3 Months

The three month mark...we made it! (June 23rd) I thought this was supposed to be about the time that your baby starts sleeping through the night. I'm pleased as punch if I only get up twice. She's even had a night where I got up once! (Night following first day at daycare, imagine that *smile.) Then I think the following night she was up five times, but we'll ignore that. 

For the most part, Gwen is a lovely baby. The moms at mommy and me class last week were so encouraging to me in regards to her sleeping and schedule in general. Returning to work has been easier than I was anticipating, but a lot of feelings and emotions have caught up with me in the process...mostly feeling like we aren't doing things right when I never felt like that before (not that I have felt like we had it all figured out, but I wasn't overly concerned about anything and was just enjoying everything about her, including holding her for hours at a time during the day. I absolutely relished in the sweetness of my maternity leave - some days we'd wake up at 7:15 and other days it wasn't until 9:00. Some nights she'd go to bed at 7:00 and other nights it was 9:30. And I was fine with that! Until I started reading articles that talked about how if you don't deal with sleep issues now, you'll have a much harder time changing them down the road.

So here we are. I'm trying not to nurse her to sleep - usually unsuccessfully; however we've had a couple times that she's soothed herself. (After an hour of Tom going up and down the stairs to comfort her.) And we're putting her to bed earlier since she's decided to only sleep 1.5 to 2 hours at daycare (which explains why she comes home exhausted.) This is also my fault since I spent a lot of our days together holding her during her naps. Who would want to sleep all alone if you're used to cuddling all day?! Not me! The class educator, Sue, promised me it's not too late to establish some new habits and that now is actually a great time to do so. Phew. I haven't ruined her for life. The other side of the spectrum is that now is also the time you're developing trust with your child and I so badly want her to know she's loved beyond measure and we'll meet her needs no matter what. So we need to find a balance between those things...and the faster we do so, the better.

Kathy (daycare provider) is wonderful. She told me last week that the other kids would "eat Gwen up and swallow her whole" if she didn't keep an eye on her. I think Gwen has some new friends *smile. One little boy kept saying, "Cute! Cute!" when talking about "the baby" and another little three year old asked where Gwen was on Friday when she was home with me. Ador-able. And last Thursday Kathy said that Gwen was so warm and cuddly after she fell asleep in her arms that she had absolutely no choice but to hold her for thirty minutes. It's hard to be away from her during the day - I think about her constantly - but it sure helps to know she's getting so much attention and love. It's comforting to know she's in good hands.

We're going through a time of adjustment, but I know it'll just take a few weeks to get in the swing of things. I really want to get my house in order (there is something to organize or deal with in every single room I think, which drives me crazy) and get back into a regular gym/exercise routine (which probably should mean no more Joe Joe cookies. Lame.) I'd also be elated if we can get through this sleep training successfully. One. Day. At. A. Time.

Here are some recent pictures!

Go Cyclones!!

Tom meeting our newest nephew, Nathan, for the first time.

Amanda came to visit from Des Moines.

And Laura from Wisconsin!

Just hanging in her robe like mommy and daddy do every night.

Working on tummy time.

She finally fell asleep with our cheeks pressed together as I sang to her and swayed. She is so darn squishy!

First time in the Bumbo chair!