The recent addition of real food seems to have created some changes in the waste department. Andy used to go about once (or 2 closely timed ones) every 5-7 days. But he just had 4 poops in 3 days here! Thursday was day 7, so he went as usual. It was a small hard one and that usually means there is more coming. So more came on Friday, but twice! Another small hard ball in the morning, and then a medium soft in the evening. Usually the bigger one is the runy yellow, but this time it was soft solid. Finally came the real one on Saturday, the big runny yellow one from drinking milk.
As he eats more, he's producing more waste too. I guess we'll have to add this to his 6-mo changes :-)
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Sleep Training
This has been a difficult task, but I'm finally reaping the fruit of it. Now that he's trained, I don't have to nurse him to sleep, resulting immobilized since he's sleeping in the lap, and actually have a little free time at night. He sleeps in longer stretches too (4 hours) so we all get more rest.
After the 4 month checkup, the doctor said it's time for him to learn how to sleep on his own. I did it half way by transferring him to his bassinet after he's sound asleep from nursing. Well, it only made me more exhausted since now I had to wait long enough for him to be in a deep sleep state before transferring. And half the time he woke up right away so I had to feed again as that's the only way to sooth him. There were nights I was getting up 5-6 times with <1.5 hour sleep per lag, and the next day he would be cranky too from not enough sleep.
After the 6 month checkup, a second try at sleep training. We learned it is beneficial for him to develop the association of his own bed and sleep and that he is mature enough to sooth himself instead of relying on nursing all the time at this stage. It was very hard to bear his 45 minutes long crying the first time. But once it actually stopped and he was asleep, it felt like a miracle. Then the next feeding came 4 hours later, and this time I made sure he was awake when put into his bassinet. He made a small cry and was out again. The next day was easier, he didn't cry much at bed time or night feedings. After a couple days of training, he got it. Next was to train his napping. We don't force him to nap at regular times, but tried to make him fall asleep in his bed when he is tired. It was met with more resistance than night training sometimes. Maybe he's not tired enough at times.
I learned the key to sleep training is not to pick him up once he's put into his bed, as long as you are sure he's well fed and needs sleep now. Otherwise he'll only cry longer the next time supposedly. To my surprise, babies seem to learn much quicker than expected. The cry time reduces dramatically after he falls asleep on his own the first time. The other key is reinforcement. Keep up the routine and he will go to bed without a struggle habitually.
The next step in training is to eliminate the night feedings. Will wait on that until we are sure he can eat enough during the day.
After the 4 month checkup, the doctor said it's time for him to learn how to sleep on his own. I did it half way by transferring him to his bassinet after he's sound asleep from nursing. Well, it only made me more exhausted since now I had to wait long enough for him to be in a deep sleep state before transferring. And half the time he woke up right away so I had to feed again as that's the only way to sooth him. There were nights I was getting up 5-6 times with <1.5 hour sleep per lag, and the next day he would be cranky too from not enough sleep.
After the 6 month checkup, a second try at sleep training. We learned it is beneficial for him to develop the association of his own bed and sleep and that he is mature enough to sooth himself instead of relying on nursing all the time at this stage. It was very hard to bear his 45 minutes long crying the first time. But once it actually stopped and he was asleep, it felt like a miracle. Then the next feeding came 4 hours later, and this time I made sure he was awake when put into his bassinet. He made a small cry and was out again. The next day was easier, he didn't cry much at bed time or night feedings. After a couple days of training, he got it. Next was to train his napping. We don't force him to nap at regular times, but tried to make him fall asleep in his bed when he is tired. It was met with more resistance than night training sometimes. Maybe he's not tired enough at times.
I learned the key to sleep training is not to pick him up once he's put into his bed, as long as you are sure he's well fed and needs sleep now. Otherwise he'll only cry longer the next time supposedly. To my surprise, babies seem to learn much quicker than expected. The cry time reduces dramatically after he falls asleep on his own the first time. The other key is reinforcement. Keep up the routine and he will go to bed without a struggle habitually.
The next step in training is to eliminate the night feedings. Will wait on that until we are sure he can eat enough during the day.
Friday, April 11, 2008
6mo Observations
Andy had his 6 month check up on Wednesday, April 9. His new stats:
13 lb 5 oz,
25.5 in,
head circumference 43.3 cm.
Some recent pictures here.
There are some visible differences around the 6 month mark.
- He's feeding less frequently now, content with 2-3 hours in between instead of the 1.5 hours before. So he has more leisure time to explore.
- He's got better hand coordination now. He enjoys grabbing laundry when I fold.
- He makes his intention more clearly known. For example, he makes high pitched scream for things he wants (food mainly), and holds his arms out when he wants to be picked up.
- The most exciting difference, is that he is becoming more responsive to learning now. I showed him the talking blinking number buttons on the Exersaucer, and he just watched wide eyed, too timid to try. I turned around to make tea leaving him in the saucer. And guess what I heard? "Five", "Three", ... The talking buttons! It's like that with the jumpster Irene gave us too. I helped him bounce around and danced with him. He smiled and giggled. When I stopped, he started his own dance in it.
13 lb 5 oz,
25.5 in,
head circumference 43.3 cm.
Some recent pictures here.
There are some visible differences around the 6 month mark.
- He's feeding less frequently now, content with 2-3 hours in between instead of the 1.5 hours before. So he has more leisure time to explore.
- He's got better hand coordination now. He enjoys grabbing laundry when I fold.
- He makes his intention more clearly known. For example, he makes high pitched scream for things he wants (food mainly), and holds his arms out when he wants to be picked up.
- The most exciting difference, is that he is becoming more responsive to learning now. I showed him the talking blinking number buttons on the Exersaucer, and he just watched wide eyed, too timid to try. I turned around to make tea leaving him in the saucer. And guess what I heard? "Five", "Three", ... The talking buttons! It's like that with the jumpster Irene gave us too. I helped him bounce around and danced with him. He smiled and giggled. When I stopped, he started his own dance in it.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
4 - 5 months
Hope some pictures makes up for the tardiness of the post :-).
2/23 Saturday
We went to Rebecca's baby shower this afternoon. Andy behaved for the first part. Then he started to throw a fit, crying from the top of his lung, and could not be soothed even with food. Shelly came to rescue. She sang and danced Andy to sleep! I was quite amazed by her bag of soothing tricks. She said her Sophie was a fussy baby so she developed lots of tricks.
We accidentally overcooked the diapers (with candies) in the microwave for the "Smelling the diapers" game if you are wondering about the smoke in the pictures.
03/2008
Andy had lots of grandparents visiting in March. Grandma and Granpa Ravet came to see him for the first time in early March. They had a good bonding time with Andy.
My dad, Grandpa Su came to visit later. He was a little intimidated by the idea of carrying Andy
before coming (he has bad back), but got a handle on things very quickly. Dad discovered a new calming technique: wheeling him back and forth in the living room. He took Andy out for walks whenever it's nice out. Sometimes he would call me with Andy's "singing in plein aire" on their end of the line. He devised a workout routine for Andy that involves arm strength training (crawling) and some standing up. By the end he was so attached to Andy that he even called us during the day wanting to hear Andy singing the first day after leaving.
5 month observations:
- He got his passport in February (and the passport photo already seems outdated).
- Strong neck. He puts his arms out on the big pillow for push up and holds his head up high.
- He spits a lot (just saliva), like a baseball player.
- He gradually develops some hand gripping power. he curiously examines his hands often.
- He wants a lot more attention now, wants people to play with.
- He is always curious: he enjoys looking around and can focus for short time periods. He becomes aware of the surroundings a lot more. I used to be able to feed him anywhere. But now he gets very distracted if I talk while feeding him.
- We started giving him spoonfuls of soup at dinners once in a while. He really likes the taste of real food.
2/23 Saturday
We went to Rebecca's baby shower this afternoon. Andy behaved for the first part. Then he started to throw a fit, crying from the top of his lung, and could not be soothed even with food. Shelly came to rescue. She sang and danced Andy to sleep! I was quite amazed by her bag of soothing tricks. She said her Sophie was a fussy baby so she developed lots of tricks.
We accidentally overcooked the diapers (with candies) in the microwave for the "Smelling the diapers" game if you are wondering about the smoke in the pictures.
03/2008
Andy had lots of grandparents visiting in March. Grandma and Granpa Ravet came to see him for the first time in early March. They had a good bonding time with Andy.
My dad, Grandpa Su came to visit later. He was a little intimidated by the idea of carrying Andy
before coming (he has bad back), but got a handle on things very quickly. Dad discovered a new calming technique: wheeling him back and forth in the living room. He took Andy out for walks whenever it's nice out. Sometimes he would call me with Andy's "singing in plein aire" on their end of the line. He devised a workout routine for Andy that involves arm strength training (crawling) and some standing up. By the end he was so attached to Andy that he even called us during the day wanting to hear Andy singing the first day after leaving.
5 month observations:
- He got his passport in February (and the passport photo already seems outdated).
- Strong neck. He puts his arms out on the big pillow for push up and holds his head up high.
- He spits a lot (just saliva), like a baseball player.
- He gradually develops some hand gripping power. he curiously examines his hands often.
- He wants a lot more attention now, wants people to play with.
- He is always curious: he enjoys looking around and can focus for short time periods. He becomes aware of the surroundings a lot more. I used to be able to feed him anywhere. But now he gets very distracted if I talk while feeding him.
- We started giving him spoonfuls of soup at dinners once in a while. He really likes the taste of real food.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Say Yi1
I often play this game of holding out fingers and saying each number from one to four (in Chinese). As I held out my index finger and said Yi1 slowly, for the first time, he slowly extended out his right index finger from the little fist just now. We repeated the game a few more times reliably. It 's such an exciting moment for me. I tried to capture it on camera: pictures here.
We tried other numbers, he attempted to open more fingers but the hand coordination wasn't there yet.
We tried other numbers, he attempted to open more fingers but the hand coordination wasn't there yet.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
4 month checkup
Andy had his 4-mo checkup on Friday:
11 lb 11 oz.
24 in.
42 cm head.
Doc was happy with his growth. He was a trooper when it came to shots despite his crankiness of getting out of bed early and hadn't had his breakfast.
11 lb 11 oz.
24 in.
42 cm head.
Doc was happy with his growth. He was a trooper when it came to shots despite his crankiness of getting out of bed early and hadn't had his breakfast.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
week 17
It's been a while since I last wrote. Andy is 17 weeks today if I haven't totally lost track.
Latest observations:
- He's discovering his hands. He opens and closes the fists and examines his little fingers when he is contently full (otherwise he chews on them.
- He is very vocal when he is hungry or happy. When I read him his favorite books, he makes a variety of high pitches.
- He's getting heavier and longer. It's when you get out the next size up set of clothing you notice the growth more.
- He has been a late riser consistently. I'd feed him 6 or 7, then he can always sleep until 9 or 10. So I'm back to my morning yoga routine, and started the house cleaning on Saturday mornings routine.
Andy and I got into a good daytime routine. My favorite time of the day is having lunch in front of the big living room window. I make a cup of tea and a big sandwich. Andy watches me in the stroller and talks to me; I hope soon I'll be making him a sandwich (or some food) too. We watch the sun and the rain out the window. It's the most peaceful time of the day.
01/26 Saturday
Two parties in one evening! Brian gave us tickets to Microsoft Chime's Chinese New Year show. It was in this huge church and had two large projection screens, and lots of Chinese families. Andy liked the colorful lighting and dances. We ran into my friend Li and her family. Their 6 week old Amy was growing fast.
We then went to a party for Apu, who just got married in India in December. We met his wife Seema for the first time. We ran into a 10-month old at the party. It's not too hard to imagine how soon it'd be when Andy starts to crawl and stand wobbly. Pictures here.
01/27 Sunday
Andy got to meet my good friend Hao, here for a week from Madison. We had a really nice time catching up. It was very cold outside (even Hao admitted that) as we took a walk by the marina and saw a nice sunset. Hao brought a suitcase from mom for me. Now we are loaded with baby books. My dad wrote the Chinese translation in a lot of the books. The "Baby Words" book has become Andy's new favorite as it has lots of colorful pictures. Pictures here.
1/31 Thursday
Most people at work went on the Whistler trip which I had wanted to go. But I enjoyed my time here. We went to visit Sara who just had a baby girl Elsa 2 weeks ago. Andy looked big in comparison to Elsa. It wasn't that long ago when Andy was that size and all pink! Pictures here.
02/02 Sunday
The model was late today. David volunteered to pose while the model was on the way. After a few minutes, he gestured me to hand Andy over. I was a bit skeptical, but did. To my surprise, Andy behaved really well as David held him. They modeled for a good 15 minutes before the model showed up. Everyone commented Andy was on his way to a modeling career. It'd be nice to get my own free model. Pictures here.
Latest observations:
- He's discovering his hands. He opens and closes the fists and examines his little fingers when he is contently full (otherwise he chews on them.
- He is very vocal when he is hungry or happy. When I read him his favorite books, he makes a variety of high pitches.
- He's getting heavier and longer. It's when you get out the next size up set of clothing you notice the growth more.
- He has been a late riser consistently. I'd feed him 6 or 7, then he can always sleep until 9 or 10. So I'm back to my morning yoga routine, and started the house cleaning on Saturday mornings routine.
Andy and I got into a good daytime routine. My favorite time of the day is having lunch in front of the big living room window. I make a cup of tea and a big sandwich. Andy watches me in the stroller and talks to me; I hope soon I'll be making him a sandwich (or some food) too. We watch the sun and the rain out the window. It's the most peaceful time of the day.
01/26 Saturday
Two parties in one evening! Brian gave us tickets to Microsoft Chime's Chinese New Year show. It was in this huge church and had two large projection screens, and lots of Chinese families. Andy liked the colorful lighting and dances. We ran into my friend Li and her family. Their 6 week old Amy was growing fast.
We then went to a party for Apu, who just got married in India in December. We met his wife Seema for the first time. We ran into a 10-month old at the party. It's not too hard to imagine how soon it'd be when Andy starts to crawl and stand wobbly. Pictures here.
01/27 Sunday
Andy got to meet my good friend Hao, here for a week from Madison. We had a really nice time catching up. It was very cold outside (even Hao admitted that) as we took a walk by the marina and saw a nice sunset. Hao brought a suitcase from mom for me. Now we are loaded with baby books. My dad wrote the Chinese translation in a lot of the books. The "Baby Words" book has become Andy's new favorite as it has lots of colorful pictures. Pictures here.
1/31 Thursday
Most people at work went on the Whistler trip which I had wanted to go. But I enjoyed my time here. We went to visit Sara who just had a baby girl Elsa 2 weeks ago. Andy looked big in comparison to Elsa. It wasn't that long ago when Andy was that size and all pink! Pictures here.
02/02 Sunday
The model was late today. David volunteered to pose while the model was on the way. After a few minutes, he gestured me to hand Andy over. I was a bit skeptical, but did. To my surprise, Andy behaved really well as David held him. They modeled for a good 15 minutes before the model showed up. Everyone commented Andy was on his way to a modeling career. It'd be nice to get my own free model. Pictures here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)