Quincey Makes Her Debut Public Appearance

 There have been a lot of transitions and changes in our lives lately.  Within the last 8 months here are a few:

We bought a new house.  Yes, we bought a beautiful big home to start our little family in, but with buying a home comes the stress of simply buying the home and then the added stress of moving. Being 8 months pregnant and moving was not fun but we got it done.

Then, I quit my job.  I have had a job since I was 15 years old.  I remember my mom constantly harping on me when I was 15 that I needed to get a job.  I procrastinated and procrastinated, not because I didn't want a job but because I didn't want to ask for a job.  But, finally one day she showed up at school and told me she was taking me to Luerders.  She waited outside as I walked in and asked for a job.  Since that day, I have always had a job.  I went a week after high school graduation without a job, and about two months after coming home from Indonesia without a job.  And about the same amount of time without one when I first moved to New Mexico.  Besides, that, I have always had a job.  So, quitting my job and finding myself standing in this big new home alone during the day was actually a heck of an adjustment!

Then we had a baby!  Need I say more about adjustments and transitions.  This one was a doozy!

Then COVID happened.

Then Joe started working from home.  This was probably the easiest transition for me.  To have him home all the time means that I am never alone and, well, he's my best friend so it's been pretty easy.

I the midst of all of this, probably one of the hardest adjustments of all was not being able to go anywhere.  I have never been a sedative person and since I was a little girl I have always been on the move.  Some of the biggest fights my mom and I ever had was before I could drive and me begging her to take me somewhere and her just not wanting to leave the house.  

Having a baby has naturally curved some of this but having a global pandemic brought going anywhere to a screeching stop.  And, although a lot of families have found a new normal, we have continued to be very cautious about where we go, who we see, and especially where Quincey goes.  So, she has literally not been in a public location except the dr's office and I had to once make a beeline to the bathroom at a gas station with her in tow when we were coming home from Greeley but, besides that, she has not been in public.  

This has been hard for me.  Especially now that she is older and easier to pack around, I really would love to take her to the grocery store with me or peruse through Target together but, I haven't gotten to.

However, we took our first baby step with Quincey this weekend and went to a nursery with her to check out the plants and trees.  I was so excited! And, it was just as fun as I thought it would be.  

Quincey got her first purchase... A peacock feather that she carried through the whole store.  

I'm 6 Months Old!

 I never understood what people meant when they said "time flies so fast." Or, "enjoy it because it will be gone before you know it."

I can not believe that Quincey is already 6 months old.

In some respects it feels like she's been with us forever and it's hard to imagine life without her but in other respects it feels like I just had her!

She's like a little human now.  She has personality, likes, dislikes, things that make her laugh and things that make her cry.  She has gotten so fun.  Now that we're passed that tiny baby stage we can do so much more and explore so many more things. 

During the last month, she found out that sleep isn't always so bad,

That she loves bananas

That she is so much more mobile which means mama and papa have to be REALLY careful that she doesn't slither out of her chair or get into things that she shouldn't before baby proofing is completed,

That she absolutely loves GRASS!  She is absolutely 100% her father's daughter there!

And that she's the cutest little 6 month old in the whole entire universe.

Quincey Goes to Greeley

 I decided it was time to take a road trip.  Joe was going to be working on a big project in the field for the week and I was starting to feel cabin fever so I planned a trip with just Quinney and I to go to Greeley to see her auntie Grace.

It's a 7 1/2 hour drive and if there's one area I don't feel confident in yet when it comes to Quincey, it would likely be going out and about with her because we rarely do it! Since Covid, we don't take Quincey out very often and I certainly don't take her out alone very often.  So, I was nervous about the drive.  Taking her to the mountains can sometimes feel daunting if she is cranky.  I start to feel so helpless when she is crying and there's not much I can do even though I'm sitting in the back next to her while Joe drives.  But, this trip would be different.  It would just be Quinney and I and it would be A LOT further than our short trips to the mountains.

So, I decided to leave in the middle of the night after she got up for her feeding in hopes that she would nestle in to her car seat and sleep for a big chunk of the morning.  I was all prepared.  I had the car packed the night before and my clothes laid out to quickly throw on in the morning.

I woke up at 2am and Quincey had not woken up to feed yet.  You know how it is when you try to get back to sleep but you know that you have to wake up soon so you can't really fall back asleep?  Well, here it was 2am and I could not fall back to sleep so finally around 3:15am I rolled out of bed, kissed Joe goodbye, fed Quincey and made as smooth as a transition into her car seat as possible.  She was WIDE AWAKE by the time hit the road.  I tried to prepare myself for the long hours to come but all I heard was 1 peep for the next 3 hours.  It was a success and the rest of the drive there went really good as well.  Very little fussing and lots of self soothing.  It was really nice to show up at the Logan's though.

Quincey was glad to be out of her car seat.  Grace was literally standing in the middle of the street when we pulled up; that's how eager she was to see Quincey.  And Quincey did not disappoint.  She smiled from ear to ear when she saw her Auntie.  

Quincey was just enamored with their dogs.  She couldn't stop squealing and giggling at the dogs.  

We just had a great time in Greeley.  One day Uncle Jason babysat so us girls could go shopping.  I rarely get to do that and when I do, it's like to a store that I know I need something specific in and I literally beeline right to the item and back out again so I can get home and relieve Joe from daddy daycare as soon as possible so he can get back to work but, this time, there was no rushing.  But, about an hour after we left, I was checking on her - texting uncle Jason to see how she was doing.  Within a couple hours I was definitely ready to get back to my peanut.  That was the longest I had been without her before.  

My favorite part about being at the Logan's is literally just hanging out.  And that's mostly what we did.  We went on some walks, played some games, took some naps (YES! I TOOK A NAP AND GOT TO SLEEP IN ONE DAY.  It was GLORIOUS!) played Nintendo and just had a really nice relaxing time.  

It so nice to have so many hands to help with Quincey.  I just basked in the ability to pass her off to another family member to change her clothes, feed her some food, or entertain her while I took a shower.  And, it's so nice for Quincey too.  It really is good for kids to be surrounded by family.  

2 things I found out while I was there:  #1 - Grace had a banana on her counter so i squished some up and gave it to Quincey in this pacifier type thing that holds food and has holes poked into it so she can suck out the food.  She LOVED it and since then can not get enough banana. I've tried now to give her peaches and avacado in it but she spits it out - change it out for a banana and she grabs that thing to suck on instantly.

#2 - Quincey likes getting her back rubbed.  We were all laying on Grace's bed (it's where everyone hangs out all the time) and Quincey was on her belly on the bed.  I started to rub her back, which I've tried before and she always seemed too ticklish to like it (she would just squirm), and she laid her head down and really seemed to enjoy it.  Since then, I rub her back a little as our nap time routine and there have been a couple times that it has put her to sleep instantly.  I'm so glad I found that out.  It really seems to help to calm her down and signal to her that it's time to wind down for a nap.

I can not believe how quick the time went.  Friday came so quick!  But, fortunately the drive home went almost as smooth as the drive there.  

I was glad to be home but instantly was sad that we were back to facetime calls to see family.

Our Trip to the Mountains

 A few weeks ago we decided to spend the day in the mountains.  I was such an amazing day.  I absolutely love getting out of town and being with my favorite people.  It is especially more fun the older Quincey gets.  We took her stroller and carrier and headed to the Jemez mountains.  We saw a sign for the fish hatchery and thought that would be fun but of course it was closed.  I was bummed out but Joe kept driving.  I don't know how he does it but he is this uncanny ability for finding the best spots in the mountains.  Where I would turn around, he keeps going and where I would keep going he turns around and he's always right. This time he was really right!  He kept going passed the fish hatchery and we found the cutest little picnic area where you could also park and walk in on a trail that was perfect for Quincey's stroller.  

After a few hours on the trail, I suggested we head back because I knew Quincey just had to be so tired.  She had gotten tired of her stroller and was snug against me in her carrier which she absolutely loves so there was no fussing but I knew she had to just be exhausted.  So, we turned around and half way on our trek back I noticed that she was looking at the ground for a long time and her head was bouncing an awful lot.  She was fast asleep!  I wish I would have gotten a picture of it but we didn't.  We were in too big of a hurry to get back and put her in a shady spot so we could enjoy a nice picnic together.

It was perfect.  A perfect day!

I'm Crawling... ALMOST!

 So, she's not crawling yet but she is trying so super hard!  A few weeks ago she figured out how to army crawl and she gets along really good that way.  It seems like I turn my head for only a second and by the time I look back she's almost across the room.  

Within the last week she has been getting herself up onto her knees and rocking back and forth.  She wants so bad to figure out what to do from there but just can't seem to yet.  

Her knees are all red and have carpet burn from all her hard work on the floor!  

Any day now and we'll have a crawler!

I Can Sit Up!

 I didn't even know it because it had been so long since I tried it, but I put Quincey in a sitting position and she stayed there all by herself!

We were at the park hanging out on the blanket and I thought she might like to try to sit up to look at the kids and what do you know... she knew how to sit up all on her own!

The Sleep Situation Continued - SLEEP TRAINING

I just reread my last post about Quincey's sleep habits, or lack thereof.  My, how we have come a long ways in just a couple months but, it has not come without its challenges.  And, when I say challenges I mean some downright dirty challenges both physically and emotionally.

Joe and I decided that after vacation to Wyoming it was time to employ some sleep training.  I could no longer go on doing what I was doing.  

Up to this point we had fallen into the reactive co-sleeping method.  Not out of choice but out of pure necessity.  I was spending the majority of my nights (and days for that matter) walking endlessly in our bedroom with Quincey in my arms, going shhh shhh shhh, until finally after around 40 minutes she would fall asleep enough to attempt to put her down.  But, things never ended there, putting her down was usually a bust and before I could ninja my way out of the room without making a noise, she had already stirred, lost her binki, and was on her way to being full blow awake.  So, I would turn around, completely exhausted, and start the process all over again.  I did this so often and racked up so many steps walking back and forth in our bedroom with her that the desperation led me to believe the stupidest things.  For example, I was convinced she liked the left side of the room more than the right but not too far to the left because then the air from the ceiling vent might hit her face and disturb her, she didn't like the sound the floor made near the bathroom, the sound machine sounded best when she was in the far right hand corner of the room, she liked to be rocked in the rocking chair only when her eyes started to close, not before, or not after, and she didn't like one long shhhhh but rather three short shhh shhh shhh's.  It was getting absolutely ridiculous.  Usually, after the third time of doing all of this she would stay asleep long enough for me to slip into bed and settle in for a couple hours before, yes you've got it, she would notoriously awake again.  The time I spent in that room trying to perfect this sleep procedure started to become like a torture chamber.  

I especially dreaded nap time. Without the natural sleep drive that nights provide, naps proved especially difficult.  It wouldn't have been so bad if all my effort would have paid off but, the discouragement I was feeling time after time when Quincey would wake up after only a 30 minute nap was proving too much for me to take.  I was literally spending more time getting her to sleep then she was actually sleeping.  And then of course, with only a 30 minute naps, she would start rubbing her eyes again in an hour and I would know that I would shortly have to make that track up the stairs with her again to start over.

 For the last month Joe had been sleeping in the spare room because, there seemed no other option than to finally just hold Quincey in bed all night with me.  Then I could pop her binki back in her mouth every time it fell out while trying to get some much needed sleep myself.  With allowing her in the bed with me, I was able to maintain some sort of sanity for the upcoming day.... but just barely. 

Month after month of all this was a mixture for disaster.  And disaster finally struck.  I told Joe that I was no longer treading water, I was full blown drowning and could absolutely not do this anymore.  I was so drained and exhausted that I was emotional and angry.  I remember being at my dad's house for vacation and feeling jealousy toward the stupid cat because I would see the cat sleeping and I didn't get to.  My dad would say, "well, I'm going to bed guys and I would cringe inside just wishing that could be me.  And seeing Joe sleep started to make me see red.  It also started to take a toll on me physically.  Because I was so sleep deprived, my immune system was so shot that just when I thought i couldn't take anything else, I developed mestitas. 

This had to be the beginning of the end.  There was literally no other option than to start sleep training.  

I did my due diligence and scoured the internet to learn about all the different sleep training methods out there.  Everything from the Ferber method to the Chair method.  But, without fail, every actual human that I talked to who has a child all told me to use the same method.  The good ol' Cry It Out method.  

I wanted to start with the Ferber method which is going in to comfort her after 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 10 and so on and so forth until she falls asleep.  Joe and I had unknowingly used this approach a few time before when I had tried to implement some self soothing training with Quincey.  It never worked though.  It seemed like her seeing me every few minutes just stimulated her even more.  But, I wasn't ready to just let her cry it out yet.  At least that's what I thought.

Three days before we were going to begin sleep training, it was the middle of the night, Joe was in the spare room sleeping and there was nothing I could do to keep Quincey settled.  Finally, at 2am I decided to put her in her bassinet and I left the room.  I couldn't do it anymore.  Quincey cried straight for 3 hours.  She finally drifted to sleep at 5:15am.  Even after all that crying she only stayed asleep for an hour but, there was no turning back from that point on.  

It was going to be the cry it out method and it was going to start now. I figured if we were going to do this, we might as well rip the band-aid off completely and transition her to her crib as well.

The first night Quincey cried for about an hour but after that, she stayed asleep for longer than she ever did when I would pace the floor with her.  The next night it took even less time, the third night she ampted up her game again and cried for quite a while, but after that night, she started to finally sleep and I started to feel a sense of peace and like a human being again.  It was SOOO freeing.  

Grace kept telling me to PUT HER IN HER OWN ROOM! SHe swore that she would sleep better and so would we.  I really didn't want to because the powers that be say that she should sleep in the same room as her parents until at least 6 months to prevent SIDS.  But after two nights of sleeping training, once she had fallen asleep, we were so worried to jinx it and wake that Joe opted to sleep in the spare room, and I was so worried to even roll over in bed that I would go downstairs to the couch to sleep.  Grace said, "Tara, how stupid is that!  Quincey is fast asleep in your guys' room while you guys aren't even sleeping in the same room as her anyway.  Put her in her own room!" Here was Quincey, fast asleep in our beautiful bedroom while Joe slept in the spare room alone and I slept on a couch.  Joe never quite understood why I was adamant that she stay in our room and later told me he was very relieved when Grace vocalized what he had been wondering for week.  Then she also said something else that was quite genius and so obvious but I had never thought of it, She said, "just put her in her own room, leave her bedroom door open and leave your bedroom door open and we are still literally within like 12 feet of her."  DUH!  That was all I needed to hear  So, without anymore hesitation, I broke down her crib yet again and moved it back into her own room.

Since that day 3 weeks ago, Quincey has been sleeping in her big girl crib in her big girl room and she has never slept better and my quality of life has improved 10 fold.  I am a human again.

And oh, by the way, it only took one night before Quincey's door started to remain closed for the night.  

She still wakes up a couple times a night but I don't mind it.  I don't mind getting up to nurse her a little because I can just give her one quick snuggle, lay her back down, and she falls right back to sleep again.  

We still have some things to work out like she still won't nap longer than 30 minutes and she wakes up awfully early in the morning (5am) but those are such minor issues compared to what we were dealing with.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of her sleeping in her crib.  We have a camera set up in her room that I can take pictures with from my phone.  

In this first picture she has rolled back over to her back from her belly but got her arm pinned underneath herself and couldn't get it out so she just decided to play with the crib slats with the one free hand she did still have.

This next picture was just last night. She was just hanging out with her butt in the air fully awake, not making a peep.  

And finally, she sleeps....  My precious girl.