Personal Training Begins

Snuggles with Mommy
Originally uploaded by dandeelines.

Baby girl and Dan are sleeping and I decided to stay up until her 11:00 feeding and take advantage of the computer since Dan needs it a lot these days for all the papers/projects. He only has three more weeks to get all of his stuff for the semester completed. We are down to one car now. Our other one has serious engine problems and has been laid to rest. It will be a bit of an adjustment for us getting used to sharing a car.

Well, today was our first day all by ourselves. Dan's parents left yesterday afternoon and Dan went off to the library to study all day today, so Andie and I had our first day of "personal training" as my NZ friend calls being a stay-at-home mom. It was off to a great start because our four week old baby girl SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT for the first time last night. I fed her at 10:00, laid her down at 11:00 and didn't hear a peep until 5 am. I couldn't believe it when I looked at the clock. I would have been pleased to see 3 am. We will see how she does tonight. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a pattern. We really couldn't ask for a better baby. The Lord has answered our prayer. We were a bit fearful because we knew the end of the semester would be a difficult time and had NO idea what parenting would be like!

She goes 3 hours between feeding during the day. This is how every three hours go- I feed her, change her, have a little play time, and put her down for a nap- and repeat. I am following suggestions in a book called BabyWise. It seems to be going well so far. It is at least helping Dan and I because we feel like I know what she needs, it gives me confidence. I know that if she just ate she won't be hungry for at least another 2 1/2 hours and if she has been awake for an hour or more she is probably ready for a nap and if she fusses besides that her diaper is dirty...again:o) We also watched a DVD called "The Happiest Baby on the Block" about how to calm a fussy baby. We have become swaddling machines. I even ordered a special swaddling blanket, called The Miracle Blanket, online because soon her receiving blankets will be too small to swaddle her in. I started a list of things to do, and today checked off just ONE...As an avid list maker, I told Dan that I am just going to have to consider taking care of Andie a HUGE accomplishment each day or I will feel like I have accomplished nothing. The one thing I did do was get out and run a couple errands. I kept the first outing pretty simple and it wasn't as memorable as I thought it might be...she slept through the whole thing. It was really the same as usually, just that I had to lug an awkward carseat around with me.

Dan and I went on a walk after dinner and we were talking about how funny it is that everything the baby does seems to end in "time"- playtime, naptime, bathtime, diaper changing time, bedtime etc. And how funny it would be if we referred to everything we did the same way...worktime, grocery shopping time, getting dressed time...:o) Anyway...random thought for the day.

I wish I had picture to post of Andie's "torpedo" poop yesterday. I was changing her on the floor and it went EVERYWHERE- on the dirty diaper, the clean diaper, her blanket, my pants, my sock, the floor, my hand... I wanted to get a pic, but the camera wasn't ready and we were, understandably, a little anxious to get it cleaned up. Dan thought I saw a snake (his worst nightmare) the way I screamed. After the initial scream, I laughed through the whole thing. Unforgettable:o)