8 WEEK UPDATE

The last week or two, it seems that Kelsey has gone through Wonder Week 8 (which can last for up to 2 weeks), and we've come out on the other side! (whew!) Wonder weeks are periods during the first 14 months of life when babies take major developmental leaps and therefore tend to be more "fussy" and out of sorts during those periods due to the drastic changes going in their development. (See The Wonder Weeks by Hetty Vanderijt and Frans Plooij for more details.) Once I read about these so called Wonder Weeks, it made me feel a bit better to know that Kelsey was just "going by the book" and things we were dealing with were all normal and expected even. Now I'll know more what to expect each time a wonder week approaches.

(She spent one of her waketime activites just staring at and smiling at her toy that I put on top of her swing. She is much more aware this week of her surroundings.)

STATS / WEIGHT

She weighed in at 12 lbs. 10 oz. this week. So, she gained weight, but not excessively as in the past. I was pleased with that.

EATING

She is eating a bit more consistenly again, though still not as much as I feel like she should be. She is averaging about 20-21 ounces a day (with rice cereal added in though). When she is hungry, she will eat a 3 oz. bottle in about 10 minutes tops. When she is not hungry, it takes her 20-30 minutes to take 3 oz. At her bedtime bottle, she still typically does not want to eat and will usually only take about 2 oz. I have found that if she does get a good catnap in around 5:30, she is not quite so overtired and cranky for her bedtime bottle and it goes a bit better, but it is hit and miss whether she will actually take that catnap or not. I have tried to up her bottles to 4 oz. but she will either gulp it down and then projectile vomit all over me, or she will eat her normal 3 and refuse the rest. So, for now, I am upping one bottle a day to 4 oz. for awhile and see if I can slowly get her tummy used to a bit more.

SLEEPING

Her sleeping has been a bit better the last few days. (Knock on wood.) I think the Wonder Week 8 is past us now, and she is naturally sleeping a bit better. I still sometimes hear her after 45 minutes or so, but she doesn't cry, and lately she has been going back to sleep on her own now again. She is taking about 2 hour naps (with that 45 minute intruder in the middle), and her waketime between naps is still only about 45-50 minutes. I feel like she should be able to go longer than that here soon, but she shows all the signs of being tired at about the 45 minute mark, and if I don't let her get too overtired, she goes to sleep on her own just great. Our middle of the night is still the same.....Dreamfeed at 10:30 and wakes around 4:30-5:00, then back to bed until our designated wake time at 7:30.

REFLUX

Still about the same. She puked a bit more again this week......

SCHEDULE

Nothing has really changed except that we are now consistently doing bath, jammies, THEN feed, and straight to bed instead of trying to feed first, then bath and bed. I was trying to avoid that.....feeding right before bedtime sleep, but it just works better this way.
MILESTONES

She definitely follows the textbook for Wonder Week 8 - a new awareness of her hands, focusing more on objects in her line of vision, and making purposeful noises. She continues to laugh and smile a lot, and is overall becoming a much more pleasant baby as we slowly transition out of the hard Wonder Week.