Supper Time with Mommy

Look who had supper with mommy tonight! Well, she watched me while I ate supper. We start her on a little rice cereal on Friday night. I thought I'd introduce the chair first to see how she liked it. So far so good!

Lydia at Five Months

Feed me!!!

Five months already? Yay - I love this age! And the whole age thing with Lydia is so confusing. On January 16th she was five months old and about 3 1/2 months adjusted. Lydia has really started showing her personality. She's a happy baby most of the time, but she definitely lets us know when she's hungry, bored, has a dirty diaper, or is in a bad mood. The girl has got lungs, and she's not afraid to use them.

Baby girl is really in love with her own hands these days. She often chews and sucks on her fist, fingers, or thumb. I'm hoping that she won't be a thumb sucker like her mommy was. I am trying to redirect her attention elsewhere when she's doing it to keep it from becoming habit. But really at this age I think hand chewing and sucking is just what babies do. She can hold a rattle and shake it. She likes to grab her stuffed animals by the hands, too.

On her back she has just started to scoot around by pushing through her legs and feet. When we put her down on her activity mat in one spot, later she'll be in a totally different spot. She does okay with tummy time. She's still not pushing through her arms very well, but she does lift her head okay if she wants to. She's holding her head up really well when I carry her around the house or prop her on the Boppy pillow. I need to get a Bumbo seat for her and try that out. She loves to be carried from window to window to look outside. Maybe we'll have a little nature lover!

Lately I've been trying to take more videos of her doing some things. I was telling Chip the other day that I remember her being a noisy little thing when we brought her home - always grunting - but now I can't remember what that sounded like! Why didn't I get video of it?

Here's a short clip of Lydia playing with her rattle.

As for her stats, we haven't been in for a weight check since December 27th when she was 9 pounds. I think she's at least 10 pounds now because she's grown out of a few outfits since then. Only one or two of her newborn outfits still fit, but they are very snug. She is in almost all 3 month clothes. We are still using Seventh Generation diapers in size 1 and Pampers Sensitive wipes. We are thinking about trying size 2s at night because she has a tendency to soak through.

Things Lydia likes:
Sing-a-longs to My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music, B-I-N-G-O, and You Are My Sunshine.
Playtime with daddy, especially when he makes silly faces and funny noises.
She still loves her bouncy chair and her activity mat. She pays more attention to the lights and sounds now and will scoot around on her back until she can reach the toy she wants to play with. She can easily grab whichever toy she wants now.
Taking a bath.
Being held (of course).
Lullaby time with mommy. I sing mostly hymns. Amazing Grace (of course), Blessed Assurance, and What a Friend We Have in Jesus are my favorites.

Lydia is still waking up at least once per night most nights. All you ladies who have babies who slept through the night at 2 month old? I'm jealous! Every once in a while Lydia will sleep through until 5 or so, but generally she does wake up hungry before then. Our schedule these days looks like this:
5:30 am - I get up and pump
6 am - I feed Lydia
6:45-7:30 am - Lydia goes back to sleep or plays. I wash pump parts then get ready for work.
7:30 am - Our sitter arrives.
8:15-8:30 am - I leave for work.
9 am, 11:30, 1:30 pm, 4:30 pm - I pump at work. I had to add a session :(
5:30 pm - We come home. Our sitter leaves.
6-6:45 pm - Chip feeds Lydia. I cook dinner.
7 pm - Dinner time!
7:30 pm - 8 pm - Bath, pajamas, story, or lullabies
8 pm - Lydia eats. Sometimes I feed her, sometimes Chip does.
9-10 pm - Lydia sleeps in her crib. I pump.
10 pm - I feed Lydia in her nursery with the lights off. A dreamfeed.
10:45 pm - I pump then go to bed.
2-4 am - Lydia eats again. Chip takes this one.

I'll happily take advice on how to drop that middle of the night bottle. We've tried a few times to just give her a pacifier instead of a bottle. She'll generally go back to sleep for a little while but will wake up crying again a few minutes later. So that means multiple trips to her room in the middle of the night instead of just one. No fun.

Right around the end of the year she started finishing her 4 ounce bottles at most feedings. We started giving her 5 ounces at her midday bottle and at 6 pm. She sometimes eats all 5, sometimes not. At 8, 10, and the night bottle, she gets 3 ounces. When she went up to 5 ounces, I started having to supplement with formula. On a typical day she'll eat anywhere from 22 to 28 ounces. Generally about 2 to 4 ounces of that is formula. More if I have wine. I am using regular Emfamil and Similac samples that her pediatrician gave me. She still gets half a milliliter of Poly-Vi-Sol with Iron vitamins twice a day - 6 am and 3 pm.

When I started this whole pumping thing my goal was to make it to six months, but really I never expected that I would be able to keep it up that long. Four to seven times a day. Twenty to thirty minutes each time. In addition to actually feeding her bottles of milk. It is a ton of work, but I believe it is the best thing for her, so I'll continue to do it.

Looking forward to the next few weeks, on February 1st (that's next Friday!) we are going to put her in her high chair and feed her a little rice cereal. She'll be 5 1/2 months old then. I'm really excited about it! I've been letting her sit in my lap some during supper. She watches me put the food in my mouth and seems very interested in the whole thing. She gets very excited about watching me chew, so I think she'll catch on pretty quickly. Would love any advice about rice cereal as well. What worked for you guys?

A New Chapter

It as been a quiet weekend at the Burr home. A few years ago I'd have never been happy with such a quiet existence. I was always go go go... Saturdays were for yoga class, grocery shopping, afternoons working in the garden, and evenings out to dinner or drinks. But yesterday my butt was planted the couch holding, feeding, and enjoying my sweet child. I did fit in a sad run (sad because I'm so weak and have no stamina) on our new treadmill and made homemade Mexican chicken soup for supper.
Lydia is full of smiles these days. She loves it when you make faces at her, especially anything that involves sticking your tongue out. Every once in a while she'll laugh out loud. It is the cutest thing I've ever seen, so of course I spent the day trying to make her laugh. As of yesterday she is 3 months adjusted, almost 5 months actual.

At her 4 month appointment on December 27th Lydia was 9 pounds. Dr. Singletary cleared us to take Lydia out in public on occasion. We decided that a Sunday morning breakfast at Bottletree Bakery was just the ticket. We arrived this morning around 10:45am. Perfect because the crowd thinned as folks wrapped up breakfast to walk over to church. Yes, in our small town folks walk a short block from church to the local bakery to have a muffin and coffee between Sunday school and the worship service. I just love that.
In this new year my number one resolution is to slow down and live in the present. Too often I find myself living for the future... Constantly planning and scheming to make some future moment better. Now that I have Lydia in my life I feel the passage of time so much stronger than I used to. Each week she grows and changes, and I want to relish in each moment as much as I can. It extends beyond her, too. I'm happier when I'm not constantly looking forward to the next thing. I need to take more deep breaths and be content in the moment I am living. And at this moment my baby daughter is sleeping with her head on my shoulder making sweet noises in my ear. I'm so blessed.