Shark Attacks

Reagan has started the "ever so endearing" what we call--shark attacks! We call these "kisses" shark attacks because they resemble the jaws of a shark taking down it's next meal.
She starts by aggressively grabbing hold of my hair and positioning my face in direct access to her mouth. What hair I have left from post pregnancy hair loss, comes out wrapped around her fingers. She then heads in for the kill, opens her mouth as wide as she can and swallows down any part of my face that will fit her her mouth (usually a chin, nose or cheek) . While in the death grip, she will take one of her hands and hook either a nostril or corner of my mouth with her fingers (this is when I realize I haven't trimmed her nails in a while because she can sometimes break skin!). By this time I am crying mercy and trying frantically to get out of the death grip/shark bite. I laugh every time at, first, how funny they are and, second, how stinkin STRONG she is!! Marking these to priceless moments with my daughter!!

Fat Jeans

Today I fit into my fat jeans! No, not the ones that were always one size too big but my actual roomy, my-(pre-pregnancy) size jeans. I'm not saying they look great. I'm not saying they feel great either. BUT THEY FIT. Hooray!

I was one of those people who always ate whatever I wanted and exercised almost every day and didn't really think much about it. I am vegetarian and a generally healthy eater, but never worried much about extra fat or calories.

Then, I became one of those pregnant women who gained one pound a week. It didn't matter what I ate. I didn't matter which trimester. I craved fresh fruit and veggies and never really wanted chocolate, cakes, or ice cream. And I still gained a pound every single week.

Now, I am one of those moms who really wants to exercise every day but has absolutely no time for it. Between working from the office, working from home, seeing family and friends, and --oh yeah!-- enjoying my 4 month old, I'm lucky if I get a shower in (and I definitely don't wash my hair more than a couple times a week). And did I mention that in spite of exercising only a couple times a week, I'm still eating whatever I want? So it is with joy indeed that I share the news that my fat jeans fit. Maybe I won't have to buy a whole new wardrobe after all. Of course, my tops are still hopeless. But exercise won't help with that....

Baby's First Trip

Last weekend, we were invited to attend a wedding in Lake Arrowhead. When we first received the invitation I immediately went through the new mom array of emotions...excitement to uncertainty to pure anxiety.

I have been a HUGE stickler for Molly's nighttime routine. During her first few months of life we struggled to get to bed by 1am, so when we finally established a structured bedtime routine (that was working fabulously), it was VERY hard for me to mix it up! Despite my reservations we RSVP'd yes for the wedding.

As the weekend approached, I tried to establish a plan on what to bring and how we would set up our hotel room so we could all try to get some sleep. Molly has always slept in her crib, she's just slept better sleeping with silence verses hearing our sleeping noises, so you can probably imagine why I was worried about suddenly sleeping in the same room. Now I do have to admit, we had our secret weapon...adjoining rooms with my parents! Now you're probably thinking, "why in the world are you worried about the trip when you have back-up!?" I know my feelings of anxiety were pretty silly, but I couldn't stop myself from worrying.

The weekend quickly approaches. The day before we are suppose to leave, I have to pick Molly up from school early because she has the stomach flu (that's a whole different blog entry =). Later that night she was 90% better so we decided to continue with our trip.

When we arrive in Lake Arrowhead, my husband & I leave Molly in the care of my parents as we venture off to the wedding. We enjoyed having our adult time while being able to see Molly every couple hours. Half way through the reception I realize that I caught the stomach flu and needed to go to bed early....I know, what a bummer!!! As I continue to have a rough night, Molly's care now fell in the hands of my dear husband. I only heard her get up a couple times throughout the night, better than I thought she would do. In the morning I come to find out that she had been up for 2-3 hours straight because she had problems breathing through her nose full of boogers (of course we forgot the saline nasal spray & aspirator).

Although we ended up having unforeseen challenges, we were glad to have made the jump to take Molly on her first trip! Hopefully next time we can enjoy our time together while staying healthy and rested =)!

Here's to another first as a new mom!

Appetite Changes

Brett was exclusively breast fed for the first 6-months of her life. Around 5-months old I had a reduction in my milk supply (see previous posts). I tried multiple things to increase it and it was the introduction a beer a night that seemed to help (I'm serious).

Throughout my breast feeding I found myself to be STARVING constantly. I had to be eating something almost every hour. If I went more than two hours or so without eating I would start to feel weak, my hands would shake and I could even get to the point of being dizzy. I could out-eat my 6'3" 230 pound husband! My brothers teased me about how many tacos I could eat in a sitting. I would rarely feel 'full' even after eating a ton of food. As crazy as it sounds, I was also continuing to lose weight and was down to my pre-pregnancy weight!

At 6-months I gave Brett cereal and then slowly introduced other solids into her diet. This change to her diet resulted in changes to her poop. It became firmer. She was getting two solid food meals a day. I remained hungry at all times.

Around 7-months I decided to introduce formula. I did this because Brett was basically weening herself. She wouldn't stay latched on to my breast for longer than a minute (no exaggeration). It became frustrating for me and she wasn't eating enough during the day. So, that is why the bottle came into play. I started with 3/4 breast milk and 1/4 formula, then moved to 1/2 formula and 1/2 breast milk until it was completely formula.

Now, as Brett is 8-months old she is nursing in the morning when she wakes up and right before bed. Sometimes I nurse her in order for her to take a nap in the afternoon.

As this change with her eating habits has occurred my eating habits have changed as well. I realized one day that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and was only slightly hungry! When I am eating now I am able to eat much less than before. I actually get full rather quickly now. Some of my friends that have breast fed in the past have said that they have gained back about 10 lbs after they stop breast feeding so I'm hoping that doesn't happen to me.

Sounds like it time to watch what I eat again. Bummer...

Kisses

On Friday night I developed a lovely, large, cold sore on my lower lip. I haven't had one since I was about 7 months pregnant so it has been over a year. Why am I sharing this with everyone? Well, because I will not give Brett kisses right now because I don't want her to get coldsores. I also won't let her give me the open-mouth kisses that she gives me on a daily basis.

I didn't think this would be a big deal but it wasn't until now that I realized just how many times I kiss her throughout the day! It is so hard not to give her kisses!

I can't wait for this coldsore to go away so that I am able to kiss my little girl as much as I want to. Enjoy kissing your babies!

Shrinking boobs

I am happy to report that I have on a shirt today that I have not worn since pre-pregnancy. I have tried many times this summer to get it on, and it as only resulted in what I call a clothes tantrum. This morning I realized that my milk supply is going down because Madie is eating more and more solid food. With that comes the good news of my boobs shrinking and old favorite clothes fitting once again. But it also makes me sad. I have truly loved nursing Madie and the closeness we have because of it. It is a bond between me and her that no one else has. All the people weren't joking when they said enjoy your time with them when they are small because they aren't small for long. It's like a blink of an eye, and suddenly she is almost 8 months old. She is not solely dependent on me for food, she eats food now. Where as before I was loving each new thing she did. I could not wait for her to get older and learn new things. Soddenly, I want it all to stop and to keep her little for longer. I don't want to give up that time between her and I. But I know deep down that I will have to and to prepare myself for when she turns one in a little over 4 months and I stop nursing her and she continues to grow up!

Tranquility at 4:00 a.m.

At 3:30am this morning Reagan did her usual “mom get up and feed me”. After she finished her bottle and fell asleep, I laid back in my bed. I also wanted to go right back to sleep. However, today, I changed my mind. Lately I’ve been trying to figure out a way to drop these 10 extra pregnancy pounds so I, somehow, motive myself to go to the gym- at 4:00am! It sounded very painful at the time and, quite frankly, insane. But it turned out to be complete serenity and a serious battery charger.
My workout at the gym was great, refreshing, energizing, etc, etc, etc- but it was the time I got to myself upon returning home that was awesome! I walked into the house- SILENCE!!!!! Everyone was still asleep. I took my shoes off- went into the kitchen and made myself breakfast- uninterrupted. I sat at the dining table and, as I ate my breakfast, I thought I’d turn on some tunes. I enjoyed my breakfast with the likes of Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, the Beatles, Lionel Richie and other classics. Expecting my time was going to be up soon, I looked at the clock, only to find I likely had a whole 45 minutes left!
I moved to the couch and turned on the television. No Barney and Friends, no Special Agent Oso… no football, no car repair shows that usually take over my television. This morning---- it was all about my long overdue Greys Anatomy episodes! Rerun- but that’s ok- so I moved to some magazine time and dove into some Parenting magazines I received from the group exchange last week. It didn’t matter what I read, but more, that I could take my time and just enjoy!
Well, it wasn’t going to last forever-at 7:00 am the family came down and our day began. Back to rushed meals, 2 minutes showers, on-call mom, preparing lunches, tackling a to-do list (with high hopes of getting at least 2 tasks done), walking dog, laundry etc, etc. But those special three hours were mine/just for me—and so worth the pain of getting up before the sun came up.
I can’t promise I will do it again tomorrow, because right now, I am exhausted from being awake for 18 hours. But I will be doing this on a more frequent basis- for my sanity and in efforts to, once and for all, loose these preggers lbs.

Poop

Where else but on a Mom's blog can I post about poop! So this morning, Madie was playing in her exersaucer! We had decided not to go on the walk this morning because she had a rough night! She is no longer sleeping through the night and it's been the roughest on me I think! So she was entertaining herself as she does now quite nicely! As I of course checked my email, and played on the computer! I picked her up out of the exersaucer, and to my surprise she was really wet. I looked down thinking it was pee and it was not. It was poop! When I picked her up I noticed it was down her leg all over the exersaucer, on the floor now and all over me. I had one of those OMG moments thinking to myself what do I do? Then I thought why does she do this when Mike is at work and I have no one to help me. So i put her on her changing table and took off the diaper and the onesie and realized it was worse than I thought! She had it up her stomach and her back to. So I ended up bathing her and myself, and starting yet another load of laundry. I had to chuckle to myself as that has to be in the top 5 of all the ones she has ever done! Nothing beats the time at Disneyland all over Mike! So I have scrubbed at the exersaucer seat and hopes that when Mike gets home he can figure out how to get the seat off so it to can be cleaned. Oh what a morning!

Horror Movie Moment

The other night I woke up around 2:30am to go to the bathroom. I am always so mad when I wake up if Brett is sleeping through. So, I'm laying there in bed about to go back to sleep and, from the monitor right next to my head (sitting on the table) I hear a frightening thing.

The words "Peek a-boo I see you" comes through the monitor in an adult sing-songy voice. My heart begins to pound. I'm laying there perfectly still wondering if I had just had a weird dream. My husband is sound asleep next to me and clearly hadn't heard anything. Was I hearing things?

A few more seconds go by and, again, "Peek a-boo I see you" comes through the monitor! I'm thinking, is there a person in there with a toy trying to entertain my daughter? Is there a ghost in there activating something? I had obviously watched one too many Ghosthunter episodes as a dozen strange explanations run through my head.

I got out of bed and began to creep towards Brett's bedroom. I peek in to see that no one is in there. I do see, however, that she is squirming in her bed. One more time, the "Peek a-boo I see you" words are spoken. I see that she has wiggled her way to the top of her crib and her head is pressing against a mirror that I have hanging in her bed! I had NO idea that it made any noise what-so-ever, but it obviously 'speaks' when it is pressed.

I was up for almost two hours from adrenaline! I took the mirror out of the crib that night and it is going in the donation pile. My next baby will have a different mirror in his or her bed!

Quick Thinking Mommy

I'm sitting here at home enjoying a beer (to help with my milk production, obviously) while my husband is at a business dinner and Brett is fast asleep and I thought I had to share this story that I thought was proof of how a mom can think so quick-on-her-feet!

I had a meeting for the Tinkerbell Guild tonight. The Guild is a volunteer organization of women committed to raising funds to support the growth and development of Children's Hospital Orange County and CHOC at Mission. Check it out at: http://www.tinkerbellguild.com/

Anyhow, I had to bring Brett with me because, as I stated above, my husband had a last minute business dinner come up and my other babysitters (Grandma and Grandpa) were busy. So, Brett did a great job 'entertaining' the group of girls as she crawled, pulled herself up, babbled, etc.

At the end of the meeting I was talking to another mom when Brett spit-up a nice, chunky spit-up that went down her dress, on my shirt and onto the tile floor. I'm looking from her, to me, to the floor, to my purse... I had only brought in my purse, which was loaded with the essentials for a one-hour meeting: rattle, teether, bottle. I had not, of course, brought a burp cloth!

So, in the quick thinking way that only moms can think- I reached down my tank top, pulled out a breast pad and wiped off my top, Brett's dress and then the floor! I walked over to the garbage bin and threw it away. Done and done!

It's amazing what we come up with...

Sick or Teething

Yes, another teething post. This seems to be a common dilemma that new moms face. The signs can be very drastic or non-existent.

A week and a half ago Brett was pulling on her ears so I took her to the doctor. The doctor said that one ear had slight congestion that is associated with teething. Ok, great. So we went home and thought, at 7 1/2 months she is finally starting to teeth.

However, other than the ear pulling there weren't many other indicators- until this week!

Brett continued to pull on her ears. She also has been waking up at least once a night, when typically she sleeps at least 10 hours. Finally, Monday afternoon she got a very runny nose. I knew she wasn't sick because the snot was clear. She became very fussy. She is also drooling like crazy! I actually got her ready for bed early and she went down at 7pm. Not only that, she slept 12 hours! She got up the next morning and, even though she had a runny nose, she seemed quite happy. I decided it was safe to take her to a Baby Safety class that I had already committed to. She did great at the class but had a major meltdown on the drive home.

I was intending to go to lunch with my Aunt Mary but it became clear that Brett was going to be in no mood for going out. This is one of those times that I feel fortunate to have family around. I was able to call my aunt and ask her to swing by and pick up baby Motrin. I called the doctor and he said that I could alternate giving Brett Tylenol and Motrin to help with the teething pain.

I started with Tylenol and that seemed to help so I waited on the Motrin until this morning. Unfortunately, I tried to give the Motrin to her this morning and she spit it out! Oh well, her runny nose is gone today but she is still drooling a ton and chewing on everything (mostly her fingers).

While I am still not sure if she has a slight cold or is teething or maybe both I am fairly confident she isn't 'sick.' I'm just hoping she gets teeth before it's time to send her to school!

New Life As a Mom

My daughter joined our family 6 months ago (actually 16 counting pregnancy). Every day I look at her, and appreciate what a miracle and blessing she is and what joy and happiness she has brought to our lives- I can’t imagine my life without her. Being a mom is such a rewarding experience but I never really grasped the full concept that MY life, as it was, was going to change forever. And boy did I get a reality check when Reagan was born. My life was flipped upside down, backwards, sideways….every which way.
I am (or rather, I was) a big scheduler. I live by lists, day planners and appointment times. I am (was) prompt to every meeting and always fulfilled commitments I made. As you fellow moms can relate, scheduling is out the window with a newborn/infant and your daily schedule revolves around naps, feedings, fussiness and exhaustion.
Before I was pregnant, my husband and I were spontaneous travelers and loved to take last minute adventures to the south pacific, ski weekends and finding desolate, untraveled locations. For some crazy reason, I though having a baby would just mean one more person to take along on our adventures. But when we learned we couldn’t take Reagan in the car for more than 10 minutes without her screaming hysterically, a flight anywhere was out of the question.
My girlfriends and I always made sure to schedule a few weekenders together to Palm Springs, Las Vegas, anywhere we could get away and just be girls. I’ve tried a few overnighters since having Reagan, only to find I’m so worried about her at home or feel guilty about leaving her that these weekends of de-stress are MORE stress for me.
For the first few months of Reagan’s life, I couldn’t wait to get back to our normal life. However, normal has changed for us- for the better. Watching my daughter learn something new or laugh hysterically at her dog are priceless moments compared to an adventurous vacation. Feeding Reagan a new food for the first time and watching the expression on her face as she tastes it is so much more exciting than sitting in some swanky restaurant ordering overpriced steaks. And, hanging out with my daughter, watching “Special Agent Oso” and “Barney and Friends “, watching her eyes light up at her favorite characters beats a trip to Las Vegas any day. Don’t get me wrong, I still need a little R&R (adult time) here and there, but I no longer wish for my old life back. I now only wish I could stop time and have this time with daughter forever. I know it’s going to go fast.

Little Miss Personality

Brett has certainly been showing more of her own personality lately. We knew almost from the time she was born that she was going to have a firey personality. In fact, she was an extremely active baby in the womb, so we should've gotten our first indication then. Now that her hair is growing in quite red, we see that her hair and personality will match.

On Sunday Brett decided, after almost two months, that she did not like green foods. She first would begin blowing raspberries when the food was in her mouth. Then she decided to keep her mouth closed and not even accept a bite at all. If we could sneak in another bite it was blown right back out. Talk about a mess! We couldn't help but laugh though.

She was fussing the other day so I tried a variety of things to make her happy. First, a pacifier to chew on (she has never sucked on a pacifier). She waved her hands up and down with a frown on her face telling me that is NOT what she wanted. So, I walked over and got a sippy cup. Again, waving hands, frown, no go. Third attempt, I pull out a bottle- same routine. Hmmm, what will make this little one happy? I went to the freezer and pulled out a frozen teething ring. Aaah, a smile and she grabbed it out of my hand and shoved it in her mouth. Four tries ain't bad...

Yesterday, she decided that as she was crawling she would pick things up with her mouth. First, her pacifier, next clean laundry that I was folding on the bed. She liked putting the socks in her mouth and crawling around with them hanging out. I'm not sure where she got this from. She has only seen a dog once!

Well, we can't wait to see her personality continue to unfold. As I tell the moms with the really new babies, it just keeps getting more and more fun!

Moms Day Off

Today my husband decided to give me the day off!!! He likes spending time with our daughter on his own and he was sick of hearing me complain that I never get time to myself (and he does get time to himself when he golfs). I'm not sure what the split was but I'm so happy to have had the day.

It's funny, though. I have all of these hours to myself and I didn't spend the entire time on "me." It's almost impossible to do.

6:30am- Brett wakes up, my husbands gets her, changes her diaper and brings her to me to breastfeed
7:30am- pumped because Brett was too distracted, as usual, to breastfeed. I pumped 4 ounces and put it in a bottle- WENT BACK TO SLEEP!
10am- woke up to find Brett in the middle of her morning nap and my husband watching football. Wonderful!
10:30am- Brett wakes from her nap and I breastfeed her. I am also now realizing I am getting a nasty clogged duct on my right side. ouch.
10:45am- I take a LONG shower (I know there is a draught but I think I make up for it with my usual 5 minute showers)
11:00am- out of the shower, helping the husband pack up to take Brett out. He is going to go buy new running shoes and then take her to Gymboree. I'm a bit nervous about this but I get over it quickly.
11:15am- Say 'bye bye' to my baby and get ready for the day. I actually am able to put on make-up and blow dry my hair! I also decide to strip the bed and throw the sheets in the wash and put all of the dishes in the dishwasher to start it
11;45am- arrive at nail salon for my eyebrow wax and pedicure! I didn't feel rushed at all and enjoyed my hour and a half there
12:15pm- run errand to ship off a gift to a girlfriend who just had her second daughter
12:45pm- arrive home. move the the sheets to the dryer and start a load of towels. Unload the dishwasher. Ate Top Ramen for lunch- I really don't know why it sounded good, but it did, and it was easy to prepare and clean. I also did the People Magazine crossword puzzle while I ate. I didn't turn on the tv or any music- I just enjoyed the peace and quiet while I did this.
2:00pm- blogging and waiting for my husband and baby to arrive back home!

So, sorry if this was too boring but I wanted to show that even when a stay-at-home mom takes a day off it is nearly impossible to not take advantage of the time to do some things around the house. They still haven't returned yet so I am going to go pick-up toys!

Grandma or Mom

Last Sunday night,we had my parents over for dinner. Our regular routine since Madie was a week old is to go over to there house for dinner on Sunday nights. My brother comes over and it is all 6 of us! I have noticed that my mom as much as I love her has issues accepting her role as a grandmother rather than a mother. We all know Madie is not a napper. I try getting her into routines and everyday is different, she changes it up on me. I am lucky if I get a hour a day out of her. Well, Sunday was no exception. She napped for about 45 minutes all day. So by the time my parents arrived at 5 she was about done for the day. My mother took her away from me and I warned her, that Madie's mood was lousy. She did everything she could to try and get a smile out of her and no a whine. I asked for her back a couple of times knowing that I should feed her solids and boob and she might and I mean might take a small cat nap. My mother said she had it. So I left the room took a deep breath and finished cooking dinner. Well, Madie wanted nothing to do with the solid food tonight. I tried her sweet potatoes, some yogurt and her sippy cup. She wanted nothing to do with it. By this time it was about 6:30. Madie was in need of her bath and bed and boob and book. My mom was determined to get Madie to eat. She got an applesauce out of the fridge, and not even opening it she sticks her pinkie through the wrapper and gives Madie a pinkie of applesauce. She did not want it! I frankly thought that was disgusting and told her so. She told me I was over reacting. I love my mom to death, she is a fabulous grandma. She goes out of her way for Madie. But I have come to believe that she has a hard time seeing me in the mom role. This is not the first time something like that has happened. Constantly, she is disregarding what I say and doing what she thinks is best! One time she went as far as to cut her hair while Mike and I were away for the evening. I have triesd talking to her about please listening to what I have to say concerning Madie, and it does not help. Just wondering if anyone else has similar issues or has an idea of how to help. Madie is going to be with my parents for the afternoon and evening tomorrow!

Travel Debacle

Last weekend we went away for three days to visit my in-laws. You would think a short trip like this would be easy, right?

For the 100+ degree weather I decided to pack easy things: 2 onesies, 2 outfits (shirt and shorts) and 2 pajamas. As usual, I had a long sleeve onesie, a short sleeve onesie and a pair of pajamas in my diaper bag for 'just in case' moments. So, I'm prepared, right???

Day 1- Drive 6 hours - when arriving we realized Brett had pooped and it was all over the car seat. Washed car seat cover and changed Brett into a onesie

Day 2- Realized that one of the onesies that I brought was the wrong size- too small, put on an outfit and it was too small! Second outfit fit fine. Put Brett in pajamas for bedtime

Day 3- Dressed Brett in the backup onesie from my diaper bag and drove to Vegas, went in Circus, Circus (it was a madhouse). We left to head home- a little over 4 hours of driving ahead of us. Brett falls asleep and we drive 2 hours to Barstow. We get to In-N-Out and my husband takes Brett out of her car seat while I was doing something (don't remember what). All of the sudden we look down and my husbands shirt is COVERED in POOP! He hands her to me to change her - now I have poop on me! I know that all I have left in my diaper bag is a long-sleeved onesie and pajamas- both way too warm for the weather. However, I have to dress her in something, so I choose the long-sleeved onesie. I look at the tag and it is a 3-month size! Too small! URGH. So, the pajamas it is. We put her in them but roll up the feet portion so that her feet don't get too hot. Ok, 2 hours to go. We get to the Orange area (only 30 miles to go) and I smell poop again. We pull off the road and stop at a gas station. Sure enough, she pooped again! AND, it leaked out of her diapers! So, we took her out of the pajamas and she rode the rest of the way home in her diaper!

Well, I learned my lesson here. I will always check the sizes of the things that I pack and I will double-check the items in my diaper bag to make sure that the sizes are correct.

Lastly, on this trip we brought with us our last pack of Pampers Swaddlers Size 2-3 diapers. I swore by the Pampers Sensitive when Brett was tiny but I was disappointed in the 'holding power' of these diapers. I have been using the Kirkland brand from Costco and have been quite happy with their ability to hold in the yucky stuff.

Sleep Training and Scheduling

I know I’ve griped to many of you about the bad habits I’d gotten Matthew into. For the first couple months he napped only in my arms, which I loved at first, but then realized: I will never get anything done again… ever! =0 He woke the second I tried to put him down, so I started nursing him lying down in my bed and then sneaking away once he fell asleep. That worked so well that I threw his bedtime routine out the window and started doing it then too! I’d sneak him into his crib after he’d fallen into a deep enough sleep and that worked for awhile, until he started waking up more often needing to be nursed back to sleep all night long. What did I expect?? This kid had no idea how to fall asleep on his own! Now that I was up multiple times a night with him, I was growing more and more exhausted… so what did I do? Bring him into our bed, of course. Seriously, as I write this I’m wondering, “what on earth was I thinking?” I guess sleep deprivation got the best of me.

Alright, so here I am with a 5 1/2 month old baby who exclusively nurses to sleep, won’t sleep in his crib, and wakes up more times a night than he did as a newborn. =/ Yikes! I knew I had to do something to help teach Matthew how to fall asleep on his own, but I was so hesitant to try sleep training because I couldn’t bear to hear him cry. Our pediatrician had suggested night weaning, but to be honest I just didn’t think it would work. However, thanks to Lisa’s post about the success she had with sleep training and Holly’s suggestion in the comments section, I felt motivated enough to give it a try.

Let me tell you, the result has been AMAZING and so much quicker/easier than expected!! I started off by listing out all the things I wanted to accomplish: (1) Teaching Matthew to fall asleep on his own – I made the decision that I would no longer nurse him to sleep, (2) ALL of his sleeping would be done in his crib, unless he fell asleep in the car – He was not going to be allowed back into our bed (a decision that actually made me sad knowing I wouldn’t be able to cuddle with him during the night), (3) Teaching him that nights are NOT for eating – Unless I could tell that he was truly hungry, I was going to rock him back to sleep when he woke, rather than feed him.

I knew I had to tackle everything at once and be consistent if I wanted Matthew to understand and accept the new plan. So here’s how it went: for naps I established a quick routine (wipe down with warm washcloth, read, rock) then put him down tired, but still awake. The first time he cried for 15 minutes, I checked on him twice, and then he slept for 1.5 hours in his crib!! I was so amazed, and this definitely gave me the motivation to keep going. I started consistently doing his bedtime routine (bath, lotion, pjs, read, rock) and just like naps, putting him down when he became drowsy. Bedtime actually involved less fussing because he gets so tired by the end of the day and falls asleep quickly. The first night he woke up twice and I was up for 45 min. – 1 hr. rocking him each time. The second night he still woke up twice but for only 5 – 10 min. of rocking. The third night he woke once, but again we were up for almost an hour. Since then he has been sleeping GREAT! 7pm – 7am + every night! I was so amazed at how quickly he adapted. I still haven’t gotten used to the fact that I can put him down for naps and bedtime awake and he will curl up on his own and fall asleep with out making a peep!

(Side note: I had tried letting him cry it out a couple times previously and it did not work. I think we had to wait until he was really ready and old enough to understand we weren’t leaving him for good. The longest he ever fussed before falling asleep was 15 minutes.)

The sleep training along with introducing solids have all helped him fall into a good daily schedule. Something I’d been striving for since day 1! A usual day for him is…

7-8am wake/nurse

9am breakfast (2 tbs. rice cereal and bottle)

10am nap (30 min. – 1 hr.)

11:30 nurse

12:30 nurse

2pm nap (1 hr. 30 min.)

3:30 nurse

5:30 dinner (2-4 tbs. veggies and bottle)

6:30 nurse/bedtime routine

7pm asleep

Sorry for such a long post… hope it can be of some help to someone! =)

Cool iPhone Apps

I read this and couldn't resist passing it along. There are apps for everything from tracking your breastfeeding to a baby monitor (I'll download and let you know if it works) to cooking. Check it out!

http://www.parentdish.com/2008/11/14/parentwish-baby-monitor-iphone-app/

Bathroom Stops

I remember when I first had Brett I was so worried about taking her out in public because I wasn't sure how to take her into the bathroom with me. It seems to obvious now, but it didn't at the time.

My 'been-there-done-that' girlfriend suggested to take her into the handicap bathroom with me. If I had her in the stroller I would simply bring her in with me. If I had her car seat in a shopping cart it was a bit more complicated but I would just bring her in and set the car seat on the ground.

I had this pretty well figured out. That is, until this weekend. On the way home from visiting the in-laws we stopped at Circus, Circus in Las Vegas so that my nephews could play at the arcade. This was the worst idea ever. It was literally wall-to-wall people there. As soon as we walked in it honestly smelled like dirty diapers.

I had Brett in the umbrella stroller, which we were using for the first time. She didn't love it but she seemed to be managing. When we got there I took her into the restroom. There was a long line and only one handicap bathroom. The whole place was filthy. As we waited in line, she started crying.

I kept looking around wondering if I should just wait for the handicap one to open or squeeze her into a small stall. I was going to wait for the handicap restroom when my mother-in-law walked in and entertained her while I went and then we switched.

I'm not sure why this stressed me out, but it did. I was nervous in the entire situation- just too many people in too small a space. We left after about 15 minutes.

I guess the moral of the story is to be prepared when going out so you know how you are going to handle your own 'potty' stops.

Fussy Baby/Frustrated Baby

Reagan's "colic" symptoms were textbook- started at 2 weeks, peaked at 6 weeks, subsized at 5 months. Inconsolable crying for long periods of time and a sense of serious discomfort for my baby. As a first time mom, this was a very difficult time. While my friends-also first-time moms, were enjoying these first months with their babies, I was almost in tears most nights. We tried everything to console her (strollers, car rides, pacifiers, sshhing, swaddling, bouncy seats, swings, the amby bed.. and on and on). One by one, we'd conclude that she didn't like them. We went through all of tests to rule out reflux, gasteo issues, teething, etc. Every pediatrician's appointment, I prayed for the "ah ha" moment where I would go home with a cured baby- it never came.

Reagan struggled in public places and new faces would set her off into tears. We didn't want to isolate ourselves, so we would try outings but knew they would probably be cut short. A few times I went to Target and saw new moms pushing around their new stroller with a sleeping baby inside. That looked amazing to me- but so far from our reality. Our new stroller was practically unused.

The diagnosis of colic was unsettling to me as no one could tell me exactly what it was and what it was caused by. I was just told- constant crying to extended periods of time is colic. But I needed to find out why she was crying and what I could do to help her. My lifesaver was a book called, "The Fussy Baby" by Dr. Sears. Also "Your Fussy Baby" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth and "Raising Your Spirited Child" by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka were great books. Even though we never did figure out the "why", these books gave great advice for parenting high needs babies, who require a great deal of soothing, holding etc. And the best thing I got from these books was reassurance that "you will get through this".

And we did! Now at 6 months, we couldn't be happier. Reagan is a happy, curious, full-of-energy little girl. We weathered the storm of our fussy days and they now seem like a distant memory.

Baby's First Movie

On weekend afternoons, my husband & I have been dying to go see a movie....you remember that big fancy thing called the movie theater =)!? Someone at our Gymboree class had mentioned a nearby theater with a baby cry room. The room was created to give families an opportunity to see movies even if they have young children...genius! 

I called the movie theater ahead of time to get more information about the room, like is it soundproof! I didn't want to be THOSE people in the theater with a small child crying their eyes out. We were reassured that the room is soundproof and you didn't have to reserve it ahead of time. So yesterday we took the leap to bring Molly to her first movie.

I, of course, packed up an arsenal of toys and baby entertainment. Two hours is a long time in a baby's life! We planned the timing of the movie around her naps. Nap on the way, nap on the way home and hopefully play contently throughout the movie =).

It is an older theater called Regency Theater (formerly known as Mann Theater). The person who takes your ticket stubs is also the person who sells you the tickets. We were impressed with the the baby cry room. It's literally a soundproof box with 4 theater chairs, but it is located in same room as the rest of the population and wired with it's own sound. A small open space behind the chairs provides enough room to lay out a baby blanket and toys. We felt like we had the best seats in the house! 

Molly woke up to the loud sound of the movie starting, so we started entertaining her with toys. We noticed she was a little fussy, so I put her in the front carrier. She ended up watching the movie for a while and then eventually falling asleep. She slept through the rest of the movie, our entire trip home and for another 45 minutes at home...almost a 2 hour nap!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the movies! We would do it again in a heartbeat. The real icing on the cake is, as we exited the theater, there were two ushers waiting with a bowl full of mints. Now what theaters do that anymore!?

** For those of you who live in South Orange County, the theater is located off Greenfield & Crown Valley Parkway- www.regencymovies.com. Only their two biggest theaters has a baby cry room, so make sure you call the movie hotline ahead of time. **

Children Tell the Truth

You can always count on children for their brutal honesty. My four-year-old nephew said to me last night, "Brett has one small eye and one big eye".

This proves that everyone thinks that their children are perfect! =)

Long Drive

Yesterday we did our third long drive with Brett. It was a 368 mile drive to visit her grandparents.

We had done this drive previously but she was much smaller and slept most of the drive. As we prepared for the trip I was nervous that, being the crawler that she is now, she wouldn't want to be in a car seat for 6 hours.

I was right. We took off in the morning at about the time she would be taking her morning nap. She slept for 45 minutes (the normal length of her morning nap). When she awoke we drove a bit longer and stopped to feed her and change her diaper.

Back in the car after a 40 minute stop she was not too happy. I sat in the backseat with her and did my best to entertain. I used Cheerios, books, songs from Gymboree, straws.

The item that save the day however was the Munchkin mesh food teether. I pulled an ice cube out of the cooler and put it inside. She was hesitant at first but then began to chew away. This was our life saver!!!




I fed her sweet potatoes and a bottle and she went back to sleep- for 2 hours! We pushed through, even though I really had to pee. She woke up when we had 70 miles to go but she wasn't crying so we forged ahead.

We made it in just under for 6 hours with only one stop. A fairly successful journey...

To Sleep Train or Not to Sleep Train

From birth to about 2.5 months, Molly was the type of baby who took hours to put to bed. We would have to walk/rock/bounce her to sleep and then wait until that magical time when she was in a deep enough sleep to transfer her into the crib. Most of the time you would think she was deep asleep to find that when you try to put her in the crib, she would wake up! This went on and on, exhausting both me and my husband. Nighttime feedings were the same process.

Around 2.5 months, after crying in our pediatrician's office, the pediatrician recommended sleep training Molly. Her suggestion was letting her cry in 10 minute increments. I did tons of research on sleep training to see what the best method would be for Molly. We finally decided on Dr. Ferber's sleep method. 

This worked WONDERS for us! We can now put Molly down for bed wide awake and she'll fall asleep on her own...no fussing or crying. This is also the same for nighttime feedings, we're only up maybe 15-20 minutes for a quick feed and she goes right back down.

Now it's come time to figure out if we should sleep train her for nighttime feedings. She's 5 months old and still wakes up once, sometimes twice, a night to feed. The feeding is always very quick, but she wakes up at a different time every night. I have friends who have recommended letting her cry it out or to do Dr. Ferber's method, but all I think about is how quick I can just hook her up to the boob and put her back to sleep!

So this is something we are still trying to figure out! There is always something new for us to think about as moms...what & when is best for our child!? More to come on Molly's sleep training =)...

Jumper

Today I had over 17 new mommy's with their 17 new babies! Because only 3 of the 17 babies were mobile it was fairly calm and we all had a nice time.

I was, however, exhausted from the day. Not to mention, Brett decided that she would wake up in the middle of the night last night. I'm not sure why, though I suspect teething. So, Brett was exhausted, too. She took a 45 minute nap during the large 'playdate' but was still sleepy.

After everyone left I was cleaning up so I put Brett in the jumper chair that goes in the doorway. She loves this and started bouncing away. It allows her to rotate in the doorway so she can turn and see me wherever I go. This is essential right now because when I am out of her sightline she goes bananas.

Anyway, I was cleaning and then I made my way over to the computer. I was browsing through email for maybe 2 minutes when I realized it was really quite. I turned around to look at Brett and she was hunched over SLEEPING in the jumper chair!

I went over and took her out. She stirred and woke up (it isn't easy getting baby out of these things) but I quickly rocked her back to sleep and she slept for over an hour!

Poor thing was wiped out from entertaining all of her new friends!

The Downfalls of Mobility

Today we had a real milestone- our first major bonk on the head. Brett is constantly pulling herself up on things now, so it was bound to happen.

This morning, I was eating cereal at the dining room table. She was on the ground next to me and began pulling herself up onto the chair. Her hand slipped and she hit the center of her forehead on the corner edge of the chair leg. OUCH! She cried and cried. I felt terrible.

It actually left a mark- she has a bruise on her forehead. I know it will be the first of many, but it still made me sad for her. So, yes, here is another downfall to mobility...