Sleep Problems

We have bought a number of books on sleep problems. The one thing common to them all is they always start with "nightmare" scenarios to show you how bad things can get. For example, Ferber talks of Betsy, who was causing her parents much distress:

"In the evening, she would not fall asleep without her mother or father rocking her and rubbing her back for around twenty minutes... Once Betsy was so deeply asleep that she could be placed or left in her crib without waking, she would stay asleep for several hours. Then, several times between midnight and 4:00 A.M., she would wake crying vigorously. She would not settle on her own, but she did not seem to be in pain; when her mother or father began to rock her, she would promptly quiet down and return to sleep. As at bed time, she had to be deeply asleep before she could be returned to the crib, but at these times that rarely took longer than five minutes. From 4:00 A.M. to 6:00 A.M. she slept well, but she usually woke crying in the morning."

Or, from "The No-Cry Slep Solution" by Elizbeth Pantley, a sample "sleep log" is presented:

"8:45 P.M. Lie in bed and nurse, still awake
9:00 Up again to read with David and Vanessa
9:20 To bed, lie down, and nurse to sleep
9:40 Finally! Asleep
11:00 Nurse for 10 minutes
12:46 Nurse for 5 minutes
1:55 Nurse for 10 minutes
3:38 Change diaper, nurse for 25 minutes
4:50 Nurse for 10 minutes
5:27 Nurse for 15 minutes
6:31 Nurse for 15 minutes
7:02 Nurse for 20 minutes
7:48 Up. Nurse, then up for the day
Number of night wakings: 8
Longest sleep stretch: 1.5 hours"

Well, you know your baby has a sleep problem, when you would gladly trade your baby's sleep for what is described in these horror stories. For your enjoyment, here is our sleep log from last night:

7:50 - Nursed, read books, got ready for bed, bounced
8:35 - Asleep (continued bouncing)
8:45 - In bed (we don't log the unsuccessful attempts at putting her in her crib)
9:06 - up, rocked and patted back to sleep by 9:12
9:15 - up, bounced back to sleep by 9:22
10:10 - up, nursed 15 min, asleep and in crib by 10:35
10:45 - up, bounced, tried 4x to put down in crib, finally in crib by 10:57
11:35 - up, wouldn't go back down, some serious crying (screaming) going on
11:45 - changed diaper
11:55 - nursed 15 min, finally asleep by 12:23
12:30 - up, bounced, back in crib by 1:00
2:00 - up, nursed for ? (fell asleep in chair, woke up with Audrey at 4:00)
4:00 - up, nursed for 30 min
4:45 - finally back in bed
4:55 - up, bounced, back in bed by 5:15
5:35 - up, bounced, back in bed by 5:45
5:50 - up, changed diaper, nursed for 30 min, fell asleep in chair
7:30 - up, bounced, slept in dad's arms for another 30 min
8:00 - up for the day
Number of night wakings: 11
Longest sleep stretch (in crib): 60 minutes

We're at a loss for what to do right at the moment but we have a list of things that we are trying so hopefully we will hit on something soon. The good news is that she is still her smiley self during the day so obviously the nighttime is having more of an impact on us than on her. Just be sure to wish Grandma Vicki luck as she comes to visit this week!

Bath Time

It has been fun to watch Audrey's attitude toward bath time change as she gets older. From the "What the f*@&?" reaction to her first bath in the hospital moments after she was born, to the "What the f*@&?" reaction that continued for the first week or so, to the "Uhhh...I'll go along with this for the moment, but just know that if you make one wrong move, I'll start screaming my head off" that followed.

Finally she realized that bath time was a-ok and for the last few months she just lays back and enjoys the soak while we do our thing.

Yesterday, however, bath time became play time as she learned to splash:

Changing Jobs

Last Friday was a big day for us all--mostly for Kelly, but Audrey and I are reaping the benefits as well. Kelly decided to temporarily hang up her hat as the Director of Education at the Aquarium and put on a new hat as a full-time mom.

This was a decision that Kelly mulled over from the day she went back to work. We made endless lists of positives and negatives but she finally decided the upsides to staying home outweighed the downsides, at least for now. We both know that her new job is just as difficult (or more) than her last job, but the last two days have shown that it is much less stressful.

We are all looking forward to the new challenges and freedoms this arrangement provides. Audrey and Kelly have already been to Mommy and Me groups, met with a few other moms and babies at a local mall, and listened to stories and songs at our local library, but I know Kelly would love a few more suggestions on what she and Audrey can do to fill the days ahead.

Five Months

I'm falling a little behind on the blog here. I'll try to catch up today.

Last week, our lil' bit turned five months old. We didn't do too much to celebrate other than wear her super cute yellow outfit and sit for a picture or two.

Happy birthday Audrey!

Perpetually Sick but Perpetually Cute

We are now eight weeks into her perpetual sickness (and accompanying cough), but luckily she is still happy as usual. Here is another Jumparoo session:

Alone with Dad

This weekend was a big milestone weekend. For me, at least. Kelly drove up to Boise to attend Marnie's bridal shower and this is the first time I have Audrey all to myself for more than 24 hours. Actually, I'm only 14 hours into it as of now, but it has been an adventurous 14 hours. I decided I wanted to cram as many activities into our time together as I possibly could.

After mom kissed Audrey goodbye at 7am, we both got a few more minutes of sleep before we were up for good. We spent a couple of hours just lounging around in our PJs before it was time for a second breakfast. After breakfast, we went into school to heckle Dave giving a practice talk. Audrey was bored after a few short minutes, so we went to my building to see if there was anyone to play a game of ping-pong with. With me the only other person in the entire building, Audrey decided she didn't even want to waste her time. Instead she found some comfy chairs to lounge around on.

After a trip back home, another snack, and a quick nap, she decided it was time to do a little socializing. A group of friends put together some noontime cosmic bowling and even though she wasn't quite ready to roll the stones, she thoroughly enjoyed the lights and the music. I just made sure she didn't touch anything, anywhere. The excitement proved too much for her and she crashed hard about 8 frames into the second game. Since she hadn't napped much and it is virtually impossibly to keep her sleeping while strapping her into her car seat, I decided to sit around like a creepy old man for a half hour and just watch random people bowl while she slept on my shoulder.

After another trip home, and another snack, Dave convinced us to go to City Creek and do a little wintertime fishing. Don't let the snow fool you, it was actually up near 50 degrees, but we still had her bundled up in her bear suit so she kept toasty warm.

Since I can barely cast a fly rod without hooking myself, I dared not try with Audrey strapped to my chest. Instead we stood by and joined the audience of local children watching Dave catch a few overly skinny brown trout. We tried to get her to kiss one of the fish, but she wanted nothing to do with it.

Apparently she likes her fish a behind glass and a little less stinky, because we topped off our day with a trip to the Aquarium. She enjoyed all the bright fish tanks, as usual, however the ride home was tear-filled and a little stressful. I had a tough time diagnosing the cause, but when she zonked about 300 yards from our house, I finally realized it was exhaustion from our big day.

After a big bottle, a couple of books, and a quick bounce on the yoga ball, she finally threw in the towel. She is in dreamland now and hopefully her night goes as well as her day.

Grammy's Visit

Audrey's Grammy came for a visit this past weekend and everyone had a blast. There was only one scheduled event--yet another trip to the zoo. Saturday was mild and sunny, a "zoo day" (as opposed to the rainy "aquarium days") if we ever saw one. This was our first trip to the zoo on a Saturday, and it was much more entertaining than the mid-week, or Sunday zoo adventures we have experienced before. For one, the carousel was open for business. I thought Audrey was going to get her own horse, but the girls found a very pretty peacock bench all to themselves.

We also timed our visit to the giraffe building perfectly. We arrived about two minutes before the trainer started working with the animals. Rather than just licking the walls, the giraffes were walking all around, touching little plastic disks with their noses, and bending down to get food from the trainer. It was definitely the most entertaining giraffe experience to date.

Unlike the giraffes, the elephant house is off-limits. Fortunately the recent heat wave has melted most of the snow, and the elephants were out and about. The new little baby elephant was the clear audience favorite at the zoo.

Audrey spent most of the remainder of the visit getting Grammy time. And Grammy spent the remainder of the visit getting Audrey time. I always feel bad, thinking I should be a better host and keep people entertained, but I know that holding Audrey, napping with Audrey, and playing with Audrey is what people come here to do. I guess I can understand that--I love doing those things too.

Kelly and I are a little happy about one thing. Whether it be in person or via video chat, most people only get to see daytime Audrey. The thought that this easy-going smiley baby is at all difficult at night is hard for people to believe. With Grammy sleeping on our couch, she has now witnessed our second nighttime daughter. Smiley Audrey currently exits the house around 9pm, and up-and-crying-every-30-minutes, eat-every-90-minutes, scream-for-20-minutes Audrey takes her place. We love her dearly, but nighttimes have definitely become more and more difficult in the last month or so. Things are still bearable because at the end of every sleep deprived night, daytime Audrey greats the morning with her ear-to-ear smiles.

One again, Audrey thanks her Grammy for coming to visit. She was disappointed her Papa couldn't visit as well, but it will just make the next time she sees him that much more special.