Moonlight

These pics are of the yoga ball that used to be essential to getting Ingrid to sleep (bouncing while singing Froggy Went A Courtin' or humming Christmas songs). The sun shining in the window lit it up to look like the moon. What you can't see in this picture is that Ingrid has her first tooth!!!! On the bottom thankfully, so that when she nurses her tongue covers it.

Ingrid takes a bow (groan)

This is the cute outfit I bought when I was in Orange County in October. Yes, while Ingrid was freaking out back home, I went to the mall. And no, nothing happened there to turn me into the kind of person that would regularly put bows on her baby's head. It was just some gift wrap lying around in the living room.

I was back in the OC last week and... Ingrid was just fine. And I went to the new James Bond movie (Eh. But... Candy!!! Movie!!!).

Sleep

Over Thanksgiving we "Ferberized" Miss Ingrid because I couldn't take her sleeping in the bed with me and waking up every hour any more. That had become the standard drill after I returned from Orange County and it was SOOO not okay. The Ferber sleep training method involves putting her to bed, going in after 5 minutes of crying, patting her (not picking her up) then leaving. Then going in after 10 minutes and after 15 minutes. Repeat the 15 minutes until she is asleep and then start over again if she wakes up. The second night, same drill starting with 10 minutes, going to 20. Mike and I took 4 hour shifts during each night. The first night it took less than an hour altogether for her to really fall asleep. She woke several times during the night. The second night she fell asleep in half and hour and barely woke at night. It wasn't necessary to go in to see her because she fell back asleep before the time was up. I thought we would have a week of crying to deal with. Nope. Now she sleeps from 7 or 8 p.m. until about 6 a.m. Often she doesn't wake (or not enough for the baby monitor to wake us up) during the night. When she does, it is usually only for a minute or two around midnight or 3 a.m. I get to sleep. And Mike is no longer in the guest room down the hall. Sanity has returned. These pics are of her current daytime napping technique: bouncy chair, double swaddle, pacifier and musical aquarium. Those Fisher Price scientists are really onto something with that aquarium. Once it is turned on she loses consciousness within minutes. She's had a few naps in the crib (with the swaddle, pacifier and aquarium). I figure we can change one thing at at time with the eventual goal of accoutrement-free napping.

Outtakes

Today we took some pics in the yard for what should turn out to be a holiday card. Which holiday? That will depend on how soon I get it done.

Ready to go

On the rare occasion when Ingrid has already napped enough when it's time for our walk, she gets to sit up in the stroller like a big girl, instead of reclining in the car seat. She usually falls asleep even when she sits up, but I like to give her the option of enjoying the scenery. On this day she fell asleep very quickly since she'd been jumping in the doorway with Mike for about 40 minutes. No, Mike doesn't jump in the doorway. At least not that I've seen.

Gruel-y Goodness

Ingrid really likes her rice cereal. She likes to grab it off the spoon and stuff it in her mouth; she likes to fish it out of her mouth with her fingers and throw it on the tray; and she likes to suck on her fingers while I am trying to feed her. She doesn't quite understand that food can't go in when there is something in her mouth already. She may need one of those bibs with sleeves, like the smock I wore for art in kindergarten. Or we could feed her in the kitchen and hose her down with the sprayer from the sink. Fortunately bath time is not too long after dinner.

Sitting and Bowling

Some of Ingrid's favorite toys are things she has found on the kitchen counter while helping us cook. The metal bowl was usually fully of stuff for the composter.... not any more. It has been appropriated for toy storage and as a drum and boat. Note the high tech silicone Williams-Sonoma kayak paddle. Note also how well Miss Ingrid can sit.

Trying to Catch a Smile

Last week Mama asked me "does Ingrid smile?" Yes. She does. And she laughs too. And she is ticklish (oh, the cuteness). She is not however very cooperative when it comes to smiling into the camera. Maybe she is worried she won't be taken seriously.