Mom Skills

I've had the chance to test my mom skills while Jordan has been gone to Miami visiting his brother and his family.


I'm happy to report that Claire and I are both still doing great! I actually feel like I'm getting the hang of being a mom more. I think it's that Claire is getting more into a schedule, and I know what it is.

For a while there, as soon as she had a schedule and I figured it out, her schedule would change. For instance, she used to go to sleep between 10-11pm, and then she'd wake up between 5-6am and go right back to sleep until 9-10am, (maybe even 10:30!) That was nice. But then her schedule changed. She no longer wanted to go back to sleep immediately after her 5-6am feeding. (But I still wanted to!) So once I figured out that her "normal" had changed, I no longer tried to get her to go back to sleep immediately after she ate. (Trying to get Claire to go to sleep when she doesn't want to works only as long as you're holding her. When I would put her down, she would immediately be wide awake, and there was no getting her back to sleep without picking her up again. But the cycle would continue when I put her back down). So I realized that wasn't working!

After that, Claire was a super sleeper! She would consistently sleep anywhere from 6-11.5 hours! (She only slept 11.5 hours once, but I certainly enjoyed it!!!) And her average was around 7-8 hours. I can handle that! She did that for a few weeks without ever waking up in the night. -- And I LOVED it!!! :-)

Last week, she broke her pattern of not waking up in the night with a few 4am feedings. But I think that's because of her tooth coming in. Last night was better; she slept for 7 hours again.

I'm glad I know Claire's normal schedule for the daytime, too. She is a happy girl for about one hour and 15 minutes from the time that she wakes up. Then she needs a nap! So I wrap her up and put her in her swing, where she sleeps peacefully for a while. It's easier to accomplish tasks I want/need to accomplish because I can anticipate what Claire will do. That, I feel, is where my mom skills are coming into play!

Also, when we were with my cousin Emily and her daughter about a month ago, I realized that I know the sound of Claire's cry. Yes, I hear babies cry at church and other places, but when I hear other babies cry, I usually have Claire in my arms or right next to me, so I know she's not crying. But when we were with Emily, we were at my grandmother's house, and there were plenty of family members who were tending to all of the kiddos there. I remember being in the kitchen, and I heard a cry from another room. I immediately knew it was not Claire's cry. I was happy I could distinguish her cry from other cries. (I'm sure any mom can relate; that's just when I realized I knew the sound of her cry).

I love learning about Claire and watching her grow and learn! I'm so grateful I get to be her mom!