Sleep progress

I apologize to any readers I have left, I have kind of abandoned this blog haven't I?  School got really hard and busy.  My only time to get schoolwork done is in the early morning after Emma's first feeding, when (and if) she naps, or if her Dad takes over for a while.  So all free time was devoted to getting stuff done for school.  But now I am nearing the end of the semester; hallelujah! I am looking forward to a nice long break before spring semester starts.  

I titled this blog post "Sleep progress" because I am refusing to label it as a "sleep regression". You see, Em has stopped sleeping through the night.  All of you that have children are nodding knowingly right now.  My awesome little sleeper who would go down between 8:30 and 9:00pm every night and sleep all the way through 'till 6:00 or 7:00am the next morning is gone.  She now wakes up 2 times a night for feedings.  And they are long feedings.  Like half hour or longer feedings.  So of course I spent an exorbitantly large amount of time talking about it with my mama friends and Googling it incessantly.  I spent a lot of time complaining that my "good" sleeper was gone.  I spent some time crying in her nursery at 5:00am because I was just so tired.  But I'm done with all of that (well, probably not with the crying).  Because I know that Emma is not a good or bad sleeper, she's a baby that is developing at a crazy ridiculous rate right now.  And that it won't be this way forever.  And that the reason she is waking up is because she is hungry and needs food to continue to develop.  This all started a few days after her 4 month birthday (November 1).  Since then she has hit all of these developmental milestones:

• rolling over
• blowing raspberries
• sitting up
• grabbing her toys
• shaking her head back and forth
• "screeching" and talking
• popping off the nipple because she is distracted by the world around her
• recognizing mom and dad, our voices, when we leave the room, when we come back in the room
• eating a few solids

So yeah.  That is A LOT of stuff for a wee babe in a matter of 3 weeks.  Of course she is waking up at night to eat.  I am glad that I am not working right now, because I don't know how I would be able to function at a job all day and then take care of her at night.  It's hard enough with grad school.  

One advantage of all these developments is that she is taking naps like a champ.  She takes a 30 minute morning nap and then a 2-3 hour mega nap in the afternoon.  I know this won't last and will change over time.  I am enjoying it while I can.  Currently she is napping in her car seat on the kitchen table.  

So we soldier on.  If I get a good night's sleep I feel like super mom the next day.  I get an amazing amount done and sometimes even throw in a workout**.  If it's a crap night of sleep everything is horrible and awful the next day, I can't concentrate on anything and I just want to lay in front of the tv.  Today is one of those days.  But then Emma's whole face lights up when she sees me and she gives me the biggest grin and my heart bursts and all is right with the world.

"this too shall pass"

**I took Emma to childcare at the gym again and it went ok!  I think she might be getting a little better around other people.

4 months old

   Today Emma is 4 months old!  I can't believe it.  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was crying over only sleeping 2 hours at a time and being tethered to the couch all day breastfeeding.  Now my little girl is sleeping through the night, rolling over, and just wants to play, play, play.  Sometimes I look at her and wonder who she is going to be.  I fall in love with her more and more every day.  And then there are the days when she won't stop screaming so I start screaming right along with her, or when her dad comes home and I hand her over and announce "I NEED A BREAK", or when she won't take a nap and I can't get any school work done, or when I try to leave her in childcare for 30 minutes so I can workout and attempt to lose this frigging baby weight and she cries the whole time.  Yep, it's not all sunshine and unicorns.  It's parenthood.  It's a roller coaster.  In addition to parenthood I still have this amazing husband that I love so much, and we never hang out just the two of us any more.  And then we talk about Emma all the time.  For couples that have more than one kid I don't know how you do it.  I'm looking forward to hitting up some relatives for babysitting soon so that I can go out on a date with my husband.  We agreed that we aren't allowed to talk about Emma the entire time on the date.  So....we'll probably just be sitting there in silence. Hah!

   Let's be honest, you're reading this blog post because you want to hear about Emma.  Okay!  Here's what's new with her:

• she is working really hard at rolling over.  She can roll from her tummy to her back.  She can roll from her back to her side, but hasn't managed to roll all the way yet.  If I lay her down on the floor she immediately starts to roll though, so I have to keep my eye on her at all times.  It's really cute how hard she tries to roll to her tummy, she gets so frustrated when it doesn't work.  I'm sure she'll figure it out in the next few weeks
• she is also getting better and better at sitting up.  She is still pretty wobbly and topples over, but we work at it every day.
• she LOVES looking at other babies, she screeches at them so excitedly
• I think she is starting to learn object permanence and who "mommy" is.  Twice now she has reached out for me.  I came home early from class the other night and she was so happy to see me!  
• she loves hanging out with her Dad and they have the best time together while I'm at school
• she is sucking her thumb!  great for self-soothing
• she reaches out and grabs toys now
• her giggles and laughs are the best sound in the world

   Unfortunately Emma is still having some major separation anxiety when she's not with me or her Dad.  If anyone else attempts to hold her she cries.  This includes her aunt, Nana, grandpa, people at childcare, anyone.  It's very frustrating.  Not sure what to do but just keep working at it and hopefully she will grow out of it.

   As for me I am very busy with school right now as we are approaching the end of the semester.  It's getting harder to get school work done, with Emma being so mobile now and wanting to play.  Randy is great about helping out so I can get some work done.  I just keep telling myself, I just need to pass so I can graduate. Before I know it it will be May, I will be done with school, looking for a job, and Em will be going to daycare.  Need to enjoy this time while it lasts....