Sunday, November 04, 2007

Cry me a river

Well, it looks like we have been blessed, yet again, with a temperamental baby. Why, oh why, are we so lucky? Elyn is keeping us on our toes with her "personality". She is not a barrel of fun lately.

Examples:
**She is in the middle of nursing and decides, just for the heck of it, to scream bloody murder. It's especially fun when I am nursing her at church. The walls aren't that thick and I am sure most of the church can hear, what must sound like, me beating my infant daughter. Nice.

**She has decided that she does not need long naps during the day. Oh sure, she'll sleep for a few minutes, sometimes even a whole hour, here and there. But she is not taking the beautiful 2-3 hour naps that her little body requires.

**She does not like her bouncy seat, swing, or any other "fun" toy that we have for her. No, her favorite toy is ME. She likes to be held. Oh brother.

**She is an expert spitter-upper (pretty sure that is definitely not a word). The kid can spit! We go through about 12 burp cloths a day. My washing machine is working over time on her clothes alone.

Nora was quite fussy for the first few months of her life too. I know, I know, the ugly "c" word jumps to the forefront of conversation...colic! Whatever it is, it is getting old. We want three kids, I should start praying right now that the 3rd kid will be calm and cool.

Any suggestions? Any advice? Any good cocktail recipes? (Okay, kidding, but when your baby has been crying for 3 hours straight, a cocktail (or ten) sounds pretty good!)

Right now, Elyn is sleeping peacefully in her bassinet. That is one thing she IS good at...sleeping at night. And for that I should be very, very thankful! Here are some pictures of her during her finest moments:

At church this morning. They were wearing matching dresses and we were trying to get a family picture. Elyn was not into it at all!

Please ignore "shirtless Nora" and focus on "screaming Elyn"...she's the reason for this picture anyways. Shirtless Nora looks like she is trying to escape and get far, far away from screaming Elyn. I don't blame her.

There is the peaceful baby that we thought we had pre-ordered back in January. I think our order got mixed up somewhere...

This is just a hilarious picture of Nora that I wanted to throw in. What in the world are we going to do when she starts dressing and accessorizing herself?

14 comments:

Sara said...

Laura had a lot of trouble with gas as an infant..we tried lots of different bottles and used Mylicon A LOT! Maybe you are eating something that is bothering her tummy?? You might try keeping a food journal.

Just know that it will get better!!! Those first few months are just hard!

Hang in there!

Melissa Halford said...

Colic tablets and a big exercise ball!!! Elliot had colic at first and we would give her some of those colic tablets (which are all natural and you can give them to them every 15 minutes until it knocks them out!) and then we would hold her and bounce on the exercise ball til she fell asleep. We had to do it ever night for three months but it worked!

Also, the girls looked adorable in their ladybug costumes!

Julie said...

Well, the pictures are cute, even if Elyn is crying:) Hopefully next week your mom and Marty can give you a little break. We are excited to meet Elyn and see Nora!

Anonymous said...

Hi. We seem to be experts on crying babies at our house!!!
Will you email me- I don't have your email:
sumdale@yahoo.com
Talk to you soon,
Summer Dale

April said...

Is your doctor aware of the frequency and the volume of Elyn's spit-up? It could just be that she is over eating and therefore spits some back up...maybe space out her feedings a bit? Or, it could be that she actually has some reflux issues, which can cause an unhappy household as the baby will cry because it burns. Like Sara said, it could be that she does not like something you are eating...Dairy never set well with either of my kids. Within 24 hrs of me dropping the milk, yogurt, and ice cream from my diet, they stopped crying for those extended time periods! Well, those are just my thoughts. Regardless, this too will pass. Know that you and Matthew are good parents! :) And enjoy that peace at night.

Anonymous said...

I am childless, so I have no advice for the colic except this... YOU... BUBBLEBATH---NOW. :)

Tesney said...

I'm sorry Dallas...I know it's no fun to have a fussy baby. I swear I lived for the 3 month mark because everyone told me it would get better but it didn't! When he was finally given the reflux diagnosis I was so relieved because I thought I would lose my mind! It does sound like it could be reflux. Hopefully not though! If it is, meds will help. I did give the colic tablets that Melissa spoke of and (of course) reflux meds which helped A TON! Hang in there...this too shall pass.

Anonymous said...

Dallas, you are doing amazing!!!! And how cute is that Diane Von Furstenburg dress you are wearing at church. Hot Momma!!!! Because I was with you when you bought that dress, I know what shoes you have on, and I am sitting here smiling. Anyway, you look great. I am in love with the girls, as you know. It looks as though your oldest is taking after her fashion-foward aunt. YEAH, NORA!!! I love you and keep up the good work. When you are home next week, you won't even know you have kids (until you are feeding Elyn). I can't wait for all the kisses. I love you!
Marty

Whitney said...

Since I don't have a baby, I don't have any advice for you. But I am sorry that Elyn is being fussy- but she sure is CUTE! The family picture is adorable too!

Kyla said...

Dallas,
This is Kyla Diles Gentry from Tahkodah. Our son is a big spitter-upper as well. Our doctor prescribed a dissolvable tablet called Prevacid that helped some. He also suggested pumping and adding a little cereal to the bottles to thicken them up. This has helped the most. Hope this helps.
Kyla

MDM said...

My husband used to roll the bassinet into the bathroom and blast the bathtub water on high power. My girls would get so serene. He always had interesting tricks in his bag...still does.

Ashley @ pure and lovely said...

these pics are precious. the ones with her crying are HILARIOUS. I had such an easy time with Aiden last time, I have been told I will get a cryer the second time. Oh lord help me if I do! hang in there! I will be praying for you cause I know it can't be easy!

Kristen OQ said...

Sorry for the new baby blues...

I agree that the colic tablets are really helpful. I also finally took Seth to the doctor about all of his crying -- he put him on prevacid and it made a big difference in both of our temperments! ;)

Amy said...

Dallas~

On the Mylicon bottle, I think the directions read, "2 droppers every 4 hours" or something close to that. What you may not realize is that the bottle has a typo. It was supposed to say "2 bottles every 4 hours." I promise it won't kill her. Meet the Simpson kids!!! Amy

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