Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Flying babies
Riley had her first airplane ride last weekend to visit the crew in SC. She was a perfect passenger. Not a peep out of her the entire time. In fact, she fell asleep in TJ's arms during takeoff. So, in terms of her aviation career, does that make her a natural...or mean that it's not the right profession? She had lots of admirers, as usual, and I wanted to stand in the breezeway and collect tips because she took it so easy on the other passengers' ears. I tried to get her a pair of stick on pilot's wings like they used to give out to kids, but alas, the stewards and stewardesses didn't have any or know what happened to the supply. Darn recession.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Ferberization
To Ferberize...that's like to Winterize, right?
Something designed to protect your baby from the harsh elements???
Hmmm. Not exactly. It's a catchy little phrase I'd heard once or twice before watching a hilarious recent episode of the sitcom Modern Family. It piqued my interest -- especially since TJ and I have been discussing for a while now how Riley is about to "Hulk" herself out of the velcro sleep swaddle and the nagging notion that the binky may cause orthodontic problems down the road. Those issues, coupled with the fact that the word "Ferberization" is just so fun to say, convinced us to do what any good parents would do...refuse to leave well enough alone.
To Ferberize actually means to "teach" your baby the finer points of crying herself to sleep. It involves...wait for it...letting her cry herself to sleep. Complicated, I know.
Okay, to be fair, there's actually a recommended methodology that introduces a number of crying intervals interrupted by the parents' brief, soothing presence. The problem with the interval training is the fact that our unrestricted sleeping baby is too friggin' hilarious. The first time we went to check on Riley after about 20 minutes of crying, she was borderline asleep, with arms and legs splayed out, blankets up over her head. We both started cracking up, which of course woke her up and pissed her off. Lesson learned. You must be very quiet when entertaining yourself at your Ferber-fledgling's expense.
So far, we've seen the following poses: both arms out to the sides, one arm straight up and the other in a bicep muscle pose, arms and blankets up over the head, soft giraffe stuffy over the eyes and both arms over the face. Must give her credit though...she's sleeping through the night just like before. Now we're just waiting to see how long it takes before we walk in and find her sleeping standing on her head. I managed to capture a photo of the Ferberization hibernation. She flinched, but didn't wake up. A+ for my stealth like photography skills.
Something designed to protect your baby from the harsh elements???
Hmmm. Not exactly. It's a catchy little phrase I'd heard once or twice before watching a hilarious recent episode of the sitcom Modern Family. It piqued my interest -- especially since TJ and I have been discussing for a while now how Riley is about to "Hulk" herself out of the velcro sleep swaddle and the nagging notion that the binky may cause orthodontic problems down the road. Those issues, coupled with the fact that the word "Ferberization" is just so fun to say, convinced us to do what any good parents would do...refuse to leave well enough alone.
To Ferberize actually means to "teach" your baby the finer points of crying herself to sleep. It involves...wait for it...letting her cry herself to sleep. Complicated, I know.
Okay, to be fair, there's actually a recommended methodology that introduces a number of crying intervals interrupted by the parents' brief, soothing presence. The problem with the interval training is the fact that our unrestricted sleeping baby is too friggin' hilarious. The first time we went to check on Riley after about 20 minutes of crying, she was borderline asleep, with arms and legs splayed out, blankets up over her head. We both started cracking up, which of course woke her up and pissed her off. Lesson learned. You must be very quiet when entertaining yourself at your Ferber-fledgling's expense.
So far, we've seen the following poses: both arms out to the sides, one arm straight up and the other in a bicep muscle pose, arms and blankets up over the head, soft giraffe stuffy over the eyes and both arms over the face. Must give her credit though...she's sleeping through the night just like before. Now we're just waiting to see how long it takes before we walk in and find her sleeping standing on her head. I managed to capture a photo of the Ferberization hibernation. She flinched, but didn't wake up. A+ for my stealth like photography skills.
Friday, January 8, 2010
6 Month Checkup
Riley had her 6 month checkup today. Where has the time gone? It would have been 6 months to the day, but yesterday's appointment was canceled due to the weather (about 6 inches of fresh snow). Stats: 25 3/4 inches long and 14lbs 13 oz. BMI in the 90th percentile. The doctor said she looks great and is meeting all of the normal 6 month milestones. She charmed everyone in the peds office, garnering at least a half dozen "she's so beautiful"s. She also captured everyone's attention as we walked around the clinic. At immunizations, the technician was very fast with the two needles...one in each thigh. She cried for about 30 seconds and that was that...tough girl. She was enthralled with all of the people in camouflage uniforms and sat on Dad's lap like a gem the entire time. Here are some recent photos of our beautiful girl.
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