Breakthrough!

My mom mentioned to me that one of the girls at her work swaddled her 2 month old baby and that baby was already sleeping through the night! I kind of dismissed the advice because I used to swaddle Ellie and it didn't seem to matter either way. But then I decided I was desperate enough to try anything. Ellie has been waking up at least 3 times a night to feed and usually 2 other times she just wakes up and I have to give her a binky to get her back to sleep. So two nights ago I swaddled her and put her to bed at 7pm. She slept about 15 minutes and somehow managed to houdini her way out of the swaddle. So I rocked her (without a swaddle) and got her back in bed around 8:30pm. She was up again at 11:30 for a feeding and after an hour of trying to rock her back to sleep after she ate (she is stuffy though and was having a harder time getting to sleep), I was so frustrated. I decided to wrap her in a blanket as tight as I thought was safe. ALMOST INSTANTLY she fell asleep! And the best part . . . SHE SLEPT UNTIL 6AM!!!

I was worried that it might have been a coincidence, but last night I swaddled her tight and put her down at 8pm. She woke up at 12:30 to eat, went easily back to sleep, and didn't wake up again until 6:30am! YAY!!! Let's hope this is the solution because I have already gotten used to getting 4-6 straight hours of sleep.

Ellie and the sleepless nights

Seriously, I don't remember being this tired ever in my life. EVER. Sometimes I don't trust my memory, especially when I am trying to compare Ellie's growth and development to Tate at the same age. But I really think that Tate was a much better sleeper than Ellie. Not only do I seem to remember that he slept in nice good chunks of hours at a time, I also seem to remember that he was easy to put back to sleep after a late night feeding. To be fair, I do remember that sometimes getting him to sleep in the evening consisted of an hour of singing or humming the Brady Bunch theme song (I don't know the words to a lot of songs off the top of my head). Anyway, the point of this post is to document my struggle with Ellie and her lack of sleeping at night. Currently, her sleeping schedule is thus: in bed for the night around 9pm (we have tried to put her down earlier and she just won't go), up at 1am for a feeding and back to bed pretty easily, up at 4am for a feeding and putting her back down takes quite a bit longer (for some reason she thinks 4am is the time to party and often starts talking and wanting to interact), up again at 6am (that is only 2 hours from the last time she got up!) for another feeding and an even longer task of putting her back down to sleep. Usually by the time I get her back to sleep Tate is up for the day. I am slowly losing my sanity.

Funny Tate-isms

- We were driving in the car a couple weeks ago, on our way to Tate's music class. Ellie was a little fussy and had been crying off and on. For the umpteenth time she started crying and Tate said "Oh man, not again!"

- Rob's sister April had given Tate a package of dinosaur figures while we were at a Sunday dinner. The next morning he asked me if the dinosaurs could have a snack. I told him that dinosaurs ate waffles and coincidentally, that was what I was making for breakfast. He quickly informed me that dinosaurs don't eat waffles. When I asked him dinosaurs eat, he looked at me out of the corner of his eye and said "MARSHMALLOWS!"

- Tate is so excited to be a pirate for Halloween. He is borrowing a pirate costume from his friend Wesley, who lives down the street. We bought him a pirate sword to go along with the costume and since then, his favorite thing to do is sword fight with Rob. The other night they were sword fighting and Tate aimed his sword at Rob and said "Eat my steel!" Apparantly, he heard that phrase in the Veggie Tales pirate movie he is so fond of watching!

Ellie - 10 weeks old

I can't believe how big Ellie is getting. Just today, I looked down at her as I was putting her down for a nap and couldn't believe how big she was. She has lost that newborn look and is starting to look like a baby! At her 2 month check-up she weigh 10 lbs and 14 oz (50th%ile) and was 23 inches long (90th%ile). She smiles a lot now. We have tried making her laugh, but haven't been successful yet. She is still eating every 2-2.5 hours during the day and usually every 3 hours at night. It seems like it is so often. Sometimes I can push her to four hours at night if I keep giving her a binky. I tried putting her down in her crib a couple nights ago but decided that it was too ahrd for me to keep getting up to give her a binky. Maybe in another couple weeks she will be sleeping longer at night and I will be ready to put her in her crib. It is just so convenient to have her next to my bed in the pack 'n' play.

The last couple of days she has been a little grouchy at night and it has been hard to calm her down. Last night I tried calming her down for an hour so she could nurse. I finally stripped her down to her diaper and nursed her in her dark room with the door closed. I wonder if sometimes she just gets overwhelmed with all the noise of a busy two-year old and his parents who are trying to keep up with him. Tate is a great older brother and helps us out usually whenever we ask. He still gives her little kisses on her head and has started asking me what is wrong with her when she starts to cry.

She is not the best at taking naps, but today she slept for 2.5 hours in the early afternoon! Usually she cat naps (20-30 minutes) until late afternoon. I have tried putting her to bed early (around 7pm) but that doesn't usually work. She prefers to go to bed around 9:30pm and wakes up around 8 or 8:30 in the morning.

We blessed her last Sunday and it was wonderful. Rob did a great job with the blessing. He blessed her with unique talents and encouraged her to recognize and develop those talents. He also blessed her that she would grow close to her Heavenly Father through a relationship with the Holy Ghost. He blessed her that she would be married in the temple and that she would return to her Father in Heaven. Finally, he blessed her that she would be quick to repent and even quicker to forgive. I am grateful that Rob holds the Priesthood and was able to give her such a dear blessing.

Ellie - 6 weeks old

This was the best shot I could get of her today!

She's smiling! Although I have yet to capture it on camera, Ellie started smiling a couple weeks ago. It was hard to coax a smile out of her at first, but now it is easier. I can't believe how much she has changed in a few short weeks. Her hair is getting lighter and is, sadly, starting to fall out. Unfortunately, it seems to be falling out mostly on top and in the back. I am afraid that she is going to look like an old man! She is awake more often now, usually for about an hour after eating. She likes to look around with her big, dark eyes. She is also starting to be vocal. Not much cooing, but more like little shrieks and "AH!" sounds. It's adorable.

The sleeping situation at night is getting a little better. She still loves to be awake from 9pm to midnight, and it is so hard to get her to sleep during this time. Rob can rock her to sleep more easily than I can. I usually lay her next to me on the couch until she falls asleep. The only problem with that is that I fall asleep too!

She is still a rockstar pooper. I try to wait until I think all of the grunts, pushing, and mini explosions are over before I change her diaper. But it is not uncommon for me to have to change two diapers within 5 minutes.

Tate is starting to take much more of an interest in her and has asked to hold her several times. He is mostly gentle with her, but sometimes we have to remind him that he needs to be "soft." He also likes to pretend that he is a baby and has started asking for his own binky. We tell him that big boys get to do fun things like play soccer and eat cookies and that babies only get to take naps. That usually seems to work.

Sleep all day, party all night

I need to write this post so I won't forget how Ellie slept as a one month old . . . HORRIBLY! She takes really great naps during the day, but at night she is up so much! She experiences horrible gas at night that causes her to grunt, push, moan, and wiggle for hours. By the time she finally goes to sleep, she only sleeps for an hour or so before waking up to nurse again. I have been in tears a couple times because I AM SO TIRED! It is not uncommon for me to get only 3-4 hours of sleep at night, and that is only in one hour increments. It is really rough. I hope she grows out of it soon and starts sleeping better at night. Mylecon does not seem to help with the gas at all, so I need to do some research and find some other remedies.

Ellie's 2 week check-up & Tate's pending surgery

Tate and I took Ellie to the doctor today for her first check-up. She weighs 7 lbs 7.5 oz (30th%ile) and is 20.5 inches long (75th%ile). Her head size was in the 15th%ile, small like Tate. The doctor said that she looked great. She does have a "stork bite" mark on the back of her head. It is about the size of a golf ball but will fade with time. She is a rockstar when it comes to pooping - we usually change her diapers in pairs (she waits until you get a new one on and then minutes later fills it up again). She is also a pretty good little eater, if I can keep her awake long enough. She is starting to be awake more during the day. She will usually stay awake for an hour or so after she eats. She still struggles with sleeping well at night, so I usually only get about 1 or 2 hours of straight sleep in between feedings. Rob has been home all this week, which has been a big help. I am struggling a little with getting the hang of two kids. I guess it is a learning process, I just hope I can get a handle on it soon. Rob leaves for Boston next Tuesday!

We took Tate to a pediatric ENT doctor yesterday. He still snores loudly at night and often pauses in his breathing. I never realized how used to his snoring I had become until Ellie came home. She is such a silent sleeper, I often wake up and get freaked out by how quiet she is. I have to stare for a while to make sure I can see her breathing. The ENT doctor had an x-ray of Tate taken and told us that his tonsils and adnoids are large and he would benefit from having them removed! I almost started crying right there in the exam room. I just can't imagine sending my little boy in for surgery. But, in an effort to help him sleep better, we have scheduled his surgery for September 28th. I am NOT looking forward to it at all.