Yee-haw!

I think I have discovered the reason for the fuss-fest Emily threw yesterday: she is working on cutting another tooth.

I gave her some Motrin this morning before her nap (a whopping 45 minutes after she got up!) and she was asleep by 9:30 and slept until 12:30 when I went in to get her up.

Gotta love the 3 hour naps.

We are going to see family in Michigan this weekend, so I used the time to get organized for the trip.

Will write more when we get back!

AAAAAAAAAH!!!!

Before I had Emily, I always thought that I would be very bothered by the crying aspect of babies.

And then, she arrived, and? Not so much. Yes, I don't like it when she cries, and I always try to make whatever is upsetting her better, but the sound of her crying usually doesn't bother me too much.

Except for today.

I woke Emily up at 8 this morning, so that we would be able to maintain some semblance of our normal schedule. She yawned a couple of times during breakfast, but I kind of ignored them, figuring that she was still waking up. She rubbed her eyes once while I was changing the post-breakfast poopy diaper, but wasn't overly fussy. I assumed that we were still within the optimal nap window. I read 'Snuggle Puppy', got a kiss and a hug and put her down for a nap with Oscar at a little past 9 am.

I went out to the garden to pick stuff (beans, broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes, and peppers). I came back into the house at 9:49 and I can hear Emily half-fussing/half-talking to herself in her crib. Ooookaaay. I went into her room and gave her a pacifier, laid her back down and left.

I wound up repeating this process off and on until 11, when she FINALLY fell asleep.

Oh. My. God.

The crying and fussing was driving me CRAZY!!! I wanted to just go in there and shake her! Seriously, kid, just shut up and go to sleep already! It will make both of us feel better.

While I was enduring fuss-a-thon 2006, I:

• Folded 4 loads of laundry and put the towels away.
• picked 5 zucchini, 8 billion green beans, 12 or so tomatoes and 20 peppers.
• washed the above 8 billion green beans and began trimming and snapping them.

Emily woke up while I was snapping the beans, and is now sitting next to me eating lunch. When she isn't imitating my sighs (which I seem to do more often than I realize, for as much as she imitates me), or cracking up with laughter when I start pretending to gobble her up. Because, even though she tortured me this morning with the crying, she is still the cutest baby ever. (I was going to post a picture to prove this, but Blogger is again denying me that privilege, so I guess you'll just have to take my word for it).

Climb any mountain...

Emily has figured out how to climb onto furniture without help. Daddy helped her figure out how to do this new skill. Thanks, Mike!

This morning, she also figured out that she can scale Mt.Mommy. I was sitting in my chair, reading through my daily blogs and watching Emily play when she came over and plonked her dolly and a box in my lap and started climbing. Before I could react, she was completely in my lap, clutching a handful of my t-shirt and burying her face in my chest. And then, she got bored with that and she climbed down. By the time she reached the floor (about 3 nanoseconds), she decided that she wanted to be in my lap again.

Gulp

I mentioned a while back that my foot had begun to hurt again after I went back to work. After a week of limping and hurting, I went back to see my podiatrist.

I was pretty sure I knew what he was going to say when I told him that my foot started hurting again.

I was right.

I am going to be scheduled to have surgery to remove one of the sesamoid bones from my left foot sometime after September 18. At the same time, the doctor is also going to correct the bunion on that same foot, in an attempt to kill two birds with one stone.

I am pretty freaked out about having surgery, but I think that this is the best way to resolve the problems I have been having. My parents want me to get a second opinion, and I agree with them, to an extent. However, I also trust the doctor I have been seeing. He is very conservative, and doesn't push surgery as the solution to every problem. Looking back over my calendar, I first went to see him about this problem May 19. I'm pretty sure I hurt my foot about 2-3 weeks before that.

So, surgery. Gulp.

The doctor was saying he wants me off my feet for 4-6 weeks, preferrably with someone else taking care of Emily during that time, so that I'm not undoing all his hard work. I'm kind of hoping that I'll be able to work out some kind of childcare arrangement with my parents and Mike's parents so that I can actually stay off my feet. We'll see.

September 11 Tribute

My birthday is September 11.

Because of that, I was intrigued with this memorial.

I have signed up to honor Shawn Edward Bowman, who was 28 when he was killed.

There are still 235 victims who need bloggers to memorialize them. Sign up here.

Dog for Sale

Domino is being a very naughty boy.

Yesterday, he was particularly trying. He wanted desperately to go outside (not for potty, he'd been out to do that already - I'm not THAT mean), but the garbage men come on Wednesdays and Domino totally freaks out. And, our garbage guys only visit our house on this road, so they use our driveway to turn around in, which just makes Domino worse. Neither the garbage guys (who have a rough job as it is) nor Domino need that stress.

So, in an effort to get my attention, he: chewed on his pillow (forbidden and he knows it), stole one of Emily's dollies, paced around the house, got in Emily's face... and generally made a pest of himself. Then, when I told him to go lie down on his pillow, he wouldn't go! Grr. I hate when he does that. He laid down next to the couch and wouldn't let me take him by the collar. I finally put him in his crate for a while and that seemed to remind him where his manners were.

Later yesterday, he stood outside the sliding door and barked the whole time I was getting Emily ready for bed. Charming. And then, while I was outside in the garden, he stood at the back door again, barking. Until he realized I was outside.

And then, this morning, he ate my breakfast. Which, really, wasn't his fault. I left it unguarded on the table.

All in all, I am regretting that we lowered his Prozac, but I don't think we can increase it again. I'll have to call the vet to see.

*********************************************************************

My mom and I took Emily for her 1-year pediatrician visit today.

She did really well. She's 21 pounds, 4 ounces and 31 inches tall. That puts her in the 50% range for her weight (where she has always been) and in the 92% range for her height (up from 75% last visit). The height thing isn't a terribly big surprise to me. Mike is 6' 3" and she definitely has inherited his long and lean characteristics.

I asked the doctor all my stupid questions and she was incredibly patient and kind while answering them. I love my pediatrician. She's the best. She is always willing to sit and answer my questions and she doesn't make me feel like a dummy. Both are good characteristics in a pediatrician.

Then came the shots. She got PrevNar and HepA this time. Neither went over very well. I brought a pacifier for her, so that helped, but she was still pretty upset about the whole thing.

And then, to add insult to injury, we had to take her to have a finger stick for a lead test and hematocrit. Boy, was she mad about that!!

I felt bad for the phlebotomist. Emily was kicking her in the stomach (or at least pushing firmly into the woman's stomach with her foot) and screaming like a Ring Wraith.

And THEN! Emily's finger wouldn't stop bleeding. She soaked through the first bandage, and then pulled the second one off. I went back to the pediatrician's office to bum some more bandages and by the time I got back, my mom had managed to stem the flow. We put another bandage on her, but that one was off before we were out of the parking lot.

Mom and I pushed our luck and sneaked (or is it snuck?*) to a local restaurant to have a quick lunch. Emily fell asleep in the car on the way there. That mini nap saved us. She ate a good lunch and was not too unhappy while we were in the restaurant and then fell asleep again in the car on the way home. She's happily sleeping in her crib, with Oscar at her side. It's been a rough day for her, so I think we're going to lay low at home until we have to go to Nana's house so Mommy can go to work tonight.

*It is sneaked. My dad is irritated when people use the word 'snuck' as the past-tense of 'sneak'. Snuck is not a word. Just like 'irregardless' is also not a word. And I have now outed myself as a grammar snob.

It's gonna be that kind of day...

I am feeling better after my little freak-out yesterday. I went to work and ran for 4 hours, without any time to think, so that helped a lot.

And there was cake! At work! One of the girls is leaving to go to college so one of the managers brought her a cake. Cake can make just about anything better. For me, at least. And if cake can't do it, ice cream surely can.

Anyways, back to the point of the post: this morning, after Emily had breakfast, I set her down and went into the kitchen to clean up. As I came back into the living room from the kitchen, I heard......

Nothing. Silence.

And all my mommy nerves stood on end.

I rounded the corner from the dining room into the living room and there was Emily, sitting happily on the floor, playing with her puke.

She had spit up (which she doesn't really do any more) and it landed on the front of her shirt and pants.

So, she played with it.

Great.

She's now in her 2nd outfit of the day.

AND -- how cool is this?! I put her down for her nap at 8:45. She's still sleeping!!! It's 11:51!!!

That's almost 3 hours.

Of course, she's only doing this because I was all set to complain to the pediatrician at her 1-year check-up tomorrow that the kid doesn't nap well and takes over an hour to fall asleep. Nothing like discrediting Mommy.

I am a terrible mother

Really.

I love my girl so much, but she is starting to drive me crazy. She wants me to play with her and I don't have the attention span or the patience for it. Mike comes up with all kinds of great games to play with her and all I can do is copy what he does. I just want to sit and watch her play and that's not what she wants or needs. She needs me to be involved with her and teach her how to play and how this world works and I don't want to. She is such a little sponge right now. She's learning new things all the time and I should be taking the opportunity to teach her. I just don't have the patience. Or the inclination.

Seriously, I am a terrible mother.

After I wrote that last sentence, the phone rang. I was sitting there, crying and feeling like crap and debated whether or not to answer it. I did and it was my stepmom. I told her about how I was feeling and we talked for a while. That helped. I'm feeling a little better now, though I am still pretty sure I'm a bad mom. :}

I think I have a few strategies to combat this. I looked into a couple of playgroups so that Emily and I can go out and meet other kids. She can learn how to play nicely with others and so can I.

And I will sit on the floor and play with my girl.

OMG

I went back to work last night. I have been out of work since I got my cast on. I went to the doctor on Friday for a check-up and was given the all-clear to go back. My manager gave me 4 nightst to work this week, last night, tonight, Thursday and Friday. I'm pretty sure that is punishment for being out for 8 weeks. That's the kind of guy my manager is.

While I was gone, the store I work in got "new" registers.

I say "new" because they really seem to be a step back in terms of technology. Our prior registers would show you a list of the items you have rung, so that you know if you have accidentally scanned an item twice. Not so with the new registers. The old registers also used a thermal ink printer. The new registers are dot matrix. And very loud.

Last night was my training on the register. Basically, I was back in the pharmacy and one of the guys that was hired while I was out gave me a 3 minute tutorial and then let me ring on his register. Any time I had a problem I had to drag him over to help me.

While I was out, our pharmacy got busy. And not in the fun 'getting busy' way. No, its prescription volume increased from 100-200 prescriptions per day to almost 300.

Last night when I got there, there was 1 pharmacist, 1 pharmacy technician, 4 clerks and me. The pharmacist and the tech were putting prescriptions through as fast as they could while 2 of the techs counted and filled them. It was insane.

My shift started at 5, which is always the busiest time. A lot of people stop by as they leave work, so there was a line of 3 or 4 people standing there as I am trying to learn how to use the register and remember how all the rest of the pharmacy stuff works.

One lady came in to pick up her medication, except that it wasn't ready. The tech told her that we had been unable to reach the doctor's office. So the lady called the office on her cell, and was able to get right through. (Of course). I'm not sure of all the details, but it finally worked out that the pharmacist was able to get the prescription from the doctor's office and started working on filling it.

And the lady stayed at the cash register counter.

Now, with all the HIPAA rules, we really try to have people stand back a little bit so that if another patient has a question, they can ask it in relative privacy. I hate trying to enforce this, because I wind up basically telling the customer to go away. But this woman was already on my list.

Because... as I came back to the register from handling something else she looked at me and said "Why couldn't you get through to my doctor?" To which I mumbled something about me not being the person who was handling this for her. And then she said "Were they lying to me? Did they not contact my doctor and then tell me that they just couldn't get through?" Not the way to get on my good side, lady. Don't accuse my co-workers, who are busting their butts to get your medicine of lying and being lazy.

So, as I brought another customer to the counter to be rung out, I nicely told the other lady that she could have a seat in our waiting room around the corner, if she wanted. She said that she would wait right where she was, presumably in the place of maximum visibility. So I said, "The problem is, that if this patient has a question, it is difficult for her to talk with the pharmacist while you are standing here." I was so proud of me!!

And then, instead of freaking out on me like I thought she was going to, she said "You're right, I'm sorry." AND WALKED AWAY!!!! Woo-hoo!!

The next time I looked around, she was gone. Someone else must have rung her out.

I walked 12,305 steps yesterday, 3,836 of which were a walk with my mom and Emily. I think I had around 8,o00 when I went to work, and 11,900 when I got home. I ran the whole time I was there. It finally started to slow down as the evening went on, so that we could do our other chores to get the pharmacy ready for today. When I got home, my foot was pretty sore. It woke me up this morning. It doesn't hurt right now, but I'm worried that it is going to after tonight.

I'm trying not to freak out about my foot hurting. I probably overdid it yesterday. We'll see how today and the rest of the week goes and I'll take it from there.

The problem is that if I have reinjured my foot, or it can't stand up to me working, the only way to fix it is to remove the bone that is causing the problem. I'm not very crazy about that option, for a lot of obvious reasons.

Technical Support

I used to work in technical support. I was in a call center, where people would call me and tell me that their 'cartlidge' wasn't working. And so on.

I hated it.

I hated dealing with the stupid people. I hated trying to be sympathetic to their problems when their problem was the same problem my last 15 customers had had and if they would just shut up and LISTEN to me, I could have their problem solved in 5 minutes.

Anyways, before I get on big ole rant about just how much I hated that job (LOTS), I'll come to the point of this post.

Mike just sent me one of the coolest videos I have seen in a while.

I am not sure how to get the video to embed on the page, though I am sure it is possible. Instead, click here to see it.

That's TWICE!!

For the past two nights, as we undress Emily for her bath, as soon as we remove her diaper she lets loose a flood of pee.

All over her changing table (and the pad has a hole in it).

All over her freshly washed cover. Argh.

I think we're going to have to change our bathtime process... I think she's gonna stay in her diaper until she's in the bathroom. We can take it off right before we plunk her in the tub.

**************************************************


Last night, before the pee incident, Mike won himself 'Husband of the Year'. When I talked to him to find out when he was coming home, he said: Why don't you think about where you want to go out for dinner.

YIPPEE!!!

We don't go out for dinner very often, the budget being strained as it is.

So, we used a gift certificate for Applebee's and had dinner out.

And Emily ate. And ate. And ate. The kid was a bottomless pit. She had probably 1/4 cup of Gerber puffs, 3 or 4 wagon wheels, a sippy cup of watered down juice, 3 or 4 cubes of my steak that I tore into small pieces, 3 or 4 pieces of broccoli, a couple of Mike's onion peels, and a bunch of cheerios. And then when she got home, she sucked down 6 oz of milk before bed.

And that was our wild Friday night. Exciting, huh?

True Opinion

This morning Mike was helping me get Emily dressed by keeping her from screaming like a banshee because I had the nerve to try to put a shirt on her.

He said "Daddy" to her, to which she replied "da-da".

Then he said "Mommy" and Emily went "THbbbbbppt" (blew a raspberry).

Always good to know my efforts are appreciated.

I love when a plan comes together

Last week, inspired by Amanda's discussion about meal planning at Club Mom, I went downstairs and inventoried all of the food in our freezer and in the pantry. Then I made up a list of 14 meals that use the food we already have, and created a grocery list of the stuff we needed to round out those meals.

So, tonight's dinner is all set. I brought the ground beef up from the freezer yesterday and it thawed in the fridge. I just sat back down after making up our dinner (a very yummy taco casserole with chili beans, tomato sauce, beef, onions, tomatoes and cheese with taco chips crunched up as a crust). The oven is preheated and when Mike calls to tell me he's on his way home, I will pop it in the oven.

And PRESTO!!

Dinner will be ready around the time that he gets home.

YIPPEE!! I love it when a plan comes together!!

I feel so organized and capable.

These are not two emotions I am accostomed to feeling, so I am really enjoying myself right now. Of course, Emily is crying because she's only slept for 45 minutes and something just woke her up, so the feeling is fleeting.....

Mother Goose Story Time

A friend and I just took our daughters, born a day apart, to a Mother Goose Story Time at a nearby public library. (Which makes me wonder, are there any un-public libraries? I guess that would be a private library.)

This was Emily's first exposure to a story-time activity, excluding when she plonks a book in my lap and then tries to scale my legs so I will read it to her.

We are very fortunate that the people putting on the story time understand how little kids are, or this would also have been Emily's last story-time activity.

The librarian said that we could let the kids wander around, so I released my vice-like grip from around Emily's middle and let her go. She walked right up to the middle of the circle and stood there staring at the ladies who were reading. One of them held out her hands for Emily to come to her. And Emily ran in the other direction. The other librarian brought out a stuffed toy to go along with the next story and Emily ran over to her, holding out her hands for the toy.

It is a very good thing that she is cute, cause she sure was disruptive. She went around taking any of the stray papers that were on the floor, and crumpling them. She tried to steal a little boy's bottle, straight out of his mouth.

Of course, there was another girl there who was undressing in the middle of the circle, so I wasn't the only one who had my hands full.

I had brought along Emily's Oscar the Grouch toy, hoping that would keep her from screaming. She wasn't very interested in it, but all of the other kids sure were.

My friend's daughter wanted that Oscar toy more than anything. Emily wanted her friend's sippy cup. The same kind that she steadfastly refuses to drink from at home.

In the same way, my friend's daughter wanted Emily's sippy cup and nothing to do with hers. I brought out a couple Wagon Wheel treats for Emily, in a vain attempt to bribe her into sitting on my lap for more than 3 nanoseconds. Emily ate one and then squirmed away from me.

As soon as my friend's daughter saw the wagon wheels, she did the more sign, looking right at me. I gave one to her and she chowed down. A few minutes later, her wheel was gone and she asked for more. I only had one left, so Emily and her friend shared. Which was ok, because Emily put a pretty good dent in her friend's cherry puffs.

While I was there, I got a couple of fliers about a weekly story time program beginning in the fall.

Hopefully, Emily won't be banned from the library before she's 2.

A journey of a 1000 miles...

Today begins a new journey for Emily: her journey through life without a pacifier.

We decided to start to wean her off her pacifier, mainly because she seems to only want it when she is going to sleep.

For the next few weeks, she will only have her pacifier while she is in her crib. When she leaves the crib, she leaves her pacifier behind.

When she woke up this morning, we put her pacifier on her dresser, got dressed and began our day without too much trouble. I don't even think she noticed that she didn't have it.

At about 9 this morning, she started to get tired, so I put her down for a nap with Oscar the Grouch (a stuffed toy she picked out this morning when she got up) and her pacifier. I had to go back into her room once to give her another pacifier, but then she fell asleep with no problem.

She had been sleeping for about 45 minutes, when Domino started barking at the back door. Emily woke with a start and began screaming. I went in and gave her another pacifier (I keep several on her dresser so I don't have to hunt for them while she's trying to fall asleep) and then started the timer. After 15 minutes of crying, I went back into Emily's room. She was incredibly upset. She had been having a very nice nap and then the dog woke her up. She was still sleepy, but was so upset that there was no way she was going to go back to sleep. So I got her out of her crib.

She was squirming around in my arms, looking for her pacifier. I found it on the floor and picked it up. Poor Emily wanted me to give it to her so badly. I put it on the dresser and laid her on her changing table. The whimpering that she had been doing in my arms escalated to a full scale scream. I handed her Oscar, but she didn't want him, she wanted her pacifier AND MOMMY WASN'T GIVING IT TO HER!!! Mean mommy.

As I changed her diaper, Emily started to calm down. We left her room and came out to the living room to have a snuggle. She sat on my lap and played with Oscar for a few minutes, and then she was ready to get down. She is a little bit fussier than usual, but that might also be due to the nappus interruptus.

So, I would have to say that Day One of Operation No Pacifier seems to be off to a pretty good start. I'll post a couple of updates as the day goes by. We'll see how delusional I am right now.

Happy Birthday, Emily

My darling Emily,

You turn 1 year old today. I cannot believe it.

It feels like only a few weeks have passed since we brought you home from the hospital, yet here you are, a 1-year old.

I have so enjoyed watching you develop into a little girl from the sweet baby I knew. I love to watch you while you're playing.

You like to play with your green bucket. You carry it around the house, put it on your head, and sit it on the floor and hit it like a drum.

You love for Mommy and Daddy to read you stories. You bring a book over to one of us, put it in our laps and then try to climb up there with it. Your legs aren't quite long enough yet, so we have to pick you up.

You are such a little walker. You started pulling yourself up in the bathtub when you were 6 months old. You would hold on to the edge of the tub and work so hard to lift yourself up. And then you would stand there in the tub, grinning with triumph. Until your legs gave out and then you would sit down with a splash. It wasn't very long before you discovered that the coffee table in the living room was just the right height for you to stand at. I would put a couple coasters and a toy or two on the table and you would stand and play and babble to me. Then, when you were bored, you would sit down and crawl away to play somewhere else.

Some friends from church gave us a little walker that you push around. I got that out for you and you just loved it! You started pushing it back and forth across the living room. You would get stuck at either end, so I would have to pick you up and turn you around to head the other direction. One of those times, I set the walker down and the wheel fell off! We went out the very next day and bought you a new one. I could tell that it was going to be a favorite toy. You don't really need the walker's support any more, but you still like to push it around the house. You finally mastered turning (but only to the right) while we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa in Michigan. Now you push the walker all over the house. It's sitting in the dining room now, waiting for you to get up from your nap.

You are ticklish under your arm pits and in the crease of your neck. You giggle and laugh when I give you a raspberry in your arm pit. You think that Mommy is a comic genius. I love the sound of your laugh.

You love bananas and broccoli. You pick up a piece of broccoli and put it into your mouth with such obvious enjoyment, it just makes me laugh. Yesterday at lunch, you ate 1/4 cup of macaroni and cheese, 1/2 a banana, 4 oz of juice and a handfull of cheerios. Plus, a 4 oz bottle. I didn't think you were ever going to stop eating!

Your absolute most favorite food right now is corn on the cob. We break off a piece, make sure it's nice and cool for you, and you just go to town. On Sunday, we were at Nana and Grandpa's and you ate an entire ear of corn, all by yourself. Your diaper was pretty full of corn the next day.

You love to wave 'Bye-bye'. People in public are completely charmed by you. Wherever you go, people are stopping to comment on your beautiful red hair and bright blue eyes. And you smile and wave at them, like a little princess.

You love to swim and splash in your pool. Whenever you are on the deck, you go over to it and try to play in it. Daddy had to put the cover on it because you fell in while playing next to it last week. I looked over just in time to see your little legs come off the ground and SPLASH! In you went. You were so surprised! You started crying and I came over and scooped you up, wet clothes and all. It was hot that day, so the cold water from your clothes felt pretty good to me.

Nana taught you how to sign 'more'. It was very interesting to see you make the connection between the 'more' sign and "more". We could see you thinking "If I do this with my hands, they will give me some of that food." Now, if we aren't giving you what you want quickly enough for you, you do the sign even more emphatically. The way that you sign more is to pat your right hand on your left fist. When you are really serious about it, you can hear each slap of your right hand hitting your left.

I started giving you a sippy cup when you were about 6 months old, and you would drink from it, but it was never really your thing. Grandma started to give you sips of water from her water bottle and you REALLY liked that. You still don't really care for sippy cups. I bought you a couple of 'big-girl' cups that have straws in them and you really seem to like those.

You love to play with Domino. He has learned that you aren't very gentle yet, though I try to tell you to be nice to the doggie, so whenever you come near him, he gets up and moves. And you follow him wherever he goes. I try to keep him outside during the day, because he's used to his naps and he doesn't get them if he's inside with us.

You recently discovered the game of 'chase'. Daddy chases you around the house, and you run from him, giggling like crazy. He says that yesterday you started changing directions on him. You also like to chase Daddy around the house.

I have so enjoyed watching you grow and develop into a little girl from my sweet baby and I can't wait to see where you'll take us next.

I love you so very much.

Love always,

Mommy

Dog & Mouse

HA! Take THAT, Blogger! Since I can't seem to get the picture to post in my original 'Day in the Life' message, I will add it here, instead.

AND I used the bigger one, too! So there.

Ok, I am going to go try to find my maturity. I'm sure I left it here somewhere....

A Day In The Life, August 7 2006

1:00 AM: Awaken to hear Emily crying in other room. Fumble blindly for the timer, start it.
1:15 AM: Timer goes off. Baby is asleep. Reset timer, roll over, go back to sleep.
6:37 AM: Wake up with VERY full bladder. Get up, pee, close the door to Emily’s room, and go back to bed.
6:40 AM: Emily starts crying again. Restart timer.
6:55 AM: Timer goes off. Emily is not crying.
6:57 AM: Alarm goes off. Snooze.
7:15 AM: Alarm goes off again, get up. Head to shower, stopping to snicker at Emily talking to herself in her crib.
7:30 AM: get out of shower, Emily is crying in her room. Give her a pacifier and lay her back down.
7:45 AM: Go in to take over readying Emily for the day from Mike. Between 7:30 and now I have: gotten dressed, done my hair, applied basic toiletries (deodorant, perfume, etc.), thrown laundry down to be washed, set up baby gates in bedroom and bathroom doors, dispensed milk into a bottle, and put the bottle into warm water to heat it.
7:47 AM: Emily and I head to the kitchen to join Daddy for breakfast. Emily gets upset at being left on the dining room side of the baby gate, so she sits on Daddy’s lap and shares his bran flakes. Mmmm, bran flakes.
7:48 AM: Wash dishes, load dishwasher, make Mike’s lunch; get out yogurt for Emily’s breakfast.
7:53 AM: write a check for Mike to take to the doctor this morning.
7:59 AM: Take Emily into living room to give her breakfast bottle.
8:06 AM: Mike comes out from brushing his teeth. Emily finishes her bottle. Mike heads outside to water some of the garden; Emily goes to play in the living room.
8:07 AM: write a note to the receptionist at doctor’s office regarding co-pay confusion.
8:15 AM: Mike leaves for work/doctor’s appointment.
8:16 AM: have breakfast (glass of milk).
8:20 AM: feed Emily the rest of her breakfast (yogurt, cheerios).
8:30 AM: Emily is finished with breakfast. Brush her teeth, clean up cheerios (call dog in from outside to ‘help clean up’).
8:33 AM: call Mike’s granny for RSVP to birthday party this weekend.
8:34 AM: call friend for RSVP to birthday party this weekend, leave message on work phone.
8:35 AM: begin surfing through daily blogs.
8:37 AM: Emily is standing by my chair, trying to climb up on my lap. Pick her up; ask for smooch, no dice. After 3 nanoseconds of cuddling, she squirms to get back down. Put her down. She stands between my legs, and lifts my shirt. She is fascinated with the button on my shorts. And my flabby, raw-turkey-skin white belly.
8:38 AM: Emily is asking to be picked up again. Give her another snuggle and then put her down. She wanders off to play. Go back to blog reading.
8:59 AM: Emily is back at my chair again, this time, crying and rubbing her eyes. Nap time, 2 hours nearly to the minute from when she woke up. Take baby into her room; check diaper (with trusty ‘sniff test’), close shade and read ‘Snuggle Puppy’. Put Emily down for her nap, turn on fan, and leave the room. Head to living room to start timer, because Emily started crying as soon as I turned to leave the room. Go back to blog reading, ‘just until the timer goes off’.
9:14 AM: Timer goes off. Keep reading blogs.
9:15 AM: dad calls. He is on his way to Cleveland and is bored while driving. Chat with dad for a few minutes.
9:20 AM: head downstairs to start laundry. Sort whites into washer, darks and not-quites, towels and bathroom rugs into piles.
9:25 AM: head back upstairs. Resume blog reading.
10:00 AM: mom calls. Give her URL to blog. Chat with mom for a few minutes. Go back to blog reading.
10:12 AM: friend calls with RSVP to party.
10:31 AM: Get off the phone with the friend. Head downstairs to move laundry along. Whites into the dryer, darks/not-quites into the washer.
10:35 AM: back upstairs. Update blog with ode to the Clorox Bleach Pen.
10:40 AM: look up from loving ode of the bleach pen to see dog standing at the back door chewing on a clump of grass. Except the clump of grass has feet and a tail. NOT a clump of grass, a mouse.
{insert picture of dog with mouse here}
10:42 AM: get over disgust and revulsion to praise dog for good mouse-catching skills and get camera to document mouse prize for Dad and internet. Get shovel to dispose of mouse prize.
10:45 AM: return to computer, having disposed of mouse (very hard to do, by the way, without touching it, finally had to use my slipper to nudge it onto the shovel).
10:50 AM: finish ode to bleach pen, go back to filling in the blanks of day.
11:04 AM: finish filling in the blanks, am up to date with Day in the Life. Hey, I have to pee again.
11:05 AM: go to bathroom.
11:07 AM: finish in bathroom, start folding 18-month clothes.
11:11 AM: GAH! MUST. CALL. TARGET.
11:15 AM: Make an appointment for Emily’s 1-year pictures. On her birthday. We could have set the pictures up to be taken exactly when she was born (5:17 PM), but we’ll be in the middle of having dinner with relatives, so I declined. But, I am going to go with her other suggestion: to bring a cupcake and give it to Emily to eat while we take pictures. That kid is going to be so caked out after this weekend.
11:16 AM: Emily is awake from her nap. Hey – almost 2 whole hours. Go Emily! Crying has stopped, and she is just lying in her crib. Back to folding clothes.
11:20 AM: Crying starts up again. Go get Emily, open shade, change diaper. Snuggle with sweet girl in chair.
11:23 AM: Snuggle time is over. Emily is trying to pull the laundry basket off the coffee table. Back to folding clothes/protecting them from Emily, who wants to ‘help’.
11:38 AM: Finish folding and counting clothes. Put them in Emily’s room. Hungry, fussy girl is leaning on my lap.
11:39 AM: Emily is requesting ‘more’ in sign-language, her way of telling me that she is hungry. Call mom to see if she wants to meet at the mall to have lunch.
11:44 AM: Get off phone with mom, start getting Emily’s bottle ready to go to the mall.
11:56 AM: leave the house. Dog is downstairs, Emily’s in her car seat, the diaper bag is packed with her lunch (bottle and yogurt, will share whatever I get at the mall with her), I have the things I need to give to my mom in the car and I am set.
12:11 PM: Arrive at the ATM.
12:13 PM: Leave ATM. Had a hard time getting the reader to accept my card.
12:21 PM: arrive at the mall. Load Emily into her stroller and head into the food court. Mom takes Emily with her while she gets coffee and I go to BK for my lunch.
12:40 PM: Finish lunch and head over to H&M to look at the cute baby clothes.
1:42 PM: Leave mall.
1:54 PM: Arrive at grocery store.
2:03 PM: Leave grocery store with only the 2 things I went there for: bananas and tortillas. Bananas for Emily and tortillas for dinner (chicken quesadillas).
2:08 PM: Arrive home. Unpack car: 3 bags (grocery, H&M, Bath & Body Works), 1 diaper bag, mail, coupons from mom, purse and baby.
2:09 PM: Read Snuggle Puppy to Emily again and put her down for her nap. Start timer because she’s screaming by the time I get out the door. Head downstairs to let the dog out and move the laundry along.
2:14 PM: Come upstairs with wet jeans to hang on the line. Notice, while hanging the clothes, that the sky looks very dark and foreboding to the south. Decide to hang the clothes anyway.
2:17 PM: Come inside from hanging the clothes, and head back downstairs to kill moths.
2:18 PM: Unpack groceries and other bags from mall trip. Bath & Body Works had a 5 for $15 hand soap sale. I love that stuff, so I got some. I’ll give some as Christmas presents and keep some for our bathroom. I got a cute little sundress for Emily at H&M. While I was outside, she stopped crying. Unpacking the stuff leads into me tidying the kitchen AGAIN.
2:20 PM: Take out stinky kitchen garbage.
2:22 PM: Put stuff away. Mortgage bill in Bill Inbox, junk mail in wood stove to be burnt, Emily’s new dress in her room to be washed, and hand soap in our room to be sorted into presents. And then go to the bathroom.
2:25 PM: Timer goes off while I’m pouring a glass of iced tea, head into living room to take a picture of Emily’s shirt (to post on the Ode to Clorox Bleach Pen), work on updating day in the life with happenings while I was out.
2:30 PM: Phone rings. Friend is calling about another friend. She is very worried, other friend has lost weight, is very sick. Hopefully we’ll know more when other friend gets back from doctor today.
2:45 PM: Get off phone with friend; go back to work on updating.
2:48 PM: Dog is standing at the back door, whining to come in. Don’t want him to bark and wake Emily, so I let him in.
2:56 PM: Finish updating day in life again.
2:58 PM: Start downloading pictures from camera to post to blog.
3:05 PM: Finish adding the picture of Emily’s shirt to my Clorox post and Emily starts crying. It’s been less than an hour since she went down, so I start the timer.
3:10 PM: Check to see if Julia has updated her site with her latest hcg results. No update yet.
3:15 PM: Get up from playing on the Internet again and write a sympathy card for the loss of a friend of my parent’s dog. She was a very cool dog, a Dalmatian, who would ‘smile’ at my by baring her teeth. I love it when dogs do that.
3:16 PM: Grab address book to remind myself how to spell friend’s name. Karl? Or Carl? Karl.
3:22 PM: Timer has gone off, Emily still crying off and on. Have to look up friend’s new zip code.
3:23 PM: Go into computer room to get stamp and return address sticker for card.
3:24 PM: Get Emily up from her nap. Change her diaper, open the shade, and turn off the fan. Put the baby gate back up in her doorway.
3:28 PM: head out into the living room with Emily, pick up non-baby safe things from table (pen, paper, timer, shirt) and put them away. Or, if not away, out of her reach. Seriously, how the heck did it get to be 3:30 ALREADY?!
3:30 PM: Order more checks online.
3:36 PM: Checks are re-ordered.
3:38 PM: Go downstairs to move laundry along. Again. And get wrapping paper.
3:42 PM: Clean off dining room table so I can wrap presents.
3:44 PM: Let the dog out.
3:46 PM: Finish wrapping Emily’s friend’s present. Mike calls to check in.
3:52 PM: Get off the phone with Mike. Wrap Emily’s present from us.
3:56 PM: Finish wrapping Emily’s present, including the time it took me to open the box and put the extra, oddly-shaped present inside (an extra Little Person figure and two more animals to go with the farm). Put scissors and tape away in computer room.
4:01 PM: Turn on Oprah and go into the kitchen to get Emily a snack. (Water in a sippy cup and a couple of arrowroot cookies)
4:04 PM: Sit down at computer and update more of the day.
4:08 PM: Bathroom. Darned iced tea.
4:09 PM: Stand in living room, watching Oprah. She’s remaking a living room for a woman in New York City who lost her husband.
4:14 PM: Head to kitchen to get me a snack. (Iced tea and Ghirardelli mint chocolates)
4:16 PM: work on updating a notebook where I have been writing down some of Emily’s non-milestone milestones (like when she had her first bottle, when she weaned from breastfeeding, etc).
4:24 PM: realize, while writing, that I don’t hear Emily. I last heard her 5 seconds ago, behind my shoulder, by the front door. Get up, and sure enough, she’s playing with the screen door (a big No-No). Scold baby, and lead her away from the door. Sit back down and continue writing.
4:27 PM: finish updating the notebook, work on updating the day.
4:29 PM: Finish updating the day, sit watching Oprah and hanging out with the girl.
4:43 PM: Check out Julia’s test results. Bummer, not quite what she was hoping for.
4:53 PM: Still watching Oprah. Emily is standing by my leg, which is propped on a footstool, and she is giving me zerbetty-kisses on my leg. Pick her up to coax a kiss from her and she has a … particular odor to her. Grab the girl and head to her room to change her diaper.
4:58 PM: Finish changing the poopy diaper. Set Emily down in the hall and head to the bathroom to wash my hands. I usually use Purell after a diaper change, but this was a very dirty diaper. What is it about washing your hands without going to the bathroom that makes you feel like you have to go?
5:00 PM: As I am leaving the bathroom, the phone rings. Mike is on his way home. Woo-hoo!! Sit watching the news for a while.
5:08 PM: Leave news on, head into kitchen to think about dinner.
5:10 PM: Ok, have been fighting against the bathroom urge for 10 minutes. It’s not gonna go away. Potty break again. Dinner will be chicken quesadillas with Mexican rice on the side. And probably broccoli from our garden for something green.
5:15 PM: Emily is getting increasingly fussy. Oh yeah, she’s probably hungry. Head back into kitchen to start warming her bottle.
5:21 PM: Bottle is warm enough. Bring it out to the living room to give to Emily while watching the news.
5:24 PM: Bottle is gone now. 4 ounces in 3 minutes.
5:36 PM: It dawns on me that Domino has been barking for a few minutes. I should probably go get him so the neighbors don’t hate us more than they already do.
5:37 PM: Never mind, Mike is home.
5:40 PM: Mike is watching Emily, so I start dinner.
6:00 PM: dinner well under way, waiting for rice to finish cooking.
6:03 mike sitting on couch, reading ‘I love you as much’. Emily squirmed down after Mike had read one page.
6:08 PM: Rice is done, pour milk for us to drink, get out salsa and sour cream. Also get leftover chicken breast and broccoli for Emily to eat, since she won’t like the quesadillas. Also, she can’t chew them.
6:15 PM: sit down for dinner, say grace. Get up to heat Emily’s broccoli – I had served it to her cold and that earned us a ‘This is yucky’ face.
6:30 PM: we’re finished with dinner; Mike takes Emily into the living room to play while I clean up.
6:36 PM: Mike starts Emily’s bath – she is very tired and cranky tonight.
6:39 PM: Domino gets very excited about something he sees outside. I let him out.
6:43 PM: I am finished cleaning up from dinner. The dishwasher is running, Emily’s bottle is warming, the counters are wiped down, and the kitchen is closed. Well, it’s closed until we decide to have ice cream.
6:47 PM: Domino is ready to come back in. Whatever the exciting thing was outside, it’s gone now. It started raining during dinner, so his feet are wet. Get the towel to wipe them before he comes in. He’s very excited again, this time because I have his pills ready for him to take – in a glob of peanut butter on a spoon. This is Domino’s favorite time of night.
6:49 PM: Finish feeding dog. Bring Emily’s bottle into her room and get out jammies for her to wear to bed.
6:50 PM: Go sit in living room and work on updating this day. Again.
6:57 PM: this day is up-to-date and it sounds like Emily is almost done with her bath. Head into her room to hang out with her until she’s ready to go to bed.
6:58 PM: she’s not done with her bath. Mike was just about to actually wash her. I head back out to the living room and pick up her toys.
7:04 PM: now she’s done with her bath, and getting fussier by the minute. Poor noodle.
7:11 PM: Finish helping Mike get Emily ready for bed, kiss her and hand her back to him so he can give her a bedtime bottle.
7:12 PM: Head out to garden to pick whatever is ripe.
7:42 PM: Back inside. We picked 5 zucchini, 7 cucumbers, 7 peppers and about 4.5 pounds of green beans. Took all the veggies into the kitchen and started washing them. The beans, especially, come inside with lots of grass and stuff stuck to them. We had to wash each bean individually to get the gunk off.
8:11 PM: Finished cleaning the veggies. We took the beans out to the living room to cut the ends off and break them into smaller pieces for processing, while watching TV.
8:38 PM: Finished snapping the beans.
8:42 PM: Sit on the couch watching Wife Swap. I think that this show is kind of stupid, but it’s kind of fascinating to watch, like a train wreck.
9:00 PM: I turn off the TV because we’ve already seen the episode of ‘The Nanny’ that’s on ABC tonight, and there doesn’t appear to be anything else worth watching.
9:02 PM: Mike and I go into the kitchen to get some ice cream for dessert.
9:20 PM: I finish my ice cream, which I eat while surfing at Blogging Baby.
9:23 PM: Mike is reading my blog, specifically, my 100 Things post from a couple of days ago. He’s mocking me about 1) liking to fold laundry, and 2) the fact that I hyphenated anal-retentive. He also pointed out that he knows a dessert I don’t like – ice cream cake. It’s the nasty, plastic frosting that they put on that stuff. Blecch.
9:25 PM: get up from the couch to go peek at my girl. I love to watch her sleep. She’s just so darn cute.
9:27 PM: come back from checking on the girl and start playing solitaire on the computer. Domino is being a nudge, so I put him outside.
9:45 PM: Domino comes inside (Mike let him in) and lays down on his pillow.
9:58 PM: too much solitaire. My eyes are burning and I’m tired. Going to bed now.

Steps walked 8353 (3.95 miles)
Loads of laundry 3
Diapers changed 3 (5 total, 2 done by Mike)
Meals prepared 9
Folded 32 pairs pants
32 shirts
6 dresses/rompers
5 pairs of pajamas
2 pairs of shorts

I Love the Clorox Bleach Pen

I love the Clorox Bleach Pen. LOVE. IT.

Why? Why do I love the Clorox Bleach Pen?

Because it bleaches. But controllably.

Case in point: Emily has an adorable white sunsuit from Carter's. She ate carrots, I think, while wearing said adorable white sunsuit. There were large orange stains all over the adorable white sunsuit. I applied bleach from the Clorox Bleach Pen to the stains, washed and PRESTO! No more orange stains.

2nd Case in point: Emily's 'I might barf' shirt from Wry Baby was adorned with sweet potatoes. Liberal application of the bleach pen, and VIOLA! Her shirt no longer looks as though she did barf.

3rd Case in point, not involving food: I bought Emily the cutest little shirt Friday from the Carter's outlet. It is a little peasant blouse, with flowers embroidered on it. I threw it into the wash with another outfit I got for her from Carters's, which came with red shorts. The damned red shorts bled red ALL OVER her pretty little white blouse. But not, of course, on anything else. I used the last of my Clorox Bleach Pen on the shirt, praying that the red would come out. AND IT DID!!! There is just one teeny little red stain left in the arm opening. But I DON'T CARE. The rest came out.

See? Good as new.

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang

Emily has a new trick*. She gives kisses on command.

*My mother-in-law would call it a 'life skill'.

So far, she really has only given them to me, but still.

Mike came home last night and I told him to tell Emily "Give Daddy a kiss." She didn't comply, but when I took her and asked her to give Mommy a kiss, she leaned towards me with her mouth wide open. Too cute. (It's ok that she didn't give him a kiss, because the only word she says right now is "Da-Da". Everything is 'Da-da'. It's only fair, then, that I get the kisses.)

This morning, just before Mike left for work, she did give him a kiss, mouth open, and tongue out.

I'm working on having her give hugs on command, now.

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It's hard to believe that a year ago today, I was still pregnant.
A year ago today, I didn't know if my baby was a boy or a girl.
A year ago today, I was a day past my due date.
A year ago today, I had 7 more days to go.
A year ago today, I was hot, fat, tired, sore, and cranky.
I cannot believe my little girl is going to be a year old next week.

100 Things

100 Things

1. My birthday is September 11.
2. I was 25 on 9/11/01.
3. I have red hair.
4. I hated the color and texture (it’s naturally curly) of my hair until I was in my 20s.
5. I’m ok with it now.
6. I wore glasses for reading until Emily was born.
7. Then, my prescription changed and now I need to wear glasses all the time.
8. Except when I read, then they really don’t do much for me.
9. I was engaged once before.
10. I left him.
11. He was mean to me.
12. And he cheated on me.
13. He told a mutual friend that he left me because I “switched teams” on him.
14. I love to read.
15. I read very quickly.
16. I read Harry Potter #4 in just over 24 hours.
17. My current favorite authors are Jodi Picoult, Marian Keyes, Michael Connelly, and Jane Green.
18. When I go to the library, I typically check out at least 10 books.
19. They are all finished before the 3-week loan period is up.
20. They might not be returned on time, but that’s cause I am a procrastinator.
21. I like all kinds of music.
22. Except heavy metal and rap.
23. But I hate when my husband turns the radio on in the house.
24. I have no idea why.
25. I’m trying to get over that.
26. I have a degree in biology.
27. I have never used it.
28. I probably never will.
29. I wanted to be a veterinarian when I first went to college.
30. Then I wanted to be a pharmacist.
31. I even started pharmacy school.
32. But, #10 happened, and I couldn’t continue.
33. I came back to NY to live with my parents.
34. That’s when I met my husband.
35. I believe I was meant to go through all the stuff that happened with my ex so that I could be the person Mike fell in love with.
36. I don’t think he would have fallen in love with me if the other stuff hadn’t happened.
37. I love to watch home improvement shows on TV.
38. But I don’t like Bob Vila.
39. I also like to watch CSI and House.
40. I have been watching ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ this summer.
41. I. LOVE. IT.
42. I have never watched ‘Desperate Housewives’.
43. Or ‘Ally McBeal’.
44. Or ‘Sex in the City’.
45. I try to watch ‘Oprah’ each afternoon.
46. It’s silly, but I enjoy it.
47. Especially the celebrity stuff.
48. I can’t stand Dr. Phil.
49. I went to see all three ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies at midnight.
50. I also saw ‘Matrix Reloaded’ and ‘Matrix Revolutions’ at midnight.
51. My parents used to call me ‘The Mouth that Ate Minnesota’ because I talked a lot.
52. I still talk a lot.
53. Except when I’m tired.
54. Mike is worried because Emily seems to be taking after me with the chattiness.
55. My mom and I are very close.
56. She’s been a huge help to me since Emily was born.
57. We get together a couple times a week.
58. She is one of my closest friends.
59. I used to bite my fingernails.
60. I finally kicked the habit.
61. Speaking of habits, I have never smoked.
62. Not even one cigarette.
63. I also have never consumed any illegal substances.
64. Obviously, I was a pretty big nerd in high school and college.
65. I’m still a nerd now.
66. And I’m ok with that.
67. I have two tattoos.
68. I won’t get any more.
69. The last one was too painful.
70. I hate large crowds.
71. I get frustrated with the people who walk in large clumps, unaware of others who might be in the area.
72. I love festivals.
73. I am usually crabby after going to a festival, because of the crowd thing.
74. I breastfed Emily.
75. I had an emergency c-section.
76. The umbilical cord was around Emily’s neck.
77. The time leading up to the c-section was easily the most scared I have ever been in my entire life.
78. I have a strange allergy to starches (like potatoes and bread).
79. They make my throat all phlegmy.
80. That hasn’t stopped me from eating them.
81. I get a strange satisfaction from folding laundry.
82. Almost to the point that I look forward to folding it.
83. Almost, but not quite.
84. Since I stopped working, I have really started to enjoy cooking, too.
85. It helps that Mike likes pretty much whatever I make.
86. I love mail.
87. I always wanted to work in a post office.
88. I also think it would be fun to deliver the mail.
89. Or work in a bank.
90. I am terribly lazy.
91. I have a very hard time overcoming the urge to just sit around all day.
92. I can be very anal-retentive.
93. At the same time, there are some things that I just don’t care about.
94. I love chocolate.
95. I can’t think of a dessert that I don’t like.
96. I love to take naps.
97. I also love to sleep in on the weekends.
98. I don’t get to do either very much anymore.
99. The above is not helped by the fact that I haven’t slept well since Emily was born.
100. This has taken me a very long time to do.
     

Baby Wrestling, Mommy style

During my "This Day in the Life" I mentioned that Emily had a little cold. I went to the pediatrician several times after that day, and the doctors assured me she was fine. I tend to overreact just a little bit when Emily gets sick because she has asthma. When she gets sick, the asthma kicks in and then my life becomes hell.

After the 4th trip to the doctor, at $20 per visit, I finally was reassured that all was well. Emily seemed to be getting better and so I thought we had dodged the bullet for once.

Well, maybe not.

Last Wednesday, I picked Emily up to take her out of her high chair and thought "Hm, your pits are a little warm." I took her to her room and took her temperature and sure enough, we had a fever. 101.

I took her to the doctor that afternoon and the doctor said she heard just the slightest hint of something in one of the lobes of Emily's lung. Something like pneumonia.

I'm sure the doctor could see my eyes getting really big, so she made sure to reassure me that there was nothing I could have done to prevent it, I caught it very early, etc, etc, etc.

She gave me a prescription for Augmentin and told me to start using the Albuterol in the nebulizer again.

So, off to Target we go.

The pharmacist warned me that the Augmentin would give Emily diarrhea.

Great.

We got home with the prescription and gave Emily the first dose.

She HATES this stuff.

I have to hold her hands away from her mouth with one hand and try to push the syringe-full of medicine into her mouth with the other. I can't dispense the whole dose into her mouth all at once because she'll just let it dribble out the side of her mouth. I have to trickle it in the side of her mouth, all the while trying to fend off her hands (which are trying to push my hands away) and deal with the high pitched shrieking and fervent squirming.

This morning, I forgot to bring the Augmentin into her room with me when I went in to get her up (it has to be stored in the refrigerator, which, hello? inconvenient?), so I laid her down on the living room floor to give it to her.

Honestly, you would have thought I was trying to cut out her tongue. She screamed, she squirmed, she pushed my hands away, she shrieked, she kicked... But, Mommy prevailed.

And? She didn't even hate me afterwards. I picked her up and she cuddled right into me.

But, I'm pretty sure she's not going to like raspberries after this is all over.