Thursday, March 25, 2010
Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day
Then we went to a carseat clinic. Baby boy is now allowed to come. His infant pumpkin seat is all strapped in and ready to ROCK AND ROLL! They check the seats when you come in to see how they are installed. It's a 1 on 1 appointment. They ran it out of the local hospital and they check the seats for expiration dates (seats are only good like 5-6 years before they expire due to the plastic breaking down). They also check for any recalls. Overall, it was good, and I learned a few things! Like Claire's straps need to be freaking tight tight!! You shouldn't be able to pinch any of the fabric webbing away from her. Oh, and I got in trouble for her piddle pad. ;) You're not supposed to have any thing in/on/around the carseat that didn't actually come with it as it's not "Crash-tested" with it. Oh well. I'm still using it for long car trips in the next few months. Wait...I'm not taking anymore for a few! That'll work out well!
So then we left. Well, that's when poor Claire had a breakdown. I don't mean a melt-down because it wasn't a fit. She was heartbroken to the core. She was excited to go to the hospital and carseat place. But then she was confused as I guess I had miscommunicated. She thought we were going the hospital to get baby brother. :( She is gonna be such a great big sister. And I really honestly don't think she can WAIT to meet him. In the winter I told her we had to wait for the snow to melt, Easter to come, and flowers to start blooming...ack. Now the crocuses ARE up and the snow IS gone...and how do you explain time to a 32 month old? She goes, "I want baby brother today! I miss him! I love him! I wanna see him! Go back! Have nurse doctor help get him out!!!"
Well...so apparently she has been paying attention to what I've been saying. But she cried the whole way home. It was a different kind of cry. It wasn't a "naughty" I want something type of cry, but a truly "heartbroken" cry like when she's been upset being left in the church nursery...like her soul-hurts cry. I tried to explain that we were just getting the carseats done at the hospital and baby brother wasn't done growing in my tummy quite yet. Then she goes, "Tomorrow?" Sigh...that girl is hopeful!
Well then I was talking to my mother-in-law on the phone this afternoon. The call was dropped when my phone died due to the battery going dead from...overuse and me not charging it last night. So she called and left 3 voicemails and called like 8 more times. Except my phone was totally dead and won't even power on when plugged in after dying like that for about 20 minutes. I didn't think anything of it. I just figured I'd call her later on to call her back. Whoops. Well Claire and I decided to make brownies. Ha...I did since they sounded good, and I've never made brownies with her before.
So as we were dumping eggs and stuff in, I hear someone beat on the door. Claire grabs me because it's quite loud. I round the corner and see through the front window, a cop with his forehead pressed to the glass ... and his other hand on his gun.
That freaked me out.
I had no idea why he was there. My thought was that there was a prowler or someone in the neighborhood, and he was coming to look for him.
Well, I checked for a cop car, and hesitantly opened the door after seeing one. Ha...turns out my MIL had called the cops when I didn't answer my phone to have them check on me. FREAK OUT! I just told him my battery had died. That was kind of awkward. Um, nope, we don't have a landline...so I couldn't call her back. And even if we DID have a landline, I wouldn't have long-distance to call her back, but I guess she would have been able to call me back. Oh well. I'm not getting a landline or texting. I don't want to be that available. I'm available enough.
Ok, so that wasn't so bad after that all got straightened out.
But then Claire was running in the kitchen, fell and knocked her head on the wooden cabinet. She has a huge bump on her forehead :( My poor little Clairesey.
I think I'm going to bed now...
Monday, March 22, 2010
Post-Partum Supply List
My list assumes birthing vaginally and exclusively ecologically nursing (no artificial bottle nipples or pacis) planned:
Stocked freezer with meals
Stocked household with groceries and household supplies and newborn essentials (clothes, blankets, diapers, wipes, burp rags, etc. These are more obvious.)
Umbilical stump stuff (cotton balls, Q-tips, rubbing alcohol by your changing station) Some opt not to clean them, but I've seen an infected one on a friends' baby, and therefore will be using alcohol again!
Nursing pads
Nipple Cream
Nursing Bras (Ha...I don't think I have any regular ones anymore!)
Numbers of a LLL leader and/or friend/relative who have nursed
Bleach (to clean sitz bath between uses)
Hydrogen peroxide (to get blood out of clothing, etc)
Witch Hazel and Tucks Pads for cleansing down there
Maximum flow/overnight maxi pads for the first week postpartum, then lighter flow pads and pantiliners for after that. Remember, no tampons, as the placenta wound is an internal "open" wound!
Ibuprofen for reducing swelling
Ice, ice, ice for making packs for any sore areas!
Ziploc bags to make icepacks. Then wrap in a clean kitchen towel.
Prep.-H or Tucks or similar cream. I don't know of anyone who doesn't get "roids" from pushing out a baby. Anyone who says they didn't...LIARS!)
Stool softener caplets, milk of mag, or something more natural like prunes, prune juice, dried apricots, raisin bran, bran muffins, etc.
Underpads or chuck pads
Bag of DEPENDS or similar adult diaper...yes, hopefully not needed for incontinence but easier to have on hand...also great instead of dealing with pads and leaks. Even with a C-section, one can have problems with incontinence for a few days after delivery. See here.
Waterproof mattress pad...put this on your bed at about 36 weeks if you don't already have one in case your water breaks in bed! (like mine did with Claire!) Also, you really need two for each bed if you have kids ;) Saves mattresses!
A sling for babywearing
A bed rail for safe bedsharing
What am I forgetting???
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Playing Outside
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Shopping Fail
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Welcoming the Warm-Up!
I have to say, it does add some nice color to the bare tree and still brownish grass!
These pictures were actually from about a week ago, and the pictures with snow piled up were from about 2 weeks ago. Ha. I got an early jump on my Easter decorations. Now, I'm planning to take them down like the day after Easter so that they won't remain up until like July (new baby = distractions!). Not "due" until the 16th, but Lordy, with all the Braxton-Hicks I've been having, I would say...anyday now! ;)
Easter Egg Tree Fun
She had so much fun making castles out of snow ... and then stomping them.
This is the easiest and perhaps cheapest craft ever. I used about 3 bags of Easter eggs from the dollar store...cost $3. All you have to do is tie some string in a circle, like a bracelet and then close the egg on top of the string. I hot-glued them around where they close, so maybe I'll get a 2nd season out of them, but they tend to hold up pretty well considering how cheap they are.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Finding Fun on Rainy Days
The box is already pretty sad looking so after another week or so, this will be going bye-bye. But there will be other boxes. ;)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Piddle Pad
A tip I found watching some YouTube videos about potty training was to treat the pull-ups like underwear vs. diapers. Take them out of the plastic bag, and then put them in a drawer next to the underwear or where ever you want to keep them. You can't keep them in the old diaper place next to the wipes, or they'll think of them as diapers.
Claire also has this sudden urge for independence in public restrooms. She insists on going into a stall alone. I hold the door shut since she doesn't know how to lock it, and I'm so not showing her yet. She does fine. The only problem is sometimes if the toilet paper roll isn't hanging out she has trouble getting the TP out.
Like, what would trigger potty-regression with a new baby? I have been trying to talk to her about what a big girl she is and point out that only little tiny babies who can't walk or talk use diapers. Sigh...hopefully anticipating this will help?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Claire's Favorite Foods
Claire’s Favorite Foods
Apples - ask if she wants it peeled, or sliced. She can just eat them whole, too.
Oranges - peel and section, duh
Clementines - watch to remove any seeds!
Bananas - peel and remove any strings before giving it to her
Grapes- no seeds! If they are giant ones, cut in half
Mozzarella string cheese
Slice of American cheese
YoBaby Mixed Berry Yogurt - STIR REALLY WELL! Not premixed
Honey Graham crackers
Cheddar Bunnies or Goldfish crackers
Pretzels any kind or goldfish pretzels
Peanut butter sandwich, cut in 2 triangles diagonal (NO JELLY!)
Spaghetti - You have to mix the sauce on the noodles/cut noodles before giving it to her or she will not eat it, she will cry and beg for just the plain noodles. I usually use the Ragu traditional and add 1 lb of burger that I fry.
Tater Tot Casserole
Hot Dish with tomato soup, burger, noodles
Tuna Casserole- Has to be hot! I use miracle whip and about 2-3 cups of noodles, 1 can peas, 1 can tuna. She’ll just ask you to microwave it if it’s not hot enough or if it cools off too much while she’s eating it
Chicken soup – any kind with small noodles or curly ones so I don’t have to cut them. There is a red spoon that doubles as a straw in the drawer.
Grilled Cheese – cut in 2 triangles. I use 2 slices of American and grill it with butter
Mac and Cheese – Kraft blue box, but usually any kind will do
Lasagna
Hot dogs- gross I know.
Hamburger - plain patty. I will fry them and sometimes she’ll want ketchup and bun, sometimes not, just ask. Or you can give her ketchup to dip it in
Corn – any kind
Green beans- calls them “Shrek beans” since they are green
Little trees- broccoli, cut into manageable sized pieces
“Chicken suckers” which are drumsticks
Pancakes or French toast cut in bite size pieces with pure maple syrup or agave nectar
bacon
boiled eggs (chopped up) - have to be hot if they've been in the fridge
Gerber Strawberry Yogurt melts - yellow bag in toddler/baby food area
Cheerios
Flax Seed Cereal (green box)
Captain crunch (yuck, but Josh’s fav too) Probably would like some other cereals, but I never buy them. Does not like raisins/dried cranberries/other dried fruit. I think it's a texture thing. She will chew on them and spit them out.
Quaker Oat Granola Bars with choc chips
Banana bread, esp if you let her help u make it, but no toppings, and likes it heated up if it’s been in the fridge
Won’t eat fruit snacks usually, but likes to squish them. ;)
Loves GUM
Loves ICE … her most requested “food” item.
Loves any kind of crap like cookies, candy, pudding, ice cream, Popsicles, fudge bars, potato chips. Limit for obvious reasons. 2 oreos at 4pm= not eating dinner
Has started eating some kinds of fries, but mostly I think for the ketchup ;)
Will eat most any kind of “sloppity globbity stew” from the crock pot. Loves carrots from the crock pot and you don’t have to cut them too small.
Loves honey roasted peanuts, but watch close…choking hazard! Have not tried any other nuts with her yet.
Love applesauce, look for no sugar or just boil up a pot of apples that need to go with some water and maybe a tiny bit of sugar and make some
Will usually be more willing to try something new if you let her help you make it
Will eat almost anything with noodles or pasta of some type. More willing to try foods separate vs. mixed. Aka... if you make chili, leave out some plain burger meat and she'll eat a bowl of that vs. the mixed up batch.
Likes white rice (won’t always eat baked potatoes, can’t get her to try mashed. Sigh)
Likes peanut butter on crackers
Loves cheese pizza and breadsticks (Good American!)
Will do better eating something if you have the plate completely served/cut up and then put it in front of her. If you dish 1 item, then try to dish another, it’s like you’re messing with what she has and she gets mad. She also won’t want you to cut it in front of her. Cut on the counter when you dish it! She’ll want to have a little toddler knife and try to cut it herself. Do not tell her to try it. Just talk about how yummy and good your own food is! Show how "big" of a bite you can take.
Eating pattern: breakfast around 9. Lunch about 11:30. Maybe a small snack around 4 when I start dinner. Eat dinner at 5:30. Bedtime snack around 8-8:30. I usually don’t actually do a morning snack or afternoon one since she nurses all the time, but I always have a sippy cup of water out for her or an open cup that’s plastic. If we’re out and about she will probably eat a snack, but if we’re home, we’re usually lazy.
But if she doesn’t nurse, she’ll probably need some more snacks!!! Bedtime snack is usually about the same as what she’d eat at breakfast, like a bowl of cheerios and milk or an egg.
And after looking at this…maybe she is drinking too much and that’s why she doesn’t eat snacks? Who knows. They say toddlers regulate themselves…I’m not sure that’s true. It’d be gum and ice cream for every meal!
DRINKS-
100 percent apple or dark purple grape juice. I think she’ll drink OJ, but I don’t normally buy it
Milk-white or chocolate
Gatorade- traditional orange or the light blue flavor (watch out for the diet crap!)
· I have been trying to give her a variety. As much water as she wants of course, but I try to limit to 2 cups juice, 2 cups milk, 2 cups Gatorade per day. Fill them all the way up. She will drink it all! She hasn’t been drinking quite that much lately, but if her nursing is cut back, she probably will.
Yup. She's a picky eater. Is that born or made? Nature or nuture? Hmm...but I sure wouldn't want someone to force me to eat something I didn't like.
What a Mess!
Tonight we went to a preschool open house and got Claire enrolled for the fall. She'll do a year of Pre-3 and then a year of Pre-4 and start Kindergarten when she's 5. She'll be a fresh five, but she's so ready. She is sooo sooo social. She loves story time weekly at the library and and Children's church on Sundays. I'm not sure if we'll still be able to do story times in the fall, but we'll have to see how the story time schedules fit with her preschool calendar. We meet all the teachers she'll have tonight and feel very confident with our choice. I've been to 2 other preschools and gotten the best vibes from this place from others and just from being there tonight. Claire was great and ran off to color and play with toys with the other kids while Josh and I talked to the teachers. We are also going to do a "SUMMER CAMP!" I'm excited about this.
It's just a day camp, 2 days/week for 2 hours. I think it will be great for her to get used to in June and July. Then August will be off and school starts after labor day in September. She'll go 3 days a week for 2 hours. It's also faith based which I like. It's kind of a joke for 2 hours since they'll do a snack and potty break too. It'll be good for her though. She's always asking, "What are we gonna do today? We got story time today? Who's gonna come over? Can we go play somewhere? We going shopping? I wanna play outside!" So this will be nice for her to have something to look forward to 3 days a week.
The other preschool I really liked was 2.5 hours for 2 days/week but they don't welcome siblings on field trips...and that was really a major deciding factor for me! I don't want Claire riding in a car with someone else that I don't know so I'd want to go on field trips. And I don't know if baby boy will take a bottle. Claire never would. So anyways, this way she'll get to go on field trips (bowling, pumpkin patch, apple orchard, tour local pizza place, etc). They've got it all planned out for the year!!!
I actually looked into a 2s class last year about this time, but decided to wait awhile. I know some kids never do preschool or Kindergarten and do totally fine, but Claire is a very social creature and seems to make friends easily. I think she'll also love the crafts they do.
We've been playing outside a lot. It's great! Today it got up to 67!!! We did chalk on the driveway, then brought moonsand outside. That made for a nice and easy clean up! No sand on the kitchen floor!
So Claire did great at her open house and asked me to go potty in front of her to-be teacher. Luckily, she did not lift up her dress to show off her big girl panties, like she was doing at church on Sunday...and all around town the past week or so. We even broke out the sandals today as part of cleaning out the front hall closet.
Well wish me luck as I organize and put it all back. I've got to paper grocery sacks ready for the Goodwill. I'm a little sad to be putting away her snow pants/hats/mittens. I don't know if they'll fit at all next year and don't know if I'll have another girl. :) I don't know if baby boy would like to wear purple snow pants...but it seems silly to not let him wear a perfectly good pair of size 2T snow pants in the winter just because they are purple. Who made up these silly cultural color rules. Why can't boys wear pink, purple, and florals nowadays?
They used to put babies all in white since it's easy to bleach. Dang marketing.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Tinkerbell Fan
Loves to talk. Even in her sleep.
Yes, drawing in a new white dress with markers. I am brave. Haha...these are the "color wonder markers" that won't mark on anything but the special paper.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
My Baby Brother!
Ok, so this post was going to be about how in love Claire is with the idea of her baby brother, but we digressed, per usual.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Fairies are Attracted to Light
Friday, March 5, 2010
What a cute pregnant person!
Feeling Risky!
Oh, and I thought we were done with naps for awhile, and maybe we were. Maybe she is having a growth spurt? I measured her. She is 42 inches. Good lord! She is so tall! I know she is also cutting all 4 of her 2 year old molars. She is the slowest teether ever. Does teething make them more tired or is that my imagination? She has been taking great long naps and still sleeping solidly at night. This is not bragging. This is just stating the facts because I am confused. Who knows. Nobody will ever figure out this sleep thing.