practicing

The video is a little dark, so I hope you can see it. Tabitha's been practicing a very important movement for the past few days.

clarification

The emails I posted yesterday were actually written back in November. Tabby has been a 35-40 minute napper since she was about 6 weeks old. The book I was reading at the time was based on the assumption that your baby was taking naps at least an hour and a half long, and the things I tried were all suggestions from the book. They never worked. However, I have read since that short naps are common until 6 months old, and are common if your baby sleeps well at night (which Tabitha always has). So I haven't worried about it in a long time, Alfred just wanted me to post it because he thought it was funny.

Coincidentally, for the past 4 or 5 days Tabitha has taken at least 1 long nap (at least an hour and a half) every day. She's currently in the middle of her second long nap for today. I don't know if this will become a regular occurrence, but I'm certainly enjoying it while it lasts!

operation: longer baby naps

The following was recorded for posterity and is submitted at the repeated urging (some might say nagging) of the recipient of these reports, whose identity shall be kept confidential

Captain's log, nap 1: subject started to nurse at 9:05, was asleep by 9:30, popped off the boob at 9:46, woke up at 9:55. Jiggling to keep her asleep was unsuccessful. Subject was brought into bedroom and wrapped up; white noise activated. Subject was asleep again and in crib by 10:05. Captain remained and observed behavior to determine time of premature wake up. First stirrings at 10:46, eyes open at 10:48. Analysis: sleep cycle lasts between 40 and 45 minutes. Plan of action: initiate phase 2, aka "hands on belly" at minute 35 of next nap. Will report back with progress at that time.

Captain's log, nap 2: subject exhibited fussiness so nap sequence was executed (swaddle, white noise, rocking). Subject was asleep at 12:24 and placed in crib. Captain reentered sleeping chamber at 12:57 to find subject already stirring. Hands on belly was immediately initiated. Subject opened eyes at 12:59. Hands on belly deemed a failure at 1:03. Captain regrets forgetting what time subject initially fell asleep and mistiming the intervention.

Captain's log, nap 3: subject struggled valiantly, but succumbed to sleep at 2:40 once singing was added to standard nap protocol. Captain reentered sleeping chamber and began "hands on belly" at 3:00. Subject first stirred at 3:05. Eyes opened at 3:08. Hands on belly was abandoned as unsuccessful at 3:20. Subject did not fall back asleep, though Captain's arm and lower legs/feet did due to position during mission.

Captain's log, nap 4: nap protocol initiated, subject asleep at 4:10. Captain made executive decision to place subject in swing instead of crib, due to continuing fussiness on the part of the subject. Subject woke upon being placed in swing, but fell back asleep at 4:15. Subject was still asleep at 4:25, but was awake and crying at 4:35 when captain got out of shower. Alas.

Captain's log, nap 5: nap protocol was initiated, as the nap window was closing for the day. Subject fell asleep at 5:50. Stirring began at 6:21, eyes open at 6:23. Hands on belly was not executed due to proximity of bedtime.

One year ago today...

...we found out I was pregnant :)

(after a week that included plenty of drinking and a day of paint ball. She was a tough little embryo!)

hibernating

I've heard rumors that it's cold outside today. The internet told me it was 51 degrees at like 10:00. That's cold for me now. In a month it will feel warm I'm sure, but I'm not ready for it yet. So Tabitha and I are hibernating like a couple of bears today. She's even been eating a ton all day like she really is fattening herself up to survive the winter. I have not eaten much, mostly because my digestive system has been mad at me and hurting me and making me nauseous since last night. It would have totally been a pajama day except a) Tabby spit up on her pajamas and then peed on them while getting her diaper changed so I was a responsible parent and put clean clothes on her, and b) I hadn't showered in 2 days and decided a shower was a priority today. So I took a nice, hot, long (aka 20 minute) shower during her first nap this morning and it was glorious. I am, however, still wearing pajama pants. Yesterday I was all ambitious and house wifey and made dinner and a yummy peanut pie for dessert. Today I'm staring down the dust under my coffee table and trying not to pee my pants as I sit in my glider all day while Tabby naps in my arms and wakes up to frantically nurse again every 20 minutes or so.

We were due for a lazy day at home. Our social calendar has been hopping for the past week! There was Thanksgiving of course (when Tabitha managed to pee on the floor while lying on her changing table), then we spent half of the next day at at a Mexican restaurant with Ilya and Mercedes. We got a wee bit drunk on margaritas, thank you for asking. Monday we had a lunch play date with my friends Lucy, Gara, and Mercedes, and Tabby's friends Ellie, Marly, and William. Monday I also had book club (anther Mexican restaurant=more margarita drunkenness) and coffee club the next morning. Coffee club is agroup of stay at home moms who meet once a month to discuss interesting, non-kid topics. For example, yesterday we discussed women in politics and why the US has never had a female president. Lucy (of bravofam.com fame) has been introducing us to various mom/baby activities. She's my social coordinator. Thank God, because otherwise I'd be going crazy here alone every day.

Ok, back to big important things like reading funny websites and doing Christmas shopping online.

Good thing babies don't hold grudges

It's been a blood bath around here lately. Ok, blood bath may be a bit strong, but I have managed to make our child bleed twice in the past week. A few days ago I noticed a dark speck at the corner of Tabby's eye. In her bath that evening I wiped and wiped at it with the washcloth. Turns out it was a tiny scratch, which I rescratched with my rubbing, thus making blood run out and almost into her eye. Then yesterday I was cutting her nails and accidentally cut one of her fingers instead when she moved. Apparently that one hurt, she started screaming right away. She was smiling and playing on her changing table again within about 5 minutes, so no permanent damage there. Her onesie might not be so lucky though, there are little specks of blood all over it.

Just for the record, I'm not the only one around here making babies bleed. Tabitha has discovered how to get her right hand up to her mouth to suck on it. Unfortunately, she misses quite a bit, and will end up poking herself in the eye or rubbing her nose instead. And when she does get her hand to her mouth, she often ends up sucking on her wrist with her fingers in her eye/nose. So she's now started scratching herself in the face and occasionally drawing blood, hence the nail clipping attempt. Too bad I only got 2 of her nails cut yesterday. She might be channeling Michael Jackson and rocking one mitten for a few days.

In other news, happy first birthday to Louisa, Tabitha's future Cornell classmate! I can't believe she's 1 already!

wide open spaces

Tabby has been sleeping in a co sleeper in between us in our bed since she was born. It's sort of a mini baby bed that just sits on top of our mattress. The top half has hard sides but the bottom just kind of has netting sides. Well, she decided this week that a fun way to wake me up in the morning (or middle of the night) is to kick her way out of her blanket, scoot down and out the side of the co sleeper a bit, and kick me in the back. Charming. So I decided I was ready to move her to her own bed. Not her own room just yet - she's in a basinette next to our bed - but holy cow, our bed is huge now! Plus the co sleeper seems to have trained Alfred to stay on his own side instead of migrating to the center of the bed at night. Suddenly I have what feels like acres and acres of room at night. It's fabulous. That combined with the fact that I can now sleep through absolutely anything, including Alfred's alarm, means that I've had a couple of really good nights of sleep. I can sleep through anything except for Tabitha, I mean. She makes the tiniest peep and I'm awake. Seriously, she wakes me up by breathing loudly. But she only wakes up once or twice a night, so I'm not complaining at all. I might have to rush to get things done during her 35 minute naps during the day, but girl can sleep at night.

On a completely unrelated note, our house seems to produce massive amounts of dust these days. I used to sweep every couple of days, swiffer once a week or so, and it was fine. Now if I don't swiffer every other day at least there are copious amounts of giant dust bunnies all over the floor. It's disgusting. I don't know if it's because Tabby and I are supremely dirty people or what, but it's kind of disturbing. I just swiffered and am currently enjoying a dust free floor for the next 12 hours or so before it needs it again.