Thanksgiving

Jeff got a few days off for Thanksgiving this year.  We took advantage of that and went to stay up in the North Georgia mountains.  My dad's female cousin Danie owns a lovely cabin up there.  Some of her siblings come from all around for Thanksgiving. So a nice big group for dinner. This was our first time meeting most of them.

There was a little excitement when the sweet potato casserole boiled over and started a small fire in the over.  And the filter in the septic system was backing up and causing a small mess in the yard.  But all was resolved without incident.  We had a great meal thanks to multiple talented cooks and turkey fryers.

Claire rocked her super cute Thanksgiving dress, which wasn't very conducive to crawling.

Halloween

Pumpkin Patch!

Pumpkin picking with the Schulzes and Grammi Simpson - October 2011

Little punkin on a big pumpkin

Claire's cousins

Look, one my size!

I wanna eat this one!

Aunt LeeAnn

Peek a boo!

Cute cousins!

8 Months!

Claire hit 8 months on October 24th.  Here's a review of our little pumpkin at 8 months old.

Development -  Crawling? Yeah, she's got that!  Getting stronger and braver with how long and how far she will crawl.  She also gets better and better at pulling up on things too.  She also started waving hi intermittently.

Play - She can entertain herself for a good few minutes if she is in the mood.  She still loves chewing on things - socks, strings, straps and the like. She starting to get the hang of cause and effect.  Knowing if you push something a noise will come out.  Getting movements coordinated enough to do it is another matter, but she's getting there.  If you stack something up, she'll rip it down.  Those ring stackers?  Yep, she wants those rings off immediately! She's is becoming less a fan of the doorway jumper and exersaucer.  She wants to be mobile!

Eating - She's eating lots of stuff. Most veggies, fruits, beans, cheese, chicken, and on and on. She definitely prefers finger foods!  You can get in a few bites of something with a spoon if she's really hungry. 

Sleep - In bed by 7:45/8:00, up between 7:30 and 8:30.  Usually 8 to 8.  Two naps most days unless we screw her up by dragging her around with us on errands. (Still the same from last month)

7 months!

Claire at 7 months:

Development -  We've got sitting mastered.  There's been rapid development from sitting up to being able to lean over and reach, to getting on all fours and rocking back and forth, to crawling movements.  She's still in the experimental stage with crawling.  So we see a little army crawling, some rocking on all fours, and even a few "crawls" before she collapses. At the same time she also really wants to pull up on things.  We don't have a lot of things that are a good height for her to do so.  So has used the Fisher Price sing along stage to pull to standing on.  Yikes! She can now move her arms in an up and down swinging motion good for ringing a bell or whacking objects on the floor or table.

Play -She can "play independently" for a few minutes now.  Also known as "entertain herself with an activity for more than 2 seconds."  We recently got a big rug for our sun room to make it a nice playroom, so now she's got a room all to herself and her toys.  She's becoming more vocal.  We went through a fake coughing spell and we're getting lots of babbling.  She also likes to make some really loud noises, kind of like she's yelling.  She thinks it's really funny if we "yell" back at her.

Eating - She had her first yogurt and that went down well.  We introduced a few finger foods just to see how she did.  Now she prefers those to purees.  I am afraid all this baby food in the cabinet and the homemade stuff I whipped up and froze may not get eaten!  But I've learned a few tricks.  I can sneak some in when she's feeding herself and opens her mouth to put something.  And someone suggested using the purees as a "sauce" for pasta so we'll try that.  But I've also discovered that the hungrier she is, the more likely she is to eat the purees.  I've recently started giving her bottles more often rather than nursing as she is less distracted that way and I can see how much she's actually eating. 

Sleep - In bed by 7:45/8:00, up between 7:30 and 8:30.  Usually 8 to 8.  Two naps most days unless we screw her up by dragging her around with us on errands. 

And we did have a week or two where she was fussy in the mornings so we reintroduced the swing to help calm and quiet her.  Turns out it may have been that she was hungry.  A few bottles of milk during the day helps make sure she is getting enough so she can be our happy little clam.  

6 months!

Well the 7 month mark has come and gone.  Oops!  Let's see if I can think back and capture a 6 month old Claire.

She celebrated her half year mark on our family vacation in Blowing Rock.  We put in her in a swing for the first time.  She loved it!  Litlle thrill seeker.

Personality wise she is staying consistent: very curious and active.  I think she has her dad's tendency to be easily bored but also engrossed in the simplest of things.  :)  Teething has made her a little more whiny, which is no fun for her or us.  On the whole, she is still a happy girl.

Development - She's sitting on her own for longer periods of time.  She stills fall backward frequently, which is no good on our hardwood floors.  If I put blankets behind her, she just pulls them around to eat them!  She also started rolling like crazy.  All over the living room and beyond.  But she gets frustrated at things that get in her way.  She got pissed at the basement door for not getting the heck out of her way!

Play - She loves the doorway jumper and the exersaucer.  Sitting on the floor and playing is also pretty cool.  Her ever increasing coordination allows her to reach out and grab what she wants.   Jeff's sister passed down their Fisher Price Sing Along Stage, which makes lots of noise and has a mirror and flashy lights.  Claire really likes sitting at and batting at the buttons.  She likes music, musical instruments, and watching mommy jump or dance.  She still enjoys her play mat, with sitting offering a whole new perspective.  But she's getting a little too strong and can yank on the toys pretty hard!

Eating - Finally spacing out the nursing sessions!  Yay!  She's loving pretty much all solids we've given her.  Lots of fruits and veggies.  The only thing she balks at are really tart things, like some homemade plums.  We're up to twice a day with the solids.

Sleep - Ha!  All the traveling we did in August combined with teething turned her sleep to crap.  We had a few blissful weeks in early August and then that was that.  Back to waking up.  Some nights multiple times, sometimes just once to eat.  She's usually in bed by 8 and up between 7:30 and 8:30.  She alternates between 2 and 3 naps, depending on when she wakes up, how long each one is, etc.

August 2011

Wow, way behind on the blogging!  Time to catch up.

August was a pretty busy month.  We had Rishi and Nirali's wedding up in Chicago August 12th-14th.  It was like a college reunion with so many of our friends there.  Oh, and the wedding stuff too.  It was cool to be at a full blown Indian wedding.  Since I don't speak Sanskrit, much of it was lost on me but it was awesome to think about how much tradition and history and meaning was behind everything.  And their families put a lot of effort into making things great for the couple and pretty entertaining for the guests.  Complete with a "flash mob" dance that we participated in.  Well, actually Jeff used Claire as an excuse to bow out, but the rest of us had fun.  And Jeff and I got a few hours off while Claire hung out with my friend Lindsey during the day Saturday.

Then on the 21st, Claire was baptized!  We had a nice little ceremony at our church, St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church.  Then back to our house for some refreshments.

The next day we took our first family vacation to Blowing Rock, N.C.   We had a fabulous room at the Ridgeway Inn complete with kitchen, sitting area and bedrooms for us and Claire.  We did some hiking and some strolling around little towns.  Claire did well, except for some crappy sleeping at night.  During the day she was (usually) content to nap in the car and even in the carrier we used to strap her on to us.  We enjoyed exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway and being in the cooler mountain air!

As we were heading back home, I got a call that my grandfather was in the hospital.  He had come down from Maine from Claire's baptism and was hanging around for a while.  My parents and brother and sister-in-law were actually out of town for a Nascar race.  My mom flew back to town to be with her dad.  Claire and I headed down to keep them company.  After a few frustrating days of slow progress, we finally were assured that it was most likely just a case of severe vertigo.  I know a little something about all day nausea, so I'm sure it was a pretty awful time for my grandfather.

5 months!

We're nearing the 6 month mark. Wow!  Here's what Claire has been like at 5 months old.

Personality wise she is curious, social, and happy.  And always on the move.  She's not a snuggler.  Even in our arms she is always moving.  Those little feet can kick a mile a minute.  She loves to jump/bounce up and down in our laps.  She's got lots of smiles to share.  She loves people watching and will smile at strangers who stop to talk to her.  She gets lots of attention when we're out and about.  In our Gymboree class she'd often rather look at other babies and adults that watch whatever I'm doing (singing, puppets, noise makers, etc.).

Development - She's rolled from belly to back (Aug 1st), is able to sit unsupported for a few seconds before wobbling over (Aug 10) and has once rolled from back to belly (Aug 18).  She is much more tolerant of tummy time these days.  She is much more coordinated in reaching and grabbing for things.  The other day in our Gymboree class, she was lying on her tummy, reached for a small ball and pulled it toward her.

Play - She still loves to hang out on her playmat but can now grab all the animals.  She likes her exersaucer too.  She loves music.  Itsy bitsy spider still seems to be a favorite, but she smiles whenever we sing to her.  She also seems to like it when Jeff whistles.  She will hang out in her high chair with some toys while we eat dinner or while Mommy is cooking.  Her hands and feet are fascinating as always! 

Eating - She still breastfeeds pretty frequently.  It's more frequent in the morning, like she is making up for not eating overnight, but she'll space it out to 3 hours in the afternoons.  She is enjoying her solid foods.  She has had oatmeal, rice cereal, and avocado (8/16).  Sweet potatoes are up next!

Sleep - She's doing well with her sleep.  She'll got to bed between 8 and 9 and get up between 7:30 and 8:30.  Most nights she does sleep through the night.  She is napping 3 times a day.  Once in the morning, once in early afternoon, and once late afternoon.  She'll sleep anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

In general, 5 months has been a great age for Claire!  She's a happy baby who is fun to be around.  If only we could keep her this age a little longer!

Sleep training

So we had to a little "sleep training" with Claire to improve her sleep.  Basically that means letting her cry until she figures out how to self soothe and get to sleep on her own. I had heard of it before kids and thought that it made sense and I would totally do it with my kids.  Then Claire was here and she seemed so little and needy.  And the sleep wasn't too bad and improving over time.  Then around mid-July the sleep wasn't so good.  She'd be up a couple times a night, eating or for the pacifier, and it was difficult to get her to go to sleep to.  Then one night she had me up 8 times!  So I began to consider the idea of sleep training and was trying to read up on the subject.  I realized first I needed to get her on a more consistent sleep schedule.  No more going to bed anywhere between 8 and 10 and getting up anywhere between 7:30 and 10:30.  So we aimed for bed by 9/9:30 and up by 8:30.  We worked on that for a few days and then were going to work on going to sleep on our own.

Then Claire made the decision easy on us.  The night of July 17th, after returning home from my parents, we put her to bed drowsy and didn't hear anything for 10-15 minutes.  Then she started wailing and nothing we did could console her.  Rocking, walking, pacifier, food, nothing did it for her.  So we just had to let her cry it out.  I went with the progressive waiting strategy, going in to check on her after 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.

Here's a rundown, cut and pasted from an email:


She napped in the car on the way home so she went to bed late.  Fed her, laid her down and didn't really hear much for 10-15 minutes.  Just as I was wondering if she had gone to sleep she started up with the crying.  Jeff and I took turns going up to put the pacifier in, soothe her, etc.  But it wasn't working.  She'd suck on the paci and calm down, but then just as I'd turn to go out she'd start back up.  At one point I even picked her up to hold her, rock her, and even tried to feed her but she wanted none of it.  So I decided to move up my plan to let her cry it out right then.  I followed the progressive waiting approach where you come up to check on them and do some quick soothing without picking them but you wait longer each time.  So Sunday night it was about 40 minutes of crying, but it didn't seem that long, because I wasn't just sitting there listening to 40 minutes straight.  And it was only a mid level crying, not her full out gurgling cry.  So she was asleep by about 11 and slept through til 7:15!  Fed her and let her fall back asleep by 7:30 so I could pump.  She woke herself up at 7:45. 

Tried to continue the same for naps yesterday.  Took two short ones morning and early afternoon so she was grumpy much of the day.  Took a nice long nap in the afternoon though.  She seemed real tired by 7:30 last night but I tried to keep her up.  Didn't want to nurse.  Finally gave in at 8 and got her ready for bed and gave her a bottle.  She was falling asleep eating the bottle but then seemed pretty awake when I tried to lay her down.  So I brought her downstairs.  She was content for another half hour then started getting fussy again.  So I went upstairs and gave her a little more food just to top her off.  Laid her down drowsy but awake.  She cried for a few minutes and was out by 8:45.  Slept til 4:45 and got up to eat.  Woke up again at 7 and I went ahead and fed her.  She went back to sleep until 8:01.

Laid her down for a nap at 10: 40 this morning.  She whined/fussed for a few minutes but nothing that could be heard downstairs without the monitor, except for one cry.  Asleep by 10:45.  She slept for about 40-45 minutes and is now babbling and whining to herself.  And all without a paci.

 So the first few days went well.  I was also going to work on gradually eliminating night feedings since she had done it on her own a few nights.  I decided one night that I wasn't going to feed her before 4 am.  She woke up at 4:03!  From that point on the progression gets a little hazy in mind now that it's a month later.  I think I had one or two nights of listening to her cry 15-20 minutes in the middle of the night.  Our upstairs A/C also went out around that time so she was in our room with a window unit some nights and with my parents for a night.  So if she got up, she got fed.  But eventually she was going down with only a few minutes of crying and sleeping through the night.  It's fabulous!

4 months

It's been a big month for the Schulze family!  Claire turned 4 months old on our first full day back in Georgia (Friday, June 24th).  She and mommy were hanging out at Grammi and Paaps' house and had lunch with Grammi and shopped with Aunt Jamie.  (Daddy was still stuck up in Chicago working).

4 months old!

What? This isn't the pose you were looking for?

During the month we proceeded to move into our new house, buy a new car, give Claire her first "solid" food, and do a little sleep training (more on that in another post).  Claire also did her first overnight without Mommy and Daddy.  She slept better for Grammi than she was for her parents!  Little stinker! Developmentally, she is still not a big fan of tummy time and is not rolling at all. We're working on it. She discovered her hands and feet this month! Sometimes she'll just stare at her hands as she rotates them around.  So cute! She is able to grab her feet with her hands and recently is getting them into her mouth.  This can entertain her for a while and I'll often find her awake in her crib just playing with her feet. We also go to a Gymboree play and music class once a week to socialize and work on those developmental skills.

Ooh feet!

Claire has also mellowed into a pretty happy baby.  She is full of smiles and loves listening to and looking at people.  She usually has a smile for anyone who wants to say hi.  She cries so much less than before, usually only when hungry, tired, or ready for a change of activity.  Breastfeeding is also going much better as we've finally gotten to where she's no longer fussy while trying to eat and pulling off all the time.  She's starting to go beyond every 2 hours, which is nice.  Having a little oatmeal once a day seems to help as well.  And she loved it from the start.  Looks like we might have a big eater on our hands. 

Mmmm, oatmeal!!

Sleeping is also going SO MUCH better.  It used to take a lot of work to get her to fall asleep.  Thanks to some brain maturation and a little work on our parts, she is now able to fall asleep by herself.  It may take a few minutes of crying in her crib, but then she is out.  This is huge!  I no longer dread when she gets tired.  Bedtime has moved up to around 9 or 9:30 and we're making sure she is up between 7:30 and 8.  Naps are usually after being awake for 2-2.5 hours.  She's taking about 3 naps a day, one late morning, one early afternoon, and one late afternoon.  Anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Sometimes more but shorter if we're in the car as the motion puts her to sleep.

All in all, she's much easier to deal with on a daily basis.  This makes is much more pleasant and rewarding to be with her and is finally making this staying home thing seem like a good idea.

Moved!

It's official! We've moved!

All our stuff is moved in to our new house in Acworth, GA.  Still plenty of boxes to unpack though.  The moving process wasn't too bad thanks to so much help from family members.  My sister Jamie flew up June 21st to help and packed pretty much the entire kitchen.  My dad came up on the 22nd and we picked up the truck around 11.  The plan was to use that day to load and leave early the next morning.  But thanks to help from Jeff's uncle Gary and Aunt Candy as well as my dad and sister, the apartment was emptied and truck loaded before 4.  So we revised our plan and took off that evening.  Jeff  was left with a suitcase and an air mattress to tide him over while he finished out work.  My dad headed off in the truck while Jamie and I packed up the car and got ourselves ready to go.  We left around 5 and made it until about 9:30, when Claire started melting down.  This happened to be right by the same hotel my dad had stopped at for the night.  So we pulled in and were able to get a room right next to him.  I was very pleased with our stay in the Fairfield Inn in Seymour, Indiana.  Clean, quiet room with comfy beds, good shampoo AND conditioner provided, and a yummy breakfast.  They even put my stash of frozen breast milk in their freezer in the back for me!  (Every ounce is precious and if it had thawed I would have had to use it right away or lose it).

After breakfast in the morning, we made the drive to Atlanta.  We stayed at my parents Thursday and Friday night before the big move in day on Saturday.  That went smoothly and the truck was quickly unloaded.  BIG thanks to my dad, his friend DeeWayne, my brother, and Jeff's dad for all the heavy lifting.  More thanks to Jeff's mom, his cousin Carrie, my sis-in-law Jess, and Jamie for more unloading, unpacking, and organizing my kitchen while I spent hours on the phone with Comcast.  Another big thanks to my mom for hanging with Claire and bringing her up a little later and then helping with the unpacking. 

I decided not to stay in the house by myself and to continue to hang out at my parent's house, where I'd have help with Claire.  So our first night in the new house was Wednesday, June 29th, the day that Jeff flew down from Chicago.

We were quickly initiated into home ownership with cable and air conditioner issues as well as a lawn needing to be mowed, trees needing trimming, and locks to change.  But we're happy to take those issues along with all the good.  We're loving our new house and having lots of space to call our own!

4 month stats

We squeezed in one last doctor's appointment before we left Chicago.  At her 4 month check-up, Claire's stats were:

Weight - 12 pounds even
Height - 23.5 inches
Head circumference - 15 inches

I believe they were all around the 25th percentile.

8 days of work, come and gone

My whopping 8 days of work has come and gone.  Yep, I had to return to work for 8 days before school was out for the summer.  Many thought it was crazy that I even had to come back, but it was kind of nice.  I got the chance to get some closure and say goodbye to all my friends and I got to experience a little taste of the working mom life.  And I got a break from non-stop baby duty.  Which can be very good for a mommy's mental health.  We were so very fortunate that Jeff's mom was able to stay with us and take care of Claire while I was back at work.  His family came up for a wedding Memorial Day weekend and she just stayed 2 more weeks to help us out.  It was fabulous to only get myself ready in the morning and leave her sleeping, knowing she'd be in good hands. 

I'll be staying home with her through the next school year.  So much change in our lives with a baby, Jeff's new job, a move, and a new house that not job hunting seemed like quite a good idea.  And as many have pointed out, you can't get back that first year of your kid's life.  And with Jeff's new job, we'll be financially able for me to stay with her and fully experience it.  Then I'll reevaluate, see how much I like full time mommyhood, and see what's out there for work and try to figure out what I want to do with myself long term.

Brandi's 30th!

My birthday is May 31st, so it falls the day after Memorial Day this year.  The celebration started on Saturday with lunch with the Schulze's at one of our favorite restaurants, New Rebozo, in Oak Park.  Unfortunately Paco (the chef/owner) was not there to tell us about the "Oh my god, so good" specials.  But while it wasn't quite the experience it usually is, we still had some delicious Mexican food. 

Then we went back to our apartment for a little cake.  Jeff met my request for something chocolatey by getting a chocolate cake with fudge frosting and fresh strawberries from a local bakery.  Mmm!

Then Jeff gave me my presents that night.  Some beautiful amethyst jewelry (Claire's birthstone), some books, some decorating magazines and a few other practical items that he remembered me wanting (new spatula, baby mirror for the car, etc).

Sunday we had his cousin's wedding so we spent the afternoon hanging out with his family and the evening partying at the wedding.  Claire's gift was to be a perfect little (silent) angel through the ceremony and pretty darn good through the reception too.  She seemed to like the loud band.  Or maybe it was just being held and walked around for most of the evening.

I celebrated my actual birthday by returning to work!  My maternity leave came to an end.  I figure it makes for a great story.  And it's actually pretty nice to have some adult time, see friends, and eat and pee whenever I want!  Plus a good friend decorated my office, got a cake, and arranged lunch.  And Jeff made me an awesome picture montage video "from Claire" that popped up as soon as I checked my computer this morning as well as having a huge bunch of balloons delivered to work.

It's been a great birthday!

3 Months

Claire hit the 3 month mark in May.  She's chubbing up quite nicely.

Her sleep routine is to go to bed for the night around 10:30.  She wakes up between 3:30 and 5 to eat.  It used be every 2 hours after that, but in the past few days she has spread that out a bit, so sometimes eating only once more before waking up for the day around 10.  She gets sleepy after about an hour and a half of awake time.  She needs lots of help to get to sleep (bouncing, whacking her butt, patting her back) and will generally sleep for about 30 minutes.  But sometimes she surprises us with a few hours.

She eats about every 2 hours.  She's taking the bottle pretty well now.  Sometimes with bottles she'll go a little longer.  She eats between 3-5 ounces at a time.

She has been able to sporadically roll from her belly to her back for a few weeks now.  But she has to propped up on her arms so she can make use of gravity and get some momentum with her big noggin.  On my birthday I did find her almost on her stomach in her crib, even though she had been swaddled and put on her back.  So full rolling may be coming soon.  She is able to move her hands with some purpose, grabbing rings or batting at things hung in front of her.

She loves chewing on her hands and fingers.

Mmm, fingers!

She likes standing up on our laps and playing on her play mat

Look!  I'm tall!

Listen, Mr. Elephant, get over her so I can grab you.

And she's holding her head up quite well these days.

Yeah, I'm cute.