Sleeping, Eating and all the other stuff

Ali slept through the night for the first time last night - sort of - but she did sleep for 8 hours straight! And Ali has started to spread out her daytime feedings to 3 hours (until the past couple days she still wanted to eat every 2 hours unless we were out and about and she was sleeping).

In the past month or so Ali has gotten much more predictable with her nighttime sleeping habits. She goes down for the night between 7:30 and 8:30 pm most nights and would do one 5 hour stretch and one 3 hour stretch between feedings. Sometimes she wouldn't even eat much when she woke up between 1 am and 2 am. Then Ali had her 3 month old growth spurt and was back to waking up multiple times a night (every 2 to 3 hours some nights). The past few nights she was basically back to her 5 and 3 hour stretches.

Then last night I woke up around 3:30 am and realized Ali hadn't woken up at all yet. I put her down around 7:45 pm and hadn't fed her since then - I did the math and realized she was only a few minutes short of 8 hours! Of course I worried that this was because something was wrong and I lay awake trying to hear her breath and waiting for her to make some noise trying to decide if I should just get up and check on her but worrying that if I did it would wake her up. She did make noise and I got up and checked on her without waking her. She did end up waking up around 3:45 am and ate really well. She woke up about two hours later and wanted to eat again.

This is very exciting - I am still not expecting this every night just yet but it is great to know there is light at the end of the tunnel!

In other Ali news . . .

She has now outgrown her 0-3 month cloths and is in her 3-6 month cloths! Luckily she has gotten some really cute stuff from people so we don't have to pick up much for her to be all set in that size. I am a little sad to see some of her 0-3 cloths packed away but glad she is growing so well :)

Ali and I had a busy week - she had her 3 month birthday Wednesday and got two more vaccines. She did very well again - I think most of her screaming was due to being woken up and put down on the table rather than the shots. Ali and I also went for a beautiful hike at Red Rocks with the Mountain Mamas group. This was hot but fun!

I am almost done with version 2 of my diaper wallet. The main difference is that this one has a removable wipes envelope. I am also putting together another Ali photo book for her first 3 months. I am trying a new program to make this one - it took a little work to figure it out but I really like it now.

12 Weeks Old

Our baby girl is already 12 weeks old! I cannot believe how much she has changed and grown in the past 12 weeks. Here is a little about Ali at 12 weeks.

She weighs about 13 pounds.

She smiles, makes noises (go, ga), and she watches everything!

We like to say she has a love affair with her changing table - she is so happy there! Ali will lay on her table and stare and smile - it is so cute! This is wonderful since it makes diaper changes a reasonably easy and pleasant experience. She also is obsessed with the ceiling fan in her room - her #1 fan we say. She will lay on the quilt grandma made her and happily stare at her fan. Most of our good pictures of her are taken on either her changing table or while she is staring at her fan.

She holds her head up well now and one of her favorite things is to be held in a sitting position facing me or Jesse. She will smile and talk and have a great time. She also enjoys standing on my lap. Especially when I am holding her to burp her she will straighten her legs and support her weight while leaning against me.

She loves being sung too and enjoys doing wheels on the bus. She has definitely started to develop a personality which is so fun!

We have also developed lots of nicknames for her -

princess

princess pea-a

Alicakes

Alisnacks

Chubster (Aunt Molly's nickname)

Alers

Wahmbulance

Whinacerous

Fussapatamous

Fussapata-princess

Grab and Go Diaper Wallet

To my friend with kids - especially those who cloth diaper. Check out my creation and let me know what you think. It is a diaper wallet with a magnetic closure (meant to carry a couple diapers and a package of wipes) but the new part is I have incorporated a wet bag into the design.

Closed

It measures about 7"x9"x3" with a partially full wipe pack and a pretty bulky cloth diaper inside.

Open

The diapers are stored behind the wipes pack which is easily accessible.

Wet Bag

The top unzips for a medium sized wet bag to store dirty diapers (or dirty cloths in the event of a diaper blowout).

I expect it will fit 1 - 5 diapers depending on the size and style.

Please let me know what you think and leave any comments and can incorporate into the second version. A couple things I had considered were:

- incorporating a changing pad as well but I thought it would be nicer to have that separate

- putting pockets on both sides (so when it is open wipes would be at the bottom and a pocket for diapers at the top)

Also, if anyone who sews has experience at putting zippers into a two layer bag such as this I would love pointers as I did not feel like my method worked well.

Growth Graphs

I graphed Ali's growth (weight and length) compared to Jesse's and mine. Pretty interesting to see - looks like Ali is passing up my infant weight and has always gained a little quicker (she had 1 pound of ground to make up since her birth weight was lower). However, I don't anticipate her catching up with Jesse *sigh of relief* :)

Aunt Molly in Town and Mother's Day

Molly was in town to see Ali Friday through Sunday. We really enjoyed having her for a few days. Ali loved getting extra cuddle time and I enjoyed having a little more time to get things done without needing to worry about what Ali needed. Jesse and I even got to go on our first date just the two of us since Ali was born while Molly watched Ali.

I had a wonderful first Mother's Day Sunday. Jesse took care of Ali Sunday morning so I got to sleep in until about 7:30 am (Ali gets up between 5 and 6 am so the extra time was luxurious). Jesse and Ali woke me up with my Mother's Day present. A couple of pandora charms for my bracelet - a baby bootie and an "A". Ali actually behaved very well while I showered and Molly took care of her while I dried my hair.

My parents came down Sunday as well so I had my whole family at church for Mother's Day which couldn't have been more perfect! We got some pictures taken before the service and after church we went out for Mother's Day brunch - delicious! Jesse and I took Ali for a walk in the afternoon and I completed my day with free Coldstone.

It was a wonderful day thanks to my awesome husband and family! Now I am looking forward to making sure Jesse has a wonderful Father's Day in June.

A Day in the Life

I decided it might be fun to write what our days look like right now.

2 am Ali wakes me up for a feeding

2:10 she has been fed and burped and is back in her bassinet

~ 2:30 she stops fussing and goes back to sleep and so can I

5 am time for another feeding

5:15 Jesse's alarm goes off

5:20 Ali back in bassinet

5:30 Jesse gets up for work

5:45 I get up and have breakfast with Jesse

6 am Jesse leaves for work - I nap since it is a good morning and Ali has gone back to sleep

6:30 Ali is up again

6:35 change Ali's diaper and put her on quilt in her room for baby exercise time. I go transfer whites to dryer and put diapers in the wash

7 am Ali gets dressed then we try for tummy time but Ali is not in the mood and starts crying

7:10 I put Ali in the bouncy seat and I start this blog

7:20 Ali starts crying inconsolably - must be time to eat again

7:45 Ali has eaten and been burped so I put her in bouncy seat so I can update blog and look through coupons to plan menu for the week and make grocery list

8:50 Ali is awake but happy so more baby exercise time while I work on sorting through insurance bills

9 am Ali starts getting mad - probably a wet diaper. I open the diaper drawer and am reminded I need to switch the laundry. I quickly fold whites and try to match socks before Ali gets too mad - I am unsuccessful. I put diapers in dryer and go change Ali.

9:10 Ali instantly stops crying when I pick her up. Change a very dirty diaper.

I am again impressed with gdiapers ability to contain the mess. I pat myself on the back for a good choice of diapers and silently thank Kyla for the recommendation :)

9:15 Lay Ali down to wash hands - she resumes screaming. Must be time for another feeding.

9:20 Ali stops screaming long enough for me to hang diaper liners to dry on the cloths line that Jesse put up for me this weekend (thanks awesome hubby!). I am wishing it were sunny to bleach the stains but I guess another day . . .

9:45 Ali is fed and burped and is now being fussy. I think it is nap time. I need to get to the store so she will need to nap on the go this morning. I let her fuss in her bassinet while I get dressed. I would like to shower but I think I lost my showering window to grocery list making . . . oh well.

10:00 Finally - I am dressed, Ali is loaded up, and Berkley is kenneled. Sams club and the post office here we come!

11:30 Back from Sams and the post office. Used the Moby at Sams - Ali was super happy and comfy the whole time. She was also very popular with all the other little girls that happened to be at Sams this morning. Had several people comment on her in the Moby - so glad to have it!

11:35 Ali is still sleeping in her car seat. Gave me time to unload the food and update the rundown - yay!

11:50 Birth announcements are finally in the mail! (They have been addressed just waiting for stamps for a couple weeks).

Noon Ali is still sleeping - I consider waking her up to feed her so I can get to the grocery but decided to mix up some brownies instead.

12:30 Found Brownie recipe and started mixing things up but just realized brownies are not pressing but getting the diapers out of the dryer and put away is . . . so the brownies are stopped and diapers are put away. I leave the liners outside still hoping the sun might peek through the clouds.

12:35 Diapers are put away - Ali is starting to stir - I decide to wake her up so I can feed her and go to the grocery. I can make brownies after going to the store . . . the bowls go into the oven so Hallie doesn't get into them when I am gone.

1:15 Ali changed, fed, and packed up and ready to go to the grocery.

2:30 Back from the store. Ali is awake and angry this time.

2:37 Ali has been changed and is now happily staring at her ceiling fan. Man that child hates being in a dirty diaper! I take the time of her being happy to put away groceries, and bring in and sort the mail.

3:10 Ali has eaten and I swaddled her and laid her down - hoping she will nap - I would like to get a workout in today.

3:20 Ali is not sleeping and has started crying . . .

3:36 Bounced on the ball with her to calm her and put her to sleep - now back to the brownies.

4:10 Ali does not want to nap this afternoon even though she is clearly exhausted. She is now again, changed, fed, and bounced and laid down again. Hopefully she naps this time.

4:50 Ali is finally napping and brownies are in the oven but I need to start dinner now - no workout today :(

5 pm Jesse is home! We are making chili together.

7 pm Ali woke up just before we got our dinner finished so I fed her and she sat in her bouncy seat while we ate. She is spending some quality time with daddy while I clean up from dinner.

7:10 Brownies finally finished! Cooling in the fridge.

7:30 Put Ali in pajamas, now it is stare at the ceiling fan time, again (that girl sure likes that ceiling fan).

8:50 We just got finished watching NCIS together. Then we put Ali on her quilt and watched her kick around while we ate dessert. Jesse pointed out that she moves exactly like Shrenk dances (yes Brandon did get a shoutout in the blog).

9:00 We have brushed our teeth and Ali is being fed and we are all heading to bed.

So there it is . . . a day in the life of Ali.