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."