Miracles and mayhem

Been a bit slack on the blogging front so apologies first off.

Well, Aimee spent a week with Cat at her grandfolks in MK, leaving me to enjoy a whole week of proper sleep and evenings doing stuff I used to do before parenthood. In MK, it was a good opportunity to bond with her Aunties Janet and Sarah.

Aimee has been back for a few days now and unfortunately, is not sleeping very well - day or night. It could be teething, it could be hunger (she is currently going through a phase of breast-rejection), it could be anything. So far, we have tried every trick in the book and beyond. It is so hard to deal with a very wakeful but tetchy baby at 4am. Anyway, Cat and I think that my snoring is waking her up so I will try sleeping in the other room. In any case, it won;t be long before she is put in her own room and we begin feeding her solids - two things that may help change her bahaviour to more manageable conditions.

But it is not all hard luck news. Aimee is maturing cognitively at an astonishing rate. Her facial expressions and reactions to things - usually me - are a constant source of amusement. Last night, I put her on her belly and beckoned her to crawl. She was in hysterics with laughter and joy. Amazing!

In other news, Cat's mothers-group friend Jennifer called to say that the Gina Ford book (the one we hate so much) we lent her has worked wonders. He rlittle five month old used to feed every two hours - DAY AND NIGHT. This was causing her considerable distress and she asked Cat for the book as a desperate resort. Lo and behold, she called to say the routines it gives worked a miracle and her baby boy slept for 7 hours non-stop last night - the first time in five months he has ever had more than 2 hours sleep. So...miracles do happen. We might have to eat our words soon and resort to Gina and her 7am open the curtains routine.


Image courtesy of Janet's planet

Wide Awake Again!!!

The Little One decided to have one of her manic episodes last night. After a difficult feed, she slept on and off from 10.30pm until about 2am. Then, that was it, screaming, laughing, napping, crying, yelling until 9am. Poor Cat got zero sleep and I decided the living room couch would give me a few hours respite, but it was not to be, I could still hear her and was unable to sleep.It's hard to understand why exactly she does this. It did not help that her routine that evening suffered owing to Cat wanting to meet up with friends in the evening. But I don't think this was it. Possibly, a day since her final jab, her body is suffering with the after effects - although she shows no signs of fever or illness. It could be, that at 4 months old, her emotional development is growing rapidly and when she is overstimulated during the daytime (she finally got to meet her Aunty Janet and there was also a trip to Cat's workplace - all very stimulating activities) sometimes it manifests itself as a night of very noisy wakefulness. Cat and I are resigned to being bleery eyed and foul tempered for the time being until she settles down into the 'pattern' again.

Baby Love

An interesting couple of days recently. On Saturday we met up with my friends Richard and Adriana and their 10 month old daughter. It was really strange picking up their baby cos we are so used to Aimee that it came as a shock to hold a baby that is much bigger and stronger. At ten months, my friends baby can wriggle and fight and reach out for things you thought were metres away from her prying hands. It seemed like you needed to keep an eye on her constantly. But she is really cute and I loved the way she happily takes an interest in books and food and can react when you call her name. Aimee is still a long way away from that phase, but already she is smiling tons more and her laughter is also progressing away from the hoarse grunt to a short chuckle. She also cries and last night, she cried every two hours thorughout the night -it was tough.Today, my work colleague brought her 3 month old daughter in to the office. Again, I was amazed how different her baby is, even though there a only a few weeks difference in age between her and Aimee. This baby has a massive shock of wonderful long black hair. It made for an interesting image as the baby itself was quite small - smaller than Aimee I reckon. Anyway, I helped change the babies nappy much to the amusement of my other office colleagues. But I do adore babies in all their shapes and sizes, maybe I am a softie!

Getting back in shape

The newly installed routine seems to be doing its trick. Aimee has now followed the same sleep pattern for one whole week. After her 7pm bath, there is a cuddle, a feed and down in the cot. She fusses until Cat feeds her again. After a very short nap, she fusses and Cat repeats for a third time. By now, it is usually about 9.30 to 10pm. So far, she has not gone past the third feed of fussiness. She may require one or more nightly feeds, but these are short and no-nonesense. She then wakes us up with her impatient grunting (or is that me?) about 7am and so begins another day.

Yesterday, Cat began her new fitness regime - courtesy of our world champion kickboxing coach - John. He invited Cat to pop down and try one hour private kickboxing session. Poor Cat - no exercise at all for over a year has left her once taut muscles a but wobbly. But her kicks and punches were still there, so hopefully the new fitness regime will get Cat back to shape in no time (actually I think she is in fabulous shape anyway, but I am biased!)

At the gym, I chatted to one man who said his daughter refused to sleep at nights and he had to carry her in the papoose each night until she did. He did this for FIVE YEARS!!!!
So whatever hardship we feel we encounter, there is always someone else who can trump that - then you feel silly for complaining about such as minor thing.

Routines

The past three nights over the weekend were awful. we would put aimee down after her midnight feed
as usual and she would sleep for about 15mins and then scream blue bloody murder for hours!I mean really scream. She is not ill, but something clearly is upsetting her. This happened for 3
nights. Poor Cat was weeping at the sheer hell of not getting any sleep herself. Not only at night, but
at anytime you put Aimee in her cot she screams.A quick consult with the books and other parents and it was suggested that we alter our night routine. Babies apprently, must have routine, above all else. Otherwise you get what we just got.Last night, we started a new bedtime routine. Bath at 7pm, bedtime story (Aimee bizarrely loves
staring at the pages of books), long feed, put into cot, lights down - all of this by 8.30pm.Well, it didn't work - she slept for maybe 45 mins and woke up crying. But Cat comfoted her, fed her
again and put her in the cot. Eventually, Aimee fell asleep and, apart from a quick feed at 1am and
6am, she slept until 8am...Bliss!Clearly, we were letting Aimee get overtired and not enough sleep during both the day and the night.
We were happy to play with her and stimulate her until well past midnight. We realise this is now a
poor way to look after Aimee. We just thought she would sleep when necessary and wake when
necessary, but all the advice says, we must establish a routine to get her to learn to sleep by herself.So, every night, we will continue the routine until she has learned the sleep triggers. God I hope it
works. Both Cat and I could never deal with that kind of torture anymore!