As I Live and LearnBack   to   My   Universe

Shortly before 4 am I finally figured out the baby's problem keeping her from sleeping long stretches at a time. Teething! I knew she had started, but it didn't occur to me until an extraordinary moment of sleep deprived clarity that perhaps the pain was greater at night. Some baby tylenol and a half hour of coaxing her down from being upset over the pain that woke her, she was asleep, and slept into late morning (likely due to lake of sleep thus far). YAY! Now I know what her being tired and in pain looks like.

I've got her pain cry down, and her tired indications are pretty standard, and the need a new diaper cry. There are still a couple cries I don't know, one I think is her just fussing to be fussing but I'm not sure which it is. I keep forgetting the no eye-contact rule also (eye contact while she's falling asleep or you are trying to lull her to sleep helps to keep her awake).

She's much more grabby today. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of controlling once an object is in her hand, but she is getting to understand that she can grab things and move things. She managed to get her pacifier back into her mouth today! Seems a repeatable thing if the pacifier hasn't traveled very far, but even that is hit or miss as she still has to learn how to get it back into her mouth without turning it improperly.

That baby bouncer seat thing is Great! She starts to wake up, maybe even fussing a bit, and the thing bounces in reaction to her movements and it puts her back to sleep!

She seems to be exploring much more with her hands too. She still explores a lot with her eyes, but the hands are catching up I think. She now allows a blanket on her, but only so she can grab it and play with it. Her hand to mouth coordination isn't great yet, but the "everything goes in my mouth" phase is fast approaching!

Steve and the girls came over. His oldest was wonderful and helpful with the baby once she understood how to behave with her. It was actually very helpful, and she was so good most all day. I promised her as a reward she and I would go out just the two of us one day. Steve made dinner too, yum. But the youngest was CLEARLY jealous, which added complications (she kept taking the baby pacifier, and tried to eat the baby's food and drink from the baby's bottle, she even got into the stroller - which she was too big for - and soon it fell on her). But it was nice to have them around, especially for the first day of work. Even though the kids were distracting, I got a ton of work done. (Yay, now I don't have to worry about work that much for the rest of the week as I got done the big important thing for Thursday).

Boy oh boy, the baby ate a lot today. I've been keeping records of her eating and sleeping to help learn her schedule.

It's also interesting to see all the different parenting styles. I let Steve handle things his way for the most part 'cause I needed to concentrate on work, but a couple things I did "help" him with. But other than that, it is ANNOYING how people keep telling me what's insane and what should be. Yes, sure, this baby's parents have a unique way of handling their child when it comes to sleep and such. But I was left with instructions for her care, and except for one thing that I won't handle, I want to respect the parents' wishes. They already have problems with Grandma contradicting them with their children (and on much more, like punishments and most everything), and with a neighbor who's befriended their oldest. I don't want to be like that. Plus, keeping things as similar as I can to home should help in managing her!

Feelings:
It's so great seeing all the new stuff she's learning and doing every day!