Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Out of the woods? Somewhere around 31 weeks-ish
I seriously can't keep track of the weeks any more. I found myself counting the weeks on a calendar and then I would lose count from month to month, then I realized you punks probably don't care how many weeks old Annie is any more because we are in months now, baby. MONTHS! And I always hate telling people her age in weeks (back when I actually knew the correct number) because it would force people to do mental math. The real brain trusts would do instant conversions to show off their skills:
worker at baby gap: So how old is your little.....(peeks curiously into stroller, only to find a heather gray onesie clad child in jeans, telltale pink socks covered up by a white blanket)...baby?
me: SHE's 22 weeks old.
worker at baby gap: oh, so about 5.5 months?
me: yes. Now why don't you put those superior math skills to work and find me a pair of jeans for this kid. Thaaaannnks.
And that, my friends, is why I am officially switching to the months. I don't want to tax anyone's brain (or my own) when they could spend that energy admiring our adorable child. Or bringing me jeans.
We have had an interesting streak in the house for the past 3 nights, and I hesitate to even speak of it lest it be jinxed, but Annie has required zero "visits" overnight. What that means is that Rick and I have had around 8 hours of undisturbed rest for THREE WHOLE NIGHTS! Sure, the visits to her room typically just involve replacement of a binkie and take about 17 seconds, but there are times when I figure I am up, so I might as well use the bathroom, grab some water (ensuring that I will have to use the bathroom the next time I am up), and then I am wide awake by the time I get back to bed. I didn't realize how this influenced my mood/mental capacity/alertness until one morning when my eyes snapped open at 6:15 am, after being closed since 9:45 the previous evening.
I felt rejuvinated, wide-eyed, and when I got to work I found multiple mistakes I had made over the past few weeks. It was awesome. I knew I was really close to being my old self again when I found myself not lollygagging in the shower. See, the shower is one of the few places to "relax" when Annie first arrived. No one bothers you in the shower, and it's not as self-indulgent as taking a nap. All that vomit isn't going to wash itself out of your hair, after all. But not the past few days; I am in and out in a time even one Johnny Loyd would find acceptable.
Side note for those not in our family: there always seemed to be a shortage of hot water in our house growing up. With three girls, I guess this is to be expected. In an effort to conserve water, my father installed these little knobs/torture devices on the shower heads that would stop the flow of water during times when he deemed actual water was not necessary during the showering process. These times were basically any time something was being lathered or shaved. And he paid attention to the sound of that water, for sure. If you stepped out of that bathroom and there hadn't been any water flow stoppage, prepare to face the wrath. Looking back, I am shocked he didn't find a way to control the flow of water himself. That'll give him something to think about during his retirement.
Where was I? Oh yes, being back to normal. Rick and I have even managed to have a little extra energy left at the end of the day to continue to work out, which is unprecented. Who doesn't seem to have enough energy at the end of the day is Annie, so she's not a huge fan of sitting around watching Mommy and Daddy gyrate to some circuit training DVD. As a result, we have taken the extreme measure of working out in the morning. Today was day 1. I was committed to the idea last night, but when the alarm went off this morning, I laid perfectly still to see if Rick would make the move out of bed. I was fully prepared to cave if he said he wanted to get an extra hour of this new precious sleep. Alas, he is stronger than I and I felt the covers roll back and off we went.
So yes, it took about 7 months (and 5 days) to start to feel normal again. I don't mean to scare my friend KK, who is about to give birth to her first child. It's a strange situation where you don't realize how abnormal you felt until you start feeling normal again. Kinda like being in the monkey house at the zoo. The smell kinda goes away when you are in there for a while, but you really notice it when you step back outside.
I am thankful to be out of the Monkey house.
Another note: This post is ALL over the place. I think my brain is in overdrive right now. Hopefully I will be able to organize thoughts here in the coming weeks. Apologies for the stream of consciousness post.
worker at baby gap: So how old is your little.....(peeks curiously into stroller, only to find a heather gray onesie clad child in jeans, telltale pink socks covered up by a white blanket)...baby?
me: SHE's 22 weeks old.
worker at baby gap: oh, so about 5.5 months?
me: yes. Now why don't you put those superior math skills to work and find me a pair of jeans for this kid. Thaaaannnks.
And that, my friends, is why I am officially switching to the months. I don't want to tax anyone's brain (or my own) when they could spend that energy admiring our adorable child. Or bringing me jeans.
We have had an interesting streak in the house for the past 3 nights, and I hesitate to even speak of it lest it be jinxed, but Annie has required zero "visits" overnight. What that means is that Rick and I have had around 8 hours of undisturbed rest for THREE WHOLE NIGHTS! Sure, the visits to her room typically just involve replacement of a binkie and take about 17 seconds, but there are times when I figure I am up, so I might as well use the bathroom, grab some water (ensuring that I will have to use the bathroom the next time I am up), and then I am wide awake by the time I get back to bed. I didn't realize how this influenced my mood/mental capacity/alertness until one morning when my eyes snapped open at 6:15 am, after being closed since 9:45 the previous evening.
I felt rejuvinated, wide-eyed, and when I got to work I found multiple mistakes I had made over the past few weeks. It was awesome. I knew I was really close to being my old self again when I found myself not lollygagging in the shower. See, the shower is one of the few places to "relax" when Annie first arrived. No one bothers you in the shower, and it's not as self-indulgent as taking a nap. All that vomit isn't going to wash itself out of your hair, after all. But not the past few days; I am in and out in a time even one Johnny Loyd would find acceptable.
Side note for those not in our family: there always seemed to be a shortage of hot water in our house growing up. With three girls, I guess this is to be expected. In an effort to conserve water, my father installed these little knobs/torture devices on the shower heads that would stop the flow of water during times when he deemed actual water was not necessary during the showering process. These times were basically any time something was being lathered or shaved. And he paid attention to the sound of that water, for sure. If you stepped out of that bathroom and there hadn't been any water flow stoppage, prepare to face the wrath. Looking back, I am shocked he didn't find a way to control the flow of water himself. That'll give him something to think about during his retirement.
Where was I? Oh yes, being back to normal. Rick and I have even managed to have a little extra energy left at the end of the day to continue to work out, which is unprecented. Who doesn't seem to have enough energy at the end of the day is Annie, so she's not a huge fan of sitting around watching Mommy and Daddy gyrate to some circuit training DVD. As a result, we have taken the extreme measure of working out in the morning. Today was day 1. I was committed to the idea last night, but when the alarm went off this morning, I laid perfectly still to see if Rick would make the move out of bed. I was fully prepared to cave if he said he wanted to get an extra hour of this new precious sleep. Alas, he is stronger than I and I felt the covers roll back and off we went.
So yes, it took about 7 months (and 5 days) to start to feel normal again. I don't mean to scare my friend KK, who is about to give birth to her first child. It's a strange situation where you don't realize how abnormal you felt until you start feeling normal again. Kinda like being in the monkey house at the zoo. The smell kinda goes away when you are in there for a while, but you really notice it when you step back outside.
I am thankful to be out of the Monkey house.
Another note: This post is ALL over the place. I think my brain is in overdrive right now. Hopefully I will be able to organize thoughts here in the coming weeks. Apologies for the stream of consciousness post.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Your First Christmas-7 Months
Dear Annie,
Over the last month you have mastered eating solids and have really branched out with the foods. You pretty much will try a few bites of anything and haven't found anything that you really don't like. I think your favorite so far as been carrots. You are becoming more and more expressive and have started raising your eyebrows and more and more frequently seem to understand what we are saying to you. Today you were even shaking your head "no" to Uncle Mike, though that seemed to be more of a novelty thing since it made your whole body wiggle when you did it. I'd hate to think that your first communication was the word no. You were nodding your head "yes" around thanksgiving so maybe we'll count that instead.
Still no teeth, still no crawling, but you do manage to get around quite well by rolling. You can move all the way across a room at a fairly good clip and I get dizzy just watching you. You cover serious ground at night in your crib and really the only thing that makes you cry in the night is when you bonk your head on the crib slats.
Today was your first Christmas. We just put you down to sleep and I held you for just a bit longer than normal tonight because I really didn't want it to be over. It was such a special day. Your Dad and I were so excited that after about 25 years of absence, we were finally getting another visit from Santa. We spent the day with Rick's family and you were showered with gifts. It was so fun to see you "play" with your cousin, Chase. She is almost exactly one year older than you and it's always so fun to get a little preview of what we have to look forward to next year. You looked adorable in your spit up covered smocked red dress and silver glitter tights. As expected, you were more interested in eating the wrapping paper than most of the toys you were given, but I suspect that will all change in the coming weeks/months.
It was a treat to be able to experience Christmas through the eyes of a child again. Thank you for the magic you bring to our lives, this day and every day. You are the best gift ever.
Over the last month you have mastered eating solids and have really branched out with the foods. You pretty much will try a few bites of anything and haven't found anything that you really don't like. I think your favorite so far as been carrots. You are becoming more and more expressive and have started raising your eyebrows and more and more frequently seem to understand what we are saying to you. Today you were even shaking your head "no" to Uncle Mike, though that seemed to be more of a novelty thing since it made your whole body wiggle when you did it. I'd hate to think that your first communication was the word no. You were nodding your head "yes" around thanksgiving so maybe we'll count that instead.
Still no teeth, still no crawling, but you do manage to get around quite well by rolling. You can move all the way across a room at a fairly good clip and I get dizzy just watching you. You cover serious ground at night in your crib and really the only thing that makes you cry in the night is when you bonk your head on the crib slats.
Today was your first Christmas. We just put you down to sleep and I held you for just a bit longer than normal tonight because I really didn't want it to be over. It was such a special day. Your Dad and I were so excited that after about 25 years of absence, we were finally getting another visit from Santa. We spent the day with Rick's family and you were showered with gifts. It was so fun to see you "play" with your cousin, Chase. She is almost exactly one year older than you and it's always so fun to get a little preview of what we have to look forward to next year. You looked adorable in your spit up covered smocked red dress and silver glitter tights. As expected, you were more interested in eating the wrapping paper than most of the toys you were given, but I suspect that will all change in the coming weeks/months.
It was a treat to be able to experience Christmas through the eyes of a child again. Thank you for the magic you bring to our lives, this day and every day. You are the best gift ever. Love,
Mom and Dad
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Full Nasal Assault
Warning: Gross Booger Post Ahead!
As you are aware, I love my child dearly. So much so, that I am not bothered by her "big girl" poops, which are always prefaced by the world's stinkiest toots. Vomit bothers me not. I love a good diaper-changin'. My major obsession this morning happens to be the huge flappy boogie lodged squarely in Annie's left nostril. While I am not grossed out by it, it is giving me a strange level of anxiety. I can hear it wrassling around in there when she breathes and, thus far, I have not been able to extract it.
Not for lack of trying, I should add. I first started with the bulb syringe, but she wasn't having it and I was terrified I was going to end up jabbing her brain by accident with that thing, she was thrashing around so much. I then deployed this bad boy that Rick had previously ordered because we knew how much she hated the bulb syringe. Well, let's just say it went over like a booger-laden balloon. While I had no issues actually trying to suck the snot out of my child's nose myself (secure that there was a wad of tissue paper between my mouth and the offending booger), she just hates anything that goes up or around her nose.
I was panicking by this point. I kept thinking how annoying it would be if I had something like that lodged in my nose. The booger was taunting me with each frustrated cry from the babe. If it was about a centimeter forward, I could probably grab it the old fashioned way, but it was just out of my reach.
There's no happy ending here folks. Annie is now napping with her new pal, booger. We've got the humidifier blasting full steam in hopes that it loosens that thing up for later retrieval. I'll keep you posted.
As you are aware, I love my child dearly. So much so, that I am not bothered by her "big girl" poops, which are always prefaced by the world's stinkiest toots. Vomit bothers me not. I love a good diaper-changin'. My major obsession this morning happens to be the huge flappy boogie lodged squarely in Annie's left nostril. While I am not grossed out by it, it is giving me a strange level of anxiety. I can hear it wrassling around in there when she breathes and, thus far, I have not been able to extract it.
Not for lack of trying, I should add. I first started with the bulb syringe, but she wasn't having it and I was terrified I was going to end up jabbing her brain by accident with that thing, she was thrashing around so much. I then deployed this bad boy that Rick had previously ordered because we knew how much she hated the bulb syringe. Well, let's just say it went over like a booger-laden balloon. While I had no issues actually trying to suck the snot out of my child's nose myself (secure that there was a wad of tissue paper between my mouth and the offending booger), she just hates anything that goes up or around her nose.
I was panicking by this point. I kept thinking how annoying it would be if I had something like that lodged in my nose. The booger was taunting me with each frustrated cry from the babe. If it was about a centimeter forward, I could probably grab it the old fashioned way, but it was just out of my reach.
There's no happy ending here folks. Annie is now napping with her new pal, booger. We've got the humidifier blasting full steam in hopes that it loosens that thing up for later retrieval. I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
6 months 22 days
Here are some pics from the last week:
I guess until I had her, I hadn't thought much about how exciting Christmas was when I was a kid. As if being out of school wasn't enough, we always got to spend time with our awesome cousins. And the fact that there is an entire day dedicated to receiving gifts is just enough to make a kid's head explode. If you were the child of one Virginia Loyd, you can be assured there were LOTS of gifts. Now I can't help but be excited for her, because clearly she has no idea what is going on this year. I can't wait to make Christmas lists and letters to Santa and homemade ornaments and ice Christmas cookies. I am a little ill by how excited I am by all of it. I am neck deep in this Christmas biz, yo.
With all of this being said, I am trying to not be disappointed that almost ALL OF MY FAMILY will be absent on this very special year. That's right. I am calling you out on my blog. While I understand why everyone is away this year, it still sucks. I guess it sucks for them too, that they will miss Annie's first Christmas and all this stinking Christmas cheer that is coming out my eye holes. But still, it's a bummer. I am happy that Annie will get to spend time with her awesome cousins (thankfully the Hagemanns are not going anywhere on Christmas day, and she will get to see Cousin Chase when we visit the Erwins) and open a handful of presents that she will quickly discard and likely opt to try to eat gift wrap. It will be excellent. I am just sad they won't be there.
The thumb obsession continues, though she's still not a big sucker-more of a gnawing or she uses it to stretch out her smile. Fine by me!
The Pottery Barn Kid's employee (not Chaney) guilted me into purchasing this little plastic rope thingie called the Winkel. Pretty low brow stuff here, just a lot of plastic tubes connected at the center with a cube rattle thing, but according to the toy Nazi, she would grow to be a social deviant if we didn't purchase it. It is constantly thrown to the ground and then placed in the mouth and despite regular cleaning, I am not confident I get all the parts. I will be sending future doctor bills to PBK.
One thing I have not discussed here is the fact that while we have all decided that Annie's hair is coming in blond, the jury is still out on if she is going to have curly hair. She has a long tuft on the top of her head that is decidedly curly, but there's not enough anywhere else to really tell. I decided not to brush it after bath night on Sunday, and this is what we got. Annie didn't like it either. She looked like a cross between The Fonz and Gary Busey's crazy mugshot pic. She kept touching it with a this confused look on her face. By Monday morning even I couldn't stand to look at it and had to wet it and brush it out. This could get interesting.
And it is officially 10 days until CHRISTMAS! Now, I have never been one of those crazy Christmas people, and I hate people that say "It's different when you have kids", because it has always struck me as a little condescending, but the thing that really is different with kids is Christmas. I find it easier to get excited about gifts and I am even tolerant of Christmas music. Those who know me know that this is a big deal. I was even dancing around like an idiot with Rick and Annie to a Michael Buble Christmas album. Michael F-ing Buble. I hate myself.I guess until I had her, I hadn't thought much about how exciting Christmas was when I was a kid. As if being out of school wasn't enough, we always got to spend time with our awesome cousins. And the fact that there is an entire day dedicated to receiving gifts is just enough to make a kid's head explode. If you were the child of one Virginia Loyd, you can be assured there were LOTS of gifts. Now I can't help but be excited for her, because clearly she has no idea what is going on this year. I can't wait to make Christmas lists and letters to Santa and homemade ornaments and ice Christmas cookies. I am a little ill by how excited I am by all of it. I am neck deep in this Christmas biz, yo.
With all of this being said, I am trying to not be disappointed that almost ALL OF MY FAMILY will be absent on this very special year. That's right. I am calling you out on my blog. While I understand why everyone is away this year, it still sucks. I guess it sucks for them too, that they will miss Annie's first Christmas and all this stinking Christmas cheer that is coming out my eye holes. But still, it's a bummer. I am happy that Annie will get to spend time with her awesome cousins (thankfully the Hagemanns are not going anywhere on Christmas day, and she will get to see Cousin Chase when we visit the Erwins) and open a handful of presents that she will quickly discard and likely opt to try to eat gift wrap. It will be excellent. I am just sad they won't be there.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
My Life's Work
I feel like I have always taken a lot of photos. Then Mr. Erwin gave me his old Olympus 35 mm with all these fancy fixin's and I was hooked. Having Annie gave an injection of steroids into my little photo bug. I have been taking monthly photos of Annie, which I just sent up to Walgreens for development so they could be framed. Imagine my delight when I got this little note on my photo envelope:
"Some photos were prof. photos need release from one copy write"
That's right people. I've made the big leagues, though I am not sure what they mean by "some photos".
Thursday, December 8, 2011
28 weeks-Is that right?
Can we just call it 6.5 months? Keeping track of all these weeks is exhausting. See below (originally typed "blow"-ha!).
I have never been a great multi-tasker, but pregnancy and subsequent child that sprang forth from my loins has made this 1,000 times worse. Now I can't even have music on while I am trying to have a conversation. It's bad. So between tending to the child, working, making sure we don't end up on a very special episode of "Hoarders" and eating something other than Crazy Bowls and Wraps every day, I haven't had a ton of time for the blog. Oh, and throw some Christmas shopping and our newfound commitment to working out (gross), and you have one spazzed out Kaly.
Here are the highlights from the last week:
I have never been a great multi-tasker, but pregnancy and subsequent child that sprang forth from my loins has made this 1,000 times worse. Now I can't even have music on while I am trying to have a conversation. It's bad. So between tending to the child, working, making sure we don't end up on a very special episode of "Hoarders" and eating something other than Crazy Bowls and Wraps every day, I haven't had a ton of time for the blog. Oh, and throw some Christmas shopping and our newfound commitment to working out (gross), and you have one spazzed out Kaly.
Here are the highlights from the last week:
Someone met Santa. It was sort of an impromptu visit because we saw the line was non-existent. This explains her lack of Christmas attire. And the fact that she has no Christmas attire aside from her Christmas PJs. What's that? You want me to go shopping for some more clothes for my child? Can you also let me know when you will be in the vicinity of a tower or a book depository and where I can get my (non-existent) gun cleaned? I'm a little stressed here people. Don't push me.
Thankfully there is a tree. At least I am not a total deadbeat.
Annie is having a love affair with her big toe on her left foot. She brings it in real close and talks to it. Then she tries to eat it.
While I don't think she knows it yet, she can pretty much sit up unassisted. For this photo, I just backed myself away and she stayed upright for quite some time, though she appears to be listing to the right in this photo.
We also went to the doctor for our 6 month checkup on Monday. Here are the stats:
Weight: 16 lbs, 9 oz 52nd percentile
Height: 26.5 inches 66th percentile
Head: 17 1/8 inches 78th percentile
So other than that, not a lot going on over here. As always, I will try to slow down (at some point) and enjoy our baby's first Christmas. For now I am thankful that she's so young that she won't remember this year, so we don't have to do a ton of fun shopping for her. Of course, depsite my previous threats of terrorism, that is the one thing that I would actually enjoy. Hopefully by next year I will have this multi-tasking thing down.
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