the best thing

my 8-1/2 month old baby girl was a perfect little diva yesterday for our christmas photo shoot. i am still in disbelief that i get to send these with our christmas cards!

a couple of my favs from yesterday. can you believe i found this dress at a goo.dwill? total vintage beauty!

burnt

pumpkin has been waking up a lot during the night to eat this week. i don't really know why. it may be a growth spurt a little late (or early- depending on how you look at it). it may be the 4 month weirdness that i've been seeing a lot of internet posts about. or it may be that she's just a loud baby & being so close to us at night has it's downfalls & this is one of them. a zombie mommy & daddy are just no good to anyone!



to that end we are trying a multi-pronged approach. i am feeding her more often during the day today. we are going to attempt the first night's sleep in her crib. she is getting enough naps during the day, but not so late that it interferes with bedtime. at the very least it can't be any worse unless she actually is getting sick! (i really don't think she is!)



i doubt she is teething- there's no little pearls or hard spots on her gums. overall- she is fairly happy today- surprisingly so for such interrupted sleep! (up at 1am, 3:20, 5:30, & 7!) she came thisclose to rolling over from back to front today. i think she'll do it this week or next week at the latest!

**updated to add: i think that there is something off about this week's sleep in that she really did have a nice little routine going before this. she would go to bed after eating around 10-ish, then sleep until 3 or 4am. then we would start up an every 3hr (or so) schedule until 10-ish that night. every 3rd night- roughly- she would wake up 2x a night instead of 1 (well- i should say 3x instead of 2 because after the 6/7 am feeding we'd go back to sleep until she really got up around 8 or 9) this all led me to believe she was slowly weaning herself from that middle of the night feeding- which was fine. then this week has been off completely. the last 'good' night was the fourth. seems a little long for a growth spurt. that is what makes me think that a change of scenery might do her some good. give her a chance to sleep on her own without the easy b00b access & constant waking that being so close to mommy can bring. but i am extremely laid back in my parenting style & forcing her to be on a schedule just stresses all of us out. she's been doing fantastically at finding her own schedule so far & i am sure we'll all work this one out too. even if it does make us a little sleep deprived- now at least is the time to be zombies with no daily grind to get through!**

here she is during our floor time- combo back & tummy...






talking to mommy

telling me she is so over it!

happy that mommy is holding her & she is done with that hard floor!

wondergirls

it's official- i have super b00bs... little girl had her 2 week appointment yesterday & is up a grand total of 1 whole inch & 1 pound 1 ounce! she is doing fantastic & is eating just fine! i got my pump today & plan to start pumping one side while she nurses the other. i just don't know if i should do that every feeding or not- i am thinking i will during the day for sure, but night might be just for us. thoughts?