Bad habbits starting early...

Well the other not-so-good milestone that I have been referring to is her new found talent of getting her thumb in her mouth and getting it to stay there. I have a feeling that this new talent helped her get through the night in peace. But I say, thank goodness for now! I try to switch her thumb for her paci, because at least you can take away her paci, you can't take away her thumb.

As you can see, she is very determined. She managed to get her little mitten off of her hands and get that thumb in. She first started off by making a fist and getting just about the whole thing in her mouth (a feit not many of us can do) and then slowly opened her hand to get a few fingers and soon just her thumb. It was interesting watching her process this information. I know, I should have nipped it in the bud, but it was so neat seeing her learn and imagining what she is thinking while she is trying to figure it out.

I may have a future problem on my hands, so if anyone has any suggestions in the future on how to get a child from sucking his/her thumb, please let me know... :)

A Good Nights Rest!

Teagan has done it!!! After less than 2 days of following the advice of "Baby Wise" by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam, she has successfully slept through the night without any interruptions!! We followed a strict feeding and sleeping schedule and after feeding her at 9:30 last night she did not wake up completely (she had a 5 minute crying spurt at about 10:30 but went back to sleep on her own) until about 5:45 this morning.

I woke up at about 3 this morning and went in her room to check on her to make sure she was still breathing. I was so excited that I couldn't fall back asleep for at least a half an hour. My mind just kept going on and on about how nice it is going to be and hoping that it will last. Plus I was a little worried about timing her next feeding if she were to wake up soon. I was also worried, but mainly uncomfortable, about my boobs. They were like rocks! They have been used to getting emptied every few hours throughout the night. I was debating on weather I should pump or not, but then was worried that she would wake up and I wouldn't have anything for her. So needless to say, I finally went back to sleep, and by the 3rd snooze hitting of the 5:30 alarm clock she was getting crabby. I got up and she was wide awake trying to get her thumb in her mouth (that is her new not-so-good milestone which I will talk about later) so I shoved her paci in instead. I decided to pump since I didn't think she would be able to latch on easily in her anticipated hunger frenzy. 10 oz I got, that is a record, and I wasn't even done.

She was pretty content while waiting to get fed. According to the book, I need to have a set morning feeding time. I picked 7:00, so she had a ways to go. She was so good, I was a little worried that she would be unbearable until then (I kept thinking, should I give her a snack?) but I just turned on her lamp and turned on her mobile and she was fine for a while. I even made coffee this morning before Chris left for work! She started to get a little fussy at about 6:50, so Chris changed her for me and then she got fed. Piece of cake!! I was a little worried about her diaper situation. The night before she had had a pee blowout, and that was only after about 4 hours between changings. But it was all good, just your typical everyday wet diaper! Lets hope we can keep this ball rolling. She then fell asleep at about 8:15 and will be due to feed again at 10:00.

It is so nice, I can now plan things and get so much more done now that I know when she will be awake and feeding (at least for the most part).


Here are pictures of her this morning just hanging out in her crib before getting fed and changed. Isn't she an angel!

9 Weeks

Teagan is 9 weeks old today! This past week we have gone for our first walk outside. We went to Bong behind grandma and grandpa Renwick's house. Toby even got in on the fun. I really needed to get out and get some exercise and we wanted to get some energy out of Toby. So we dressed Teagan up in her little Bear suit and put her in the Baby Bjorn and went for a walk.

We are now trying to get on somewhat of a normal schedule now. Teagan is back in her crib and is making mom and dad very tired with her many wakeup calls throughout the night. I have been reading this book Baby Wise (should have read it a long time ago) and hopefully it will help. So far we have been sticking to their schedule. Eat every 2.5–3.5 hours and stay awake for at least an hour and a half after each feeding. Hopefully this will help her sleep longer throughout the night. Normally she follows this pretty good other than she used to take a long nap in the afternoon.


I got some cute pictures with her and Toby. I figured I haven't taken any of him with her in a while and everyone seems to like those the most. So here is a glimpse.


Naked Teagan. She loves being changed and dressed in the mornings. When I was changing her this morning I noticed how chubby she was getting. She has boobies now!!

I decided to throw in a pic of her with the tv remote for comparison on how big she was the first time i did it. The first picture is the more recent one. She is growing fast. Every day I am starting to see new changes in how she looks and acts. It will be a sad time when I go back to work and don't get to see everything every day. Gotta make money though, right?

Flying with Aunt Andi

Instead of your traditional tummy time, Teagan has opted for the more involved and tiring version of tummy time. This tummy time must involve an adult and some strong shoulders. Aunt Andi was the first to discover this new found fun. We were trying to keep her awake and content during her typical evening "crabby time". Typically from about 7 pm or so, till Teagan's last feeding before bed, around 10, she is quite crabby. Teagan loves her room so we decided to hang out in there for a while. We were talking about how Teagan is supposed to have tummy time every time she eats (which is very difficult with a puke-prone baby), but she does not like it most of the time. So Andi decided to try and fly her around. It worked for a long time, as long as Andi could bare Teagan's weight. Since then, it has become a staple when I can't get Teagan to lay on her stomach with out screaming at me.

Teagan has become a pro. She keeps her hands straight at her sides like she is ready for blastoff! Wide-eyed and alert, she holds her head up high, for as long as she can. In most cases the person holding her runs out of stamina before Teagan does. My shoulders are still soar. It is a good workout none-the-less. I often incorporate it into my baby workouts. I hold her like this and do curls, squats and side twists.

Crib time...again

Last night we decided to put Teagan in her crib at bedtime again. I know, I know...I know what you are thinking, the only way we will get a schedule out of her is a routine. But hopefully we will be able to start one now. I have to get her/me ready for me to start going back to work (Feb. 15). So she needs to start sleeping a little better throughout the night if I am ever going to be functional at work! She did pretty well. She was a sleepy little girl last night so we ended up putting her to bed at about 8:00. Normally she would go to bed about 10:00 after her last feeding before we go to sleep. I fed her at about 7:30 and she just didnt want to wake up after that, so we said what the heck, lets put her to bed and have some time to ourselves. We actually watched an entire episode of House without having to put it on pause in between her crying spats. It was nice. She ate more often than normal last night, about every 2 to 3 hours but i figured if I went in there i was going to feed her so she would fall back asleep again, and it worked. We really only had to let her cry it out early this morning, when she wanted to get up at 4:30, only 1.5 hours after i fed her. So made her wait until 5:00 before i went in there. I could tell it was hard for Chris to listen to her. He wanted to go in there, but I told him not to pick her up, just talk to her and give her her paci back. He was even willing to change her diaper to get to pick her up and calm her down, but i had just changed her at her last feeding. So he just went in there and talked to her for a bit. She started crying shortly after, but we only had to wait it out about 15 more minutes. Then i went in and rocked her for about a half hour then fed her. Soon as i picked her up she was fine. She was wide awake. But again, after I fed her she fell back asleep. We then woke up at about 7:45 and and started our day. She was a happy camper after she ate again. She was awake for about 1.5 hours, did a little photoshoot with her cute little jean skirt overalls outfit and then fell asleep in her swing (I put her in there when she started to get crabby). She went almost 4 hours in between feedings and now she is back asleep again. She tends to sleep a lot during the middle of the day and then is awake in the evenings. Hopefully she wont sleep too much so that she wont fall asleep tonight. Grandma Renwick is coming over later to watch her while i go to my dentist appointment at 5:00, hopefully she will be good for her.

Jumperoo

We opened up Teagan's jumperoo the other day. She is a little too short/light for it, but with a shoe box it seems to work pretty good! Here is a video clip of her first time in it.

Teagan is now 8 weeks old

As of Wednesday, Teagan is exactly 8 weeks old. I can't believe how fast it has gone by. She has grown so much these last few weeks. I feel like she is closer to a toddler now than a baby. She is awake now during the day more than she is napping. She absolutely loves her room and has made friends with all the little animals and dots on her walls and in her crib. We put her up there in the evening when she is crabby and you can hear her talking to her animal friends.


She loves to be changed and often likes to just hang out in her diaper. I am sure we are going to have a hard time keeping her clothes on in the summer! She can follow people as they walk across the room. She coos and makes almost laughing sounds when you play with her. She giggles (sort of) in her sleep, but that is as close as we have gotten to an actual laugh. I bet it is coming soon.

She loves to sleep on her sides. We have had several sleeping arrangements for her over the past 8 weeks. For the first month we had her in her bassinet next to our bed. That worked pretty good. It was very convenient because I just had to lean over to pick her up and feed her and then I would walk to her bedroom to change her. She started to get a little too heavy and I would practically tip over picking her up from the bed. Then we decided since I was having to go in her bedroom to change her why not just have her sleep in the crib? Well that lasted exactly a week. It seemed like a good idea. It gave Chris a better nights sleep, but as for me, I just found myself walking back and forth what seemed like every half hour to shush her or feed her. So needless to say, I was getting less sleep. I was beginning to think that her room was too cold and that was why she was waking up so often. In the mornings when Chris would go to work he would bring her in bed with me when she was fussy. In our bed she could sleep for a few hours at a time with out any interruptions. That is where I came up with the cold room concept. We thought about getting a little heater for her room since you are not supposed to put blankets in their cribs, but our friend Dee gave us her little bed sleeper. We now have a little bed that we put in between us at night. She has been in it for the past week. She seems to like it and has slept well for the past 3 nights. I think we might be starting to get on a schedule now... at least I hope!

As far as milestones go, Teagan hasn't reached too many, at least nothing very exciting. She holds her head up pretty good. I can pretty much hold her like a little kid on my hip and she sits up fairly well. Her head will bob and weave occasionally, you just have to pay attention. She hasn't rolled over yet. She is real close though. Not sure if she has any urge to though, she seems to like it on her side, as I stated earlier. I often find her sleeping that way.

Talents, I would have to say her best talent so far is the amount of air that leaves her body and the noise it makes when exiting... She puts Chris to shame!!! Her farts sound like someone 5 times her size created them! It is amazing her diaper doesn't blow off. She has slowed down the older she gets, but man she sure can surprise you! She holds her own on the burping end, except for her milk. Most times when she burps parts of her meal come with it. Not to fun for me, since I am normally the one wearing the evidence. Although it was quite funny one morning, Chris was all ready for work and he was bringing her in our room and she had a projectile burp right in his face. Apparently she even managed to get some in his mouth!! Made me laugh. It was a good start to the day. So far everyone in the house has been puked on except for the cat. Toby got a mouthful when I was on my way back from changing her and heading back to our room when again she puked and it landed right on Toby's back who was laying on the landing between our rooms. It was too dark and I was too tired to clean him up, so I left it for him to eat. Gross I know, but I don't think he minded...