Allie must’ve heard me cry uncle. And she must’ve felt bad, too, because she was a perfect angel yesterday. In the morning, she laughed and cooed along with me as we sang some songs while she sat like a big girl upright in her Boppy. Then she went down for a nap on her back in the crib for half an hour. Then she got up, ate, and sat like a big girl in the Boppy on our bed as I washed my face and got ready. She smiled at me, didn’t fuss at all. She recently found her hands, so she was busily sucking on her fists as she looked around. And THEN, she went down in her crib for half an hour on her back. Her nocturnal jerks kept waking her up, so I swaddled her after half an hour of constantly trying to pacifier her. After that, she slept for AN HOUR AND A HALF. For her afternoon nap, I managed to get her transferred from my shoulder to a sofa cushion and with the aid of patting her back and a pacifier, she fell back to sleep and napped there for another half hour. She only got 10 minutes of her next nap because Mr. W’s friends came to visit her. Despite that, she was lovely, smiling and cooing at them. I’d expected her to sleep on our way to dinner after Mr. W got home, but she stayed in her carseat wide awake, didn’t fuss at all as she usually does against the seat restraints. She also stayed wide awake and smiley in her carseat at dinner with us. She was SO good that Mr. W’s two friends offered to come babysit for us in the next few weeks or subsequent weekends so we could have some grownup time out. Way to go, Allie! Way to trick Auntie Yvonne and Auntie Yvette! She fell asleep at 6:30p in the carrier finally, and slept on the way home. I thought because she missed 2 afternoon naps, she’d want to go down for the night earlier, and fed her at 7:30p instead of after 8p. Nope, she stayed up and kicked around, and I had to do the pacifier thing with her whimpering every time it fell out until she finally fell asleep a little after 9pm. Weirdly, she had a nighttime feeding this time at 2:30am when she normally stays down till 4-6a, but I figure she had dinner early, too. She next woke up around 6:30a and we started our day with a 7am feeding so we’re on track.

Right now I got her to nap on her tummy on the couch, transferred tearlessly from my shoulder, sans pacifier. With all the getting ready noises and loud Christian music coming from the stepdaughter right now, I’ve had to keep running there to pat her back to sleep when she rouses, but she’s still down. I’ll have to load photos later when I get a chance, maybe this evening. I just need her to stay on this nap till 10a and she’ll be rested and in a good position for a 10a feeding, then 3 hours later a 1p feeding before we have to leave for Gymboree.

She may be on to a new phase, one with longer alertness, more playfulness, less crying. But I’ve jinxed us before by counting my chickens before they’re hatched.

BTW, was hoping to make new parent friends at Gymboree. Haven’t done that yet with the 2 times I’d gone, but the 2nd time I did see who I want to avoid. 2 women were talking about some other woman in the class. “The one who wears waaaaay too much makeup? On Saturdays.”
“Yeah.” Some more catty stuff I tuned out as I tended to putting Allie in her carrier.
*sarcastically* “I hope you’re not offended if I don’t invite them to [my baby’s] birthday party.”
“Ha. I’d be offended if you DO invite them, knowing how I feel about them.”
WTF. And these are 2 large frumpy women, too. Mr. W said it’s sour grapes for them.

*** added 2-2-12: the 2 ways that Allie naps, photos taken the day of the above post:

The Tearless Couch Set-Down


The In-Crib Back Swaddle