5 1/2 months already?

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! I have many updates, but not much time. I'll just post pictures now (since I know that's what everyone is really interested in. ;) But just to let everyone know, daycare is going exceptionally well, Camila is sleeping through the night again, and she is ALWAYS happy. That makes all of us at home happy! :) (Of course, I fully expect everything to go downhill now that I've said something!) ;)

Easter dress (we decided at the last minute it was too cold for her "official" Easter outfit!

Chewing on her fingers - a favorite pasttime of Camila's Playing with her feet - another favorite activity This is what she does when she's tired...poor girl!

Trying out her new Exersaucer

Enjoying playing in the sun

Success! We went out to a restaurant!

We finally had enough courage to take Camila out to a restaurant yesterday. It seemed fitting that our first venture to a sit-down restaurant was on her 5 month birthday. We were a little nervous, but we felt pretty good since there were 3 adults (Fabricio, Rita, and me.) Plus, Sunday was Rita's last day with us so we wanted to spend some time together since we really haven't been able to while she was here. Camila was really good - we didn't have any loud crying that would have embarassed us. :) She actually started laughing as she looked around the place. I think she really enjoys going on "trips" as there is so much she loves to look at. We went to the Tin Shed in Savage, on a recommendation from a co-worker. It's such a relief now that we have one successful trip under our belts. :) The last time we went to dinner with Camila was to Chipotle back in mid-December, and it was a disaster as she started screaming 10 minutes after we got there, and wouldn't stop. We had to throw our tacos into a bag and run out. So yes, Rita left early this morning (March 17) and Camila starts day care tomorrow. That's another reason I've been so edgy lately. Poor Fabricio, I've been so snappish at him lately (and that's putting it nicely.) It just makes me sad that Camila will be in day care for so many hours each day, but it's the right thing to do - and we don't have a choice anyway! It will be an adjustment for all of us, but there will be some good things that come out of it. We'll have a better routine, she'll get to interact with other babies, learn to sleep in other places, and Fabricio and I will be able to focus our weekends as a family. It was such a blessing to have Rita with us for so long, and we're happy that Camila and Rita got to know each other and spend so much time together. Oh, I keep meaning to take a picture of Camila when she first wakes up from her nap. She's always a happy baby, blowing raspberries and chatting away. She used to be pretty cranky when she woke up, but the past few weeks she's just a smiley baby!

5 months!

Guess who's 5 months old today! Here's a picture of the birthday girl. Who, by the way, has been sleeping terribly at night for the past 1 1/2 weeks. She's waking up every 3 hours, which has been really hard on all of us. The surprising thing is that she's always in a good mood though, so she's not sleep-deprived. She wakes up like clockwork every 3 hours, wants to eat, and then goes to sleep right away when she's done. It seems like she might be ready for solids, but her Pedi wants us to wait until she's closer to 6 months. This week has been really, really hard.... I got sick earlier in the week, so feeling bad plus not getting any sleep has made me pretty edgy, unfortunately. She's able to sit unassisted for 5-10 minutes now. It's great to see her reach for things, start to topple, but then correct herself. She really seems to enjoy this new perspective on things around her. Still no interest in rolling over, but we don't expect to see that consistently for another month or so.

Yesterday Camila and I visited Angie & Lily Quale. We took some great pictures of the Ole girls (past and future Oles?) Angie's laughing because Camila was starting to have enough of pictures by this time. Camila and I had a lot of fun visiting Angie & Lily, and Camila was surprisingly good the whole time, which was a relief to me! :)

Lily kissing Camila - cute!

Hanging out in her swing in the morning. You can tell she's so much bigger than when we had her in the swing at 1 month. Her feet hang off the end a little, and her head almost reaches the top. Camila and Abuelis Rita

More nighttime sleeping issues, but putting herself to sleep during the day??

OK, what's new this week. First, I think I need to come up with better titles to my blog posts. I'm clearly not that creative! :) We've continued to struggle with Camila sleeping at night. This week we thought we were turning a corner, as she finally slept thru the night (8:30-6:00ish) on Sun, Mon, and Tues. However, since then she's gotten up once, if not twice (both Thurs & Fri night were up-twice nights!) The swing she sleeps in (the new one we bought in Jan) now makes horribly loud clanking noises, so we thought that was it. Then we thought she was constipated (which she has a problem with). Then we thought she was wet. But we can't find a rhyme or reason to why she wakes up. Unfortunately, I'm coming down with a cold and Camila seems to be a little sick too, so that may be why but we don't know for sure. Very frustrating! At least we know that in a couple of weeks we can move her to her crib, and while it will likely take time for her to get used to her new room hopefully it will help her (and us!) sleep better. On the nights that she did sleep through, she is waking up by at least 6:00, which threw us into a tailspin this week. I didn't get up early enough to have time to get myself ready AND feed her. Plus we had that measly snowstorm that messed up traffic, so one morning I got to work an hour later than I usually do! On the bright side, she is amazing us with her new ability to put herself to sleep in her pack and play (for naps). Who is this baby? OK, it's only been a few times, but it's still good to know that she has the ability to put herself to sleep on a flat, stationary surface! (I cuddle with her a bit, then lay her down, kiss her head and tell her it's time for her nap. Within 10 minutes she's put herself to sleep.) Hopefully this helps when she starts sleeping in her crib. Oh! I also put her down for 1 nap in her crib yesterday, in the hopes that it starts to be a familiar room to her.

She loves playing with her feet now, grabbing them every chance she gets.

And she's very chatty lately, talking and laughing a lot (even when she wakes up at 4:00am...) She appears to be having fun trying out these new sounds she can make, and does so every chance she gets. Camila is also sitting up on her own (for 5-10 seconds) before she flops over to the side. I find it fascinating that she can sit up, but has shown no more interest in rolling over. She just cries and cries whenever we put her on her stomach (and that's often when she lets out a few toots!) ;)

I went to visit her day care yesterday, and it was pretty hard to think that in just over a week she'll be there nearly 12 hours per day. It makes me so sad! Hopefully after Fabricio starts working later this year we can sell our house and move closer to my work (my 70 minute commute is killing me...)

Here are some pictures from Melissa's birthday (Feb 29!) Notice Melissa's shirt. We think Camila should get one of her own (since she has such constipation issues lately...)

Look who was done with pictures here! :)

Things Camila can do at 4 1/2 months

I just wanted to add a few more updates. This week, Camila has discovered how to shout, so to speak. She'll just out with a yell, but it's not that she's truly upset, as in the next second she gives us a big smile. It borders on annoying when she yells on and off for an hour, and I keep telling her to use her "indoor voice" (obviously has no effect on her! :) but it's fun to see that she's learned to do something new. The past week she also woke us in the middle of the night with bloodcurdling screams. It was a sound we've never heard before, and scared the life out of us. She wasn't in pain, b/c as soon as I picked her up and soothed her a bit she was calm. It first I believee she had a bad dream, but she did this again last night (only it was much less, maybe only 3-4 "screams".) She seems otherwise healthy, so I don't think there's anything wrong with her. She doesn't make this sound any other time of the day, so I wonder if it was just another bad dream. I'll keep monitoring it though... Camila is now grabbing her feet as often as she can. Today she started putting her feet in her mouth, then looks at me and smiles. She must be thinking "cool, I can feel that on my foot AND in my mouth!" She loves grabbing for things, and now grabs and my hair and puts it in her mouth (ouch!) While she didn't sleep thru the night last night, she did let me sleep in until 9:30! OK, she woke up at 12:30 and 5:30, but sleeping until 9:30 was great for me! One night at a time, right? Did I ever mention that she has a huge bald spot on the back of her head? Her Pedi said it will get better around 6 months when she sits up on her own more often. Oh, that reminds me. She can sit up in her Bumbo for 20 minutes or so before getting bored. She can also sit unsupported for a couple of minutes before flopping over. I've got some pics from my sister's birthday (Feb 29!) that I'll add later after I resize them. Time to go eat dinner!

Picture updates

Just a few pictures to share!

Here's a shot from last Saturday (Feb 23) when she rolled over for the first time. (We've only seen her do it once since then....) Hanging out on her Bumbo with her Boppy. She seemed to like the feel of the Bobby material on her feet (it's pretty soft). She's getting really good at holding her head up, and is even passing her little blanket (which is actually a burp cloth!) between her hands. It's unintentional right now, but soon she'll be able to do it on purpose.

And some smile pictures.

I must have jinxed us last weekend when I wrote that she was sleeping well. She had been giving us full nights at least 1-2 nights per week, sometimes even 3. Well, it was either Sunday or Monday night, and she woke up 4 times!! It was partially my fault, as I didn't feed her one of the times so she started fussing again 30 minutes later (I just ignored her and she went back to sleep.) But sure enough, she woke up again 2 hours later so I fed her. She woke up at 12:00, 3:00, 3:30, and 6:00. The rest of the week she's woken up once each night usually around 2:00. I'm still a walking zombie, as I was getting used to having at least 1-2 nights of solid sleep (for me!)

I've got her napping in her pack and play right now, as we're trying to transition her out of her swing. There's really no point in having her sleep in her pack and play overnight, as we'll be moving her to her crib in just a couple of weeks. We just want her to get used to naps, so it's a start!

She's able to sit up on her own for a few seconds before she tries to launch herself backwards or falls sideways. She's always kicking and moving her arms, and likes to be able to see where everyone is. While she can entertain herself for a while, she still wants to know that people are around.

Hmmm...I could use a nap myself!