A LONG couple of days...

My new 3 month outfit! I'm so cute!

My Mommy is so funny!

Tell me another one, Mom!

Whew...

I seriously thought I was going to 'lose my religion' with this beautiful little girl over the last few days - but with a face like that, how could I do anything but smile! When I caught these priceless smiles, we were talking about Daddy and how STINKY he is...she just loves when Mommy tells her stories about Daddy! I have a feeling we will gang up on him a lot in her lifetime!

So, it's been a rough couple of days in the Wray household!
I have to begin by admitting my weakness to peer pressure...After a terrible night's sleep on Wednesday night, (the only sleeping being done from 7-9am...yes, AM!) Zig and I decided to try some cereal to see if it would help Brooke to sleep better at night. We had had such wonderful nights where she was sleeping for 5 and 6 hours at a time, but she started going backwards and staying wide awake at night! It was making us crazy! Well, Since Grammy Kathy was here for a few days, she served as moral support for us giving our baby her first bite of cereal! I was nervous...and Zig had the video camera to document the new experience.

So, it went like this...
Tubbie, mix up cereal, drink 1 ounce of bottle, try a few bites of cereal, finish 2 ounces of bottle.
Sounds easy...and it was...that time. Uh huh.
SHE LOVED THE CEREAL - attacked the spoon like an animal, but Brooke's sleep pattern wasn't much different at that first night of cereal, but we were encouraged that it might take some time to get her into a routine - one where she understood that cereal was a night time thing and that it meant it was time to sleep with that full belly!

So, we try again Friday night.
She must really love the taste of cereal because she couldn't get enough...so, silly Mommy gave her just a few more bites than she had the night before. Big mistake Mommy! It was almost instantaneous...when I took the cereal away and got her ready to settle in for the night, I heard her belly rumble louder than an adult stomach...then it began...GAS - and LOTS of it...and SCREAMING...oooh, the screaming!

Daddy was away fighting a fire and was gone from 9:30 pm until 5:00 am the next morning - so Mommy was on her own with a screaming baby. She had never screamed like this before - and honestly, I think I cried as much as she did. That cereal must have bound her up in a way that her little insides just couldn't handle. I didn't know what to do for her...my heart was broken into a million pieces because it was the first time that I - her Mommy - couldn't calm her...couldn't make her stop crying! Something was hurting her and there was NOTHING I could do!
I must have called Zig a million times, but since he was inside of a burning building, there wasn't a whole lot he could do for us... When he finally checked in with us around midnight, she was still screaming and I was about to rip my hair out! He was stuck where he was and so was I...

Eventually, around 1:oo am, Brooke settled down and slept for a few hours. I wondered whether or not she'd be hungry with an upset belly, but she was and she ate her regular bottle. She fussed a good bit before falling back to sleep for a few more hours - but once she was awake for the day, all she did was scream all morning! I'm telling you - parents that have to deal with babies who develop Colic - there are no words to describe the helplessness you feel!

We began to think that this might not end until she pooped, which could be a while since she's only been going every 3 days!
So - after a fussy Saturday evening, a sleepless Saturday night (one where Zig was up all night with us) and a fussy Sunday morning (one that made us have to skip church), she finally pooped!
I can honestly say that I've never been more excited to change a pooped diaper - only because I thought she would finally feel better!
After her pants were changed, she fell right to sleep and was O-U-T for over 4 hours!

We finally had a pretty normal evening with her last night...bottle at 8, fast asleep... But when I laid her down for the night, she woke up screaming...again! After trying everything to calm her and get her back to sleep, we finally tried feeding her a small bottle...and it worked! She ate again at 10:30 and went right back to sleep! I heard from her at 2:45 this morning and again at 7:45...

HOPEFULLY, we're back to the way we were before the cereal incident occurred! Zig and I both agree that we are going to take cereal out of the equation until she's a little older. She obviously isn't ready for it and I regret ever trying it with her! I learned my lesson...I'm just glad she's alright.

We truly don't have a lot going on this week... Hopefully an uneventful, normal, fussy-free week is ahead...yet another week to fall head-over-heels in love with this little girl!