Seriously, 2014, what gives?!
It's only April and I'm ready to be done with this year already...
Forgive me if this post is incoherent, as I am currently under the influence of (prescribed) narcotics. Read on.
This mess kind of began in August, but everything really hit the fan within the last month-ish. I had a biopsy done in mid-March, and two days later got a call from the doctor's office saying "we have your results and you need to come into the office as soon as possible and bring your husband with you so we can discuss treatment options." Yea, never a good thing, and it completely ruined what would have otherwise been a lovely weekend because aforementioned call occurred around 4pm on a Friday. Ugh. Earlier that same day, I took our dog to the vet because she had been acting funny and, surprise! Her bladder stones were back and she needed surgery the following Tuesday.
That Monday, I went to my doctor and we discussed me having surgery. Which was scheduled for yesterday, 4/24. So, puppy has surgery and mommy has surgery. Which equals a serious drain of our savings account.
Puppy's surgery went well, and her recovery was OK. I stayed home with her for a few days because she was absolutely miserable and was unable to pee or eat without assistance... that was no fun whatsoever. My surgery went well too- it was an outpatient surgery and I didn't even feel nauseous coming out of the anesthesia. I was only under for about an hour, which probably helped. I slept for the majority of the day yesterday.
This morning, hubby said he'd get up with the baby and let me sleep. Except, that didn't happen. After he got her up, he came marching into our bedroom and told me something wasn't right with the baby. He sat down on the bed with her on his lap, and said she was acting funny. He was right- she just kind of sat there and stared off into the distance. When she would finally come back to reality, she was quiet and very still. She would mutter a few words, then space out again. He handed her to me, and she immediately laid on top of me with her head on my chest, completely still again. And if you know anything about my child, you know that the only time she snuggles with me like that is if she's scared or hurt. So something was definitely not right. When she finally started becoming more oriented and talking more, hubby took her into the other room to feed her. I sat with her while he was making her breakfast, and she seemed better for the most part. I started recording her just in case, and she had another episode that I luckily got on video. She was asking daddy for a pancake, then noticed me videotaping her. She looked at the camera and said "cheese" and then went completely blank. She stared right through the camera, without moving anything other than her hands. I rubbed her cheeks, waved my hand in front of her face, and called her name to no avail. She finally snapped out of it, looked around for a second, and then happily said "pancake" again.
All signs point to a cluster of absence seizures.
I called the doctor and they got us in right away. I was so focused on my poor baby that I didn't shower, eat, or have any coffee. I grabbed my pain meds as I rushed to get everything together and off we went to the doctor. Emma was excited to see the fish tank in the waiting area, as usual. She said hi to the fish and wanted to kiss them... love that kid. I showed the doctor the video, and he agreed that she was likely having seizures. He gave us a referral for a pediatric neurologist and that was that. It wasn't until after we left the doctor that I realized I was absolutely starving and in a significant amount of pain. And I really needed some coffee. A quick stop at Dunkin Donuts fixed all of that, and my sweet girl happily chowed down on almost half of my pepper-jack bagel. It was relatively spicy, but honey badger don't care. She gobbled it down.
I can remember two other episodes similar to this morning's, but neither was nearly as what we experienced today. The other two episodes were short and isolated, not repeated like today's were.
My goober was a big goober for the rest of the day, and you would have never known that she spent the first part of her morning in such bad shape. She had a great appetite, took an OK nap, and chatted up a storm all day long. So at least it didn't ruin the rest of her day... although it really put a damper on mine. Of course I spent the day Googling "absence seizures" off and on, in between dozing off in bed and watching somewhat of a marathon of "The Office."
I feel like this is the beginning of another chapter in our lives. More doctor's appointments, a lot of tests, and a very anxious and nervous mommy. There are no words to describe the feeling of watching your child go through something like that and knowing that there's nothing you can do to help her... and it puts a pit in my stomach to look at the neurology referral and see a diagnoses of "petit mal seizures," knowing that it's about my sweet, precious, helpless little angel. Ugh. This blows.
So prayers are appreciated, and advice is always welcomed. I'll do my best to not curl into a ball and try to hide from 2014... but omg make it stop.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Bossy Mockingbird
Incoming novel. Prepare yo'self.
My little walkie-talkie's verbal skills are INSANE these days. She started stringing together two words a little while ago, and is now up to three- and four-word sentences every so often. "Mommy eat waffle" was a notable one. An honorable mention for most hilarious goes to "mo' sawse!" (more sauce). She caught on to the concept of "two" a few months back, when she would happily grab two identical objects and identify that- i.e. "two Elmos." Now she can count to three on command. She knows all of her colors, three shapes (circle, square, and triangle) and part of the alphabet. She loves to sing "rain rain go away, come again" and "la la la Elmo song." Love this kid. She knows a lot of animal noises, and will randomly say "puppy say woof." She also tends to repeat everything we say... hence the mockingbird. But she's so rude and bossy, as is normal for a toddler, and I swear sometimes she sounds like an angry German.
I shamefully admit that I don't handle oncoming transitions in the land of parenting very well. I easily adapt to changes in my other life (do I really have a life outside of parenting now?) but when it comes to changing anything in my child's life, I'd rather run and hide in a corner somewhere. And curl up into a ball, rock back and forth, and hum "Yankee Doodle" until it's all over. It's that bad.
It's a full-blown case of first-time parent syndrome. If you're a parent, you may know what I'm talking about. It's the completely neurotic, inexplicable need to obsess over everything about your child. The routine. Safety. Germs. Food. Sleep. And OH MY GOD THE SCHEDULE.
*points to self* guilty as charged. I often get that look of "aw, isn't that adorable... she's a first-time mom. Look at her go..." which at first really irritated me. Now I appreciate the sympathy and continue with my neurotic behavior. Ok, ok... fine. It's not that bad. She once ate a stale puff that had been sitting in the driveway for a day or two, and I have resisted the urge to put knee pads on her now that she's getting clumsy and has scraped her knees a few times.
My real problem are the transitions and the schedule. She does so well with a good routine and schedule, and we so rarely deviate from it because we've been able to work our lives around it. And that's not a problem for us, so don't get all judgey on me. I see photos on Facebook all the time of people toting their babies and toddlers to various restaurants, events, and blah blah blah. Because that's the way they live their lives, and they incorporated their child into that. We've always been more homebodies than anything. Pre-baby, we would go out to fancy restaurants here and there and waste time shopping and buying things we probably didn't need. Kids are expensive. And I have no desire to take my little bug with us for a $40 steak. So, the schedule has been our saving grace and has given us a very settled, comfortable, happy-go-lucky kid who goes to bed well and naps like a champ (most days).
And then... the two-one nap switch came along. It started out rough for a couple of days, but she adjusted pretty well and it was smooth sailing. Life was great again, and the one-nap-a-day routine has been so incredibly liberating. Ah, yes. And then one day, when I picked her up from my mom after work, my mom let me know that my little bundle of one-nap-a-day joy had escaped from her pack-n-play after her nap. That was clearly a fluke. The next time she was at my parents' house, the same thing happened. I decided their pack-n-play must have been easy for her to get out of. That weekend, as she was getting up from her nap at home (a little too early), I saw her little feet lifting up off the mattress. I walked into her room JUST in time to witness her doing an Olympic-gymnast-style plank pose on top of her crib rail.
It was time to switch her to a toddler bed. ON A SUNDAY. When I had to be up extra super early the next day to be in another county for training all day long. I was not ready for this, and I felt like my little bug was not ready for this either because SHE'S NOT EVEN TWO.
So yes, my little preemie wonder child who started crawling at 11 months of age and walking at 14 months of age turned into this crazy monkey who wants to "kimbe" (climb) into and out of absolutely everything.
When we made the two-one nap switch, I was all "ugggghhhh I hope this works out and she isn't a mess."
When it was time for her first sleep in her toddler bed (ON A SUNDAY NIGHT) I was all " OH MY FREAKING GOD I AM NOT GOING TO LIVE PAST TONIGHT AND EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE IN A SHAMBLES FOR THE REST OF TIME GAAAAAHHHHHHHH"
No joke. I was so horrified at the thought of my tiny little toddler having free roam of her room when I wasn't in there that even though her room was pretty well child-proofed, I kept imagining her unplugging something and subsequently electrocuting herself. But I had no choice... the possibility of her falling off her crib and breaking her neck was too great for me to ignore. So hubby took the front off of her convertible crib (whoever invented that is a genius and I hope he/she is currently sitting in a kiddie pool full of Benjamins and drinking from a solid gold goblet because they deserve it) and put on the toddler rail. I stared at it... there was no way this was really happening. Crazy baby immediately got excited and proceeded to climb in and out of her big-girl bed like a hundred times in a row.
I took every opportunity to read other parents' stories about their first night with a tiny toddler in a big-kid bed. Then hunkered down for what was certainly going to be an awful night and... I was right. She went to bed before 8pm just fine and fell right asleep. Then, at about 10:30pm, when mommy was getting ready to turn in for the night, the little bug sat up in her crib and looked around. Then her little butt started scooting off the edge of the bed... it was time. Thankfully I read that info on the toddler bed transition, because I knew the battle that lay before me and that it would probably not last all night long. But I had to be the one with the stronger will... that was key.
I marched into her room and when she saw me, she froze and said "noooooooo." I picked her up and put her back in bed, told her it was time to go to sleep, and walked out. My fancy-shmancy video monitor showed me that she immediately got right back up again. So I immediately went back into her room. She had decided to run for her air purifier because it was so darned fun to turn it off and on repeatedly. I picked up my protesting child, and put her back in bed and again told her that it was time to sleep. And repeat. I kept reminding myself that I am the parent and, although sometimes it may not seem like it, I have a stronger will than my toddler and I would ultimately succeed in this little battle. I finally decided that the air purifier wasn't worth it (we use it for white noise) so I unplugged it and put in a new outlet cover. But then she decided that the drawer on her nightstand looked interesting. As time went on, I started not speaking to her when I would go in. Finally, I didn't even touch her. I walked in as she was still in the process of getting out of her bed, and told her to get back in bed and go to sleep. She crawled back in bed and I scooted her up on the mattress a bit, then walked out. She was pretty pissed. But she didn't get up again. By now, it was after midnight and I was exhausted. When I was confident that she probably wasn't going to get up again, I went to bed.
But sleep well? I did not. You know that kind of sleep you get the night before something really exciting or when you're reeeeaaalllllyyyyy nervous about something? That's the kind of torturous sleep I got. She didn't end up waking up again until about 6:30, which is early for her, but I couldn't shake the anxiety of her being in her toddler bed. I suddenly found myself wondering what was really in the drawer of that nightstand... and whether or not there was something in there that could injure her. Oy. I felt hungover the next day from all of the anxiety. I know, I know. In retrospect, it was not that big of a deal. But it was a huge transition for us all that I was NOT expecting to happen for a lot longer. I don't like diving into these things without being fully mentally prepared.
Night 2 was better. At 10:30, she woke up and started to get out of bed. I immediately walked in there and when she saw me, she said "noooooo" just like the night before. She knew she was busted... I told her to get back into bed, which she did. And proceeded to put herself back to sleep and slept until 6:45. After that night, she hasn't gotten up again after I've put her in bed. She's been waking up around 6:45 every morning, which is pretty early for her. Until this weekend, when she's slept until 7:30 or 8. Which is so. glorious. And when she gets up in the morning, she walks to the door and waits for me. If I don't come in right away, she goes back to her bed and lays down for a few minutes, and will then get back up and quietly wait at the door again. I'm putting that in the "mommy wins" column of my imaginary scorecard of parenting. Emma still has way more wins than I do, though. It'll probably stay that way forever.
So that's that. Napping the toddler bed hasn't been so great, because she wakes up about halfway through and wants to wander around her bedroom. Today, she went to her door and then got back into bed. I thought she fell back asleep, but she was up again about 20 minutes later. The culprit appeared to be a poopy diaper.
AND. She put about three drops of pee in the potty today! Woo! She's definitely not going to allow us to potty train her until it's her idea, so we're not even pushing it. So three drops is a significant success.
Let's see... what else.
She has twelve teeth. She's up to about 23.5 pounds. She still hates eating anything that's not a fruit pouch. She still LOVES to read books and is obsessed with animals. She couldn't care less about her babydolls and can't go anywhere without an Elmo. She loves bath time and coloring with crayons. And has complete and total meltdowns over practically nothing. She often says "hands" and proceeds to grab your hand and drag you to wherever she wants you. She's the boss these days.
Oh, and she finally acts like she loves her mommy and daddy. Which is great.
So yes, my little preemie wonder child who started crawling at 11 months of age and walking at 14 months of age turned into this crazy monkey who wants to "kimbe" (climb) into and out of absolutely everything.
When we made the two-one nap switch, I was all "ugggghhhh I hope this works out and she isn't a mess."
When it was time for her first sleep in her toddler bed (ON A SUNDAY NIGHT) I was all " OH MY FREAKING GOD I AM NOT GOING TO LIVE PAST TONIGHT AND EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE IN A SHAMBLES FOR THE REST OF TIME GAAAAAHHHHHHHH"
No joke. I was so horrified at the thought of my tiny little toddler having free roam of her room when I wasn't in there that even though her room was pretty well child-proofed, I kept imagining her unplugging something and subsequently electrocuting herself. But I had no choice... the possibility of her falling off her crib and breaking her neck was too great for me to ignore. So hubby took the front off of her convertible crib (whoever invented that is a genius and I hope he/she is currently sitting in a kiddie pool full of Benjamins and drinking from a solid gold goblet because they deserve it) and put on the toddler rail. I stared at it... there was no way this was really happening. Crazy baby immediately got excited and proceeded to climb in and out of her big-girl bed like a hundred times in a row.
I took every opportunity to read other parents' stories about their first night with a tiny toddler in a big-kid bed. Then hunkered down for what was certainly going to be an awful night and... I was right. She went to bed before 8pm just fine and fell right asleep. Then, at about 10:30pm, when mommy was getting ready to turn in for the night, the little bug sat up in her crib and looked around. Then her little butt started scooting off the edge of the bed... it was time. Thankfully I read that info on the toddler bed transition, because I knew the battle that lay before me and that it would probably not last all night long. But I had to be the one with the stronger will... that was key.
I marched into her room and when she saw me, she froze and said "noooooooo." I picked her up and put her back in bed, told her it was time to go to sleep, and walked out. My fancy-shmancy video monitor showed me that she immediately got right back up again. So I immediately went back into her room. She had decided to run for her air purifier because it was so darned fun to turn it off and on repeatedly. I picked up my protesting child, and put her back in bed and again told her that it was time to sleep. And repeat. I kept reminding myself that I am the parent and, although sometimes it may not seem like it, I have a stronger will than my toddler and I would ultimately succeed in this little battle. I finally decided that the air purifier wasn't worth it (we use it for white noise) so I unplugged it and put in a new outlet cover. But then she decided that the drawer on her nightstand looked interesting. As time went on, I started not speaking to her when I would go in. Finally, I didn't even touch her. I walked in as she was still in the process of getting out of her bed, and told her to get back in bed and go to sleep. She crawled back in bed and I scooted her up on the mattress a bit, then walked out. She was pretty pissed. But she didn't get up again. By now, it was after midnight and I was exhausted. When I was confident that she probably wasn't going to get up again, I went to bed.
But sleep well? I did not. You know that kind of sleep you get the night before something really exciting or when you're reeeeaaalllllyyyyy nervous about something? That's the kind of torturous sleep I got. She didn't end up waking up again until about 6:30, which is early for her, but I couldn't shake the anxiety of her being in her toddler bed. I suddenly found myself wondering what was really in the drawer of that nightstand... and whether or not there was something in there that could injure her. Oy. I felt hungover the next day from all of the anxiety. I know, I know. In retrospect, it was not that big of a deal. But it was a huge transition for us all that I was NOT expecting to happen for a lot longer. I don't like diving into these things without being fully mentally prepared.
Night 2 was better. At 10:30, she woke up and started to get out of bed. I immediately walked in there and when she saw me, she said "noooooo" just like the night before. She knew she was busted... I told her to get back into bed, which she did. And proceeded to put herself back to sleep and slept until 6:45. After that night, she hasn't gotten up again after I've put her in bed. She's been waking up around 6:45 every morning, which is pretty early for her. Until this weekend, when she's slept until 7:30 or 8. Which is so. glorious. And when she gets up in the morning, she walks to the door and waits for me. If I don't come in right away, she goes back to her bed and lays down for a few minutes, and will then get back up and quietly wait at the door again. I'm putting that in the "mommy wins" column of my imaginary scorecard of parenting. Emma still has way more wins than I do, though. It'll probably stay that way forever.
So that's that. Napping the toddler bed hasn't been so great, because she wakes up about halfway through and wants to wander around her bedroom. Today, she went to her door and then got back into bed. I thought she fell back asleep, but she was up again about 20 minutes later. The culprit appeared to be a poopy diaper.
AND. She put about three drops of pee in the potty today! Woo! She's definitely not going to allow us to potty train her until it's her idea, so we're not even pushing it. So three drops is a significant success.
Let's see... what else.
She has twelve teeth. She's up to about 23.5 pounds. She still hates eating anything that's not a fruit pouch. She still LOVES to read books and is obsessed with animals. She couldn't care less about her babydolls and can't go anywhere without an Elmo. She loves bath time and coloring with crayons. And has complete and total meltdowns over practically nothing. She often says "hands" and proceeds to grab your hand and drag you to wherever she wants you. She's the boss these days.
Oh, and she finally acts like she loves her mommy and daddy. Which is great.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
One Nap Wonder
Ah, toddlerdom.
It's like constantly caring for a drunk friend... I love her dearly, but she acts a fool constantly and sometimes embarrasses me in public. She'll break out in random singing and dancing for no reason, go from happily playing to crying and shouting "noooooooooo!" for no reason, fall without warning, and CANNOT EVER BE REASONED WITH. Toddler= miniature drunk person.
So what has the mini drunk person been up to?
Food- progressing slowly. She'll now eat chicken nuggets dipped in ketchup or barbecue sauce, she LOVES tacos, and will gladly eat a PB&J- or just straight peanut butter. If it's a fruit, she'll likely eat it. If it's orange, she'll hesitate, and if you try to feed her carrots, you'd better duck and cover because she'll fling them at you. She's better about actually trying things- sometimes- but has the amazing ability to be able to survive on only macaroni and cheese, yogurt, fruit pouches, and graham crackers. Oy vey.
Teeth- twelve! She has one full set of molars now (both sides, top and bottom) which has contributed to her better eating habits. She can chew things much easier now... the bottom molars were the first to arrive and made her miserable. The top ones kind of sneaked in and when I saw them up there I thought "ah, ok. That's why she's been a little grumpy." No big deal. So obviously the two-year-old molars will be complete and total hell. She's been a little chompy lately and I'm guessing new teeth are on their way.
Potty training- Yep, we bought a potty. A cute, bright pink, shiny Baby Bjorn potty. The pediatrician gave us the go-ahead because her verbal and cognitive skills are so far advanced for her age. So far, we've had one stray poo nugget and a whole bunch of toots that have landed in that potty. Every drop of pee and actual bowel movement have landed in her diapers (or the bath. GAAAHHHH). Why? BECAUSE SHE'S SO STUBBORN. Upon advice from my dear aunt, I haven't pushed it at all. In fact, I'll occasionally ask if she needs to go potty, and when she shouts "NO!" I leave it at that. I'm sure she'll do it when she's ready and when it's her idea. I think part of it is that she does not like actually sitting on the potty with her bare bum. The other major contributing factor is that she's 20 months old (what?!) and is obviously the one in charge here. I do think that when she seems to show some more interest, I'm going to try the boot-camp-style-potty-training-in-three-days approach, although I'll have to take some time off from work to do so. "Oh, you're on vacation next week? Where are you going?" "Nowhere. I'm staying home and cleaning pee and poo all day long" Woo.
Sleep- That's the big change going on currently. My amazing sleeper/napper suddenly went AWOL and left behind a crazy animal who refused to sleep well most days. She would sleep fine for the AM nap, then run circles around her crib while squealing and laughing like freaking crazed animal when PM nap time came around. After about 45 minutes, she'd pass out and sleep for maybe 45 minutes or an hour. All signs pointed to shifting to one nap. I decided to bite the bullet and just make the switch, since the time change was that weekend and her whole schedule would be screwed up anyways. Why not add to the mayhem? Day 1, Saturday, was the neighborhood's garage sale, so she accompanied me and Grammy all around the neighborhood in the morning, and breezed right through nap time without even realizing she was tired. She ate a decent lunch, then completely passed out when I put her in bed around 12:45. I had accounted for some settling-down time, not realizing that she would fall asleep before I could make it across the house to turn the baby monitor on. And then... she woke up about an hour and a half later. UGH. I was hoping for a 2+ hour nap since she was only getting one. I suddenly heard her shouting "ELMOOOOOOOO" and saw that she was desperately trying to reach out of the crib (she apparently had enough and threw Elmo out of the crib, then realized how terrible of an idea that was). When I walked in her room, I quickly realized she had a poo in her diaper and that was likely the culprit of the 1.5 hour nap. I changed her diaper, and put a wildly protesting toddler BACK INTO HER CRIB. Yep, I went there. I put her back down. She cried, then settled down and appeared to fall asleep again. About 15-20 minutes later, she popped up like a prairie dog and threw her Elmo out AGAIN. Nap time over. Sigh. The next day- same thing. An hour and a half into her nap, a poo appeared in her little diaper and woke her up. I changed her, and again put a very upset toddler back into bed. She whined for a few minutes, then laid down. 15-20 minutes later... she was asleep. Asleep! Hooray! And slept for a little over an hour. Score one for mommy.
Since then, the one-nap-a-day schedule has gone well. Knock on wood. She's down around 12:45 and falls asleep almost immediately. Today, she let me know it was nap time by saying "nap. Night-night." Yesterday, she slept from 12:45 until a little after 4, when I woke her up. I'm guessing that was a fluke. She goes right to sleep at bedtime, too, and seems to be a much happier kid now that she's on this schedule. We survived! So far. And omg. It is so liberating to have a one-nap toddler in the house. We can go places now and not worry about overtired toddler meltdowns or cramming trips in between naps.
Development- I don't know if she truly is a genius child or what, but she seems to be pretty advanced for her age. Some preemie. She knows 6 or 7 colors now and a few shapes. She can grab two identical objects and says "two!" Hubby counted to five the other day, and she said "six seven" when he was done. She actually freaks us out when she does those things... it comes out of nowhere. She can name her books, and has the majority of them memorized. i.e. her opposites book. I say "big" and she'll follow up with "small." And so on, through almost the entire book. She's been stringing together two words since about a month ago, starting with things like "puppy cold," "grandma's house," "mommy's shoes" and "daddy's shoes." Now she'll say "I get you" and one time (probably another fluke) she said "I want a cookie." In the car on Friday, she said "hungry. Eat. Mac n cheese!" and she loves to say "go, baby!" God, I love her. My favorite thing for her to say, still, is "Mommy." She sometimes says a drunk-sounding version of "love you."
She had her 18-month appointment and is actually a bit of a peanut now. She had been short and fat, then tall and skinny, and now she's short and skinny. The doctor isn't worried at all, and said we're doing a great job with her. She has one more shot, and then she's done with vaccines until she's 4. Whew. Otherwise, she's incredibly healthy. She may have a touch of asthma and we're going to get that checked out, but it's to be expected since I have asthma and she was a preemie.
Friday (3/14) sucked. Majorly. I could use some prayers... I'll go into more details when I know more. I've been a nervous wreck all weekend. I'm so glad I have my little miracle child to keep me occupied and make me smile- I just love her to pieces, and I hope she always knows that.
Since then, the one-nap-a-day schedule has gone well. Knock on wood. She's down around 12:45 and falls asleep almost immediately. Today, she let me know it was nap time by saying "nap. Night-night." Yesterday, she slept from 12:45 until a little after 4, when I woke her up. I'm guessing that was a fluke. She goes right to sleep at bedtime, too, and seems to be a much happier kid now that she's on this schedule. We survived! So far. And omg. It is so liberating to have a one-nap toddler in the house. We can go places now and not worry about overtired toddler meltdowns or cramming trips in between naps.
Development- I don't know if she truly is a genius child or what, but she seems to be pretty advanced for her age. Some preemie. She knows 6 or 7 colors now and a few shapes. She can grab two identical objects and says "two!" Hubby counted to five the other day, and she said "six seven" when he was done. She actually freaks us out when she does those things... it comes out of nowhere. She can name her books, and has the majority of them memorized. i.e. her opposites book. I say "big" and she'll follow up with "small." And so on, through almost the entire book. She's been stringing together two words since about a month ago, starting with things like "puppy cold," "grandma's house," "mommy's shoes" and "daddy's shoes." Now she'll say "I get you" and one time (probably another fluke) she said "I want a cookie." In the car on Friday, she said "hungry. Eat. Mac n cheese!" and she loves to say "go, baby!" God, I love her. My favorite thing for her to say, still, is "Mommy." She sometimes says a drunk-sounding version of "love you."
She had her 18-month appointment and is actually a bit of a peanut now. She had been short and fat, then tall and skinny, and now she's short and skinny. The doctor isn't worried at all, and said we're doing a great job with her. She has one more shot, and then she's done with vaccines until she's 4. Whew. Otherwise, she's incredibly healthy. She may have a touch of asthma and we're going to get that checked out, but it's to be expected since I have asthma and she was a preemie.
Friday (3/14) sucked. Majorly. I could use some prayers... I'll go into more details when I know more. I've been a nervous wreck all weekend. I'm so glad I have my little miracle child to keep me occupied and make me smile- I just love her to pieces, and I hope she always knows that.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Danger Mouse, the Manners Monster
I've created a monster.
My intentions were good, and I thought I was being so smart by teaching my young toddler to have manners. I have this strong aversion to the whole point-and-grunt thing that toddlers do when they want something. So a while ago (like, months ago) when Emma was eating and was pointing and grunting when she wanted more, I taught her to say "more." Bam. Worked like a charm. Except, when she wanted anything at all, she would say "more." As in, she wanted me to open the door, so she would point to the doorknob and say "more!" You get the idea. So then I reprogrammed that little baby brain of hers and taught her to say "please" when she wants something because I'm a super genius like that. It worked. Very well. Too well.
So now, I have this crazy Energizer Bunny of an almost-two-year-old running around the house shouting "BEEEEZ" all day long. Beez= please in Emma speak. So anytime she wants something, she literally begs without realizing that this is what she's doing. Hence, the Manners Monster.
So when the Manners Monster's not busy begging for something, she's risking her life by doing something completely and utterly dangerous. Her gross motor skills are pretty much on-target now for the most part- she walks with no issues at all, can climb like a mountain climber, and has recently started running. Ah, yes. Toddler running... we had our first incident this afternoon of her gaining too much speed and falling on hands and knees on the sidewalk in front of the house. She looked more offended than hurt. So add walking, running, and climbing all over everything minus the fear of harming herself and you have one adorable little Danger Mouse. Danger Mouse's favorite activities include trying to climb onto Mommy and Daddy's bed while holding something in one hand, walking full speed directly into something because she's not looking where she's going, crawling off the edge of Mommy and Daddy's bed, and trying to sit on the arms of her Pottery Barn chair and almost falling backwards. Mommy has had a few epic moments of catching Danger Mouse just as she's about to face plant.
I've been having far more Epic Mommy Moments than Rookie Mom Moments lately and I don't know if I've leveled-up or if I've gotten so used to making dumb mistakes that I don't even commit them to memory anymore. I'm certainly still in the learning curve. Today, Danger Mouse kicked off one shoe as I tried pulling her out of the shopping cart in the checkout line. After a sweet teenaged girl picked up the shoe from the ground for me, I toyed with the idea of putting the shoe back on the toddler, or being that totally chill mom that let her go with just one shoe until we got into the car. Or should I have taken off the other one? I decided to then put the shoe back on her... by balancing on one foot while I sat Danger Mouse on the thigh of my right leg (balancing on the left foot in an awkward tree-pose-esque display of absurdity) and proceeded to put her shoe back on. While still wearing the diaper bag on my shoulder because I'm a boss like that.
Ok, ok. Time to pretend like I'm somewhat organized by giving you bulleted points about the center of my universe these days:
Food- This is where I wish I could proudly announce that the days of feeding troubles are behind us but... nope. Nope nope nope. She had about 1-2 weeks of complete and total finickiness that far exceeded anything she's ever done before. I was hopeful that it was a side effect of having two molars popping through the gumline at the same time, and I think I was right. But for that period of time, I really thought I'd be begging a ten-year-old Emma to just please eat something other than toast and yogurt. But she did improve over time. In fact, she has eaten taco meat and chicken nuggets. SAY WHAT?! Yep. My little "I'd be Vegan but I like cheese too much" kid graciously ate some of my taco one night and has, on three separate occasions, eaten a chicken nugget for dinner. I have got to be one of the rare parents out there who is flat-out excited that my young toddler has eaten a chicken nugget... I feel like the majority of parents out there worry that their child will turn into a chicken nugget if they eat another one. But Danger Manners apparently really likes barbecue sauce, which is her dipping sauce of choice for just about anything. Apparently she is not afraid of strong flavors... she calls barbecue sauce "happy sauce." She has been a little finicky again this weekend but I'm guessing molars three and four are going to be making their debut soon. They are the top ones, so I'm not really going to know what's going on with those.
She still LOVES toast, yogurt, and graham crackers more than anything. She has surprisingly dialed down her love of cheese, but will eat almost anything that is considered a fruit. She actually enjoys broccoli, but struggles with the texture and spits it out after trying to chew it. We give her some pouches of fruit and veggie blends for toddlers to make sure she's getting her vegetables because it's the only way she'll eat them right now. Other than sweet potatoes, and occasionally some steamed peas. She still holds a strong grudge against carrots.
Teeth- Ten! Four on the top in the front, four on the bottom in the front, and two bottom molars. Having been bitten far too many times, I can attest that they are really, really sharp.
Talking- This is old news. Her spoken vocabulary is well over 100 words by now but I lost count after my last blog post. They aren't kidding when they say a young child will suddenly have a language explosion- there's no stopping her now. She picks up new words so quickly. Case in point (this happened yesterday):
Mommy- "blah blah blah blah blah and also..."
Emma- (interrupting) "Also!"
Mommy- (laughing) "You're so funny. And you don't even know why you're funny, you really don't..."
Emma- "Don't!" (starts laughing hysterically)
She has even started stringing some words together every-so-often. I told her we needed to let the puppy inside one morning and she proclaimed "cold puppy!" She also says "go baby" when she sits on her little push car. I'm going to take a stab at her words list, and it'll probably be the last time I do it.
Mommy
Daddy
Grandma
Grandpa
Grammy
Pop
Auntie
Aimee
Gracie
Chelsea
Jonnie
Baby
Uncle
Elmo
Emma
Tubby (For "Chubby Bunny" her stuffed animal that she sleeps with)
Puppy
Cow
Fish
Monkey
Sheep
Piggy
Mouse
Bird
Bear
Owl
Duckie
Turtle
Bee
Toast
Cheese
Yogurt
Graham Crackers
Crunchies
Pouch
Milk
Drink
Pancake
Waffle (one of my favorites)
Cookie
Banana
Pear
Apple
Orange
Peas
Broccoli
Grapes
Peach
Shoes
Socks
Hat
Shirt
Pants
Jammies
Blankie
Diaper
More
Please
Hi
Bye-Bye
Night-Night
Go
No
Yes
Hot
Cold (she knows the difference between hot and cold, too)
Nice
Up
Down
Bubble
Ball
Book
Read
Outside
Balloon
Spoon
ABC's
Moon
Boom
Rainbow
Beads
Cup
TV
Truck
Airplane
Rain
Tree
Grass
Potty
Bath
Eat
Drink
Pretty (she says "ooooooh pretty!")
Yummy
Happy
Eyes
Nose
Ear
Mouth
Elbow
Toes
Feet
Teeth
Poopy
Pee-Pee
(She can point to all of her body parts now)
Animal sounds:
Quack quack
Moo
Baa
Peep peep
Ooh ooh Aah aah (monkey)
Growls for a lion or tiger
Arf arf (dog)
Meow
Buzz
So that's 105 words I could think of off the top of my head. She truly amazes me.
I mean, really... watching her learn and grow has been more educational and philosophical for me than any of my studies in college. It's absolutely astonishing to watch how rapidly a little one learns such ground-breaking concepts. Every night I tell her it's bath time and ask her to go get her towel, and she always remembers that it's in her bedroom next to her crib and finds her way there without help. This from a baby that wasn't even sitting up on her own a year ago.
Walking- and running, and climbing. There's no stopping her now.
Sleep- still going strong. She's still at two naps per day, which is working out. She doesn't seem to be ready to switch to one nap yet and I'm ok with that. She has been taking 1.5 hours in the morning and 1-1.5 in the afternoon. She's in bed by 8pm most nights and sleeps until 7:30 or 8am with nary a peep. Some nights she wakes up and cries for a few seconds and goes right back to sleep.
Cuddling- So if I neglected to mention it before, we are a bottle-free household. I finally decided that the bottle feeding was more for me than Danger Mouse, so I tapered her off. I was really, really sad about it but I knew it was the right thing to do because she wasn't reliant upon it and continuing it was only going to make it traumatic to stop later on. She dealt with it fine- she was pretty peeved the first night, a little ticked the second night, and by nights three and four she practically forgot about the bottle completely. Mission accomplished. So every night, during the time previously occupied by bottle drinking, I sit next to her in the glider and read stories to her, while she licks the back of her Elmo's head. It's this strange self-soothing thing she's been doing that started with licking (if you can even call it licking, more like sticking her tongue out and touching it to something) her bicep, which has transitioned to doing this to stuffed animals. Weirdo. Anyways, we read stories and sometimes she'll lean on me while we rock and read. Then it's kisses and hugs, and I put her down in bed and she snuggles in and drifts off to sleep. Perfection... most nights. She sleeps with her Tubby, Elmo, and Blankie. And wakes up in a darned good mood, unlike her mother.
So that's the update on my crazy little bundle of joy. I'm really glad I decided to create this blog, because it's been really eye-opening to read back through old entries. Especially the NICU days, which seem so distant now. We'll be doing the March of Dimes walk again this year, for Emma and for a special little warrior who is currently growing big and strong in the NICU and will hopefully be adjusting to her life at home by the time the walk comes around :)
90210 out.
My intentions were good, and I thought I was being so smart by teaching my young toddler to have manners. I have this strong aversion to the whole point-and-grunt thing that toddlers do when they want something. So a while ago (like, months ago) when Emma was eating and was pointing and grunting when she wanted more, I taught her to say "more." Bam. Worked like a charm. Except, when she wanted anything at all, she would say "more." As in, she wanted me to open the door, so she would point to the doorknob and say "more!" You get the idea. So then I reprogrammed that little baby brain of hers and taught her to say "please" when she wants something because I'm a super genius like that. It worked. Very well. Too well.
So now, I have this crazy Energizer Bunny of an almost-two-year-old running around the house shouting "BEEEEZ" all day long. Beez= please in Emma speak. So anytime she wants something, she literally begs without realizing that this is what she's doing. Hence, the Manners Monster.
So when the Manners Monster's not busy begging for something, she's risking her life by doing something completely and utterly dangerous. Her gross motor skills are pretty much on-target now for the most part- she walks with no issues at all, can climb like a mountain climber, and has recently started running. Ah, yes. Toddler running... we had our first incident this afternoon of her gaining too much speed and falling on hands and knees on the sidewalk in front of the house. She looked more offended than hurt. So add walking, running, and climbing all over everything minus the fear of harming herself and you have one adorable little Danger Mouse. Danger Mouse's favorite activities include trying to climb onto Mommy and Daddy's bed while holding something in one hand, walking full speed directly into something because she's not looking where she's going, crawling off the edge of Mommy and Daddy's bed, and trying to sit on the arms of her Pottery Barn chair and almost falling backwards. Mommy has had a few epic moments of catching Danger Mouse just as she's about to face plant.
I've been having far more Epic Mommy Moments than Rookie Mom Moments lately and I don't know if I've leveled-up or if I've gotten so used to making dumb mistakes that I don't even commit them to memory anymore. I'm certainly still in the learning curve. Today, Danger Mouse kicked off one shoe as I tried pulling her out of the shopping cart in the checkout line. After a sweet teenaged girl picked up the shoe from the ground for me, I toyed with the idea of putting the shoe back on the toddler, or being that totally chill mom that let her go with just one shoe until we got into the car. Or should I have taken off the other one? I decided to then put the shoe back on her... by balancing on one foot while I sat Danger Mouse on the thigh of my right leg (balancing on the left foot in an awkward tree-pose-esque display of absurdity) and proceeded to put her shoe back on. While still wearing the diaper bag on my shoulder because I'm a boss like that.
Ok, ok. Time to pretend like I'm somewhat organized by giving you bulleted points about the center of my universe these days:
Food- This is where I wish I could proudly announce that the days of feeding troubles are behind us but... nope. Nope nope nope. She had about 1-2 weeks of complete and total finickiness that far exceeded anything she's ever done before. I was hopeful that it was a side effect of having two molars popping through the gumline at the same time, and I think I was right. But for that period of time, I really thought I'd be begging a ten-year-old Emma to just please eat something other than toast and yogurt. But she did improve over time. In fact, she has eaten taco meat and chicken nuggets. SAY WHAT?! Yep. My little "I'd be Vegan but I like cheese too much" kid graciously ate some of my taco one night and has, on three separate occasions, eaten a chicken nugget for dinner. I have got to be one of the rare parents out there who is flat-out excited that my young toddler has eaten a chicken nugget... I feel like the majority of parents out there worry that their child will turn into a chicken nugget if they eat another one. But Danger Manners apparently really likes barbecue sauce, which is her dipping sauce of choice for just about anything. Apparently she is not afraid of strong flavors... she calls barbecue sauce "happy sauce." She has been a little finicky again this weekend but I'm guessing molars three and four are going to be making their debut soon. They are the top ones, so I'm not really going to know what's going on with those.
She still LOVES toast, yogurt, and graham crackers more than anything. She has surprisingly dialed down her love of cheese, but will eat almost anything that is considered a fruit. She actually enjoys broccoli, but struggles with the texture and spits it out after trying to chew it. We give her some pouches of fruit and veggie blends for toddlers to make sure she's getting her vegetables because it's the only way she'll eat them right now. Other than sweet potatoes, and occasionally some steamed peas. She still holds a strong grudge against carrots.
Teeth- Ten! Four on the top in the front, four on the bottom in the front, and two bottom molars. Having been bitten far too many times, I can attest that they are really, really sharp.
Talking- This is old news. Her spoken vocabulary is well over 100 words by now but I lost count after my last blog post. They aren't kidding when they say a young child will suddenly have a language explosion- there's no stopping her now. She picks up new words so quickly. Case in point (this happened yesterday):
Mommy- "blah blah blah blah blah and also..."
Emma- (interrupting) "Also!"
Mommy- (laughing) "You're so funny. And you don't even know why you're funny, you really don't..."
Emma- "Don't!" (starts laughing hysterically)
She has even started stringing some words together every-so-often. I told her we needed to let the puppy inside one morning and she proclaimed "cold puppy!" She also says "go baby" when she sits on her little push car. I'm going to take a stab at her words list, and it'll probably be the last time I do it.
Mommy
Daddy
Grandma
Grandpa
Grammy
Pop
Auntie
Aimee
Gracie
Chelsea
Jonnie
Baby
Uncle
Elmo
Emma
Tubby (For "Chubby Bunny" her stuffed animal that she sleeps with)
Puppy
Cow
Fish
Monkey
Sheep
Piggy
Mouse
Bird
Bear
Owl
Duckie
Turtle
Bee
Toast
Cheese
Yogurt
Graham Crackers
Crunchies
Pouch
Milk
Drink
Pancake
Waffle (one of my favorites)
Cookie
Banana
Pear
Apple
Orange
Peas
Broccoli
Grapes
Peach
Shoes
Socks
Hat
Shirt
Pants
Jammies
Blankie
Diaper
More
Please
Hi
Bye-Bye
Night-Night
Go
No
Yes
Hot
Cold (she knows the difference between hot and cold, too)
Nice
Up
Down
Bubble
Ball
Book
Read
Outside
Balloon
Spoon
ABC's
Moon
Boom
Rainbow
Beads
Cup
TV
Truck
Airplane
Rain
Tree
Grass
Potty
Bath
Eat
Drink
Pretty (she says "ooooooh pretty!")
Yummy
Happy
Eyes
Nose
Ear
Mouth
Elbow
Toes
Feet
Teeth
Poopy
Pee-Pee
(She can point to all of her body parts now)
Animal sounds:
Quack quack
Moo
Baa
Peep peep
Ooh ooh Aah aah (monkey)
Growls for a lion or tiger
Arf arf (dog)
Meow
Buzz
So that's 105 words I could think of off the top of my head. She truly amazes me.
I mean, really... watching her learn and grow has been more educational and philosophical for me than any of my studies in college. It's absolutely astonishing to watch how rapidly a little one learns such ground-breaking concepts. Every night I tell her it's bath time and ask her to go get her towel, and she always remembers that it's in her bedroom next to her crib and finds her way there without help. This from a baby that wasn't even sitting up on her own a year ago.
Walking- and running, and climbing. There's no stopping her now.
Sleep- still going strong. She's still at two naps per day, which is working out. She doesn't seem to be ready to switch to one nap yet and I'm ok with that. She has been taking 1.5 hours in the morning and 1-1.5 in the afternoon. She's in bed by 8pm most nights and sleeps until 7:30 or 8am with nary a peep. Some nights she wakes up and cries for a few seconds and goes right back to sleep.
Cuddling- So if I neglected to mention it before, we are a bottle-free household. I finally decided that the bottle feeding was more for me than Danger Mouse, so I tapered her off. I was really, really sad about it but I knew it was the right thing to do because she wasn't reliant upon it and continuing it was only going to make it traumatic to stop later on. She dealt with it fine- she was pretty peeved the first night, a little ticked the second night, and by nights three and four she practically forgot about the bottle completely. Mission accomplished. So every night, during the time previously occupied by bottle drinking, I sit next to her in the glider and read stories to her, while she licks the back of her Elmo's head. It's this strange self-soothing thing she's been doing that started with licking (if you can even call it licking, more like sticking her tongue out and touching it to something) her bicep, which has transitioned to doing this to stuffed animals. Weirdo. Anyways, we read stories and sometimes she'll lean on me while we rock and read. Then it's kisses and hugs, and I put her down in bed and she snuggles in and drifts off to sleep. Perfection... most nights. She sleeps with her Tubby, Elmo, and Blankie. And wakes up in a darned good mood, unlike her mother.
So that's the update on my crazy little bundle of joy. I'm really glad I decided to create this blog, because it's been really eye-opening to read back through old entries. Especially the NICU days, which seem so distant now. We'll be doing the March of Dimes walk again this year, for Emma and for a special little warrior who is currently growing big and strong in the NICU and will hopefully be adjusting to her life at home by the time the walk comes around :)
90210 out.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Farewell, 2013.
Dear Future Self,
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably satisfying?
Hi. *waves* If you're missing the baby and toddler days, just remember this one thing: bath poop. See? You don't miss those days anymore, do you?! You're welcome.
Love,
90210 of the Past
I've come to know that there are some things that no one prepares you for when it comes to entering parenthood, and one of those things is how absolutely horrifying bath poop is. I believe I may have blogged about this when she was a baby, because I vividly remember picking her up from her baby bathtub and discovering some green formula poo after a bath one night and the complete freakout that ensued. I can't remember exactly when that was, but I know it happened in the old house, so it was prior to March 2013. And then there was a lengthy period of time sans bath poop, but nothing good lasts that long, right? Right.
It all started with bath toots, which made the Monster laugh. So she'd keep trying to toot, and sometimes would push so hard the toot would be accompanied by something even more foul. There's no amount of preparation that makes you ready to deal with bath poop.
The most memorable incident happened when she, of course, tried too hard to toot and... you know the rest. I at least had the sense to grab her out of the tub, because she tends to tap dance when there's a poop floating in the tub. So while I wrestled the poo out of the water, the Monster pooed (just a little) on the floor. When that was cleaned up, I put her back into the bathtub while it filled with water, turned my back to get the soap, and turned back around to find my adorable, sweet little toddler holding the shower head with both hands and spraying water directly into the center of the bathtub.
So, Future Self... just remember THAT. And be grateful if you're reading this when the bath poop stage is far passed.
Notice I didn't warn you about the poop talk? I feel like we're on that level now, where we can talk about these things without feeling embarrassed.
As is typical, I read over my last entry and realized that I really need to dedicate more time to this blog because things continue to change so rapidly. She was at about 12 spoken words at my last blog post. Now I don't even know how many words she can say, but I'm guessing it's far over 30. Here are the ones I can remember, and they are all words that she uses correctly, not just repeats (not in order, I'm trying to group them to remember them easier):
Mommy
Daddy
Pop Pop
Aimee (her cousin)
Baby
Puppy
Bird
Fish
Elmo
Emma
Toast
Cheese
Apple
Yogurt
Cookie
Pear
Banana (she says "baa" for banana)
Peas
Shoes
Socks
Hat
More
Please
Hi
Bye-Bye
Yes
No
Happy
Up
Down
Cold (she says "brrr brrr" when something's cold, I guess that counts)
Hush
Nice
Bubble (on my last post, I wasn't sure if "bubble" was a word or a coincidence, but it's definitely a word and she uses it accurately now)
Ball
Book
Read
Outside
Balloon
Spoon
ABC's
Moon
Boom
Rainbow ("bow")
Beads (she LOVES playing with Mardi Gras beads)
Eyes
Nose
Elbow
Poopy
Pee-Pee (guess we're almost ready for potty training!)
Body parts she can point to:
Head
Eyes (she can say the word too)
Nose (can say the word)
Ears
Elbow (can say the word too)
Mouth
Fingers
Toes
Hands
Feet
Belly
Bellybutton
Hair
Knees
Animal Noises:
Cow (we call her the Angry Cow because she moos angrily these days)
Lamb
Lion
Kitty
Tiger
So, yea. She's quite the chatter box these days and is picking up about 1-2 new words every day. Yesterday she (finally) learned "book" and "read" and today she learned "socks." I figured she'd learn "book" and "read" a lot sooner than she did considering they're easy words to say and she LOVES books and reading. I guess it wasn't a necessity because she could always get us to read her a book without even saying anything.
An interesting turn of events happened tonight. She's been extra finicky about food lately, so I was feeding her a late snack after we got home tonight. As she finished up her pasta, I walked into the kitchen to get a wet paper towel to clean her up and she looked at me and said "toast!" I said "do you want some toast?" And she said, I kid you not, "yes!" Clearly a fluke. So she said "toast" again and I asked the same question, and got the same reply of "yes!" So I made her some toast, and she gobbled it down. I believe that counts as her first real request for something and her level of communication just took a significant leap. She's been able to say "more" for a while, but for her to desire toast and ask for it out of the blue... well, it certainly floored me.
An interesting turn of events happened tonight. She's been extra finicky about food lately, so I was feeding her a late snack after we got home tonight. As she finished up her pasta, I walked into the kitchen to get a wet paper towel to clean her up and she looked at me and said "toast!" I said "do you want some toast?" And she said, I kid you not, "yes!" Clearly a fluke. So she said "toast" again and I asked the same question, and got the same reply of "yes!" So I made her some toast, and she gobbled it down. I believe that counts as her first real request for something and her level of communication just took a significant leap. She's been able to say "more" for a while, but for her to desire toast and ask for it out of the blue... well, it certainly floored me.
She won't stop growing up. And it's making me sad. At some point this week, she will have her last bottle ever because I've decided to drop her nighttime bottle. I need it more than she does... no, really. I do. I've only been continuing it because I cherish that time that we spend together, but she doesn't rely on it to go to sleep and the longer we continue this, the more difficult it'll be to break the habit. If she were truly comforted by it, then I'd hesitate to drop it. But I think she really doesn't need it at all, and it has been me that's clinging to the last little piece of her babyhood. *sigh*
Otherwise, she still hasn't gained but maybe .5 pounds since she was 9 months old. She's still a picky eater but is slowly accepting new foods. She walks very well and can now walk backwards. My little Monster loves to climb and go up and down steps. And she's becoming more interested in TV, but only watches for a few minutes at a time. Still loves books, and now really loves shoes. OMG shoes. She'll zero-in on a pair of my shoes from across the room and isn't satisfied until they're both on her feet and she's perilously walking around the house. She's still not snuggly, and is sleeping like a champ at night and during the day, for the most part. She had what I believe to be a case of Roseola (Sixth Disease)- three days of fever, and about four days of a rash. And she was such a horrible grump when she had her rash, I was certain we'd all perish.
Thanksgiving was great, but she refused to even try the turkey, or anything else for that matter. Same thing for Christmas dinner, although she did enjoy Grandma's rolls. She had so much fun on Christmas, although she got a little overwhelmed by all of the noise, gifts, and excitement. She was so gentle with the Christmas tree, and would pet it and say "nice."
I'm doing my New Year's post early because I can't promise that I'll blog again soon enough for it to be a true New Year's post:
1. What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before?
- got a promotion!
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
- once again, I don't do New Year's resolutions.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
- YES! One of my best friends had her baby boy in February :)
4. Did anyone close to you die?
- No. And I'm so completely grateful for another year without a significant loss.
5. What countries did you visit?
- None, again. I'm doubting I'll go out of the country again until the super family cruise in about two years (CANNOT WAIT!)
6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
- Free time. My job has consumed my life, and I'm regretting the lack of "me time"
7. What date from 2013 will remain etched in your memory, and why?
-7/9/13, the Monster's first birthday!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
- I got a promotion at work. Someone in upper-upper-management compared my experience to being thrown into a flaming pool and being told to swim to the side without a life preserver. Pretty much sums it up. And I'm still alive! And still employed!
9. What was your biggest failure?
- Finishing craft projects. I REALLY need to finish them at some point.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
- It was a surprisingly healthy year. My endometriosis is back with a vengeance, though, and that always sucks.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
- My new house. OMG. It's my "realistic dream home" AKA everything I could ask for within budget.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
- My husband, without a doubt. This year was very trying for me- my job is indescribably stressful. Add to that being a mommy of a toddler, and I had some moments of being a complete and total bear. And no matter how many nights I had to work instead of spending time with him, or was far too exhausted to do much of anything, or needed to sob in his arms, or vent about how things just weren't fair, he was always there for me. He's my biggest supporter, and is so forgiving. He loves the baby more than anything, and is such a great example to her of a kind, loving, gentle, and trustworthy man. I can only hope Emma marries a man just like him :)
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
- Let's not go there.
14. Where did most of your money go?
- A down payment for the new house. Furniture for the new house. Stuff for the new house. And the baby- LOTS of stuff for the baby. And the PS4, XBOX One, and Wii U... because my husband is spoiled.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
- Emma's first birthday! And Christmas.
16. What song will always remind you of 2013?
- Probably "Old McDonald" or the ABC Song
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder: Happier still. Didn't think it was possible, but we have so much to be thankful for!
Thinner or fatter? Thinner. STILL. I haven't been this small since high school, and apparently it's not a medical issue that we know of. However, it's difficult to find work clothes in my size and I've spent a lot of money at the tailor so far :(
Richer or poorer? Poorer. The down payment for the house wiped out a chunk of our savings account. And toddlers are expensive!
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
- Blogging. Crafting.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
- Working.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
- Christmas Eve at my parents' house. Then gifts at home on Christmas morning. Then Christmas afternoon/evening at the in-laws' house.
21. Did you fall in love in 2013?
- Cheesy as it may sound, I've fallen more in love with my child and my husband and that's the darned truth.
22. How many one-night stands?
- Zero. Point. Zero.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
- Mad Men again, but I was also really digging Downton Abbey
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
- I'll agree with what I said last year. Hate is a strong word, but I have a more negative view of a handful of people and choose to keep my distance from them now.
25. What was the best book you read?
- Hmmmm... well I haven't finished "The Cider House Rules" yet but that tops the list. I also liked Harry Potter and The Bloodletter's Daughter was pretty good as well.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
- Lorde
27. What did you want and get?
- This new house!
28. What did you want and not get?
- A winning lotto ticket.
29. What was your favorite film?
- I'm not sure what movies I watched this year! Bah!
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
- I turned 27, and I spent it trying to avoid a nervous breakdown because of the pressure at work. Hubby scheduled me a hair appointment, because I hadn't had my hair done in over a year, but that was about it for the birthday festivities.
- got a promotion!
2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
- once again, I don't do New Year's resolutions.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
- YES! One of my best friends had her baby boy in February :)
4. Did anyone close to you die?
- No. And I'm so completely grateful for another year without a significant loss.
5. What countries did you visit?
- None, again. I'm doubting I'll go out of the country again until the super family cruise in about two years (CANNOT WAIT!)
6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
- Free time. My job has consumed my life, and I'm regretting the lack of "me time"
7. What date from 2013 will remain etched in your memory, and why?
-7/9/13, the Monster's first birthday!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
- I got a promotion at work. Someone in upper-upper-management compared my experience to being thrown into a flaming pool and being told to swim to the side without a life preserver. Pretty much sums it up. And I'm still alive! And still employed!
9. What was your biggest failure?
- Finishing craft projects. I REALLY need to finish them at some point.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
- It was a surprisingly healthy year. My endometriosis is back with a vengeance, though, and that always sucks.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
- My new house. OMG. It's my "realistic dream home" AKA everything I could ask for within budget.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
- My husband, without a doubt. This year was very trying for me- my job is indescribably stressful. Add to that being a mommy of a toddler, and I had some moments of being a complete and total bear. And no matter how many nights I had to work instead of spending time with him, or was far too exhausted to do much of anything, or needed to sob in his arms, or vent about how things just weren't fair, he was always there for me. He's my biggest supporter, and is so forgiving. He loves the baby more than anything, and is such a great example to her of a kind, loving, gentle, and trustworthy man. I can only hope Emma marries a man just like him :)
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
- Let's not go there.
14. Where did most of your money go?
- A down payment for the new house. Furniture for the new house. Stuff for the new house. And the baby- LOTS of stuff for the baby. And the PS4, XBOX One, and Wii U... because my husband is spoiled.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
- Emma's first birthday! And Christmas.
16. What song will always remind you of 2013?
- Probably "Old McDonald" or the ABC Song
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder: Happier still. Didn't think it was possible, but we have so much to be thankful for!
Thinner or fatter? Thinner. STILL. I haven't been this small since high school, and apparently it's not a medical issue that we know of. However, it's difficult to find work clothes in my size and I've spent a lot of money at the tailor so far :(
Richer or poorer? Poorer. The down payment for the house wiped out a chunk of our savings account. And toddlers are expensive!
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
- Blogging. Crafting.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
- Working.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
- Christmas Eve at my parents' house. Then gifts at home on Christmas morning. Then Christmas afternoon/evening at the in-laws' house.
21. Did you fall in love in 2013?
- Cheesy as it may sound, I've fallen more in love with my child and my husband and that's the darned truth.
22. How many one-night stands?
- Zero. Point. Zero.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
- Mad Men again, but I was also really digging Downton Abbey
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
- I'll agree with what I said last year. Hate is a strong word, but I have a more negative view of a handful of people and choose to keep my distance from them now.
25. What was the best book you read?
- Hmmmm... well I haven't finished "The Cider House Rules" yet but that tops the list. I also liked Harry Potter and The Bloodletter's Daughter was pretty good as well.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
- Lorde
27. What did you want and get?
- This new house!
28. What did you want and not get?
- A winning lotto ticket.
29. What was your favorite film?
- I'm not sure what movies I watched this year! Bah!
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
- I turned 27, and I spent it trying to avoid a nervous breakdown because of the pressure at work. Hubby scheduled me a hair appointment, because I hadn't had my hair done in over a year, but that was about it for the birthday festivities.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably satisfying?
- It was already immeasurably satisfying. I had my husband and my child in my life every day, and we were all healthy and happy.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?
- Droopy in the beginning, because none of my clothes fit. But it has improved recently, because I've been an avid Ann Taylor Loft shopper and they actually have clothes small enough for me.
33. What kept you sane?
- My husband. And my Kindle.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
- No one, really. Although Justin Timberlake will always have a special place in my heart.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
- Same as last year: marriage equality.
36. Who did you miss?
- My best friend, and my family in North Carolina.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
- I became closer to some awesome people at work.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013:
- Don't ever expect that someone recognizes your need for help. And you can't hold it against someone for not helping you if you didn't ask.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
- I'm deferring this one. I can't think of anything right now :(
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?
- Droopy in the beginning, because none of my clothes fit. But it has improved recently, because I've been an avid Ann Taylor Loft shopper and they actually have clothes small enough for me.
33. What kept you sane?
- My husband. And my Kindle.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
- No one, really. Although Justin Timberlake will always have a special place in my heart.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
- Same as last year: marriage equality.
36. Who did you miss?
- My best friend, and my family in North Carolina.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
- I became closer to some awesome people at work.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013:
- Don't ever expect that someone recognizes your need for help. And you can't hold it against someone for not helping you if you didn't ask.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
- I'm deferring this one. I can't think of anything right now :(
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Toddlers are Rude Little People
Wait... it's November already? Nooooo...
I've had intentions of updating my blog for the last month but lots of things happened all at the same time and, you know, I value my job and my two hours of relaxation time I get every night after crazy baby goes to bed.
Erm, crazy toddler.
I re-read my last post to see what my life was like when I left off on this blog-thing and my, my, how things have changed.
Oh, and remember how awesome I am at jinxing myself? Like, doing a hospital happy-dance when I made it to 32 weeks and pretty much publicly declared that I would make it to 34 weeks? And then my water broke that night. You'd think I would have learned the power that this blog holds, because I wrote that epic "I'm a mommy hear me roar" kind of post about how I was enjoying rocking my child to sleep with a bottle at night and I didn't care what anyone else said. So, clearly you know what happened next. Crazy toddler refused to let me rock her to sleep at night ever again. As in, the very next night she protested falling asleep in my arms. And eventually stopped letting me rock her to sleep for her naps. *sigh* So now we've stopped the morning nap bottle and I plop her into her crib and hand her Chubby Bunny. She actually does great with putting herself to sleep- I hand her the bunny and she flips over onto her tummy and wiggles her butt (we call it twerking herself to sleep) and if she's not fully ready to go to bed, she moves around and plays until she's ready for night-night. I was about to drop the afternoon nap bottle but realized the time change was upon us and changing her schedule and dropping another bottle may have resulted in full-on toddler warfare. And she just got a round of shots yesterday, so I'm just going to let it ride for a bit longer before I drop the afternoon bottle. The nighttime bottle will be most difficult, but I'm in no hurry and she certainly isn't either. She still gets a morning bottle after breakfast because she needs to get her dose of Miralax (yep, still has a broken pooper) and she won't drink enough liquid at one time from her straw cup to get her full dose that way. So I'm open to suggestions on that.
I was so fearful of the time change and did my best to adjust her schedule slowly leading up to it. Luckily, she also started adjusting her own schedule the week before and ended up settling into the time change flawlessly. Whew.
Before I get to the updates, I need to step up on my soap box because I've discovered that one thing irks me more than most things do. And also, I'm short, so stepping up on any type of platform is usually a good thing for me to do. Anyways. Ahem. Please, for the love of God and all things that are holy, do NOT call me ridiculous or give me the aww-bless-your-heart look for being a safety-oriented mom. Fair warning- the next person who does that will be subject to a verbal beat-down.
I like to play devil's advocate with myself but I just can't seem to wrap my head around this one. How on earth could someone think it's silly for me to be safe when it comes to my child? Or tell me I'm going overboard? Or say I'm being ridiculous? Is it because you turned your child forward-facing in the car seat exactly on his/her first birthday and ended up not getting into a front-end collision that could have killed your front-facing child? How about we talk to the thousands of mourning parents who will always remember that if they had just followed the safety recommendations, their child would be alive. Go on youtube, you'll find some videos that will make you cry and want to hug your child. And it's not a huge group of dumb-asses who just had no clue that you shouldn't let your young toddler play with an electrical socket. It's parents who thought they were being safe enough and the odds were not in their favor. Sure, there are plenty of parents who did follow the safety recommendations and still suffered a loss but, dammit, if something were to happen to my sweet little angel, I wouldn't want to live knowing that I didn't do everything I could have done to protect her. Even if I had a second child, I'd still do everything the same way.
I'll never forget seeing a facebook post from a parent who held her little 8- or 9-month-old child as he died in her arms from a brain injury that happened in the bathtub. A $10 faucet cover could have saved his life. And his parents were not neglectful in any way, but I have to think that they will always feel like they could have saved him. That thought would be unbearable to me.
Or the youtube video that told the story of a little boy who didn't live to see his first birthday because he was improperly strapped into a car seat. The video is complete with photos of this poor baby in the hospital, swollen, with tubes and wires all over him. And a photo of the mother holding her baby son as he passed away with a priest standing over them.
So yes. I have a $10 faucet cover in the bathtub. And an inflatable baby tub. I followed SIDS recommendations to the T. I watch her like a hawk at all times. And I'm keeping her rear-facing in the car as long as she can. She doesn't know any different- she's always been rear-facing. She can still see out the window and I give her a book to read to keep her entertained, and all is well. Sure, there are times when I wish I didn't have to turn into Stretch Armstrong to hand her something in the car at a stoplight. But the evidence on why it's better to keep her rear-facing as long as possible is enough to not make me at all tempted to turn her carseat around. It's also a great excuse to not have to drive people somewhere... "the car seat is still rear-facing so the front passenger seat has no leg room." Works every time.
So. Call me ridiculous about being safe. But brace yourself for the wrath that will ensue.
Heavy stuff over. Now onto baby updates.
And forgive me if I sound braggy... but my kid amazes me. I'll admit that I was very afraid of how she would develop after having such serious and frequent episodes of brady's and desats for the first three months of her life. But she's right on target.
She started walking on October 19th and luckily she did it in front of her mommy AND daddy, and mommy had the iPhone camera rolling to capture every wobbly step :) She's still quite wobbly but getting the hang of it. I sincerely debated dressing her up as a zombie or a drunk redneck for Halloween because she does the PERFECT zombie walk which also happens to look like an inebriated person. More inebriated than zombie, though, because she has a tendency to fall a lot or slam down on her bottom mid-stride. Hilarious.
Talking: There's no stopping her now. Here's her list of words, mostly in order because I've forgotten some of the order (And there have been many instances when I thought a word was a coincidence because I figured there was no way she had learned the word already, but over time realized that it was, in fact, a real word):
Puppy
mommy
bird
daddy
night-night
hi
bye-bye
baby
happy
more
please
uh-oh
That's 12 words. Possibly 13- I taught her to say "bubble" at the doctor's office yesterday because she was a horrible grump and rapidly approaching nuclear meltdown mode and I was trying to distract her. There were some decals on the wall of fish, a mermaid, and some bubbles. So I pointed at each of them and told her what they were, and after I said "bubbles" a few times, the darned kid said "bubble" clear as day. Not "buh-buh" but "buh-buhlll" And then proceeded to do it again. And again. And again. But now she thinks every picture on the wall is a bubble, because she pointed at hubby's Batman poster today and called it a bubble, which is nearly the same as Batman. Yep. Genius.
She also knows six-ish body parts. The 'ish' is because she has started getting confused and has temporarily forgotten where her ears are. She started with bellybutton, and now knows head, ears (on some days), mouth, nose, and feet. When it was just those, she did pretty well. Then I tried to introduce "knees" and she started confusing her mouth with her ears. Typical girl- knows where her mouth is, but forgets where her ears are.
About a month or two ago, she figured out how to ask for something by either pointing at what she wants, gesturing, or doing the ultimate rude-toddler method of grabbing an object and forcefully placing it into your hand. She sucks at being subtle. If I sit on the floor of her playroom, she'll grab a book, place it in my hand, and plop herself down into my lap until I start reading to her. She remains obsessed with books.
The latest development is animal noises. She knows cow, lamb, and lion. Yes, lion. She does this hilarious "roar" that sounds more like she's possessed by some evil demon or channeling her inner metal band singer.
I have no way to estimate how many words she actually knows, but I think it's far more than I realize. I sometimes experiment to see if she understands me and am frequently amazed when she does. In the bath the other night, I held out a ball in one hand and a small bottle of soap in another hand. I asked her to grab the ball, and she did. Alright, must have been a coincidence because she had been playing with the ball a few moments prior. So I held both objects again and asked her to grab the soap, and she grabbed the damn soap. So I started squealing and clapping like a total idiot because she really amazes me when she does stuff like that. She is pretty good at following directions too. She knows the difference between "Emma, say 'mommy'" and "Emma, where is mommy?" (or puppy, or daddy). She knows how to bring something to me, or put something inside of something else (i.e. "Emma put the ball in the bucket."). She gives the best kisses on demand, and now gives hugs (thanks to Pop Pop!!!).
And, of course, she's still a picky eater. UGH! For the last two and a half days, she's been on a hunger strike and has refused to eat much of anything. She refused toast yesterday, so you know it's bad... she pretty much ended up binging on graham crackers today. We're just going to keep trying in a calm manner without pressuring her to eat. I refuse to have a chicken-nuggets-and-macaroni-and-cheese-only toddler.
Her personality has remained mostly the same- rambunctious, easily irritated, incredibly goofy, and not at all snuggly. My little cheesy poof shows affection by smiling and flashing those beautiful, big, blue eyes that twinkle when she's happy. She laughs at everyone and everything (especially her Auntie Lauren. And naturally they are the best of friends). She loves books more than anything else and is a phone/car keys bandit. She loves it when I chase her around the playroom and has the cheesiest little laugh in the world. She officially hates sitting in a shopping cart for longer than about 15-20 minutes and then throws a complete temper tantrum when she can't walk in the store. She wakes up happy and sleeps a lot for her age- two 1.5 hour naps per day and about 11-12 hours of sleep (straight!) at night. In fact, she dropped her night wakings entirely at about 7 months of age and I didn't even realize it until a few months later because I assumed that she would start night-waking again.
Pretty sure I just jinxed that.
I've had intentions of updating my blog for the last month but lots of things happened all at the same time and, you know, I value my job and my two hours of relaxation time I get every night after crazy baby goes to bed.
Erm, crazy toddler.
I re-read my last post to see what my life was like when I left off on this blog-thing and my, my, how things have changed.
Oh, and remember how awesome I am at jinxing myself? Like, doing a hospital happy-dance when I made it to 32 weeks and pretty much publicly declared that I would make it to 34 weeks? And then my water broke that night. You'd think I would have learned the power that this blog holds, because I wrote that epic "I'm a mommy hear me roar" kind of post about how I was enjoying rocking my child to sleep with a bottle at night and I didn't care what anyone else said. So, clearly you know what happened next. Crazy toddler refused to let me rock her to sleep at night ever again. As in, the very next night she protested falling asleep in my arms. And eventually stopped letting me rock her to sleep for her naps. *sigh* So now we've stopped the morning nap bottle and I plop her into her crib and hand her Chubby Bunny. She actually does great with putting herself to sleep- I hand her the bunny and she flips over onto her tummy and wiggles her butt (we call it twerking herself to sleep) and if she's not fully ready to go to bed, she moves around and plays until she's ready for night-night. I was about to drop the afternoon nap bottle but realized the time change was upon us and changing her schedule and dropping another bottle may have resulted in full-on toddler warfare. And she just got a round of shots yesterday, so I'm just going to let it ride for a bit longer before I drop the afternoon bottle. The nighttime bottle will be most difficult, but I'm in no hurry and she certainly isn't either. She still gets a morning bottle after breakfast because she needs to get her dose of Miralax (yep, still has a broken pooper) and she won't drink enough liquid at one time from her straw cup to get her full dose that way. So I'm open to suggestions on that.
I was so fearful of the time change and did my best to adjust her schedule slowly leading up to it. Luckily, she also started adjusting her own schedule the week before and ended up settling into the time change flawlessly. Whew.
Before I get to the updates, I need to step up on my soap box because I've discovered that one thing irks me more than most things do. And also, I'm short, so stepping up on any type of platform is usually a good thing for me to do. Anyways. Ahem. Please, for the love of God and all things that are holy, do NOT call me ridiculous or give me the aww-bless-your-heart look for being a safety-oriented mom. Fair warning- the next person who does that will be subject to a verbal beat-down.
I like to play devil's advocate with myself but I just can't seem to wrap my head around this one. How on earth could someone think it's silly for me to be safe when it comes to my child? Or tell me I'm going overboard? Or say I'm being ridiculous? Is it because you turned your child forward-facing in the car seat exactly on his/her first birthday and ended up not getting into a front-end collision that could have killed your front-facing child? How about we talk to the thousands of mourning parents who will always remember that if they had just followed the safety recommendations, their child would be alive. Go on youtube, you'll find some videos that will make you cry and want to hug your child. And it's not a huge group of dumb-asses who just had no clue that you shouldn't let your young toddler play with an electrical socket. It's parents who thought they were being safe enough and the odds were not in their favor. Sure, there are plenty of parents who did follow the safety recommendations and still suffered a loss but, dammit, if something were to happen to my sweet little angel, I wouldn't want to live knowing that I didn't do everything I could have done to protect her. Even if I had a second child, I'd still do everything the same way.
I'll never forget seeing a facebook post from a parent who held her little 8- or 9-month-old child as he died in her arms from a brain injury that happened in the bathtub. A $10 faucet cover could have saved his life. And his parents were not neglectful in any way, but I have to think that they will always feel like they could have saved him. That thought would be unbearable to me.
Or the youtube video that told the story of a little boy who didn't live to see his first birthday because he was improperly strapped into a car seat. The video is complete with photos of this poor baby in the hospital, swollen, with tubes and wires all over him. And a photo of the mother holding her baby son as he passed away with a priest standing over them.
So yes. I have a $10 faucet cover in the bathtub. And an inflatable baby tub. I followed SIDS recommendations to the T. I watch her like a hawk at all times. And I'm keeping her rear-facing in the car as long as she can. She doesn't know any different- she's always been rear-facing. She can still see out the window and I give her a book to read to keep her entertained, and all is well. Sure, there are times when I wish I didn't have to turn into Stretch Armstrong to hand her something in the car at a stoplight. But the evidence on why it's better to keep her rear-facing as long as possible is enough to not make me at all tempted to turn her carseat around. It's also a great excuse to not have to drive people somewhere... "the car seat is still rear-facing so the front passenger seat has no leg room." Works every time.
So. Call me ridiculous about being safe. But brace yourself for the wrath that will ensue.
Heavy stuff over. Now onto baby updates.
And forgive me if I sound braggy... but my kid amazes me. I'll admit that I was very afraid of how she would develop after having such serious and frequent episodes of brady's and desats for the first three months of her life. But she's right on target.
She started walking on October 19th and luckily she did it in front of her mommy AND daddy, and mommy had the iPhone camera rolling to capture every wobbly step :) She's still quite wobbly but getting the hang of it. I sincerely debated dressing her up as a zombie or a drunk redneck for Halloween because she does the PERFECT zombie walk which also happens to look like an inebriated person. More inebriated than zombie, though, because she has a tendency to fall a lot or slam down on her bottom mid-stride. Hilarious.
Talking: There's no stopping her now. Here's her list of words, mostly in order because I've forgotten some of the order (And there have been many instances when I thought a word was a coincidence because I figured there was no way she had learned the word already, but over time realized that it was, in fact, a real word):
Puppy
mommy
bird
daddy
night-night
hi
bye-bye
baby
happy
more
please
uh-oh
That's 12 words. Possibly 13- I taught her to say "bubble" at the doctor's office yesterday because she was a horrible grump and rapidly approaching nuclear meltdown mode and I was trying to distract her. There were some decals on the wall of fish, a mermaid, and some bubbles. So I pointed at each of them and told her what they were, and after I said "bubbles" a few times, the darned kid said "bubble" clear as day. Not "buh-buh" but "buh-buhlll" And then proceeded to do it again. And again. And again. But now she thinks every picture on the wall is a bubble, because she pointed at hubby's Batman poster today and called it a bubble, which is nearly the same as Batman. Yep. Genius.
She also knows six-ish body parts. The 'ish' is because she has started getting confused and has temporarily forgotten where her ears are. She started with bellybutton, and now knows head, ears (on some days), mouth, nose, and feet. When it was just those, she did pretty well. Then I tried to introduce "knees" and she started confusing her mouth with her ears. Typical girl- knows where her mouth is, but forgets where her ears are.
About a month or two ago, she figured out how to ask for something by either pointing at what she wants, gesturing, or doing the ultimate rude-toddler method of grabbing an object and forcefully placing it into your hand. She sucks at being subtle. If I sit on the floor of her playroom, she'll grab a book, place it in my hand, and plop herself down into my lap until I start reading to her. She remains obsessed with books.
The latest development is animal noises. She knows cow, lamb, and lion. Yes, lion. She does this hilarious "roar" that sounds more like she's possessed by some evil demon or channeling her inner metal band singer.
I have no way to estimate how many words she actually knows, but I think it's far more than I realize. I sometimes experiment to see if she understands me and am frequently amazed when she does. In the bath the other night, I held out a ball in one hand and a small bottle of soap in another hand. I asked her to grab the ball, and she did. Alright, must have been a coincidence because she had been playing with the ball a few moments prior. So I held both objects again and asked her to grab the soap, and she grabbed the damn soap. So I started squealing and clapping like a total idiot because she really amazes me when she does stuff like that. She is pretty good at following directions too. She knows the difference between "Emma, say 'mommy'" and "Emma, where is mommy?" (or puppy, or daddy). She knows how to bring something to me, or put something inside of something else (i.e. "Emma put the ball in the bucket."). She gives the best kisses on demand, and now gives hugs (thanks to Pop Pop!!!).
And, of course, she's still a picky eater. UGH! For the last two and a half days, she's been on a hunger strike and has refused to eat much of anything. She refused toast yesterday, so you know it's bad... she pretty much ended up binging on graham crackers today. We're just going to keep trying in a calm manner without pressuring her to eat. I refuse to have a chicken-nuggets-and-macaroni-and-cheese-only toddler.
Her personality has remained mostly the same- rambunctious, easily irritated, incredibly goofy, and not at all snuggly. My little cheesy poof shows affection by smiling and flashing those beautiful, big, blue eyes that twinkle when she's happy. She laughs at everyone and everything (especially her Auntie Lauren. And naturally they are the best of friends). She loves books more than anything else and is a phone/car keys bandit. She loves it when I chase her around the playroom and has the cheesiest little laugh in the world. She officially hates sitting in a shopping cart for longer than about 15-20 minutes and then throws a complete temper tantrum when she can't walk in the store. She wakes up happy and sleeps a lot for her age- two 1.5 hour naps per day and about 11-12 hours of sleep (straight!) at night. In fact, she dropped her night wakings entirely at about 7 months of age and I didn't even realize it until a few months later because I assumed that she would start night-waking again.
Pretty sure I just jinxed that.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Flippity Flop
Time to bare my soul to the blogosphere for the 800th time...
I admit it: I'm a big-time flip-flopper of a mom. I've been repeatedly told that Geminis (which I am) are wishy-washy and, well... guilty as charged. Call it what you want, but I can't seem to make a major parenting decision without changing my mind a billion times. Why? After some soul searching, I realized... it's because my heart tells me one thing, and the interwebs tell me another. Solution? Go with the heart.
At one point, I identified myself as being a middle-ground parent... somewhere between parent-led scheduling and attachment parenting. But there's nothing like a training on attachment-based therapy to make you question every single choice you've made as a parent in an attempt to help your child be independent. Serious face-palm.
I found myself trying to figure out how to correct the bad habit of giving the toddler/baby a bottle and rocking her to sleep for every nap and at bedtime and then I caught myself. Bad habit?! BAD?! Lord, have mercy.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is in no way a bad habit. How on earth could it be bad that the last thing my little angel sees before her eyes grow too heavy to stay open is her mommy smiling down at her? The last thing she hears is mommy humming her some lullabies? The last thing she smells is my skin (and probably the milk that inevitably ends up on my shirt)? That the last thing she feels is my warmth, my touch, my love... HOW IS THAT BAD?!?!?!
I've always taken her lead. There was a point in time when she didn't want me to hold her at bedtime and she much preferred to wiggle herself to sleep in her crib. We did that for a while, until she had her sleep regression at about 11 months. That was when she impulsively rolled over, sat herself up, and wailed like a banshee because she was tired but couldn't stop herself from sitting up like a big girl. That's when I began my "bad habit" of rocking her to sleep and we've maintained that ever since, with a few exceptions. There have been a few nights that she is too wound up to be rocked to sleep, and she'd prefer to sit in her crib and play with her Chubby Bunny until she falls asleep. But that's not often.
But you know what? She's in bed around 7:30 or 8:00 most nights and sleeps until about 7:00 or 7:30 with barely a peep. Sometimes she'll wake up extra early, but will put herself back to sleep (like this morning, THANK GOD). So my "bad habit" doesn't seem to have any ill effect on her at all.
Babies are not meant to be convenient. In a world in which most parents work outside of the home, we've suddenly adopted a philosophy of trying to have these little independent mini-adults running around so that we get our precious sleep and don't have to deal anything inconvenient. Pfffttt... that's absolutely silly. Bring on the full parenting experience- I signed up to be a parent, not a babysitter.
So I flip-flopped a hundred times about whether or not to start putting her in her crib awake instead of rocking her to sleep. My final decision is to rock her to sleep... she won't be in high school and need me to rock her to sleep. And when she's in high school, I'll so sorely miss these times.
My latest flip-flopping is about her bottles. She has finally (hallelujah) started drinking from a straw cup and still despises sippy cups. Whatever, I'll take what I can get at this point... but I've still been giving her milk in a bottle at nap time and bed time and for some reason this bothered me. Again, thanks to the interwebs for putting it into my mind that my child is supposed to be broken of the "bottle habit" at 12 months. Nah. She's fine... the only thing I do worry about is her teeth, but at least she doesn't fall asleep with the bottle in her mouth. She finished her milk and then drifts off to sleep... I brush her teeth every night. But I should probably give her a sip of water after her bedtime bottle for extra protection against bottle rot. Anyways... I read some stuff online today that made so much sense- why take away something that comforts her? She'll grow out of it and decide when she no longer needs it. I definitely trust that- she certainly tells us when she's had enough of something. She broke herself of the pacifier habit at only a few months of age. I found a pacifier and gave it to her to see what she would do, and she chewed on the plastic part and clearly had no idea what it was intended for. Then she threw it and moved on with her little life.
So that's where I stand- I'm going to continue to be the horrible mother who gives her one-year-old a bottle and rocks her to sleep every night. Jeez, someone should take away my parenting license pronto before I start getting really crazy and doing something like holding her when she's being clingy. The horror.
Alright. Moving right along...
New developments: Baby Bird points with her fat little index finger now. And her little thumb sticks out too (making an "L" shape) so I've been trying to teach her to say "pew pew pew" while she's pointing at things so it makes it look like she's shooting an imaginary gun. I should probably stop encouraging that.
She's been making strides with eating table food, and she apparently loves anything covered in tomato sauce, go figure. She ate veggie pasta with tomato sauce the other night and I couldn't give it to her fast enough. I'm not even sure if she really even chewed it... her days of gagging on everything are behind us. HOORAY!!! She ate tortellini a few weeks ago and I seriously thought I was going to do a victory lap around the house. I had the urge to call everyone who cared and tell them about my amazing child that just ate three tortellini. I'm so serious, too- I haven't been that excited about something in a very long time.
She's still not walking, and I don't even care. Really, I don't... she's doing it in her own time and is getting closer day-by-day so I'm not at all concerned. She recently started cruising on furniture a lot more, and letting go of one piece of furniture to switch over to another one nearby. She's also being daring and letting go of her support to stand on her own for a few seconds at a time.
She's talking up a storm now, too. She has little conversations with herself about whatever she's playing with and you can easily tell the emotion behind her gibberish- sometimes she's clearly happy, and other times she's a little peeved or confused.
Her favorite things in the whole world are birds. Specifically, big, black, loud crows. She was sitting in her highchair yesterday morning eating her breakfast and watching outside to see if one of the crows would land on the lightpost. I was in the kitchen getting everything ready for the day, when I heard her excitedly say "bird!" I looked over and she was pointing out the sliding glass door, and there was a giant crow perched on top of the lightpost. She also pointed at the dog the other morning and said "puppy." So stinking cute.
She's still holding steady at six words- puppy, mommy, bird, daddy, hi, and night-night. "Baby" may be the next one, but I'm not sure on that yet.
Her favorite person in the world is apparently her Grammy. She hadn't seen her Grammy in a week, and wanted nothing to do with anyone or anything other than her Grammy yesterday morning. I ceased to exist the moment she saw her and she wouldn't let anyone else hold her, nor would she let Grammy put her down. I'm pretty sure she made her Grammy's day. I happen to love her Grammy too, so we have that in common :)
She has also discovered how to put things into other things... like putting blocks into a bucket, and then dumping them out. We have this Fischer Price activity barn and one side has a cow's face with an open mouth and you can feed it little plastic veggies. She picked up on that and does it all the time (and it's really not that easy). The other side has a chicken with a little chute underneath it and a basket at the bottom. There are plastic slightly-larger-than-life-sized eggs that you can put down the chute so they land in the basket. She's mastered that too. She can work buttons, switches, and is starting to try shape-sorting, although she's a long way from mastering that.
AND. She likes me to hold her now. :) She gives lots of kisses, and clings to me at times.
So, yea. Life is wonderful... I've never felt so much love in my heart and I feel so lucky to have such a cute, sweet, beautiful, amazing child. When I'm being a horrible mother and rocking her while she sleeps at night, I remind myself how fortunate I am to have my little cuddle bug in my arms and to have had another day with her in my life. My arms were empty for years and I longed to hold a child of my own. Now I'm never going to let her go...
(holy sappiness.)
I admit it: I'm a big-time flip-flopper of a mom. I've been repeatedly told that Geminis (which I am) are wishy-washy and, well... guilty as charged. Call it what you want, but I can't seem to make a major parenting decision without changing my mind a billion times. Why? After some soul searching, I realized... it's because my heart tells me one thing, and the interwebs tell me another. Solution? Go with the heart.
At one point, I identified myself as being a middle-ground parent... somewhere between parent-led scheduling and attachment parenting. But there's nothing like a training on attachment-based therapy to make you question every single choice you've made as a parent in an attempt to help your child be independent. Serious face-palm.
I found myself trying to figure out how to correct the bad habit of giving the toddler/baby a bottle and rocking her to sleep for every nap and at bedtime and then I caught myself. Bad habit?! BAD?! Lord, have mercy.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is in no way a bad habit. How on earth could it be bad that the last thing my little angel sees before her eyes grow too heavy to stay open is her mommy smiling down at her? The last thing she hears is mommy humming her some lullabies? The last thing she smells is my skin (and probably the milk that inevitably ends up on my shirt)? That the last thing she feels is my warmth, my touch, my love... HOW IS THAT BAD?!?!?!
I've always taken her lead. There was a point in time when she didn't want me to hold her at bedtime and she much preferred to wiggle herself to sleep in her crib. We did that for a while, until she had her sleep regression at about 11 months. That was when she impulsively rolled over, sat herself up, and wailed like a banshee because she was tired but couldn't stop herself from sitting up like a big girl. That's when I began my "bad habit" of rocking her to sleep and we've maintained that ever since, with a few exceptions. There have been a few nights that she is too wound up to be rocked to sleep, and she'd prefer to sit in her crib and play with her Chubby Bunny until she falls asleep. But that's not often.
But you know what? She's in bed around 7:30 or 8:00 most nights and sleeps until about 7:00 or 7:30 with barely a peep. Sometimes she'll wake up extra early, but will put herself back to sleep (like this morning, THANK GOD). So my "bad habit" doesn't seem to have any ill effect on her at all.
Babies are not meant to be convenient. In a world in which most parents work outside of the home, we've suddenly adopted a philosophy of trying to have these little independent mini-adults running around so that we get our precious sleep and don't have to deal anything inconvenient. Pfffttt... that's absolutely silly. Bring on the full parenting experience- I signed up to be a parent, not a babysitter.
So I flip-flopped a hundred times about whether or not to start putting her in her crib awake instead of rocking her to sleep. My final decision is to rock her to sleep... she won't be in high school and need me to rock her to sleep. And when she's in high school, I'll so sorely miss these times.
My latest flip-flopping is about her bottles. She has finally (hallelujah) started drinking from a straw cup and still despises sippy cups. Whatever, I'll take what I can get at this point... but I've still been giving her milk in a bottle at nap time and bed time and for some reason this bothered me. Again, thanks to the interwebs for putting it into my mind that my child is supposed to be broken of the "bottle habit" at 12 months. Nah. She's fine... the only thing I do worry about is her teeth, but at least she doesn't fall asleep with the bottle in her mouth. She finished her milk and then drifts off to sleep... I brush her teeth every night. But I should probably give her a sip of water after her bedtime bottle for extra protection against bottle rot. Anyways... I read some stuff online today that made so much sense- why take away something that comforts her? She'll grow out of it and decide when she no longer needs it. I definitely trust that- she certainly tells us when she's had enough of something. She broke herself of the pacifier habit at only a few months of age. I found a pacifier and gave it to her to see what she would do, and she chewed on the plastic part and clearly had no idea what it was intended for. Then she threw it and moved on with her little life.
So that's where I stand- I'm going to continue to be the horrible mother who gives her one-year-old a bottle and rocks her to sleep every night. Jeez, someone should take away my parenting license pronto before I start getting really crazy and doing something like holding her when she's being clingy. The horror.
Alright. Moving right along...
New developments: Baby Bird points with her fat little index finger now. And her little thumb sticks out too (making an "L" shape) so I've been trying to teach her to say "pew pew pew" while she's pointing at things so it makes it look like she's shooting an imaginary gun. I should probably stop encouraging that.
She's been making strides with eating table food, and she apparently loves anything covered in tomato sauce, go figure. She ate veggie pasta with tomato sauce the other night and I couldn't give it to her fast enough. I'm not even sure if she really even chewed it... her days of gagging on everything are behind us. HOORAY!!! She ate tortellini a few weeks ago and I seriously thought I was going to do a victory lap around the house. I had the urge to call everyone who cared and tell them about my amazing child that just ate three tortellini. I'm so serious, too- I haven't been that excited about something in a very long time.
She's still not walking, and I don't even care. Really, I don't... she's doing it in her own time and is getting closer day-by-day so I'm not at all concerned. She recently started cruising on furniture a lot more, and letting go of one piece of furniture to switch over to another one nearby. She's also being daring and letting go of her support to stand on her own for a few seconds at a time.
She's talking up a storm now, too. She has little conversations with herself about whatever she's playing with and you can easily tell the emotion behind her gibberish- sometimes she's clearly happy, and other times she's a little peeved or confused.
Her favorite things in the whole world are birds. Specifically, big, black, loud crows. She was sitting in her highchair yesterday morning eating her breakfast and watching outside to see if one of the crows would land on the lightpost. I was in the kitchen getting everything ready for the day, when I heard her excitedly say "bird!" I looked over and she was pointing out the sliding glass door, and there was a giant crow perched on top of the lightpost. She also pointed at the dog the other morning and said "puppy." So stinking cute.
She's still holding steady at six words- puppy, mommy, bird, daddy, hi, and night-night. "Baby" may be the next one, but I'm not sure on that yet.
Her favorite person in the world is apparently her Grammy. She hadn't seen her Grammy in a week, and wanted nothing to do with anyone or anything other than her Grammy yesterday morning. I ceased to exist the moment she saw her and she wouldn't let anyone else hold her, nor would she let Grammy put her down. I'm pretty sure she made her Grammy's day. I happen to love her Grammy too, so we have that in common :)
She has also discovered how to put things into other things... like putting blocks into a bucket, and then dumping them out. We have this Fischer Price activity barn and one side has a cow's face with an open mouth and you can feed it little plastic veggies. She picked up on that and does it all the time (and it's really not that easy). The other side has a chicken with a little chute underneath it and a basket at the bottom. There are plastic slightly-larger-than-life-sized eggs that you can put down the chute so they land in the basket. She's mastered that too. She can work buttons, switches, and is starting to try shape-sorting, although she's a long way from mastering that.
AND. She likes me to hold her now. :) She gives lots of kisses, and clings to me at times.
So, yea. Life is wonderful... I've never felt so much love in my heart and I feel so lucky to have such a cute, sweet, beautiful, amazing child. When I'm being a horrible mother and rocking her while she sleeps at night, I remind myself how fortunate I am to have my little cuddle bug in my arms and to have had another day with her in my life. My arms were empty for years and I longed to hold a child of my own. Now I'm never going to let her go...
(holy sappiness.)
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