Saturday, January 10, 2009

Mobility; Baking; Bible

Well, Firstborn is making strides (or at least rolls and wiggles) toward true mobility. She can get to pretty much anything on the floor and within eyesight. Which means that M'Love and I have to actually get on this babyproofing thing. Or at least, cleaning up and vacuuming the area she usually plays in. And maybe after we clean we can get to the tree and take that down.

I had such lofty goals of actually getting the presents put away after Christmas, and of getting at least the living room cleaned up while M'Love had a week and a half off of work. But then between sickness and a general unwillingness to do hard work, it didn't happen. I just get so overwhelmed by the prospect of cleaning up I don't get out of the starting gate, and there is just so much stuff, and so few places.... We are hoping that today will be babyproofing day. But I suspect it's also growth spurt day. Yesterday Firstborn polished off 3 consecutive containers of squash for lunch, and might have kept going a bit longer had I not tried to fob off some mixed vegetables on her instead. Today she woke me up around 4:30 AM and proceeded to nurse for two and a half straight hours. I don't mind--I'm glad she likes her vegetables (at least the orange ones) and I read the internet or play games while she eats. As I write, she's about a yard from where I put her down, accomplished primarily by rolling. She's alternately fussing and squealing as she flails her limbs and plays with Blankie.

Firstborn is actually napping a little now. I think I just have to "train" her to do it, and I think I may try to get Babywise. It was recommended by somebody in my computer who says her children sleep. I made some candied citrus peel yesterday, and it turned out very good--you'd never know there was fruit involved. I also ended up with some extra sugar-stuff that turned into hard candy. My next endeavor in the baking arena will be to melt some peanut butter melts, stir in peanuts and marshmellows, spread in a pan lined with waxed paper, and top with some festive Christmas marshmellows. I want to bake more. It is relaxing and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

I like to cook, even though sometimes it can be a hassle with a child who always wants to be held. Last night for dinner I made some "Manager's special" (marked down) cheese & garlic sausage. I took it out of the casing (casings are ew), chopped it up, and fried it. I warmed up some leftover spatzlen, added some Italian pizza cheese, and added the sausage and some butter. Good stuff. I cook very multiculturally--last night was pirogis and chicken nuggets.

Last night while M'Love was drawing Firstborn's bath, I flipped open a Bible to a random page and Firstborn and I read Psalm 8. She enjoyed it and so did I. An added bonus was lots of body parts I could point out (fingers, hands, feet, mind). This inspired a (very incomplete) silly song version called "Under the Feet" (to the tune of "Under the Sea" from the little mermaid. Apologetix hasn't called yet. I really do need to get back into daily scripture reading and memorization, for my sake and Firstborn's.

Well, that's enough earthshaking social, political and religious commentary for the day.

Today's Sign of pregnancy: No, really, this time I'm sure it's pregnancy mucous

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

So you don't know me and have no particular reason to trust what I have to say. I ended up on your blog by clicking through a few blog rolls.
I'm the father of 3 (eldest is 12) and wanted to chime in on the babywise thing.
Our eldest didn't sleep through the night until he was about 2. He was a very difficult baby. (But he's an amazing preteen.)
We tried babywise. I can only describe our experiences with it as traumatic. For us, it simply didn't work. And it carried this emotional price tag, going to the extremes that the book suggests.

My three kids are as utterly different as night and day. I think that there is this whole industry built on the idea that there aremagic bullet solutions to challenges like sleeping. I know people who babywise worked for, and I hope it does for you.
When it didn't work for us, we felt like defective parents. Because we'd heard how good it was we latched onto it for much longer than we should have.
My bottom line is that try Baby wise. But be open to the idea that your own intuitions and experiences with your flesh and blood are much more valuable than any book will ever be. If it doesn't work, move on to something else. I know how horrible it can be, night after night of being sleep deprived. But it will pass. There will be a day that you don't even have to worry about the solution, and this is all just a distant memory.

7:29 AM  
Blogger Young Christian Woman said...

I am aware that there are people who have bad experiences with Babywise as well as good ones. I would not keep using it if it does not work for my daughter and I. She does sleep through the night; it's just not always as long as I might like, and she does not nap. Also, I can tell she is tired sometimes; she obviously needs to get more sleep. Thanks for your comments though.

3:40 AM  

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