I Guess We Will Call These ‘Issues’

I swear Gabriella knows when I write a nice little post about her. She decides to be the COMPLETE opposite that day. She is such a goof! Last night was one of those crazy nights…that I’m not the biggest fan of. She was up a ridiculous amount…and then ready to start the day at 5am. Normally I wouldn’t care, I’m usually up at that time anyways…but after a night of maybe three hours of sleep, I was begging her to go back to sleep.

Needless to say my begging didn’t work out too well, and my girl was up & at ‘em…which meant Mommy was too. 😉

^one of my favorite pictures which TOTALLY shows her little attitude & sass 😉

I’m not quite sure why she was a bit ‘off’ last night/ this morning…but I have a feeling it’s her little teeth. She is teething REALLY bad now, and her gums are white- which I know means those teeth are trying to pop through. She’s also really enjoying being held sometimes, which is odd, because usually she just wants to MOVE around on her own. I know a big part of teething can be the need for extra Mommy love- aka “hold me all the time Mommy.” I love the extra snuggles, because, like I said, usually she tries to push herself off me so that she can crawl around.

Anyways, as I said yesterday, I LOVE everything about this age- six months is an awesome age! But there are a few things that we need to work on with our little lady.

So the latest thing with Miss Gabriella is REALLY BAD attachment issues. As in, Craig or I must be with her at all times. She doesn’t want anyone else to hold her, except for us. I went up to visit my parents last weekend, and I went to give G to my Mom & she started SCREAMING. I thought it was because I handed her off the minute I walked in the door so that I could finish unloading all of the stuff (You need a TON of stuff for a baby…it’s insane), and since she had not seen my Mom in a bit maybe she was scared..? NO. She continued screaming when I got all of the stuff and was standing right there next to her.

^the last time my Mom saw her, on Easter, she was fine.

She wouldn’t stop screaming until I held her. This lasted all day. I was sad because I know how much my Mom wanted to hold her, but Gabriella just didn’t want any part of it.

The next day she did a little better, she still just wanted me to hold her, but she did warm up to my parents a bit. I was happy about that because I felt bad that she was being a little stink the whole time.

This isn’t the only time. She saw a few friends of mine & she did the same thing. 😦 Even though I was standing right there next to her & she could see me, she still would just cry until I picked her up.

^she’s really sweet, I promise 🙂

I had to keep apologizing to anyone who tried to hold her.

Lately I can barely take a shower. I used to put her in her seat & give her a toy & she would be fine…not anymore. My 2 minute showers have now turned into 30 second showers. I don’t think anyone wants to be around me…I mean who wants to hang out with someone who just ran 10 miles & barely had a chance to shower?! 😉

I did have a minute to do some research on this & I found out it’s pretty common. The attachment issues are in full force during this age…and it’s OK! It just means that she sees us as her comfort & safety, which is fine by me. That’s a GOOD thing! We want her to know that she is safe. BUT there are ways to work on the attachment issues, otherwise she will never want to go to anyone. Of course the big one is socializing her. I actually found some ‘Mommy groups’ on Meet up, only because most of my friends that are my age do not have kids & I would love to find some other Mommys in my area- not just for Gabriella’s sake, but for mine too. It would be nice to have other Moms to discuss things with & just hear about their experiences.

Another thing I read was to play Peek a boo with her. It shows her that Mommy & Daddy may ‘leave,’ but they always come back.

We may have the attachment for a while, but it’s usually just a phase & should pass once she is more socialized & knows certain people. We have a friend that just adores Gabriella, and she is planning on visiting her more often so that she may be able to baby sit her eventually- I want G to know that she is ‘safe’ too.

So the next ‘issue’ isn’t really an issue anymore. She still won’t take a bottle, which means I’ll be breast feeding for a year, which I wanted to do anyways…but I was hoping I would be able to pump too. It also means that I don’t get a break with the feedings- I can only be away for up to four hours…if that. And now with the attachment issues going on, sometimes I really can’t leave.

I tried sippy cups, and she is REALLY good at taking them. She chugs water like no other.

But she refuses to drink milk in them. I put a QUARTER of an ounce of milk in- mixed with about 3 ounces of water & she would NOT drink it. (I tried both cold & warm) I dumped it out & filled it up with water…and she drank it, no problem. HOW in the world can she taste that little amount?! I don’t even think I could!! Haha!!

But here are my thoughts on the bottle thing…for some reason this is how it is supposed to be. – you know the saying, ‘Everything happens for a reason.’ That’s how I feel. There is a reason behind it all, and I’m just going to leave it like that.

I’m LUCKY & blessed that she latched like she did- right out of the womb she latched like a pro! I have never had any issues with it- and never had any dry or cracked nipples (sorry if TMI, just speaking the truth 🙂 ), which I know a LOT of women experience & it sounds absolutely horrible.

I told Craig that a year without a night out (without having to hurry home to feed her), or a night away is TOTALLY manageable! Honestly, it’s NO BIG DEAL! Of course we would love to have a night away, but we can wait until she is no longer nursing. We’ve gone six months, we go do six more! 🙂

There is no need to stress ourselves out or Gabriella.

The last thing was something I mentioned yesterday- how much she still gets up at night. I know breastfeeding babies typically wake up more & need to eat more often than formula fed babies, but I think she is waking up more than normal. I feel like she can skip at least one of her nightly feedings. She’s in bed by 7pm, then up to eat at 10pm, 1 or 2am, 4am & then up for the day around 6:30/7am. It’s a LOT…and it’s a lot of no sleep for me. This Momma enjoys her sleep! 😉

It’s something I’ll discuss with her doctor this week & see what he suggests. I hope he has some good advice. 🙂

All in all, I would say we are VERY lucky to have our sweet daughter that we do. She is our WHOLE world. I seriously don’t know what we would do without her. So she is a bit attached to us?! We can TOTALLY manage that. 😀 & lack of sleep??! At this point in the game, I’m SO used to it, I honestly don’t remember getting an uninterrupted nights sleep. And THAT’S OK! Some nights I actually CRAVE the time with her in the middle of the night. My cousin told me I would, and she also told me to savor these times because they don’t last long. The lack of sleep is worth it.

Moms: Did your child ever experience attachment issues? How old were they before they overcame it?

Advertisement

Day in the Life of a SIX Month Old

HALF a year?!?! How in the world is Gabriella ALREADY six months old?!??!

She went from this:

To this:

I have to say, this is my favorite age so far. She is just FUN! She laughs NON stop…and seriously what sound is better than that of a laughing baby?! She can sit up on her own, which she almost insists on doing now. No more laying her down. This girl wants to know EVERYTHING that is going on around her.

What she enjoys the best though is when you hold her up so she can stand…or help her hold herself up on the coffee table.

She’s crawling around like a crazy lady. So far she’s just going backwards, but she is SO CLOSE to going forwards, and you can see the frustration in her little eyes when she just can’t quite GO.

But she will…VERY soon, probably this week. Which means Mommy & Daddy have a big job to get done- Baby proofing!

Other things I’m really enjoying about this age is that she can entertain herself for a little bit. She loves her jump-a-roo, and honestly one of her favorite activities is just sitting in her Bumbo seat watching me cook. Mommy’s little helper.

It’s nice that she is more ‘sturdy’ now because we can take trips to the pool & park- which she LOVES. Also helps break up the day more since we can really get out & DO stuff…other than just running in the stroller, which we still do daily.

We bought this float for her, and she likes it, but she prefers to have someone hold her & pull her around in the water. 🙂 She also likes to just sit on the side & splash around.

My favorite thing though is taking her to the park. She loves the swings, and we just started taking her down the slides.

It made us laugh because while she was swinging, she actually started to yawn & get VERY sleepy…even though she had just woken up from a nap. Park swings are the KEY 😉

At this point we have a nice little routine. (Soon to be Moms out there: Just an FYI- babies don’t know weekends…;)They are still up at the same time, even when Saturdays used to mean sleeping in. Haha!) Gabriella is typically up for the day between 6:30am & 7am. Then we head out for our run around 8 or 8:30am and during our morning run is when she also takes her nap. I usually run between 6- 10 miles each day, and she will sleep for about 30 minutes to an hour. This is her short nap, but it is MUCH needed. Girl misses this nap & it’s NO good for the rest of the morning.

Once we get home, I’ll shower while G hangs out in her seat & then we will run errands or just play until around noon when Craig comes home for lunch. He will play with her while I make his lunch & do other random things around the house.

Once he leaves, which is around 12:30pm, I will feed her & then she will sleep on me from about 1pm until 3 or 4pm. This is the time that I get work done. (That & early in the morning before she wakes up & after she goes to bed at night.) I move my computer to my lap, carefully so that I don’t wake her, and actually get a lot done during this time. This is one of my very favorite times of day. I will sometimes just sit there & stare at her sleeping…she is so peaceful & sometimes it’s hard to believe she is ours! I mean this little baby is OURS! It is the very BEST feeling in the world!

When she wakes from her afternoon nap, we go for a walk- usually 20- 30 minutes, just for some more fresh air (she really enjoys being outside..and so do I!) – we’ll swing by the park, or the pool…just depending on the day.

Then we play at home (tummy time, crawling, etc) until Craig gets home, around 5:30pm. He will feed her some solid food- her favorite is still sweet potatoes, but she is also a big fan of apples & pears.

Then, if she is up for it, we will play with her again before bath time. Craig also does bath time- around 6pm/ 6:30pm, he likes having his ‘Daddy time’ when he gets home. – it’s nice too because it gives me time to make dinner, clean up Gabriella’s dinner (& high chair, floor, etc.). Once she is clean, I head up & feed her (nurse her) and then put her in the crib once she is asleep.- which is usually around 6:30pm or 7pm. She’s not always asleep when I put her to bed, but she is good about ‘putting herself to sleep.’

Now, for the night feedings…well, she is still up quite a bit. Her usual wake up schedule is typically up around 10pm, 1am, 4am & then the next time she will be up for the day. I know…it’s a LOT of getting up for me still. BUT, every time I go in to feed her, she actually DOES eat. (& I waiting 5 minutes before going in, just to see if she would go back to bed, but she doesn’t) So I’m thinking she actually is hungry. I’m going to check with the doctor at her 6 month appointment this week & see what he says- possibly about cutting one feeding out. The good thing for me is that the feedings around usually only 20-25 minutes (fast flow)- which INCLUDES the diaper change before I start feeding her. My problem is that sometimes I have a really hard time falling back asleep once I’m up because my mind goes a thousand miles a minute. Some days I am VERY thankful for coffee 😉

There are a few ‘issues’ that we are having, but I’ll discuss those in the next post. This one is getting pretty long…and you have probably had Gabriella picture overload. 😉

Sorry my blog doesn’t have new posts daily. I was trying to keep up with it everyday, but then it started to get to be a pain…and I didn’t want it to become that, so I took a little break. I figure I will post when I feel like it, and if you ever have any questions, or would like a specific post about a topic- please let me know! OH, and in the upcoming week or so, I will be writing about my Crohn’s disease six months post pregnancy!

Favorite thing to do at the park when you were younger? I always loved the dome- you know that big half circle that you could just hang on upside down, or sit on the VERY top spot & pretend like you were queen (or king) of the play ground. 😀

Favorite peanut butter brand? I’m a loyal JIF lover-  creamy or crunchy – I don’t care – I will eat it all!

Moms: At six months, how often was your baby waking to eat during the night? Also, were you doing formula or breast feeding? Babies favorite solid food?