8 Weeks

Yes, I know the doll and Annie are reversed this week, but she wasn't feeling the other side of the chair today!

What an eventful week for Annie and I! It started out on Sunday night when I left for a few hours and Annie REFUSED to take the bottle, period. Not a single drop (except that which was spilled out by trying) and freaked out until I got home. Poor baby (and poor Daddy dealing with that!). After that, we all needed a few days break... Becca came over on Wednesday and tried again during the day, and Annie took 2oz after about an hour - sort of a success! Ben tried again on Friday night, and she didn't take it that time either, and just passed out. But then tried again the next morning and she took 2oz again, like a champ, and today took 2.5oz in like 6 minutes!! Maybe she just doesn't like to eat in the evenings?? Sometimes she is crappy with breastfeeding in the evening too, so who knows. Whatever - at least we are making progress! Someday we'll actually get her to eat a whole feeding from a bottle :)

Annie with her first teddy bear, a present from the professional association board I serve on!

Mom & Baby class was also an experience, starting with me LOCKING MY KEYS AND ANNIE in the car while it was running! Oh lordy, was I ever freaking out! Thank heavens for AAA! They got there in about 20 minutes, and Annie (who was covered with a blanket in her carseat - probably a good thing I couldn't see her face!) seemed happy as a clam when I got her out, but I was still a mess! I felt like such a moron, but I guess it's better to have this happen when it is not too hot or cold out..... and now it sure won't ever happen again! The class itself was good - I can't believe there is only one week left! We did infant massage again, and Annie seemed to enjoy herself - I'm trying to give her a massage almost every day now - just another thing to add to her activity time :)

As I mentioned in my last post, there were a few outings that we took that didn't go so well. First, I took Annie to my mom's work - she was okay when I first got there, but then one of her coworkers wanted to hold Annie and it all kind of went downhill from there and turned into a scream fest :( She eventually calmed down and fell asleep, but it was definitely embarrassing! We also went out to breakfast and then to the Como Conservatory with Becky and Adelaide - Annie was super fussy at breakfast (due to being overtired) and cried kind of a lot until she finally fell asleep - again, embarrassing!

Annie with Grandma after finally falling asleep


at Java Train with Rebekah and Adelaide - a brief break from crying :)

At the conservatory, finally peacefully sleeping!

I know I'm probably the only one who cares when she cries, but it just makes me feel like a horrible mother and like everyone in the place is judging me. I know that is irrational but that's how I feel! It makes me kind of want to never leave the house with her because she does SO much better when we just stay at home, but I want to be able to take her out too! I'm not sure what the perfect moment is - I've had good and bad outings with her at all points - immediately after feeding, waiting a little bit after feeding.... so I'm not sure. Most of the time when she gets fussy it's because she's tired and can't figure out how to fall asleep - this process is difficult enough at home, much less in public. She doesn't seem to enjoy being passed around from person to person, which is sad for all those who want to meet her. I could try putting her in a carrier, but that's often hit or miss with her too! I do get really REALLY frustrated when I'm out and she's crying because I just want her to be one of those babies you can take anywhere.... but she sure isn't just yet! I guess for the next month or so, we'll just rely on babysitters when we want to leave the house, but even though we have like 10 people who have offered, I still feel bad asking, especially because it's usually at night when Annie is at her fussiest.

For those who think Annie is always happy - nope!! :) Annie with Aunt Liz and Dad, all wearing the same fabric :)

I broke down and bought the book Secrets of the Baby Whisperer (this is the book that promotes the "Eat, Activity, Sleep, You" routine) and I found it extremely helpful - mostly the chapter on understanding that crying is your baby's way of communicating with you, and that them crying does NOT mean they are angry at you or that you are a bad parent (see above irrational feelings!) - obviously at some point they are getting pissed, but it has really helped me to not feel like I need to immediately silence Annie, but to take a few seconds to figure out what might be amiss in her world. The one thing I felt was missing in the book is what to do if for some reason the routine is broken - that is where Annie seems to break down - if I miss her "tired" cues and she gets overtired that is pretty much 95% of the reason she cries. It seems this child requires a lot of sleep! And also what to do if you aren't at your house, and need to, you know, do things out in the world :)

This book and the ideas behind it have REALLY helped me though - when I looked back at my TotalBaby tracking on my iPhone to some of the early days with Annie, yowza - what a mess we all were. Pretty much every time she cried, I fed her... instead of realizing that sometimes she might just need to sleep, or have some other reason for crying. I think it is really important to "put the baby to the breast" a lot in the beginning to build your supply, but I just remember feeling so baffled and lost in the first few weeks. Ugh. SO glad that's over and done!!

One major milestone in our world this week was officially moving Annie to her crib at night! We finally purchased a monitor (I was waiting for a Babies R Us coupon to be valid) - we got a video monitor that is actually the same as our neighbors - it has 2 channels, so on one we can view Mia, and on the other, Annie - good thing we know them!!! Pretty freaky though :) I guess it makes sense, because between our two houses, it's probably a smaller area than some of the larger houses in the suburbs! The first 2 nights have gone REALLY well - she slept 7.5 hours solid each night, and we DEFINITELY slept better too! Last night was a little strange since she didn't really fall asleep until like 11 (normally she's out by 9pm) but whatever! Now we just need to start the process of teaching her how to fall asleep on her own... sometimes she's pretty good about it, but not always. We're going to start a firm bedtime routine this week. We are really so lucky she's been such an awesome sleeper - and we really did nothing to make that happen - it just did. I know she could very well regress, but it's been a good 3 weeks of her at least sleeping 4+ hour stretches, and several nights of 6+ hours - I think 8.5 is her max of going between feedings. Pretty amazing!

Another new thing for Annie this week is the beginning of her drooling - gross :) She has taken to sucking her tongue (?!?!?!) which results in a lot of froth around the mouth! Whatever keeps her happy, since she still has NO interest in a pacifier, and hasn't figured out how to reliably suck on her hands yet (except during tummy time when they are right under her mouth).

I really just can't believe that my tiny newborn is already almost 2 months old - it seems like a lifetime ago that we were in the hospital, but she still seems brand new! She is making so many new happy noises lately, and is super smiley during her playtime after eating! She is also content for longer and longer periods on her own - we were over at someone's house one evening, and she chilled out on her back and tummy by herself for like 40 minutes - awesome! I still sometimes just want to cry with how much I love her, but then can also get SO frustrated with her too - luckily the love overwhelms that :)