Starting to get the hang of this...

For now, anyways! So, I kind of feel like taking care of Madison (and probably any other baby) is like our first stroller shopping experience in a way. When we first tried to fold/unfold a stroller - and failed miserably - we thought "what are we getting ourselves in to when 2 intelligent, college graduates can't even operate a stroller!?!?" But once someone showed us how to do it, it was super easy. Well, with Madison, I've learned her noises and her routine enough that I am now able to pretty accurately predict what she is about to do. So, I'm able to prepare bottles BEFORE the screaming and know when to not pick her up while she sleeps and makes lots of grunts and other noises. Therefore she sleeps better and longer now, which is great for all of us! :) Baths are getting easier, I think because I'm starting to feel more comfortable. She still doesn't love them but I think she could tell when I was nervous doing it which in turn made her more fearful/angry. I do realize that everything I think I know can (and probably will) be thrown out the window any day now when she decides to completely change things up on me, but for now I feel like I can breathe again :)

So, her having a routine now is both good and bad. THE GOOD: Her routine has become eating about 4 oz every 4 hrs and falling asleep within about 30min-1hr of eating. She naps in the same bassinet she sleeps in but I usually move the bassinet to the living room with me during the day and then do her bedtime routine in her room with the feeding that usually falls between 9-11pm. If I put her in the bassinet right when she's getting drowsy but before she falls in to a deep sleep in my arms, then she will usually fall completely asleep on her own without crying (maybe a little grunting) within 10 minutes or so. She will wake up again around 1-2am to eat, then around 5-6am and (I've learned) to have her continue to sleep after that feeding in her room until the next one. She always seems really awake after that 5-6am feeding but if I un-swaddle her, and bring her in to the living room with me I usually can't get her back to sleep until closer to lunch-time. If I can get her to take 3-4 oz during each feeding and back to sleep within 1-2 hrs of the start of her feeding, then she will usually take good, long naps during the day and sleep well at night.

That being said, THE BAD part of having a routine is when she gets off of it! Let me preface the next statement by telling any loved ones who visit us (and read this blog) to not take offense to what I'm about to say. It's just the nature of the beast! LOL! Well, the routine starting getting off track on Friday when Madison's Great Aunt Liz came by to visit. Visitors didn't used to throw her off too much but now I guess they do. She loves to be held and everyone loves to hold her but the truth is she doesn't get as good a nap in someone's arms as she does in the bassinet. She will wake up more often and act hungry sooner than usual but won't eat a full feeding so everything gets thrown off. Then, with Danny taking 2 weeks off to stay home with us after Madison was born, he went back to work facing a back log of trials and has therefore been swamped since returning to work. He comes home between 7-8pm, eats dinner quickly, then goes back to working on trial stuff until close to midnight. So, during the past week (and probably for the next few), I've had both day and night duty. So, part of her routine has been Mommy taking care of her all night. Well Danny is able to help out more on the weekends so he takes night duty Friday night and she just doesn't sleep as well (I don't know if it's because she's used to me doing it or if Liz's visit / her lack of good naps during the day had a big impact). I knew when she woke up fussy Saturday morning it was going to be a rough day and then her Papaw and Aunt Megan came to visit for most of the day. It was great seeing them but she was all kinds of thrown off. I tried really hard to get her back on track last night, and she did pretty well until about 6am when she woke up earlier than she should have screaming because she had FINALLY pushed a poop out that she had been working on since about mid-day on Saturday and it was much more solid than usual. Because her feeding got off track yesterday, I think she got a little constipated. I still don't think she feels completely relieved at this point. Hopefully, we will get her back on schedule by the end of today so the week can start off right!

Anyways, here's some pics from yesterday!

I'll end today's post with a funny story that just happened! Danny was feeding her and I guess she gave him a "smile" and he was all excited asking if that counted as a real smile then she let out a loud fart!! I was like nope! Don't think so! We were cracking up :) I feel like I've earned that first real smile, so hopefully I'll get it soon!