There are many reasons why I haven't posted in so long. But instead of going through the excuses, I will just do a quick update instead, followed by some quick posts with pictures (some of this I just need to get down for my own records before I forget it all!).
The last thing I posted was about our trip back to DC for Thanksgiving (yikes, is it already Valentine's Day...?). Not long after that we traveled to California for Christmas. Stella had a very sweet first Christmas visiting her Nana in San Diego. However, she got sicker than she had ever been (and we got sick, too). She was sick for almost an entire month, starting with fever and throwing-up, and settling into terrible congestion, cough, mucus, etc. We "slept" upright with her because it was the only way she could get any rest. It was reminiscent of the colic/reflux days in the early months (shiver). The blood test confirmed it was flu, though the Health Dept is the only one that can determine if it was Swine Flu (ped said it could have been). Our job was to keep it from turning into a major infection or pneumonia. It was just hard. For a long time.
But then she got better and our hearts were relieved! What did not change was her new sleeping pattern, however. She literally wakes every 45 minutes now, and when she's teething really bad (all the time lately), she wakes up every 20 minutes. The sleep deprivation has been brutal, no doubt, but we are surviving. We've done some things to try and make it better and easier. For instance, she now has a bedtime (7:30) and a routine, something totally foreign to us before. We had tried to do this earlier in her life, but she fought going to sleep so hard that we decided not to spend the whole night trying to put her down. But as it turns out, she is, alas, ready for an early bedtime, and she does SOOOOOO much better with a routine. Erik and I are not routine people, so I wasn't very excited about introducing something that's hard to maintain when you're traveling, etc. But it works so well that it's worth it, and it's also very pleasant and sweet. We play the same sweet song on repeat, while we get her ready for bed in her own bedroom (change diaper, put on jammies, nurse, brush "teeth") and then we read books before we put her in the Ergo and sway her to sleep. Since the beginning, she has always loved for me to nestle my face with hers and to hold her hand while patting her back and singing in her ear, all at the same time (this is why an Ergo is useful - hands-free holding). It's so very sweet. I wish this age would never end (except for the sleep part).
Erik has mostly become the parent that puts her to sleep at night while I run around getting things ready for bed (I shower, fill up humidifier, clear off beds, etc.). Believe it or not, we all end up going to sleep with her at like 8:30 because it's the only chance at a decent night's sleep that we'll get. Then I take her through the night - I wake with her every 45 mins until I reach my limit (5am) at which point I wake Erik to take over (he's usually had between 7-8 hours of sleep by then). Yes, we are trying many things to improve the length of her sleep, but until those two stubborn top teeth come in, there's not much we can do. She's in pain and that's clear from noon until noon again. Before, I was frantic to change the situation, but I've had a major attitude adjustment. Now I'm just trying to enjoy her cuddles while they last (while changing ours lives to accommodate crazy sleeplessness). We've read some books and talked to other parents, and we are not completely giving up on changing things, but every baby is different - we just have a high-needs baby (and trust me, they exist and it's not the parents' fault). Learning to crawl and cutting teeth also just makes babies wake up a lot. It won't last forever.
Now for some pictures...
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