Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 46

Because he still wants and asks to spoon with me in the middle of the night.

Unexpected Baby-Related Self-Discovery

Listed in no particular order of importance:


1. I look down and see baby cereal smudges on my pants that I missed from the time I wore them last, and they make me smile and chuckle...and then I make zero attempt to clean them off.

2. If I don't have a tissue handy, I'll use the inside of my shirt hem to wipe my baby daughter's snotty nose... anything to keep her lil' darling mug clear of grodie baby boogies!

3. During mah baby's dinnertime, I pause just long enough to lick the baby puree off the back of my fingers before I gotta swipe my bangs outta my eyes.

4. I encourage splashing at bathtime and EVERYTHING gets wet and I do not care one iota.

5. I gave my baby daughter a dip-package of fry sauce to gnaw on the other day to keep her entertained while we were having lunch on the way home from Utah, and when ithe fry sauce inevitably exploded open all over the two of us, I almost laughed so hard that I cried.

6. Whenever my baby's Grammy and her auntie Riann feed her cake frosting and ice cream and chocolate syrup and the like, I just grin and watch.

7. I figured out recently that my baby daughter really enjoys my crazy bedhead in the mornings, so I quit doing my hair before she wakes up.

8. I really do like to pick out what my baby sweet potato girlie's gunna wear for the day, enough so that my honey-man will no longer offer to dress her without my first picking out her clothes.

9. I ocassionally find myself singing the songs from 'Signing Times' while driving to work, even though my honey-man is the one who takes our sweet potato girl to daycare in the mornings.

10. I totally lose track of time when I'm with my lil' sweet pea because I'm so focused on her and little else.

She's Napping Finally, So I Can Go Cry Now

My grandma Joanie died yesterday... The funeral will be Monday, and we'll be leaving for Salt Lake tomorrow morning. Luckily, I was able to get a lot of stuff done today ~ Thank you to my sister for watching the baby so I could get my shaggy mop cut! Granted, the day isn't nearly over yet, but my baby sweet potato girl is finally down for a desperately needed nap, so I'm gunna have me a good cry and a nap of my own if I'm luckier.

P.S. My lil' sweet pea will watch me all wide-eyed and transfixed if she sees me crying.

My Poor lil' Happy-Go-Lucky Sicky Baby, Not So Happy

My poor lil' baby girl, she's still sick and now? Now she's got a tinsy-tiny ear infection brewing in each ear, so she's on antibiotics as of today. BTW, she is such a good lil' medicine taker! No refusals, no gagging, no spitting, no choking, nor spraying. She just sucks it right up from the medicine syringe. Such a good girl... over the last 24 hours though, she's not quite the happy-go-lucky sicky baby anymore. Well, not compared to how she's been for the past 5 weeks of sickidom. You can tell now that she's really not feelin' so hot: She's a lot more snotty; a lot more stuffed up; she's coughing more; she makes these pitiful, sad little moaning noises here and there throughout the day and night, particularly during her naptimes. Speaking of naptime, today's naps were absolutely futile - - no more than 15 minutes here and there. There's been some impromptu wailing and crying out in the night while she's asleep, and she has a hard time settling back down on her own every time. During the day, there's a lot of what we call "cranking." (I'll explain later, as "cranking" deserves its own post.) She's still quite the lil' trooper, but her eyes are watery and she's just, well, she seems sad. And she wants to be held and held some more... and my back is still very fragile right now. I won't go into that though, not right now either.

Come dinner time, she was very perky in her high chair once her mangoes-loaded spoon finally hit her little open mouth (she was screeching before that happened), and like her usual self, she was delighted with her bath time (First time bathing in the kitchen sink without her infant bathing tub!!!)... but she was soooo tired. Despite her being so happy to take a bath, she looked like she was going to pass out after just 5 minutes! And she went to bed so easily, absolutely no fuss. But 3 hours ago, she had me scared and getting nervous...

We laid her down for bed and a couple hours later, she was hot and flushed with a fever of 101.4. It was 10pm-ish by then, and I was about to feed her, so I told my honey-man I'd retake her temp after she was done. In less than 20 minutes' time, she was at 102.4 and climbing. And then? Well, I gave her some infant ibuprofen and her temp was down to 98.8 within 30 minutes.

So, am I feeling better now that that last fever came and went so quickly? Um, well, it's after 1:00am, and I'm still awake, and I'm blogging... just take a guess. I'm listening to every sniffling snuffle, every raspy exhalation, each and every lil' heart-breaking cough, and I'm getting zero sleep. I'm wired outta my utterly exhausted mind, and having blowing my own nose every 15 minutes as gently as I can to avoid a coughing fit that'll send my back into a spasm(s), and on top of it all, I'm sad, really, really sad.

But I can't got into that right now either.

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 45

Because he's downstairs right now, playing his guitar, singing the Beatles' "Rocky Raccoon" for our 6 month old baby girlie, and I can hear her squealing with delight, and I can hear him giggling at her squeals inbetween the verses.

102.7 Degrees

BE FOREWARNED: I will write in detail about baby boogers and phlegm at some point in this post.

Since Sunday morning, my baby sweet potato girl and I have had new matching colds, and this time around, we've had matching fevers to boot (her first fever yet), each topping at 102.7 degrees. Her fever broke yesterday, thank goodness, and mine finally went down around 10am this morning.

She's been sick for five freakin' solid weeks now, one cold after another without reprieve. Although none of her symptoms have warranted a doctors visit according to "Your Child's Health" (the book her pediatrician told us to use as a reference for anything and everything, and it's excellent, I must add), I called her peds office today for some pointers. Happily, I'll now be taking her to see her pediatrician tomorrow morning, cuz a month + of being sick is too much, as they agreed.

She really has been doing pretty well, despite being sick and sick for so long now. There's been no throwing up (knock on wood). She has runny nose at times --the worst yet has been just over the last two days; post-sneeze is the worst-- but her snot ain't exactly running down her face at all times (you know what I mean, those kids that have an endless waterfall of snot coming from their nosies?), nor has it been super green or thick. To say the very least, it's been quite manageable. As for a cough, she does cough a little, sometimes hard enough that tears well up and spill down to sit atop her chubby little cheeks, but she only coughs a little in the night, when she first wakes, and after she's eaten. Otherwise, one couldn't say she has a cough per se. And there hasn't at all been any coughing and gagging on phlegm. Although I kept her home with me yesterday and today due to her fever, she's been downright indomitable even when her fever was running hot! Me though? I didn't do nearly half as well with that fever as she had. I was shaking and sweating, and around 2am last night, it was beginning to feel like a flashback to last summer, and I was getting a little scared. Yeah, I haven't exactly been feeling all that perky, to say the very least (and it's too late for that). Oh, and I haven't been taking any cold meds because I don't want to pass anything along to her via my milk... Man, do I have a new found appreciation for cold meds! - - have I said this before?

Anyhow, over the last couple days, understandably, she's been a bit, um, clingy compared to her usual independent self, wanting to be held and carried ALLL THE TIME. I actually enjoyed it, quite a lot, but (and there is a but here, unfortunately) for over 2 weeks now, I've been sleeping propped up in bed with pillows at night to help my sinuses drain, and it's been aggravating my back. So that, coupled with the carrying of my 20 lb daughter over the last 2 days more than I have in the last 2 weeks' time combined, I woke with an angry back. By 11:40 am this morning, I sent a text to my honey-man asking him to come home as soon as he could, because my back was on its way out. And by 12:30pm, I called him to ask how close he was, because our baby girlie was in her room, awake from her nap, happily babbling away, and I was certain I wouldn't be able to pick her up out of her crib. Luckily, he was only 10 minutes from home, and I kept her entertained, standing rigid, semi-slouched over her, singing and talking to her while she remained in her crib, stalling until my honey-man's arrival.

Not being able to care for her right now is far worse than any 102.7 fever.

57 Inches Tall

We had the angel boy-O with us last week from Wednesday thru to Sunday, and I gotta say, ooh my, he's growing up so, so, so well. Other than a few struggles come mealtime --par for the course when it comes to this kid-- we had a grrrreat time!

Thursday, the boy-O spent his morning watching The Incredibles in his dad's office, and then he spent about an hour n' a half over at my office, before he and I were to go claim his baby sister early from preschool. While I had to wrap up a couple work items, he sat at my desk and watched music videos via Yahoo Music. He first asked to watch "Circus" and he thought it was someone else, and was all impressed that I knew it was Britney Spears (now that was a funny moment). And when Beyonce's "Single Ladies" queued up next in line and began to play, he was all excited that he recognized it as the song featured the week before on the TV show, Glee, which we had actually seen as well, but only because it was after So You Think You Can Dance, which is the only TV show I ever make any successful effort to remember to watch, which means I may manage to catch it once or twice in a month. [SIDE NOTE: Oh, that reminds me! When the angel boy-O got in on Wednesday night, we had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and we all watched So You Think You Can Dance together. We also managed to consume 4 bags of microwave popcorn between the 3 of us!] After Beyonce, I had to pump in my office with the door locked, so he then hung out in the office next door with one of my staff and I set him up with Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and "Beat It" videos. He was delighted.

Once we got to the preschool, I showed him all the rooms in his sister's wing of the school, including the "stroller parking" room and her playground. I also showed him her crib there, and all the lil' cubbies they use for her for this and that. He got to meet her head teacher and a couple of the assistant teachers as well. When we were leaving, nodding with sound confidence, he declared the facilities were excellent. He was most impressed with the fingerprint scan required for entrance into her school. That night, we had a great dinner with uncle Jim and aunt Radeane - - I had to improvise with the breading for the pork chops. I had everyone taste them and confirm first that they were undeniably delicious before I revealed the mystery ingredient, graham crackers... I usually use Keebler's Club crackers.

Friday night we went to see the Toy Story double feature in 3D - - yeah, and lemme' tell ya, that was crazy! We were at the theater from 7:30 until nearly midnight!?! The best part was when they explained how the intermission would be handled, and my honey-man realized for the first time that we would be seeing not one movie, but TWO! Our baby sweet potato girl managed to stay awake for the first 40 minutes, and then, thankfully, she slept the rest of the time. And the boy-O, well, he was thrilled outta his mind, from start to finish, and as soon as we walked in the door, back home, he went straight upstairs, brushed his teeth, threw on his pjs and was out like a light.

On Saturday, the boy-O slept in until 10am, and I made a ginormous breakfast for the fam. My sister had been invited, but she scored a nasty infection by that time and had to pass on the offer. At 12:30pm, I had a baby shower to attend with the girlie, while the boys went off to play tennis together. For dinner, we had friends over and ordered from Pizza My Dear - - ridiculous name, yes, but their food? Oh my dear, oh dear, their pizza is sooo good! The "My Big Fat Greek" pizza is our favorite!

By Sunday morning, our sweet potato and I had both come down with something new - - both with low grade fevers. Before that, and some awfully bad wind sweeping through the Vegas valley, we had had plans to go hiking in Red Rock Canyon. Instead, we all laid low that morning, and the boys played some more tennis, and we all had lunch together before the boy-O had to catch his flight back to UT.

Somewhere in all that, he and I played Othello one time while I prepared dinner (must have been Friday night), and he and his dad played chess (think that was Sunday). And all throughout the weekend, he sang to his lil' sissy, and he even read to her a couple times, and he kissed and hugged her almost constantly, and he was sooo dang cute, I didn't want to let him go.

Oh and my favorite moment during his stay was when I made a quick run to Target to buy a booster seat, and I'd called home to ask my honey-man a question... See, I had heard an NPR broadcast earlier in the week about booster seats and the importance that kids under 80 lbs always use one when riding in a car. According to the NTSB, booster seats reduce the risk of injury by 59%, and because my family has lost TWO family members to fatal car accidents, I take accident statistics and car safety very, very seriously. Well, the angel boy-O weighs only a slight 62 lbs right now (he actually lost weight over the last 2 months), and he ain't terribly tall neither, so I was on a mission to purchase him a booster, and the poor lad was not at all thrilled about it.

Before heading to Target, I had tried to verify the height limit for booster seats via the NTSB website, but was unsuccessful, although I was pretty certain the boy-O wouldn't meet the limit anyhow. Once I got to Target, surveying allll the available booster seats they had for sale, the noted height limit was listed for five of the product descriptions. So, I called home to ask my honey-man to measure the boy-O's height, but without telling the boy-O what we were up to. Now, the angel boy-O didn't find this odd at all... maybe because we almost always measure his height when he comes to stay? And often in the past, I've called asking for his waist or inseam measurements when I've been out shopping for his clothes? [SEMI-RELATED TANGENT: He's a great lil' clothing shopper; real patient, not too picky, nor is he demanding at all; all very no-nonsense about it. It's actually a very satisfying experience. It's just that, well, sometimes he gets really side-tracked if we're in a store selling anything else but clothes, sooo, sometimes it's simply easier to go without him. And so far, whenever it happens, he's not at all insistent that he come along. END OF TANGENT] Anyhow, not until after my honey-man confirmed his height, did we tell him why I needed to know... He measures 57" tall, and the height limit for a booster seat so happens to be 57 INCHES, and so, I then told him I wouldn't be buying him a booster seat after all, and oh boy, was he soooo relieved! When he got home to UT, he even told his mom about it! Purty dang cute!

"No Honey, Fifty-TWO, not Fifty-six"

My honey-man and I were just discussing the paperwork required to establish a flexible spending account for the pre-tax payment of our dear daughter's oh-so-crazy-expensive daycare costs, and we were trying to determine the annual cost value, and any no-daycare holiday weeks, etc., etc., and what not. At one point, we were both about to calculate the projected annual cost by simply multiplying the regular weekly $ amount by the number of weeks in a year, naturally...

Me: "So, $215 per week times 56..."

Mah honey-man: (he interrupts me) "Um, no honey, it's 52, not 56. There are 52 weeks in a year."

Me: (with an impatient and insistent tone) "Nooo, it's 56." (and I immediately open a web browser window to google the answer, speaking my inquiry as I type the words...) "How many weeks in a year?" (and the answer comes up...)

Me again: "What?! FIFTY-TWO??? 52?!?!! For years -- YEARS!!! -- for, for like, FOREVER, I've always thought it was FIFTY-SIX!!?! 52?"

Mah honey-man: (dying from laughter) "Honey, how many days are in a year?"

Window Cleaning

It's sooo cute when they do this...

Surprise kitty nose from Otis
Owen, he looks like such a lil' gentleman here...

6 Months of Chubby

Six Months Later, Headed Back to Work

I'm pretty subdued right now... woke up a bit dazed this morning as reality sank in... Last Friday really was the last day of my part-time contract.

For the last month, the whole "part-time in the office with the girlie in part-time at daycare" arrangement actually worked out really, really well. Our baby sweet potato girl loves her daycare, and I'm certain I could totally handle working part-time on a permanent basis. It'd be a perfect arrangement! She'd continue to get her time to socialize with other babies and people, "learning to trust others and the world" (another Leslie-ism), as she needs to do, and I could continue to help bring home bacon and get some adult time in it for me as well. Not sure though how I'm going to handle a full-time daycare arrangement... I know my baby daughter will be absolutely fine; she will be, I know it. It's me that's the problem - - As I've said before, it feels wrong to have my daughter spending the majority of her day with someone other than me... This new arrangement will be altogether different. My time with her will be so drastically reduced. I can't wrap my head around the fact that from now on, I will see my darling babe for about no more than 3-4 hours a day. Yeah, that's right: 4 hours, tops!

For the past month now, she's been sick, and so, her evening routine has shrunk down by about an hour and 30 minutes... She's been going to bed as early as 6:30pm for the past two weeks! In my head I've been trying to work out how we're going to spend our after-work evenings together, and unless I'm mistaken, they may look like this:

4pm, I scramble to leave my office and arrive at her daycare no later than 4:15pm. I get all her stuff together to be taken home, I read through her notes for the day, talk a moment with her day-tenders, and then she and I will take 5-10 minutes to say Hi to one another... We sit in the lobby together and I talk with her and hug her and smooch her cheeks instead of immediately swooping her up and throwing her in the car. 4:30-ish, we leave to make our way home, walking in the door by 5pm, hopefully. By this time, she'll be absolutely ravenous! I'm really hoping she'll be okay to nurse first, which would be not just a nice way for us to reconnect, but could also serve to placate her appetite well enough to buy me some time with which I could make dinner for me and her daddy first, before feeding her the rest of her dinner via highchair. We could all sit together for dinner then. I know already though that this may not always happen.

Whether I wind up feeding her first or cooking dinner, or getting to eat my own dinner at all, it'll be time for zee wee baby-girlie to hit the tub by no later than 6pm. If she continues to bathe in the infant tub we can place in our kitchen sink (although she now prefers her blow-up tub placed in the upstairs bathroom tub), I could use that time to empty the dishwasher or tidy up the kitchen or whatever while she plays... maybe. She likes to bathe for at least 15 minutes, if not a full 1/2 hour, depending upon how tired she is. [SEMI-RELATED TANGENT: Oh see, that's one thing I forgot to mention! Now that she's in daycare, she never naps for more than 30 minutes, not ever. In fact, for the last two weeks, a couple times each week I had her stay until 2:30pm, to see how she'd cope with a longer day (she was totally fine, unphased), but she still never napped for more than 30 minutes at one time. Sometimes her daycare naps aren't more than 15 minutes!?! When she's been home with me in the afternoons, she'll nap for 2 hours or more, but at daycare she doesn't want to miss out on anything. Plus, her head teacher tells me the crying babies still sometimes wake her up. Yeah, no decent naptime at daycare for our babe. END OF TANGENT] By 6:30pm these days, if she's not already in bed by then, she'll begin to rub her eyes and pull on her ears, and she'll whimper, super tired. For the past month, I really haven't been able to keep her up past 7pm. So, if I have her outta the tub and dressed for bed by 6:30-6:45, I could maybe read her one short story and then she'll be out and that 's it.

Doesn't sound like much, but that's all I'm gunna have once I resume my full-time work schedule tomorrow. Crap, my bottom lip is trembling.

A few weeks ago, there was one day I had a lil' series of emails back and forth with the angel boy-O's aunt Leslie, and she wrote me something I knew I would have to share here. I have since read and re-read that particular something she wrote me, I don't know how many times, to remind me that me and my baby will still be able to have quality time together, despite my having to work... Here's what she wrote:

"When you are in the car, you will sing, when you are fixing dinner, you will visit and tell her all about what you are doing. Pretty soon she will be playing in the pots and pans at your feet while you cook, or sitting in the sink watching you. You will play peek a boo with the laundry and tie a rope to the basket so she can ride as you pull it along the floor on the way to and from the washer. She will learn colors and shapes from veggies and fruit. She will learn to sort and match with socks and tea towels. She will stir and pour and put things in the salad for you. The laundry will be folded funny and dinner will be goofy, everything will take longer, but you will do it together and it will be quality time.

Don't be surprised when math is easy for her. It will make sense because she watched you measure and helped you count things at the grocery store. When she loves reading, and does it well, it will be because she saw you reading cookbooks and getting excited about ideas you found in magazines. She will know that you read the tags on a new dress before it goes in the washer so she will notice print everywhere she goes... don't let one second go by when you have even five minutes to laugh and visit and sing and dance. Relax and have fun, projects and housework be damned!"

I'm trying to be strong. I'm trying to be positive. I'm trying to look for ways to enhance our experience. I'm trying to believe that my relationship with my daughter will not be hindered severely - - or at all-- by my having to rejoin the world of full-time work. I am extremely grateful to have had 3 months of maternity leave and to have enjoyed a part-time contract for the last 3 months. I had said a long time ago that if I could keep my lil' sweet potato girl out of full-time daycare until she was 6 months old, I'd be happy... and she's 6 months old now, as of yesterday. I need to be happy.

However, right now, I'm super sad, regardless, knowing I'm about to lose so much of my time with her. She's soooo wonderful, so, so, so wonderful, and it just hurts to have to give that time up.

My Poor lil' Happy-Go-Lucky Sicky Baby

Sooo, my lil' sweet potato girl has been in daycare for a month now, and she's basically been sick for over 2 weeks now as well. I actually think her first cold ended early last week, but she picked up something new in time for this past weekend. As I type, I can hear both the two humidifiers we have running in her bedroom and her snotty breathing via the baby monitor. Anyhow, whatever she gets, we get it too. She's our very own little petri dish, growing lovely cultures she must bring home and share with us!

I have to say though (and this is really why I'm writing), she's been a remarkably resilient little sicky babe!?! Each and every morning she wakes up unable to breath through that tiny nosey of hers, yet she's smiling and downright perky as could be! My sister had babysat for us Sunday night, and she was amazed at how SICK AND HAPPY she is. Her head teacher in her daycare group has also noted several times that although she's sick, she sure is a happy baby despite how she may feel. It's unbelievable to me. I was expecting total misery ahead when it first became apparent she was getting sick, but other than the general worry and concern for her care and health, she hasn't behaved at all like she's sick and miserable. I'm not kidding -- The girlie is sick and she is sooo happy -! ?! The past few days I've been sick, I've been... well, I've been anything but happy. Time to learn from my own tiny-darling daughter's example, eh?

Man, she's just so delighted with each new day. How did I get to be so lucky?

Pink Martini!

Although I seem to have come down with a new cold (sneezing, running nose, blak), we managed to make our way to the Henderson Pavilion last night to see Pink Martini. [THANK YOU AGAIN, AUNTIE RYNER for watching our lil' still-sicky wee one!] I'd first heard of Pink Martini in 1999, listening to a morning NPR broadcast on the way to work. During their NPR feature, they'd shared snippets of several Pink Martini songs, all of which, I totally loved! That same day, later in the afternoon, I went online and ordered their debut album, Sympathique, and to this day, it's my favorite of theirs. They have a new album coming out next month!

Anyhow, Pink Martini is, um, is a truly unique ensemble in today's time. What an understatement. Nevermind the fact Pink Martini is a TWELVE members-large production! Their music is nothing short of amazing - - French, Portuguese, Spanish, and even Turkish?!? Oh, and yeah, last night's concert? It was fantastic! I feel so fortunate to have had the chance to sit and behold their creative magic in live concert. Their musicianship is absolutely spot-on spectacular and China Forbes is a powerhouse. I love them.

And now I must go back to bed and cough my eyes out, thank you.

5 Years Later...

Me: [meandering over from the kitchen to my honey-man, a sky blue plastic plate in my right hand, carrying my homemade mini-pizza, fresh from the toaster oven. I have a smug smile on my face.] "So, we've been together for FIVE years now. Do you finally admit and accept that you DO like my all my plastic and melamine dishes?"

Mah honey-man: [laying casually on the couch, reading one of his 'application architecture' books after having his own lunch on a dark blue plastic plate, a huge grin spreads on his face as he looks up at me standing over him] "Yes, yes I do. I love them now, especially for my lunches."

Me: "When we met, you hated them. For years you hated them."

Mah honey-man: "Yes, yes, I did, but they're sooo handy."

The latter is precisely the reasoning I'd offered him 5 years ago, as to why I had them.

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 44

Because he can still make me weak in the knees whenever he comes home from work and gives me a good "ten second kiss" before even taking off his backpack.

Two Weeks Left

I have only TWO WEEKS until I am to resume my full-time employment contract, and my baby sweet potato girl will then begin attending daycare full-time. After this weekend, I will be spending ALL MY WAKING FREE TIME with my baby girlie!

I wrote the above on Friday, September 11th... um, I hope to catch up on some blogging soon (particularly our family blog), whenever my lil' babe is dreaming away come her bedtime, that is, if I can keep my own eyes open for more than an hour after she's hit the hay.

Our Sicky Baby is, um, well, Still Sick

I'm That Tired

This morning, I nearly left for work without any shoes on -- really, I did. I had my arms and hands loaded and I was headed to the garage, to my car, to leave for work...without my shoes!

And tonight? I just came downstairs after taking my shower, during which, I'd discovered I was still wearing my sunglasses on my head. Yeah.

I will be going to bed as soon as I click 'publish post' here (and finish with my mama-dairy 'pumping').

09-09-09

My mum would have been 56 years old today. Man, what I wouldn't give...

Sicky Baby

Late Wednesday night, our lil' girlie woke up in the night with a super stuffy nose, but once we had her humidifier running, she managed to sleep 6 hours straight. By this morning , however, it became official: Our lil' baby sweet potato girl has her first cold. Her eyes have been watery, she's sneezing here and there, coughing whenever laid down flat. Her nose began to run an hour ago and we now have a light fever of 99.9 registered on the thermometer... and this is all in time for her big brother's first weekend stay in Vegas since his new school year began in UT. Lovely.

She was with me at work today... we had a very productive day together (heavy sarcasm).

She'd been in daycare for 2 weeks and already, she's sick!

Ah ha! Total nerd now, posting via Blackberry!

Testing...

Nappy Times

Okay, so daycare began well. Now we just gotta work on the sweet potato girl's concept of nap time, both morning and afternoon. She used to run like clockwork, but ever since she hit the 4 months mark, nappy time hasn't been all that consistent. And now that she's in daycare, it seems she will no longer embrace the idea of a morning nap for any longer than 10-3o minutes at a time. The afternoons at home are no better unless she's glued to my side, or rather, to a boob. We did quit napping in her beloved swing weeks ago, about the same time she moved from her bassinet to her crib - - Yeah, absolutely no more 'based-upon-swing-motion' napping, that became the rule once I found out swings don't exist at her daycare. So now she's gotta learn to fall asleep simply because she's tired.

The ladies at her daycare tell me they have to rock her, more often than not, to get her to doze off, but that either way, she tends to fight nap time. It's not that she'll cry or protest (yet). She'll lay in their arms, drowsy as all heck, rubbing her eyes while smiling and cooing quietly, simply refusing to give it up and just conk out. And they say that once she does finally pass out, they'll lay her down in her crib, and she'll either wake up immediately or 10-30 minutes later. Today she had one 10 minute nap, and then an hour later, a nap for 25 minutes.

I arrived yesterday right when they had laid her down. The young lady in charge of her that day told me with a huge grin and a laugh that it was her 3rd time getting her to fall asleep that morning (and I'm hoping they continue to handle her refusal to nap in the same jovial manner weeks from now). By the time I had my jellybean's bottle bag in hand and had signed her charts, etc. etc., my lil' girlie had turned on her side and was smiling at me from her crib from across the room. Lil' stinker!

She just doesn't want to miss out on anything... sounds a lot like someone else I know (guilty grin spreading across my own mug).

Okay, I'm Ready Now: Our Babe's Daycare Dealio

Last week was mah baby sweet potato girl's very first week of daycare, and I gotta say it went very, very well. Yup, this mommie is very, very pleased.

First of all, I had told myself to expect some tears that first week. So, when I picked her up around 11:30am on her first day, and I found her wailing away in the arms of her group's head teacher, I wasn't too alarmed. They were both sitting on the floor on a playmat together and mah baby girlie was upright, clutching her white silky blanket to her face with big fat baby tears streaming down her chubby cheeks. I had actually heard and identified her crying from outside the entrance to her group's room, so I wasn't at all surprised when I saw her...

SOME BACKGROUND INFO: Whenever my lil' jellybean cries, there is normally a very particular and identifiable reason, and it's usually easy to stop her tears and quickly at that. We've found that the only times she'll wail inconsolably is when, 1) she has either unrelieved tummy bubbles or major fluffies [IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: Baby girls do not fart! They 'fluff'.]; or 2) she's fried due to some kind of significant unrelenting over-stimulation (like after withstanding the first 5 hours of a loud, seven-hour-long, 11-innings baseball game on the 4th of July).

So, anyhow, I could hear her from outside, and it was no wonder to me why she was upset... Two other babies were totally screaming bloody murder, crying their little eyes out with such intensity, it was incredible! Immediately upon my arrival in the room, her teacher confirmed my suspicion: She'd been totally fine all morning long until one of the baby boys, poor lil' guy, had begun to scream uncontrollably (I knew which one too, as he'd been crying like that the first time we'd met him), and after 10 minutes of his crying, both she and the other baby boy couldn't take it any longer and they lost their cool.

So how is she coping this week with the other babies' upsets? When I picked her up today, that same lil' tyke was once again screaming his lil' head off, but this time around, my baby girlie was lying beside one of the daycare ladies, playing on a playmat placed no more than 2 feet away from him, blissfully happy, smiling and gumming some toy. Yeah, she's doing well.

Baby's Pretend Upright Bass

Last Friday night, or rather, early last Saturday morning, ohhh, about 4am-ish in the midst of feeding mah hungry baby girlie, something funny happened. She was entirely docile, eyes closed, all relaxed and limp like a ragdoll... but her tiny left hand kept reaching up and slowly taking hold of the gathered elastic neckline of my pajama top, and then she'd pull her little hand back and away from me, to then let go of it with a soft thudding noise. She did this over and over, kind of moving in slow-mo, reaching and plucking the neckline of my top like it was a rubberband or an upright bass. The sound it was making actually woke my honey-man, and as he raised his head from the bed to peer at us in the dark, he began to quietly giggle, seeing and realizing what it was she was doing and taht she was 1/2 asleep while at it, no less.

Can you say, WAY. TOO. CUTE. -?

A Recent Picture of My 5th Month Old Daughter

DayCare Update: Coming Soon

Parenting Under Pr-Pr-Pr-Pressure

I haven't been able to write about this before now, cuz I've been trying reeealllly hard to keep my s*** together this morning. See, today's my baby's first day at daycare. We went to the open house for her classroom last Friday, which was immensely reassuring, but dang, this is a freakin' hard pill to swallow.

For the next month, before my part-time contract expires come the end of September, we'll be transitioning into this new 'baby-in-daycare' phase of our lives, meaning she'll only spend 1/2 her day at daycare, in the mornings. Her daddy's gunna drop her off around 8am and then I'll be picking her up between 11:30 and noontime. Shouldn't be too bad -right? We only have 5 weeks of this part-time arrangement though. Thereafter, it will be full-time daycare from then on, year round. This last statement makes me wanna bawl.

Arrgghhh... My stomach is in such topsy turvy knots!!! And she's not even there yet!

It feels wrong to have someone other than myself caring for my daughter for the majority of her day. I don't care how common it is or how many people have to do the very same thing and blah, blah, blah, whatever! It feels W-R-O-N-G! I've read countless books and I've read some of the actual research [yes, I've sought out and read some of the research journals written regarding the subject of daycare and how it affects a child's emotional and intellectual development], and I know she'll be technically fine, as will I, but I can't describe this raw and aching pain I feel in my gut and in my heart. It just hurts! Blak.

I'm hoping that come time for me to pick her up four hours fro now, I'll find a happy baby - - somehow though, I'm certain this will throw her for a loop. She'll be all wide-eyed and fascinated for the first couple hours, but by 11am, she'll be fried. We'll see. Details tomorrow.

5 Years Ago...

... mah honey-man and I, we went out on our first date! Can't believe it's been five years since we met!? And our 2nd wedding anniversary is just around the corner. Mmmm... I love him so!

I Love You Too, but PLEASE GO TO SLEEP!

Last Wednesday night amounted to more of the same when compared to this past Tuesday night = NO SLEEP FOR THIS MOMMIE. Thursday morning, I had to present myself as a knowledgeable person-in-charge, speaking at an orientation. It was a miracle I didn't wind up tripping over my own feet that day, I was so dead tired. Sooo last night, after 5 hours in the office and an afternoon juggling zee wee one while working from home, I decided we were going to try for an uber early approach to baby's bedtime. She usually bathes around 7pm, but we had her in the tubby by 6pm, and I fed her at 7pm and topped it off with a 2 oz bottle with extra cereal, which she ate while I rocked and sang to her in her bedroom... and begged her to please sleep through the night. I laid her down in her crib by 7:40pm and she was fast asleep in five minutes' time... AND SHE SLEPT UNTIL FIVE AM!

And so, this morning at work, I was as happy as could be (amazing what some good sleep can do for a person), and I had a spring back in my step for the first time this week. And my baby girlie? She was soooo smiley this morning and has been such a darling all day, today, well rested and happy. A friend's 13 year old was watching her for me this morning while I was at work, and the two were situated together in a room 2 doors down the hall from my office. Throughout the morning, I could clearly hear my darling babe cooing, giggling, and laughing, and occasionally they'd come past my open office door and my baby sweet potato girl was all baby drool n' dimples! And she even took a nap! Bless you, Millie! And thank the creators of baby rice cereal! Or maybe it was just a fluke - - or maybe it was the earnest begging? We'll see if we duplicate the same circumstances tonight and wind up with the same result!

I Wrote Too Soon, Part II

The night before last, our sweet potato girl went to bed at 8pm, and she woke up at midnight, 2am, 3am, 4am and 5am. Apparently, once more, I wrote too soon...

And so, yesterday morning, I was a bit of a zombie at work. And after work, after picking up my baby girl, I failed to get a nap, and then I didn't get to bed until 10:30pm last night. She woke up hungry at 11:30pm and again at 3am. And she was up for the day at 6:20-ish am. If she keeps this up, I think I may be dead by Friday.

I Wrote Too Soon!

Not only is she sleeping in her crib now, I guess she's on her way (I hope, I hope) to sleeping through the night again (all fingers and toes crossed, let it be true! oh let it be true!). After writing this yesterday, she wound up sleeping for SEVEN HOURS straight last night! Oh yes, bless her darling lil' bottom! ~ Yup, seven uninterrupted hours of sleep. *sigh* And what bliss it was! She went down for bed at her usual 8pm and she didn't wake up until a little after 3am, at which point I fed her and then she went back to sleep.

What do I think the difference was? - - I suspect is was the TWO tablespoons of cereal I'd given her in 3 ounces of expressed milk, plus a feeding just before that = Mah girlie had a full, full belly! And so, of course, we tried that again tonight. By the morning, we'll know if it worked again...

So Far, So Fantastic

Well, our baby sweet potato girl has been sleeping in her crib for 3 nights in a row now, and tonight, being her 4th night, she went down for her bedtime and was out like a light in less than a minute! Sooo, I think it's safe to say her transition from the bassinet to the crib has been flawlessly smooth thus far. I know it hasn't even been a week yet, so I realize things could change like night and day without a moment's notice, but I'm pretty pleased so far. The only thing I miss about the bassinet is getting to be right there in the morning to see her little mug when she first wakes up for the day ~ She's ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE when she first wakes up for a new day! Although I now can't see her the very moment her lil' eyes first open, we can still hear her when she wakes up for the day, with her cooing and gurgling and blowing raspberries, making lil' 'aaah-ha' noises and stuff = also very adorable. Yeah, whenever she wakes up, especially in the night, we can hear her from our bedroom well enough to easily determine if she'll either settle herself back down without help or will need one of us to snag her before she becomes hysterical.

I hadn't mentioned any of this before now, but we decided to move her to her crib for several reasons.
1) Thought it might be good to sleep without hearing every lil' sigh that starts me wide awake in a second.
2) I had said she'd only be in our room for couple months (although I did admit later I was so crazy wrong).
3) She was basically gettin' too freakin' big for her bassinet (that's the real short of it).
4) She could actually kick the upper rim of the bassinet with her little feet, waking herself in the process.
5) She would scoot herself up and into the head rim of the bassinet, again, waking herself up.
6) She would bring her blankets up over her face and they'd stay there since there was too little room around her anymore. These following pics were taken last Saturday night. Ever since that night, she's been sleeping in a Halo SleepSack!

This totally freaked me out to find her like this!

Okay, so yeah, she's safely and comfortably sleeping in her crib now and it's going well. However, she's still will not return to those wonderful days we enjoyed when she was sleeping 9 hours straight through the night. She's always waking at least twice now, usually around midnight-ish - 1AM, and then again sometime between 3AM - 5AM. A week ago, when my honey-man went out of town for a conference, I caved the very first night I was alone with the girlie without him = I gave her a tablespoon of rice cereal in a bottle with 1.5 ounces of expressed milk. Yup, total pansy, I am. And it didn't work at all, in that she was still up multiple times throughout that night, hungry almost every time like a ravenous lil' piglet. I tried the cereal one more night while he was away, but no luck then either.

Wellll, the last two nights in a row now, we've given her cereal in a bottle with some Pedialyte, and each night, we've enjoyed a 5 hour stretch of sleep between when she's put to bed and when she wakes for the first time. The cereal --and remember too, it's just one little tablespoon as the portion-- has also changed the consistency of her diapers, for sure. Oh boy, yes it has. They're not tooo bad yet, but the days of semi-sweet (comparatively) exclusively breast-fed diapers are over now.

At first I was feeling guilty about giving her some cereal before she's reached 6 months. More so, I've also been nervous about how it will effect my 'production,' but yesterday, we met an 8 month old and a 6 month old, and both of them were her size. Yeah. Not feeling guilty so much anymore; still a bit nervous, but not feeling guilty. She's a big girl and SHE'S HUNGRY, and at night, before her bedtime, I just can't keep up with her hunger! We'll see how the next couple weeks go.

"Check out Mah Crib"

[drumroll please!] ~

Our baby sweet potato girl slept in her crib last night! Her FIRST time going to bed for the night in her crib. *sniff, sniff* She went down at 8pm, and it took less than 5 minutes for her to fall asleep on her own. She woke up around 1am and again a titch before 5am... not toooo bad. Notice the 4-5 hour spacing? Cyclical 4-hour infant sleep is what that's called. Anyhow, she got up for the day at 7:30am. And did I mention already that she slept in her crib!?! We'll see how well it goes tonight!

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 43

Because he should have been preoccupied with having a grand time in New Orleans for a conference, yet he calls me mid-day just to hear my voice. He's been gone since Tuesday and he comes home later tonight, 5:30ish = Yay!

P.S. Yes, I wrote this at 2am... I miss mah sweet honey-man.

An Angel Boy-O n' Baby-Related Brainstorm

I am sooo behind on all the baby-related blogging I've been wanting to do. As for our private family blog? -I'm TWO MONTHS behind. Blak. Granted, no one's making me do this, but blogging is like journaling for me, to help me work through stuff and to remember. In an attempt to catch up some, I'm gunna rack my brain and write out some tidbits as they come to mind:

The boy-O repeatedly sets himself up for a baby-mauling, for instance, placing his face within the grasp of his sister's reach... he loves it when she grabs his nose and holds on! And solely for the sake of his sister's amusement, he deliberately offers his hair for baby-pulling. He says she has a "death grip," and has tried several times to let her hold a finger of his for long enough that it will turn purple.

Sometimes when the boy-O couldn't find a binky fast enough, he'd instead offer his sister one of his fingers and then he giggle and laugh at how strongly she could gnaw on him and drool all over his hand.

Although he repeatedly expressed enthusiasm to learn how and actually asked to be taught at least twice, I never once had the boy-O even attempt to change one diaper. I realize now this was a mistake, as it would have been easier to teach him now, while not only his enthusiasm for her so strong and new, but while she'll still lay there mid-change, and her breastfeeding-only diapers are pretty inoffensive. Next we see him, I'll be sure to have developed a diapering tutorial for him and to take him up his diaper-change offers.

During the first of the two times the boy-O and I had remembered to watch "So You Think You Can Dance," he'd been told to run get his jammies on during a commercial break. While upstairs, he went into our bedroom to check on his sleeping sister, where he then loudly whispered "HI" into her baby monitor's receiver and scared the crap outta me so badly, I screamed. He thought it was so hysterical, he nearly passed out from laughing so hard.

The angel boy-O became quite popular in our development this summer, with several kids coming by each day, asking if he could play. It was grrreat! One child in particular would come by and be told the same thing as the day before, "He doesn't come home from summer camp until 5:30pm or later." She would always show up again at 5:30pm, sharp.

One night not too long ago, post-Montreal trip, my honey-man was working hard to console and reassure my new-mommie-going-back-to-work insecurities, and the boy-O must have heard enough from his bedroom upstairs to know something was wrong. He'd gotten up and was sitting at the top of the stairs, hidden from view, listening. When the tears began to flow, he revealed himself, quickly coming down the stairs, eager to offer me hugs and kisses. He told me not to cry, and not to worry so much. He also told me to not be so hard on myself, and to know that he thinks I'm doing a wonderful job as a mommie, and told me I'm the best step-mom in the world. And he melted my heart, like he has so many times before.

Although we've been enjoying (bwah-ha-ha!) 3-digit temperatures for weeks now with the freak exception of the past couple of gloriously, blissfully cooler days, the pool's temp never reached high enough for the baby girlie to join the boy-O's swimming excursions. He wanted so badly for her to go swimming with him. Two days after he left, the pool reached 90 degrees, finally baby-friendly. What awfully bad timing! And btw, her swimsuit is so cute, it's criminal.

The day before the angel boy-O was to leave, I took him and his sissy to get their picture taken together. The results are sooo killer cute = WHAT A FREAKIN' UNDERSTATEMENT, and no, I AM CERTAIN I'M NOT BIASED HERE. Since then, I now proudly refer to the two of them together as my darlings. In no particular order of importance, here's a few details from the session: 1) For their first pose together, the boy-O sat on the floor, cross-legged, with his sissy in his lap, ans she was delighted, and he was so proud, and I was so vehclempted at the sight of them captured for print. 2) I had them both barefoot for their pictures. 3) During the baby-girlie's solo shots, the boy-O served as the her spotter, sitting off to the side, waiting at the ready if it be necessary to save her from nose-diving out of the chair in which she'd been placed. There's one proof in which you can see his jean-clad knees to the left of her. 4) At one point during her solo, she was refusing to pull even a grin for us. The boy-O and I were singing and dancing behind the photographer, really working it to illicit a smile, to no avail. For one of the proofs during that time, you can see a bemused look on her face, absolutely unimpressed with our efforts. 5) And for the boy-O's solo pic, the photographer asked him to say 'booger' just before taking what wound up to be my absolute favorite solo shot of him from the session.

I went to see Julie & Julia with my sister and one of her best friends last night. Baby-girlie has been to a good handful of movies now: Disney's Earth, Up, the 3rd Ice Age, and the latest Harry Potter. She's a good lil' movie-goer, really, she is! She usually lies in my lap doing one of three things: 1) watching the movie, 2) watching my face lit by the movie, or 3) sleeping. This time around, for a first, before the wee one conked out, she decided she'd add to the movie dialog, blowing raspberries during the first 15 minutes of the movie. My sister assured me she was not too loud, only too cute. Yes, she began blowing raspberries this week, and the week before that, she began gurgling. She is such a drooly girl - - she can soak through a bib in an hour!

Over the past week, zee baby-girlie has been aggressively reaching after Otis - - I believe I've mentioned already that Otis is the only one of our two cats who ever comes within her reach. More often than not, whenever she's made a move for some kitty contact and she succeeded, she simply places a tiny hand on Otis, slowly patting and brushing him with her fingers. Not too long ago, she did manage a baby-fistfull of tufts from his undercoat, but she hasn't done anything more notable than that one time until today. Yup, not until today... Today, as she was gently patting away at his rump-end, Otis decided to change position. Raising his backside first, about to stretch, her little hand slid down his back and toward his head, and she nabbed his right ear! I'd always been so concerned about watching her with his face and whiskers, I plumb forgot about the ears! Almost as soon as she had deftly closed her little hand about his ear, I'd forced my thumb into her fist to release him. Thankfully, after years of "baby-proofing" the kitties, Otis wasn't too alarmed by the ear grab, although it was more like a scrunch. As he' whipped his head around in response to the sudden crunch of his ear, he seemed more surprised than anything to see it was her. And she squealed with pure baby delight!

Things To Remember for Next Summer

I first began this post last Monday, intending to simply type up a list of the things we must remember for our next summer with the angel boy-O for next year, so that we can hopefully settle into a routine from the start, and not wind up spending/wasting so much of our time with him trying to establish a routine, just to have him leave once we've finally got it all settled. Instead of a list (which I still need to make), I wound up writing this:

This past Saturday, my honey-man had to drive the angel boy-O back to his mom and to his new life, living now in Ogden, UT. This had been his third summer spent with us in Vegas. A few have already asked why he's left already with August only beginning, but he needs time to reacclimate before his new school year at a brand new school begins, and to spend some summertime with his mom n' step-dad too.

Not too unlike the 2 previous summers, just as we all were getting on the same page with a solid routine going, he had to leave. I'm not sure if we'll ever get used to that aspect of his summer stays. This summer was the best effort thus far though, in that the boy-O had matured over the past year, making it an easier go, plus we remembered a bit more of what hadn't worked before, so there was less of a struggle when it came to making things happen. Plus --and this is a big plus-- the reality of having a needy baby sister gave the boy-O a fabulous chance to step out of himself --he's an only child, remember-- and to focus upon her needs and to experience the joy of helping and witnessing the growth of such a tiny person. And take that chance and run with it, he did!!! Ahh, gosh, it totally chokes me up. He was soooo good with his baby sister and he loves, loves, loves her so! And she adores him! Just ADORES him! As I'd shared before, he'd been the only one who could make her laugh (and she's still only laughed once for me). Yup, having the angel boy-O leave us this time around, it has got to be the hardest, most tearful summer's end yet for me. Knowing our time was nearing an end, as soon as we were in Montreal (17th thru the 27th), my honey-man and I, we were both taking turns tearing up on almost a daily basis, anticipating the inevitable separation from him come July's end.

While we were in Montreal, there was one evening the boy-O had made up a darling song and dance for his lil' jellybean sister and she giggled and glowed and squealed with delight as she watched his every move! He performed the lil' number he'd created for her at least 5 times. After he had sweetly held her face between his hands to gently kissed her checks and forehead goodnight, and I'd been given my goodnight kisses as well, I had to leave the house and go cry outside where no one could hear me, so sad the two darlings cannot be together all the time. I'm going to have to finish this later... I need a box of tissues. And it's 2am now.

Resumed writing on Wednesday the 5th: Our first summer in Vegas with the angel boy-O, man, oh man, that was a brutal summer, from start to finish. It wasn't all bad, no, but it was an enormous emotional rollercoaster! My honey-man had just moved to Vegas, and I was wallowing in insecurities, worried it would be a move he would surely regret by the summer's end. We only had the boy-O for 5 weeks, and I'm certain now that the boy-O was dealing with some deep-seated anger directed toward his father for his split life living between divorced parents. Plus, for the first time, my honey-man knew he was about to begin living his life without seeing his son for weeks and weeks at a time.

I cannot stress this enough: the emotional tension was high, high, high that summer of 2007. Unless we really make the effort to think long and hard about it, our minds draw a blank as to what else we did with him that summer... I know he and I painted his bedroom, of course, and we went hiking in Red Rock Canyon a few times and he had a couple horseback riding lessons. He had pirate-themed birthday party in Burbank, which I missed because I was in Europe. Of course, this here is a drastically oversimplified version of that 2007 summer, but overall, the summer is remembered as an awfully frustrating, painful, and tearful time for us.

Our second summer was almost a 100% improvement upon the first in that not only did we have more time together, we used the time more effectively, planning trips and activities and outings, eager to make good memories with him, to last us through the months to follow, during which we would see him so little. It did really stink though when I threw my back out and then wound up in the hospital for a week - - almost the month of July was a bust! Nevertheless, the summer was less stressful and we were better prepared for how painful it would be once it came time for him to leave us.

This summer though? It's easily been the best yet. We'd learned a thing or two from the first two summers, experiencing far less trial and error this time around, definitely. Over the eight weeks' time together though, we still weren't truly able to establish a routine until he was about to leave. That's why I'm hoping a list of pointers may help us next time around, to reduce the adjustment time involved.

Anyhow, the best thing about this summer was watching the angel boy-O with his baby sister... the absolute best! I am so proud of him. He was such a fabulous big brother to his baby sister. He was an excellent binky manager, quick to seek out her binky if she was cranking and in need of such comfort, and he'd retrieve her binky whenever she (or we) had dropped it. In no time, we found him doing what we do: Whenever the binky drops and a sink for a rinse ain't handy, he'd pop her binky intp his own mouth to 'clean it off' before giving it back to her. He was also her backseat traveling companion, always buckling up in the center seat beside her carseat. There was a few times he'd marvel over how startling it was to discover she was quietly staring at him after waking up during a car ride, and always breaking into a smile once he'd notice she was awake. On our car trip to Utah and back, he sang and talked to her, he fed her bottles, and he managed her drooly chinny-chopper, and he always let us know whenever she slept or woke up, or burped, tooted or did a number in her diaper.

In general, he was "our informer," often giving us play by play commentary as to whatever she was doing or whatever he thought she was doing; the two were not always the same thing. For instance, he was always very concerned about her breathing: "Um, I'm not sure she's breathing. She's not breathing! Are you sure she's breathing?" He was also her 'good morning' cuddler, eager to see her first thing after getting up for the day, before he'd even hit the bathroom or get dressed. He was also her director of evening entertainment, and, and, and... Crap -- he was? That's exactly why his leaving Vegas this time around has been so hard: I'm already refering to his presence in his baby sister's life in the past tense -?!? He was this, he was that... because he's gone now. We won't see him again until Labor Day weekend... she won't see him again until Labor Day. It makes me so sad. I had anticipated this would be hard, but I had no idea just how deeply gut-wretching it would be. I think that may be because I really had had no idea how perfectly the two babes were going to connect. By the time he was leaving, if she could hear his voice, she'd bend and twist her little body about to see where he was at. The other night, I was watching a video of the two cuties, and she heard his voice and looked about, trying to find him, and I burst into tears. I hope we find a way to keep the two connected. Right now, I miss him so badly, it's been hard to talk to anyone about it without choking up.

And my honey-man? Ahh, I can't go there. I'll leave it at this: We're both very sad right now.

Ma-ma-ma-mmmush

So, I can't remember if I've mentioned this already or not, but while we were in Montreal, our baby sweet potato girl decided she doesn't think it's cool anymore to sleep through the night. Half way through our trip, she began waking at least once, if not twice, each night, usually between midnight and four in the morning, and each time she woke up, she was ravenous! And since we got home this past Monday, she's really been throwin' me for a loop...

Last night was the craziest yet, WAY, WAY, WAY worse than when she was a newbie newborn! She went to bed at her usual 8am, and she woke at 10pm (hungry), 11:30pm (bad diaper, which was usual for that time of night), 1:30am (hungry again), 3am (hungry yet again), 5am (hungry again, I kid you not), and then 6am (hungry yet again!) and she stayed up for the rest of the morning and she refused to take more than a 20 minute cat nap before two in the afternoon, at which time, she slept for an hour n' a half, during which time, I had to work. Around 3pm, I fed her and tried to nap with her for a half hour, but it was only enough to really tease me was all.

Both the night and day before were much the same. And this is after coming home from 10 days in Montreal, which was a very lovely and relaxing trip I do hope to write more about later on, but it was also the beginning of this ridiculous sleeplessness... the last 72 hours have been brutal. I am mush. And my honey-man left this morning for a conference in New Orleans and he won't be home until Sunday. And so, I am now signing off to go straight away to bed, no joke. Ga'night!

Cleaning the Drain Daily

So, in case you haven't ever heard about this before, it's apparently quite common to lose a lot of your hair after birthing your baby... Yeah, I had thought I missed that boat, but for the past three weeks now, what's been happening to me can only best be described as shedding. I'm nearly as bad as the cats! And this is all while I'm trying to grow out my short hair, so the hairs are longer than they would have been 5 months ago. I'm quite certain too that I'm nearing the awkward and ugly phase of the grow-out. My hair won't do anything for me anymore unless I utilize a deadly combo of hair products intended to defy gravity. As it is, I hardly ever remember to even look at my hair these days (although my bangs do constantly hang in my eyes now), so the hope that I will 'do' my hair is pretty hopeless.

Not until the afternoon did I get out of the house today, in order to mail off a box of the boy-O's forgotten items and to feed my Popstar's doggie n' her fishes. I had planned to visit the Verizon store as well --my Blackberry won't make a single peep anymore and it's not a mute or profile selection issue!?-- but I finally caught a glance of myself in my drivers door window and realized I hadn't done a thing to my hair since I'd wet it down this morning at 6am.Yeah.

I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie

On Wednesday, I was in the office for the morning staying late into the afternoon, but I got the chance to see and talk with a few friends. Of course, baby milestones were often the topic of discussion, which included the telling of how our baby-girlie will not laugh or giggle for anyone but her big brother, the angel boy-O. At one point one of my friends asked a very good question, something along the lines of just how slap stick are my efforts to illicit a baby laugh? I had thought I'd been trying hard enough, but she brought up a good reference for comparison... Think Ross and Rachel from the TV show Friends and the episode during which they both sing "I Like Big Butts" as the magic key to unlock their baby girl's giggles.

So I got home late that afternoon with mah own baby-girlie, and with resolute determination I went into the motions of making sure all her needs were met in order to ensure the fairest laughter-coducive conditions were met: I fed her, made sure she was well burped, changed her diaper, gave her a dry bib to wear, handed her favorite blankey, and placed her in her vibe chair. Then, standing in front of her, complete with bad dance moves, I sang "I Got Big Butts" and [drumroll please] SHE FINALLY LAUGHED FOR ME!

It's About Love!

Kitty Fa-Fa-Fascination

Months ago, as young as 6 weeks old, our baby sweet potato girlie began her fascinated with our cats, Otis and Owen. She'd stare at them, watch them move, crane her head for a glimpse, and she'd make her cute little 'oh-my-goodness' face with her tiny mouth held in a perfect open "O" whenever Otis came within a foot of her, and she'd either shake with excitement , or she'd freeze, absolutely transfixed, with her little eyes bugged so large and wide I was ready for them to pop out!

Now that our little jellybean can grab for and hold most the things she wants, she is now grabbing after Otis, of course. She'd be grabbing after Owen too, but he never gives her the chance... yeah, Owen ain't that dumb, nor is he quite that desperate... It is because Otis is always vying for cuddles that our baby girlie was recently given the chance to successfully pulled tufts of kitty fluff from his backside!

This past Tuesday afternoon, taking a break from work, she was sitting on my lap while Otis was walking back and forth, crossing over my knees. As he did this, mah baby girlie was brushing her little hands all over him, making her 'oh-my-goodness' face, trembling with excitement, and trying her darnedest to sink her tiny spread fingers into his fur for a good grip. Once she happily held a small wad of undercoat in her right hand, about to bring it to her mouth, Otis quickly turned around and beginning with the side of his head, he leaned into her and swiped the entire length of his body across her little drooly face! If I'd had my camera that moment, it would have been sooooo grrreat! She was COVERED IN CAT HAIR! and the hair had reallllly stuck best to her wet chubby cheeks. I laughed so hard as she wrinkled her nose and coughed and coughed, shaking her head. I tried first to clean her up with a washcloth, but I ultimately had to give her a bath to remove all the fine cat hairs. And Otis? He was trying to clean up all the baby drool in his fur for nearly 20 minutes of licking.

By the way, since the freakishly hot Vegas summer first began heating up in May and Otis and Owen then began exploding fur, shedding like crazy, I've had to routinely check for and remove fine cat hairs caught in mah darling jellybean's chubby neck rolls on a daily basis!

So anyhow, yeah, despite any fur pulling or the near whisker-removal swipes of her baby hands, so far Otis doesn't seem to mind our baby girlie's kitty fascination, although I'm certain Otis doesn't approve of all that baby drool.

Hmmm, Dohhnuts

Food-related Travel Notes for the someday-future:

The Elvis inspired Memphis Mafia donut from Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland, the Pink Feather Boa from Top Pot Doughnuts in Seattle, and either the Roasted Pistaschio glazed or the fresh Raspberry glazed donuts from The Doughnut Plant off 43rd and 9th in Manhattan.

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 42

Because he spends his Wednesday mornings with our baby sweet potato girl hanging out in his office so that I can go in to work once a week and get some things done, working baby-free from my own office. Thank you, my lovin' honey-man! You're such a darling daddy! and such a wonderful hubby!

Moulin Rouge to the Rescue

Baby-girlie hadn't been cooperating all that well with mommie trying to get work done once the 8 o'clock hour hit... not until I put Moulin Rouge into the DVD player and began selecting the scenes featuring songs. She's been lying beside me on the couch for nearly an hour now, gumming a ring of toy keys, just grinning away while I sing "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" to her for the second time while I type away work emails. And I'd thought my multi-tasking skillz had abandoned me with the confounding of my short-term memory via mommy-brain?!

And We're Off Again!

I've yet to write anything here about my June trip to Iowa with sweet potato girl to see her grandparents' (my parents) home for the first time (and it was her first flight)! I haven't yet written a word about our trip to Utah over the 4th either! And tomorrow, we're leaving for a 10-day trip Montreal!

Today will be spent scrambling to finish last minute work for the office, running miscellaneous errands and packing the last bit of packing. Oh and I'll be trying to get the baby girlie to the portrait studio before the day's end! And I've been up since 5am! And I'm wired outta my mind! Can ya tell?!?

Maybe I'll get to blog from Montreal, but who knows ~ Toodaloo for now!

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 41

Because he spent half the day trying and trying to establish a wireless bluetooth connection for my laptop with the printer we have upstairs. He's a Mac man and I'm certain he hates my PC laptop more than ever now!

Scheduling Kitty Time or Else

Our poor lil' Otis hasn't been getting what he's used to these days due to the fact that there's often a baby in our arms now. And with my blogging less and less, he's missing even more of the individual cuddle time he used to enjoy just a couple months ago with the baby's arrival. Desperate for the attention he craves and misses, we often find him plopping his body atop our feet (happens at least three times more often than it did in our pre-baby days!), winding in and out between our legs (happens 5 times more often!), and wrapping himself round our ankles (happens a gazillion times more often than pre-baby times!!!)... and he tries now to do it all while we are trying to WALK! = DANGEROUS!! The very worst is whenever he runs and darts up the stairs between our moving feet as we're making our way up the stairs with the baby in our arms!

Yesterday afternoon, the most feared finally happened... Otis ran up the stairs after my honey-man, who was carrying our girlie, and Otis found himself literally underfoot. My honey-man had squarely placed a foot atop Otis and his knee jerk reaction was to recoil his foot and collapse as his balance was then seriously thrown off, rather than carry through the taken step and break Otis' back. And so, as Otis let out a horrifying yowl of pain and fright, my honey-man fell on the stairs with our lil' girlie. Makes me stomach churn just thinking about it! Anyhow, although it scared her badly and she bawled her lil' eyes out, the two of them and Otis, they are all fine, thank goodness!

So it's official: From now on, we've decided we're going to have to give Otis at least a half hour of concentrated cuddle-kitty time each day. Yup, a full 1/2 hour for a cat in order to stave off any desperate kitty behavior that may result in the tripping of a baby-carrying adult! Otis is actually on my lap right now while I"m typing (as I check the clock to see how I'm doing with my kitty-time). Wish us luck!

Giggles and Laughter Ensue

Last night the angel boy-O and his lil' sweet potato sister shared their first bath together. We had her set in her lil' pink bathtime lounge chair with the angel boy-O siting in the tub directly in front of her. As he poured the first bucket of water over his dry head and the water cascaded down and off the ends of his hair, something magical happened that we hadn't yet ever heard before: Our baby sweet potato girl let out a squeal followed by GIGGLES and LAUGHTER! And we all looked at one another, all wide-eyed, and then we all freaked out, totally delighted! ~ She laughed! And promptly thereafter, the boy-O was trying again and again, most valiantly to elicit the same darling response from her, just as cute!

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 40

Because he got up this morning and declared that today, hell or high water, will be the day I'll once again be able to park my car inside our ridiculous over-packed storage unit... I mean, inside our garage!

Big Time Feat for Baby Girl!

This morning, before everyone had to head out to their respective destinations for the day, we --that'd be me, the angel boy-O and my honey-man-- were all at home at just the right moment to witness our baby sweet potato's greatest accomplishment yet, other than her arrival into this world, of course [drumroll please]: SHE ROLLED OVER!

Yup, her very first time! And man, she's been a totally wiggle worm since! I laid her on her activity mat this afternoon, the length of her body perpendicular to one of the sides. She would up somehow rotating the length of her entire body clockwise, over 180 degrees from where she'd been set, and then she rolled over into one of the overhead support arches, stuck against the corner post attachment. For about 5 minutes she tried to free herself on her own, but eventually issued a high pitched squawk demanding a swift rescue. Yup, my growing baby girl rolled over all on her own and she's becoming mobile... *sniff, sniff* *deep sigh* She's growing so fast.

At the same time today, it's become glaringly apparent there's noooo way we can simply set her on or into anything like her vibe chairs or swings, not without strapping her in tight for good measure. If we don't do so, she throws her tummy upward, fiercely arching her back, while twisting her hips to the left, and kicking her right leg upward and over to the left. Yeah, so far she's only tried this same move a couple times while at the diaper changing table, but I suspect it will become a regular occurence very soon. That will be fun (NOT). Life's gunna be a bit trickier once this baby girl becomes mobile, and boy, is she eager for that day to come! Our sweet potato girl wants to be on the move, and she doesn't want to be strapped down, I tell ya! It was about 3 weeks ago when she first began to use her entire body to physically protest against her car seat carrier, not only grabbing at the straps, but nearly throwing herself out of the seat, arching her back while sinking downward, kicking her feet, nearly slidding out of the damn thing, the lil' stinker...

By the way, I find both her vocal and her physical protests to be incredibily cute, and I often giggle at her frustrated efforts to escape whatever it is she's protesting. Yeah, she's purty cute no matter what she's up to. Have I mentioned we've decided to keep her?

"Can't Find the Time" or "Can't Pump Enough"

FOREWORD: I wrote the following post on July 1st, originally published to our family blog, after which, I realized I should have written it here on this blog, as it hadn't included any pictures of our baby girlie. So, here it is as it was 'over there', minus our baby girl's name:

*sigh* I want to blog, really, I do! I just can't find the time these past couple weeks... It's no coincidence that this all coincides with my recent return to the world of those who work for a living. And don't get me started on that right now. Blak.

Anyhow, we're off to Utah in the early morning - - and I'm sooo not ready. And today, well, today was a really, really hard day. Today kicked my butt. But I won't get into all the details on that. The short of it is I'm exhausted and I'm wired outta my mind; not a good combo. Blak.

I hope (I hope, I hope, I hope) things go well with our drive north tomorrow. It will be the longest car ride yet for our baby girlie. When I was once baby/child free, a drive northbound to Salt Lake would take me 6 hours, tops, driving 80 mph (minimum), stopping only in Beaver to gas up and to take one bathroom break. Those days have been looong gone for a few years now. With baby girlie in tow, I'm guessing tomorrow's drive will be 8 hours long (minimum). Blak. Anyone want to take bets? Eight hours is twice as long as our old weekend drives to LA. Blak. My father told me I was too optimistic; he said it'll be closer to 10 hours. God, I hope he's wrong! Plus we lose an hour once we arrive because of the Mountain-time change. Oh and get this: We'll be entirely prepared-bottles free this trip, and I'm NOT AT ALL happy about this.

My lil' surgery last week managed to provide baby sweet potato girl the opportunity to wipe out my entire frozen supply of pumped breast milk! The surgery, by the way, was nothing super major: An outpatient visit with my OB... I had a centimeter's depth removed from my cervix and a deep cone biopsy taken. It required general anesthesia, so I was required to "pump and dump" for the 24 hours following. My bebe spent the morning after the procedure with her Grammy, who's been visiting Vegas from Iowa, so I could not only get some work done that Friday, but also avoid baby's enthusiastic dancing and jumping on my sore pelvis (bless you, Grammy!). In less than 5 hours' time, two n' a 1/2 feedings later, our lil' piglet managed to consume over 22 ounces!?! I kid you not. To put this into the proper perspective, for those who aren't up to snuff on this stuff, think about this: For a baby her age, 18-20 ounces is the typical amount needed for 12 HOURS period. Yeah. She's unbelievable. I still cannot believe it. 22 ounces in less than 5 hours.

And as luck would have it, she being 3 months old now, as all my nursing literature had forewarned, my milk production has begun to level out, limited to baby's demand. The days of ample overproduction seem to be past. There's no extra milkies to be had, unless I want to wake up at 2am to pump in the middle of the night - - which I have done FOUR TIMES in the last week, trying desperately to recreate a back-up supply, however, my lil' jellybean has somehow wound up drinking each 'extra bottle' every time. Yeah, so I don't have any prepared breast milk available for her and this drive to SLC.

It very well could wind up taking us 10 hours to get there, after all.

P.S. Hopefully next week, I'll get a chance to do some better blogging than this!

A New Adventure: Car Trippin' to Utah

We're home from our Utah trip spent over the 4th of July weekend, and lemme' tell ya, our baby girlie was such a trooper! Really, I'm not kidding! She was such a guhoood lil' traveler, both the way up there and all the way home, and for the duration as well. Of course, it was not possible without the truly invaluable help of her loving big brother, our angel boy-O! He was totally rockin' awesome! He kept her well entertained, also sweetly helping her fall asleep whenever she needed some gentle coaxing, and he fed nearly every 'in-the-car-on-the-go' milk bottles to her. Yup, I'm pretty sure it was because of the cheery and persistent efforts of the angel boy-O, that our drive to and from UT was a success! Not until we took the exit ramp that leads to our home, for the very last 5 minutes of our trip, did our baby sweet potato girl ever squawk even once during the entire 6.5 hour long drive back to Vegas!!! oh and yes, we did, indeed, make excellent time! We only had to stop twice; once for lunch via a Carls Jr. drive-thru pick up window and the other time to gas up in Beaver... Although I did have to monitor my honey-man's speeding --he thinks he's racing in the Indy 500!

Anyhow, I've gotta say that although the next time may be different, it's quite encouraging for us that our first drive to UT with the wee one went so well, as once this month of July comes to an end, the angel boy-O will be returning to live with his mommie again, but not to California this time... instead, it'll be Ogden, UT. We'll have greater reason than ever to head north!

Yup, Utah. I think I real briefly touched upon this news a few weeks ago... *deep inhale* And here it goes, reality: This move will not only finally bring the boy-O sooo much closer to his mom's family --literally within blocks!-- but it will, we hope, also provide him a more active lifestyle with greater exposure to his own peer-group and awesome recreational opportunity [TRANSLATION OF "AWESOME RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITY": Hiking, rock climbing, camping, mountain biking, fishing, all kinds of water sports, the general great outdoors and SKIING! --grrreat emphasis on the SKIING!!! (and we're soooo jealous!)]. Such aspects of this move will be invaluable for his personal and psychological growth and his physical development. Consequently, we're THRILLED about the potential UT holds for him!

At the same time, however, this move will certainly make it more difficult for us to see him. Yeah, no matter how I try to work it out in my mind and my heart, it just will. Whether our baby girlie is an angel in the car or not --and honestly, she might not be so swell next time around, traveling without her big brother beside her in the backseat-- we just won't be able to make the frequent 2 and 3-day weekend trips to UT like those we'd made to Los Angeles so often before with relative ease. The greater driving distance to UT amounts to just enough of a time difference that it will no longer be possible for us to hop in the car after a full day's work on a Friday, and still make it to our destination well before midnight, especially come the winter months when there will be snow and ice to contend with. Flights will be more expensive too, as unaccompanied minor fees apply. Plus, a flight will now require greater effort and significantly more time to coordinate, as Ogden's over an hour away from the SLC Int'l Airport when one considers the probable after-school/late afternoon traffic they'll encounter on the interstate drive down to SLC. Getting the boy-O to the Burbank Airport had involved a mere 10 minute drive... those days are over.

I know we'll all work hard to make it work out somehow, just like we did when my honey-man made the move away from L.A. to Vegas, but these simple to-and-from UT logistics are already daunting... Makes me cry and I can't blame the new-mommie hormones this time. I don't want the end of this month to ever come, and I know my honey-man feels the same, ten-fold.