the sleep saga continues... and pictures of course

Hi guys.

When we visited the pediatrician 1.5+ weeks ago, (by the way, we were 89% for weight, 70% for head circumference, and 95%, or was it 97%? for length) I complained about not having a nap schedule. So the pediatrician said "oh that is simple. Just keep track of her naps for a few days and then when you see a pattern and know when she will be tired put her down for a nap."

Right. 

This is our sleeping and eating log. Let me explain. Red lines are feedings. Black dots are night time sleep (yay! We are doing great!) Black bars are daytime naps. There are some squiggles in there which indicate she had a hard time falling asleep that particular nap or sleep time. 

Here is the pattern I notice: 

a) falling asleep at 7:00-8:00 most nights, eating at 10:00-10:30 (I wake her up for this one) and waking up once more during the night to eat.

Here are the patterns I do not notice:

a) eating during the day pattern

b) nap pattern

Am I missing something?

 No I don't think so mom. I really like the teether you got me. Thanks. 

In other news, I think I solved, at least for now, the ant problem. 

Good job, mom!

The garage nest was easy. They were like sitting ducks. 

Go on.

The inside of the house was more difficult. I knew there was a nest but didn't know where. Eventually one day a small movement on the side of the door frame of the front door caught my eye.

Over there, right?

Yeah. I found what looked like the beginning of tunnels. So I baited it. 

 That sounds reasonable.

Yep. I haven't seen any ants since then.

I think I see one right now.

Just kidding, that was the cat.

I have only seen dying ants. Usually in the bathtub for some reason.

Really?

Why are they in the bathtub?

That I don't know. 

hmmm...

Um. Please clean them out before you give me a bath.

I don't do baths with ants, not even dying ones. 

Taking pictures of my baby is like trying to not eat chips.

So hard to stop...

You really should check my diaper, mom.

Ahhh!! I won't post the other 60 I took.

Alex and I went to the Lowell Folk Music Festival today. It was crowded but fun. We managed to find a salted chocolate covered caramel.

Cecily enjoyed it.

That is the stage with a bluegrass band from Ohio. The guy on stage left was an ASL interpreter of all the songs. I had never seen that at a bluegrass concert before. 

Alex taught me some Ukrainian on the way there. I learned (and forgot) how to say "how old are you? I am 30. Where is the bathroom? Joseph Smith was a prophet."

Proud homeowners

...of only one home!!

Our Urbana home closed this week. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I feel major relief. Two mortgages is not something we need right now. On the other hand, it is like letting a piece of my life go. Or closing a wonderful chapter of my life that I wasn't 100% ready to close yet. 

This is a letter I wrote the day of the closing for my Realtor to give to the buyers. 

Dear buyers of 7 Weaver Place:

My husband and I wish we could be at the closing to meet you and wish you all the best in your new home, but circumstances are such that this is not possible. I do want to write a little note to hopefully convey how much we loved that home and our wishes that you will also be able to. Forgive me for a few reminiscences as well.

7 Weaver Place was the first home that we owned. We bought it a year after we got married. We looked at many houses before settling on that one. We liked so many things about the home – the quiet neighborhood, the size and potential of the yard, the skylights, the layout of the home and possibilities to renovate and make the space our own. It truly was a “fixer-upper” when we moved in and the first thing we did was replace the kitchen and put in the tile floor. We started out with lots of energy for home improvement projects but laying the tile floor about sucked us dry and after that, all of the other improvements we did were spaced further and further apart. Eventually they all were finished and it was a joy to see the space transformed to a welcoming, friendly and happy place. We loved having friends over and have many happy memories sharing meals and spending time together. We hope you will also have many happy memories with friends and loved ones there.

We were excited to have our own backyard and that first year put in all of the fruit trees and brambles and grape vines and were pleased to see that the wild black raspberries that were already there were very productive. The raspberries and blackberries were incredibly productive as well as the peach and pear trees. I canned dozens (hundreds?) of quarts of jams, preserves, juice and fruit the last 2-3 years we were there. I had no idea how to preserve food initially but having so much produce encouraged me to learn how! The first year the peach tree produced peaches, even though I pruned off much of the fruit as I was supposed to, the trunk split under the heavy weight of the fruit. We propped it together and it has continued to do very well. The squirrels, though, also appreciate the fruit :) We loved having a few chickens in the backyard and spent many hours watching their fun antics and we enjoyed their wonderful, home-grown eggs. We hope you also find joy in the productivity of the land.

7 Weaver Place is where we brought home our baby from the hospital, now just over 4 months ago. Those early days were so wonderful but so hard and I felt completely at home and surrounded by friends and neighbors. In fact, our backyard neighbor was so good to us that I hated the thought of leaving her almost as much as leaving the house and tried to convince her to move with us. We hope that you will also enjoy the neighbors and neighborhood. 

The day I left 7 Weaver Place for the last time qualifies as one of the saddest days of my life. But even though I miss that wonderful home, I am so grateful for the many happy years we had there and hope that it will also be a memorable, happy and joyful home for you and your family. My husband and I are hopeful that you will cherish that home as much as we have. We wish you and your family all the best. 

***

Alex finally gets a bit of a breather on an outpatient service and we are lucky to have him for the whole weekend! Two whole days! Yesterday we went to Hammond Castle in Gloucester (say "glah-ster") that happened to also be hosting a renaissance festival. 

 I blended right into the renaissance festival with my Peruvian cowboy hat. The blanket (thanks Ashlee!) that is shielding Cecily's legs from the sun also lends a certain something to the ensemble.

This is the courtyard inside the castle.

 Do any of my Philadelphia friends recognize this tile work?

 Cecily was a really great sport and made us popular with the natives. 

Hammond castle was build in the 1920's by John Hammond, a wealthy inventor. It was a gift to his wife as well as a home for all of his European artifacts and the headquarters of his inventing operation.

We visited the Cape Pond Ice factory. We got to go inside their freezer with its 300# blocks of ice and ice statues in the works.

In other news, we have been overrun by humongous ants. I found and baited their nest in the garage and it is like an ant battleground with corpses lying around all over. I haven't been successful enough to convince the inside ants to take my bait. But I am patient...

Had to add this picture. Sweet Cecily moments before snoozing off into dreamland...

zzz...sleep...zzz update

Hi! I am sure you are all dying to know how we are sleeping. Thank you to those of you experienced mamas that commented and sent me emails. I took everything into consideration.

For the past two and a half weeks I have somewhat rigidly enforced two sleep rules: 

1) No falling asleep on mom (has to be in the crib)

2) No excessive rocking/swaying to sleep. In other words, baby has to learn to put herself to sleep. 

So, how has it gone? The first two or so days were miserable. Lots and lots of crying. I consoled when I could but in the end I didn't give in. I knew it was for the best. I knew that my sanity and ability to be a happy mother depended on my baby's ability to sleep. And I knew that Alex was no help at all at night since he started his residency and there was no one to spot me. Also, it seemed to be harder and harder to get her to go to sleep even with my help. I was rocking/bouncing for up to an hour at night to get her to go to sleep finally and that didn't seem right either. 

Since then, I would say we are getting progressively better. We have had some really amazing nights in there (like only getting up twice to eat and then going back to sleep promptly and then sleeping until 6) and some not so good nights. 

I'll take what I can get.

I have also decided to sleep train myself. 

I have always had a hard time falling asleep when stressed, after seeing an intense movie, and sometimes for no reason at all. 

It seems like it has gotten worse lately. Partly because I have to fall asleep multiple times per night after taking care of baby and partly because, I don't know. 

So, I diagnosed myself with insomnia because that is what Dr. Google wanted me to do and started treating myself with behavioral therapy. 

My rules are: 1) no lying in bed without sleeping for more than 10 minutes. I have to get up and do something and then go back to bed when I am ready instead of lying in bed for hours.

2) no lying around in bed during the day which is easy to do when you have a nursing baby. Beds and bedrooms should be for sleeping according to Dr. Google.

3) No naps during the daytime, at least for the time being. 

4) Don't complain about how tired I am all the time. I made this rule up by myself.

So, hopefully we will both be getting lots of great sleep in the near future. There is nothing that sounds more delicious to me right now. 

House update

Candy requested some pictures of the house with table so I took some pictures to share.

Kitchen: cozy but it works. 

The wallpaper will go sometime. 

Kitchen table!!! Craigslist is great.

The piano fits! It takes up about a third of the room, but I have noticed that a grand piano makes any space look elegant. 

The sun room. This is a great space.

Candy's favorite part about the house is the butterflies. 

Alex managed to put in a little garden before he started. 

Blackberries and raspberries. 

gooseberry and currant bush

Peach tree

Apple tree

There you have it. We are blessed to have a nice big yard and hopefully we will get a lot of use out of it over the coming few years. Most of the backyard is shaded by some large trees which is why the garden is on the side yard and the fruit trees are in the small front yard.

Alex started his residency officially. The first night he got home at 1:30 am. He didn't have a key to the house so he tapped on the bedroom window to wake me up. It has gotten better since then but he worked really hard last week. (Harder than he has ever worked in his life, according to him.) The commute is longish too so he has really long days. Most days Cecily is asleep when he gets home.

During church I took pictures of Cecily. There is another baby Cecily in our ward. The first week we were at church the birth of a second Cecily was announced over the pulpit and Alex and I were so surprised! Luckily, the other family is very sweet so we don't mind. The two Cecilys will grow up together in the ward (our Cecily is only 2 months older) but probably won't know any other Cecilys.

Motherhood: from the trenches

Cecily turned 3 months old a week ago and to celebrate we did two of the things she hates the most: put her in the car seat and in the baby carrier, each for a very very long time if you are a baby. (See the previous post.) Anyway, I digress. The point is, I have been a mother for a few months now. What have I learned?

This: Cecily's fingernails grow super fast. And her hair and toenails don't grow at all. Why is that?

What have I not learned?

This: how to get a baby to sleep. All you moms out there, tell me how to fix this - from about 2-3 months of age, Cecily was sleeping like a charm, 6-7 hours at a stretch. For the past 5 days or so though, when she gets up in the middle of the night to eat, she stays up. For two hours. And she has always been a hard one to take a decent long nap during the day if it is anywhere besides me holding her. I am afraid she has inherited my tendency to have a hard time falling asleep.

Motherhood in a lot of ways is about what I expected, in some ways is greater and more wonderful than I imagined, and in other ways is so much harder. (I expect my friends with four and five kids to be rolling their eyes right now.) I think I knew it wasn't going to be blissful all the time, and it isn't. I don't feel guilty about having a hard time sometimes and often wishing to have an easier baby. I have learned to lower my expectations for each day. It is an accomplishment if I eat a decent lunch, brush my teeth, and am not in pajamas all day long. It is a really great day if I bake a batch of cookies and sweep the floor. Every now and then I take a shower. This is kind of a hard thing for me to accept. I just can't get nearly as much done as I would like to. Anyway, motherhood... I still have so much more to learn and experience!

Alex started his residency officially yesterday. Woo hoo!  (or boo hoo, depending on how you look at it...)

Here's a video for you. Nothing exciting, just a cute baby. Thanks Aunt Janelle for the adorable onesie dress! I have decided I really like onesie dresses because they have all the advantages of a onesie with a built in drool rag.