9 hours!

This week saw two milestones:

First, Evelyn rolled from back to front by herself for the first and second times. So far, we've been unable to duplicate without assistance, but at least I know she can do it. At her four-month appointment on Tuesday, her pediatrician said, "Oh, she hasn't rolled from back to front yet? She really should be doing that already." Thanks, for that. The nurse also reminded me three times that by her six-month they want her to be able to sit up in the infant scale instead of laying in it. Excuse me, but isn't sitting more of a 6-7 month thing? And that scale isn't particularly stable, after all. The only reasons I haven't changed pediatricians are (1) I think she's actually competent, just not very nurturing, (2) the nurse practitioner in the office, who is almost always the one we see or talk to when E is sick, IS very nice/understanding, so when I'm really worried, I do get a friendly face/voice, and (3) this was one of only two pediatricians within reasonable walking distance who takes our insurance. Oh, and in further updates, she is now (or was on February 5) 14 pounds, 8 ounces, 24.5 inches. That's up from 11 pounds at her 2-month appointment. The extra length has also helped her enjoy her jumperoo a lot more, but that's a topic for another day.

Second, and more exciting, Evelyn slept for 9 hours straight last night! We ended up starting sleep training ala Ferber (with a few modifications) at midnight Wednesday night. It was either sleep train or teach her new bad habits, as she had started waking more at night and being more difficult to settle, so we opted for the former. I knew she could soothe herself, given the proper motivation, because she had spent the two previous days practicing sucking her thumb.

My original idea was just to sit with her while she cried, but that upset her more, so we went for the leave and check method. We also eliminated the pacifier, which has been painful as she went to sleep initially really well with it in. She still uses it to nap in her stroller (one nap per day), but not when in her crib. Napping is a work in progress, as we've only had one nap longer than 45 minutes, but I'm hoping that will start to change in the next month or so (and she'll move from three naps to two, fingers crossed, making the stroller nap unnecessary). At least we haven't missed any naps entirely due to crying. Usually she doesn't even make it to the 10 minute check (7-9 minutes in, she'll quiet down and go to sleep). In any case, her sleeping straight through from 7:30 to 4:30 (and then back down until 7:20 after a 9-minute feeding) means that for the first time since November, I got 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I don't think I woke up even once. It was awesome.

And if you wonder why it is that I think anyone would be interested in reading this, ever, feel free to skip over it. I actually looked back at my baby book this week to see what my mom had written about sleep training. It was informative. So, even if no one else cares, Evelyn might someday.

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February 5 - this hat is not quite ready yet

February 6

February 7

February 9 - yes, I can hold my bottle myself; no, I don't want any help.

February 10 - look at all that hair!