Somethings Gotta Give

Ok Ill try to stick to the essentials because once again, I have waited too long between posts. Rory hand foot and mouth disease just after Halloween. Not sure where the heck she got it but gave it to all the other kids at Diane's. Poor things. Luckily Abby did not get it. The same week, she popped her second molar (upper left). She is now wearing 2t (3t in shirts). It is pretty amazing how much talking she is doing. Well I guess I would classify it as conversing more. I told her the other day, "You make me so happy, Rory". She replied back, "You me make happier!". She still insists on her "paci" at bedtime, in the car, and anytime she gets upset. She still drinks a 6 oz bottle of milk first thing in the morning and before brushing teeth to go to bed. She has a Dora the Explorer flashlight that she insists on sleeping with. She loves sleeping in her bunk bed. I gave her her first real haircut (besides bangs).

Abby got her first cold when Aurora got the HM&F. It was mild, and was just a runny nose. She is not sleeping well. Dr. said its totally normal, shes just small and has a small tummy and cant go that long without eating. (at her BEST during the day shes only eating 4 oz a time every 3 hours). She does get a good stretch from 7pm when we put her down to about midnight when she first needs to eat again. Its just unfortunate that we dont get to sleep during that time! We have tried to extend her bedtime but she gets so overtired and its really hard to settle her back down (we learned that from our weeks of "colicky" evenings). Its really just a lot of little things adding up; with Aurora she was going to bed later so the stretch was more in line with our sleep, she dropped the midnight feeding sooner, we didnt have to get up as early since we didnt have as much to do to get out the door for work, and it was easier for one of us to nap if we needed it to catch up. We stopped swaddling her a few weeks ago. Tried her in our bed so I could get to her faster and that was better than before, but then she was getting startled too much so we got out Rory's bat tent and for the last few nights have used that, putting her to sleep on her stomach. That has worked out much better. Last night she was good; midnight feeding, 2:00 pacifier which only tided her over until 2:30 when I had to feed her again, then she was fine until I woke her up at 6 to eat before I pumped. She is in0-3 clothes now. Eyes are a deep dark hazel, but brown in some light. At her 4 month old apt on Wed she was 10 lbs 8 oz, and 23 inches long. After just telling the Dr that Abby was not anywhere close to rolling over and had no intention of it, she busted out two back to stomachs in a row last night. Ryan was way more excited than he normally is about those kinds of things, and I realized after he commented on it that this is the first "milestone" that is tangible proof that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that we wont be slaves to the sleepless nights, frequent feedings and unending diaper changes forever.

Luckily my milk production has stayed high. I have an insane stock pile of it in the chest freezer. I actually started donating my extra again since my production shows no sign of slowing even after being back at work for over a month. (Last time it was already decreasing significantly by now) I'm so grateful to Abby for being such a good bottle to boob feeder. Because she is being so good to me in that aspect, I am committed to spending the time and effort to continue nursing and pumping to a year. Its helping my weight come down too. I've had like 3 days at 139. It would be awesome if I could get down to 135. I have to say though I have been craving some serious physical activity. But family walks will just have to suffice until I get back some of my time. I just have to make peace with the fact that my body, time and efforts need to be devoted to the family right now.

What a boring post with dumb stats littered throughout. But alas, thats all I have time for at this point in time!