Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Emberly is 5 Months Old

 This little one is growing fast! She's growing out of some of her six month things and she's enjoying eating solids most of the time. We've been trying to work on sleep training so she'll sleep through the night, but so far it only worked for about a week and now we seem to be moving backwards. Last night she was up twice, and I'm so tired! I wonder if she has teeth coming in and her gums are bothering her? She can roll from her back to her tummy but doesn't often go the other way on purpose yet. She's getting stronger abs, likes to sit up with help and loves jumping in the bouncer. Her little jabbers and noises are cute. Lately she's been in to buzzing her tongue and lips. And lots and lots of drool!

Family Photo and the Christmas Eve Service

They were taking family photos at the Christmas Eve service so we got a nice one of the six of us. It's still hard for me to get used to the idea of being a family of six now! The kids are perfect stair steps.

The kids got to sing on stage. It was Brielle's first time and she was so excited. She was front and center but ended up very upset because people were touching her. She was in tears and stared down the kids on either side of her. At one point I was trying to have her come down to me, but that only made it worse because she put her hand behind her ear and said "I can't hear you!" She finally joined in singing "Joy to the World" with a scowl on her face, but at least she was singing. Quite the show stealer. I love her and all her feelings and expression.




Thursday, January 11, 2018

The Flu, Sleep Training, and First Foods

We've been hit by the flu. I was the first one to come down with it a week and a half ago. Kaylynn, Brielle, Desmond, and Davin all got it in succession with Emberly thankfully being the lone hold out. It's been a doozy. We are all much better, but it's still holding on. Lots of coughs and runny noses. I think as of yesterday we're finally done with fevers. I'm ready for my energy to return.

To help with my energy, I reviewed the book Babywise. We've been doing the feed, wake time, sleep cycle since the beginning, but it's time to get it more scheduled by the clock so I can better plan my day and hopefully sleep through the night with the goal to get to the gym in the mornings. (I've got to get a move-on with these extra 50 lbs to lose.)

In conjunction with the sleep training, I've also introduced solids to Emberly. She kept sticking her tongue out at first and still occasionally clamps her little lips shut so I can't get the spoon in, but bananas turned her around. She volunteered to open her mouth for that. Her first foods include oatmeal, sweet potatoes, bananas, peaches, and squash. A new chapter has begun!

Now that her tummy is more full and her daytime naps are fairly predictable, I'm hopeful that a full night's rest will become the norm. She was in the habit of getting up at 1 and 5 to eat every night leaving two very tired parents, but last night she only woke up at 3 and was satisfied to go back to sleep when her binky was put back in. She slept 11 hours straight. We'll see how tonight goes.