sleeping update - first day

So far the naptime thing is sort of mixed...yesterday morning (at 8:00 a.m.) she had no problem with going back to sleep (for the full 1 1/2 hours), in fact she slept longer than I expected, an hour past when I expected her to be up and hungry, but I think that's mostly because she had hardly slept at all on Sunday. At 11:00, the next naptime, she slept for 45 minutes, and then did not want to go back to sleep - she complained in her crib for quite awhile, and then finally fell asleep for about 15 minutes. I got her up after that, on the theory that it was past the 1 1/2 hour mark, and I'm basically training her that she spends 1 1/2 hours in crib each naptime (preferably sleeping). At 2:00 she slept for 45 mins, woke up, took the pacifier back and went back to sleep for another 45 mins (yay!). At 5:00 she basically did the same thing as her 11:00 nap. At 7:30, pretty soon after eating, she was yawning and showing other tired symptoms, and we tried to put her down - but she just cried and cried...perhaps by then she was tired of her crib? I got her up, but she didn't really want to be up either - very fussy. So we took a bath, which she loves, and then I fed her and put her back down.

I was a little concerned that with all the naptimes she might not sleep her full night's sleep, even though, theoretically, she'd sleep better having got her whole nap. But my fears weren't realized, and the "theory" proved good--she slept for 10 hours! She hasn't done that since she went through the growth spurt two weeks ago. It did take her a little longer to fall asleep than normal, but once asleep she did quite well.

Now we're on day 2. For the morning nap (8:00) she talked herself to sleep, and then woke after 45 mins. I let her chat in her crib awhile, until she got upset. Then I went in and gave her the pacifier back. Still upset. So I cuddled her (rocked her) for about three minutes, and she fell back asleep. We'll see how long she sleeps!

Sleeping - another update

We have become increasingly frustrated with Judith's napping only 45 minutes at a time. It means that she doesn't get a full sleep cycle, and wakes up tired, and then doesn't sleep as well the next time, but I've been holding off doing anything about it, because I don't want to put a lot of work in and have it just get messed up by the trip to Michigan next week. But Lance pulled up a couple websites that commented on that sort of thing, and we're deciding to try to do something about it anyway. It could be that she'll fall pretty easily back into sleeping 1 1/2 hours, and if that's the case, we want to get her into that routine as soon as possible. (Yes, I know, it might not be easy, but she's transitioned pretty well to other things, so we'll see.)

Basically, we're thinking that she's just having trouble putting herself back to sleep during her transition from one sleep stage to another. So the plan is for me to "help" her back to sleep when she wakes up after only 45 minutes. And to help that along, we're going to try "scheduled" naps instead of putting her down once we notice that she's tired (on the theory that babies are often tired before they show any symptoms). So for now, because she's still on a three-hour feeding schedule, she'll have one hour of waketime and then go down for a nap. (A direct quote from one of the websites "Most babies will protest loudly [being put back to sleep]" :-) Today is the first day of trying this, so we'll see how it goes!

Baby's First Christmas(es)

Honestly, I have to say that I really didn't expect Judith to have much "fun" this Christmas (she's growing by leaps and bounds, but she's really not aware enough to know what Christmas is, or even what presents are), and that's about what happened.

On Christmas Eve we went to River Rock's candlelight service - and I dressed her up in this dress that we got from a friend at Judith's baby shower. She looks very cute, but the dress is so big that I took it off as soon as we got home, and she probably won't wear it again :-).

On Christmas Day we drove to Oakland (as usual) and Judith got to meet some of the cousins and extended family that she hasn't seen yet. She didn't have a good day, but she didn't have a terrible day, either. The two hour drive to Oakland was fine, except that she was pretty hungry by the time we got there. And for the first few hours she was pleasant, as long as Lance or I was holding her. But she didn't get nap time (just a little time in the front pack during dinner), and there were so many people in a strange place, that by the end of the day she wouldn't even let Lance hold her! Actually, that's not quite true, because as we were packing up the car to go home, her Auntie Christine took her for a few minutes, and Judith was smiley and happy with people. On the ride home she was pretty over-tired again, and I had to sit in the back to help comfort her.

Our second Christmas happened on Sunday night (12/28) at Grandpa Tim and Grandma Sandy's in Roseville. Lance's sisters and their families were there. For the most part, Judith had a better day than Christmas (she's a lot more familiar with that house and those people), and she even got involved in opening one of her Christmas presents (see picture), but once again she didn't get any nap time (about 20 mins in the front pack, and maybe 15 on Grandma's shoulder) and she was pretty exhausted by the end. It took her about an hour to settle down to sleep when we got home.

If Judith could talk, I figure she'd probably say that Christmas was overwhelming. But next year - that should be lots of fun!

Jumping!

This is Judith in her exersaucer/jumper (a gift from my former coworker, Patrick). It's like the an exersaucer in that it's got a bunch of things around the circle to entertain her, but it's actually a jumper - the seat is suspended from three poles so that she can bounce it up and down. She's been not wanting to sit in either her bouncy chair or the bumbo chair - and is squirmy enough that if she doesn't want to be in it, it's not very safe to put her in it! So I've tried her in the exersaucer a couple times. But she'd get bored after a few minutes, and her feet don't quite reach the floor, so she can't jump.

A few days ago, though, I got the idea to put a big book (my cooking class textbook) underneath her feet so that she can push off of something. She will now jump (crowing wildly) for over an hour! She even spins herself enough to move from entertainment to entertainment. We don't have any batteries in it yet - it's busy enough as it is - but she sure has fun with it. It's so exciting to watch her interact so strongly with her environment! (And she's getting lots of exercise with that jumping - she's going to have muscles well built up for walking!)

Sleeping and Eating Update

The last 10 days or so have been pretty rough. It started when we went to Tahoe and Judith seemed not to want to eat very much. I started thinking maybe it was time for me to move from feeding her about every three hours to about every four. And so on the Wednesday after we got home, I tried it. It worked just fine that day. She slept a lot (probably recovering from the trip) and she had no problem with eating every four hours. And I thought, "can it really be this easy?"

And the next day she started a growth spurt and was eating every two hours. That lasted for two days, and even affected her sleep patterns (previous growth spurts haven't). She woke up in the middle of the night for several nights running.

When the growth spurt ended I tried to go back to every 3 1/2 to 4 hours (feeding) instead of every 3. That didn't work, because Judith was screaming hungry after 3 hours. And she continued to wake up hungry in the middle of the night! On top of that, she (I think) is teething and in some pain, which was waking her up every hour or so once we put her to bed (at the usual for-the-night time). She seemed to be almost on a caffeine high when we would try to put her down - overstimulation? She was just spastic.

I spent a couple days trying to figure out what I could do to help her sleep again. I tried cluster feeding her before bed (which didn't really work too well, because she won't eat much if she's not hungry, and apparently she wasn't). I sat with her in the dark to try to calm her down (after an hour I gave that up). But pretty much I had to wake up and get her in the middle of the night for four or five nights. Finally, last night, she slept from about 9 to about 6. (Not back up to 10 hours yet, but close!) I'm hoping that wasn't a fluke. We'll see! (I'm taking comfort in the fact that she WILL grow out of this eventually!)

Bathtime changes

As Judith has gotten bigger (and much more mobile) it's gotten a lot harder to have the little bathtub on the bathroom sink as we'd started doing - the floor was getting soaked. As a result, we moved her bathtub back into the big bathtub. She had so much fun splashing around that I thought "what if I get in with her, and she has the whole big tub to splash in? So that's what we tried tonight. And she had so much fun. Actually, I'm not sure it was fun. She didn't laugh - she very seriously kicked her legs over and over and over, watching the splash and discovering how she could move around. My dad would say that she was "making connections" about how she interacts with the water. It was a lot of fun for us to watch her learning like that. And the best part is that for the first time she didn't scream hysterically when we got her out of the tub. Maybe she'd had enough playtime to not be upset? Maybe the transition was easier? I don't know - but it sure was better this way!

Tahoe Trip (12/7-9)

Lance's parents have a time-share in Tahoe that they've had since he can remember. They go every year about the first week of December, and his aunts, uncles, and grandma join them. This year we decided to take Judith up for a few days to meet the family. We stayed two nights and two days. It was Judith's first night away from home, and she really did much better than I was expecting. Based on how she didn't sleep in the pack-n-play when we went up to Chico a few weeks ago, I was really expecting her to have a hard time. But she even went down for naps in it (albeit fewer than usual), downstairs away from us! She also slept all night (although she was restless, something I think is probably normal; I just don't normally notice it, because she sleeps in her own room!). Unfortunately, she also seems to be more aware of who is familiar versus who is unfamiliar. She took awhile to warm up to the relatives, and would often look around to make sure Lance or I was there, if we weren't holding her. While it's fun to know that she knows who we are, it's also a little harder because she wants to be with us and not someone else. (Yes, I know that this is a developmental stage and will pass.)

still growing!

I know, it's not a surprise that Judith continues to grow :-). It just keeps happening faster than I expect! She received some 6-month-size clothes from her great aunts while we were in Tahoe this past weekend, and I decided to try them on, just to see. And they fit! The sleepers, which have feet, are a little big, but that's all to the good for sleepers. So today I went through the next drawer down in her dresser and pulled out all the 6-month clothes. Her 3-6 clothes still fit (fortunately!), so with the new influx of clothes she has a wardrobe that's as big as mine!

rock & roll, baby!

Judith has begun to roll over! For the past few weeks, she'd occasionally roll onto her side, but it wouldn't go any farther than that. Now, in the past 24 hours, she's begun to roll all the way from her back to her stomach. She gets stuck then, because she can get back over onto the other side (yet), and she gets one arm caught under her body. It's a little scary, because she'll do it in her crib as she's waking up - but she calls for help, and we come to the rescue.

She also, today, seems to be preferring to stand instead of sit. Frequently, she'll lie on my legs, facing me, and grab my hands to pull herself to a sitting position. But today when she does that, she's locking her knees and standing up instead.

(I've known both of these things would happen sooner or later, but that they've happened so suddenly makes me amazed (again) at how quickly she's growing!)

Four Month Checkup

On Monday we went in for Judith's four month checkup (can she possibly be four months old already!?!). She's 14 lbs, 11 oz, and 24.5". (So she's gained 2 lbs 5 oz, and grown 1.5".) Both measurements are 75 percentile for her age. I was a little surprised at her weight, because I was expecting her to weigh more like 16 lbs - mostly because she's moved up into size 3 diapers, and the listed weight for those is 16-24 lbs. Maybe she just has big thighs :-).

We asked the doctor about the rash on her chin, which she's had for almost a month. He diagnosed it as infantile eczema, and gave us some Aquaphor samples to put on it. It's very reassuring to have a diagnosis finally, and it looks like it's getting a little better. Aquaphor just says it's for "dry, cracked, and irritated skin" though, so I think once the sample runs out we'll just switch to calendula lotion, which is for the same thing, and is all natural.

The "rash" on the back of her neck is just broken capilaries. He said she's probably had those since she was born, and we just didn't notice.

She had five shots again. And the nurse (same one) once again said "boy she's really tensing up" as if that would be a surprise! I wonder if she says that to all the parents! This time we were ready with the homeopathics (rescue rememdy, thuja, and ledenum) as soon as the shots were given, and Judith calmed down more quickly than last time. She's also not reacting as much this time--I don't know whether that's because she's older or because of what we've given her. Either way, I've been pleasantly surprised to not have to deal with a cranky baby for the last few days.

Thanksgiving

I should have blogged this a few days ago, but it's really the time of year where everything gets away from me!

Grandma Judi and Grandpa Ron came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Grandpa hadn't seen Judith since she was a week old! To make up for all the time he didn't get to spend with her, he spent as much time as possible with her for the few days they were here. Grandma only got to hold Judith a few times!

On Thanksgiving morning, we (Barbara, Lance, Judith, Ron and Judi) met Uncle Tim and Lance's nephew Brad to walk in the Run to Feed the Hungry. It's something that I've run every year since 2005, and I've always wanted to do it with family. According to the Sacramento Bee, almost 30,000 people participated this year, and Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services got approximately $750,000! With that many people, it was extremely crowded! It took us about 45 minutes to get to the parking lot--and we had to park about a mile away. With the 5k race and the mile-each-way that we had to walk to the start/from the finish, we walked 5 miles! Judith did very well being in the stroller for so long. Lance pushed her, and Brad periodically leaned in to entertain her :-). She talked (loudly!) for almost the whole race, and people kept turning around to find out what was making the noise. Because it was so crowded, the walk took us about an hour and a half - and Judith was very hungry by the end! I jogged the last mile back to the car so that I could feed her. She really enjoyed moving so fast in the stroller - every time I had to slow to a walk to catch my breath or wait for a slow group in front of me, she would yell, and wouldn't stop yelling until I was jogging again. But that doesn't mean I'm going to start jogging again...it's too hard on my body.

On Thanksgiving evening, Ruthanne (Rhone) Maschenko ( a friend from childhood that I've recently reconnected with via Facebook) came for dinner with her eight-year-old daughter. Originally her husband and one-year-old were supposed to come along, but they were home sick :-(. We still had a great time reconnecting!

Then, on Friday, we went to Tim and Sandy's for the whole, huge dinner. There were about 20 people. Judith did just fine being passed around from person to person, and she even fell asleep after dinner when I put her in the front pack and laid the blanket over her head.

Tummy Time

Lance is very good about playing developmentally with Judith. One of the things they do together is tummy time (as recommended!). Originally tummy time took place on our bed, but he recently switched to using a exercise mat on the floor covered by a blanket. It works a little better because it's a firmer surface and Judith can push against it. She's gradually getting used to it (depending on her mood/level of tiredness). Lance "distracts" her with some of the toys (they're finally getting used!), but, as this picture shows, there comes a point where she really wants nothing more to do with it. Of course that's probably when the most development happens, because she begins to move her arms and legs in an effort to get out of the position we've put her in. It certainly looks like a prelude to crawling!

chew toys

It seems pretty evident that Judith is at least starting to teethe - the drooling continues to increase, she's occasionally pretty cranky, and she loves to gnaw on anything she can. So yesterday we got out some teething toys for the first time. She needs quite a bit of help getting the toy to her mouth (although the big circle thing is a lot easier for her to manage than the teething duck), but once it's there she really chews. There's no evidence of teeth yet, but I understand from reading and from friends that teething can happen for quite awhile before any real teeth show up. We tried giving her some homeopathic teething tablets for the crankiness this evening, and they seemed to help a little. (I don't know if that confirms the teething diagnosis, or if she was just ready to be un-cranky for a while.)

Darth Vader or the Baby Whisperer?

Judith is continuing to experiment with making noise. Her latest efforts have resulted in a very gravelly, growly breathing. We've been discussing whether she's making a Darth Vader sound (new nickname Darth Judith) or whether she's trying to whisper. Probably the answer is neither - she's just playing with her vocal chords - and either way, it's a pretty funny noise!

Growth Spurt

Judith is definitely going through a growth spurt today! She's been eating every two hours and sleeping quite a lot. I'm just hoping the 3-6 month clothes are big enough that she won't grow out of them by tomorrow! :-)

Wine Tasting Trip

For the past two years, Lance and I have gone wine tasting (I drive) with some friends of ours in Amador county. This year we didn't want to miss it, and so we decided to try taking Judith along. Especially after her not-so-fun time in the car on Tuesday, I was a little concerned that she wouldn't do very well, but she couldn't have been better!

She slept in the car on the way there and on the way home. During all the driving around the wineries she was just fine in the car (maybe having people next to her the whole time helps keep her entertained?), and she had no problem being in the front pack each time we went into a winery. This time I tried her facing forward in the front pack, and she enjoyed it (so much to see!). To feed her, I stayed behind in the car a couple times while the other three went into a winery, and that worked quite well. Judith ate as much as I expected, and she wasn't upset about eating in a new place. The one thing she didn't really do was nap, but after Tuesday I wasn't really expecting her to, so I wasn't disappointed :-). We did try, during dinner at our friends' house, to get her to go to sleep on the bed, but she wouldn't - and so she slept in the front pack for about 1/2 an hour. I really need to try to get her to sleep other places than her crib, or our two days in Tahoe in December are going to be a nightmare!

Lesli's Birthday

(this one also posted to the wrong blog - written on Wednesday)
On Monday, Aunt Lesli turned 40, so yesterday, because Lance had the day off of work, we went up to Chico to celebrate. Judith did not-quite-as-well-as-I-hoped, but still pretty well in the car. She slept about half the time each way, but she yelled when she wasn't sleeping, so I had to move to the back seat next to her to keep the pacifier in her mouth, and to keep her somewhat entertained.

She also had no interest in napping while we were there - she slept for approximately 30 minutes in the stroller when we went for a walk, and for about an hour in the front pack while we were eating dinner. (She was pretty fussy and close to sleep in the front pack for a while, and I suddenly thought, "why don't I just cut out the light for her" so I put a blanket over her head, and she went to sleep immediately!) She wouldn't sleep in the pack-n-play though, and so I've decided to set it up in the living room here and at least try to get her used to it for future use.

General Update

(I don't know HOW, but this posted in the wrong blog (baking) on Wednesday, and I didn't catch it until today!)

Somehow, the days have gotten away from me, and it's been another week since I wrote! Here are some general updates from the past week:

Judith has discovered her vocal chords - and she definitely has the "Beebe lungs". She yells all day long! About 60% of the time, she's not upset at anything, just rather fascinated with her noisemaking capabilities. It's cute for a few minutes, but after a few hours I have a definite headache!

Judith is sitting up more and more - a friend gave us a Bumpo chair (see picture) and the amount of time that she sits in it before getting upset is lengthening exponentially day to day.

We've also decided that she's to the "definitely holds her head up on her own" stage, and so we've put her in the exersaucer/jumper as well. Here too, she's getting used to it, and will sit in it for longer and longer periods of time. She doesn't quite engage with all the toys yet, but that will come.

I've started using the front pack more frequently as a means to have both hands free while I carry her around (the yelling constantly has something to do with this - she doesn't yell as much when being carried and I'm trying to save my eardrums!). I haven't tried her facing forward yet, but she seems to enjoy it facing backward, and has even fallen asleep in it on occasion. Today I'm planning to use it outside the house for the first time - we're going to a store where I'll need a cart and not the stroller. So we'll see how that goes - especially with getting her into it from her carseat!

Sleep-wise, Judith is doing quite well at night - she's now sleeping for 9 1/2 hours or so. During the day, however, she's pretty inconsistent. She seems to be stuck between transitioning to a couple long naps and wanting to sleep more frequently. There have been several times during the past week when she has been so tired, and yet didn't want to nap...or hasn't napped for very long and just wakes up tired. I'm hoping the transition works out soon!

She also seems to be transitioning to fewer feedings during the day. First, she's now going to bed around 9:00 instead of 10:00, and I'm not "tanking her up" as much (only two feedings two hours apart, instead of three). Second, and sort of in combination with the first, she's going more like 3 1/2 hours between "meals". My body is, of course, taking a while to adjust to that, especially because it's not consistent. I'm doing my best to pay attention to her hunger cues, so that I don't feed her when she's not hungry; at the same time, I get a little worried about whether she's getting enough food!

So she's in a state of transition, it seems, but she's still so happy most of the time, and the joy she brings is indescribable.

Diaper Graduation

Today Judith moved up to the next size in diapers. These are actually labeled "supersoakers" (as opposed to "newborn") and are for 15-35 lbs. They seem to be about twice as big as the newborn diapers (see picture)! I had a hard time unloading the new bag of diapers into her changing table, because I can only fit half as many into the drawer as before...the side cupboard is stuffed full as well!

She's also moved up into "medium" diaper covers. When I pulled them out of the bag, I thought "oh, these are way too big!" but they fit perfectly. She just continues to grow!

Baby Carrier

Today Judith spit all over her bouncy seat. Which means that the cover had to go in the wash. Which means that I have to find another place to put Judith down when I can't hold her - except she didn't want to be put down, and I needed my hands free. So I tried on the baby carrier for the first time (Lance has worn it a couple times), and figured it all out on my own! She didn't last too long in it, because she started to get too tired, but it was extremely convenient while it lasted.

One year

Today is the one year anniversary of Lance's step in faith (a year ago today he decided to say "ok" to having a baby). And I realized this Sunday, on Judith's three month "birthday", that she was born two days less than nine months after he made his decision! In a time when many of my friends have tried for months or years to conceive, I still find that an astounding affirmation from God of Lance's trust.

Last walk

Today we went walking for the last time with my friend Erin - she's moving to Des Moines next week :-(. I took some pictures to memorialize the occasion. Some walks have been better than others (really, it depends a lot on whether Judith is content to sit in the stroller - Erin's son Blake is always good), and today was a good one. Judith was asleep for most of the walk, and when I stopped to get a rock out of my shoe, we discovered Blake was sleeping too. Here they are asleep in their matching Bob strollers.

giggles!

Today she giggled! I tickled her under her chin (in what my friend Traci calls "the sweet spot") and she giggled and giggled. I called Lance in, and we were able to experience it together!

camera

Yesterday I was working on a project, and I wanted a picture of Judith crying. So I put her in her chair near me, and figured that eventually she'd start fussing (no, I wasn't going to pinch her to make her cry!). And she did start fussing....but as soon as I'd turn to take a picture, she'd smile and coo! It was a good 15 minutes before I actually got a crying picture - and it's only a partial cry. I guess she really just wanted my attention.

A chilly walk

Today there was a chilly wind (ok, chilly for Sacramento in October) when we went for our morning walk, and so I put on this hat (crocheted by my Lance's coworker Adrianne) on Judith. She turned her head from side to side trying to get it off, but otherwise she really didn't complain about it.

We walked through a more affluent neighborhood near here. It's an older neighborhood, and there are lots of trees overhanging the road and shading the houses. I would imagine that the people actually know their neighbors, and have kids that play together! We even saw two flocks of wild turkeys wandering around! It seemed almost a different state.

Also, what you can't see in the picture is that for the first time Judith has a red ring around her mouth from her pacifier. She fell asleep halfway through the walk, and apparently sucked on it hard enough in her sleep to leave the mark. How she can do that in a moving vehicle, but lose her pacifier every five minutes in her crib is beyond me! :-)

deep conversations

As I write this, Judith is lying in her crib happily chatting with the mobile. I had gone back to bed for a little nap this morning, and she woke me with her noises - but then I realized that they were happy noises, and so I'm leaving her in there until that changes. It is so amazing to listen to her!

In other updates: yesterday we drove up to Auburn to surprise Grandma Sandy at her store. Judith did just fine during the car ride (35-40 mins each way) even though she didn't sleep on the way up. I could hear her periodically sucking on her fingers. She was a little tired at the store, and perhaps a little overstimulated by all the noise/lights/colors/smells/people. But she slept on the way home and was fine the rest of the day.

Music

This is one of those time (more frequent recently!) that I wish I had a video camera. What these pictures don't show is that Judith is crowing and squealing (quite musically, of course) while Lance plays to her. It was so fun to listen to! I'm not sure whether or not he's played to her before, but this is the first time that I remember her responding so enthusiastically.

I also sing to her all the time (she doesn't mind if I'm out of tune!). I sing a wide variety of things, and I have fun making up new words to old songs. Some of our favorites:
With apologies to CCR: "I put a bib on you - 'cause you're mine. I put a bib on you - I ain't lyin. I won't take none of your spitting around."
With apologies to the Beatles: "Hey Judith, it's time to eat. Mama's milk is really yummy. Remember to let it under your skin; then you begin to fill your tummy."
With apologies to Abba: "and like a super pooper nights are gonna find me, smiling back at you, feelin' like a number two."

In good Sjoerdsma family tradition, she also enjoys "The Wreck of the Old 97," "Good morning to you", and Carole King's "Child of Mine".

hair!

As you can see in the picture (I hope), Judith has hair growing in. She still has patches of the long hair that she was born with, but especially on the top of her head she has all new hair. It's quite a bit blonder than what she was born with, but not quite as blond as I expected given the toddler pictures of Lance and me. I have fun rubbing her head now - it's fuzzy!

Update

I've been going longer between blogs lately, partly because I've been a little busier, but mostly because I feel like I have less to write about. I'm thinking about just chronicling what we do each day (some days will be quite boring!) instead of trying to find something momentous to blog about.

Judith continues to grow. She is now almost completely out of the 3 month clothes, although I keep trying to squeeze her into some of my favorites. I've gone through and cleaned out all the 0-3 and 3 month outfits, washed the 3-6 month stuff, and moved them into the top drawer. 3-6 is a little big, but not much!

In the past week I've started to really use all the bibs we got. Judith is spitting quite a bit, but it's more like constant leak than big spits. It means that if she doesn't wear a bib she soaks through her outfits within an hour. So now she just gets a new bib frequently! Fortunately we have LOTS.

She also finds her fingers almost whenever she wants them now, even if it means contorting herself to reach them. It's fun to watch her strain for them, and then examine them closely and pull them in and out of her mouth. It's a game that can last half an hour sometimes! Whether or not she gets them seems to correspond to her level of tiredness...which means that the pacifier is still her preference at bedtime or naptime.

Her sleep patterns have been a little wacky again. She's back to 10-6 (praise God!) but nap time is a little confused. Last weekend she seemed to be sleeping about 45 minutes and then waking up. On Monday she slept about 1.5 hours out of every 3 (that's about normal). On Tuesday she slept about 3 hours the entire day! And today she slept about 2 hours out of every three. I'm sincerely hoping that she will be back to "normal" tomorrow, and not repeating Tuesday. I'm thinking that she might be trying to move from lots of little naps to just a couple longer ones. We'll see.

Birthday

Today is my 33rd birthday. Lance "helped" Judith to make me a card! He said he put the pen in her hand (like all infants, she has a phenomenal grip) and held the paper up. It was while she was trying like mad to get her thumb in her mouth, so she moved her hand all over and made quite the picture...although Lance did have to sign her initials for her. Beautiful!

If you had asked me a year ago, on my 32nd birthday, if I thought I'd have a child by my next birthday, I'd have said not only was it extremely unlikely, it was also quite cruel of you to bring up such a painful subject (and on my birthday no less!). And now, a year later, God's faithfulness and grace, and my husband's courageous faith have given me more than I could ever have dreamed of. Happy Birthday to me!

sleeping

After her growth spurt, Judith's sleep patterns have been all messed up. She still goes 8 hours between feedings, but she's now almost impossible to wake at 10:00 p.m. for the last feeding, so, instead, she sleeps 8-4 or 9-5. Given that she usually goes right back to sleep for three hours after her first feeding of the morning, that's not so bad - except that I don't go to sleep at 8 or 9, and my body had finally adjusted to her old schedule...and now everything's 1-2 hours off from that. It's extremely frustrating for someone who really likes to stick to a schedule! But yes, I know, babies are unpredictable, and God's teaching me to loosen up. I just pray for naps.

Growing!

I'm pretty sure that Judith's going through a growth spurt:

1. She's eating every two hours today.
2. She's sleeping a LOT today.
3. I put this 3 month size outfit on her this morning, and as you can see in the picture(her hands and feet are blurry because she moves so much!), it's too short for her. It's always been a little tight through the torso (those huge cloth diapers!) but now it's too short in the arms and legs as well. How can she been growing out of 3 month clothes already??? Guess it's time to wash the 3-6 month clothes.
   

Sitting Up

Judith is no longer content to just sit back in her bouncy seat or her car seat, or even on my lap when I hold her facing out. She wants to sit up. (I tried to get a picture of it - but it looks like her head's on that diaper...really it's all air between her head and the chair!) I don't know whether it's that she wants to look around more, or if she's just trying to get closer to her fingers (often she'll sit back again once she gets them in her mouth). Either way, she's definitely growing and building those muscles! She'll be sitting up on her own before I know it.

Thumb!

As this picture clearly shows, this morning Judith managed to get her thumb all by itself into her mouth! So far she's only been chewing on her knuckles. All day she's been avidly sucking on fingers (both hands interchangeably). When she's not trying to sleep, she'll push the pacifier out of her mouth in favor of her fingers; however, at nap time she seems to prefer the pacifier.

A little cold

I mean the title in more ways than one.

First, Judith has had her first sniffle. She was so stuffed up that she could hardly breathe :-(. When she ate, she'd take a big gulp of air and then suck really hard for a few seconds and take another big gulp of air. It was both funny and sad at the same time! The hospital gave us a bulb syringe when she was born, but it's too big to fit in her nose (we were supposed to suck out her spit with it) so Lance went out and bought a smaller bulb syringe as well as some normal saline, and we were able to help her. It was a challenge, though, to get the saline actually in her nose...and then Lance got to have fun sucking out the result.

Second, it's also finally cooled off in Sacramento (well, it's 70 degrees in the house when we get up), and the first time I got Judith up at that temperature, her little hands were icy. So we're making sure to dress her a little more warmly before bed, and we're contemplating putting her in the blanket sleeper (the issue is that it has a hood, and I'm afraid she'll just fill up the hood with spit!). She kicks off any blanket we try to put over her legs.

Zebra!

Here's Judith in her bouncy chair - a gift from our friends Debbie and Merrill. She has always enjoyed sitting in the seat, but the few times that we've attached the animal bar, she hasn't really even noticed them. Yesterday that changed! She sat and talked at the animals - mostly the zebra - for about 10 minutes. Fortunately, I managed to get it on film, because after the 10 minutes, she was DONE with those animals. Lance said she enjoyed looking at them several hours later as well. It's very fun to see her really noticing things now.

She has also, in the last day, begun to notice us (Lance and me). Until now, she hasn't really cared one way or another if we were in her line of vision. She just stared at whatever. Today she actually watched me walk away every time I left her in her chair for a minute, or in her crib for a nap, and as soon as she couldn't see me any more, she let me know. And when she's crying in her crib, she would stop as soon as she saw me and coo - as if to say "see, I'm good if you're here!" We'll see how long it takes before she figures out that spitting the pacifier out makes me come and starts doing deliberately.

Giggles!

Today, for the first time, Judith giggled at me! And I'm pretty sure I wasn't imagining it either. She has, in the last day, begun to smile at me if I smile at her, and today I was laughing as I approached her (she had dropped her pacifier but it was right next to her mouth and she was trying to get it back in) and she giggled three little giggles back at me. Amazing.

Fingers

Although she hasn't quite mastered the art of keeping them there, Judith has begun to find her mouth with her fingers - or rather, her fist. She will get her fist to her mouth suck (quite loudly) for a few seconds, and then her arm will move, and she'll lose the fist...and this is repeated frequently. With both fists.

She actually prefers her fingers to her pacifier, and will knock the pacifier out of her mouth because she's trying to get her knuckle in there instead. Unfortunately, since (as previously mentioned) she can't keep her fist, she'll get desperate for the pacifier, which we'll give her--and the whole process will start all over. I am anxiously awaiting the day when her fingers stay in her mouth!

less rough

So, it's been a couple days, because Judith's been having a rough time. Yesterday, after her 9:00 a.m. feeding she didn't sleep for longer than 30 minutes at a time until we put her down for the night at 10:00 p.m. I'm really hoping that that's just a side-effect of the vaccinations still, and that she'll be a little less discombobulated today. Because she wasn't "happy to be up" when she wasn't sleeping - she was fussy for most of the day, and obviously so tired and yet not able to sleep. Something kept startling her awake and instead of going back to sleep, as she normally does, she'd want to be up and held instead. So yes, I'm sincerely hoping that today is different...I don't mind her being awake more, if she's willing to sit in her seat occasionally, but if she's going to cry for most of the day again...

She has still be sleeping for 8 hours at night - followed by a 10 minute feeding and at least 2.5 more hours. But on Tuesday night, her 8 hours started at 7:30 p.m., and Wednesday night started at 8:30. That meant a middle-of-the night feeding for me for both those nights, and since I didn't go to bed at 7:30, it was a pretty short night. By God's grace, last night she was finally "back on schedule" and I slept pretty well. So I shouldn't be quite as desperate for her to sleep today.

pretty rough

Judith's had a pretty rough day today. She seemed ok this morning, when she and I went for a four mile walk (well, Judith rode) with a good friend. Since we got home from that outing, though, she's been pretty fussy. She's had a low-grade fever for most of the day, and she hasn't wanted to sleep for very long - something startles her awake every 45 minutes or so. And then she hasn't wanted to go back to sleep - with some periods of inconsolable crying. Needless to say, it's been a pretty rough day for me too. I'm pretty sure this is all a reaction to the immunizations that she got yesterday. I'm praying that she'll be able to sleep for most of the night, because I think that would really help her. It's not fun to see my little girl so unhappy.

Two-month checkup

Well, Judith is officially growing! She weighs 11 lbs, 6.5 oz (60 percentile) and she's 23 inches long (75 percentile). And the doctor said it's really my fault that she eats for such a short amount of time - he said that it all depends on how quickly the mother's milk comes out. So I guess I'm just a fountain (or maybe even a power washer)!

Then Judith had 5 shots. I know that in the long run it'll probably be ok (the debate on immunizations is still undecided in my mind) but watching her react to that first shot...and then watching the big drops of blood pour out of her leg...that was not ok for me. Naturally she screamed for a little while, but she was sleeping when we left the office...and the nurse said "is she ok now?" And I thought "well, we won't know if she's ok for a while! There's all this junk that you just shot into her that her body has to fight." But of course I didn't say that.

status update

Wow - I skipped a day yesterday for the first time since I started this blog...perhaps now that the sleeping saga has ended I don't have a specific thing to write about every morning! So an update on that: Judith has slept for 8 hours for the past four nights in a row. And for the past three mornings she's woken up at the same time - so my day is a lot more predictable. It makes everything so much easier! Although it's hard not to take that for granted. For example, this afternoon/evening she didn't want to eat at one of the normal times - she just wanted to sleep. And it sent me into a panic - "she's not going to get enough food" "She's not going to sleep tonight" etc. Fortunately, Lance was here to be the voice of reason. (And why does it matter anyway, right? It's not like I have much of a life outside of Judith right now!)

Tomorrow morning is her two month checkup (how did 8 weeks go by so fast!?!). I'll finally have an answer for all those people who ask "how much does she weigh now?" (as if I weigh her every morning!) I also hope that the doctor can reassure me about how much she eats (10 minutes max!), because I still have worries about that, despite reassurance from a number of people. It's so much more official coming from the doctor. On a sadder note, she also has her first shots tomorrow. I've been taking extra Vitamin C to help her fight any reactions to the immunizations, but I'm still a little stressed that she might have issues...so many scary stories!

That's it for the update...more as it happens!

hanging out

Yesterday Lance was home sick with the beginnings of a cold (he went in today, so I'm hoping the extra time off held off the cold - Judith and I don't want to get sick!) and he spent a lot of time hanging out with Judith. For whatever reason she didn't want to sleep more than an hour at a time yesterday, so she was up a lot more than usual. It was quite providential that Lance was home!

I took some pictures of them together...and as I was downloading them this morning, I saw this one and just loved it...just looking at it makes me smile and relax. At the same time, it's also a very clear picture of how yesterday felt - Lance looks as exhausted as we were feeling, and Judith looks wide awake!

storytelling

I just wrote Judith's story in her scrapbook. I wrote it in first person, as if I were telling her the story, so that as she gets older, she can read it. (See my blog on September 15 for the story, if you don't know it.) And it just reminded me (again) about how important it is to tell these things. Her story is such an example of the power of love, faith, prayer, and patience, and I don't want to forget how miraculous it is. Each time I tell the story, I remember. And I hope that whomever I'm telling it to can be encouraged/inspired/whatever by it.

I pray especially that Judith will be encouraged by her story...that whenever she doubts herself or her worth, she can read it and know how much of a gift of God she is.

8 hours again!

It appears that Judith's sleeping pattern has now changed to 8 hours straight at night. I am extremely thankful, and pray that my body adjusts quickly, so that I can get 8 hours too! Last night she ate at 10:30, fell asleep immediately, and woke up at 6:15. Now I'm hoping that we can establish a routine that starts at the same time every day...but we'll see.

And I guess I'll need to find something else to blog about, because the sleep saga seems to have ended.

sleeping - night #6

8 hours again! Well, actually 8 hours between feedings...it took her about an hour to go to sleep last night, so really only 7 hours of sleep. But then she ate for 10 minutes and went back to sleep for another three hours, so I guess it's more like 10 hours of sleep. However you do the math, Judith slept through the night again, and I am grateful. Since we didn't do anything specific to "help her sleep" last night either, I'm (again) waiting to see what tonight brings...I'm thinking three might be the "magic" number to tell us whether this is going to be a pattern or whether the last two nights were a fluke.

sleeping - night #6

Judith slept through the night last night (10:00-5:45)! (Of course she did, because we'd just decided last night to hold off another few weeks on "helping" her learn to sleep through the night.) I was thinking that the last few days had just been to crazy to be getting her on a schedule, and so we probably weren't training her at all, and we might as well wait another couple weeks until she was a little bit bigger and older and more ready. And then she went and did it on her own!

Her evening was pretty normal - she "tanked up" just fine - on her own really, because she's been wanting to eat every two hours for the last day or so. And then she just slept - which is amazing! I only woke up twice during the nights, although at 5:00 a.m. when I woke up for the second time, I had to get up and check to make sure Judith was still breathing! And when she woke up, she only ate for her normal 10 minutes, so it must not have stressed her out too much to go all night.

Now I'm really curious about what tonight will be like!

night #5

We made the decision (yes, Lance actually voiced his opinion!) to let her sleep until she woke up, and just feed her at that point. She slept for 6 1/2 hours (poor, tired girl!) and woke up ravenous...she ate for 20 minutes!...and then slept for another four hours.

And now, after these five nights of "experimentation" I'm starting to think that I should go back to doing what I did last night (which had been my routine up until five days ago) for a few more weeks and then try this again. Yes, I'm tired at the middle of the night feeding, but I don't really mind losing 1/2 an hour of sleep if I can get five and four hours on either side of it. And it would take away my fear about not feeding her enough. On the other hand, her eating for 20 minutes in the middle of the night is not normal - usually I could hardly get her to eat for 5 minutes - and so I was thinking that she was probably just nursing for comfort to go back to sleep. If that's the case, then I'd just as soon train her out of that as soon as possible.

We'll see what tonight brings.

sleeping - prelude to night #5

So tonight is pretty messed up. We had family over (which is good) and so Judith was pretty much just UP for the last 5 hours, (which is bad). She's SO tired! I'm not sure if that's good, because she should sleep longer to make up for sleep lost, or if it's bad because she's too overtired and will just wake up looking for comfort. I guess we'll see. Daddy was able to help her sleep (finally!) a few minutes ago, which also complicates the issue - should I wake her to feed her again so she can make it through the night (she last ate at 8:30, so she definitely needs more to make it 'til morning), or should I just let tonight be what it is, and feed her when she wakes up, however many hours away that is. Guess I'll play it by ear. (See how much Lance is rubbing off on me?!) Update tomorrow.

the Daddy Dance

Sometimes, when Judith is screaming, the only thing that quiets her is dancing with Lance. He cradles her in his arms and waltzes around the house. It's beautiful to watch. And really, if I try the exact same thing, it doesn't work...she wants her Daddy.

sleeping - night #4

so. she "tanked up" just fine - without spitting or anything - but she didn't sleep all that long before waking up the first time. It was 2:30 when I gave her the pacifier. Then she woke up at 4:30. I didn't feel like I could give her the pacifier again, since it had been 7 hours, I fed her. She ate ravenously for exactly 12 minutes, and then stopped like a switched was turned off and went back to sleep. Since then she's been wanting to eat every two hours or so, and only sleeping an hour or so in between. It's hard to believe she could already be going through another growth spurt, but it sure seems that way today! Wonder how THAT will affect the night sleeping.

alertness

I have been noticing today how much more alert Judith is than she was even a few days ago. She'll watch our faces now, if we talk to her, and she her attention actually gets caught by things. This morning she and I had a very fun five minutes or so lying on the bed watching the ceiling fan (well, ok, I was watching Judith watch the fan). She cooed and gurgled and smiled up at it, while I watched the whole process with joyous wonder. I pray that I'll remember moments like these in another 10 years when she's talking back when I ask her to do something.

sleeping - night #3

I'm not sure the "tank her up" thing works so well for Judith. Maybe her little stomach just isn't ready for that much food? She gets really gassy and spits up a lot after the last feeding of the day. Last night was pretty bad - lots of screaming and buckets of spit - and it took her almost two hours to go to sleep! She was finally asleep around midnight. She didn't wake up at 4:00; she slept straight until 5:30, which means that she did go 7 1/2 hours without eating, but she was only asleep for about 5 1/2 of those hours, so I wouldn't really consider it sleeping through the night...but I guess it's another step in the process. She seemed pretty hungry at 5:30, but she fell asleep eating again, and only ate for 10 minutes. It's extremely difficult to wake her when she does that, and I'm getting a little wary of trying to "force" her to eat more, because it just seems to make her spit up. I'm really not sure what to do about that!

napping too

so I've just noticed it now, although, thinking back, it's been happening for the last couple days, but Judith is definitely napping "better" (by which, I mean that she generally goes down for a nap without a whole lot of fuss). Maybe it's because I'm following her cues (Baby Whisperer again) or maybe she's just learning that her crib is for sleeping, I don't know. But it's definitely easier on me, because, for one, she's not tired all the time, so she's happier when she IS awake, and two, I don't have to stress over hearing her cry. Very nice.

sleeping - night #2

Well, after all the sleeping yesterday, Judith was apparently a little more well-rested than the night before. She woke up at 3:00 instead of 4:00 (despite having gone to sleep at the same time), and it took her a good hour to fall back to sleep (during which time I was up to re-give her the pacifier three times). Then she slept until about 5:15, but she was definitely more hungry this morning than she was yesterday...or at least was able to stay awake longer to eat. So I'm not sure whether we're making progress or not.

Smile

Is there anything more amazing than my child's smile? Stress, fatigue, aches, worry--they all disappear when she smiles at me. Okay, maybe it's not intentional yet. That doesn't matter in the least, and I can't help but smile, coo and laugh back at her.

(Also - she has inherited her Daddy's dimples! Hooray!)

sleeping update

well. Judith made it 8 hours last night without eating. As I expected, she was awake at 4:00, but she was perfectly content to take the pacifier and snuggle with me for a few minutes before falling back asleep. (I sat in her room for a little while, praying that I was doing the right thing...and then went to back to bed and stared at the wall and prayed that I was doing the right thing.)

And she woke up at 6:00 and was ready to eat...except that she apparently wasn't as ravenous as she appeared, because she drifted off after only 10 minutes. I changed her diaper and woke her up, but she just wasn't interested in eating more. So we'll see how much she eats at the next feeding.

I'm (obviously) still a little uncertain about this. IS she getting enough food? (Everyone tells me that she'll let me know if she's hungry.) Am I just being selfish about sleep? After all, six hours (10-4) is a pretty great thing. At 6 1/2 weeks, is she too young for this? And the really big question: Is my body ever going to adjust to her eating schedule?

sleeping - take two

ok, so last night didn't "work". It could easily have been my fault. I was pretty restless last night, waking up frequently and in and out of bed. At 4:00 Judith was making noise, and I went in to check on her - which might have woken her up further (or she might have been already awake, I don't know). So, since I was up anyway, I changed her in "dim light" and nursed her for a little while (I'm not exactly sure how long 'cause I couldn't see the clock with the light off!) and put her back down. Then she slept until about 7:00.

Tonight I've tried the cluster feeding again - at 6 and at 8 and (if she will wake up for it) at 10. I'm thinking that tonight, if/when she wakes up at 4:00, I'll give her the pacifier and rock her for a little while instead of feeding her (This is a scenario straight out of The Baby Whisperer.) and see how long she sleeps after that. I have no doubt that the pacifier can put her to sleep - she often goes down for a nap with one, but I don't know if hunger will wake her up earlier than usual - we'll see.

I'm a little torn about the urgency of all this. I want to train her right, and I'd be so grateful if she slept for eight hours, but at the same time, it's pretty uncomfortable for me to go eight hours without feeding her, and I'm sure I'll wake up anyway. I guess I'll just see how tonight goes and take it from there! More updates tomorrow.

sooo big!

This morning, Judith and I discovered that she has outgrown her newborn onesies! It is extremely hard to snap the bottom snaps when we put them on; she's just too long. A little of that has to do with wearing cloth diapers instead of disposable, but not that much. When we first dressed her in them, I thought "wow, these will fit her for a LONG time!" But here it is, just six weeks later, and we're graduating to the 0-3 month or 3 month stuff. Fortunately, we have clothes in all kinds of sizes.

(I am very sad about her growing out of a few special onesies - I'm thinking about finding some onesie extenders just for those. The colors probably won't match, but she could still wear her "I love Daddy" and "I love Mommy" outfits.)

Why Judith Kay?

Judith is named for my mother (Judith) and Lance's mother (Sharon Kay) for several reasons:

1. My mother, for all her faults, is the model of a Christian woman for me. I strive emulate her walk with Christ, and I desire that more than anything for my daughter.
2. Lance's mother passed away when he was very young, and I wanted to honor her as well as my own mother.
   
3. I am named after my grandmothers, and have always thought that was pretty cool.
4. Judith means "woman of Judea" and Kay means "pure". I interpret them together as "a pure woman of God".
5. I think Judith Kay Ford sounds beautiful.

Somehow I convinced Lance that these were reasons enough to name her. I think probably he just "gave in" for love of me. :-)

Judith's Story

For those of you who don't know the story of how Judith came into our family, I'm, writing it here. It is a story of grace, faith, and the power of prayer.

Children - specifically whether or not we should have them - has been the single major issue in our marriage. We did know, when we got married (in 1999) that this was an issue we disagreed on. I'm not sure, however, that either of us realized just how much we disagreed. Basically, I have passionately wanted children, while Lance has been vehemently opposed to the idea. Over the nine years of our marriage, we have had "serious discussions" and even some pregnancy scares, and our basic outlooks have remained the same. Many people have prayed for years for reconciliation for us on this issue.

About two years ago, on Mother's Day 2006, I was struck by the realization that God had worked in my heart to the point where I was "ok" if I never had children. And I shared that with Lance and with other people around me, and went on with life. Then, in the summer of 2007, several key people in my life became pregnant, and I had another pregnancy "scare." It undid me, and I found myself again absolutely longing for a child. When I proved to not be pregnant, I tearfully let Lance know that I wasn't "ok" any more - that I still passionately wanted a child. A few months later, still hurting, I shared with my women's Bible study just how devastated I was. I asked for their prayers that God would either work in my heart, or Lance's - and soon. The very next Sunday (November 4, 2007) when we got home from church, Lance said "maybe we could have a baby." He said that God had finally convinced him to step out in faith, to trust Him with this issue, and see what happened. I went back to my Bible Study and shared the news, asking for prayers for a quick conception - in God's timing of course :-). Less than a month later, with my cycle later than I expected, I took a pregnancy test - it was postive! God had wholeheartedly affirmed Lance's decision to trust. (On a side note, I am amazed at the power of His timing - Lance and I have always used the "rhythm" method of birth control, which has only a 75% success rating. I had come to the conclusion that it was unlikely that I'd even be able to conceive. And yet, Judith was conceived the first week that we decided to "try"!)

Sleeping

Well, here it is. The first of the promised blogs. I can hardly believe that I'm actually following through with this. I'll have to be careful not to wax so enthusiastic that I forget that the public can read this. At the same time, it's probably only going to be interesting to people who are as interested in my daughter as I am!

Today Judith and I had a pretty good day. Sadly, Daddy (Lance) is gone ALL day - he's back to work today, after a week off, and he went straight from work to the airport to pick up his aunt and uncle, and straight from the airport to River Rock's offices for a church leadership meeting. We won't be seeing him until around 9:00 p.m. or so. Quite a test of my ability to cope with Judith on my own!

Since we've been having (relative) trouble getting her to sleep lately, I decided to go back and reread the Sleep chapter in the Baby Whisperer. I discovered that she's old enough now to be sleeping a little less during the day, and possibly even getting to 8 hours at night. So I "let" her stay up (meaning I didn't try everything I could to get her to sleep) after her 8:00 feeding this morning. As a result she took a highly satisfactory 2 1/2 hour nap at 11. I tried the same thing after her 1:30 feeding - with a nap "scheduled" for 5:00-ish. This time it didn't work quite so well; although she did eventually go to sleep, it took awhile, and she'll end up with more like 1 1/2 hours this time around. But hey, we're new at this. I'm also planning to try to cluster feed her tonight (at 7:00 and at 9:00) to see if that'll help her sleep for 8 hours. She normally sleeps about five hours after her last nighttime feeding, so I really shouldn't complain too much about her sleep patterns; but those of you who know me know how affected I am by sleep deprivation. It'd give me a whole new lease on life if Judith slept for 8 hours tonight! Check tomorrow's post to see how it goes.