She also has been waking up at 6:30. Definitely not ready for this. Can she please go back to sleeping longer? I've been so spoiled.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sleep Longer, Please
Lately, R has consistently shortened her nap times from 2-3 hours, to just one hour. I'm not ready for this change.
She also has been waking up at 6:30. Definitely not ready for this. Can she please go back to sleeping longer? I've been so spoiled.
She also has been waking up at 6:30. Definitely not ready for this. Can she please go back to sleeping longer? I've been so spoiled.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Live-Blogging Potty Training, Day 2
I didn't think I would blog again today, but Senpai mentioned how he liked visiting the page and being kept abreast of our day while he was work. Here we are again, keeping Daddy and the blogosphere informed of our progress.
8 am - Today has not started so well as yesterday. R woke up at 6. I refuse to get out of bed until 7. She sat on the big potty when we finally came downstairs to start the day, but nothing happened because she had already gone in her diaper, understandably. I put her in a new diaper while she ate breakfast, and now I can't get it off of her. She didn't want her post-meal potty time, and she won't hold still to let me put panties on her. She's started playing with blocks... I think now is my opportunity to do the switch.
9 am - She just peed a little bit in the travel potty. I had given her some juice, so I'm still waiting for the rest of the pee.
10:15 am - More pee (and a goldfish!) in the travel potty while she watches "Peep's Big Wide World." No accidents yet today. I'm turning off the tv.
10:20 am - She just wet herself next to the slide. There's nothing like the slide to get this girl peeing. I'm tempted to put a puppy mat in front of it. :-p Based on yesterday and today's happenings, tomorrow I will start to implement a mandatory 10 am big potty break. While the travel potty is nice, she doesn't fully relieve herself on it.
11:06 am - I had sat her on the big potty from 10:40 to 11:05 in the hopes of getting her to poop, but no such luck.
1 PM - She's down for her nap now. I had put her on the potty for 5 minutes just before lunch to see if she would get everything out of her system before wetting herself in the high chair, but she didn't go, so guess what happened on the high chair. Sitting on the potty after lunch she didn't do anything either. We're still waiting for poop today. Two accidents in this first round.
I'm well aware that right now this whole potty training adventure seems to be more about training me than her. I'm holding on to the moment yesterday when she stopped watching Winnie the Pooh (!!!) to let me know to take her to the big potty. And then she peed. It was beautiful. I need more moments like that. Tell me you have to go, Sweetie, hold it until you get on a potty. That's all I'm asking. These are the things that will come with time. For now I have to keep an eagle eye on her, and I will admit, it's getting boring. I'm really curious to see where we'll be by the end of the week.
3 pm - I need lots of calm and strength right now. She woke up early from her nap. I took her to the potty, nothing happened, and she was in a sour mood. I took her back upstairs to finish her nap. She isn't looking like she's going to fall back to sleep and that has both of us feeling crabby. I'm not sure how to continue from here.
9 pm - Are you wondering, "What happened to the rest of the day?" Haha, it was rough. I needed to get out of the house before I had a Mommy Meltdown (in capital letters, because it was baaaad), so I threw a diaper on R and we went to Target. I strapped her into her stroller, got myself a Frappuccino, and met up with Senpai who stopped by on his way home from work. Sigh, much better. We went home, abandoned potty training for the rest of the day, cooked our usual Tuesday dinner of frozen pizza, then I went off to bellydance class. When I came home, R was in bed as she should've been, catching up on some much needed sleep.
It was the short nap that killed the afternoon. Usually she sleeps for 2-3, sometimes even 4 hours during her afternoon nap. For her to wake up after only 1 hour today, after going to bed late last night and waking up early this morning... it was just bad. Her mood was horrible, and in my trying to "fix" her mood by forcing her to go back to sleep, but she wasn't having it, which pissed me off... oh, it was bad. When I find myself taking away her beloved Pooh doll and saying, "You don't deserve Pooh!" I know something has gone horribly wrong. Potty training had to be abandoned because neither of us could handle it as frazzled as we were.
Do I try again tomorrow? Senpai says no. I think I need to relax the standards a bit... use more diapers throughout the day, and just toss on training pants at certain times, as opposed to trying to keep her in training pants for all of her waking hours. The reason I started this potty training adventure was because R had been fighting both the potty and diapers. I wanted to switch things up for her to try something new. Come to think of it, this afternoon she was fighting both the potty and diapers again, but that could be from the tiredness.
She just woke up screaming... I wonder if she's teething? Ahh, babies. We'll never figure them out.
8 am - Today has not started so well as yesterday. R woke up at 6. I refuse to get out of bed until 7. She sat on the big potty when we finally came downstairs to start the day, but nothing happened because she had already gone in her diaper, understandably. I put her in a new diaper while she ate breakfast, and now I can't get it off of her. She didn't want her post-meal potty time, and she won't hold still to let me put panties on her. She's started playing with blocks... I think now is my opportunity to do the switch.
9 am - She just peed a little bit in the travel potty. I had given her some juice, so I'm still waiting for the rest of the pee.
10:15 am - More pee (and a goldfish!) in the travel potty while she watches "Peep's Big Wide World." No accidents yet today. I'm turning off the tv.
10:20 am - She just wet herself next to the slide. There's nothing like the slide to get this girl peeing. I'm tempted to put a puppy mat in front of it. :-p Based on yesterday and today's happenings, tomorrow I will start to implement a mandatory 10 am big potty break. While the travel potty is nice, she doesn't fully relieve herself on it.
11:06 am - I had sat her on the big potty from 10:40 to 11:05 in the hopes of getting her to poop, but no such luck.
1 PM - She's down for her nap now. I had put her on the potty for 5 minutes just before lunch to see if she would get everything out of her system before wetting herself in the high chair, but she didn't go, so guess what happened on the high chair. Sitting on the potty after lunch she didn't do anything either. We're still waiting for poop today. Two accidents in this first round.
I'm well aware that right now this whole potty training adventure seems to be more about training me than her. I'm holding on to the moment yesterday when she stopped watching Winnie the Pooh (!!!) to let me know to take her to the big potty. And then she peed. It was beautiful. I need more moments like that. Tell me you have to go, Sweetie, hold it until you get on a potty. That's all I'm asking. These are the things that will come with time. For now I have to keep an eagle eye on her, and I will admit, it's getting boring. I'm really curious to see where we'll be by the end of the week.
3 pm - I need lots of calm and strength right now. She woke up early from her nap. I took her to the potty, nothing happened, and she was in a sour mood. I took her back upstairs to finish her nap. She isn't looking like she's going to fall back to sleep and that has both of us feeling crabby. I'm not sure how to continue from here.
9 pm - Are you wondering, "What happened to the rest of the day?" Haha, it was rough. I needed to get out of the house before I had a Mommy Meltdown (in capital letters, because it was baaaad), so I threw a diaper on R and we went to Target. I strapped her into her stroller, got myself a Frappuccino, and met up with Senpai who stopped by on his way home from work. Sigh, much better. We went home, abandoned potty training for the rest of the day, cooked our usual Tuesday dinner of frozen pizza, then I went off to bellydance class. When I came home, R was in bed as she should've been, catching up on some much needed sleep.
It was the short nap that killed the afternoon. Usually she sleeps for 2-3, sometimes even 4 hours during her afternoon nap. For her to wake up after only 1 hour today, after going to bed late last night and waking up early this morning... it was just bad. Her mood was horrible, and in my trying to "fix" her mood by forcing her to go back to sleep, but she wasn't having it, which pissed me off... oh, it was bad. When I find myself taking away her beloved Pooh doll and saying, "You don't deserve Pooh!" I know something has gone horribly wrong. Potty training had to be abandoned because neither of us could handle it as frazzled as we were.
Do I try again tomorrow? Senpai says no. I think I need to relax the standards a bit... use more diapers throughout the day, and just toss on training pants at certain times, as opposed to trying to keep her in training pants for all of her waking hours. The reason I started this potty training adventure was because R had been fighting both the potty and diapers. I wanted to switch things up for her to try something new. Come to think of it, this afternoon she was fighting both the potty and diapers again, but that could be from the tiredness.
She just woke up screaming... I wonder if she's teething? Ahh, babies. We'll never figure them out.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Live-blogging Potty Training
Yes, I am live-blogging potty training. Why? Because R and I are stuck at home, and I am nowhere near as interested in R's toys as she is. Right now she is sitting on her "My Carry Potty" while drinking juice and watching Sesame Street. Thank you, Elmo.
Today is the day when I'm ready to crack down on removing the safety and security that comes with diapers. She knows full well how to use the potty-- she's been doing it since he was 12 months old-- but she still pees in her diapers, because they're there. It's time for me to stop relying on the diapers, as well. I bought three packs of Gerber Training Pants, and I am ready to take her all the way to diaper independence. (Psyching myself up, lol!)
She has worn the training pants for limited occasions on two previous days. Those days involved accidents, but this morning has gone well so far. R woke up well rested. I brewed a large pot of coffee. We're all good. ^_^ The first thing we do in the morning is sit R on the big potty. Usually she won't pee then because she'd already gone in her nighttime diaper, but not today! So we started off strong with a morning pee. I put her in a diaper for her to eat breakfast, but the diaper was dry, so I think I'll stick with training pants during lunch. She peed on her carry potty around 9:30 while watching Sesame Street. Now I'm waiting for the juice to work its magic. As of 10 am we are accident-free.
10:11 am - More pee in the travel potty. She's eating her goldfish and watching "Peep's Big Wide World." I feel bad for her little butt to be sitting on that hard seat for such an extended period of time, but she's interested in watching the tv shows, and I don't feel comfortable with her sitting diaper-less on the couch or carpet yet. When she's playing with her toys on the wood floor I just keep her in the training pants with the potty nearby.
10:30 am - She stood up from her potty, and stood next to her slide still transfixed on the tv. She peed on the floor. Note to self: turn off tv if she isn't sitting on the potty.
10:40 am - Massive deluge on the slide. I should've taken the little dribble before as a sign to take her to the big potty, especially after she drank all of that juice. I tried putting her on the travel potty right then but she wouldn't go for it. She's sitting on the big potty now. I'm not expecting there to be any more pee left. We're going to hop in the shower now.
11:14 am - Here is where I start getting frustrated. We got out of the shower, I had just put new panties on her and sat her down in front of some toys so I could get dressed... and she had another big pee. I mean, where did it even come from? Patience, Mommy, patience. She is on the big potty again and she will stay there until pee or poop goes into it.
11:45 am - We read books and she peed on the big potty at 11:35. I asked her if she wanted to flush and get down, but instead she wanted to read another book. Ten minutes later she pooped on the big potty. Now she's playing, and I've got to get lunch ready before she wets another training panty. We're down three from the morning, six more to go.
12:35 pm - Her panties were dry when I put her on the high chair for lunch. After she finished eating they were wet. It would have a been a pleasant surprise if they had stayed dry, but I wasn't expecting it. I set her on the big potty again for the post-meal standard potty break and nothing came out, no surprise there. She is down for her nap now wearing a diaper. The shirt I had put on her this morning stayed clean through all of the accidents, but I had to change her into a new shirt anyway because I forgot to give her a bib with lunch. Oh well. Time for me to clean, bake a pumpkin pie, and try to relax. I need to regain my calm and composure for round two when she wakes up.
3:20 pm - Round 2! She woke up at 3:00 with a wet diaper. She sat on the big potty but didn't have any deposits. Now she's sitting on the travel potty watching her favorite movie ever, Winnie the Pooh. At the moment I feel like sitting on the potty while watching tv is good for her, because it reinforces the rule that pee only goes in the potty, not diapers (or training pants). Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to move away from so much tv time.
4:30 pm - R took a break from sitting on the travel potty watching Pooh so that she could get on the big potty to pee. I had given her juice at 4, so it was time for it. Now the question... she wants to finish the movie, but she just peed... do I put her back on the travel potty? Or let her watch the movie without any sort of plastic protection? I know what the answer is, but I don't like it. No one said potty training would be fun.
4:50 pm - Since the issue of "plastic protection" was what was bothering me, I sat her on a plastic bag on the couch. I'm sure she appreciates the soft cushion under her butt! Still dry.
6:30 pm - She's in a diaper now. She had peed a little on the potty before dinner, but then after dinner we pulled her off her high chair sopping wet. I put her on the potty again and she wanted down before she had done anything, and she also wouldn't let me put a new panty on her. So diaper it is.
There's only an hour left to her day before we put her down for the night, and she's in a diaper, so that's the end of today's potty training. R is doing really great. She was very cooperative for the most part. The morning was a little rough, but, aside from wetting herself during dinner, there weren't any afternoon accidents, mostly because she signaled to me when she had to go. I see that as great progress!
I don't know if I'll live-blog tomorrow. Now that we've started potty training it will be an ongoing endeavor. My hope is to solely focus on it this week, with few, if any, trips ventured out of the house. We'll see how we hold up.
Today is the day when I'm ready to crack down on removing the safety and security that comes with diapers. She knows full well how to use the potty-- she's been doing it since he was 12 months old-- but she still pees in her diapers, because they're there. It's time for me to stop relying on the diapers, as well. I bought three packs of Gerber Training Pants, and I am ready to take her all the way to diaper independence. (Psyching myself up, lol!)
She has worn the training pants for limited occasions on two previous days. Those days involved accidents, but this morning has gone well so far. R woke up well rested. I brewed a large pot of coffee. We're all good. ^_^ The first thing we do in the morning is sit R on the big potty. Usually she won't pee then because she'd already gone in her nighttime diaper, but not today! So we started off strong with a morning pee. I put her in a diaper for her to eat breakfast, but the diaper was dry, so I think I'll stick with training pants during lunch. She peed on her carry potty around 9:30 while watching Sesame Street. Now I'm waiting for the juice to work its magic. As of 10 am we are accident-free.
10:11 am - More pee in the travel potty. She's eating her goldfish and watching "Peep's Big Wide World." I feel bad for her little butt to be sitting on that hard seat for such an extended period of time, but she's interested in watching the tv shows, and I don't feel comfortable with her sitting diaper-less on the couch or carpet yet. When she's playing with her toys on the wood floor I just keep her in the training pants with the potty nearby.
10:30 am - She stood up from her potty, and stood next to her slide still transfixed on the tv. She peed on the floor. Note to self: turn off tv if she isn't sitting on the potty.
10:40 am - Massive deluge on the slide. I should've taken the little dribble before as a sign to take her to the big potty, especially after she drank all of that juice. I tried putting her on the travel potty right then but she wouldn't go for it. She's sitting on the big potty now. I'm not expecting there to be any more pee left. We're going to hop in the shower now.
11:14 am - Here is where I start getting frustrated. We got out of the shower, I had just put new panties on her and sat her down in front of some toys so I could get dressed... and she had another big pee. I mean, where did it even come from? Patience, Mommy, patience. She is on the big potty again and she will stay there until pee or poop goes into it.
11:45 am - We read books and she peed on the big potty at 11:35. I asked her if she wanted to flush and get down, but instead she wanted to read another book. Ten minutes later she pooped on the big potty. Now she's playing, and I've got to get lunch ready before she wets another training panty. We're down three from the morning, six more to go.
12:35 pm - Her panties were dry when I put her on the high chair for lunch. After she finished eating they were wet. It would have a been a pleasant surprise if they had stayed dry, but I wasn't expecting it. I set her on the big potty again for the post-meal standard potty break and nothing came out, no surprise there. She is down for her nap now wearing a diaper. The shirt I had put on her this morning stayed clean through all of the accidents, but I had to change her into a new shirt anyway because I forgot to give her a bib with lunch. Oh well. Time for me to clean, bake a pumpkin pie, and try to relax. I need to regain my calm and composure for round two when she wakes up.
3:20 pm - Round 2! She woke up at 3:00 with a wet diaper. She sat on the big potty but didn't have any deposits. Now she's sitting on the travel potty watching her favorite movie ever, Winnie the Pooh. At the moment I feel like sitting on the potty while watching tv is good for her, because it reinforces the rule that pee only goes in the potty, not diapers (or training pants). Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to move away from so much tv time.
4:30 pm - R took a break from sitting on the travel potty watching Pooh so that she could get on the big potty to pee. I had given her juice at 4, so it was time for it. Now the question... she wants to finish the movie, but she just peed... do I put her back on the travel potty? Or let her watch the movie without any sort of plastic protection? I know what the answer is, but I don't like it. No one said potty training would be fun.
4:50 pm - Since the issue of "plastic protection" was what was bothering me, I sat her on a plastic bag on the couch. I'm sure she appreciates the soft cushion under her butt! Still dry.
6:30 pm - She's in a diaper now. She had peed a little on the potty before dinner, but then after dinner we pulled her off her high chair sopping wet. I put her on the potty again and she wanted down before she had done anything, and she also wouldn't let me put a new panty on her. So diaper it is.
There's only an hour left to her day before we put her down for the night, and she's in a diaper, so that's the end of today's potty training. R is doing really great. She was very cooperative for the most part. The morning was a little rough, but, aside from wetting herself during dinner, there weren't any afternoon accidents, mostly because she signaled to me when she had to go. I see that as great progress!
I don't know if I'll live-blog tomorrow. Now that we've started potty training it will be an ongoing endeavor. My hope is to solely focus on it this week, with few, if any, trips ventured out of the house. We'll see how we hold up.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
New Orthotics
R got new braces.
These ones are three separate pieces EACH (as if one would be different from the other, lol), and I am so paranoid of losing a piece, though that fear has already subsided since she first got them a week or so ago. There is a plastic shell that goes over her foot, a little foam piece that fits over the top of her foot for padding, and then the leg cast that fits over the foot shell and fastens it all together. It's the foam pieces that kill me because they're so easy to potentially lose. I did lose one on a day when I was in a rush to get us out the door for some reason, probably Storytime. I had put the brace and shoe on one foot, then found myself looking high and low in search of that missing piece. Eventually I suspected that it may have been inside the one shoe that was already on her foot, and, sure enough, that's where it was.
It's awesome that they still fit her old shoes.
Before the new orthotics had been completed, we had to stop using the old ones because they had become way too tight; we aren't up for foot-binding around here. We figured that what we could do in the meantime was buy R a pair of sturdy boots. I had to download photos from my phone to find pics of her actually wearing the boots.
Here she is modeling her boots on the carousel at the zoo.
And here she's on a tire swing fashioned into a horse. Ride 'em, Cowgirl!
Even though we have the new orthotics now, the boots still get some use. We're heading into potty training territory (more to be said in a later post), and orthotics and pee just do not mix. Boots and pee don't mix either, but when we need to take her outside for a minute after she's been walking around the house barefoot, the boots are quicker and easier (they have zippers!) to slap on than six total pieces of orthotic and laced shoes on top of that.
Whew! Well, I was able to pop out three posts tonight. Stay tuned (at a later date!) for more posts about friends, potty training, pumpkins, and overall Halloween goodness. Yeah, I'm really behind. :-p
These ones are three separate pieces EACH (as if one would be different from the other, lol), and I am so paranoid of losing a piece, though that fear has already subsided since she first got them a week or so ago. There is a plastic shell that goes over her foot, a little foam piece that fits over the top of her foot for padding, and then the leg cast that fits over the foot shell and fastens it all together. It's the foam pieces that kill me because they're so easy to potentially lose. I did lose one on a day when I was in a rush to get us out the door for some reason, probably Storytime. I had put the brace and shoe on one foot, then found myself looking high and low in search of that missing piece. Eventually I suspected that it may have been inside the one shoe that was already on her foot, and, sure enough, that's where it was.
It's awesome that they still fit her old shoes.
Before the new orthotics had been completed, we had to stop using the old ones because they had become way too tight; we aren't up for foot-binding around here. We figured that what we could do in the meantime was buy R a pair of sturdy boots. I had to download photos from my phone to find pics of her actually wearing the boots.
Here she is modeling her boots on the carousel at the zoo.
And here she's on a tire swing fashioned into a horse. Ride 'em, Cowgirl!
Even though we have the new orthotics now, the boots still get some use. We're heading into potty training territory (more to be said in a later post), and orthotics and pee just do not mix. Boots and pee don't mix either, but when we need to take her outside for a minute after she's been walking around the house barefoot, the boots are quicker and easier (they have zippers!) to slap on than six total pieces of orthotic and laced shoes on top of that.
Whew! Well, I was able to pop out three posts tonight. Stay tuned (at a later date!) for more posts about friends, potty training, pumpkins, and overall Halloween goodness. Yeah, I'm really behind. :-p
Big Girl Bed
R started attempting to scale her crib, and we knew it was time to give her a big girl bed. Thankfully, with modern crib designs, it was easy enough to take the front rail off and, voila!, instant toddler bed. R will show you how it's done.
"No, Daddy, start over here."
She was a great supervisor, helping out by holding onto screws.
She even thought outside the box.
Checking out the mattress.
Just don't try to take her screws.
Here's the finished bed!
And here's the Cupcake and Pooh, thoroughly enjoying it.
"No, Daddy, start over here."
She was a great supervisor, helping out by holding onto screws.
She even thought outside the box.
Checking out the mattress.
Just don't try to take her screws.
Here's the finished bed!
And here's the Cupcake and Pooh, thoroughly enjoying it.
Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! It's Time to Dance!
I just did a massive photo upload from multiple picture-taking devices, and all I have to say is, "Fuu...." because there are so many blog posts in all of these pictures. Oh man, where to start?
Umm, okay, Yo Gabba Gabba. I had said in a placeholder post that I would write more about it.
R has a new babysitter. Senpai and I were getting ready to go out for my birthday dinner at the end of August when our wonderful sitter mentioned the "Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! It's Time to Dance!" show that was coming up mid-September. We bought tickets right then.
This picture was at the beginning of the show, as you can tell from Pooh's proximity to R. Not too far into the show she had tossed Pooh aside and would not take him back, as if saying Pooh has no place at a Yo Gabba Gabba concert. The glasses I'm wearing were made of paperboard and distributed to all the guests, DJ Lance Rock style. (Interesting factoid- Lance Robertson, aka DJ Lance Rock, is from St. Louis. I was waiting for him to say something along the lines of it's great to be back or whatever, but instead he mentioned his home in LA. :-p)
Baby's mind is blown.
Daddy's mind is blown.
Dancing with Daddy in the aisle.
I took this video with my cell phone camera. The sound quality is horrible as it was way too loud for my phone to handle. Watching this makes me even more regretful that we did not have earplugs for R. Lesson learned for the next character event (Toy Story on Ice?), but I don't anticipate doing anything like this again anytime soon. I took the video to capture R clapping. She was too overwhelmed by everything to respond in any way through most of the show, but here, right at the end, she clapped. ^_^
Umm, okay, Yo Gabba Gabba. I had said in a placeholder post that I would write more about it.
R has a new babysitter. Senpai and I were getting ready to go out for my birthday dinner at the end of August when our wonderful sitter mentioned the "Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! It's Time to Dance!" show that was coming up mid-September. We bought tickets right then.
This picture was at the beginning of the show, as you can tell from Pooh's proximity to R. Not too far into the show she had tossed Pooh aside and would not take him back, as if saying Pooh has no place at a Yo Gabba Gabba concert. The glasses I'm wearing were made of paperboard and distributed to all the guests, DJ Lance Rock style. (Interesting factoid- Lance Robertson, aka DJ Lance Rock, is from St. Louis. I was waiting for him to say something along the lines of it's great to be back or whatever, but instead he mentioned his home in LA. :-p)
Baby's mind is blown.
Daddy's mind is blown.
Dancing with Daddy in the aisle.
I took this video with my cell phone camera. The sound quality is horrible as it was way too loud for my phone to handle. Watching this makes me even more regretful that we did not have earplugs for R. Lesson learned for the next character event (Toy Story on Ice?), but I don't anticipate doing anything like this again anytime soon. I took the video to capture R clapping. She was too overwhelmed by everything to respond in any way through most of the show, but here, right at the end, she clapped. ^_^
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Too far away
Tonight is a night when it's hard to be so far away from my family. I was going to say, "far away from home," but my home is here. The family I made, the house we bought, this is my home for now. My original "home," the house where I grew up in Maryland, has long since been replaced by new digs in Florida; my Mom and Dad, and Brother and his family all moved South when I went West.
I called Mom tonight because R has been feverish. She's had one or two fevers from teething before, but they always went away after administering ibuprofen. This is different. She woke up at 3 am last night, screaming bloody murder. I put teething gel on her gums before I noticed how hot she was: 100º. I gave her ibuprofen and held and rocked her for a half hour. She still felt hot so I took her socks off. Another temperature reading gave 101º. Crap, it's going up. I took her pj's off and held and rocked her naked self for another half hour. Still 101º. At this point I took her to the bathroom to give her a lukewarm bath with a cool washcloth on the back of her neck. She enjoyed playing in the tub. I took her out of the bath when the flush in her cheeks went away. It was 5 am. The readings after that came up as 101º, 98º, and 98º. I kept checking because she FELT cooler, so how could she still be 101º?? (It was a temple thermometer by ReliOn. I have since thrown it away because it is so unreliable.) Senpai was awake for work at that point, and he told me I should try to get back to bed. I tried, but she never fell back to sleep. I would calm her down, go back to my room, slide under the covers, and as soon as I got warmed up she would start crying again. That continued until 6:20 when I gave up and lied down on her carpet. She was walking all around the room, stepping over me, and making disgruntled noises. I admitted it was time to start the day at 7. Neither of us had gotten any sleep since she first woke up at 3.
Her temperature throughout the day was on the warm side but not feverish. I kept her in her pi's, I was still in my robe, and we spent the morning watching Winnie the Pooh. Time was moving so slowly. I was desperately hoping for the clock to strike 11. That's when I would make an early lunch and haul us both off to bed, but I couldn't wait; started making lunch at 10:30. She barely touched her food and only ate spoonful upon spoonful of beef broth. After the post-lunch potty routine I took her upstairs only to have her scream and refuse to get in her bed. I was beyond tired, having a hard time not nodding off myself, so I took her to bed with me. That never happens. She had slept in our bed when she was a newborn, but since she's become more aware of her surroundings, getting into Mommy and Daddy's bed means fun for her, she gets instantly wired. So I took her to my bed not having any idea if she would actually fall asleep, but I was hoping she would just play quietly enough for me to sleep. I sat on the bed and rocked her in my arms first as she was still quite upset from me trying to put her in her bed. When she calmed down enough, I laid us down together and curled around her. Her head on my arm, she fell asleep almost instantly. I followed not too far behind her. She woke up crying after a half hour. I calmed her down and we went back to sleep. She woke up after another half hour. This time I notice she's wiping her nose and having trouble breathing. I give her some Benedryl which puts her out for a heavenly two hours straight.
After nap time she was clingy and lethargic. Both of us were lethargic, actually. She didn't eat her dinner until I made Cup-a-Soup, which Daddy lovingly spoon fed to her. She looked beyond tired. I checked her temperature and it was back up to 101º. I gave Senpai explicit directions as I had to leave to go to bellydance class. I was worried the whole class. When I came home, Senpai confirmed that he had followed my directions. I went upstairs to check on R who was fast asleep, and was scared to see that her temperature had not gone down. I immediately called my Mom. R was asleep, and I didn't want to have to wake her to give her a cool bath, so I really wanted to know if it'd be okay for her to continue to sleep through the fever. Mom's reaction was, "Call the nurse line. And call your brother; something difficult for him happened last night."
I was calling the nurse line when Senpai went upstairs with a different thermometer, and it came up with a temperature of 97.6º for R. I was so relieved. I checked with another thermometer, got the same result, and that's when I threw the ReliOn one away. Not reliable at all. Senpai had angled her mattress to make it easier for her to breath, she does not have a fever now and is sleeping soundly, so after I cleared things up with the nurse I hung up and called my brother.
That phone call made me wish I was right there in the same room with him, giving him a huge, squishy hug. The feeling hasn't left yet. I am too far away to help him the way I'd like. It aches... the place in my heart where I hold him dear. We were so close as kids. We grew apart as we grew up, both through interaction and distance, and I don't regret that; it's just how it goes. The love was always still there. Now that he's going through this hardship, though, the distance feels like a million miles. And I know that if I were to hop on a plane sometime soon, tomorrow even, it would be too late. Right now. Scotty, beam me South. I'm too far away.
I called Mom tonight because R has been feverish. She's had one or two fevers from teething before, but they always went away after administering ibuprofen. This is different. She woke up at 3 am last night, screaming bloody murder. I put teething gel on her gums before I noticed how hot she was: 100º. I gave her ibuprofen and held and rocked her for a half hour. She still felt hot so I took her socks off. Another temperature reading gave 101º. Crap, it's going up. I took her pj's off and held and rocked her naked self for another half hour. Still 101º. At this point I took her to the bathroom to give her a lukewarm bath with a cool washcloth on the back of her neck. She enjoyed playing in the tub. I took her out of the bath when the flush in her cheeks went away. It was 5 am. The readings after that came up as 101º, 98º, and 98º. I kept checking because she FELT cooler, so how could she still be 101º?? (It was a temple thermometer by ReliOn. I have since thrown it away because it is so unreliable.) Senpai was awake for work at that point, and he told me I should try to get back to bed. I tried, but she never fell back to sleep. I would calm her down, go back to my room, slide under the covers, and as soon as I got warmed up she would start crying again. That continued until 6:20 when I gave up and lied down on her carpet. She was walking all around the room, stepping over me, and making disgruntled noises. I admitted it was time to start the day at 7. Neither of us had gotten any sleep since she first woke up at 3.
Her temperature throughout the day was on the warm side but not feverish. I kept her in her pi's, I was still in my robe, and we spent the morning watching Winnie the Pooh. Time was moving so slowly. I was desperately hoping for the clock to strike 11. That's when I would make an early lunch and haul us both off to bed, but I couldn't wait; started making lunch at 10:30. She barely touched her food and only ate spoonful upon spoonful of beef broth. After the post-lunch potty routine I took her upstairs only to have her scream and refuse to get in her bed. I was beyond tired, having a hard time not nodding off myself, so I took her to bed with me. That never happens. She had slept in our bed when she was a newborn, but since she's become more aware of her surroundings, getting into Mommy and Daddy's bed means fun for her, she gets instantly wired. So I took her to my bed not having any idea if she would actually fall asleep, but I was hoping she would just play quietly enough for me to sleep. I sat on the bed and rocked her in my arms first as she was still quite upset from me trying to put her in her bed. When she calmed down enough, I laid us down together and curled around her. Her head on my arm, she fell asleep almost instantly. I followed not too far behind her. She woke up crying after a half hour. I calmed her down and we went back to sleep. She woke up after another half hour. This time I notice she's wiping her nose and having trouble breathing. I give her some Benedryl which puts her out for a heavenly two hours straight.
After nap time she was clingy and lethargic. Both of us were lethargic, actually. She didn't eat her dinner until I made Cup-a-Soup, which Daddy lovingly spoon fed to her. She looked beyond tired. I checked her temperature and it was back up to 101º. I gave Senpai explicit directions as I had to leave to go to bellydance class. I was worried the whole class. When I came home, Senpai confirmed that he had followed my directions. I went upstairs to check on R who was fast asleep, and was scared to see that her temperature had not gone down. I immediately called my Mom. R was asleep, and I didn't want to have to wake her to give her a cool bath, so I really wanted to know if it'd be okay for her to continue to sleep through the fever. Mom's reaction was, "Call the nurse line. And call your brother; something difficult for him happened last night."
I was calling the nurse line when Senpai went upstairs with a different thermometer, and it came up with a temperature of 97.6º for R. I was so relieved. I checked with another thermometer, got the same result, and that's when I threw the ReliOn one away. Not reliable at all. Senpai had angled her mattress to make it easier for her to breath, she does not have a fever now and is sleeping soundly, so after I cleared things up with the nurse I hung up and called my brother.
That phone call made me wish I was right there in the same room with him, giving him a huge, squishy hug. The feeling hasn't left yet. I am too far away to help him the way I'd like. It aches... the place in my heart where I hold him dear. We were so close as kids. We grew apart as we grew up, both through interaction and distance, and I don't regret that; it's just how it goes. The love was always still there. Now that he's going through this hardship, though, the distance feels like a million miles. And I know that if I were to hop on a plane sometime soon, tomorrow even, it would be too late. Right now. Scotty, beam me South. I'm too far away.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Murakami Fanatic
I get it now.
I'm almost finished reading "Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami for the second time, and I like it better now than I did when I first read it. I got to thinking, This story reminds me of "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World," which is my favorite Murakami book, so why would I not like "Kafka on the Shore"? The only explanation I could come up with is that I had read "Kafka" before "Hard-Boiled Wonderland," which is exactly what happened.
I had the habit, not too long ago, of writing my name and the purchase date in every new book I acquired. There really was no reason behind it except for sentimentality upon reopening a book years down the line. I did that from my late teens until two years ago, when I made some bad purchases and was extremely sorry to have written my name inside these books that I did not want to keep. So I don't do it anymore. But I am glad that my Murakami books have been dated, because it proved my theory. Here's my list of Murakami books, arranged chronologically:
A Wild Sheep Chase 10/1/2003
Dance Dance Dance 5/2004
The Elephant Vanishes 11/21/2004
Kafka on the Shore 4/25/2005
After the Quake 5/4/2005
Sputnik Sweetheart 5/4/2005
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World 6/25/2007
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle 8/11/2007
After Dark 5/13/2008
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman 7/26/2008
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running 8/31/2008
I was caught off guard looking inside the cover of "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle." First, it was the first Murakami book I had ever read, by order of a college Literature teacher, so why was it labeled 2007, years after I had been in college? And second, why did it have my husband's initials, in his own handwriting, as opposed to my name written by my hand? Then I remembered: I had spent hours reading that book in the college library back in the day, because I had trouble finding money to eat, much less for buying books for a literature class. I had recommended the book to Senpai as an interesting read years later, and that's when HE purchased it and respectfully followed my silly OCD labeling conventions.
I am also reminded, looking back now, of how "Sputnik Sweetheart" became one of the many forces that helped me to finally break up with a boyfriend that I should not have spent so much time with. That whole year, I kept hearing an alarm going off in my head, actually sounding like an alarm clock, and I would repeatedly look at my cell phone, wondering if it was ringing. My head telling me to "Wake up!" I also had a very disturbing image of a bug being caught in a scabbed-up wound on my finger, and would stare at my finger, making sure it wasn't really there. Talk about "getting under one's skin." Finally, there was "Sputnik Sweetheart." A story that, when finished, left me feeling like something was missing. The happy ending, perhaps? The love that remained unrequited? I am glad the pieces all fell together and I took leave right when I needed to.
Getting back to the list, it appears I bought 2-3 books every year until I had caught up with his newest release. I do check the store every once in awhile to see if there's another one that I've missed. I just looked at his website. I'm missing "Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche," "South of the Border, West of the Sun," "Vintage Murakami," and "Norwegian Wood." The newest novel is "IQ84" to be released October 25th. I think I've found my next book purchases.
I'm almost finished reading "Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami for the second time, and I like it better now than I did when I first read it. I got to thinking, This story reminds me of "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World," which is my favorite Murakami book, so why would I not like "Kafka on the Shore"? The only explanation I could come up with is that I had read "Kafka" before "Hard-Boiled Wonderland," which is exactly what happened.
I had the habit, not too long ago, of writing my name and the purchase date in every new book I acquired. There really was no reason behind it except for sentimentality upon reopening a book years down the line. I did that from my late teens until two years ago, when I made some bad purchases and was extremely sorry to have written my name inside these books that I did not want to keep. So I don't do it anymore. But I am glad that my Murakami books have been dated, because it proved my theory. Here's my list of Murakami books, arranged chronologically:
A Wild Sheep Chase 10/1/2003
Dance Dance Dance 5/2004
The Elephant Vanishes 11/21/2004
Kafka on the Shore 4/25/2005
After the Quake 5/4/2005
Sputnik Sweetheart 5/4/2005
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World 6/25/2007
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle 8/11/2007
After Dark 5/13/2008
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman 7/26/2008
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running 8/31/2008
I was caught off guard looking inside the cover of "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle." First, it was the first Murakami book I had ever read, by order of a college Literature teacher, so why was it labeled 2007, years after I had been in college? And second, why did it have my husband's initials, in his own handwriting, as opposed to my name written by my hand? Then I remembered: I had spent hours reading that book in the college library back in the day, because I had trouble finding money to eat, much less for buying books for a literature class. I had recommended the book to Senpai as an interesting read years later, and that's when HE purchased it and respectfully followed my silly OCD labeling conventions.
I am also reminded, looking back now, of how "Sputnik Sweetheart" became one of the many forces that helped me to finally break up with a boyfriend that I should not have spent so much time with. That whole year, I kept hearing an alarm going off in my head, actually sounding like an alarm clock, and I would repeatedly look at my cell phone, wondering if it was ringing. My head telling me to "Wake up!" I also had a very disturbing image of a bug being caught in a scabbed-up wound on my finger, and would stare at my finger, making sure it wasn't really there. Talk about "getting under one's skin." Finally, there was "Sputnik Sweetheart." A story that, when finished, left me feeling like something was missing. The happy ending, perhaps? The love that remained unrequited? I am glad the pieces all fell together and I took leave right when I needed to.
Getting back to the list, it appears I bought 2-3 books every year until I had caught up with his newest release. I do check the store every once in awhile to see if there's another one that I've missed. I just looked at his website. I'm missing "Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche," "South of the Border, West of the Sun," "Vintage Murakami," and "Norwegian Wood." The newest novel is "IQ84" to be released October 25th. I think I've found my next book purchases.
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