Monthly Archive

Today Sophie napped for 3 WHOLE hours. I don’t know what came over her, but she would not wake up. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I just don’t understand what triggers those nice long naps. I know that babies change their schedule all the time, but I mean they have to settle at one point? As soon as I think that I have her figured ot she goes and changes on me again.

We were working on her going down for bed byherself and sleeping well at night, and that turned out well. At first She would wake up after 40 min and scream, but eventually stopped doing that. During that time she would sleep very long stretches of sleep (8-12hours), then eat and go back to sleep for another few hours. Now that she falls asleep right away she wakes up 2-4 times during the night. I just don’t get it. She doesn’t wake from hunger, she just wants to play. Can you tell I’m tired? I thought that by this age they get into a better sleep routine. I blame Brad for the bad sleeping habits, I was a good sleeper. If the naps are good, night time sleep is bad, and if the night time sleep is good, naps are bad. I guess i can’t have it all.

Sorry for the huge rant, I just feel like I don’t get my own kid most of the time. Ireally do think that they should come with instruction manuals. There would be way less messed up people. Parenting is hard…

Today Brad and I went out on hunt for boxes. As you may know we are moving back to BC next month, and we have a lot of stuff to pack. When we both came out here (Edmonton), we each had a car load of stuff, now we need a U-haul to get all the stuff out. Shows how much we stuff we’ve accumulated over 2 years. Anyway, you’d think it would be easy to find boxes, but no, we had to go to three different places.

So now I’m in the process of packing up our bedroom. Sophie and I are flying out to BC on April 2oth, and I’m coming back on the 23rd to finish cleaning up. I’m leaving Sophie with my parents, seeing as how I don’t think she would enjoy a 12hour driving trip with 2 howling cats in the back.

We are going to stay with my parents for a couple of months, and then try to fond our own place. Not sure where we’re going to be living yet, but I’m sure that will be figured out soon enough.

Ok, that’s it for today, sorry no picture. I woun’t blog everyday from now until we move, too busy, too many things to get done.

Yesterday I was waiting for Sophie to wake up from her nap to write a new post, but she kept sleeing and sleeping, and as soon as I opened up my computer she woke up. You’d think that after a 2 1/2 hour nap she would be happy, but no, there were crankies up the ying yang. So after all that I decided that instead of a blog I would take a nap. I like naps, they make me happy.

In one of my previous posts I talked about Sophie being obsessed with standing, so this is a follow up of that. I couldn’t hold her up all the time, so Brad and I decided that maybe we should get her an exersaucer. I wasn’t sure if she would like it, since she pays no attention to her boucer. Most babies get excited and jump in those, not mine, she just sits and stares at me. I went to Toys “R” Us and picked one up for her hoping that I didn’t waste a bunch of money for nothing. At first she looked at me with that blank stare, “what is this thing you put me in?” But after a little while she figured the whole thing out. When the exersaucer is rocked it plays music, didn’t take her long to figure that one out, and oh my does she get excited about that. Today she learned that the chair twists and she dosn’t just ahve to stare at one toy.

I am sooooo glad that I got it for her, now My hands are free and I can actually get some things done around the house.

Onto another note, Brad found out that we are able to move next month so I am not in the process of going through our stuff and trying to organize and pack. i’m so excited to come back home. Ahhhh no more Lakeless Edmonton summers…More on that later, monkey has to go take a nap.

I have a picture of her in the exersaucer, but I can’t find the USB cord to download them. Check back later, I’ll have it up sometime today.

I Love Looking At Myself !!!

What IS This???

Today I had my appointment with the Lactation Consultant. It went pretty well, she gave me some very good pointers. I also got a bunch of stuff to help me with breasteeding, nipple sheilds, pump stuff, and some suringe things. All the free things that she gave me added up to good $80.00, and I didn’t have to spend a cent. I really appreacited all the help that provided.

The LC checked sophie out, she weighs 13lbs 12oz, still little but doing well. She also got me to try to breastfeed her, and of course Sophie threw a fit. Basically what I have to do from now on is refuse to give Sophie any bottles and make her breastfeed. The LC told me that it might take a day or two of alot of protest crying, but a hungry baby won’t starve herself and will eventually eat from the breast. I have to wait until I have full supply, otherwise it will all be pointless. She upped me from 10mg of Domperidone to 20mg, and said that withing a month or so I can stop taking it and should be able to nurse without supplementing. I’m really hoping that this will all work out, but if she ABSOLUTLEY refuses to take the breast I can alays continue pumping. I’d rather do that then give her formula.

So, I’m the boss and I have to make my baby listen to me. If only it were as easy as it sounds. I’ll let you know how it all worked out. Bye Bye….

Here’s my little fatty

Since I don’t have anything new to write about Sophie, I thought that I would dedicate today’s blog to marriage. For those of you whom are considering getting married, here are a few reasons why it’s great to be married.

• You get to be with the person you love all the time. I don’t mean that you have to be attached at the hip, but you get to spend time together knowing that it is not just a fling. That you both vowed to be true to one another and that your love for each other is the reason that you are together.
• You know that no matter how angry you are at each other, the fight will eventually resolve and you will be happy again. I say this because yesterday Brad and I got in an argument over nothing, and we were both pretty ticked, but about 10 min later it was like it never happened. Our fights never last more then a few minutes, and we do not hold grudges. We know that it’s stupid and try to get over ourselves and move on.
• You always have someone to cuddle with. If you’ve had a bad day, when you come home you get to see your favorite person and have a nice cuddle. That always makes that bad day a better day.
• You no longer have to have those irresponsible roommates that drove you nuts. You know the ones that never paid rent in time and stole you clothes. And you no longer need to have 4 ketchup’s in your fridge because you can’t decide how to split the price of groceries. Now you live with someone whom most likely wont fit into your clothes, can’t be late with rent, and won’t need to buy 4 ketchup’s.
• You get to use the phrase “what’s yours is MINE” (visa versa). Unless you’re the one with all the good stuff, then you don’t get that on your pros list.
• You get to make wonderfully beautiful babies and know that what you’ve created are the best parts of you. That little baby will always represent the love that you had for one another.
• That’s it… There are many more reasons, but I’m tired so I will stop here.

GO GET MARRIED!!!

I have a weird family. I just asked Brad to charge the battery to our digital camera, and on his way to the outlet he managed to fall and hurt himself. The distance is about 2-3 feet, see, weird family. And now that he is sitting on the floor Twiggles (the obsessive cat) is already on top of him.

Anyway, that’s not what I was going to write about, I am going to tell you about my little addict. Sophie has this really weird fascintion with computer/TV screens. She could be happily playing with one of us, but as soon as she spots one of our computers or that the TV is on, her head turns that way and there’s no way of distracting her from it. It funny because when she is really cranky, all we have to do it open up a computer screen and all is well again. I keep thinking that she’s going to turn out to be a computer geek, just like her daddy.

Her new thing that has discovered is standing. The little stinker wants nothing to do with sitting, she MUST stand at ALL times. Her poor little legs can’t handle her weight for that long, and when she crashes she just gets mad and wants to go up again. I’m really shocked how well she can do it though. I don’t even have to hold her, just give her my fingers for balance, is that normal for a 4 month old? I thought they re supposed to learn to sit unassisted first? Nope, wants nothing to do with sitting, standing is the “in” thing now…

Anyway, back to the computer screen thing. I know that kids watching TV is a controversial topic, and I’m not for them spending countless hours infront of the screen, but is 10-15 a day that bad? Sometimes I like to watch certain shows, and she is up at that time, is it bad for her to watch it with me? This parenting thing looked easier then it is. I have a really cute picture of her and the computer, but I can’t upload it right now because the battery is charging. Check back in couple of hours, it will be up.

My little computer geek

Anna Quindlen, Newsweek Columnist and Author

All my babies are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief. I take great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost-adults, two taller than I am, one closing in fast. Three people who read the same books I do and have learned not to be afraidof disagreeing with me in their opinion of them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that make me laugh until I choke and cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep their doors closed more than I like. Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom, zip up their jackets and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves. Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center, the baby is buried deep within each, except through the unreliable haze of the past.
Everything in all the books I once poured over is finished for me now. Penelope Leach., T. Berry Brazelton., Dr. Spock. The ones on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education,all grown obsolete. Along with Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are,they are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages dust would rise like memories. What those books taught me,finally, and what the women on the playground taught me, and the well-meaning relations –what they taught me, was that they couldn’t really teach me very much at all.

Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay. No one knows anything. One child responds well to positive reinforcement, another can be managed only with a stern voice and a timeout. One child is toilet trained at 3, his sibling at 2.
When my first child was born, parents were told to put baby to bed on his belly so that he would not choke on his own spit-up. By the time my last arrived, babies were put down on their backs because of research on sudden infant death syndrome. To a new parent this ever-shifting certainty is terrifying, and then soothing. Eventually you must learn to trust yourself. Eventually the research will follow.
I remember 15 years ago poring over one of Dr. Brazelton’s wonderful books on child development, in which he describes three different sorts of infants: average, quiet,and active. I was looking f or a sub-quiet codicil for an 18-month old who did not walk. Was there something wrong with his fat little legs? Was there something wrong with his tiny little mind? Was he developmentally delayed, physically challenged? Was I insane? Last year he went to China . Next year he goes to college. He can talk just fine. He can walk, too.

Every part of raising children is humbling, too. Believe me, mistakes were made. They have all been enshrined in the, “Remember-When-Mom-Did Hall of Fame.” The outbursts, the temper tantrums, the bad language, mine, not theirs. The times the baby fell off the bed. The times I arrived late for preschool pickup. The nightmare sleepover.
The horrible summer camp. The day when the youngest came barreling out of the classroom with a 98 on her geography test, and I responded, “What did you get wrong?”. (She insisted I include that.)
The time I ordered food at the McDonald’s drive-through speaker and then drove away without picking it up from the window. (They all insisted I include that.) I did not allow them to watch the Simpsons for the first two seasons. What was I thinking?
But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three of them, sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night.

I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the get ting it done a little less. Even today I’m not sure what worked and what didn’t, what was me and what was simply life.

When they were very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were because of what I’d done. Now I suspect they simply grew into their true selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let them be. The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top. And look how it all turned out. I wound up with the three people I like best in the world, who have done more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity. That’s what the books never told me. I was bound and determined to learn from the experts. It just took me a while to figure out who the experts were.

News update on the breastfeeding mom II:

I went to see my doctor yesterday and she prescribed me Domperidone, which is technically for stomach issues but works really well for people with low milk supply. I’ve been taking it for only one day and can already see a huge difference. Yay to the tiny white pills!!!

Yesterday Brad was playing with Sophie, tossing her in the air, doing airplane, and then all of a sudden a HUGE white Spit-up drool toppled right on top of him. I was watching it happen in slow motion, and luckily Brad’s reflexes were fast enough to move her away from his mouth, that would’ve been hilarious!!!!

I only laugh because it had happened to me before. Sophie doesn’t spit much, in fact I can count on my fingers how many times she’s spit up, but when she does it big. It was all over his shirt, pants, and even got some on the couch. Hahaha, I’m still laughing.

Oh, Brad is finding out soon if he will be graduating this semester, I’m really looking forward to coming home. I just want to go to the movies really bad, and we have no family to babysit here….

Stinker is up from her oh so long nap…jk..bye

She is 13 1/2 pounds now… My baby is growing up

P.S. Here are my weird search engine terms for today (the internet is full of very odd people):

• old lady sex
• watching mom pees
• swaddler made to look like moms hand

A couple of posts ago I had written how sad I was about Sophie refusing to breastfeed. After a couple of days of moping around and feeling sorry for myself, I decided to take things into my own hands. I had done some research and realized that it was quite normal for babies to go on nursing strikes around 4 months, I am not alone. The only problem that I had though is insufficient milk supply. Seeing as how I’ve never done this before, I have no idea how to get it back and start nursing again. So, I did some more research and found myself a breastfeeding clinic. I have an appointment on Monday with a lactation consultant, meanwhile I pump every 3 hours. It had been working, I’m slowly seeing an increase in m supply, now I just have to figure out how to get the little kid to latch and not freak out. I guess that’s where the LC comes in. I’m really hoping that this is going to work, I just CANNOT give it up. Babies are meant to be breastfed!!!! (I’m not chastising mothers whom don’t, because I KNOW hard it is).

On another note, Sophie is sleping a bit better. I think the soother had something to do with it, once I took it away she learned to sleep without a sleeping aid. Still working on it, but atleast I found the problem. But, I always think I’ve found the proble, only to figure out that it was not it. Babies and their daily changes…..

Daddy and Sophia doing “SOPHWEEEEE”

Maybe I’m crazy for wanting another baby seeing as how this one likes giving me a hard time, but I can’t help it. When I first had Sophie I swore that I wouldn’t have another kid for years, but now that the newborn craziness has passed and my body has healed I could really see myself being pregnant again.

Brad said that we have to wait until he graduates next month, and then we can try to have another one. So I’m pretty excited about this. I think I’d like to wait until June so that my next baby is not born middle of winter. That was one of the downfalls of having a baby in the winter, I could never go out anywhere, even now we don’t get out all that much. I’m a firm believer that kids should get outside for a while each day.

Update on Sophie:

I think that she has begun teething again. Her cheeks are getting all red again and she’s chewing on her hands like crazy. I just want those teeth to pop through. They seem to be really bothering her, and have turned my little smiley girl into a cranky cranky kid. I know it will be while before she gets all her teeth, but I’ve heard that some teeth are not as bad as others. I hope she feels better soon, poor baby.

All done for today. Did everyone have a good weekend?

She’s getting so big for her car seat, and her coat made me laugh…look at the short sleeves

I must say that the last couple of nights have NOT been fun. Sophia has all of a sudden decided that sleep was overrated. I am so incredibly tired that my eyes are burning, and on the scale of tiredness that is the top kind. I don’t really know what’s causing this. She goes down fairly easily and sleeps great until 11:30-12:00am, and then all hell breaks loose. I will feed her and she does not want to go back to sleep. Two nights ago she was up all the way til 5:30AM!!! And last night she fell back asleep until 2:40, then was up every 1/2 hours til 7:45 when I went in and got her out of bed. What is up with her??? Ahhh, this is driving me CRAZY!!! I do not function well without sleep, and the worst part is I don’t know what to do about it. When I go in to check on her I know that she is fine, all she wants to do is play. There are huge smiles and giggles when I walk in, and as soon as I leave the water works begin. Seriously, is this just a 4 months stage? I thought sleep is supposed to be getting better, not worse. She used to sleep 10-12 hour stretches, feed, and then sleep another 4 or so. I was seriously in heaven then, until I took a trip to hell the last couple nights. Can you tell I’m going crazy?

A vacation is needed here. I’m going to stop now before I stick my foot in my mouth..

Here’s some Sophie cuteness, so this post doesn’t seem so bad

Those of you who have been pregnant may remember the feeling that the rest of the world was pregnant as well. I know I saw pregnant women everywhere, and just before my due date I saw babies everywhere. It’s not that there were more pregnant women/babies out there, I think we just tend to notice people to whom we can relate. The point to that little intro was to express my very sad day today.

It seems as though everywhere I turn there’s a mommy breastfeeding her baby. I think that is the most wonderful thing that a mother can do for her baby, and it is very sad for me because I can no longer do that for my child. We had a very wonderful start to our nursing relationship - she had a great latch and I had great milk supply. But somewhere around 3.5 months she decided that she no longer wanted to nurse. I don’t really know what brought that on, all I know is that it was a very difficult time for me. Breastfeeding was something that only I could do for my child, no one else had that comforting skill, it was something that separated me from everybody else. And now I can no longer do that. Every time that I walk by a mom nursing her baby I just want to cry. I had hoped to breastfeed for much longer then I did. I guess I never expect to feel the way that I did when she breastfed, and I never knew how sad I would be once it was over. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so hard if it had lasted longer, I guess I’ll never know.

Today I took Sophie for a walk to Safeway. I thought that while we’re there I might as well pick up some formula for her so that I won’t have to go to the store again. While I was standing in line to pay, a mother with a baby about the same age as Sophie came up behind me. Mom’s tend to strike conversations with one another when babies are around. We chatted a bit about our kids, and then she noticed that I was holding formula in my hands. She then proceeded to tell me about all the benefits of breastfeeding. She said “Don’t you know that breast milk the the best source of nutrition for your baby? Why give her formula when you can give her breast milk?” I don’t think she meant to make me feel bad, but I also don’t think that she realized what she was saying. I explained to her why I couldn’t breastfeed, and she apologized because she saw that it made me upset. All was ok, but it made all those sad feeling to come right back.

I think I will feel sad about this for a while, I just wish I didn’t have the reminders everywhere. Just thought that I would share my sadness. Sorry for the pity party, but I think some of you may be able to understand.

This is the picture of our last nursing session, taken 2 sec before she freaked out. Sorry if some of you might find it offensive, but nothing inappropriate is showing so I thought it was ok…

My little weirdo has decided that she will only give up the suzi for bed time, nap time is a no go. Oh well, I guess we can both compromise for now.

News for the week:

Sophie has now officially started solids. I was going to wait a little closer to 6 months, but she seemed quite interested in food. I bought an avocado and a banana, and thought I’d give it a try and if she doesn’t like it then back off. Well, the first day she ate 2 tbsp of banana and then got mad because I wouldn’t give her anymore. I try to limit how much solids she gets a day, usually it’s only once a day. Watching her open her mouth and eat is very cute, but her poops are SOOOO stinky now. Ahhh the old days of breast milk poops. Sorry, I guess you don’t want to be reading about my daughters poops. Anyway, I have decided that I am going to make homemade baby food. I don’t really like the idea of buying canned baby food, and this way I can make it very healthy and nutritious. I’m not a huge health freak, but I try to be as healthy as I can be and eat well. When I was pregnant with her I mostly ate fruit and veggies, it was just what I craved, until my 3rd trimester where the donut craving hit hard, but we won’t talk about that.

Back to talking about homemade baby food, I have frozen avocado, apple sauce, and bananna for later. This is so exciting, I don’t really know why. I guess because my parents told me that I was such a horrible eater as child that I thought Sophie might be like that too. I know it’s way too early to tell, but I figured that if I introduce solids and have a happy and healthy start, then she will do better then I did. I hope so atleast.

That’s it for today, have a good day everyone!!!

Night two of swaddle weaning was successful, and now she is napping unswaddled as well. She did cry for a bit last night, but was out like a light by 7:40pm, much better then the night before. I’m glad that she is able to sleep unswaddled, because now she will be able to self soothe. I am also taking away her soother, wow I sound like a mean mommy, taking away all of her sleeping props. The reason I’m trying to get rid of the soother is because her teeth will be coming in soon and I don’t want her to be buck tooth, plus she won’t wake up once it falls out and want it to be put back in. I’m very happy that my little girl is so adaptable. I honestly thought she would put up a way bigger fuss about this then she did.

Onto the next note, I think I’m going through a cooking phase. When I was pregnant I stopped working at 23 weeks and became a stay at home wife. I didn’t have much to do so I really got into cooking, but when Sophie was born that had to be put on hold. I was so tired that I didn’t feel like doing anything but sleeping. But now, I’m back into wanting to cook and try new recipes all the time. Lasy night I made a broccoli casserole, and it was soooogood. Mmmm I think I’m going to have the leftovers for lunch.

Ohhh, and yesterday Sophie stood unassisted. Just kidding, she did stand, but her back was leaning against the couch. Brad and I took some pictures, it was very cute.

I don’t know what else to write about, so instead I will put up photos. Bye Bye

Last night we had another “one of those nights.” I don’t know what’s going on with her. For the last 2 weeks or so she will go down for bed very easily, but then wakes up 40 min later and screams and won’t go back to sleep for several hours. If I’m in there, she’s quiet and  wants to play, but as soon as I leave all hell breaks loose. Yesterday she didn’t go to sleep until 11:00pm!!! To some of you it may not sound so bad, but for a kid whose bed time is between 6-7pm, it is VERY late. Since she was refusing to go to sleep I decided that last night was going to be the end to me swaddling her, if she’s not asleep then might as well train her to sleep unswaddled. IT WORKED!!! I know it was only one night, but I’ve been trying to get her to sleep without a swaddle for a little while now - apparently it’s not good for their motor skills. I still swaddle her for nap time, but that’s because she actually sleeps for couple of hours at a time, so it’s no big deal. Eventually I’m going to wean her of that too.

Hmmm, what else can I talk about? Oh, so because I’m a very bored SAHM (stay at home mom), I decided to pick up a couple of books on potty training. I thought I’d educate myself ahead of time, so when the time came I would know what I’m up against. Well, I bought a book on infant potty training and it is very interesting. Basically what you do is follow the baby’s cues and figure out when they eliminate, and then try to get them to the potty so they can do their business there. I thought since I have nothing else to do I might as well try it, it’s not going to hurt anyone, and if she doesn’t like it then I can give it up. So, I took her diaper off and was watching her cues, and Guess What??? She went pee in the potty, twice, and had a big smile about it. I’m excited!!!! Apparently my mom did that with me and I was fully trained by a year and a half. I would love it if by this time next year she would be trained as well. If not, then no, but it would be great.

Ok, have to go make hubby some lunch. Maybe I can get her to use the potty again!!!

Edmonton weather is weird. For the last couple of days it has been so nice and warm, and the snow was actually melting. I was very excited to be able to take Sophie out for a walk in her stroller. But, here it is, snowing AGAIN. When we woke up this morning it was cloudless and sunny, and now it’s back to the mean winter look. Oh well, maybe tomorrow it will be nice again.

Our house is right across the street from an elementary school, and I love watching all the kids coming out to play for their lunch break. There’s something really cute about little kids and fascination with snow. Makes me think back to when I was a kid - I LOVED snow. There were times when I would play to the point of being soaked from the snow, and then getting sick, but it was all worth it!!!

It’s amazing how when you’re a child all you want to do is grow up, but now that I look out my window and see the energy and innocence that those kids have, I wonder why I was so eager to grow up. I guess from a kid’s perspective an adult can do anything that they want, but as an adult we recognize and appreciate the beauty of childhood. I’m so excited for Sophie to go out, play, and enjoy being a kid.

Well now that we’ve gone from a rant about bad weather, to reminiscing about childhood. Sophis is being a huge crank pot so I have to finish here… Good day to everyone…

Walking through the schoolyard…

Sophie has become quite attached to her little teddy bear called BABA. We were just wondering if any of you bought this little bear (for my first baby shower back in June). If you did, can you please let us know where you got it so that we can buy a back up BABA!!!

As some of you may know from my previous posts, Sophie was sick for a little while..(ear infection). Well, I took her back to the doctor a week later because she didn’t seem like she was getting any better. She was still very cranky, and I know that teething didn’t help, but it seemed like something else was bothering her. Our family doctor checked her out and said that everything was ok and that it was completely normal for a first time mom to worry, but that I do not need to go overboard and bring her in because she is ok. She now has lost her voice and sounds really sad and pathetic. She sounds like I did when I had laryngitis, but apparently she is FINE. How can a little baby be ok if she barely has a voice???

I haven’t taken her back to the doctor yet, seeing as how it’s the weekend and their office is closed. I am however going to take her back and get her checked out by someone else. I know that I am not being an overprotective mom, I have a very obvious reason to my worrying. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing our family physician, she is a great doctor, but her specialty is not in children/babies.

Brad and I wanted to get a pediatrician for Sophie, but seeing as how were were moving shortly after her birth, we just decided to stick with our family doctor. I just think that it’s much easier to go to a doctor that knows how to deal with babies and first time moms.

Am I just being crazy and worrying too much? I think that I have a valid reason to get a second opinion. Anyway, now that I’ve had my rant of the day I am going to go and have some breakfast. Have a good day everyone

What is with the camera? It’s always in my face…

Yesterday Brad and I took Sophia to the park, which is right across the street from our house. The weather has been a lot better here, and the snow is actually melting! Can you tell I don’t belong in Edmonton? Anyway, we had a lot of fun taking Sophie there and playing with her. She seems to have a a fascination with snow. Every time that I take her outside I get little giggles, so I assume it’s her way of getting excited about snow.

She had been very curios about her surroundings lately, and I’m trying to expose her to as many things as I can. I just don’t want her to be a shy child, and I know that it’s preventable, so I’m trying to eliminate that while she is still young. We didn’t get out of the house much until she was about 3 months old, and when we did I could tell that she was uncomfortable with her surroundings. It’s unbelievable how someone so mall already has personality.

Anyway, now that I have gone off tangent, again, I will get back to our trip to the park. Sophie wansn’t a huge fan of the slide( and no I did not let her slide by herself, I held onto her), but she sure enjoyed the little baby swing that they had there. I’m sooo looking forward to when she is walking and is able to enjoy such trips a little more. Well now I’m going to add some pictures of our little trip.

• Sorry for a boring blog, but I’m a little tired, as her teething is keeping her up. Poor baby…

Last night Sophie was being a typic indecisive woman… Im not kidding, she could not figure out whether she wanted to be swaddled or not. NOTHING was making this kid happy last night. Overall she’s a fairly easy going baby, very predictable, easy to soothe and get to bed…but last night I could not figure out what in the world she wanted. Food was a no no, her soother all of a sudden became her worst enemy, and the swaddling blanked turned into a love/hate relationship.

Her usual bed time is around 6-7pm, but last night I could not get her to sleep until 10:30!!! By that time she was sooo overtires that she screamed like a lunatic on steroids. I know that she wasn’t in pain because I had just given her some motrin for teething before bed, so I have NO clue what was up with her. Sometimes I wish she could talk

and tell me what to do. I would have never thought that having a baby took so much time and commitment. People always made it look so easy. Such a typical girly way of thinking “Oh I can’t wait to have a baby and play with her all the time,” if only I would have know what was ahead of me…I’d still have a baby. I love being a mom, and I never tire of saying

it, I just wish they came with instruction manuals. Wouldn’t life be so much easier then?

Well, we’re off to the doctors again to rule out any other sickness… Update when we get back….

UPDATE: Sophie’s ear infection is gone and she seems to be perfectly healthy, except that she has a very raspy voice right now and I have no idea why. The doctor said that there is nothing wrong with her.

Because of the blog that was posted a few days ago my stats went from 30-40 views a day to 130!!! YAH

I know that some of you have seen this on myspace, but i thought i’d share this with those who have not read it yet.

Sleep Training… OK, here’s my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great– I cried, she picked me upand fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I’ve talked to other babies, and it seems like it’s pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months. Here’s the thing: these Mommies don’t really need to sleep. It’s just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep–they just don’t need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle. It goes like this: Night 1–cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it’s hard. It’s hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it’s for her own good. Night 2–cry every 2 hours until you get fed. Night 3–every hour. Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don’t give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT’S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it. Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with. My sleep sack tickled my foot. I felt a wrinkle under the sheet. My mobile made a shadow on the wall. I burped, and it tasted like pears. I hadn’t eaten pears since lunch, what’s up with that? The cat said “meow”. I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL. Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room. Too hot, too cold, just right–doesn’t matter! Keep crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies’ internal clocks.

P.S. Don’t let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me…. -Anonymous

Yap, just a random picture. I thought it was cute

Today I am going to write about all the things that make me happy. Well maybe not ALL the things, but my current joys. #1My thoughtful little angel decided to give mom a break and slept in all the way until 11:45AM!!! I can’t believe that a 4 month old can do that. Yes, that is my current joy, as I have not been able to sleep in like that in 4 months.

#2 For some odd reason, when Sophie turned 3 months, she refused to nurse. It wasn’t just a little nursing strike, it was one of those “I’m not eating from your boobie and will scream bloody murder until you give me a bottle.” I know it wasn’t nipple confusion because she rarely got a bottle, she just wanted to go on a strike. Anyway, my #2 joy is that she has been nursing like a champ in the last couple of days. This makes me SOOO happy, since I was not ready to give up on breastfeeding yet.

#3 She is finally becoming interested in toys. At first when I would try to play with her she wouldn’t even give them a second look, but now she has found herself a stuffy best friend. I call it “baba”, this way she will be able to say it. Oh i can’t wait til she can talk. And when I give it to her she gets all excited and starts talking to it. Currently she is sucking on baba’s tail.(well more like slobbering). Here’s Sophie and her baba bear.

#4 I think I’m going to be all done with all the things that make me happy, not because that is all that I have to say, but because I need to save some stuff for later.

until tomorrow then..

I was in the middle of doing some research about teething when Sophie woke up from her nap 45min EARLY.. She’s a bad enough napper as it is, so I thought that I would have one grumpy kid on my hands. So as usual, I went into her room, unswaddled her, and brought her out into our bright living room. I was just waiting for that screeching cry to come out any second, but to my surprise all I got were huge smiles. Smiles make mommy’s heart melt. I proceeded to play with her for a bit, and then put her down on the couch next to me to play on her own. She looked at me and started babbling and cooing. But it wasnt the usual baby talk, it was a persistant, “what don’t you get about my ah-goos?” She was looking at me like there was something wrong with me, like my baby talking skills weren’t up to par. I quickly got my trustee little digital camera to capture het talking, hoping that she wouldn’t stop making funny sounds. Usually as soon as she sees a camera she stops doing anything and just looks at it with a blank stare, almost like she is too good for it. But this time she let me record her, AHHH this kid was surprising me left and right today. I love being a mommy!!!! Anyway, I can’t fully explain how she sounded, so here’s the little weirdo’s cooing video.

And people say that babies don’t do anything.

I love doing surveys, and one of my friends Leah tagged me, so now I’m going to copy her survey and do it myself.

1. Are your parents married or divorced? Married
2. Are you a vegetarian? No way! I LOVE MEAT
3. Do you believe in Heaven? Yes
4. Have you ever come close to dying? I was very sick as a baby, but I don’t think I came close to dying
5. What jewelry do you wear 24/7? Mywedding rings, earrings, and my promise ring
6. Favorite time of day? When Sophie is happy
7. Do you eat the stems of broccoli? Yes, I eat everything
8. Do you wear makeup? Not often, because I don’t get out often. Sometimes I just wear it to be a pretty housewife.
9. Ever have plastic surgery? no
10. If you did have plastic surgery, what you you do? boobs, they get all weird looking after nursing
11. What do you wear to bed? pj’s
12. Have you ever done anything illegal? Yes, who hasn’t?
13. Can you roll your tongue? Yes
14. Do you tweeze your eyebrows? Yes, not often enough.
15. What kind of sneakers? um, sneakers?
16. Do you believe in abortions? it’s a controversial topic, I don’t like to judge people
17. What is your hair color? Dark Brown
18. Future child’s name? Depends on the sex of the baby…
19. Do you snore? no
20. If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? Someplace warm with water and sun and yummy fruit….and massages.
21. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? No
22. If you won the lottery, what would you do first? Get rid of debt, and buy a house
23. Gold or silver? White gold
24. Hamburger or hot dog? Hamburgers for SURE. yum yum yum.
25. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? sea food
26. City, beach or country? City and beach.
27. What was the last thing you touched? im touching my cat
28. Where did you eat last? at home
29. When’s the last time you cried? today, over a dumb blog thing
30. Do you read blogs? yes yes yes
31. Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex? well i wear jeans and t-shits, does that count?
32. Ever been involved with the police? Not really
33. What’s your favorite shampoo, conditioner and soap? the kind that smell nice
34. Do you talk in your sleep? Yes. .
35. Ocean or pool? Ocean
36. Sauna or whirlpool? whirlpool.
37. Starbucks or Krispy Kreme? Starbucks.
38. Window seat or aisle? Window…I like looking out!
39. Ever met anyone famous? no
40. Do you feel that you’ve had a truly successful life? Working on it.
41. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? Twirl, cutting is for squares.
42. Ricki Lake or Oprah Winfrey? neither
43. Basketball or Football? eww i dont like either
44. Automatic or do you drive a stick? automatic, i used to know how to drive a stick, but i forget now
45. Cake or ice cream? Ice Cream, unless it’s ice cream CAKE!
46. Are you self-conscious? Not really.
47. Have you ever drank so much you threw up? i actually haven’t
48. Have you ever given money to a beggar? Yes,
49. Have you been in love? I am right now! Yay for love!
50. Where do you wish you were? Didn’t we already have this question?
51. Are you wearing socks?yes, my feet get cold
52. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? not that i can recall
53. Can you tango? I can pretend!
54. Last gift you received? my mom bought me some clothes
55. Last sport you played? i have no idea
56. Things you spend a lot of money on? food, gas, rent, bills…
57. Where do you live? Canada
58. Where were you born? Ukraine
59. Last wedding attended? Nicole and OB’s
60. Favorite position? Pardon me? This is a family blog!
61. Most hated food(s)? i hate things in my foods, but i can’t say that i actually hate a certain type of food
62. Most hated soda pop? That orange pop they make you drink when getting a diabetes test
63. Can you sing? nope
64. Last person you instant messaged? Leah
65. Last place you went on holiday? BC
66. Favorite regular drink? Water
67. Current Song? My kitty puring
68. Tag 3 friends. Brad, Cammy, Kristin

Last night was much better for us. I think Sophie is starting to feel a little more like herself, i can’t imagine ear infections being fun. I gave her some motrin before she went to bed and she slepts all the way until 6am, and then again until almost 10. Would this be considered sleeping through the night???

You can always tell a mom is sleep deprived when her #1 obsession is waiting for her baby to sleep through the night. When Sophia was a newborn I swore that I would never have another child again. But now that those times have passed, I would gladly have more babies (maybe not just yet). My doctor said that once time passes you tend to forget the miserable sleepless nights and only remember how much fun and rewarding having a child is. I can’t say that I’ve completely forgotten what is was like, but it is very vague, kind of like going through labour. Thankfully that is something that women forget, otherwise the world as we know it wouldn’t exist

I wish I had a lot of exciting things to tell about Sophie, but she doesn’t do all that much seeing as how she is so little. Watching her growing is quite amazing. My husband joined a forum for fathers, and on it there was a question: “what is so great about being a parent?” Both he and I were a little stunned at that question, who could even ask something like that? Yes, sure having a baby is challenging and frustrating at times, but when she smiles at us all the frustrations disappear. How can someone not love being a parent? I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life.

Oh I hear the little monkey waking up, so I guess I better end this and go tend to her. Thanks for reading.

Doesn’t she have a beautiful smile?

Seeing as how everyone is blogging these days, i have decided to have a little fun and blog myself. I was going to write something earlier on this day, but i had my hands full with a little cranky sick baby. Poor kid got her very first ear infection. I don’t know why such little beautiful creatures have to suffer with illnesses so early on in their lives. I was hoping to avoid giving her antibiotics, but without them she wouldnt sleep longer then 15 min at a time, and after 12 hours i had had enough. Wow my very first blog and it’s already sounding whiney… ok off to a more optimistic topic.

Right now im sitting in my living room watching our cat Twiggles cuddling up next to husband Brad. She’s kind of an odd cat, im pretty sure she thinks she’s half human. She has a really odd obsession with Brad, and by weird i mean WEIRD. Every time that he’s sitting on the couch on laying on the floor, she is on top of him purring like a tractor. Sometimes i wish she would cuddle up to me, but the cat hates me. Luckily we have another kitty that likes me, granted that she likes everyone, but that’s not the point. I have no idea why im talking about our cats, seeing as how this blog is supposed to be about motherhood.

Ok, i’ve decided that i need to go to bed, so i will officially start blogging tomorrow, for now you have learned about my weird cats. I suppose that since my first Blog was about them i will put up a picture. Ok night night for now. Check out my about me section, there’s a proper intro to my family and I.