Dianthe’s Blog

one night can make – or at least one night of sleep – over the last 2 weeks, Sydney has completely regressed – she’s lost interest in solids and seems to be eating less (at least in the morning with the nanny – i feel like i’m nursing her all freaking day!) – we were starting to transition her into the crib and that sudden;y came to a complete halt – the minute i put her into the crib, she would wake up – and it’s weird because she doesn’t have any problems napping in the crib, just nighttime – then the kicker … sleeping through the night – Sydney has been sleeping through the night since about 8 weeks – and while it hasn’t been ideal for me (since she doesn’t go to bed til damn near midnight), it’s been pretty great for Kelley – until the last 2 weeks

Sydney had slowly started going to bed a little earlier – anywhere between 10 and midnight – and i’m thinking that her body is just naturally adjusting and at some point (hopefully in th e near future), she’ll even out and get on a more regular sleeping schedule – then all of a sudden she started waking up around 12 or 1am – um, hello – mommy has to get up at 3am!!! clearly, she doesn’t care – she’s the “all about me” kid – of course i don’t know where she gets that from … anyway, 1am rolls around and she is awake – not that stirring in her sleep awake – we’re talking full on “mommy i’m bored,let’s get up and kick it” awake – uh, yeah – not so much! so the 1am solution varies – it can be as easy as giving her the boob and lull her back to sleep with me as the human pacifier or it can be as involved as taking her back into her room and changing her and actually rocking her back to sleep – the latter has me getting out of bed which is never good – because then i have problems going back to sleep – but hey it’s great for her and Kelley!

which leads me to this fine, sunny Saturday morning – Saturday is the day i sleep in – and when i say sleep in, i mean until 10 or 10:30am – and if i’m lucky, i can get Sydney down for a morning nap and can stretch that until 11 or 11:30am – but this last week was especially rough – and with Sydney not sleeping through the night, i didn’t get more than 1 1/2 consecutive hours of sleep any night – that wouldn’t be so terrible except that Sydney has also been a little fussier than normal – so her long afternoon nap (which i usually try and take with her) has been with me wearing her in a Moby D wrap – i love the Moby D and apparently she does too because the moment i put her in it, she immediately falls asleep – but when i try and take her out, she wakes up – so she’s been napping in the Moby D and i try my best to recline on the bed or chair and get my nap on too – she awakes completely refreshed and raring to go – i awaken completely groggy and confused and wondering why my 2 hour nap felt like 7 minutes – fast forward to yesterday – i was so tired i could barely think straight – everyone who talked to me on the phone yesterday asked me if i was asleep – no, just completely exhausted – is that the same thing? so when Kelley got home last night, i immediately passed Sydney off to him and went to sleep – that was around 5:45pm – now that i think about it, i think i was asleep when he got home – whateve – it was naptime for mommy – so Kelley took over and i slept til about 8 or 8:30pm – i woke up and ventured to the living room – Sydney was asleep in the swing (lucky Daddy!) so i thought i would try and spend some quality time with Kelley – i snuggled up to him on the couch and promptly fell asleep – after about 30 minutes, i woke up and realized what had happened – i told him that when Sydney woke up that she would be hungry so to bring her to me – then i gave him a kiss and told him i was going back to bed – i think she woke up around 10 or so because i vaguely recall seeing the news – i think i fed her during Nightline and i watched Friends at 11pm – and i guess somewhere in there Sydney fell back asleep because i completely missed Sex and the City and 11pm – she woke up at 1am (which i guess is her “new” schedule), i got up and changed her, rocked her back to sleep and then we got back in the bed – this is where i should have slept until at least 8 or 9am – nope – 5am – wide awake – WHY, GOD?? WHY??? i tried to go back to sleep, but it didn’t happen – you watch and see, the minute she wakes up, i’ll be tired again – but for now, i’m bright eyed and bushy tailed – or at least as much as my personality allows me to be!

have i mentioned that Sydney has teeth? she does – 2 of them – the first one came in 2 weeks ago and the second one came in last week and not only does she know she has teeth – she knows how to use them – can you saw “OWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!” – i’m determined not to quit nursing just because she figured out how to bite me, but dang – that girl has some chompers on her – someone equated baby teeth to puppy teeth – yup, that’s exactly it – never been used so they’re sharp as razors – and like puppies, babies are so freaking cute that you can’t be mad! even if she’s clamped down on your nipple while she’s smiling at you! so the first time she bit me, i of course screamed in pain – i immediately pulled her off of me and headed to Kellymom.com, the authority of all things breastfeeding – apparently the whole screaming out in pain is not a good thing – it can either encourage your baby to continue to bite to get a reaction out of you or can cause a nursing strike – ok, just add another tick mark to the bad mommy column – i know she’s teething (which is probably why she’s also not sleeping through the night anymore) and i know it hurts, but mommy’s nipple is not a teething toy – it’s not even cold! so now, when she bites, i try and unlatch her immediately with my finger, tap her lips and say “no biting – don’t bite mommy” – and she just looks at me and smiles – funny, it’s the same smile she gives me when she has those saw-like teeth digging into me – rotten kid – how could she already have managed to figure out that her smile will totally melt mommy into pieces?

5 months post partum, and i have now lost 59 pounds – i am officially BELOW my pre-pregnancy weight – i was 149 when i got pregnant and 206 the day i delivered – i went ahead and set my goal weight at 138 even though i’d like to get back down to 133 – that was my weight the day i got married – and ideally i’d like to be 122 with a rocking hard body because that’s what i was when i met Kelley – but i’m pretty sure that’s just a fantasy – though i do wonder how new moms find the time to eat – Kelley andd i usually trade off eating for dinner time – and i always eat breakfast when i’m at the studio – but from the time i get home until Kelley gets home, it’s a crap shoot as to whether or not i’ll get a meal in – though i can usually manage to grab a handful of grapes or cherries – so there is that!

oh – i had more, but it appears that my Saturday morning solo time is over – i hear Sydney – and i need to try and get in a shower before Daddy leaves for basketball – i will really, really, really try to blog tomorrow – but i can’t make any promises – but the next blog will include the topics of mommies vs daddies, how to teach your kid to crawl and GAY BINGO!!!!!

and what did she do with my baby girl? Monday was Sydney’s birthday – she is now 5 months old – and every month on her birthday, i take her picture in the purple chair with the purple bear – and this month i was able to catch an actual smile- which was a huge accomplishment since the red light on the camera distracts her every time – but i did manage to get this

and i was all proud of myself until ReJana (the best photographer EVA’!!!) sent me this … http://bludoorstudios.com/blog/ – i know that she’s my baby and that i am totally biased – but she is the most gorgeous child – i actually cried real tears when i saw the pictures – i cannot believe that we made her – and she came out of my body!! ReJana was able to capture so much of her personality – and those are just the teasers – i have no idea how i’m ever going to choose – we’re going to need a bigger house with more walls to display all these pictures – and what about baby #2??

anyway, i know this isn’t a real post – it’s totally an AW (Attention Whore) post – but i don’t care – i just had to share!!!

i’m typing this with one hand so this is going to be short – i’m also trying to get Sydney down so i can finish today’s Remix blog (plus she’s fussy!!)

so if you’re a mom, you know that the consistency of poo changes once your baby starts solids – it becomes very runny and messier than is has been – now, normally this wouldn’t be an issue except that Sydney is a little on the “skinny minnie” side and seems to be getting skinnier (even though she’s gaining weight – she’s growing up, not out!)  – anyway, i’m having a hard time getting her diaper to fit tightly around her thighs – most of the time it’s okay because she’s still pretty stationary, but once she starts moving around – we’ve got problems – so … a few minutes ago, we were playing on the bed – i was leaning back against the pillows and she was sitting on my tummy facing me – i grabbed her to raise her up in the air (because it makes her laugh) and suddenly i saw poo dripping from her diaper … all over my nursing tank – so i grab a burp rag, put it under her butt and head for the nursery – i lay her down on the changing table and assess the situation – in the 30 seconds it took me to walk from my room to hers, we have somehow managed to get poo on my leg, her leg, my tank, her house shoes, the burp rag, the outside of the diaper, the changing pad cover and my hand!  i look at Sydney and she is grinning ear to ear – yeah, i’m glad she thinks this is so hilarious!!  fortunately, it only took 2 wipes (thank god for cloth wipes!) and about 5 minutes to get everything cleaned up – but since i didn’t manage to get a shower yesterday, i’m DEFINITELY going to need one today!!

i realize that it’s been almost a month since my last blog – and every single day i say to myself that i’m going to write a new blog – and then every single day, by the time i’ve finally gotten Sydney to sleep and finished my prep work for the next day, it’s about 12 or 1am – and since my alarm goes off at 3am – some things just don’t get done – i’ve actually attempted to write about 5 or 6 different blogs – but i usually doze off while i’m writing them – and then when i come back to start them again, a dozen other things have happened – so i’ve decided that i’m no longer going to feel guilty about not updating – i will try to blog more regularly – and hopefully i’ll be able to do that a couple of times this week because of vacation – but i will no longer feel guilty about it – especially since there are so many other things i could be feeling guilty about – like still not having a baby book – yep, i’m the slacker mom – but i am recording all the important things in a word document for the day that i finally find a baby book and have time to update it – do i get partial credit for that?

so basically, i’m just going to give a random run down of the things that have been going on – and they probably won’t be in any particular order (because it’s 2:55am and i should REALLY be asleep!) – so it’ll just however they pop into my head

so, we’re still co-sleeping – sort of – another one of those things that i’m no longer feeling guilty about – in fact, i’ve actually started to enjoy it – not to the point where i want to do it til she’s 2 – but it’s not the terrible thing that i thought it would be and Sydney is finally starting to sleep in her crib a little bit – about 2 months ago, i decided to say “the hell with it” to pretty much every standard, traditional by-the-book parenting practice out there – sure i’m still scouring the internet for information (because who has time to read the 3 foot stack of parenting books i’ve purchased) and of course i’m still asking for advice – but at the end of the day – i figure i know my baby better than anyone else – i mean she did spend 41 weeks in my womb – and in that time, we got to know each other pretty well – so i’m sticking with that and doing whatever i think is best for her – so back to the co-sleeping – since Vicky started (the new nanny which i’ll get to later), Sydney has been napping in her crib – only just in the morning and usually for about an hour max, but she’s in the crib – now we’ve been trying off and on to get her to go to bed in the crib at night for about 3 months, but she never stays there for more than about 30 minutes – and then i get tired and just put her back in the bed with us – but 2 weeks ago, she slept in her crib all night!! WOO HOO!!! now, i still had to go in there to calm her down a couple of times – and maybe once or twice i had to actually pick her up – but when she finally went down, she slept for about 6 hours – she’s been sleeping through the night for about 3 months (which is GREAT for Kelley and Vicky) so the 6 hours thing wasn’t a big deal – but the fact that she slept in her bed – well that was just amazing – and every since then, we’ve been putting her in the crib every night – most nights she makes it til about 5 or 6am – and then Kelley puts her in the bed bed with him until the nanny comes – and then some nights (like tonight) she just can’t get it together – so i give up and bring her back with us – oh well – i’m over it – i figure she’ll eventually figure it out and since i just can’t being myself to let her cry-it-out, we’ll just stick with this for now

the nanny!!! her name is Vicky and i LOVE her – i knew from the beginning, i wanted to hire a nanny – for several different reasons – the man reason being my schedule – i leave for work at 4am and Kelley leaves somewhere between 7 and 9am – i’m home most days by noon and it just didn’t make sense to put Sydney in daycare for a couple of hours a day – plus, most places won’t take babies part-time – and with Kelley traveling occasionally – i wouldn’t be able to drop Sydney off at 4am – but also, after being at home with her for 10 weeks, i really wanted to continue that one-on-one interaction for her – she is used to having undivided attention – and while that may turn her into an ultra demanding baby diva, i’m okay with it – ha-ha-ha!!! anyway, the last requirement was that i wanted someone who was Spanish speaking – most of you know that my mom is Mexican and i have a Spanish degree (that goes about 98% unused – thanks Daddy!!), so it’s really important to me that my kids grow up bilingual – so when i first went back to work , we found someone that we liked a lot – but after a few weeks, she was having some health issues that left her unable to continue with us – i was really bummed because we liked her a lot and she and Sydney really clicked but it just didn’t work out – so for about 2 weeks, i had Sydney in an in-home facility – and while it was nice, it just wasn’t my ideal situation – enter Vicky – she is EXACTLY what i was looking for – someone who was married, a little older with teenage kids – looking for part time work and speaks Spanish – YAY!!! Vicky is married and has a 15 year old son – she has 10 years of nanny experience and she’s Columbian (and a U.S citizen) – she and Sydney get along very well – she does light housekeeping – she does all of Sydney’s laundry (even the diapers!) she is just wonderful!! she only speaks Spanish to Sydney and reads to he rin Spanish – they go on walks every day and listen to music – they go outside and play – Vicky rarely turns on the TV (which is better than me!) – she’s just fantastic – so on the nanny front, we are set!

Sydney – talk about a hilarious child – she is her mother’s daughter – to the core – she is pretty much just as i predicted she would be – extremely active, stubborn, super social, a total night owl, a tad bit dramatic – i can’t imagine where she gets any of that from but she’s still a really good baby – she’s impatient like her mom, and grumpy when she’s tired or hungry (like her mom) – but i’ve finally gotten a pretty good grasp of what’s wrong when she’s fussy -now it’s just a matter of fixing it!!

so i’ve turned into one of those moms – the crazy, crunchy, go-with-the flow moms except i’m way more diva than granola!! after Sydney’s 2 months shots, i decided to go with the alternative vaccination schedule – not because i believe there is a link between vaccinations and autism (or anything else) – but after her 2 month shots, i swear she slept for almost 3 full days – it was very odd and she just wasn’t herself – it was more than just fussiness- she was groggy and lethargic – and i expected that, but not for 3 days – so when we went in for the 4 month shots, i took my handy Dr. Sears vaccine book along and told our pediatrician that we wanted to spread her shots apart – fortunately, he is extremely supportive of my diva crunchiness and said okay – 2 shots, less than a minute of crying and a 45 minute nap later – Sydney was back to her old self – we didn’t even have to do Tylenol – she was happy and in a good mood and i was a happy mom

cloth diapering – yeah, i’m officially addicted – while in the long run, my love for cloth diapers may not turn out to be quite as cost effective, i’m not filling land fills with diapers that aren’t biodegradable and Sydney’s cute little tail isn’t being exposed to yucky chemicals – plus, the cloth diapers are just so dang cute! we started off with Kissaluv Size 0s (KL0s) and used Prorap covers – those lasted us til abut the 2 month mark – then we moved into the pockets – right now we have a combination of Bum Genius (1.0s, 2.0s and 3.0s), Swaddlebees and Blueberrys – i have also fallen madly in love with Minky – and thanks to the great Kellie Rasberry, i will be trying Rump-A-Rooz minky in just a few days – i cannot wait until they get here!!

hmmm – what else? oh, we pierced Sydney’s ears – so freaking cute – Kelley had been on me about when we were going to pierce her ears and i knew i wanted to do it sooner than later, but with everything going on, it just got pushed by the wayside – but we finally got it together and pierced them weeks ago – we found a place that specializes in piercing babies and she does it with a needle, not a gun – i was a little weary at first – but Sydney took it like a champ – she barely even cried – it took about 10 minutes and she hasn’t touched her ears since then!

first ear

second ear

the finished product!!!

we’ve started solid foods – AAAARRGGHHHH!!! i was SO not prepared for that – at her 4 month appointment, the pedi said we could start solids – i told him that i wanted to wait until 6 months because she’s been doing so well just being breastfed and he said that was fine – so i was a little freaked out that a week and a half later, my child is reaching for my food and opening her mouth when she sees food – i decided to skip cereal altogether and we started with banana – that went well so we moved on to avocado – she liked that, so this week we tried sweet potato – i can see now that we have a champion eater on our hands – i’m still going back and forth on the solids because i still want breast milk to be her main source of nutrition- but there is no doubt that she was ready for solids – so i’m still trying to find a good balance – in the meantime, Sydney has quickly dwindled through my hefty stash of milk – she’s eating anywhere between 12-20 ounces in the morning with Vicky – so i’m trying to rebuild a stash this week while i’m on vacation -no bottles for her this week!

mmmm – bananas!!!

avocado!!!

i can do it myself mom!!!

guess what else – we have teeth! well, one tooth – she’s been doing that pre-teething drooling thing for about 2 months, so i knew it was coming – but Friday i stuck my pinky in her mouth when i couldn’t find a paci and i felt an actual tooth – i know that second one isn’t far behind – and i was shocked, but she was hardly fussy at all – i could tell she was a little uncomfortable – but she must have a high pain tolerance like her mom, because she just chews on her hand and she’s fine – and speaking of hand chewing, Sydney is trying to suck her thumb – UGH!!! is there anything more annoying – i don’t know what to do other than to replace her thumb with the paci – i can’t tell if it’s because she’s teething or what, but i do think it will be easier to take away her paci than her thumb – so paci it is!!!

let’s see – what else? oh, i think she’ll be crawling soon – i’m SO not prepared for that – she can already scooch pretty good and she can sit up by herself for a few minutes before she falls over – when they say it goes by – they aren’t kidding – i just keep thinking, didn’t i just have this kid?? it’s unbelievable – she’s just so wonderful and fantastic – and i want to eat her up cause she’s so dang yummy – everyone said it would be great, but i had no idea!!!

um, hello – who said you could sit up at 18 weeks??

Sydney and Cienna – cutest freaking cousins EVER!!!!