Visits and sleep

So first, about sleep. We considered ourselves pretty lucky. Sairshe slept through the night pretty early (not too early and there is such a thing). Well before 3 months, we were getting a good night's rest. Then we went to California for Labor day. Her sleep habits fell apart. She woke up more at night and napped even less than she did before. (She never really napped well to begin with, but we'll take good sleep at night over naps any day.)
We made some discoveries and some things were pointed out to us while in CA. First of all, she has been drooling a lot and sucking/biting on fingers or anything else she gets in her mouth...duh, teething. It's early for teething, but certainly not unheard of. We've since found some good ways to deal with that, including Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets. I was skeptical, but they work well.
We have also been reading a lot. During a late night crying fit, I read the section in Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child that discusses sleep "regression" around 3-4 months old. The book makes some good points, but doesn't work with our parenting styles. Still, there was good discussion about naps every few hours and creating a good calm environment for sleep. Even better was this article Casey found that argues against the existence of sleep "regressions". It argues, instead, that these events coincide with developmental milestones and little baby brains are working out new skills at this time. It makes a lot of sense and after a minor milestone, she has slept better, just not as good as before.
Finally, we reinstated the nighttime routine. About half an hour before her stated bedtime, we change her into her sleepy clothes, change her diaper and put the fleece liner in, wash her face, and Casey nurses her while I softly play the guitar. The only nights we can't do that are Tuesdays when we have home community, but six nights a week is good. We are hopeful that this routine will help a lot.

Okay, on to some pictures. We went to California for labor day to visit my parents and Casey's mom's side of the family.
Here she is with her grandpa. My dad always seems a little uncomfortable holding her. It's kind of funny. I think he'll be more comfortable with her when she's older.










My Aunt Lori was visiting from Las Vegas.













And with my mom and Casey in Cotati, CA. I had already come back up to Portland since I had to work, but Casey and Sairshe stayed a few extra days.

















And that's it for the pictures. Next posting I'll try to talk more about swim class and, perhaps, a father's early thoughts about the Portland Public Schools and his concerns. (See that's funny because I started to refer to myself in the third person.)