Saturday, February 05, 2011

Claire: Three Months


Here is what has gone on during month 3 of Claire's life:

Eat, Wake, Sleep:
-At the beginning of this month, she would wake to eat once a night.

-By mid month, we dropped the eating but were still waking at about 5am and with re-swaddling or pacifier would go back to sleep until 7am.

-At month end, Claire is sleeping without waking (somewhat) from 10:30pm to 7am. We pretty much have 3 good nights of uninterrupted sleep, followed by 2 nights of waking at 5am or so. And repeat. Goal: to get that to stop, be consistently sleeping through the night, and move her to her room.

-This month, I finally started an official Wake Time = 7am. I have seen that Claire sleeps through the night better (without a cold of course) and is less fussy during the day. She eats basically every 3 hours and is flexible when needed for outings, so that means she eats at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 10pm most days, give or take a few minutes. That schedule worked well with Cole at his age and with our life routine around our house. I kept trying to figure out a way to have them napping exactly at the same time but to make that happen the rest of the day would be awkward and her eating would fall at dinner time, etc. I am now okay with having two schedules and I still worked in an hour break or so for myself.

-Her wake time runs about 1.5 hours. So her nap times are roughly 8:30am, 11:30am, 2:30pm, 5:30pm and sometimes 8:30pm. The 8:30pm is hit or miss. Sometimes we keep her up if she is not fussy and wanting to sleep so Brent gets time with her but other days she needs her rest. Eventually we will drop the 10:30pm feeding and her bedtime will move to 7:30pm. But that will be another month and another goal to accomplish.

-The last two nights, Claire has been sleeping so well in her 5:30/6pm nap that we pushed her feeding time back to about 8:30 or 9pm and put her to bed for the night. I don't know if I like this yet. She hadn't quite mastered the previous bedtime (10:30pm to 7am) yet, but time just got away from us the last two nights so we tried it. She didn't wake up to eat ever, but she did cry out more often. Hmmm...what to do??

-Her naps are different then Cole's were. He wasn't or I don't remember him being effected by the 45 minute intruder. She is and it is like clock work. I don't get her up unless she is crying uncontrollably. She normally just requires a burp, re-swaddle, or pacifier. And sometimes a good rock. That is a last resort. And then she will sleep the remaining 45 minutes for a total of 1.5 hour nap.

-Requires sensitive or soy formula.

-Still fights bottle some. She will take it one day without fight and not the next. Right now, we are doing a trial to see if there is a particular bottle she prefers over another. Trying Nuk bottles right now.

-Still likes to be swaddled.

-Takes a pacifier better now.

Milestones:
-Responds to us cooing at her with smiles and cooing back.

-Recognizes us more and lights up more when we talk to her.

-Like to be held facing outwards to be able to look around. Such a big girl already.

-Tries tummy time in small intervals. 2 minutes max right now.

-Turns almost in circles on play mat. Not full ones but is definitely in a different spot then where I would leave her.

-Drooling began around 11 weeks.

-January 31st: Sat in Bumbo seat for the first time.

-Cole still calls her Claire Bear. Also says "Hey sweetie" or "Whatcha doing cutie?" to her.

Features:
-Still has very blue eyes.

-Hair is still dark. About the same amount she was born with as far as I can tell. Just a small bare spot on the back of her head.

-Wearing size 1-2 diapers. Could see us moving to a size 2 when we finish this box. I don't remember Cole moving through diaper sizes this quickly.

-Wearing 3 month clothing.

Goals for Next Month:
-To move Claire to her crib.

-To have more floor time with Claire giving her more opportunities to discover her feet and to think about rolling over.

A Boy and His Boots

"My Snowboard Boots"


The Rain Boots


I found Cole like this yesterday morning when I went to get him from his room. All his shoes are lined up in the bottom of his closet and as you see, he LOVES his boots and all shoes really. He wanted to show Daddy, but he was at work so we took a picture and emailed it to him.

Our Little Redneck

Yes, we let him go out of the house like this. It would not be my first choice of outfits but that's what Cole wanted to wear and let's be honest, it wasn't hurting or offending anyone, so out to eat we went. Haha. Makes me laugh. Outfit complete with camo hat, Texans jersey, Levi's and cowboy boots. Too funny.

Pajama Cowboy



Cowboy Boots



Boots...Just Because

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Family Date Night

Our family is growing and our lives are busier then ever. Brent and I have also been married 5 years now and have been trying to figure out how to have family traditions of our own. What does that look like exactly? We are still trying to figure that one out, but I heard about Family Date Night from Larra and was very intrigued and wanted to try it. So we are trying to make it the first many Palermo Family traditions.

We picked Thursday nights because our weeks looks like this: Mondays=church monthly meetings, Tuesdays=small group, Wednesdays=beginning in the fall, children's choir, Thursday=nothing, Friday through Sunday=always busy traveling, church activities, etc. So as you see, Thursday was the only choice for our family. My hope is that if we carve out intentional time to hang out as a family that this will continue for many years to come, maybe even through high school. I know, that might be ambitious, but a mom has to dream, right?

Two weeks ago, we had our first Family Date Night. We stayed in, had a yummy taco dinner together, let the dishes sit until morning (not a normal occurrence), delicious brownie/cookie dessert (also a special treat), and we watched Toy Story 3 as a family. It was so relaxing and wonderful to spend intentional time as a family. No household chores, regular bedtime was pushed back a bit, cuddling on the couch, laughter. Beautiful moments were created.

We missed week two do to some traveling and Brent going out of town, but the kids and I had some extended family time with Mimi/Dena (Brent's mom), Larra, Brody and Carson.

Tonight is our second go around. With snow/sleet in the weather prediction, we might be staying in again. Maybe game night or crafts? The plan has not been made quite yet, but all I know is that we will be spending the evening together even if it is just piling in the bed reading books together or building towers with Legos. We will be together. Creating memories.

I love this new tradition! And hoping and praying in sticks around for MANY years to come!