The Wonder Weeks

 

Lydia is changing and doing new things every day. She had a rough couple of days over the past week where she was cranky and not sleeping well. We do think she was teething some, but also she was in her 19th week adjusted which is a Wonder Week. Are you guys familiar with the Wonder Weeks? Researchers have found that babies all over the world go through fussy periods at about the same time based on their due dates not birth dates. These fussy periods are tied to leaps in the baby's mental development. The baby is experiencing the world in a drastic new way during each mental leap which can make her cranky and clingy. The Wonder Weeks are weeks 5, 8, 12, 19, 26, 37, 46, 55, 64, and 75. I have found these estimates for fussiness to be extremely accurate. Some people also call night waking during the 19th week the "4-month sleep regression". Before this week Lydia slept through the night for 7 days straight. Then on Sunday and Monday she was up crying every two hours. Boo. I think we are over the hump though because both Wednesday and Thursday she slept through the night again. I would love to hear from any mamas out there that used the Wonder Weeks. How accurate were they for you?

English Rose for a New Trellis

We recently had some work done on a section of the yard that was in bad shape. The area is about eight feet by twenty feet. It borders a patio under our deck, the driveway, an iron fence, and a ditch between our property and the neighbor's wood fence. Prior owners of this house had spread mulch all over the area and used it for a playground. The mulch had deteriorated and the area had become really weedy. Add in a poorly placed walkway and poor drainage, and we had an area that was a real mess.

While I was home on maternity leave, I called in some landscapers to come redirect the walkway, lay zoysia sod, and put in a bed along the iron fence. They planted white knockout roses in the middle of the long fence and sweet olives on either end.

I also had them build a wooden trellis to hide the utility boxes and meters on the side of the house. They were the first thing I saw every day when I drove into the carport, and I wanted them hidden. I gave them this photo as my inspiration:

The one they built for me is really similar. Because my house is a 1975 modern style split-level home, the landscapers gave it a cleaner shape. What I want to do with this trellis is plant climbing roses on either side with clematis, too. The spot only gets about 3 or 4 hours of midday sun. In the morning I have full shade from the house, and in the mid-afternoon dappled shade through the large trees all around our property. I have whittled down my list of English roses to these nine climbers that are supposedly good for shady positions and hot, humid areas of the US:

A Shropshire Lad - image from the Kew Gardens website

Abraham Darby - image from the Antique Rose Emporium

Benjamin Britten - image from David Austin Roses

Crown Princess Margareta - image from Roses UK

Golden Celebration - image from The Gardening Website UK

Graham Thomas - image from Rose Gardening World

James Galway - image from Brooke's Rose Garden

Teasing Georgia - image from Dave's Garden

The Generous Gardener - image from the Garden Web Forums

So, help me decide! I've created a poll at the top of the blog. Let me know which one you like best for the area. Remember, these are the parameters: my modern style home (although I am a cottage garden lover), existing plantings of sweet olive and white knockouts close by. 

I'll try to post a photo of the area soon! 

6 months.

Today my baby is six months old. It is hard to believe that half of her first year has already come and gone. Really, I can't believe it.

I still haven't been to the doctor for a weight check since Lydia's 4 month appointment on December 27th. She was 9 pounds then, and now I think she's at least 12 pounds. We go to the doctor for her 6 month appointment on March 7th. Lydia is out of all her newborn clothes and is in 3 month+ clothes. A few of her 3 month pajamas are snug but still fitting. She graduated to size 2 diapers a few weeks ago, still Seventh Generation brand.

Lydia's appetite has really grown over the past week. She is eating 4 to 5 ounces at every bottle. I'm still pumping and supplementing a few ounces a day with Enfamil. She's been eating two tablespoons of Earth's Best organic rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula at 6 pm every day. Today we added a tablespoon of rice cereal at lunchtime, but I think it gave her a tummy ache.

We've started putting her to bed a little earlier because she gets sleepy by 7:30 pm. I give her a dream feed bottle around 10 pm. Lydia still wakes up in the middle of the night most nights, but for the past week we've been able to put her back to sleep without feeding her. Once we get her back to sleep she usually sleeps to 5 or 6 am. She wakes up for a bottle, plays for a little while, then goes back down for a long morning nap. She generally takes two more long naps during the day after she eats.

Her biggest achievements are sitting up in the Bumbo, lifting her head and body 90 degrees while on her tummy, and rolling over from her tummy to her back (both ways). She can roll from her back to her side, but she hasn't rolled from her back to tummy yet. It won't be long though.

I was really excited when she rolled over for the first time. I was playing on the floor with her last Friday night putting her on her tummy and watching her lift her body up by pushing through her hands and arms. Then, all of the sudden she pushed off one hand and boom! She was on her back. I think she kinda scared herself at first. She did it again three times, but was tired after that. We tried to get her to do it again all weekend, but she didn't have a repeat performance. Then, on Monday I stayed home from work because I had a sinus infection. Lydia's sitter came over so I could get some rest. In the afternoon we were playing with Lydia, and I put Lydia on her tummy, hoping that she would do her rolling over trick. She did and has been doing it very steadily since then.

Things Lydia likes:
Her crinkle books. They make fun noises and have chewy corners. She loves them.
Her floor mirror. We have it attached to the bricks in front of the fireplace. Her activity mat is on the floor there. She loves looking in the mirror these days.
Funny faces and noises always get a smile out of Lydia. Daddy makes the best funny faces!
Making spit bubbles.
Fingers and mouths, hers and ours. She still loves sucking her hands, fists, fingers, and thumbs. And now she realizes that we have mouths, too, so she wants to shove her fingers in our mouths. Its pretty disgusting when those little fingers are covered in cereal, drool, formula, and breast milk.

We still don't know who she looks like. What do y'all think? Me or Chip?

Yum Yum

Sorry if the video is jerky. My laptop is a piece of junk.

Baby's First Cereal

At Lydia's 4 month appointment Dr. Singletary said we could start Lydia on rice cereal in mid-January. I decided to wait a few more weeks and start her on February 1st. We fed her 1 tablespoon of rice cereal mixed with 5 tablespoons of breast milk. It was really watery, but I guess that's how it is supposed to be for her first time.

From the first bite, Lydia was such a good eater. She opened her mouth and sucked on the spoon.

She even got her hands in on the action and grabbed the spoon.

As expected, not all the cereal made it into her mouth or stayed in her mouth. She did spit quite a bit of it out. The next night, we mixed 1 tablespoon of cereal with 4 tablespoons of breast milk. The texture was much easier to work with and feed to her. She really caught on easily and was opening her mouth wide to receive a bite.

I am so excited that our little baby is eating cereal now. She is growing up too fast, but I'm really proud of her for doing so well!