It’s times like these when I thank God we don’t have cable tv.  I know I would be glued to the screen, watching every horrible moment of the tragedy in Haiti.  I have not seen many pictures either, but just from what I have read about the situation, I already want to adopt all the orphaned children.  My heart breaks thinking of the immense sadness and collective grief of a nation; children who lost their parents, parents who had their children ripped out of their lives.  Entire families just gone.  An entire city wiped out.

When I first heard about the earthquake and the insane amount of people killed and injured, I was so saddened.   I remember holding my baby so tightly throughout the next few days, giving her lots of extra hugs and kisses.  I heard stories of mothers digging through rubble to get to their babies, and people dying from simple broken bones, because they couldn’t get treatment.  It all seems so unfair.

As a mother, sometimes the world seems so scary and filled with things to worry about.  I constantly find myself fighting the urge to think about all the horrible things that could happen to my baby, my husband, or myself.  I can’t imagine a world where I would have to live without my family.  For that matter, I can’t comprehend the concept of death at all.  Much less so a death that would occur so suddenly, so unfairly, and so massively.

I count my blessings every day and am so thankful for everything I have.  I try not to ever take it for granted.  If you believe in prayer, please pray for the people of Haiti.  If you have any money to spare, even 10 dollars, please send what you can to the people of Haiti.  They need it now much more than we do.

I think my little Monkey has some pretty sweet dance moves.  Don’t you agree?

busy ball popper

One of Monkey’s favorite Christmas presents is her Playskool busy ball popper.  I would recommend this to any parent who has a 9 month old-3 year old.  Monkey loves watching the balls shoot out of the tube and running around the room to catch them all.  But sometimes she is SO SERIOUS when she plays!  The toy features a series of tubes and slides, and a vacuum that shoots out balls to music, but instead of being happy and having fun, she is determined to figure out exactly how this thing works.  Hopefully she will relax a little and enjoy the fun!

Wow.  That hair… That’s a post for another day!

So there are all kinds of tips on how to avoid sleep-deprivation.  Sleep when your baby sleeps, ask someone to help watch your baby so you can take a nap, don’t try to do things (chores, etc) that don’t absolutely need to be done if it means giving up sleep.

Reality check…

I don’t know about you, but once I am up that’s it.  If I try to nap, my mind can’t shut off (mainly listing all the things I should be doing).  As tired as I may be, I still stay up late to check my email, work out, do chores, watch a movie, hang out with the hubby, blog or write-things I can’t  do when Monkey is awake.  So what I want to know is how to fake it like you got sleep, even when you didn’t.  Here are some good tips…

A nice hot shower is worth at least a few hours sleep.  If you can take a few minutes to shower, you will feel a million times better-regardless of your lack of sleep.

GET DRESSED!   I know many stay at home Moms who get dressed to go out to the store and then immediately get back into their PJ’s when they get home.  I’m the same way-I wear my workout clothes 24/7.  But the truth is, if we got dressed every morning (and stayed that way!) we would feel more awake.

Some Moms swear by caffeine, and if that works for you-great!  But this non-coffee drinker thinks the more water you drink, the less sleepy you will feel.  Go a step further and remove sugar from your diet, and you’ll have so much more energy!

Splash some cold water on your face.

If you’re going out, put some concealer under your eyes to hide the bags or slap on some big, fabulous sunglasses.

Don’t wear black-it accentuates your wrinkles and makes you look older.  New studies show that the color doesn’t even work to make you look slimmer, as previously thought.

And if these tips aren’t working for you, just go take a nap already! And please leave me a comment and let me know your good tip for faking your refreshed look!

Cranky Teether

My brain is so fried right now it will be a miracle if I can write a coherent post today.  I have not felt this sleep-deprived or sapped of my energy since Monkey was a newborn.   Around 5 months, her bottom front teeth started coming in.  She was cranky and she drooled a lot.  It was a nightmare trying to get her to eat or sleep.  But the teeth came in, and then she was fine again.  She’s up to 8 teeth now and every new tooth was easier on her than the last.  By the eighth, she was barely showing any signs of teething.

That was before the molars started coming in…

Molars.  Another precious gem no one tells you about when you’re having a baby.  Why aren’t babies just born with teeth?  Okay, okay, that might make it less appealing to breastfeed.  But I can’t help feeling sorry for my little Monkey.  Molars aren’t pointy at all so they just slowly break through the surface of the gums by force, flat and thick as they are.  My husband is one of the few people I know who actually had room in his mouth for his wisdom teeth and describes the pain of those teeth coming through as chewing on broken glass for a week.  I hope it’s not as bad as that.  But I can’t help but think that it is.

Here are some signs that your baby might be teething.  Loss of Appetite (who wants to chew when your gums hurt?), Major Increase in Drooling (which in turn causes rash around mouth, coughing, and watery stools), Inability to Sleep (And they will SCREAM bloody murder at you when you try to leave the room!), Clinginess (not sure if that’s a word, but my usually independent Monkey needs to be held and hugged constantly), Biting (it feels good, they are not acting out), Low-grade Fever (this one is debated-I say they are just all hot and bothered!), Ear-Pulling, and more.  Also the immune system is lower so they are more apt to pick up common colds and viruses.  Just what they needed, right?

Monkey has pretty much all of them right now and I can’t wait until she is back to her happy little self.  Yes, it is hard going on less sleep and putting up with her crankiness and neediness all day.  But I can deal with that.  What I can’t take much more of is seeing her in all this pain.  There are some things you can do to help ease the pain, but it won’t go away until the tooth breaks the surface.  Once it does, everything is better IMMEDIATELY…like magic! Until then, you may want to try…

Baby Motrin and Baby Tylenol (we don’t like using medicine all the time because it isn’t the best for little stomachs and livers and seems to lose it’s effectiveness if used too often) We try to wait until night when it is the worst. Motrin is great because it lasts 8 hours as Tylenol only lasts 4.  And you wouldn’t believe it, but like clockwork, 8 hours after we give Monkey her Motrin and put her to bed, she wakes up on cue, screaming in pain.  Frozen Teethers. Monkey has been rejecting hers lately, but it worked well for her other teeth.  I have also heard frozen waffles are great because they can snack on them when thawed and the big pockets catch all the drool.  I will have to try it!  Baby Orajel We actually have not tried this yet, but I am off to the store in the morning to pick some up along with some Hylands Teething Tablets.  I will let you know how these work.  I have friends that swear by them! Cold, Soft Foods Don’t try to forcefeed your baby when their teeth hurt.  Try to offer applesauce, yogurt, cold pasta, pretty much anything cold and mushy.

Other than that just lots of hugs and patience.  Try to sleep when they sleep.  Now I need to start taking my own advice and hit the sack.  Praying these teeth come out soon so my little one doesn’t have to suffer much longer.

We have been planning Monkey’s birthday party which is in two weeks, and I just can’t believe that she’ll already be a year old.  Spent the last hour watching old videos of her and reminiscing.  Hope you enjoy this one.  She doesn’t do much yet (2 months old here I think) but we used to film her even when she was just sleeping.  We were just so amazed by every little thing she did.  If you can stand watching the whole minute and a half, there is a cute part near the end when she sneezes and then reacts to it with a funny little noise.

Mommy, can we go out there?

This looked a lot more fun from inside!

So Monkey has been staring at the falling snow from inside for a few days, so I finally decided to bundle her all up and take her out to experience it.  I did this earlier in the season, but she was cranky and screamed the whole time.  This time wasn’t much better.  I sat her down in the snow and thought she would be curious about it.  Instead, she just looked up at me as if to say, “Why in the world did you take me out here?”  After a few moments of this, she just started crying.  We get quite a bit of snow here, probably more than any other part of the country.  So I envision sledding, snowman building, snowball fights, etc. when she is older.  But for now, she is only interested from inside where it is nice and warm.  So snow bunny she is not.  But there’s always next year!

Let me in!

Ah, the age old question. I have been thinking about this ever since my little one started crawling back around 5 months old. To baby gate or not to baby gate?

My friends and family all have very strong opinions and very good advice when it comes to this question. There are pretty much two schools of thought on the subject…
1. Gates are great because they prevent falls and keep baby out of non-baby-proofed areas.
2. Gates are not necessary because you should be watching your children and teaching them where the boundaries are.

Now that I have an 11 month old who can pretty much run around the house like a toddler, I have found that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Yes, I am always around my daughter and do my best to watch her every second of the day, but when I am making her lunch and she is playing on the kitchen floor, I need to know that she is not going to tumble down the basement stairs. This is the only area we have chosen to “gate off” out of necessity. Daddy works downstairs and she wants more than anything to go down and see him.  She really does not care that she does not know how to step down stairs, she will just start going if we let her.

Then there is the staircase going upstairs.  I have turned away for a second during a game of “peek-a-boo” and have opened my eyes to find my little Monkey halfway up the stairs! We have not gated that staircase and hopefully we won’t have to, but I do end up chasing her up the stairs at least 20 times a day. I wonder if we should have put a gate at the bottom.  Some experts say you should have a gate at the third step from the bottom, so baby can learn by trial and error how to go up and down the steps.
I have some friends who have gated off almost every room of their houses, putting child locks on every single cabinet and drawer in the house. But what happens when those children are taken to another house? Will they listen when their parents say “no”?  Since we have made the decision not to use gates and child locks (for the most part) I am sure that it was the right thing to do. It has been very annoying to have to teach her over and over AND OVER again not to open the cabinets, but now she stops at the word, “no” and when we visit other houses that are not babyproofed, she listens to the boundaries as we set them.

So what do you think about baby gates?  Love ‘em or leave ‘em?

good little reader

Here is a great picture I took the other day when I caught Daddy and Monkey reading.  I think Daddy was trying to read his book to Monkey, but she crawled away to “read” her own book. Just like Daddy.

As an elementary school teacher, I want to shout from the rooftops and tell everyone I can that it is never too early to read to your child.  That reading should be like breathing or eating.  You wouldn’t go a whole day without feeding your baby.  Yet not everyone believes a daily book to be just as necessary as a meal.

Before my little Monkey was born, I decorated her room with my favorite children’s book characters.  I read to my belly every day and I started a collection of books for her.   With the exception of those first hectic days home from the hospital, I can say that we have read to her every single night before bed.

Before a baby can sit up and see the book, you can read anything to them.  Daddy and I were reading The Hobbit and Sherlock Holmes to her.  Obviously she couldn’t understand, but it’s more about hearing the English language and the soothing sound of your parents voice that settled her down for bed.  Later when she could sit up and be interested, we invested in board books.  She very quickly learned how to turn the pages, and look at the pictures while listening to the story.  We love books with textures to touch or flaps to open and close.  We make books available to her throughout the day, but don’t force them on her.  Monkey is a very active baby who loves to run around the house, bang pots and pans, and be loud.  But she also has her moments when she pulls the books out and will just sit and “read” them so intently.  I am a little taken aback when I see her so focused and remember she is not even a year old.  Daddy and I are often cracking up as we watch her babbling out loud to herself as she turns the pages.  One time she apparently babbled something hilarious to herself because she started giggling.  That sent us rolling!  I have to smile when my baby walks up to me with a book in her outstretched hand and crawls into my lap as if to say, “Read to me!”

Without rambling on, let me just say that I have seen my fair share of children who weren’t given the benefit of an early start with books.  Please read to your children.  Let them see your reading.  Love books.  Let them see you love books.  Love books together.  A child who can read well will be successful in school and in life.  Writing is one of the hardest things to teach a child and I can tell you, from experience, that the best writers are readers.  So please make reading a priority in your house.  Libraries are free!

bath time cutie

Monkey has always loved bathtime.  She would climb up the steps and rush into the bathroom, pulling up on the tub and clapping as we turned on the water and threw in the toys.  Warm sudsy water to splash in, rubber ducks to talk to, letters of the alphabet to chew on and stick to the tub.  Mommy and Daddy are there every night to play, wash, shampoo, and dry.  It was a snuggly, giggly part of our bedtime routine.

Until…

About three weeks ago, Monkey started screaming as soon as we put her in the tub and refused to sit down.  Every time she stood up, we would sit her back down and say “No!” and then try to distract her with a bath toy.  But to no avail.  Daddy and I always do bath time together, because we love to, not because we have to.  Now it was one of us holding her down while the other gave her a quick scrub and shampoo, whisking her out of the tub as fast as we humanly could.  I feel like a terrible parent for admitting this, but some nights we looked at each other and said, “does she really need a bath tonight?”  and on those nights she went to bed with lunch still matted in her hair.  (Bad Mama!)

We were at our wits end, trying everything.  For Christmas we got her some new bath toys and none of them worked.  Then, a friend gave us a waterproof book, made for the bath.  Monkey loves books so I don’t know why we didn’t try this before.  She was so calm!  She just sat there, turning the pages of her new book, thrilled that it was allowed in the tub.  As she flipped through, engrossed in her book, cooing away, Daddy and I just looked at each other like, “that’s all it took?”  All the screaming and crying and holding her down.  A book?

Now I have to admit, Daddy still holds onto her ankles, which must make her feel like she won’t slip and she will try to stand up if he lets go.  But the book did the trick.  If you are reading this and you have the same problem, try it.  Or try a bath version of whatever your baby likes most.  And of you have any suggestions at all…please post them!  Because who knows what my little monkey will do next week.