tummy time on the boppy pillow...
We got Madison a new mobile (another thing that her cousin Brittany has/likes that I thought I would try) that plays music/nature/heartbeat sounds and has a projector with cute and colorful animal images that you can have hit the underside of the canopy on the mobile or (later on) take the mobile off and have it project on to the ceiling. She LOVES light so I figured she would enjoy this! She's fallen asleep watching it several times now - in her crib! The first time, I just left her there (it was bedtime) and she stayed for 4 hours until her next feeding! :) I may try to start transitioning to the crib full time soon but I don't want to make too many changes at once.
One challenge we've been faced with lately is the swaddling. I feel like she doesn't like to be swaddled but she won't stay asleep for more than 20 minutes or so without it! So, we have 2 different kind of swaddlers (she won't last a second in a regular blanket wrapped around her). One is called a Halo Swaddler which is a wearable blanket that zips up the front and has these "wings" (as I like to call them) that velcro on and you wrap them around the front and then they velcro to each other. Well she always manages to pull her arms out from under the wings which pushes them up in to her face. Then we have this other one called the "Miracle Blanket" which holds her arms well but she always kicks her way out of the leg pouch. So, now, I've resorted to using parts of both together. I use the wearable blanket so keep her legs/feet covered and then use the top part of the miracle blanket and just leave the leg pouch loose. It looks ridiculous but whatever works, right? LOL!
On Wednesday, I got a surprise call from an old childhood friend (we are actually more like family we are so close) named Sabrina that was in town visiting her parents. She, her Dad - Jeff - and her two adorable kids (4 yr old girl and ~15 mo old son) came over to visit! I hadn't seen either one of them in years and had never even met her son, so that was a GREAT surprise :) Her kids were really pretty well behaved but running around as kids do and it really made me realize that working from home will be super difficult by the time I have 2 (at least until I can put one in pre-school). But I'll deal with that when the time comes!
Friday, Danny came down with a stomach virus so I was "super-mom" that day taking care of husband + Maddie + 4 animals all while trying to get work done! I did manage to have a pretty decent week work-wise so it all worked out in the end. We were supposed to work on our floor issue that Saturday but I called my friend that does handyman work that was going to help and cancelled since I was going to participate which meant Danny was going to have to watch Madison and I didn't want him taking care of her while he was sick. Well, he woke up Saturday morning feeling much better, so I kind of wish I hadn't cancelled but oh well! Thank God it was only a 24 hour bug and so far neither Maddie nor I has shown any signs that we caught it (knock on wood)!
Yesterday was one of my good friends birthdays, so we made plans to go to her favorite sushi restaurant and Danny would meet us there after work - which meant Madison had to come with us. Well, yesterday was the first day in over a week that she didn't nap well for some reason, so I was really worried about taking her. She did GREAT though!! We went right after a feeding - she slept on the way there but of course woke up right as I was looking for parking, and stayed awake through the whole meal. We took her out of the car seat and played "pass the baby" and minus a few fussy moments she was pretty chilled out, looking around at everything! I knew she was super tired, which usually means she will be difficult to put down, but we fed her one more time and got her down without too much trouble and then...she slept from 11pm-5am!!! Longest stretch ever so far!! We are getting closer to all night!! Of course, it was Danny's night (to take care of her) so he got off easy but he's going to take an extra night since I get an extra night when he works intake Thursday.
eating is hard work!
So, right now, I'm trying to decide if I want to hire a nanny to come over 2 morning/afternoons a week for 4 hrs each time to watch her so I can focus on work, go to appt's; etc. On the one hand, I like that I know I will have that time to myself. If I've already accomplished what I need for work I can go run errands or something. I also like the one-on-one relationship between her and a nanny. However, I've been able to accomplish my goals each week (so far) without help during the day (not that it's been easy though). So, do I want to commit to at least $500/month when I may or may not need the help? I found this hourly drop off day care place around the corner from my house that is $10/hr and they take infants. I figure if I go this route I can just take her when I need to (like if I am nearing the end of the week and haven't accomplished anything or have interviews or client meetings to go to). They also have a parent's wi-fi lounge that I could go to (which I probably would the first few times I take her there to make sure I'm comfortable with it). Obviously, she wouldn't have the 1-1 attention that a nanny would provide, or her bassinet thing to nap in; however, it would help her to get used to different people and socialize with other babies. This place is new in Katy, so they've only had a total of 6 babies come in and never more than 3 at a time. If I decide to go that route, I think I want to hire a maid! I've found some potential nannies that are willing to do light housekeeping, but let's face it - I need someone to come in and do the dirty stuff (i.e. toilets; etc). The maid/hourly care is a) cheaper and b) if money gets tight, easier to say bye to (unlike a nanny that I would inevitably develop a relationship with and feel bad for letting go). I think I'm leaning towards the maid at this point...
Well, I have literally sat down and started writing this 5-6 times over the last week, each time saving a draft to come back to later, and now she's starting to wake up again! Sorry it's so long, so if you got this far - thank you for caring!! LOL!! :)
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