Since We've Been Home

Mila as a Big Sister
We keep getting asked how Mila is doing now that she's a big sister, so I thought I'd blog about it as well. She's doing great. Mila looooves Emmy. She asks about her when she wakes up in the morning, "Emmy?" and she loves to watch her flail her arms about. When Emmy cries, Mila gets worried and comes running - "Emmy esta llorando!" ("Emmy is crying!") Sometimes, when Emmy cries, she panics - it's actually pretty funny - she goes up to her and starts blowing on her, as if she's hot! It's hilarious! She's also noticed that we try to soothe Emmy by saying, "Ya, ya Emmy... Ya, ya..." (Kinda like saying, "It's ok, Emmy, it's ok...") So if we're in the car and she sees her crying, she says, "Ya, ya Emmy... Ya, ya..." It's so funny to hear her. Cracks us up!

So on that note, Mila's been doing great. I had such fears that Mila would be upset or that there would be jealousy, but no, she's been awesome!

Emmy and Sleeping

Emmy has been just wonderful. Since we're co-sleeping, it's so much easier to get up during the night feedings. She sleeps in her crib until she wakes up for a feeding and then I just throw her into bed with us and slap her on the boob and go back to sleep with her cuddled up next to us. So we end up co-sleeping only part of the night but WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Seriously - it's the BEST decision we ever made. Jorge and I sleep so much better this time around than we did with Mila when Mila was this age. No more forcing myself to get up to nurse, wait til she falls asleep and then carefully trying to put her back into bed - only for her to wake up the second I let go. This time, it's been just wonderful.

A friend that also co-sleeps sent me another interesting article:
Co-sleeping and Biological Imperatives: Why Human Babies Do Not and Should Not Sleep Alone
http://neuroanthropology.net/2008/12/21/cosleeping-and-biological-imperatives-why-human-babies-do-not-and-should-not-sleep-alone/

Mila and Sleeping

However. Yes, there's a "however" here. We totally didn't expect for this to be an issue... and suddenly it's now our most biggest stress ever. Where we would have been having trouble from Emmy, we are having serious trouble with Mila. She is refusing to nap. She's refusing to go to sleep. Where before Emmy was born, I could go put Mila in her crib and lay down in the bed next to her for 5 minutes and then say goodnight, walk out and she'd happily play in the crib until she fell asleep - now... it's crying for 3 HOURS STRAIGHT because she wants to be picked up HELD to sleep. It's an absolute nightmare.

Our theory is, we left Mila at home with Abuelita and Tia Yaya all of a sudden. She didn't get a chance to say goodbye. We just suddenly left before she woke up one day - and then we were gone for 2 days straight! We think maybe it was too much for her and now she thinks we'll leave if she falls asleep. She will cry inconsolably - and we're right there in the room next to her! Ahhhh! It had taken us so long to get this perfect nap/sleep routine with her and now it's absolutely ruined! We don't know what to do - it's like she wants to either be held in our arms or she wants to hold my hand (or Jorge's hand) as she falls asleep... and even THAT has still been with lots of tears!! Like screaming as if it's the end of the world type of crying... truly heartbreaking. For every nap and bedtime. It's hours of torture. The first couple of nights she was so bad that she just cried right through her ENTIRE naptime. And she'll refuse to nap so much - that she'll stay standing up in the corner of the crib waiting for us to get her and eventually she starts to calm down because she's so tired - that she'll even try to sleep standing up. Oh my goodness! And we're right there next to her crib this whole time, it's not like we've left the room!!! TORTURE!! We've been up for hours with this craziness!!! Not to mention we also have a newborn to take care of!

It's been 13 days since we've been home it's been slooooowly getting a teensy bit better since that first day. At least Mila will eventually fall asleep, but it's still very, very difficult. 

We are so desperate with this lack of sleep we ordered Supernanny's book, "How to get the best from your children" and it covers toddlers and bedtime. It just arrived this evening but I've been devouring it while Emmy nurses - we need to implement something asap! The book suggests that if she wakes up during the night, you could try the "Controlled Crying Technique" - it's mentioned on the Supernanny site here: http://www.supernanny.co.uk/Advice/-/Parenting-Skills/-/Routine-and-Teamwork/Controlled-Crying.aspx ... if she's able to get up and out of bed, you can try the "Staying In Bed Technique" mentioned here: http://www.supernanny.co.uk/Advice/-/Parenting-Skills/-/Routine-and-Teamwork/Getting-Toddlers-to-Stay-in-Bed.aspx ... and here's a clip of it in action: http://www.supernanny.co.uk/TV-Show/Clips/Clips/Stay-in-Bed-Technique.aspx

We're going to give this a shot... wish us luck!!!

Mila is 14 Months!

Dear Mila,

As February is a short month, it's fair to say this month really flew by! This month has brought only a few, although big, new things! Most importantly, you're talking! You now say "da-da," "abua" for agua/water, "aya" for araña/spider  and you even say "ya-ya!" for Tia Ñaña, which is your aunt Blanca!  Your aunt Blanca taught you "araña" with a little toy spider you have - which honestly kinda creeps me out and I've been tempted to hide it - but once you started saying the word, there was just no way. And you looooooove your Tia Ñaña! She comes over and plays with you and runs around with you when Mommy and Daddy are too pooped to take another step! She's one of your favorite playmates! You say her name whenever she's here. It's so sweet to see you two!

Eating has made huge improvements this month. It's been a battle to get you to eat chunky food, but now you eat ravioli!!! And you love it! You also eat broccoli and rotini pasta (chopped up) as well. I'm so amazed!

Here's a little clip of you saying "abua" (for water) and eating ravioli:




This month you've dramatically cut back on nursing. You're now down to once day, right before we start your bedtime routine. You were nursing 4 times a day for a while, which got cut back to 2 because you fought it and didn't seem to want to nurse (there were much more interesting things to do!!) Now it's down to once a day and only for a few minutes. But honestly, if I don't remind you, you could totally go without it. I'm torn about it - a part of me feels happy to give it up - I've been doing it for so long already! The other part of me is sad to give it up. I guess it means that you're growing up... it's the last thing from your babyhood that remains. You're a toddler now! You do such big girl things. Nursing is the one thing that's just ours and makes me feel like you're still my little baby. I expected to nurse until you were a year and a half or so... I guess I felt I would have to wean you off it, and instead, I think I'm the one that needs to be weaned. You do ask for it sometimes - you've learned the sign - but I know that if you weren't reminded every night, it would soon be a distant memory. I'm willing to go as long as you are. I know it won't be for too much longer, though. I'll miss our time together... but I know we'll find another activity that we can both enjoy. :)

Now, on to the big news of the month... Sleep has always been an issue since you were a baby. You're great at staying asleep, but it's so hard to get you to fall asleep! Your Daddy and I have tried everything: you nursed to sleep for a while, then you slept on us, then you slept a bit in your swing, in the Ergo, and then finally we got you to fall asleep in your crib by rocking you to sleep. Not the best solution, but it worked.

Now been almost two weeks that we've changed how you fall asleep for your bedtime and naps. Since we'd been trying to get pregnant, we know this was one of the major things that would need to change - and soon. Up until two weeks ago, we'd rocked you to sleep. For every nap and every night at bedtime. For naps, I would usually sit on the big ol' pilates ball we have and bounce you until you fall asleep. Then I bounce an extra 5 minutes to make sure you're asleep and then I put you into bed. At bedtime, your Daddy is uncomfortable on the ball, so he'll just hold you in his arms and rock you. It used to be ok when you were little... but now you're weighing 20 pounds and getting heavier! And both Daddy and I feel it on our backs. The soreness! Most times you fall asleep within 20 minutes - which leaves me pretty sore, but it's manageable... but then there are days when your Daddy and I are switching back and forth because our arms have fallen asleep or because our backs can't take it anymore and we're sweating like crazy and you still haven't fallen asleep! We would do this at one point every single day for 3 naps a day and then again at bedtime. I think my record for rocking you has been an hour straight... ugh, painful! Quite a workout! So now that I'm pregnant with your little sibling, soon I won't be able to hold you for that long. But even that wasn't enough to motivate us - your Daddy and I have been DREADING having to put you to sleep any other way because we know how you get when we put you in the crib and you haven't fallen asleep, or if you wake up as we're putting you in - you scream bloody murder! You hate it and scream and then stand up in the crib and stomp and cry until we take you out and rock you some more. We'd tried to rub your tummy before, but you'd cry yourself into a frenzy and we knew nobody would get any sleep. So we gave up and rocked you again and until you fell asleep. We've never been comfortable with the "crying it out" method. We want you to know that we are there for you and if you're alone or scared and want us by your side, that we'll be there. Hearing you cry is breaks our heart... especially when we know all you want is comfort from us. We know that "crying it out" works for a lot of people, especially when they've tried everything, but we're willing to keep trying other methods first.

Up until a few weeks ago, rocking you had worked in getting you to fall asleep, so we've stuck to it. BUT. Now things have changed. For 3 nights you kept waking up during the night around 2am.... and, as usual, we'd go in to rock you... and nothing. You wouldn't fall asleep. We'd be up for THREE HOURS trying to get you to go back down. Ugh!!!! After the third night, we knew we had to try something different. Your Daddy does bedtime with you and he was brave enough to make the first change. He went through the whole bedtime routine: playtime, clean up time, bath time, reading time, good night to Fort Lauderdale time, turned off the lights, turned on the noise machine and then instead of rocking her, he put you in your in the crib. Of course you cried, but he kneeled down next to you over the railing and sang to you and rubbed your back and your tummy. At first you fought it... but eventually you fell asleep. Holy moly!! We couldn't believe it! HALLELUJAH!!! The next day, you were so tired for your nap, I didn't have to try to put you down, so napping wasn't an issue and I didn't do the new method. That night though, your Daddy did it again and it wasn't so bad! You fell asleep with some tears, but with tummy rubs and to the tune of "Mila's Song" (a.k.a. "Elmo's Song" with Mila's name instead, haha). And then the next day, I did it for your nap and it worked! Only took 30 minutes! Again, there were some tears, but then you'd start playing with your socks or your burp cloth and then you'd fall asleep. We did have a few set backs where it took us longer, or where you'd cry longer, but here we are, two weeks later and you're napping and sleeping so much better. No rocking at all! And you haven't woken up during the night since!! Aaaaaand Mommy and Daddy's backs are rejoicing! What a relief!!!! This is such a breakthrough! We still cannot believe this actually working! Everyone is sleeping so much better now. Why, oh, why did we not try this sooner?!?! We're thrilled!!

What an exciting month. I can only imagine what next month will bring. Perhaps "ma-ma" is around the corner, maybe? I still can't believe you say "spider" and not "mommy" yet!!! C'mon! Show me some love too! :)

I love you my sweet little girl!

Your Mommy

Bedtime Routine

Mila's bedtime routine:

Dinner on Daddy's lap.

Then it's bathtime!

Daddy helps me put on my pijamas.

"This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth..."

Mommy brushes my two teeth.

Daddy combs my hair.

Then I pick out two books...

and then Daddy reads them to me. 

Then Daddy sings to me "Everyone Loves Mila" and "The Wheels on the Bus" in spanish. Then we say our goodnights and Mommy dims the lights and puts on our Rockabye Baby CD and Daddy dances with me to the music. Afterwards, Mommy comes in and gives me a night time snack and I'll usually fall asleep on the boob. :)

Then I'm up again because I want to play, but Mommy rocks me back to sleep. I usually do this a couple of times before I fall asleep for good. This drives Mommy and Daddy crazy, but Mommy and Daddy love me so much, they always come and get me and help me fall back asleep. 

Mommy and Daddy rock. :)

E.A.S.Y.: The "Eat-Activity-Sleep-You Time" Routine

Sleeping had been a bit of an issue the last few weeks. I think it was because Mila had been a tad bit congested before she caught her cold and that was affecting her sleeping. Also, she's in her 6th month growth spurt and she's also hitting a lot of milestones (sitting, teething, trying solids, grabbing things with her hands) and sleeping is always affected during that time. She'd been waking up more often and her naps were out of whack. But now they've gotten a bit better.

Our routine used to be eat-play and then eat-sleep, because the only way she'd fall asleep was when she was nursing, so she'd nurse ever 2 hours which made that a very long day for mommy! Then I read somewhere online about the EASY routine: "Eat-Activity-Sleep-You Time" routine and I thought I'd give it a shot. But the thing was, since she used to nurse to sleep, what could I do to get her to fall asleep now? So I started rocking her to sleep. I'd rock her on the big birthing ball and it worked! I'd rock her for about 20  minutes (10 minutes to get her to fall alseep and then another 10 minutes after she'd fallen alseep) and then I put her in the crib and then she would roll over and fall asleep. It's been a bit rough on my arms and my back, although I think I'm building muscle and it's starting to get easier, haha. She's quite the work out!! Now I don't have to nurse her down to sleep anymore for every nap. I know rocking her to sleep isn't ideal either, but I think it's progress. Plus, now she's napping in her crib instead of on me, which lets me get a few things done around the house... particularly blog. :)

So now we do the eat-play-sleep routine every 3 hours. It's a much better arrangement. Well, except for the rocking for 20 minutes part... that gets to be a bit exhausting, especially when she wakes up after only being in the crib for 10 minutes and I have to do it all over again. But now I'm so much more in tune with her schedule and we're both happier. I'm starting to cut back on the length of time I rock her after she's fallen asleep, so now I'm down to 10 minutes rocking her to sleep, then 6 minutes rocking her while she's asleep (instead of another 10 minutes). I'm sure that this is far from perfect, but for now, it works for us.

I did purchase the "No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley and I've just started reading it. I'm hoping to find alternatives to rocking her. She'll cry if I just put her in her crib when she's awake, and I am not comfortable with the "cry it out" method. I'd prefer to find something else. I've heard this book is very helpful. I'll let you know what I think when I finish reading it.
Our Eat-Play-Sleep routine for the day kinda looks something like this (see below) if we're home for the day. If we go out, our schedule goes off a bit. This schedule is by no means a typical day, but of what an ideal day looks like.

A lot of times, for her naps, she'll wake up after 10 minutes and I have to rock her again so she takes a nap of at least 30 minutes. This happens for at least one or two of her naps during the day. If she's particularly fussy, I put her in the Ergo Baby Carrier and she'll take a long nap. (However, she's a bit heavy so I prefer she sleeps in her crib, so the Ergo is my last resort.) This is just to give you a rough idea of what our routine kinda looks like. Obviously if she gives hunger cues or tired cues I feed her or put her down for a nap, even if it's earlier than I planned. What's good about this routine though, is if she starts getting fussy I don't have to guess what's wrong, I know what's coming up so I know that's what she wants.

The bedtime routine at the end of the day is particularly difficult. Sometimes it takes 3 hours for her to fall asleep. She seems to think it's just a nap and keeps waking up.
I'm looking forward to what "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" suggests to help make those naps and the bedtime routine a bit easier! For now, this is a rough idea of what  our day looks like.

9:45pm -  Asleep for the night. Sleeps about 5-6 hours straight.
3:00am - Wakes up for feeding only. Diaper change and nurses for 20 minutes and falls asleep right away on the boob. Put her in the crib and stays asleep. Sleeps for another 4 hours or so.
7:00am - Wakes up. Diaper change and nurses for 20 minutes. Awake for less than an hour and then falls asleep.
7:45am -  Rock to sleep for 10-15 minutes to get her to fall asleep, then rock for 6 minutes after she's fallen asleep. Naps for 40-60 minutes.
9:00am - Wakes up for the day. Diaper change and plays a little.
10:00am - Nurses for 20 minutes. Then continues playtime. (EAT, ACTIVITY)
11:00pm - Naptime. Rock to sleep for 10-15 minutes to get her to fall asleep, then rock for 6 minutes after she's fallen asleep. Naps for 40-60 minutes. (SLEEP)
12:00pm - Wakes up. Diaper change and playtime.
1:00pm - Nurses for 20 minutes. Then continues playtime. (EAT, ACTIVITY)
2:00pm - Naptime. Rock to sleep for 10-15 minutes to get her to fall asleep, then rock for 6 minutes after she's fallen asleep. Naps for about 45 minutes. (SLEEP)
3:00pm - Wakes up. Diaper change and playtime.
4:00pm - Nurses for 20 minutes. Then continues playtime. (EAT, ACTIVITY)5:00pm - Short Nap. Rock to sleep for 15 minutes to fall asleep, then 6 minutes while alseep. Naps for about 30 minutes. (SLEEP)
5:30pm - Wakes up. Diaper change and plays with Daddy when he gets home while Mommy makes dinner. Eat dinner. (EAT, ACTIVITY)
7:00pm - Nurses for 15-20 minutes.
7:30pm - Daddy begins night time routine: bath, puts on pjs, story time and dancing with daddy with dim lights to Rockabye Baby CD. Mommy cleans up kitchen, play area, bath tub and prepares bedroom for bedtime.
8:30pm - Bedtime. (Instead of the 3 hour interval for naps, at bedtime we wait 4 hours.)  Last feeding of the night. Nurses for about 30 minutes. This feeding is just to top her off before falling asleep, but she pacifies a lot. She sometimes falls asleep on the boob, but if not, then I rock her to sleep for 10-20 minutes to get her to fall asleep, then rock for 6 minutes after she's fallen asleep. This is the time it takes the  longest for her to fall asleep. She usually wakes up and then I have rock her all over again. This could last an hour our more. :(
9:45pm - Asleep for the night. Sleeps about 5-6 hours straight. (SLEEP)

Mila is 5 Months!

Dear Mila,

This month has been such a blur. I can't believe you're on the cusp of being half a year old already!

This month has brought so many new and amazing developments. You talk a lot more now -- you "ahhhh" and "oohhhhh" all the time. Especially when you're falling asleep. It's so funny to watch, and even funnier to listen to you. Sometimes you get really loud too! You want to make yourself heard! You smile so much more now and have even giggled a couple of times. Your laugh is the sweetest laugh we've ever heard! Your daddy and I melt whenever we hear it and we do all sorts of crazy antics to try to get you to do it again.

This month is also one filled with mixed emotions. You're so smart and aware; I love seeing how much you've grown, but you're almost 6 months old and that just blows my mind! How can it be that you've gotten so big? This month is also the last month you'll be exclusively breastfed. Next month, we start introducing solids, which I'm so excited about! I can't wait to see your expressions as you discover new foods. But I'm also kinda sad that I won't be your sole provider of food anymore. I remember when you were born and you started breastfeeding and how hard it was... I couldn't wait until it was over!! Now I look back and I know this is the beginning of the end of our nursing and our special bonding time. I hope to breastfeed until you're at least a year old, but I know every month it will be less and less as you eat more solids. I'll miss it. I know it'll be fun for you though... you already stare ate Mommy and Daddy when we eat and you seem fascinated with what we're doing. You look at the food we're eating and you watch us put it in our mouth and you really focus on us while we chew. You're so inquisitive!

For now though, you have so much fun while you nurse. You've taken to grabbing your foot and kicking whenever you're eating. It's so funny! Well, except when you kick mommy on the nose! You love your feet and especially your toes. I'll never understand how it is that you can't find your thumb, yet you can find your big toe to suck on. It cracks me up!

Another new and exciting, and somewhat challenging, milestone is that you're teething! You drool alllll the time - you easily go through three bibs a day. We can see that your gums are really swollen and I just know a tooth is going to pop through there any day now. We've given you a few teething toys for you to chew on, although these days, everything is a chew toy because you want to put everything in your mouth!

You're also sitting up so well! Now it's only with a bit of support from one hand while you play with something in the other. But if you let go, you topple off to the side. Oopsy daisy! So funny. You've also mastered the art of holding a toy in one hand, and then transfering it to the other -- while you're sitting in your Bumbo, of course. You're so smart!!

When you were three months old you rolled over from your tummy to your back, but you didn't do it too many more times after that. I think it might have startled you and you didn't want to do it anymore. But you've become a pro at turning from your back to your tummy! However, you seem to get stuck in that position and when your arms get tired and you want to change positions, you seem to get stuck and cry for help. We help you turn over when you get really frustrated, but hopefully you learn to turn over both ways on your own soon. I can't imagine we'll be there to turn you over when you're in college, young lady! :)

Your favorite place to be is by far in Mommy and Daddy's arms. You love being held. And we love holding you too! Your so sweet to cuddle with. Your second favorite place to be is your ExerSaucer. Oh boy, do you love that thing. You put everything in your mouth -- we've even had to add a few more toys that you can reach so you can gnaw on them!

Your least favorite place to be is in the car. You hate it! Mommy has to make sure you've taken a good nap and you've eaten right before taking you out. If not, all hell breaks loose! Especially when you're back there all by yourself. You cry and scream and it really breaks my heart! I try to console you and sing to you, talk to you, play music... nothing seemed to work. The other day I was sitting back there with you while Daddy was driving, and you started "ahhhhhh"-ing and I could tell you were about to cry. So I started copying everything you did... and it stopped the crying before it really started. You even fell asleep in the car - which is rare! I started copying the noise you were making and I turned it into this: "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..ehhhhhhhhhhh..eeeeeeeeeeee..ohhhhhhhhhhh... uuuuuuuuuuuuuu." It almost sounded like I was chanting the vowel sounds, haha! But it worked! And I've tried it a couple more times and it seems to work pretty well! I hope you start taking to the car... it's not something we can avoid, you know. We have places to go, people to see!

Your nighttime sleeping had gotten a bit crazy this month, but now it's starting to get better. Definitely seems like it was a case of the "four month wakeful." But now it's the end of the month and so much better. You're sleeping well in your crib and Mommy and Daddy have just moved out of your room. You're such a big girl! Even your daytime naps, which have always been a struggle, are getting better and better. I used to have to put you in the Ergo Baby Carrier for every nap, and now I've even  been able to put you down into the crib for a nap or two during the day! It's great, Mommy can finally get a few things done around the house -- maybe even catch up on my blog! You usually only nap for 30 minutes to an hour in there, but at least it's progress!

You are definitely becoming more aware of what's going on around you as well. If I walk away from you and you don't see me, you start to cry. Could it be that you miss me? Awww.... I miss you too munchkin'! I think that might also be the issue in the car and that might be a contributing reason that you cry. I'm thinking of sticking a picture of your Daddy and me back there so you can see us, haha. I wonder if that would work?

You also seem to recognize your name. You turn your head when I call you, but it could just be that your turning your head because you hear a sound. I'm not sure. We'll have to keep practicing.

During playtime, Daddy loves to dance with you. I know he really treasures that time with you. He'll put on the radio and you two will just dance the night away! It's so sweet.

He also plays with you and your toys, like your spinning wheel that I like to call "The Wheel of Fortune," all though it looks nothing like the popular gameshow. It spins and sings the alphabet. You not too interested in the educational aspect of it, you much more prefer it's flavor, haha!

Mommy likes to read you fairy tales in Spanish from the book your Aunt Cindy got for you. I'm really making a concious effort to read and speak to you in Spanish so you'll learn, but it's so hard because I always talk to Daddy in English. It's hard to make the transition. Mommy and Daddy are going to try harder. I know you'll be talking before we know it!!

Your Abuelito now comes over once a week to visit. We go for a walk around the neighborhood to get a bit of exercise, but you'll have none of it! You hate those walks... you insist on being picked up and as soon as I do, you're fine. It's summer and I think it's just too hot out. We would love to get out earlier to beat the heat, but you always take your nap by the time we want to get out. We're going to have to figure out how we're going to get some exercise. It's hard to walk outside with you in my arms all sweaty and trying to juggle an umbrella at the same time so you're not in the sun! Although Mommy does get quite a workout, I'll tell you that!!

You love getting out of the house and last weekend, your daddy and I took you to the beach for the first time. You loved it! You looked so stylish too, with your new sunglasses! It was the best weekend with you so far... we love taking you to new places and watch you experience new things. It's almost as if we're rediscovering them with you. You make everything so interesting... from just feeling the wind in your hair, to seeing your shadow, to feeling something cold to the touch. What will we discover next? I can't wait.

I love you my chunky little monkey!

Your Mommy


5 Month Status Update:

16 lbs. 3 oz.
25 inches

We've Moved Out... :(

As I mentioned in my previous post from May 10th, "Mila Moved Out" Mila has moved from her bassinet in our room, into her crib in her room next door. Her room used to be our guest room/office so we had a queen sized bed in there, so Jorge and I decided to move to her room with her. It's been a little over 3 weeks since the move, and ever since we've been talking about when we should move out. I really don't want to move out and neither does Jorge, but we know we should. And soon. She's already 5 months old and I've read that by 6 months old, babies are much more aware of their surroundings, and I would hate for her to start realizing that we're right next to her ever night, and then when we move out, she'll cry because she realizes we're not there anymore. Ugh. And as hard as it is for us to move out and leave her alone, (she's been sleeping within eye distance since she was born!!) we keep telling ourselves, "Better us than her." We'd rather just deal with the move now rather than her deal with the move later.

Anyway, we'd been talking about it, but hadn't decided when we were going to do it, and last night Jorge threw me for a loop when he suggested that we should just sleep in the other room. I immediately burst into tears -- I was so not ready to move out!! But he was right... if we gave it too much thought and set a date to move out, I know I'd be so anxious about it and it would just keep being postponed. It's better we just do it cold turkey. So I reluctantly agreed.

"So who gets the monitor tonight?" he asked.

That was the other issue we kept debating. Should we get another monitor so we can both check on her during the night? If I woke up and it was on his nightstand, I'd have to get up to go check, and vice versa. We have a video monitor that we can just click on to see if she's ok, and when the video is off, the audio stays on. It's so easy just to take a quick look when we hear her stir. Neither one of us wanted to sleep without the monitor... so we compromised... we slept with the monitor in our bed, right between our pillows. I cuddled up next to it and to her little toy, Frenchie that she had left on our bed when we'd played with her before bedtime. His hair was all wet from her drool. I could still smell her on it.

I still cried about her being so far away, but it helped me feel better to know I could still see her, hear her and even smell her... I miss my little girl.

Mila Recommends: SoundSpa Lullaby Sound Machine

I almost forgot to tell you about Mila's new sound machine that helped during that 8-hour stretch the other day! She has yet to do it again, but ever since we put in the blanket under her crib sheet and started using the sound machine, she's gotten so much better!

So I'd been reading that sound machines are great for babies. That it helps lull them to sleep and helps them stay asleep. You can get one that has different sounds, things like rain, ocean, stream or rainforest. Mila was originally sleeping in her Pack N' Play since she was born and that had a little sound machine on it.  Since she's moved to her crib now we moved the detachable sound machine with it, but the timer would only keep it on for 15 minutes or so. We were always running to reset it so it would play longer. Such a pain! And then, we'd fall asleep and it would eventually turn off so if she woke up in the middle of the night, there would be nothing for her to help her fall back asleep and she'd wake up. So we finally looked into getting a sound machine and found this little gem. It's the Homedics SoundSpa Lullaby Sound Machine with Picture Projection. It's fantastic. You can turn it on and it will stay on all night (has AC adaptor) or you can set it to have a timer for 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes. We just keep it on all night though. It has different sounds: Rain, Ocean, Heartbeat, Twinkle Twinkle, Rock-A-Bye-Baby and Cradle Song. We use the rain sound the most. Not only does it help Mila sleep, but it helps mom and dad sleep too!

The other great thing about it is that it also has a picture projector. It projects pictures onto the wall or ceiling (the projector is adjustable so you can aim it anywhere) and comes with 3 little disks with different characters. It's really great! Here are a few pictures of one of the disks. It's the one we use the most:

Mila seems to really like it and sleeping so much better now that it stays on all night. I'm totally kicking myself for not getting it sooner!!

Best Night Ever!

After telling you about Mila's crazy "Four Month Wakeful" episodes, I went to a Mother's Group meeting and one of the girls mentioned that she thought her son's crib mattress was too hard and that her son had a hard time sleeping on it. Those crib mattresses really are hard. They are meant to be, though, as they reduce the chance of SIDS. But seriously, the mattress is ridiculously hard. It's like sleeping on concrete. She said she put in a cushy blankie between the mattress and the crib sheet to make it a bit softer for her baby. Her comment stayed with me and when Mila awoke for the third time in a row the day before yesterday, I thought I'd give it a shot. So yesterday, I took her cushiest blankie, the Koala Baby Luxe Baby Blanket and put it in. It's cushy enough to add some padding, but not so cushy that she can bury her face in it. Then last night, we put her to bed and hoped for the best.... and it was the best night ever! She slept 8 whole hours! It was amazing!!! I couldn't believe it! That's the most she's ever slept consecutively. The most she'd slept before was 6 hours. Granted, Jorge and I kept waking up to check on her, so we didn't sleep perfectly, but it was soooooo much better than what it had been the last couple of weeks. Dare I hope for more nights like these???

Four Month Wakeful

Just when you think you've got this mommy thing figured out, BAM! Baby decides to switch it up. Mila's been sleeping pretty well at night, waking up once and sleeps about 5-6 hours straight. During the day she's been sleeping ok, but likes to be held. Now, it's all gone crazy. She's waking up 4-5 times a night and barely sleeping during the day! Sometimes I spend the entire day trying to get her to go down for a nap!! (Hence the delay to catch up on my blog!)

I looked it up online and another mommy blog put it perfectly: "it's not too uncommon for babies to have difficulty sleeping during this age because there are big cognitive and emotional changes occurring during this time. They have an increase in awareness and are increasingly interested in the world. Instead of sleeping, they want to play (who wouldn't at 2 a.m. in the morning?) There is even a growth spurt that coincides with this age to make it even more fun!"

Essentially, it's a tough phase right now, but she'll grow out of it. A really good read on this 4 month wakeful is from kellymom.com. Regarding the night-time waking, she talks about how because babies are developing and discovering so much at this age, that breastfed babies may not be eating or sleeping very well during the day because of all the distractions, but at night that they may focus on eating more and are able to fill up their tummies and sleep longer.

Let's hope this phase is short lived! Bear with me as I catch up on blogging!

Mila Moved Out! :(

Since Mila's bassinet has a weight limit of 15 lbs, and Mila is just 6 oz away from that, we've decided to move her from her Pack N' Play bassinet that is in our room, to her crib in her nursery. We also thought it was best to move her to her room before she really started noticing where she slept and then the move would be more obvious to her. So Saturday night was the big change. Mila had no problem with it all, she went to sleep like she usually does. She did wonderfully!... Not the same for Mom and Dad though! Her nursery used to be our guest room and since we have a queen sized bed in there, Jorge and I decided to sleep in her room for now. So we can keep an eye on her... you know, during this transition... to make sure she's alright. Ok, ok! So it's been harder on Jorge and I than on Mila -- we can admit it! Jorge and I were up talking about how big she's getting already and how she's moving out. Such a big step! We're going to miss having her in her little bassinet next to our bed... Gosh, if this is how hard it is to move her to her own room, how will it be when she moves away for college?! Gasp! Tears!

This weekend was also Mother's Day, and our original plan was to go down to Miami to spend it with my mom and my grandmother and the rest of the family, but since Mila's still recovering from her sniffles/cold and I'd started getting some sniffles myself, we decided to stay home. Jorge got me two beautiful Mother's Day cards, one from him and one from Mila. It was really sweet. :)

We had a sweet surprise that Cindy dropped off a Mother's Day balloon and card downstairs early in the morning (she was on her way out of town) and then my dad came by to say hello in the afternoon. Then my mom and Cathy stopped by to say hello too. It was so nice to spend some time with everyone! What a sweet Mother's Day!

Mila Sleeping in the Swing

We'd heard so much about baby swings -- even from our pediatrician -- that we went out and bought one about a month ago. Originally I was going to buy one before she was born, but our friend Karina gave us her bouncy chair and I figured she didn't need a swing if she had a bouncy chair. Same difference, right? Noooooo.... they're two different things! While the bouncy chair has been great, she's never slept in it and everyone we talked to swore that if we got a swing she would. Everyone would tell us how much they loved their swing and that it was their best baby purchase. Well, with all these promises, we went out and bought the swing that we planned on getting all along: Graco Sweetpeace Newborn Soothing Center I read in my go-to book for baby gear recommendations Baby Bargains that this swing would work great. What I really liked about it is that it's able to swing in 2 directions either back and forward or side to side and that you can switch out the seat to the Graco carseat. It also plugs into the wall instead of running on batteries. Plus it had great online reviews. Sounded like the perfect swing.

Jorge went out and bought it after work and he put it together as soon as he got home. We tested it out, put on some music and then put her in it and expected the swing to work it's magic.... instead what we got was a screaming baby crying out bloody murder! She seemed to hate it! We were so disappointed!

I was persistant though, I'd keep trying every few days or so and little by little she'd tolerate it a bit more. For the last few weeks she could last up to about 15 minutes in it without crying, but she'd never fall asleep. I was happy with that though! Fifteen minutes gives me a chance to make some lunch!

Then, today, a miracle happened. I put her in while she was awake, just to grab a snack. She was in a good mood and recently fed and changed. While I made my sandwich I looked up and saw this:



I couldn't believe it!! She'd fallen asleep in the swing!! Unfortunately, because of the construction going on across the street, she woke up after about 5 minutes. But later that day I put her in again and she was asleep for TWO HOURS!!! It was amazing! I couldn't believe it! During the day the usual place she'll fall sleep is on my lap after nursing. Whenver I've tried picking her up and taking her to her bassinet, she's ALWAYS woken up. So I'd given up trying and just let her sleep on my lap. At least I'd get some peace and quiet for a little while, but I was a prisoner to my chair! Fortunately, I have my laptop set up here, so whenever she naps on my lap, I go online and blog. ;) But now I just was so happy to be mobile without the baby in my arms! I felt free! I was even able to make dinner BEFORE Jorge got home and we were even able to have dinner at the same time! Usually we have to eat in shifts because someone has to hold her. But not today! It was wonderful. I'm sooo loving the swing! Woo-hoo! Seems like she just needed to get used to it. This was a big accomplishment! Let's hope she continues to like it! :)

Follow Up to Night Time Routine

We've been doing the new night time routine for almost three weeks now and it's been going great! Mila is sleeping longer through the night -- 6 hours is her new record, but she generally sleeps about 4-5 hours at night, which is fantastic! Although just because she's sleeping that much, doesn't necessarily mean I am. I'm still having a hard time making it to bed at 9:30. I get to bed more like around 10:30 and then Jorge feeds her around 11:15 and she's usually asleep by midnight. And then I'm up again around 4am because my boobs are so full and I am so engorged that I have to pump! So even though she's not waking me up, the boobs are! We're making it work though.

The pumping is starting to become a bit of an issue though... she's chugging down a whopping 6 oz at that night time feeding, and she's gone as much as 7 oz. I have to pump 2-3 times just to get that much and that's just for ONE feeding! I can't imagine having to pump to get enough milk to feed her for the entire day. I can only pump for about 10 min at a time (otherwise it starts hurting) and I only get about 2oz at a time. She's an eating machine! I'm trying to build up a freezer stash so I can leave for someone to feed her while I'm out, but seems like she's eating as much (or more!) than I can pump. It's a challenge.

My goal is to exclusively breastfeed until she's at least 6 months and hopefully I can do it without having to rely to much on the pump. After 6 months you can slowly start introducing a few solids, so she won't be nursing as much. I want to continue to nurse until she's at least 2 years old, which does sound like a lot, but it's what the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization reccommends. I know it won't be easy, but I would love to be able to do that for her. Who knew this breastfeeding stuff would be so hard? It affects everything you do: from working, to leaving the house and coordinating feeding times as well as sleeping. I can see why so many people give up and go to formula. Formula does keep them full longer so they eat less and they sleep longer. And you don't have to pump all the time. But there's just nothing like breastmilk... it's so nutritious, formula just doesn't compete. Not to mention that it's free and it's what nature intended! It's for such a short period of time in the grand scheme of things... So I'll do my best to give her the best! Sleeping has gotten better, hopefully so will the feeding and the pumping.

Night Time Routine

Needless to say, with a little 7-week old baby, I'm not getting a lot of sleep. She nurses every 2-3 hours and I'm up several times during the night. Right now, I'm on maternity leave and Jorge is working, so during the week I do the night shifts so he can get some rest. After all, I can at least nap during the day if I have to. It's starting to take a toll on me though, I feel like I'm always catching up on sleep! I barely get 2 hours of uninterupted sleep and I'm on the verge. I try to nap during the day, but it's not easy. On the weekends Jorge helps out with diaper changes during the night so I can have a few more minutes of sleep. It doesn't sound like much, but it helps!

Last week, our friend Amanda came over with her little baby Mia that's 2 weeks older than Mila, and she told me about her night time routine. She says during the week she'll feed the baby around 9pm and she leaves the baby with her husband and then goes to bed at 9:30pm. Her husband does the bedtime feeding with pumped milk, and then puts the baby to bed. She sleeps until the next feeding around 2am or so. Although she does have to go to bed early, it's the only way she's gotten a bit more sleep during the week. I thought her routine was a good idea, although I admit the thought of going to bed so early didn't sound so great. I'm a night person and I'd rather stay up late than get up early, and I wanted to still be able to spend some time with Jorge. I would stay up until 11pm or midnight with the baby asleep on my lap watching tv with Jorge, but then I'd be up until 2am trying to get her to go to sleep after her feeding! I found myself very sleep deprived if I didn't nap until noon the next day trying to catch up on sleep. I was becoming very cranky and grumpy and knew something had to change.

So Monday, we started a new sleep routine. I would feed her and then I would try to go to bed at 9:30. Then Jorge would feed her around 11:00pm and hopefully he'd make it to bed by midnight, the latest. Worst case, if she didn't fall asleep then he would wake me and I'd nurse her to sleep. Apparently, no one gave Mila the memo of the new routine. She gave Jorge a really hard time the first couple of days. He'd play with her, rock her, walk with her, sing to her, but she was very fussy and seemed to be starving and wanted more than the milk we'd defrosted. Around midnight, poor Jorge had to wake the reinforcement! At least I got a couple of hours sleep though -- and then after that feeding she was out until 5am and I got 4 hours of sleep! Sleep, glorious sleep!!!

The next night it was the same thing. Jorge had to wake me up because she needed to be nursed a bit before being able to fall alseep. Seems like she pacifies at the breast before drifting off. Fortunately, since Jorge had done the tough work, she went right to sleep after that and again she was out for 4 hours.

Last night Jorge was fantastic -- he was finally able to get her to fall asleep and I got 5 hours sleep -- IMAGINE THAT!!!

I don't know if this is a fluke or if it's a growth spurt or what, but she's sleeping great at night time and I'm sleeping so much better now. I know Jorge is working a bit hard to get her to go down at night, especially as we make this transition, but it's so great to have some help! I still wake up around 4 or 5am and then again at 7am, and every 2 hours after that, but it's not so bad now. I miss being up late with him, but I don't know how I could continue the way we were going before. I was literally a walking zombie. I find I'm a much better mother during the day and a much better wife when he comes home. It's still a bit hard for both of us, but it's getting better. We're just taking it one day at a time.



(Mila fighting sleep, on daddy's shoulder... do you see that big drop of drool hanging from her lip? haha! Click to see it larger.)