Fuss, Fuss, Fuss

It has been a tiring week in the Marx household. Aerin now refuses to be put down almost the entire time she is awake. She will go in her swing, but no more than about 30 minutes per day. She only goes in her Maya Wrap for 20 minute clips. She screams like a banshee when you put her down, which I do for a total of 5 minutes each day (non-consecutive). Her napping has grown more erratic as well. I could usually count on a 3-hour nap during the day, but it as become a sleep-10-minutes, cry-30-seconds, be-patted-and-rocked-by-Momma-for-5-minutes, go-back-to-sleep-for-another-10-minutes cycle. This can go on and on. During the 10 sleep minutes, I try to get things done as fast as I can.

Aerin also spits up more than I thought humanly possible. I have no clean clothes left and I wash an astounding number of bibs every week. She doesn't mind spitting up at all - you don't hear a peep out of her when she does it. In fact, she does stealth spit-ups, where I'll be holding her and doing something and suddenly be covered in spit up. She's eating well and gaining weight, so Dr. Al-Mateen isn't worried and, surprisingly, neither am I. Babies who spit up virtually never get failure to thrive and Aerin is well within the normal weight for her adjusted age.

Aerin has reached the stage in her development where she is realizing that she and I are separate people. This is usually when stranger anxiety and separation anxiety start. I don't think Aerin will have any stranger anxiety - she loves to look at people and will let anyone hold her. I'm not so sure about the separation anxiety. She watches me closely if I'm in the room with her and will start to fuss if she can't see me for more than 5 minutes. Aerin's Grandma Rita is coming to visit this weekend and I plan to do some errands, so we'll see how she does.