Abi will be so happy

Mommy thought that she had to stop breastfeeding Abi in the short term (but was just told by her doctor that that’s not the case).  Poor Abi had three bottle feedings of formula. The first two (9PM last night and 5AM this morning) went ok, though Abi did try to lunge toward where she would normally get breast milk.  The last one, at 9AM today, was hard.  Mommy had to turn Abi away from her (so Abi would not smell milk so much) and recite nursery rhymes while Abi ate.  She ate a little over 4 ounces, and then went to sleep. It took about 45 minutes for her to get those 4 ounces down (in between fussiness.)

Anyway, she is back to breast milk at her next feeding.  I expect her to be very happy.

The good ladies at La Leche League are quite correct that bottle feeding with formula is a pain.  It is messy, involves measuring and bottle washing, takes a long time, leaves none of Mommy’s hands free, is not as much fun, and apparently does not taste as good as the real thing. Though, I do suspect it would get easier with experience.

Poor Daddy

Abi, the outdoors baby

Abi was pretty rough on Thursday and Friday.  I think it’s because she was woken up early from a few naps, or did not stay asleep long.  The phrase “sleep begets sleep” really applies to her.  I walked her about 9 miles yesterday (Daddy joined us for 2 of them), and she got a few naps in. She slept much better last night and has been happier today.  Today, we walked around Horn Pond.  She was very happy there.  We also discovered that she is much happier when her car window is open than when it is closed.

We also bought her a bumbo seat – stay tuned for pictures.

In other news, she is definitely growing in manual dexterity skills.  She grabs Daddy’s glasses frequently.  Yesterday, she grabbed Daddy’s hair in both hands and pulled herself up.  Poor Daddy.

Today

Though Abi missed two naps today, she had a great time speaking to Grandma Linda and Grand-daddy Michael over video IM for a long time.  She was very talkative too – clearly a “people person”.

Proof that there was life before Abi, pictures from Christmas week2008

Auntie Riva came to visit Mommy & Daddy to spend some time with them before Abi was born.  Abi was about a 6.5 month old fetus in these pictures.

Pictures from this past weekend, kindly provided by Auntie Riva

This past weekend

I do not have time to recount events from last weekend now, so will just publish photos for now.

 

Grandma just sent a great picture of Abi from last weekend

Tracking Abi’s natural rhythms

Mommy has decided that she is going to track Abi’s rhythms, since Mommy is having trouble getting stuff done.  Here is today’s so far:

 

WEDNESDAY – AWAKE TIMES

8:30ish PM (Last night): fall asleep

4-5AM 

6-8:30

9:30ish-11:30ish

1:13-2:45

Wow! – she is sleeping really well today.  Wonder if it is because of the rainy weather.

3:47-6:04

7-9:30 (was overtired)

 

THURSDAY UP TIME

1:30-2 

6-7 

9:45-12:00 (overtired at noon)

1:18-3:00  Awoken at 3:15 by noise

3:15-6 Did not fall asleep deeply at 6, woke up when white noise album played “hair dryer”

6:05-9:30

Some new tricks

Abi has learned some new tricks this past weekend (more on this past weekend in a shortly-forthcoming post).

 

First, she is now “almost sitting” – all by herself.

She is also starting to make clear (through body gestures) when she wants someone to pick her up, and when she doesn’t.  She leaned toward Mommy when she wanted Mommy to take her from someone else’s arms.

Abi also pulls Daddy’s finger into her mouth when she is hungry.  She sucks on it, becomes unhappy that no milk is forthcoming, and then clamps down on it.  Daddy says her bite is painful.

Speaking about biting, she has no teeth so far.  However, one can feel an indentation, on her top gum, that feels like it is between two front teeth.  It feels like the two front teeth will come first.  Will she look like Bugs Bunny?

Much happier now

More standing up

It is official – Abi is done with activity centers that involve laying down.  She is ready to stand, and is just not willing to entertain herself in a horizontal position. Mommy dug through the basement to find a walker shaped like a car.  As you can see, it doesn’t quite work for her.

Mommy & Daddy then went to Babies R Us to find a more suitable device. What did they get?  Tune back in shortly & find out.

Is teething imminent?

Abi has been drooling up a storm.  Last night, Daddy held her against his chest, with her head over her shoulder, and he could feel her drool down his back through his shirt.  She has also been clamping onto Mommy pretty hard during feedings.  There are no signs of teeth on her bottom gums though.

Standing up

Seth reports that Abi is really pushing to stand up.  Give her your hands, and she is going to try really hard to stand up.  I guess it’s just not that interesting to view the world from the floor.

No more “poopy” or “stinky”

We learned recently that babies as young as 6 months old can recognize their own names.  I guess we can no longer call her “poopy” or “stinky”, but now need to use her real name so that she gets used to it.  

Daddy is being difficult because he wants to call her “stinky”.

“It can’t rain all the time”

“It can’t rain all the time” is a phrase from the movie The Crow.  Unfortunately, it does not apply to Boston.  It’s been raining for at least three days straight.

Abi slept until 7AM, ate, took a nap at around 9AM, and then went with Mommy to her class.  After class, she had lunch with Mommy & another Mommy / baby from class and then went home.  Abi & Mommy read several books together, and then Abi fell asleep.

We’ve also decided to get Abi an exersaucer so that she can “stand” and “rotate” on her own to get a better view of her surroundings.  She really likes standing up to see her environment.  Mommy is also washing another baby contraption that Mommy has in her basement (not sure what’s it called) in which she can stand up.

Very cranky day

Abi was very cranky today. Perhaps it was because she likes to go for walks, and today she stayed inside (mostly) due to the rain. She likes to look at the scenery on her walks, and also falls asleep easily. At home, she does not have the same frequently-changing scenery to keep her occupied.

Daddy cuddled her while she was crying for most of the day. Subsequently, Mommy held Abi outside in the drizzle. Abi really liked this. She particularly enjoyed looking at the mailbox. Mommy then took Abi for a long walk in the drizzle. As always, Abi fell asleep after about a mile, and got a good nap in (about 1 mile). Abi was much happier when they returned home. Daddy played with Abi while Mommy got some things done. Mommy then fed Abi, and Daddy rocked her to sleep.

Looking around – the world is more interesting from this perspective

Have I mentioned that I have an advanced baby?

Milestones chart

Looking for ideas

Abi is starting to play with toys. She grabs them, swats at them, mouths them, etc. Mommy is looking for safe everyday things for Abi to play with. Ideas?