Addie cries it out

On a whim I decided to see what would happen if I let Addie fuss a little while putting her to sleep so this morning, before her first nap, I went through my little bedtime routine and I put her in the car seat (currently in the crib to help minimize the puking) and left.

What would Ellie have done? I know what she would have done because I tried it with her too. She screamed bloody murder until the I could not stand it any more. I seem to recall even sitting outside for a while so that I couldn't hear her. She never stopped but I don't recall how long I waited.

Addie cried a little. She actually cried off and on for 15 minutes. Every time she cried it was just to file her complaint. She knew she wasn't doing to die. Then she'd stop for a while. After 13 minutes of total fussing (I planned on going in after 15) she was sound asleep.

Not only that, she slept for an hour and a half instead of her normal 30-45 minutes!

The rest of the day she had no problem falling asleep without the pacifier (which has such a love/hate relationship with us).

Best yet - I just got done putting her down for sleep. I did my bedtime routine and put her in the car seat without her pacifier at all. What happened?

Nothing. She went straight to sleep! No fussing at all! I even waited in her room for 15 minutes for her to do her normal "wake up and cry" thing that she does.

NOTHING!

Seriously, if 15 minutes of crying is all it took for her to get excellent naps in and to fall asleep by herself the rest of the day then Yay!

Finally

I'm glad they're finally doing real artwork in school now.

Thankful

I purposefully didn't write a post about how thankful I am because I know I'd break down in tears if I even attempted to put it into words. However, there is a song on the radio that has a line in the lyrics that I think puts it all into perspective.

"I guess we're all one phone call from our knees"

Think about it. How easily can your life be turned upside down in the matter of seconds? How quickly can you go from having a life that is not necessarily perfect every moment, but perfect for you, to having difficulties wondering how you can continue to go on.

Think about it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few people I need to hug.

I think she's trying to communicate

This morning I was trying desperately to get more milk into my baby than she felt was necessary. It's a mother's job. After finally giving up out of sheer frustration, I started to talk to her instead. Much to my surprise, she started talking back! She was making all sorts of adorable coos and ahhs, and even an occasional cah! "Oh, look at you talking away," and Addie's only response was a gigantic burp worthy of a sumo wrestler. I've never heard a sumo wrestler burp, but now I know what one would sound like.

Sigh. I guess she wasn't talking after all. She just needed to burp.

Then she starts up again. OH! OH! Talk away, baby! You are so cute. Following that comes a couple minutes of more adorable bahs and coos. "You really ARE talking, aren't you?" and Addie's only response is to puke all over the bed. This wasn't your average baby spit up (I would have used those cute words if it were). It wasn't even your average baby puke. Again, it was worthy of a sumo wrestler (of course, assuming said wrestler only ate milk and lots of it).

Sigh. I guess she wasn't talking after all. She just needed to puke.

Then she starts up again! Oh my! Maybe she really is talking! There isn't anything left in her to complain about! Dang, can you get any more adorable? After a couple minutes of sheer cuteness, I mistakenly say "I love it when you talk to me, Addie!" and Addie's only response was to explode her diaper and when I say "explode" that's exactly what I meant. Now I have seen those sumo wrestlers and what they wear. I'm sure this was worthy of one of their poopy accidents.

Sigh. I guess she wasn't talking after all. She just needed a poop.

Then she starts up again! No, say it isn't so. Do you see where this is going? Can you guess what the final slime is that comes out of this little thing in front of me? Let's just skip to the end, shall we? There was cooing and awwing followed by a fountain of piss. Yep, she peed on me. After all that, she peed on me. Thank goodness she wasn't a sumo wrestler!

Sigh. "Are you done now?" and Addie's only response is a stare. No blinking. No moving. She is still. All is calm. And there is peace in the world again. My apologies for insulting the tribe of sumo wrestlers.

I guess I shouldn't complain. Maybe she was just trying to warn me of the grossness to come? You'd think I'd learn.

Today's deep thought

I've figured out why babies insist on pooping while they breastfeed. They need to plug the top hole in order to build up the pressure needed to clear out the bottom hole!

It's about the proper motivation

I haven't told you yet, but Ellie is almost potty trained! She's been in princess panties for two weeks now and is doing really well. It was daycare who told us she was ready, though we planned on waiting a while after the baby was born.

For a while we were motivating her to go poo-poo in the potty by telling her that she could have a lollipop if she did. Lollipops are her favorite, but even that seemed to lose its magic after a short period of time.

What has worked wonderfully since is Potty Hugs and Potty Dances. If she pees in the potty, Daddy gives her a Potty Hug. A potty hug is a great big hug full of bounces and turns. Only Daddy has the energy to do it. If she goes poo-poo in the potty, she gets a Potty Dance! A potty dance entails a lot of tosses into the air. Only Daddy has the strength and energy to do that.

But, for the most part, it's working quite well. Her teachers wrote us a note on Friday declaring her potty trained, though I don't quite buy it. I'm thinking that we'd be washing a lot fewer poopy underwear if that were so. However, we're close, especially for it just being a couple of weeks (and during such a time of change).

Big Sister Quote of the Day XIII

Mommy, I don't like it when my baby cries.

Ladybug Game

We recently started playing various games with Ellie. We've had the most success with Memory (the game where you turn over tiles and try to find the matches), but Gramma also says she likes to play War with cards. Just yesterday I introduced her to the Ladybug game. She loves it, though I'll admit our last game ended up playing "house" with the ladybug game pieces going shopping for bugs and water (maybe it's in the fine red print of the game instructions?).

Anyway... while playing an actual game (from start to finish - wow!):
Mommy: Is it my turn now?
Ellie: Yep!
Mommy: (taking a card) Oh no! I have to move back 4 spaces!
Ellie: One... two... three... four.
Mommy: (reading the space my ladybug landed on) Oh no! I have to give back two of my bugs!
Ellie: (concerned) Mommy, are you sad? I give you a hug!

UGH! JUST EAT!!!

It's amazing how frustrating it can be for a breastfeeding mother to try to feed a baby who seems hungry but won't eat. UGH!!! Don't you know it's bedtime and if you don't eat, you don't sleep! EAT! JUST EAT!

This frustrating moment brought to you by the letter J and the number 8.

Big Sister Quote of the Day XII

Ellie: Oh Oh! Baby is crying!
Mommy: Why do you think that is?
Ellie: Because he's too little to talk, too little to pay, too little to eat pizza, apples an ice-keem!

I highly highly recommend this book to anyone adding a child to their family. I'm assuming there is a version of it for big brothers, too, but it's a really cute book. We started reading this to Ellie over 6 months ago and she knows it by heart. I think it really helped her understand that babies really can't do anything themselves and are really needy. Best of all, it taught her that she is very important to the baby and can help take care of "our baby."

Thank you

Just when I wonder if I am a bad Mother for thinking that my baby's cry is just adorable (heck, any baby crying is adorable compared to the cry Ellie used to have), or for not really having a good reason for why Ellie can't bring in her stuffed cow to school... I go and get a compliment like this, from Melissa:

"Jennifer comes next. Friend I haven't met, and author of Niffer All Grown Up, Niff shares such sweet and witty tales of her daughters that she makes me want to be a nicer Mommy."

And since my friend, Salina, recently reminded me to just say "Thank You," I'll do just that.

Seriously, the compliment came at the perfect timing. It's not that I'm having a bad day, it's just something I really needed to hear. I like that I make other Mothers want to be a nicer Mommy. It implies that I'm one myself. Go me!

To all the Mommies who read my blog... go give your little ones a hug for me. And thanks, Melissa for the wonderful compliment.

Ellie Pumps Too

It occurred to me that many of the stories of being a big sister and helping out with the baby are all experiences that Addie will most likely NOT have. These are stories that only Ellie can give me. That seems to make them all the more dear, don't you think?

The other day Gramma was with us and she helped feed Addie a bottle. Ellie got excited and said "Oh, I know! You feed your baby and I feed my baby, ok?" Then she turned to me and was concerned that there weren't enough babies for Mommy to have one to feed and so she reminded me that I could pump instead.

So I pumped.

Ellie got bored with feeding her baby and decided that she, too, needed to pump for when someone else wanted to feed her baby instead. So, she took her toy bottle and stuck it into her belly button and said "I'm pumping too, Mommy!" After I stopped laughing, she looked down and said "I see milk!" and then after a couple minutes, she decided that bottle was full and swapped it out with another one.

Ellie will be a good Mommy some day.

Big Sister Quote of the Day XI

Last week I mistakenly thought that I could bring Addie into daycare when I went to pick Ellie up, AND still get out quickly. Once the baby was in her room, though, she was way too excited to show her off.

Michael: Oh, Baby!
Ellie: Das my baby, Michael! You wanna see?
Michael: Yeah.
Ellie: Ky-ky, you wanna see my baby?
Kylie: Yeah!
Ellie: Zo-ee, see, my baby? She's got little tiny fingers.
Zoe: Baby! Wow!
Ellie: Is my baby sister. See?
Kylie: Oh!
Ellie: His name is Add-a-line. You wanna tickle her, Michael?
Michael: Yeah!
Ellie: Tickle tickle. You wanna hold her, Ky-ky?
Kylie: Yeah!
Teacher: Uh... Let's let Ellie and her Mommy leave.
Ellie: See? Is my baby. Is my baby sister!

Time is relative

Ellie: Can I close my eyes in da car?
Mommy: Sure, but we're almost there.
Ellie: Can I close my eyes?
Mommy: Sure. Do you want me to wake you up when we get to the park?
Ellie: Yeah!

(possibly one minute passes)

Mommy: We're here! We're at the park!
Ellie: Yay! Now I can wake up! Now I can go do lots of dings!

Comparison

I've been meaning to write this post for a long time now but I kept waiting for Addie to reach her "fussy" stage. However, babies are supposed to reach the peak of their fussiness at the age of 6 weeks, and Addie is almost there. Does that mean this is the fussiest she will get? Let's hope so!

Anyway, I know parents aren't supposed to compare their children, but here is a comparison for those of you who are asking...

- Addie was, from the beginning, by far more alert than Ellie was.
- Addie pees during a diaper change much more often than Ellie did.
- Addie is a much stronger sucker than Ellie was, she even hurts my finger!
- Addie is by far a much better breastfeeder, though Ellie put in the hard work.
- Addie seems to be gaining weight quicker than Ellie, though I never kept track.
- Addie has no problem with the bottle, but Ellie thought it was the devil.
- Addie does not mind the car seat, but Ellie thought she was placed in hell.
- Addie cries like a cute baby should, but Ellie could (and did) make your eardrums crackle.
- Addie cries far less often than Ellie ever did.
- Addie calms down quicker and easier than Ellie did.
- Addie allows you to hold her without needing to stand and rock like Ellie did.
- Addie spits up and pukes much much more than Ellie ever did.
- Addie wakes up when she poops or pukes, but I don't recall Ellie having that problem.
- Addie is a much louder sleeper than Ellie ever was.
- Addie shows the proper signs of getting tired, but Ellie never did.
- Addie is by far easier to put to sleep than Ellie ever was (a result of the above).
- Addie doesn't sleep well (duration) yet, but I don't recall how Ellie was sleeping at this point.

So, in conclusion, Addie is by far less fussy but by far more messy than Ellie ever was.

Big Sister Quote of the Day X

Addie spit up on Daddy the other day and Ellie scolded her by saying "No, Addie! No dank you!"

It's my picture, I'll cry if I want to

Sadly, the very first picture I have of Ellie and her best friend, Brynnie got stuck to some of Ellie's early stick goopy artwork. Yes, the baby girls (approximately 8 &10 months old) are holding hands - too cute.You would cry too, if it happened to you.

What Daddy doesn't see...

Daddy: Please don't pick your nose.
Ellie: Why?
Daddy: Because it will make your nose bleed.
Ellie: Ok
Daddy: Thank you.
Ellie: Maybe afa you leave, I pick my nose?

Ellie finds Mommie's breast pump

Ellie: Mommy, you wanna hump?
Mommy: Wha? Huh?
Ellie: Do you need a hump?
Mommy: Not now. I'm not in the mood.
Ellie: Huh?

Really really big poop

This we got a phone call from Ellie, who spent the night at Gramma's house.

Daddy: Ugh. Who calls at 7:30 in the morning? Hello?
Gramma: Ellie wants to tell you something.
Daddy: Ok.
Ellie: I go poo-poo!!
Daddy: You did? Good job! I'm so proud of you!
(after a couple minutes of more talking, Ellie hands the phone back to Gramma)
Gramma: The first thing Ellie said when she woke up this morning was "I hafa call Mommy and Daddy tell em I go REALLY REALLY BIG poo-poo! It make em REALLY REALLY happy!

She'd be right if it wasn't 7:30 in the morning on the one day we were really hoping to sleep in until 4:00 in the afternoon! (as if)

Big Sister Quote of the Day IX

I wanna give Mommy a kiss. And give my baby a kiss too. I love my Mommy. I love my baby. Night night, Baby. Have a good sleep!

Big Sister Quote of the Day VIII

Ellie: Baby cry a lot.
Nana: Why?
Ellie: Because she really needs her mommy.

Sleep deprived Niffer gets a massage

During my 10 minute drive home, I made 3 wrong turns. That's 3 of 5 turns - which obviously extended my arrival time by quite a bit.

Once home, I found a hungry baby patiently (somewhat) waiting to be fed. I thought to myself, "Addie is hungry. I should prepare a bottle for her." So I went to the freezer, took out 4 oz of pumped milk, thawed it, put it in the bottle (which I struggled with figuring out how it worked) and handed it to Michael.

His response?

"Why didn't you just breast feed her?"

Doh! I wondered why it felt like I had never put together a bottle before.

A Daddy Moment

He had visions of walking her down the aisle, dressed up for another type of occasion...

Big Sister Quote of the Day VII

Can I show Nana my baby? It make her ree-a ree-a happy!

Wordless Wednesday XVIII

Tid-Bits V

I love the "Life is good, I'll pass out now" smiles that newborns get as they're falling asleep.

We will never have a stuffed elephant named Ellie. I'm told that's the default name for elephant friends, but ours will be named Eddie. In my daughter's world, there are Eddie-phants, not Ellie-phants.

I never thought I had a decent singing voice but when I became a mother I was forced to sing various nursery rhymes. Now, however, whenever I try to sing along to a song Ellie says "NO! Top dat! Only Daddy sing!" I think she only tolerates my singing during bedtime because it extends the time I stay with her.

I love how when Addie has a failed sneeze, instead of "ah-choo" she ends up making a "ah-coo" sound, similar to the coo of a dove.

I love how Ellie can turn anything random item into a princess costume. Usually it's a ballerina princess, in case you're wondering.
But sometimes it's Sleeping Booty.

I love how much Ellie loves her baby sister. Even if she occasionally has a hard time with how much time Mommy needs to spend with Addie, she has always adored her new baby.

I love how Ellie understands that a hot bath seems to have healing powers. In the book "Hop on Pop" the Dad is sad because he had a bad day. I said "that's too bad" to which Ellie sincerely suggested "Maybe he take warm baf and make him feel better."

Incredible Mom

As of last night, I've changed my mind on what super hero power I would choose. I now want to have the super stretchy power that Mrs. Incredible had. I'm willing to bet she was able to breastfeed her baby in the other room without ever leaving bed!

Happy 1 month, Addie!

Gotta Love Colorado!

On one fine Colorado day, we made a snowman in the morning...And disected it in the afternoon...

Big Sister Quote of the Day VI

Look, Addie! I'm wearing pull-ups! I went pee pee in potty! Look!

Big Sister Quote of the Day V

It's OK, Addie. You big sissa here.

DIY Miracle Latch

When I was breastfeeding Ellie, I recall having a few "Miracle Latches." These were latches that I literally could not feel at all. It was incredible how different they were from the typical (not even necessarily painful) latches that I experienced. I had no idea what made a certain latch a Miracle Latch, because as far as I could tell, I was always doing the same thing.

Now I know the secret, and you too can have Miracle Latches every time you breastfeed, if you follow my 10-step program. Never again will you have to suffer from painful latches, or even withstand a slightly uncomfortable latch. With my 10-step program, you can welcome Miracle Latches into your daily routine and say goodbye to all others.

Here's what you do:

Step 1: Wait for Baby to be hungry.
Step 2: Take hungry Baby* and place her on changing table.
Step 3: Take a nasal spray bottle and position tip at one of Baby's nose nostrils.
Step 4: Squeeze the bottle while holding Baby's head still with your second hand.
Step 5: Quickly position spray bottle at the tip of Baby's second nose nostril.
Step 6: Repeat Step 4.
Step 7: For best results, repeat Steps 4-6 until Baby is candy apple red from screaming.
Step 8: Pick Baby up from changing table and sit in a comfortable chair.
Step 9: Insert boob into large opening located just below Baby's nose.
Step 10: Sit back, relax and enjoy your very own Miracle Latch.


* Disclaimer: If you want to have a legit excuse for those who ask later, it is best if the baby has a stuffed nose to begin with. Then no one will ask pesky questions like "Why? Why? Why?"

Halloween 2009 Continued

Sorry it took so long to post, but our computer crashed (RIGHT after transferring the pictures onto it) and Michael did a fantastic job of getting it fixed quickly so that Niffer didn't freak out about missing pictures.

A couple days before Halloween, we got together with our little friend Brason to carve pumpkins. Ellie picked out two pumpkins herself and was very proud of picking very good ones. She wanted to make one a happy pumpkin and one a sad pumpkin . When I asked her why the sad pumpkin was sad, her response was "Because he lost his Mommy." When I asked her why the happy pumpkin was happy, she said "Because he already found his Mommy." I guess that's proof for what I said the other day about her biggest fear being losing me. It's a little heartbreaking and has actually caused me to dream about it, but let's not go there.
Halloween, itself, went about how I expected it to go. Ellie and her Brynnie (according to Ellie, "My Brynnie is my favorite friend") went trick-or-treating together. They were so excited that people would give them candy for just saying "Trick or Treat!" The two of them were so adorable going from house to house. I tried to get it on video, but with no real luck. Ellie would say "Let's go next house!" The two of them had fun.
Until the kid with the Scream Mask showed up. He didn't do anything specific to scare Ellie, but she was terrified of him. After that, she just wanted to go home. She hung in for a couple more houses because Brynn was still having fun, but suddenly the pumpkins were scary, and the lights were scary and the people coming to the door were scary. It just wasn't the same.

Eventually we went back home and the girls had a piece of candy before Brynn went home. Then we stayed up a little late to answer the door when other trick-or-treaters came by.

But... What's scarier than a guy dressed up in a Scream Maskwandering around your neighborhood in the dark? How about a guy dressed up in a Scream Mask who knows where you live AND knows your name??? When he came ringing the doorbell, and sweet Ellie opened the door... there he was and he said "Hi Ellie!" I'm not sure anyone could have crossed the room so quickly. The boy felt bad and took off his mask and we showed Ellie that it was just a boy in a costume. We then had to spend the rest of the evening trying to explain why a boy would do that. We'd say "sometimes boys like to dress up in scary costumes" and she'd plead "but why? Why scary costume?" Boys are just weird, I suppose.

So, there you have it... Ellie's first real Trick-or-Treating Halloween. At least we got great pictures.

And for your viewing pleasure, I'll post another entry with pictures of my girls.

Big Sister Quote of the Day IV

Baby's hungry? Let's go upstairs and feed our babies! Let's go!

Wordless Wednesday XVII

Ellie's biggest fear

Recently my friend, Salina posted about how much she enjoys reading "Where the wild things are" to her son. I thought "Hey! We have that book - I should pull it out and read it to Ellie."

I'm not sure if she likes the book. She definitely wanted me to read it over and over again and each time resulted in a completely different reaction.

First read: Ellie is scared of the monsters. I tell her they are nice and become friends with Max.
Second read: Ellie keeps asking for the monsters and doesn't want to wait until the part of the story where they show up.
Third read: Ellie is excited about the monsters.
Forth read: Ellie decides the monsters are dinosaurs and shows me her favorite one.
Fifth read: Ellie realizes that Max is leaving home to see the dinosaurs and misses his Mommy and Daddy.
Sixth read: Ellie wonders where Mommy and Daddy are and insists on me explaining why they're not with Max.
Seventh read: Ellie is very concerned that Mommy and Daddy are nowhere to be seen and is near tears.

Yet she kept insisting on me reading more!

I told her that we needed to stop and she looked at me with great concern and asked "Where are Max Mommy and Daddy?" I tried to tell her that they were in a different room in his house. Then she cried "I want my Mommy and Daddy," after which I had to remind her of her special rock and how if she ever missed us or were feeling sad, she needed to hold the rock in her hand. That calmed her down quite a bit, as well as a good kiss or two from Bun-Bun.

So... Lesson learned... NO BOOKS WITH ANY INDICATION OF MISSING PARENTS!!! No wonder she hates Finding Nemo, Dumbo and Bambi so much!

Halloween 2009

Enjoy... I know I did! The details on how Halloween went will have to wait for another day.

Big Sister Quote of the Day III

Oh Oh, Daddy! Baby is crying. She needs her Bun Bun!

Milestone

Today Addie is three weeks and four days old and it is the first day that I didn't hesitate to put on a bra and shirt. I think I'm loving this baby more already!

Ellie tucks her babies in

Big Sister Quote of the Day II

Can I bring my baby into the store?

(instead of leaving her in the car... I think that's a good idea)