March Madness

Haven't posted in a while so I figured I'd give a Conkin family update. We are currently enjoying the Spring Weather, March Madness, the tail end of my maternity leave, and, of course, our daughter Savannah.

Friday, we had our friends David and Katie Easter over for dinner, and Saturday we went to a couples baby shower for Ericka Milford, all with Savannah in tow. She is definitely getting socialized, however we try and keep outings to once a day. It seems they tire her out this young because usually when we get home she will have a pretty bad bout of fussiness which is not fun for anyone. Yesterday after we got home from the Milford's shower, we had some INTENSE fussiness! Today we had our second trip to church. Savannah did very well...don't get me wrong, she had her moments, but she saves them all for when we get home! I can't wait till Julia Turner arrives, then we will have another baby in our Sunday School class. Later this afternoon I had a craving for Sheridans (a local custard joint) so our little family enjoyed some custard in the March sun, then back home for more basketball.

I've got Savannah on somewhat of a schedule now. It's basically the routine laid out in both Babywise and The Baby Whisperer. We eat, play, and sleep in 2.5 to 3 hour intervals. The cool thing about it is that I'm not a slave of the clock (If she seems hungry at 2.5 hours, we eat, if needs the rest and is sleeping well then we wait until it's been 3 hours), and it has really cut down (if not eliminated) nightime fussiness. The first two weeks I didn't worry about it...I just focused on healing, recovery, sleeping, and making sure Savannah got full feedings. Plus, it's almost impossible for a 1 to 2 week old to get into any routine. But, now that she's becoming much more alert during her awake time, it's easier. It's amazing how much more content she seems. I think her body is getting into a rhythmn now too because she is starting to do what she's supposed to on her own. It's great for me too because I know when I can rest, do errands, or just relax AND I get more sleep which makes everyone more happy! I don't think she's going to be one of those babies who just magically sleeps through the night, but is starting to at least lengthen her nightime sleep. She is now sleeping in 5 hour stretches at night which is a welcome improvement. If you are a Baby Wise family, the only thing you kind of have to be strict on is having a set morning feeding time. Starting this week, I'm going to make myself start getting up at 6 since I know I will thank myself for it when I start back to work in 3 weeks. We'll see how it goes.

Here are a few recent shots of Savannah. I'm hoping we can get Tony and Laura to take some pro shots of her in the next month or two when she really starts smiling :-) Stay tuned!