3 Month Top Ten

In honor of Erin being 3 months old (see following post), I tried to come up with a clever list of things we've learned in the past 3 months.

10. Bouncy seats are a gift from heaven.
9. Babies are quite opinionated and stubborn...really, bottles aren't that bad, Erin!
8. It is a cruel joke of nature that babies can't fall asleep on their own.
7. Babies are like puppies; they're so cute that you can't get mad at them.
6. Baby weight does NOT magically melt off!
5. Pouty faces are so funny and totally contradict their purpose...we laugh instead of feel bad for her.
4. It is possible to be so tired that it hurts.
3. Surprisingly, girls can pee on you too...and worse!
2. Breastfeeding is a BIG commitment, but I'm so glad I'm doing it - Erin is too (see #9).
1. They really are a miracle and it's amazing how much you love them...we wouldn't have traded a single minute!

3 months

Erin is 3 months old today (13 weeks yesterday)! It's amazing to think about how far she has come in such a short time. Her newest things are trying to suck her thumb (we're not crazy about that, but we don't have much choice since she can't stand pacifiers) and doing her seal impression during tummy time (see above). We keep showing her how to use her arms to hold herself up instead of just using her back muscles, but she hasn't quite figured it out yet. The past couple of days, she's been interested in her fingers and likes to fold her hands. She's also started grabbing at toys instead of just batting at them. She's gotten a lot better at holding her head steady too. And, if now is any indication, she is going to be quite the talker! She makes lots of different sounds, and likes to coo and giggle at us. Bob has hidden the parenting books from me so I can't look to see if she is actually laughing yet or not.

Still no luck on the bottle...we really are trying it at least once a day and have tried many approaches, but she definitely does not like it. We will keep trying! If we ever forget about sleep deprivation and decide to have another baby, I will make the effort to start the bottle earlier.

On that note, we are sleeping much better at night - she starts to get tired around 8pm, we do a bath and feeding, and she typically sleeps from around 9pm until 3am, then eats and goes back to sleep until about 7am. We can live with that! Hopefully I didn't jinx it by bragging about it.

Her newest pictures are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bob.callaway/ErinMichelle3Months

Snow!

Erin saw her first real snow today (other than flurries or the end of snow melting in Fort Wayne)! She checked it out from inside the house for awhile, but she doesn't think too much of it. Poor Bella, however, is definitely upset about it. Bob had to clear a spot for her in the grass! It looks like about 4 inches and is still coming down lightly.

Busy weekend

Erin had a busy weekend - it's hard to be a cute baby! Friday night, Liz and David stopped by with some of Liz's birthday cake and we coerced David into holding Erin. Saturday, she went to Ioannis and Sofia's for lunch and Ioannis held her for the first time too. Today, she had church, Chris and Jenny's farewell party, Lowes (new dishwasher for us!), and dropping our TV off to Mike K. to borrow.

12 Weeks!

Wow, Erin is 12 weeks old today! Our baby is growing up so fast! New changes this week include the exersaucer, which she hated the first time but now likes it (for the most part), and 2 days ago she decided to like tummy time for 5-10 minutes at a time. Breakthrough! She's still a little floppy in the exersaucer, but she does like being upright and looking around. She even played with the toys on it. Thanks, Josh and Kati, for loaning it to us! She likes to play a lot more now, and she loves reading books. It's so much fun to play with her now that she's more interested in toys and books. She's also much less fussy in general - no more trips up and down the stairs (we hope)!

I'm sure you will be happy to read that I promise to not whine about sleep anymore, but I will say that nights are starting to get a little better. She has gone to bed in her crib without too much fight the past 2 nights (after a bath and about an hour of eating/pacifying herself), though she tends to stay awake for over an hour in the middle of the night - not crying, just awake. We keep her in her room, leave it dark, and won't talk to her while we try to get her back to sleep. Hopefully she'll get the point, or eventually stop waking up at all. Daytime naps are still a struggle and I have typically been resorting to bouncy seat/car ride after an hour or so of trying the crib. I want her to get straight with naps in the next 4 weeks before day care, but I am starting to think that she is on her own schedule and will do what she wants, no matter what I want. I am very nervous about sending her to day care for many reasons, but am trying not to think about it just yet.

She's eating up a storm and growing so well! She had a little setback with being sick for 2 weeks, but I think she's making up for it now. She still has a little congestion and cough, but it doesn't slow her down or wake her up any more. We are still working on the bottle with no luck yet, and have given up on the pacifiers (all 3 types!).

In other news, I caught Bella with one of Erin's toys this morning...it's going to be hard to teach her the difference between her squeaky toys and Erin's!

Whoops!

We had heard that some babies like to sleep on an inclined mattress, plus we figured it might help her breathing since she's still fighting a little congestion from her cold, so we did some research and Bob rigged up a little 3" ramp like what they sell in the stores for $15.

Turns out, she slides right down the inclined mattress, even with that low incline! Let's see - I think that would be a 9.46 degree slope...it's been a long time since geometry. Each time she woke up last night (she did well - slept for 3 hours, then 4, then 4 more!), I found her laying perpendicular from how I had put her and in the center of the crib (instead of towards one end). The good news is that the sliding didn't seem to wake her up, but we took the ramp out this morning. Good thing we didn't spend $15 on one!

We also tried the Exersaucer this morning, and she's still a little too floppy for it. We even stuck blankets in there to help support her a little more, but she's not quite ready for it yet. She will be soon, though!

I did the math

Erin takes about 3 naps a day and wakes up usually twice at night, so that makes 6 total "going to sleep" times. We spend an average of an hour each time getting her to sleep, so that makes 6 hours a day spent bouncing/soothing/holding our breath while we put her in the crib and repeating the cycle. No wonder our nerves are shot! We let her cry a little bit (like 3-5 minutes), but have not had any success with that...it only makes her really mad. Does anyone have any hints? Still no luck on the pacifier (all 3 kinds!), even with a drop or two of sugar water, and she still doesn't like swaddling. She will watch her mobile, but it doesn't put her to sleep either. I am nervous about starting 12 hour shifts next month on not much sleep : )

On the bright side, she is feeling better. She just has a little cough, but her breathing is better.

And a cute story - I took Erin and Bella for a walk yesterday before it got so windy and we came up on these people walking 2 dogs. Bella usually wanders around beside or behind the stroller, but when she saw the dogs, she raced to the front of the stroller and walked in front of it until the dogs were gone. She's a protector!

Two Month Checkup

Today was Erin's two month checkup - here are her pertinent vital stats:

Height: 23.25 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 11 lbs, 0 oz (50th percentile)
Head Circumference: 15.25 inches (50th percentile)

The NP that we saw was very nice, but didn't give us any sleeping tips :( Erin got 3 shots and one oral vaccine... she cried during the shots, but quickly calmed down on the car ride home. Her pulse ox was 94-97%, and everything else looked good.

The last few nights have been rough in the Callaway household - Erin has decided to wake up numerous times during the night and is inconsolable. Then, she finally gives up an hour or two (or three) later and sleeps a little while longer. It's hard not to be discouraged at the inconsistency in her sleep patterns, but we are making it through, one semi-sleepless night at a time.

She's Official!

Erin got baptized this morning, so she's officially Catholic now. She cried the whole time, but with her laryngitis, it wasn't very loud. It was a very special day and we are so happy that we got to share it with family and friends! Thanks to Grandma Ambrosini for making the beautiful dress and to Grandma Flanagan for the pretty blanket!




Here are all our pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bob.callaway/Baptism (and here are the ones from Grandma and Grandpa Ambrosini: http://picasaweb.google.com/Steve.Lois.Ambrosini/2009ErinSBaptismJan3)

We think she is feeling a little better - we broke down and took her to the pediatrician yesterday who diagnosed her with bronchiolitis/RSV, but said she seems to be handling it well, and there's nothing she can take for it anyway since it's a virus. We are just watching her for a fever or for any problems breathing or eating. She seems less congested today, and isn't coughing or sneezing as much. She is acting more like her normal self too and maybe eating a little more (but still not like the barracuda she normally is), so we hope it's the end.

Also, more Fort Wayne pictures are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bob.callaway/ErinMichelle2Months