First week back...

It went better than expected. I didn't cry. Not once the whole week! I am proud of myself, lol. I felt like I would cry on Monday, but I didn't. I got up a little before 5am - Amaya was still asleep, so I quickly got dressed, brushed my teeth, etc. & waited for my sister to arrive at our house. She got here a little before 6am & then Amaya started waking up. I told my sister to try patting her back & sometimes she'd fall back asleep. Then I headed out to catch my train to work. She texted me a bit later to tell me that she woke up shortly after I left. That early wake up was followed by a string of very short naps for the day, so by the time I got home, my little beh-be was sooo sleepy. She was definitely fussy, but fell asleep within about 45 min. (it normally takes FOREVER to get her to sleep when she's overtired) & slept for...wait for it...NINE hours straight. Yes, you read that right NINE!!! She woke up at 3:30am, had a bottle & went back down until I think 8am the next morning! Wowza. That was the longest stretch of sleep she has ever had.

The hubbs & I alternated watching her while we teleworked on Tuesday & Wednesday, which will not be a regular occurrence - just happened this week since I ended up going back to work a week early (long story) & my sister was not available the full week. She had pretty long morning naps both days, followed by short to semi-short naps (no longer than an hour) throughout the rest of each day & both days she was EXTREMELY fussy by 4:30pm/5pm. I'm talking full on straightening her legs, crying for 3 hours on & off until she finally went down-type fussy. Poor baby. :(

But today..ahh today...was such a wonderful marvelous great day! It was my sister's second day with her (she has a 3 year old as well). First, she slept until 7am, which is waaay better than the 6am wake up on Monday. An hour doesn't seem like much of a difference, but it is. My sister said she woke up happy, she fed her & got her dressed, then sent me these adorable pics of Baby AJ in her outfit for the day (she promises to send me daily pics of my cutie - awesome :):

 {apologize for the quality - they are cell phone pics}

Then, she took about an hour long nap in the morning, my sister took my nephew to his Gymboree class & wore Baby AJ in this carrier. She said that Amaya LOVED it at Gymboree & had a blast looking around at everything & all the kids! Then, she took another short nap on the way home from Gymboree, got home & had a bottle, then went down at 3pm & slept until 7pm!! I know, I know...her naps shouldn't be more than 3 hours, but believe me...my child needs at least 1 pretty long nap. I wasn't gonna let it go past 7pm anyways, but she woke up on her own. So, since she was not overtired after that nap (but she was hungry), I got to spend some non-fussy quality time with my baby after she had a pretty big bottle {& after her daddy stole some quality time with his angel}, then we gave her a bath & went back downstairs in the living room to hang out until she started acting sleepy again, which was shortly after we sat down! So I took her up to her room, rocked her in her rocking chair & fed her another small bottle {trying the before bedtime cluster feed thing out to see if it helps her sleep longer}, sang her a lullaby & she was out after about 10 more minutes of rocking. I try to put her down in her crib before she falls asleep, but she was out so quickly tonight, that it didn't quite happen, but she was still sucking her paci when I put her down, so she wasn't completely asleep. They say it teaches them to self-soothe to get to sleep the rest of the way. And now, my baby girl is fast asleep {and hopefully staying that way for at least the next 6+ hours until her middle of the night feed} & it was without the usual 2-3 hour screamfest. Holler. My sister works miracles & it's great because I know she loves Amaya & takes excellent care of her. All of that = amazing peace of mind for mama! And I'm back at work, doing a job that I like & some me time away from the house & baby...just enough to preserve my sanity. It is definitely going to be exhausting, but I'll get used to it. I think we are gonna be alright if we keep having more days like today! 'Till next time!

PS - post baby weight loss, info on the hubbs 30th birthday & more on our planned 2011 home projects coming soon!