This month, Camille's tummy has gotten much better with the keeping-food-in business. *phew* She has also gotten a lot more talkative and more curious of her surroundings. She still hasn't reached out for toys yet, but there are plenty of things that do make her eyes light up. Her neck muscle has gotten stronger. Her legs have also gotten stronger and she really enjoys standing and sometimes jumping. Her hair, of course, continues to grow wildly. And, yes, she does have a mullet.
There were a couple of nights toward the end of the month where she slept through the night! Camille has been sleeping for stretches of 6-7 hours every night (with a total of around 11-12 hours, but with 1-2 feedings in between). But for a couple of nights this past week, she slept for 10.5 and 11 hours straight! Not sure what caused that...but we sure were glad to get the continuous sleep, too! :)
Finally, the biggest milestone this month is: teething! Yes! It's true. She is growing up so fast.
Chin playing with Camille (Nov 18)
The specs
As of November 30th
- Weight: 11 lb 11 oz
- Height: 23.5 in
November 14 - Camille had a huge meltdown in the evening for no apparent reason. She just started screaming. We thought we'd give her a bath to calm her down. She was completely calm during the bath, but resumed the screaming immediately after we put her clothes back on. Still no idea what happened.
November 18 - Camille's first trip to the UW School of Nursing!
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| Visiting Auntie Hilary & Auntie Lam |
November 26 - Chin & I got new phones (myTouch 4G). Okay, so this is not a Camille milestone, but it is a significant event as these phones enable us to take pictures of Camille, take videos, do video chat, text about Camille, look up information written by baby sleep experts, etc. Very useful!
December 2 - Successfully put my wedding band back on since 2nd trimester of pregnancy! I also shared the gospel story with Camille for the first time. She smiled. :)
December 3 - Camille had another huge meltdown for no apparent reason (in the middle of my company's holiday party). This time, we think it's because of a growth spurt.
December 10 - We left Camille with the Grays (a pastoral family from our church) for a few hours as we went to Chin's company party. The Grays are fantaaastic with kids!! We came back from the party to see Camille contently laying on the couch as Marvin read her the Gospel of John. Haha! Anyhow, Julie asked us, "Did you know that she's teething?" No! A little tooth bud is popping up from the bottom...right of the middle. *sigh* Why must you grow so fast?
Favorite part...
Sometimes during feeding time, Camille would just unlatch, stare up at me, and coo for a few minutes. These are the sweetest minutes of my day.
Least favorite...
Dealing with the sleep-training conundrum. Do I let her cry it out? Do I rock her to sleep? Camille is a good sleeper at night but naps are not coming very naturally for her even when she is tired. I am very torn on this topic. There is a blog post re:sleep that I'm still working on. Stay tuned!
Shout outs
...To Lance+Krista+William for letting us borrow this amazing play mat! Camille loves the blinking star that plays music.
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| She loves it! |
Discoveries & reflections
...Sometimes, I just feel like I am the most blessed woman in the world. Then I look down and see that I've leaked milk through my shirt...and I curse the day I was born. Leaking milk is like my worst enemy. Curses!!
...Even though I don't set a schedule for Camille, I do feel bummed and sometimes even frustrated when Camille's routine gets shifted.
...When the baby is asleep and you see a hair on her face that you really want to pick off...resist the urge!
...Camille loves to be naked. Whether it be bath time (which she has always enjoyed), getting her diaper changed, or being put over the toilet to do bidnez. Whenever she is cranky, we just take off her diaper and let her just...hang out. We call it "naked time." Because we've been putting her over the toilet several times a day, it's almost like she knows not to pee or poop when she's naked elsewhere. Maybe we're really on our way to having a diaper-free baby! :)
...The spot on baby that needs scrubbing the most during a bath: the neck.
...The spot on baby that is the most difficult to access during a bath: the neck.
...Camille is adamant about not taking the bottle. She feels the same way about pacifiers. We've tried on many occasions (when she's happy and not too hungry, when she's starving, fed by Chin, fed by Bao, etc.) and nothing seems to work. Sometimes, she will even gag and throw up. This is sad because it limits me from being away from Camille for any period longer than 4 hours. :(
...It is a little sad when Camille grows out of some of her outfits. She's growing so fast!
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| "So, um, you like my new hat?" |
...In an interview between Don Miller and Dr. John Townsend in the Convergence series, they mentioned something to the effect that God is the perfect parent. Yet we, as His children, are terribly screwed up. I think that takes a lot of pressure off of me as a parent to know that, well, Camille is screwed. Hehe, kidding. Well, I feel a lot better knowing this because it means that effort and results are not necessarily equivalent. Still, I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to do what is best.
...I often feel that I'm not giving Camille enough social interactions.
...I am much better at encouraging other new moms than I am at forgiving myself.
...I just need to convince myself that (1) there is no "one perfect way" to raise a child, (2) the most well-intentioned people (mostly moms) may not have the best parenting advice for me, and (3) I, actually, am not an idiot.
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| Next thing you know, she'll want to go shopping for a prom dress |
3 comments:
Elizabeth Pantley and Dr. Sears both have great sleep books with different no cry ideas to try. I'm currently reading the toddler tips to help me reorganize my sleepers before the baby arrives. And yes, mine both sleep through the night but I won't tell you how long it took to get there consistently :) Maybe I should have got the books a few years back. -Joy
i love your reflections, Bao! Way to go in documenting it all.
I am giving you a big high five.
ps. you are not an idiot
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