Solids!

So we started "solids" a few months ago with Lillian but in baby land that really means watery purees.

Does that really look good to you all? I don't think so.

Never the less, she LOVES to eat. She literally will eat just about anything you put in front of her. So I knew it was a matter of time before she wanted to feed herself.

In the last two weeks, every time she is at the dinner table, she is always grabbing for our food. Combined that with her love of of putting things in her mouth and I figured it was time for "real" solids!

I found this at the grocery and figured it was work a try.

"What's this?"

"Nom Nom Nom"

"Where did it all go?"

"I think I see a little bit left down here"

the.ONE DAY.worksop

I recently took a photography class with the very talented Erin Rachel Wilson. Erin took Lillian's 3 month photos which I loved and is an absolute sweetheart. I received a Canon 60D camera for Christmas before Lillian arrived and promised myself I would learn to use it before she arrived. 7 months later I hadn't gotten past pg 6 in the manual and was having to use it on the automatic settings. So when Erin offered the.ONE DAY.workshop I knew I had to sign up. The class focused on the basics of shooting in manual. It was a great lesson in how aperture, shutter speed and ISO work together to create the perfect picture. Once we had all gotten a handle on how those three things interact, we started working on photo composition.  The workshop was concluded with a photo session with two models. It was a great time to test out our new knowledge and have Erin there to ask questions.

I'm very proud to say, I have only shot in manual since! I still don't have photo editing software so here are some raw images from the day:

My Friend Ashley who attended the workshop with me.

Here are a few picts I've shoot since attending the workshop! After the workshop, I bought a 50mm F/1.8 lens which I have loved having!

My cousin's new baby:

Tooth!

Last night I felt Lillian's first tooth!!! Her front left tooth came in! Eeek. She's getting so big!

6 month (-1 week) appt

We went in Wednesday for Lillian's weight check appointment and the doctor decided to turn it into her 6 month well baby visit.
Here are her 6 month (-1 week) stat's:

Weight: 12lbs, 9oz (< 5%)
Height: 24 3/4 (10-25%)
Head: 17 1/4 (75-90%)

So she gained 1lb in a month! The doctor was really pleased with her weight gain and said we should stay the course. She also said we could advance to Stage 2 food, which Lillian will be excited about because it will provide her some additional options at meal time.

And now a few picts from Wednesday...

It's spirit week at school and Wednesday you had to wear you're favorite team colors. DH was so excited to dress Lillian up in her UK gear!

A little sleep update:

Wednesday night - Went down without crying, stirred at 10:30 to roll onto her stomach, and slept with out a peep until 6:00am. It was AMAZING!!! But this was probably because she was tired from her shots

Thursday night - Went down without crying, woke up at 1:30 - after 3 intervals finally fell back asleep without a paci, woke up at 5:40 - after 1 interval fell back asleep with a paci. Although I probably could have just gotten up with her at 5:40, I'm trying to teach her we don't get up until 6:30. Since she went right back to bed I know she's still tired when she gets up early.

I'm trying to stop replacing the paci during the night wakings so hopefully we can conquer that demon this weekend!

Sleep Training - Ferber Method - Night 5

Two steps forward, 1 step back.

Last night was kind of a bad night. Not compared to her waking up 6+ times like she did in our pre-ferber days, but compared to our new standard it wasn't great.

Fifth night intervals - 7, 9, 11

8:00 pm - Lillian went down without any tears.

8:30 pm - Lillian woke up, went in after her first interval, replaced the paci and she fell right asleep.

10:30 pm - Lillian woke up, went in after her first interval, replaced the paci and she fell back asleep

2:20 am - Lillian woke up, went in after her first interval, replaced the paci and she fell back asleep


4:45 - Lillian woke up. Checked on her at 7 minutes, 9 minutes and she fell asleep during her 11 minute interval. I was really tempted to just pick her up and put her in my bed because I was really tired. But I resisted and she finally fell back asleep.
 
A couple of things I've noticed:
- Lilllin seems to sleep better on her stomach. I may just start putting her down that way because half the flailing around seems to be her trying to get onto her stomach when she wakes up on her back.
- I recently started putting her in Pampers Dry Max diapers to go to bed. I think these keep her drier and I wonder if the fussiness last night related to her being put to bed in her normal Pampers Swaddlers.
- I need to get a normal sound machine because I think the sleep sheep turning off isn't helping matters. Ferber actually would probably say to eliminate things like a sound machine, but we usually keep her door cracked and the sound echos in the house too much to not have something on in her room.
- I need to get a night light for her room because leaving the bathroom light on puts too much light in the room, but its pitch black if we don't have anything on and I can't see when I go in an sooth her.
 
I promise I won't keep these updates going for too much longer. It's just helpful for me to be able to look back and see how we've progressed.

Sleep Training - Ferber Method - Night 4

Forth night intervals were 6, 8, 10 minutes.

Lillian went down at 7:45pm without any tears. She stirred a few times through out the night but only fussed a bit and went back to sleep a few minutes after she woke.

4:30 - After the 6 minute interval, I went in & put in her paci. She went straight back to bed.

6:20 - woke up for the day.

Only one real night time waking is a HUGE improvement!! I'm so hopeful we will be sleeping through the night soon!

Sleep Training - Ferber Method - Night 3

3rd night intervals were: 5, 7, 9 minutes

Lillian missed her normal last afternoon nap, so it was a fight to keep her up until 8pm. My husband bathed her and fed her a bottle around 7:45 and she was sound asleep in bed by 8pm. No crying at all.

She stirred at 2:10 am but put herself back to sleep before we reached the end of the first interval. She never really cried, more like half awake, half asleep fussing.

4:00 am - She woke up. I went in after 6 minutes. I gave her, her pacifier and she fell back asleep.

6:00am - Woke up for the day.

So another big step forward. I'm hopefully we'll get a full night sleep sometime in the next week.