I'm trying to teach Luci to fall asleep on her own again. She has been wanting me to rock her during her naps (always) and for bedtime (the last couple weeks). So I'm trying to get back to the point where she puts herself to sleep instead, for both. The bedtime routine has worked the last two nights. I hold her for a few minutes and make sure she is calm, then I put her down in her crib and rub her tummy till she quiets down again, then I let her hold my hands and chew them until she calms down enough and lets go and then sucks on her own hands till she falls asleep. I usually walk out of her room quietly soon after she lets go of my fingers.
For her naps, I hold her till she falls asleep, then sometimes I swaddle her and put her in her crib. She might fuss for a couple seconds, then she quiets down. This worked yesterday and she ended up napping for THREE hours in the afternoon. Today as soon as she fell asleep in my arms, I put her in her crib with her blanket, and let her put herself to sleep. She is somewhat sleeping right now, she keeps waking up a little bit though. Maybe I should swaddle her so she will sleep better.
Cooking
I got so much done during her nap. I made baby food carrots with the new steamer set and food processor. Also prepared most of the things for dinner: breaded pork chops and risotto. That took a lot of work shredding two types of cheeses and making breadcrumbs. I had to wash the food processor about 5 times in one afternoon. Then I realized we were out of eggs.
Grocery Shopping
I planned to go to the Commissary as soon as she woke up and ate. You have to realize I NEVER go to the store with Luci alone, so this was a big step for me. I always wait for Jason to come home and go for me or take us together or go another day when Jason can go too. She can sit up now, so I wanted to try out the shopping cart cover. Plus, I was determined to make dinner. Oh and Jason worked past 7:00 PM last night so there wasn't any point in waiting for him to get out of work.
This is the Floppy Seat shopping cart / highchair cover my Mom bought for Luci. It works pretty well, not as easy to flip out and fold up into the sewn in bag as they make it sound since it's so fluffy, but it is good because it's padded and makes it easier for her to sit it while she is still a little wobbly while we're moving. She really enjoyed shopping with me. She looked at everything. I held her hand a little bit when we were moving or just looking at the shelves since she would lean over and not be able to bring herself back up. She did well until the point I got to the self check out (I didn't have that much to buy so I didn't want to go through the regular checkout). I went to the front of the cart to unload and she cried after a minute because she didn't see me anymore. All she saw was a stranger, a Soldier behind us at the next checkout stand. I wonder if this is the beginning of stranger anxiety. I'm actually glad she cried when I was gone, she knows who I am and knows I'm not supposed to leave her side when she is in a new environment. So I had to finish checking out and paying the machine while holding her and then one of the worker ladies helped me load the bags into my cart. I put her back in the cart to go to the car. She was fine.
We got home and I tried starting the risotto, she was hungry so I gave her a bottle and got the risotto on the stove. Constant stirring and adding soup stock. I also made the pork chops all ready to cook and put them in the fridge till Jason got home. About an hour later she fell asleep on my shoulder watching me, then Jason got home and she woke up. I guess she just needed a catnap. I finished cooking after Jason took over Luci.
Dinner was pretty awesome. I don't cook all that often anymore, not like this.
Anyway, gotta go Luci isn't napping anymore.
cool! i've started wondering about life with baby... like you say, at what point will i feel comfortable going out on my own with the baby? good to know about those shopping cart covers too. i always thought they were silly cuz we didn't have them when we were little, but what you say about them makes sense.
ReplyDeletedo you know about the sleep schedule book? one of my friends swears by it. she's from xanga; do you remember quasy?
It's tiring shopping when you have to either take the car seat or hold them in a sling. In my mind, it makes it so much easier to shop when I can put her in the cart. You just have to get the hang of it. The covers are good when they are little, when she is over a year or two I don't think she will need the padding, but I may use it anyway depending on her personality and whether she needs the toys to play with while we're shopping.
ReplyDeleteNever heard about the sleep book. Sorry, I don't remember her.