My little Snowflake turned 6 months yesterday.
I still see her very much as a little baby. I find it almost unbelievable that when Cubling was this age, I was already back at work four long days a week.
She loves holding things for ages and exploring it in her mouth. She loves biting into things. She doesn't like being spoonfed but is more than keen about feeding herself. So I guess we'll be doing mostly baby led weaning this time around.
There is no mad giggles as with Cubling - where Cubling was intense with her emotions (and still is), Snowflake is observant, spends longer with one toy, and actually takes an interest in toys (Cubling was and is mostly interested in people, not toys). Of course she loves people and Cubling in particular - she's the one who gets the most smiles, the most giggles.
On the sleep front, the baby who started out a great sleeper is no longer that. We have occasional nights where she sleeps for longer stretches (3 hrs at a time). Most nights she won't settle well in the evening (she does if I hold her, but don't let me try and put her into bed or sneak away) and during the night she wakes a lot. I don't watch the clock, but she wakes regularly, mostly not for long, but increasingly she will only settle back when cradled into my arm. My poor 40 year old shoulder is not happy.
I'm trying to change this but the thing is that she goes from one cold/cough to the next and it's not that she doesn't want to sleep. She just wakes herself a lot. She is not exactly the picture of health, and maybe we'll have to explore treatment. Since she was born, she's only been a few days without a snuffle nose or a cough. And that was after 2 weeks of IV antibiotics. I've raised this concern with Health Visitor and GP yet both say she's just picking up bugs through her sister and as long as she feeds without problems, she's ok. Well, she feeds ok but brings up a lot due to her constant coughing, and the 6 months weigh in has shown that she is in fact lighter than Cubling at 22 weeks, which is surprising considering that a) she feeds so often and I feel much more efficiently than Cubling and b) she never strikes me as not getting enough (a concern I very much had with Cubling - incidentally, both girls were exactly the same weight at birth). Maybe she is not putting on the weight as she should because of bringing up so much with her coughing fits. Our handwash regime is good, and I do try to keep Snowflake away from those with colds, but still she gets one after another. I've heard of other children who were like this as a baby, and that it can be very normal, which is reassuring. Yet I've reached the point where I'd give anything for a couple of good nights to recharge the batteries and where I think it's not fair on Snowflake to just do nothing.
During the day, she's a happy girl. Even with a snuffly nose and a bad cough. Chilled yet determined at times. I can't wait to see her personality develop over the next months, while I also wish she'd stay a baby for a bit longer. Every day, especially on those where I'm tired and feel I'm running on some hamster wheel, I keep telling myself to treasure those fleeting baby moments and just be there.
Mummy do that!
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8 comments:
I do feel for you. A good nights sleep makes a huge difference. Hopefully the summer will kill off all the bugs that are going around and give you a break from the snot-fest.
Oh the colds! My little FP had lots of colds as a baby and I had many sleepless months with her too. As Annicles says, things will improve with the better weather. Hope it's soon!
My second picked up EVERY SINGLE bug for the first year or so. She got a bit better after that. Only a bit, though. Now, at three, she's not sick so much.
I am so with you on the no sleep. We have the same. And projectile vomiting after coughing. Ughr!
Does it help to remember that everthing passes? And do you know I remembered my other mantra today: if it's important, do it NOW, "later" might not happen (because baby wakes up, gets sick etc etc). Which I remembered because I didn't get on with something important when I had the time and then my son threatened to run a temperature today - fortunately he had cooled down by the time he had to go to school.
Anyway, I have very different question for you: how do you get the pictures to appear for each post in the Linkwithin bit?
@Jen, it's automatic, and picks up photos that are in the body of the posts; i.e. you need to have a photo in your posts. So sometimes the links are with photos, other times just text (as I don't have a photo with every post)
@Mwa I so hope Snowflake will be really strong after all those bugs. I know the opposite may be true, and I wonder if it's a slight allergy as she's snuffly and wheezy almost always.
@Rachel, so do I, and I hope the sleep will improve with it, as I currently blame her bad night time sleep on her snuffle nose/teething.
@Annicles, oh yes, bring on summer. No more snow. It was nice, but it's almost April.
I found the first six months went by much quicker with the second child. And I had to go back to work at six months the second time, too (but the second time there was no childminder because my husband took over as the stay-at-home carer).
I really feel for you on the colds. Our two seem to have had one cold or bug after the other since the start of this year, and Frank often vomits in the night after coughing. I also remember the 5-7 months period as one of especially bad sleep anyway, so it must be a brutal combination. Wishing you strength in finding a way through it.
I see! (about the photos). I haven't put any pictures in yet at all - I've been pleased if I've managed to get the text done before a belated bedtime so far, but I might try and make the effort now.
Our second one caught way more bugs as well - this is the first winter he hasn't had a constant stuffy nose and cough (constant as in from October to May) - so there's hope for Snowflake! Btw, he'll be 4 this summer, so it's been going on for a while.
As for the eating.... hopefully Snowflake is just different from Cubling. My two were pretty much the same at birth (length and weight), but our yougest is definitely a lot smaller (both height and weight)than his big sister at the same age. He outgrows things a lot smaller and seems to have a different body type, something that is really only now becoming more obvious. However, he doesn't have Snowflake's health history, so who knows.
Hope all is 'normal' and there's no need for concern!
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