Ol Yeller and Baby Scheduling

Cooking, cleaning, cuddling, coloring, crafting (a little), couponing, church.

These are the activities that fill my days. ☺

My husband went on a 2 day trip to a men's conference last weekend. I usually really hate my husband being gone over night. I can hardly sleep. This time went better than in the past, for a few reasons I believe:

- I made no plans to get extra projects done. I don't know why I do that anyway. When half of the parenting team is away, why even hope to accomplish extra? The girls and I went to a local (expensive) indoor playground to use a gift certificate. The rainy day (and equally gloomy little girls missing their daddy) made for the perfect day to enjoy that treat. We also rented Ol' Yeller and cuddled on the couch.

- I refused to let my mind go into those horrific what-if's of being home alone at night. I turned the humidifier on high so that every creak of the house didn't cause my heart to skip a beat. I also took the advice of a friend and quoted Scripture to myself as I lie in bed. God hath not given us the spirit of fear....

When Seth returned, he brought me this lovely ladies' devotional. So far, I like it immensely.

Leila has welcomed her first tooth. It looks very cute. She is trying her best to sit unassisted and has begun rolling playfully on the floor. We've finally gotten some hearty belly laughs out of her. Truth be told, Madison has the gift of making Leila laugh. We're also (finally) settling into a somewhat regular nap routine.

A word on routine/scheduling babies: If I ever want to generate comments on my blog, the key phrase of "baby scheduling" seems to do the trick. ☺I've come to realize that scheduling a baby means different things to different people. Some envision a mom wearing a stop watch around her neck, withholding nourishment or comfort until the typed out schedule stuck on the fridge (or the baby book) dictates that it is time. Maybe for some that is how it is. But not for me. When I say "baby schedule" what I really mean is a steady, mostly consistent routine. Waking up, eating, taking naps and going to bed roughly around the same time every day. Don't you usually eat or go to bed about the same time every day? I don't look at the clock to figure out what my baby needs. But a "general this is what we usually do" helps me to plan ahead, and know that gee, Leila is crying and it's 10am. I just fed her, so by George, I bet the girl needs a nap.

I own and gleaned some help from a BabyWise, which is a book about parent directed baby care. I agree with the underlying philosophies of the authors: that babies need parents (two of them). But I don't really follow the suggestions strictly. For example, Leila usually is nursed or cuddled to sleep, as were my other girls. I completely see why the authors, and many parents, are adamant about lying baby down groggy but still awake. I'm not opposed to that by any means. Nursing just usually knocks her out when she is tired, or in the case of most evenings, Seth and I enjoy snuggling with Leila after the older girls are put to bed. It's not usually intentional... she just always falls asleep. So we put her in the crib, and we cuddle with the only people still awake: each other. ♥

And I never let a hungry baby stay hungry. Nope. Got milk? Why, yes I do. With a routine, however, I almost always can count on a good 3-4 hours before Leila will be hungry again. Exceptions occur, obviously. My girls were generally big time sleepy heads as newborns. So I put great effort (especially with extra sleepy Eden) to get a nice big feeding in so that I wasn't nursing every hour. By a month or so old, I felt confident that they wouldn't need me for long enough to run to the store or sit in a church service, for example.

So there is the Kayte philosophy of baby scheduling. You were dying to know, I'm sure. =)

The older two were in a steady routine very early. It was easy and they seemed to naturally welcome it. Leila has as well, except for naps. She's been all over the place with naps. I do believe she thinks that, at 6 months, she doesn't require naps. Which of course she does. We've taken to calling her "Kittty Kat" because she is the queen of cat naps. It's like she just doesn't want to miss any of the action. She loves people and wants to just visit all day long.

I like visiting too. But I must pull myself away from virtual visiting now. Have a wonderful day!

Love,