The Big 3 Months

Everyone always tells you, "Wait until 3 months." That's when babies start to get really fun. During all of the frustrations of nap-time and feedings and inconsolable crying, it can be hard to believe. But Norah reached 3 months yesterday, and she's awesome. We're getting lots of big smiles now and she's a little chatterbox. There are times when I am sitting in our rocker feeding her and I will look down and she's just staring at me, waiting to catch my eye. Once she has it, she gives me a big huge grin. Sigh .... it's hard to watch that without tearing up.

Norah is starting to grab and hold her toys. During story-time, she will even occasionally turn the pages of her books. She holds her head up pretty well now - although it's still a little shaky when we sit her up in her Bumbo seat. Nap-time can still be pretty tough, although it's getting better. We still have her nap in a swing, partly because it's easier to get her to sleep and partly because of her acid reflux. The big challenge this month is that we're going to start putting her in her crib at night. This might be tougher for me than for her. I've gotten very attached to having her in a Moses basket next to my side of the bed. I can just open my eyes at night and know that she's OK. I also worry about her waking up and finding herself in a different place.

A Whole New Life

Where has the time gone? Norah turned 12 weeks old yesterday. It seems like we just brought her home from the hospital. Already, we're starting to see her little personality. She loves to play on her baby gym, and she is already starting to grab some toys. She smiles at us when we make funny sounds and we find ourselves doing the most ridiculous things just to evoke one of those precious smiles.

I'm trying to take Norah for walks outside everyday in her Ergo, but I have varying degrees of success. She does not like the sun in her face (good thing we live in cloudy Seattle), and for some reason, she's really not crazy about the Ergo. Sometimes she will tolerate it. Other times, it's a cry-fest. Our neighbor popped out as we were walking by today and she just cried and cried until I pulled her out of the carrier. (And we've tried other carriers. She hates the Baby Bjorn even more, and we both dislike the Moby). She does like looking at the leaves on the trees so I point them out to her as we walk by. Sometimes that will distract her from her Ergo issues.

What's amazing to me is how fast the days are flying by with her. She takes two naps a day - which consume a lot of our time because Norah fights sleep. We feed her. We play with her. But otherwise, we end up accomplishing so little in our daily lives. Going to the store is a major event, and going to a restaurant is hit or miss. The hits are great. The misses are really reallly awful.

Bottom line. This is my life. It's not a part of my life. It is my life. I'm a mom. My whole world has changed.

Happy Halloween

Norah was a pink unicorn for Halloween. Sure, this first Halloween is more about Mom and Dad than baby. We couldn't help beam as all the other trick or treater parents cooed at our little girl.

Reason to Smile

OK, this may not sound like such a big deal, but Norah drank from a bottle today! We had been occasionally giving her a bottle of expressed milk or formula, but about two weeks ago, she started to refuse it. She would cry and scream and wanted her mom to feed her the old-fashioned way.

This is pretty disconcerting to me, not just because I'd like to get out of the house and escape the breast-feeding leash once in awhile, but more importantly, when I return to work, I need to know my daughter is eating.

We tried all sorts of things. I would leave the house so she would realize she didn't have an alternative. We tried different nipples and different bottles. Finally, we discovered the Playtex nurser with the latex nipple is what did the trick. Norah took it, and hopefully, she'll take it again. We're going to give her a bottle a day to make sure.

In other news, we figured out part of the reason she wasn't napping. She apparently has acid reflux, so she's on a baby antacid, which is kind of a pain to administer. She hates it and spits it out if you don't do it right.

Also, she's smiling a lot more, which totally warms my heart.

Finally, I'm looking for napping advice. Norah's 10 weeks old now and she would stay awake all day if we let her. We finally found a way to get her to take a nap in a swing, but these naps don't usually last more than 45 mins. Is this normal? How many naps should a baby this age be taking and how long should they be?

Motherhood: Things I Love

Norah has hit the 9-week mark, and she's getting more and more fun. She is smiling, cooing, and she seems to know now that we're not just vehicles to get her meals and her diapers changed. Bob noted yesterday that she really seems to know now that we are playing an important role in her life and for the most part, she's pretty happy to see us.



Right now, we're trying to get Norah on a schedule of some sort. We have the evenings worked out pretty well - bath time, evening feeding and then rocking to sleep. Without a doubt, my favorite part of the day is bath time. This is a time that used to terrify us both. Norah didn't like it, and we didn't like to put her through it. But as time wore on, she suddenly decided that sitting in warm water was really pretty fun. It calms her down if she's fussy and gets her ready for the evening.


I also have a big confession to make. I am a sucker for cute baby clothes. I am a mom who enjoys dressing her baby up, and I like to look for new adorable things for her to wear. This has already posed an obvious problem, in that Norah has already grown out of her newborn things. But there is one awesome item that will probably last us for several more months and that's her Baby Legs leg warmers. I have 3 pairs now and they are SO cute. And the bonus is that you can put them on when it's cold, but you don't have to worry about removing them during diaper changes. Norah has a lot of pants, too, but sometimes dressing her is like dressing a cat. Just as you're trying to get the second leg in, the first leg pops out again. Not a problem with Baby Legs.



Finally, we're working to get Norah to take some naps during the day. When she gets two naps - one in the morning and one in the early afternoon - she's a perfect baby. But this is getting tough. Any advice would be welcome. It just seems like when I can get her to go to sleep, she will only get about 30 minutes before she wakes up. That's just not enough. Also, we just started having problems with Norah taking the bottle. While I'm mostly breast-feeding, we have been occasionally giving her a bottle of either formula or expressed milk. Now, she's decided this is not for her. This means I can never really leave her for long periods, and that has me pretty worried about returning to work later this fall. Any advice out there?

My New Full-Time Job

I always knew having a baby would be a total life-change, but I never appreciated the extent of it until now. I should preface this post by saying how completely delighted I am to be a mom. My daughter is beautiful and she fills my heart with joy. I never ever knew I could love anything so much.

But this new life is my new job. It takes up a tremendous amount of time and all my energy. Every thought is about her. Every decision I make takes her into consideration. And I'm talking EVERY decision ... like whether I can eat breakfast or when I can brush my teeth.

I'm only writing this now because I was able to get her down for a nap, but I'm already thinking that when she wakes up, I need to feed her (which takes an hour) and then I need to make dinner. And since I planned to grill dinner, this all has to happen before it gets dark (not likely).

My biggest gripe is nursing. Don't get me wrong. I am so glad that I'm able to do this for my child. Unlike a lot of other women, it was never a struggle for me. Norah latched right on and eats well. I've heard from a lot of others who were not so lucky, so I do realize how fortunate I am. It also creates a closeness with my daughter that I may not otherwise have. This is really wonderful.

Putting all of that aside, nursing is a huge time-suck. She eats every 90 minutes and usually takes up to an hour (sometimes longer). This has become my new full-time job. I plan my life around it. And because I don't think I will ever be completely comfortable with nursing in public, it's very limiting. Don't get me wrong. I have nursed her in coffee shops and restaurants, but what happens when I'm at the grocery store? I can't just stop and sit in the middle of the aisle to nurse my infant daughter for an hour.

Then comes the question of formula. At some point, I do plan to supplement with formula, but I'm leery about starting that. I have these La Leche League voices in my head telling me to breastfeed for a year. I know I'll never make it through that, and I also know I can't go on the way I have. Something has to give.

Also, Norah is absolutely thriving on breast milk. She's getting chubby little arms and legs and is healthy. She's started cooing, which is delightful. The last thing I want to do is mess with her development and happiness.

Exhilaration .... And Exhaustion

Our little girl has reached the 2-week-old mark. We've had a wonderful time getting to know her, but there's absolutely no denying that parenthood is exhausting. I've been nursing her, which has been very gratifying, but it also means that there's very little rest for mom. She's a hungry little girl and can be very demanding. The biggest adjustment for me is finding time to sleep because I don't get all that much at night.

The other adjustment is trying to interpret her cries. Is she hungry? Is she wet? Or is she just bored? Hungry and wet are pretty easy to figure out and manage. Boredom means that we have to walk her all around the house, rocking her, singing to her, and we have to try new things, until she gets bored with them as well. We have a musical swing which works well, some of the time.

Also, there's the added problem of our dog, Willie. He's an overly friendly lab who has been used to being king of the household. With this new addition, he is totally and completely freaked out. When she cries, he will run to the farthest part of the house and tremble. He's also had a few accidents in the house during some of her crying jags, which has only added to our stress level. This has been a major adjustment.

Still, I wouldn't trade this for anything. Norah has started following us with her eyes. She has the most adorable expressions. There's her red-faced, eyebrows-raised, "I've just eaten and I'm very full" face. There's a lot of yawns and stretches. She also has this adorable habit of throwing both arms out wide when you startle her while sleeping. Bob calls it the "I caught a fish THIS big" move. She's a beautiful girl and she warms both of our hearts. We may be tired, but we couldn't be happier.