Taking Stock at Boop's Week 45. 11-29-12

Here's what's happening at Boop's week 45:

• Winnie has recovered from surgery, but she's started picking at herself again. I'm worried she has another UTI. She's had a few accidents in the house. I'm trying to train her (read: BRIBE her) to go outside again. We'll see how it goes.
• Boop and I both have been feeling really lousy. Boop's upchucking was the crowning glory of a hectic Thanksgiving day. Maybe I can find the time to unpack all of the things in my head that happened during our travel, but I'm still trying to sort some things out. I spent Monday night praying to the porcelain god. No sooner did my eyes drift off, until they were bolted awake with a run to the bathroom. Mercy. If Boop felt half as bad, I feel really sorry for her. Boop had a very long night last night. She wanted to nurse and nurse and nurse.
• I'm not much good as a Mommy these days. No sleep, plus looming deadlines. We made the trek to the Big City hospital and survived today, but I was pretty keyed up. My brain is a little scrambled. Another grant deadline before Christmas. What a crappy time to be sick! 

Three in the Bed... 11-11-12

…and Little Boop said, “Roll over, roll over!” So, they all rolled over and Mommy fell off. Two in the bed and Little Boop said, “Roll over, roll over!” So, they all rolled over and Winnie fell off.  That’s our version of the song.

Winnie usually wants to get under the covers about 3 or 4am. This morning, a queen sized bed, all 3 of us were on half of the bed—my half of the bed. Part of it is the pillow top that didn’t stand up very well. I got it almost 3 years ago from Sears and paid enough for it to be a good one, but the pillow top broke down in less than 2 years. So, me being the heaviest, everyone rolls to me.

But, that’s not the full story. Winnie is a heat seeker; thus, waking up cold early in the morning brings her closer to me. Plus, she likes to sleep rear end to rear end. Maybe some adaptive thing for dogs in the wild? I don’t know. So, she’s right there. I’ve gotten used to that after 10 years; although I must admit it’s nice when my mom visits. Winnie will go sleep with her.

Then, Boop is seeking milk. It’s a strange sight, I’m sure. Winnie trying to position herself near both of our rear ends.  Boop is only interested in my top half—well, really just milk. So, we’re all huddled together. I imagine that it’s much more comfortable for them than me because if I move away, there is usually a loud protest. Then, everyone finds me again.  

Hold the Phone. 11-11-12

Of all of the toys that Boop has, and she has a lot, there are 3 things that she can’t get enough of: my netbook, the TV remote control, and my cell phone. That’s a little sad, but she’s a different generation. She’ll be starting on computers at a much younger age. She already has play laptops, but she doesn’t realize they are supposed to be like mine but more fun. The remote is even better than the laptop. I caught her the other day, sitting on the futon, pointing the remote at the TV and mashing down the channel change button. She already knows. I thought she would be scared of it after she accidentally maxed out the volume one day, which left her shrieking for me. But it didn’t faze her. She still grabs for it.

Little Cindy Lou Who?? Or one of the Whos in Whoville...

Her favorite is the cell phone. It’s a flip-phone, and it’s just the right flatness to fit well in her mouth for teething. I have to keep wiping it down to try to cut down on some of the germs. Every time I pick it up, it’s dripping with her drool. She especially loves it when there’s sound coming out of it, like Grandma’s voice. It’s irresistible to her, and she has just started to figure out that she needs to talk into it. It’s all fun and games until it winds up getting closed, SNAP. Then, I have to call Mom back. Mom’s gotten used to it by now. 

Taking Stock at Boop’s Week 43. 11-15-12

Here’s what’s happening at Boop’s week 43:

• Well, Winnie made it through surgery. So glad it’s over, now I just need to try to keep her straight. She does not want to be still. She couldn’t sleep or rest; so I took her cone off her head. I’m trying to keep her from picking at her stitches. And she’s wanting to jump up on everything in spite of her surgery. It’s hard to keep her still.
• Boop is almost 10 months old! I can’t believe it. She is rambunctious, but thankfully, she isn’t falling quite as much. She gets where she wants to go for the most part, but that doesn’t keep her from wanting me to carry her everywhere. She is just chock full of separation anxiety, or maybe she’s a bit spoiled, or maybe it’s a little of both.
• I couldn’t find a babysitter for the concert I wanted to see. It was pretty low key (and low decibel). So, I decided to go ahead and take her with me. She loves to hear me sing; so I figured it was worth a shot. For the most part, she did great. She conked out during the second show. Admittedly, I was more tuned into Boop than to the concert, but it was good. 

Go-Go-Go! 11-6-12

I already knew it when I was carrying her. Boop is a busy girl. But, I never expected her next words after Ma-Ma: “Go, go, go, go!” With her being around the 90^th%ile for height and weight, you might think it would be something like “Food.”

A rare moment of calm...

When I heard it one weekend, I wasn’t sure I was really hearing what I thought I was. The next Monday, her teacher filled me in. The two older kids can walk alright on their own. So when those two are finished with lunch, the teachers help them down from the high chair and help them to walk away from the feeding area saying, “Go, go, go…” I don’t think the older kids say it very much, but for little Boop, it’s like a mantra and a motto.

So, Boop is knocking and banging around quite a lot, and unfortunately some of that banging involves her head <wince> <heart stop>. I just imagine her risk of Parkinson’s disease going up exponentially each time she takes a spill. Not sure if that’s a real risk factor (falls as an infant), but it can’t be good. I’m thankful that each time she falls, she whimpers and wants Mommy, but then she goes right back at it.

Halloween-ish. 11-2-12

Hurricane Sandy resulted in Halloween cancellations; although it wasn't that awful outside. Rain is rain, and it's unavoidable in October. Plus, it's on the cold side. Colder than usual, but it shouldn't be unexpected. So the cancellations surprised me a bit. I was beat on Halloween night. Morning meeting, late class, upset Boop. It wound up pretty similar for Thursday, the new night for Trick-or-Treating, with us rushing around. Boop was unhappy, but I was determined that she would get to go trick-or-treating.

I stuck her Tigger outfit on her, as that would allow for layering underneath. She looked a bit like the little boy in the Christmas Story, all bundled up and barely able to move. I decided I would carry her around the block and leave Winnie behind. I was hoping that we could make a quick trip around and get back in time to hand out candy. We met several of our neighbors, a few people that recently moved in to the neighborhood. Only a couple really knew us; so we heard a few, 'What a cute little boy!'s. I just smiled. Not worth correcting them at this point. I met a little lamb, with a ferocious baaa! I feel some kindred to him as Boop now owns a few of his clothes and toys after a yard sale this past summer. At the age of about 3, he kept putting candy in Boop's trick-or-treat bowl. It's nice to know that my neighbors give good candy and aren't skimpy. That must explain why we seem to import so many people into our neighborhood for trick-or-treating. 

I was prepared this year for the trick-or-treaters, and Winnie was totally at her element. I think I had about 200 pieces of candy. I gave most kids 2-3 pieces. We only gave out candy for about an hour, and we went through about half of the stash--so what is that, about 30-50 kids? The remaining candy will be distributed to my students; although Mom has asserted her claims to the mini chocolate bars. The little bit of candy that Boop collected will also be given to the students, as I explained to folks as we were trick-or-treating. I didn't want them to think I was being too greedy. What I didn't mention was the age of my students ;) So next year, Boop will be more prepared for Halloween and get to reap more of the benefits!

Halloween Morning. 11-8-12

Taking Stock at Boop’s Week 42. 11-7-12

Here’s what’s happening at Boop’s week 42:

Thanks M and E for the cute ladybug costume.
We wore it on Halloween night!

• Boop had her 9 month appointment—2 weeks late. She was at the 85^th-90^th %ile on everything. She’s 2 weeks older than 9 months, but I don’t think that would put her in a much lower %ile. When the ped walked in, she raised her eyebrows and said, ‘9 months? She’s a big girl.’ The doctor also set her up to see the pediatric urologist out of state. I think everything will be fine, but it’s nice to just run everything by another doctor after the confusion in the hospital with the fever.
• Winnie finally seems to have turned the corner. She’s perky and more interactive. She’s starting to go outside without me taking her. She hasn’t peed in the house in a few days that I can tell. I’m still coming home at lunch and taking her out before I go to nurse Boop. It’s getting old; so hopefully, she’ll go back to be able to hold it during the day. 
• I went to see my dentist on Tuesday. Glad it’s over. Haven’t been flossing, and it was ugggggly. I did get lots of tips on infants. They gave me a kiddie toothpaste and toothbrush, but she already had a baby toothbrush. I also found out that it will be $3000-$5000 for Invisalign, the clear braces. Urgh. And I don’t have the insurance that will cover a portion of them. If I change my insurance, I won’t be able to get them until next year.

What a Difference 10-28-12

Today has been calm, but yesterday was a mess. We got out at about 10am to go look for toys for my cousins.  There was supposed to be a sale, but unfortunately, I had the wrong day. Then, I went to Lowes to pick up some door knobs and wound up with some other stuff, too. I found some things for baby proofing, but I don’t know if I’m going to keep it all.

Sandy came for a visit <see snow in background>... Boop is not too thrilled

Then, we went on to Wally World. Normally, I would have just gone on home, but I was supposed to meet someone from craigslist who wanted to buy some of Boop’s old swaddlers. I had also pulled some other clothes and things together in case she wanted those. After the last fiasco with Mom playing mediator, I gave the woman my phone number. While running errands, she texted me a few times. Once, she texted to say that she was only interested in the clothes. Then, she texted to say that she wasn’t interested in the clothes <after I had already packed them, urgh!>, just the swaddlers, that her boyfriend was coming. This made me a little nervous, but at least we were meeting in a very public place.

Boop missed her nap. I made a quick trip through Wally World, and I made it out by noon, when we were supposed to meet. We were parked up front, and the police were there giving child car seat checks. So I texted the woman at 12:07 to say where we were. About 12:15, she texted to say that she couldn’t reach her boyfriend. With that, we went over to the car seat inspection station and asked the police to fix her car seat positioning. Boop was screaming, poor thing. Stuck in her car seat, it was chilly; she had a wet diaper and was hungry. At 12:30, no sign of craigslist boyfriend or the woman, I texted her to tell her I was leaving. Never heard another word. Knowing folks here, it’s very, very unlikely that anything happened to him. I can only be reassured that karma will put her in a similar situation. 

Izat You, Girdle? 10-27-2012

My dermatologist had a little boy recently. She’s a bit more particular about her looks than most doctors I know, but I think that may be a dermatologist thing. I complimented her on how well she had trimmed down already. She whispered to me, ‘Spanx!’ I’ve heard of these things. Foundational garments always bring to mind the scene in Gone with the Wind where Mammy is practically strangling Scarlett with that corset. “Tighter, tighter!”

Boop as Minnie Mouse

It seems miserable. I’ve never really had much desire. But I saw a pair of the undies on sale on Zulily, and I thought I would give it a shot. Well, probably easier than lipo… I’ll stop there.  So, I put them in my virtual cart along with some Christmas finger puppets for Cecilly. This past week, they <I’m debating about whether a pair of undies should be singular or plural. Neither looks right.> finally came in this past week.

I figured I’d try them on as there wasn’t much going on, and if I didn’t like them, I didn’t have to wear them for very long. Hm. Well, I hardly got them on before I took them right back off. Wow, they were bad! Why? I don’t get it. Why not walk over hot coals barefoot instead? So, that was the end of my relationship with a foundational garment. I want to do something with them, but I have no idea what.  

Lap bandit 10-26-12

Boop in her outfit from Aunt R and Uncle J

Boop is cracking me up. She is having a heck of a time with stranger danger and separation anxiety. It's getting better now that she can move a bit, but it's the age. Hopefully, things will calm down when she starts walking and can follow me everywhere. Not-so-funny, Boop's teachers are stressed out because of the amount of turn-over and being short staffed. They said that there were going to be 9 new people starting with infants next week. Yesterday, a new person came into the room as a substitute, and Boop lost it. Not sure if that was the true root cause, or not, but it was about 7:30pm (after being home for a couple of hours) until she really calmed down. This morning her teachers were saying that their lunch substitute for today has never fed a baby before. Gee, that's reassuring--uh, no.

So, none of this is funny, and I should get to the point of the funny, clingy part. When I started writing this, I had just looked at Boop's photo from the farm where she had been playing in the corn, with the extreme close up. Boop may not be able to walk or crawl very well, but she can dern well find my lap and crawl into it, and lickety-split, I might add. She is fast. She sees that I'm about to make a motion to stand up, and suddenly, she has a firm grip on my legs. Then, her face is in mine. I'm immobilized. I can't help but laugh at being outsmarted by a 9 month old. As she gets older, I hope she uses her power for good, rather than evil!

Taking Stock at Boop's Week 41. 11-1-12

Here’s what’s happening at Boop’s week 41:

• Boop is toddling along. She needs my help to walk, but she loves to stand and hold onto things. Bless her heart, she's had some unfortunate spills. This morning, she was crawling and ran smack dab into the edge of the opening for the door. 
• She's starting to drink water out of her sippy cup. Sleep is still a problem, and she's not very good at self-soothing. One of her little tricks is that she crawls into my lap faster than I can stand up, and then she's like an octopus. So, clingy! I try to encourage her that she'll be okay while I'm in the next room, but she's not at all convinced.
• Winnie isn't doing great with the UTI. I need to take her urine back in for a check. Hopefully, I can go on Saturday. She's been on antibiotics for almost 2 weeks, and she's still peeing on the floor. Mercy Sandy, and all of the rain. I've had to carry her out to the grass to make sure she goes to the bathroom. Sometimes, I can't get her to budge from her crate, and she about bites my hand off if I try to get her.  It's not been an easy time. I don't know what we're going to do, but this doesn't seem to be working.
• I'm doing a little better at keeping up with the house and cooking. This morning, I got up around 5:30am and finished a load of laundry. We're still cloth diapering with the service, but the tricky part is that she needs a diaper cover for every diaper at daycare. Then, of course, she has to have a fresh sheet every day. And she can easily go through 3 outfits in a day. So I wind up doing a lot of laundry. 
• I'm also washing a lot of toys. She loves to play with her toys. Like me when I was little and like every other little one, one of her favorite activities is to pull out every last thing in her toy boxes. I try to keep Winnie away from Boop's toys and Boop away from Winnie's toys with some success.