Moving On

So we tried the crib. We did. It was accepted as a novelty the first night, put-up-with to some extent the second night, and completely shunned by the third night. I didn't sleep well any of those nights. So, exhausted and ready for some rest, I suggested we put our mattress on the floor and her mattress next to ours. We could return to cosleeping even though we had outgrown the cosleeping bassinett and are the lucky owners of a lumpy mattress (that MUST be replaced as there are person-sized dents in it!).

Maddie was thrilled. I kid you not. She laid in our room giggling and smiling. She was so excited she couldn't sleep at first.

But then, sleep she did....on her stomach. For the first time.

So, yeah, it was another night of little sleep for me because even though she was sleeping, I had to watch her for hours to make sure she could breathe on her tummy. For the record, she can.

Bring on the second night (our days were all a prelude to hoping for sleep at that point). Maddie slept (on her tummy) and only woke to eat twice. This, for us, was huge. Last night, she ate about midnight and slept until - you might want to sit down for this - 8:30am. That's right. I got up at 8 and felt...what's the word? Ah, yes, refreshed. It's a beautiful thing.

Of course she then proceeded to have a howling, screaming kind of day today, but that's not really the point here, now is it?

Madeleine had some other firsts, too! She sat up for a moment on her own (and I interrupted a thoroughly wonderful conversation with shouts of, "She sat up! On her own! That was the first time!"), and...drumroll here...we started solids. Many of you know that I was a bit, well, terrified of solids. We were given the go-ahead at 4 months to start, but Madeleine wasn't showing much interest and I was less than enthusiastic. But last week I was eating a Boca burger and Maddie watched wide-eyed as I lifted it to my mouth and took bites. She opened her mouth each time I did, and even tried chewing a couple of times. My little girl was telling me she was ready for solids!

Now, the word "solids" is a bit of a misnomer, as there was so much milk that it was really more like milk with a dash of rice cereal than anything that could be called a solid. But I digress.

Maddie had a lot of fun "eating" (or rather, dribbling the food down her chin, chest, stomach, diaper, Bumbo, floor) and she especially enjoyed playing with the spoon when the "meal" (ha ha!) was over.

We've been doing the rice cereal 1-2x a day, and she's really getting the hang of it now. But the best part, for me? She doesn't make those cute little happy eating sounds with the solids - that's reserved just for Mommy. That made solids go down a lot easier in this house.

And I know what you really came here for...Madeleine Hope - 5 months

Crib Bound

We used the crib for the first time last night .  Maddie was fine.  I was not.

Maddie has been thrashing about in her cosleeper...trying to roll over (but there's only enough room to get on her side), kicking her feet over the sides (eek!), pounding the walls...and waking herself up amidst all the ruckus. After a few nights of her waking up like this,I decided to try the crib and sleep in her room. To my utter surprise, it worked.  She slept all stretched out and I camped awkwardly on the floor.  This morning I was all (cramped, uncomfortable, ouchy) sad and told Dakota that she didn't even wonder where I was. He looked at me all puzzled and said, "Because you were right there! She could look out of the crib and there you were! Why would she wonder where you were?" True, true. But still. It was sad.  And I cried.