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As in, the big outtie that comes with a pregnancy.
As you might imagine, I've been somewhat inwardly focused on this journey into parenting more than one child.
My days have been consumed with pondering how I want to expand my cloth diapering stash to accommodate 2 in diapers, whether or not to upgrade to a large vehicle for our family, and scoping out the infant car seats on the market today. And, of course, lots of other things, like the actual birth process, and everything that I'll be experiencing in the upcoming months, and being a good mom to Elizabeth.
So, look for baby #2 in the spring!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
becoming a big girl
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Eating a pickle at RenFest
Elizabeth has now been in her big girl bed for almost 3 weeks. Yay! Elizabeth has been sharing the bed with us since she was a newborn, and we were starting to feel crunched in our queen sized bed. When we went to visit my parents a few weeks ago, we were facing a double bed that we knew from previous experience was too small to give any of us a good night's sleep. I decided it was time for an experiment.
My parents have a crib and mattress at their house for when they happen to have babies staying at their house. I took the mattress, put it on the floor beside my bed, and when Elizabeth fell asleep in our bed, I moved her to the mattress on the floor. To my surprise, she slept until almost 6 AM. And, to our delight, all of us slept much better. We hadn't realized how our movement during sleep would wake her, which would then wake us. She fussed a few times in her sleep early in the night, but I just reached over the edge of the bed and patted her back until she was quiet. By the end of our week there, she was sleeping all though the night with just an occasional fuss.
On our way home, we picked up a toddler bed, and set it up in our room right next to our bed. She got to pick out her sheets (she chose pink. go figure.), and she was and continues to be pretty enthusiastic about her big girl bed. Sometimes she still wakes up at night. Sometimes I wake up to find her snuggled right next to me in my bed. Still, though, I think we've made substantial progress.
This has been simultaneous with some other big changes in her life - we've been working at night weaning, and reducing day time nursing. She now only nurses once or twice in a day, compared to 3-4 times a day and 1-2 times at night just 3 months ago. And, she seems enthusiastic about her little potty, although we're not pushing her to do that. If she says something about the potty, she can sit on it, but we're not running her off to the potty every 20 minutes. Only one or two big changes at a time!
Eating a pickle at RenFestElizabeth has now been in her big girl bed for almost 3 weeks. Yay! Elizabeth has been sharing the bed with us since she was a newborn, and we were starting to feel crunched in our queen sized bed. When we went to visit my parents a few weeks ago, we were facing a double bed that we knew from previous experience was too small to give any of us a good night's sleep. I decided it was time for an experiment.
My parents have a crib and mattress at their house for when they happen to have babies staying at their house. I took the mattress, put it on the floor beside my bed, and when Elizabeth fell asleep in our bed, I moved her to the mattress on the floor. To my surprise, she slept until almost 6 AM. And, to our delight, all of us slept much better. We hadn't realized how our movement during sleep would wake her, which would then wake us. She fussed a few times in her sleep early in the night, but I just reached over the edge of the bed and patted her back until she was quiet. By the end of our week there, she was sleeping all though the night with just an occasional fuss.
On our way home, we picked up a toddler bed, and set it up in our room right next to our bed. She got to pick out her sheets (she chose pink. go figure.), and she was and continues to be pretty enthusiastic about her big girl bed. Sometimes she still wakes up at night. Sometimes I wake up to find her snuggled right next to me in my bed. Still, though, I think we've made substantial progress.
This has been simultaneous with some other big changes in her life - we've been working at night weaning, and reducing day time nursing. She now only nurses once or twice in a day, compared to 3-4 times a day and 1-2 times at night just 3 months ago. And, she seems enthusiastic about her little potty, although we're not pushing her to do that. If she says something about the potty, she can sit on it, but we're not running her off to the potty every 20 minutes. Only one or two big changes at a time!
Friday, September 12, 2008
in which I wake up covered in baby poop
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Just a few minutes ago, I woke up, quite unpleasantly, with baby poop smeared on my legs, and the bottom that produced said product sitting on my lap. You can imagine I was not amused. I'm still not amused, but give me 15 minutes, and it will be somewhat more funny.
I had fallen asleep in the recliner rocker in the living room. Elizabeth was "playing" in the room (mostly bringing me her books). I don't know how long I was asleep, but the wet feeling of baby sitting in my lap woke me. I suspected it was merely a leaky diaper. Oh no. Further surprises in store for me! My second indicator that something less pleasant was about to be exposed was when I started to put my hand out to her (as she was attempting to crawl into my lap) and discovered a naked child. My eyes popped open, and saw Elizabeth, sitting on my legs and some other unpleasant things on her and myself. Immediately I stood up and carried her into the bathroom to clean us up.
I returned to the living room to see what further damage there might be. Thankfully, I haven't yet found anything that suggests she was trying to put the contents of the diaper anywhere. It was only that she wanted the diaper off. And, when she took it off, she put the diaper on the table right next to the chair where I was sleeping. I guess it's a good thing I didn't put my hand down there in my sleep. I think I need another 15 minutes.
Just a few minutes ago, I woke up, quite unpleasantly, with baby poop smeared on my legs, and the bottom that produced said product sitting on my lap. You can imagine I was not amused. I'm still not amused, but give me 15 minutes, and it will be somewhat more funny.
I had fallen asleep in the recliner rocker in the living room. Elizabeth was "playing" in the room (mostly bringing me her books). I don't know how long I was asleep, but the wet feeling of baby sitting in my lap woke me. I suspected it was merely a leaky diaper. Oh no. Further surprises in store for me! My second indicator that something less pleasant was about to be exposed was when I started to put my hand out to her (as she was attempting to crawl into my lap) and discovered a naked child. My eyes popped open, and saw Elizabeth, sitting on my legs and some other unpleasant things on her and myself. Immediately I stood up and carried her into the bathroom to clean us up.
I returned to the living room to see what further damage there might be. Thankfully, I haven't yet found anything that suggests she was trying to put the contents of the diaper anywhere. It was only that she wanted the diaper off. And, when she took it off, she put the diaper on the table right next to the chair where I was sleeping. I guess it's a good thing I didn't put my hand down there in my sleep. I think I need another 15 minutes.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
in which she says, "no!"
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Elizabeth has also added "No!" to her spoken vocabulary. I noticed it just a few days before going to visit my parents. She came up to me, and started slapping my leg, saying, "No, No, No." over and over again. For a moment, I thought she might be saying, "nurse," which effectively comes out as "nuh" or "nuur" when she's trying real hard to pronounce it. However, when she concluded with "No!" and pointed her finger at me while raising her eyebrows and giving "the look," I was quite clear what she was saying. I couldn't stop laughing. Jude knew that look came from him.
Over the next week, she practiced her "no!" with finger pointing on just about every person, the dog, the bird, and sometimes objects. She even taught her cousin Jacob to add the finger pointing to his previously established "no."
Elizabeth has also added "No!" to her spoken vocabulary. I noticed it just a few days before going to visit my parents. She came up to me, and started slapping my leg, saying, "No, No, No." over and over again. For a moment, I thought she might be saying, "nurse," which effectively comes out as "nuh" or "nuur" when she's trying real hard to pronounce it. However, when she concluded with "No!" and pointed her finger at me while raising her eyebrows and giving "the look," I was quite clear what she was saying. I couldn't stop laughing. Jude knew that look came from him.
Over the next week, she practiced her "no!" with finger pointing on just about every person, the dog, the bird, and sometimes objects. She even taught her cousin Jacob to add the finger pointing to his previously established "no."
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
phrases
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Elizabeth is adding phrases to her repertoire. We were at my parent's house last week, and she was very enthusiastic about their bird, Birdie. So, every morning when we got up, she would say "buh?" and make the sign for bird. So, out we went to see the bird. I greeted the bird saying, "Hi, Birdie!" and by midweek, she was saying, "Hi, buh!" I thought it was mighty cute.
This morning convinced me that the concept of combining words into a phrase was solid. Jude was out at the truck, getting ready to leave for work. I opened the window shade so Elizabeth could watch him as he worked, and she immediately started saying, "Hi, Da!" over and over.
Smart girl.
Elizabeth is adding phrases to her repertoire. We were at my parent's house last week, and she was very enthusiastic about their bird, Birdie. So, every morning when we got up, she would say "buh?" and make the sign for bird. So, out we went to see the bird. I greeted the bird saying, "Hi, Birdie!" and by midweek, she was saying, "Hi, buh!" I thought it was mighty cute.
This morning convinced me that the concept of combining words into a phrase was solid. Jude was out at the truck, getting ready to leave for work. I opened the window shade so Elizabeth could watch him as he worked, and she immediately started saying, "Hi, Da!" over and over.
Smart girl.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
cold weather, nice warm furnace
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For this first time since I've lived in this house we turned the heat on the the second week of September. In years past, we've been able to hold out until the last week of September, or more usually, the first or second week of October. We typically don't feel a need to start up the furnace until the day time temps are lower than 70 degrees, and night time temps are in the 40's and 50's. Our house is not well insulated, so as it cools off overnight, it's hard for the house to recover and warm up to the daytime temps. That's what we were experiencing, and based on the forecast, it's what we're looking at for the next week.
Turning on our furnace is not so easy as flipping a switch. We have an outdoor wood furnace that heats our house, so to get the house warm, we have to cut a bunch of fire wood, clean out the furnace, and then start a fire big enough to heat 300 gallons of water. As you might imagine, this is not something we take lightly. We don't have much wood cut, because we usually have another 3 weeks before we have to make sure we have a good starting stash. Then we cut wood through the fall, and into the early winter.
Does having the furnace on mean that we won't open the windows? Nope. If it gets nice, we just turn down the thermostat, keep the fire going outside, and open the house to catch a breeze. This is just so unexpected. Weird weather.
For this first time since I've lived in this house we turned the heat on the the second week of September. In years past, we've been able to hold out until the last week of September, or more usually, the first or second week of October. We typically don't feel a need to start up the furnace until the day time temps are lower than 70 degrees, and night time temps are in the 40's and 50's. Our house is not well insulated, so as it cools off overnight, it's hard for the house to recover and warm up to the daytime temps. That's what we were experiencing, and based on the forecast, it's what we're looking at for the next week.
Turning on our furnace is not so easy as flipping a switch. We have an outdoor wood furnace that heats our house, so to get the house warm, we have to cut a bunch of fire wood, clean out the furnace, and then start a fire big enough to heat 300 gallons of water. As you might imagine, this is not something we take lightly. We don't have much wood cut, because we usually have another 3 weeks before we have to make sure we have a good starting stash. Then we cut wood through the fall, and into the early winter.
Does having the furnace on mean that we won't open the windows? Nope. If it gets nice, we just turn down the thermostat, keep the fire going outside, and open the house to catch a breeze. This is just so unexpected. Weird weather.
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