I apparently have been too busy the the last nearly 3 years to keep up with this. Let’s try again.
My fear that my children would adore one another any less was completely unfounded. At ages 6 and nearly 4, they are the very best of friends.
Hoping I remember how to post on this…stay tuned.
I was fortunate enough to be a “test reader” on a wonderful, new book titled, 168 Hours – You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam. I am a voracious, but picky reader and in order for me to spend time reading something, it better be worth it. This book was worth every minute. It is well-organized, and smartly written with practical tips and tools to make the most of the time you have.
A common complaint of many people, especially parents (whether they work outside the home or not) is, “I wish I had time to do_____.” Laura’s thesis is you can fit everything in and still have time to sleep 8 hours per night. That’s right, you can work, play, sleep, volunteer, spend time with your family, learn a new language, etc. in the 168 hours you have each week. You just need to stop spending time on unproductive, unimportant tasks.
We took a trip to visit friends in Maryland (just outside of DC) for the weekend. On Sunday morning, I took our three year old daughter and 11 month old son out in the stroller to go see a dear friend. It was quiet and there was no one visible as we started walking up the sidewalk. Our three year old starts screaming, “Where are all the people? Where have the people gone? Mommy, it’s wrong!” It occurred to me that growing up in Manhattan, she has always had the noise and crush of people around at all hours of the day and night. The quiet and absence of human beings was highly disruptive to her. We travel a great deal with our children, but I suppose there haven’t been many moments when we were the only people around.
I am a big fan of putting your baby to sleep in their own room as soon as possible. For our first child, this meant napping in her room at 7 weeks and napping and sleeping nightly in her room by 10 weeks. She slept 10 hours per night basically from birth (from 3 days old), and so this feat was an easy one. Our son, however, was in our room for 10 months. Yes, for those 10 long months, we had to tip toe around our room so we wouldn’t wake our dear baby who is the lightest sleeper ever.
It took about 9 months for him to reliably sleep long enough (6:30pm-8:00am) that he wouldn’t wake up our 3 year-old daughter if they shared a room. So on Wednesday, March 31, 2010. My daughter’s room became “The Nursery”. I got her involved in the furniture rearranging and she decided it was like the nursery in Peter Pan and that is how the room got renamed. Four nights in and we all are sleeping extremely well. Makes me wonder why I didn’t do it sooner.
French cuisine is renowned for being some of the best in the world. Who knew that also applied to baby food? After a brief, 5-day visit to St Martin, my son has been put off regular, American baby food by HiPP Biologique baby food. What do they put in that stuff? I cannot find it anywhere in Manhattan. Luckily, we bought 6 jars and have been rationing it for the last several days.
A couple weeks ago, I found my nearly 3 year-old daughter hugging my 7 month-old son and sobbing. I asked her what was wrong. Why was she so sad? She responded, “Oh, Mommy, I’m not sad. I just love my brother so much!” It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to have more babies. Or at the very least bottle it. I’m figuring we got till summer before he really starts getting into her stuff and the love fest will be over. I’m hoping they prove me wrong.
Apparently, receiving the chicken pox vaccine does not necessarily prevent getting the chicken pox. It only lessens the severity if/when your toddler gets them. Our daughter woke up on a Thursday with 3 small, red bumps. By that Saturday, her arm – shoulder to fingertips – was covered in red, angry spots, or as she called them “polka dots”. They were extremely itchy, but she was such a good girl and didn’t scratch so they’d go away quickly. A week later they began to heal, and thank goodness the baby didn’t catch them!
I have found the quickest way to derail a fantastic sleeper is to buy her a “big girl bed”. She will find fun and excitement in tormenting you with her escape. And her 2am dance parties. And walking around the living room in only heels and a sun hat. Cute and funny if you don’t need sleep.
We finally solved our up-all-night son’s issues only to be thrust full-on into our daughter’s gymnastic skills at launching herself out of her crib. Complete with a dramatic dismount. That day, we got her a new bed. The first week was splendid. She slept as soundly and as beautifully as always. This week, however, has taken on a new dimension that makes me wish my husband had not thrown away the crib.