Everyday something new

Hazel is growing so quickly now and it seems like she is doing something new everyday now. In the past two weeks she has become much more interactive and talkative- she has conversations with ceiling fans, door knobs and all sorts of interesting objects. Lately she has also begun to enjoy singing- particularly when Jered sings to her and bounces her on the exercise ball we have. We are slowly learning more and more about her personality and it seems like she is a very laid back but curious little girl. She is content to sit in her swing and look around or even lay in her bed and coo at her mobile. She does like to socialize and loves to watch people while they talk and especially while they eat.

We have started to settle into a bit of a routine with her, although it still does vary at times. Most days she wakes up between 6 and 8 am- eats and then either plays and stays up for an hour or goes right back to sleep for an hour or two. From around 10 until 2 she is generally awake most of the time with maybe a 15-20 minute nap thrown in for good measure. She still eats about every 2 hours during the day, so she will eat, then we play, then she has some quiet time just hanging out in her swing or in the stroller or carrier while I get stuff done around the house. Most days she goes down for an afternoon nap sometime between 2 and 4 pm. This nap usually lasts an hour or two (if we’re lucky)- then it’s more play time, quiet time and eating with some diapers thrown in for good measure! Around dinner time she usually gets hungry- we feed her and then eat our dinner while she plays on her play mat and has a bit of tummy time. After dinner we usually head out for a family walk- sometimes we take the stroller, other times we carry her in the Baby Bjorn (which she absolutely LOVES now that she can face the world!!).

Hazel absolutely adores being outside- she loves to sit in her stroller and look around at everything outside- sometimes she even starts laughing and cooing when she finds something or someone that is particularly interesting to her. We usually walk for about 30-45 minutes. About a month ago our walks with her were short because she would get fussy if we stayed out too long- now she enjoys them thoroughly. When we take her out in the Bjorn she loves to look up at the tall trees in our neighborhood, they usually elicit at least a coo or two every night!

After our evening walk we come home and continue our night-time routine. We try and give her a bath every other night, so if it’s bath night we go upstairs and do the bath, if not we usually stay downstairs and have a bit more playtime before bed. After a bath and diaper change she has her last big meal of the night and then we put her in her crib for the night. 6 out of 7 nights a week she is in bed asleep or extremely drowsy by 9 pm. Amazingly she has settled into a routine of sleeping between 7 and 9 hours a night, usually waking up anywhere between 5 and 8 am, sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes a little later. She hasn’t woken up for a middle of the night feeding for about 10 days now, so we think she has settled into this pattern, at least for now! It is nice to be able to get a consistent stretch of sleep- we were really getting worn out on only 3-4 hours at a time, those first 6-8 weeks were so hard when it came to sleep deprivation!

Tonight we went out for Mexican food and Hazel sat and watched us while we ate and was perfectly content to just sit and stare at her hands almost the entire time. Because she was so content we decided to extend our outing and head over to the bookstore to read a few magazines at the cafe. While we were there she continued to stare at her hands, but we also watched as she learned something new- she started reaching for the little rings that are attached to her car seat. We could almost see the wheels turning in her mind as she would stare at her hand and then back and forth between her hand and the rings- eventually she was able to reach for the rings and bring them to her mouth, it was a pretty cool thing to watch!

Tomorrow I go back to work for the first time without Hazel- I will be gone from 8 am until 3-4 pm. I am anxious to be away from her for that long as it will be the very first day that I will be away from her for more than a couple of hours at a time. I’ve already packed my bag and her bag and I think we are pretty much ready to go, but I’m still not sure that I’m ready to go! Wish us luck tomorrow as I make my way back to school and start the fall semester- I know I will be having some pretty major separation anxiety!

Filed under Pregnancy by esther |