Our Baby

Well Emma had a fantastic birthday thanks to cousins Meg and Piper and Uncle Adam and Auntie Olivia, Auntie Bec and Uncle Kev and Auntie Ali and Uncle Michael.

The presents..
Emma with Makka Pakka
The dress...
Party dress
The cake...
Birthday cake

Fun at the park with cousins
The fun...

Then there was the trip to the Zoo...
Emma at zoo

I know he isn't real but it is a great shot anyway and the closest animal that she could get too :)

Yes please. I would love a no cry sleep solution. Emma was up every 20 minutes last night from 10 - 12.30 with a fever and rash. In the morning she was all puffy and swollen. Turns out it is a general allergic reaction to life that can happen when her immune system is over stimulated like with a virus or something. Anyway the solution was to bring her into our bed to sleep. She woke occasionally after that but with a couple of pats, turn her on her side or a soothing word she went back to sleep. She woke at 5.30 and had milk but otherwise did not need the boob to settle. Great! No boob addiction but looks like Emma suffers from separation anxiety big time.

Browsing through Elizabeth Pantley's website from her book The No cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers "Foods can affect energy level and sleepiness. Carbohydrate-rich foods can have a calming effect on the body, while foods high in protein or sugar generate alertness, particularly when eaten alone. A few ideas for pre-bedtime snacks are: whole wheat toast and cheese, bagel and peanut butter, oatmeal with bananas, or yogurt and low-sugar granola."

We are pretty good with Emma and toast, bananas and yoghurt but the oats are a bit tricky as she doesn't eat off the spoon much. Might try some porrige as dessert. She wasn't eating much at all yesterday cause she was sick :( Poor thing. We now have some medicine but it was already clearing up so that is a good sign. Might talk to Nath about moving her bed into our room for a trial and then gradually moving her out again to see if that helps her get the idea of going back to sleep by herself. I think if we take the side of the cot off we might be able to put her cot against the side of our bed and it will be like co sleeping but not as awkward as having her actually in our bed.

Anyway I am quoting the Pantley exerpt so that I might win some books so wish me luck! I'll put some photos up from our recent trips soon.

Emma and Nathan

Emma is growing up so fast it is amazing! She has had some fantastic milestones this last week - walking unaided for a few steps, waving and starting to copy our gestures! So very cute and exciting. She is so proud of herself and it is just beautiful to watch her learning.

She is now 10.5 months old and rapidly her first birthday is approaching. It has been a bit of a surprise for me to see it arrive so quickly since 9 months it seemed a long while away...

Emma 9 months

We have recently come back from a trip to Tassie to holiday with family and loved catching up with everyone and all the cousins. My Mum looked after us well and Emma really enjoyed all the attention and people helping her walk about the house. I think her favourite was chasing the various cats and dogs and having Grandma chase her!

Emma loves balloons

Nathan's Mum came to visit and we had a great time playing with her. The balloon was a hit - though it popped when we took it to parent's group for the other kids to enjoy.

Looking beautiful: 7 months old

Everyone agrees she is a real little lady - none of this crawling for her she doesn't want to get her tummy dirty!

Emma loves swing: 7 months old

Emma still loves the swing but this photo was one of her first - back when it was warmer and she was 7 months old.

I'm back at work now two days a week and it is a lot more hectic than it used to be. Nathan is enjoying looking after Emma for one day a week and they have lots of fun going to the park together. It is still a hit even in the winter time. Emma loves to watch the other kids but is also a big fan of the thing that goes round and round, the swing and the slide. We're looking forward to heading back to Tassie next week for Nathan's Dad's Birthday and then to Canberra the following weekend for Matt's Birthday.

Matt I need help! Can't seem to see how to upload pictures now - I need the filepath? also says I am exceeding my disk quota of 10Mb by uploading a 53.5kb file using the Attach feature (which is how I think we do pictures now) Can you double check that this is right?

After Emma waking 6 times in the night the first night in Tassie I thought we were in for a rough holiday at Mum's but she got used to the change of scenery and settled into only two to three wakings. On one night she even woke twice but put herself to sleep - without me needing to get up! She hasn't repeated that performance since :(

Mum was very supportive while we were staying with her even though she was just as perplexed as me with what to do because her three girls, especially my sister Alison were really good sleepers from quite early on. Why, Emma, did you not inherit those genes?

"My goal is to help you and your baby sleep all night - without either of you crying along the way." from the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. By the way all those new Mums-to-be that I know, I greatly recommend this book and please read a copy before baby arrives so that you start off with good habits. p64-89 especially for newborns. It makes it easier than trying to correct later. So far I have found it to be the most obvious explanation of what to do to avoid a lot of problems. Other books etc mentioned what to do but I just failed to translate it into practice until this book.

I was going to be a little tougher from today and not succumb to using the boob to soothe to sleep during the day. At least then we would have a no boob strategy for when I start going to work next week - Arrgg! I can't do the controlled crying / leave her alone to cry it out strategy at all so if Emma is upset, and it is not the boob for comfort, then I am holding her in my arms, patting and saying comforting things. I won't be as able to resist the boob in the middle of the night though. The crying seems so much louder when you are half asleep and the whole house is quiet - plus the neighbours said this morning that they could hear Emma in the night! I didn't know that before - no pressure of course.

We are still persisting with the Pantley pull off technique though so far with mixed success. I keep needing to re-read the book to commit back to my plan and check that I am doing the right thing as it is taking a while and I get disheartened every couple of weeks and tempted to use more crying and be tougher. Today the Maternal Child Nurse said the best solution was to get tougher. "Just think about what message you are sending when you always offer the boob". ie how will she learn not to expect it each time. Hmm maybe the message is Mummy is not going to comfort you when your really upset even if she knows how to. If you are going to go down the no cry path then you really need a copy of the book to re motivate as there is so much advice out there that encourages crying.

Still the no cry solution is a more long term one so it can't be rushed. Emma will sort this out in her own time. She went down so well tonight. I told her a story about everything we did today after her bedtime goodnight to all her toys and at the end, when she was calm, I put her in her bed. I tucked her in finishing the story and she fussed for a while and wriggled then settled down to sleep. So good. Hmm maybe it will be a good sign for tonight...

Emma is growing up fast and is loving tickles and funny noises, this little piggy and horsing around...

 

She's not a big fan of tummy time..

but she does like blocks even if its just knocking them down...

 

Mostly she is just very cute...

Emma is growing up fast and loves dribbling, talking (only vowels at the moment), standing up (with assistance) and will smile and laugh for anyone (most days). While she has been sleeping though most nights she has stopped recently - possibly a growth spurt? All in all she is a great baby and we are looking forward to taking her on her first trip away from home - back to Tassie for X'mas. All our family we will see you soon... back in early January.

 

Matt, Christine and baby Isobelle visited for the weekend and Emma had a nice time being introduced to Isobelle - when they were both awake!

 

We had a lovely get together with Alison, Anthony and Tor on Saturday afternoon. Alison brought some yummy nibblies and there was cheesecake too. Tor sang a self-composed song dedicated to baby Isobelle and Emma on his guitar. Emma and Isobelle both happened to be awake and happy for the duration and were very impressed by Tor's musical skills.

 

On Sunday we had brunch with Matt's family who were also in Melbourne and spent some time in the Williamstown park. Emma had her first train trip with the pram which was surprisingly easy - well on a Sunday there was plenty of room.

Auntie Jill and Uncle Ross also stayed recently and Emma had a great time getting extra hugs with them...

 

Here are some long awaited for shots of Emma with Gran and Grandma who came to visit when Emma was 3-4 weeks old. Mum and Dad appreciate their help with the house and getting out and about. We discovered that Emma really does like shopping and got a few Xmas presents sorted at the same time.

 

 

Well it has been a quiet couple of days - the first on my own with Emma since she was born. Having the Grandma's to visit was good company and really handy for a break in the baby care routine.

Monday went well - Emma was a bit unsettled in the morning but we recovered well and the afternoon was good including a nice walk in the sun. Today was a bit harder due to Emma not getting back to sleep quickly in the night, so I was a bit more tired. I have a feeling she is going through a growth spurt as she was feeding nearly every hour this morning! She certainly has a fat little tummy now and is starting to grow out of the smallest of growsuits that we have. We had a great bath tonight - Emma really does enjoy them a lot.

Anyway better head off for bed - I can get a short sleep in before the next feed which will set me right for the nights adventures.