More Jumperoo

6 Month Visit

Yesterday Layla weighed in at 17 pounds, 12 ounces at her doctor's visit. She's 28 inches long; only 2 more inches to go till she's too big for her infant seat! We had to skip her vaccinations for now. She's been sick with a cold for about a week and in the last couple of days it moved into her chest, so once again we're faced with bronchiolitis and the nebulizer. The doc says that if she keeps coming down with it or if she starts exhibiting the cough and wheeze symptoms unrelated to a cold, then we will have to discuss a preventitive medicine. I'm hopeful that with the weather warming up, this will be the last of it. Fingers are crossed! The reason we had to skip the shots is that if Layla had reacted with a fever due to her shots then we would have had to prove that she doesn't have H1N1, which is currently the procedure for any kid who comes through the doc's with a fever/cough/sore throat, etc.

Mimi and Bumpa spent the night last night as they head north to the lake. It was a short visit with them, but we're heading up to see them for a week in June, so we'll have lots of time to visit then.

First Restaurant

Today we walked down to Lexington Center and had lunch at Mario's. This was Layla's first time at a real restaurant (Panera doesn't count). Lucky for us, she napped for the entire 45+ minute walk to the Center, and so she was well-rested when we sat down to eat. She did great, and was too busy playing with her rattle to bother looking at Daddy when he snapped this shot.

6 Months and in a Great Mood!

I'm six months old!

6 Months Old!

Thursday is Layla's 6 month birthday! I can't believe 6 months has gone by already, and yet it also feels like Layla's been a part of our family for forever. We have a busy day tomorrow, but hopefully I'll have time to put up some pics. Happy half bday, Layla!

Fun with Uncle Jim

Uncle Jim sure knows how to make Layla laugh!

Clean baby!

Here's Layla sporting her new towel from Uncle Jim and Aunt Leigh. Thank you!

Uncle Jim!

Jim came to town today. Layla is usually pretty fussy starting around 4:30. But she sure turned on the charm for Uncle Jim, and actually remained quite happy almost right up until bedtime.


Jim says hello!













Layla is shy!













Layla loves her uncle!

Likes and Dislikes

Layla's closing in on 6 months old.

Here are some things she's fond of lately:

• Sweet potatoes
• Avocado
• Being outside
• Sitting on the porch watching the cars go by
• Laughing when you pretend to eat her belly
• The Bunny Hop
• Shaking her soccer ball rattle
• Touching/pulling Mommy's hair
• Holding her feet
• Nearly sitting on her own

Here are some things she's not a huge fan of:

• Daddy in his motorcycle gear
• Green beans
• Napping at daycare
• Diaper changes when she's tired
• The jack-in-the-box I just got her
  

There are probably lots more, but I don't have time to think right now. Chris is in San Diego this week, so I'm on my own with the evening chores. Time to get to them!

Mothers' Day

What more could a mom want? Layla was a super fan at our game today. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to get us a win.

And in sleep news....Layla slept 7:15 - 5:00 without a peep last night. Happy Mothers' Day to ME!

Saturday Fun TIme

Hanging out, once again, under her gym....somewhere in between happy and mad. She's been without her paci (a little experiment) since yesterday, so that may have something to do with it!

Soooo Much Better!

Last night was a thousand times better than the night before. She went down with very little fuss. I think it helped that she was still completely exhausted from not sleeping much the previous night! Chris and I were both exhausted, too, and we were in bed before it was even dark out (I think it was about 8:15!). We didn't hear anything from Layla until about 11:00, but she only cried for a couple of minutes and then settled. At about 1:30 I did have to go in just one time. At 3:30 Chris was out of bed and ready to go into her room, but she got quiet before he had a chance. Then we didn't hear from her until 5:30 which is her normal weekday wake up time.

So we still woke up a number of times, but it was great to not have her hogging the bed. Though I will admit to missing her a bit!

The struggle we face now is how to get her to sleep in on the weekends :).

Mixed Results

Well....here's the story.

Layla did GREAT until about 2:45 AM. After I went to bed I didn't hear a peep out of her until 2:00 when she whimpered but then went back to sleep. At 2:15 she cried and I did go in, but she settled quickly after that. At that point I was thinking that I was the luckiest mom on the planet. I was wrong! Layla woke up at 2:45 and basically cried until 5:30. Ferber said it's rare that babies will cry for more than 2 hours. Well, he's wrong! Or Layla's the exception.

I wasn't sure how I was going to handle all the crying. Surprisingly, I didn't get emotional about it. Listening to her cry didn't make me sad, just annoyed that she/I wasn't sleeping.

Around 5:20 she FINALLY seemed to settle and did sleep for a good 15/20 minutes. But she usually wakes up around 5:30 to eat and begin her day, so I wasn't surprised that the sleep didn't last. When I went in to get her she was obviously so happy to see me and I'm pretty sure she's forgiven me for the torture.

All's well that ends well. We'll see how we do tonight. From all accounts, there should be at least slightly less crying tonight. I hope so!

Almost Time for Bed (for Mommy!)

Well, it was just past 7:30 when she quieted down. At around 8:30 she let out a cry and I was just getting up to head upstairs when she stopped. A few minutes later I heard a whimper, but since then, nothing. It's 10 minutes to 9:00 and I know for sure that she'll be up crying later, but I am just SO happy. Things could have gone a lot worse. And they may still get there....

As much as I want to stay up and watch The Office, I think I might just head to bed. If I'm gonna be up with her later, I need all the sleep I can get.

If I'm not utterly exhausted, I'll update in the morning.

30 Minute Update

She was completely screaming up until about 5 minutes ago. It's been silent since then. She's either asleep or she passed out from so much screaming. Oh wait...a noise....a short whimper but now quiet again.

I know this probably won't last, but it's a good sign. I thought she'd do nothing but scream for 2 hours straight. So this is good.

Go to Sleep.....PLEASE!

So, I decided a while back that when the time came, I wanted to try to sleep train Layla beginning on a Thursday night. I knew that it would mean little sleep for us for a few nights and I didn't want to face an entire work week completely sleep deprived. Well, the night has arrived. Layla has been a pain in the butt when it comes to sleep, waking up earlier and earlier each night. Last night she was awake before 8:30. She's been ending up in our bed earlier and earlier in the night, too, which I am not a fan of. If I didn't have to be up for work at 5:30 it might be different. Or if we had something bigger than a full size bed it might be different. But as things are, she HAS to learn to put herself to sleep. Enough of us rocking her completely to sleep and then hoping we "stick the landing" as we transfer her to her crib.

And so we're Ferberizing. Dr. Richard Ferber works at Children's Hospital Boston and is famous for his method of sleep training babies. Now....I used to work in the office next to Ferber. The man is a jerk. I would be in mid conversation with someone and he would come up and start talking to them as if I was completely invisible. So I don't like him. But, his method (supposedly) works. That is, if you can stand a few nights of screaming.

When I say *we're* Ferberizing, I should actually say *I'm* Ferberizing. At least for tonight. Chris conveniently is on a business trip in Newport, RI where he's currently at some restaurant watching the Sox game. So I may be silly to try this for the first time without his support. But I really wanted to start on a Thursday and so here we are.

Layla has now cried for 3 minutes. I went in to comfort her but didn't pick her up. She cried for 5 minutes. I went in. She's now been screaming for 5 additional minutes. In 5 more minutes I'll go back in. And I'll go in every 10 minutes until she's asleep. Then I'll do it all over again when she (almost certainly) wakes up later tonight.

This will not be fun. But hopefully in a few days Chris and I will be getting more sleep and Layla will have learned that it's ok to fall asleep even if you aren't cradled in Mommy's or Daddy's arms. That's the plan, anyway.

Layla's Ceremony of Dedication

Becky, Layla and I have become members of the Follen Church, a Unitarian Universalist church near our home in Lexington. This morning's service included Layla's Ceremony of Dedication, the UU version of a Christening.

Our Minister, Lucinda Duncan, called us forward to present Layla to the congregation. Lucinda dipped a white rose in water and anointed Layla. After presenting the rose to Layla, which she immediately put in her mouth, the children of the congregation stood and Lucinda asked them to include Layla in their play and help her grow up to be a kind and caring person. The children responded with, "We will." The adults stood while Lucinda asked them to look after Layla, help Becky and me by "form[ing] a covenant with the family to support them and to honor and recognize the preciousness of the [Layla] as the gift of life."

Layla played her part well, soliciting oohs and aahs from the congregation by flashing her patented smile and gumming her white rose. Several teenage girls, sitting in front row as part of the junior choir, declared their love. Layla now has several baby-sitters-in-waiting.

The ceremony reaffirmed our decision to join this wonderful church. Follen will be a home where Layla can play, make friends and learn without competition or grades. I was especially happy that my sister Tricia and her daughter (my niece) Sarah drove down from New Hampshire to attend.
After the dedication we brought Layla and Sarah down to the the nursery where Layla promptly fell asleep (first picture).

The second picture, taken during the after service social, shows Lucinda, Layla, Becky and me.

Still Recovering

On Friday I took Layla back to the doctor. Dr. Boulanger was surprised at how little improvement Layla had made. She sent us home with our own nebulizer to do every 4 hours through the weekend. She seems to be improving, but is definitely still symptomatic. Hopefully this is the last we'll see of the bronchiolitis!

Mexican Baby Shower

Last summer, before Layla was born, Becky and I went on vacation to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. If you have never been, it is a wonderful place to visit.

Becky and I spent lazy days reading, exploring the beautiful city and its many art galleries and eating the loc
al food. Our only scheduled activity was our daily Spanish lesson at the public library.

The library also hosted a summer
youth program and we practiced by conversing with some local children. They were happy to listen to and correct our broken Spanish and we were more than happy to buy them some ice cream at the end of the session.

The girls were very curious about Becky's pregnancy and Layla. "Will Layla visit San Miguel?" "When will she start school?" "What will her room look like?"

On the last day, they threw Becky and Layla a surprise baby shower. Their gifts included Crayon drawings which I've finally scanned and posted. Enjoy!