My Little Sweetie is Growing Up!

Cute sleepy face & extra chubby cheeks:

At the Bridgeport pool when my mom was visiting:
Daddy loves me so much and he is so fun to play with:
I can grab my giraffe's leg and put his foot in my mouth!



My baby's precious 'sleepy' hand:

Asleep in my crib. Hello chubby cheeks!

My whale bath tub... lots of fun.


My daddy is the best:
Carla, Veronica and Lauren:
With mom at the park:
First time sitting 'big-girl' style in my stroller. I laughed the whole time mommy strolled me up and down Riverside Drive.

I've spent the last week alone at home with my little girl while my husband is working long hours in Switzerland. Hopefully the volcanic ash from Iceland won't postpone his trip home. My mother-in-law came over 3 days this week to help me and I'm so thankful for that.

My focus this week was to learn more about my little girl's sleep patterns, what she needs (sleep-wise), and how to best prepare her for bedtime. We have made improvements since the beginning of the week. Tonight, although she woke up 2 times after I put her down (hopefully that was the last of the wake ups), there was really no crying or fussiness. This was our routine tonight:

*Last nap ended at around 4pm (I've been putting her in her crib at the first signs of sleepiness (usually yawns) and a few minutes later she sleeps... I also use nursing sometimes to help her fall asleep to nap)
*Nap/nurse at around 5:30pm (she rests and takes a long time nursing)
*Bath at around 7:20pm
*Nursing to sleep and in crib by 8:15pm
*Wake up #1 8:30pm (nursed back to sleep)
*Wake up #2 8:45pm (nursed back to sleep)

I don't mind nursing her back to sleep at night as long as she doesn't wake up too many times to do it - for her sake - I want her to get some good sleep! She usually only wakes up one time in the middle of the night (around 3am) to eat and she has been going right back to sleep.

I'm having bad dreams as usual... a plane crash and a car crash are the most recent dreams. I'm copying down scripture to help me battle my anxious mind. Here is one:

"I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." from Psalm 16

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me... Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Sleep... for me and baby.

Here are pictures from my mom's visit, from Lauren's first drs appointment, a bath, and a walk (Lauren at 2 months old):
My sweet mom. By the way, my mother is from Bolivia, South America so Lauren is 1/4 Bolivian. My mom has a sweet nick name for Lauren... Laurenita (sounds like Lorenita).





Lauren's 2 month doctors appointment. At this visit, Lauren was 9 weeks old and weighed in at 13 pounds, 8 ounces and 23 inches long. This put her in the 90% for weight and 90% for height for her age. The pediatrician said it is normal for breastfed babies to be chubby until they hit around 9 months of age. At 9 months they are supposed to lean out more.
Our pediatrician had a cold so she wore a mask during the visit. Lauren did great during the exam.
After the 'diaper area' exam, I got her diapered back up.
A bath in the sink before we finally bought a baby bath tub. The baby bath tub makes baths so much easier!! Lauren loves her bath tub (picture of that coming soon).
On a walk around the neighborhood across the street from my condo. California Street.

Um, chubby cheeks. Well, the car seat accentuates her chubby cheeks.

My mom was here to witness Lauren's first successful attempt at sucking her thumb. She usually sucks on her hand but this time she got her thumb and sucked it in.
Sunday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Briasco's... well, actually it is Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Briasco's to Lauren.
Cousin Danielle, my mom and Great Grandma with Lauren.
The Grandma's: L to R: Grandma Bonnie, Grandma Checha, Great Grandma and Lauren.



After keeping a log of Lauren's daily naps, awake time, poops, pees, feeding and walks with me, I see a pattern developing. I also started reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth and I learned what to be more aware of Lauren's sleepy signals so that she does not become overtired. I've seen Lauren in an overtired-wired state and I don't want her to get to that point anymore. Sleep-topics of interest to me:

naps
sleepy signals (yawns, staring off into space)
duration of naps
timing of naps
bed-times
how long baby should sleep at night
feeding at night
soothing techniques

more to come... baby woke up...
OK, I'm back.

I really like the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book. For young babies, the author does not recommend crying it out, but offers many 'soothing' techniques. My hubby is good at night soothing so he usually gets this job with Lauren. Lauren seems to hate her crib at night (not during day time naps). Unless she is in a deep sleep before we put her in there at night, she gets so upset. I think when she is an older baby (which I think is around 4 or 5 months of age) we can start doing more sleep training where we let her cry a little.

Personally, my favorite way to lull Lauren to sleep is to nurse her until she is really sleeping. I get to look at her face, stroke her hair, hold her little body close to me (I use my brestfriend breastfeeding pillow and I hold her close). Sometimes she can stay on for 45 minutes... she keeps sucking in a 'pacifying' state at the end (not much milk towards the end). This really relaxes me too. Then I try to put her in her crib and if this doesn't work, I can pass her on to my hubby. He usually holds her in the football hold or on his chest and walks her around the condo... and if that doesn't work, we put her in her swing till she falls asleep and then he transfers her carefully to her crib! I know eventually we won't be able to use the swing, but for now, it works great to sooth her and calm her if she gets upset because we tried to put her down in her crib.

What is her schedule now? It varies, but on average it is this:

Bedtime sleep at around 9:30 or 10pm (much later on a bad day where she fights it)
Night feeding 3am
Wake time at around 8am
Morning nap at around 2 hours after wake time, lasting for about 1 hour
Afternoon nap varies a lot, but I'm trying for 2-4pm

I would like to get her into bed earlier, between 7-8pm for her own sake. She stays up more hours in a row after her afternoon nap and gets to the point of being overtired if she doesn't go to bed by 9pm or earlier.

Dr. Weissbluth lays out the following example schedule (I like this one, although I know lots of people do not like set schedules... I feel like I can use it flexibly):

*Wake 7am
*Morning nap 9-10am
*Afternoon nap 12-2pm
*3rd nap - optional and depends on bed time. He recommends an earlier bedtime versus a 3rd nap for older babies
*Bed between 6-8pm
*1st night feeding
*2nd night feeding

Lauren's Laugh

She's been much more vocal lately and also giving smiles and even laughs:


Lauren with mommy:

Lauren with her new Peacock toy:
Lauren with her suped-up lamb chair (I added extra dangly toys to it):


Lauren smiling in her sleep in her crib:
A corner of our living room. Lauren likes her rain forest toys mat and also bouncing on the the exercise ball while listening to music. Notice the cute little baby sock on the coffee table.
Lauren taking a nap at the park near our house.
Lauren's hand:
Lauren's feet:

I finally cleaned the breast pump equipment but I'm kind of reluctant to use it because I like having Lauren with me all the time and I like nursing her:
Hanging out at the park:

Vaccinations!

Here is the link to the 2010 vaccine schedule on google docs (just copy paste):
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:IA0c93Y9CCEJ:www.dshs.state.tx.us/immunize/docs/6-105.pdf+2010+vaccine+schedule&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi-MG69le_NbpFYrTNlm-sBle6lAuNjwR6qnbwYou5v-e7rYM_NEj7xWryAgKkdK3jPSsbT3G84AoLmWgoDegkgxar4q2rk0SQ-szUdqholTCCczIXgn8peUbwvzhHQW8-XE2FV&sig=AHIEtbSVrgCpNNUN-STRdDxNDE9jM1dfWw

I'm starting with this and focusing on the 2 month recommended vaccines... then going to read in Dr. Sears The Vaccine Book to figure out what to do... more to come:

At 2 months, the recommended vaccine's from the Center for Disease Control are:
RV
DTaP
Hib
PCV
IPV

So now I'm researching to see what we will do for Lauren. Dr. Sears has a modified vaccine schedule which is more conservative than the CDC's.
------
3-21-2010 update

I've read parts of the Vaccine Book (plan to read more as I have time) and have decided to use Dr. Sears' alternative Vaccine Schedule. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know what is best for your child, but this is what I'd like to do for mine. I sent this email to my doctor to prepare for this Friday's 2 month appointment and see what she thinks:

Hello Dr. Malawa,

Lauren has her 2 month appointment this coming Friday.
Question 1: I'd like to give her 2 vaccines at this 2 month appointment: the DTaP vaccine by Daptacel (Sanofi Pasteur) & the Rotavirus vaccine (although we can skip the Rotavirus vaccine if you don't think it is as important - I think you said that last time we met. Lauren is breastfed and is not in day care).
Question 2: For the DTaP, can we give her the Daptacel brand (Sanofi Pasteur)? I do not want to give her the Infanrix brand of DTaP which contains double the amount of aluminum as Daptacel.

Can you email me back to let me know if I need to call the office about this question instead of using this email?
I included the big picture vaccine schedule for Lauren below (Polio vaccine would not be given until 9 months).

Thank you,
////

This is the vaccine schedule I'd like for Lauren:
Dr. Sears' (modified by me) Alternative Vaccine Schedule (only one aluminum-containing vaccine at a time and only one live virus vaccine at a time)
2 months: DTaP, Rotavirus(?)
3 months*: Pc, HIB
4 months: DTaP, Rotavirus(?)
5 months*: Pc, HIB
6 months: DTaP, Rotavirus(?)
7 months*: Pc, HIB
9 months: Polio, Flu (mercury free flu shot)
12 months: Mumps, Polio
15 months: Pc, HIB
18 months: DTaP
21 months*: Flu
2 years: Rubella, Polio
2 years, 6 months*: Hep A
3 years: Hep B, Measles, Flu
3 years, 6 months*: Hep B, Hep A
4 years: DTaP, Polio, Flu
5 years: MMR, Flu

* the 3, 5, and 7 month vaccines occur during a "shot-only" visit