I forgot

to say that Alice's first Thanksgiving was spent sleeping in her carseat, sleeping off the vaccinations from the previous day...

Turkey Day and shots

Alice had a visit to the doctor on Wednesday, and she got a bunch of shots. She didn't like any of them. She seems to be thriving and in good health, except for the cold that has infected the whole family.

Her sleep schedule continues to evolve. In fact, we think that some of the evening grumpies were induced by us. About a week ago, we started settling her to bed at 7, and that seems to work pretty well. So it is possible that we kept her up with us during the evening when all she wanted was to go to bed. Other than that, the afternoon nap looks to be regularizing, which is great.

Based on her measurements at the doc, she is average in length, and about 80th percentile in weight.

Every day she is more alert, and we are having a hard time settling her. The doctor said there is a window 8-16 weeks when babies are alert enough that they can't be settled by their parents and they don't know how to settle themselves to sleep. Hopefully this will pass soon.

Thank you, Alice! (Nighty night by 7pm)

Alice reached a major milestone yesterday and last night: a big girl sleep pattern! Alice took a 3.5 hour nap yesterday afternoon, which is somewhat unusual, but not unprecedented. What was new is that her nap coincided with Lizzie's almost perfectly. Eric and I found ourselves with more than three blessed hours of free time in the afternoon. It's amazing how much we accomplished: I set up Lizzie's easel and playroom in the basement, Eric fixed a leak in the car, I reupholstered the footstools, Eric spent more than an hour in the shop... AND the kitchen got clean, laundry was folded, and clutter was corralled. Truly amazing.

Feeling bullish, we then decided to try to settle Alice upstairs at the same time Lizzie worked through her nighttime ritual (bath, books, etc.). Both were tucked in by 6:45pm. We had to go up a few times for each (and a few times for both -- negative complementarities), but no more than half a dozen times, total, and never for more than a few minutes. By 8:30pm both girls were out cold. We enjoyed evening tea in peace for the first time in more than a month. Wow. What a difference.

The tally: Alice slept from 6:45pm-2:30am, woke for about 10 minutes to nurse, fell right back to sleep, and was out until 6:30am, at which point we all got up for the morning. (Lizzie woke once at 4am to pee, used the potty and went right back to sleep until 6:30.) Yay, team!

Coos

Alice has been making lots of coos and gurgles lately. I had forgotten how cute they are. She is also becoming so much more alert and interactive during her play time. On Wednesday, she completed her first observed intentional hand to mouth movement to suck on her fist. She's very strong, and does a great job pushing up during tummy time.

Her sleep schedule is starting to regularize, much to her parents' delight. She's even started soothing herself to sleep, which is great. We still usually have some evening fussies, but its getting better.

Bye for now.

Double Team!

So last night, Lizzie and Alice teamed up for a special Saturday night. We'd actually had pretty smooth sailing until then...

Just as Lizzie was finishing up her bath, Alice decided it was time for dessert. No problem. Eric and I switched off (I'd been doing the bath while he soothed Alice), and I sat down to nurse Alice for a few more minutes. Eric got Lizzie out of the bath, and headed downstairs to get some milk. Lizzie was running around in the buff, as usual, in her usual delay to put on her bedtime diaper and PJs. A minute later (with Alice still nursing), I heard Lizzie say "poop!"

Okay, I figured. She farted or thinks she needs to sit on the potty. (Probably just a rouse to read "go dog go" yet again -- her potty book these days.) "I'll be there in a minute, honey," I called.

Lizzie showed up in the bedroom where Alice and I were sitting. "Poop," very matter of factly. "Okay honey, I'll be there in a minute. Go sit on the potty and I'll be right in."

"Coco!!!" Now with urgency. Hmm... something's wrong. I could hear Eric coming back up the stairs... then whoosh! Barf. Everywhere. I'd say a good 24-30" arc out of Alice, in several rounds, onto everything: rug, rocking chair, me, baby...

"Hey Eric? I could use some help here..."

At the same time, from the other room: "Oh wow Liz! You did poop!" I heard him say. "But next time let's try to put it IN the potty..." It was on the floor by the bed (not the rug, thank goodness).

On my own, I trudged out of the bedroom, dripping in barf (knees to armpits on one side -- pretty nice shot, kiddo!). And on the way to the bathroom I stepped in a stray poop-dollop. I felt the wet in my toes just as Eric said "watch your feet..."

UGH. So yeah, a rockin' Saturday night for us. Alice got a second bath. Lizzie got to stay up a little late, and Eric and I had a chance to spot clean the floors in much of the upstairs. Incredibly, the girls were both tucked into bed and sleeping soundly before 8pm. (Alice woke for her evening grumps shortly later, but that's another matter...) I even got to take a long bubble bath, guilt free. I earned that one.