Saturday, September 24, 2011

18 Weeks Old


Norah turned 4 months old last Monday! She had her check-up that same day, along with her shots. They were pretty traumatic (for me!), just like the two-month shots, but her fussiness only lasted for the rest of the day this time, thank goodness! Last time she was unusually cranky for nearly a week. I gave her some Tylenol beforehand, which may have helped some. I like to think it did, anyway.

She’s a big girl! The doctor was impressed that she was trying to sit up when he laid her flat on her back on the table…she has more or less been doing crunches! She weighs almost 15 lbs now (75th percentile), and is 26 ½ (I think…) inches long (90th percentile). If I’m remembering the length correctly, she has gained 6 inches since birth!

She is outgrowing her 3-6 month clothes already!!! The cloth diapers add some bulk, though, so that’s part of it. 6-9 month clothes fit her pretty nicely, though!

Thumb sucking has become one of Norah’s favorite things lately. I didn’t think she was going to be a thumb sucker because it took her so long to figure it out, but she does it all the time now. It’s adorable now, but I hope she’s not still doing it when she’s five!

She’s been really fussy in the evenings lately. I guess that’s common. She’s been especially inconsolable when I’m off teaching – poor Travis! Sometimes when I get home, Travis says she’s been screaming for an hour or two, and then as soon as I nurse her she’s fine. He wishes he had such an easy fix!

I started my violin lessons at the Day School last week. I have two students there on Mondays and three on Tuesdays, all between the ages of four and six. It’s a challenge teaching such young children, but MOST of them seem older than they are and are very bright. Most of them. J The hardest thing is that they are all quite impatient and want to play the violin, with the bow, NOW. And you can’t over-explain. You have to keep it simple. Every time I start to explain why we have to learn one thing at a time, etc. etc., I get interrupted by a story about what someone’s adorable silly puppy did yesterday… J But, all in all, I think I’m going to have fun as I teach myself how to teach kindergartners to love music – because, really, that’s the point.

So, after being at the Day School for two mornings in a row, I found that my milk supply seemed to be declining during those hours. I was going to pump during my breaks, but there was no electrical outlet I could use, and my batteries were dead. I have new batteries now, so I shouldn’t have any issues from now on.

I stored so much milk in my freezer that I was able to donate some to a local mother with a baby in need! J I gave her 56 ounces, which probably will only last her 7- (or 8?) month-old son a couple of days, but I was glad to help out anyway. I still have something like 30 or 40 ounces for Norah, and we don’t have to use the frozen milk very often. I’ve been pumping about 6 oz. per day, and Norah usually only drinks 3 oz. from a bottle on the days I’m gone for a few hours, unless I don’t have time to nurse her before I leave.

Norah has been doing a bit better with naps. She’s still not on an exact schedule, but she always takes a few naps a day, and I’ve discovered that I can usually get her to take a long one in the middle of the day. If she wakes up, I just go in quietly and give her the pacifier, and she will often go right back to sleep, sometimes for another hour or longer! It’s great, because I still can’t seem to get much done when she’s awake. She’s high maintenance! And I haven’t had much success so far putting her in a sling or other type of carrier while I do housework.

I’ve been really missing Travis while he’s at work and Norah and I are home by ourselves! I kind of feel like I’m not myself without him. It’s kind of hard to explain. When it’s just Norah and me, I feel like I have to work at entertaining her. When we’re all here, it comes more easily – it just feels like we’re all having fun together. I don’t know why. I wish we could win the lottery or something so we could be together all the time!

I guess that’s about it for this week! Enjoy the photos, and check out the videos in the two previous blogs if you haven’t yet! I still have two more videos I’ve been working on…coming soon!













2 comments:

  1. I totally get what you mean with "I kind of feel like I’m not myself without him." Most of the time when Sigrid is away I feel the same way. It's crazy but at these days the only thing that gets me going is the thought that she'll be back and I can tell her about our day.

    ReplyDelete