Aryana Videos

Aryana is becoming more and more animated. It is really cool to watch her character and personality develop. We captured a few good videos. In one she is talking to Ben. Aryana talks less than usual in the video because she gets distracted by the camera. In the other video she is twirling the rattle like a baton. I thought it was hilarious. She LOVES the rattle. She always tries to stick the whole thing in her mouth.

Just to Clarify...

I just wanted to make a point about my expectations for Aryana's sleep schedule. People keep saying that it is normal for a child of her age not to sleep through the night. I know that. I am NOT expecting her to sleep through the night. I am perfectly happy and willing at this stage to tend to her 3 times during her night (7p.m.-7a.m.). It is just discouraging when she awakes every hour.

My goals are:

• 3 naps a day, longer than 30 minutes each. (If her naps are too short she tends to fall asleep nursing and cannot make it to her next nap time, therefore she ends up having 4-5 short naps per day.)
• Napping alone in her crib, not being held.
• Going to bed between 6-7 at night.
• Sleeping for at least 3 hour stretches at night. (Currently she has one 3 hour stretch then wakes up every hour or two. There is no reason for her to awake every hour at night.)
• Waking up around 7 in the morning with a smile on her face. (that's actually the best time of Ben and my day because she is ECSTATIC to see us in the morning.)

I hope everyone now understands my expectations and don't think I am being unreasonable. I actually enjoy cuddling with her at night because she isn't always cuddly during the day because she wants to move around and play.

Frustrated

We've worked so hard to sleep train Aryana and the past few days and nights it feel like we have done nothing at all. She was sleeping 5-7 hour stretches a night and down to 3 naps per day. Last night the longest she slept was 2 hours in a row and she has had 6 very short naps today. She is currently trying to settle herself down in her crib. I'm working on 3 hours of sleep so her crying is stressing me out more than usual.

Sigh, I wish she would sleep...

Fun Times

Aryana is at such a fun age. She is starting to giggle more often and is almost rolling over. I think she will be able to roll in the next couple of days. She is 'talking' so much more and is very passionate with her speech. I thought I would share a few videos with you, be sure to have your sound on. This is how she is before her bath every night. We all have so much fun.

Giggles

Aryana has been making noise while smiling for over a week now. But last night when we were getting her ready for bed she GIGGLED! She was being a little fussy while Ben was trying to burp her so he started to lift her up and down in a supine position. She was giggling and giggling. Now, we were supposed to be trying to settle her down with dim lights and whispered voices but it is impossible not to laugh along with a giggling baby. It sure made our day.

She is growing so fast. Poor Ben misses her so much during the day. He only gets to see her for about 30-45 minutes a day because she's sleeping when he leaves for work and she's only up until about 6:30 in the evening. His favourite time of the week is getting her out of bed in the mornings on the weekend. She is always ecstatic to see us in the morning. She greets us with crazy big smiles.

A quick developmental update; Aryana now has pretty good head control. She's trying to roll over, only to her left. Everything gets put into her mouth. She still prefers to suck on her fists, but she does sometimes suck her left thumb or right index finger. She is beginning to reach for toys when on her tummy and is very interested in books.

Family Resemblance

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Quick Update

There isn't too much happening in my life right now. I am all consumed with trying to sleep train Aryana. She is getting better. We are attempting to teach her how to self soothe so she won't depend on Ben or I to get to sleep. Her naps continue to be short, usually 45 minutes and she is inconsistent at night. Her longest stretch has been 9 hours without nursing but other nights she'll wake up every 3 hours (like last night). At least we've made progress. It's hard to believe 3 weeks ago she was sleeping in our bed and I had to hold her 24 hours a day. Now she's in her crib for naps and at night and sometimes falls asleep without crying.

She did start a new habit, sucking her tongue and lower lip. It's pretty cute but it causes her to gulp a lot so she's been spitting up quite a bit.



I love playing with Aryana and enjoying her smiles, but I am a little overwhelmed right now. We stopped giving her a bottle when Ben was really sick and now she won't take the bottle. So my freedom is very limited. Plus, I don't have a car which keeps me close to home and Aryana doesn't like going for walks so that keeps me inside. (with the exception of yesterday with grandma Linda) As everyone keeps telling me, it gets better, and it already has.