Growing Pains

Kaylani is going through her own episode of Growing Pains (and I don't mean she's talking to Mike Seaver or his idiot friend Boner). At least, that's what we think she's going through. She's almost 3 months old (would actually be 3 months old today if she came out on time), and from everything I've read, she's going through another growth spurt.

Our initial thought was actually that she was teething, but 3 months is REAL early to be teething since a first tooth typically comes in the 6 to 9 month range. You can't blame us for thinking it was teething since she drools more than Daddy (who drools like a leaky faucet), she constantly chews on her hand (or her arm, or our fingers, or our arms), and she had a low grade fever a few days ago (anything under 101 degrees). She's also been fussy, not eating well, and not sleeping the 6-8 hours that we've grown accustomed to. But upon further research, it's probably not teething.

What it does seem to be is just another growth spurt. Signs of a growth spurt are being hungrier (which she is since she cries for Mommy to nurse her every 2 hours or so instead of a little bit longer), being fussier (which means she cries if she's not being held constantly), and sleeping a bit more (she's not sleeping as soundly, but I guess she's sleeping more). And, the main reason we think it's a growth spurt is because all of our books and websites say that it happens at 3 months.

Now, don't get us wrong, we want her to go through growth spurts (well sometimes Mommy doesn't because she's getting too big too fast, but that's besides the point). The problem with this latest growth spurt is that Kaylani has completely spoiled us over the last 3 months. We've all slept so well that having to wake up every 2-3 hours is painful. It's like we're back in the hospital those first few days. Okay, it's not THAT bad, but it's much worse then sleeping for an average of 6 hours every night.

Another downside to this latest growth spurt is that she was really fussy all day today. Normally that's bad enough when it's just Mommy, but since Yin Yin was here, it was even worse. Yin Yin being home with Mommy was supposed to be a win win for everyone, but it turned out to be a cry cry. Mommy, who was up most of the night with Kaylani, didn't get to rest during the day because Kaylani wanted Mommy and only Mommy. She didn't want Daddy's Mommy, which was sad since Daddy's Mommy wanted Kaylani's Mommy to rest so she could be a good Grandmommy and take care of Kaylani while Kaylani's Mommy rested. Phew...got all that?

Anyways, we're hoping that the growth spurt wraps up soon and Kaylani gets back to her regularly scheduled routine. Actually, it will be a slightly different routine since tonight marks the first night that she's going sleep completely unswaddled. She won't even have a blanket, but instead is all tucked into a one piece sleep sack. You can see pictures of it tonight, but only a few since it was bedtime and not picture time. And we're about to find out what type of night it is since Kaylani's done nursing for now. We sure hope that a sleep sack is every bit as comforting as an old fashioned swaddle. The only thing we're sure of at this point is that it was a whole lot easier to get her into it, and a whole lot harder for her to get out of it. For now at least.

Wake Up Baby!

There are two types of parents when it comes to baby sleep habits - those who will do anything to get baby to sleep on their own, and those that will do anything to get baby to sleep period. Before Kaylani was born, I thought I was in the getting baby to sleep on their own camp, and if you've been reading alone, you've seen that we've tried to get her down by herself.

Well last night, we did it. We swaddled her up tighter then a frank in a blanket, swayed her to sleep with a technique that I've perfected, and put her in her pack and play in our room at 9:30. We made our nightly "contingency plans" to see who woke up first, who did what when, and how to do it, said a little prayer, kissed good night, and went to sleep. At 11, I woke first to nothing. The only thing I could hear was the quiet hum of our humidifier. Mommy woke next around 12:15, also to nothing. She even woke me up to tell me that there was no sound. 1am rolls around and still nothing. At 1:30, mommy gave in and went over to the pack and play to make sure Kaylani was still breathing (luckily the answer was yes).

Around 2, Kaylani finally stirred enough for us to pick her up and cuddle with her for a bit before she nursed. She went back down a little after 2, and stayed there until 4:30. Didn't wake again until 8 when I took her downstairs with me and held her on me as I watched Sportscenter. I laid her next to me on the couch and the nerve of her...she stayed asleep!

Today, Abuela came to stay with us, so we took a trip to the Philadelphia airport (about 45 min away). And what did Kaylani do to us in the car? NOTHING! She stayed asleep pretty much the whole time! We came home, fed her, and swaddled her back up, just to let her rest for a bit before Abuela could play with her. Well Abuela didn't get that chance for 3 hours since Kaylani wouldn't wake up! We even tried loud TV, blowing gently on her, moving her just a bit to get her to stir. Nothing.

So it's now 7:30pm, and in the last 24 hours, she's slept for 20 of them, and only 1 of them have been in my arms. I'm now starting a third group of sleep habit parents - those who want their baby to stay awake so they can play with them. Okay, so maybe this third group exists already, but I'm going to move it into the sleep habit groups. I want to be able to cuddle with my baby whenever I want, and I sure can't do that if they go off and do things like sleep on their own!

I wasn't expecting my daughter to ignore me for at least 8 years, and that was when I was going to be cheesy and not funny to her. I think I'm going to have to do something about this. I'm not sure what yet, but I WILL get my daddy-daughter time back. You just wait and see.