A bit Defeated

I was SO pleased that our sleep training had gone well last week. Five days in, and Georgia was able to get herself off to bed in her cot - sure, it took a while & I was still in the room {out of sight} but she was doing it! We even had our first sleep through again for the first time in months.

But then, things went haywire. Hubby got home from his interstate trip, and we got sick. It started with Georgia skipping her afternoon nap - which turned into up every hour, on the hour, and not much sleep for any of us. After that came more nap skipping & screaming like a banshee constantly. It's so heartbreaking to see all the good efforts you've made go flying out the window, when you're doing practically everything exactly the same.

I was at a loss - until I saw a little flash of white. Yep, I now know the culprit for all this chaos - her second tooth is jigging around under there, and hasn't yet cut through. Bloody teeth!

This time, we're well armed. Panadol, Nurofen, Bonjela & SM-33 creams. Lots of cuddles and a whole lot of deep breaths & patience. I'm hoping she'll get this tooth quickly, because the last few days have been a nightmare.

Busy, busy

It's been quiet around here, and I'm sorry for that - life has been busy, single parenting has been hard work, and all my energy has gone towards this little lady. Hubby is still away for work quite a bit, so it's been just us girls.

Georgia is delightful at the moment. Still very clingy and attached to her mama, but happy with other people, talking up a storm, and hamming it up for anyone who will listen. That being said, her sleeping is appalling. Even though she has been day napping, it's because I was spending ages rocking her to sleep & crossing my fingers that she'd transfer across to the cot. Don't get me wrong, I love cuddles from my girl, but I have been getting NOTHING done - so it was time to break out the sleep training again.

I've chosen a modified version; not crying it out, because I just can't go there, but letting her learn to put herself to sleep. I'm there in the room, mostly out of sight, but listening to her cries & being there to sssh & pat if she gets upset. I'm also picking up/calming/putting down if she becomes hysterical. I did this for a little while before, but got too exhausted from the crying, and gave up. I'm trying again, and not giving in this time! She's taken a long time to go to sleep - but eventually she's getting there. I've had a comforter & soft toys in her bed too, which is new for me. It's not the way I envisioned her sleeping, but I've found that a lot of the tears and frustration comes from being in there & being bored. The toys tend to distract her from constantly searching for me too, and she snuggles her comforter before falling asleep.

This is all still with her sleeping next to me - after she eventually figures out the self settling, we'll start the next big step - transitioning into her nursery for all sleeps.

Any other settling tips you'd like to share? I'm always happy to try new things!

Teething + Sickness + Swimming = Agfhdsgfsdf

Oy, it's been a big week.

Georgia had her first swimming lesson this past weekend - we started off a little unsure of ourselves...

And then finished in tears - thirty straight minutes of tears and a very frazzled mama bear at the end of the lesson!

I couldn't figure out what it was that was bothering her - she loves bath time, so was it the cooler water? The noise of the pool? Being in with other people?

Well, the very next day, she cut her first tooth - the bottom right one is coming through. It's coming through on an angle, like a \ shape, which has me paranoid now that she'll have crooked teeth for life. Anyone else have any experience with baby teeth coming in crooked?

She also developed a wicked cold and has been miserable since then - crying like a, well, baby, constantly. She also wants to be with me 24/7, and bawls if I put her down. She's also completely gone off her cot, is getting by on 30 minutes during the day, and is wanting to co-sleep at nights - I'm wicked tired. Today is the first day in a week that she's having a nap on her own.

Can you believe that she's over 7 months old now? She weighed in at 7.8kg and is perfectly average on the 50% graph. So thrilled she's growing well & getting cuter and more personality every day.

Seven Months

I'm a few days late with our month seven run-down. I can't even comprehend that it's November, seriously.

I'm starting to reach for people with both arms now!

This month Georgia has:

• Grown so much! I look at her pictures now and she looks more like a little girl & less like a baby.
• Become much easier to travel with. Apart from me being organised with the solids and what-not, she copes much better with being thrown in the car/pram & going with the flow.
• Had her hair keep on growing - but only at the front! The back is still super fine fuzz, and I'm hoping it catches up with her fringe mullet (aka frullet) soon. I can pull it to the side with clips, but I want to put some pigtails in that silky hair!

• Continued sitting up on her own - and lasts much longer now. She looks so pleased to be able to interact with her toys/people from a whole new angle. Still droops sideways after a while though.
• Scratched herself constantly - but not with her fingernails, as you might have imagined. No, being flexible enough to keep your toes in your mouth, means that scratches come from toenails too!
• Been much more comfortable on her belly - but only for short amounts of time. She still prefers being upright, and loves spending time in her jumperoo and activity centre.
• Started making crawling-esque movements with her legs and bum. There's a bit of effort into pushing off with her legs and wiggling her backside, but not a lot else happening yet. All in good time...

• Started cuddling in to her mama's neck when she's tired or sad - I have to say, I LOVE the snuggles.
• Continued loving her food - three meals a day, still purées for now. We have also finally found breakfast baby foods that she loves, like muesli and porridge. (And she's nommed on vegemite toast!)
• Stayed in 00 clothes - though her little pot belly is filling them out a bit. :)
• Loved her fur babies, grabbing and stroking the kitties (& Spencer) whenever they walk past her.
• Enjoyed her first Halloween with her little twin boyfriends & another little cute man-friend. Georgia is very spoiled when it comes to having cute babies to hang out with, that's for sure. (And I am very lucky to have such lovely new mum-friends too!)

You can see all of Georgia's week by week pictures by clicking here.

Her First Halloween

Today I dressed my kid up as a Bumblebee. 

For Halloween.

I am so blessed.