Second Night

Much better! Hardly any tears at all, though she still woke up a number of times. Now though, there would be a little whine or two, then she'd flop herself down and go back to sleep. There was about 1.5 hours in the middle of the night where she would wake herself every 5-10 minutes though, so we have to work on that, but she is doing wonderfully!

And now, I've probably cursed it and tonight will be hell.

The first night of the rest of your life

Petra stayed in her crib all night last night, for the first time.

I'm not saying she slept all night, but we put her down there, and that's where she stayed until morning. It wasn't as bad as I've sometimes read it can be, but it was still not fun having her cry.

She's always slept in bed with us, though for the last few months she's gone to sleep in her crib, but come to bed with us when she wakes up howling at 11 or 12 or 1. Basically, it's because we are lazy, and the sound of her crying hurt us so much.

But she's growing up, and it's better to get her sleeping on her own now than later. We surveyed the whacko theories and draconian methodologies out there for sleep training, and ended up with "The Sleep Lady." Basically, though, they all come down to the baby crying and you not taking her to bed with you. TSL has you next to her crib for a couple of nights, then a little further away, then at the door of the room, then in the hall, etc. etc. until she's going to sleep on her own without you helping. We needed to follow a system to help steel our resolve to follow the system, rather than cave and bring her to bed. We both put in ear plugs and went to it.

Going to sleep however, isn't really the issue with us. Petra goes to sleep pretty easily. I take her back to her room, it's dark and the classical station is on the radio, and in 2-10 minutes she's out. Not a problem. The problem is when she wakes up howling and won't lie back down, and won't stop until she gets in bed with us. All the "systems" seem to act like getting to sleep is the problem, and not staying asleep.

So, you ask, how did it go? Not too bad. She went down at 7:30, her normal time, but woke crying at about 9 (earlier than usual) and didn't want to go back down. I sat with her, shushed her, patted her etc., but she howled for a half hour before falling asleep standing up with my arm around her. What a heartbreaker!

She stayed asleep until about 1am, then had another 20 minute cry before flopping down on her but and collapsing forward asleep. Again, not the way I'd want her to go to sleep. This is building self-soothing skills?

2:30 she did 15 minutes of crying before the sit and collapse again.

3:30 only 5 minutes; 3:50 (!) another 5 minutes; 4:30 about 10 minutes, and 5:40 about 10 minutes. She definitely didn't like being covered up, despite the chill in the air. She'd be out, and the second I'd cover her she would start yelling and stand up again.

So, total of only 1 hour and 15 minutes of crying for the first night. I've read about kids doing that EVERY TIME they wake up.

My biggest fear was that she'd be cranky and mad at me for forcing her to sleep in the crib, but after she woke up at 6:15 or so (just enough time for me to take a shower) she was her usual happy morning baby self. Hooray! She was a darling as we walked up to the polls together to vote (and play with a doggie outside). Though she fell asleep on her feet in daycare a little later, and slept an hour on the couch in the middle of the daycare scrum. Poor tired muffin!

And let's not forget poor tired daddy too! He got less sleep than Petra (and WAY less than mommy- those earplugs really work!). Thank goodness for espresso.

A Cold Day In...

Seattle, actually. We all went up for 5 days while daddy was at a conference. Just to welcome us SoCal folks- record low temperatures! Funny thing was, all the Seattlites were saying how great the weather was! Just because the sun was peeking out occasionally, and it wasn't pouring rain (except when we were walking to/from the Children's museum). Mommy arranged for us to meet some of her invisible friends at the Children's museum at Seattle Center. We planned for this by staying at the Mayflower Park hotel, right at the monorail station, so we wouldn't have to go out if the rain was falling. Of course, the monorail wasn't running, and the bus was coming something less than frequently. We ended up walking most of the way there and all the way back, and on the one rainy day of the trip. Brrrrr! The only good of the cold came from Petra deciding that wearing a hat is actually OK! Before this, she wouldn't let you put one on her head for more than a second.


Petra had a great time at the museum though. Within minutes she had conked her head on some concrete and had a nice bruise on her forehead (thank goodness, we wouldn't want the invisible friends to think we were good parents!). She got it by fearlessly climbing some steps and going headfirst down a slide a couple of times (with no trauma), but got brave and tried to WALK down the slide. Hilarity ensues. She recovered quickly though, and took off through the museum. She loved playing at the water table, and she insisted that I lift her up in the air to pat Clifford the Big Red Dog ™ on the nose. The Children's museum, of course, is not really a museum. It is a pay per use playground, the kind of place that used to be called public parks (or rec centers), but with more funding. That's all the ranting I'll do though, because Petra loved it.

Petra also visited the Rem Koolhaas library a couple of times, and had fun there (especially with a big stuffed leopard she found). Very cute.

Speaking of cute... When mommy comes home on the bus, she sends a text message so we know when she be arriving. Daddy's phone has a special "brrriing" sound when these messages arrive, and Petra recognizes them. As soon as she hears that sound she says "Mama!" and starts getting excited. Such a clever monkey!

Not the usual perfection

Petra's been cranky at night ever since her party. I think her molars might be coming in (I can see large bumps where they will erupt), and then throw in her first diaper rash, and we might have a reason. Regardless, it's been a bit frustrating. Every time she wakes up during the night she wakes up crying and flailing, and it's hard to calm her down even with the boob. Hopefully it's just temporary and will be gone soon (everything is just a phase with babies, isn't it?).

Of course, during the day she is happy, chatty and playful! She loves the Ikea Poang chair that we got her, and will sit/stand and bounce on it for long periods at a time, and bring her toys (like the little frying pan in the picture) and books with her when she climbs into the chair.
She also fetches her little red See Kai Run shoes and tries to put them on herself. She also helps (or actively hinders) when we are getting her dressed- she puts her arms through the sleeves, lifts her foot etc.
She's become a big fruit eater, and goes into the fridge every time we open it to grab a plum or a pear and start gnawing away at it. We find peeled fruit all around the house! She's insisting on walking just about everywhere- to and from daycare, 3 blocks to the drugstore, up the street to the bus stop. It makes the walk a bit slower, but much more fun.
Petra is starting to open books and turn the pages on her own. We've seen her go from barely paying attention, to closely watching the pages, to turning them when we finish reading the page, and now she's taking over on her own. Such a good little librarian!
She's also an action-baby, with her rocking slug (also from Ikea), on her poor man's segway, or riding the spring toy in the park. She's just so much fun! Except at 3 in the morning.

Cake and Ice Cream

Petra had her first birthday party yesterday. Lots of friends came over to help her celebrate- some old, some new. Cake and ice cream, pizza and balloons ensured that everyone stayed happy. There were plenty of toys to keep everyone busy, and a 5 foot Strawberry Shortcake piñata to keep them all in line. Cake was provided by Petra's admirers at La Maison du Pain. Petra was an absolute darling for the entire party.

And that was a bit of a surprise. In a case of epic bad timing, we had her 1 year check-up the day before. 23lbs 15oz, 30.5 inches tall. Doing well, except the tail end of an ear infection (which we only saw as a cold- she's a real trooper). The bad news- 4 shots and a blood draw! That left us with one cranky baby (and one that was a bit feverish as well. Pesky pneumococcal conjugate!). All night long she would wake crying, and all Saturday morning was much the same. We forced her to take 4 naps before the party though, and with the rest and some Tylenol drops she was MUCH better by the time the guests arrived. Blowing up a mess of helium balloons (her favorite) certainly helped improve her mood as well.

Thanks to everyone who made this such a special day for our girl!

Happy Birthday to You!

I'm not sure I believe it, but today is Petra's first birthday! 365 days of the little muffin! My how time flies. It seems like just yesterday that she was just sitting up, and crawling, and standing, and walking, and, and, and...

Things that prove she's a genius (at least to us!):
Say "Go get your monkey" (or other toy) and she looks around, spots it, and brings it to you.
Say "Dance dance dance" and she dances up and down and turns in a circle.
Say "brusha brusha" and she'll brush her teeth with a toothbrush.
Say "bye bye" and she'll wave (or make kissing noises if you kiss her, and blow a kiss if you're lucky).
Say "bounce bounce" and she'll bounce up and down giggling.

She drinks from a sippy cup, climbs stairs and furniture, and she runs down the street as fast as Daddy can chase her.

There's just too much! So, to sum up, let's just check off a few milestones from the American Academy of Pediatrics:

Turns over box of blocks to dump them out
Recognizes names of familiar objects
Walks alone
Stands on tiptoe
Carries toys while walking

But wait, all those are in the "second year" section of the book! Hmm, maybe she's really 2 years old? Did I miss something? I better go back and check the blog.

Can I have the keys?

Petra is one step away from borrowing the car! We have a little wagon that she has hardly noticed for a month or so, and all the sudden she realized 1. She can push it all over the house (ramming walls and "Steering" by manhandling (babyhandling?) it all over) and 2. she can be driven all around the house at high rates of speed. Both appeal to her immensly, and she is having a ball doing both.

Petra is playing with all her toys in new ways now it seems- She turns the pages of her books for us (and brings us a nonstop stream of books to read to her- such a little nerd!); she has discovered puppets (and giggles when they kiss her); She stacked a couple of blocks (instead of going all Godzilla on them like usual);

Halloween is coming! We'll be travelling on the 31st, so elaborate heavily furred costumes are out. Mommy found a cute T-shirt/pants combo with a glitter skull & crossbones- with a pink bow. That would be adorable enough, but then Daddy found some kitty ears with a pink bow to coordinate with it. Petra hated wearing the ears- until she got a look at herself, then it was all smiles and posing! The little ham!