Maggie Meets Santa

That and a picture pretty much says it all....

Paparazzi, Dinner and Avacado

Last night my parents, Joy and Delilah came over for a comfort food dinner. A delicious chicken and green bean casserole with warm flaky rolls and salad. It was warm and cozy in our house. The main purpose for this dinner was so Maggie and Delilah could have their pictures taken in their matching outfits that my Aunt JeanAnne had made from Nordstroms. They were a hit. Joy, Linda and I were like the Hollywood paparazzi with our cameras.

The girls were hilarious. You would think they would have put up a much bigger stink considering they had three cameras and an iphone pointed at them, flashes going left and right and me holding up the "whozit" in an attempt to get them to look at the cameras. Rarely did they both look at the camera at the same time and it was almost impossible to get them to smile at the same time. But we were having a great time. After about ten minutes Maggie started yelling at Delilah. Delilah is two months younger than Maggie and she was using Maggie as a support to sit up straight. I think our little Magpie started to get annoyed because she was looking at her and screaming. Delilah didn't bat an eye. Just kept her eyes on Mommy and waited until we were done.

Maggie also got to try her first bit of solid food. The pediatrician told us avacado is a good food to start with so we thought we would give it a shot. Steve mashed it up and I tried to feed it to her. She wasn't really having any of it. She pretty much put it in her mouth, rolled it around, and spit it back up. Afterward I read how you are supposed to introduce solid foods to your baby and realized that I had done it completely wrong. Oh well, parent fail number..... oh, I have lost count at this point.

My Sweet Sleeping Baby

Before Steve and I left for Chicago our sleeping was hitting an all time low. Maggie was waking every couple of hours to nurse and didn't sleep well in her bassinet or in our bed. Steve and I were exhausted and Maggie was cranky. We were all waking each other up all the time. The decision was made that once we returned from Chicago we would put her in her room in her own crib. I was hoping to keep her in our room until she was six months but that situation was no longer working for us. I didn't do any research before starting this process. In fact I haven't really read anything about parenting. Steve and I just try to go with our instincts and believe that if we follow how we were parented, we should be able to parent. We both have great role models and we feel that we turned out okay so why shouldn't Maggie. I knew one thing was sure, "crying it out" was/is a last resort. Crying is how babies communicate with us and I believe it is unfair to cut off that communication. I was/am not opposed to using it if it becomes absolutely necessary but I certainly do not want to use it as a first line of defense. Thankfully, in our case, it isn't quite necessary, yet.

We got home from Chicago Saturday night, late, and even though we ran into some issues with the cleanliness of the crib (thanks to our cats:() we were still determined to get her in the crib. I didn't want to start the cycle of her sleeping in our room again and make it even more difficult to transition her. Our worries were unnecessary. Saturday night was amazing. Yes, she still woke up, but it was only twice rather than 4-6 times. I think it also helped that I was not tempted to just put her into bed with us so I could continue sleeping while she nursed. I had to physically get out of bed, go down the hall, and sit in the rocker and nurse her. And while my sleep was still interrupted we all slept better because we were unconcerned about waking her up. I am positive that Maggie slept better and more peacefully.

Sunday night rolled around and I didn't know what to expect. She had slept great on Saturday but we were also getting home at 10pm Chicago time so I knew she was exhausted. Steve decided he wanted to put her to bed. So he changed her into a disposable diaper, put on her jammies, held her a little and put her in her crib with her pacifier and her mobile. She talked to herself for a few minutes and then started to cry:( Like I said I refuse to let her cry it out at this point so Steve went in and picked her up and reassured her that we were there and that it was time to go to bed. He laid her back down, gave her her pacifier, and turned on her mobile. She was asleep in minutes.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: Change her diaper, put on her jammies, put in her plug, turn on her mobile and shut the door. No crying, no fussing. She talks to herself for a few minutes and then is out like a light. Last night my sister-in-law was over with her 8 week old who was a bit fussy around 8pm. Maggie goes to bed at 7:30 and even with all the crying from Delilah she was still able to sleep thru it. I know these results ARE NOT typical. I know that I am very lucky to have such a good little girl. I also remind myself that it may not last forever so I just thank my stars while it lasts and appreciate it for what it is.