Sarah is 3 months old today! I've forgotten how much tiny babies change over just one month! Sarah is still just eating, sleeping, soiling diapers, and doing some tummy time, but all things sleep were the main focus this month. Up until a few weeks ago, we had been holding Sarah and rocking her/bouncing her to sleep for every nap. Every baby book out there says to put babies down "drowsy but awake" and not fully asleep, but I didn't really remember how to put her down for naps otherwise. This was also an area of such stress with Noah that I just wanted to keep things as easy as possible...and hope that Sarah would just figure out how to "self-soothe" and fall asleep on her own later on. No adult, or even older child for that matter, needs to be rocked to sleep, right?? In any case, the rocking to sleep was a problem anyway because Sarah was starting to get very heavy (95%-ile in weight!!), and because it was also just not working that well anymore. During the weekend of Hurricane Sandy, Sarah also started staying up for an hour or two after night-time feedings, usually between 4 and 5 am. I think she did this every night that weekend. Fortunately Peter had Monday and Tuesday off due to the hurricane, but I was worried that this was going to continue even after he went back to work and I would've been in real trouble. When Noah was little, I could at least nap during the day when I was really tired, but now I can only nap if Sarah and Noah are both napping at the same time....which doesn't happen often. It's like waiting around for a lunar eclipse. So when Peter went back to work on Wednesday, I made it my mission to be on top of Sarah's waking and napping and I watched the clock constantly to make sure she was never awake for too long. I was convinced that her sleep problems were due to not enough sleep and irregular sleeping times, so I was going to at least try to fix that and see what happened. I don't know if my efforts did anything or not, but somehow, she started sleeping better. Not only was she sleeping better, but if I paid close attention to her tired signs and got her into bed, in a nice swaddle, and stuck a pacifier in her mouth, she fell asleep! It worked far better than holding her! I hope this method continues to be effective, because I really do not want to go back to rocking her to sleep.
Now that sleeping and feeding are somewhat figured out, Sarah is pretty happy most of the day. She smiles a lot, and is very chatty! Just about every time I look at Sarah, she has a big smile for me, and I feel so, so blessed. She looks like the happiest baby in the world, and I like to think that it's because she sees me. :) I don't remember Noah being like this....I think he saved most of his smiles for Peter. Sarah coos a lot too, with lots of facial expressions, and it seems like she's telling me all about what's happened to her recently. I was a little nervous about having a girl because I felt like I was getting the hang of having a boy and I worried about being able to bond and connect with her. Sarah and I aren't having real conversations yet, but I feel like we are already forming a deep connection. I also worried about loving one child more than the other, but I'm assured now that it's just not possible. Noah may have been my #1 baby for so long, but I can see that my relationship with Sarah is and will be special in its own way. Now I have two #1 babies!
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