Author: Sarah

I just ordered five new books for Carrie – and none of them have anything to do with puppies! It all started off so innocently, I wanted to just get Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young. But of course, I also wanted to qualify for free super-saver shipping. So, into the cart went Good Night, Gorilla and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. And then, even though I’d already spent the necessary $25 (and then some) I remembered that I’d been wanting to pick up a copy of Moo Baa La La La. Finally, I happened upon The Napping House, which looks pretty cute, so I figured as long as I was spending too much money anyway I may as well just add it to the pile.

It’s a good thing Carrie seems to love reading books, because I seem to love buying them for her! (And it’s also a good thing I finally started using the library for my own books because I just blew this month’s book-buying budget in one shot.) But it definitely makes more sense to buy Carrie’s books at this point because she’s kind of rough with them and I don’t really want to have to limit her access to them so she doesn’t damage borrowed books. It’s really wonderful to see her turning and patting the pages of her books as she babbles away, even if she’s sitting on the page she’s trying to turn. Actually, all things considered, her books seem to be weathering the abuse very well, and there’s only minor damage to a couple of them at this point. It probably helps that she doesn’t have teeth yet…

I take it all back. Two naps seem to be working just fine, Carrie’s been sleeping through the night for a week now (knock wood!) regardless of how many naps she takes or how long they are. So, something else must have been going on for those 10 days or so where she’d be up for two or more hours in the very early morning. These are the times when I really wish Carrie could tell me what was wrong. Her two signs, milk and more, only go so far…

Yesterday I counted: out of the obscene number of toys Carrie owns* we have exactly seven toys which take batteries. All but one of them are toys I have picked out or purchased myself. I think my noisy-toy threshold must be abnormally low or something, because I can’t stand toys that make noise just for the sake of making noise. I’m perfectly ok with toys that make music or noise when Carrie does something to cause it – well, at least if the sound quality is decent. I’m even more thrilled when she uses the musical egg shakers or her stacking cups to beat out a rhythm. I have to admit I’m the tiniest bit worried about what she’s going to get at her upcoming birthday parties (she’s actually going to turn one three times) because I think I might be a little bit of a toy snob. Who knew?

*Personally, I don’t think she has too many toys, but everyone who comes to our house does. In my defense, many of them were gifts.

My mom got this sand and water table for Carrie because it was on clearance (you know, because summer’s over and they need to make room for winter coats!) and it’s just so cute with the castle toys. I know she’s a bit young to truly appreciate all that the table has to offer – especially because we haven’t put sand in it yet – but she’s still having fun playing in the water! The only thing is…the princess that came with the table is kind of strange-looking. In fact, we’ve decided that it’s actually an evil wizard in disguise. (Would that make him an evil wizard drag princess?) What do you think?

For more pictures of Carrie’s fairy-tale adventures, check out the gallery!

I think I’m going to start a support group for moms who have thick curly hair whose daughters have fine straight hair. Don’t get me wrong, Carrie’s hair is absolutely beautiful, but it won’t stay in a barrette or clip for more than a couple of minutes and it’s always in her eyes. I have no idea what to do with it (hairspray comes to mind, but I haven’t seen any in the baby aisle at the store so I think it’s probably not a good idea). The daily pressure I get from people – family and strangers alike – to cut her hair is immense, but I’ve had bangs and I’m not sure I want to force that route on Carrie. I’m really trying to stick it out long enough so that I can pull it into pigtails with teeny-tiny hair elastics, but I’m afraid that someone’s going to sneak her to the salon and have it cut before then.

I think I might just feed her bananas at every meal, since she likes to mush them into her hair as a styling product anyway…mmm, banana mousse!

Can a baby OD on peas?!? If I let her, I think Carrie would eat more than a cup of peas at one sitting. If I put a couple of different foods on her tray, and peas are among them, she will only eat the peas. The only thing that trumps peas are blueberries.

In fact, she does the opposite of most children I know, and eats the colorful food while leaving the blander colored foods on her tray. (The only exception to this is Cheerios, which are still manna from heaven.)

I suppose this is a good “problem” to have, but I’m starting to worry that peas are becoming her staple food…well, along with small pasta rings tossed with butter and romano cheese, and grilled cheese sandwich bits.

…the baby’s schedule changes! Up until Wednesday, our (very flexible) schedule looked like this:

7 AM – Carrie wakes up, gets a new diaper and nurses.
8 AM – breakfast for both of us, then playtime!
9 AM – new diaper, nurse and nap
— At this point I get to shower, dress, do laundry, clean up the kitchen from breakfast, and maybe putter around doing fun things until Carrie wakes up. —
10:30 AM – Carrie wakes up, gets a new diaper and gets daytime clothes…then more playtime!
Noon – lunchtime, then more playtime!
2 PM – new diaper, nurse and nap
3:30 PM – Carrie wakes up, gets a new diaper and then gets to play more!
6 PM – dinnertime, and more playtime!
7 PM – bedtime starts: bath (some nights), pajamas, stories, nursing
8 PM – Carrie falls asleep.
— Sound good so far? Just wait. This part started happening almost two weeks ago, after some very pleasant weeks of full nights of sleep. —
2 AM – Carrie wakes up crying. Wait 5 minutes. Crying turns into screaming. Stumble down hallway. Check diaper – clean. Offer milk – not interested. Rock baby. Carrie lays there with wide open eyes staring at ceiling. Finally, after 30 minutes or more eyes finally close. Wait a few more minutes. Gingerly place baby in crib. Tiptoe down hallway. Collapse into bed, glance at clock: 2:47 AM.
2:48 AM – Carrie wakes up crying. Wait 5 minutes. (See remaining entry for 2 AM.) Stumble back into bed, clock now reads 3:24 AM.
3:25 AM – You guessed it. Carrie wakes up crying…manage to get back to bed at 4:12.
4:13 AM – Beg Denis to get up this time. Doze until he comes back at 4:47. Hold breath and pray for sleep (or maybe death).
6 AM – Alarm goes off. Carrie must have actually stayed asleep…until 7 rolls around again.

My very smart cousin – who’s turning 30 today! Happy Birthday, Kathy! – listened to my tale of woe while we were out to lunch on Wednesday and asked a very simple question: “How many naps is Carrie taking?”

D’oh!

Wednesday, because we were out, Carrie didn’t take a morning nap. She took a 2 1/4 hour afternoon nap. She slept through the night.

Yesterday we mostly succeeded in skipping the morning nap (there was a 15 minute catnap in there when she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer) and…she slept through except waking up to nurse, but then she fell right back to sleep. (Total time from stumbling down the hallway to collapsing back in bed was less than 15 minutes.)

So, I guess we’re going to have to reinvent our schedule a bit – how on earth do I occupy her for an entire 4 hours between breakfast and lunch, and when do I shower?!? – but it will be totally worth it to not be up for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night, every night!

If I could only justify a $20 (with shipping) onesie for Carrie. This is the perfect outfit for the daughter of two mac people, don’t you think?

But if I did splurge on it I’d be terrified to let her wear it. This whole self-feeding stage is really, really messy. I don’t even know how she gets food in some of the places I find it after mealtimes…