Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers about Norah's acid reflux. The new formula seems to be helping some, she doesn't spit up quite as often and doesn't seem in nearly as much pain when she eats. But it has changed the way she spits up and the volume. Now it comes up her nose every time which makes her gasp and panic and feel like she can't breathe which is very traumatic for a three month old. And it drenches both of us. So while it doesn't happen every hour like before, when she does spit up it takes longer to calm her down which is discouraging at bedtime. But we will make it. We've only got a few more weeks until we can try out some thin rice cereal.
And that is nuts. My little baby is almost ready to be fed cereal from a spoon like a real person. Crazy. She has jumped up to 3-6mo clothes and yesterday I had to buy size 2 diapers. She is so alert and smiles at us all the time. She likes to lay on her play mat and look at the lights in the tiger's belly. At least I think its supposed to be a tiger even though it looks like a bear. All the hanging toys on this mat are black and white which is the contrast that babies like and works out well for the zebra but not so much for the tigers. And I don't think its a bear because this is like a jungle/desert animal play mat. So we tell her its a Siberian tiger taking a vacation with a zebra, an elephant and a parrot.
She loves to dance with mommy. She even has preferred music. There is a group called Celtic Thunder (sort of a male version of Celtic Women, for those of you who watch lots of PBS) that performs like Irish folk stuff and other original pieces and they are her favorite. I put it on one day like two months ago because I like it (lame and proud, darn it) and it is easy to dance around to with a baby and now that is her music. She calms down to listen to it whenever I turn it on. She will also accept the grooveshark.com bluegrass station if we are in the kitchen. It is so funny that she already has such definite music preferences. The glimpses of personality that we are getting are just amazing.
Her schedule is making life easier on both of us. Even though bedtime is rough when she spits up and then gets upset, we still have a set routine that she seems to like. On Sunday we were at my parent's for the Super Bowl and around 7:30 rolled around and we were still there and I was just going to feed her in a bit and let her nap in her stroller. But she just cried and cried and would not be comforted. The only thing I could think of was that it was bath time and bedtime and we weren't doing that. So mom let me give her a bath there; luckily I had some PJs with us. I had to lay her down on a towel on the floor to run the bath and I just thought she'd really scream once I put her down. But as soon as I started the water she calmed down and just waited. She really does love bath time. Some days she's not so much a big fan of hair washing, but what kid is, really? During bath time we talk about what we did that day and if it's been a rough day I tell her that we are washing this day away so we can start fresh. Making bath time and bedtime so important was the best piece of advice I have gotten as a mother (much thanks Elizabeth and Emily!).
Now we really need to get this child's room done. With Jay's busy work schedule its been hard for him to finish repainting the drawers for her dresser and that is really the last big task. We bought her a new door (the old one was rubbish and it needed to open to the other side anyway) so that's done. I'm really looking forward to having her sleep in there and playing with her more in there. I just think that will really make it feel like she's home and really here when she's in her room. Her own room.
One request: Jay and I are going to finally go this week and order Aislynn a marker for her spot. It has been something that I both wanted to get done and completely dreaded. Its still not fair that I have to buy my own daughter the marker for her grave, but its what needs done so we can honor her properly. Please say a prayer or send out a happy thought and some strength for us for that task. Thank you in advance for your support. Bye!! :)
