February Photos

Yesterday when I was writing Alethea’s update, I realized that I didn’t get the camera out nearly often enough this past month, so I pulled it out and snapped a few more photos for my ‘February 2011’ file.

Alethea still won’t hold still for the camera, but at least she smiled:

She still won't hold still for the camera, but at least she smiled

Lydia smiles a lot now when she’s awake:

Daddy and Alethea did ‘cheers!’ and as you can see, it was really cute.  Unfortunately the camera didn’t flash, so it’s also a bit grainy:

Microfiber couch + dry winter air = static electricity in the hair:

It must be nice to be a baby.  It’s the only time in your life when you can have milk crusted to your face and still look completely adorable:

That’s it for this month.  Maybe in March we’ll get some outdoor photos without snow in them… winter can’t last forever!

Twenty-Two Month Update

Today is Alethea’s twenty-two month birthday.  Happy birthday, dear girl!

Unfortunately Alethea is spending her day trying to recover from a horrific diaper rash.  We’ve been treating it on our own with frequent diaper changes and loads of butt paste for several days, but this morning her bottom started bleeding, so I’m thinking it’s time to head to the doctor.

On a more positive note, this month Alethea had several fun milestones including counting from 1 to 10 without any prompts or assistance from me (and she even remembered the number seven).  She also started voluntarily naming colors of different objects and expanded her song repertoire to include a mostly-complete version of ‘Old Mac Donald’, ‘Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes’, and the first part of the ABC song.

Turns out headbands also make stylish glasses

Turns out headbands also make stylish glasses

Current dislikes include: getting dressed, having her diaper changed, green vegetables, having her picture taken, and water going anywhere near her head or face.  Current likes are: making Duplo towers, baths (just not the hair washing part), books, fruit (especially grapes), playing outside, and all of her comfort items – brown blankie, baby doll, nuks and assorted stuffed puppies (there is quite a crowd in her crib at night).

She also loves shoes… and boots… and anything she can put on her feet by herself, her favorites being a pair of bright pink mary janes.

They even go with pajamas!

They even go with pajamas!

She continues to be a loving big sister to Lydia, although she was overheard one night when both girls were supposed to be sleeping (and neither was) to say, “Lydia, be quiet!”  After all, it is hard to sleep with a baby crying in the next room.

Best picture of the girls to date

Best picture of the girls to date

We are having a hard time believing that in just two short months we will be celebrating Alethea’s second birthday.  Time is positively flying, but we’re soaking up every minute of fun we can with our energetic and imaginative little girl.

Potty Training Pros and Cons

For a while now I’ve been wondering what the best timing would be to start potty training Alethea.  For several months now she has been showing some of the ‘signs of readiness’ (telling me before or right after she poops, not liking when her diaper is soiled, being interested in the toilet), but since we were expecting a baby/had a newborn in the house, I decided it could wait.

Then the other day when Alethea was in the bathtub she sat up against the side and told me, “Potty.”  I asked her if she was pretending to sit on the toilet.  Then she repeated, “Potty,” and proceeded to urinate in the bath water.

Okay, so she might be more ready than I realized.

But here’s the thing.  I’m not sure I’m ready.  I mean, I know everyone talks about how great it is to leave diapers behind, but I’m wondering, is it really all that wonderful?

So I made a list of pros and cons for potty training.  First the cons:

1) At this young age, it will probably mean several weeks of hassle and power struggles to get Alethea potty trained.

2) When you’re out in public you always need to know where a restroom is, just in case.

3) When you’re out in public you have to let your toddler use a dirty bathroom (and in my case, drag an infant in there as well).

4) Unless we buy a freestanding potty chair (which I’m not sold on), I’ll have to help Alethea get on and off the toilet for a long time anyway, so it’s not like I’ll gain a bunch of free time, and in fact, it will probably take more of my time during the day.

5) And lastly… accidents happen and I hate messes.

Here’s my pros:

1) It would save us money.  I estimate that we spend $20-$30 a month on Alethea’s diapers and wipes.

2) Let’s face it, no one really loves changing diapers, and I’m no exception.

That’s it. Two pros. Five cons.  So I’m dragging my feet, but maybe it’s only because I haven’t made it to the other side of the potty training road yet.  Is the grass truly greener there?  Maybe some of the more experienced parents out there can tell me, are there great advantages to having a potty trained kid?

Inside and Out

Here’s a riddle for you.

What do you do when you get a foot of snow at the end of February?

The answer:

Work on your Easter centerpiece!

I know it’s a little incongruent, but it sure makes me feel better to have some spring flowers around, even if they aren’t real.

This is my dollar store bird, isn’t he cheerful?

I’m really pleased with how the faux Pottery Barn robin’s eggs I made last year mixed in with the potted daisies, my new addition for this year.

Now I just have to hold on and keep believing that spring really is going to come on the outside of our house too!

One of those Days

This morning was a toughy.  It was like both girls wanted my attention all the time, which left me feeling like neither child got as much mommy time as they needed and I got not a second to catch my breath.

At times like this I find I have the choice to view everything with a sense of humor, or just go crazy.

Fortunately, Alethea did her best to keep me laughing.

After putting Lydia down for her morning nap, I hurried back downstairs to rejoin Alethea at the breakfast table.  As my feet hit the bottom step, Alethea called out to me, “Drink yogurt!”

Turns out that since Mommy wasn’t there to scrape down the sides of the bowl, Alethea took matters into her own hands.

At least it was bath day anyway!

A Good Memory

Alethea is our first-born child.  Thus, I’m sure we’re making all sorts of mistakes in our parenting, but I’ve always taken comfort in the thought that at least she’s young enough that our mistakes won’t make much of an impression on her yet.  After all, at this age, how long could her memory actively retain things?  A week or two, maybe a month?

Turns out I was wrong.

Yesterday we were outside shoveling the snow off the back deck.  I had a big shovel and Alethea had a little one.

During a break from snow removal, Alethea pointed at the grill and said, “Hot.”  To which I responded, “The grill is hot when Daddy is cooking food on it, but it isn’t hot right now.”

Alethea’s reply was, “Eat.”

“You like to eat the food that Daddy cooks on the grill, don’t you?”

And then Alethea pointed at the corner of the table where the two benches come together and uttered the words that showed me just how much I’ve been underestimating her memory.  She said, “Eat. Highchair goes here.”

Her meaning couldn’t have been clearer.  When we eat outside, we roll her highchair out of the kitchen right to the very spot she indicated.

Only thing is, we haven’t eaten outside since probably September, maybe the beginning of October.  That means she remembered where her highchair sits for at least four months.

Okay, time for a new plan.

Last night I told Peter, “From now on we have to assume that she will remember everything we say or do and may even repeat it.”

Scary thought.

A Glimpse Into the Future

Yesterday morning Alethea and I left Lydia and Peter at home and hopped into the car to run some errands.  I told Alethea, “We are going to go to the library and we’ll look at books, but first we have to stop at the Post Office and buy stamps.”  And then I reiterated myself several times to avoid a potential meltdown when our first stop wasn’t the beloved library.

We got to the Post Office.  The line was out the door.  They only had one clerk working on Saturday morning.  Not good.

So I told Alethea, “Never mind, Honey.  We’ll get stamps another day.  Let’s just go to the library.”

I thought Alethea would be pleased to be headed to the library.  Boy, was I wrong.

As I took her hand and started walking out the door to the car, she started crying.  I asked her what was wrong.  She sobbed, “Stamps!  Stamps!”

I tried to console her.  “It’s okay.  We’re going to the library.  We’ll get stamps a different day.”

Alethea continued to choke out, “Stamps!  Stamps!” and didn’t calm down until we pulled into the library parking lot.

I thought it was funny.  My little girl crying about not buying stamps when she doesn’t have a clue what a ‘stamp’ even is.

Then this morning I told my friend at church what had happened.

She laughed and then said, “It sounds like you have a structure loving first-born just like my daughter.  When you give them the plan, you’d better follow it to a T, or you’re in trouble.”

Uh-oh…

I was thinking of it as an amusing anecdote, not a life-long personality trait.

It’s suddenly less amusing.

How does one teach a child flexibility?  Because it looks like I’m going to have to figure that out, and quick!

These Little Lights of Mine

Peter and I did a financial end-of-the-year review together in December.  After looking at some of our spending patterns in 2010 we both felt there were ways we could use our money more efficiently in 2011.  Peter decided to spend less by bringing his lunch to work rather than eating out and I resolved to take a chunk out of our monthly Target bill by eliminating impulse buys during my weekly shopping trip.

Easier said than done…

Today as I was headed around picking up the stuff off my list, I ran across a set of lamps, two table lamps and a matching floor lamp, to be specific.  They were on clearance for $27.98… that’s for a set of THREE lamps, including shades!  I tried to leave them there, really I did.  I had them in my cart, and then I put them back on the display, but somehow they ended up in my cart again.

I told myself that I’d bring them home and if they didn’t get a good reaction, I could always return them and get a refund.

Peter came in the door from work, saw the box and said, “Hey, what’s this?”

Gulp! “Um, it’s lamps for our bedroom.  They were less than $30 for the three.”

And then the last thing I was expecting…

A smile!  Peter smiled at my impulse buy and said, “Does this mean I actually get a light on my side of the bed now?”

(Yes we’ve been married for over four years now and no, Peter has never had a lamp on his side of the bed.)

So it turns out that it was a good buy and if Peter’s reaction wasn’t enough to assure me of it, Alethea’s certainly was.  She watched me pull one of the lamps out of the box and then said very enthusiastically, “Whoa! Cute light!”

This and That

Lydia has slept from 11pm ’til 4am the past two nights.  I’m hoping it is her new schedule.  I could do without the 2am feeding if she’s up for it, but I’m trying to keep my expectations in check.  Still, I think Alethea was about six months old before she slept for 5 hours two nights in a row, so we’re way ahead of the curve.

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Alethea said her first four word sentence today.  I got her out of the crib in the morning and told her, “Let’s go wake up Lydia.  She needs to eat.”  So Alethea ran right to Lydia’s door, pushed it open and called out, “Wake up, baby Eee-ya!”

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Sometimes it’s hard to keep the attention of my young male piano students.  I think I might have stumbled on a new strategy though.  Last night I instructed one boy to cut his fingernails right away when he got home so he could have better hand position while he practices this week.

“Do you think you can do that?” I asked.

“I’ll try,” he responded weakly.

In a moment of brilliance, I quoted, “Do or do not.  There is no try.”

He stopped fidgeting on the bench and looked right at me.  “Hey, didn’t Yoda say that?”

After that I managed to get a promise from him that he would cut his nails.  I wonder what other Star Wars quotes I could apply to piano teaching… Hmmm…

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I know you’ll all think I’m crazy, but I’m pretty sure Lydia is getting a tooth.  Yes, she’s only a month old and it’s not even one of the front ones, but I’m almost positive there is a corner of a tooth poking through her gums on the lower left side.  Is there anything else that could make a small white dot in her mouth?

Lydia’s One Month Update

Saturday was Lydia’s one month birthday!  Happy birthday, Baby Girl!

This past month has had some ups and downs, but overall I am amazed at how quickly and easily Lydia has fallen into a schedule of eating and sleeping.  Generally our days involve eating every three hours with about ten minutes of awake time following the feed and then Lydia goes back to sleep until her next feeding a couple hours later.  Of course, we’ve had bad days where the naps were a lot shorter, or didn’t happen at all, but mostly we’re able to keep the routine going.

Nights are also pretty routine with feedings at 2 and 5 a.m. most nights.  I do keep hoping Lydia will spontaneously decide to drop the 2 a.m. nursing session, but at least most nights she goes right back to sleep after eating, so I’m not complaining.

Because Lydia sleeps so much, we haven’t had a lot of time for developmental milestones.  We have noticed that her neck seems to be getting stronger (she can actually hold her head up briefly) and she doesn’t go cross-eyed as often as she used to.  She has also smiled at me a handful of times, but it doesn’t happen often enough for me to be certain that she’s doing it on purpose.

We have had some bad days this month that involved projectile spit-up or horrible gas, but I am slowly figuring out which foods I eat cause Lydia to have a bad reaction and am eliminating them from my diet.  So far at least it doesn’t appear that dairy is a major concern, so (Hallelujah!) I don’t think I have to give up all things milk like I did with Alethea.

So to sum up, Lydia’s first month involved a lot of sleeping, eating and pooping, as well as some moments of fussiness when spit-up and gas were involved.  However, she really is a super sweet little girl and we’re so pleased that she’s a part of our family!