Who has time?

Really, now, who throws a shoe?

ok... who has time to post? Kid is growing, blaugh blaugh blaugh. Sign language, walking, talking, running, and, really, dusting and sometimes putting a book or two BACK on the shelf. So- with gardening, business, kids, life, no time to post! So, for now, toodles to the electronic world.

The Teefer Sutherland Fairy

Thought of the day:

HOW THE @#!! COULD I HAVE MISSED *THAT* WHILE FEEDING HER?

Teefers, as dad calls them, have started. So, Donald and Keither's (sp?) little know cousin, Teefer, came to visit the Pu. Bottom tooth emerging, the other bottom one headed in. I thought i was sore, but didn't put two and two together. Yep - i'm the one who cuts themselves building bookshelves and bleeds everywere until someone points out i need a bandage. Great trait to have during a natural childbirth, except when midwifes check up on you and you realize, yep, still in labor ; ). Of course, since it only lasted 4 hours, i really can't complain....

So- Pu with Teefers - munching on corners of frozen towels i make for her (little cloths). She gets distracted and tries to suck the water out.

At 6 months, she started eating solids - now at 7 months, she's more into it. Went on strike and only eating rice cereal and sweet potato - peas just about kill her and make her gag to death, and the lima bean phase lasted only two meals. Bananas are just as evil as peas are..... must try carrots again. Me, on the other hand, gets to play clean up, so i've been eating her leftovers. Banans and peas in the morning for breakfast - not bad.

With the teefers in, the electric pump is looking more and more comforting.

Wow. morning nap is lasting a loooong time...... blissssssss

Don't touch her, Focker, we're Ferberizing her!

Awesome. Ferber.

Tip: Ferber method. it really works. After the vacation, we re-ferberized her. That meant, morning and afternoon naps (pre-nap ritual, then nap).... Yea, she cries. She realized people come and go in her world. But, kids at 7 months are kinda like dogs. You can bump them on the head or forget to feed them for a minute or two, but they'll still love ya (unlike that cat, who would be plotting your death if you didn't feed it on time).

So - 5 minute check up, 10 minute check up, 15 minue check up, then the 20ish.... rarely gets to this stage, and then, nap time is over and ya get the kid up. In a nutshell, there's more to the whole technique than this!

Does it work? Well - just last weekend, Dad, during the 15 minute stretch, thought she wasn't tired and to get her up. Noooo! i said... as the kid was wailing in the background while he tried to talk to his mum. Sure enough, she soothed herself to sleep. no pacifier. no toy. no music. I'm sooo terrible.

No - just a couple days later - its bliss. Yea, she cries, but for 5 or so minutes, and sometimes its just chatter. With two nights in a row of her going to sleep at night without a peep, and two days of nap time with less than 10 minutes of fussiness - life is good again. Dad is in awe and very happy. Mom is estatic.

Tip to new mums: The book: Baby 411. The recommend the Ferbur method. (hey, am i even spelling this right?). Mind you - this isn't for new borns or in the first few months of life! Plus, witty comments about the use of pacifiers. (especially kids using them after 4 months old).

Endless Summer - the first Vacation

Ok... so its fall.... and there was no surfing... etc...

Pu had her first real vacation (versus day trips). End of Sept., her Grandmom and Granddad (Memphis folks) came down and passed a couple days in town with us. GREAT to have so many folks to pass the kiddo off to! She got a Pooh bear about the size of her (again, she loves the label on it... labels are much cooler than the stuffed animals themselves). The hubby and i got to visit, play games (LOVE taboo - been about 15 years since i've played it!). You know you're married to an overly educated person when this happens in Taboo: The sand is falling, time is running out - the Dad pulls another card... (for those who don't know, you try to have your partner guess the word without saying the "taboo' words on the list)... he thinks - his neural connections are firing a million times a second - time is running out! he speaks: um..... black and white... um.... line on it... um... a rodent... um.... it stinks..... um..... then BLAMO! time runs out. EEEEE GAWD! The Mum and I just roll our eyes.... Pepe le Pu? HELLO! McFly! Well..... after much laughter - who woulda thunk? Skunks are rodents... their carnivores. Dang botantists hung up on zoology. Awesome game of taboo. Surprised we didn't wake the kiddo with us laughing so hard.

So - after a couple days, we headed to the ocean. Totally awesome vacation - got to spend time boogy boarding, relaxing... oh wait.. this is supposed to be about Pu.

SHE got to relax, hang out... saw the ocean for the first time... a little puzzeled, prefered to watch the waves come and out over feet instead of tackeling the huge picture of a zillion waves. She also got her first (and second and third...) pool experience. Also a fun treat. Turned her into a mad-woman now that we're back and in the tub. spalsh splash spalsh weeeee giggle. Gave her confidence and now she plays more with her purple and pink rubber duckeys than wanting to get lathered up.

She also got a little spoiled (totally my fault). In an effort to keep her from crying at night when she wakes for food, i would swoop her up and see if she wanted to be fed at the first sign of her moving about. Of course, she got the idea quick, and would just fuss around so i'd pick her up. GGGgrrrrrrr. The last night we spend there, she was up (and me, too) at 11:30, 1,4,6 - all thru the night! urgh.

When we got back home, she was a monster the first day or two. 11:30 feeding? Ha! i thought it was 1:30 until i saw the other 1 hiding behind a stuffed animal. Refused to feed her (i'm so mean) at 11:30. After 2 days, she realized she might as well sleep, too. By the 3 or 4th day, she actually slept straight thru from 7:30 pm until 5 the next day!

Anyway, it was an awesome vacation. Will post a picture of her soon.

Yaw, Pitch, Roll

Amazing developments in the world of Pu. After an early week of ARHG!#%^%@#*- ok, so my diet was off, i think that affected her. After debating with the XY when to put the kid to sleep (she was antsy), we gave her more milk and tucked her in. Then got her out again cuz she was wailing. More milk. Well, too much. I guess you CAN tank them up too much. First time i saw baby projectile barf... hardly digested milk, but still gross. specially when it lands on me and the couch (still thankful we have the old collegic holey couch). Pu looked disgusted at the flavor. I don't blame her. Anyway, that night was followed by a no-poop day, and by the third day, after much fussing and the eventual dreaded poop that overwhelmed the innocent diaper, normalicy returned.

Last night, in the pre-bed massage time, she actually grabbed my foot and TURNED HERSELF on to her belly. She has her sides down pat, but the *belly!*. The dad was even there to wittness it!

And, today, more leaps and bounds. While she can get up on her elbows while on the belly, today, she gets her entire chest off the ground and props herself up on her little hands. Does this then plops down in to the *plane* move (hands and feet in air). Of course, when I did this with her, nothin' but giggles. Good times for the unemployed.

Houston - We have Crib!

Ok. Finally. A blog update. What can we say? we've been busy. Summary is below:

July: THE MOVE. Not bad. Took 3 days to travel 1,000 miles with the critter in tow. Pu was a WONDERFUL co-pilot. Two brief crying spells during the entire trip - once i just didn't feed her enough (oops), and the other time we had to wait for an exit to pull off the highway. Anyway, we made it.

August: First couple weeks was unpacking, unpacking, unpacking. The hubby helped out, but had to turn around and start the new job. Then, he was wisked back to where we just moved from for a conference and workshop. Good deal, he got his car and drove back here.

End of August: Shortly before Pu's 6-month birthday, we took the plunge. SOLID FOOD! yes, mushed up bananas. yummm..... A quick look of disgust, followed by inquisitiveness, surprise, then love!

Yes, folks always say that solid foods bring about nasty changes in the kid's . . um. . . diapers. Well, what they didn't mention is aside from the peee-ew change, and color, the never mentioned what bananas look like afterwards. The utter horror during the following day when i thought that somehow, the kid picked up worms. flashbacks from invertebrate zoology flooded my mind - hookworms? roundworms? whipworms? nematophora? wha?!?!? Then, ahhhh yes. . . . banana fibers. little squiggly brown thingies floating in a sea of poo.

Bananas were the week's choice, then i though - veggies. Steamed the heck outta carrots, mushed them up good. Again, it was disgust, furrowed brows, then the, well, ok, i'll give it a try. What a trooper. Well, that meal was my milk, banana and just a FEW little carrot mush - just a WEEEE bit. really. Am i doing this all wrong? The poor kid was grunting the following day and has decided, for the time being, to boycott solids. Will start over with bananas tomorrow.

And, the biggest change - THE CRIB! We were going to start that when we got to the new home, but alas, we had all our mattresses lined up in a row. The Pu was at least sleeping on her own mattresses next to ours. Well, I was on the phone talking with Aunt "J", and, it a brilliant inspirational moment, decided to just crib her. Afterall, she's 6 months old now. I have to stop being lazy and rolling over feeding, and rolling back. I'll take the plunge that most women do and actually *go over* to a crib and drag the kid out.

So, on Sept. 1st, 2005, the Pu woke up in her own crib. Wasn't bad at all.... She still feeds at about 1 or 2 am, then another time around 5 or 6 am. I can deal with that. Her crib is just a couple feet from my side of the bed - i roll out, grab her, jump back in bed, and she eats. I poke her to keep her eating and from falling asleep, then toss her back into the crib when she's had enough.

And, she LOVES her crib. tigers and rhinos and such on the bumper are cool to look at - she actually goes down (sometimes) without a fuss. Night time is a breeze, not a peep from her (usually). She just coo's and plays with her hands and passes out. She has boycotted the pacifier after briefly using it at 2 months old. I just she decided she's to big for that at 3 months - totally uncool thing. or something.

Ok. So, that's the lastest from this end. Hope all is well with everyone out there - will post pictures soon.

Choir Practice

Urgh. I knew the 9pm-12am, 12am-4am, 4-6am sleep routine couldn't last forever. Pu has decided, lately, its much more fun to try practicing g's, oo's and this nice growly sound she does in her throat at, oh, 4 in the morning. Yipee. 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. is choir practice, which not even a pacifier can stop... its seems, however, there may be hope in sight - last night she skipped choir practice. *sigh*.

As for me, I've set the blog to central time... (maybe even correctly). . . i raised my eyebrow with a, "hmm....." when i noticed that, hey, i was at work when that entry was posted.

Don't know about many working mums out there, but I was *so* happy to return to work... love doing what i do, love the break from the kiddo. Several more weeks on the job, then have to stop for *the move*. Back to mum full time, at least for awhile.... Pu and I get to explore a new town. ooops. city.

As for Pu's Dad - AWESOME! Turning his paper in to his advisors, and with all the figures, tables and glitter added to it, is 270 (and change) pages! ! ! ! !. And he didn't even fudge the margins. Currently, he's hunting down signatures for approval and such. One form even has to be printed out (for graduation) on *pink* paper. University pink... I suggested our stash of 80's neon colored paper, and Pu-Dad said, nope, has to be the university's pink color. Hey, if they are going to go with color, they should be more adventurous..... maybe leopard print paper? oh well. University rules.