Bye-Bye Swaddle

Those of you familiar with the book/DVD "Happiest Baby on the Block" probably know the 5 S's for calming a crying baby: Swaddling, Shushing, Swinging, Side-lying position, and Sucking. Well, since she was born, our little Keira, bless her heart, has needed all 5 strategies to help calm her crying and settle into restful sleep. In particular, she has needed to be tightly swaddled every time she was going to go to sleep, whether it was for a nap during the day or going down at night. Well, we reached a BIG milestone this past week because Keira is no longer needing to be swaddled to sleep! We started last week (mostly because she was outgrowing her blankets) and the last 7 nights she has fallen asleep well (except for 1 night that took her a while to fall asleep and stay asleep). Also, she has been able to sleep for long stretches during the night (about 5-7 hours at a time, which is considered "sleeping through the night"--woohoo!). We are so proud of our big girl!

Here is our little peanut at just 4 days old.

And here is our big girl at 3 months, 1 week--unswaddled!

Keira's First Swim Class

A friend of mine has been taking her 6-month-old son to a Mommy & Me swim class and she invited us to come. The swim school offers a free introductory class, so we decided to check it out. Here are the pics of my little swimmer!

When the kids first get in the water, the instructor pours water on their head to help them get used to having their hair and face wet. Keira got startled when the water was poured on her head, but she didn't cry.

Here we are with the other kids, waiting our turn for "big swims."

During "big swims," I moved Keira back and forth in the water while saying, "One, two, three, ready, go!" When I got to "go" I handed her off to the intructor, who then did the same thing and she came back to me.

Finished with "big swims" and on to the next thing.

We sang various kid songs while moving around in the water, such as "Ten in the Bed" and "Wheels on the Bus."



Here we are practicing arm strokes. I held Keira's arms out so she could touch the lane divider as if she was swimming.




Here we are going to the wall to practice the safe way to exit the pool--elbow, elbow, tummy, knee.

Safely getting out of the pool! Then, one, two, three, ready, go! and jump back into the water! Notice the doll in the background--Keira looked just like the little doll with her light-colored hair, white onesie, and Little Mermaid swim diaper!

Tummy time on a kick board?? Neither Keira nor I knew quite what to make of this one, but she went along with it!!

She was cracking me up on the kick board! Notice that she is having more fun sucking on it than anything else!



Practicing floating on her back. The intructor is trying to get her to look up at the star fish so that she'll lie back a little more.

Swimming around at the end of class. She is yawning in the picture; she was very tired by this time!

Proud mama with her little swimmer. Keira did really great! She didn't cry at all and although she didn't smile either, she seemed to enjoy the water and was mezmerized by all that was going on during the class!




She was one exhausted little girl at the end of class. She fell asleep before I even started the car to head home!

Fun!

Keira has been growing and changing so much over the last few weeks. She is such a joy and it is so fun to see her develop day by day. Of course, I am extremely biased, but I am certain she is getting cuter by the day (see pictures below for proof!). :)



This week, Noah has been gone on a backpacking trip to Jasper Canada. Although Keira and I have been missing him, we have been blessed to have each of her Grandmas here to help us out and keep us company.




Okay, let's just get to the good stuff--pictures!

Keira loves playing with toys! Here is one of her favorites, Mr. Caterpillar!

Here she is discovering her lamb. She has lots to say to him!

Besides discovering toys, Keira has also discovered her hands. She loves to suck on her fists, but in this photo she is actually sucking her thumb.

Posing with her new ballerina bear. She's also wearing her cute pink dress, in preparation for the tea party...

Keira's first tea party, hosted by my mom's best friend who came to visit us.

Hanging out with Grandma Sheila!

And hanging out with Grandma Debbie!

P.S. Pictures from Keira's first swim class to come...stay tuned!