Part of the Family

They grow up so fast.

Just like that our little girl is six weeks old. That seems less babyish to me. Obviously, she is still very much a baby, but I feel like she is completely out of the newborn stage. Just this week she has so many new fun things that she does, so many new sounds that come out of her mouth, so many clothes that no longer fit, and so many new looks. This little bug has quite the personality. And she is getting more fun everyday.

For instance, just this week Leah started holding toys and rolling over! She also hit her 6 week growth spurt and grew another half inch! She talks a lot, and smiles even more. She has really started to interact with us, and it's so fun to get a smile when talking to her. She kicks her legs like she may never get to use them again, and she watches TV like she knows exactly what's going on.

Being the big girl that she is, Leah's little life has taken a new turn. Two things occurred to me the other day. 1) Leah has been staying happily awake for longer periods of time. 2) Kyle and I haven't eaten dinner together since she's been born. You might not think those two thoughts mesh together, but my brain went to work with those thoughts - and what was the result? It's time Leah become part of the family.

She is in our family, we are all well aware of that. However, for the first six weeks of her life we catered to this child's every cry. One of us would eat while the other one rocked and shushed. One of us would watch TV while the other one swayed and jiggled. One of us would collapse on the couch while the other one went to the bathroom with the fan on. And the truth is, I missed my husband. Leah started showing signs of being a big girl this week, so I decided to jump at my chance. She is awake more, crying less, smiling tons, and can spend some time occupying herself. Nighttime isn't the terror it once was, and I dare say it's almost tolerable.

So armed with that new found revelation, I made Leah a new set of rules. She is part of our family now, and that means a lot of things. First of all, we eat dinner together. And we don't scream through it. If she is awake she can sit peacefully in her bouncer by the table, tell us about her day, and listen to us as we talk about ours. She can say the dinner prayer with us, and if she's going to be awake she's not allowed to fuss. Secondly, we take family walks. And we don't scream through them. We walk peacefully, and talk about all kinds of things. She is more than welcome to join in the conversation, and she is even welcome to fall asleep, but she is not welcome to fuss. Third, we take family outings. And we don't scream through them. She is welcome to fall asleep, or to look around as much as she'd like... but she is not allowed to fuss. Finally, we go to bed. And we don't scream. That's right, we are revisiting bedtime. Based on her natural sleeping patterns, Leah's new bedtime is 10pm. Which means her bedtime routine starts at 9:30 and consists of bath, book, snack, swaddle, and prayers. Take note, screaming is not part of the routine. We've explained all the rules to her, and we've reinforced that screaming is not part of our family. I fully expect her to listen and adhere.

Actually, we had a trial run yesterday, and it actually went really well. My day was easier because I didn't fight her to get her to sleep. If after some time she wasn't having it, the swaddle came off and she got to stay awake. We played lots, and she had tons to say and tons of smiles. We ate dinner as a family - at the table! Of course she wasn't asleep, so she sat in her bouncer and looked around pleasantly for a while. However, she got a little bored half-way through. I tried to remind her that we don't scream through dinner, but she wasn't having it. So Kyle and I took turns occupying her - but the important thing to remember is we ate dinner together. And that was the goal. Being that she was awake more in the day, made for a harder night. Obviously, I did not try to keep her up during the day. We definitely tried napping, and for the most part she still slept, but her sleeping patterns are changing. And she is beginning to naturally stay up longer. She was restless and fussy after dinner, so a walk we took. And she did really well there as well. She did start to cry as she was falling asleep in the stroller, but Kyle reminded her Proebstings don't scream through walks - and she fell asleep! Naturally, she woke up when we got back inside, and the real screaming started. She did not care that Proebstings don't scream. But we only had an hour to get through before we got to try out the bedtime routine. She cried through her bath (she was already crying), but then got really calm. We listened to music, read our book, ate a snack, swaddled, and do you know what? I put her in her crib asleep at 10pm!! Bedtime success!

Her mom also has to learn how to become part of the family again. I hadn't cooked a real meal in a long time, and not only did I miss it - but I missed eating real meals. Graham crackers don't cut it anymore. So my goal every day is to make a meal that we can sit at the table and eat. I also used to wake up at a normal time and eat breakfast. And I miss that. Now instead of sleeping in with Leah, I get up and get my day started. With her being awake more, she is now up during the time I eat breakfast. But she knows that like dinner, we don't scream through breakfast. So I sit beside her on the floor and eat my breakfast, watch the Today Show, and talk to my little girl. I also used to clean, with cleaning supplies. So I've started that again. Yesterday I cleaned the kitchen and dusted! Today I folded some laundry, and talked Leah through how we fold laundry, and cleaned her bedroom. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to the bathroom. It's fun to get back to a normal routine, and I'm excited for Leah and I both!

And that's where we are. Six weeks means big things for the three of us Proebstings. We are a family, and it's time we started acting like one. After all, a family that plays together, stays together.