A Good Day

Well, I've pretty much abandoned all hope of completing NaBloPoMo (another one bites the dust) this month. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

I did want to commemorate today though. It was a Good Day for me and LZ. Since I spend so much time and energy griping, I wanted to remember a day when there weren't any meltdowns and very little yelling and reprimanding (at least until bedtime, otherwise known as try-mommy's-patience-time).

First of all, I woke up first. No, first of all, I went to bed at a (somewhat) decent hour last night and then woke up first this morning. A whole night of uninterrupted sleep! I really am going to miss those once No. 2 arrives. Maybe I'll get lucky again and he/she will be a good sleeper for the first few months, or maybe even just a Good Sleeper, period (dare I dream?).

LZ woke up happy, with dry panties (yay!).  I don't remember much about the morning, other than it wasn't (too) rushed. I got some laundry done, breakfast was nice and easy (cereal!), LZ had some workbook time and we were out the door in time for gymnastics.

I got my walk in. LZ had fun at gymnastics and I got some reading done (I'm currently reading Nick Hornby's "About a Boy." It's pretty good so far. I read "High Fidelity" years ago and wasn't particulaly impressed. I read "How to Be Good" a few weeks ago and was completely blown away. I'm really surprised at all the negative reviews on Amazon).

I even indulged a wild hair (hare?) for lunch and spent way too much for pizza (with anchovies!). No nap today, not even "quiet time;" after lunch we just went to the library for storytime. Apparently this was the Halloween story time, because all the kids (except LZ, of course) were dressed up. Afterwards, there was trick-or-treating at the various reference desks (which LZ got a kick out of) and there wasn't any wrangling for candy after (she was content with just one piece).

After the library, we went to the playground. I thought I might catch my next door neighbors there, but they weren't there. LZ goofed around for a bit, played with a kid named Seven (I guess that's a thing, now too.) and didn't put up too much of a fuss when it was time to go.

After we got home, we made cookies. I should say, LZ made cookies. We made Agression Cookies, which really were easy enough for her to do on her own. I got the recipe from the "Preschooler's Busy Book," but after an Internet search found that the original recipe came from Peg Bracken and her I Hate to Cook series (I might have to pick those up). Tonight was leftover night, so there was no rush to get dinner done.

We read books, LZ goofed around a bit. When dinner was ready, she actually ate without making a fuss or refusing to eat anything. Since dinner was early, we had time to start her project notebook after eating (I haven't thought of a good name for it yet. It's basically all of her pre-school worksheets dealing with letters, numbers and shapes, arranged in a three-ring binder. I intend to add my own pages to make it a review/learning tool, basically a bastardization of something I found in the Busy Book).

While I cleaned the kitchen, she played with the hole punch (the things that will amaze three-year-olds) and then it was bedtime.

I'd like to say that bedtime was easy, but (alas!) it wasn't, more of the same, actually. I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth, though. I'll take any and all good days I can get, even partial ones!

Just So I Don't Forget

At LZ's last check-up (Monday 10/18), she was 35 pounds and 40 inches tall.

Kids are Funny

When LZ was a toddler, I could never get her to keep a blanket on at bed time. It used to really bug me. No matter how cold I thought it was in the room, she would never let me put any covers on.

I used to sneak into her room after she fell asleep and put the blanket on by stealth.

Nowadays, I can't get her to take the blanket *off*. No matter how hot it is in the room, she wants the blanket. She'll wake up soaking wet from sweat after nap time, but I can't convince her to give it up.

I've considered sneaking into her room to remove the blanket, but I've resisted the urge so far.

Updated

Update #1
The pick-your-own-veggie experiment was, ultimately, less than successful.

Chalk it up to my city-girl existence, bad luck, bad produce or all three, but I ended up throwing the corn away. We went out Saturday to do our pickin'. To be honest, the dinner I had planned for Saturday didn't go well with corn, so I decided to cook it up on Sunday. Of course, come Sunday, even though the corn was sitting in a bag on the counter, I totally forgot about making it.

Come Monday, I figure, we'll have some (mostly) fresh corn for dinner.

I don't know if I was supposed to inspect the corn as soon as I got home or what, but at least half of our crop had worms. They might have been salvageable, but because I left the corn in a plastic bag in an 80+ degree kitchen for 3 days, the corn that the worms didn't get, the mold did. 

Oh, well. At least the apple cider was good.

Update #2
The rash that LZ had on her back from my off-price foray into bath products was completely gone the next morning. Thank God! I didn't relish telling the doctor that I risked my daughter's well-being by being a super cheapo.

Uh, that's it. Along with millions of others, I've discovered The Black Keys. I've spent the better part of the evening listening to their station on my Pandora and really digging it. 

You Get What You Pay For

So, a few months ago, I introduced LZ to the wonder of Lush Bath Bombs. Not surprisingly, she loves them (a bit surprisingly, she calls them "scrubbies;" I'm still not sure where that came from). Unfortunately, at four bucks a pop, bath time can get to be quite expensive.

A few weeks ago, I got a couple of cute little rubber ducky bath bomb-type things at a baby shower I went to. This opened me up to the wonderful world of cheap bath products. I know they existed before then, it just hadn't occured to me to go look for them.

Anyway, after the success I had with the duckys, I figured I could pick up some cheapo ones the next time I went to the dollar store. Big mistake.

Long story short, we tried the dollar store scrubbie tonight, and my poor baby got a painful, red rash all over her back.  Bad Mommy! Dad rushed out to buy some aloe, and all seems to be well (I guess we'll see in the morning, though).

No more cheaping out when it comes to bath time. I guess it's back to Lush for me. Or, perhaps I'll try to make my own.

I smell a project coming on, muahaha...

What's Worse?

A. Throwing away your child's artwork? or
B. Getting caught by that child after having thrown away said artwork?

Answer: B. Definitely B.

Getting busted by a three-year-old is bad enough, but having to come up with a reasonable explanation for said trashing is even worse.

Bad Mommy. Bad, bad mommy.

The (Almost) End of an Era

I think LZ is just about ready to give up naps. Up until recently, she was down to one a day, but now I'm lucky if I get that.

It's weird, though. For the past few days, she's been napping 2+ hours everyday. Then today, back to "normal," which means no nap at all most times. Though I thought it would be the opposite, she doesn't seem to nap at all on preschool days. I guess she's too worked up.

I knew this day would come, I just don't want it to just yet.

Among the (many) drawbacks of no more naps is that she finally sees what I do all day. It involves lots of screen time, computer mostly, video games next and some TV watching. Unfortunately for both of us, this makes her want to do those things, too. I've been trying to cut back on screen time for her, and this doesn't help.

I've been trying to add projects on non-school days, like yesterday we made a necklace out of pasta and cheerios. Tomorrow I plan to make sugar cookies with her. And that's good and fun (and good for me, too. I really spend *way* too much time on the computer. I mean, really, *waay* too much). But it requires, you know, planning and preparation and organization and stuff, none of which are my strong suits.

I also want to start working with her more regulary on her academic skills. I have a ton of those dollar workbooks with colors and letters and numbers in them. Those aren't as much fun for me, unfortunately, but she does enjoy them. I just have to get off my butt and make them part of the routine.

Ah, getting off my butt. The start of any worthwhile plan of action and the downfall of most of mine.

New Definition

Insanity: Spending more than 5 minutes cooking a meal for a two-year-old and expecting anything resembling appreciation or gratitude (though, at this point, I'd be happy if she'd willingly eat anything I cook).

I prepared a delicious (if I do say so myself) meal consisting largely of a Panda Express Orange Chicken clone. Chicken-nugget style chicken drenched in a sweet, sticky orange sauce; if that isn't textbook kid-friendly cooking, I don't know what is.

Of course, after I conned her into trying some, she almost immediately asked for graham crackers.

I don't know what is with this kid and graham crackers.

Poor Kid

My MiL is really into healthy food. She's big into whole grains, making her own bread, etc, etc. In fact, she just bought a fancy mill so she can grind her own flours and things.

My daughter, on the other hand, is really into graham crackers. So much so that, when she was still nursing, there was a while where I firmly believed that she subsisted on nothing but graham crackers and breast milk.

A few weeks ago, the MiL suggested I buy her some whole wheat graham crackers, since she eats so many. Sure, I thought, the whole grains will be good for her. They only sell them at Whole Foods (that I know of), so today is the first time that I've had a chance to buy them.

They are, in a word, horrible. I'm serious, they are barely edible. I gave one to LZ, and she ate it, like a real trooper. She of course, immediately asked for her normal graham crackers (fortunately, I bought one box of each, just in case).

I gave her one (organic, of course. I'm not a monster), but when she asked for another graham cracker, I told her she'd have to eat one of the whole wheat ones instead. She promptly burst into tears.

Granted, it was nap time, and she was pretty tired and grumpy. But still. I'd probably start crying if someone told me I had to eat them, too. In fact, I'd probably ask if I could eat the box they came in instead.

Of course, whole grains are good and she might acquire the taste for them. I'm just not sure I'm really willing to subject her to that.

At Sixes and Sevens

My mom is here. She just came in today, in fact (remind me to tell you how much I despise the traffic flow at McCarran International Airport. It's horrendous. I've been there countless times and still can't end up in the same place twice. Today, for instance, I ended up parking in the garage on the same level as the baggage claim. It's the level that I always wanted and could never find. I'm still not sure how I found it. Don't ask me to go there again).

Right now, she and LZ are playing Candy Land and having a good old time. Which is good, great in fact.

I just don't really know what to do with myself now. Should I use this time to goof off on the computer and relax (two guesses as to how this ends up)? Or should I do something constructive, like clean or fold laundry (yuck)? Or should I do something decadent like read or nap? Or should I feel kind of sad and left out? Perhaps some combination of all four?

I'm sure I'll get used to it; it just feels weird right now.

The Tyranny of Nap time

In a head-exploding display of irony, now that we've finally got LZ sleeping through the night (most nights) in her own bed, in her own room (woo-hoo!), nap time has become a soul-destroying test of wills, that I regularly lose.

When she was a tiny baby, and I was constantly struggling with getting her to sleep at night, nap time was my only solace. Ten a.m. rolled around and I could usually count on her being asleep.

Nowadays, forget it. Sometimes she'll go down easy and without a fight. Other days (like today), it's nothing but tears, screams, tantrums and misery. And don't even get me started on *her* behavior!

Of course, there's no way I'd trade going to bed for the night with hardly a peep and sleeping until 6 a.m. for a nice nap routine. However, those days when she absolutely will not take a nap make me want to jump out of a window.

Take today, for instance. I put her down at 10. I didn't give up until 11:30. That's an hour and a half of crying, cajoling, yelling and frustration, for both of us. That's an hour and a half where I got nothing done. Add in another 30 minutes for me to calm down and be able to think straight, and that's two hours of drama, all without a nap to show for it.

Which means that from about 4 o'clock until bedtime, she will be a world-class brat. Why? Because by then she'll be super tired, but it'll be too late to let her sleep. If I want her in bed by 7, that is, and by then, I most assuredly do.

Sigh

P.S. One never realizes how many times the letter 'g' is used in modern American English until the key starts sticking on the keyboard. Grrr

Reach

LZ let me know with a crash today that she can now reach the third-highest shelf in the pantry.

Up until now, that shelf was where I put the breakables and other things I didn't want her getting into.

It's funny. I keep trying to put things out of her reach, and she keeps growing up to meet them.

For Posterity

I just had to document this: I was able to get a sleeping LZ out of the car, up the stairs, onto the changing table, change her diaper and put her in the crib all WITHOUT WAKING HER UP.

Normally I would say that I should probably buy a lottery ticket, but since I live in Vegas, I guess I'll have to play the slots instead.

The Joys of Motherhood

Earlier this morning, around 9:30 or so, I was actually congratulating myself on my patience with the baby. She was tired, yet resisting sleep (as usual).

I didn't feel angry or upset; I felt quite calm, actually. I sat up in the bedroom with her until she fell asleep, about 30 minutes. Piece of cake. I must finally be getting the hang of this.

Fast forward about 6 hours. She was tired. I had already unsuccessfully tried to get her to nap -- twice. This meant about an hour of me rocking and nursing and her squirming and crying and biting. She was grumpy because she was tired. She'd already knocked over a large jug of water on the living room carpet. She screamed every time I left the room or, once I picked her up, tried to put her down. I was about to go insane.

Meanwhile, the DH is living it up at some biker rally in Utah.

And she's only a year old.

Milestones

Before I completely forget to note it, LZ is walking now.

The first day she walked, in a did-she-just-do-what-I-think-she-did kind of way was on the 4th of July. The next day it was definite, she was a walker.

So, before her first birthday, my little girl became a biped!

It Never Fails

When I want the baby to go to sleep, she's wide awake and ready for action. But if I want her to stay awake for some reason, she's off to dreamland.

Worrisome

*Since I'm still awake, I'm going to consider this post as Saturday's. So there.

For the past few months now, several times a week I'll wake up in the morning with the baby in bed with me and have no memory of waking up and getting her out of the crib.

I Thought It Was The Fourth of July

This fourth of July we watched the neighborhood parade and then went to a friends house for a barbecue. The parade was kind of lame (but I'm not much of a parade person), but the barbecue was fun.

No fireworks for us this year, though. The baby's already asleep...

It's funny, but I don't think I'll ever be able to think about the 4th again without thinking about where I was *last* fourth of July.

My mom and mother-in-law were here visiting because it was almost time for me to have the baby. It was actually past time; I was due on June 30th.

We all went out the watch the parade, but it started late and I had to leave early. I had to go to the hospital to get my last non-stress test before the baby was born. My blood pressure had been high during the pregnancy, so I was on medication. My new doctor wanted me to have an NST every week during the last few weeks. Since I was almost a week overdue, he planned to induce that upcoming Sunday.

Not only did I definitely *not* want to be induced, but I was pretty miserable by the 4th (it was HOT and I was big as a house and pretty uncomfortable. Up until then, the pregnancy was just fine, almost ideal) and ready to have the baby. I didn't really mind that the baby was "late," because I was hoping for a 7/7/07 delivery. I just really didn't want to be induced.

I didn't see much of the parade because I had to leave early for my NST. I left the DH and the grandmas at the parade and went by myself. They didn't normally take long; they checked my blood pressure and the baby's heart rate for a certain amount of time to see if there were any problems.

I don't remember much about the actual NST because it was during that last one that the nurse spilled the beans and told me that LZ was a girl. I didn't want to know the sex and usually made sure I told any techs that up front. This time, I forgot (ironically enough, she told me that she *always* asked before revealing the baby's sex. oops).

I can't remember why I had an ultrasound that time; I didn't normally have one. Perhaps because I was due to be induced in a few days, or because the doctor was worried about the amniotic fluid being low. The NST might have been worrisome that time. In fact, I think that *was* it. The nurses called the ob/gyn on call, but since I was due to be induced in a few days, the doctor told them/me just to wait until then.

Of course, two days later, at about 8 pm on July 6th, I went into labor. But that's another story...

From This Point On, It Only Gets Rougher

I haven't had much patience with the munchkin recently. For the first time since she's been born, I was the only one taking care of her for an entire 5 days. It's been rough!

The DH was in the field, my mother-in-law is in Washington State for the summer and my sister is out visiting friends on the East Coast, so it's been me and the kid since Friday.

I really didn't think it would be that big a deal. I've been home alone with her plenty of times. This is the longest I've been alone with her without any reprieve, though.

To make matters worse, her sleep schedule (HA!) is all out of whack 'cause we've been trying to teach her to fall asleep without nursing. We've been doing it for a couple of weeks now, and results have been mixed.

For some reason, the DH can get her to go to sleep with no nursing and a minimum of crying in anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. For me, though, it takes from an hour to two hours, with lots of tears. We usually do an every-other-night thing where he puts her down one night and I do it the next.

It's been great. It's so nice not to be the only one to put her to bed every night.

The down side?

It's very difficult now to nurse her to sleep. Previously it took about half an hour of nursing for her to fall asleep. Now? Forget it.

She squirms, she bites (that's new), she's not interested in nursing and she won't sit still. But when I put her in the crib? Then she screams bloody murder and won't. lay. down. Naps, bedtime, you name it. Five days of that, two to three times a day, and I am about ready to pull my hair out and run around screaming bloody murder myself.

I was at the end of my rope today, literally. Screaming, throwing things, almost in tears, the whole nine yards. Why didn't anyone tell me it could be so frustrating dealing with a baby? (sarcasm) I'm soo glad the DH is back.

You know what this means? I'm going to have to go out and make Mommy friends after all. I knew this day would come.

Unfortunately the DH is sick (again) which means that we'll all be sick here sooner or later. That'll really help the sleeping situation...

My Baby's Becoming a Daddy's Girl

It's funny. Today is the first day that she has shown any DG tendencies.

She's been crawling after him when he leaves the room. When she hears him in the other room she looks around trying to find him. She fusses and cries for him to pick her up, something she only previously did for me.

It's bittersweet (my little girl's growing up; she realizes she doesn't need me 24/7), but I will appreciate a little breathing room. I also want the DH to be able to experience caring for her and being the center of her attention as well.

I knew this would happen, and I'm glad it is. But I'm going to miss being the center of someone's universe a little bit.