Parenting Lesson 798: Preparation

Crib sheets: There should be standard minimum that the store in which you've purchased the crib from shares with you. My idea - no less than 3 crib sheets and at least 2 under/protective sheets. Blankets (if your kiddo uses them) and PJs are also amongst this list and the minimum there = many.



I have been working with sub-par materials thus far. Having been woken up in the middle of the night a few times now to a crying child with vomit or a diaper blow out is how I've discovered this. You're lucky if only the top sheet and maybe a blanket gets it - that's a quick change. But the undersheet - involves some more techinical manuvering that at 3am one is not typically prone to. If the undersheet is soiled, one must gather it all up and get down to the laundry, ASAP. Granted, now in the house, this step is a little less involved. I don't need to get completely dressed and go outside the house to access the washer. The hope is the darn thing will be washed and dried by time the next night rolls around.



So, I'll be looking on the internet for some deals on the undersheet and crib sheets...because of course I had to get odd shaped crib sheets that go along with the Stokke Sleepi Crib that cost a fortune. Of course it's a very svelt crib, made having a crib in the last apartment even possible (thanks Mom and Dad). If anyone sees a deal, let me in on it.

Alleluia!

I do not want to curse this, but certianly wanted to share in my joy. Maeve slept through the night for the very FIRST time Friday, January 11th. And I do not mean some variation of that definition to make myself feel better - I mean what you all experience everyday (including Helen and Jake who's kiddo has been sleeping through the night for MONTHS). We didn't see any repeats though so didn't think it would be worth mentioning.

Until, last night, the 20th we had another all nighter. From 7:30pm until, get this, 6am when Mark was walking around for practice. I brought her to my own bed then, nursed her and we slept for another 2 hours. It was glorious - and a very nice treat for a day off from work (yet another thing to be thankful to Martin Luther King Jr for).

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. -- "Strength to Love," 1963. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Freaking Cold

Today I learned the difference, albeit a subtle one, between -8°F and -1°F. At -8°F, the hairs in your nose freeze adding a very strange sensation to breathing. This does not happen at -1°F.

Huh?

The Minutia

I know you Maeve Space readers love the minutia, so here it is. We've been weighed down the past few days with some sort of intestinal virus, Maeve mostly, but that means that her Mama and Pa also have to deal with the clean up.

The poor girl has had her diaper changed more than I care to keep track of. Her bed linens and the changing table were also a part of one of the massive cleans ups...in the middle of the night no less. It seems to be getting better yesterday and today, but sadly I just learned that we passed it along to our lovely babysitter. That doesn't bode well for anyone!

So, if you're wondering where we are it's probably in the bathroom. Check ya later.

A change of scenery

Yeah, yeah, I've gone and done it again. I guess I need the change. The light dots give me hope that spring is around the corner. The white background likely reflects the very snowy winter we have had here in WI.



If you have complaints, take them up with the management.

Playful bliss

I pride myself on having found a piece of furniture that is fashionable, functional and kid friendly. We have a new ottoman that also has storage within (why one wouldn't is beyond me - really a waste of space). Maeve likes climbing in and bringing a book with her too (see book near leg). Pretty darn cute.

And for those that are wondering...that is the new haircut + bed head. We like bed head around here. The lighting in pic is not the best, but neither is the lighting in our living room. A work in progress.

Persistence

Thanks to mainly Mark's persistance, today Maeve signed (as in sign language) "eat." Mark and I have been signing a few words to her since she was about 6 months old. I remember reading somewhere that it takes many months before children sign anything back, and it usually end up being around 15 months. Well, today it paid off.

After a nap, I was busseling Maeve around to perhaps go out for a walk on this fine snowy day. Maeve had other plans in mind though. When I wasn't understanding what she was asking for with grunts, she put her little fingers together and brought them to her mouth for the sign "eat." I wasn't sure at first that it was truly what she intended, but when I asked her if she wanted to eat, she seemed happy I had gotten the message. We marched downstairs (yes, we can march downstairs now!) and promptly got some food. And if I wasn't sure that she meant to sign today, I think because of the postive reinforcement, she continued to sign "eat" for the rest of the day.

Maeve

Here are a few pictures that my friend Jody recently took while Maeve was in her care. (Thanks Jody for helping make the move to the new house possible). I think some of these pictures really capture this little girl very well.

::Suprise::

::Concentration::
::Oooohh::
::Delight::
::Simply Maeve::

All Thumbs

Ok...so I know I eluded to the idea that the next picture would be of Maeve with her new haircut, alas this is pre-haircut, but it's super cute.

Here is Anabelle and Maeve, excellent thumb suckers, showing off their technique together. What also made this moment very adorable, was that Maeve hadn't seen Anabelle in a few days. Maeve gave Anabelle enough time to get her jacket and shoes off and then headed over to give her a hello. Maeve nuzzled her head into Anabelle and put her arm around her. Too cute!

BItter Sweet

Been away from the blogging world for a bit...holidays and busy with the move. I don't want to downplay all the great things that happened over the past few weeks, such as, a visit from Helen, Jake and Milo, Maeve and Milo going sledding, Christmas with Hannah, Sam, Anabelle and Silas and of course the new house. It was all great, but you'll just have to pick up with me from today.

I have been contemplating cutting Maeve's hair recently, it had been getting pretty unruly, especially after sleep. It was also starting to look like a mullet (you can check out Wikipedia's definition of that). As we sat in the bath last night, I mustered up the courage to give it a try. As I took the first snip, my heart jumped a bit at the realization that I have a child old enough to get a hair cut. Then my heart jumped again as she quickly turned around to see what I was doing and nearly caught the scissors in her face. In the end, there were these sweet curls, no blood and a cute girl with a short haircut!

Next post will have to be a photo of the girl with her new do. Who knows if it will really help control the rats nest that was happening in the back of her head. Either way, it's probably good for me to get these reminders that my baby is growing up.