Bedtime... dun dun dun.

My normally happy baby girl!

Moms, I'm hoping you can help.

Ever since Linna was about 2-3 months old, she's been sleeping through the night, and we are so thankful for that. Sometimes she'll fuss before bed, but she'll generally have a 5-7 oz. bottle (breast milk), and I'll put her in her crib on her tummy, pat her butt, and she'd fall asleep.

HOWEVER... in the last week, Linna has started having a really tough time going to bed.

Her bedtime USED to be 9 or 10 p.m. (about a month ago), but lately we've started feeding her at 7:30 or 8 p.m. to make sure she's asleep by 8:30 or 9 p.m., (she sleeps until 8 or 9 a.m.). She eats about 5-8 oz. (breast milk), I feed and rock her in her dimly lit room with soft music playing (she's been falling right to sleep to this music for the last month), but the second I lay her in her crib. she starts to cry. I pat her on her butt and say "shhhhhhhhhh" and "nite nite", like I normally did when she would fall right to sleep. But lately it's like she can't shut off her brain and just fall asleep.

We've tried the "cry it out" method, as well as picking her up and rocking her, etc., but in the last week, it's taking us at LEAST an hour of crying/screaming to get her to finally fall asleep. I feel so bad for her because I don't know if she's teething, has gas, etc., so it's very hard for me to "just let her cry".

As an example, here's how tonight went...

7:30 p.m. - She drank 6 or 7 oz.
7:45 p.m. - Papa Saigh laid her in her crib (awake) and patted her butt. She cried, so after a few minutes he picked her up and rocked her. That didn't work, so he tried to feed her a little more. That worked for about 3 seconds and she started crying again, so he tried to rock/bounce her and she would stiffen up and cry.
8 p.m. - I came in to relieve Papa Saigh. I bounced/rocked Linna for a few minutes until she started to fall asleep. I laid her in bed (on her tummy... the way she normally sleeps). She started crying. I patted her butt, and tried the "cry it out" method for 5 minutes (then comforted her while she was still in the crib), 10 minutes (then comforted her while she was still in the crib), then another 10 minutes, until I finally picked her up to rock her. When I rocked her, she would fall asleep, while sort of whining (which is really cute by the way, because she whines "mamamamama" or "nigh, nigh, nigh, nigh...") a little bit too.
8:45 p.m. - We gave her some "Little Fevers" (Tylenol for infants - I hate giving her meds when I don't know for sure something is wrong), rocked her for a few minutes, then laid her in her crib to cry it out (I was ready to pull my hair out). I think she cried for about 10-15 minutes before falling asleep on her own around 9 p.m. or so.

Right now, Linna is 4.5 months old, is pretty much an angel during the day (eats and naps when she wants - often falling asleep on her own, and only fusses when she's hungry or ready for a snooze), but this new nighttime routine/habit of hers makes me want to pull my hair out. I easily lose patience (never with Linna, but my poor husband gets the brunt of it). My nerves are SHOT by the time she is finally asleep. Tonight, mama is having a little vodka 7-Up... Merry Christmas;)

Have any of you parents dealt with a situation like this? What helped you? All and any advice is welcome!

Minnesota Baby "Winter Photo Contest"

Enter your cute kid in the Minnesota Baby "Winter Photo Contest", and you could win a photo session with Chanelle Young Photography, valued at $200! For details, visit our website: http://minnesotababy.org/Events__Deals___Contests.html.

North Shore: Our first baby-free weekend.

The view from the lighthouse on the way to Grand Marais

This past weekend, AJ and I got to get away for an entire weekend, and head up to the North Shore, leaving the baby boo with Grammy Pammy (AJ's mom). We had so much fun, but of course, we missed Linna a lot! I was on the fence as to whether or not we'd bring her along on this trip, but once we got there we realized we made the right decision by leaving Linna at home with grandma. AJ and I needed a weekend to share as a couple, and we did just that! Plus, it was so cold at all the stops we made along the shore.

AJ on the shore, near some type of ship thingy.

We left early Friday morning and headed up north. We stopped in Duluth to walk around, and ended up in the casino and Fitgers (delicious restaurant). AJ and I said we'd only gamble $10 each. I lost my $10, borrowed one of his dollars, won 100 pennies, then lost it all:( That's right, they have penny slots in Duluth. AJ lost $5, but decided to keep his other $5. We are obviously high rollers;) We left the casino smelling like cigs, and may have picked up a disease or two. I'm sorry Duluth, but your casino is so gross! We had fun though.

On a pier on the way to Lutsen. So cold!

We then checked into our lodge at Lutsen Mountains. It's a ski in/out resort that we shared with two other couples, and three other couples (and one single) shared the cabin next door. This is the second time we've gone on the Lutsen trip, and it is a blast! This year, it was our friend Adam Segar's 30th birthday, so we went out to dinner and the bar on Saturday night. I haven't been out dancing at a bar since Linna was born, so of course, I lived it up and shook my booty all night long!

AJ lunging on a rock. It's what he does.

I'm not a skier, so AJ and I decided not to downhill ski or snowboard, and drive to Grand Marais instead. I am in LOVE with that little town! It is so quaint and peaceful. All of the little shops and places to eat are unlike anywhere else in Minnesota. We stopped for pizza at Sven & Ole's. AMAZING! We ordered a sausage and pineapple pizza and it was perfection. The pizza at Sven & Ole's is by far the best pizza AJ and I have ever eaten... and we've eaten a lot of pizza! The crust is thin and crispy, it's loaded with stretchy mozzarella cheese, and it's baked to perfection. I may or may not have dreamed about it over the weekend:-/ We also stopped at the Trading post to pick up Linna a little gift, a book shop, and of course we checked out the shore line. We wanted to stop at The Angry Trout and The Donut Shop, but they were closed. I guess Grand Marais is more of a summer destination (according to my hubby). We also brought our cross country skis, but we were so busy we didn't get to use them! Plus, there wasn't a whole lot of snow.

Both AJ and I are in love with the North Shore and hope to own a cabin up north some day. The views are breathtaking, and it's just so peaceful and relaxing! This trip was much needed by both of us, and even though it was nice to get away for a weekend, we're so happy to be home with our little love bug! Thanks again Grammy Pammy for watching Baby Linna for us! CLICK HERE to see all the photos from our trip.

The lighthouse. Again, great views.

Our version of Lisa & John's photo that
they took on their December vacation
to Anguilla.

Lisa (AJ's sister) & John (Lisa's husband) in Anguilla.

Sunset view from our cabin.

Pizza at Sven & Ole's in Grand Marais. Enough said.

Icy shore lines. So pretty, yet so cold!

4 months.

How is it that we have a 4-month-old baby! I say it every month, but TIME FLIES!

Linna is still such a good baby, but we've definitely ventured into some uncharted territory the past few days. We're not sure if Linna is teething, but bed time has tuned into such a chore. Linna used to go down so easily around 10pm or so (we put her to bed when we go to bed to get a full 8 hours of sleep), and she'd sleep until 10am or so.

Lately, she's been waking up earlier, which is to be expected, so we started putting her down around 9pm. The 9pm bed time has tuned into an hour or more ordeal and she's so fussy. She eats about 5 oz. (still exclusively breast fed from a bottle) or more before bed, and is obviously tired, but it's like she can't "turn it off" and fall asleep. It looks like one of her lower canine teeth is coming in, but she doesn't have a fever, isn't fussy during the day, etc. It's just at night. Last night, she finally fell asleep at 10:30pm, fussed at 4:30am, 5am, 7am, and is still sleeping at 9am. I don't get her out of the crib, but I go in pat her put and she sucks on her fingers until she falls back asleep. I think we're going to try an earlier bed time and once we talk to the pediatrician, we may start her on rice cereal. I don't want to start until 6 months, but if she's ready and hungry we will try it! She does really well with naps throughout the day and is kind of on her own little schedule. If she wants a long nap, she takes one. If she wants a cat nap, she'll take one.

Cheek sandwiches with Papa when he gets home from work

Linna has also started babbling a lot! She loves to look at people and babble "ohhhhhh's" and "ahhhhhh's" at the top of her lungs. I think she likes hearing her voice:) When she's hungry, she hates if we set her down to go get her bottle warmed up, and will cry as we walk away. It's cute, but so sad:( I don't want her to be one of those kids that is super attached to her parents and cries when we leave the room, so we just talk to her from the other room and let her fuss for a few minutes.

Linna is such a smiley little baby! She loves talking to her Papa. She's still sleeping on her tummy, drools so much (wakes up in a puddle), and her hands are always in her mouth. She's still only pooping every 4-7 days, and her poops are still a sight and smell to be seen (I would post a photo, but I don't want to offend people). Linna loves taking in everything around her, starring at everything! One of her cutest moments, is when she becomes tired, she just sighs so loudly and for so long. It's like she wants the world to know, "hey, I'm tired and I need my beauty sleep". She's kind of a drama queen, and I have NO IDEA where she gets it;)

Meeting Great Grandma Krek for the first time! "Who are you lady?"

Great Grandma Krekelberg got to meet Linna for the first time this month too! Grandma lives in Worthington, so Papa Saigh and I drove Linna down to see her. Linna just LOVED Great Grandma K. Linna was talking and smiling the entire time. Linna is my grandma's first great-granddaughter (she has three great-grandsons), so this visit was so special!

She loves napping on mommy and daddy's big bed.

Linna is also now registered with a local modeling agency and went on her first audition for a national toy company print ad this past week! She did a pretty good job. There were so many kids there, and they really got everyone in and out. We'll see if she gets the job. She's just so good in front of the camera! She's been on TWIN CITIES LIVE and Kare 11 Today with me, and it's been so nice to be able to take her to "work" with me.

I really think Linna is starting to look SO MUCH like her papa, and other people are noticing it as well. I also see myself in her, but she is literally a female version of Papa Saigh

What do you think?

First time on Santa's lap. She was so
calm, cool and collected about this!

I'm absolutely loving being home with my baby bean, and I wouldn't change it for the world! We're going to sign up for ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) classes and a swimming class soon, so she's around other kids. We went to one ECFE class last week, and she just starred at all the kids. It was so cute.

Bath time with Linna may be one of my favorite things ever. I take baths with Linna every other day, and she just LOVES the tub. If we put her on her tummy she tires to swim, and if she's on her back, she kicks and puts her hands in her mouth to suck off the water. She's such a little fish.

Meeting cousin Rosco for the first time.

This weekend, Papa Saigh and I are going to Lutsen with friends, and we're leaving Linna home with MeMaw (Grandma Saigh) and Nana (my mom).

Uh oh, baby is up! We'll talk with you all soon. Thanks again for following.

Holiday photos with Chanelle Young.

Here are a few of my favorite shots, from our family holiday photo shoot with Chanelle Young of Chanelle Young Photography. Don't forget, if you book a session with Chanelle through the end of the year, and mention Minnesota Baby, you'll get your session and 10 edited photos for 50% OFF! Her regular price is $200, but mention Minnesota Baby when you book and you'll get it for $100! Which one of our photos is your favorite?