A whole lot of pictures - weeks 18-20

We've been so preoccupied and distracted (and exhausted!!!!) here trying to work on Julia's sleeping that I realized I haven't really uploaded recent photos of Julia in over 3 weeks!

A little backstory with the sleeping:

Immediately upon returning home from NY, we attempted to do some sleep training with Julia as a "not sure what else to do to get this baby to sleep" effort. We definitely started a little too "hard core" for her young age, and it became apparent after a handful of days of trying. It was too abrupt of a change for Julia and myself to bare, so we eased up a little. Over the last few weeks I've done a ton of research on the internet, read some books, and consulted with friends/family and have come up with a way to "gently" sleep train Julia. It basically involved implementing a consistent routine before naps/bed, and me sitting in the room with Julia by her crib (sometimes with a hand on her, or myself even huddling around her to try and create a cradle in my arms, and other times me pretending to leave the room, but really just ducking down by the front of her crib where she couldn't see me), when she cried, I'd pop up and calm her or pick her up to calm her, if needbe, and then she'd go back down in the crib. We'd continue doing this cycle until she'd eventually put herself to sleep. She responded really well to this and soon had no problems getting herself to sleep, it was KEEPING her asleep that was our challenge. From what I've been finding out, babies that wake up often throughout the night usually are suffering from sleep deprivation. So, after weeks of being super consistent, no matter how frustrating and tiring it may have become, and crawling around on the nursery floor to either escape or enter without making a peep, I think I can finally say that we have reached success! "Sleeping through the night" at this age is considered a 5-6 hour chunk of time (during a total suggested night sleep time frame of about 12 hours), and as of this weekend, she slept 2 five hour blocks on different nights, and also had some great 2 hour naps! And, last night..... She slept nearly 12 hours, only waking once at around 1:30am for a feeding! I am so proud of her! She was always a happy baby, but having all of this extra needed sleep has made her an even happier one! She's showing improvements with both nighttime and naps now, so I sure hope this means we're on our way to making this a routine thing!

Aside from the sleeping, Julia is also growing in so many ways!! This week she has mastered rolling over, and she's now working on sitting up. She's become very vocal, and you can tell that she's starting to try and use her noises to communicate more effectively when she can't reach a toy, or wants to move, or get a visit from Delaney. It's pretty entertaining - though it's also a bit difficult to now determine when she's upset about something serious or just trying to chat away! She's also becoming very aware of us eating in front of her. I'm starting to feel really badly when I do eat because she stares it down so badly and you can tell she wants to try. I've been letting her putting my (empty) spoon in her mouth when I'm eating something with, and have also been letting her "drink" (nothing) out of my glass. It seems to at least satisfy her for now and I think it's adoring to see her so eager to be just like us!

Here's a video of Julia attempting to roll over, but not quite there yet.....

And, here she is successfully rolling over. I kept filming, knowing that it was going to come, but in the meantime was using up all of my storage space on the camera. Sure enough, when I took a break to delete some footage, she rolled over perfectly. I managed to get the tail end of a roll though here.....

I have a TON of pictures to share, and I better get them posted before another month passes by again. Today, Julia is 20 weeks old! Only 6 more weeks until she's half a year old.... if someone can explain to me how that's possible, I'm up for listening to any theories!

Enjoy the pictures!

This is Julia (and Daddy) at her 4 month well baby check up.

Checking herself out in the mirror to give the final "OK" on that day's outfit

Watching TV with Daddy
Sophie is the best tasting giraffe ever!


Watching the Yankees game

Shades

Watching TV with Daddy again...

I think we've graduated to baths in the "big kids" tub..... she has learned how to kick and splash in the water - which means bathing her in our kitchen has turned into one huge mess!!


I was kind of excited to move her to the big tub, but after one bathtime in there, I'd rather have my kitchen sink back! My back aches enough just from carrying around my 14 lb baby, and the bending over the tub to wash her doesn't help!
This little cow onesie outfit was one I was so excited to take Julia's picture in..... I tried it on a couple of months ago and it was way too big on her, so I've held onto it. Then, yesterday I went to put her in it, and it was too small!! She cried after just squeezing one arm through, so I knew it wasn't going to work. It'll have to wait for kiddo #2 sometime! At least it's gender neutral!
My favorite part.... there's a little tail on the tush!
Um.... this would be our sky this morning at around 9am. It became pitch black in the house and Delaney was freaking out. We had a HUGE thunder storm - I think our house was even shaking!


This was during the storm. I laid Julia on the blanket and turned my back for a second - next thing I know, Delaney was sitting right next to her. I'm not sure if Delaney was trying to protect Julia from the storm, or if Delaney was looking for protection from Julia!

Here is Julia munching away on her hands...... a very non-exciting video, but I thought she was kind of hysterical by the way she was sucking on her hands so much!