A Day in the Life

We live our lives in 3 hour increments that usually (though not always) go like this: Betty wakes up crying and becomes inconsolable as she suffers the indignities of a diaper change. She nurses for 10-20 minutes, usually getting drowsy at exactly 5 minutes and downshifting to "non-nutritive" feeding at 9 minutes (meaning she's just there for the fun of it at that point). Then, she burps, usually with spit up. If it's night time she goes back to bed.

If it's day then we have playtime. She sits in her vibrating chair and we read to her, or she lies on a blanket and we show her toys. Sometimes we listen to NPR or music. Sometimes we have Naked Time or Tummy Time. During all of this Betty kicks and wiggles and smiles.

Then she starts to yawn. In the morning and early afternoon, we can then wrap her up and put her in her chair and she'll nap til the next feeding (for some reason she doesn't like to sleep in her crib during the day). But if it's afternoon or early evening...a new side of Betty emerges. Napping probably isn't going to happen--instead she'll fuss and cry and need to be held, cranky and awake, until the last feeding of the day (which might be anytime between 6 and midnight), after which she has lately started sleeping for 6-8 hours.

We know that we've crossed the threshold from happy baby to fussy baby when we see this face, the biggest smile of all. If Betty laughs or smiles this big in the late afternoon, you can be sure that in less than a minute she'll be crying. It's like one last hurrah until tomorrow morning when angel Betty wakes up from her night's sleep and the blue birds come in the window to fix her hair.