Monday, April 23, 2007

5 months & a day

Yesterday marked another monthly milestone for our baby girl!

Not too much new has happened in the last month besides the beginnings of teething. Keziah's still not rolling over. She makes it from her back to her side and then seems kind of stuck there. When I put her on her tummy she just puts her arms down by her side and her legs in the air behind her as she kind of 'body-surfs' on the ground - usually while she's crying for me to turn her back over! At around 5 months, Micah was sitting up for short periods of time but Keziah is still pretty floppy so she doesn't seem in a hurry :) I'm hoping this is a good indicator of her personality - maybe a more laid-back baby this time??

Keziah is still mostly on a liquid diet. I've only tried rice cereal a few times since we introduced it a month ago and she never really got into it and it didn't seem like she needed it to fulfill any hunger. I think I'll try again in the next week or two. It took me a few weeks, but she is now taking her bottle like a pro. And after gradually mixing in formula with breastmilk, I can now give her a formula-only bottle. That is SUCH a relief for me and I've been able to leave her behind a few times now and not have to worry about pumping enough to get a full bottle.

And there's been some progress in the sleep department. After talking with several different moms lately I finally got up the gumption to just let Keziah cry. If I'm convinced that she's getting enough to eat and waking only out of habit, I feel comfortable with this approach. I've started doing a "dreamfeed" (waking her to nurse) at around 10:30 pm. She takes a really good feed when she's sleepy like this. That gives me the reassurance that her tummy is nice and full and she should be fine until morning. The first night I did this she woke up about 4 hours later. I almost gave in and fed her because I was exhausted and I knew it would be quick and easy, but I shook off my sleepy feeling and decided to let her cry. I went in every few minutes to shush her and give her the soother and after about 20 minutes she was sleeping again. It felt like a long time while I was in it, but when she fell asleep I thought, that was it? She woke maybe once more but only briefly and otherwise slept straight until 7:30 am. Any fears that she would wake up starving (or just plain mad at me!) were dispelled when I heard her cooing and talking happily in her crib. I went in there and she was all smiles. So then I knew that she was definitely fine without those extra feedings in the night. The next few nights have been similar but with shorter crying times. Last night she woke up a few times but with only minor fussing and then straight back to sleep. Hopefully all of those extra wake-ups will be eliminated eventually as well!

I FINALLY took the kids to Mill Lake this morning. Micah has been begging to go to the park and I definitely needed the exercise. Here is my single stroller that I have converted into a double :) It works quite well and neither of them seem to mind. I think I will try putting Keziah in the front once she's sitting up on her own...


We came across this family of geese during our walk around the lake...


Peekaboo Mommy!

You can kind of see Micah's troublesome pointer finger in that last picture. Yesterday after a long bath we noticed the sore had opened up on it's own. Today it still looks sore, but not nearly as red and inflamed. It looks like we'll be spared that awful second visit to the doctor - thank the Lord! Last night when I prayed with Micah before bed I asked him what we should talk to Jesus about. He said, "my finger!" And we did :)

14 comments:

Bonnie said...

Thank goodness for Micah's healing finger! What a relief hey!?
Love the "double stroller!" :) Great pictures...especially the one of the geese...you sure have a way with photography!

KDees said...

Happy 5 months Keziah!! Wow! Time sure flies! Great pictures as always, Jamie!

Cynthia said...

very sweet photos...love the Double stroller!!

kelly ens said...

way to go with the sleeping thing. I remember the dream feed being a real help in getting taeya back on schedule after she got all messed up for a month. keep it up keziah!
love the double stroller - ingenious! We'll definitely have to go together sometime soon. Anytime you want, just let me know, because i go almost every day!
See you wednesday night?

Sarah said...

I, too, had to let Elijah "cry it out" the other night. Due to teething he started waking up in the night about a week ago. Then, like clockwork, he was waking at 2am. I knew his teeth could not be hurting him at exactly the same time every night!! So, I sat by his door and let him cry on Friday night. After about 20 minutes, I went in and nursed him for about 90 seconds and put him back to bed. He wasn't happy about this, but eventually (maybe another 15 minutes) he fell asleep. We heard him last night at around 4am, but instead of crying he just whammed his feet on his crib mattress, talked a bit and then went back to bed... here's hoping that he/we have broken the dreaded "habit" - DUN, Dun, dun!!!

patti said...

i'm glad the sleep thing is showing promise.

and the stroller...totally going to try that when we walk later this summer.

Anonymous said...

Happy 5 months Keziah! I'm glad to hear that things are going well at the Toews' place. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, Jamie! I was going to thank you for the inspiration to start James on a 4 hour eating schedule. I don't know if that is what is helping out at night, but it definately seems to be working better.

Drea said...

What great pics jaime! I love the duckies. And the one of Micah in the play ground hole.
Does that work well putting Keziah in the back behind him?
I would love to use our single stroller for walks.. because it pushes better than the double one. The double stroller is a real workout!

But I would be scard Caleb would smash Taite lol

Laura said...

Hey Jamie,
Glad to hear the sleep is getting better! I love the double stroller - makes me think I can get all three of mine into my double!

Anonymous said...

I love the pictures. The baby geese are so cute. That is so great that Keziah is sleeping better for you.

P.S. Happy 5th month Keziah!! She is such a little sweetie.

Kim Funk said...

WOW i love the very first pic. so pretty!!

what a slick idea for the stroller!!

Amber said...

So sweet! Micah seems like an excellent big brother - not all 2 year olds would stand for having a little person sit behind them ;) Good work!!!! I can't wait to try out your technique when we start going for walks with an extra little person!

Trev and Rebekah said...

So you are giving your little girl formula but you are still breast feeding or no?