In the battle of sleep: Stephanie was a decent sleeper. She slept through the night from six weeks to five months, but at five months we couldn't manage swaddling her anymore, and she woke once a night for the remainder of her first year. Stephanie often nursed to sleep and was put in bed sleeping soundly. Gwen, like Stephanie, also started sleeping through the night at six weeks, but hated being swaddled from day three, although we insisted on trying for a few more days, because of course she would want to be swaddled since Stephanie lived for it! Gwen does not quite nurse to sleep, instead she seems to do better just being laid in bed. She may cry a bit, but then she knocks right off for a good 12 to 14 hours a night. Sorry Steph, but Gwen takes this one.
In the battle of food: Stephanie had her first meal, oatmeal cereal, at just a week shy of 5 months. She simply could not get enough, it was just wonderful. She remains an adventurous and willing eater. One night we told her we had a surprise for dinner. Excitedly, she said, "Brussels sprouts?" She preferentially clears veggies and fruits from her plate before bothering with carbs of meat. She has been known to eat dessert and then grab a beet or a piece of broccoli to snack on before going to bed... Agh! We tried Gwen on cereal at just over 5 months. She had a physical response that involved shivering and trying to get away from the spoon. I have since offered pears, apple sauce, pancakes and yogurt, all of which elicited the same response. It is actually pretty comical, presuming that it does not predict her future eating habits. So far, that means Stephanie wins the food battle.
In the battle of smiles: I am going to call this one a draw. I am pretty sure that Stephanie smiled sooner and more often. In fact, Gwen was slow enough on the smiling that I was becoming increasingly concerned about her. But she seems to have caught up just fine. I think she makes us work for them a bit more, but she has plenty to share.
Paci vs Thumb: Stephanie loved her pacifier. Like the swaddling, we had a long road to accept that Gwen was simply not that interested in one, but instead opts for her thumb. This battle is also a draw. I have never left Gwen's thumb at home or had to dig for it under the crib, but it is going to be a bit harder to put away in a box when it is time to give it up. I am going with any comfort measure that gets you to sleep 13 hours straight at night is a good comfort measure and not even think about future battles.
Stephanie was a good baby. Gwen seems even better, but I actually think a good part of that is because she has the constant entertainment that is her sister bouncing around the house. It will be fun to keep these observations up as Gwen grows and changes even more!
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| Stephanie's first meal! |
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| My name is Gwendolyn, and I am a Sleep-A-Holic |
