The Effects of Sleep Deprivation

If I had done the sleep log inventory on last night, it would have looked like this:
AWAKE ALL FREAKIN' NIGHT.

There are consequences of not getting any sleep. Chloe has been a hot teary-eyed mess since she got out of bed. Lying on the floor, crying, unable to sooth, she's a wreck. While trying to administer some baby ibuprofen to Annie last night, I got some in my eye. Still not sure how. At one point last night I collapsed. Literally. My muscles and my body are so tired, I fell to the floor and hit the wall in the hallway. Too many days of too little sleep (and I should add that I go to bed at 7:30pm). I can't take it any more.
But, in the name of gentle parenting, I'll give it 10 more days. I'm not sure where I'll find the strength, but I'll try Pantley's suggestions (one of the suggestions worked once last night!) and if I don't see improvement in 10 days, it's tough love and she'll have to cry. Pantley says to help baby sleep longer in the night it's either time or tears. Unfortunately, we are all running out of time (and patience).

Sleepless

So everyone is aware that when you have a baby, there are many sleepless nights ahead. But one would expect that by 7 1/2 months, that baby would wake up less frequently and Mommy, Daddy and Big Sister would all be sleeping pretty much through the night (with one perhaps two interruptions). The thing is, when Annie was first born, she was an awesome sleeper. I would have to wake her up to feed her after 4-5 hour stretch. Now I would LOVE for her to sleep that long!
As a remedy to our sleepless nights, I ordered the book, The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. One of the first steps in our attempt to get Annie to sleep longer is to take a sleep/nap inventory. Many children have a difficult time sleeping for longer stretches because they go to bed over-tired and can't get settled. So yesterday I did the sleeping inventory. Here's what our day looked like (keeping in mind we haven't fully adjusted to central time after arriving home from England on Wednesday and Annie has a bit of a cough/cold):
5am - Awake for the day
6:30 - 8:30 - Nap #1
11:30 - 1 - Nap #2
3:45 - attempt at another nap as she was clearly tired but she didn't go down.
4:30 start winding down for the day with supper, bath with big sister, jammies, cuddle with Mommy in the rocking chair, 3 books, final nursing session.
5:10 - Asleep for the night.
Decent, right? Yes, it's a bit early of a wake-up time and bedtime, but like I said, we haven't fully adjusted from England time. But two good naps. A big improvement already from her 45 min. power naps. According to Pantley, any nap under an hour doesn't count. It may sustain a baby, but it doesn't really refresh her.
So here was our night (heaven help me):
7:40pm - cry. But she went back to sleep on her own.
8:40pm - cry. I went in to comfort her. She nursed for a few minutes.
10pm - cry. But went back to sleep on her own.
12:15am - yell. She had crawled her way to the corner of the crib and her head was hitting the bumper pad. I nursed her for a few minutes to get her back to sleep.
4:15am - cry. Nursed her for 10 min and thought she would go back to sleep. About 4:30am Daddy tried rocking her back to sleep. Apparently she was up for the day despite clearly being tired. Then she began a terrible coughing fit which solidified the fact that she wasn't going back to sleep.

So all in all, she slept for 11 hours with her longest stretch of sleep being almost 4 hours. Her nighttime and naptime sleep equals 14.5 hours which is technically "enough" sleep.
Unfortunately, during Annie's 4 hour stretch of sleep, I was up with Chloe from 1:15-2:15am because she's not feeling well. So Mommy's longest stretch of sleep was 2 hours. No wonder I'm so tired all the time. And the fact yesterday I had a 102 degree fever along with chills, a cough, and muscle fatigue, I feel close to death.

As I read through the book and start to implement some of her ideas (the big one needs to be to break the association between nursing and sleeping) the hope is that she'll (and the rest of us too will) start sleeping in longer stretches. If not, Daddy says she has to cry-it-out :(
Wish us luck!

Winter

Winter is definitely among us up in the Frozen Tundra. Although the wind can be biting, there is something so magical about this time of year. When the snowflakes fall and you feel like you're standing in the middle of a snowglobe or when your baby is infatuated with the beautifully-lit twinkle lights around the fireplace, one realizes the wonder of it all.
Along with putting up our little Christmas tree and hanging our stockings on the fireplace, we have been digging into our Christmas and Winter storybooks. Some favorites include Olive, the Other Reindeer, a very cute story about a dog named Olive who goes to the North Pole to help Santa on Christmas Eve, The Polar Express, a truly magical story of child-like belief about a boy who gets to ride on a train to the North Pole and receives the first gift of Christmas, and Mickey's Christmas Carol, the Disney version of the Charles Dicken's classic.
We've also been doing a lot of winter-themed arts and crafts. We've made a snowman, a santa, and a cute reindeer using the tracings of Chloe's footprint (for the face) and hand prints (for the antlers). Yesterday we made blue play-doh and that occupied us for most of the afternoon.
Because of the freezing temps, we've not had many chances to play outdoors but we try to go during Annie's naps. Yesterday we pulled the sled around the yard, first me giving Chloe rides and then her giving her doll a ride. After the sled was put away, we decided to do some digging in the snow. Chloe informed me that she was filling up her bucket "as a present for Santa and the reindeer." Then she asked me, "Mommy, do you think Santa will be surprised by the present?"

Snow Much Fun!

Winter in the Frozen Tundra can be unbearably cold but can also be a ton of fun! Our first snowfall of the season came on November 13 and we were graced with 11 inches of sopping white slushy snow. Thankfully the temperatures were only slightly below freezing (about 30 degrees F) which is perfect snowman making weather; not too cold that it's comfortable being outside, but cold enough that the snow stays! Chloe helped Daddy shovel and the next day, she and I went outside to build her first snowgirl!

Chloe in her deer stalker

Dressed for the snow!

Mommy and Chloe building the snowgirl, complete with carrot nose

6 Month Stats

16 pounds 7 ounces (60%)
27 inches long (90 percentile)
Annie's comfortably wearing 9 month clothes and 12 month pajamas and I've had to extend two of her diapers to accommodate her growing torso.
It's difficult for me to remember all that has happened in this past month because of the sleep deprivation we're all experiencing. Every three or four nights, Annie will awake just once or twice and that is her saving grace because the rest of the week, she feels the need to be freakishly awake. The other night, after putting her down at 7, she woke up at 9:30pm and didn't go back to sleep until after 2am! Will and I tried EVERYTHING to get this child back to sleep, but she just resisted. I'm not a fan of letting babies cry-it-out to learn to put themselves to sleep but we are looking for alternative solutions so everyone can have a better night sleep.
Perhaps the latest development has been Annie's interest tn toys. She loves toys! Especially ones that sing (like her glow worm) or ones small enough to hold and chew on (like her little pink duck). She's also getting really strong and wants to learn how to move and crawl. She is still the recipient of loads of attention and admiration wherever we go.

Even after a terrible night's sleep, all she does is look at us with her big blue eyes and smile her big Annie smile and all the frustration melts.

Success

I've finally got it down.
No, not this whole parenting thing.
I'm talking about the diaper sprayer.
When we first started using cloth, I thought I was the cloth diapering queen bee. "Cloth is the easiest, most convenient, and economical system. Who wouldn't want to use cloth diapers?"

And then Annie started eating solids foods.

You see, when babies are exclusively breastfed, the poop is water soluble which means that regardless of what's in the diaper, you don't have to do anything with it. No rinsing, sloshing, or remotely touching what just came out of your baby's backside. So you throw it in the wash and the diapers come out squeaky clean.
But then around the age of 5 or 6 months, babies need a bit more in their diet besides breast milk. And of course, what goes in the mouth, must come out on the other side.
And it's gross. And stinky. And makes this mama want to gag.
So a friend of mine suggested an investment in the bumGenius diaper sprayer. It was $45 but worth every penny. My awesome and handy husband hooked it up to the toilet and it reminds me of my time in Brazil when we had bidets in our bathroom.


Here's how it works:
Baby poos in the diaper. (since Annie's poo is still a bit like clay, there's nothing to shake off into the toilet). I take the diaper to the toilet and spray off into the toilet as much yucky stuff as I can. I put the wet diaper into the diaper pail until it's ready to be washed in the machine.
Sounds easy, right? Well, the first few times using this new gadget, I had the angle all wrong and ended up getting slashback. Major yuck. But today, I finally had success! I got all the poo off without getting anything on my pants or shoes or floor or the wall!!!
I guess I can go back to being Cloth Diapering Queen Bee now.

5 Months!

This has been quite the busy month for little Miss Annie! During her fourth month, she conquered many milestones including her two new favorite things: rolling over with ease from tummy to back and discovering and chewing on her toes. She actually rolled over for the first time when she was two months old, but now she does it easily and almost automatically when placed on her tummy during play time. I think she likes the freedom to roll on her command because she'll roll over and then look up and smile her big Annie smile!


She's sitting up on her own and getting stronger everyday. I still put the boppy pillow around her in case she wobbles, but she's fairly sturdy on her own. This is especially fun in the bath. Bath time now includes lots of splashing in the water!
Last week, she had her first food. We tried the rice cereal, but every time the spoon went near her mouth, she started to cry. So we forwent the rice cereal and went straight to food. Mmmmm.... avacado! She gobbled it up on the first sitting and has proven to be a lover of food. She's now had avacado and this week has tried butternut squash. I spent an afternoon making and freezing lots of babyfood so we're set for at least month or two!
A miracle happened this month: Annie fell asleep in the car! She still mostly dislikes the car, but it's improving and a few times this month, she has actually napped in the car. With driving three days a week to and from Chloe's preschool, Annie is forced to endure the car for forty minutes daily (10 minutes there/10 minutes back home twice per day). And because of the schedule, sometimes her nap time is delayed or interrupted because of the commute. As a result, she has fallen asleep in the car; something I never thought I'd see. And she looks precious all snuggled with her blanket clutching her teething toy.
I think I can officially say we're obsessed with our baby. I want her to be this age forever! She's so sweet and snuggly and her little chubby rolls are absolutely edible! She's 100% kissable and loveable and I can't get enough of her! She makes me smile every moment I think of her or look at her. She's just cutie-licious!