Traveling with an infant. Hmmm. Smart? No. I remember Alex's first Christmas - he was 4.5 months old. It was awful. If he wasn't screaming, well, he was screaming. Being first time parents, we were sure we were ruining him - and that is why he was screaming. But no, it was teeth. 2 teeth that popped through a week later on New Year's Day.
Teething sucks. And so does screwing up what semblance of a schedule you might have with an infant. In the car, Elizabeth actually does better than Alex. There's a lot less whining coming from the right side of the car. She just wakes up long enough to cry to eat, and then goes back to sleep.
The biggest problem is I forgot the swing. You know the thing I talk about that is the only thing that helps her nap during the day? Yep. In our living room. 250 miles away from us. It's pretty bad when you actually consider going to the store to buy another one - even though I already own two swings. She was just out of her element. We brought the pack-n-play - which she doesn't nap in at home. I didn't do any test runs to have her sleep in it, which was my mistake. I also packed way too many clothes for all of us. But, she puked and pooped on a lot of our clothes, so we actually used more clothes that we should have.
It made the few days we had in WV stressful, tiring and just not much fun. We did have a nice time visiting Jeff's family and watching Alex play with Grammy and Papaw. He went on lawn mower rides and took walks in the woods. Grammy had to take him to the bathroom every time he had to go. Jeff and I just wouldn't do. Alex got to see it snow and Elizabeth saw her first snow. I also packed light jackets - thinking we were in Virginia weather, when it's typically 15-20 degrees colder in the mountains. I had to borrow gloves and scarves from Jeff's Mom.
We learned a lot of what to pack/bring for Christmas. I'm hoping that the pack-n-play sleeping goes better then. It's exhausting getting up every 2 hours because she's not in something she recognizes. Jeff's Mom is a night owl, and I'd just go downstairs and we'd sit and talk for 2 hours until E started getting sleepy and then I'd tell her I'd see her in another 2 hours. We talked about our weird dreams we had - like the Burger King King throwing Whoppers at me and Jeff. And Jeff's Mom had some weird dream about an orange ball that was yelling at her.
There's a lot to remember about how hard traveling with an infant is. Alex is 3, and can pretty much do mostly everything. Except go drive to Five Guys and get me dinner. Going back to a helpless baby who won't listen to reason when you tell her you are exhausted and she can't possibly be awake so soon- it's just hard.
It took me all of today to recover. Both kids slept in today - probably because they were back in their own beds, with their own surroundings.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
She hates Cereal.
So, in vast contrast to my last posting where I said I was going to wait to feed E cereal, I lied and started feeding her. She just seems so interested in watching us eat, and I wanted to give her some.
Well, she hates it. she scrinches up her face and she gets this weird uni-brow looking wrinkle in the middle of her forehead. She really doesn't like it. But she doesn't know how to get it out of her mouth, so she just has to eat it. Poor girl. The next night I mixed in some formula with it, and she seemed to tolerate that a little more. Alex tastes it everynight and he lets me know that it tastes horrible. But, since we are feeding it to E, he needs to have some.
He's been more obsessed lately with doing things like E. He is constantly asking me to get in the crib to sleep. He's not over the weight limit, so I put him in there, and he happily played in there for like 20 minutes. He's also constantly in the swing or the bassinet of the pack-n-play. I just kind of ignore him, as yelling at him to get out of those things didn't work so well. Of course, ignoring him isn't working so well either. I figure he can't break the stuff. Or, maybe he can. I'm just too tired to deal with it.
E sleeps through the night - unless it's a rare occasion, but she'll only get up once per night. She sleeps from about 9pm - 6:30am. But when she wakes up, I still feel like I have gotten up 3 times that night. I don't sleep very well at night. She's taken to having a conversation with the crib turtle about 2am every night. She just talks to him about her day and how much she hated the rice cereal and then she goes back to bed. But I have the magical mommy hearing, so I hear it and then can't get back to sleep. This goes along with the magical mommy spit that cleans everything. I'm hoping someday in the next 15 years I'll be able to sleep through the night. As someone who could sleep all day, I really miss that.
My friend Stephanie told me that her husband told her one morning that he would pay her $100 to go walk the dog because he didn't want to get up so early. She declined, rolled over and went back to sleep. hah. Now, if only Jeff could lactate so we could have this same conversation.
Well, she hates it. she scrinches up her face and she gets this weird uni-brow looking wrinkle in the middle of her forehead. She really doesn't like it. But she doesn't know how to get it out of her mouth, so she just has to eat it. Poor girl. The next night I mixed in some formula with it, and she seemed to tolerate that a little more. Alex tastes it everynight and he lets me know that it tastes horrible. But, since we are feeding it to E, he needs to have some.
He's been more obsessed lately with doing things like E. He is constantly asking me to get in the crib to sleep. He's not over the weight limit, so I put him in there, and he happily played in there for like 20 minutes. He's also constantly in the swing or the bassinet of the pack-n-play. I just kind of ignore him, as yelling at him to get out of those things didn't work so well. Of course, ignoring him isn't working so well either. I figure he can't break the stuff. Or, maybe he can. I'm just too tired to deal with it.
E sleeps through the night - unless it's a rare occasion, but she'll only get up once per night. She sleeps from about 9pm - 6:30am. But when she wakes up, I still feel like I have gotten up 3 times that night. I don't sleep very well at night. She's taken to having a conversation with the crib turtle about 2am every night. She just talks to him about her day and how much she hated the rice cereal and then she goes back to bed. But I have the magical mommy hearing, so I hear it and then can't get back to sleep. This goes along with the magical mommy spit that cleans everything. I'm hoping someday in the next 15 years I'll be able to sleep through the night. As someone who could sleep all day, I really miss that.
My friend Stephanie told me that her husband told her one morning that he would pay her $100 to go walk the dog because he didn't want to get up so early. She declined, rolled over and went back to sleep. hah. Now, if only Jeff could lactate so we could have this same conversation.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
E's 4 month checkup.
Height- 24.5 inches - 50%
Weight- 13lbs 6ozs - 50%
Head- 44cm - over 100%
She's still on the curve for everything but the head - she shot way up from last time. But, Alex did the same thing - he had a big head, and then it went to super big head. We had to get a scan of his brain to rule anything out and meet with a neurologist, but she told us that big headed parents have big headed babies. And unless something else was wrong, a shot up like that in head size is not a concern.
She's 1 inch shorter than Alex at the same time, but 4 pounds lighter. Now, Alex was completely on formula for 2 months by his 4 month appointment, and he is a boy, so I think she is doing ok.
She's doing fine, and did really well with her shots. She only cried after the needle came out of her leg, and then only cried for about 2 seconds and was just looking around the room like hey, what's going on? So, she does SO much better than Alex with shots. He would cry very hard for a long time. So, maybe E will be my tough child? :)
Weight- 13lbs 6ozs - 50%
Head- 44cm - over 100%
She's still on the curve for everything but the head - she shot way up from last time. But, Alex did the same thing - he had a big head, and then it went to super big head. We had to get a scan of his brain to rule anything out and meet with a neurologist, but she told us that big headed parents have big headed babies. And unless something else was wrong, a shot up like that in head size is not a concern.
She's 1 inch shorter than Alex at the same time, but 4 pounds lighter. Now, Alex was completely on formula for 2 months by his 4 month appointment, and he is a boy, so I think she is doing ok.
She's doing fine, and did really well with her shots. She only cried after the needle came out of her leg, and then only cried for about 2 seconds and was just looking around the room like hey, what's going on? So, she does SO much better than Alex with shots. He would cry very hard for a long time. So, maybe E will be my tough child? :)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Four Months Old
E turned four months old a few days ago. I didn't even think about it on the day she turned 4 months. I guess that's the problem being the second child. Already, I'm starting to forget moments like that. I'm sure with Alex's 4 month birthday I baked a cake and ran around like a crazy lady hoping to impress him.
As they say with the second child, you take less photos of them, and usually there is another kid in the picture. I've been trying my hardest to take pictures of her by herself, and even take some video. With Alex, I got out the video camera and took video of him all the time. We had it at the hospital with us and video taped everything. With E, I don't even think it's been charged up in over a year. With our phones, it just doesn't make sense. Plus, my camera takes pretty good video. I wonder if the video camera will go out the window like typewriters and VCR Machines.
She's growing and growing. Her infant car seat is starting to get to the point that it's heavy to carry. She's almost 13 pounds, but I'll get the exact figure on Wednesday at her 4 month checkup. In the past two days, she's just started babbling. She does it in the crib all the time. She's amazed that these sounds are coming out of her mouth that aren't screams. And I have to say I am happy that something else comes out of those lungs than screaming.
I've gotten out some teether toys and cleaned all the little chew toys (lovely term) I had for Alex. She seems disinterested to chew on them - preferring her thumb. Like Alex, she gave up the pacifier by 3 months old. But, unlike Alex, she loves to suck her thumb. So, we'll have to see how she's doing in a year with that thumb.
I've decided to hold off just a little bit on solids. We started Alex at 4 months, but maybe I am wanting her to stay a baby for a little while longer. I've bought the box of rice cereal, and it's sitting in my pantry. But, for now, it goes unopened. Of course, this doesn't mean that she hasn't tried chocolate frosting, pizza sauce and maybe a few other fingertip things that we have around the house. That's the other thing with a second child. You know chocolate frosting isn't going to kill them.
Everyone in the house has the death crud, except E. I'm wondering if it's because I'm breastfeeding and she's getting some antibodies. I don't think we had the swine, just a nasty cold that made us all feel like crap. Jeff, Alex and I all had different symptoms, so I don't even know if we have the same crud bug. We've still got it, so most likely we'll be avoiding everyone this upcoming week.
As for breastfeeding, I'm so elated to have made it to 4 months. She's getting 2 formula bottles per day- one in mid-afternoon and one before bed. She's drinking 6ozs at each one, so I'm thinking the weaning process might be soon. I've worked so hard to get to 4 months, and I don't want to stop. That's another reason I'm avoiding solids right now. Because I know when she starts them full force, that my supply will definitely go down. And right now I'm holding somewhat strong. I'd like to make it through the winter, or at least until January/February when all the sickness crap is almost done. I feel like BFing is helping her and me. Well, mostly her, stay well. This is the first sickness I've had in a while, when Jeff and Alex have been sick before.
So, anyway, Happy 4 months and 2 days. Now if I could just get her to nap.....
As they say with the second child, you take less photos of them, and usually there is another kid in the picture. I've been trying my hardest to take pictures of her by herself, and even take some video. With Alex, I got out the video camera and took video of him all the time. We had it at the hospital with us and video taped everything. With E, I don't even think it's been charged up in over a year. With our phones, it just doesn't make sense. Plus, my camera takes pretty good video. I wonder if the video camera will go out the window like typewriters and VCR Machines.
She's growing and growing. Her infant car seat is starting to get to the point that it's heavy to carry. She's almost 13 pounds, but I'll get the exact figure on Wednesday at her 4 month checkup. In the past two days, she's just started babbling. She does it in the crib all the time. She's amazed that these sounds are coming out of her mouth that aren't screams. And I have to say I am happy that something else comes out of those lungs than screaming.
I've gotten out some teether toys and cleaned all the little chew toys (lovely term) I had for Alex. She seems disinterested to chew on them - preferring her thumb. Like Alex, she gave up the pacifier by 3 months old. But, unlike Alex, she loves to suck her thumb. So, we'll have to see how she's doing in a year with that thumb.
I've decided to hold off just a little bit on solids. We started Alex at 4 months, but maybe I am wanting her to stay a baby for a little while longer. I've bought the box of rice cereal, and it's sitting in my pantry. But, for now, it goes unopened. Of course, this doesn't mean that she hasn't tried chocolate frosting, pizza sauce and maybe a few other fingertip things that we have around the house. That's the other thing with a second child. You know chocolate frosting isn't going to kill them.
Everyone in the house has the death crud, except E. I'm wondering if it's because I'm breastfeeding and she's getting some antibodies. I don't think we had the swine, just a nasty cold that made us all feel like crap. Jeff, Alex and I all had different symptoms, so I don't even know if we have the same crud bug. We've still got it, so most likely we'll be avoiding everyone this upcoming week.
As for breastfeeding, I'm so elated to have made it to 4 months. She's getting 2 formula bottles per day- one in mid-afternoon and one before bed. She's drinking 6ozs at each one, so I'm thinking the weaning process might be soon. I've worked so hard to get to 4 months, and I don't want to stop. That's another reason I'm avoiding solids right now. Because I know when she starts them full force, that my supply will definitely go down. And right now I'm holding somewhat strong. I'd like to make it through the winter, or at least until January/February when all the sickness crap is almost done. I feel like BFing is helping her and me. Well, mostly her, stay well. This is the first sickness I've had in a while, when Jeff and Alex have been sick before.
So, anyway, Happy 4 months and 2 days. Now if I could just get her to nap.....
Friday, November 13, 2009
E Meets her Namesake.
On Wednesday, I took the kids up for a marathon tour of MD to visit family and friends. The main reason for the visit was to visit my grandmother - who E is named after - her middle name Grace is my grandmother's middle name. I had been wanting to get up to see her for a while, but the over 2 hour car ride to her place wasn't something that I thought E was ready for.
My grandmother is living in an assisted living home, and it seems to really have done wonders for her. Before, she was all alone all day in her home, until my Uncle came home from work. Now, she's got her little old lady friends, and they go out into the community on bus rides and she goes out to lunch and just has people to talk to. It seems to have really raised her spirits, and she can walk great now. She's walking with a walker, but she can really get around with that thing. The only sad part, is that I think her mind is finally starting to go. She'll be 91 in January. She asked me the same question about 50 times, and she was confused as to who my Mom was. She thought my Uncle was my Dad. But, I think she is doing pretty well for 90.
She was so great with E. She just held her the whole time we were up there. E was content to just sit in her lap and look around. Alex just wanted to drink all the water out of the water fountain. My grandmother and Alex looked through her photo albums in her room and I think the visit really made her day.
I don't get to visit her very often, so I was glad to have finally made the trip and that E and Mom-Mom got to meet.
My grandmother is living in an assisted living home, and it seems to really have done wonders for her. Before, she was all alone all day in her home, until my Uncle came home from work. Now, she's got her little old lady friends, and they go out into the community on bus rides and she goes out to lunch and just has people to talk to. It seems to have really raised her spirits, and she can walk great now. She's walking with a walker, but she can really get around with that thing. The only sad part, is that I think her mind is finally starting to go. She'll be 91 in January. She asked me the same question about 50 times, and she was confused as to who my Mom was. She thought my Uncle was my Dad. But, I think she is doing pretty well for 90.
She was so great with E. She just held her the whole time we were up there. E was content to just sit in her lap and look around. Alex just wanted to drink all the water out of the water fountain. My grandmother and Alex looked through her photo albums in her room and I think the visit really made her day.
I don't get to visit her very often, so I was glad to have finally made the trip and that E and Mom-Mom got to meet.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Well, I guess I'll keep writing.
Well, everyone but Manda can keep reading. :P I just don't feel like I have time to do anything anymore. It's even worse than when E was an infant. How can that be?
I'm working on sleep training E. She just does not want to sleep. She will go from 7am-3pm without napping. Only catnapping for 5-10 minutes after eating. I am trying up for 2 hours, down for a nap. Up for 2 hours, down for a nap. But it's not working. I try the crib, the swing, holding her - she doesn't want to sleep. And then finally at 3pm she sleeps for 4 hours because she is so tired. I know I just need to keep trying. I'm missing her sleep cues. So, maybe I'll try sleep every 1.5 hours. She must have Jeff's sleep genes because he doesn't need much sleep. Unlike me. I could sleep for days. Last night I went to bed at 9:30. I wanted to go to bed at 6:30, but I said I'm not 65 yet, I have to make it until 9:30. And I slept until 7am.
Well, except for being woken up at 1am by Alex. We ran out of diapers 4 days ago, so he's been wearing underwear at night. He's potty trained during the day. It's so nice to see him run upstairs to use the potty and I can just sit there. No cleaning up two diapers. No cleaning up the massive amounts of poop that come out of him. It's nice. Tho, from when I was pregnant, he knows every bathroom in every store we go to. So, if we walk past the bathroom, he says he has to go. I don't know if he is just saying that or what, but he does pee everytime he goes in there.
The first two nights without a diaper he didn't pee at all in his bed. Well, the past two nights, he's peed the bed. The 3rd night it was about 6:30am, and last night it was about 1am. He only does it once, so I guess I can be thankful for that. Jeff said last night at 1am that perhaps we need to go back to diapers. But, I think that is a step backwards. He peed in his pants several times when we were first potty training. This is just the next step.
When I changed him bed, I just took the sheet and threw it on the bed. I didn't feel like putting on the fitted sheet at 1am. And then he made it to 8am.
Alex seems to be remembering things too. He'll tell me about stuff he did two weeks ago with great clarity. Jeff, Alex and Jeff's friend Rich went to a tank show a couple weeks ago, and Alex will randomly bring up that he went to see tanks with Mr. Rich and ate a hot dog. It's interesting what he remembers. Like, he remembers eating a hot dog and playing in the dirt at the field. I can't remember what is my earliest memory, but I wonder now that Alex is remembering stuff like this - if this is what he will think of when he thinks of being young.
Next week I'll be making my first big trip with E. I'm going to visit my grandmother - E and Alex's great-grandmother. She lives in MD and is about 2.5 hours away. E is doing much better in the car now so I'm ready for the trip. My grandmother is 90 and just can't make the trip down here anymore. Grace is E's middle name, and she's named after my grandmother. Elizabeth is my other grandmother's name - she passed away in 1997. I've wanted to go visit for a while, but just didn't feel like she was ready to make the trip. Alex loves riding in the car, so that's no issue. I'm going on Veteran's Day because hopefully the traffic will be lighter. Jeff has to work, so it will just be me. But, that's how everyday is, so I'm excited go up and see her. We're going to WV for Thanksgiving, so this trip will be a nice trial run.
I'm working on sleep training E. She just does not want to sleep. She will go from 7am-3pm without napping. Only catnapping for 5-10 minutes after eating. I am trying up for 2 hours, down for a nap. Up for 2 hours, down for a nap. But it's not working. I try the crib, the swing, holding her - she doesn't want to sleep. And then finally at 3pm she sleeps for 4 hours because she is so tired. I know I just need to keep trying. I'm missing her sleep cues. So, maybe I'll try sleep every 1.5 hours. She must have Jeff's sleep genes because he doesn't need much sleep. Unlike me. I could sleep for days. Last night I went to bed at 9:30. I wanted to go to bed at 6:30, but I said I'm not 65 yet, I have to make it until 9:30. And I slept until 7am.
Well, except for being woken up at 1am by Alex. We ran out of diapers 4 days ago, so he's been wearing underwear at night. He's potty trained during the day. It's so nice to see him run upstairs to use the potty and I can just sit there. No cleaning up two diapers. No cleaning up the massive amounts of poop that come out of him. It's nice. Tho, from when I was pregnant, he knows every bathroom in every store we go to. So, if we walk past the bathroom, he says he has to go. I don't know if he is just saying that or what, but he does pee everytime he goes in there.
The first two nights without a diaper he didn't pee at all in his bed. Well, the past two nights, he's peed the bed. The 3rd night it was about 6:30am, and last night it was about 1am. He only does it once, so I guess I can be thankful for that. Jeff said last night at 1am that perhaps we need to go back to diapers. But, I think that is a step backwards. He peed in his pants several times when we were first potty training. This is just the next step.
When I changed him bed, I just took the sheet and threw it on the bed. I didn't feel like putting on the fitted sheet at 1am. And then he made it to 8am.
Alex seems to be remembering things too. He'll tell me about stuff he did two weeks ago with great clarity. Jeff, Alex and Jeff's friend Rich went to a tank show a couple weeks ago, and Alex will randomly bring up that he went to see tanks with Mr. Rich and ate a hot dog. It's interesting what he remembers. Like, he remembers eating a hot dog and playing in the dirt at the field. I can't remember what is my earliest memory, but I wonder now that Alex is remembering stuff like this - if this is what he will think of when he thinks of being young.
Next week I'll be making my first big trip with E. I'm going to visit my grandmother - E and Alex's great-grandmother. She lives in MD and is about 2.5 hours away. E is doing much better in the car now so I'm ready for the trip. My grandmother is 90 and just can't make the trip down here anymore. Grace is E's middle name, and she's named after my grandmother. Elizabeth is my other grandmother's name - she passed away in 1997. I've wanted to go visit for a while, but just didn't feel like she was ready to make the trip. Alex loves riding in the car, so that's no issue. I'm going on Veteran's Day because hopefully the traffic will be lighter. Jeff has to work, so it will just be me. But, that's how everyday is, so I'm excited go up and see her. We're going to WV for Thanksgiving, so this trip will be a nice trial run.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
I might be ending this blog soon.
I just don't seem to have time to update anything, and I update so much on Facebook that I feel like I'm updating twice. Does anyone even still read this thing?
Plus, I feel like this is just another Mommy blog that talks about poops and naps. But, honestly, that is the excitement in my life right now. Maybe when I feel more exciting, I can come back and write.
Plus, I feel like this is just another Mommy blog that talks about poops and naps. But, honestly, that is the excitement in my life right now. Maybe when I feel more exciting, I can come back and write.
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