pulling her own hair a lot the last few days.  It drives me bonkers.

Speaking of sleep, in other, less exciting news, let's talk about poop and sleep.  We've started having leaky diapers again so we moved up to 2s.  We've still had a few leaks with them.  Maybe we need to start solids soon and hope it helps with this.  Sleep is going better in general but we still have bad nights.  Saturday night she was up every 30 to 90 minutes.  Last night she was awake from 11 to 12:30 or so, got up to eat at 6, and was up for the day at 8:30.  She's been taking a nap or two in her crib during the day.  I've been swaddling her for those. I've found that it really helps.  It's kind of funny that we always swaddled at night but not for naps until a couple of weeks ago, and now it's the opposite.  She still has times when she is inconsolable.  Not in the colicky sort of way.  More in the I'm so sleepy but don't want to go to sleep and you are trying to make me sleep so I am so mad sort of way.  She also hates getting dressed.  She gets really mad if you try to put a hat or headband on her.  Once it's on, she's fine and leaves it alone.

These were taken yesterday. I think her bear has shrunk or something. 

Because I'm sure everyone likes to see pictures of peanut here are a few from today.  We decided to do a few outside today.  I love the first one.  She then fell over so decided to try the grass.

More on Spiders

I've complained about spiders in the past.  Would you like to see the spider that has invaded our home? It's the scariest thing. It may not be suitable for all ages. Viewer discretion is advised. Now you can't say that I didn't warn you. It makes children hide their face and cry. At least the children in this house.

20 Weeks

Two weeks ago Maya first started looking at her feet.  Sunday she was chewing on her toes and giggling about it.  Too cute.  Now she grabs her feet anytime she is on her back.  Not that she is on her back that much.  Now that she can roll from back to belly, she seems to prefer to be on her tummy.  She is always rolling over if you put her on her back.  She doesn't always remember how to roll from belly to back though.  On the days that she does, she rolls all over the place.  She's going to be mobile soon.  I'm not sure I'm ready for that.  She really strong.  (The doctors and nurses have commented on it since she was tiny) She will be sitting and crawling it no time.

Maya tried out her crib some this past week.  Thursday night we put her in it for a bit before were went to bed.  We have also been trying to transition some of her naps into it.  She usually naps in my lap which is nice but makes it hard to get anything done.  The new found skill of rolling over isn't making transitioning to the crib easy. We put her down, she stirs a little, and then she's on her belly.  It usually wakes her up.  And since she doesn't always remember how to get onto her back, we have to go in and flip her back over.  By this time it usually too late, she's too worked up, and we have to start the nap process all over. Today was the first really successful nap in the crib.  She did flip over to her belly but it didn't wake her up.  I just let her sleep but checked in on her regularly since she likes to try to bury her nose.  While she napped I worked on her nursery crafts.  I picked up fabric on Friday and have slowly been making progress.  I'll post some pictures when I have more done.  Hopefully we will have more nap success and it won't take me long to finish.  We set up a video camera set in the nursery so I can watch her on the tv while I sew.  Worked out pretty well.

We have not attempted the crib at night yet.  We set the crib up in her room and I'm not ready to move her in there overnight.  I'm not sure when I'll be ready but she's going to outgrow her bassinet soon.  Thursday night, after she slept in her crib for the first time, I had a dream that she was kidnapped.  Even though we brought her into our room when we went to bed, I was apparently having separation anxiety just thinking about it.

As of Thursday, Maya has now be on the outside half as long as she was on the inside.  Funny how the nine months of pregnancy, especially the first 4.5, seemed to drag by but since she's been born time seems to have flown.  On a semi related note, I wore my normal prepregnancy dress pants on Sunday.  I hadn't tried them on in a while and was excited that they fit.

Ooh, I have toes.

Staring out the window deep in thought.

19 Weeks

Maya has officially moved into 3-6 months clothes this week. Sleep is still hit or miss. Saturday night was worse than the newborn nights. She was up crying every 30 minutes to an hour. Ironic since we bought her crib that day.  Sunday and Monday nights were better but she was still up several times. After a bit of research it seems that this isn't too uncommon at four months. Some call it the four month wakeful period. We've started weaning her off the swaddle. After Saturday night, I decided to give it a try Sunday night. Monday morning I found her sleeping beside her swaddle sack. I don't know how she got out. Usually she just gets her arms out so I was surprised. This further supports my thought that it's time to nix the swaddle.

It's amazing how much she changes from one day to the next.  Her I'm getting annoyed but not yet mad enough to cry noise has gone from a whine a few days ago to a squeal.

Shopping with the Pregnant Ladies

We bought a crib and dresser Saturday. We picked it up Sunday and finally got it together yesterday. Now I just need to decide on fabric for her bedding, curtains, etc and get everything made.  I also want to get small bookshelf and something for the walls. My rocking chair doesn't match. Not sure if it's worth doing anything about it. I told Derek we should just get another or a glider and move our rocker to the living room but I'm not sure he's sold on the idea. I know why most people set up the nursery pre baby. It's a lot harder with Maya in tow.

Happy 4th of July

I know we are a little late but hope everyone enjoyed the 4th. We really didn't do much today. We did some grocery shopping and then worked around the house. Stay tuned tomorrow for our latest house project.

The most exciting part of the day was tonight when Maya about gave me a heart attack. She was asleep on a blanket in the floor. I stepped out of the room to put some clothes away. When I came back, I found her face down in the blanket. I ran over and flipped her over to make sure she ok. Of course, this woke her up and made her cry so then I felt like a jerk.

Another Sleep Post

Last night Maya woke up at 3:45, 5:30, 7:00, 7:40, 8:00, 8:30, and 9:00 before getting up around 10.  It makes for a rough night. The night before last wasn't any better. And she had a few days like this while my mom and brotjer were here. I don't think she's hungry. It might be tummy troubles.  She's also been a little stuffed up recently so could be that. Who knows though.

I think it's time to stop swaddling her at night now that she can roll over. I've been putting it off. It has been part of our bedtime routine since birth and I will miss it. Also I'm not sure how she will sleep without it. Until recently and excluding a few weeks here and there, she was doing so well I hated to change anything.

This looks so uncomfortable to me but it seems to be her favorite position.

Swaddled this morning. She rotates in here sleep.

18 Weeks and an Average Sized Peanut

June 28
Maya hit 18 weeks today.  I can't believe it's been that long since she was born. My mom, my brother, Maya, and I had professional photos done . They turned out pretty well but Maya wouldn't smile. She was to distracted by the camera and lights. We stopped by a fabric store on the way home. I would like to make stuff for Maya's nursery but I'm undecided on the theme and colors. I think I've narrowed it down to three options. Next time I'll drag Derek along to get his input. While we were at the fabric store Maya had a leaky diaper all over my mom's white shirt. This was the first with disposables since moving out of size 1s. I'm still torn on the whole diaper thing.

June 29
My family went home today. It was great to see them. I think we tired Maya out with all the running around we did while they were here. She slept all afternoon. Once she roused up so I sat her up but she just couldn't keep her eyes open. Her head kept bobbing so I snuggled her up again and she slept for a long time. She then stayed awake and was quite noisy during church. She really like to talk and blow raspberries these days.  Her cry has changed recently. We were given three bags of hand-me-downs tonight. And we may also be getting a high chair from the same lady.

June 30
Maya rolled from back to belly this morning. She still could get her arm free but it didn't stop her from making it over.

She had her four month well baby visit today. I can't believe how much she has grown in these 4 months. We saw a 3 day old little boy in the waiting room. He was a little over a pound heavier than Maya was at birth. He seemed so tiny. Maya weighs more than I thought. She is up to 14 lbs 4 oz and 24.25 in. That's just above the average for weight and just below it for the length. Her head was still above average. Not bad considering she started out around the 5th percentile in all three. She started wearing 3-6 month sleepers last night because the smaaler ones were getting too short. They make her look huge. Apparently I do grow her better on the outside.

The pediatrician said she looks perfect. We talked about starting solids. She recommended waiting a month or two since Maya is growing well and in general sleeping well (although for the past week she's been waking up more for some reason). Maya is starting to show interest in food and drinks. I'm happy waiting a while though. She's growing up too fast already. Maya decided the doctor is a stranger and she should be afaid of her. She cried as much during the exam as she did during the shots. She didn't even cry during the first shot. Although the second shot resulted in the chin quiver which we haven't seen in a while. The pediatrician was a little surprised she was exhibiting stranger anxiety already. I calmed Maya down. She then ignored the doc refusing to look at her or her light for the eye exam.  That's my girl.

We have seen the stranger anxiety a few other times. Someone said hi to her a week or so ago and she stuck out her bottom lip before bursting into tears. It seems pretty inconsistent though. Sometimes she's ok and other times not. Maybe it depends on her general mood.

I put her on her back and when I looked over this is what I found. 

She fell asleep on the way home from the pediatrician and
had a good nap in the afternoon. She seems back to normal today.