WEEKS 23 & 24

My mom, Reagan & I went up to Charlotte last week to visit "Aunt Ashley." We had such a nice visit. Reagan did great with the traveling & didn't seem to have her sleeping or eating disrupted which was a relief. We spent a good bit of time enjoying the nice weather & walking around the wonderful neighborhood in which Ashley lives. Reagan got tons of attention from her aunt & granna. One of the highlights had to be when Ashley was playing with Reagan just after Reagan had finished eating. Poor Ash ended up with spit up in her hair, on her face & on her shirt...guess she learned the hard way not to slosh Reagan around after a meal.
These days Reagan doesn't stay still for a single second when she's awake. She is in constant motion & fascinated by everything in the world around her. She recently started making this growling sound with her throat & can't seem to get enough of making that noise. For the past two nights, I've only had to get up once w/her in the middle of the night which has been great. Hopefully this new trend will continue. Reagan has been napping really well, too, doing a long nap in the morning & afternoon. She has also been eating solid foods for a few weeks & doing great with that. I really haven't found anything that she won't eat just yet; I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she will continue to be a good eater as she grows. Overall, Reagan is such a happy, sweet, smart little baby & we couldn't be more in love!
WEEK 23





WEEK 24

LABOR DAY 2009

We had a nice Labor Day today. Eric made us breakfast & then Reagan & I took a walk; the weather was beautiful. When we got home, Eric went to fly & I watched some of the US Open & played w/Reagan. Reagan took an almost two hour nap & then my parents were here on their way back from Florida for a quick visit with us.
The best news from this holiday weekend is that Reagan's second tooth came in overnight on Sunday. After going down to bed around 7, she woke up screaming at 8:45 & I knew the tooth must be cutting through her poor gums. I was able to rock her back to sleep & then, for the first time ever, Reagan "slept through the night." She made it until 5:52am. Of course, when I woke up at 3am & she was still sleeping, I had to go into her room & check to make sure she was still breathing. I'm hopeful that since she's through this stage of teething, Reagan will have a little relief from the discomfort & sleep better. We'll see!

WEEK 22 - 5 MONTHS OLD!

My new resolution is to keep up on this blog more regularly. I hope to update it once a week on Reagan's "birthday" which is each Tuesday. Of course, today is Wednesday, so I'm already behind!
As I type, Reagan is rolling around on the quilt my grandmother gave to her. She loves to roll around & seems to prefer spending time on her tummy...I guess after 5 months on her back, she's ready for a change. She's engrossed with the t.v. Right now, I have the US Open tennis on & she's glued to the t.v. The other weekend, she couldn't keep her eyes off the golf I was watching. I hope she becomes a little athlete!
Also, her first teeth are coming in! Both of her bottom teeth are beginning to break through the gum. She's been acting like she's teething for about a month now, so I'm glad that the teeth are finally making their appearance & Reagan will get a little relief from the discomfort. It doesn't seem to bother her during the day but has been a little disruptive to her sleep the past two nights. Tylenol seemed to help. I can't believe she's already getting her teeth; she's going to be grown before I know it.
Here are a few shots that I took of Reagan yesterday:
22 WEEKS

WEEKS 16-21

Wow, another 5 weeks have passed. I think this may have been the hardest & the most fun 5 weeks yet. Up until a week ago, Reagan & I had been struggling with her nighttime sleeping. I was trying everything which was probably part of the problem. Subjecting my poor daughter to another sleep method every night. We had a few nights where I maybe got 2-3 hours of sleep...Reagan would go down to bed but then wake up 45 minutes later to cry for a while, then I'd try to rock her back to sleep only to have her wake up an hour later & on & on it went. At any rate, I think we've made it through this particular challenge. Three nights ago, Reagan would not fall asleep with me rocking her. This is what had been working for a month! So, I put her down in the crib, told Eric I'd be taking a bath & that Reagan was awake in her crib & we were going to let her cry for a while. Surely she'd eventually go to sleep. I got in the tub & sure enough, the whining/fussing started. Not 5 minutes later, I hear Eric in the room (over the monitor) soothing her. I hadn't wanted him to go in the room...I wanted her to cry for a while...but I was glad he did b/c that meant he didn't like hearing her cry either. His soothing didn't work, however, & her cries intensified. I got out of my bath & went to the room & of course, she stopped crying when I picked her up. I knew I wanted to try & break her habit of having me rock or nurse her to sleep, so we decided to let her cry for about 10 minutes & then I'd go in & check on her. Over an hour later (and after vomiting several times from crying so long), she finally passed out. She slept until around 2am which was great. The next night, she only cried for 38 minutes...I've been using my sports watch timer a lot lately. Last night, only 25 minutes. Today for her naps, she's cried for between 10-15 minutes each time...not too bad for a baby that had been relying on me to rock her to sleep. So, I think we're making progress.
On the more fun side of things, Reagan has changed SOOOO much this past month. She is rolling around everywhere. I'll lay her down on a quilt & then moments later she's 180 degrees turned in the opposite direction on the opposite side from which I set her. I think some of her sleep difficulties were probably related to the fact that she was working to reach this milestone. She is very active & I have a feeling we're going to have a crawler on our hands sooner rather than later.
Another new development is Reagan laughing. She's been smiling for a long time now, but her little laugh has started to blossom recently. It is one of the cutest sounds I've ever heard. She LOVES Big Bird & he usually makes her laugh. She loves to touch Eric's beard & often giggles when they're playing together. Despite the challenges at night (& related sleep deprivation for Mommy), she is so much fun & I love watching how she's growing & changing literally every day. Here are a few pictures from the last month!
WEEK 16


WEEK 17


WEEK 18

WEEK 19


WEEK 20


WEEK 21

15 WEEKS - TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK

Reagan is 15 weeks old now & becomming more & more aware every day. She has her hands in her mouth constantly, talks (or rather coos) a lot & loves to stand up while being held. She's really beginning to grab at things she finds interesting & they typically end up in her mouth. Occassionaly, a fist full of my hair ends up in her hand which feels great. Unhooking that tight grip of hers can be a challenge. Speaking of challenges, the past couple of nights Reagan has woken up shortly after being put down for the night. She cries & acts like she wants to go to bed, eats & the goes right to sleep...for 45 minutes to an hour. Then she wakes up all bright-eyed & smiley. I'm hoping that this is just a temporary set back. Tonight she got fussy right before bed & ate & went right to sleep. Here's to hoping that she gets a good nights rest!

13 & 14 WEEkS

Reagan is now 14 weeks old & is a super happy, smiley baby. She loves to stand up when she's being held & wobbles around & makes all kinds of different facial expressions. She very expressive & is on the verge of laughing but at the moment only giggles a little bit. This past Tuesday (7/7/09), Reagan rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time. I missed it b/c I was in the bathroom putting away her bath towels, but my mom saw her do it. She hasn't rolled over again yet, but she gets real close. She babbles & coos quite a bit now & really seems to enjoy talking to me in the middle of breast feeding. She looks up at me & smiles & coos & is rather distracted from eating. Reagan is sleeping really well at night; she goes for about 6 hours when she's first put to sleep. Naps are getting better during the day I think b/c I've gotten her on more of a regular schedule so she knows what to expect. Here are a few photos from Reagan's first 4th of July & from her grandma's recent visit:
4TH OF JULY/13 WEEKS










READING W/GRANA - 14 WEEKS