Sleep, perchance to AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

We got lucky with an infant. I'm well aware of this. I have a friend whose daughter spent three days crying and nothing they did would console her. We, on the other hand, had a little angel who's tears from teething were easily soothed with some Oragel or Tylenol (which she loved to take.) Everything was great! Until now.

Child has been getting a molar in, one of the more painful teeth to be sure. She also appears to have inherited my restless leg syndrome. On top of that, she no longer likes her cherry-flavoured acetaminophen. Oh, and she discovered high-pitched shrieking a while back. All of this has combined to form a perfect storm of bad sleep for all of us.

On Friday night she was so cranky that Spouse ran off to the guest room to sleep. I stayed with her, trying to comfort with nursing, massage and "please, please, please take the nice medicine!" She got to sleep at 4:30 in the morning. And as if that wasn't bad enough, she then woke up every hour with and ear-piercing scream, and then would instantly fall back asleep. We eventually got up around 9:30 but she was in great need of a nap later, and managed a couple of hours of slumber. I, on the other hand, didn't get down for a nap until the evening when the two of us went down for almost three hours of on/off sleep.

The general screaming, which I know is just a phase they all go through, is hell on Spouse. He's taken to having big earmumffy hearing protectors around and putting them on. My tactic is more along the lines of trying to find out why she is screaming, not that it helps much*. She screams when you don't pay attention to her, but mostly screams when she doesn't get her way. She is toddler: she is ID! If they didn't then do cute things, like cuddle up, thumb in mouth, or try to decorate the Christmas tree on her own, I don't think the human race would survive.

Here's a cute picture of her with chocolate on her face, helping me cut out gingerbread men. How could I deny that face anything!

*Really it's just that we have different ways of dealing with it. I'm not saying I'm somehow better for being able to ignore screaming.

First Birthday

Our Violet had her first birthday yesterday.  The image on the left is the inside of the card Spouse made for her. The outside was her on the day she was born. I sobbed when I read it.

All in all I'd say she had a good day. There were some tears on her part, but also many smiles and fun. She also got to have cake! And I even let her have a lollypop! Here's a rundown of the things she consumed yesterday:
Breastmilk (at several times during the day)
Maple teething biscuit
Potting soil
Apple
Roast potatoes
Fries
Toast
Tea
Nose blood
Lollypop
Apple cake

Yeah, the nose blood part was no fun. She was knocked over by a slightly older child in the library and did a faceplant on the floor. Much screaming was involved. But there were two good naps during the day as well to counter any non-injury crankies.

Here's some gift opening. The outfit was a gift from Nana (my mom)

First steps

Well, I had a feeling this would happen: I've missed her first steps. While I wish I'd been there, I'm happy they were at least toward a parent. She apparently just walked five steps toward Spouse so he would pick her up.

She's also closer to saying "Daddy" than "Mummy." At least I'm the one she comes to for comfort (because I have the milk) when we're both there.

Afternoon in the garden

I was out back today and too some pictures of the child. It seemed a good idea to get some digital shots as well. New skirt and beater from the bag of clothes my mom brought down this weekend.

 

And to give you an idea of why I have no ripe tomatoes: 

So Spouse apparently missed the whole "Sh*t somebody Say" meme, which means this late entry to the genre is right on time. Yes, we laughed. Yes, we related.

Father's Day

So it was the first Fathers' Day here, and also the first week in our new home.  There's a lot of work to do to get us comfortable (like add light fixtures to some rooms!) but we're prioritising and right now just working on unpacking.

Sprog has been enjoying the garden, now that Spouse has gotten her over her fear of grass. She's even had occation to stuff her namesake flower in her mouth. The space has been great for Spouse too. Even something as simple as sitting on the front porch makes him so much less stressed. And I have been attempting to grow things.

So here's so less stress, more happiness and beverages on the front porch for Fathers' Day, and every day.

Mother's Day

A nice cup of tea

[Edit: next week is Mother's Day. I have time to get something for my own mom. Whew!] Today is Mother's Day in the US. I nearly missed it and was only reminded when I received a card from a friend wishing me a happy first Mother's Day (Mothers' Day?) When Sprog was still gestating, Spouse and I decided (well, more him than me) that we would celebrate UK Mother's Day, Mothering Sunday, instead of the US one. Well that was a bust. We only found out when that was when seeing it on a friend's calendar on the actual day. So today, for me, is the holiday, Hallmark though it may be.

They say, those mythical "they," that when you have a child every day is Mother's Day. Well I can't even get the kid to make me tea on the actual day so I call bs on that. But I am, of course, a mother every day to this beautiful new person in my life.

Playing

I had my first real dose of comparative, somewhat competitive parenting yesterday at a party. Sprog was the youngest there, being one month younger than the host's child. There was several other children there of varying ages as well. No one asked if she slept through the night, but sitting up (occasionally), crawling (more dragging than crawling but frequent and fast) and solid food (vague interest has been taken) were all queried and compared. I have no idea if she came up short, mainly since I don't care about such comparisons. She does, however need serious lessons in sharing and not using other children as a teething ring. Or maybe the other girl needs assertiveness training.

I feel bad that I haven't been posting here as planned. I have been spending more in the moment of parenting than reflecting on it. She already has two teeth now (first tooth on April 4th), chases the cat and can't wait to walk. It is amazing how fast she is growing and changing.

With the growth of our family comes a much needed change in our living situation. We are in the process of buying a house, leaving behind the apartment where we married, the building I've lived in for 14 years. The house is a lovely two story late Victorian affair with period details and a big back garden. I'm sure I shall post more about the house itself over in urban earth mother after it is ours.

And when I'm less distracted by a cranky, squirming child, one now dozing in my lap on my dominant arm (I've learned a lot of one-handed typing) I shall post more here.

Chatty baby

Sorry about the poor focus. Auto focus grabbed the background

Bath time

Hot water would really help this situation

Our water heater is broken.

Without prompting, the landlord decided to replace our furnace last week. This was great since it had started acting up but I was loathe to call the landlord since it wasn't consistent and the last time there was a problem he wanted to know if I knew how to use the thermostat (yes, I can turn the dial on the wall that I've been using for the past seven years, thanks.) But now we have a shiny new furnace that works a treat. However, we have no hot water.

So when HVAC guys installed the new furnace, they shut off the gas for obvious reasons. When everything was in, they turned it back on and relit the pilot to the water heater but clearly something didn't take. The next morning I was the first to bathe and hopped in to a tepid shower even with it turned as hot as possible. At first I though the heat had been turned down on the water heater but it was actually that the pilot went out and would not stay lit. This was discovered by the maintenance man rebuilding our hallway wall (taken out to facilitate furnace replacement) and confirmed when the HVAC guy returned later that evening. So now we're waiting for a part to come in so that the heater will safely stay lit and we can wash not only the dishes but ourselves again.

We'll be keeping her once the bathwater is gone

Not that we are entirely without resources. In the 1930s many in Boston would have lived in cold water flats, heating water on the stove for dishes and bathing. I'm not ambitious (or patient) enough to heat enough water to fill the bath tub, but we have sponged ourselves down with a sink full of water and I manged to wash dishes yesterday. Today would be the day Sprog really needs a post-nappy change wash though. But lucky for her, she fits nicely in the sink.

UPDATE: As I was writing this the HVAC man returned and he is working on replacing the thermal coupling (which was apparently "fried") right now. We may be able to wash the stink off of all of us soon!

Friendly Mr. Cephalopod

We've introduced the playmat received as a shower gift and she is really enjoying it. While Orca seems to be her favourite, I think she's warming to Mr. Cephalopod too.

Cranky Baby

Violet has the habit of stopping whatever cute thing she's doing when we bring out the video camera. I thought this might also work with the non-cute things too. No such luck.