I am super IMpressed

Two firsts in travel and sleep today.

First, she took over an hour nap in the car two HOURS before her normally scheduled nap.  normally she waits until she's overtired to pass out on any car ride and secondly she never sleeps more than an hour in the car. And what's more, she was very well behaved in the car during the four hour ride. (I guess either she's adapted to all the travel we did in Mexico and/or she's matured a little in the meantime.)

Second, she was very tired by 7pm. So we left my aunt's house and drove to my cousin's (where we were going to spend the night). Right to a bath and then bottle and bed. She asked for the bath and bed. She didn't try to stay up longer or watch tv and went right to sleep with minimal head banging. And shortly after 8pm. 

Like I imagine a bigger kid might do. This may be a one off -- and I'll take it. Super impressed. A very good and flexible kid today. Made the car journey and day go much nicer all around. 

Vacation went surprisingly well, being home however...

One day and night at grandpa's apartment followed by three days and two nights at the beach went surprisingly well. Gratefully the hotel room had very dark curtains so Carolina was able to sleep well. And we were mostly able to keep her nap and sleep schedule. She basically slept all day on Monday at home as she recovered from being tired from the weekend.

I just hope she forgives me for her first experience with ocean water. Which was freezing. And I asked her dad to put her feet in. And she sooner than immediately screamed. Screamed!! And didn't stop for about 10 minutes. See the photo (on the left) I took thinking she'd be smiling. Stupid mommy, really. And then later that day when she's tired but not having a fit. Notice the pink sweatshirt. It's from 1976. It was mommy's. Aunt Diana found it in our old closet and Grandma Carmela brought it to the beach. Hooray! That plus socks made Carolina's cold feet much happier!

The car ride there and back was okay. She wasn't a fan of the car seat, 'natch. She fussed and we made a few, brief stops along the way to stretch, change diaper, feed and walk around outside. But 3+ hours in the car is definitely her max. The whole trip was about 4+ hours with all the stops. and the traffic we hit on the way home took am extra hour that I would have gladly paid to avoid. Let's just say we ran out of milk in a bottle and when going over the GWB, she woke up with 10-20 mins left until Queens without traffic, more traffic on the FDR and I bought us about 10 mins of not crying by giving her a bottle of cold water. This distracted her but she was still crying when we pulled up and I rushed inside to feed her.


All in all it made me VERY hopeful for our two week trip to Mexico at Christmas.

Yesterday, however, was a different matter. She hardly napped. Nursed for a few minutes every hour but it felt like constantly. I was exhausted by 3pm. I had to keep walking outside around 2pm so she would (finally) sleep a little. She slept for only 30 mins but that's better than nothing. I ended up walking for 90 minutes outside. Mostly up and down our block wher the light breeze hit her head just as she likes it. I even had to ask Ismael to come home early since I was worn out by her. She was very clingy too. Maybe just one of her 'crazy' days.

Her poop has been greenish and on the sticky side for nearly a week. I'd be more worried except mine is too. I think it's the lack of fruit and veg while on vacation. Or maybe I'm a bit sick. I ate granola last week. Found a new one without nuts. Very yummy. But sometimes oats tear up my stomach. So that could be a contributing factor.

I'd call her pediatricians office but the doctor that does the callbacks usually is glib and gives me no information I couldn't get online or figure out myself. She really irritates me. Next month we start with a new doctor who is in network. I hope it works out since paying $200-500 per visit is murder on the wallet. Especially since insurance reimburses what amounts to around 30%. So many pediatricians in the city don't take insuranace. Not sure if the Obama plan would make a difference but having a baby is bloody expensive.

I hope today is a better nap day for my shorty.

in a room of her own

Today is the 2nd morning after she slept in her own room in her new crib, and took all her naps in the new crib. I have to say, it's a nice thing for all of us.

It took me long enough to get the crib sheets and bumper after the crib and mattress were sitting there for a few weeks. I should be honest and say it was a conscious delay. I wasn't ready to move her, even if she was.

I was apprehensive because I get up so often during the night to feed her that I thought it would be a real pain to have to go to the other room. In fact, last week and the week before I remember thinking that we were losing progress and she was starting to get up MORE often. At least it felt like it.

As it turns out, she gets up less often in her own room. In fact, the 2nd time she ever slept 5.5 hours was the first night in the crib. She's gone from waking up 4-5 times a night to 3 times a night. Eating for 4-5 minutes to eating 8-11 minutes during the night.

I feel badly when she cries after 4-5 hours of sleep since she's STARVING! So I try my best to get up as quickly as possible as soon as I hear her. We haven't bought a baby monitor. I'm still not sure we need it, but we may. We open her door when we're going to sleep and leave our door open. If we closed them both, we couldn't hear her unless she was screaming as loud as she possibly could. And no one wants her to have to do that.

There's no sense in trying to force her to eat more before she falls asleep since she eats as much as she needs/wants and won't take more. In fact, she's taken more than she needed recently and only spit it up shortly after.

I'd like to say that this means she's napping better during the day, but it's about the same. More frequently during the morning and then 2-3 hours of being awake towards the end of the day, with a bit of being 'crazy'. It all seems to sort itself out one way or another.

Her naps are now a bit longer, however. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that her new room we have blackout shades AND blackout curtains. So unlike before when she was in our room, and she'd wake US up when morning light was peeking through the curtains. I now have to go in to her room, open the shades and curtain to wake HER up.

It's a nice change.

I'm still waiting for her to be able to travel on the subway and bus more, so we keep trying. And the car...

I've been putting her in the car seat during the day when I walk around the apartment or the room to do something else. Mostly it's to get her to sit in the car seat and not cry.

Tomorrow Carolina and I are going to my parents place in the afternoon, then Ismael is going to join us that evening for dinner. The following morning we are all going to the beach for a mini vacation.

As I've heard from friends of mine with babies, this is not going to be a relaxing vacation for me BUT it'll be interesting.

I'm more curious now than anxious to see how she is during a nearly 3 hour car ride. See how many times we need to stop. How amenable she is to napping in the car. And what she'll be like sleeping somewhere that isn't her room. We're taking her pack n play and she will be, again, sleeping next to our bed.

I'm packing the white noise machine, but since we'll be in a room facing the ocean we may not need it. There will probably be a lot more light in the room, so she may get up more often. I'm willing to put up with that :) It's not terribly unusual.

In fact, when she sleeps more than 3 hours, and I'm awake (or wake myself up), I both miss her and wonder if she's breathing.

I walked in to her room this morning about 5am when she cried out and saw she was on her belly. She wasn't resting, she was struggling. She has started to do this more often. She can roll over on her belly but can't quite roll back. I know where she's landed since the crib sheet is wet where she had her mouth.

Mostly she is squirming and picking her head up and legs. Her arms don't seem to realize they can help out too. I've been trying to help her with this by putting something on the end of a string and having her track it with her eyes. I keep expecting her hands to reach up but they don't. Her arms may start to move around but it's not coordinated by any means and her hands usually stay in a light fist. She might open them but not to reach out and touch.

Her legs, however, do respond. So I guess it's a matter of time for when her hands decide they want "in" on the action.

we have sleep!

I don't think I've been this proud of another human being, ever! Okay, well, maybe pride isn't the most overwhelming feeling. Relief? Gratitude? Ok, some pride... she slept for 5.5 hours at a stretch last night. Was asleep a little before 8pm and then woke up around 1.30am. She was STARVING. Kid hasn't eaten that much, latched on that well, and then promptly went back to sleep. FOR ANOTHER THREE HOURS! Ate like a champ again, and then slept ANOTHER TWO HOURS!

Apparently once you get a five-hour stretch, you have "sleep through the night". I'm not sure whose night amounts to only five hours, but you know, whatever, it's progress!

Seriously, I could get used to this.

I'm not expecting to. I'm actually expecting it to be a cruel joke, whereby she wakes up every 2 hours tonight. But man, it was great to experience it and know it's possible.

I changed her diaper after her swim/bath at about 5.30pm last night, and then again when she woke up FULL OF POOP at about 6.30am this morning. 13 hours, one diaper. Man that diaper never worked so hard!

It wasn't as full of sleep for me as I thought it might be. I kept waking up to check the clock and see if she was still alive. Really, I did. I heard parents say this and thought, not me! I'll be so grateful for sleep and so tired, I'll sleep through it.

No way... I was waking myself up with a bit of panic, feeling like I overslept for exams or something. Then looking at her crib in the darkness to see if I could see her. I couldn't see her breathing but there was something about the way she was lying there that was reassuring she was still alive.

We also started "swimming lessons" in the bathtub last night and again this morning. We'll be doing it every morning until she can hold her breath underwater and is ready for the big pool. I can't wait for her to be a little swimmer! I'll bet she will sleep really well once she can swim and use up all that energy.

Speaking of swimming, we're going to the beach with my parents next weekend. I hope she likes it. She'll basically experience sitting, well laying (since she can't sit yet), on sand, hearing the waves, and watching things at the beach. And maybe a little ocean water drizzled/dripped on her head and belly. But no swimming. Probably just a nap.

Fingers crossed there is minimal meltdown in the car seat on the way there and back.

another car ride, another afternoon of crying

Since we took Miss Carolina in a car twice this week, we have more experience with what makes her cry (and consequently delay the trip) and what we can do to calm her down. You've read similar tales before (bus ride to Central Park and car ride to Babies R Us), so I'll just cut to the chase.

We went to Brooklyn to visit Kari and Jenn's new apartment. Really we went to have lunch and ice cream and walk around the neighborhood a little. But the lady didn't like getting in the car in the first place. She was great at the Post Office when we were on line for her US Passport application, but that was the hour before we picked up the ZipCar. Ah... good. Needless to say, there was no lunch out and no walking around. There was a nice time at the apartment and a quick, but painfully full of crying, visit to the ice cream place.

The following day we took Miss thing in the car to visit her grandparents so that mommy and daddy could visit their accountant. The ride was longer, the visit was longer, and there was more napping. We even tried a few different things in the car from the day before. It was less crying-ful and yet we still will avoid car journeys as much as possible.

Here's what we learned:

1. Feed her before you get in the car. Even if she's not interested. She'll be very interested as SOON as you start to drive forward. So, you'll spend the next 10-20 minutes with the feeding and then change the poopy diaper. Because, of course, she WILL POOP when you're in the car. She might not have for HOURS beforehand. But there will be poop while in the car.
2. If you can, get her to relax and fall asleep IN the car seat before you get the car seat in the car. This is a tough one. It's the best and will not require you to do most of the following things, but it's hardly ever something you can time with her. It's really just a matter of luck.
   
3. Bring 2 blankets. One to either wrap her or roll up to keep her sleepy head up and one, this is the more important one, to cover the car seat so she can't see all the wonderful life outside the window and less light. Keeping her focused on a smaller area, keeps her from freaking out about either not being able to see enough or, truthfully, from seeing too much and being overstimulated. She's a curious kid, so let's not overburden her by giving her too much to see when she's already unhappy about being in the car seat. I've since seen on Babies R Us website that there is some product you can zip up AROUND the entire car seat to keep it dark and, well, better than a blanket. I seriously don't need to keep track of more crap to bring in the car when we go out. The list is long enough right now thank you very much, and she's only 3 months old.
   
4. Bring 2 chupons (pacifiers). If she spits one out and it makes its way to the car floor, there is little chance of getting it clean in time to pop back in her mouth to keep her quiet.
5. Bring a little more milk than you think you need. I thought I did this, but you don't want to be, say, 1/4 ounce short and bear the wrath of still-a-little-bit-hungry baby. It kills me when it's been more than 4 hours and we have to throw away what she didn't drink, but it's better than screaming baby.
   
6. Sit on the side of her car seat that makes it easier for you to rock it left-to-right for at least 20 minutes.
   
7. "Car asleep" is not sleeping. Accept the fact that even when "asleep in the car" she will not really be asleep. So every pothole, bump, and construction hole that her father drives over will either surprise her (little hands go up in a kind of "I'm on a roller coaster and I don't like it" way), or wake her up completely.
8. Keep moving. Know that if you have the option to keep driving or stop, keep driving. If it means going further out of your way, do it. Especially if she's just ABOUT to relax for a long while. Keep the car moving. The worst is when she's JUST ABOUT done and you stop at a light. Yup, the whole thing starts all over again.
9. Nap interruptions have consequences. If you interrupt more than 2 nap periods, she will go to bed for the night much earlier than usual but it will be preceded with hours of on and off crying and not much smiling. So her usual happy self will be replaced with fussy baby. She did, however, fall asleep for the night at about 5pm and didn't wake up until about 10pm. She was about 10 minutes shy of a full 5 hour stretch of sleep. Of course that was followed by being awake every hour and a half afterwards, but I'll take the breaks when I can get 'em.
   
10. Bring a Ryan. If you have the chance to have a Ryan around, do so. A Ryan is a good distract-the-baby-from-crying friend who luckily was around while we were in Brooklyn to entertain Miss Carolina for at least 20 minutes with just moving his hands around. God bless the Ryan :)

All in all, I'm not sure if it's better to drive her to bring her on the subway. I think it depends on the day and how "up" I am for having strangers stare at me while she sounds like I'm torturing her.

She was exceptionally unhappy in the subway on the way to the Mexican Consulate on Monday, and midtown Manhattan was completely overwhelming with all the sounds. I'm glad the Baby Ergo has a snap cover, so that we could cover her head and she couldn't look around as much. If you think she has big eyes normally, you should have seen how big they got when she was trying to take in all of 42nd St at 5th Avenue. Thankfully they were disorganized enough that we had to go home right away, and she slept on the subway ride home. But it was interesting.

Stay tuned for more Travel Tales with Miss Carolina....

She's going for her 3 month checkup today and there will be immunization shots involved. Hooray!