Better Days

Claire is doing a lot better lately. We've now settled into something resembling a schedule, and I think we've made it past her fussy period (well, this one, at least). Whew. : )

We went through a couple of weeks where she was extremely fussy/crying from about 4:30 p.m. until about 6 p.m. Thankfully, that seems to have ended and she is doing much better in the evenings now. I think this might be because I've finally found a good eating schedule for her. It goes like this: a 6-ounce bottle first thing in the morning, solids (usually fruit mixed with cereal) at around 9:30 a.m., another 6-ounce bottle around noon, more solids (usually veggies) at about 3 p.m., solids again at about 5:30 or 6, and her final bottle (about 8 ounces) at 6:30 p.m. I guess Claire's a grazer, eating a little here, a little there, all day long. Nothing wrong with that, although between Claire's many small meals, Elsa's meals and snacks, and sneaking in some food for myself here and there, I feel like all I do is feed people, all day long!

Claire is also liking her solids a lot better lately. She recently started opening her mouth when the spoon approaches, which is real progress (I used to have to just jam it in there). Of course, she's no Elsa, who did a full-fledged baby bird impression by the time she was about Claire's age, but Claire seems to be getting used to the idea of solids and is less resistant to them. Again, maybe this is a function of finally settling on a good eating schedule, I don't know.

Another area of improvement: Claire is reliably napping in the crib these days. Finally! She usually naps around 9:30 or 10, and again at around 1:30 or 2 p.m. She generally takes one long nap each day (an hour and a half or so), and one short (30 minutes to an hour), although I never know whether the long one will be in the morning or the afternoon.

Nighttime sleeping is still hit-or-miss. Some nights are better than others. She still usually wakes up between 4 and 5 a.m. for a bottle, but since she sleeps at least an hour later on those mornings, I'm hesitant to put my foot down about this. I know we can't go on doing it forever, but I'd rather wake up temporarily at 4 a.m. than start my day at 5:45. : ) So I decided that I'm going to try to gradually make that 4 a.m. bottle smaller and smaller. Last night she had 3 and a half ounces and that seemed to satisfy her—she went right back to sleep. After a few nights of 3 and a half, I'll try 3, and so on until we're able to phase it out entirely, hopefully without any nighttime crying and/or a change in the time she wakes up for the day.

And, Claire is finally willing to do some tummy time! She used to always roll over instantly when I would put her on her tummy. Lately, she will actually stay in position. She doesn't seem thrilled about it, but she puts up with it at least. Needless to say, she doesn't seem remotely interested in sleeping on her tummy. Believe me, I've tried, in the hopes that would get her to sleep a little better at night. But turning her over only made her scream even louder. I never really thought it would work—if she hates it during the day, why would that be any different at night? But it was worth a shot, since Elsa started sleeping on her tummy at around 8 or 9 months and seemed so content that way. I guess Claire's just not there yet.

During her enforced daytime tummy time, Claire does seem motivated to crawl. In fact, when I put my hands behind her feet to give her something to push off from, she can move fairly well. Her problem, just like when she was trying to roll over, is her arms. When I put my hands behind her feet, every bit of her locomotion comes from her legs. Her arms are just dragging along uselessly at her sides. It's kind of amusing, actually—she reminds me of an amoeba or some sort of invertebrate (sorry Claire, but you really do). So I think once she gets her arms figured out, she'll be able to do the tummy-down army commando crawl, it's just a question of when that might happen. God knows she's nowhere near lifting that chunky tummy off the floor!

In general, Claire's been a much happier and sweeter little girl lately. She particularly loves music, peekaboo, having people wave and/or make silly faces at her, and toys that do anything unexpected (examples are an Elmo/Cookie Monster ball that shakes, talks, and laughs; and a fish toy that actually "wiggles"). And of course, the number one love of her life is still her big sister, but I'm going to put more about that in a separate post. Claire is one sweet little 7-month-old!