I have missed an entire month of writing. Being a working mom is much harder than I thought. It doesn't leave a lot of time for anything. Being a mother, being a wife, being a friend, or even just being myself. You are constantly pulled in every direction. There are only 24 hours in the day. And sleep has escaped you for more months than you can remember. But as I move forward, now in my fourth month of being a working mother, I am somehow learning how to juggle all the hats that I need to wear. The most rewarding still being that of mother.
When you first become a mother, everyone informs you that they will grow. Quickly. They will change before your eyes, and before you know it, they will be teenagers, young adults, and before you know it. Adults. And you say "I know." And you DO know. But somehow, no matter how much you know, you have no idea at all. They grow so fast. Every week that passes alters their life for ever.
The last time that I wrote extensively about E she was 1 week, and 1 day away from 6 months. E is now 7 months and 2 weeks. So only about 2.5 weeks away from 8 months. Wow, 2 months has passed. And she isn't even remotely the same baby. In fact, I fear that I can't really call her a baby at all.
E rolls like a made woman. For a while there was some fear she wouldn't bother with crawling at all, since she was such an "advanced" roller. She still isn't crawling, but she did start scooting. Backwards mostly. Daddy likes to say that E is "stuck in reverse." Which I find endlessly funny, since everything is somehow car related to Daddy. He has dedicated a great deal of time trying to show E how to "go forward". She watches him crawl around the living room floor and they bond in a way that amazes me.
Sometimes watching Daddy be a daddy is as rewarding as being a Mommy, or watching E grow and learn. Before you get married you get to know your spouse as a person. You find out what they like, what they do, who they are. Then you get married. You learn who they are as a spouse. How you will divide the labor of life, the money in your life, how do you juggle being a married couple, a spouse and keep your own identity. Then you have a child. And somehow, all the other parts dissolve. And you get to relearn each other. How do you juggle all these parts of your life. And you learn something even more fundamental. I don't think you know your spouse. Until you see them as a parent. It alters you forever. And as this started... Daddy loves E with such passion. And as E has grown, my dominant role as Mommy has been replaced with a shared role as parent. E needs Daddy. Now E needs Daddy in ways she had always needed Mommy. E needs someone who can play with her. I don't know why it is. But Daddy's just play differently than Mommy's. And after all that time, of being the primarily demanded upon parent. You can finally sit back and just admire them both.
Again, I digress, it's been a while, I have a lot to say. So the point here, is E is trying to learn how to crawl. She can scoot backwards. Then beginning just about a week ago, for the first time we saw her pull her knees in under her. VICTORY! Crawling might be in our future after all. Over the past week she's master pulling those little knees in and rock back and forward on her hands and knees. She will crawl.
I want to talk about food, but before I talk about food. Let's talk about daycare. Because it's a fact of every working parent's life. No matter what road you choose, in home daycare, a family member, a small daycare, or a national chain. Working parents must leave their little one with someone else. So I researched E's daycare extensively. And still, we couldn't be happier. E loves her daycare. I think she likes the other children, but she is very attached to the staff. Which is so important. E gets excited when we're on our way to daycare and gets bouncy and happy when you take her out of the car in the parking lot. She is happy to see Ms. K in the morning and enjoys her time with Ms. J in the afternoon. She misses daycare when she's not there. In fact I think she's bored when she's home with us. But I'll touch on that later. The point is, she loves daycare, and they love her there too. Aside from her teachers, the administrative staff has taken an interest in her, and she is never short on love. So E plays, E makes art projects, and most of all, E eats.
So let's talk about eating. Just before E turned 6 months. We started eating solids. I was on a mission to make E's baby food. I did. She loved it. Unfortunately, E has decided home made baby food was good. But finger food is even better. She has passed what I fondly refer to as "the moosh" and moved on to finger foods with reckless abandon. Thankfully her daycare serves breakfast/lunch. And it's included in our tuition. And Ms. K has the dedication to take whatever is being served for lunch, and make it finger food for E. She eats just about anything, from turkey and cheese sandwiches, cheese quesadilla, chicken nuggets, pasta, to bagels, french toast, bananas, carrots, and broccoli. Truth be told, I'm having a hard time finding this 7 months old tummy bottom. She eats like her Daddy. And will very well eat from when we get home until bedtime if we let her.
So E has grown so much. She's becoming a little girl. She's a joy to play with and she's starting to show signs of affection. Resting her head on your shoulder when she's tired. Wrapping her arms around your neck. Lifting her arms up when she wants to be picked up. She talks to the cats endlessly, and she's trying really hard to talk to us as well. She will probably communicate with the cats before she succeeds with us. Although Daddy and I are pretty sure she nodded her head one night when I asked if she wanted more pasta.
As always - - Who Dropped the Pacifier?
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
We've Come so Far yet stand so still...
I have to say, it truly amazes me the number of women who have reached out to me and thanked me. Thanked me for my brutal honesty as it pertains to being a mother. Balancing the choices and the goals, and somewhere along the way changing who you are on the most fundamental level while keeping who you always were deep down inside, not that it's buried, more as though it's a set aside... like when you're cooking dinner, and you finish part of it first, and have to set it aside until you complete making the rest of dinner and then you bring it all back together. I guess I kind of think of becoming a mother of something akin to that.
But I digress, or perhaps I've gotten ahead of myself. Since it's not a bad place to go. But anyway, I've been thanked. It amazes me that as many advancements and as progressive as women are today, we still place unnecessary strain on ourselves when it comes to the hat of motherhood. We are demanding of ourselves. We are no longer just women, mothers and wives, we are also workers. And consequently the game should have shifted. But it doesn't. Somehow, it just expands. We try to give the same efforts to all those roles as we did before we had the added role of being a full time, or even a part time worker.
I think consequently, as a result of this split personality (I mean role), the guilt we feel as it pertains to motherhood is immense. And the weight it carries can be a true burden. Nobody wants to talk about the difficult parts of motherhood. Many women when asked how they deal with the challenges of splitting their lives talk about it with a big smile, an extensive to do list, and a happy husband at home on the side lines. I try to keep it real. Maybe there are people out there who really do accomplish all of this. And inside their hearts are truly happy and fulfilled. But I suspect, more often than not... they are just holding the other part in, and not letting the world see how truly challenging the roles can be.
Let me just clarify. I am not saying that being a mother, a wife, a woman or a worker is the end of the world. It is truly some of the most rewarding my life has ever been. The love is more complete and unconditional, and it's just truly special. But heck, there are times I just want to bury my head in the sand like an Ostrich and hope the rest of the world takes the hint and goes away. There are times I look at myself and think "I am too young to be someones mother." Or... "Surely I'm doing something wrong that she still wont' sleep through the night." I question myself more than ever before, and yet I have this innate feeling of what to do and how to sooth this little person who just needs unconditional love from me. And let's face it, whoever said ALL THEY NEED IS LOVE... forgot to mention, the bottles, the food, the naps, the bedtimes, the baths, the diapers, the wipes and the other endless mountain of necessities that babies need. And that as parents we must provide. And at the end of the day. After you have crawled into bed yourself, without any supper or strength left to want any supper... well... you feel overwhelmed. And in the same moment you can see your little one, or think of your little one, and the impact of that is immense. You could go on for hours.
As far as the women's movements have come. I find it interesting that as women we continue to hold in what we really feel. And put on this face of bravery for the world to see. I am not suggesting we should appear as weak. Not at all. Rather I think we should show our strength in facing, admitting, and dealing with the truly difficult challenges society asks for us to deal with today.
I am glad I can give mothers/women a voice. That I can say, I am MOMMY - Hear me ROAR! I will tell you all about it, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the funny. I will not sugar coat it, and I will not try to convince you that it's easy or all good. But it's real. It's life. And I'd do it all over again!
To Mommies and Daddies... let's be honest, this is hard stuff. Sometimes it really stinks. And really - - - Who dropped the pacifier?
But I digress, or perhaps I've gotten ahead of myself. Since it's not a bad place to go. But anyway, I've been thanked. It amazes me that as many advancements and as progressive as women are today, we still place unnecessary strain on ourselves when it comes to the hat of motherhood. We are demanding of ourselves. We are no longer just women, mothers and wives, we are also workers. And consequently the game should have shifted. But it doesn't. Somehow, it just expands. We try to give the same efforts to all those roles as we did before we had the added role of being a full time, or even a part time worker.
I think consequently, as a result of this split personality (I mean role), the guilt we feel as it pertains to motherhood is immense. And the weight it carries can be a true burden. Nobody wants to talk about the difficult parts of motherhood. Many women when asked how they deal with the challenges of splitting their lives talk about it with a big smile, an extensive to do list, and a happy husband at home on the side lines. I try to keep it real. Maybe there are people out there who really do accomplish all of this. And inside their hearts are truly happy and fulfilled. But I suspect, more often than not... they are just holding the other part in, and not letting the world see how truly challenging the roles can be.
Let me just clarify. I am not saying that being a mother, a wife, a woman or a worker is the end of the world. It is truly some of the most rewarding my life has ever been. The love is more complete and unconditional, and it's just truly special. But heck, there are times I just want to bury my head in the sand like an Ostrich and hope the rest of the world takes the hint and goes away. There are times I look at myself and think "I am too young to be someones mother." Or... "Surely I'm doing something wrong that she still wont' sleep through the night." I question myself more than ever before, and yet I have this innate feeling of what to do and how to sooth this little person who just needs unconditional love from me. And let's face it, whoever said ALL THEY NEED IS LOVE... forgot to mention, the bottles, the food, the naps, the bedtimes, the baths, the diapers, the wipes and the other endless mountain of necessities that babies need. And that as parents we must provide. And at the end of the day. After you have crawled into bed yourself, without any supper or strength left to want any supper... well... you feel overwhelmed. And in the same moment you can see your little one, or think of your little one, and the impact of that is immense. You could go on for hours.
As far as the women's movements have come. I find it interesting that as women we continue to hold in what we really feel. And put on this face of bravery for the world to see. I am not suggesting we should appear as weak. Not at all. Rather I think we should show our strength in facing, admitting, and dealing with the truly difficult challenges society asks for us to deal with today.
I am glad I can give mothers/women a voice. That I can say, I am MOMMY - Hear me ROAR! I will tell you all about it, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the funny. I will not sugar coat it, and I will not try to convince you that it's easy or all good. But it's real. It's life. And I'd do it all over again!
To Mommies and Daddies... let's be honest, this is hard stuff. Sometimes it really stinks. And really - - - Who dropped the pacifier?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
6 Months
We are rapidly approaching the 6 month point. I have 1 week, and 1 day, until E will be 6 months old. I can't even begin to accept the fact that she has been on this earth for half a year. And in this amount of time again, she will be 1. Seems just impossible. As eager as I am for every phase of her life. I become more and more aware of how far we have come. And long gone are the days of my baby. She will always be my baby. But she is definitely not a newborn, and rapidly outgrowing the characterization of an infant.
Among the largest of my accomplishments for the 6 month mark pertains to nursing. E will have been primarily nursed for all 6 months of her life. Nearly every evening she has taken a bottle of formula from Daddy. But as Grandma will tell you, that was purely because I horded my milk. She has never consistently taken her bedtime bottle. We'll make 4 - 6 ounces, and she'll drink anywhere from .5 an ounce, to all of it. And no matter how healthy it is for her. I can NOT stomach throwing 5.5 ounces of my milk out. On the other hand, I very easily throw out the extremely expensive $27 a can hypo-allergenic formula. Not sure why. But that's the way I felt. So, back to the moral of the story, except for 1 bottle, she's nursed for the first 6 months of her life. When I returned to work, it was with a great deal of trepidation. Largely because of the nursing. I had 8 weeks to get her to the 6 month point. And I was lucky. My company offers a lactation room, with a sink/fridge/comfortable chair and power. I'm given multiple times a day when I have access to the room. If you took a close look in my freezer, you would have found over 200 frozen ounces. I had worked, and horded, pumped and obsessed for 4 months while on leave. And when I returned to work, and continued to pump on average 12 ounces a day. And E proved her greedy little self and began eating 25 ounces a day. I began obsessively calculating how much I needed to compensate out of my stash in order to get her to that 6 month point. As the weeks have gone by, the stash has gotten smaller. I have stopped occupying a large part of 2 freezers, and now only occupy a small portion of 1. I can count the bags in the freezer on my fingers and toes, and I don't need a calculator to add up all the ounces. But as I see the 6 month mark at the end of the tunnel, I feel a certain amount of relief. I am sad to know that we will have to begin supplementing formula. But I feel a certain amount of relief. When I realize that I can stop calculating, and speculating, worrying when I could only pump a little bit. And start to enjoy other things. Daddy and I decided that I won't stop when I reach the 6 month mark. But what is. Is what will be. If I pump 12, and she drinks 20, she'll get 8 formula. And that is ok. So I look forward to not having to strain over that. If I hadn't returned to work I may have nursed her forever (ok that's a long time). But it has been an enjoyable accomplishment, and something I have been enormously proud of. So I can check this major goal off my list of motherhood and begin to look forward to other aspects of it.
E has begun eating solids. And I have thus far maintained making her baby food. She likes her organic applesauce, and has finally taken to her sweet potatoes. I look forward to her progressing on this front. And her being able to join in with family dinner time. We have tried bananas, and she super duper likes those too! She's had some pears, but isn't as big a fan. But as with the sweet potatoes, I will try again, and in the future she may change her mind.
E finally jumps in her jumperoo. She goes nuts. She plays with the toys, and jumps up and down as fast as her little legs will allow her.
E can walk in the driveway with her walker. She loves it. The weather has finally gotten warm, and she can enjoy the outside. She can push herself about and spin the toys in the toy tray. She can chew on the strap on her little hat, and she can otherwise entertain herself well. She gets a lot of satisfaction from being mobile. The idea that she is under her own power thrills her. And she can motor around pretty efficiently. Although turning is still something she's unsure of, and she's pretty sure the parked cars are purely for her to bang into repeatedly!
E can roll. She can roll back and forth from her tummy to her back. Over, and over and over. And she's even learned if she keeps going the same direction she can go places. The only problem with this ability is it is difficult to change diapers and dress a baby who is trying to roll over.
So E will be 6 months, in 1 week, and 1 day. I can't wait to see what she learns in the next 1 week and 1 day. But it's been an exciting 6 months. And I can't wait to see what the next 6 months hold, and all the rest of the years of her life! She's an amazing little girl.
So to all the mommies and daddies... remember they grow with every day, every second. Appreciate every single moment. Because once it's passed... it is just that, in the past. And as always - who dropped the pacifier?
Among the largest of my accomplishments for the 6 month mark pertains to nursing. E will have been primarily nursed for all 6 months of her life. Nearly every evening she has taken a bottle of formula from Daddy. But as Grandma will tell you, that was purely because I horded my milk. She has never consistently taken her bedtime bottle. We'll make 4 - 6 ounces, and she'll drink anywhere from .5 an ounce, to all of it. And no matter how healthy it is for her. I can NOT stomach throwing 5.5 ounces of my milk out. On the other hand, I very easily throw out the extremely expensive $27 a can hypo-allergenic formula. Not sure why. But that's the way I felt. So, back to the moral of the story, except for 1 bottle, she's nursed for the first 6 months of her life. When I returned to work, it was with a great deal of trepidation. Largely because of the nursing. I had 8 weeks to get her to the 6 month point. And I was lucky. My company offers a lactation room, with a sink/fridge/comfortable chair and power. I'm given multiple times a day when I have access to the room. If you took a close look in my freezer, you would have found over 200 frozen ounces. I had worked, and horded, pumped and obsessed for 4 months while on leave. And when I returned to work, and continued to pump on average 12 ounces a day. And E proved her greedy little self and began eating 25 ounces a day. I began obsessively calculating how much I needed to compensate out of my stash in order to get her to that 6 month point. As the weeks have gone by, the stash has gotten smaller. I have stopped occupying a large part of 2 freezers, and now only occupy a small portion of 1. I can count the bags in the freezer on my fingers and toes, and I don't need a calculator to add up all the ounces. But as I see the 6 month mark at the end of the tunnel, I feel a certain amount of relief. I am sad to know that we will have to begin supplementing formula. But I feel a certain amount of relief. When I realize that I can stop calculating, and speculating, worrying when I could only pump a little bit. And start to enjoy other things. Daddy and I decided that I won't stop when I reach the 6 month mark. But what is. Is what will be. If I pump 12, and she drinks 20, she'll get 8 formula. And that is ok. So I look forward to not having to strain over that. If I hadn't returned to work I may have nursed her forever (ok that's a long time). But it has been an enjoyable accomplishment, and something I have been enormously proud of. So I can check this major goal off my list of motherhood and begin to look forward to other aspects of it.
E has begun eating solids. And I have thus far maintained making her baby food. She likes her organic applesauce, and has finally taken to her sweet potatoes. I look forward to her progressing on this front. And her being able to join in with family dinner time. We have tried bananas, and she super duper likes those too! She's had some pears, but isn't as big a fan. But as with the sweet potatoes, I will try again, and in the future she may change her mind.
E finally jumps in her jumperoo. She goes nuts. She plays with the toys, and jumps up and down as fast as her little legs will allow her.
E can walk in the driveway with her walker. She loves it. The weather has finally gotten warm, and she can enjoy the outside. She can push herself about and spin the toys in the toy tray. She can chew on the strap on her little hat, and she can otherwise entertain herself well. She gets a lot of satisfaction from being mobile. The idea that she is under her own power thrills her. And she can motor around pretty efficiently. Although turning is still something she's unsure of, and she's pretty sure the parked cars are purely for her to bang into repeatedly!
E can roll. She can roll back and forth from her tummy to her back. Over, and over and over. And she's even learned if she keeps going the same direction she can go places. The only problem with this ability is it is difficult to change diapers and dress a baby who is trying to roll over.
So E will be 6 months, in 1 week, and 1 day. I can't wait to see what she learns in the next 1 week and 1 day. But it's been an exciting 6 months. And I can't wait to see what the next 6 months hold, and all the rest of the years of her life! She's an amazing little girl.
So to all the mommies and daddies... remember they grow with every day, every second. Appreciate every single moment. Because once it's passed... it is just that, in the past. And as always - who dropped the pacifier?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
No Go on Yogurt! Return of the Dairy Problem
I bought the baby yogurt from BJs (first mistake before knowing she could eat it, cause now we have a TON of it). Then last night we decided to give some ago. She LOVED it. Would get all fussy in the amount of time it took me to put more on her spoon. And was so excited to eat it. So I thought GREAT. This is good. She likes it. We played a little after she ate. Played in the jumperoo. Played Tummy time, rolled over back and forth 100 times. Then we read some stories, got ready for bed. Nursed and went to sleep. That was about 7. Then at about 9:15 she started to toss and turn and make little noises on the baby monitor. I looked and she just didn't look right. Sure enough, a couple minutes later she starts throwing up. So we clean her up,strip the crib. And get her up to sit with us for a few minutes while we eat dinner, and let her get herself back together. But she still didn't look good. I thought maybe though it was just going to take her a little bit to get pulled back together. She kept trying to go to sleep in her highchair. So I finish quickly and pick her up to take her back upstairs. When I pick her up I realize she doesn't smell so good. So I'm like, OK dirty diaper. I'll go up and get her changed and back into bed because she's so tired. I get to the head of the stairs and all the sudden she starts coughing, and then turns pale again. I had 2 choices, myself or the carpet. Since I can take a shower and throw my clothes in the washing machine, I took the hit. By now she's totally fighting it and upset that she doesn't feel well. So I just sit in the chair on the landing and hold her. I think we're good now. All the sudden she starts throwing herself back like she wants to go to sleep. Then she turns pale again, and throws up on me again. I felt like such a bad mommy. I know I shouldn't but I still did. SO! I don't think she can take anything dairy. We will wait a few more months and maybe try again. Definitely next time it won't be at night. On a Saturday, during the day! So she slept in our room until about 2 AM when she woke up and I took her back to her crib since she'd been fine since then.
So to new mommies and daddies everywhere... don't try something new at night! BAD IDEA. And as always - Who dropped the pacifier?
So to new mommies and daddies everywhere... don't try something new at night! BAD IDEA. And as always - Who dropped the pacifier?
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Too much to do, too little time
I remember the time when I could write my thoughts for the day. It was rewarding. Enjoyable. And otherwise entertaining to others. But then I returned to work. And now time just seems to fly. I have no time to reflect on my day, or my night. I have no time to sit and breath and appreciate the good things of the day, let go of the bad, and move on with the ability to remember what has happened in my life. Instead, the days and nights run together. And Daddy and I are just keeping our heads above water. But here we go again. Let's try to piece together the past few weeks. At least the important parts.
I'll start with the biggest and most important event. E was Baptised. My precious little baby girl was baptised on Easter. It was a wonderful occasion. Daddy and I had argued for months now over the need or the non existent need of a matching sweater go with her baptism gown. Wouldn't you figure Daddy was feeling pretty smug as the weather was so beautiful the sweater was not needed. We were surrounded by many friends and family. And it was truly wonderful. We have video and many pictures so that the event should go down in history. E's dressed was complimented by many people. Even those questioning if it was an heirloom. To which I said yes. I mean come on, someday it would be right? E was passed around at lunch like a precious little sack of potatoes. She met her cousins, and she met her Uncles and Aunts and extended family. She was whisked away from me shortly after the entrees had been served, and didn't return until well after dessert. I never once heard a peep. She was happy as could be. I really couldn't have had a more wonderful day.
Then I can back up a few days before the Baptism. When I woke up one morning I was struck that E seemed to have a little cough. It sounded "productive" as though she was coughing up mucous. But it didn't otherwise bother her, and she was otherwise acting like herself. So I didn't think much of it. By that afternoon it sounded much worse. So I decided to call the pediatrician and have them check her out. Seemed better safe then sorry. We had an appointment for 6:40 that evening. And a good thing we did, because by 5 my little princess sounded like a little seal. Many parents out there will now know exactly what she had. Croup. Something that primarily strikes infants and is a narrowing of their airways which makes them sound kind of like a seal when they cough. Or in her case, exactly like a seal. For the most part croup isn't a big deal. Though in some rare cases it can be problematic. It was no biggie for E. We got something to give her for a few days and after that the cough seemed to worry Mommy more than her. I was however told that she would be contagious for a week. So we kept her out of daycare for a week. That was fun. I got to spend LOTS of time with little bit, but it was a little stressful as well.
E can eat! Yes, E has finally taken to solids. I'm not sure she ever couldn't eat, so much as she was NOT a big fan of what I was feeding her. At the eager encouragement of a colleague, I decided to stop trying to force feed E Sweet Potatoes, and to try a fruit. So on to Applesauce we went. Much to my shock and delight, she loved it. No more spitting it out. No more clenched mouth to wiggle the spoon over. She swallowed most of it down, spit very little of it out, and opened her mouth WIDE for more. She's also begun taking cereal at daycare for lunch. So E now eats. She loves her applesauce. We tried some banana this weekend. She seemed to like that as well. But we're still leaning more towards applesauce. It's fun to sit in the kitchen while Daddy cooks dinner and help her eat. She's got applesauce from head to toe when she's done. But she's happy. And if you give her a spoon of her own she'll bang it against the tray and then SHOVE the spoon end in her mouth.
What else has E accomplished? She's been VERY busy.
During the last very warm spell I finally took a chance with a walker that had been passed down to us from her favorite Aunt. We took it outside onto the driveway on I put E in it. She looked like she thought this was a good idea. With a good sturdy pair of shoes with protection on the toes, she pushed herself right across the driveway. And then again this weekend she motored around the driveway while Daddy and I did some chores in the yard. She'll only get better at it, but she's already pretty good. And I get so excited! I just want to cry and cheer her on! GO E! GO E! She's getting so big and developing in so many ways. It'll be fun this summer to be outside with her. And the outside is so new to her. Being a winter baby, E hasn't really SEEN the outside so much as passed through it on her way to someplace else.
E has also decided she is ready to roll. (So to speak) Starting Saturday she suddenly began rolling around. She hasn't put together that if she keeps rolling one direction she can actually GO somewhere but she's realized she can fairly easily roll from her back to her tummy and then back to her back. We visited Grandma and Grandpa this weekend when she started doing it. Grandma was so excited every time E did it, Grandma would cheer her on. Now that she is home, every time she rolls over she looks eagerly for whoever is in the room to clap and praise her. (Thanks Grandma) But to see her smile when she does it? Priceless. We do now have to be careful. Can't just put her down and walk away. She is beginning to get into things even if they weren't right next to her when you put her down. I suppose it was bound to happen.
E doesn't sleep... or does she? After weeks and weeks of sleepless nights, and complete desperation Daddy and I decided maybe it was time for sleep training. But after a night where Daddy was up trying to get E to soothe herself to sleep for 2 hours in the middle of the night. Mommy caved, and decided maybe she should read the WHOLE book before I started on this venture. Continuing on the pure desperation train of thought, Mommy decided to see if E wanted to be back in her swaddle blanket. No way this child who was so physically developed and mobile, would want to be strapped into a blanket. She'd scream for sure. But we tried anyway, after her bath, we did her usual night time routine, and then into her swaddle blanket she went. She quieted down. She took her whole bedtime bottle, which was the first time in a long time that she'd done that. Daddy put her down in the crib. And she went to sleep. No crying, no additional trips upstairs. Just to sleep. She slept for 4.5 hours, then she woke up. I fed her. And she went right back into her crib. Fast asleep. Didn't cry when she dropped her pacifier, just slept. Slept for another 4.5 hours, and then awoke again, ate again, went to sleep again. And woke up at 6 AM when we all needed to start getting ready for the day. In fact, if Daddy had not been coughing all night. Mommy and Daddy might actually feel a little rested. So E gave up her swaddle, and has now taken it back. More to come on sleep training. E apparently doesn't need her nighttime feedings anymore, so we'll need to work on getting her to give those up! And someday we'll have to figure out how to give up the swaddle. But for now. If it works. It's staying!
So that's all for now. Thanks for reading, and your interest in my little E. Have a good day Mommies and Daddies and as always - Who dropped the pacifier.
I'll start with the biggest and most important event. E was Baptised. My precious little baby girl was baptised on Easter. It was a wonderful occasion. Daddy and I had argued for months now over the need or the non existent need of a matching sweater go with her baptism gown. Wouldn't you figure Daddy was feeling pretty smug as the weather was so beautiful the sweater was not needed. We were surrounded by many friends and family. And it was truly wonderful. We have video and many pictures so that the event should go down in history. E's dressed was complimented by many people. Even those questioning if it was an heirloom. To which I said yes. I mean come on, someday it would be right? E was passed around at lunch like a precious little sack of potatoes. She met her cousins, and she met her Uncles and Aunts and extended family. She was whisked away from me shortly after the entrees had been served, and didn't return until well after dessert. I never once heard a peep. She was happy as could be. I really couldn't have had a more wonderful day.
Then I can back up a few days before the Baptism. When I woke up one morning I was struck that E seemed to have a little cough. It sounded "productive" as though she was coughing up mucous. But it didn't otherwise bother her, and she was otherwise acting like herself. So I didn't think much of it. By that afternoon it sounded much worse. So I decided to call the pediatrician and have them check her out. Seemed better safe then sorry. We had an appointment for 6:40 that evening. And a good thing we did, because by 5 my little princess sounded like a little seal. Many parents out there will now know exactly what she had. Croup. Something that primarily strikes infants and is a narrowing of their airways which makes them sound kind of like a seal when they cough. Or in her case, exactly like a seal. For the most part croup isn't a big deal. Though in some rare cases it can be problematic. It was no biggie for E. We got something to give her for a few days and after that the cough seemed to worry Mommy more than her. I was however told that she would be contagious for a week. So we kept her out of daycare for a week. That was fun. I got to spend LOTS of time with little bit, but it was a little stressful as well.
E can eat! Yes, E has finally taken to solids. I'm not sure she ever couldn't eat, so much as she was NOT a big fan of what I was feeding her. At the eager encouragement of a colleague, I decided to stop trying to force feed E Sweet Potatoes, and to try a fruit. So on to Applesauce we went. Much to my shock and delight, she loved it. No more spitting it out. No more clenched mouth to wiggle the spoon over. She swallowed most of it down, spit very little of it out, and opened her mouth WIDE for more. She's also begun taking cereal at daycare for lunch. So E now eats. She loves her applesauce. We tried some banana this weekend. She seemed to like that as well. But we're still leaning more towards applesauce. It's fun to sit in the kitchen while Daddy cooks dinner and help her eat. She's got applesauce from head to toe when she's done. But she's happy. And if you give her a spoon of her own she'll bang it against the tray and then SHOVE the spoon end in her mouth.
What else has E accomplished? She's been VERY busy.
During the last very warm spell I finally took a chance with a walker that had been passed down to us from her favorite Aunt. We took it outside onto the driveway on I put E in it. She looked like she thought this was a good idea. With a good sturdy pair of shoes with protection on the toes, she pushed herself right across the driveway. And then again this weekend she motored around the driveway while Daddy and I did some chores in the yard. She'll only get better at it, but she's already pretty good. And I get so excited! I just want to cry and cheer her on! GO E! GO E! She's getting so big and developing in so many ways. It'll be fun this summer to be outside with her. And the outside is so new to her. Being a winter baby, E hasn't really SEEN the outside so much as passed through it on her way to someplace else.
E has also decided she is ready to roll. (So to speak) Starting Saturday she suddenly began rolling around. She hasn't put together that if she keeps rolling one direction she can actually GO somewhere but she's realized she can fairly easily roll from her back to her tummy and then back to her back. We visited Grandma and Grandpa this weekend when she started doing it. Grandma was so excited every time E did it, Grandma would cheer her on. Now that she is home, every time she rolls over she looks eagerly for whoever is in the room to clap and praise her. (Thanks Grandma) But to see her smile when she does it? Priceless. We do now have to be careful. Can't just put her down and walk away. She is beginning to get into things even if they weren't right next to her when you put her down. I suppose it was bound to happen.
E doesn't sleep... or does she? After weeks and weeks of sleepless nights, and complete desperation Daddy and I decided maybe it was time for sleep training. But after a night where Daddy was up trying to get E to soothe herself to sleep for 2 hours in the middle of the night. Mommy caved, and decided maybe she should read the WHOLE book before I started on this venture. Continuing on the pure desperation train of thought, Mommy decided to see if E wanted to be back in her swaddle blanket. No way this child who was so physically developed and mobile, would want to be strapped into a blanket. She'd scream for sure. But we tried anyway, after her bath, we did her usual night time routine, and then into her swaddle blanket she went. She quieted down. She took her whole bedtime bottle, which was the first time in a long time that she'd done that. Daddy put her down in the crib. And she went to sleep. No crying, no additional trips upstairs. Just to sleep. She slept for 4.5 hours, then she woke up. I fed her. And she went right back into her crib. Fast asleep. Didn't cry when she dropped her pacifier, just slept. Slept for another 4.5 hours, and then awoke again, ate again, went to sleep again. And woke up at 6 AM when we all needed to start getting ready for the day. In fact, if Daddy had not been coughing all night. Mommy and Daddy might actually feel a little rested. So E gave up her swaddle, and has now taken it back. More to come on sleep training. E apparently doesn't need her nighttime feedings anymore, so we'll need to work on getting her to give those up! And someday we'll have to figure out how to give up the swaddle. But for now. If it works. It's staying!
So that's all for now. Thanks for reading, and your interest in my little E. Have a good day Mommies and Daddies and as always - Who dropped the pacifier.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Time passes so quickly...
I can't believe how the time is flying. I want to write. I want to keep track of everything that is happening. The goods days and the bad days. But sometimes you just have to live your life. There is an expression that I am very fond of, it is "Life is what happens while you're busy planning." I am a planner, but I try to keep this expression close to my heart, to remind myself that sometimes, you just have to go with the flow, and live. Because otherwise things will pass while you're not looking.
For this reason, this post might come off as more like a list than a blog entry. But in my deepest desire to record E's life and development. Something, will be better than nothing.
Last I wrote I was back at work a week. This time, two weeks have passed and I've been back at work for 3 weeks. What a difference. It really doesn't take you long to get into a routine. Mostly because without one you would drown in chores instantly. But upon returning to the workforce I was hit nearly immediately with the one thing that I hadn't missed while I was gone. Germs. I was sick with a horrible cold the second week I was back at work. There are a lot of people who explained to me that this was due to the fact that I had a child in day care. Honestly, I don't blame the day care. I blame my job. I mean really, at day care kids get sent home because they thought about sneezing (a slight exaggeration) but at work people will be throwing up in the bathroom with the flu and still not go home. Overworked Corporate America really does need to re-evaluate their priorities. But it is what it is. I was sick.
Now you know what comes next right? I was sick, so E got sick. After I was sick I sent her to Grandma's house where she stayed for a day instead of day care. But everyone declared her fine to return to school, and back to day care she went. (This will come back to haunt me later)
I would like to tell you what I did two weekends ago, but that is the weekend of what I will fondly refer to as "The Great Flood". On the scale of Noah's Ark, but different. We didn't float away, but just barely. The only interesting thing that happened this weekend was that E decided she was done with being Swaddled. She was a big girl now and wouldn't stop crying until we un-swaddled her. I thought surely that we would be up all night the first night of her not being swaddled. But we were only up twice. And since that's how many times she'd been getting up when she was swaddled... well... it wasn't much of a difference obviously.
This then launched me into my third week back at work. This is when things really got interesting. At about lunch time, I got my initiation phone call. You know the one. The "This isn't an emergency but we just wanted to let you know that E seems to be running a little fever and has been having some really poopy diapers. We think she might be sick. You don't have to come get her yet. But we just wanted to let you know." So, being a first time Mommy, I of course left work to go get her. We went to the Drs and they declared her fine. So Tuesday. Back to school she went.
She made it through the day on Tuesday, but I couldn't help but laugh when I picked her up and was told she had pooped 7 times while at day care that day. She is only at day care for 9 hours. That's a little less than once an hour. They were "worried" clearly feeling that she was a little sick. That was ok. Mommy was off on Wednesday, so E would stay home with me, and we would take it easy and rest.
Wednesday was a fun day. It started off pretty simply. But since E had been pooping so much. I had a lot of laundry that needed to be done. So after I got her set up I set off to the basement to start a load of laundry. Somewhere between the top and the bottom I went airborne! And when the birds and stars stopped circling my head, I realized I was in pain and sitting at the foot of the stairs. And I had not gotten there by walking. I shook it off and went on with my day. After all, I couldn't sit at the foot of the stairs and cry. E was all alone upstairs.
On Thursday, just to be safe, Mommy sent E to Grandma's. She had slept for a total of 6 hours while in Mommy's arms on Wednesday and another good day of rest seemed like a good idea. So Thursday was rather uneventful.
Followed promptly by Friday when I brought E to day care and talked to the teacher. Assuring her that E was doing MUCH better and that she missed being at school. Then crossing my fingers and praying I didn't get a phone call, it was Friday. She only had to make it through today and then it would be the weekend.
This past weekend was filled with little things. It was the first warm weekend this spring. And we once again encountered E's dislike of warm temperatures in her room. With fans inserted and clothing shed we were able to get her to sleep at night. But if this is any indication of what is to come this summer, I better start researching her AC right now. We also took this nice weather of a sign that it was time to move past the infant bucket seat. Time to move E into her convertible car seat. She likes it better (she's been riding in one in Grandma's car). She can see out the window in this car seat. So it feels as though the only remaining infant item is about to go by. And my baby is becoming less of a baby and more of a little girl. And she's only 5 months old. I can't imagine how I will feel when she is actually a little girl.
I mentioned that the weather was nice and I took the opportunity to head out to the outlet mall. It was nice to walk around with E and be in the warm sun. Since as I just mentioned she doesn't like to be hot, I had to dig around and find some clothes we bought before we had E that were gender neutral but not too heavy. A pair of brown cotton pants. With a short sleeve onsie. She had on a pair of pink and brown stripe socks to match the pants. And much to my amazement I was told multiple times about how cute HE was. I was heartbroken. Who could possibly think my adorable little girl was a HE! And what kind of mind games did they think I was playing with HIM considering the PINK socks? *sigh* Oh well.
E has two new behaviours worth mentioning. The first is that she has learned she can shriek at the top of her lungs. Sort of like screaming but then she'll look at you and laugh. It sounds like she is crying and really upset, but she's not. She's just shrieking and screaming and screeching because she can. I hope it's a short phase. If it's not, I really might take Daddy up on those ear plugs. Also, E has learned how to bang toys against any surface that may present itself. If she is in a highchair the tray will work just fine, and if she's in the jumperoo the toy tray on that works wonder as well. She will grab the toy, whatever toy it may be, and start to bang it profusely against the tray. The behavior itself isn't that interesting. But if only you could see her little face while she does it. She takes this banging very seriously and concentrates very hard on executing the best banging possible. She does not laugh or smile. I don't know what her toys have done to her but she is determined to teach them a lesson. And as Grandpa said this weekend "Beat them into submission." Well now that I've seen how she handles "situations" I will definitely try to stay on her good side. She will however be much better off if she would learn how to control her banging and not smack herself in the face every time she flails her little hand around with the toy in it. Oh well. These things too shall come.
That is all I have for this period, I hope it's not so long between now and my next post. All my love to the working Mommies and Daddies! And as always - who dropped the pacifier?
For this reason, this post might come off as more like a list than a blog entry. But in my deepest desire to record E's life and development. Something, will be better than nothing.
Last I wrote I was back at work a week. This time, two weeks have passed and I've been back at work for 3 weeks. What a difference. It really doesn't take you long to get into a routine. Mostly because without one you would drown in chores instantly. But upon returning to the workforce I was hit nearly immediately with the one thing that I hadn't missed while I was gone. Germs. I was sick with a horrible cold the second week I was back at work. There are a lot of people who explained to me that this was due to the fact that I had a child in day care. Honestly, I don't blame the day care. I blame my job. I mean really, at day care kids get sent home because they thought about sneezing (a slight exaggeration) but at work people will be throwing up in the bathroom with the flu and still not go home. Overworked Corporate America really does need to re-evaluate their priorities. But it is what it is. I was sick.
Now you know what comes next right? I was sick, so E got sick. After I was sick I sent her to Grandma's house where she stayed for a day instead of day care. But everyone declared her fine to return to school, and back to day care she went. (This will come back to haunt me later)
I would like to tell you what I did two weekends ago, but that is the weekend of what I will fondly refer to as "The Great Flood". On the scale of Noah's Ark, but different. We didn't float away, but just barely. The only interesting thing that happened this weekend was that E decided she was done with being Swaddled. She was a big girl now and wouldn't stop crying until we un-swaddled her. I thought surely that we would be up all night the first night of her not being swaddled. But we were only up twice. And since that's how many times she'd been getting up when she was swaddled... well... it wasn't much of a difference obviously.
This then launched me into my third week back at work. This is when things really got interesting. At about lunch time, I got my initiation phone call. You know the one. The "This isn't an emergency but we just wanted to let you know that E seems to be running a little fever and has been having some really poopy diapers. We think she might be sick. You don't have to come get her yet. But we just wanted to let you know." So, being a first time Mommy, I of course left work to go get her. We went to the Drs and they declared her fine. So Tuesday. Back to school she went.
She made it through the day on Tuesday, but I couldn't help but laugh when I picked her up and was told she had pooped 7 times while at day care that day. She is only at day care for 9 hours. That's a little less than once an hour. They were "worried" clearly feeling that she was a little sick. That was ok. Mommy was off on Wednesday, so E would stay home with me, and we would take it easy and rest.
Wednesday was a fun day. It started off pretty simply. But since E had been pooping so much. I had a lot of laundry that needed to be done. So after I got her set up I set off to the basement to start a load of laundry. Somewhere between the top and the bottom I went airborne! And when the birds and stars stopped circling my head, I realized I was in pain and sitting at the foot of the stairs. And I had not gotten there by walking. I shook it off and went on with my day. After all, I couldn't sit at the foot of the stairs and cry. E was all alone upstairs.
On Thursday, just to be safe, Mommy sent E to Grandma's. She had slept for a total of 6 hours while in Mommy's arms on Wednesday and another good day of rest seemed like a good idea. So Thursday was rather uneventful.
Followed promptly by Friday when I brought E to day care and talked to the teacher. Assuring her that E was doing MUCH better and that she missed being at school. Then crossing my fingers and praying I didn't get a phone call, it was Friday. She only had to make it through today and then it would be the weekend.
This past weekend was filled with little things. It was the first warm weekend this spring. And we once again encountered E's dislike of warm temperatures in her room. With fans inserted and clothing shed we were able to get her to sleep at night. But if this is any indication of what is to come this summer, I better start researching her AC right now. We also took this nice weather of a sign that it was time to move past the infant bucket seat. Time to move E into her convertible car seat. She likes it better (she's been riding in one in Grandma's car). She can see out the window in this car seat. So it feels as though the only remaining infant item is about to go by. And my baby is becoming less of a baby and more of a little girl. And she's only 5 months old. I can't imagine how I will feel when she is actually a little girl.
I mentioned that the weather was nice and I took the opportunity to head out to the outlet mall. It was nice to walk around with E and be in the warm sun. Since as I just mentioned she doesn't like to be hot, I had to dig around and find some clothes we bought before we had E that were gender neutral but not too heavy. A pair of brown cotton pants. With a short sleeve onsie. She had on a pair of pink and brown stripe socks to match the pants. And much to my amazement I was told multiple times about how cute HE was. I was heartbroken. Who could possibly think my adorable little girl was a HE! And what kind of mind games did they think I was playing with HIM considering the PINK socks? *sigh* Oh well.
E has two new behaviours worth mentioning. The first is that she has learned she can shriek at the top of her lungs. Sort of like screaming but then she'll look at you and laugh. It sounds like she is crying and really upset, but she's not. She's just shrieking and screaming and screeching because she can. I hope it's a short phase. If it's not, I really might take Daddy up on those ear plugs. Also, E has learned how to bang toys against any surface that may present itself. If she is in a highchair the tray will work just fine, and if she's in the jumperoo the toy tray on that works wonder as well. She will grab the toy, whatever toy it may be, and start to bang it profusely against the tray. The behavior itself isn't that interesting. But if only you could see her little face while she does it. She takes this banging very seriously and concentrates very hard on executing the best banging possible. She does not laugh or smile. I don't know what her toys have done to her but she is determined to teach them a lesson. And as Grandpa said this weekend "Beat them into submission." Well now that I've seen how she handles "situations" I will definitely try to stay on her good side. She will however be much better off if she would learn how to control her banging and not smack herself in the face every time she flails her little hand around with the toy in it. Oh well. These things too shall come.
That is all I have for this period, I hope it's not so long between now and my next post. All my love to the working Mommies and Daddies! And as always - who dropped the pacifier?
Monday, March 8, 2010
I'm a working mom...
Last week I signed off on what I perceive to be the end of an era. The time when my baby is a baby, and when I was just mommy. But last week was the beginning of a new stage of our journey together. That of a little girl going to daycare, and for me, of a mother who spends 40+ hours a week away from her little girl who is going to daycare.
As one can imagine, my time in the day has shrunk. I am sure there are fewer hours in the days and fewer days in a week starting last Monday. But for this reason I will try to cover all that has happened in a weeks time.
The transition was easier than I expect on Monday. Probably due to the fact that a large part of my day was spent simply going through five months worth of e-mail, and trying to remember passwords and other work related trivia. I went into the office a little late as well. So by the time meetings were completed and computers were finally logged onto. The day flew by. And when I went to get E, it was great. She was happy. Mommy was excited. And that was that. As it was a Monday, Daddy wouldn't be home, as usual, and Grandma came down to visit for a good girls night. Letting Grandma spend quality time with E, and giving Mommy someone to chit chat with about what it had been like to return to work.
Tuesday was when it all hit me. I wasn't 5 minutes away from the house when my phone rang... Daddy was on the other end "Do you have her bottles?" He asked. "No, you have the baby, you should have the bottles." I replied... "Oh, I think I left them at home, I'm on my way back to the house." Daddy replied... I could already tell it would be one of those days. I was in the office much earlier than Monday. And by about lunchtime I was overwhelmed with this intense longing for my little girl. I want to hold her and hug her and smooooooosh her all up! But I couldn't and I had hours to go. So I waited. Finally the day was over. I ran out the door and went to get my little baby bop from daycare. As usual she was having a good time when I picked her up. And she had done a great job during the day. But when we got home, at almost 5, she started to melt down quickly. As soon as Daddy was home a little before 6, she didn't want to have anything to do with me. She wanted Daddy, and she wanted BED. So, I mean what do you do with a screaming baby... "no honey, Mommy hasn't seen you all day, can't you just stay up till your bedtime, it's only another hour. No, no, don't cry!" Yea, right. We put her to bed. I had seen her for a total of an hour this evening. It was heartbreaking and I just couldn't take it. Consequently I decided to start trying to give E a dream feed. As it has been explained to me. You feed the baby before you go to bed. This is supposed (note, SUPPOSED) to help them sleep through the night. Starting on Sunday night E had decided since I was about to throw her world upside down, she would begin to deviate from the usual once a night, to the at LEAST twice a night wake up schedule. Great. I was working, and already sleep deprived! So anyway, where was I, that's right. Dream feed. So you feed the child before you go to bed. Seemed like a good idea #1 Mommy gets some more snuggle time, and #2 E would sleep longer at night.
Well I did get more snuggle time, and she did only get up once on Tuesday night. But not through the night. I would take what I could get. She had woken up, taken the feed, gone back to bed, without ever fully waking up and needing to be rocked back to sleep.
This led me into Wednesday. At this point the days become a blur. Somewhere along the line I started to feel a little sick. Really? I was back among the "living" for a few days and now I was getting sick. Everyone was eager to point out I now had a child in daycare. But really - I could see sick people all over the place at work. Why do day cares get such a bad wrap? Have you seen the hygiene of the people you work with? GROSS. I'd rather be at daycare!
The time in the day just felt like it was getting shorter and shorter and shorter. We get up in the morning. Daddy changes E, I start to get ready for work. Daddy brings E in to our bedroom, now Daddy gets ready for work, and i nurse E. Sometimes Daddy does ANOTHER diaper change, and while he does that, I make some more progress in getting ready for work. Then I get E dressed while Daddy runs outside to start cars. And then I pass E back over to Daddy. I finish getting ready for work. E is put in the highchair in the kitchen while Daddy gets the last few things done, lunches together, travel coffee made, cats fed. Then we stand in the doorway and run through our list of items... Coffee? Lunch? Water? Pump? Bottles? Baby? Cell Phones? If we pass on each item - - - we leave the house. I throw my stuff in my car, Daddy puts E in his car, I jump in to give her final kisses, and off we go. Caravaning out the driveway, down the street, and onto the highway. At the first light, I make a left and head to work, and Daddy makes a right towards the daycare. And that's where we all part at 6:45 AM. I am off to work, Daddy is off to daycare then work. And as if this doesn't sound hectic enough... the evenings are worse...
I pickup E a little after 4:30. By the time I have her loaded back in the car to head home, it's about 4:45. I am lugging, diaper bags, purses, pumps, mail and baby carrier back into the house a little before 5. I started off last week walking in the door and trying to get my "chores" done. Now I realize E melts fast. So I throw milk and leftover bottles in the fridge. Take off my coat, and get E out of the carrier. And I spend every second with her in my arms. The dirty bottles will STILL be dirty after she goes to bed. So we spend time together. And sometimes E makes it to bedtime (7) and sometimes, she doesn't and we have to put her to bed earlier. And then the night time routine starts...
Disassemble bottles, load bottles in baskets, load baskets in dishwasher. Start dishwasher. While dishwasher is running, defrost any milk that needs to be defrosted, make bottles. Put bottles in fridge. Pick out outfit for tomorrow. Find matching Bib for tomorrow. Think about what Mommy will wear tomorrow. Have dinner???? Unload dishwasher, reload dishwasher. Quick watch TV/surf Internet... Hurry up... RELAX. Take a bath/shower... Pump... Feed E a dream feed... quick go to bed...
Get up 2 - 3 times at night. And then 5:45 AM, it all starts over.
Perhaps you can appreciate why the days feel like a blur. By Friday I was sick as sick could be. Trying not to take anything, don't want to affect the milk supply. But I had to go on. E still wasn't sleeping well. And with a cold, it really was difficult.
I can tell 3 funny stories, all confined to the weekend.
While visiting Grandma and Grandpa E fell asleep, and everyone took the opportunity to have some lunch. When E woke up, not 30 mins later, and peered around at everyone's then EMPTY plate, she expressed an immense amount of disappointment. The nerve of us to have eaten without her. This was the first time we had seen her do anything to suggest she was upset that we were eating, and she was not. So E got to try some Sweet Potatoes. She wasn't thrilled. It was neither a good thing, nor a bad thing. It just was what it was. And sweet potatoes I guess wasn't really it. Anyway - seriously - if I could only describe the look of pure resentment of this little 19 week old baby. You probably had to be there.
This was shortly followed by E's faking it expression. Which is pure hysterical crying, followed by a BIG lip pout and a little moan. I informed Grandpa that she was a big faker. He turned to her and said "Your Mommy says you're a big faker. Are you a big faker?" With this question, she stuck her bottom lip out in a huge pout, and then nodded her head affirmative three times.
We'd never seen her nod before, and the timing was hysterical. It was obviously intentional. It wasn't a bobble of a wobbly infant head. She was nodding. Nodding YES! YES! She was a faker! ahhh moments like this.
And finally, the last funny story from last week that I have for E. We decided to try rice cereal again. I have been doing a 4 to 1 ratio as it indicates on the can. 4 parts liquid to 1 part cereal. But after the episode with the sweet potatoes, I contemplated the fact that perhaps it was TOOOO liquidy. And the reason it was all falling out of her mouth was while she tried to figure out how to use her tongue to move it around her mouth, it was just all falling out. So I thickened the cereal, and tried again. Oh MY HEAVENS! Before when we tried the cereal, E looked happy, and opened her little mouth wide for another serving. In retrospect, it probably tasted just like her milk but with a little kick to it. But when I changed the consistency and the ratio, it was different, and got a much different reaction. She opened her mouth wide for her first taste. Then went a little cross eyed and made an expression that can be described as: "Ooooo this is HORRIBLE. IICKYYYY IIICCCKKKKYYY IIIICCCKKKYYYYY"... and that isn't the funny part. The funny part is after she'd finally finished that little bit, she'd open her mouth wide for more. So I thought maybe it was just because it was the first time, so with the second spoon full in her mouth, we took a look at her, but she made the same exact expression.... "Ooooo this is HORRIBLE. IICKYYYY IIICCCKKKKYYY IIIICCCKKKYYYYY"... and yet again, opened her mouth wide. She went through this over and over through the tiny little serving of rice cereal. And when we tried again on Sunday - she did the whole thing over again. This will be an interesting adventure solids. Yes it will be.
So we rounded out our first week apart, my first week as a working mom, her first week as a full time schooler! And just to record it, because it should be recorded someplace... E learned the following things at daycare:
Miss C is mean, she makes E do Tummy time, and she Cries!
If the sleeves are long enough, E can pull her tiny hand well inside of it, and the suck profusely on the arm of the sleeve. And if she DOES this for long enough... the whole entire sleeve can get soaking wet up the shoulder!
E definitely needs to have a backup change of clothes, she didn't make it halfway through the week before she had her first daycare diaper blowout! (yes, she did have a spare change of clothes on hand!)
If nobody is looking, her snuggle blanket is just as tasty as the sleeve.
Her smile can charm just about anyone out of making her nap.
She isn't scared of the cat in the hat, even when it's 6 ft tall and bigger than any cat she's ever seen.
If tired enough, yes, she CAN sleep at daycare. She had her first 2 hour 15 min nap. But proceeded to return immediately to her 20 - 45 min nap pattern.
She learned to finger paint. At this age, it's literally tiny finger print DOTS with paint on it. I'm sure she also learned if nobody is looking that she can put that in her mouth too!
So to the working parents - time passes quickly, the hours in the day shrink. But savor every minute with our Little ones. Just because we feel like the world isn't going anywhere (at least anywhere good) doesn't mean our little ones aren't speeding along and growing up. And as always - does anyone know Who Dropped the Pacifier?
As one can imagine, my time in the day has shrunk. I am sure there are fewer hours in the days and fewer days in a week starting last Monday. But for this reason I will try to cover all that has happened in a weeks time.
The transition was easier than I expect on Monday. Probably due to the fact that a large part of my day was spent simply going through five months worth of e-mail, and trying to remember passwords and other work related trivia. I went into the office a little late as well. So by the time meetings were completed and computers were finally logged onto. The day flew by. And when I went to get E, it was great. She was happy. Mommy was excited. And that was that. As it was a Monday, Daddy wouldn't be home, as usual, and Grandma came down to visit for a good girls night. Letting Grandma spend quality time with E, and giving Mommy someone to chit chat with about what it had been like to return to work.
Tuesday was when it all hit me. I wasn't 5 minutes away from the house when my phone rang... Daddy was on the other end "Do you have her bottles?" He asked. "No, you have the baby, you should have the bottles." I replied... "Oh, I think I left them at home, I'm on my way back to the house." Daddy replied... I could already tell it would be one of those days. I was in the office much earlier than Monday. And by about lunchtime I was overwhelmed with this intense longing for my little girl. I want to hold her and hug her and smooooooosh her all up! But I couldn't and I had hours to go. So I waited. Finally the day was over. I ran out the door and went to get my little baby bop from daycare. As usual she was having a good time when I picked her up. And she had done a great job during the day. But when we got home, at almost 5, she started to melt down quickly. As soon as Daddy was home a little before 6, she didn't want to have anything to do with me. She wanted Daddy, and she wanted BED. So, I mean what do you do with a screaming baby... "no honey, Mommy hasn't seen you all day, can't you just stay up till your bedtime, it's only another hour. No, no, don't cry!" Yea, right. We put her to bed. I had seen her for a total of an hour this evening. It was heartbreaking and I just couldn't take it. Consequently I decided to start trying to give E a dream feed. As it has been explained to me. You feed the baby before you go to bed. This is supposed (note, SUPPOSED) to help them sleep through the night. Starting on Sunday night E had decided since I was about to throw her world upside down, she would begin to deviate from the usual once a night, to the at LEAST twice a night wake up schedule. Great. I was working, and already sleep deprived! So anyway, where was I, that's right. Dream feed. So you feed the child before you go to bed. Seemed like a good idea #1 Mommy gets some more snuggle time, and #2 E would sleep longer at night.
Well I did get more snuggle time, and she did only get up once on Tuesday night. But not through the night. I would take what I could get. She had woken up, taken the feed, gone back to bed, without ever fully waking up and needing to be rocked back to sleep.
This led me into Wednesday. At this point the days become a blur. Somewhere along the line I started to feel a little sick. Really? I was back among the "living" for a few days and now I was getting sick. Everyone was eager to point out I now had a child in daycare. But really - I could see sick people all over the place at work. Why do day cares get such a bad wrap? Have you seen the hygiene of the people you work with? GROSS. I'd rather be at daycare!
The time in the day just felt like it was getting shorter and shorter and shorter. We get up in the morning. Daddy changes E, I start to get ready for work. Daddy brings E in to our bedroom, now Daddy gets ready for work, and i nurse E. Sometimes Daddy does ANOTHER diaper change, and while he does that, I make some more progress in getting ready for work. Then I get E dressed while Daddy runs outside to start cars. And then I pass E back over to Daddy. I finish getting ready for work. E is put in the highchair in the kitchen while Daddy gets the last few things done, lunches together, travel coffee made, cats fed. Then we stand in the doorway and run through our list of items... Coffee? Lunch? Water? Pump? Bottles? Baby? Cell Phones? If we pass on each item - - - we leave the house. I throw my stuff in my car, Daddy puts E in his car, I jump in to give her final kisses, and off we go. Caravaning out the driveway, down the street, and onto the highway. At the first light, I make a left and head to work, and Daddy makes a right towards the daycare. And that's where we all part at 6:45 AM. I am off to work, Daddy is off to daycare then work. And as if this doesn't sound hectic enough... the evenings are worse...
I pickup E a little after 4:30. By the time I have her loaded back in the car to head home, it's about 4:45. I am lugging, diaper bags, purses, pumps, mail and baby carrier back into the house a little before 5. I started off last week walking in the door and trying to get my "chores" done. Now I realize E melts fast. So I throw milk and leftover bottles in the fridge. Take off my coat, and get E out of the carrier. And I spend every second with her in my arms. The dirty bottles will STILL be dirty after she goes to bed. So we spend time together. And sometimes E makes it to bedtime (7) and sometimes, she doesn't and we have to put her to bed earlier. And then the night time routine starts...
Disassemble bottles, load bottles in baskets, load baskets in dishwasher. Start dishwasher. While dishwasher is running, defrost any milk that needs to be defrosted, make bottles. Put bottles in fridge. Pick out outfit for tomorrow. Find matching Bib for tomorrow. Think about what Mommy will wear tomorrow. Have dinner???? Unload dishwasher, reload dishwasher. Quick watch TV/surf Internet... Hurry up... RELAX. Take a bath/shower... Pump... Feed E a dream feed... quick go to bed...
Get up 2 - 3 times at night. And then 5:45 AM, it all starts over.
Perhaps you can appreciate why the days feel like a blur. By Friday I was sick as sick could be. Trying not to take anything, don't want to affect the milk supply. But I had to go on. E still wasn't sleeping well. And with a cold, it really was difficult.
I can tell 3 funny stories, all confined to the weekend.
While visiting Grandma and Grandpa E fell asleep, and everyone took the opportunity to have some lunch. When E woke up, not 30 mins later, and peered around at everyone's then EMPTY plate, she expressed an immense amount of disappointment. The nerve of us to have eaten without her. This was the first time we had seen her do anything to suggest she was upset that we were eating, and she was not. So E got to try some Sweet Potatoes. She wasn't thrilled. It was neither a good thing, nor a bad thing. It just was what it was. And sweet potatoes I guess wasn't really it. Anyway - seriously - if I could only describe the look of pure resentment of this little 19 week old baby. You probably had to be there.
This was shortly followed by E's faking it expression. Which is pure hysterical crying, followed by a BIG lip pout and a little moan. I informed Grandpa that she was a big faker. He turned to her and said "Your Mommy says you're a big faker. Are you a big faker?" With this question, she stuck her bottom lip out in a huge pout, and then nodded her head affirmative three times.
We'd never seen her nod before, and the timing was hysterical. It was obviously intentional. It wasn't a bobble of a wobbly infant head. She was nodding. Nodding YES! YES! She was a faker! ahhh moments like this.
And finally, the last funny story from last week that I have for E. We decided to try rice cereal again. I have been doing a 4 to 1 ratio as it indicates on the can. 4 parts liquid to 1 part cereal. But after the episode with the sweet potatoes, I contemplated the fact that perhaps it was TOOOO liquidy. And the reason it was all falling out of her mouth was while she tried to figure out how to use her tongue to move it around her mouth, it was just all falling out. So I thickened the cereal, and tried again. Oh MY HEAVENS! Before when we tried the cereal, E looked happy, and opened her little mouth wide for another serving. In retrospect, it probably tasted just like her milk but with a little kick to it. But when I changed the consistency and the ratio, it was different, and got a much different reaction. She opened her mouth wide for her first taste. Then went a little cross eyed and made an expression that can be described as: "Ooooo this is HORRIBLE. IICKYYYY IIICCCKKKKYYY IIIICCCKKKYYYYY"... and that isn't the funny part. The funny part is after she'd finally finished that little bit, she'd open her mouth wide for more. So I thought maybe it was just because it was the first time, so with the second spoon full in her mouth, we took a look at her, but she made the same exact expression.... "Ooooo this is HORRIBLE. IICKYYYY IIICCCKKKKYYY IIIICCCKKKYYYYY"... and yet again, opened her mouth wide. She went through this over and over through the tiny little serving of rice cereal. And when we tried again on Sunday - she did the whole thing over again. This will be an interesting adventure solids. Yes it will be.
So we rounded out our first week apart, my first week as a working mom, her first week as a full time schooler! And just to record it, because it should be recorded someplace... E learned the following things at daycare:
Miss C is mean, she makes E do Tummy time, and she Cries!
If the sleeves are long enough, E can pull her tiny hand well inside of it, and the suck profusely on the arm of the sleeve. And if she DOES this for long enough... the whole entire sleeve can get soaking wet up the shoulder!
E definitely needs to have a backup change of clothes, she didn't make it halfway through the week before she had her first daycare diaper blowout! (yes, she did have a spare change of clothes on hand!)
If nobody is looking, her snuggle blanket is just as tasty as the sleeve.
Her smile can charm just about anyone out of making her nap.
She isn't scared of the cat in the hat, even when it's 6 ft tall and bigger than any cat she's ever seen.
If tired enough, yes, she CAN sleep at daycare. She had her first 2 hour 15 min nap. But proceeded to return immediately to her 20 - 45 min nap pattern.
She learned to finger paint. At this age, it's literally tiny finger print DOTS with paint on it. I'm sure she also learned if nobody is looking that she can put that in her mouth too!
So to the working parents - time passes quickly, the hours in the day shrink. But savor every minute with our Little ones. Just because we feel like the world isn't going anywhere (at least anywhere good) doesn't mean our little ones aren't speeding along and growing up. And as always - does anyone know Who Dropped the Pacifier?
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