Lucky Number 7

I've always had a thing for the number 7. I was born on July 17, and I was 7 weeks premature. I was the seventh child. I graduated from high school in 2007. I was 17 when I met Matt, and we were engaged on December 7th. I've just always liked the number.

We usually rock Elise to sleep, but last Friday night we started sleep training. I realized after she was asleep that night that she was exactly 7 months and 7 days old. So a good omen, I guess.

And it has gone pretty well. The first night she cried for a total of 27 minutes before she fell asleep (another 7), and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to hear her. (I still ended up crying before she was done, but it still wasn't as horrible as I had anticipated.) She has been sleeping better, waking up less, and sleeping longer, and as a result she is happier during the day. She even naps better. And sometimes she goes to sleep without a peep. We're still working out the kinks, but I think this thing is actually going to work. I feel more rested already.

And more good news: Elise is on a 4-hour eating schedule now! Yeah! Gone are the days that I would feed her every two hours. She's eating better than ever too. She still usually wakes up after four hours to eat, but I can handle two night feedings, especially since she is so good at putting herself back to sleep in the middle of the night because she is really tired. Last night she only ate once.

So all in all, we're doing well around here. We're all happier. Why didn't I blog about this before now? Honestly, I was afraid to jinx it. Sometimes I still think it's too good to be true.

This is a picture of our "video monitor" that Matt rigged up. We get live feed from Elise's room. He set this up so that we can see if Elise is okay without going in her room. We'll take it down when she gets the hang of putting herself to sleep.

Now We're Getting Somewhere

Elise started doing this army crawl today. Look out, world.

[Sorry the video is kind of long. I'm just proud of her.]

Seven Months Old

Elise is 7 months old today. Man, I love this crazy kid.

The Tornado

Elise loves to pull out all her toys and all her books. Every. Single. One.

"Who, me?"

She Gets Around...Almost

Elise has started to want to get around more and more lately. Yesterday she started getting up on her knees and elbows a little (first video) and scooting some (second video). Maybe she is going to be interested in crawling soon!

Fun Times

"So, Elise, what do you do for fun around here?"

"Oh, you know, sometimes I like to dunk my face in the water during bathtime..."

"...I work out to stay in shape..."

"...I play with my toys..."

"...or drive Mom crazy by pulling out all the books over and over..."

"...and then there's teething (but that's not so fun)..."

"...or sometimes I like watching the shadows..."

"...and I love playing with Daddy..."

"...because he's so silly..."

"...and tummy time is pretty fun.."

"...but mostly I just hang out."

[Don't worry, the clothes in the hamper were clean.]

Miracle of Miracles

The first time Elise had solids [here's the video if you missed it], we were convinced she really liked them. She didn't even make weird faces, and she seemed to eat the rice cereal pretty well for it being her first time.

Since then, however, she hasn't seemed to like to eat from a spoon. Ever. Every day I dreaded offering her solids because she always resisted so much (and because it made such a mess without getting much of anything in her tummy). I was convinced that she would never eat anything but breastmilk, and I was never going to get a break. We even gave her pears with the rice cereal because they were sweet (I know, I know, if I give her the sweet things first, she'll never eat vegetables). We were just hoping that she would eat something.

The truth is, I have been looking forward to Elise eating solids for months now. I have been hoping that she would get full, nurse less often, and sleep better. Because right now she nurses every two hours, night and day. She's six months old. I know newborns that do a lot better than that. I am so tired all the time, and I feel like I'm constantly nursing Elise. So, I guess solid food was my only hope for a break.

And then she wouldn't take them. And I was devastated. And I gave up hope. (Okay, that's a little dramatic, but I was pretty sad about it.)

But today, a miracle happened. Matt gave Elise sweet potatoes for the first time before church, and she seemed to like them okay. But I wasn't going to get my hopes up again because she always seems to like a food better the first time she tries it. Then tonight, I offered her peas, and—wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles—she eagerly finished all of it. Like, I scraped the bowl clean. That's never happened before. I refilled the bowl with sweet potatoes, and she liked that even better. Another bowl of sweet potatoes, and I couldn't get the spoon into her mouth fast enough. A second bowl of peas made her fourth bowl of food. About that time she finally slowed down (maybe that had something to do with the sweet-potatoes-to-peas switch). But I couldn't believe it. She had eaten way more than she ever had before.

So here we are, crossing our fingers. Maybe tonight is the night. Who knows, she might sleep four hours, or maybe even six. What am I doing here at the computer while she's asleep? I'm going to bed!

P.S. She may not look like she's enjoying the peas much if you're judging by the faces she's making in these pictures, but you should have seen her inhale that food!

P.P.S. Because I love Fiddler on the Roof, and because this calls for celebration (even if she doesn't sleep through the night tonight), here is a little video for you to enjoy: