Friday, April 30, 2010

things i love in april...

  • dancing with the stahs!
  • lilacs
  • the smell of freshly cut grass (yeah, i don't have those killer allergies)
  • opening the windows
  • bentos!
  • warmer weather that hopefully = healthier baby
  • my new living room furniture!
  • my new HAIR:
(me in my new hair on the old, red loveseat)

Thursday, April 29, 2010

i don't look sick, do i?


hiding behind that cutie smile are TWO ear infections.
again.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

sigh

she's starting to get independent. ALREADY. i'm supposed to be all happy and proud about this, aren't i? i feel like she'll be leaving for college TOMORROW. sigh.

she wants to feed herself now. spoon feeding by mama equals spitting! AND i KNOW i should be happy about THIS one, but i'm sad. tom and i are both so sad...

she wants to put herself to sleep. no rocking required OR WANTED. she writhes around like a very tiny but very strong alligator until you give up and lay her down with her blankie.

then she promptly rolls onto her belly, grabs her blankie and says, "THANK FREAKIN GOD. I NEED SOME SPACE, PEOPLE!" and falls asleep.

wa.

Friday, April 16, 2010

stats!

we had olivia's nine month well visit this afternoon and everything looks GOOD!

height: 27 3/4 inches which is WEIRD because that means she's only grown 1/2 inch in three months. dropped from 92nd percentile to 60th for height. maybe she's just accepting her fate as a shorty.

weight: 19lbs 11oz. up three pounds in three months!! my girl loves to eat. it's so obvious that we started solids at six months! 60th percentile for weight.

head: 17 3/4 inches and all I know is that the pedi said it's growing nicely which means so is her brain. so. that's reassuring. haha!

the pedi thinks she will probably skip crawling altogether since she is very, VERY uninterested in being on her belly even long enough to get her knees under her. she's apparently got great muscle tone in her legs and is MUCH happier standing. not that she stands on her own. or pull to sitting on her own. but when you stand her up, she's in heaven. she's just so happy sitting wherever you put her with whatever toys are around. no toys within reach? no problem, she's got feet! no, not to carry her to an out of reach toy. to PLAY with!

she'll get to moving. and when she does, i'll be cursing that i ever wanted to rush it along. :)

and we got the ok to start cheese!

yum!

i am PROUD, y'all! we have eaten in and HEALTHY all week! tom has even had lunch every single day this week!

in case anyone cares, here was our dinner menu for the week (and olivia's):

sunday:
US: turkey burgers and pasta primavera salad
OLIVIA: crumbled turkey, ditalini cooked in chicken broth, applesauce

monday:
US: (we had a lot of leftover ground turkey) stuffed peppers and salad
OLIVIA: yogurt, peaches, squash, puffs

tuesday:
US: baked potatoes and salad
OLIVIA: green beans, mini pancake, sweet potato and peaches

wednesday:
US: broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken, extra broccoli on side and garlic couscous
OLIVIA: chicken, ditalini cooked in chicken broth, carrots and green beans, yogurt melts

thursday:
US: spinach lasagna rolls and (you guessed it!) salad
OLIVIA: yogurt, green beans, pears and cheerios

tonight:
US: chicken francese and hmmmm maybe A SALAD?! or maybe some sugar snap peas and rice
OLIVIA: she loves her some ditalini, so probably more of that, chicken and apples and mangoes OH and maybe she'll finish up the green beans in the fridge. SCORE!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

messing with me

so, i was going to post yesterday about how stupid i was to even MENTION sleep on here but i was too tired from olivia WAKING UP FOR AN HOUR AT 3AM to do it. sigh.

i need to figure out a new nap schedule, i think. at BWD (beloved work daycare) we had a 40 minute ride to work every morning and she'd nap the whole way there. then she'd take a crapshoot nap at school (anywhere from 20 min to 2 hours) and nap the whole way home.

now that she's at her new place, she's losing both of those car naps and isn't really making it up at daycare yet. that's a lot of sleep to lose, isn't it? almost an hour and a half. do you think she'll figure it out and start consistently taking her second nap at school? she did the whole first week, not not the second and we are paying for it.

she's DYING to go to sleep by the time i pick her up and it's only like 4:30pm. do i let her nap then? and just put her to bed for the night later? she has been going to be at 7pm forever.

AM I READING TOO MUCH INTO THIS?

probably.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

what's WITH me today?

am thinking maybe i should send this to the asshole daycare olivia was at...

Studies have shown that babies who use a walker may actually learn to walk about a month later than those who don't. Walkers allow babies to move around before they are physically ready for it, which can cause unusual movement patterns and delayed muscle control. 

Babies learn to walk in part by watching and understanding how their feet and legs move. If a walker has a tray, they can't see what's happening with their lower body and don't get the information they need about their motor development.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against using walkers not only because they can discourage your child from learning to walk on his own, but also because they can be dangerous. Thousands of babies end up in emergency rooms and doctor's offices from falling down stairs or bumping into furniture while in a walker. Walkers can give parents a false impression that their babies are truly mobile and can control their actions. Some parents even leave their babies alone to navigate their way around the home in a walker.

Exersaucers, as well as door jumpers, are much safer alternatives, but none of these options will help your child learn to walk earlier than usual.

oh hey, no wonder i'm crazy.

i'm trying to do a lot of "new" things at once. and i just realized it. i'll share them with you, but don't laugh because these are new to me. and they may seem like habit or obvious to you, but they aren't to me so CUT ME SOME SLACK.

  1. flossing every day. i know, gross. i never have flossed and i've always thought it was no big deal. when i was pregnant, the dentist started to make a big deal about it. i still didn't listen. my nephew shamed me (he's 8 and an avid flosser) and i only made a half-assed effort that lasted like four days. but about a month ago my gums started to hurt. HURT. and the idea of flossing still made me cringe because flossing HURTS. i know, i know. do it for a week and it won't hurt or bleed and your gums will feel better. OK, OK! well, i did. and i almost cried it hurt so much. tom bought me some satin floss and it's much better. i am PROUD to say i've been flossing every single day for a full month and i think i'm officially IN THE HABIT! i cannot WAIT for my six month checkup! HOLLA!
  2. exercising. i feel so disgusting. none of my pre-livie clothes really fit me still. i'm only four pounds over the weight i was when i got pregnant, but there was a lot of stress and woe leading up to that pregnancy and let's just say... i ate myself through it. so yeah. i have about 14 total pounds to go to feel like myself again. i started the 30 day shred last week and i'm COMMITTED!
  3. weight watchers. i am a lifetime member, did you know that? i am! i'm a pathetic lifetime member. back on the wagon for about a month now and failing miserably because i haven't recorded a single point. i KNOW i need to do it. i'm still not doing it.
  4. cooking ww friendly meals and purchasing healthier food in general for my family. my daughter eats all organic. i examine every ingredient in everything i feed her. low sugar, few or no preservatives, no pesticides... and tom and i eat garbage. i need to BE a good role model of healthy eating to her. started yesterday and i've planned out and bought meals for a full week. and i'm taking a muti-vitamin finally.
  5. packing lunches for my husband. yeah, i'm not there yet. i bought him a super cute bento box. olivia has one, too. i am hopeful, when it gets here, that i will be able to make lunches.
  6. straightening my hair at least twice a week. BIG, FAT FAIL. (see photo below for horrifying proof. ON EASTER.)
  7. baptising olivia. working on it. what? she's not even a year yet. calm yourselves!
  8. work harder. ugh.
  9. be more organized. DOUBLE UGH.
  10. cleaner house. HIRING A CLEANING LADY.


livie, i hope you have straight hair.


i could go on. i could. i could seriously go on, but i have two overdue thank you notes to write and prescription reimbursements to submit and a conference call to dial into and breakfast to eat (nonfat greek yogurt with berries and honey!) and some yobaby yogurt meals to return to stop and shop because they expired on april THIRD and i bought them YESTERDAY.... yawn.

also? you better appreciate all the time and effort i put into linking the hell out of this post! ;)

a couple of firsts...

olivia has had some sleep regression issues lately, if you can call them that. she has been sleeping through the night (and by through the night i mean 11 hours) since she was ten weeks old. and i FELT like i never bragged about it. but people always look at you with those eyes, almost TWINKLING at the delight that you must be getting NO SLEEP and HA HA HAAAAA! so when they'd ask, fake-apologetically, "are you getting any sleep?" i'd be like YES! TONS!

i always tempered it with, "...and i'm grateful while it lasts." because i know from friends' experiences that it sometimes doesn't.

well. we had a good run. 8.5 months hit. two teeth broke through and the wheels came off the bus. ok, i'm being dramatic. but DAMN! when you've had six solid months of good sleep and then out of nowhere you're up two and three times a night for EXTENDED AMOUNTS OF TIME you feel like you're careening over a cliff!

she was prescribed a nebulizer around that same time, too. she just doesn't respond to the weaker antibiotics. which totally sucks because i've given her a solid two weeks to fight off sinus infections/ear issues herself and of course, that doesn't work. so we tried amoxicillan. ten days. NADA. now we have sinus infection, fluid in ears and WHEEZING! HOORAY!! so they prescribed a neb and FOURTEEN DAYS of augmentin. which is an ASS KICKER. i have to give her culturelle with it and on a full belly because augmentin kicks ass and takes names. poor livie.

ANYWAY, this tangent is relevant because i thought that contributed to the night waking. and it appears MOM WAS RIGHT!! because a week into the antibiotics and some motrin at night for the teething pain and my girl is (if temporarily) BACK! she's slept through the last three nights.

oh right. the title of this post is "firsts" so let's get to it, shall we?

  1. last night, as tom was getting livie changed for bed he saw it... an unfortunate side effect of the antibiotics. BLOW OUT!! can you believe this is our first blow out in her life? nine months!! so into the tub she went.
  2. she slept until almost SEVEN THIRTY this morning!!!!
and, if you've survived this novel of a post, you are rewarded with cute overload:

i love her. just a teeny bit.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

wow

today is olivia's Out Longer Than In day. today, she has been on the outside longer than she was on the inside. she was born after cooking for 39 weeks and 5 days.


today she is 39 weeks and 6 days old.


(and in love with her daddy)

sounds about right. i felt like i was pregnant forever and now i feel like she's been here forever. as in, i cannot remember my life before she was in it.

to steal a tactic from one of my favorite bloggers, i'll leave you with a quote...

"...now where was i before the day that i first saw your lovely face? now i see it everyday. and i know that i am, i am, i am...

...the luckiest." -ben folds

Thursday, April 08, 2010

next installment of the daycare diaries...

that last post was just too long. i had to break it up. this is better than a soap opera, right?

so olivia went back to my beloved work daycare for two weeks and got lots of love and cuddles from her teachers and old friends. i had this monday off from work so we went to the new school for a visit and she was in heaven.

she played on the floor with all sorts of fabric and crinkle toys and made new friends. her cubbie was all set up with her name and a picture. her spot in the fridge was labeled, her area in the diaper changing station was labeled, her crib was labeled AND EMPTY, there was a huge butterfly on the wall with her name and birthday. AHHHH! i got her crib all ready with sheet and blankie, stocked her up on diaps and wipes, brought some extra clothes for her cubbie. VERY nice.

her first day was tuesday and it went beautifully! they even took pictures of her to show me how well she's playinig with her new friends and this was on her take home sheet:

"Oliva had a wonderful first day. She was all smiles and loves music as she would bounce to the beat. She enjoyed playing on the mat with her new friends and toys. Thank you so much for bringing your beautiful daughter to our school. Have a great night!"

her theme for april is art and artists. this week they learn about renoir, degas and seurat. they listened to stories about museums, painted with paintbrushes, crayons and their piggies, listened to music, felt different fabrics and are practicing holding their bottles for their weekly "self help/life skill" HEE!

I LOVE IT THERE!!!!

more daycare fun!

remember this post? when i said i loved the new daycare?

welp.

yeah.

not so much.

here's why (and you can think i'm an overprotective idiot mom if you want and if so, you are cordially invited to suck it because i am not paying someone MORE than i paid for any given year of my college tuition to TEXT HER FRIENDS WHILE MY BABY IS UNATTENDED WITH A PROPPED BOTTLE.)

  • ok, there is that first one. but we won't start there because that wasn't the first thing. we'll save that one for last.
  • we came in for a visit the week before she started and i noticed that two of the three babies (only three babies in the entire room, remember.) were in walkers. now, i don't know what your personal opinion is on walkers, but i don't like them. in fact, i didn't even know they SOLD them anymore, let alone put them in daycares. i personally find them unhelpful and in some situations dangerous. no, there were no stairs in this room, but still. you can't entertain three babies on your own? you have to CAGE them?? i said nothing.
  • she mentioned sunscreen and that they'd be going outside soon because of the weather. i said what do you bring the babies who aren't walking yet out in? (our work center brough them out in a buggy or let them sit on a big blanket and play). THE WALKERS. did i mention the UNEVEN CEMENT PATIO? i said, "ok, my husband and i don't feel comfortable with olivia being in a walker." she looked at me like i was crazy and said, "but they help them learn to walk, you know." (that is a lie. but i let it slide.) i replied, "we'd really rather she learn on her own when she's ready." she said, "i'm 53 and i have two grown children. i know what i'm doing." (SERIOUSLY.) i said, (surprisingly calmly) "i am counting on it! but still, our pediatrician doesn't recommend them. so please don't put her in one." she said, "ooooookay (condescendingly -- i thought), whenever you're ready." me: "we won't ever be ready. just please don't put her in a walker."
RED FLAG ALREADY, RIGHT? tom and i thought maybe i was reading too much into her tone because i was all forlorn and distraught about leaving our center, so i let it go. i spoke to our teachers about it and they said they have not heard of a walker in a center in YEARS. ugh.

i was really apprehensive, of course, after that, to bring her. but we finished our time at our center and the staff threw livie a party and made her a huge poster with a poem and pictures and handprints of all of her classmates. it was so sweet. and the director said, "you have a credit in your account. i can reimburse you for it or we can hang on to it for a few weeks. just in case." i laughed, but i kept it there. BACK TO THE NIGHTMARE DAYCARE:

  • tuesday, her first day. nothing was ready for her. there was a ball pit full of plastic balls in the crib she was to use. nice. otherwise, it was an ok day.
  • wednesday, second day: i had to pick her up early to go to the doctor because she'd been coughing and wheezing for a few days. turns out she needed a nebulizer. the pedi says to give it every four hours and writes me a note for daycare. i kept her home the rest of the day.
  • thursday, third day: i bring her in, along with the neb and the note. her teacher gives me a deer in headlights look when i ask about the neb. she gets the director. the director says that they cannot administer the nebulizer. i reply, "but she needs it every four hours. i have a note." she says, "we only administer emergency medication." me: "isn't the inabillity to breathe an emergency?" she says (and this is the director, mind you), "my job is to make your life easier by watching your child, not being her doctor." HOW AM I KEEPING MY COOL? HOW??? i say, "she can't be the only child here with this issue." apparently the other parents come in throughout the day to administer the treatments. i work forty minutes away. i leave her in her room and work from home the rest of the day so i can come in and give her the treatment. i tell them i'll be in at 11:30am and the teacher gives me an exasperated sigh. "that's when the children nap." um, TOO FREAKIN BAD. so they have her waiting for me, in the dark, and tell me i have to give her the treatment in the kitchen.
  • friday, fourth day: i work from home again because of the neb. when i pick her up in the afternoon, the teacher says i really need to get her on a one nap a day schedule (she's 8.5 months old.) AND on the center schedule because "it's not fair to the other children if they are trying to sleep and she's being loud." i ask what she's doing when they're sleeping. she is sitting alone on the floor in the dark.
LAST STRAW. i am beyond angry. i call around all over town to centers i already know have waiting lists for a year. to centers i know we can't afford. i am desperate. i call one that i don't know the tuition fee, but assume it's totally out of our price range. the director answers and we talk for forty minutes. she is in tears with me as i explain our situation. they're having an open house on saturday and she encourages us to come in. they have a fourteen month wait list for infants, but let's talk.

we go. it's AMAZING. it's a brand new center. the standards for everything are insane. she will learn sign language, spanish, CHINESE. she will take baby yoga. the playground is insane. the teachers immediately make me melt. the director is hugging and loving on olivia the entire time we're there (two hours).

we took the information packets home and looked everything over. it's more than we pay at the horror show, but hi, i am learning that you get what you pay for. so monday morning, i drop olivia off at hell and say, "yep, still on the neb. i'll be back in three hours." and when i get home, i call the new place. say, OMG WE LOVE YOU. she says, "give me an hour to see what i can do with the numbers. i can't imagine that sweet girl going anywhere else!" an hour later she says they can enroll her beginning in two weeks. YAY!!!

i call my old center and they are psyched to take her back for the interim so i go immediately to the shit hole and ask to speak to the director. i tell her it's going to be olivia's last day. she said, "ya gotta do what ya gotta do."

i go into her room and see that there is my girl on the floor in a bouncy seat (that she is ENTIRELY too big for), with her bottle propped up by a blanket while her teacher is standing across the room texting.

i say, "this is olivia's last day," as i start to gather her things. she replies, "yeah, i kinda figured."


SERIOUSLY.