Transitions

Now that Claire is six months old, I am once again reminded of how fast babies can change.

Just when I started worrying about the fact that Claire was screeching like a banshee instead of babbling consonants, the screeching stopped as suddenly as it started, and she's "ma ma"ing and "ba ba"ing with the best of them. Just when I start wondering why she isn't grabbing toys and playing more, she gets obsessed with shaking rattles and waving stuffed animals around.

Yes, Claire's gone through some major changes in the last two weeks. And she's been relatively fussy. In fact, I think we've hit an awkward transitional period: It's that period in between fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants and rigidly-scheduled. The time between formula-guzzling machine and biscuit-gnawing toddler. The period before crawling, but after it gets boring just staring insensibly at toys hanging from the play gym.

Our two biggest challenges have been eating and sleeping. Okay, I guess those are the two biggest challenges for every baby, at all times. But Claire's had an especially rough go of them lately. For months, she woke up at around 4 or 5 a.m., drank a bottle, and went right back to sleep. Then, for two glorious weeks, she slept straight through from around 6:30 p.m. to 7 or 7:30 a.m. But you knew that wouldn't last. Last week, she woke up every night sometime between 3 and 5 a.m., and she wouldn't go back to sleep. For all of Elsa's sleeping problems as a baby, waking up in the middle of the night wasn't one of them–once she fell asleep for the night, we didn't hear from her again until morning. So this business of being wide awake at 4 a.m. was not in our realm of experience. Throw in a time change, and you've got a crabby baby and a crabby mommy. Naps haven't gone much better. We're still working on her napping in the crib—sometimes she goes right down, other times not. So we're still relying heavily on the swing—no pun intended, although Claire is pushing 22 pounds and the swing's weight limit is 25.

Our other problem is eating. Claire just hasn't seemed all that interested in solid food, another departure from what we're used to with Elsa. Solids were fine as long as they were secondary to formula. Now that I'm trying to make fruits and vegetables a larger part of her daily diet, I've met some resistance. There have been times when Claire has simply refused solids, then screamed inconsolably until we gave her a bottle (which she gulps down like a starving person). Even when she eats the solids, she often just seems grumpy until a bottle arrives. I think she is starting to get used to the idea of solid food now, but she still sometimes cries through entire meals. I often sing to get her to stop crying and swallow. Elsa and I have made up a few new verses to "Wheels on the Bus" in our efforts to get Claire to eat her squash. ("The cell phones on the bus go ring ring ring, ring ring ring, ring ring ring ...")

I think a big factor in both problems is a lack of a good schedule. This is another area where we haven't quite fallen into a groove. I'm still never exactly sure when to give Claire a bottle, when to give her solids, or to give her both. She doesn't seem inclined to do a breakfast/lunch/dinner schedule like Elsa did by the time she was Claire's age. And napping issues can royally screw up our day. If Claire doesn't get a good nap in the morning, she ends up napping in the middle of the day, which means she's ready for her second nap at 5:30 p.m. Not exactly when I want her to be sleeping. Elsa's busy activity schedule isn't helping matters any. Claire ends up grabbing a 10-minute nap in the car here, a 15-minute nap in the swing there, and by noon I have absolutely no idea how much she's slept or when she might again.

The nice thing is, Elsa went through some of these issues too, and they are certainly easier to deal with the second time around. In fact, this blog has been a huge help in that respect. (This post about Elsa's own awkward period and this post about her schedule when she was six months old have been particularly helpful.) And, did I mention that Claire is finally "ma ma"ing? Elsa started babbling so early, I almost didn't even take notice of it. With Claire, my anxious waiting made it all the more rewarding when it did happen! Although I know she isn't calling me "ma ma," it still melts my heart when she starts up.

Claire's transitions are obviously leading to bigger and better things, so we'll keep plugging away and get through them. Those "ma ma" moments make it all worth it!