I'd like to say that I have some really great reason for not posting much this week. Like, I've been super productive, plowing through ironing, organizing the digital pictures, planning menus and cooking in advance. Or, I've been going to sleep at 8:00 every night and getting 8-9 hours of sleep every night. But no--I've just been watching TV. I've been watching the Ken Burns documentary on WWII, and The Biggest Loser, and Private Practice, and shows whose titles I don't even know. I've been watching so much TV that I've been getting TV headaches. And we're only halfway through the week people. The GOOD shows haven't even started, like Grey's Anatomy, The Office, Desperate Housewives. Man--I have to say I'm a little ashamed. But I'll cut myself some slack. After another week or two, I'll miss and episode of something for some reason, and then I won't bother anymore. I'll probably still watch Desperate Housewives, but I may even get tired of that. And even if I wasn't watching TV, we all know that I probably wouldn't be all that productive anyway.
I will say that having become a mom, I cry at the drop of a hat when watching anything on TV that has anything to do with mothers and children. I bawled during the Biggest Loser when the challenge winners got to call home and talk to their kids. And I bawled during the WWII Documentary when a woman was reading the last letter she had written to her brother before he died. And I absolutely sobbed last night during Private Practice when the psychiatrist and pediatrician were talking to the woman about her son who had fatal brain cancer. Oh my goodness--is this how I'll be for the rest of my life now? Maybe I've been getting headaches from crying so much, as opposed to too much TV.
Okay, gotta run. My Name is Earl is on soon!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Weekend Report
It's time for the weekend report. Things are much improved since my last post. William is better--no more wheezing--and despite his cold, he's still been sleeping pretty well. He's now stuck with nasty boogers oozing out of his nose, but he takes the nose-wiping very well, considering.
Yesterday we attended our second music class. He spent the first half of the class clinging to me and pointing to the door, hoping we would leave. But then the teacher got out the bin of musical instruments, and that got William very interested. He actually walked over to the pile and picked up a few instruments and even danced a little and laughed and smiled. I was very relieved. I was worried that the $200 we spent on the class would end up a big waste of money, but hopefully, he'll warm up to it more and more. He's definitely a cautious child by nature. And he doesn't particularly like loud noises (unless he's making them), so sometimes, I think he gets overwhelmed.
Anyway, the rest of the weekend was uneventful but fun. This morning at the grocery store, William discovered the shopping carts with the cars on the front of them. I've never used one for him before, but as we were returning our cart after unloading the groceries, he saw one and wanted to get in it. I let him, and then he didn't want to get out. I had no idea he would love it so much. Later in the day, Ed and I went to Giant to get some batteries, and we pushed William around in the car cart. He loved it. So next Sunday, we'll be getting the car cart for sure. I remember when I first started bringing William to the grocery store, and thinking that it would be so long before he was big enough to ride in those shopping carts. And here we are.
It's amazing to think about how much he can do now and how much he knows. He can climb up and down the stairs now without help. He likes to be a daredevil and stand up on his ride-on scooter. He "talks" to us all the time, and quite earnestly. He uses intonations and looks at our faces expectantly. He follows commands. He uses a spoon and fork (about half the time). He loves books (especially books about trucks) and loves to read. Basically, all the things that 16-month-old is supposed to do. Every day he just gets cuter and cuter. It's challenging for sure, but what a joy!
Yesterday we attended our second music class. He spent the first half of the class clinging to me and pointing to the door, hoping we would leave. But then the teacher got out the bin of musical instruments, and that got William very interested. He actually walked over to the pile and picked up a few instruments and even danced a little and laughed and smiled. I was very relieved. I was worried that the $200 we spent on the class would end up a big waste of money, but hopefully, he'll warm up to it more and more. He's definitely a cautious child by nature. And he doesn't particularly like loud noises (unless he's making them), so sometimes, I think he gets overwhelmed.
Anyway, the rest of the weekend was uneventful but fun. This morning at the grocery store, William discovered the shopping carts with the cars on the front of them. I've never used one for him before, but as we were returning our cart after unloading the groceries, he saw one and wanted to get in it. I let him, and then he didn't want to get out. I had no idea he would love it so much. Later in the day, Ed and I went to Giant to get some batteries, and we pushed William around in the car cart. He loved it. So next Sunday, we'll be getting the car cart for sure. I remember when I first started bringing William to the grocery store, and thinking that it would be so long before he was big enough to ride in those shopping carts. And here we are.
It's amazing to think about how much he can do now and how much he knows. He can climb up and down the stairs now without help. He likes to be a daredevil and stand up on his ride-on scooter. He "talks" to us all the time, and quite earnestly. He uses intonations and looks at our faces expectantly. He follows commands. He uses a spoon and fork (about half the time). He loves books (especially books about trucks) and loves to read. Basically, all the things that 16-month-old is supposed to do. Every day he just gets cuter and cuter. It's challenging for sure, but what a joy!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Feeling Down
I had to leave work early today because William's daycare called to tell me they thought he was wheezing. I took him to the doctor and they confirmed it. So now he has to have a nebulizer treatment every 3-4 hours, and the doctor also prescribed a steroid. This just sucks. To make things worse, he also threw up 4 times today, although I think it was because of all the mucous--his gag reflex, rather than a virus. But needless to say, we'll be staying home tomorrow. Unfortunately, he did not react well to the nebulizer this go around. In the past, he's been great about it, just sitting quietly and breathing in the medicine. This time, he wanted nothing to do with it and kept pushing it away and crying. I might have to break out the Baby Einstein dvd tomorrow to see if that will help. It might be a rough day.
I'm feeling down because I'm worried that this is the beginning of a long winter for us, and that he'll end up being diagnosed with asthma. And I'm feeling guilty because he's a daycare baby, and I'm thinking that he'd be better off if I stayed home. And in general, it just sucks to see your child sick, so I'm sad. Let's just hope that he gets over this quickly. I guess now we have a good reason for missing the family dinner on Yom Kippur.
I'm feeling down because I'm worried that this is the beginning of a long winter for us, and that he'll end up being diagnosed with asthma. And I'm feeling guilty because he's a daycare baby, and I'm thinking that he'd be better off if I stayed home. And in general, it just sucks to see your child sick, so I'm sad. Let's just hope that he gets over this quickly. I guess now we have a good reason for missing the family dinner on Yom Kippur.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Matzah Ball Soup
Although Ed is Jewish, he has no interest in practicing Judaism, or passing along Jewish traditions to our children. (I am not religious, either, so this works well for us.) William's exposure to his Jewish heritage will come from Ed's family, and the family gatherings that occur loosely based on Jewish holidays, such as Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur, which include some of the traditional Jewish meals that are served on said holidays, such as brisket, kugel, and matzah ball soup. (I say loosely because these gatherings may or may not occur on the actual holidays.) At any rate, I don't think we have to worry about William completely losing touch with his Jewish heritage. It turns out that William loves matzah ball soup!
He's eaten it three nights in a row now. And he also ate the carrots and chicken included in the soup. (Not just the matzah balls!) I have new hope for chicken and dumplings and chicken noodle soup, now! And this also means that I must learn to make matzah balls!
In other news, William had a runny nose today, so I guess that means he's caught a cold. Darn it. I was hoping we could go two months in a row without being sick. (He did develop a bit of a cough several weeks ago, but I'm not sure if that was a virus or allergies.) I hope it's a mild one. It's depressing to think that the cold and flu season is quickly approaching. I'm also hoping it doesn't sabotage his good sleeping habits of late. Knock on wood!
He's eaten it three nights in a row now. And he also ate the carrots and chicken included in the soup. (Not just the matzah balls!) I have new hope for chicken and dumplings and chicken noodle soup, now! And this also means that I must learn to make matzah balls!
In other news, William had a runny nose today, so I guess that means he's caught a cold. Darn it. I was hoping we could go two months in a row without being sick. (He did develop a bit of a cough several weeks ago, but I'm not sure if that was a virus or allergies.) I hope it's a mild one. It's depressing to think that the cold and flu season is quickly approaching. I'm also hoping it doesn't sabotage his good sleeping habits of late. Knock on wood!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Disappointment and the Weekend Report
Ed and I finally ordered a new rug for our family room, which arrived today. And I don't like it. We ordered it from Overstock.com, so we were taking a chance by not seeing it in person. What a bummer. I don't know how much it will cost to ship it back, but now we have to figure out if it will be worth it. We should have known better than to order a rug with monkeys on it. Yep--monkeys. We thought it would be whimsical. Instead, it's just borderline ridiculous. Actually, what I don't like about it is the color. It's a pale yellow, and I thought it was more of a beigeish yellow. Oh well. Ed said we should live with it for a few days before making a decision. In the meantime, I'll be checking with UPS to check their shipping rates.
In other news, we had a great weekend with William. My friend from New York brought her 3-year-old son Jack to visit on Thursday night, so we took Friday off and hung out with them all day. We didn't do much of anything except play outside. When school got out, we went to the playground and it was packed with older kids. William had a great time. He went down the slide a bunch and enjoyed it. In the past, he's always been a bit hesitant about the slide. But this time, he grinned ear to ear. He also loved seeing all the big kids. I met a few moms that live nearby, too, so that was nice. They said that our street gets tons of trick-or-treaters, so that's something to look forward to! William also loved Jack and enjoyed being around a big kid for a few days.
On Saturday, William and I went to our first music class. He did pretty well, although he mostly wanted me to hold him. There were times when he seemed to enjoy it. Hopefully he'll get used to it and get really into it. He's definitely cautious when it comes to new situations and new people. But he's also curious, which is good.
In other news, William has been sleeping through the night, until past 6:00 a.m.! This is very exciting, although now that I've actually written it out loud, I'm sure I've doomed myself to weeks of sleepless nights. He's also saying "helicopter" now, although it comes out as "helicop." I thought this was a relatively new thing, but Ed informed me tonight that he taught William to say helicopter when he stayed with William for the week in August. Go figure.
So that's about it. I went to the dermatologist today and luckily, I seem to be skin cancer free. That was a relief. It's good to get stuff like that out of the way.
And finally, I do have a menu plan for this week. So here it is:
Monday: Chicken foil packets on the grill
These were really good, and I totally made them up! I cut up chicken breast and sprinkled the pieces with lemon pepper seasoning. Then I added asparagus, zucchini, and squash, some crushed garlic, Italian seasonings, and some Kosher salt. I wrapped them up in aluminum foil and Ed cooked them on the grill. They were fantastic!
Tuesday: Ed has a gig, so it's just William and me. I might eat beans and rice, or something else that Ed won't eat.
Wednesday: Chicken soft tacos
This is something we used to make all the time when I lived in a group house of 5 girls--when I first moved to DC. We cut up chicken and cook it in taco seasoning. Meanwhile, make Spanish rice. Then you can choose whatever taco toppings you want. Spread some rice and chicken in a soft taco tortilla, and add toppings. We'll have lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream. We also like avocados, green onions, and refried beans sometimes.
Thursday: Lasagna
My lasagna is a little different than most recipes because I use cottage cheese instead of ricotta. For the sauce, I just doctor up jar sauce. Nothing too fancy.
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Yom Kippur--Ed is breaking fast with his family and it looks like I'll be home with William because we can't find a babysitter. I'm not too disappointed, truth be told!
In other news, we had a great weekend with William. My friend from New York brought her 3-year-old son Jack to visit on Thursday night, so we took Friday off and hung out with them all day. We didn't do much of anything except play outside. When school got out, we went to the playground and it was packed with older kids. William had a great time. He went down the slide a bunch and enjoyed it. In the past, he's always been a bit hesitant about the slide. But this time, he grinned ear to ear. He also loved seeing all the big kids. I met a few moms that live nearby, too, so that was nice. They said that our street gets tons of trick-or-treaters, so that's something to look forward to! William also loved Jack and enjoyed being around a big kid for a few days.
On Saturday, William and I went to our first music class. He did pretty well, although he mostly wanted me to hold him. There were times when he seemed to enjoy it. Hopefully he'll get used to it and get really into it. He's definitely cautious when it comes to new situations and new people. But he's also curious, which is good.
In other news, William has been sleeping through the night, until past 6:00 a.m.! This is very exciting, although now that I've actually written it out loud, I'm sure I've doomed myself to weeks of sleepless nights. He's also saying "helicopter" now, although it comes out as "helicop." I thought this was a relatively new thing, but Ed informed me tonight that he taught William to say helicopter when he stayed with William for the week in August. Go figure.
So that's about it. I went to the dermatologist today and luckily, I seem to be skin cancer free. That was a relief. It's good to get stuff like that out of the way.
And finally, I do have a menu plan for this week. So here it is:
Monday: Chicken foil packets on the grill
These were really good, and I totally made them up! I cut up chicken breast and sprinkled the pieces with lemon pepper seasoning. Then I added asparagus, zucchini, and squash, some crushed garlic, Italian seasonings, and some Kosher salt. I wrapped them up in aluminum foil and Ed cooked them on the grill. They were fantastic!
Tuesday: Ed has a gig, so it's just William and me. I might eat beans and rice, or something else that Ed won't eat.
Wednesday: Chicken soft tacos
This is something we used to make all the time when I lived in a group house of 5 girls--when I first moved to DC. We cut up chicken and cook it in taco seasoning. Meanwhile, make Spanish rice. Then you can choose whatever taco toppings you want. Spread some rice and chicken in a soft taco tortilla, and add toppings. We'll have lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream. We also like avocados, green onions, and refried beans sometimes.
Thursday: Lasagna
My lasagna is a little different than most recipes because I use cottage cheese instead of ricotta. For the sauce, I just doctor up jar sauce. Nothing too fancy.
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Yom Kippur--Ed is breaking fast with his family and it looks like I'll be home with William because we can't find a babysitter. I'm not too disappointed, truth be told!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
In the Hot Seat
My friend Laura--the one with twin boys the same age as William, God bless her!--put herself in the hot seat a few weeks back, inviting her readers to ask her any questions they wanted. Well, now she has a few questions for me.
1. How did you meet Ed?
We met in the fall of 2001 when we were both working at Barnes and Noble. I was working there part time, and he had decided not to go to law school but wasn't quite sure what he was going to do, yet. He worked in the music section, and one evening when we were closing, and all the employees were standing around waiting for the manager, Ed and I started talking. He said he was a jazz musician, which immediately piqued my interest. And he also told me he had gone to Chapel Hill, so I assumed he was pretty smart. For the next several weeks, I would go flirt with him in the music department whenever we worked the same shifts. And then we went on our first date in December. And I guess the rest is history!
2. How will you feel if people start calling William, "Billy"?
Yeah--hopefully that won't happen. Although I could live with Bill. And I guess "Billy" is preferable to "Willie." But maybe not. I think if he ends up with a nick name, it will most likely be Will. So to answer your question, I think I will cringe if people call him "Billy"!
3. Do you get to meet a lot of senators in your job or are you more behind the scenes?
I, personally, don't get to meet lots of senators, but my boss does. Most of them know him by name, and they request personal meetings with him and sometimes even tours, so that they can get "up to speed" with the history of the Senate. I have probably spoken to more former senators than current. But I often pass senators in the hallways or on the subway to the Capitol. It's not all that glamorous, though. I'm mostly behind-the-scenes.
4. What is the #1 thing you would do the same if you had another child?
This is a really tough question! I can think of lots and lots of things I want to do differently, but what would I do the same? I guess the #1 thing is that I will definitely breastfeed again. But coming in at #2 will be keeping an open mind when it comes to things like pacifiers, co-sleeping, nursing, etc.
[ETA--2 more questions from Laura!]
5. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
I love answering this one, because it's sort of different from what people normally do. Ed and I went to a dude ranch in Colorado for our honeymoon! It was great. We had our own cabin, and went horseback riding every day, and did some fishing, and Ed got to shoot skeet and pistols and do archery. (I would have but I had injured my hand the day before, so I couldn't hold the gun.) And we herded cattle and Ed even got to castrate a few calves. He was a real cowboy! At any rate, we had a really good time and it's definitely something we want to do again as a family when the kid/s get older.
6. Are you happy with the move to Burke and the new house?
This one is easy--YES! I love our house and our yard and our neighborhood. Even though we have a longer commute now, it has been worth it. I think it will be a great area for William to grow up in, and it is wonderful having a house! The only tough part has been trying to get settled. There's so much we want to do, and most of that involves buying stuff, and we just don't have the expendable cash right now. But we'll get there eventually!
So if anyone else has any questions, ask them in my comments section! And thanks for showing some interest, Laura!
1. How did you meet Ed?
We met in the fall of 2001 when we were both working at Barnes and Noble. I was working there part time, and he had decided not to go to law school but wasn't quite sure what he was going to do, yet. He worked in the music section, and one evening when we were closing, and all the employees were standing around waiting for the manager, Ed and I started talking. He said he was a jazz musician, which immediately piqued my interest. And he also told me he had gone to Chapel Hill, so I assumed he was pretty smart. For the next several weeks, I would go flirt with him in the music department whenever we worked the same shifts. And then we went on our first date in December. And I guess the rest is history!
2. How will you feel if people start calling William, "Billy"?
Yeah--hopefully that won't happen. Although I could live with Bill. And I guess "Billy" is preferable to "Willie." But maybe not. I think if he ends up with a nick name, it will most likely be Will. So to answer your question, I think I will cringe if people call him "Billy"!
3. Do you get to meet a lot of senators in your job or are you more behind the scenes?
I, personally, don't get to meet lots of senators, but my boss does. Most of them know him by name, and they request personal meetings with him and sometimes even tours, so that they can get "up to speed" with the history of the Senate. I have probably spoken to more former senators than current. But I often pass senators in the hallways or on the subway to the Capitol. It's not all that glamorous, though. I'm mostly behind-the-scenes.
4. What is the #1 thing you would do the same if you had another child?
This is a really tough question! I can think of lots and lots of things I want to do differently, but what would I do the same? I guess the #1 thing is that I will definitely breastfeed again. But coming in at #2 will be keeping an open mind when it comes to things like pacifiers, co-sleeping, nursing, etc.
[ETA--2 more questions from Laura!]
5. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
I love answering this one, because it's sort of different from what people normally do. Ed and I went to a dude ranch in Colorado for our honeymoon! It was great. We had our own cabin, and went horseback riding every day, and did some fishing, and Ed got to shoot skeet and pistols and do archery. (I would have but I had injured my hand the day before, so I couldn't hold the gun.) And we herded cattle and Ed even got to castrate a few calves. He was a real cowboy! At any rate, we had a really good time and it's definitely something we want to do again as a family when the kid/s get older.
6. Are you happy with the move to Burke and the new house?
This one is easy--YES! I love our house and our yard and our neighborhood. Even though we have a longer commute now, it has been worth it. I think it will be a great area for William to grow up in, and it is wonderful having a house! The only tough part has been trying to get settled. There's so much we want to do, and most of that involves buying stuff, and we just don't have the expendable cash right now. But we'll get there eventually!
So if anyone else has any questions, ask them in my comments section! And thanks for showing some interest, Laura!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Notes on William
Just wanted to make a note of a few things William has been doing lately.
First of all, he went down the stairs by himself--going backwards and being very careful. I've known that he knows how to go down stairs backwards. But I just wasn't sure if he would. Whenever I'm close by, he tends to go down kamikaze style--feet first like he's perfectly capable of walking down the stairs just like you and me. It's nice to know that he has some since of self preservation! Still, I'm not getting rid of the gates any time soon.
Also, he's saying "wow" now, and it's really cute. He loves trucks and he has a book that has pictures of all kinds of different trucks. Sometimes he'll study the book and point at a truck and say, "Wow!" It's too funny to hear your child use descriptive words like that appropriately.
He also started saying "bus," although it sounds more like, "butts." For a long time, he called buses "trucks," so this is definite progress.
He's not using bottles any more at daycare. At home, he usually gets one in the morning when he wakes up, and before he goes to sleep. But this morning, we even skipped the morning bottle.
He's been doing really well with sleep, and more often than not now, sleeping through the night. This morning he finally slept past 6:00 a.m.! That was nice for a change. (Although I still got up at 5:45 a.m. to get ready for the day. It was just nice to not have him under my feet as I got dressed and blow dried my hair and put on my makeup.)
He runs now more often than he walks.
He follows directions really well and the daycare director said he'll be ready to move to the toddlers room soon. I think he'll be really happy there, once he gets used to the teachers.
That's about it. We're enjoying William more than ever and most days, I just want to drink him in and kiss him all over. It's all the little moments that happen throughout the day that make you so thankful that you had kids.
First of all, he went down the stairs by himself--going backwards and being very careful. I've known that he knows how to go down stairs backwards. But I just wasn't sure if he would. Whenever I'm close by, he tends to go down kamikaze style--feet first like he's perfectly capable of walking down the stairs just like you and me. It's nice to know that he has some since of self preservation! Still, I'm not getting rid of the gates any time soon.
Also, he's saying "wow" now, and it's really cute. He loves trucks and he has a book that has pictures of all kinds of different trucks. Sometimes he'll study the book and point at a truck and say, "Wow!" It's too funny to hear your child use descriptive words like that appropriately.
He also started saying "bus," although it sounds more like, "butts." For a long time, he called buses "trucks," so this is definite progress.
He's not using bottles any more at daycare. At home, he usually gets one in the morning when he wakes up, and before he goes to sleep. But this morning, we even skipped the morning bottle.
He's been doing really well with sleep, and more often than not now, sleeping through the night. This morning he finally slept past 6:00 a.m.! That was nice for a change. (Although I still got up at 5:45 a.m. to get ready for the day. It was just nice to not have him under my feet as I got dressed and blow dried my hair and put on my makeup.)
He runs now more often than he walks.
He follows directions really well and the daycare director said he'll be ready to move to the toddlers room soon. I think he'll be really happy there, once he gets used to the teachers.
That's about it. We're enjoying William more than ever and most days, I just want to drink him in and kiss him all over. It's all the little moments that happen throughout the day that make you so thankful that you had kids.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Menu Plan Monday
It's that time again! Here's this week's menu:
Sunday:
French Bread Pizzas
Monday: French Onion Beef Noodle Bake
Some kind of veggie, TBD
Tuesday: Pepsi Pork Roast (except I might use Root Beer)
Potatoes
Salad or some kind of veggie
Wednesday: Pork Roast Sandwiches on Hogie Rolls
French Fries
Thursday: Hamburgers/hot dogs on the grill
Potato salad
Friday: Dinner out?
Sunday, September 09, 2007
A Blast at the Beach
We are home from our weekend at the beach and we had a wonderful time. As I suspected, William loved the ocean and the sand. He spent lots of time walking around, slyly observing people, and throwing sand. Two of his favorite things to do were to knock down any sand castles that Ed and I tried to build, and jump into any holes that we dug. He also enjoyed the birds and the telephone in our hotel room. He woke up a few times on Friday night but slept all night on Saturday night. And he graciously woke us up before 6:00 a.m. both mornings so that we could watch the sunrise together. How thoughtful!
So here's what you really want--pictures!
As soon as we got there on Friday afternoon, we headed to the beach.
Here he is with Ed, very excited to see the waves:
This is dinner Friday night.
Here he is eating a lemon for the first time:
The beach on Saturday. We stayed on the beach the whole day. William even napped under the umbrella for an hour and a half. I actually got to relax in the chair and read a book!
So here he is, exploring with daddy:
Here he is, busy with his shovel and pail. He wore the hat and shades for most of the day. We were shocked! We got tons of comments from people. It was pretty funny.
And one last shot, because it's too cute not to post:
So that's enough. Time for bed. And I did, in fact, come up with a menu for this week, so I'll post it tomorrow morning. It was a great weekend, but I'm glad we're home.
So here's what you really want--pictures!
As soon as we got there on Friday afternoon, we headed to the beach.
Here he is with Ed, very excited to see the waves:
This is dinner Friday night.
Here he is eating a lemon for the first time:
The beach on Saturday. We stayed on the beach the whole day. William even napped under the umbrella for an hour and a half. I actually got to relax in the chair and read a book!So here he is, exploring with daddy:
Here he is, busy with his shovel and pail. He wore the hat and shades for most of the day. We were shocked! We got tons of comments from people. It was pretty funny.
And one last shot, because it's too cute not to post:
So that's enough. Time for bed. And I did, in fact, come up with a menu for this week, so I'll post it tomorrow morning. It was a great weekend, but I'm glad we're home.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Successful Strategy
I'm feeling quite brilliant and smug because my strategy of sewing William's blanket to his crib rail worked! Last night he woke up at 4:30 a.m. and cried and whined and threw one blanket out of the crib and then tried to throw the other one--but it didn't go anywhere! It just hung over the side of the crib. So after pacing the crib a few times and jumping up and down and whining and crying some more, he stepped on one of the extra pacifiers I had left in the crib, bent down and picked it up and put it in his mouth, and then lost his balanced and fell down. Since he had his blanket and his pacifier, there was no reason for him not to go back to sleep, which he promptly did. He cried for a total of 9 minutes. I'm convinced that if he hadn't had the blanket and pacifier, he would have continued to cry. Of course, I have no way of really knowing if this is true, but work with me people. Feeling smug and brilliant when you're a relatively new mom is a wonderful thing! I guess we'll have to see what happens tonight to know for sure.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
An Adjustment
Getting back into the routine after a long weekend, and in William's case, a long week, can be a little rough. Today seemed to go okay, though. For starters, William slept through the night last night, so that was good. We left the house at a relatively good time (not quite as early as I had hoped, but William decided to poop while I was eating my breakfast, so we had to go upstairs and change him before we left) and I wasn't too late to work. The drop-off was okay--not too many tears. I guess the worst part of William's day was that the teachers decided no more bottle for him. When he woke up from his nap, he was quite distressed, and even though he cried really hard for 20 minutes, they didn't give in. I feel pretty bad for him, and considering the fact that today was probably going to be hard on all of the kids since they've been out for a week, I probably would have said to let him have it. But they didn't ask me. And I know 20 minutes of crying won't really hurt him. Better them than me. Of course, as soon as I picked him up and he saw the bottle bag that I carry his bottles in, he immediately pointed to the fridge and wanted his bottle again. I made him wait until we got to the car. Nice, huh? I decided that for right now, I'm not too worried about the bottle battle. I think he'll figure out that he doesn't get one at daycare, and he does at home--in the morning when he wakes up, and at night before he goes to bed. It works for me! Tomorrow, I won't be bringing any bottles to daycare. Just sippy cups! Hopefully he'll understand that no bottle bag means no bottles.
After work, we had a good time playing outside. I tried to take some pictures, but he wasn't very cooperative. Here are a few:
Here he is on Daddy's workbench, sorting the screws and nails.
Just a few other notes that I want to remember. First of all, he says "more" now. And he says "Da-doo," which is a lawnmower. But it might also be other things--I haven't quite figured that out. He also loves our Victrola. We have a 1919 model, where you crank the handle, and it plays the old records, and you control the volume by opening or closing the doors in front of the speaker. Anyway, William wants us to play it every day. Today I played a few songs from "Oklahoma." He seems to enjoy Benny Goodman more.
So that's all for tonight. I hope he has a good night tonight, too. Oh yeah--I did end up sewing his blanket to the crib. I found a pacifier clip on a ribbon, sewed the ribbon to the blanket, wrapped the ribbon around the crib post and then hooked it over the pacifier clip, and then made sure there wasn't any slack in the ribbon. Of course, it didn't get tested last night, so we'll have to see what happens tonight. There are only a few stitches holding the ribbon to the blanket, so it might not hold too well. But it was worth a try!
After work, we had a good time playing outside. I tried to take some pictures, but he wasn't very cooperative. Here are a few:
Here he is on Daddy's workbench, sorting the screws and nails.
Just a few other notes that I want to remember. First of all, he says "more" now. And he says "Da-doo," which is a lawnmower. But it might also be other things--I haven't quite figured that out. He also loves our Victrola. We have a 1919 model, where you crank the handle, and it plays the old records, and you control the volume by opening or closing the doors in front of the speaker. Anyway, William wants us to play it every day. Today I played a few songs from "Oklahoma." He seems to enjoy Benny Goodman more.
So that's all for tonight. I hope he has a good night tonight, too. Oh yeah--I did end up sewing his blanket to the crib. I found a pacifier clip on a ribbon, sewed the ribbon to the blanket, wrapped the ribbon around the crib post and then hooked it over the pacifier clip, and then made sure there wasn't any slack in the ribbon. Of course, it didn't get tested last night, so we'll have to see what happens tonight. There are only a few stitches holding the ribbon to the blanket, so it might not hold too well. But it was worth a try!
Monday, September 03, 2007
Happy Labor Day
We've had a pretty good weekend, and I'm not looking forward to having to get ready for work tomorrow, and having to fight traffic again, and having to take William to daycare. I can only imagine how his morning is going to go. I feel the most sorry for the daycare teachers!
On Saturday, William's two buddies from daycare and their parents came over for a cook-out. The boys were so cute and were so excited to see each other. They had a great time running around, playing in the water table and the sand box, keeping their parents on their toes. William was so exhausted that he slept through the night. (Last night, however, he woke up at a little after 4:00 and cried for 15 minutes until I went in and retrieved his blankets and pacifier, which he's now throwing over the side of the crib when he wakes up. Great, huh?)
On Sunday afternoon, William and I went to the outlet mall to go shoe shopping. I found a pair of stride rites for $28.00. His foot measured a 5.5--a whole size bigger than his last pair. He looks so stinkin' cute and grown up in his new shoes. I'll get some pictures this afternoon when he wakes up from his nap.
Today we went to Home Depot with Daddy. Ed got a table saw a couple of weeks ago and it's his new favorite toy. He's decided that he needs to build a desk in our storage room in the basement so that he doesn't have to worry about making noise when he pays bills. I'm not really sure why paying bills is noisy, but whatever. So he got some supplies for the desk and he's happily piddling away in the garage. This afternoon we're going to Ed's cousin's for a little cookout.
So that's it--nothing too exciting. This is going to be a short week because next weekend, we're going to the beach! I'm excited and just hope the weather will cooperate. I hope William will love the ocean and the sand. It will be a short trip, but I'm really looking forward to it. In the meantime, I'm hoping this week won't be too terrible. And I'm a little at a loss as to what to do about sleeping. Instead of getting easier, this whole letting him cry thing is getting harder. The first couple of nights, he cried for only 5 minutes or less. And now he's only waking up once, which is good, and he's not getting a bottle, which is progress, but he's crying for longer and longer. I may have to resort to the extinction method. I'm also considering sewing one of his blankets to his crib rails so that he can't throw it over the side. We'll see!
On Saturday, William's two buddies from daycare and their parents came over for a cook-out. The boys were so cute and were so excited to see each other. They had a great time running around, playing in the water table and the sand box, keeping their parents on their toes. William was so exhausted that he slept through the night. (Last night, however, he woke up at a little after 4:00 and cried for 15 minutes until I went in and retrieved his blankets and pacifier, which he's now throwing over the side of the crib when he wakes up. Great, huh?)
On Sunday afternoon, William and I went to the outlet mall to go shoe shopping. I found a pair of stride rites for $28.00. His foot measured a 5.5--a whole size bigger than his last pair. He looks so stinkin' cute and grown up in his new shoes. I'll get some pictures this afternoon when he wakes up from his nap.
Today we went to Home Depot with Daddy. Ed got a table saw a couple of weeks ago and it's his new favorite toy. He's decided that he needs to build a desk in our storage room in the basement so that he doesn't have to worry about making noise when he pays bills. I'm not really sure why paying bills is noisy, but whatever. So he got some supplies for the desk and he's happily piddling away in the garage. This afternoon we're going to Ed's cousin's for a little cookout.
So that's it--nothing too exciting. This is going to be a short week because next weekend, we're going to the beach! I'm excited and just hope the weather will cooperate. I hope William will love the ocean and the sand. It will be a short trip, but I'm really looking forward to it. In the meantime, I'm hoping this week won't be too terrible. And I'm a little at a loss as to what to do about sleeping. Instead of getting easier, this whole letting him cry thing is getting harder. The first couple of nights, he cried for only 5 minutes or less. And now he's only waking up once, which is good, and he's not getting a bottle, which is progress, but he's crying for longer and longer. I may have to resort to the extinction method. I'm also considering sewing one of his blankets to his crib rails so that he can't throw it over the side. We'll see!
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