Ella's 10 Month Update

This post is about three weeks too late, but hey! Where do I start with this little fire ball. Ella is finally crawling correctly. She's been doing the army crawl since she was about 7 months old and come to think of it Harper did the exact same thing until about 10 months old. Next is going to be walking and I'm not sure I am ready for that. Ella is so tiny and petite that I think it will freak me out her walking around, looking like a little doll.

It is finally safe to say that we have sleeping at night under control. It has been about a month and a half of her pretty much sleeping through the night. She does still get up at around 4:30/5am to nurse, then goes back to sleep until 7am. I'm totally okay with this. I've said in a previous post, that I am not ready to give that up yet, not until I'm back to work at least! Right now she is teething like crazy and is having a rough time. Her napping is ALL over the place. These past few days she does not want me to put her down..ever. Today after three attempts to put her down in her crib to nap, which normally isn't a issue, and having her scream her head off - I caved and let her nap on my chest. I felt awful for her, that she was so uncomfortable that the only thing she wanted was me. Ugh, I love her. I always try to remind myself during these times that even though it can be frustrating, I will seriously miss the days of her needing me. So when Harper is napping, if Ella wants to nap on me, I'm all for it! After she snoozed on me for about 30 minutes, she was crashed and I was able to slip her in crib where she slept for another hour and a half. Poor babe. Teething must suck which is probably good us adults don't remember it.

Watching these two babes interact together is one of my favourite things ever! They love each other so much it's ridiculous. Harper is always looking out for Ella to the point that it is cuteness overload. 

Ella has learned "more" and "all done" sign language. She knows how to use Harper's magnetic puzzle, which is baffling. She remembers things like crazy, just like her big sister. They are both little smarty pants. 

Ella still nurses in between meals. She isn't giving any signs of wanting to wean off anytime soon, which is fine with me. I nursed Harper until she was 19 months old (right up until I went into labour with Ella) so I'm fine to keep going for as long as we can.

I'm officially at the end of my maternity leave. I return to work June 13th which is both exciting and very sad for me. I'm going to try to soak up every last moment and memory with my girls until then!

Ella Sleeping Update / Sleep Training

Ahh, this little toad. The past three weeks I have finally got decent sleep and that's because Ella has been getting decent sleep at night. We have finally gotten past the point of her waking several times throughout the night and we got there with minimal crying. I'm not a sleep expert and I'm not here to judge others, but both Fraser and I do not believe in the cry it out method. Not for us anyways.

The way we look at it is, our babies are only small for a short period of time - even though sometimes it feels like forever. If Ella wants an extra cuddle at night, I'm going to give it to her. If she's teething and isn't feeling well, resulting in her waking 4 times in the middle of the night, I will go to her. Why? Because one day, one night, she will no longer need me. She will longer have the urge or need to wake up looking for my comfort, because she will be a big girl. 

Ella used to be really bad with being restless. She wasn't overtired, but wouldn't know exactly what she wanted to go to sleep. I used to have to go back and forth between nursing her, rocking her and holding her with her head nestled in my neck - before discovering exactly what she wanted to fall asleep. This was frustrating for me, since it would take 30-45 minutes to put her to sleep AND sometimes it seemed it would never end the back and forth. A month ago, I started putting her down in her crib when she got to this point. She was half asleep but super fidgety. I slowly walked out of the room so it didn't seem like I was putting her down and running - and would observe her on the camera. To my surprise the first night I tried this, she fussed (not cried) for 10 minutes and fell asleep on her tummy - which she has never done. I told myself before doing this, that my maximum time would be 10 minutes and at any point she got hysterical, I would go get her. 

I couldn't believe what I was seeing and to be honest, I expected her to pop her head up crying at any moment. She didn't. She slept a solid 7 hours straight which she hadn't done since she was under 4 months old - swaddled and in her bassinet next to my bed! The gentle sleeping method is what we chose for both our girls and we've never regretted it even though it can take weeks or months longer than letting them cry it out. I'm bad for going on sleeping forums and reading crying it out horror stories where mom's have been so sleep deprived that they've left their baby to cry for up to 4-5 hours! A baby as young as 5-6 months. This to me is mind boggling. How could you stand, regardless of how tired you are, to listen to your baby cry uncontrollable for even 45 minutes, let alone 4-5 hours. Did these mom's leave their house during this time? Because me, I would be sobbing in the next room (which I'm sure most of them were doing). 

Through these forums I learned of a term which is called "Cry it out extinction" which is what I guess I really don't believe in. This is where you put your baby in their crib for the night and you let them cry for as long as it takes for them to fall asleep. Nope, no, no way in hell. Not for me. The cry it out method with check in's I don't think is awful, just not for me and my girls.

Ella goes to bed at about 6:45pm/7pm and will sleep until 4/5am, nurse and go back to sleep until 7am. She went from waking 4-5 times each night to once. Which I don't mind at all! Now her naps during the day are still random. Some days she will nap awesome, other days she has silly 30 minute cat naps. 

So what worked for both my girls is I did the gentle sleep method, going in whenever they woke up in the middle of the night - would nurse them then rock them to sleep. During this time (6-8 months), I would work on nursing them for shorter periods of time and rocking them less. I would attempt to put them down in their crib awake but super drowsy (almost fully asleep). If it didn't work, I would pick them up and put them to sleep completely. With Ella, at around 7 months old, she started to fall asleep during her night wakings when I did this, but wouldn't when she was first going to bed or for naps. 

Ella now likes being rocked to sleep with her head nestled in my neck when going to sleep for the night and will stay asleep for 9-10 hours.

Things I recommend:

- Halo Sleep Sacks

- Fan

- Noise Machine

- Black out curtains

- A supportive partner/husband 

- Lots and lots of patience

Both my girls appeared to be ready at around 8-9 months to fuss a little in their crib to put themselves to sleep - without getting hysterical, only lasting 10 minutes or less. This is the key. For my girls, when they were ready, they transitioned super easy - when I tried earlier than the 8 month mark, I would attempt again a week or two later. The key is not to get discouraged, babies will only sleep better at night when they are developmentally ready with maybe a light push in that direction - some babies taking much longer than others.

For now, I'm going to enjoy my good sleeping baby until her next few teeth start coming in!

Ella's 9 Month Update

 Our sweet Ella turned 9 months a few days ago. I just want time to slow down. I want to keep her a baby a little while longer. The idea of both my girls being "big girls" is enough to make me sob.

Ella had her doctors appointment last week, she weighs exactly 19 lbs and is 27" long. She is still our tiny toad. Like I've said since she was born, she makes up for size with her personality. I have however, noticed she has mellowed out a bit lately. I'm thinking that's because she has a tooth up and another that's poked through the gums. She is a lot happier and a lot less sassy!

Ella is a complete ham. She makes Fraser and I laugh daily with her funny little quirks. For instance she is obsessed with Fraser's facial hair, constantly pulling at his beard the second he picks her up. She is also fascinated with ears - especially if I'm wearing earrings. She dances already, which is completely hilarious. The second music comes on, even if its in another room, she starts to bob up and down. Even if music isn't on, and you start to sing, she will start dancing. Melts my heart, having two tiny little dancers.

Ella is also on the move. She has been crawling for the past month (although she doesn't do it entirely correctly, it's more of a scoot). She is also pulling herself up using anything that can hold her weight, which terrifies me because it seems so wrong since she's so tiny! I think she just wants to keep up with her big sister.

Napping still isn't the greatest. She was an AMAZING napper up until 4 months old. Then the 4 month sleep regression and teething hit and it's been a yo-yo since. I see a slight improvement the past two weeks but still not great. Her sleeping at night has gotten a lot better though (thank goodness). She goes to bed at around 6:30/7pm and wakes 1-2 times to nurse and sleeps until 6:30/7am. I can't complain and it's only getting better so I anticipate more improvements in the next few months.

Ella still breastfeeds in between having solids three times a day. Her favourite foods are yogurt, applesauce, rice and potato.

Her first word was ma-ma which she usually says when she's tired and cranky. It is still the sweetest thing to hear!

Harper and Ella have a total blast together. They love to play in the patio curtains, staring outside giggling while playing peek-a-boo with one another. They also love having baths together before bed. These moments are what make me so fortunate to have two little girls so close in age, they are going to be the best of friends when their older.