Staceytown: 30 Weeks

It seems to balance out the really fun week last week, this week was decidedly less fun - Miss Josie was fussier than she has been since probably the ill-fated vacation when she was three weeks old (where she cried more often than not), and it seems we have our choice of what could be causing it: vaccines, teething, or stranger and/or separation anxiety.

Although Josie came down with a minor cold this week (just some congestion), she was healthy enough to get a couple more vaccines on Friday as we try to catch up from not getting them when she was sick for so long. She's now done with her 4-month shots, and partially through her 6-month shots - hopefully she'll still be well in a couple of weeks to get the next set. Despite her cold, the doctor confirmed her lungs were clear and her ears looked good, which is awesome. I also had her check Josie's gums to see if she could tell if any teeth were close to coming through - she confirmed that her gums were still firm but that there was some puffiness, so she gave Josie another month or two before she actually cut any teeth... and then the weekend happened.

Josie was much more fussy than normal all weekend, and then developed a fever Sunday night. Since I wasn't sure if it was caused by the vaccines or teething (and because daycare was panicking a bit since Josie, the baby who "never cries", was so very, very fussy), I brought her back in to the pediatrician on Monday. Lungs were still clear, ears still looked good, so they think it's just teething. Hopefully the 1-2 month estimate for cutting her first teeth won't actually be the case, since Josie is currently miserable: we were only able to coax a few smiles out of her the last couple of days, and she's been waking up crying and very upset about every half hour the last few nights, so we've resorted to putting her in her swing for part of the night so all of us can get at least some sleep. Her fever was lower this morning, though, so hopefully she'll start feeling more like herself soon.

And finally, beginning sometime during their second six months, it's perfectly normal for babies to start getting more fussy because of stranger anxiety (when they realize that there is a difference between mom/dad and everyone else) or separation anxiety (when they realize that they are an independent being apart from mom). I'm not sure if Josie is starting to go through this now, but she has definitely been crying more if I walk away from her, and she is also being a little more subdued at first around other people now.

I find it interesting that it seems the concept of her being an independent entity goes both ways - as she's starting to learn that she can make her own decisions and move around without our help, I'm starting to realize that she's a separate being too. I've been so used to thinking of her as a part of myself, and now it's becoming more apparent that she has her own mind as she's starting to express her wants instead of only her needs... which has led to some tragically comical situations lately, like the night that I could have sworn Ryan was dangling her over a pit of crocodiles the way she was crying and fussing. Turns out Josie had just determined that he was the Meanest Daddy Ever, as he was changing her and she decided she wanted to play with her diaper... which he had to take away to put on her. So she instead became fascinated with the snaps on her onesie... which he had to take away to snap up. And then she grabbed her pants... at which point Ryan just threw up his hands, because he had to take that away to put on her too, and she was a very unhappy baby by that point.

In non-fussy-baby related updates, Josie has also been exploring our faces more, which is so sweet as she gently pats our faces, grasps our chins, etc. What's not so sweet is when she sticks her fingers up our noses and tries to pull herself up by said nose ;) She also added the "p" sound to her repertoire of adorable baby babbling, and has been saying "ded" lately (possibly an offshoot of her "hi, dad" she sounded like she was saying the week before?). She is also getting more distractable while nursing again, so it looks like we'll be relegated to a dark room again if there's any hope of her napping after nursing on the weekends, since if there's anything going on behind her head (tv, computer, Ryan, toys, walls, lamps), she is flinging herself backwards to look at it:

[Watching tv = not nursing]

[Looking at Ryan = not sleeping either]

We took the week off from solids in case that was affecting her sleep since I was on my own with her for most of the week (Ryan was on a work trip), but she had some bananas, apple, and now cantaloupe over the last few days. She likes them all as far as I can tell, but especially apples, given the amount of yelling that ensues whenever she drops it.