RG by the Week: 19 Weeks

19 Weeks
Feb 21-27, 2012

Milestones/Firsts:
-slept in her crib for a SHORT nap
-reaching- she loves reaching for things- her aim isn't the best but she is practicing all the time!
-grabbing her feet- she loves doing this!
-opened her mouth for a bottle- waaay before it was anywhere near her mouth.
-we finally caved and bought "Sophie" she LOVED her :)
-we also finally bought her a "jumper" -- she was not so fond it at first but is growing to like it okay I think- we have it on the "shortest" setting and her little legs just dangle ha! We put some blankets under there but she hasn't quite grasped what to do yet. She just chews on the toys we put near her ha!
-she seems to be getting a little camera shy: she can be laughing and smiling and as soon as she sees my camera its like she becomes shy... and just has this blank stare.  See pic above ha!  She is just too funny.
-she has also started giggling and laughing some more. I LOVE hearing her sooo much! (video coming soon- we finally caught a GREAT laugh tonight on film!)

Feeding:
This week she really started "noticing" table food.... mainly just paying attention to it- nothing more.  We did dip our finger in a few foods and let her "taste" them but nothing that is worth documenting-- as she really hasn't really TRIED any foods yet- nor have we started rice cereal or anything like that.  Holding out. ha.  She is still nursing on the same schedule as last week with a few adjustments- see next.

we went to the church and packed rice packets for "Stop Hunger Now" with cousin Mari

not only was she the youngest "rice packer" she was also the most stylish thanks to her cousin, Mari, and her friends

GG daddy and RG at dinner Thursday night 

Sleep:
nightmare-ish this week! I think we have hit that "Four month- wakeful time" that you hear people talk about- there was one night that RG was literally waking every hour an a half in the middle of the night- I tried to do what the book said and try to soothe her with methods other than "food"... but that would just make her more mad so to nursing she would go.  Once she would eat for 5ish+ minutes she was back sound asleep.  Luckily this slowly got "better" throughout the week and by the end of the week she was back to sleeping 2-3 hours at night. I have thrown around the idea of sleeping training in my head over and over and over... and well we finally "tried" it.
(Please do not throw any stones at me after you read the next part- I realize that every family and child is different and different things work for different people. We are doing what works best for "us". )
I put her down in her crib and let her cry for 5 min's then went and checked on her- then increased the time to 10 minutes, etc.. well she was crying for over an hour and I just couldn't take it anymore.  It was so sad and stressful to me that I decided I would just go get her (don't judge...)... I picked her up and tried to calm her down but she was so mad she didn't go to sleep very easy to say the least.  We finally resorted back to her bouncer which she loves and I sang to her and rubbed her head and she was finally out.  We tried this similar thing a couple of nights and it just wasn't working for us.  Also, our schedule is so random its really hard to set a bedtime "routine" for RG.  Luckily, she is so good with just "going with the flow" and usually goes right down without a routine. We are so blessed with this that I am really not wanting to force a routine for her just so I can get a few more hours of sleep at night.  She seems to be happy and so am I for the most part- I can just be tired sometimes, but I treasure the time I have to cuddle her in the middle of the night- I know these days will not last forever, so while they are here- I am doing my best to embrace them :) !
She has decided against her passy 99% of the time... here is what she thinks about it:

and if we force her to take it she ends up with her thumb in the passy ha! 

Clothes: 0-3, 3months, size one diapers

arching her back and chest smiling at daddy

even Daddy enjoys playing dress up with her too :) 

Favorite Moments:
we had a gassy little girl a few days this week which made for fun baths and diaper changes- K was changing her and putting powder on her bottom when all of a sudden the powder went "poof"- I thought he was going to die laughing! A similar situation happened when K was giving her a bath that night (2/20)- and she created bubbles in her bath water :) silly baby gas- always is so funny!

grabbing for the ducky

looove this!

Most Challenging:
SLEEP!

look at this sweet face waking up in the morning :) 

close up of her little toes hehe

Loves:
bath time- her bath toys, Daddy, laughing, Sophie, all her family and friends holding her, playing with her feet, grabbing my watch and staring at it when I'm changing her diaper, chewing on her hands- your hands- and anything she can get her hands on, SMILING, sucking her thumb when she's going to sleep, "hmmmmm"ing! when frustrated or wanting attention, arching her head/chest back for fun and smiling, and rolling over.

example of her arching her back ha

rolling from belly to back

Sophie

Looking forward to:
more laughs

Mommy Moments:
will my hair ever stop falling out? really...?

I don't love this photo of me but I LOVE Raleigh Grace's face here