Yesterday I read back through some of my weekly pregnancy updates and thought I would begin something similar now that Claudia is here! I'm not going to promise an update every month, but for those of you who would like to join us in our adventure of parenting Claudia Grace, enjoy!
Like the pregnancy updates, I'm going to use a list of headings/questions so it will be easy for me to look back :-)
Daily Routine: "Routine" is one of my favorite words! Now that I'm mobile again and our life is settling into a version of normal, it has been fun getting into our daily routine :-) I read Babywise when Claudia was two weeks old and it helped reinforced ideas about creating a routine for her. I highly recommend it. This is our "flexible schedule"; if we get off by an hour, if Claudia oversleeps, skips a nap, we're traveling or something else, its okay. It is the basic structure that we revolve around and Claudia is thriving in it!
8:00 a.m.:Claudia's Breakfast
9:30/10:00 a.m.: Nap
12:00 p.m.: Claudia's Lunch
1:30/2:00 p.m.: Nap
4:00 p.m.: Claudia's Late Afternoon Meal
4:30 p.m. (every other day): Bath time!
5:00-5:30ish: Nap
8:00 p.m.:Claudia's Dinner
8:30-9:00 p.m: Bedtime
Claudia's naps usually last about an hour to an hour and a half, so during the time between her naps and mealtimes, we read books, sing, play, run errands or go for a walk. :-)
Sleeping Habits: We began sleep training Claudia at 4 weeks and she now sleeps about 11 hours through the night in her own crib! We are so thankful that she sleeps so that we can get some time together in the evenings and can get our own rest!
Right now she takes three naps (10, 2, and 5:30) that usually last about an hour. She starts rubbing her eyes (its sooo cute!) when she's tired and falls asleep on her own once she's in the crib. She definitely fights naps sometimes, but usually stops crying after just a few minutes (unless she's hungry which is a different story!). I enjoy her nap time because it lets me be productive, make a phone call without baby noises in the background, take a nap myself, or watch a show. I try not to have the T.V. on too much when she's awake.
When we put her to sleep for a nap or for the night, we make sure she has a clean diaper (we double diaper her at night!) and speak in quiet, soothing voices. Before bedtime, we read her a book. Goodnight Moon is her favorite. Once she's in her crib, we give her the pacifier, put her soothing blanket near her hand, and pull her blanket up to her face. She loves to sleep with the blanket close to her face, which used to scare me so much! Fortunately, this blanket is crocheted, so that helps me not to worry! Lastly, we play a music box that Austin's grandfather gave us when we were engaged.
Here are a couple of pictures of her nursery!
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Eating Habits: Claudia eats 4 times a day (8, 12, 4 and 8). Right now, she eats 8 oz of formula (we use Enfamil Gentlease and love it!) at all but the 4 o'clock feeding. At 4 she eats a serving of rice cereal followed by 4-5 oz of formula in her high chair! She still looks so small in that big chair :-).
Claudia's pediatrician, Dr. Owens, has given me the freedom to feed Claudia solids at the pace she determines. She's really getting the hang of eating with the spoon! About 90% of it actually stays in her mouth now! She's still a messy eater, but she's so cute, so I forgive her!
Over the weekend, we're going to start feeding her the rice cereal twice a day and in the next week or so, we'll probably introduce some kind of pureed vegetable. I'm planning to make her baby food so we'll see how that goes!
Bath Time: Claudia loves her bath! Following her 4:00 meal, she's usually pretty messy, so that's why I decided to put it at this point in her routine! She also has been known to sleep from 5:30 until her 8:00 feeding, so that's another reason I do it then.
We have been using this baby bather since she was a newborn and I love it! When she starts sitting up on her own (she's almost there!), we won't use it anymore, but for now, its great! Claudia's sensory development is exploding and she loves putting her feet under the running water as I'm filling up the bathtub. She has also started touching the water as I pour it over her to rinse her off. At the end of her bath, I take her out of the bather and hold her upright in the water. She enjoys splashing around and is captivated by the drain when I let the water out. It is so fun to see her experience such simple things for the first time!
Following her bath, I put her in one of her adorable hooded towels, put a fresh diaper on her, put lotion on her and change her into a clean sleeper and bib. Lastly, I brush her hair and put vaseline on her little cheeks that have been chapped recently. I love how sweet and clean she smells after her bath! She is usually so relaxed that she transitions into her nap very easily after that.
Favorite Activities: "standing up" on our laps and squealing, bouncing in her "Excer-saucer", playing on her activity mat, looking at pictures in books and her bath.
Favorite Things: Her soothing blanket, "The Jesus Storybook Bible", "The Baby Colors Book", her seal, her paci, and eating.
Current Phase: Unfortunately, I think she's going through some separation anxiety. Whenever other people are in the room, she checks to make sure I'm around. Sometimes she cries if anyone other than me gets her up from a nap. She's just been more clingy/needy lately.
She's so frustrated in general right now! I've read that between 4-6 months are so difficult for a baby because there is SO much development happening at once. I can tell she's ready to crawl, but she's not there yet.
Milestones: Claudia has discovered both of her feet, she likes waving her arms around like crazy (we think she'll be a conductor some day :-) ), she's eating rice cereal, her manual dexterity is great, she makes noises and moves her mouth like she wants to talk to us, and she can roll over from her back to her tummy! She can't quite roll from her tummy to her back yet. She gets so frustrated and upset. It's difficult watching her struggle with it.
Funny Habits: This one isn't really a habit, but she drools ALL THE TIME! Austin calls her "drool box". We have to keep a bib on her at all times, except when she's going to bed for the night, so that her clothes don't get soaked! I'm waiting for that first tooth to pop through anytime now!
She sucks on her left index and middle fingers, which is what her daddy used to do. So cute!
She likes sticking out her tongue whenever she's concentrating and curling it over her top lip. Her mommy used to (and still does) do that!
Teeth: None! We adore her gummy smile! But, from the amount of drool, one should come any day now!
Nicknames:
Austin's: "Drool Box" and "Gummy"
Elizabeth's: "Little Precious Love" and "Love Bug"
Diaper Size: 3 (Pamper's Swaddlers)
Clothing Size: 6 months
Fun Times: Over the past several weeks, Claudia has experienced her first snow, spent quality time with each of her grandparents (and her-great grandmommy!), made a trip to Paducah, and gone to church. I'm so glad the weather is finally warming up so we can get outside and enjoy doing things!
Its hard to believe she'll be 6 months old in just a few weeks! Stay tuned!
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