Last night was like having a newborn all over again.  We didn't get much sleep because K was upset that she kept coming out of her swaddle.  So today was the day - she no longer is going to be swaddled.  It's much more worth it to not sleep to train her to sleep unswaddled than to keep getting up to swaddle her.

She took two naps today like a champ.  I had to hold her hands until she started drifting off to sleep so she wouldn't get distracted by them but once she started drifting and I let go, she did really well. 

Today was the first day (Mike's was yesterday) I heard her actually say real words - "ma" and "meh."  Okay, "meh" isn't really a word she'd use often but I'm excited for her to start babbling instead of just cooing.  But I do like the coos.  Unfortunately she only said her words while she was upset ... it's still progress though.

 

What I think is so amazing about this photo is that she's actually on her hands and knees.  She's progressing so quickly to crawling, it's amazing!  Last month I never even had to worry about her rolling around and now she's getting on her hands and knees and rocking.  She's also going from a sitting position to on her belly these days.  

She's getting so mobile that it still surprises me. I'll leave her one place, look away, look back, and she's gone!  She goes from sitting there and then she's rolled across the room when I see her next.  It's so crazy!  I always thought I wanted her to start being mobile quickly but now that it's happening, it's a little worrisome ... especially today when I left her by the couch and then a few seconds later, I found her a few feet away tugging on all the cords in our living room.

By the way, she fell asleep tonight all by herself.  I know it's way too soon to get excited but sometimes it's just the small things, right?

Okay, thanks for the responses!  But now my question is, how do you get a baby to sleep unswaddled?  It's funny because at church Mike and I see all these babies sleeping in car seats and sleeping in their parent's arms.  And what is Katers doing?  Yeah, she's screaming because she can't fall asleep.

I'm just so impressed with babies who will sleep. 

K is a master at rolling.  So much, in fact, that she rolls in the middle of the night and then wakes herself up so much that she can't go back to sleep without swaddling her back up.  If I go into her in the middle of the night, she screams.  I have always thought that it's because she thinks she's going to get food and then doesn't but now writing this out, I'm not quite sure if that's it or not.  I just may be the last person she wants to see when she's woken herself up. 

However the case, Mike lovingly jumps out of bed and is willing to swaddle her back up.  She does the same thing for naps too.  If we leave her arms out of a swaddle for naps, she'll roll and play in her crib until she's either so tired and frustrated that she cries or until I go in to get her out of her crib. 

Even being swaddled, she'll frequently pull her arms out of the swaddle and then roll.  This morning her arm was actually out of her long sleeve sticking out of the top of her shirt where her neck goes.  I guess she really wanted her arm out of her swaddle.

But it's getting ridiculous.  This is almost worse than having to get up to put a pacifier back in her mouth.  I'm so glad we're over the pacifier.  I try just letting her cry it out but she gets so frustrated that I can't let her do it ... especially not in the middle of the night when everyone's trying to sleep. 

So I need a solution.

I've read that there are wedges you can buy to keep them from rolling but ideally, I'd prefer her to just learn to sleep on her stomach.

So far I've read that other moms just let the baby cry it out and after a week, it works but they also mention that their babies don't cry for more than 15 minutes or so.  K's known to cry for over an hour and a half, especially if we go into her room to try to calm her down during any time that she's crying.  Not sure why that is.

So please, any suggestions would be appreciated!

Katers cried for almost an hour last night which was the first time that I had allowed it to happen in a long time.  She went to bed at 6:40 pm and a few hours later, she was awake crying.  I feel bad for my neighbors each time it happens because she's loud and I'm sure it's not fun.

But tonight their little one is crying - not with the same intensity and not for as long as last night so far, but it's nice to know that it's not just us that has a crying baby.  Some days I feel like it's just us.

Yesterday I was changing her and since we're using cloth diapers, I had to run a diaper into the bathroom real fast.  She was just lying on a diaper but I hadn't snapped it because a couple weeks ago, she wouldn't roll away.  It would take her a while to get up the energy to roll over on her changing mat.  But yesterday, she rolled away.  I literally ran to the bathroom and back and she was gone, without a diaper.  I was just glad there were no accidents!

Katers is getting so much better at rolling ... finally!  I put her down on the ground all the time now and she will just go crazy rolling.  She's completely explored the living room and has shown me all the areas I need to baby-proof and she loves rolling around in her room.

Although rolling is going well, naps are not.  She refuses to take her long naps!  She'll take a couple of 45-minute naps now and that's it.  It's tough not having her take naps.  She's grumpy because she's tired and her schedule is off.  And I'll admit, I'm not loving it either.  I hope she gets back onto a schedule and starts sleeping more.  But the fact that she keeps rolling herself over while she's swaddled (and luckily gets at least one arm out) in her crib is probably a huge factor in this not-sleeping thing she's doing.

We are loving being parents though.  There is nothing like it.  I love that we get a further glimpse into this little piece of an eternal plan through being parents.  It's funny how I understand so much more now than I did a year ago.

We love our little Bug!

I decided today that Katers is a great baby - she ran lots of errands today with me and didn't complain once.  She slept in her car seat for her nap and when she went down for her afternoon nap, even though she was exhausted, she was giggling.  She also sat through a 15-minute photoshoot for me.  She's so great.

Make a note:  K's first time of holding a boy's hand and hugging a boy (other than a relative, of course) was at 7 months, 5 days ... today!  A friend of a friend's came over with her 18-month old and it was like from first sight for both of them.  Good thing for the little boy too because he has a little sister coming in a couple of months and I can tell already, he's going to be a great older brother.

Little Babers really likes her sleep which is great.  On a normal, scheduled day, she sleeps from about 7-9:30 am, 11-12:30 am, 2-4 pm, and 7 pm-6:30 am.  But I sort of feel like I'm missing out on her life.  I mean, each time she's awake, I feed her which takes anywhere from 15-45 minutes depending on how fast she's eating and how much solids she wants.  Then she needs a diaper change and sometimes a clothes change.  After that she plays for a while on her own.  Then she wants a change of toys so I usually play with her for a bit.  Sometimes we read.  Then she needs a diaper change and she goes back down for a nap.  The only time I really have to spend a lot of time with her is from 4-7 pm but that's usually busy with dinner and errands before bed.  But I'm guessing that once she starts skipping one of her naps, I'm going to really miss these days when she sleeps a lot.  It's just days like today where I feel like I don't get much quality time that I feel a little sad about her sleep habits.

I've found out some things today:

1. Mike and I have different parenting techniques when it comes to some small things yet we both seem to get the same result.  That's great.
2. I know all the hazards of doing this but Katers sleeps really well with her head slightly propped up on a towel so she can breathe better.  She doesn't wake herself up because she can't breathe and coughs.  Instead she breathes well and her nose gets plenty of airflow. 
3. She needs her naps or she is a very, very sad guppy.
4. She doesn't like pears.  In fact, I think she dislikes them more than bananas and oatmeal.  Lucky for me, I got to eat her pears since she doesn't like them and boy were they good!  I love steamed pears!
5. She goes to sleep really, really well as long as we don't get her down for naps and bed late.  
6. Cloth diapers are the best ... but I have to remember to change her or else there may be leaks.  Oops.

Why haven't I showered yet today (and my hair has needed to be washed for 2 days!)? 

Oh yeah, because the babe is sick again.  I didn't think it was possible to get sick, get an ear infection, and then get sick again without a break but apparently it is.  I'm not sure what she has this time but I got puked on this morning for my first time ever ... and it was not fun.

Oddly enough, little Babers has no sign of any teeth that may be coming.  She's not even acting upset anymore.  I'm really not sure what was going on Tuesday.

She has started making these raspy grunting noises.  I'm afraid she's going to make her throat hurt but I can't really stop her.  Instead I'm trying to get her to say some words.  She just smiles and laughs at me.  It kind of makes me feel like she really can say words if she wants to but she doesn't feel like it ... so she just laughs at me.

Gotta love that baby girl!

Today was a day of crying.  I don't think I've ever been happier to see Mike walk in the door from work so that he could take that babes and listen to her cry while I made dinner.

I'm thinking she is actually teething now.  People have been telling us for months now that she must be teething but I think this week may be the actual week.  She has not been able to swallow much saliva (or hasn't cared to), she is trying to put everything into her mouth, and she cried most of the day.

Earlier we were lying on the floor and she was acting like she wanted to roll but the big blanket on her was stopping her from actually rolling.  I moved the blanket and pulled her arm so she could roll over.  I'm not sure if she was just exhausted from missing a nap or what but after I turned her over, she just laid there sprawled out on the ground and didn't move.  It was pretty funny.  I had never seen her do that before.

It also sounds like she is saying "mama" sometimes when she's really upset and getting changed.  I, however, am a little disappointed that it's my name that's being said when she's upset.  I mean, I know she hates it when I change her (I'm really not sure why) but does she really have to let everyone know who is making her so upset?  :)

Today, well, yesterday (Tuesday), I laid baby K on a blanket in the living room.  She ended up rolling all over the place and got her legs stuck between the speaker and the leg of a table.  It was pretty funny.  I'm pretty sure she could have gotten herself out of the predicament just fine though.  It was so fun to see her lying in the middle of the blanket one minute and then I turned around and she was in a completely different place the next.

We also found out last week that her favorite words to hear us say are "yuuuuummmmy burger!"  Mike says it to her and she can't help but give him a big smile each time.  However, when I say it, she just gives me a courtesy smile.  There's just something about Mike that she absolutely loves and I'm so glad!  It's so nice to get a break when Mike walks in the door.  If she's awake, she smiles and wiggles her whole body to try to get to him.  I love it.