Dressing Little Girls... On the Cheap

Note: I was not compensated for this post. I just really love the quality and service these companies offer and you would be missing out if you didn't have this information! If you use my referral link for Moxie Jean, you get a $10 off a purchase of $20 and I get store credit, but otherwise these companies are not paying me to say nice things :-)

Baby Gap top, Mini Boden leggings from Moxie Jean.
Freshly Picked moccs purchased at 30% off at the end of the season.

Before I had kids, I never thought I'd care very much about what they wore. Clothes are clothes, they are just going to destroy them anyway, and all that nonsense. The reality is little girls' clothing is freaking adorable and if you know where to look, you can find great clothes for good prices and have some darling little ladies toddling around in your life. 

My favorite place to shop for the girls is Moxie Jean, an online consignment shop for kids and maternity. Their tagline is "upscale resale" and they really stay true to it. Without this store, I would never be able to afford Tea Collection dresses and Mini Boden pinafores and corduroys. They sell top brands for amazing prices and the best part is that you can order a seller bag for FREE. Send them your best stuff and they will send an email detailing what they accepted and what they will pay you for it. What they don't accept gets donated to children in need. You even get an extra 25% if you take your payout in store credit. 

Then there's babycheapskate.com.  This website has daily alerts for all kinds of deals, including "lowest price ever" deals on Amazon and many of my favorite brands. Since following Baby Cheapskate on Facebook, I have found 70% off on Hanna Andersson, Tea Collection, and Mini Boden. One click to like the page on Facebook, and you can thank me later for the savings. 

Retailmenot is a website/app that I go to regularly for promo codes. I almost never complete a sale online unless I can minimally get free shipping. Usually you can find 10-15% off your purchase if you sign up for emails. Set up a "junk mail hotmail" account and let the savings fly!

Happy shopping!

Subliminal messages from the white noise machine

Disclosure: I might regret posting this because all 4 people who read my blog will inevitably think I'm insane. I'll have you know the hubs hears things, too, when the machine is on. 

Meet the girls' white noise machine. We like it because it doesn't shut off, although this is our second one. The projector likes to stop working after a while. We really need a new one. This one has been talking to me. 

They like the "white" noise setting. I have never heard anything funny in the rain or heartbeat modes, but Gabby refuses to sleep unless I choose white noise. But after some time, usually when rocking Lillian to sleep (read: playing candy crush and minding my own business), I start to pick up a pattern in the loop and it sounds like a voice saying words. Here are some things the creepy white noise machine has said to me recently:

"You're Kris Kringle."

"I'm filthy."

"Don't worry."

"Do the Macarena."

"How about you?"

"Scouts are afraid."

"Now it's time for braiding."

I don't know what it's trying to tell me with these messages but I really don't need to question my sanity every night. 

Also, the projector stopped working. Any recommendations for a non-psychosis-inducing machine?

Holidays, Schmolidays

I love Christmas, I really do, but the holidays are such a stressful time for me for so many reasons. It's not even the financial aspect of the holidays, I actually love bargain hunting and researching the perfect gift for everyone and strategically buying for my kids. It's the other stuff that gets to me.

My husband's family is split between Florida and Long Island. Because my parents are divorced and everyone has a problem with someone in the family, there's really NO chance of spending any time with my family as a whole. I always feel a nagging sense of guilt that I would choose to spend the holidays with my in-laws versus my own family, but I like the traditions we have with them and want my girls to experience that. Maybe in the future we can extend the holiday and trek down to PA to spend time with my dad and sister, but it seems like a hell of a lot of driving to me and honestly, I am already too stressed out about all of the traveling we do.

In addition, traveling makes the Santa lie myth story difficult to pull off because depending on the day we leave, we might have to give the kids gifts early or late and then Santa comes to Grandma's house, but then there's also stuff at our house when we return home almost a week later. And what if we need to leave on Christmas Eve? When they're older won't they be looking for Santa's sleigh in the sky? We've been telling them Santa only comes if you're sleeping. It's exhausting to me to have to continually maintain the story. I am a bad liar. Everyone knows that.

Then we add to the mix the overwhelming influx of new toys when they already have so much. My kids are spoiled. They have a ridiculous amount of toys. When anyone comes to visit, they bring toys to bribe my kids to open up to them (I'm looking at you, Grandmas). I am on an endless quest to rotate toys, get rid of broken toys, find lost puzzle pieces, and salvage toys they don't care about so I can sell them at consignment so I can buy them more crap they won't take care of because they are TWO and 10 MONTHS OLD. The struggle is real, my people. The toys don't go away as fast as they come in. I don't know how this will affect my kids. Are they going to be entitled little brats? Am I overreacting? I don't know.

The worst part of the holiday season for me is the crushing disappointment when the holiday season is over and it's just cold and cloudy for 4 more months. The toys aren't new, the gift cards have been spent, we go home to Buffalo and are left to face the fact that we are stuck inside for the foreseeable future mediating fights over toys, cleaning up messes, and knowing that we will do it all over again next year.

I really don't mean to be a Scrooge. I really am a Christmas nut. I just get exhausted by all of the sameness and start wishing the holidays to be over before they begin. Tell me I'm not alone in this!

6 signs a kid (or two) lives here

1. Top-level kitchen organization.
   
   
   It doesn't even seem right that our kitchen counter should look like this. We have TONS of cabinet space. But when a toddler needs a drink, you damn well better materialize a cup from thin air (and it had better not be an OLD cup - better known as a cup from an hour ago). Also note the bottles and bottle accessories. This is also where we store the kids' medicine. I know you're jealous of my organization skills.
   
2. Blankets covering every square inch of the couch.
   
   It's covered in stains, but what I can't see can't hurt me. 
3. "Babies sleeping" in odd places.
   
   
   Imagine my horror when I walked into the kids' dark bedroom and stumbled into this. For all I knew it was a dead burglar. 
4. Potty seat hanging on the wall.
   
   
   How fancy are we that we have a special hook in the bathroom just for hanging the potty seat? Please ignore the filthy sink and 1950 tile job. We will probably move before the bathroom ever gets updated (or cleaned, haha).
5. All the no-no items are up high.        No not the breakable things, we don't have any of those. I'm talking about the iphones, laptops, TV remotes. The items we would not survive parenthood without.  
   
6. It's not sparkling clean, but it feels like home.

Happy 9... er... 10 months, Lilly!

And now for our next installment of "Giving Your Child An Inferiority Complex!"

I completely forgot about the 9 month update and Lilly will be 10 months old in 2 days. Oh, well.

Our girl.

This child is a piece. of. work. She is quiet and sneaky and gets into EVERYTHING. Just the other day, I was brushing my teeth while she was happily playing in the playroom. I peeked my head out to check on her about every 15 seconds or so because she is not to be trusted. So, I finished brushing my teeth, went into the playroom and found her face, mouth, teeth, tongue BLUE. She had eaten a crayon in the 5 seconds since I had last looked at her. 

At her last appointment, she was 28" and 18lb, 13 oz. She was around the 50th percentile for everything. The pediatrician was happy to see that she is pulling up, crawling, babbling, and loving solid foods. 

Since that appointment (2 weeks ago), she has been standing on her own for a few seconds at a time, pushing push toys one-handed, and climbing the entire flight of stairs without assistance. She has 3 (almost 4) teeth and has been sleeping better, happier, and tons of fun. I think this is my favorite age. 

I can finally see how I ended up pregnant with her when Gabby was her age (although it will NOT be happening again, I promise). 10 month olds are lots of fun. Especially ours!

Every Day is the Same

"Yeah, I'm making a mess at 7am. Wanna fight about it?"

I am SO over the morning routine.

I think the morning is even worse than bedtime.

Add potty-training to the mix and the mornings are just 2.5 hours of arguing with a toddler and pulling an infant out of harm's way... all before I even have to go to work. Most days, by the time I get to work, I am sweating, harried, and disgruntled from all of the running around, organizing and nagging I have to do.

I could probably reduce some stress by preparing the night before, but who has the energy to do that?!?!

In addition to all the arguing and resistance to do the same things they are required to do EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. there is the mess-making and insanity-inducing repetitive singing of a two-year old. I actually feel like I am going crazy some mornings after hearing, "ABCDEFGHIJKABC!" over and over and over...

And Lillian's scream is something to behold. It will stop you in your tracks. One of her teachers at daycare goes out of her way to avoid known triggers for her outbursts. I can't avoid them. Diaper changes = screaming. Putting on a coat = screaming. Getting her in the car seat = screaming, I would almost prefer hearing Gabby incorrectly sing the alphabet at maximum volume.

Serenity now. Serenity now. Serenity NOWWWWWWW!

Though she be but little, she is fierce

Or however that saying goes...

Lillian is a force to be reckoned with. Full disclosure: she feels ALL of her emotions to the tenth power. This includes: happiness, relaxation, fear, fury, and OMG. 

It's to the point where the daycare staff tells me, "Thank God we know her because otherwise she'd be hitting her head 100 times a day." We actually had to buy a padded highchair because she was intentionally hitting her head on the hard kitchen chair when sitting in her booster seat. 

It's just... When she's happy she is SO happy but she is volatile. Her fuse is short and her triggers are difficult to predict. Some I have locked down. She WILL NOT sit in the tub. A reality I have accepted. I hold her with one arm and wash with the other and pass her off to hubs so she can leave the room because HOLY CRAP. She will always melt down in the high chair. She doesn't like being put down. And on and on...

But in the end, I remember Gabby at this age. She's always been dramatic and needy and Mommy-oriented and then I look at Lillian and think, "She is definitely mine." Both of them are. And I'm not sad about it. 

Working Mom Blog Series - Episode 4: Self-care and Bonding time with Husband

I have to admit that lately, these moments are few and far between, although extremely important. This is probably our biggest area in need of improvement, but I think in time we will do better. It's hard to focus on our relationship and ourselves when we have two needy little girls. So what do we do?

I definitely take a bath and read for a while after the girls go to bed. Ricky goes for a walk when the girls have been quiet for a bit. It stinks to separate like this, but someone has to be in the house with them...

On spending time together, I guess we sometimes will watch a movie or show after he gets home for his walk. I would entertain going for a dinner or movie more often if we weren't both trying to lose weight and had a regular babysitter. This is one of the things we are working on.

Day-to-day, we really just try to work as a team to take care of the house and our family so that nobody is feeling overwhelmed. We take turns. He cooks dinner while I keep the girls busy. I take a day off a month to do a deep clean on the house. We are definitely still in survival mode, but we are way beyond surviving. We are loving it. We have the best family ever. 

So long suckers!

Photo credit: shrimpyphotography.com

Addiction is a nasty beast. For over a year now, we have been planning Gabby's quit. We have to wait until the baby is born. We have to wait until she isn't jealous of the baby. We have to wait until she is sleeping through the night. We have to wait until she gets used to sleeping with the toddler rail. And on and on and on...

I don't want to put it off anymore.

I also don't want bedtime to be the worst part of my day.

But the binkies have GOT to go. She is at the point now where she bargains and negotiates for "one more sip" or "one more bite" in the mornings. She asks to go to nap just so she can have some alone time in her room with her binky. It's just no good.

So... now that she is going to bed happily and loves her sister, we are going to stuff a Build-A-Bear with a binky and some stuffing and head off into the sunset binky-free.

I hope.

Update: She has been 3 days binky-free!

11 things I would rather do than put pants on a mobile infant

By the time Lillian was born, I had forgotten how difficult dressing a newborn was. The tightly curled legs and arms, the fragility of their tiny bones... Long-sleeved onesies on a newborn were just exhausting for me. In contrast to a toddler who knows how to at least help you get their clothes on, when you dress a newborn, you have to put them into the clothes.

Fast forward 7 months. I have a 2 year old who runs from me naked because she thinks it's funny when she pees on the floor and a 7-month old who doesn't want to be put down while simultaneously wanting to writhe, kick, and roll off the changing table. 

Pants are worse than anything else because as soon as I get one leg on, she rolls or kicks as I am getting her second foot into the other leg and the first leg comes off. Back to the drawing board...

So, I thought a list of 11 things I'd rather do than put pants on Lillian would be pretty easy to write. Here we go!

1. Watch Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood for 24 12 8 hours straight.
2. Do a week's worth of diaper laundry all at once.
3. Watch Gabby eat whole grapes.
4. Allow Gabby to smear butter all over the dining room table. True story, by the way. She was "making Daddy a horsey."
5. Put poopy diapers in the diaper genie and leave the lid open for longer than 3 seconds.
6. Allow Gabby to stick her disgusting binky in my mouth.
7. Stand at the bottom of the staircase while Gabby comes down all by herself.
8. Take a nap while the kids are not napping, only to be woken up every 7 minutes by a slap in the face and a child saying, "Mommy, you woke up!"
9. Eat Gabby's leftovers (half was probably already in her mouth).
10. Eat Lillian's leftovers. Have you tasted baby food recently? Everything tastes like pears.
11. Pay an exorbitant amount of money for daycare so someone else can put pants on her.

Be careful what you wish for!

This kid is all over the place. She is army crawling like it is her job. In the above scenario, I put her down on the other side of the room, looked up, and she was pulling the blocks out of the shelf. As I am typing this, she is gnawing on the posts to the shape stacker. We have found her under the coffee table, half under the couch, and half under her crib. 

When you have a newborn, you are always waiting for the next milestone, wishing away their babyhood. Well, be careful what you wish for because mobile babies are just on a constant death mission!

Half-birthday Update

6 months old and sitting in a chair!

Happy half-birthday, Sweet Lilly-girly! At the 6 month mark, Lillian is army crawling, pushing up onto her knees, teething like a MONSTER, and sweet as pie.Complete strangers are constantly commenting on what a happy baby she is. She even smiles first thing in the morning when I go into her room to free her from her crib. 

Lilly's stats:

16 lbs 6 oz (64th percentile), 27.5" (94th percentile)

She is long and lean, and loves to be in motion. When I am holding her, she is always wiggling her way out of my arms. She is just really ready to bust some moves. 

Hold me. I'm soon going to be chasing two of them...

Working Mom Blog Series: Episode 3 - in which my house is not disgusting

So, I swear, my house is totally not gross, but we don't clean while the kids are awake. 

Let me explain... This is part of the reason I stand by early bedtimes. I feel that the better quality the time I spend with my kids, the less guilt I feel for the time they are away from me. Thus, I do not clean while my girls are in my presence. Only when they are not here do I clean. 

The details: First of all, we do a ton after they go to bed. Laundry, dishes,yardwork... It all happens after bedtime.  I feel this is not only a safety precaution with young kids, but since Gabby is a fraidy-cat, it allows us to do noisy chores without whining. 

Secondly, we trade off kids when we want to get stuff done. If there are big jobs (painting, construction, grocery shopping), we will plan ahead and have one parent on kid duty while the other does the hard job. These jobs would not get done otherwise. 

Thirdly, we let Gabby help where she is able. I've long ago gotten over my perfectionism and am now a pro at just letting her do chores she wants to do. Who am I to judge the quality of her help? I now just accept whatever she is willing to do and keep my expectations low. It makes for much less anxiety. 

Last, I do make an effort to do things like clean the hardwood floors, vacuum, laundry over lunch breaks when I really need to get things done. Living so close to work affords me the luxury of not living in complete squalor. 

How do you get things done with kids around?

Working Mom Blog Series - Episode 2: How I See My Kids Enough

I've been criticized for sending my girls to bed too early. "You never see them!" To dispel the condemnation and guilt, I thought I'd touch on this because I feel like it can be helpful to other working moms. 

Lillian starts fussing to go to bed before I even get her home. For a while, I thought she was colic (even though I am skeptical of the colic diagnosis 90% of the time). Babies cry, so I powered through her early months thinking about why she was so miserable in the evenings. I went out on a limb. Maybe she's tired! So I started putting her to bed between 6 and 6:30pm. 

Fussiness cured. Mommy guilt exponentially increased. She is awake around 5:30 or 6am and I drop her off around 8 am. Therefore, I am currently seeing her around 2 hours in the morning and maybe 1 hour before bed. I miss my baby but I am totally seeing her enough. Here's how:

1. I stop by daycare at lunch. I mostly stop by to drop off milk, but if she's awake I will stay to play. She usually will sleep during this time and I can go run errands or go home, but sometimes she stays awake and I am grateful for that extra hour of Mommy-Lilly time. 

2. I take her up to bed ASAP. Even though she usually intends to fall asleep close to 7pm, I bring her up closer to 6 so we can cuddle and play a bit without Daddy and Gabby. I want that little bit of together time and it is important to both of us. 

3. She still nurses through the night plenty. We nurse on average 3 times over 12 hours in the night. I feel like this is an acceptable amount (compared to Gabby) and she typically wakes for the first time past 2am which is pretty great.  I cherish these night feedings and am not wishing them away for one second. 

So that's how I feel like I see Lilly enough. Gabby stays up later and is more interactive so I definitely get my fill of her by her bedtime. 

How do you maximize your time with your kids?

Working Mom Blog Series - Episode 1: How We Get Out of the House in the Mornings

Dressed and playing. Not quite ready to go.

"What time do you guys wake up in the mornings?!?!" I've heard this question time and time again from other moms, incredulous at Facebook pictures of my children fully dressed and walking around the house sucking down yogurt pouches at 7 am. I will let you in on my secret... I've learned how to avoid the major morning battles by simply ambushing my kids when they first wake up.

Lillian is usually the first one up. She starts rolling over and fussing in her crib between 6 and 6:30 am. I snatch her out of the crib, grab some clothes from her dresser and plop her on the changing table. I change her diaper and clothes and set her down on the floor with some toys to play with,

By this time, Gabby usually starts stirring and whining that she lost her binky. I move the crib from the wall, retrieve it (and all of the other junk that has landed there in the night) and plop her on the changing table and proceed to change her diaper and clothes. Now, I know plenty of people with toddlers would say to me, "I just change my toddler on the floor. You're nuts trying to wrangle her onto the changing table!" The changing table is the key to my morning success. Gabby will run and grab toys or use a million other avoidance tactics to get away from me if I don't have her on the changing table. I don't give her the option to run and she knows better than to try to pull any unsafe maneuvers while she is on the changing table.

This process takes less than 15 minutes. I pick up Lilly and coax Gabby downstairs with the promise of a snack or a cup of milk. She can walk herself down the stairs (albeit SLOWLY), and I carry the baby down. I get whatever I bribed Gabby with, settle Lilly down with a toy and I am free to get ready for work.

Voila!

After the shoe and hair assault

The most challenging part of the morning is Gabby's hair. She runs when she sees the comb, so I usually have to chase and catch her and put on PBS Kids so she will sit still for me to do her hair. Once she is ready, I load the kids into the car, start the car, run in and grab my bags and coffee and we hit the road singing "Let It Go" for the short 8 minute drive. Because I work from 9-5, we try to get into the car by 8:15 so I have time to settle them into daycare and do what I need to before I start my work day.

Once I drop them off and get to the office, I usually pump while eating my breakfast and drinking my coffee.

So that's it! Is it hectic? Yes! But this is our routine and it works for us!

Do you have any tips to make mornings easier?

Lillian: The sunshine

Lillian Rose. 

She is exactly the child I needed and didn't know I was missing. So sweet, happy, easy, SMILY. She is intoxicating. When I have a hard day at work, I go to the daycare to get a few smiles and some baby drool. My Lilly fix. 

For Gabby, Lillian is a new baby doll. She dresses her, feeds her, brings her toys and binkies and kisses and hugs her incessantly. Lilly drinks it in. She is exactly the sister Gabby needed. 

For Rick, Lillian is fun, sweet, mellow... NOT a drama queen. Just the peaceful, even-keeled daughter he will laugh about Gabby and me to.

Our surprise baby turned out to be just what our family was missing. Lillian, you are our sunshine!

Gabby-isms

With her increase in vocabulary, comes an increase in hilarious things she says. Here are five of my current favorite Gabby-isms:

1. Gabby calls Lillian "Lilly-girly." I sometimes used to call her "Lilly-girl" and Gab has just exponentially heightened the cuteness of her nickname. We all call her "Lilly-girly" now.

Meet "Lilly-girly"

2. She refers to herself in the third person always. In the mornings, my "Who's excited to go to school today?" chime is always answered with a gleeful "Gabby is!" I even have to stifle my laughter when she tells Stanley (the dog) to "Leave Gabby awone!"

3. "Cue meesh!" is Gabbese for "excuse me." She says it when someone else burps or when she is pushing her stroller around and someone is in her way. I heard her telling Stanley this morning to move out of the way. I asked her what is a nicer way to say that. Her reply? "Cue meesh, Buddy!"

4. Whenever someone else laughs, Gabby says that person is funny. She totally doesn't understand how humor works. If she does something hilarious and I laugh she says, "Mommy's funny!" 

5. This one kills me... When she is feeling extra-loving, she will run up to Rick or me and hug us around the legs and say, "I miss you too much!" I don't know where she heard this or why she started saying it, but it just melts my heart every time.

Two is terrific! We are really loving this kid right now. 

Also, lest you think "Whatever happened to that adorable baby?" She is here, she is awesome, and I have a really sappy post on deck about her, so check back in soon and stop judging me!

My Top 5 Favorite Toddler Toys

Number one best toy EVER! #howweplay

Since we are just getting through birthday-mania 2014, I thought a post about the toys we McDermotts love the most for toddlers. These are some of my favorites right now. I will preface this list by mentioning that Gabby is really into pretend play, water and sand play, and puzzles - so that would explain her obsession with these particular toys. Anyway, here are our top 5 best toys for toddlers:

1. Gabby got the Step2 Fixin' Fun Outdoor Grill for her birthday this year and she absolutely loves it. It runs around $30 and is a very simple toy. We also bought the Step2 Stack 'N Stay Hamburgers Playset to go with it because it only came with one measly hot dog to cook. The grill is very sturdy and also has an oven which is great storage for all of the accessories. The grill also has a sink and stovetop, so kids can cook a full meal. There is lots of room to add accessories, but Gabby is just happy to cook the same hamburger for 20 minutes or longer. 
2. We got the Hape Gourmet Kitchen for her first birthday, and this toy has been her number one toy for a full year now. It was great when she was just learning to stand, it is even better now that she is running. She likes to load up her shopping cart with food from the kitchen and cook it all over the house. She loves to pretend to wash her hands. Hape also makes a TON of food playsets that go with this kitchen, it is really hard not to buy them all!
3. Step2 Water Wheel Play Table - With her water obsession, this is an obvious choice. She likes scooping the water and dumping it all over herself. This is a very sturdy table and was even great when she was just starting to stand. I also love this toy when it's really hot because I pull up a chair, prop up my feet, and Gabby pours water all over my feet and legs. Life doesn't get much better than that!
4. The VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker is an awesome toy to help early toddlers begin practicing their steps, but it is also a great activity center for not-yet-mobile babies. The songs are not annoying, the volume has two settings, and the activities can all be done by a one year old easily. Great toy!
5. The Melissa and Doug Wooden See-Inside Alphabet Puzzle made me really impressed with my kid. She would not do puzzles on her own and then one day she came home from daycare wanting to do puzzles and she was doing puzzles perfectly all of a sudden. My mother bought this puzzle and not only could she immediately do a 26 piece puzzle, but she started learning her letters and SO. MANY. WORDS. Just amazing. 

So, that's my list of our top 5 toddler toys. What are your toddler's favorites?

TWO!!!

Sigh... how did we go from this little mush...

to this sweet little toddling baby...

to this hilarious, bossy little chatterbox in only two years?

Every day I am amazed at her vocabulary, empathy for others emotions, love for her sister, her ability to learn new things and her voracious appetite for information. Gabby just wants to know ALL. THE. THINGS.

Here is a list of 5 things I want to remember about Gabby when the memories of these days is a blur:

1. She wants to do everything Lillian does. If Lilly rolls over, Gabby follows suit and says, "I roll over, too!" If Lilly has rice cereal for breakfast, Gabby wants oatmeal. You'd imagine it would be Lilly wanting to copy big sis, but so far, Gabby just wants to be like baby sister.
2. She loves the number two. When I ask how many books she wants me to read for bedtime, or if I ask her how many monkeys are jumping on the bed, it's always "Two, Mommy."
3. She wants to say goodnight to Lillian 3 times every night before she will go into her crib. "More see Lilly. More 'gain, Mommy."
4. In order to convince Rick and I to follow her into the playroom, she comes into the living room, grabs us and says, "Mommy, Daddy, come! It's fun!" It's usually not very fun, but she is really cute, so we go.
5. She got underwear for her birthday this morning and I never want to forget the image of her sitting on the floor, putting her underwear on over her pajamas, pulling it up to her knees and then carefully walking all over the first floor of the house trying to find daddy so she could show him her new panties.

Happy birthday, Gabby! I love you!

Just keep swimming!

Summer summer summertiiiiiime! 

'Tis the season for all things outdoorsy and swim lessons are added to the mix. Since we swim in our friends' pool regularly in the summer (Thanks, Flitts!), I thought it was warranted that Gabby learn some water safety and get comfortable being out of my arms in the pool. Besides, since I can barely swim to save myself, she's not in the best hands with me in the pool anyway. 

So, I signed us up for a Mommy and Me baby swim class so we could get us some skills. I cannot believe how much fun it is and how brave and awesome my little girl is! She is one of FEW kids in this class who laughs, smiles, tries to impress the teachers, is so proud of herself and confident... It makes me want to cry. 

The class is given at the town pool and is for kids aged 1-3. The class is a half hour once a week for six weeks and consists of skills-building while singing songs. Most of the time is spent acclimating the kids to the water, making them comfortable on their stomach/back, using a kick board, etc. 

Today we had our second lesson and I was actually hoping class would be cancelled because of the recent thunderstorms. The high temperature today was only 73. Hardly swimming weather. The water was absolutely frigid. We sat at the edge of the pool and dipped our feet in the water, waiting for the other families to arrive. Gabby whined, "I want Mommy" for a good long time. Then it was time to enter the pool. I didn't want to do it. There is no bigger baby about cold water than me. The toddlers screaming for a full half hour? It was warranted! The water was ice! But that Gabby... She never even complained. She shivered, her lips turned blue, she laughed and gasped at the cold, but she was in her glory. Kicking and splashing like it was what she was born to do. 

I know she's my kid, so obviously she is perfect and advanced at everything but, come on... Could she be any more awesome?!? 

I know this post is super braggy, but I'm shocked my shy clinger is excelling at a group activity. Gimme a break!

Sleep training (?!?!)

Don't worry, this is a lie. It won't last more than a couple of hours.

Lillian is in a phase of fighting sleep. It feels like extreme FOMO (fear of missing out) more than teething or anything developmental. She's exhausted, but she arches her back and yells and turns her head while nursing... All just to stay awake. 

So tonight, I brought the laundry upstairs and put it away while I let her fuss herself to sleep. I will point out, she never cried - she fussed. It was never urgent and I went in every few minutes to make sure her blanket wasn't over her face (her favorite "get out of bed" tactic) and she had her Binky. She was ok. Just fussing. 

And she finally went to sleep. It took less than an hour, but she did it. I'm hoping this is the worst we see for sleep training. What a miracle baby. 

Update: She seems to sleep great until around 3am and then wakes up hourly to nurse. Luckily, we started rice cereal this past weekend, so once we really start increasing her solids, maybe she will start sleeping better.

Seven days of fever and going strong

Does this look like a sick kid to you? When I called the doctor on Monday, they said "fever is a symptom, it doesn't necessarily mean the child has an infection." The doctor diagnosed her with a cold and sent us on our way. 

Tuesday, she got sent home from daycare with a 103.2 temperature and they asked me not to bring her back until she has been fever-free for 24 hours (shame on me for sending her with a cold/fever that she caught from some other kid in her class).

Wednesday I stayed home again. Thursday, my husband stayed home and claimed she had a normal temperature. I took it after work because she felt hot to me, it was 102. Friday I stayed with her again. 

Today she reached 102.9 and was running around, playing, eating, acting fine. I know there is nothing wrong with this child. Could she be teething? Could this be a normal cold symptom? I have NO idea! All I know is that neither my husband nor I can afford to miss another day of work. Unfortunately, the daycare won't take her if her temperature is over 100. My boss is not a fan of telecommuting and I am really at a loss for what to do. 

She's not sick! Ugh...

Update: It's a urinary tract infection due to an anatomical abnormality. We will find out more when the doctor gets her urine culture results back. Her renal ultrasound is scheduled for 7/8 at 5:30. Pray for a normal scan!

Sleep regression, milestones, teething, oh my!

19 weeks old. She is 19 weeks old and my amazing sleeper cannot sleep nomatter how much she wants to. I have tried nursing her, white noise, rocking, pacing, putting her down awake and letting her fall asleep on her own, and now I am onto pacing with her in the front carrier.

My only concern is we are veering from the regular routine - because it's not working anymore - and I'm afraid this will be one the new routine. I know from Gabby that good infant sleep habits are hard to come by and we've probably just been lucky to have had four and a half months of her choosing to go to sleep before 7 pm. 

The problem with an easy baby is that when they act like a normal baby, it really feels like suffering. Could be worse, could be worse, could be worse...

Do not be fooled by your baby

"Look into my eyes, Mommy..." I urge you strongly not to. It's easy to think these are the eyes of a wired, ready-to-party baby. You would be wrong. This is an un-napped, overtired baby who should've been put down half an hour ago or more. 

Do not look into her eyes. She will lie to you with them. 

Sibling Rivalry

Well, this was unexpected. Gabby has always been super close to Stanley. Ever since she was born, they have been playmates and cuddle buddies. Now, in her toddlerhood, Gabby is extremely bossy with him ("Buddy! No bark-in'!") and she fights with him over food and toys. I expected this within a few years between the girls, just not such squabbling between a girl and her dog. 

Sorry, Buddy. 

The Pee-Pee Book and Other Literary Problems

I don't know about you, but I don't think that's the title.

Gabby is very much into books these days. All books. Anything with pages, pictures, and words. She particularly enjoys books that rhyme, and she is very adept at memorization, especially if the rhyming scheme is good. 

This makes bedtime difficult for me, because since putting the girls into the same bedroom, my M.O. is basically to keep Gabby quiet so she doesn't wake Lilly up. So, now in addition to her usual, "I wake baby up!" outbursts, I am battling her passion for reciting every book at the top of her tiny (but powerful) lungs.

I added "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch to the bedtime pile, thinking it would be a sweet singsong-y way to end the evenings. It took one reading before I was being echoed as that little boy in the book "goo and goo and goo." She also memorized the song, but only the last word of each line, so she would mumble, "hmmmm-hmmm EVER, eehhhhhh ALLLLLWAAAAAYYYYS, hmmmm-hmm baby BEEEEEE." That book is out of the rotation now.

I also had to stop reading Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book. This book would be a fantastic book to lull any other two-year old child to sleep. Most of the words are made-up, so comprehension is low. The rhyming scheme never changes, it has a very steady rhythm that makes me drowsy when I read it aloud. No, the problem with this book is that she doesn't know what anything is, and so she gets bored. The number of pages I had to skip in the book was getting out of control. I knew she was going to ask me, "What's that?" when I got to the page with the machine that counts how many people have fallen to sleep or the page where the Bumble-tub Club is sailing along the river. It was just riddled with disruption and ritualistic asking of questions I had given answers to nightly for months in a row. It was madness.

A friend gave me a stack of books her daughter has outgrown. There were a few good ones in the pile. One of her new favorites is "Just Be Nice -- To Your Little Friends!" by Caroline Kenneth. This book is referred to as "The Pee-Pee Book." Because my child does not know the difference between pee-pee and Pooh. <Insert face palm here> Maybe I need to find a book about potty training...

4 Months Old and Some Changes to the Blog

Lillian is now four, count them, FOUR months old! She weighed in yesterday at her 4 month check-up and was 14 lbs 9 oz and 25.5". She is a tall, chunky, sweet little charmer. Gabby loves to read to her and hold her and "helps Mommy give Lilly a bath" by singing songs to keep her happy.

 
Soon Lilly will be starting solids, so I set her up in Gabby's chair to see how she liked it. I think she felt pretty big and cool sitting in her sister's chair.

So, back to news about the blog.. I am trying to figure out what to do with this as I rarely post or advertise the fact that I have posted. My posts have mostly just been a way to keep family updated, but now that the girls are actually doing things, I have a little more to say. I'll be updating a lot more often, so check in frequently!

3 months update

Lillian turned 3 months old a week and a half ago and here are some facts about her:

* she sleeps on her back and is a great night sleeper and napper

* she loves sitting upright in her bumbo or on someone's lap

* she is able to grasp a toy by herself, but she is working on controlling her hands (lots of accidental face-bonks)

* she started daycare last week and is doing excellent so far

Gabby loves her baby sister. She is calling her "Willy" and loves to give her toys or a blanket. She is still having some "twonager" struggles but we are slowly working through them and have high hopes for all the fun she will have this summer. 

Some pics of the girls...

Sigh... She's a big girl

A precious little gem

Lillian is 2 months old!

At 2 months old, Lilly is our sweet little charmer. She loves to smile and sit upright so she can check out her surroundings. She weighs 11 lbs 15 oz and is 23 inches tall. 

Spring is here

First days of spring 2014 have been indoor days. It's been cold and snowy, so here are some pictures of us lounging around the house!

One month old!

Lilly is one month old now! She is 9 lb 13 oz and 22 inches long. She has great neck control and makes eye contact. Gabby loves her and so do Mommy and Daddy!

Sisters photoshoot

Mark James stopped by a couple of weeks ago to take some pictures of Gabrielle and Lillian. Here are some of the beautiful results: