sleep crawling

A little over a month and a half ago I put up a post about MJ's habit of trying to roll over in her sleep. At the time I thought it was odd. Now, not so much.

We had a rough night last night. I knew it would be since she had been working so hard on trying to crawl all day and right before bed I noticed that her gums were swollen. Looks like this is going to be a double whammy week. Joy of joys.

About once every hour MJ would wake herself (and therefore me) up because she had managed to face plant into her mattress. Each time I went in there her butt was up in the air and she looked like she was digging to China. Maybe she was trying to get to her aunt and uncle in Hong Kong. What do I know?

What I do know is that this is only the beginning. She is now sleep crawling which, if she follows the pattern she did when she was sleep rolling, means that she will be a very mobile little girl inside of a week. I'd better get my ass in gear and start doing some serious baby proofing around here.

Poor cats have no idea what they are in for. Run, Simba, while you still have whiskers and the chance to get away!

6 month stats

We've just returned from our six month pediatric appointment. Miss MJ is certainly growing and her love of food is showing.

She is now 26 1/2 inches long and weighs 18 lbs and 12 oz. That puts her around the 70th percentile for height and the 80th for weight.

going commando

She is on the move! Yesterday, as if in celebration of her daddy's birthday, Miss MJ decided that she was not going to sit still anymore. You can't call her method of movement crawling since she doesn't get up on her hands and knees, but lying on her belly she pushes off with her arms and wiggles her legs and butt to get momentum. She actually did this commando crawl over the space of 2+ feet in under a minute.

The only catch: she only goes in reverse. Yes, Miss Morgan wiggles her way backwards while smiling up a storm. She's quite proud of herself, as are we. I expect soon she will realize one of two things. Either that she can look over her shoulder and see where she's going or that she can go forwards. :)


I promise that I will take a video of this maneuver but I can't promise how soon I will be able to put it up. The reason I haven't posted videos of her sitting up playing and eating her cereal is that I have run out of room on my hard drive because I take too many videos! Jim has promised me that he is going at long last to build the ever discussed but never realized "media box". As soon as he does that and I can transfer files off my machine on to that I will post another few videos.

5 months old today

So here is a list of 5 month milestones that I got from my friend Stacie at the Twinkies blog. I've marked off if Miss Morgan has achieved them. The ones for which I said "sort of" means that she is working on it and only does so intermittently.

At 5 months old:

90% of babies can…
hold head stead when upright --- yes
on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms --- yes
pay attention to an object as small as a raisin --- yes
squeal in delight --- yes
reach for an object --- yes
smile spontaneously --- yes
smile back when you smile --- yes
grasp a rattle held to fingers --- yes
keep head level with body when pulled to sitting --- yes

75% of babies can…
roll over (one way) --- yes (back to front)
bear some weight on legs --- yes
say “ah-goo” or similar vowel-consonant combinations --- yes
blow raspberries --- yes
turn in the direction of a voice --- yes

50% of babies can…
sit without support --- yes

25% of babies can…
pull up to a standing position from sitting --- no
stand holding on to someone or something --- sort of
object if you try to take a toy away --- sort of
work to get a toy out of reach --- yes
pass an object from one hand to the other --- yes
look for dropped object --- sort of
rake with fingers a tiny object and pick it up in fist --- no
babble, combining vowels and consonants such as
ga-ga-ga,ba-ba-ba,ma-ma-ma,da-da-da --- no

4 month sleep regression.

Well it would be a stretch to say that Morgan's sleep has been following a linear pattern since she was born but I've come across a phrase in the past few weeks that would imply that was the case. The infamous "4 month sleep regression". What I take this to mean is that MJ is totally normal in the fact that she won't sleep for more than an hour or so at a time and that she just simply won't nap during the day. So far the only thing that has worked for us is to pull her into bed with me and hold her tightly, one hand behind the head, one hand under the butt. Unfortunately she still wakes up screaming every 20 minutes or so.

The reading I've been doing suggests that this is because she is making some big cognitive leaps these past few weeks and, admittedly, that is a good thing. Lack of sleep for everyone in the house (even the cats have a hard time sleeping through Miss Morgan's sleep-screaming fits) is most decidedly *not* a good thing.

Here's to hoping that the "regression" comes to a head quickly and she is able to sleep for longer stretches again. this sleep deprivation is making my normally happy little girl into the bear we feared she might be.

she's a big girl!

Today was Morgan's 4 month well baby visit. Yes, I know she is 4 1/2 months old, but the pediatrician was not taking morning appointments the week she turned 4 months and there was NO WAY I was bringing a 4 month old in for an appointment at 6 pm.

My girl is 16 lbs 12 oz and 25 1/2 inches in length. That puts Miss Morgan in the 90th percentile in length (I'm assuming I can't call it "height" until she is standing) and the 90th percentile in weight. She's growing so quickly.

a big day

Today was a big day in two ways. Not only did she figure out how to roll over onto her belly but she was able to sit up on her own for a good few minutes. Long enough, at least, to let me back away and take a few photos. :) Here are my two favorites:

sleep rolling?

I've heard of sleep walking and even sleep talking but last night Morgan decided to sleep roll. We put her down for bed last night on her back like we always do and at 6:30 this morning when I was marveling to myself that she had slept straight through I went into her room to get her up for the day. She was lying on her tummy. She had managed to do at night what she never could in the day, roll form back to tummy. Guess we'll see where we go from here. :)

It's a miracle

I can't believe it! She fell asleep on her own! I'm still in shock and it happened over 4 hours ago.

It was almost 1 pm and I wasn't ready to get in the car to head out to my mother's house until at least 1:30 so I decided to put my little girl down in her crib under the mobile in hopes that it would entertain her but knowing in reality that I would have to prepare myself to endure the wailing that always ensues when I attempt this little trick. I turned on her mobile, rubbed her tummy and told her I'd be right back (I had to transfer laundry over before leaving at the very least). When I got back into the house (the laundry machines are out in the garage) I went into her room to check on her and lo and behold! She was asleep! She put herself to sleep!

I'm sure it will never happen again, but wow, was it every worth it even if just for today.

Notes from teething hell...

I've known that Morgan has begun teething for quite some time now. She has been a drooling champ and nothing makes her quite as happy as having a cloth rub her gums. Everything she encounters goes into her mouth these days. Little did I know that this was only the beginning.

This past week has been a new experience in teething hell and I'm assured it will only get worse. Since she has been so uncomfortable of late, Morgan has been exceedingly clingy. She will fuss and fuss unless I am holding her *all* the time. Most of the times no one else will do. She refuses to nap in the day time unless I'm holding her, which I assure you makes posting (and doing anything else, for that matter) rather complicated. Multitasking while holding a sleeping infant is not as easy as it sounds. Ah well, so much for housekeeping.

I thought at first that her inability to nap alone might have been related to the NSS plan, but my dear girl sleeps just fine unswaddled throughout the night. She has also developed a bit of a cough, which I am convinced has its origins in the excessive drool she inhales while lying down.

Poor thing has been rather needy the past week and it has worn me out, through and through.

However, on the lighter side of things, I got her a new bathtub last week so that she could have more fun playing while bathing. She loves the water and here is my favorite picture to prove it.
Here she is kicking and splashing in the water and generally having a good time. :)

She did it!

Ok, so although I said I was too much of a chicken shit to try to put Morgan down last night unswaddled, Jim and I discussed it and thought that consistency might be the best plan. Project NSN has morphed into the NSS (no swaddle sleep) plan. We sucked it up and prepared for a LOOOONG night.

My girl came through! Jim put her to bed unswaddled and she went down for 20 minutes. She woke up only once and after another 20 minutes or so she went down for the night. Three times during the night I woke up to the sound of her whimpering through the monitor but before I could get out of bed to do anything about it I heard her sucking on her hands and then... poof! Miraculously she was back asleep. She woke up a little before 7 and stayed in her crib cooing to herself for about a half an hour before I went in to change her diaper and give her her morning bottle.

My baby girl rocks. :)

Project NSN

So, from the day we brought her home from the birthing center Morgan has slept swaddled. Now that she is 4 months old, is beginning to rollover (yes, she is.. I'll put up a separate post about that when she successfully does it with no help), and has managed to escape form nearly every swaddle I have ever wrapped her in, I've decided it is time to break the habit.

Enter Project NSN (no swaddle nap). Today is day one and oh. my. god. is it ever hellish. We are now working on our third nap of the day (admittedly I chickened out for the first nap and just wrapped her up like normal) and it is killing the both of us. Each time I put her down for a nap she inevitably smacks herself in the nose with a free flailing arm and wakes up. And when she wakes up, she wakes up angry. None of this cute baby business. Morgan has morphed into Regan for the day.

Nap #2 took over a half an hour of work to get her down. The nap lasted 20 minutes.

Nap #3 took over 45 minutes to get her down. She is currently still sleeping (10 minutes later) but, please, Murphy, take pity on me and don't punish me for my statement.

My main concern with her still being swaddled is that since she is able to break out of it at night, I worry that she will end up with a lot of loose bedding around her face increasing the risk of suffocation. My second concern is that since she is starting to roll over, if her arms are constricted she will roll over onto her belly (she has an extraordinary leg kick maneuver which hurtles her upper body over without using her arms) and not be able to push herself up or get back onto her back. (Yes, I realize the paranoia that is coming out of me, but lay off, this is my first baby and I'm naturally high strung.) Thirdly, since Miss Morgan still really does not like to be down for tummy time, I fear that the swaddle might delay the development of her upper body strength. (yes, I do realize how absurd that last fear sounds.)

Anyway, Project NSN is underway. And I'm way too much of a chicken shit to attempt this particular feat at night. (read: I've gotten used to peaceful nights with only one waking.)

The up side is that she is damned cute when she throws her arms up above her head when she sleeps. If I didn't think it would wake her up, I'd take a picture of her.

ahhh, joy of joys

Morgan's trick for today is that she has mastered the art of shrieking. When I say "shrieking" I mean a sound that pierces ears and breaks glass. However, she apparently interprets this sound to mean, "wow, I'm happy and this is cool". I briefly debated on "not encouraging it" by not laughing at the sound when she makes it, but she's so obviously happy, what can a mother do? Suck it up, buttercup, the best is yet to come. lol

So close to sitting up.

Now I realize that the fact that Morgan get bored very easily is probably a sign that she will be a fairly intelligent child (at least, that's what I tell myself), but she is at that point now where she is increasingly frustrated with the fact that she can't sit up on her own. I tried getting her a Bumbo chair (one of the videos I posted a week or so ago shows her sitting in it). While that looked like a promising alternative to lying on her back playing she has discovered recently that she really doesn't like sitting in it at all. I'm not sure exactly what about it pisses her off, but as she is my child it is entirely probable that she has no good reason.

However, in the past two days Morgan has been getting progressively better at sitting up on her own. Ok, not quite "on her own", but if I put her down between my legs with her back to me when I'm sitting on the floor she does a remarkable job at sitting up. She loses her balance occasionally and still isn't sure quite how to play with the toys I put on her feet but she is determined that she can do it on her own and gets annoyed with me if I try to help her out by helping her balance. There is nothing she like more when sitting up than looking at either Simba or Tiger (Eleanor is still boycotting the baby... she'll learn eventually) and trying to reach out and pet them. Of course her idea of petting and theirs doesn't always coincide, as she tends to grab fist fulls of fur, but Simba, of late, has taken to helping her out. Morgan will reach out her hands and Simba very kindly head butts her hands and she LOVES it. This afternoon we spent a lovely half an hour playing with/ petting kitties. She does her best to communicate with the boys the only way she knows how, cooing at them.

Perhaps this weekend when her daddy is home I will get him to videotape her "sitting up".

Babies teaching babies?

My little Morgan has always hated being put on her belly for tummy time, an exercise designed to help strengthen the upper body and back muscles she will need in order to be able to sit up and crawl later in life. Since she has always started to scream mere seconds after being put down for tummy time I have always assumed that she will be a late crawler (perhaps skipping crawling and going straight to walking as her Uncle Dave did).

However, two weeks ago we went to a Gymboree class and things have changed. For those of you not in the know, Gymboree is a baby clothing store that also has centers across the US for mommy and baby play time. The idea is that moms learn how to play age appropriate games with their babies and at the same time get to meet other mothers with children in the same age range. When we went two weeks ago Morgan had just turned three months and was the youngest baby in her age group (0-6 months) at the class. All of the other kids had about a month on her and therefore most were physically ahead of her developmentally. The little girl next to us, for example, was nearly 6 months old and was rolling around on the floor and was very strong on tummy time. Morgan spent a good portion of the class watching her.

When we got home that afternoon I tried to put Morgan down for tummy time again. This time not only did she not complain, she pushed herself up on her arms without the help of a pillow! It seemed that she learned from watching the other babies in the class and finally understood what she was supposed to do. Now, I don't know what a developmental psychiatrist would say to this theory, but it seems to me that the proof is in the pudding (odd phrase....). My little girl can now push up enough on her arms that she will probably be crawling pretty soon. Her little back legs already seem to know what to do, it was always the front that held her up. Picture her with her butt in the air and her face smushed on the floor scooting forwards and you will get an idea of what I mean.

3 months old today.

I really can't believe she is already three months old. It really only today just hit me how quickly she is growing. Jim and I used to joke in the first few weeks after she was born that she "wasn't done yet" and that she still needed to incubate for the "fourth trimester" (a la Dr. Harvey Karp). Well, her fourth trimester has ended. She is no longer an external fetus but a real baby, one who smiles and plays and looks happy when she sees me.

My little girl is growing up. :)

New things everyday

Before we had Morgan I would never have found the things that thrill me now nearly as exciting. For example, she has found her hands! She now has them in her mouth almost all the time. She hasn't quite figured out how to stick the thumb out but she's working on it. Along with this new found discovery comes the ability to play with her. Morgan now likes to lie on the floor and have things dangled over her head. She has figured out how to bat at things and can now actually grab on and make it look like it's not a mistake. :). She's currently working on being able to shove things in her mouth but she often misses and hits her nose instead. This always causes her to blink rapidly in surprise.

Another favorite past time is lying on the changing table and flirting like a mad woman with the drawing of Horton (left wall) that Jim put over her changing table. She is almost able to giggle but is not quite there yet. Her attention span is increasing but she gets easily bored and wants you to entertain her differently. She's taken to enjoying Jim or I reading to her. Naked girl time, however, is still her personal favorite.

Another new development of the past 3 days is that Morgan prefers to be held upright, this includes being propped in a seated position and being propped up with her hands on my shoulder looking around her. Her curiosity knows no bounds. It really is amazing to watch her grow and develop right in front of my eyes.

Getting so big...

My little girl is getting so big. Whenever we go over to my father's house he tells me that Morgan looks so much different from the last time he saw her. I knew that it had to be true, but since I see her everyday it never really occurred to me just how much she has changed.

Two nights ago Jeff and Karma were over with Dylan and Tristan (unfortunately Morgan had already gone to bed so they didn't get to meet her.) Tristan is 4 weeks to the day younger than Morgan and weighs about 2 ½ lbs less. I was astounded looking at him and then looking at my baby girl. She's so big! She's grown so much in the past few weeks it is just amazing to me. As of a few days ago she was about 23 inches long and 12 ½ lbs. More than that my little baby is becoming a human being. She is now interactive. Her smiles were just the start. Now she flirts constantly. Even more amazing is that she has discovered her hands. So far she is definitely aware of her hands and her mouth. Everything else is a little abstract for her to grasp. :) Today she repeatedly grabbed her ring toys and stuck them in her mouth... intentionally.

I realize that this may not sound like much, but it is huge news in this house. Morgan likes to play. :)

evidence of a smile

As promised, evidence that Morgan smiles:


More smiling pictures are in the photo gallery. :)

My little nudist smiles.

So, the first time we ever saw a smile on Morgan was the day after Christmas. I was not convinced it was a real smile and not just the usual "man that fart felt good" face. But Jim swore up and down it was.
Well, the need for speculation has passed. Morgan is a smiling fool these days. Of course, she smiles the most when she's got her bottom hanging free in the breeze. We've always known that she loves to be changed and loves having a fresh and clean diaper, but she recently started handing out the smiles all the time on the changing table. So, figuring that we would pander to her wishes we have started letting her hang out nekkid in her crib after she wakes up the mornings. The smiles come freely then, but alas we have yet to catch one on film. I promise photographic evidence will come soon... but in view of respecting her future ego, I will not post the nekkid picture up on the net. Hell, I know we all hated those embarrassing pictures our mothers felt the need to share.