True Love

It think the pictures will tell more than anything I can write:

A Little Brag...

I am super excited to be able to say that I am below my pre pregnancy weight. Everyone keeps telling me that I dont even look like I had a baby 6 weeks ago. To them I say THANK YOU very much. I dont know how or why but the weight came off so much easier this time than it did with Ava. I am already back into my normal jeans and returned all my borrowed maternity clothes. I am hoping it stays that way. I have a weight loss goal and I am already half way there. I am going to watch what I eat and not snack a lot when I return to work. I really would like to be down to my high school weight but there is no chance of that ever happening again but to get close would make me happy.

6 weeks Already?!?!

I cannot believe. My baby is 6 weeks old already. Where has the time gone? She has gone from this little fragile thing to a little baby that is trying to hold her head up. She is more alert during the day and recognizing voices. I am not exactly sure how far she can see but she will follow Kenny's voice across the room and move her eyes and head with him. It is amazing how much happens in just the first 6 weeks. Ava was holding her head up completely by 8 weeks old and I think Hailey may be on the same track. She is getting stronger each day and bounces her head all around when you are holding her. We are giving her more tummy time on the play mat. At first she didnt act like she was too thrilled about it but now when she is a little fussy, tummy time will actually calm her sometimes. She is now eating 4 ounces every 3 or so hours during the day and at night she can sleep a stretch of 5 to 6 hours and then will go back to every 3 or so hours. The long stretch is nice because I actually get 3 or 4 hours of the 5 or 6 so I am not a total grump in the morning. I have started putting a little rice cereal in her bottle, it seems to help keep her full and make her a little happier. We have had some gas issues with her, changing her formula and adding gripe water has seemed to help a lot more. She still has some of her fussiness but its a little here and there instead of a large block of time. It has helped a lot in the stress department. She seems to be fighting her sleep a little bit. She will eat her 3rd bottle of the day, in the late afternoon, and will cry until she falls asleep. It can be a handful with Ava but my patience has stayed with me and I just work with her until she falls asleep.  We have been relying on the swing more and more. She seems to really enjoy it. She sleeps in it during the day when we are all out in the living room and there are times she will wake up and just sit and swing, watching her surroundings. Ava will go and talk to her and bring her toys. It has helped a lot when I am on my own. I am so waiting on her to hold that head up on her own so she can sit with pillows around her and enjoy playing on the floor a little more.

Thanksgiving

So Thanksgiving has become less busy as the years have come instead of busier, I have come to like it. This year was Hailey's first. Ava is at a really fun age, she still doesnt really understand what the holidays mean but she always has a good time with family. We missed Kenny that day, one of the few hazards of being married to someone in his field. But the kids had a good time and we spent the day at my moms. One of the best things of these kind of days is that I have a little help with the girls instead of doing it all on my own while he's working. Ava had a ball hanging out with mom's dogs and her Aunts. The next Sunday we celebrated the holiday with Kenny's mom and brothers. Ava had a ball there also. She always seems to have a good time. LOL.

Fussy, Crying, and only a Month old

So the past week has been hard, Hailey has been going through a fussiness that I didnt experience with Ava. Around 5 pm every evening, she begins crying and cluster feeding. She only wants to be held, will not be put down, and this happens during dinner time for Ava, who by this time is usually huffing and puffing telling me repeatly that Hailey is crying. Like we dont know! LOL

Since Hailey's fussiness had become a habit and at the same time everynight, I got on babycenter and google and seen if all babies go through this. I also emailed a friend and asked her if she thought what I wanted to do to help Hailey would work. Everything I read was calling this was 'witching hour' which is a little creepy for a newborn's fussiness to be called this but thats what it is. I read what other mothers were doing to help their little ones and what worked. We were both wondering if this was colic or not, or maybe just a form of it. It makes you feel so helpless to watch your kid cry and you cant make them feel better. Nothing would help, I can say that I am thankful for Kennys schedule but also hate it with her being this needy. On the many days he is home, I have lots of help, he takes turns between entertaining Ava and holding Hailey to keep her happy. On the days he is working, well all I can say is I have evenings I could pull my hair out.

Ava being the active 2 year old she is, needs attention, needs to play, and needs time with us. So holding Hailey for almost 3 hours straight can take a toll. But she has been great. Better than I could have ever imagined.

So to try to cure the fussiness we have tried gripe water. So far day one of it, it has helped I believe. I think also that she changed up her schedule a little, instead of sleeping the middle part of the day she was up and enjoyed the afternoon playing with Ava. Everything I have read says that this fussiness could last a week or a few weeks so I guess it is a crapshoot to see how long we will be dealing with this. I just hope it doesnt last long, after a bottle with the gripe water, Hailey was a happy, content little girl and was smiling up a storm. I loved seeing her smile, it melted my heart. Hoping to see it more than those tears.

Success

So last week I wrote how proud I was of my little girl and no BINK...well this week I am here to SHOUT that she has gone over a week without it. She has had a couple meltdowns and one major one at 3 in the morning, a morning that Kenny was at work so it was just me to deal with it. After 45 minutes I convinced her to go back to sleep and she cuddled up against me and closed her eyes. Only to wake up a few hours later and start where she finished. Although at 6 am it was a little easier because Hailey was up and she soon became distracted with her baby sister and wanting to kiss all over her. YAY!

So over a week later and she tries to sneak Hailey's bink in her mouth every once in a while, and honestly I dont think she is doing it because she wants it, she is doing it to tease me. She will put it in her mouth and run back the hallway laughing, wanting me to chase her and tickle her. After I take it from her and tickle, she gives it back to Hailey without any issue. She has always loved to play, maybe sometimes a little too much, especially when I am trying to discipline her but she is almost always in a good mood.

I am so proud of her. I really didnt think it would fly. I thought it would be the biggest fight in our life. She was so attached but she is doing well.

(Bink Free in a PHOTO)

 

The BINK!

Ava loves her bink. Anyone who has met her knows the bink is a staple in her look.






Well one of the things Kenny and I have discussed repeatly is that we need to get her off of it. She is over 2 and doesnt need it. So while on my leave and she has been home, we have been trying to talk her out of using it. She hasnt used it at Beckys for months on end. As soon as she walks in the door, it goes on the hutch and she doesnt get it back until I come back to get her.

So yesterday for giggles, I took it when she was playing and hid it. She asked for it a couple of times, I replied with "I will get it in a minute" and she would continue playing without it and forget. I was really proud of her. She depends on the bink to soothe her, to calm her down, she had a few meltdowns and asked for it but we distracted her with taking care of Hailey, cartoons, and playing with her toys. I knew that bedtime would be the true test, well she went to sleep without it, very easily, almost too easy. I couldnt believe it.

Today is the second day without it and she is still doing well. I guess we will just roll with it and see where it takes us. I would love to get her to give it up completely. I think that it is helping that Hailey isnt too much into the bink. We remind Ava that she is the BIG girl now and doesnt need it, that binks are for babies. So hopefully I can keep posting that she doesnt have it, doesnt need it, and isnt demanding it.