But Mom, I miss you in the night...

I bet Matt & I have been asked the question, "How does she sleep at night?" or "Does she sleep through the night?" by about 50 different people since Anna was born...relatives, friends, strangers on the metro. But it makes sense because isn't this a major goal of every parent of a new infant: getting the baby to sleep through the night.

First I would just like to consider the phrase, "sleep through the night." I think the phrase is misused when it refers to a single sleep consisting only of the few hours during the night when any "normal" adult would be sleeping. ("Normal" does not include college students or my brother Dan.) For instance, I don't think a sleep from 11:30 to 5 am really counts if the baby is up until 11:30 and wakes up for play time at 5 am. Sure plenty of "normal" people go to bed at 11:30 and plenty of "normal" people get up at 5 am (at least my mother would like to believe this), but no one who is going to bed at 11:30 is waking up at 5 am. Around 6 weeks of age Anna had a period of time where she was going to bed around 10 to 11ish and usually sleeping until 4 to 5ish, but that was the full sleep! At 10:00 she was on the coach with us (well, probably fussing as we rocked and swattled her) and at 5 am we were reading books. Except for her first week of life, I think this was actually the period of time where I got the least amount of sleep. Okay, so I know that given the statement I just made, I should NEVER complain about Anna's sleeping habits. I know there are tons of parents of 12 week olds who are celebrating their first 6 hour stretch of sleep in months. But the point here is not that I'm complaining anyway - just considering the sleeping patterns of sweet Anna and of infants in general.

The second thing I would like to consider is the sense of pride or failure that parents may feel based on their babies sleep habits. For the most part, I really think this is an unearned sense of pride or failure. I mean some babies are just born understanding night and day and sleeping well (luckily Anna was in this category) and some babies are just born all turned around, sleeping all day and up all night. Now I know that as babies get older there are definitely things you can do to help your baby sleep better and sleep when you want them to, but you can really only control this to a certain extent. This leads to Anna's recent sleep habits & all the silliness that Matt & I discuss surrounding this sleep. For instance:

Last Thursday night:
7:15: Mom feeds Anna and puts her to sleep
7:45: Anna wakes up
8:30: Mom feeds Anna and puts her to sleep again
9:00: Anna wakes up
9:30: Mom changes Anna, puts desitin on her butt, feeds her & puts her to sleep again - Anna stays asleep

Matt: "Ya know, she didn't get the Desitin on her butt the first two times you tried to put her to sleep. She must associate Desitin with going to bed"
Sarah: "Ya know, you might have a point there."

Okay, so maybe she really does associate Desitin with going to bed, but we're talking about a sample size of 1 and a trial size of 3. I don't think we've really discovered the secret of 3 month old sleep here, but we'll consider anything to fool ourselves into thinking we are in control. (Although I would like to add that on Monday of this past week we noticed Anna had a slight diaper rash so we decided to put Desitin on her at every changing. The first time we did it, she had an uncharacteristically long nap at an odd time - ha, ha, we really do have a discovery! Of course, if she really did have an association with Desitin, we certainly threw that routine out the window when we started using it all the time.)

So now to the original idea that spurred me to think about sleep - while Anna has generally been a great sleeper at night, she's recently has had a bit of a relapse. In the past week, she's only had two good nights of sleep and the other 5 nights has gotten up every 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours to eat (and last night not even just to eat, but to play too - ahh! It's so hard to ignore her sweet little smiles!) Of course the first thing we consider is, "What are we doing different? What have we done to cause this?" We were both relieved when Matt read on the internet that sometimes 3 month olds become so social that they start waking up often again (okay, for Anna this is more of a 1st time phenomenon, so I know, I know, no complaining). Yes - it's not our fault, it's natural? right - natural - She's social now so we didn't cause this (hopefully).

Anyway, I know that just like other trends, this will pass. And just as I do get sad that she never naps on me anymore, someday I will probably tuck her into bed and think back sweetly on our little encounters in the middle of the night and miss them.

Well, I should go. We haven't pushed much of a sleep schedule onto Anna at all (a whole other topic), but the one rule we do have right now is no sleeping past 7 pm - so I'm off to wake the sweet little sleeping Banana!

Anna's new tricks

Anna has some new tricks from the past few days. First, she figured out that if she kicks her legs in the tub, she can make lots of splashes. The good news: she loves this. The bad news: cleaning up the kitchen after Anna's tubs will take a little longer.

Second, Anna now has enough head control that she can ride facing out in the bjorn. The good news: she loves this. The bad news: Something tells me there will be no more naps in the bjorn.

Third, Anna has just started grabbing onto toys and trying to pull them in. Her goal is to put them straight into her mouth. Watching her it seems like her mouth is how she plans to explore things. I can just see her thinking, "okay, I've got this thing, now if I can just put it in my mouth I would be able to figure out what it is." The good news: She loves this. The bad news: only to a certain extent. After a certain period of time, she gets tired and can't do it as well. Then she gets frustrated. Instead of giving up, she continues to work on it until she is so tired that it makes her crazy. Thank goodness Mommy is there to take the toy away.

I have got you lion friend!

Cute anyway

Anna rolled over twice today! I tried to catch it on camera a third time (since she had just done it twice in a row), but I guess she was a little camera shy:

Happy Birthday Anna!

I meant to write a blog post yesterday on Anna's actual 3 month birthday, but Anna had a pretty busy birthday so I didn't get to it. I had a bridal shower to go to in McLean, VA and we also had friends over to barbecue last night. Anna had a great day hanging out with Dad during the shower & what she saw of our guests she enjoyed - she actually slept through much of their visit. (Apparently hanging out with Dad is tiring!)

On Friday we had lunch in DC with Corinne, Jessie, & Corinne's friend Ellen - another event which Anna slept through, but she did have fun looking at all the people on the metro ride to the city & home. I didn't even realize I had done this until we had left the house, but Anna & I were dressed alike:

 

 

Snuggling up after a birthday bath.

 

Looking good in her birthday dress!

 

Sweet Lip-Outs

Before Anna was born I guess that neither Matt nor I had been around babies enough to realize that when babies get sad they actually stick their lower lip out. Anna didn't do this when she was first born, but maybe around 7 weeks of age she began doing this when she started to get sad, but was not crying yet. This face didn't precede every cry, but just some. As much as we don't like Anna to be sad, we both think this face is just so adorable. We often say to her, "If you're going to get sad, at least give us a lip-out."

In the past week Matt and I noticed that she hasn't been making this face as often as she used to. We were getting sad that the lip-out era might have ended without us ever capturing it on camera. Then last night as she was getting tired before bed she started tossing her lower lip out:

 

Matt would like me to point out that this is a little different that the cutest lip-out face because the rest of her face is showing some distress. In her cutest lip-out look the rest of her face is perfectly normal except for the one small lower lip jutting out.

Don't worry, we only spent a small amount of time capturing this look before we did relieve her of her misery and put her to bed.

Love the Baby

Lately I've been noticing that Anna likes to hug her burp clothes so I realized that it might be fun to give her an actual toy to hug. Here she is hugging a few of her toys:

 

 

I keep telling her that these are her babies to hold. When she hugs them I say, "Love the baby," and she gets this huge smile on her face.

Also new this week I've noticed that Anna is starting to drool a little. I've been anticipating this as her friend Clara (2 months older) went through a stage where she used 3 bibs during a single Ladies Luncheon. Besides drooling Anna has continued to become a lot more vocal this week with laughs, squeals, and happy screams (she's always been able to scream during a good cry, but these happy screams are new). She hasn't rolled over or fallen asleep in her play gym this week. For now I guess those are special tricks for Nana's house.

Hanging out at home

Anna missed her Daddy last week. Since she's gotten home, she's had lots of extra special Daddy time:

 

Daddy and I watched a football game on TV. Dad said it was a rerun of a very important game. I don't know who was playing, but the blue guys beat the green guys and everyone was blowing smoke out of their mouths. Daddy said I saw the game before, but I don't remember.

 

Daddy reads to me.

 

Daddy makes me laugh.

 

Daddy got my Bebepod out of the attic. I can almost sit in it on my own!

Photos from the week

playing with Uncle Dan

Taken before she rolled over for the first time, but obviously getting close!

Anna with the Sherwin boys. As cute as this picture is, the story as to how this picture came about is even cuter. After I laid Anna on a blanket on the floor Gabe decided to join her - on the same blanket, which you will notice is not too big. Steve then gave Gabe his own blanket so he could have a little more room. Thomas then found his own blanket and placed it next to Gabe. Then believe it or not - John picked up his own blanket (okay, okay, he had some help) and laid it next to Anna. Left to right: John (2 weeks), Anna (2 months), Gabe (almost 2), Thomas (almost 4).

Face it, I have more fashion sense than my mother.

Just laying out by the pool in the sun (well, actually shade) with the ladies!

Viewing herself in the mirror Anna exclaims, "Now I see what all the fuss is about."

"But Uncle Jeff, why can't I play with my cousin now?"

On the Road Again...

Anna & I hitched a ride with Nana to come to Albany for the week. We're having a fantastic adventure. So far we have had lots of fun dinners with Nana, Aunt Becky, and Uncle Jeff (including a trip to Mom & Dad's favorite old hang-out, Frank's Ice Cream and including dinner last night with Uncle Danny too, who is visiting from NYC). We've also visited the Sherwin Family in Saratoga and got to meet the newest addition to their family - John Dominic Sherwin, who is only 2 1/2 weeks old!! I can't believe Anna was that size just 9 weeks ago!! We've also spent an afternoon swimming in Grandma & Grandpa's pool. It has been a fantastic week so far and the only down side is that we miss Daddy!!

Anna has had two new accomplishments this week:

1. She rolled over! The first time she did it, it was in her play yard, which we decided was a little easier than the floor because of the way the mattress gives a little. She did that on Tuesday, but this morning she just did it on the floor! This is all from her tummy to her back and it looks like back to tummy is still a little ways away.

2. Anna feel asleep in her play gym. Anna has never feel alseep in "play" mode before. She usually gets cranky first & most of the time I nurse her to sleep after that. This morning she was just playing in her play gym - one minute she was kicking her pooh bear and the next minute her eyes were closed and she was taking a little siesta. This is a perfect example of how I sometimes have trouble adjusting to her new schedules. My first thought was, "Should I wait until she is cranky to take her upstairs??" How stupid is that - This is exactly what we want - her to fall asleep without getting cranky!!

Pictures of the week will be coming soon!

Anna's Baptism

On Sunday Anna was baptized at St. Mark Church in Vienna, VA. It was a beautiful ceremony & wonderful weekend as her Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Uncle Dan, and Aunt Bridget all came! Here are some photos:


Anna is the first to wear what we're hoping becomes a family baptism gown. Her Nanna bought it special and embroidered her name and birthday in the slip.


Anna was so cute when she was getting the water poured over her head. Her Mom, Dad, Uncle Dan (Godfather), and Nana (proxy for 34 week pregnant Godmother, Aunt Becky who was so sad to miss the day) were all touching her while the priest poured the water over her head & she just looked up at them with this look like she knew something really special was happening. It was truly the best moment of the day.


You may notice that the beautiful baptism gown that Anna is wearing before the ceremony is not pictured during or after the ceremony...of course, there is a story. It was about 95 degrees and humid in Vienna yesterday. While the church was air conditioned, apparently it was not air conditioned enough to wear a two-layered linen gown. Anna started fussing in the beginning of the ceremony and after trying to feed her & burp her without success, we realized she was a sweating! Luckily I had packed the dress I planned to put her in after the ceremony for her party (a beautiful pink & white dress from her Aunt Andrea & Uncle Bruce). We made the switch & she thoroughly enjoyed the resty of the ceremony. I say "luckily" not because she would have had to tough it out in her baptism gown if I didn't have a second dress, but because she didn't have to get baptized in a diaper! I guess that could have been an even more interesting story. We were joking that Nanna should embroider "pictures only" under Anna's name on the slip of the family gown.

I will get you Mr. Canary!

Showing off her new wardrobe

Anna has once again grown enough that we got to pull out a whole new set of clothes!

My hands found each other! Two hands taste better than one.

Ready for an evening stroll to meet Dad at the metro.

There's a new third party candidate for President - "I promise there will be more milk for everyone!"

Go Nats!

Anna had a new experience at the Nats game last night - they won! They beat the Diamond Backs 5-0. Anna is sure it was her new lucky onesie that did the trick!

Tummy Time - updated!

You may remember a movie I posted in the middle of June of Anna on her tummy. Since then tummy time had pretty much been looking the same - until today when she just did this:

Whoa! Well, hello there!

I didn't happen to have the camera ready either. She pretty much hung out in this position long enough for me to 1) get incredibly excited 2) think about how cool it would have been if I had the camera ready 3) think about getting the camera in case she stayed like that 4) actually getting the camera and taking a picture!

Left-handed?

Before Anna's last doctor's appointment we started to wonder if she was left-handed. She preferred to look to the left and only sucked on her left hand. The doctor told us it was impossible to tell at this point.

A few weeks later Matt found an article on the internet (part of an article discussing the fact that both Obama and McCain are left-handed) describing a strange correlation with left-handedness: the direction that someone's hair twirls in the back (only possible to determine with short hair cuts). Most people whose hair twirls counterclockwise are left-handed! (This is fascinating from a biological perspective - which causes which or are they both correlated with something else?) On the other hand, it's not a guarantee and some people who are left-handed have hair that twirls the other way. So what does Anna have? Her hair twirls clockwise, but....so does Matt's. So I say that if she got her left-handedness from her father she would also be a clockwise hair-twirling left-hander like him.

So the reason I thought to write this post right now is that Anna is currently laying on the floor under her play gym toys and she has been hitting her rattle with her left hand. Now I've never seen her do this before (and I'm still not convinced it is not just a by product of her arm randomly swinging around), but every time she does it, it is with her left hand!

We'll see - the doctor also told Matt's mom that there was no way she could tell he was left-handed, but she knew - not this early, but earlier than supposedly it was possible.

First Metro Ride

Yesterday Anna had her first metro ride as we took the metro into DC to have lunch with Corinne.  She didn't catch much of it as she slept for 1/2 the ride to DC and the whole ride home, but what she did catch, she liked.  She liked looking at the people and especially liked the fact that her seatmate kept changing.  At lunch Anna sat on my lap & Corinne's lap for 45 minutes and just quietly looked around.  I think we definitely have a people watcher on our hands!

Happy 4th of July!

Mom, Dad, and Anna just got back from a fantastic weekend in Southport, NC with Grandma, Grandpa, and Nana. Anna got lots of hold time with her grandparents and got to experience all sorts of new things at Grandma an Grandpa's house. Mom and Dad got to go on a few dates by themselves and play a lot of golf. Here are some photos, starting with Anna's fourth of July bathing suit, courtesy of Nana:

Ms. Liberty herself...

Looking good for the beach!

Frogging on Nana

First steps in the Atlantic, at high tide no less!

The whole family on on the beach

Mom and Dad had plenty of time to sneak away to the links

Pretty dresses and overstimulation were the rule this weekend!

Grandma gave me sweet holds all weekend, and even got to feed me!

Cousins look like fun!

Last night we took Anna to Neilson's Custard Shop, which we have visited about once a week since Anna has been born, including her 5th day of life! As we sat and ate our custard Matt & I noticed there seemed to be a LOT of kids at Neilson's. We ended up talking to the women sitting at the table next to us with four of those kids. It turns out that all those kids were the Neilson's grandchildren - all 24 of them ranging in age from 4 months to 14 years. The women next to us, daughter-in-law of the Neilson's, explained that there were 6 children and 24 grandchildren all living in the Vienna area who visit Neilson's as a group every once in a while. Wow! I think my favorite quote from the evening is from Mrs. Neilson, "You know the rule, only dishes of ice cream inside - cones OUTSIDE!" Anna was mesmerized watching all the cousins & is looking forward to a cousin of her own in August!