All Apologies

I have been delinquent in taking and posting new pics of Baby Dee. To be fair, she spends a lot of time sleeping, which doesn't make for the most exciting photos. However, I better get some going soon, because baby girl's hair is starting to fall out!

Here is a glam shot from today.

PS - For all you 30-something hipsters, remember when Nirvana was all the rage and 'All Apologies' wasn't a lame blog posting title?

Been Better

Why does my body hate me? Do you think it has to do with the stretch marks I foisted on it?

For the first time in forever I got some sort of stomach bug on Friday evening. It only lasted until about 3:30 in the morning, but it definitely set the tone for the whole weekend. Not to mention that one of the only things you want to do when you are experiencing gastrointestinal distress (aside from getting the dang bug OUT of your system) is sleep and between bathroom trips and nursing there wasn't much rest to be had. Of course, both of the girls slept until 8:30 Saturday morning but I still wasn't feeling myself so I was up and about at 7:15.

Saturday we actually had a nice day with my parents and aunt and uncle visiting. LP enjoyed the attention while Dee slept and I guzzled Gatorade (have to stay hydrated!).

Saturday evening both the Hoos and I started to feel a little out of sorts. Like we were randomly getting allergies. At least we think that is what it is. We had our trees trims (sounds kinky, but believe me, not so much) on Friday and we think the pollen, saw dust and other good stuff that good kicked up is wreaking havoc on our throats and sinuses. AWESOME!

And, despite the fact that Dee was up a good part of the day yesterday, she still wasn't really interested in going to sleep last night and was up every two hours to eat. Even though she didn't really want to eat, she just wanted to chill with me and pretend to nurse. Good thing I am well-hydrated so she could nurse if she actually wanted to.

Enough whining. Tomorrow will be full of sunshine and light. And I bet I will have a silly LP story to share. At least I hope so.

Ignored

Houston, we have a problem.


LP doesn't listen. Okay, all of your experienced parents can stop laughing and saying, "What else is new?" We can yell, scream, threaten and occasionally resort to a light spanking. All for naught.


And we don't just yell for the heck of it. Yesterday, she ran out of the playground (the gate was left open by mistake) and almost into the parking lot. I yelled her name and called for her to stop and she just kept going. Thank goodness for JM's mom who she managed to catch LP (the Baby Bjorn is a great invention, but it is not easy to run when a newborn is strapped to your chest) before she reached the parking lot.


The other day I told her, firmly, several times not to tickle (e.g., attempt to gouge Dee's eyes out while saying "ticka, ticka!") her sister's face. I also told her to stop or I would spank her. She completely ignored me. In fact, when I did end up spanking her she laughed, grabbed Dee's face again, turned, looked at me, and pointed to her tush, "Spank me?"


In addition, apparently she is getting a little more agressive at school. One of her teachers told me yesterday that they averted several attempted biting incidents. Lovely.


I know she is acting out due to the changes in her life. And we are going out of our way to shower LP with attention, but I do wonder if there is something else we can do. At what point does discipline work? She is two...I am so not into the "time out" thing, but have other people found it to be effective?


And, of course, LP continues to be incredibly cute, which makes it really difficult to stay mad at her for long.

Cluster F***er

FEEDer folks! FEEDer! Get your minds out of the gutter.

Baby Dee is a cluster feeder. She would eat every hour if possible between 7pm and 10am and would prefer to sleep straight through the other nine hours a day. Unfortunately, 10am-7pm is the DAYTIME when I would much prefer she be awake and alert and burning up energy to sleep through the night...sigh.

Last night we put Dee down in her crib for bed for the first time. She has napped in the crib but this was the first night she didn't spend in our room. I figured that she would get better quality feedings and I would be more likely to change her if I actually got out of bed.

The good news - I actually changed her twice - which is much better than me contemplating changing her several times and not really getting around to it until 7.

The bad news - I was in her room at 12, 2 and 4 and she wasn't interested in returning to the crib after the 4am feeding. She spent the rest of the night nestled in the crook of my arm. I think that was her plan all along anyway.

I am trying really hard during the day to wait at least two hours (okay, an hour and 45 minutes) between feedings in the morning and at night. And I also make every effort to wake her up and force her to eat during her day-long "nap". I know this is very necessary if I ever want to STOP LEAKING and if there is any chance of ever getting her on a schedule. (Yes, I realize she is on a schedule, but it isn't really one that is consistent with the timetable of the rest of the world).

As generations before me have said, it is a good thing that babies are cute...

Bonus Video

This is a month old, but still worth viewing. The sound is the best part.

The Job Description

Remember when you were first out of college and searching for gainful employment and you naively thought that a job description would neatly encapsulate all of the responsibilities of a job? Of course it is all of the other tasks that you undertake that end up not only making up the bulk of the job, but make you a better employee and more employable.

I was a little more worldly by the time I became a mother but it still makes me chuckle to think of all of the things that would purposely be left out of the job requirements for this role. Every day I complete a new activity that should have seemed obvious when I decided to embrace the joys of motherhood, but somehow didn't make it into my consciousness.

Today's addition to the mom description, the selfless, under appreciated task of scrubbing poop stains out of clothing.

What are some of the tasks that you didn't realize came with the position of "mom" (or dad for that matter)?

Robyn reminded me in the comments, here are some of the other duties I became aware of over the last 2+ years:

• Booger hunter
• Dairy cow
• Lounge singer/DJ
• A gourmet chef

Free Show! See More!

Someone (hmmm...) taught LP the word "naked" and now she uses it whenever she sees a flash of skin. For example, a gentleman jogging in our neighborhood in 90 degree heat with his shirt off - LP will point and loudly exclaim "Naked!!" We are not sure if teaching her the term "topless" will be a step up or a step down. Hopefully she will not have occasion to use either of these words at school or we may have a visit from CPS.

LP has also determined that she not only enjoys removing her clothes, but she really enjoys the anxiety this causes the Hoos and me. Each time we put her down for a nap this weekend we would go upstairs to check on her and discover that clothing was either completely askew (e.g., dress on inside out and backwards) or totally removed. As adorable as it is to see a cute little tush, it is not particularly cute to see your not-even-close-to-potty-trained daughter bottomless and fast asleep on the floor. I have taken to sticking absorbent mattress pads under her in case of an accident.

Nap time is not the only time LP has deemed it appropriate to strip. The other night the Hoos found LP standing on her bed well after her bedtime without a shirt on. She just grinned at him like the Cheshire Cat when he discovered her.

So far Dee has not shown a proclivity toward nudity, but we are sure this is a lesson her big sister is itching to pass on.

Score!

So, I just got puked on. I am sure there is a technical difference between "throwing up" and "spitting up" and I have a feeling it has to do with quantity. I don't care that Dee was only regurgitating breast milk - it still sucks.

To make matters better, at the time LP was insisting she had a boo-boo. Which was really just glue stuck to her fingers that she had put there by playing with a glue stick. So, instead of cleaning myself and Dee up I sat and patiently prodded the sticky substance off of LP's little digits. And she still refused to go and get me a burp cloth.

I am such a rock star.

My Divided Attention

For the second time this week I am home alone with my two girls. LP's low grade fever has returned and I am perplexed as to its cause. Once again, it is not in any way dampening her energy.

There are definitely some positives to having LP home with Dee and me during my maternity leave. At this life stage, LP is more entertaining and interactive than Dee. She also has an amazing ability to keep Dee awake, which I hope ends up working to my advantage this evening. In addition, when LP wants to be, she can be quite helpful, retrieving important things like diaper cream or burp clothes or inconsequential things like the remote.

On the downside I feel as though no person or activity is getting my undivided attention at any point in time. If I am nursing Dee, I am also trying to keep LP from wreaking havoc. If I am reading to LP I am trying to at least pretend to be reading to Dee as well. When making LP's lunch, I am distracted by my stomach's growling; as I attempt to get LP to nap, I am concerned about Dee, last seen sleeping quietly in her car seat on the kitchen floor. And most of the time I am glancing down or feeling myself up to make sure my boobs aren't leaking.

Really, for parents home alone consistently with more than one child, how do you do it? How do you focus your energy? Do you just have to wait until the weekend and the arrival of reinforcements to give undivided attention?

Not My Day Job

Last night was perhaps the worst night's sleep I have had since Dee arrived. I really think she was up all night. And, while she doesn't really cry, she does make noises that keep me awake - especially since she has been sleeping nestled in the crook of my arm.

This morning I planned on staying in bed and letting the Hoos get LP ready for school on his own. Before I was on maternity leave he had his own process and schedule for the three days a week he and LP were on their own, so I wasn't too concerned about copping out this morning. And then, LP woke up at 7. It is one thing to shower and get ready for work while she is sleeping peacefully, or even when she is just recently awake. But she would be awake for a whole hour before he would be prepared to get her breakfast going.Very quickly I realized that sleeping in just wasn't going to happen but I wasn't too bummed since I knew that there would be time to nap later in the day when Dee took a rest.

I got up with both girls around 7:20 and whisked them downstairs so they could both eat. When the Hoos joined us shortly after 8 he noted that LP felt warm. Since she coincidentally had a horrible, awful, nasty dirty diaper, he had the opportunity to check her temperature. Which turned out to be a little over 100...

So, despite my plans, today turned out being my first full day home alone with both of my daughters. I know there are lots of SAHMs that have more than one child home every day, and even lots of moms on maternity leave that have both a newborn and toddler home every day. Those women are awesome. I have the utmost respect and admiration for them and their stamina. That being said, I am not them.

Actually, everything was fine. LP probably watched more TV in a single day than she ever has before, but we also colored and read books and she helped me clean out our office closet while Dee took her first nap of the day.

And then it was nap time. Nap time is always tough for LP, even at school. She would just rather keep right on playing. Of course 10 minutes into me trying to convince LP to nap, Dee wakes up, shredding my dreams of mommy getting a nap in today. Not that it mattered when Dee woke up because it still took almost an hour for LP to fall asleep.

My strategy is to ignore her and let her wear herself out in her bedroom, but her new thing is to yell out, "Mommy, I pooped!" and remove her diaper. This afternoon we went through this twice. Thankfully she didn't actually poop either time, but I am not going to be all "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and get lulled into complacency. There will be poop one of these times and it ain't gonna be pretty.

Oh, and it is only 2:30...

Shape Shifting

I am having a hard time adjusting my wardrobe to my ever-evolving body and all of its (and my) requirements.

The Usual. Typically I am a jeans a t-shirt kind of girl. I like to be comfortable and casual. I step it up slightly (but admittedly not much) for work. Because LP slobbers, snots or dumps food on me often, most of my clothes tend to be easy to wash.

The Preggo. When you are pregnant, you wear maternity clothes. They can be loose early on to cover your expanding, but not-quite-yet-pregnant-looking body or they can be tight to show off your ripening shape. I went with the tight because I carried Dee straight out in front of me and trapeze shirts and the like made me look like a circus tent. I don't need help looking short and dumpy.

And Now. Fortunately I have lost about 20 of the 30 or so pounds I put on while gestating Dee. Unfortunately, it takes much longer to lose the post-baby-skin. In fact, I don't think I ever really lost the pouch I had acquired from LP. It did shrink a bit though.

In addition to having to figure out how best to hide my stomach flap (do you tuck it in?) I also have the good fortune of needing to wear nursing pads. Dee has such an erratic eating schedule that I leak way more frequently than I did with LP. Without the absorbent circles in my bra I live in constant fear that I will have growing wet circles on the front of my shirt. And let me reassure you, this is no wet t-shirt contest that anyone wants to participate in or watch.

Between the pouch and the circles, I think I look like Jabba the Hut wearing pasties.

You would think that there would be SOMETHING in my closet or multiple dressers that would not only cover but potentially (dare I say) flatter me. You would be wrong. My maternity clothes continue to be tight across the chest (the extra padding on my stomach has moved to my breasts), highlighting the hot hot hot nursing pads. My non-maternity clothes aren't baggy across the middle, highlighting the fabulous muffin top created by my post-maternity flab.

At this point, Dee and LP are my best accessories and I hope to use them as camouflage as much as possible. Even better, the Hoos thinks I look great. That goes a long way to helping me feel better about my shape-shifting. That being said, I still wouldn't mind having more then two shirts and one pair of maternity shorts to wear out in public.

Got Milk?

LP could give you an anatomy lesson and lead a breastfeeding workshop...Dee is still hoping that milk will come out of her fingers...or her sister's nose...

My Big Girl

I haven't mentioned how much of a super star LP has been lately. Despite all of the changes with the addition of her new little sister, she continues to be amazingly awesome.

The Saturday before Dee's arrival the Hoos rearranged all of the furniture in the upstairs of our house, moving a twin bed into LP's room (and attaching a serious bed rail) and the crib into the nursery. Since then LP has been sleeping in the bed with no problems. Some nights it takes her longer to fall asleep then we would like, but in general she stays in the bed and sleeps like an angel. Her new bed time routine includes multiple renditions of "Twinkle Star".

She also sings Twinkle Star and "Sunshine" (You are My Sunshine) to Dee when she is sleeping.

Another concern we had before Dee arrived was that LP would not want to leave the house in the morning knowing that Dee and I would be staying home. Not the case. She makes sure to give both of us kisses goodbye and then tells us that she is going to school. Even yesterday when the Hoos was taking her to day care and my parents were in the house she didn't give us any grief about leaving. Wow.

I know all of this can change in a heartbeat, but I am encouraged by LP's adaptability and count my lucky stars for her each and every day. This mom gig is by far the best, most rewarding and wonderful job ever. I couldn't recommend it enough.

My Sleepy Dwarf

In the two years since I had LP I apparently wrote over a lot of the limited newborn knowledge housed in my cluttered brain. Therefore it has come as a complete surprise to the Hoos and me that Dee sleeps so much.

The lactation consultant reminded us that newborns basically only eat, sleep, poop and cry. For sure this kid has pooping down. I did remember that newborns go through LOTS of diapers. In the week and a half since Dee's arrival I have only had one diaper change that required two diapers and the Hoos holds the record so far with one change requiring three. She is also a pretty good eater, even though she does fall asleep after only nursing on only one side during the day.

The most shocking thing - and I can't even believe I am going to totally jinx myself and put this in writing - is that Dee is not much of a crier. She will make noise and she will cry on occasion, but it is not the inconsolable newborn crying that I remember from LP. But it could also be that I am mis-remembering the timing there and LP was more than a week old when that kicked in. It could also be that in an effort to keep Dee quiet at night so as not to wake LP, I almost nurse on demand. And I let Dee sleep cuddled into me (dang it if as soon as I try to move her into the co-sleeper her eyes don't instantly pop open!).

On another note, my parents drove up from the Island yesterday and spent the night. It was great to be able to go to the grocery store and take care of a few things while both LP and Dee were occupied and taken care of. It is hard to believe that almost 32 years ago I was the baby they were snuggling with and now they are spoiling my little girls.

Still Here

Here I am! Today is my first day home alone with Dee and I must say, I forgot how simple the newborn life is. Sure, she likes to eat every two hours between 9pm and 9am, but the rest of the time, life is pretty chill. I don't have to dream up creative ways to help her expend energy inside the house (since the 100+ temperature does not lend itself to outdoor activity), I don't have to be too entertaining, I can put her down in one place and not worry that she is running amok while I take a 2 minute shower...the list goes on and on.

That being said, I appreciate the sweet, fun, personality-filled LP even more. She is really such a joy, learning new terms and concepts and loving her little sister. LP is so great with her sister, kissing and hugging her. The first thing she wants to do every morning is see Dee. Saturday she spent an hour running through the sprinkler with the Hoos and both of them had the best time. I was jealous watching them through the window, but also overcome with love for my family.

I have been doing my best to make time for LP so as to keep the green-eyed monster at bay. Saturday, I took her shoe shopping. Seriously, I think all little girls love shoe shopping. What is there not to like? She really needed new sandals. The Keds I bought online run a little too narrow for her luscious feet and despite the fact that she wears Crocs around the house all the time, I don't think they are appropriate for school. Hopefully the practically never-been-worn Keds will fit Dee's skinny little feet when she is a toddler.

Speaking of skinny feet, Dee is back up to her birth weight - hurrah! We had three weight checks since taking her home from the hospital and I am thrilled to report that she is up to 7lbs, 6ozs. She is still a lean little thing, but scrumptious to nibble on nevertheless.

Introducing Baby Dee

Here is a close up of my second little bunny munchkin. We all continue to do well and Dee is simply fabulous. "Dee" is a derivation of what LP calls her baby sister.

Not to get into too much detail on her birth story, but here are some highlights. I was only in labor for 2.5 hours, and only at the hospital for an hour and a half of that. My doctor had told me to call in as soon as my contractions were five-six minutes apart. The time between my first and second contraction was closer to four minutes and they only picked up from there. We got to the hospital around 9pm.

About 40 minutes later I moved and one of my monitors fell off. When the Hoos returned with the nurse he proceeded to have a conversation with her about if Bun would be born on 6/1 or 6/2 (by now it was 10pm on 6/1). She was pretty confident that since my water hadn't broken yet we had a few hours to go. Literally 30 seconds later, my water broke.

Suffice it to say that 25 minutes after my water broke my beautiful baby girl was on my chest. The doctor on call from my practice made it into the delivery room for my last push - and she delivered Dee without gloves.

Dee was born with "a true knot" in her cord. Apparently this is unusual, but it had no ill effects on her. Her Apgars were 9 and 9 and she is very alert when she is actually awake. I had no recollection that newborns slept so much. I think I am just used to LP who is a wonderful little ball of energy.

LP loves her little sister and covers her with kisses and slobber. I think the Hoos and I feel more guilty than LP feels jealous. Of course that could all change in a heartbeat. We continue to play everything by ear and just soak in all of the love in our little family of four.

It's a Girl!

Our newest bundle of joy made her grand entrance Sunday evening. After only 2.5 hours of labor she pretty much beat the doctor into the delivery room. Her big sister is very excited and everyone is in love with our dark haired beauty. Now we have to come up with a blog nickname for her:)