Life with the McLachlans: sleepless DAYS

Now, I realize that this sounds like a strange complaint, and I definitely am aware that it's far better to have a sleep problem during the day instead of at night. I have always been very grateful that Ainsley figured out that nights are for sleeping since she was about 5 days old. But this kid does not know how to sleep during the day, and this is causing problems! She usually gets 8-9 hours of total sleep each night (broken up once or twice for feeding), and usually will have one nap of about 45 minutes to an hour late in the morning. Many days that's been it, other than a few 10-15 minute cat naps after she eats. I've tried pretty everything I can think of to extend those cat naps, but nothing seems to do the trick consistently. I just can't imagine that this is enough sleep for her, and some days it's been painfully obvious that she's overtired by the amount of screaming and fussiness that happens! Not to mention that I still feel like I am barely able to get anything done during the day. She doesn't often like to be left alone when she's awake, and when she is happy by herself for 15 minutes, I'm trying to stuff as much food into myself as I can! (This is why it's taken me over 2 weeks to get this far into this blog entry, never mind checking emails or facebook.)

Generally though, we are all doing really well and Clem and I are so thankful for such a happy, healthy baby. I don't mean to complain - yes, it would be easier for Ainsley and us if she could get the sleep she needs, but overall it's all good. This past week there were a few extra crazy days as she seemed to react badly to some antibiotics I was on. For a couple days when I was already feeling pretty rough, it seemed she had suddenly developed colic as she would scream in obvious pain for several hours. Thankfully, it was only a couple days and hopefully we are done with that!

Ainsley now coos and gurgles when she's in a good mood, which is adorable. We love it when she tries to 'talk' like that to us, and of course when we can get her to smile. It's a trick to catch that kind of thing on camera though! She's holding her head up more and more, and as of a week ago (at 6 weeks old), she weighed almost 9 and 1/2 pounds. She seems huge to us!! Her height, weight and head size have all been on the 50th percentile since birth. Our doctor says we have a very proportional baby :)

Of course, some photos & videos from the last few weeks. Hopefully it won't be another month before I get on here again!

One wonderful moment of sleep, Jan. 19: