When will I learn? Rules, part 3

I stand corrected. Yesterday I stated then when William FINALLY falls asleep, he usually stays that way for at least an hour or so. Obviously, he heard me and today did not take a nap longer than 15 minutes between 8 and 4pm. These two brief intermissions in my day were most welcome...just as I got started cleaning up the kitchen, William awoke crying and utterly lonely (I guess). Today is the day I finally gave in and called the doctor's office.

I will start by saying I don't really think there is anything wrong with him. He did get two teeth in over the weekend, which I'm guessing is at least part of the problem. But, I don't have anything else to go with. He has no fever, no runny noise, no coughing or any other symptoms. But, we are now going on day (too many) of unhappiness and I can't figure it out. So, I called the nurse. I thought she was going to blow me off and tell me to just keep on trucking - this is life with a BABY after all. I was pleasantly surprised when she became quite thoughtful and asked me it he was spitting up more. Ummmm...more than what? I then explained that I was nursing all the stinking time as that was really the only thing calming him down (just call me a Dairy Queen - I'm sure my request for a tiara and my likeness in butter will be granted by the ADA shortly). We have gone from feeding 6 times a day to 8-9 feedings a day. He hasn't required this many feedings since he was just over a month old. So, of course he is spitting up a lot - at least 2 feedings worth every day on top of his regular fountain.

Turns out, when kids get teeth, they drool a lot. When they eat while teething, they swallow a lot more drool and this can upset the acidic balance of their stomach. We talked a little bit more and then she told me she would call back after talking with the doctor about the situation. She promised to call me back by the end of the day. So, like a responsible parent, I kept the cell phone glued to my side for the rest of the day. I checked my cell phone ever 3-5 minutes to make sure I hadn't missed anything. I called John twice to make sure the phone was working. Then, I turned the volume down when William FINALLY decided that he was exhuasted at 4:30. Unfortunately, I was exhausted also and I didn't hear the phone ring when the doctor called at 4:55. When I woke up at 5:15, the doctor's office was closed for the rest of the day....guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what they recommend.

Just to keep everyone straight, I am not complaining (okay, yes I am). Just because I spend most of my day parked on the couch nursing and the rest of the day wiping spit up off of various surfaces (couch, carpet, toys, William, me, etc) and doing laundry full of spit up doesn't mean I'm unhappy. Au contraire, my friends. I am very happy - I just wish my happy boy would come back to stay.

Rules have changed, Part 2

The rules and the framework of our day are still in limbo. Not the fun party game kind of limbo either. I try to write upbeat stories and leave the impression I am having a great time. Because I am. But, the last few weeks have been challenging. I still maintain standard rule #1 that we started with:

#1. Everything can go wrong and be crazy as long as the baby sleeps through the night. I will be happy as long as I get a full nights sleep.

William was kind enough to oblige us with this around the 6-7 week mark. A sigh of relief went through the crowd at that point. All two (2) of us. Yet, we still are struggling. Yesterday brought a melt down in the afternoon. I'll spare you the details, but I made adjustments today and thought we would give it a shot. No dice. In fact, the melt down today started 4 hours earlier. I am at a loss and crabby about it for one main reason: school is out. That means the other moms I work with are home and ready to play. Not us! The call sounds something like this:" When would be a good time for you on Thursday?" I pause and think for a moment and mull it over. " I don't have any idea..." is my honest reply. Here are the things I thought were set (otherwise known as rules)

1. The pacifier is always welcome and 98.56% of the time leads to sleep. NOW: The pacifier makes him angry. As he settles in, I think "Ooohh, if I just stick that in his mouth it will push him over the edge into sleep." Wrong. If you put it in his mouth, he will become Angry and not sleep. Ever. That is unless HE finds the pacifier on his own and puts in it his mouth. Then he is...sleeping.

2. Every 3-4 hours he will nap for at least 30 minutes. Sometimes up to 2 hours. NOW: He will nap only as a last resort. He is too busy (I think?) to slow down for a nap. The last three days it appears we are moving into a morning/afternoon nap routine. When he goes down, he sleeps for at least 2 hours. That is IF you can get him to go down to begin with. The battle continues.

3. Sitting on my lap and singing songs is fun! NOW: Singing songs and sitting with mommy is only fun if he is pulling my hair. Or kissing (read: drowning) me. He is happiest when he is doing both.

4. Riding in the car was a tolerable experience, given the car is always in motion. NOW: Being strapped into the carseat is worse than having to eat your vegetables. Crying and general ear splitting unhappiness will follow until he is 1) unbuckled or 2) someone climbs over the seat to entertain him. Option 2 may or may not work. Bring on the trip to ND in 2 weeks!

5. Waking up from a nap, getting a new diaper and then being fed is a recipe for the happiest baby ever. NOW: Even though all his basic need are met, fussing and complaining are common. We are left with looking at each other (John & I) and shrugging our shoulders.

I can't think of any of our other rules/not rules at the moment. But, I'll put them up if they come to me. I have plans to give a call to the dr's office if this continues for a few more days. I can't figure out what is going on (besides teeth) and would like ebola, TB, or ear infections ruled out before we travel.

The sweet baby sleeping today. Note the use of the pacifier. Note he is actually sleeping and I am actually in there taking pictures. Wise idea? Who knows? And the bear...a gift from one of my students this year. He loves the silky (?) interior fabric. I'm considering going out and seeing if I can find a few to keep in reserve in case this becomes an "important" toy. Even if the idea of a bear's head coming out of a blanket kind of freaks me out.


The feet. Definitely IN these days. In the mouth, in the hands, in the nose...etc.


William has can't get enough of the ball John got from our friends for his birthday. Although, it is frustrating because it keeps rolling away....WAH! He does have a surprising amount of control with it though. Scary! He might have coordination!


The teeth are tricky to get! At least on this one you can see that he is (finally) getting some eyebrows...

Two teethand lots of fingers!


Two teeth!

The rules have changed...tooth # 2

Just a little housekeeping: There is the new audio of William blowing raspberries on the left side of the screen. They are labeled as "new". I added some pictures to yesterday's post also. They're worth it. Don't be lazy, scroll down.

Yesterday, we celebrated John's birthday. We were going to go hiking, but got rained out. Our fabulous friends didn't bail on us...we got to out for lunch at the Roadhouse. Mmmmm. It was fantastic - they even brought gifts. Great, John appropriate gifts: splinter removal kits, caribeener flashlight, a KNIFE!, a ball to play with William, rescue whistle, silly string, rubber gloves, wipes, and can coolie. I heart our friends. They are the best.

It seems we have hit a rough patch. The rough patch occurs between 4:30 and 8pm. Nothing has changed (in our opinion). We are doing things the same as we always have. Yet, we have one unhappy little boy. I've never been a rule meister for any game. Yet, I find myself standing here complaining "This is not how the evening is supposed to go..." We suspect teething to be the culprit - but short of him announcing his gums hurt, we are just guessing. William has been known to cry now and again in the past. We've even had a few tough, crabby days in a row. This is a new time high for tough days. What worked before isn't working currently. We are sticking it out (is there another choice?) well. There is a lot of taking turns and helping each other out. I'm proud of us. But, I'm ready for this to be over. Now that the second tooth has made an appearance, we're hoping things will improve...


In other news, I have been promising myself that I would go back to the Y. They have childcare. Since William was 8 weeks old, I have been trying to find a way balance things to get to the Y. A lot of the issue is motivation, a portion in my head and the rest is plain old scheduling problems. I have been waiting almost 12 weeks to pull it all together. Today, it happened. I got myself and William to the Y in one piece. We were both fed and relatively clean. Without tears, I was able to leave my baby with the very nice complete strangers in the child watch area. William did not appear to notice I was leaving and the child watch worker promised to distract him with a nice "video". With the mention of "video", I almost grabbed William and ran. But, I am stronger than this. No "video of neglect" will get between me and my workout. I returned precisely 31 minutes later. I practically flew back to the child watch center. William was moderately happy to see me as he tried to pick up the letters in the carpet pattern. His only show of emotion was when I picked him up, he protested leaving his numbered carpet. The first week is always the hardest (physically, and now emotionally) - so hopefully we can get into a routine to get us there at least 3 times a week. We're going to try and get a picture of the new tooth tonight - no promises!

A Discussion

Last night, John and I sat on the floor with our adorable little boy and tried to figure out when a tooth is officially a "tooth". My mother (who is wise and experienced) told us that when you can actually see the tooth, it counts. So, we tried to take a look. It was not an easy task shoving 2 different sets of hands into William's mouth and pushing his tongue out of the way. But, we did it. The tooth is there. Visible and white. We are excited and I have to admit worried. What if it is crooked? Is it too soon for braces? When are kids supposed to go to the dentist the first time? Are we supposed to be brushing it? With toothpaste? What if he bites himself? Will he cry (answer: yes)? All kinds of thoughts are running through my head. Time to start reading and looking things up. Usually just leads to new worries and thoughts, but always worth a try. Tooth number 2 (bottom row, right side) should be making an appearance shortly.

The cake got made. It was lovely...sort of. After presenting it to the birthday boy early, I realized the reason the frosting was uncooperative. It would NOT spread itself onto the cake and the festive sprinkles would NOT stick to the frosting. The second half of the milk called for in the recipe did not get added due to the very unhappy baby that lives here part time this week. Sweet John claims he wouldn't even LIKE it with more milk in it and ate it anyway.

Today, we went to downtown St Charles for the Fleur de Lis Festival. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed ourselves very much. We also actually SAT on our deck in ON our patio furniture this evening. It was wonderful. It was shady and a breeze was blowing. The chairs were inviting and cushy, but not overpowering. Tomorrow we will be attempting a hike with some of my coworkers in honor of John's birthday. We are packing a picnic lunch and will be using our baby carrier again. I suspect this will be one of the last times we will be able to use it as the weight limit is 25 pounds. Two weeks ago, William was just under 20 pounds and....well, you saw the pictures of the swing. Time for us to look to upgrading to a hiking baby backpack. If only they didn't cost an arm and a leg!

The finished birthday cake (toothpicks are to keep the plastic wrap from falling on it and wrecking its greatness)

Hanging out in the highchair while we eat dinner. He loves his spoon. It makes this lovely "squeeky, squeeky" noise against his new teeth.


The spoon is empty. Look at all that hair!

Time for bed...goodnight,

The Heidts

A Sigh of Relief - and 19 weeks

I have been reading several books about the development of the infant. In each, they caution that all children develop at different speed and should be treated as individuals. That way, if your baby is not rolling over at precisely 12 weeks, there is not cause for concern. I have determined through some complicated math that William is exactly 19 weeks old today. After 12 weeks, I stopped keeping track. However, for at least the last 5 weeks, my weekly guide to babies has been talking about a raspberry noise that babies may begin to exhibit at about 11 weeks. We haven't heard anything of the sorts. Nothing. I have had at least 9 weeks to ponder this (as I always read ahead) and worry. Not a lot in the first few weeks. But, each week creates mounting worry that "something could be wrong". It makes me think that he may be behind in his "obnoxious noise" category of development. This area is incredibly critical when it comes to the middle school years, so I am understandably concerned. If he doesn't master the mouth raspberry, can he ever master the arm pit fart noise? Or the elbow gas noise? What about burping on command? Whistling, snapping, and arguing all come to mind. My child could be hopeless behind in all of these areas. How will I ever get him caught up? DO they provide a physical/occupational therapy option for these children? What if his tongue doesn't function properly? Will he never learn to give a snake bit to a younger child? Or shout obscenities? What will become of my child?

No worries. William began blowing disgusting raspberries earlier in the week The combination gallons of drool and spit up being blow across the room is quite amazing. I can't wait for you all to see it. We were just able to capture it with our digital voice recorder yesterday. John will add the link to it sometime tomorrow.

In other news, William was a complete crab today. A king sized crab. He could even be classified as an enema...make it a colonoscopy All I wanted to do today was create the perfect, monstrous, surprise birthday cake for John. That's it. Oh, and maybe pay some bills. William crabbed, whined, fussed and cried throughout most of the day. I finally called John at 3 to find out when he was coming home to take care of his son. No answer. So, I did the kind, polite thing and left him a message. Of the baby screaming - no words. Then I called my dad on his day off at home. No answer. I left him a similar message. I tried John again and then finally tried my mom at work. I couldn't even hear the desk attendant over the baby. I just kept asking for "Kim __MG" or "my momma" over and over again until they put me through. She gave me some practical advice I could have come up with myself if I could have heard myself think over the wailing. William got in short succession: Tylenol, a cold/wet washcloth, baby ambesol, and then fed. I don't know what worked, but something did. Shortly after the washcloth, I had my finger shoved into William's mouth and found....[not the missing ladybug toy] another tooth pushing through. For the record, I can actually see the first tooth through his gum right now and can feel the second one coming through. At least there is a reason for his terrible behavior. Eighteen more to go....

I'll post more tomorrow to explain my absence from the daily updates. I need some more time to perfect my excuse...alibi. Until then,

goodnight,
the heidts

Sitting, Spitting and Teeth

Today was the last day of school. William and I went to wave good bye to the buses as the kids left for the last time. I got to see a lot of my students from this year and cheer them out of the parking lot into the summer time. Waving the kids good bye is one of my favorite days of the year. It always brings tears to my eyes as I wave good bye to students that I loved in class as well as those I am glad to see leaving for the last time. Now they are in high school. I am feeling a little down because after I waved good bye to my fourth set of eighth graders, I went up to my room to organize and pack up some things to bring them home. Some one else is going to be teaching in my room next year. I don't know if I like the idea of someone else on my turf and sharing my space. I really don't want anyone else teaching those eighth graders next year. There are several kiddos coming up that I was hoping to teach next year. Now someone else will get to. I am not questioning my decision to stay home next year. Much. I still think it is the right thing for us to do...probably. I'm just a lot sad about packing up my room, saying good bye and knowing I won't be a part of things next year. I'll miss those kids...hormonal, crazy, smelly, drama causing eighth graders. Who knew I would love them so much (most of the time)?

Anyhow, enough of my sadness. William is working really hard at sitting up. If you put him on the ground, he does these "baby sit ups" to try to get to sitting. Sometimes, you have to unbend him from the sitting position to get him to lay down. He finally is showing he has a sense of balance. With my 50% DNA, it is completely possible that he would have no sense of balance. So, here are some pictures of us tonight with William practicing the sitting up. Please note: we are now confident enough in his skills that NO one's hands are waiting to catch him. He doesn't need it.

Serious baby. When did he start looking like a little boy and not a baby?

Smiles for the daddy.

Sitting and playing - they go together great!

We are also excited to announce that William has mastered the raspberry sound with his mouth. It is messy and I'm working on an entry dedicated entirely to the drooly mess he makes with his mouth. And teeth. The tooth is officially here. It is on his bottom left side of his mouth (or the lower right side of the picture). It is still hard to see in the picture - but I promise it is there!

Tomorrow we are going back to West to do some final (I think) packing. I'm not looking forward to it because we need to get up and go on the early side instead of laying around in our PJ's for most of the morning. Oh well...

more tomorrow,

kelly

Poor John...

I am not the best wife. I admit it. Some days I don't even try very hard. Yesterday was one of those days. I usually pack John a lunch for the next day while we are making dinner. John will spend some time with William when he gets home and I work on dinner and his lunch. Last night, I opened the refrigerator and freezer and found myself uninspired. I managed a dinner of leftover sloppy joes and my creativity expired. Poor John ended up with a yogurt and some left over pasta from....a long time ago. I opened the container and inspected it carefully. Nothing was growing on it - so in the lunchbox it went with the yogurt. Then, I remembered the pasta was actually my leftovers. I ate most of my pasta one night awhile back and put the leftovers in the fridge for later. Later never came and today I sent my husband to work with a 100 calorie cup of yogurt and old, forgotten pasta that couldn't even be considered half of a serving. As I remembered this last night, I decided to take action: I zipped the lunchbox shut. Did I even consider giving him the amazing leftover pancakes he made on Sunday morning for us? Not on your life! They are mine (and were GREAT today at lunchtime)!


Today, I felt bad about this. The guilt followed me around the house. I cleaned up the kitchen today and felt bad as I arranged the cans in the pantry. I sterilized some bottles and decided to make a pasta salad to go with dinner to make up for the terrible lunch. As long as I was heating up the stove, I went ahead and in addition made three (3) different varieties of rice to put into individual containers so we wouldn't have a repeat performance of bad lunches. As I was making the rices in three (3) different pots as well as boiling bottles, I spies suggestions on the back of one of the boxes. "Add a cup of broccoli to the rice mixture..." I thought this was a brilliant idea. So, I divided a bag of broccoli between the pots on the stovetop. As I was doing this, I remembered the USDA recommendation to eat between twenty to fifty (20-50) servings of vegetables a day. Nothing but the best for my husband! I opened up a big bag of California style mixed vegetables to add as well. I'm sure not eating my vegetables, so someone has to step up. I am now relieved and worry free as I know my husband will be well nourished tomorrow at lunch. And for the next 10 days with the 10 individual containers now found in the refrigerator.

John assures me that he had plenty to eat and someone brought in food for everyone at lunch today. I'm not worried. If there is a wife judging contest tomorrow at lunch, John will definitely be in the running.