Wanderlust

My Peanut's Future

I saw this before Peanut was born and thought it was funny. But now that we're about to go through this...it si hilarious: Family Guy -Stewie Weaning.

9 Month Sleep Regression is NO JOKE

My girl wants to party all the time, party all the time, party all the tiiimmmee. That song kept running through my mind and of course, Dancing on the Ceiling. I'm probably dating myself here, although I was very young when those songs came out, but my my...we are smack dab in the middle of the 9 month sleep regression. Hard core.

But first let me back up, yesterday Peanut actually pulled up to standing all by herself! She is a little bit behind on this developmental stage but I'm not worried about it, She is working hard. And I recently came to the conclusion that she's just too vertically challenged (read: short like her mom) to reach most things to even try and pull up. But yesterday as I as packing up the Christmas decorations, she crawled over--still mostly on her belly but she's working on lifting it off the floor--to the plastic storage bins. These happen to be just the right height for her to reach the top from a sitting position. She then pulled herself up ALL.BY. HERSELF! No help from me. I was sooo proud. And so was she. She gets this smug look on her face when she accomplishes something and it's the cutest thing ever. Really.

So we called Daddy and told him all about it. He said she'd been working on that all day but hadn't quite been able to do it. It's very cool that I was there for a "first". Anyway, once he told me she'd been working on it all day I knew we were in for rough sleep. She has been sick for the past week with fever and tummy troubles so we've already been getting crappy sleep. Top that off with the second tooth that's STILL trying to break on through to the other side...and jeez, we don't sleep right now.

We went through our routine as usual (book, bath, nurse to sleep) and then about 30 minutes after she is peacefully sleeping, her body has other ideas. She is literally crawling all over the bed in her sleep. And sitting up...trying to stand. She did this all night long, much to her frustration and mine as well.

And while I was very frustrated, I have to say it was so funny seeing her sit up, look around all drowsy-like with head bobbing left and right, then roll back down onto her belly or back. Her body was in crawling action mode all night long while she tried --and I tried-- to sleep. The 9 month sleep regression really is no joke. Fool. (courtesy of Mr. T in your pocket)

Cultural Differences

Since I became a mom and stumbled into becoming a bit of a breastfeeding advocate, I have been fascinated with the cultural differences surrounding things like nursing. As someone who is nursing past the point of most American women, I wonder what it's like in other countries.

I also have this fantasy of picking up and moving to Europe where I think they may have some better ideas than us Americans about raising kids. But no place is 100% perfect and no country is 100% right for everyone.

Well,I have found this fascinating blog written by a Canadian woman who moved to France, married a Frenchman and then proceeded to move to Italy. Having been to Italy once, I only caught a glimpse of the things she speaks of...but this post about the differences in breastfeeding standards really peaked my interest.   

Sesame Street for Adults Only

Awhile back I posted a link to a Sesame Street Video showing a mom breastfeeding her baby. The most natural thing in the world, right? But I said that they probably wouldn't show that same video today. I don't understand why we're going backwards and not forwards on stuff like this. But anyway, my statement could not have been more true.

Everyone my age grew up with Sesame Street and loved it. I was literally just telling my parents that I hoped they would release the original episodes on DVD some day. Well, that day has come. Hooray! But now I find out that they have labeled the DVD's as Adult Only. WTF? They feel that Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch aren't appropriate for kids today. Cookie Monster might promote obesity. Oh. My. God. Seriously? Who made this decision!?

This is ridiculous. Cookie Monster is now an outcast. I LOVED Cookie Monster as a kid and I can say with confidence I am nowhere near obese. Give kids some credit! Jeez.

Here's a link to the article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2216955,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=media

What Fresh Hell Is This?

It's inevitable. As soon as I complain the slightest little bit about the lack of sleep in my house, it gets worse.

I've read up on developmental spurts and how they can effect a baby's sleep. For example, when they are learning to sit up their body continues working on sitting up--even in their sleep! Obviously, this is not conducive to a good night's rest, especially for a baby who wakes up every 45 minutes to an hour anyway.
Well, after our horrible nap time "sleep training" experiment I vowed to be happy with co-sleeping and when I'm unhappy with it, or if she's unhappy with it we'll change. She had just gotten over her clinginess and being afraid of sleeping and was co-sleeping nicely for her (popping on the boob when she can't get herself back to sleep a few times a night, and actually eating once or twice a night). I was happy enough and grateful for the chunks of sleep I was getting.

Well, enter developmental spurt #2: CRAWLING. And, OMG this is way worse than the sitting up thing. She is literally crawling.in.her.sleep. I'm not kidding. As soon as she wakes up slightly her body flips itself over and the legs and arms begin pumping, head starts to raise. This, of course, wakes her up and upsets her. I stopped counting after the 7th or 8th time last night...things got fuzzy and I got depressed.

I can't wait for walking! We'll just stay up all night every night practicing. It will be such fun.

Near Sighted

While I was pregnant, my vision got worse and my teeth got better. How, you may ask? I have no clue.

I visited the eye doctor today to check out my vision since I almost failed my drivers license eye test (so sad). And apparently, I've always had mild astigmatism. But never really noticed because I was probably far sighted. Well now I'm leaning towards begin near sighted and combined with the mild astigmatism this equals a need for GLASSES! Wow, I have never worn glasses or contacts before.

This is big. Glasses can say a lot about your character and can be a fashion statement. So I took my time choosing carefully. I chose small rectangle lenses with a mottled black frame. Classic frame, modern shape. Hopefully they will look OK.

I have to say I'm kind of excited to wear them since I only need to wear them "as needed" and not all the time.  As needed can be a fashion choice too, no?

One Day Late

OK, I know my wordless Wednesday post was a day late, but I still wanted to put it out there. So cute, she was going through a chubby phase which lasted all of one week. Overall, she is a somewhat lean, breastfed baby...but healthy and that's all that matters.

I was in a bit of a funk yesterday and didn't get much accomplished. I think my hormones are fluctuating and I'm trying to ride the wave until I adjust. I can understand why women with PPD (postpartum depression) feel so down. I felt like it took all my energy just to wade through my day in a foggy haze and at least attempt to keep up the appearance that all is normal. Yeesh.

I hope this passes soon.

Sleep, how I miss thee

You are told before you have a baby that you will lose sleep. You understand that concept, but can't begin to know what it's really like until you are deep in the trenches.

For the first couple of months you have support. Everyone tells you to hang in there. And then magically at 2- 3 months everyone assumes the worst is over and your baby is sleeping through the night. And if they are NOT, throw them in the crib and let them cry it out. This is STRANGE, people! It's only in the U.S. and only in the last 50 years or so that this is expected of babies. We push our children to autonomy at such an early age and we wonder why our kids have more behavioral problems than ever before.

I think it is extremely perverse that the first question EVERYONE asks is..."Is your baby sleeping through the night?" What kind of sick question is that to ask. And then if your baby is not, it is implied that your baby is somehow difficult or you are doing something wrong as a parent. Ridiculous. And it only makes moms feel horrible about their situation.

The thing that people forget is, we as a species have been having babies for many years now and although we like to separate ourselves from the animals...really you and me baby ain't nothing but mammals (to quote a song from a few years back). We're meant to nurse our young.

I never planned on co-sleeping with my daughter for a long period of time, but it's the only way we all get some sleep. And now, I'm convinced it's natural to nurse and sleep with her at night. They didn't have "baby sleep training" thousands of years ago and our species has not only survived, but thrived.

And now my Pediatrician says it is recommended that you sleep in the same room up until 6 months and breastfeed for one year. I know, I know...plenty of babies survive sleeping in the crib from the get go and are exclusively formula fed. I'm not knocking those choices...everyone does what they feel is best for their child.

My only complaint is...if breastfeeding is so good for our children then why do we make it so hard for moms to breastfeed after the first few months? Shouldn't our support as a society extend through the first year and beyond? We should be encouraged to nurse wherever, whenever we need to. On a plane, in a restaurant, etc. It just amazes me that in the year 2007 this is even an issue. I mean, grow up and get over your puritan nudity issues. It's the most natural thing in the world!

After all, how did YOU come into this world?