Rodriguez Family Update: Hippie in the House

I had been hearing some really good things on Amber Teething Necklaces and I messaged a girl from high school on Facebook that I need was kinda "crunchy" (this is a good thing!) and she totally sold me when she said she put one of these necklaces on her baby at four months and she never even realized her daughter was teething until she looked inside her mouth and saw a couple teeth! Sold! If you're like me, you thought these necklaces were for the baby to actually chew on; however, that's wrong. Apparently amber is a natural analgesic and is absorbed into the skin and is said to help reduce inflammation, relieve pain from sore gums and lessen drooling on teething babies without the use of over-the-counter drugs and remedies. Who knows if it really works but I am willing to try it and, if not, at least it's a cute little accessory.

you can see the necklace on Mila right by her green shirt

I have recently joined a North Orange County mom's group, with babies born September 2012-March 2013, that's kind of conducive to my full-time working schedule and went on a walk with a group of the mom's yesterday. It was nice to get out of the house and talk with some other moms that have baby's Mila's age. Five mom's were on the walk and we all had little girls; hopefully I can keep going to their meet ups and our kids will become fast friends.

I also made the unfortunate decision this weekend to break Mila of her swaddle. She is still waking up multiple times per night and my research shows this is because she can't put herself back to sleep. She has been swaddled since she was born in a SwaddleMe sack, which is AMAZING and has led to some great sleep for us but, with her arms bound, she's unable to put her pacifier in her mouth or suck on her fingers in the middle of the night. In addition, I think we are just days away from her being able to roll from back to stomach and, once that happens, she definitely can't be swaddled anymore.

Thursday night I put her to bed without her swaddle and we made it an hour before I gave up and put her back in it. Last night was much better, but we're still a long way out! We have also been quick to jump up and go in as soon as she makes a peep so I also let her cry a little and make noises; I gave her three minutes before I went in...and it was the three longest minutes of life! She woke up, probably 10-15 times last night but was able to put herself back to sleep half of the time (the other time I forgot she was supposed to be self soothing and I got up and went in and sssh'd her). So, say a little prayer for us that she learns how to self soothe sooner, rather than later, so we can all get some sleep around here.

Mila is sitting up on her own almost completely now, but when she gets a little excited she still flops over. I mean, sometimes that happens to me too, though.