Growing Up (Second month)

So Kaitlyn ended the last week on a bang!  While some of the evenings were rough, as we were sleep training, and she was crying for spells of time at night, the end result was good.  I felt horrible not responding to her cries, but it is better for both her and us if she is sleeping sufficiently.

Last night, Kaitlyn slept throughout the night without any crying or waking!  She was double-swaddled (with the thermostat set at 73) and had both a sound machine and a fan in her room.  I actually woke her up at 6 AM, after putting her down at 7:45 PM and dream-feeding her at 10 PM.  It was so nice to get a full night's sleep (although I got up at 3:30 and went in her room to put my hand on her chest and make sure she was still breathing!)  Tonight, she wanted to go down at 7 PM.  So hopefully, we'll have another success story tomorrow morning.  She will now be down to 6 feedings per day instead of 7, which is appropriate for her age according to the book, Baby Wise.  I'm so thankful she has crossed this milestone before I go back to work.  Here is a picture of what she wore last night (it says "Daddy's Princess.")  "Princess" is one of my favorite things to call Kaitlyn.  Other nicknames include Katie Sue, KatieBug, Baby K, Be-bu, and just plain Katie.

This past week, we went to Sears to take pictures with the cousins.  It was quite interesting to photograph a 4-year old, 11-month old, and 2-month old together!  The pictures of the kids together turned out okay.  There were some really good pictures of Hunter and Caleb together.  My favorite picture was one taken of Kaitlyn and me together.  I was so pleased with it because I don't feel as though I photograph well.  One of my prayers was that we would get a good picture together, since I'm always on the other side of the camera. The photographer at Sears couldn't get Kaitlyn to smile and she wouldn't let me move in front of her to try to help her smile (as she wanted me to be next to her in case she fell or Caleb dropped her).  This was taken after the photo shoot.  Mommy can make this baby smile!  This is the only blue dress she has and I think it's so cute.  Too bad the matching hat is way too big.  The lady who gave it to her is the daughter of the woman who kept me as a baby (Katie).  I wish big Katie could meet our Katie, but she has passed away.

Kaitlyn has now rolled over from her tummy to her back 3 times.  The third time, I was able to get it on film and we posted it on facebook.  All the tummy-time we have been doing has finally paid off.  The child still does not enjoy being on her stomach for long periods of time, but now she has learned that she has a way to fix it herself!

A few days ago, we were playing in her room and I took some pictures of Kaitlyn sitting.  Once, I was able to count to 60 (about 30 seconds).  Of course she was bent way over, and was using her elbows to support herself, so I'm not sure if that counts or not?!  She has a funny expression on her face in this pic.

Katie Sue is a very happy baby 99% of the time.  She usually pouts with her lower lip protruding before she cries.  Her evenings are no longer fussy now that she goes to bed sooner and takes an evening nap.  We are aiming for a bedtime of 7 to 7:30, so that Micah still gets to spend some time with her at night.  This also gives us some much needed together time.  The past 10 weeks have revolved around the little one (as they should at first!)

We spend time each day working on her speech.  I know it is WAY early to expect her to do much, but she will occasionally imitate vowels and mouth positions that I make.  She says "oh, oo, /m/, /h/, /n/, ah" at this point.  No babbling yet or laughing.  I can't wait to hear her laugh!  Her little voice is so sweet.  I plan on starting sign language very soon.  She watches my hands now when I occasionally sign to her.  Usually kids can start picking up signs at 6 months and responding with them around 9 months.  I also read in a magazine (and agree as an SLP) that a child learns best when the parents uses 30,000 words per day with them.  This involves commenting on everything you are doing throughout the day.  I have tried this the past few days, and it is tiring, as you feel like you are talking to yourself, but it will be rewarding one day when she has a good vocabulary!

Wednesday is my first day back at work.  Up until the last few days, I was dreading it, to be honest.  While I do enjoy my work, I just don't want to be away from her all day.  Several events have occurred that have prepared me more for my return to work.
1.  I feel like it's what I'm supposed to do at this point, which gives me the grace to be away from Kaitlyn- in fact, in some ways it may be good for both of us.  She is starting to get a bit fussy at times when other people hold her.  If I'm the only one she is ever around, she won't learn to be comfortable with others.  If it is too rough and the two of us just cannot adjust to it, we will re-evaluate, but for now, this works best for our family's budget.
 2.  I now know my work schedule and it is manageable.  The after school times are full, but I'm getting back all patients whom I had in the past, which is nice.
3. I have enough breastmilk stored up for awhile, especially since I will be pumping at work too.  I don't want to supplement with formula any sooner than we have to.
4.  We have gotten to hang out with Natalie and her girls some, which makes me feel more comfortable with the situation.  It will be good for Kaitlyn to be around other children (especially older ones whom she can learn from).  Nat is a great mom- a good disciplinarian, a very talented artist, and so different from me- all things that will help K be more well-rounded.  I'm so thankful that we don't have to do daycare with her being this young.  I'm also thankful that she is with a good friend who loves the Lord and will love her.  I know the first few times dropping her off will be hard, but she will adjust to a new routine (and like my Momo says, it will probably be harder on me than on her).

I have complete peace about living a bit more simply and on less income.  We will work it out. I just need to stay away from Wal-Mart, Target, and the children's bookstores.  I've decided that since Kaitlyn has sooo many outfits (more than she can wear before she outgrows them), I'm going to spend money on books for her, not clothes.  I just love children's books and really enjoy reading to her.  She likes it too!

I feel like this is my first evening off in 10 1/2 weeks!  So what have I done?  Gone to the grocery store, called my mother and grandmother, and blogged for all of you!  Thanks for reading :)

A couple more pictures from tonight- the Texans are playing the Cowboys, and we are Texans fans!  The hat just doesn't fit anymore...