Christmas 2010

Get a move on

It's official! Miss R is now crawling. Get out of her way because she was determined to crawl and now she is. There's no stopping her now. It is hilarious to see her moving around. Such determination.

Please let this work

For about a month now Miss R has been waking up during the night. Every night. Multiple times a night. This has been quite difficult for us because she's been a through the night sleeper since she was about 3 months old.

We've tried everything. And I mean everything in our bag of tricks. Bottom patting. Teething drops. Gas drops. Motrin. Tylenol. Stopped all solids and started over. Switched cereals. Bought nighttime diapers. Layered her up with a onesie, pjs and sleep sack so she'd be warm. Held her. Rocked her. Shushed her. Put her in hear car seat. Put her in her bouncy. Played music. Played her ocean thingy. Played the mobile. You name it, we tried it.

It was to the point where she was so tired that nothing would calm her down and she'd just cry and cry. Then she'd cry to the point where she'd wake Miss C and we'd have two crying kids on our hands.

We are tired. Tired. Running on fumes. Our "nights off" aren't really nights off because we are trying to help each other.

The logical mind tells me it's possible we have the fallout of the "perfect storm" of recent illnesses...RSV, stomach virus, ear infection. That she isn't sleeping because she's gotten used to being up from all those illnesses. The tired mind thinks all kinds of crazy things and really just wants her to sleep so we can sleep.

Yesterday I took her to the doctor for a follow up from her recent ear infection. Thankfully she doesn't have an ear infection. AND the doctor told us to do the following...

- Introduce new white noise, like the radio.
- Go in one hour after she's fallen asleep and nudge her to "reset her sleep cycle".
- First night, if she wakes up wait 15 minutes, then go in and pat her bottom for 5 seconds and leave. Wait 30 minutes, repeat. Wait 60 minutes repeat. Wait 90 minutes and repeat.
- Second night, wait 30 minutes, then 60, then 90.
- Third night, wait 60, then 90.
- Fourth night, wait 90.
- The goal is to retrain her to sleep on her own.

We tried it last night. It was TORTURE to lay there for 30 minutes and then an hour but she fell asleep and I only had to pat her twice. Got a few hours of uninterrupted sleep and actually had to wake her up this morning.

I really hope this works again tonight. Cross your fingers.

Trying to crawl

I am fascinated watching R as she tries to crawl. She has mastered moving to get where she wants to go. But you can really see her trying to move more efficiently.

Right now, in her full limberness, she will get herself into the splits to get where she wants to go. She'll split and reach toward something and end up on her belly. Or she'll be on her belly and push back into the splits and then into a sitting position to move around.

When on her belly she will push up onto all fours and rock back and forth. She'll move backwards and scoot around. Forward is so close. So, so close.

All the things you say

Miss C has been coming up with some quite comical things lately. Here are a few...

We were sitting eating dinner and SP was talking to her. All of the sudden she looks at SP and says, "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?"

Lying in bed with her the other night she goes, "Mommy, you Missy and Daddy Paul?"

She's taken to calling me Momma instead of Mommy or Mom. Not sure where that came from but I kinda like it.

Tonight she said snow tastes like macaroni.

Happy Happy Girl

You can't really tell but she is doing the splits.


Showing off her two teeth.

Things that make my life easier

Being a parent involves a lot of trial and error. It also involves talking to other moms and dads to see what worked for them in certain situations and trying it out yourself to see if it works for you. I blog here for many reasons, but one of them is because I know there are people out there who may benefit in some way from things I learn. So here are some things I have found that make my life easier as a Mommy in no particular order and from either a toddler or a 7 month old.

• Gentle Naturals Homeopathic Teething Drops are one of the best inventions EVER. We call them baby crack around here. Used them for C and are now using them for R.
• Huggies Overnight diapers do wonders when your little one learns how to roll over. Most diapers hold the pee in such a way that being on their bellies makes them leak, thus getting the baby all wet and icky. Overnight diapers keep them nice and dry.
• Teethers that have somewhere to hold on them that is not cold.
• Those covers that go over the car seat in cold weather...what a wonderful idea. Keeps the little one from being exposed to the elements and they are all warm and toasty inside the car seat when traveling too and from places.
• Those strollers that allow you to click your car seat into them and then turn into a regular stroller. This also includes those bases you can leave in your car and can just snap the car seat in or out.
• Momo the Monkey clock that opens and closes his eyes to help toddlers sleep.
• Using a "nap calendar" and giving toddler stickers when they nap.
• Using a timer when potty training...especially if you have another child because chances are you are going to forget your toddler is in underwear and could end up with a mess on your hands.
• Sleep sacks. I am completely freaked out about SIDS and hate any blankets being around my baby. But I do know they get cold. Sleep sacks are a wonderful idea because the remove the baby smothering on a blanket fear.
• Back up lovies. When C ditched the paci and turned to Blankie I searched the internet to find the same blanket with no success. What I did find was a larger blanket that was similar and Sue-momma cut it into smaller pieces to make "back up blankies". C knows these are back up blankies and calls them by that name, but they allow us to wash the other ones and have something to fall back on if Blankie gets lost.

I am sure there are others but I can't think of more now.

Dear Baby Girl

Dear Miss R, my sweet smiley girl.

Today you are 7 months old and today for the first time you raised your arms up and reached for me when you saw me. That made my day. Then you bounced and kicked your legs and got all grinny with excitement. That is you...so excited all the time. Everything excites you and you show it.

You really are amazing to watch as you discover things and express sheer enjoyment over it all. Right now you are all into grabbing and reaching. Most of the time things go into your mouth, but often you are just in pursuit of whatever item has piqued your interest and you won't stop until you get it.

I try really hard to spend as much time with you as I can because I know this time, these moments, will go by quickly. It's not always easy...life is constantly pulling us in all directions but you, you in your sweet, joyful, innocence remind me daily of what is most important in life. It is those moments like today when you saw me and reached for me. You know me. I am your world and my precious baby, you are my world.

Happy 7 month birthday.

Love,
Mommy