The Song Remains The Same

We're into Reagan's ninth week, and there's not much new to report (which is why I haven't blogged lately). What there IS to report is basically the same stuff I've been saying all along -- some nights Reagan sleeps well, others she doesn't, and we still can't figure out what might lead to one type of night or the other.

Last night, for example, she was WIDE awake after her 8:30 bottle. Since she was just screaming in her crib, I got her and held her, which seemed to calm her down for the most part. Naturally, she fell dead asleep about 15 minutes before her next scheduled bottle at 11:30, and that feeding was difficult. The good news is that when I put her down after the feeding, she actually slept through the entire night, and Susan had to wake her up for her 7:00 a.m. bottle. Since Reagan was probably exhausted from having been up the entire evening, we're not going to claim that she has officially dropped the middle-of-the-night feeding just yet. Still, it was nice to get the uninterrupted sleep for a change, especially for Susan, who went back to work today.

Tonight she went down fine after the 8:30 bottle, and there's no telling what to expect later on.

Based on Reagan's unpredictable behavior, we're considering the possibility that she has a mild case of colic. I usually have my doubts about claims that a baby that happens to cry a lot has colic, but it's not just the fact of Reagan's crying. It's also the randomness of it and the apparent pain she seems to be in. All of this seems to point to colic, which would be kind of reassuring since we'd know we just have to wait it out. It also means our super-scientific baby bottles designed to prevent colic are worthless.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention another theory we're also working on. It turns out there's a recall of her formula mix because of the possible inclusion of beetle parts and/or larvae that may irritate a baby's gastrointestinal tract. I am not making this up. The Similac website and phone number are slammed right now, so I can't check if our particular container is covered by the recall, but we're not ruling anything out.

Okay, Susan has pointed out that everything I've said in this post so far has been negative, and I need to include some positive news. She's absolutely right, and I apologize if I've left the impression that raising Reagan has been nothing but trouble. Nothing could be further from the truth. Despite her occasional fussiness, she is still eating well and growing. She has even already outgrown the first batch of onesies and outfits, and she takes up a whole lot more room in the car carrier than she used to.

Reagan is also awake and alert more and more, and she "talks" while waving her little arms and legs, which is just the cutest thing. We've also discovered that she likes to look at herself in the mirror, which was also one of Amanda's favorite toys when she was an infant. Best of all, she's started smiling for us, and it just lights up the room! I'll try to get a picture of it and post it here, but for now, it's still pretty rare and elusive.

All in all, Reagan is still doing well, and we've just got to try to remember that she's still not even two months old yet, and we need to be patient with her development. In time, I'm sure we'll look back at this time in her life and wonder what the big deal was.

In other news, Amanda started Preschool a couple of weeks ago, and that's going really, really well. She goes two days per week, and she loves it. It's so cool to hear her talk about her new friends and what they did each day. Of course, extracting information about her day is like pulling teeth, even at this young age. And, despite being the youngest in her class, she is way ahead of the curriculum since she already knows her colors and letters. We're expecting her to be promoted to 3rd grade any day now.