Reality Sets In

So we've been (or more specifically I) kind of stressed out about our daycare situation.  You may recall that back in SEPTEMBER we put down our deposit and got our name on the waiting list at our daycare after visiting a few different ones and deciding this one was the one.  They told us to give them a call when Allie was born to check in and that was pretty much it.

Well, after Allie was born called twice and stopped in once and they were unable to tell us whether we were officially in or not, which had me pretty freaked out.  We basically have no back up plan because we didn't know we needed one when we signed up with them.  I was never given any impression that it would be a problem when I was only 16 weeks pregnant when we chose them.

Luckily Greg kind of took control and suggested we stop in together to get a real answer of whether we were in or not so we could start looking into other options if necessary, since I go back to work in July and that's coming up.

Turns out the way they do their waiting list is to basically match up a baby with a time slot the parents asked for when it opens up.  So say you tell them you want June 15th?  Well they will get you in then if there is a spot open then, but if one opens up like June 1st and there is someone after you on the waiting list that wanted June 1st, they would actually call them to put them in that spot without even checking with you first to see if you wanted it even though you were before them on the list.  Weird right?  So I'm glad we went in and figured that out, because they had a spot open July 1st, and even though I don't go back to work til later in July, we decided to take that spot, otherwise we might not have one.

Reality sets in.  My daughter is going to daycare.

So, Allie can start daycare on July 1st.  I'm not sure how we're going to handle that yet.  I could go back to work early.  Hmm, not sure about that.  I would have the leave I would have used those weeks for later if I did that, which would be nice, but that means I'm cutting my maternity leave almost three weeks short.  I think what I will probably do is slowly transition Allie into daycare.  I can either drop her off half days or whole days, but only part of the week instead of all of it so we can both get used to the idea.  I don't think they really care as long as we pay for a full week.

July 1st is only like 7-8 weeks away.  Yikes.  Time to start thinking about life when I go back to work.  How will it be to be away from Allie all day knowing someone else is holding her, seeing her progress, catching her smiles, watching her sleep, and enjoying her?  Ugh.  That does kind of kill me.  Will I feel like life is more balanced with work and a baby?  I don't know yet.

I do know that I never felt like someone who always wanted to be a stay at home mom.  Don't kill me for saying that, because it doesn't mean I didn't really really want to have kids and be a mother.  I think it's great for people who have always wanted to stay home with kids, and totally admire that, I just don't know that I am completely cut out to do it the way I feel like some people are.  Some people exude that awesome stay at home mom confidence and are naturals with kids, and I don't think I'm one of them.  I wanted to be a  mom, yes, but not necessarily a mom without a career too.  I love being home with Allie more than maybe I thought I would and I think I'm doing a good job with her, but I don't know that I'm a complete natural with babies either.  I don't always know what to do with Allie to stimulate her (thanks for teaching me some things Gymboree!).  Sometimes I think daycare will be good for her because the people there are professionally trained to handle children, where as I am just figuring it out as I go along.  Maybe it's good for her to have that some of the day.

Part of me feels unfulfilled with our days at home.  I kind of hate myself for saying that, because I love being with Allie.  I just don't feel like I accomplish much besides loads of laundry, walks, and maybe lunches out with friends.  I know that's stupid to say though because the time I am spending with my baby is worth more than gold, and it's not about accomplishing tasks, it's about building a relationship with my baby.  Still, I think because I'm older, have been working so long, and am so established in my job and with my co-workers, it feels like it would be too weird to give up the work part of my life.  I'm not curing cancer, but I do get a certain satisfaction from my job.  I kind of feel like I wouldn't be me anymore if I didn't have that.  I am in a good place with my job would miss it if I were not to have that anymore.  And it is a lot to be a mom for hours and days in a row without Allie's dad coming home to give me some relief at night and share in the care.

Still, we have the special mother/daughter bond, and it scares me to interrupt that.  Especially with a husband that is away so much, I feel like I'm the only person on the planet that knows my daughter.  I filled out the daycare paperwork and there was a lot about Allie and her likes and dislikes.  How can I possibly explain every little detail of her personality?  I feel like we just have this special sync where I can look at her and can tell what she needs or she can tell me, all with out words.  How can I explain that to a daycare caregiver?  I know they will probably figure it out like they have with all the other babies, but right now is a special time because only she and I have that.

Being a mother is weird because on one hand you are overwhelmed by how much the baby NEEDS you, but on the other hand you get sort of a secret satisfaction from the fact that they need YOU.  At least I do.  I like that she doesn't have that with anyone else, and it scares me that she will bond with daycare people the way we have a bond.  I want it to only be with me.

I also worry that on days that I work I won't feel like I have enough time with her.  I'll only have a few hours in the evening after work before she goes to bed and I'll miss most of her day.  Ugh.

I don't know, it's such a confusing mix of emotions.  I totally get the debate of staying home vs. working and why it's so hard to know what to do or how to "have it all".  I think I'm just trying to figure out what is best for me and my family considering all aspects.

While my husband's job is going a lot better, his merger is still shaking out, and I still worry about furlough or something happening and me not having a job for us to rely on, even though right now we don't necessarily need my income.  I also have good benefits and retirement, which is something to think about, that we'd lose if I wasn't working.

I think I'm doing the right thing to at least try going back to work and see how life is at work with Allie at daycare.  I can't say that I'm sure it's the right decision and that I might change my mind and decide to go back to being home with her, but I think it's worth trying life with me back at work to see if that works for us.

I also need to start figuring out things like breastfeeding while working.  I've frozen a bunch of milk, but I need to start coming up with a game plan on how I'm going to really do pumping and working.  Or am I going to start giving her formula too?  I don't know yet.  I have to figure that out.  I've taken for granted that I can just offer a boob anytime.  She's never had formula, so if I might want to give her some, I have to introduce it at some point.  I actually have to plan for 9-10 hours away from her every day and how she's going to be fed, and I kind of don't know where to begin.  Yike.

I want to do more visits to Hilton Head before going back to work too.

It's time to think about what I want to do with Allie before life changes to a totally different schedule.  Thinking about life after maternity leave is kind of overwhelming.  For now I will just snuggle my baby  and enjoy my time with her while she's completely available to me.

Allie rocking tummy time.

Three Month Favorites

Now that we're three months in I figured I would do a new baby favorites post.  Here are some things we've found to be really useful in the past 3 months.

Swaddle Me sleep sacks.  We have been using these for a while now and they work great to get Allie to sleep long stretches at night.  The only drawback is that they don't work that well in the crib for us, but with the Pack N Play bassinet, they are awesome.  I recently bought the Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit, after hearing about them on Megan's blog, to try for crib sleeping and she does nap well in it, but I haven't bitten the bullet yet and used it during nighttime in the crib.

Pottery Barn lamb rattle.  Allie loves this thing.  It's almost a sure way to get her to crack a smile.  I use it on the changing table and have started even bringing it with us places because she loves it when you touch her cheek with it and rattle it in front of her.

Advent 0-6 pacifiers.  She really doesn't seem to like any other ones but these, which surprised me since my brother, my niece, and I were all diehard Nuk users.  I have at least two with me at all times.

Bibs.  I recently added some of these Tommee Tippee ones to our collection after seeing them in Target.  We don't have as many issues with spit up as we used to, but I still usually put a bib on Allie after she eats just in case (hence why she has one on in many pictures).  I like these ones though because they have a thick neck rim so spit up doesn't get between her and the bib.  I am now that person whose baby has a bib on in every picture.  You don't get it til you have a baby and they start spitting up on everything.  Necessary!

Graco strollers.  We now have both the Graco Fast Action Fold Sport Click Connect and the Fast Action Fold Jogger.  Which go with our car seat (the Graco Click Connect 40).  I had wanted to get the BOB Revolution for my jogging stroller, but as far as I know, it still isn't compatible with my car seat (Click Connect 40 can only be used with other Click Connect 40 products).  I am very pleased with this jogging stroller so far though- it's really smooth and it's so easy to click the car seat into.  It can also be used without the car seat.  I usually keep the jogger at our house in the garage to use for walks or runs from the house and the other stroller in my car for when I need one when I'm out.

Baby sunglasses.  Nuf said!  (These are from the Carter's Outlet).

Lullaby CDs.  We have the Jim Brickman piano lullabies CD and the Coldplay Rockabye Baby CD.  Both are in constant rotation in my car and are great for getting Allie to go to sleep or calming her down if she's fussy in the car.  I will say I'm a little sick of both of them right now though because I play them so much!

Fisher Price Infant to Toddler Rocker.  This is a new favorite.  Even though we have a swing, a bouncer, a Rock N Play, and seemingly a million different devices that seem similar to this, Allie really seems to like this thing.  I actually just took it out of the box and assembled it recently, after it had been sitting in my dining room unopened, because I had debated trying to return it somewhere since we have so many similar devices.  I decided I should keep it though because it was a gift from several co-workers.  Glad I kept it because she loves the vibration and the animals hanging from the bar above.  The turtle plays a song when you pull on it and she loves it!  Also, apparently it can be used til she's a toddler as a chair, so hopefully it'll be used for a while.

Our changing table area.  I know a lot of people don't end up using their changing tables, but I ALWAYS use mine.  I think it's great and Allie LOVES being on it and looking at her mirror and lanterns.  I even take her there to calm her down if she's upset, because it's her happy place.  I definitely suggest putting stuff above your changing table for the baby to look at!

I just took a look at my newborn list and most of the stuff on there is still really useful to us.

We definitely use a million burp clothes a day.
Still prefer Pampers (although we usually buy whatever is on sale).
Still use and love the Mustela shampoo.
We use the Aden and Anais blankets more than the heavier blankets now that it's warm out.  I always have one draped over my stroller to protect Allie from the sun when we go for walks.  The heavy blankets are great for playing on the floor though.

As for the not useful stuff-
Baby socks became useful once we actually started dressing her in something other than sleepers.  Lately she's been in a lot of summery clothing so she's been going barefoot a lot, but we had a phase when she was in lots of onesies, pants, and socks, so they were great for that period of time.  They are definitely hard to keep on though!
Still not using the Itzbeen timer.
We occasionally use the swing, but she doesn't love it.
As I mentioned, we eventually did start using the Swaddle Me's and those are great.  I have a Miracle Blanket and it's too much work to try and fold all that fabric under her arms and around her, so I prefer the ease of the velcro since I'm usually swaddling her when she's half asleep and trying not to wake her up.

That's about it for now!

Thoughts on My First Mother's Day

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day.  Greg was away so it didn't involve a fancy breakfast, a big gift, or day spent all together (we are taking a family trip soon and I am getting a spa treatment, so he did give me something, in case you are wondering).  In fact it was the opposite- a pretty anti-climactic day consisting of a morning run, watching CBS this morning, a BLT for lunch, a trip to Wal-Mart, and many diapers changed.

But the enormity of the day didn't escape me.  I have wanted to be a mother all my life and here I am, finally living that dream.  I snuggled my baby a little more and a little longer yesterday.  I played a little longer on the floor with her.  I stared at her adorable face a little longer.  I smelled her baby head more than I usually do (which who knew was even possible).  I talked to her a lot, and told her how much I had wanted her and how much I loved her.  I sang stupid songs to her to make her smile even more.  I missed her while she was napping in the next room.

I just really basked in the knowledge that I have a daughter now, something I have wanted for so long.  I'm so happy that my struggles in trying to conceive ended with this specific baby.  I couldn't imagine loving a baby more.  She is amazing.  I wish that anyone still struggling will someday have this dream come true and know this happiness, and share with the rest of the mothers out there that know this amazing joy.

Twelve Weeks

Wow, I can't believe Allie is already three months old!  Well twelve weeks.  Greg tells me she won't be three months til 5/13 since she was born on 2/13.  Confusing.  I'm just going with it being about 3 months now.

She gets more fun every day and I feel like I'm falling more and more in love with her.  I can't get enough of her cute face and sweet disposition.  I constantly sit and stare at all her cute little baby parts.  She is an awesome baby!  I feel really lucky.

At three months she is:

-Wearing mostly 0-3 or 3M clothes.
-In size 1 diapers
-About 12 lbs (by my scale- holding her)

She can grasp things pretty well now, like rattles, my hair, her pacifier (she pulls it out of her mouth and holds it).

Allie slept through the night twice this week!  The first night she went down around 9pm, but we watched her flail around some on the monitor so she really went to sleep closer to 9:45pm.  She slept til 6:30am.  She slept about the same amount the second night.  We'll see if this continues  I'm pretty amazed!  Greg set up our air purifier in the bedroom the night she first slept through, and I think maybe it's because of the "white noise" coming from it.  It's different from her usual white noise we use on the baby monitor and I think it's more soothing to her.  All I know is that we'll be using that where she is sleeping if this trend continues.

We're still not doing crib sleeping except for some naps.  Naps are still all over the place.  I don't notice much of a pattern in terms of when she naps except that she usually takes at least one nap in the morning, then maybe a longish one in the middle of the day, and then probably another one in the afternoon, but she also has a couple others in there that are shorter.  They are no where near regular or at certain times though, and the length of them varies wildly.  I admit that I'm not doing a great job at enforcing or tracking them.  Sometimes Allie falls asleep on me and I make zero attempt to put her in the crib or a more appropriate location, because I just love holding her, watching her, and kissing her while she's sleeping.  I also don't plan my day around her potential naps, so when she has long ones it's still usually when I take her out in the middle of the day.

Passed out on the boppy lounger.

Allie likes:  diaper changes, the changing table (she loves being on it, looking around, kicking, smiling, playing with rattles), her play mat, staring at me, listening to me sing and talk to her, staring at other babies, the squeeker on her firefly toy, eating, taking her Vitamin D

Allie dislikes:  having a dirty diaper, being hungry, being under or over stimulated, being in the car seat when she's not sleeping in it.

Allie is pretty happy these days.  She has the occasional angry-cry meltdown, but they are less frequent now and I feel like she rarely cries in general, she mainly cries if she's just really upset and that's what I refer to as the mad/angry cry.  It usually kind of comes out of nowhere.

Gymboree is still going pretty well.  She did two classes this week and did pretty good.  She fell asleep at the end of the first one and had a meltdown at the end of the second, but overall she seems to like it.  I think she mainly likes seeing the other babies.  Most of the time I have trouble getting her to look at me because she's staring at the baby next to her.

We got out the jogging stroller yesterday and decided to take it for a test walk.  I have decided that running on flat even pavement is no more jarring (probably less) than walking on the uneven sidewalk, so I think I am going to do some careful, slow running with Allie in the jogging stroller (in her car seat).  I know it's a subject of a lot of debate but my gut says that will be ok and I'll be really careful.  Heck, I took her into Target with her car seat in a shopping cart the other day and she was bouncing all over the place in their parking lot, so I feel like as long as the pavement is smooth, this should not be a problem.

I feel like I've gotten the hang of being a mom for the most part.  This past week I struggled some with the idea that I am doing it all,  in terms of Allie, and it caused me to melt down a little.  Greg is gone a lot and the past couple weeks he has had a nasty cold and not wanted to get to close to Allie, so other than being at my parents and having them help me, I haven't had a ton of help or relief in taking care of Allie.  She is a fairly easy baby, but still, it's hard to always be "on".  It's weird because I want to do it all, but at the same time, it's a lot.  We are hoping Greg is better soon so that he can participate more because aside from wanting more help with Allie, I really think they are missing out on bonding.

Anyway, it's been a great three months, and I look forward to the next three!  I love this girl so much!

Eleven Weeks

Hey there!  I've said before and I'll say it again, I have a hard time finding time to blog these days!  I really have to look for time to do it and when I do, I grab my IPhone and look to see what pictures I have on there that I can use.  Gone are the days of me being really conscious of taking pictures specifically for posts.  I've used the DSLR for pictures of Allie occasionally, but it's rare.  I can't remember the last time I actually used it for food or anything else.

Anyway, we passed eleven weeks yesterday and Allie is doing well!

Knock on wood, but she seems to have a great immune system like I do, and managed to not get Greg's horrendous cold that caused him to call in sick, come home, and pollute the house with his germs.  I think in the future we may have him stay at his Houston apartment if he gets that sick again because I was really worried Allie and I were going to get it.  Hopefully my breast milk is giving her great anti-bodies.

After some successful napping in the crib, we decided to give putting Allie in the crib at night a try this week and it didn't go that well.  The first night wasn't too terrible for the first half of the night, but after she woke up for her night feeding, I had a really hard time getting her back to sleep and I was really cranky about my disrupted sleep the next day.  The second night neither Allie or I slept much for the first three hours, so I gave up and put her back in the bassinet for the rest of the night, not wanting a repeat of the first night.  The third night I decided I wasn't ready for crib training yet and put her back in her bassinet.  As if to confirm that she isn't ready yet, she slept her longest stretch ever- from about 9pm til 5am in the bassinet.  So I think we are still a little ways out on crib sleeping.

We did our second Gymboree class on Monday and Allie did SO WELL!  She managed to stay awake, alert, and happy the entire class and impressed all the rest of the five month olds and their parents that were in our class.  I think she's really curious about sensory stuff, and seems to love music, physical touch, and all the interaction she gets in the class, so I'm glad we are doing it.

Allie is getting more and more funny and interactive with her smiles.  I think she's laughing sometimes, but it's hard to tell.  She definitely makes tons of cute sounds and coos and some sound like a laugh.  It's so cute.  It's also become obvious to me that she knows ME, and smiles specifically for me.  She's been doing that a lot while my parents are holding her and I walk over.  Heart melting :)

Greg has seven days in a row of work from going from April in to May, so we decided to head back down to Hilton Head and hang out with the grandparents for a couple days this week so I wouldn't be flying solo the whole time.

It was also my birthday on Tuesday, so it was great to celebrate with my family.  My mom made me steamed lobster and a huge strawberry shortcake.  It was awesome!!

We have been going for walks around the plantation, my favorite place for walks!

The weather hasn't been as good as it could be- kinda cooler and rainy at times, but we're still having a good time with my parents.

We went to the outlets (they have Janie and Jack, Gymboree, Carters, and Children's Place = dangerous!) and got Allie her first pair of sunglasses yesterday.

Too cute!  She also got a bathing suit and cover up to use later in the summer.  Couldn't resist!

Allie has been sleeping well in the Rock N Play while we're here, maintaining her up once a night schedule.  I'm also getting a lot of use out of our monitor, putting her to bed in the guest room and using it to track her from the living room on my IPad.  A lot of people have asked how I like our baby monitor (made by Withings), which was one of the items Greg picked out because it can be used remotely from the internet to view the baby.  The catch is that you have to use a computer, IPad, or IPhone, it doesn't have a separate handheld viewing device like say the Summer Infant one or others that many people use.  I wasn't sure how I'd like this, but after using it a bunch this week, I actually like it fine.  My only gripe is that it's hard to hear Allie because if you use the white noise on it, which we do, you can't hear much else besides the white noise.  For viewing it works really good though, and we really like that the white noise goes as long as you want.

We've been enjoying some lunches out and dinners in while here.  I always eat well when I'm down here!  Today we tried a new wine bar and I got a Cuban sandwich and black bean soup combo and split and Allagash White beer with my mom.  Delish!

Wow, a food picture!

Working out is going ok.  I didn't run or go to yoga while Greg was home sick last week because he didn't want me to leave Allie alone with him, so that was a bummer, but I did get in walks most days as usual.  I did go for a run here the other day (about 2-3 miles), but am primarily walking this week as well.  It's occurred to me that it is probably going to be a long time til I can race again.  I really can't count on consistent training and further more, I would have to line up someone to watch Allie during the actual race because I can't count on Greg being home on a race day, so it's hard to plan anything.  I'm a little bummed to be so far out of the running/racing loop, but it's worth it to be with Allie.  I've been lucky enough to loose pretty much all my baby weight walking and doing minimal running and yoga, so I really can't complain.  I mainly just miss the fun of training and running the race.  I hope eventually I'll be able to get back to it at a more intense level.

Anyway, it's been another fun week.  I can't believe Allie will be three months old in a matter of days!

Ten Weeks

Allie is now ten weeks old!

This was a big week of firsts for us.  We took our first road trip as a family- to Hilton Head!  The trip is about three and a half hours from home and we were curious to see how she'd do in the car that long.  I had a hunch that if we left late morning and got there early afternoon she'd do ok since I already know I have her out during the day a lot at that time and she usually sleeps through car rides, lunches, and even play dates, sometimes almost three hours.  Still, she's older now then when I first got away with those long stretches and sometimes she's not asleep for that long, so I wasn't sure she'd make it without some kind of meltdown on the way.

Aside from worrying how Allie would do on the ride there, I also wondered how I would go about feeding her.  I decided to just wing it instead of bringing a pumped bottle like I often do when I'm out with her for a while.  She slept til the halfway point when we stopped the car for lunch.  The stop had a good back area where we could park, so I breast-fed her in the car since she woke up when we pulled off the exit and I figured she was hungry.  That was my first time breastfeeding her in the car.  I've actually gotten more comfortable feeding her with no pillow now, so I just draped a blanket over us and she did great.  We didn't even make a big mess!  Feeding her halfway worked well and she slept the rest of the way after I fed her.  Success!  Later during the visit, I also took her out during lunch out to feed her in the car when she got cranky, and that also went well.  It's nice knowing I can do this now.

Allie got to meet her Aunt Ashley and cousin Avery for the first time this week.

Avery read a book to Allie :)

We took some really cute pictures of the girls in matching outfits that Ashley got them.  They are exactly a year and a half apart in age and I think someday they'll be good buddies.  We may have added major confusion to our family name situation though.  We were constantly calling Avery, Ashley, or Allie the wrong name all week.  Oops!

We also took Allie to the beach for the first time.  She spent most of the time in my lap or in the Ergo walking the beach.

Yes, we still have a dog...

I had worried about the trip disrupting what little sleep pattern we do have, but she was the same on the trip as she is at home- up about once a night.  We brought our Pack N Play so her sleep spot would be the same as usual, that probably helped.  I think also filling the day with stimulation from my family helped her to sleep well at night.

The trip was a pretty big success.  I would say Allie was happier and less fussy than usual.  I swear no one believes me when I say she can be fussy because she rarely is when she's around people.  It probably helped having her G-ma (my mom) around a lot to dote on her.

We only had two nights there because of Greg's schedule, but I definitely plan on going back down to spend longer now that we know she can handle the car trip and slept okay away from home, so I plan on going back in a couple weeks.  I want to take advantage of the extra Hilton Head time while I'm on maternity leave!

Allie also did her first Gymboree class this week.  Some of my friends mentioned Gymboree classes and I thought it was the perfect thing for me to do with Allie while I'm still on maternity leave since they have classes for babies Allie's age.

They have Play and Learn classes for babies 0-6 months and you can try the first class free.  We did some sensory things, sang, did tummy time, puppets, and other baby friendly activities.  Allie really seemed to like the first half then had kind of a meltdown during the second half.  I didn't time her feedings very well, so she may have been hungry.  I tried giving her a pumped bottle, but she wasn't really into it.  I think it will still work out though if I plan my morning feedings more strategically next time.  I thought the class was great for Allie and really enjoyed doing the activities with her.  I signed us up for a membership.  I am looking forward to seeing how she progresses with it.

I also discovered that Allie can grip and shake her rattle this week!  She loves getting her diaper changed now (oh how things have changed), and I handed her a rattle and she was holding and shaking it.  I was so excited I did Facetime with my parents to show them!

I think I only got one run in this week and no yoga because of the Hilton Head trip, but I did walk a lot including a long 4ish miler in Hilton Head, which was glorious.  I loved showing Allie my favorite place :)

One other thing- we have a jogging stroller now, but I need advice on when I can start using it.  It works with our car seat, so I was hoping I could click it in and go for a run with Allie sometime, but my pediatrician recommends waiting til she is NINE months old.  This seems like a long time to wait to me.  At that point I can probably have her in it without the car seat, which kind of defeats the purpose of the stroller we chose (since it's compatible with our car seat).  I was hoping to run with her while I'm still on maternity leave.  I obviously don't want to injure her in any way, but I don't see how it would be any worse for her than the car as long as I run on a flat surface and am careful.  It would greatly increase my ability to run more if I could use the jogging stroller with her, since right now I can only do it like once a week when Greg is home.  Thoughts/experiences?

Eight-Nine Weeks

Wow, I can't believe it's been two months since my baby was born!  My maternity leave is 1/3 over already!  Sad!

We might have turned a bit of a corner.  I think our effort to establish a bedtime routine is paying off, because Allie started sleeping til about 3:30-4am most nights.  We usually start the routine somewhere between 7:30pm and 8:30pm.  Every other night we do a bath, and then we put her jammies on, read her a book, snuggle her a bit til she seems sleepy, then swaddle her and put her in the bassinet with white noise on.  She actually falls asleep anywhere between 9pm-10pmish.  She is really good about going to sleep on her own, even if she's still awake when we put her in the bassinet.  The side effect to this, is that now that she's going about 6-7 hours without eating at night, my boobs are adjusting (whoa engorgement again)!  I actually think she might be able to go slightly longer, but if I wake up, feel engorged, and hear her fussing, I usually get up and feed her.  The other issue is that I'm rested enough that I have a hard time going back to sleep at 4-5am when I'm done changing and feeding her.  Before when she was up more, I'd still be so tired that I'd usually fall back asleep pretty easily.  I'm a lighter sleeper in the morning, so this is more difficult for me now.  Still, I think this is a really good thing- that she's going to sleep fairly consistently and sleeping longer stretches now.

We need to work on napping.  I started trying to track naps to see when she seems to be sleeping, but part of it is our fault because we often take her out to do things and when we do she falls asleep in the car seat for a long nap, so we don't really know when she would naturally choose to nap if we let her dictate the schedule.  We also need to figure out when we are going to transition her to the crib.  We keep talking about doing it, but then just keep defaulting to the Pack N Play bassinet because we know she sleeps fine there.  I did try having her do a morning nap in the crib a couple times this week and it went pretty well.  I saw that she was getting tired, took her in there and she slept about 30-45 minutes a couple times.  So we're making some progress.

I waited to post this because Allie had her two month pediatrician appointment today (she will be nine weeks tomorrow).  She is still about the same on her percentiles- still 75th for head circumference, 50th for height, and about 25th for weight.  She's 22 inches long and weights 10 lbs 7oz now.  The doctor was very happy with her stats.  She's definitely in size 1 diapers and I have now put pretty much all her newborn clothes away, so she's in mostly 0-3, and a few 3M outfits that run small or are a little big on her.  I feel like she's chunking up!

Love her long eye lashes!

Allie now has a lot of days where she is happier a lot more during the day which is awesome.  This is probably my favorite part about her growing.  I love the smiles and sounds she is making.  It's fun to be able to interact with her.  I feel like we're in kind of a fun phase because she's still a little baby, but she's getting more happy and interactive.  She likes it when I talk to her and sing to her, and sit with her on the floor while she does tummy time.  I also carry her around and tell her what things are and she seems pretty mesmerized.

She still has her share of melt downs though.  If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen a bunch of whiny tweets on Sunday when we were having a rough day.  She's starting to be awake more in the car now, so it's not as much of a sure thing that I can take her somewhere and rely on her to fall asleep in the car and stay asleep.  I've had my share of car trips where she was screaming in the back til I could stop and calm her down.  She usually does sleep in the car, and in the car seat for a while after, if it's between 10am-2pm, but after that I don't count on it.  She also sometimes has meltdowns around 3-4pm at home when she is fed, changed, stimulated, and nothing really calms her down. I find that rocking her and stroking her back and whispering or singing to her is the best bet til she calms down.  I hate those times though, it breaks my heart!

We try to do tummy time a bunch of times a day but usually it only last a few minutes each time.  I feel like she tolerates it pretty well though, and I think she's getting closer to rolling over.  The doctor even commented on it today when she was checking her out and saw her propped up on her arms!  She's still a fan of the play mat and I let her play on that a couple times a day.

As much as I savor every moment and stage with Allie, I really think the best is still yet to come.  I think she's still in that "fourth trimester" fussy stage and I look forward to her being happier and more adjusted to life outside the womb.  This makes me glad that I still have four more months before I have to go back to work, because I really want to spend more time with her during the less fussy more happy time.

As for me, I got a yoga pass at my local studio and have been twice.  Running is only happening when Greg is home so only about once or maybe twice a week if I'm lucky.  My major exercise is still daily walks, weather permitting.  I fit into more of my pre-prenancy clothes now, including a couple pairs of jeans, but most of my clothes fit very differently (hello muffin top!), and I can tell I'm still a long way from the shape I used to be in.  I bought two tankini's for an upcoming trip to Hilton Head, because I am not going anywhere near a bikini any time soon!  Still, I know it could be worse and really it's not that important in the big picture of things- it was totally worth it to have my baby.