Misha: 19 weeks

Family trip
   We went up to Penang for 4 nights. It was quite a hectic trip but Misha managed quite well. She took a lot of short naps in the car and car seat. She also didn't get to sleep so well at night since we usually got home late but somehow she still would wake up around 7-8 am. Christmas eve dinner was at home (the only time we stayed in) and she fell asleep before 8pm! She got a good night's sleep then and we got to enjoy our turkey dinner :)

Eating
   I didn't pack the bottle and pump so we didn't bottle feed for 5 nights. Luckily when we got back she was willing to drink from the bottle (MAM...have yet to try the Avent ones).
   She is still easily distracted so it was a challenge making sure she was feeding enough. At home I will usually bring her upstairs to feed (since Meera is around its quite distracting). I hope this is just a phase and she will learn to eat with distractions around (I can dream...)
   I have also come to notice that she prefers eating from the right side. Whenever she is particularly fussy (too hungry or overtired) she refuses to nurse from the left side! I also realise that whenever I pump I get more milk from the right than the left.
   After our trip to Penang there were 2 days that she fed A LOT (sometimes from both sides!) Growth spurt? or maybe just catching up from Penang.

Sleeping
   Still taking short naps. But will usually take one long nap a day (1-2 hours long). She still doesn't sleep thru the night (my definition is night feed to morning feed) consistently. I am also not really working on this since I figure once Meera starts school, waketime will be earlier so I will figure it out then. Right now she will have her last feed at about 8.30pm then the next feed is around 5 or 6 am. But every once in a while it's earlier. So it's not out of habit but hunger. I guess I have higher expectations since Meera slept 12 hours straight by this age. But comparatively she is actually quite good already.


Milestones
   She has started to talk a lot. Constantly jabbering. At night when we put her down to sleep she will be yacking away so loudly we can even hear her downstairs! And if you talk to her she tries to talk back. So cute!
   She started noticing her hands and is constantly staring at them and moving her fingers. It's quite amusing to watch.
   She is starting to try and grab things. We have this toy which we fix on her stroller and we notice she will try to reach for the ball...not always and it has to be near enough to her for her to even attempt it.

   

 Personality
   I think she is starting to recognise people and have preferences. She always has really big smiles for Meera and will be looking at her if she's around. And whenever she is very tired or fussy I have to be the one to carry her to calm her down. Noticed this a few times before but it's starting to get really obvious now. Not sure if maybe the trip had anything to do with it though (could see she was quite tired and not getting enough rest most of the time). But generally she is quite easy to calm down.

Misha: 18 weeks (4 months)

4 month well visit
   Not sure if I've mentioned this before but we have been doing all of her vaccinations (the compulsory ones) with the Klinik Kesihatan at Putrajaya. It's free and surprisingly very fast. I remember having to wait a few hours every time we took Meera to the Pediatrician at Columbia Asia. But here I'm usually done in 1 hour! Plus it's so near the house. And did I mention it's FREE!
   So this month I took her in just to get her weighed. 5.74kg. No injection this round.

Eating
   Still feeding with the MAM bottle.Looks like Avent is out the window.

Sleeping
   We have begun the bedtime ritual of reading a story book. Right now, Jing will give her a bottle and then read to here. I decided on this book... short and simple. We use to read 'Goodnight Moon' to Meera but I think it's a rather long book for a baby. :)
   Her nights are starting to extend. After dropping the dream-feed last week, I was expecting her to wake up in the middle of the night but seems like she can manage 11 hours without feeding! In fact, I think the dream-feed was actually interfering with her sleep cycle. I notice when I do give her a dream-feed she actually wakes up earlier in the morning!
   I am still putting her down for naps by patting her thigh and shushing. She gets quite worked up when I try to turn her to pat her bum so I don't do that now. She is still taking very shorts naps. Most times its 30 minutes. Once in a while she'll take a 1 hour plus nap (2 times this week). So this means she takes like 4-5 naps in a day.


Disruptions
   The day after she turned 4 months, was a really off day. Naps were 30 minutes at most. She cried after each nap and she was so fussy! I read about Wonder weeks and week 19 is supposed to be of of the worst ones so I 'm chalking it up to that. I watched her through the camera and I could see her really struggling to sleep. She kept startling and moving restlessly. I wondered if maybe I should have continued to swaddle...
   Thankfully by night time she was okay and slept as usual. She did cry out about 1 hour after sleeping but managed to put herself back to sleep. The following day she seemed okay. Even took 1.5 hour nap in the morning!

Developments
   She is starting to hold on to things when its near her. She doesn't reach out for them yet though. She can also hold her head up really well now. And during tummy time she will hold her head up for a really long time. She can roll to her side but not a complete roll over yet.
   I've started playing the 'Baby Can Read' DVDs for her. And I've finally put up the mobile. She is quite fascinated with it.

Misha: 17 weeks

Eating
   Lately Misha has been feeding a lot more. Not sure if its a growth spurt since its been quite a few days. She is also getting more difficult to feed. Most times she does not feed well after she wakes up so I have to give her a top up feed before she goes to sleep. I'm worried this is going to become a sleep prop but I'm trying to make sure she is still awake after feeding by burping her.
   Early part of the week she was still refusing the bottle. Jing tries for a bit but once she starts fussing and crying we stop. Its a lot less time consuming and I don't get stressed out.
   Jing notice that she will suck a bit but then seems unhappy. So we decided to try the MAM bottle again. The first night she took 70 ml from it. And since then she seems ok with drinking from a bottle. One night we tried the Avent bottle again but she refused...so I guess she has a preference. We may try the Avent one again (I've already bought so many bottles!) at some point but for now will be sticking to MAM. I can see the teat is very different (softer and texturised) so maybe that's why she prefers it. She doesn't drink much though...only once did she finish the 150ml.
   This week I stopped with the dreamfeed. I did not find that it was helping her to sleep longer at night so I decided to stop.  And so far she has been doing quite well. I don't notice her getting up any earlier so I will continue with this. She still wakes in the early morning (around 5 am) for a feed.

New sleeping position

 Sleeping
   She is also having trouble going to sleep on her own. Most naps I have had to rock her till she sleeps off before I can put her down. I'm trying a new technique which is laying her on her side and patting her bum while making sh sounds. (It has worked for 2 naps - Tuesday). She will start of wailing but I just persist and she will slowly quieten down. I cannot keep carrying her and rocking as she is starting to get quite heavy. By the end of the week...this new technique has been working well. I put her down and just start shushing and patting. I have to shush quite loudly and usually I just pat her thigh (she didn't really like it when I rolled her to her side. She has been falling asleep quite fast like this but I'm hoping she will learn to sleep herself. 

Vaccination
   Took her for her last Rotavirus vaccine.

Schedule
   I still don't have a schedule down. With Meera off from school morning wake-time is not consistent so I guess it throws the whole day off. But typically she gets up around 7.30 am. Can stay awake for 1.5 to 2 hours before needing a nap. Takes about 4-5 naps a day and has 7 feedings a day (1 of which is a bottle feed). Bedtime is usually around 9 pm.

Milestones
   Her neck is quite steady now. She can keep her head upright whenever I carry her. She's also very fascinated with her fingers (She'll be staring at them for a really long time). I also notice she can reach and hold her legs. 

Misha: 16 weeks

Eating
   I left Misha with Jing for almost half a day (from 7 am- 4 pm). He tried giving her the bottle but she still refused. Finally he resorted to feeding her with a cup. She drank but it wasn't easy. When I got home she was nursing a lot (to make up for whatever feeds she missed). We have decided to still try with the bottle but not force it. If she takes it well and good but if she doesn't I'll just nurse her. At least we don't have to go through a nightly ordeal anymore (we spend a good hour trying to get her to take the bottle and it usually ends in tears). Not to mention how it stresses me out which makes pumping quite hard ( I realise that I need to be relaxed and calm to get a proper let-down). So moving forward, we will offer the bottle but if she refuses (after 10 minutes or so) I'll just feed her.
   She is still easily distracted during feeding times. Especially now that Meera is around (school holidays), I need to find somewhere quiet to feed her.

Growth Spurt
   I think she had a growth spurt during the middle of this week. For 2 days I noticed that she fed a lot more. Not only more frequently but she also nursed from both sides for a few feeds (which has never happened before.) Usually whenever I try to offer she will just turn her head away. This time she finished one side and seemed fussy so I gave her the other side as well. 


Sleeping
   This week we moved the playpen up to Misha's room. So she's taking her naps there but night time she sleeps in the crib in our room.
   We have also stopped swaddling her. She has been moving a lot that most times she breaks free of the swaddle anyways. So we have stopped altogether. 

Going Out
   I had my first solo outing with Misha this week. We went out for lunch with a friend and it was a lot easier than I had expected. I remember I never went anywhere alone with Meera till she was over a year old. But this round I guess I'm not as worried as last time. I even take her for her monthly vaccinations alone (which I never contemplated being able to do with Meera - I was always so worried about driving alone with a baby).