Our first days at home have gone well, despite a stressful start. We arrived home on Monday, July 16. Chris and I quickly ate and then I tried to feed Claire. She decided to be finicky and not latch on, which raised my stress level ten-fold. She cried and couldn't be consoled. Chris tried, his Mom tried and I tried. We had to drive to Maine to bring Chris' Mom home, which added another degree of stress to the situation, although we truly appreciated her coming to dog sit for us. However, I must say I developed a rule that I will live by--NEVER AGAIN WILL I LET HER CRY HERSELF TO SLEEP (at least as a newborn). I feel new babies cry for a reason and it is our job to figure out what is wrong. Their whole world has changed in an instant, so I can only imagine the shock they must feel. Everyone seems to have their own opinion on this issue, but Chris and I agree that we need to develop our own rules for raising our child without the input of others. Anyway, we don't know what we would have done without Chris' Mom. We got in the car and Claire finally fell asleep about 10 minutes into the drive. Things went much better with just the four of us at home. Claire initially fought falling asleep around midnight, but Chris was able to get her asleep. Much to everyone's happiness. Even Harvest would look at her as if to say "what is wrong?" She did wake up again around 3, but went right back to sleep after eating. Claire didn't wake up until 7. Life is good. Night #2 didn't go as smoothly. It was my first day with milk, so Claire was eating like she had never been fed. It was a tough night. I think she was up nearly every hour. Chris was exhausted from working on the bathroom. He didn't even wake once. Our 3rd,4th and 5th nights went well. She went to sleep around 11 and slept until 3 and then awoke around 7. The same holds true during the day. She is alert for an hour at a time, but is a very content baby. No crying. We do have to change her diaper ALL THE TIME. She toots like crazy. Chris and I are amazed at the rumbling that roars from something so adorable. Things are going well. We are a bit tired, moreso from the bathroom remodeling than from our new addition. She has been perfect. We are truly blessed to have a happy, healthy, sleeping baby. Hopefully it continues.
Claire is nine months old. She is such an active kid, always on the go. She no longer lays nicely when we change her diaper. It is quite the challenge. She is getting rather quick at crawling, so we have to move just as quickly to keep her out of where she doesn't belong--the fridge, cupboards, etc. Developmentally, she is right on track or maybe a bit advanced in our biased eyes. She crawls, pulls herself up, is beginning to move from one piece of furniture to another, mostly eats table food, and imitates us (both in the noises we make or actions--knocking on a door). When we hold her hands, she is beginning to take steps without much guidance. On Saturday, she made her first attempt to climb a step. Sadly, it ended with her sliding down. She has three teeth--two on the bottom, one on top with another coming in on top. Ten things we love about her: 1. her smile 2. her curiosity 3. the way she holds our hands or her own hands when she sleeps 4. her easy-goingness 5....
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