Today, I'm feeling exhausted and inadequate. Also, extremely busy and stressed.
If anyone wants to attempt to cheer me up, I would appreciate it. Especially if they are quick attempts, as I am really busy with work.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
caramama Updates
It has occurred to me that I write about a lot of different things, especially issues we are having, and then I never write any updates or resolutions. So today, I'm going to give some updates.
Let's see...
Weaning the Pumpkin
Although I didn't feel ready to wean the Pumpkin, it actually went surprisingly smoothly. I think this was for two main reasons: the timing and her already taking bottles during the day. Although she really enjoyed nursing, she seemed to be in a stage where she didn't HAVE to have it. She was already taking bottles for her nap and once a week for bedtime (Londo was putting her to bed one night a week to give me a break). So we just switched her morning nursing and the rest of the betimes to bottle. She hasn't really seemed to miss it at all. I have, but she seems to have moved on. And we still get the close, snuggle time when I give her bottles and rock her to sleep.
Big Girl Bed
It's been almost two weeks since we moved the Pumpkin to the twin bed in her room. This has also gone surprisingly smooth. That's not to say that it was some perfect fix for her inability to consistently sleep through the night or her need for us to rock her to sleep. Not at all. But she is sleeping (or not) just as well in the twin bed as she was in her crib. The one thing that is WAY better is that putting her down is so much easier. She used to sometimes wake up when I leaned over to put her down in the crib. Now, it's much smoother of a transition.
When she wakes up in the nights or in the mornings, instead of standing in her crib crying, she now gets out of bed and stands at the door, jiggling the handle, crying/calling, "Mommy, open door! Daddy, open door!" When one of us goes and opens the door, she runs into her room straight for the rocking chair, saying, "Rocking chair!" Then, we rock her back to sleep and slip into bed with her. If we wake up during the night or in the morning and she is fast asleep, we slip out of bed and back into our own bed. I'm much happier with this set up, and I think she is too.
Climbing vs. Childproofing
When I wrote about what a monkey my little girl is, sheSaid said, "I had been wanting to ask you how you balance satisfying her climbing need and childproofing. We don't seem to have enough he can actually climb safely (he's still short so he can only reach certain things)."
The short answer is, I don't know that we do. Balance is such hard work. Also, our girl is very tall on top of able to climb, so she can (and does) get into EVERYTHING! We quickly realized that we had to put locks on all the doors in the kitchen. We are not a family that can get away with not locking them. All of them. In addition, we had to take just about everything off of shelves that were below the counter height. In the last month, I actually had to move everything that was on the counter by the kitchen table and chair to ON TOP OF THE FRIDGE! I'm not kidding. Our bread box and napkins are now up there, which I can barely reach (I'm only 5'2").
She tries to climb on tables now, too. We just keep telling her no, to sit down in the chair or not get on the coffee table. We let her climb in any chair she wants and the couch, but she's not supposed to stand in them. Ha! There's pretty much no stopping her and she isn't good at listening to "No." With her, it's all about putting things up even higher, distracting her, and deciding what to just let go because it's not that big a deal if she plays with it.
We did get one of those toddler cube/slide things for the backyard (yeah for freecycle!) and the babysitter takes her to a playground pretty much every day. But she still tries to climb everything, including us.
Baths
Baths have gotten better mostly since I was losing it. I did a lot of what you all suggested in a throw-everything-including-the-kitchen-sink-at-the-problem-and-hope-something-sticks method. The things I think that have helped the most are getting a bunch of new toys, her being older and therefore better about holding her head back so I can pour water without getting it in her eyes, being sure to take turns with Londo so I don't get overwhelmed, and letting a lot of it go. Hearing that many people just let them drink the bath water helped. I don't really want to offer her a sippy cup or other water, because we try to limit water after dinner. She gets a big bottle before bed, and her diapers are always very full. After a few leaks, we instituted the no water after dinner. But if she drinks some bath water, it won't kill her.
--------------------
I'm sure there is a ton more I can update, but those are the big things that come to mind now. Am I missing anything that anyone has been wondering about? (Besides the TTC stuff. I'm not ready to talk more about that yet.)
Let's see...
Weaning the Pumpkin
Although I didn't feel ready to wean the Pumpkin, it actually went surprisingly smoothly. I think this was for two main reasons: the timing and her already taking bottles during the day. Although she really enjoyed nursing, she seemed to be in a stage where she didn't HAVE to have it. She was already taking bottles for her nap and once a week for bedtime (Londo was putting her to bed one night a week to give me a break). So we just switched her morning nursing and the rest of the betimes to bottle. She hasn't really seemed to miss it at all. I have, but she seems to have moved on. And we still get the close, snuggle time when I give her bottles and rock her to sleep.
Big Girl Bed
It's been almost two weeks since we moved the Pumpkin to the twin bed in her room. This has also gone surprisingly smooth. That's not to say that it was some perfect fix for her inability to consistently sleep through the night or her need for us to rock her to sleep. Not at all. But she is sleeping (or not) just as well in the twin bed as she was in her crib. The one thing that is WAY better is that putting her down is so much easier. She used to sometimes wake up when I leaned over to put her down in the crib. Now, it's much smoother of a transition.
When she wakes up in the nights or in the mornings, instead of standing in her crib crying, she now gets out of bed and stands at the door, jiggling the handle, crying/calling, "Mommy, open door! Daddy, open door!" When one of us goes and opens the door, she runs into her room straight for the rocking chair, saying, "Rocking chair!" Then, we rock her back to sleep and slip into bed with her. If we wake up during the night or in the morning and she is fast asleep, we slip out of bed and back into our own bed. I'm much happier with this set up, and I think she is too.
Climbing vs. Childproofing
When I wrote about what a monkey my little girl is, sheSaid said, "I had been wanting to ask you how you balance satisfying her climbing need and childproofing. We don't seem to have enough he can actually climb safely (he's still short so he can only reach certain things)."
The short answer is, I don't know that we do. Balance is such hard work. Also, our girl is very tall on top of able to climb, so she can (and does) get into EVERYTHING! We quickly realized that we had to put locks on all the doors in the kitchen. We are not a family that can get away with not locking them. All of them. In addition, we had to take just about everything off of shelves that were below the counter height. In the last month, I actually had to move everything that was on the counter by the kitchen table and chair to ON TOP OF THE FRIDGE! I'm not kidding. Our bread box and napkins are now up there, which I can barely reach (I'm only 5'2").
She tries to climb on tables now, too. We just keep telling her no, to sit down in the chair or not get on the coffee table. We let her climb in any chair she wants and the couch, but she's not supposed to stand in them. Ha! There's pretty much no stopping her and she isn't good at listening to "No." With her, it's all about putting things up even higher, distracting her, and deciding what to just let go because it's not that big a deal if she plays with it.
We did get one of those toddler cube/slide things for the backyard (yeah for freecycle!) and the babysitter takes her to a playground pretty much every day. But she still tries to climb everything, including us.
Baths
Baths have gotten better mostly since I was losing it. I did a lot of what you all suggested in a throw-everything-including-the-kitchen-sink-at-the-problem-and-hope-something-sticks method. The things I think that have helped the most are getting a bunch of new toys, her being older and therefore better about holding her head back so I can pour water without getting it in her eyes, being sure to take turns with Londo so I don't get overwhelmed, and letting a lot of it go. Hearing that many people just let them drink the bath water helped. I don't really want to offer her a sippy cup or other water, because we try to limit water after dinner. She gets a big bottle before bed, and her diapers are always very full. After a few leaks, we instituted the no water after dinner. But if she drinks some bath water, it won't kill her.
--------------------
I'm sure there is a ton more I can update, but those are the big things that come to mind now. Am I missing anything that anyone has been wondering about? (Besides the TTC stuff. I'm not ready to talk more about that yet.)
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
November DC Area Get Together
Is it too late to plan something for Saturday, November 8th? Perhaps in the morning time? This would be with the kids, for those who want to bring them. If it is too late, then I won't be able to get together until the last weekend of November.
Also, I'm putting up a poll for where we want to meet. I'd like to give a big thanks to Z, who has been coming up with the places, suggested the date and trying to keep on top of me.
Here are the options for the meet up location:
The Building Museum in DC
Z says, "It's in the Chinatown area and has metro stops close to it.
I don't know if you have been there but it has a great hall where kids can run, crawl, lay, walk whatever they want and it's very kid friendly. I know a lot of people go there with there kids for an indoor play area and we can all bring our own picnic lunch."
Play Cafe
Z says, "So I came up with another place for us to be able to go with kids.
It's a cafe which has a monitored play area for kids. It's in Reston,
that's the biggest drawback. But I thought that might be a great place
for everyone since we can all nosh on something or get a coffee and
the kids could play and would be monitored and it would give us adults
more of a chance to mingle... There is a charge of $8 per child and i think the age limit is 18months- 5 years."
Check out their website!
caramama's house
We could also meet at my house. I did offer it at the last dinner out. It's in Gaithersburg, MD, so that might be far for some people. If this is what we decide, each person who wants to come would have to email me and I would send you the address and directions. I'm not just going to post that online and open my house to people who don't communicate with me first. I'm sure you understand.
It does mean that I have to clean my house up, but I'd do it for you all.
If we do the picnic at the Building Museum or playdate at my house, we could do a potluck kind of meal. What do you think of that?
Let me and Z know what guys want to do and if Nov. 8 is good. Otherwise, we will try to come up with something different.
And if anyone else has a good suggestion for meet up locations, let us know!
Also, I'm putting up a poll for where we want to meet. I'd like to give a big thanks to Z, who has been coming up with the places, suggested the date and trying to keep on top of me.
Here are the options for the meet up location:
The Building Museum in DC
Z says, "It's in the Chinatown area and has metro stops close to it.
I don't know if you have been there but it has a great hall where kids can run, crawl, lay, walk whatever they want and it's very kid friendly. I know a lot of people go there with there kids for an indoor play area and we can all bring our own picnic lunch."
Play Cafe
Z says, "So I came up with another place for us to be able to go with kids.
It's a cafe which has a monitored play area for kids. It's in Reston,
that's the biggest drawback. But I thought that might be a great place
for everyone since we can all nosh on something or get a coffee and
the kids could play and would be monitored and it would give us adults
more of a chance to mingle... There is a charge of $8 per child and i think the age limit is 18months- 5 years."
Check out their website!
caramama's house
We could also meet at my house. I did offer it at the last dinner out. It's in Gaithersburg, MD, so that might be far for some people. If this is what we decide, each person who wants to come would have to email me and I would send you the address and directions. I'm not just going to post that online and open my house to people who don't communicate with me first. I'm sure you understand.
It does mean that I have to clean my house up, but I'd do it for you all.
If we do the picnic at the Building Museum or playdate at my house, we could do a potluck kind of meal. What do you think of that?
Let me and Z know what guys want to do and if Nov. 8 is good. Otherwise, we will try to come up with something different.
And if anyone else has a good suggestion for meet up locations, let us know!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Question of the Week - Geek Out
I'm a geek. I totally admit it. I don't think I look like a geek or usually act like one. But once you get to know me, it's not long until you realize it. If you know me in real life, you've known it for a long time. If you've been reading me for more than, oh, a day, you probably have already realized it.
I'm a geek. But not just because I can be a general geeky person. I am a geek because of the things I like and do. Want to hear all the ways I'm a geek? Sure you do!
-Blog Geek: I believe going to a blogging conference has put me firmly in the category of Blog Geek. Not to mention that I coordinate DC Area get togethers of bloggers and commenters. (Stay tuned, because there will be another one VERY SOON!)
-Science Geek: I love science and read science books and magazines. In fact, my thesis for my Masters pertained to Mars, which included analyzing history, science and pop culture pertaining to the Red Planet. Also, I recently made a geeky reference to Schrödinger's cat which was quite amusing to me and the other science geek.
-Sci-Fi Geek: Oh, I am. I am. Big time. My favorite show of all time is/was Farscape. I love the Star Treks except Enterprise (but no, I'm not a Trekker) and other sci-fi TV, movies, books, you name it. Although I have never been to a conference, but I would totally go to one. I would not dress up if I went. I'm not quite that geeky (not that there's anything wrong with that). But I have dressed up as sci-fi characters for Halloween, including Princess Leia and Chiana from Farscape.
I'm sure I've got many other varieties of geek in me. In fact, if any of you know another one, feel free to put it in the comments. But for now, let's get to the Question of the Week:
What kind of geek are you?
I mean, we all have a little geek in us, right? Be it technology, animal obsession, blogging, just about everyone has a passion that puts them right into the geek category. What is yours?
I'm a geek. But not just because I can be a general geeky person. I am a geek because of the things I like and do. Want to hear all the ways I'm a geek? Sure you do!
-Blog Geek: I believe going to a blogging conference has put me firmly in the category of Blog Geek. Not to mention that I coordinate DC Area get togethers of bloggers and commenters. (Stay tuned, because there will be another one VERY SOON!)
-Science Geek: I love science and read science books and magazines. In fact, my thesis for my Masters pertained to Mars, which included analyzing history, science and pop culture pertaining to the Red Planet. Also, I recently made a geeky reference to Schrödinger's cat which was quite amusing to me and the other science geek.
-Sci-Fi Geek: Oh, I am. I am. Big time. My favorite show of all time is/was Farscape. I love the Star Treks except Enterprise (but no, I'm not a Trekker) and other sci-fi TV, movies, books, you name it. Although I have never been to a conference, but I would totally go to one. I would not dress up if I went. I'm not quite that geeky (not that there's anything wrong with that). But I have dressed up as sci-fi characters for Halloween, including Princess Leia and Chiana from Farscape.
I'm sure I've got many other varieties of geek in me. In fact, if any of you know another one, feel free to put it in the comments. But for now, let's get to the Question of the Week:
What kind of geek are you?
I mean, we all have a little geek in us, right? Be it technology, animal obsession, blogging, just about everyone has a passion that puts them right into the geek category. What is yours?
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