Bad Blogger

I still have the child. She could even be said to be thriving. She is supposed to be wearing glasses too, (just like mummy!) but has now lost TWO pairs and we're at a point where we just can't replace them. Plus I thought I could get reimbursed from our insurance for them and it turns out that we can't and I should have bought the glasses at a different place to get a discount that we can get through the insurance (although the Mass Eye and Ear optical shop does give a discount on kid's glasses anyway.)

So instead of blogging, I'm going to follow in  the tradition of the best lazy bloggers and just give you a link to something more interesting. While the sprog isn't even in daycare, (do  know how much that costs?!) I was sort of looking forward to school. But then I read this wonderful piece on the end of the school year and, well, this is how I feel about my own job at the end of the academic year. I imagine it will be much the same when I'm supposed to be checking homework folders and all that other crap too.

I promise next post will be something more about my own parenting.

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.

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.

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.

36, 37, 40, HIKE!

I am, going by the early due date, at 36 weeks today. This means, as I explained to my boss yesterday, that I am full term next week. Poor Boss Man. both of his children were premature, the latest one coming at 32 weeks. He has no idea how long a pregnancy is supposed to last or really what goes on at the end. I explained that full term is 37 weeks, as in before then they will usually try to stop labor if it comes, but after that the baby can come at any time. The due date is at 40 weeks and between 37 and 40 there is usually still some more growth, but everything is already fully formed and there is generally no need for any intervention or intensive care for a birth during those three weeks. But now that he knows I'm s close he wishes that I had scheduled my leave sooner (the sooner I take it though the sooner I have to come back at the end) and he's paranoid that I'm going to go into some horrible active labor and give birth walking to the office from the T in the morning. On the plus side, he's at least taking my annoyance at having to do so much work to heart now!

So, work. Yeah. I'm ready to go. Boss Man has had a lot of issues at home himself and has had to be out a lot, including all of last week and this week. I'm only just getting my student workers up to speed and the replacement position that was supposed to be filled September 15th is still in the hiring phase. I've been waddling along trying to do AV jobs (and I don't know how women with toddlers or childcare workers cope with being pregnant while running after little ones) and getting more and more irritated which has not been doing me any favours. Sprog is actively upset when I am stressed and I found that if I am too active then I start having Braxton Hicks contractions. Fun! This led to some arguing with Boss Man a couple weeks ago as well. But this week I got a bit of a reprieve with a temp coming in and HR helping with interviews for the interim position. Yay!

34 weeks, 2 days. Just proving
I sometimes get dressed

On the homefront, I've been trying my best to nest, but it's really just not coming. The closest was the need last week to season all the cast iron pans in the house. I have, however, managed to get some cooking done for the freezer. I made two huge pots of chili this weekend so we have four big meals of chili available. The week before I did a big batch of garlic "meat"balls that are in bags in there too. We have a good amount of sausages, plus lots of rice and dried beans. I think stocking up on tinned tomatoes and Heinz beans will be a help, plus I plan on making a vindaloo base to have in there - just add meat, veg, paneer there's a very large block of paneer already there.) If we can manage to get some things that will keep like root vegetables and some frozen veg (although we still have 2 large bags of green beans in the freezer) then I think we'll be able to throw things together fairly easily once Sprog arrives and we're too tired to cook. ow, if only I could get it together to make those crib sheets.

In medical news, we went for another ultrasound today. It's at the point of weekly OB appointments and alternating weeks of non-stress tests or ultrasounds. Sprog is measuring small again, about 5lb 5oz, but the margin of error is 14oz so it's not the most accurate. The OB appointment is tomorrow and I get the group B strep swab then.

Yesterday we had an initial consult at the pediatrics office. I was fairly impressed and liked how they were straight-forward, even when I asked about the justification for a hep B vaccine at birth when mother is negative and has been vaccinated (she said it's because newborns are a good target but there's no medical reason.) I assured her we weren't anti-vaccine or medicine, we just anted to really only have things that were necessary. On that front we also asked about antibiotics and how often they're prescribed (we do not want them unless actually warranted, as in don't give them for a virus!) and treatment of and possible avoidance of allergies since I have one drug allergy and Spouse has some food allergies. All went well and I'm glad we were both able to be there, even if we were both lacking sleep.

So, that's all the news for now. Rather a large update but it has been a while since I posted. With things coming up so fast I do hope to get a couple more posts in before the birth, but who knows. Let's try for some short ones, shall we?

Bedding!

Quickie tonight. No, we're not going to keep the baby in the kitchen but it was convenient to set things up. The new cotton mattress and wool pad for the co-sleeper arrived today. It adds enough height so that there's not a big lip to lift the baby over and sprog will be level with our bed. Now we just need some sheets and we'll be all set! Well, on the bed front at least.

Week 22, Day 4

Week in review

On Monday I returned to the doctor's office to see to the annoying allergic rash from hell. They had no idea what it might be but did prescribe me a stronger steroid cream which seems to be finally working.

Spouse, aka Minister of Output, said he wants to cloth diaper. He's even willing to make the nappies himself if I can find a pattern.

My chiropractor no longer thinks it's a pinched nerve. I'm getting all nice and loose in the shoulders but still have numb fingers. My next step is to try shiatsu.

I broke down and had a new bra fitting at Intimacy. Having the fitting really helped as all three bras I bought were different sizes. She put me in ones that were a little large so there's room to grow and I can wear them for the rest of the pregnancy. Unfortunately, ready-made nursing bras seem like they're out of the question. She recommends coming in a month before I'm due for a fitting and then sending out a bra for a free alteration to a nursing bra. Yes, Virginia, you can get pretty nursing bras in jumbo sizes!

I've started reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory out loud. I cant tell if Sprog is enjoying it, but Spouse seems to.

Not pregnant yet

And according to my pee-on-a-stick test, not ovulating, but that doesn't mean we didn't try anyway. But it did mean I got to go down to the pub this afternoon and quaff cider.

While at the pub I had a wonderful talk about child rearing with someone else who has no children. This, of course, makes us experts in what everyone else is doing wrong. I fully expect some of my strong opinions to change once we have one of these things to take care of.

Fortunately some things won't change, such as a policy on not watching tons of television. Although that's a bit of a cheat since we don't have cable and have no reception at all. The only "television" we watch is either things from Netflix or things online.  This will certainly help us to monitor what is watched in the house.