Gran's in Town!

Gran (my mom) came in to town on Thursday and is here for a week. Even though Tali hasn't seen her in about two months, she took to her right away and is having a great time with her. On Friday, she was actually very well behaved for Gran while I went to the doctor. Today she's been a bit fussier (didn't get a good morning nap), but still loving her Gran.

It's nice having my mom here because it's giving me a chance to get some rest and get some things done. I've been able to take some much needed naps, cook without a screaming baby and simply relax. And Gran has gotten to spend some quality time with her favorite (and only) grandchild.

Bad Mom

At least once a day I feel like a bad mom. There's always something I did (or didn't do). So in an effort to give Tali more fodder for her therapist when she's older, I am going to start a series of "Bad Mom" posts. Feel free to share your own!

Bad Mom - Toys

I regularly forget to bring toys for Tali when we go out. I can't count the number of times I've been caught in a situation where the other moms have toys for their babies and I don't. This past weekend we got together with some friends who have an 11-month old and Tali played with some of his toys. Also, I don't seem to know about/have purchased the good toys that all the other moms have. She doesn't have rings or balls yet. 

In my defense, at this age I can hold Tali's attention for much longer than a toy can. But it's time I did some toy shopping. I think I'm going to buy some "travel toys" that will just stay packed for when we go out. Then I won't look so unprepared.

Everybody Pukes

In the past week, everyone in this house but me has thrown up. Last week H was sick with a virus. Over the weekend Jackson threw up some of his food. And today Tali threw up. I picked her up and out it came! It went down my entire back and also splattered on the floor. (I wonder if it was her way of saying she didn't like what I was wearing.) She'd been fussy all morning so this was just icing on the cake. I checked her temperature a few times and no fever so I guess she's okay. She's still very fussy today but nothing besides a little spit up has come up since. Ah the joys of motherhood. It's such a glamorous job.

My Favorite Time of Day

My favorite time of day with Tali is bed time. No, this is not because I cannot wait to put her to sleep (although on some days that is the case), this is because I enjoy our routine. Bed time begins with a bath, something she always loves. I bathe her and then let her kick and splash for 5-10 minutes. She has a great time moving around in her little tub. Then we go to her room for some "towel time." I moisturize her and we play for a bit. Next, I put her in her pajamas and H comes in to tell her goodnight. Finally, I feed her before bed. For me, this is the best part. She's sleepy and snuggled up next to me for a feeding. She eats happily and winds down from her day. There's classical music playing in the background and she knows its time for bed. When she's about 90% asleep, I put her down and she usually falls right asleep. It's such a calm, relaxing time for the both of us. I know I'll miss it when she stops breast feeding.

Rolling Over

Now that Tali can roll over to her tummy, she's doing it all the time. The problem is that she gets stuck pretty often. Sometimes she cannot get her arm out from under her, other times she cannot seem to lift her head up and then there are times when she just wants to be on her back and has forgotten she knows how to do that. So, now there's a whole new reason for Tali to cry. Yup, rolling over makes my daughter cry. How did I get so lucky?

Feet!

Tali found her feet last week and loves to play with them. She can't quite get them in her mouth yet (my guess is it'll happen this week), but she pulls them up to her face, rocks around and plays with her toes. If she has socks on, she usually pulls them off. It's fun to watch her explore her feet.  And the best part is that this can entertain her for 10-15 minutes!

Happy Five Month Birthday, Tali!

Tali turned five months old today. It's amazing how much she's grown (both in weight and development). She is now 11.7 pounds and has little rolls on her legs and chubby cheeks. Tali smiles at everyone, recognizes me and can now play by herself for short periods of time. She rolls over (both ways!), is interested in Jackson and loves the bath. Unfortunately, a few things haven't changed. She still cries a lot, poops through her diapers and wakes up throughout the night. But overall she's becoming more and more fun to be around. I have been told that their personality really comes through around six months and I can't wait to see what she's like.

Jackson

So many people have asked how Jackson is with the baby and I am always happy to say that he's doing very well. Of course he's still a puppy (just a year and a half) and wants attention, but he does not act out. If anything, he's somewhat indifferent to her.

There are times when he gets very excited about her and gets right in her face to sniff her. Once he's sniffed her for a minute or so, he's satisfied and goes back to whatever he was doing. In the beginning, he was a bit curious about her toys but we taught him not to touch them and since then he really hasn't. He doesn't take her socks when they fall off of her feet (which happens daily), he doesn't try to sit on her and he doesn't flinch when she whacks him in the face.

Yesterday Tali pulled Jackson's tail for the first time and he didn't even move. He just sat there and let her. Once I got his tail out of her hands, she began to "pet" him for the first time. She grabbed bits of fur and then let go. Jackson was a very good sport and let her do this for a few minutes. I'm very proud of the way he's behaved with her. I cannot wait until she's old enough for them to play together.

First Rollover From Back to Tummy

When: Monday morning, before music class

Where: In the living room on the play mat

Details: Tali was playing on her play mat Monday morning, doing her usual thing: grabbing at the toys and moving around. I was having a morning snack and next thing I know she was on her tummy just looking around! I was so bummed because I missed the actual act (looking down at my snack instead of her) and I tried to get her to do it again. She wouldn't. The next afternoon she was on the play mat and did it again. And, once again, I was having a snack and missed it. Last night she did it for the third time in her crib. She woke up to eat and as I was putting my glass of water down on the table she rolled over. I missed that one too. She must be doing it on purpose. I'm with her all the time and she won't perform her new trick for me. Not fair!

Dear Mr. Sandman

Dear Mr. Sandman,

What happened? Did Tali do something to offend you recently? Did you forget about her? Do you run out of magic by the time you get to her each evening? What's going on? Why are her nights getting worse and worse when all of the other babies I know her age are getting better and better? She'll be five months old on Sunday and by now she should be able to sleep for at least five or six hours straight. Instead, she is now waking up every hour! The only way I can get her to sleep for more than an hour is to put her in the swing and even that is starting to become ineffective. She slept better than this when she was a newborn. Please, Mr. Sandman, come back. We (me and Tali) need you. 

Teething

So all of these sleepless nights have finally been explained - Tali is getting her first tooth.  She's got all of the teething symptoms: gnawing on her hands, swollen gums, teething diaper rash, occasional diarrhea, general uncomfortableness, etc. The only thing she doesn't have is excessive drool. While most babies get their front teeth first, Tali is bucking the trend and getting a tooth a bit farther back in her mouth on the lower right side. I think it's her I-tooth but I'm not sure yet. 

I find it a bit weird that babies get their teeth so early. "Solid" foods aren't introduced until six months and when they are, everything is soft and mushy. They don't start actually chewing foods until somewhere between seven and nine months. So why the need for teeth at four months? I get that it takes time for all of them to grow in but is it really necessary to start so early? It'd be nice if they didn't start coming in until a bit later so that I could have a few weeks of sleep before the sleepless nights resume. As of now, she's only slept through the night when she's gotten shots. She was just getting to the point where she was starting to sleep for a six hour stretch and then the teething began. Can't an overwhelmed new mom catch a break every once in a while? Please?

The Baby is Broken Again

I don't know what happened, but Tali's broken again. It's been about a week (maybe a bit longer) since she's had a good night sleep. Every night it seems to be something different but they all keep me up. Last night, she woke up four times. The night before she was up for two hours. I can't remember the other nights because it's all a blur, but I just know she didn't sleep well. So once again I'm a walking zombie. During this past sleep strike I've only been able to take one nap. It seems I always have things to do while she's napping (errands, grocery store, prepare dinner, etc.) so I just don't have the opportunity to rest myself. Good genes make it very rare to see me with bags under my eyes but this morning I saw them. Where's Mr. Sandman? Tali (and I) really needs his help!

Exercise

This morning I went to a Stroller Strides class at a nearby park. The class is exactly as it sounds - exercise with the stroller. There were about six other moms there and one had a baby girl born on the exact same date as Tali! Her baby was older by about seven hours (and much bigger). The class was an hour long and pretty good exercise. 

Its times like this that make me wonder, "is this really my life?" It was Tali's nap time so I thought she'd sleep the whole class. Unfortunately I wasn't so lucky. She woke up about 15 minutes into the class and was up the rest of the time. So I had to entertain her. When we did squats, I repeatedly played Peek-A-Boo to keep her from crying. When we jogged (I walked, she's too young for me to jog with her), I had a one-way conversation with her. While everyone sang the name song during an upper body workout, I sang AND made ridiculous faces to keep her entertained. And when we all did crunches at the end, I had to take her out of the stroller and include her in my workout. While the class itself is a bit goofy so that the kids are entertained, I was doubly so. Its amazing how I've lost all shame and do whatever I can to keep her happy.

This class is actually an entire community of moms. The instructor organizes play dates, lunches, Mom's night outs, etc. The moms seemed nice so maybe I'll do some other things with them. Unfortunately, I won't be able to do the Mom's night out events, but maybe a lunch or a play date now and then? As long as there is adult interaction, I'm there!

Little Miss Poopy Pants Makes Her Public Debut

I think I jinxed myself. The day after I blogged about how Tali had yet to poop on her clothing in public, it happened. Yup, there was a dirty onesie at the end of music class. I was talking to one of the other moms and I heard the poop. Immediately my heart skipped a beat and I just knew what had happened. So poor Tali had to get naked in front of her little friends and their mommies. (Luckily I was prepared with an extra onesie and a Ziplock bag to hold the dirty one.) I'd like to say that it taught Tali a lesson, but no such luck. We had another dirty onesie today. I never knew being a mom meant scrubbing dirty clothes on an almost daily basis. Such glamorous work.

Tali's New Favorite Toy

Tali's new favorite toy is my hands. She's fascinated by them and can they will entertain her for quite some time. She'll hold various fingers. She'll caress my hand. She'll grab my rings. Sometimes she'll pull my whole hand close to her face for an up close examination. Other times, she'll try to put my fingers in her mouth. When playing with my hands, she'll switch between a serious/studious look and a smile. I wonder if she understands that these are just like her hands (which she also plays with and puts in her mouth), only bigger. Regardless, it's fun to watch her play.

Little Miss Poopy Pants

I have quite a few pet names for Tali but the one that seems to be most appropriate lately is Little Miss Poopy Pants. 

Tali poops one to two times a day and when she does, she means business! She fills the whole diaper and nine times out of ten it leaks out of the diaper onto her clothing. If she's wearing a onesie and pants, it'll usually go through both. Every time I hear her begin to poop I cross my fingers that its contained. On average, she wears two outfits a day but there are special days, like yesterday, when she wears three. 

So far this has only happened at home but I'm just waiting for the day it happens when we are out in public. I dread having to use a public restroom to wash out her clothing. I'm thinking about switching diaper brands to see if that helps but I'm not sure it would. I think it's just par for the course until she's eating solid foods.

Luckily, my Mother's Day gift from Tali was a day free of poopy clothing. Thanks, sweetheart!

Tali Cries Like A Girl

And burps like a man.

I'm not insane, promise

It's funny the thing you'll do to entertain your baby. (Okay, maybe it should be "the things I'll do...") I've been getting some strange/worried looks lately from people and I feel like I need to carry around papers proving I'm mentally stable so no one tries to call child services on me.I know these actions might seem strange to some, but remember, I have a fussy baby who needs to be entertained A LOT. 

 Here are a few examples of what gets stares:

1. Grocery Store: Tali is now awake at the grocery store. With the bright lights and all of the colors and shapes this is a fascinating place for her. Since I want to keep her entertained (otherwise she'll scream and that's no fun), I talk to her. I tell her everything I'm doing and show her what each item is. For example, "Now it's time to find the bananas. Bananas are long and yellow and mushy on the inside. Oh look, here they are! Let's pick a ripe bunch. How many do you think we need? I think three is a good number. One, two, three. In the cart they go!" 

2. Car Rides: I've enrolled Tali in a music class and she loves it. The class gives you a CD of songs so you can listen to them and learn. When she's awake in the car, I put her music on. And when the weather is nice, I roll down the windows. So I'm at a stoplight with the windows down singing along about how we're trotting to Grandma's house, cooking sweet potatoes or who's at the door. 

3. Walks with Jackson: To keep Tali entertained on walks, I point out everything she's looking at. I tell her about the trees, the grass, the sky, etc. But I also make bets with her. When Jackson begins to circle I bet her if he's going to pee or poop. Then we wait to see what he does and I tell her who won. 

When I'm inside the house, it's worse. I won't get even into the things I do to entertain her when no one is watching.