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The past two nights have been a step backwards in the sleep department. There were a handful of nights where Kayden went 6 hours between her last dinner to her first mid-night feeding. Lately I have felt like her swaddle was a little too small because she was busting out at each feeding. I know she loves to sleep with her arms out so I decided to put her in a sleep sac after the first feeding. I get the longest stretch of sleep after her last feeding of the night, so I decided not to mess with a good thing. In the sleep sac she is going just under 3 hours, which is a good amount of time, but it’s shorter than she is going with a swaddle. So now I’m confused because I don’t know if the sleep sac is what’s interfering with her sleep or if she would be waking up anyway because we have had some changes before bed.

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The past two nights we went to an early dinner and she has slept through the outting. This is good at the time, but it’s a problem when it’s bed time because she’s a little harder to get down and she doesn’t sleep as well after around 2 am. She is more alert and smiling at me when I’m changing her diaper. As much as I love to see her smile, I don’t like to see her that alert in the wee hours of the night! I think my next move is to go to Baby’s R Us and get a bigger swaddle. I have taken to the parent blogs to see when most parents stop swaddling. From what I read on BabyCenter.com some moms swaddle up to a year. I was surprised in fact at how many moms are going through what I am going through at this age. Kayden may not ‘like’ the swaddle, but she sure sleeps better when she’s snug as a bug in a rug!

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Here are just a few more pics of her doing what she does best… Lookin’ cute!

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Baby Center (www.babycenter.com) has been my go-to website since I first found out I was pregnant. They have been with me from conception to birth to infancy. The website has been a wealth of knowledge about all the developments while Kayden was in my belly and now it teaches me about how things are changing in her world week by week. This week it says to start reading to the baby. Of course she can’t understand the plot, character motivations, or setting, but she can hear my voice. She hears the pitch and intonation of my reading voice, which is the beginning stages of literacy. Nam and Mimi have bought Kayden some fun books that we are starting to read. Kayden has a short attention span right now so we can only get through one or two books, but it’s a start!

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Yesterday Scotty and I took Kayden to the Zoo. We have our Diamond Club membership so we are determined to put it to good use! Just like when we went to the Wild Animal Park, Kayden slept through the adventure. She woke up once to feed and get a diaper change, which turned into two because she decided to BM on her monkey outfit so she could have a wardrobe change mid-day! I had a “first” experience at the Zoo- nursing in public. I usually bring Kayden a bottle of expressed milk on our outtings, but since I have been breast feeding only lately, I don’t have any stored up. Also, if I feed her a bottle, I still need to get home to pump. In order to not send us home early, I decided to nurse her at the park. I didn’t want to be another exhibit for kids to point and ask questions about, so I took to the bathroom! They had a special bathroom for changing babies so I had Scotty stalk the door and text me if anyone got in line while I was changing and feeding the baby. Surprisingly, no one came!

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We saw many fun animals including a hippo who was pressed up against the glass, which didn’t feel thick enough in my opinion! I had to sneak in a smootch!

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We also saw the pandas and didn’t even have to wait in line. I should mention, we got there at 9:30. The weather was cool and the crowds were minimal. I was very proud of Scotty and I for getting out of the house at 8:15! That is a challenge with a 12 week old (and a tired mommy!).

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We went to the Zoo with our friends Jake and Joanna. They have a 17 month old who experiences the Zoo in a far different way than Kayden, but it was still fun to be out doing family things with another family!

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Kayden has been smiling now for a while, but it never ceases to amaze me that when I make a funny face or elevate my voice to a high octave that I can make her smile. She has such a sweet smile that I work at it daily! I am learning the perfect times to make her get that huge grin. The best times are when she first wakes up, when she’s getting a diaper change, and when she’s looking at herself in the mirror. I love that my 12 week old has a personality that I can play off of. She is amazing!

Here are some of my favorite smiles. Sorry, but some are repeats!!

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Kayden had her first date with baby Eli last night to watch the Charger game. I should explain. It all started one year ago. Maica and Kris are our neighbors and have come to be good friends. Last August Maica sent a seemingly innocent text asking me if I would want to job share when it was time to have babies. Without the consent of our husbands we decided to plan on sharing our jobs when we were ready to have babies. One year later we find ourselves watching the Charger game, them with their boy and us with our girl. We are also set up to share a classroom this year! It couldn’t have happened any more perfect!

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Whether or not they like it, they are dating and falling in love! Eli is the sweetest little thing and has such an easy temperament, much like Kayden! We were able to watch the Charger game with no crying babies, well maybe from the husbands as the Chargers did not win this one! 🙂