You can see my baby! I'll be fixing up the pages shortly, but wanted to get some photos on-line as quickly as possible.
Sorry to have been so many days out of the loop: time is flowing in all kinds of interesting ways these days and nights. Last night Colette only slept from 4:00 to 6:30, and Jean and I took turns relieving one another from duty. I guess she's got her clock set the wrong way around, as she has been asleep almost all morning long.
My sister Colette drove down from New York City with her boyfriend Shawn yesterday. Our directions were terrible, and they spent more than an hour travelling up and down the Powhite Parkway (sorry, guys!). Colette (my sister) held Colette (my daughter) for some time last night, though my daughter didn't really wake up until Colette and Shawn were out the door on their way to the hotel. Colette and Shawn came back for an hour and a half more this morning, and my daughter was kind enough to be awake for a little while. My sister talked and sang to my daughter. It was touching to see the two of them interacting.
Jean slept until sometime after twelve noon today. While she was sleeping I read up on babies in the night. There are some things we could be doing to simplify late night with Colette. For starters, we need to keep things as dark as possible. We didn't have a bunch of lights on before, but there was one bright light and Colette kept staring at our print of Schroeder's Piano last night. From now on we're going to keep the kitchen light on but no lights in the room where we're feeding or comforting Colette.
Another thing we're trying is to increase her evening feedings. She's had a bottle tonight at 8:00 and 9:45 and I'm hoping to give her one more before we go to bed near midnight. I've read that full tummies make it easier for babies to sleep longer.
We're also concentrating on getting her alert during the daytime: we're waking her up a little more during the day, and she stays in sunny rooms even when sleeping. All this should help set her internal clock sooner than later.
Another big decision today: we're going to forgo the pacifier as much as possible, if not completely. Over the past few days and nights, Colette's been cranky without a pacifier (or my pinky finger, which she likes even better). This morning we decided that if she wants to suck her thumb or finger, that's her business, but she would have to find her own resolution to her need. If we don't do this, she'll always need us to tend to her insecurities. I know it's a little early for this kind of development, but Jean and I are trying to set our patterns now for the future.
The nice thing is that Colette seems to be finding her hand more often. She doesn't have the concentration yet to keep her arm from jerking her hand from her mouth, but she's trying.
Off and on today Colette has started smiling. It's too early for her to have more than fleeting emotion (other than curiosity perhaps), but each glimmer of a smile reaches into my heart. Tonight she's been smiling frequently, especially when I'm talking to her.
It was sunny all day today, with the temperature in the high fifties. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer. If our timing works out right, Jean, Colette and I are going to break in the stroller with a short walk around the block.
© 1999 Kevin J.T. Creamer