My haircut turned into a learning experience.

I got my hair cut last Saturday. Don’t like it! My hair has never been this short. Everyone likes it, but I feel very strange. Glad I did it, though. It is more than worth it to me. I will be mailing about 10 inches of hair to Whigs for Kids. I plan to continue doing this. I am lucky in that my hair grows relatively fast. I grew enough hair to donate in about 18 months.

I did not anticipate this, but getting my hair cut turned into a wonderful learning experience for Amor Chiquito.

I told her that I would be getting my hair cut later that day so she would not be surprised. I anticipated that, once she saw me, she would talk about it, but I was still surprised at all that she learned from me getting a haircut.

Amor Chiquito: Mommy, you got your hair cut.

Me: Yes, love, I got my hair cut.

Amor Chiquito: Why, mommy?

Me: Sometimes, people get sick and their hair goes away. I want to give my hair to little kids that do not have hair.

Amor Chiquito: Why, mommy?

Me: Because I think it will make them happy to have hair.

We have had this conversation at least five times since last Saturday. She is still asking why I got my hair cut! She knows why, but that does not mean that she will stop asking! If you have a two or three year old, you know that’s how it is!

I am glad that my little girl is learning, by watching my actions, that there are people out there that could use help and that little things we can do for people mean a lot to them.

I am thinking that, perhaps, we will bring her with us next time we go give blood. Don’t worry; she will be with me while Geeky Entrepreneur gives blood and vise versa. I will not leave a child unattended when there are people with needles on their arms! I love her, but, scary!

Blog Post on the Maternal Bond

I found this very interesting, for lack of a better word. She has a point!

http://midwiferyramblings.blogspot.com/2010/07/maternal-bond.html

Review: Shark Steam Mop

The latest in my transition to crunchy living…!

I will start by confessing that I like cool toys!

I will also admit to obsessing about what chemicals we use at home. This is definitely a post-baby thing. I can’t claim that I was an environmentalist or anything like that! Caring about the environment is something that has been growing on me, though.

I was very curious when my neighbor told me that her steam mop does a great job, despite the fact that there are no chemicals involved. As soon as I heard that all I need is water, I wanted to try it out!

Read more about it here:
http://www.sharkclean.com/cgi-bin/livew/site.w?location=b2c/product.w&product=S3101W&frames=no&target=main&sponsor=000001&nocache=66668

Pros:

The mop is very lite.

The mop does a great job removing stains on kitchen and dining room floors at little kids’ houses. If it can handle the home of a toddler, it can handle anything, me thinks!

All you need is a small amount of water and some microfiber pads. No going back to the store for more supplies.

You plug in the mop and it is ready in about 30 seconds.

Wash the pads and reuse them.

The floor dries up quickly.

Cons:

I can only think of one con: the price. The mop costs $100 at the Shark website. I found it at Walmart for $60, though! The pads are also pricy, $10 each. I found a five-pack on eBay for $23. I use one pad for each room, so we have plenty of them now.

A Mom's Ideas and Thoughts on Sibling Cooperation

Check out this blog entry:
http://attachmentparenting.org/blog/2010/06/30/sibling-cooperation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+APISpeaks+%28API+Speaks%29

Great ideas, if I ever manage to make up my mind about another child!

The Adventures of Amor Chiquito returns!

I had not done this in a while. There are many little things I want to remember. So I am hoping to do this once a week, like I used to.

Last week was full of realizations, interesting remarks, and fun mischief!

We were walking down Rt. 9 in Northampton (for the locals). Ari noticed a newspaper stand. She had no idea what it was or what it was for.

“Ah, wait a minute!”

There were many little stores. She would stop at many of them and look in for a few seconds.

Daddy was noticing that she is window shopping already!

On a different day, Ari and I were spending some time with my mother. Amor Chiquito told her that she wanted to feed the fish. They fed the fish together.

Amor Chiquito: Enjoy your food, fish. Bye fish.

My mother asked Amor Chiquito to put her sandals on. She said “no.”

Me: Would you like to put your sandals on now or in two minutes?

Amor Chiquito: Two minutes. No, three minutes!

Clever kid!

For some reason (I have yet to figure out why), Amor Chiquito takes off her pants and underwear when she uses the potty, often as she is walking towards the bathroom. Once she is done, she takes off, often forgetting to put her underwear back on. We were getting ready to leave and asked her to get her underwear.

*Some day, she will kill me, but here it goes!*

Amor Chiquito: Paaantis, where aaare you?!

Geeky Entrepreneur and I simply could not stop laughing! I love my life!

Geeky Entrepreneur and Amor Chiquito have been sick for days, almost a week. Just a cold, but there have been fevers and long, sleepless nights. If you know of some way to make a little one understand that using a pillow when she is congested is a good idea, please let me know!

Onto the story… Sunday morning, Amor Chiquito woke up at 4:30 am. She could not fall back asleep. At 5:00 am, she noticed it was no longer dark outside.

Amor Chiquito: Mommy, look, sun wake up! I get up too!

What cute or interesting things have your kids been saying or doing lately?

Thoughts on Corporal Punishment

Disclosure: This note is not directly or indirectly addressed to anyone. I have not seen anyone spank his/her child recently. I decided to write this after reading a blog post on corporal punishment.

Lengthy article talking about the negative effects of spanking:
http://www.womensenews.org/story/health/010923/experts-spanking-harms-children-especially-girls

A mom's thoughts on corporal punishment:
http://mamapoekie.blogspot.com/2010/04/undermining-general-beliefs-about.html
The entry needs a bit of editing, but if you can get past that, you might find it to be thought-provoking.

I must say that if a teacher or school officer ever dares spank my child, I don’t care what state I live in, my Ari is not going to that school ever again!

Yes, I am extremely biased. I will not hide it, will not sugar-code it. I don't believe in corporal punishment, ever, no matter what my child does or says.

I believe it is my job to figure out how to communicate with and teach my child with love and respect. If I feel my child is behaving terribly and I am at a loss, then I ought to reach out and get help. There are many resources out there. Start by talking to other parents. Have a chat with Mr. Google; he will help you out! Search for message boards. Find out if there are local parenting groups. Read parenting blogs. I have learned so much from parenting blogs! Last, but certainly not least, prioritize getting some you time. Your emotional/mental health is important.

As a mother, I know there are hard days, days when you wonder “Why the hell doesn’t she listen to me? Just how many times must I call her name before she responds?”

I try to remind myself that the way I respond does not only impact our lives today, right now, right this second. The way I respond and handle everyday situations will impact my Ari in so many levels: her relationship with me, her self-esteem/self concept, the way she will interact with peers, the way she will interact with her future children, among other things.

Back to corporal punishment, I grew up hearing all about how "one must respect" her/his parents. I strongly believe that respect and trust are earned. I don't believe corporal punishment earns respect. I do believe that it induces feelings of shame, fear and the child’s desire to be dishonest to avoid awkward situations.

It seems to me that, in *many, not all* cases, parents spank because they are desperate, they don't know what else to try, what else to do, how to set boundaries and communicate effectively with their kids. They feel at a loss.

However you parent and discipline your child, I urge you to periodically stop, think and ask yourself the following questions:

Children do lots of modeling; they tend to behave the way we behave, that is. That being said, what am I teaching my child?

Am I treating my child the way I want her/him to treat others, including myself?

Are my actions telling my child that I am trust-worthy and emotionally available to her/him?

Am I treating my child with love and respect? I love her/him to pieces, but am I showing it?

How am I doing when it comes to lovingly teaching my child about boundaries?

How consistent am I?

How will I feel in the future if I see my child treating my grandchild the way I am treating her/him today? Will I feel happy, proud, that I did right by my child? Will I feel sad for my child and grandchild?

Woe, I did not mean for the list of questions to be that long! Just gave myself lots to think about! Yikes, parenting really is the most important, intense and rewarding job I will ever have!

I would love to read about your thoughts, on here or privately.

Article on inducing labor and why we should only do so when it is medically necessary...

http://talkbirth.com/?p=140&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TalkBirth+%28Talk+Birth%29

There are other birth-related interesting articles on this blog...

Two little Ari stories...

Here are some of Amor Chiquito’s latest sentences that I have found particularly cute or funny.

Amor Chiquito walked into her daddy’s office and said: "I want you dance with me, Daddy."

Geeky Entrepreneur was taking the trash out. He asked Ari if she would like to help, gave her a new trash bag, and told her he was going outside but would be right back. The kid loves to help, but there is nothing she likes more than going outside! She said: "Don’t worry, mommy; you got it."

The other day, Amor Chiquito saw kids playing at a park. She said: "I liiike boys... and girls!" We laughed pretty hard that time!

No more nap time diaper...

No more nap time diaper for my little girl. About six weeks ago or so, I began noticing that her nap diaper was always dry. When it was wet, it was because she peed soon after she woke up. In other words, she was being lazy!

Thus far, we have had two accidents, both of them this week and during particularly long naps. Not sure what I can do about these accidents. I always ask her if she needs to go before bed. Sometimes she does; others she does not. For now, I will put a thick towel on the bed until I get a mattress cover.

She continues to wear a diaper at night time. Diapers are almost always wet in the mornings, so we will be diapering at night for a while longer, which is totally fine by me.

It feels strange to wash six or seven diapers once a week! I used to wash about 20 diapers every three days!

From Bed-Sharing to Co-Sleeping

Warning: this is pretty long!

I strongly believe that different things work for different parents, for different kids, and at different stages of the child’s life. For example, in our case, when Amor Chiquito was an infant, we bed-shared and it worked very well. Sometime during the first year, she slept on her car seat or on the swing for a while. She had reflux.

Around the time Amor Chiquito turned one, bed-sharing was no longer working for us. We transitioned her to her crib. That was hard, very hard. She cried a lot. The first few days, I sincerely believe she was very stressed out about it. She would poo. You might think “so what? She pooped.” She never ever went at that time, only during those first few days. Eventually, she began taking her sleeper and diaper off and throwing them. That was both frustrating and very funny! I never heard of a child completely stripping that early!

Amor Chiquito slept in her crib until about 23 months. At that point, she jumped out! Needless to say, it was time to transition to the toddler bed. That did not go over very well! I would close her door because I was afraid she may fall down the stairs. It is impossible to have a gate at the top of our stairs; we have tried it all. Anyways, she would get upset when she could not get out of her room. After a while, I stopped closing the door. Visiting at 4am began! It was easier for me to let her climb into bed with me than to bring her back. Years of sleep deprivation and a vitamin D deficiency were really catching up with me.

Now, here we are. We have been bed-sharing since February. I feel that there are pros and cons. It is easier for me to lie down next to her, as opposed to waiting until she falls asleep. One of us has always been around until she falls asleep. That is a whole other topic. Some people say an infant can be taught to self-soothe. Others say a child is not developmentally ready to self-soothe until sometime around age 2.5 to 3.

Back to pros and cons, one of the cons is that our 37” tall and 31 lb child takes up more room on our queen size bed than either of us does! I lost my husband. He started sleeping on a twin-size mattress in Amor Chiquito’s room. He got tired of getting kicked and of sleeping on the edge of the bed. To be honest, I was not sleeping comfortably either.

I felt torn, felt that, in a way, I had to choose my child or my husband, you know, the two people that I love most. I strongly believe that it was not healthy for our marriage to have my husband sleeping elsewhere. I will be blunt. It is not about sex. You can always get creative! It is about cuddling and reconnecting as a couple at the end of a long day.

That being said, I also love having Amor Chiquito nearby! I hereby admit it; I am addicted to having that warm leg on my tummy! It is priceless, indescribable!

As far as Amor Chiquito is concerned, here is my thought: if my husband and I like physical contact as we drift off to sleep, why is it wrong for my daughter to want it as well? If we sleep so much better with it, then why is it ok for us to get it and why is it not ok for her to have it? Why do we expect something of her that we do not do ourselves?

Something else to think about… I feel it is important for Amor Chiquito to be able to fall asleep with or without me. In the fall, she will begin attending a Montessori school and I will not be there when nap time comes around. Aside from that, it is simply a skill she should have. I might get sick some day; I might get some consulting work; I might want a break, etc. Most importantly, I know she can do it because she did it in the past.

Another thought… every day is unique. I am never getting today again. I want to enjoy today, to be with my family, to feel my family near me, to get something that I will not get forever: my little girl loving snuggling with me.

Here is my most recent idea: move from bed-sharing to co-sleeping, sharing our room with our child, that is. We put the twin-size mattress in our bedroom and have Amor Chiquito sleep there. She gets to be near me. I get to snuggle with my people. My husband is back on our bed and sleeping comfortably. Amor Chiquito is, on average, only waking me up once a night. Usually, she is not loud about it, so Geeky Entrepreneur can sleep through it.

We have only done this the past three nights, but, so far, so good! I know our current setup might not work in a month, but we will figure that out when we get there.

The Broken Record Syndrome

Amor Chiquito seems to feel the need to repeat a statement a good ten times, as if doing so will make me change my mind.

Example:

Amor Chiquito: I want see Jai.

Me: We can’t see Jai right now.

Amor Chiquito: I want see Jai please.
I want see Jai.
I want see Jai now.
I want see Jai.

Me: We can’t see Jai, honey.

Amor Chiquito: But why?

Repeat, repeat, repeat, and repeat some more…

This is recent. Up until today, I kept answering, repeating a variety of statements that all meant the same thing: no, we cannot see Jai right now. Can you spell frustrating and annoying? Because I can, believe you me!

I don’t know if this is the right thing to do, but here is what I started doing today:

Amor Chiquito: I want see Jai.

Me: We cannot see Jai now.

Amor Chiquito: But why?

Me: Jai is with his Daddy. We can see him later. I am done talking about seeing Jai. We can talk about the stop sign! Do you see the stop sign?

When she keeps repeating the statement, I don’t know if I should not say anything or talk about something else. I have tried saying things like:
“I understand. I want to see him too. But we can’t see him right now.” I’d love to say that that works. But it most definitely does not, not for my daughter, anyways.

It is too soon to tell if my new technique will work or not. I really hope it does!

What do you do when your child repeats the same statement ten times, even though she/he already knows the answer? What works? What does not?

Help a mommy at a loss, please!

Homemade waffles, the crunchy way, and with help from the little cook...!

Making homemade waffles on Sunday morning has become a tradition for us. Last Sunday, Amor Chiquito was helping Daddy unload the dishwasher. It was a good reminder; I decided to get her involved too. She helped make waffles for the first time! She was very excited!

Amor Chiquito poured each ingredient into the mixing bowl. She helped beat the eggs. She delivered the first waffle to Daddy.

I don’t remember exactly what she said after we were done, but it was something like this:
I help mommy cook waffles, hurray!

As we were putting in each ingredient, I told her its name. Now, every time it is time to cook, she tells us that she wants to help cook with flour!

Crunchy me decided to try something different: replace 25% of the flour with whole wheat flour. I usually replace half of the flour with whole wheat flour, but I did not want to overdo it with waffles. I wanted my husband to eat them, after all!

I am happy to say that my trick worked! We got some whole grains into us and the waffles were still yummy. I am sure it works because my husband keeps going back for them!

About two months ago, I decided to start making a double batch. We spend a little more time cooking waffles, but it is worth it. We end up with yummy waffles in the freezer and we use them on those mornings when we just do not feel like having cereal but do not have a lot of time to prepare a hot breakfast.

Another family tradition is whole wheat French toasts with whip cream and whatever fruit we have at the time, usually berries or kiwis. A tiny bit of whip cream on Ari’s hand is part of the tradition!

How do you get your kids involved? What are some of your family traditions?

Getting more and more clever and impish every day...

A little while ago, Amor Chiquito grabbed my hand and walked me into the guest room at my mother's apartment. She said "stay here, mommy, please."

I knew what that meant! You know what that meant!

M I S C H I E F

I decided to wait it out and find out what her plan was.

She sat in the living room for a minute, covering her face. Never knew why she was covering her face. Maybe she was smiling and did not want me to notice? She then went into the kitchen and asked her grandma for an ice cream cone!

I guess I do an awesome job being the bad cop!

Another little story... Yesterday, Amor Chiquito and I were having lunch together at home. She ate all her pasta.

Ari: All done. I full.

Mommy: Can you please put your bowl in the sink? (Bad choice of words.)

Ari: No, your turn. You do. Yourself.

I wish I could say I handled it beautifully. Truth is I was shocked and did not react. Part of me wanted to laugh my butt off! Part of me was wondering "who exactly took over my child's mind?" Part of me was thinking "wow, she is learning new phrases and figuring out what they mean and how we respond to them. Fascinating."

Yet another story... About half an hour after the lunch episode, we were doing puzzles. The pieces of the puzzles are different geometric shapes. She knows some of them, but not others. I was telling her what each shape was as she put it on the puzzle.

Mommy: That is a triangle.

Ari: Triangle! I know triangle! (insert a bit of an attitude here, as if no crap, duh, it's a triangle!).

Again, I was shocked.

For the rest of the day, Amor Chiquito was her usual sweet and helpful self. She loves to help with chores. That is why I was surprised when she said it was my turn to put her bowl in the sink. Her choice of words made for a very entertaining few hours, that’s for sure!

Just when you have something figured out, there is something else to learn/figure out! How many times will we reread Love and Logic before we put it down forever? When will we put it down forever? I know, when she turns six and we buy the book for elementary school age kids!

How do you respond to such situations? What works? What does not? I am in the process of figuring this out!

What are your favorite parenting books?

Water parks are "funnn"!

Geeky Entrepreneur, Amor Chiquito and I spent two nights at the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge in Queensbury, NY, near Lake George. The hotel and the indoor water park are both in one building. Very convenient and it was a lot of fun.

There were activities for adults, for little ones, and activities that were fun for the entire family.

Here is a link that describes the water park:
http://www.sixflagsgreatescapelodge.com/WWBinformation.asp

Amor Chiquito enjoyed spending time at the toddler pool area. The pool is about a foot deep. There are three toddler slides and two swings in this area.

We spent a fair bit of time in the lazy river. Geeky Entrepreneur and I each sat on inflatable tubes and we took turns holding Ari. It was relaxing for us grownups and Amor Chiquito liked it, so a win win all around!

We also spent time in a 3.5” deep pool. Amor Chiquito saw other kids swimming, so she became interested in learning how to swim. She made some progress! Towards the end, she wanted to swim “all by my own self”!

There were two awesome water slides for grownups. Have I ever mentioned how much Geeky Entrepreneur and I love water slides?! We had a blast! We took turns, one of us with the “baby” and one of us going down the water slide.

There were several water gun type toys near the water slide area. Amor Chiquito had a great deal of fun squirting Daddy every time he walked by making his way to the slide!

The ride down was not bad. The ride back home was not great, but, overall, no big complaints. She is two, after all! She had one meltdown. She was tired, had just come down with a cold, and wanted to see her friends next door. Nothing a boob can’t fix! Yes, I said boob! They are magical; ask Amor Chiquito.

The meltdown in the car made us wonder if it is time for energy drains. Love and Logic, one of our favorite parenting books, talks about how you can tell your child that her actions are draining for you and that she will need to find a way to restore your energy. Nothing crazy or unreasonable. It is about empathy and consequences to our actions, just like the other ideas the book suggests. More on that in a separate post. We need to reread the energy drain chapter.

I think she likes ice cream!

This morning, Amor Chiquito told me that she wanted a milkshake for breakfast. I told her that we were not going out for milkshakes right then. She said we have ice cream and milk at home! I explained that we don’t have milkshakes for breakfast. Of course, she asked “why?” She is very much into asking “why?” lately. More on that on a separate post.

A little while ago, I heard Amor Chiquito talking on her toy cell phone. She was placing an order, completely with details, please, thank you…! She was ordering a strawberry milkshake, in a small cup!

What can I say? I love ice cream and so does my kid!

Oh, and, I agree with Ari: wouldn’t it be cool if you could order ice cream or milk shakes and have them delivered right to your door?! They would melt on the way, I know!

All about our trip to Boston...

Warning: this is a long post. It is more like a diary entry, my attempt to remember some of the fun and beautiful moments I have with my Ari and the wonderful people around us!

Our trip to Boston two weeks ago was eventful, in a good way. Here are a few stories.

Geeky Entrepreneur left for San Francisco before 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Amor Chiquito and I visited our neighbors in the morning. It worked; she was having fun and not thinking too much about how Daddy was in an airplane, far away. I had considered not mentioning the airplane, but I decided against it. I prefer being honest with her and giving/teaching her the tools she needs to cope/manage whatever life throws her way. I am very grateful and we are very blessed that Daddy going on a business trip is one of the most stressful things she has experienced thus far.

Back to the story, around 2:00 p.m., we headed out to Boston. It was a two-hour bus ride. It went well. Amor Chiquito was fascinated. She does not remember being in a “big bus” before. She spent some time on my lap until she felt comfortable and she eventually moved to her seat.

At one point, Ari started telling me about who has which privates and who is a boy or a girl! This was a first. Last I knew, she was confused and thought/wanted to be a boy. I was grateful for all the background noise; I don’t think the other travelers would have been interested in our conversation!

One thing that did not go over so well was using the potty. The motion scared her and she just could not relax or use the potty. I was waiting for her to have an accident any minute. She made it to Boston and she went as soon as we got to the bus station.

This reminds me… Mommy forgot the night diapers! Unbelievable! Fortunately, my friend has a little one and so they shared diapers with us. Ari was ecstatic. She thinks disposables are very cool! What is different than what you have at home is clearly in, didn’t you get the memo?!

We spend the afternoon and the evening with my friend and her little one. The kids quickly felt comfortable playing together. Before we knew it, they were plotting mischief together, chasing each other, looking at each other on the mirror, playing with trains, watering the plants, etc. It was adorable!

Crunchy moment… Yaminette got me to eat a veggie burger. That was most definitely a first! It was horrible! I am never eating one again! That is why I made sure I knew what brand it was. Darn, one point for Yaminette!

Night time went better than I had anticipated. Amor Chiquito did not nap, so she fell asleep quickly. There were a few night wakings, but she went back to sleep easily and quickly.

In the morning, we took the kids to a park. They had a lot of fun.

We then had yummy Indian food for lunch! Indian food buffet, yay Boston! That is one of the few things I like about Boston: you can find whatever food you are in the mood for!

Both kids refused to nap. What a shock! This made me a bit nervous, impending long bus ride and all…

Since they would not nap, we went out for icecream and to another park. Ari went with Yaminette to get icecream and she informed Yaminette that she wanted “pint tawberry i-team pease (pink strawberry icecream please”! She enjoyed her icecream, and so did her and my clothes!

There was tons of sand in the park. My daughter decided she must enjoy the entire sand experience. So she took her shoes and socks off. By the way, she did this everywhere: on the bus, at the bus station, she has done it at restaurants…

After the park, Ari fell asleep in the car, on the way to the bus station. Exactly what I did not want to happen. That kid does not like it one bit if you wake her up! So I carried her for a while. Eventually, she woke up, walked, and did not do what she usually does. No crying for a long time. Thank you, kiddo.

You should have seen us: each carrying one kid, Yaminette with Ari’s car seat, me with a backpack and a diaper bag. I don’t even want to think about carrying all our stuff without help through the maze that is South Station. Traveling as a mama of a little one without a companion is interesting… Quite the workout!

The ride home was not bad at all. We were stuck in traffic for an hour, so it ended up being a 2.5 hour ride. Thomas and Friends kept us company for a portion of it. That is the one reason why I brought my laptop. I am glad I did.

Oh, almost forgot… We got on the bus exactly four minutes before it left. Boston traffic… Never taking the 5:00 p.m. bus again!

One more thing: for quite a while, Amor Chiquito kept asking about “otro mommy (the other mommy)” and about Yaminette’s son. She wanted them “in big bus too.” Once I explained that that was not a choice, she decided she wanted “go back otro mommy house, baby, trains.”!

Overall, the trip was awesome! I have an awesome friend and she has a kid that is cute and funny as can be! So it was worth it, all of it! We are ready to do it again!

Once we got home that evening, Amor Chiquito went to sleep very quickly.

The next morning, things went downhill from there! Amor Chiquito was missing Daddy lots. She did not sleep well. She had circles under her eyes. She cried a fair bit. She was extremely upset any time someone left. Our last night without Geeky Entrepreneur, Amor Chiquito talked my mother into staying over. My mother even slept on our bed. Somehow, it felt strange, but nice.

Saturday morning, Daddy got home around 10:30 and Ari’s world was a much better place! She was in heaven with Daddy and her two balloons! One thing I noticed: for days, each and every time Daddy was leaving the house, she would get anxious and would ask him if he was going in an airplane again. She is fine now. Every now and then, if Geeky Entrepreneur is gone for hours, she asks if he is bringing balloons! No, no such luck!

Fulfilling a friend's request...!

You may or may not have seen a comment from my awesome friend, Yaminette, where she wrote about Sunday and how I should “post something, something, anything”! So here it goes!

Commencement! I did it. I am done. I get my diploma this Sunday! And I get to spend the day with some of my favorite people in the whole wide world: my husband, my daughter, my mother, my mother-in-law, and my amazing and inspiring crunchy friend and her little one, Mr. Free Spirit (I named him that since he was tiny!).

It has been a long road, particularly after the birth of my Amor Chiquito. So I am ecstatic. I have my degree. I am looking for work. I am hoping to find something I would love doing, something that does not require graduate school. Not interested in grad school right now! I won’t say ‘never’. I know better. But I am definitely not interested right now.

Amor Chiquito is going to preschool in the fall and I get to begin my career. Looking forward to the next chapter of my life! In a way, I am in disbelief still. The baby stage is over. She is not a baby anymore. I am in denial! But that is a whole other topic. Maybe I will get to posting about it next year!

There, Yami, are you happy?! Oh, by the way, I am feeding you burgers and hotdogs, the real stuff, on Sunday! Just kidding! Yaminette and I joke about her being vegetarian and my so-called vegetarian in denial state each and every time we get together. It just does not get old!

Self Care Day

We had a night from hell last night! Ok, I grant you, that was quite dramatic, but it was exhausting, that is for sure. Amor Chiquito did not nap yesterday. She fell asleep at 7:15 p.m. She woke up at 11:00 p.m. She woke up again at 12:00 a.m. Again at 1:00 a.m. That time, she was up for about three hours. She woke up soon after I fell asleep, of course. We were up until 4:00 a.m. She got up for the day at 7:30 a.m. Geeky Entrepreneur was gone. So no time for me to catch up on some sleep.

Then, my day got a lot better! My mother offered to take Amor Chiquito for a few hours. I packed a lunch box full of yummy, healthy snacks to try and limit the amount of junk Amor Chiquito would eat while she was with my mother. I love my mommy to pieces, but she is quite the grandma and she sees Ari lots, so I feel it is important to keep an eye on the junk food consumption. Anyways, they were gone before 10:00 a.m.

I decided to channel one of my favorite mama bloggers, Sonya, at mamatrue.com. She just wrote an awesome post the other day about what she does for self care. I decided today would be a self care day!

Today has simply been awesome! I started by taking a long shower. I blow dried my hair. No rush; no worries about how much television Ari was watching or what mischief she might be getting into.

I took my sweet time eating breakfast, with my laptop in front of me, of course!

I exercised. I have been slacking!

I napped. I desperately needed it!

I got to the dishes before they hit the ceiling!

I got some laundry done.

I am now wrapping up by having a quiet lunch and some more computer time before Amor Chiquito shows up.

This self care stuff is awesome! I get to do a little something for me every day. But doing a bunch of things just for me on one day is simply amazing! I feel energized, even though I got about four hours of sleep last night.

The only other thing I would have loved to do but did not get to would be to get together with a friend. That is always tricky because most of my close friends live far away: one in Boston, one in Puerto Rico, and my newest, local friend is about to move away.

Don’t forget to do something nice for you today! You deserve it!

Sonya, thank you for your inspiring posts!

What did she say?!

That is what I am often thinking or saying to Geeky Entrepreneur.

Each and every single day, Amor Chiquito says something that surprises me, makes me laugh very hard, or both. Here are a few of her most recent statements:

We were having dinner. She said: “All done. I go poop.”

She was in the tub. She asked for bubbles. Geeky Entrepreneur said that we don’t have any and that we need to get some at the store. Her response: “Ok, I get it.”

On Thursday, I told Amor Chiquito we would be going to her new school the next day. Her response: “Yaaay, I’m so excited!”

As we were walking out of the school on Friday, “I want go back school!”

My all-time favorite: “I’m sooo happy!” It never gets old.

Another favorite: “Hold you me.”

Yet another one: “No got you me.”

I will love having this and other similar blog entries years from now!

Mommy is re-learning some lessons today!

Amor Chiquito woke up early this morning. It was one of those mornings when you just cannot wake up. I eventually got up because I have a child and so did not have a choice in the matter! I went downstairs to adjust the thermostat. That is when our morning got interesting!

Amor Chiquito was alone for less than a minute. It does not take a long time to go down the stairs, adjust the thermostat, and go back upstairs. Once upstairs, I noticed that she was quiet and that she had closed my bedroom door. Can you spell m-i-s-c-h-i-e-f?! I opened the door. She ran into her room and closed the door. I asked her “what do you have?” No response. Nothing on her hands. I thought “strange, but I guess nothing is going on.” Then I smelled a fruity smell, one I know very well. Tums!

“Ari, are you eating Tums?”

“Yes, mommy.”

“How many did you eat, Ari?”

“Three, mommy.”

She can count and understands one through four, so I believe her. I asked her various times and the answer was always the same.

So, yes, mommy made a mistake. The Tums bottle was not in its usual spot. It was left where the three feet tall child could reach. It was late at night and I was not thinking. The tired woman with heartburn was thinking, not the cautious mother.

I figured Amor Chiquito would be fine and then I remembered my mother-in-law telling me many times that kids could get really sick from eating Tums. I figured it might very well be an old wives tale, but, I admit, I panicked a bit. My neighbor is a mother of three, so I figured she has probably been there, done that. I am glad I did!

We called the poison control line rather than calling the pediatrician. I have noticed that the nurses often think I ought to bring Ari in and, most times, the pediatrician thinks I did not need to come in.

Poison control told us that Amor Chiquito is fine, that she might get a stomach ache if she ate 10-15 Tums. But she did not. So far so good.

The lessons for today:

Keep your medications up high. Remember, they can climb. They have awesome problem solving skills at this age!

Find your local poison control agency’s phone number and add it to your list of contacts.

Preparing Amor Chiquito for Daddy's Trip

Geeky Entrepreneur is self-employed and so the majority of the time he works from home. The last few years, he has not flown anywhere. On Wednesday, he is flying to CA and will be gone for three days. This will be a first for Amor Chiquito. She is used to having Daddy home. She does not interact much with him from nine to six p.m., but she knows he is here, at home. When he is not home, she asks often when he is coming back.

How do we prepare her for this? What are good do’s and don’t’s while he is gone?

Here is what I have been thinking so far:

We will tell her the day before he leaves so that she is not anxious about it for days. Also, he is leaving at five a.m., so there will not be an opportunity for a proper goodbye the day of.

We will not make a big deal of it. For example, I am wondering if we should avoid mentioning that he will be in an airplane. She knows that people who fly in airplanes “go far away.”

I will do my best to get her to understand what a day is. If it seems like she gets that, I will explain that Daddy will be gone for three days. Each day, I will tell her what day we are on.

We are planning on video conferencing once a day. He will be on Pacific time and will have long days. Hopefully it will work.

A friend suggested that when Amor Chiquito talks about Daddy being gone I focus on when he is coming home, that he will be home soon, etc., rather than on how he is gone, she misses him, etc.

I plan on validating her feelings and keeping her occupied as much as possible.

We are going on a little trip ourselves! We are going to Boston to see my awesome friend Yaminette and her little one. I think Amor Chiquito will have fun playing with my friend’s son and his many trains! I am sure she will be fascinated by the big Peterpan bus! She has only been in one once before and she does not remember it. She was seven months.

Inserting rant here… Please do not imply that I should not go on this trip because I am visually impaired and my daughter is two and very active, seriously. I am a capable and cautious mother with a brain. I own a stroller and a backpack harness (what the heck is the correct name for those things?). I know when I need them. My daughter is just as safe as your kid is. By the way, you know what sucks the most? The fact that it is a relative, someone who has known me for 27 years, who said this to me. Rant over!

Back to traveling, I look forward to any thoughts/suggestions.

Breastfeeding and Managing Alergic Reactions

I have been lucky in that the last few years I did not have severe allergic reactions in the spring or my expected spring sinus infection. I have been breastfeeding for 31 months and I was pregnant before that, so I have been avoiding medications as much as possible. I have read that antihistamines might affect a mother’s milk supply, but the research is inconclusive. I was so grateful for not having to deal with this.

This year, I have no idea what has changed. We have been in the same neighborhood for two years, so living in a new area is not it. All I know is that my head feels like two strong hands are squeezing it. I cannot keep track of how many times I sneeze in one day! Needless to say, it is time to do something.

I started by doing some research on the La Leche League website. Unfortunately, that did not lead me to any useful information. That was unusual; the website has been very helpful in the past. For example, I found an article with suggestions for visually impaired mothers and many stories of adoptive breastfeeding moms, among many others.

Back to managing allergic reactions, good old Google is awesome! And so is this website: http://www.kellymom.com/health/meds/cold-remedy.html#decongestants.

I now know which nasal sprays and which antihistamines I can try. Even better, I have a list of crunchy things to try, as my husband puts it! If you are breastfeeding or simply want to try other options before trying medications, here are some suggestions I got from the website mentioned above:

Saline nasal spray. It worked for me when I was pregnant. Don’t put a few drops in your nose. Keep spraying until you start tasting the water.

Boil some water, cover your face with a towel, and breathe the water for five minutes a few times a day. I have not done this, but I have found hot showers to be helpful, so I will try this too.

My favorite, just because I won’t hear the end of it from my husband! Heat some apple cider vinegar in a pot until it begins to steam. Inhale the vapor.

Put a quarter tsp of cayenne pepper in a glass of water and drink it. Not looking forward to it, but one is willing to try many things when she is feeling desperate! Actually, I change my mind. I am having super spicy Indian food tonight! I will tell my husband it is part of my treatment! Should I tell him that chocolate might help make me feel better too?! Just kidding!

If you are in a similar situation, what helps you? What does not? If you tried antihistamines while breastfeeding, did they have an impact on your milk supply?

One more point for vinegar!

This is going to sound pretty crunchy, but I love vinegar! It is simply awesome! It is useful for so many tasks.

The latest in crunchy land: vinegar as a body odor remover.

When we were expecting Amor Chiquito, we began buying free and clear detergent to wash her clothes. Eventually, I started using it for all our clothes. I have never been into using fabric softeners because I am not a fan of strong smells. Most of them make me sneeze. There are enough allergens already making me sneeze, so why make it worse? The downside to using a free and clear detergent is that the detergent I have been using sometimes does not remove body odor completely. I do not recall where I got the idea, but I figured I would try adding a cup of vinegar to the large loads.

No more stinky undershirts! No strong vinegar odor afterwords either. In fact, Geeky Entrepreneur had no idea I was using it until I mentioned it. Yes, he picked on me, of course! What else is new?!

Language Update: She won't shut up!

I was looking back at old posts and I was surprised when I realized how much language development we have been witnessing the past month. A month ago, Amor Chiquito was just beginning to say short sentences. Now, she is saying sentences all the time and her sentences often consist of over five words.

A few examples:

Mommy, we are in a big house.

I want Daddy come back now. (He was at work.)

(We were driving.) Daddy, otro (Spanish for other) car stopped again?!

Amor Chiquito understands “you,” “I” and “me” now. Fortunately, she still says “hold you”! I know she will figure it out eventually. I am enjoying it while it lasts!

Amor Chiquito is beginning to learn about the difference between the present and the past tenses. For example, if we ask her to do something she has already done, she will say “I did mommy.”

She is doing better answering simple questions, such as what, who and where. She does not answer why questions yet.

Pretty cool stuff! Have I said that I am loving this stage?!

How to teach assertiveness?

Amor Chiquito has been interacting more and more with her cousin and our neighbors’ kids lately. I am noticing that she is very much a follower. This is disconcerting to me. I am not saying that I want her to be the leader. I feel that being assertive is vital, though. It is a very important skill that I want to help her develop. I want her to do the things she enjoys doing, to think about what it is that she likes or needs to do. I want her to feel comfortable speaking up when something makes her feel uncomfortable or sad.

Here is an example. Earlier today, Amor Chiquito was playing outside with the neighbors, ages five and two. Amor Chiquito does whatever the older girl does, which is pretty typical. At one point, the two-year-old began throwing sand at Amor Chiquito. There was sand on her face, near her eyes, in her hair... She did not say anything when it happened. Later on, Geeky Entrepreneur asked her if she liked that. She said “no.” He asked if it made her feel happy or sad. She said “sad.” We made a point of not showing any emotions or not asking questions in a suggestive manner. We wanted her to decide for herself how she felt about the sand situation.

Now what? We will tell her to tell us how she feels. Most importantly, we will make a point of using “I feel” statements. She will begin modeling eventually.

I feel that this is a good starting point, but that there is more to it than these ideas. If you have a little one, is s/he assertive? If not, what have you tried? How is it working out?

I look forward to your comments, thoughts and suggestions.

'Faid, mommy.

This is a phrase I have been hearing lots lately.

The past few weeks, Amor Chiquito has been learning about fear. “Afraid” is becoming one of the most popular words in her vocabulary. To make a long story short, she is afraid of essentially every animal, anything that moves. It is starting to keep her from enjoying some of her favorite activities, such as being outside in the neighbor’s playhouse. She hesitates to go in it because she remembers the time there was a bug in there.

Any thoughts or suggestions? This is a first for us and we are uncertain as to what the best way to handle it is.

Thus far, we calmly explain to her that bugs will not hurt her and that she is safe. We find ourselves repeating this many times in one day. What else can we say or do?

Is this just a phase? Will it be part of her personality? Is she going to be an anxious freak like me?! I certainly hope not!

Learning About Shapes

We have been teaching Amor Chiquito about circles, triangles, ovals, squares and rectangles.

This morning, she said to me "mommy, you teti (Spanish for breast) is round"!

I think she gets it! She really cracks me up!

Learning Names

I don’t know why I did not think of this sooner. So be it. Last weekend, I had a talk with Amor Chiquito about her name. For a long time, she responds to “Ari” and if you ask her what her name is, she would respond “Ari.”On Saturday, I told her that her name is Arianna. I then asked her her name and it was clear that she got it.

Still working on the last name. The name and last name together are too much for her right now.

I also told her about our names. My guess is that she knows them, but Geeky Entrepreneur and I call each other nicknames most of the time, so, just in case…

Here is our conversation:

Me: What is your name?
Ari: Ayianna.
Me: What is daddy’s name?
Ari: Poh.
Me: What is mommy’s name?
Ari: I don’t know! (insert silly gestures here!)
Me: My name is Johanna. What is my name?
Ari: Jajanna!

Poor kid! She has such a hard time saying my name she doesn’t even want to try! Every little kid I’ve met has a hard time saying my name. Consequently, I often become Anna for a while!

Oh, by the way, this must be a mommy thing, but I love hearing her say her name! She sounds adorable! She says it with such enthusiasm, like she loves her name!

Me boy too!

Learning about one’s gender and what that means is a tricky thing! Here are some stories for you. Some of them will probably make you laugh!

Saturday night, Amor Chiquito pointed at her girl parts and said the Spanish word my mother taught her. She then said that Jai, her cousin has girl parts too! I explained that Jai has a penis because he is a boy and that her parts are different because she is a girl. She was very upset and persistent. She said “no, Ari boy, Ari boy, Ari boy too.”

On Sunday, Amor Chiquito and Jai hung out with my mother. My mother, hoping to reproduce Saturday night’s conversation asked Ari if she is a girl or a boy. Amor Chiquito happily said “Ari is boy!”

Mom: Ari, you are a girl.
Ari: No, no, no, me boy!
Mom: No, Ari, you are a pretty girl!
Ari: No, Ari pretty boy!

We picked up Amor Chiquito and on the way home I was sharing the story with Geeky Entrepreneur. She said she is a boy for the nth time. Geeky Entrepreneur told her only girls wear dresses. He figured that way she would be ok with being a girl! But, no, it did not work. She does not give a damn about social norms! She said “boy dress too”!

Here is the funniest story of them all! My brother is teaching his son to pee standing and to use the toilet rather than the potty-chair. My mom decided that if that is the case he will pee in the tub instead! She had back surgery a few months ago, so cleaning her bathroom floor many times a day because the little one can’t point the right way is not doable for her right now.

So the story… Amor Chiquito saw Jai peeing. She got in the tub an attempted to pee the way Jai does! She even tried to grab something, except there was nothing to grab because she is a girl! Sorry, kid, you don’t have a penis! Hopefully your penis envy will go away soon!

Precious! I could not stop laughing!

Update: Amor Chiquito is going to preschool!

The long post is coming later, but, for now, here is the update!

Amor Chiquito will be attending a local Montessori school in the fall. She will be attending Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

We toured the school and sat in at a Q&A session for parents of potential students. I brought in my list on my PDA, about 15 questions! After that visit, we were sold!

Next, we filled out an application.

Once we had applied, it was time for the child visit. Amor Chiquito went in last Friday, April 8. It was simply awesome! She loved the school, she felt at ease, she fit in right away! I love when I worry for nothing!

Tuesday afternoon, we got the acceptance letter in the mail and mailed the initial payment.

My “baby” is going to school! Wow! I still can’t believe it! In no time, she will be three years old, already.

News from the Potty Department

As a parent, I am always learning something new, even when I feel like I know everything there is to know about a particular topic. For example, I thought I had potty training all figured out. Not really!

Here is what I have learned the past few months:

A little potty seat in each car is a must.
In our case, I don’t drive, so Amor Chiquito and I get rides from both my husband and my mother. Just bought a potty seat for my mother’s car and life is good! No more worrying about Amor Chiquito needing to go to the bathroom, but not going because being on the big toilet in some strange bathroom makes her nervous. No more being on the highway and the child refusing to pee in a diaper and holding it in for half an hour!

We will continue having her ware a diaper at nap time.
I had stopped having her ware a diaper at nap time because her diapers were always dry. The other day, she wet my mother’s bed. Why go through that if she can wear a diaper? I am not saying that we ought to do that for years, but we will definitely do it for a few more months. Sometime in the summer, I will stop having her ware a diaper because she will not be wearing one in preschool. Something else we will be doing is asking her to try going to the potty before her nap.

A night time diaper is a must for us, for now.
Every now and then, we have a dry diaper in the morning, but most of the time we don’t. I can get her up in the middle of the night and have her go to the bathroom. Call me lazy, but I am not doing that! Sleep is a tricky thing for my family. I am not screwing with that! We’ll use diapers and deal with sleeping diaperless later.

She wears underwear when we go out now!
I’ve graduated; no more big diaper bag! Her snacks and the travelsize wipe container fit in a small purse just fine!

Different things work for different people and for different stages. This is what feels right for us, right now. I bet that in three months I could write a post about the same issue and I will be telling you about how differently we are doing things at that point!

Speaking of going to the potty, Amor Chiquito just went so I told her we needed to wipe. She said “no tote (don’t touch), p-eww,” laughed, and ran away! Silly kid!

Turn every opportunity into a learning experience.

Or something like that...! The title is from one of the Love and Logic books.

Amor Chiquito was being impish and not in a cute way. It was lunch time. She kept getting up, grabbing toys and things that were not toys, and making messes everywhere. She intentionally dumped soapy water on the floor. She spilled sauce on the table.

Moving away from the important stuff, the lesson Ari learned today… You should have seen me… I was walking into the kitchen and stepped on the soapy water puddle. My socks were soaked. I return to the dining room. There was a royal mess on the table. Heck, there was a bit of sauce on my laptop keyboard! Cleaning the mess required many paper towels. Actually, it required a big towel!

Sometimes, I love being a stay-at-home mom. Sometimes, I love *the idea of* being a stay-at-home mom! It’s a messy, sometimes intense, job! Very long hours! But, at the end of the day, it is worth it!

Back to Ari’s lesson… I was busy cleaning up the sauce, so had not gotten to the soapy water on the floor. She slipped and fell. She did not get hurt.

Amor Chiquito was being a bit dramatic and asked for help. I said “You are ok. Come see mommy. I will give you a hug.” After the hug, I asked “Do you know why you fell?” She said “no.” I said “You spilled soapy water on the floor. We need to clean it up.” She said she was afraid of falling. I told her she would be safe, that I would stand near her, but that she needed to help clean up. She cautiously walked over and help clean up.

I love Love and Logic! Geeky Entrepreneur and I were listening to the cd’s last weekend to refresh our memories. One of the things the book emphasizes the most is to take any misbehavior and turn it into a learning experience. They suggest that you show your child empathy and that you then deliver the consequence. They say, over and over again, to “let the consequences do the teaching.” No need for screaming. No need for passive-aggressiveness. No need to bark orders 24/7. It really does make a huge difference!

Time for night night… Here is to hoping that she naps today. She did not nap yesterday. Life gets very interesting when she does not nap!

She keeps me entertained!

Ms. Mischief has been taking her job very seriously as of late!

Last Sunday, we went out with the grandparents. I had a snack and a Danimal (smoothie) in my purse, along with everything else that is always in there. As we were eating lunch at a restaurant, I felt like I was smelling something familiar. Danimal, I finally realized. Made no sense because she was not drinking one. I figured I should look in my purse, just in case, but, most likely, it's just me imagining things, I thought. I wish!

My purse was a royal mess! The Danimal bottle was in there, a hole on it. Its content had spilled all over the wipes, the snack bowl, my keys, comb, wallet. To top it off, my mother decided that I should take a biscuit home for Ari to enjoy later. So there were biscuit crums all over everything.

It gets better! When I grab my jacket, I realize there is Danimal all over it. As I'm looking at it, I get smoothie on my pants!

I can't make this crap up!

Why did she need to put the smoothie back in my purse after opening it, anyways?!

The next day, Monday, I was making homemade waffles for lunch. Usually, I put each ingredient away after I use it. Helps with the clean-up process and keeps things away from Amor Chiquito. I forgot one thing, though...

As I am about to put the first waffle in, Amor Chiquito comes over and tells me that she is cleaning the floor with a baby wipe. I'm thinking "she has great intentions, how sweet"! I thank her and tell her to stay away because the waffle maker is hot. But I smell something...! Vanella!

Amor Chiquito took the bottle of vanella and used it to clean the dining room floor and her little kitchen! Hey, my kitchen and dining room might be sticky, but they sure smell good!

As I am typing this, at my mother's place, I hear someone knocking on the door and Ari saying "who is it?" Next thing I know, the door was open. I didn't know she could reach that high! Cool, but scary! My baby is less and less of a baby every day! Actually, who am I kidding? I don't have a baby anymore. That feels strange!

Sometimes, the solution is in front of you and you just don't see it.

You know how every now and then you realize what is really going on, but it was obvious all along? That’s what happened to me two nights ago.

For the past few weeks, after sleeping for five to seven hours at a time, Amor Chiquito has been waking up many times. I was getting one to two-hour chunks of sleep at a time. To top it off, when she woke me up around 4 or 5:00 a.m., it took me at least an hour to fall back asleep. It has been hard, really hard. I don’t handle sleep deprivation well. I was showing multiple symptoms of depression. It made no sense. I kept thinking “Everything is fine. Everyone is healthy. The bills get paid. My husband is awesome. My kid is happy… What is it? Why do I feel like this?” And, of course, I was wondering “What the hell is going on? What am I doing wrong? What changed? Why are we going through this again? Didn’t we go through this for long enough? We’ve dealt with this almost her entire life. The break was welcomed appreciated, and great while it lasted.”

Each and every night, I kept waking up because I was hot. I figured it was just me. The thermostat was set at 65 degrees. Geeky Entrepreneur was sleeping comfortably, with two blankets up to his shoulders. Amor Chiquito kept kicking the blankets off of her. I didn’t think anything of it. What kid keeps the blankets on her/him, I thought?

Finally, it dunned on me. She might be hot. And, I am way too hot, so I will open the window. She slept great for the rest of the night. That was two nights ago. Last night, I opened the window and she slept straight through until 6:30 a.m. She woke up at 6:30, nursed, and went back to sleep for another two hours.

I feel like a new woman today. I feel like a moron, but a happy one! I know I am very lucky that this is the hardest thing the three of us are dealing with. I did forget that a few times, particularly at 5:00 a.m. when I had only gotten three hours of interrupted sleep, I admit.

Moral of the story: when your child is not sleeping well, think about the simple, common causes: hot, cold, hungry, diaper, teeth. Also, think of things that might not be directly related, but that might affect sleep patterns, such physical activity, what the child ate before bed, if you are a breastfeeding mommy, what you are eating, is the child sick but asymptomatic? Another suggestion: create a list and keep it somewhere easy to find at 3:00 a.m. That way, when the cute little person can’t sleep, you simply go down the list, rather than trying to think.

I am sure there are more things to keep in mind. If you think of something, feel free to add it to my list.

Shh, I didn’t say this, but she napped at a reasonable time today and I am cautiously optimistic that I might be able to get her back on schedule! It’s the little things! Geeky Entrepreneur and I would be happy if she goes down before 10 p.m. I swear we do try!

Duty calls...!

Toddler-Friendly Activities

I just put together a list of activities we do with Ari. Sometimes, I get tired of doing the same thing every day and I can’t think of what else to do. This way, I can pull up my list on the PDA and, hopefully, I won’t get bored. Yes, I am the one getting bored; she is fine, very happy and entertained, in fact. I have ADD. It is not a joke! It’s true and it drives me nuts. Soon enough, she will have a longer attention span than me!

So, here is the list:

Playdoh
(I was running the spellchecker… It wanted to change “playdoh” to “playboy”!

Puzzles

Ball

Trains (Yes, I am teaching her to be boyish, anyone want to yell at me for it?! Oh, wait, my family does not read my blog!)

Playing doctor

Dressing the doll (the clothing items are magnets)

Assembling Ernie (She just did it all on her own for the first time today!)

Playing with the baby doll (See, I don’t mind her doing “girl” things!

Play feed

The chasing game (She chases me while she makes monster noises.)

Jumping (She jumps off her stool, over and over again.)

Toy house (Our tenants have one on the yard and mom has said Ari is welcomed to use it.)

Slide (Tenants have one of those too!)

Finger paint (We've had some for a few months. I should try it.)

There is Barney and Elmo, of course. We save that for those mornings when we are struggling to stay awake or for when ADD mom must jump on the computer (like right now)!

These are for those days when I am feeling more adventurous or for Daddy:

Park (There is one across the street practically. I don’t like going to the park because she can be out of sight (mommy has very limited vision) very fast.).

Bubbles (Mommy can’t blow bubbles to save her life! Probably the bad eyes again!)

Merry-go-round (Have I mentioned that being visually impaired is annoying sometimes?! I want to drive her to the merry-go-round, damn it!)

What do you do with your toddler? What did you do as a child? What would you add to my list?

"Uno dess Jai?"

Amor Chiquito has recently gotten into dresses. It’s all her; I probably wear a dress three times a year. She says that dresses are for dancing! Not sure where she got that idea from…

Check this out: Daddy told me to get her dresses! What? Yes, I was shocked! Baby has Daddy wrapped around her little finger, yes she does!

Off we went last Friday to get her a few dresses. We were at the fitting room. She was very excited. She was looking at herself in the mirror, jumping, spinning, putting her arms out. She looked like she was about to try to fly! Silly kid! She began singing her latest version of the happy song: “happy, happy, teh-too (thank you), happy, the-too, happy…”! It was a precious, priceless, video-worthy moment! Too bad Daddy missed it.

Amor Chiquito left the store wearing one of her new dresses! She wore it for the rest of the day. After her bath, she wanted to wear it again. She wore it to bed. I guess clean pajamas is not a requirement for Daddy?!

Saturday morning, she finally took it off, only to wear another one! What an obsession!

Later on, Amor Chiquito said “uno dress Mama (grandma), dress Ari, uno dress Jai?”

Jai is her three-year-old male cousin! Innocence… Innocence is beautiful! I love witnessing those moments!

My brother, Jai’s dad, would not have been nearly as thrilled when she said that… Oh well!

Hey, she is learning about sharing!

"Ah, umm, umm, ah, umm, faffo (waffle), toast..."

Amor Chiquito is working on improving a very important skill: her ability to feed me BS! She is thriving, let me tell you!

The title of this post is what Amor Chiquito said to me tonight when I was getting her ready for bed. We had gone through the routine. She had nursed. She was in bed. I was reading on my PDA, waiting for Amor Chiquito to go to sleep. I was getting hopeful. She had been quiet and had not moved in a while. Suddenly, she sat up. She came over and lied down on my chest. She sat up again and fed me the BS quoted above!

Each and every night, it’s the same thing… She is hungry. She wants milk. She needs to pee. The latest is that her back and feet are itching! The itching is believable, to an extent. She has a little rash on her back. But there is nothing whatsoever on her feet! Furthermore, she never complained about her feet all day!

Kid, you are an excellent bullshitter! You make your parents proud! You got that from your daddy, clearly! Your mommy never ever does any of that. As a matter of fact, your mommy didn’t tell your daddy that chocolate would make her cramps go away! Nope, I didn’t do that earlier today! Me? Never!

We are a very silly family. We have a blast saying ridiculous things to each other! My husband has talking stuffed monkeys. They even have Facebook pages! It’s all his fault! As my mother-in-law puts it: that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

"Hold you, Da-ee" and "I want puhpo hohse."

Amor Chiquito is doing and saying so many cute things lately. I need to write them down before I forget!

She does not fully understand the concept of “you and “I.” Sometimes, it seems like she gets it, but, other times, she says things like “hold you, Da-ee.”

I love when she says “hold you, Da-ee”! It sounds so sweet! She loves being held by her “Da-ee”! She loves being on his shoulders, being held up-side-down, you name it…! They have a game where he holds her, she climbs over his shoulders, and, next thing you know, she is on his back up-side-down. Scares the crap out of me, but they love it and he manages to do it safely. Once she is on his back, he pretends he can’t find her for about five minutes, looks everywhere… You should see her huge smile the entire time. Eventually, she says “aqui (here) Da-ee” and he “finds” her!

Back to “hold you.” I get the impression Amor Chiquito thinks “hold you” is one word. She says things like “It heavy. Hold you it please.”

We had brought Amor Chiquito to a merry-go-round six months ago, but she did not get into it. Today, she got to try one of those small merry-go-rounds at a shopping plaza, the type you put 75 cents in and it goes for a few minutes. She loved it! She was smiling, laughing, saying “horse, neigh. Three horse. Purple horse, yeyow horse, white horse…”!

A few hours later, Amor Chiquito said “I want purple horse.” We’ll be going back soon, I am sure!

She is continuing to say small sentences more and more often. I wonder where she is at in regards to expressive language development. I will get a better idea tomorrow; the early intervention person is coming in. I know she is doing just fine as far as receptive language, well, when she feels like it! When she does not feel like it, you might think her hearing is a bit off!

The little things make me smile.

Amor Chiquito just came over and the following happened:

She said “eat Ari pie-appo (pineapple). Eat toast.

She climbed on the couch and kissed me on the cheek.

She put her arms around me, her face against mine.

As soon as her face was touching mine, she burped!

She got very excited and said: Ari burped!

I tried to get her to say "excuse me." No go!

She makes me smile. And, she makes her Daddy proud!

Language Development Update

I feel like we have been witnessing a language explosion lately. It’s kind of cool!

Amor Chiquito is saying three and four-word sentences now. She has so many words. Amor Chiquito is trying to say words that are hard for her to say, whereas, before, she simply would not try as often.

Several people have told me that they understand her words so much better now. They understand most of her words.

She had a wipe. She said: “I clean wall.”

Daddy was talking to his mother and Amor Chiquito said: “I talk Nana please.”

Her c’s and k’s come out as t’s.

Her l’s come out as y’s. For example, she says “yight” for light and “yot” for locked.

She is making progress with the r. R’s are always a hard one for kids, one of the last ones they master.

Amor Chiquito is most definitely not re-qualifying for early intervention services in May. She will be 32 months old and she needs a 30% delay. She would need to be at 22 months. She was at 21 months last November, so there is no way. We do believe that she still has a delay. We will be getting suggestions from the early intervention team and we will be on our own after that.

I do not know if this was the right decision, but I recently decided to mostly speak English to her for the time being. My thought is that she will need English if/when she goes to preschool. She can learn more Spanish later, when she is older and able to differentiate between the two languages.

I have discussed the research on bilingual homes and language development with the early intervention team and they tell me that there is no definite answer on what the best way to deal with language at a bilingual home is. Hopefully I did and am doing the right thing. We’ll see. For what it is worth, her language is really taking off lately. Coincidence? No clue.

Someone, please, make her understand that there is simply no way she is having ice cream for breakfast!

The Diva Cup, anyone?

Guys, if you don’t want to hear about female products (and why would you?), this is not the post for you! You’ve been warned!

The Reluctant Crunchy Mama is getting crunchier and crunchier!

We use cloth diapers, but, for some reason, cloth pads... No... Just no... No good reason, just, no!

I recently read some blog posts by women who use the Diva Cup. I looked it up online and it has excellent reviews. I decided to give it a shot.

Read up on what it is here:
http://www.divacup.com/

Mine arrived today. I’ll tell you if I like it or not in a few weeks!

Do you have anything to say about it, good or bad? Any tips?

Adoption Update

I have continued my search for adoption agencies. I have read websites and talked to at least seven agencies. There are two that I really like. The next step would be to find a way to somehow do a background check, if you will, on those agencies.

One of the agencies I like is in MA, in the Boston area. The other agency has four offices throughout the U.S. The office closest to us is in NC. In the end, we would be doing some traveling regardless of which agency we go with. We would be flying to wherever the birth mom is so we can meet her and so we can get the baby when he/she is discharged from the hospital.

Something interesting I learned this week… I was aware of this, to an extent, but learned much more about it recently. The race of the baby you would like to adopt affects the waiting period and even the cost of the adoption process. The Boston agency told me that if we were willing to adopt an African-American child, we might very well be matched with an expectant mom in three months or so. If we want a 100% Caucasian child, we might end up waiting for 18 months.

There are African-American moms out there who would like to place their babies up for adoption, but people do not want to adopt them. Same goes for children with special needs or children of parents with certain medical conditions. So, so sad. Many agencies are willing to give the adoptive family a grant or a lower fee if the family adopts a “difficult to place” child.

We already have every race covered, except Asian! If Ari marries an Asian person, we’ll have it all! In theory, there is a small amount of African-American in me (Puertorican = Spaniard, African and Indian). Geeky Entrepreneur is Portuguese, Italian, English, Scottish, and who knows what else! See what I’m saying?!

If the right mom was to reach out to us and she happens to be African-American… So what!

My biggest problem would be learning how to deal with curly hair! Not doing so good with Ari’s hair yet, given the fact she gives me five seconds to do her hair! But we can figure it out! People with curly hair, I might be reaching out to you in a few years!

I am sure we would get questions, some polite ones and some not-so-polite, about being a transracial family, or whatever they call it these days. I believe we could do a good job handling those situations because I have 27 years of experience dealing with ignorant people. My visual impairment is fairly obvious. My eyes move a lot. People always make comments as if I can’t hear them. The smarter and more polite ones ask me directly. I am always happy to answer their questions, so long as they do not address me as if I am this poor little thing that can’t accomplish anything in life due to my visual impairment.

That reminds me… I have mentioned my visual impairment to most of the agencies I have talked to. Believe it or not, there are plenty of people out there who can’t even begin to imagine how I got through college and how I parent my two-year-old. Clearly, someone must be with me 24/7, doing it all for me. Thus far, there are two things I have a hard time doing: clipping her nails and using medicine droppers.

Anyways… I wanted to hear the reactions of the people I spoke to at the adoption agencies. So far so good. Should we move forward some day, I hope the birth moms feel the same way. I hope that, if they are concerned, hearing about how my daughter has been with me each and every day and is safe and thriving will make them feel comfortable. Whoever does not can screw off, seriously! Oops, did I just type that?!

Back to adoption. As I said above, I have two favorite agencies right now. The fees are similar. They range from $21 to $26 thousand. If the adoption tax credit remains as is, we would get about half of our money back. The trick is saving that much money!

So, where are we in regards to adopting? We have had several conversations, including a lengthy one. We decided that the following needs to happen for us to feel comfortable adopting:

Our income needs to be a bit higher or we need to wait until we are done taking care of some debt.

I need to sort out some health issues. I am making progress! I have a vitamin D deficiency and that was really affecting my day-to-day life. I am 99% certain I have ADD, believe it or not!

I need a better support structure/network. I have two people who can give me a hand: my mother and my husband. Geeky Entrepreneur is the only one earning money, so he’s unavailable from nine to six, unless someone is sick. My poor mother… She does so much for us. Sometimes, she does classic grandma things, but, overall, I am very grateful. She is the reason why I finished my degree and will be getting my diploma in May, finally! She even makes it possible for us to go on dates every now and then! My mommy rocks!

Lastly, I need Amor Chiquito to get over her booby obsession! Sorry, I don’t know how else to put it! The kid still falls asleep with a hand on my chest! It’s because I let her, I know! We are getting five to seven hours of uninterrupted sleep, so we are making progress. One step at a time! For now, I am enjoying this “I am a new woman” feeling!

So much to think about when considering if we want our family to grow or remain as is, whether it is via pregnancy or adoption. Please feel free to share any thoughts or suggestions. Leave comments or email me privately, whatever feels more comfortable to you.

Geeky Entrepreneur is humming the Elmo song! One of those “you know you are a parent when…” moments!

Preschool

Amor Chiquito turns three in September. We are considering preschool. As a first-time parent, I have a lot of questions. And, as someone who over-analyzes the heck out of everything, I am considering many variables!

If you have been there or will be there soon, tell me what you are thinking!

Preschool, yes or no?

What type of preschool – public school system, private preschool, Montessori Children’s House, etc.?

When you are evaluating a potential school, what questions do you ask?

Short or long day, say 2.5 hours or a full school day?

Are you doing anything to prepare your child for the transition?

What are you expecting from preschool? What do you think it will do for your child?

What advantages do you see? What disadvantages?

What other questions/things to think about should I add to my list?

I will tell you about what I have learned thus far in another post.

Oh, by the way, holy crap, time flies! My baby… My baby is no longer a baby! “My baby” might be going to school in September!

And the problem with that is???

Amor Chiquito likes things that are, stereotypically, considered to be “girl” or “boy” things. She loves shoe shopping and dressing up. She also loves trains and her daddy’s ties.

Our air bed popped last week. We just bought a twin-size guest bed rather than buying yet another air bed. I figured it would be fun to let Amor Chiquito pick out a set of sheets for the new bed.

There we were, at Target, my mother, Amor Chiquito and I, looking at twin-size sheets. Amor Chiquito picked out Thomas and Friends sheets. The hell with Dora and the Disney Princesses! That’s my girl!

I have been looked at and addressed as though I am incredibly weird because I get my daughter “boy” things. As you might have noticed, I can be very opinionated about many things, so this has sparked various interesting conversations!

For starters, why the hell is it wrong for her to sleep on “boy” sheets?

What is wrong with sleeping on blue sheets?!

What is wrong with liking anything and everything, regardless of its color or whether females or males tend to like that thing?

What is wrong with liking something that typically boys like to use?

My daughter is more than welcomed to play with dolls or trucks. It’s her choice.

She is surrounded by each and every color there is. We are not a pink-only home. Actually, I almost never buy anything pink because the grandmas buy pink everything!

Amor Chiquito can help us cook or shovel, do laundry or take the trash out.

Who said only women cook and only men shovel? Maybe at your house, but, here, we each do both! And, you know what, I am proud of her. If I may say so, I am proud of my husband and myself because, clearly, we are doing a good job teaching her that there is no such thing as “boy” or “girl” things. Trust me, it can be quite the battle when grandmas get involved!

A not-PC baby story...

Ari had gas. In a very dramatic manner, she said "Ari fart. Me, me, me!" You could hear the pride in her voice, as if she had accomplished a wonderful thing.

God help me! What the hell did I do wrong?!

For some reason, that word always drove me nuts. She likes to use it. Furthermore, she thinks it is funny when someone burps or has gas.

As I posted on Facebook the other day, I am parenting a two-year-old female, not a 12-year-old male. Why, just why?!

Interesting Article on Modeling

In this article, a mother explains how her family models attachment parenting values and how her son is learning from that:
http://attachmentparenting.org/blog/2010/01/28/modeling-ap-values/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+APISpeaks+%28API+Speaks%29

Article on Co Sleeping, Breastfeeding and SIDS

Third attempt to share this article:
http://www.drmomma.org/2010/01/night-waking-protects-against-sids.html

I might have shared it months ago. I meant to share it, anyways! No time to search the blog right now; Ari just woke up.

This article was written years ago, but it provides some interesting suggestions and theories that are particularly relevant to parents of young infants.

An Adoptive Mom's Breastfeeding Story

Just came across this wonderful success story on the La Leche League website:
http://www.llli.org/NB/NBNovDec07p259.html

What can I say? I am so happy I can't go to sleep! I know this does not garantee that I will be as lucky should we choose to adopt. But I will definitely try. No doubt about that!

Adoption: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

As with anything in life, when it comes to adoption, there is the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good is the obvious: a new baby to love at home, a dream come true.

The bad and the ugly: the process of adopting can be difficult, lengthy and emotionally exhausting.

We are considering open adoption. There is a waiting period of six to eighteen months. During that time, moms might call us and they might or might not be a good match for us.

Let’s say we have a match. We wait for mom to give birth. During those few months, while we wait, I am sure we will be nervous as can be about the possibility that mom might change her mind at the last minute.

Baby is born. We spend a fair bit of time at the hospital. I imagine that will be awkward at first. I can imagine holding the baby and being afraid of bonding with him or her, just in case.

I am sure there are other possible thoughts or situations I am not aware of yet.

On to happier things, I learned today about the adoption tax credit. In other words, we would get part of our money back after adopting. This made my day. It means that adoption would be much more affordable for us than we thought.

Overall, I feel like we are in a good place. We are learning about what might come up, good or bad. I am and will continue to do a lot of research. I have joined an online adoption message board. I am looking forward to meeting people who have adopted. I have an agency I like thus far, but I will continue looking for agencies. I have a list of questions I ask agencies when I call for the first time. I spend time checking out their websites, both the areas for prospective adoptive families and the areas for birth moms. I ask about the agency’s statistics. I plan on asking agencies for references. Am I missing something, anything?!

If you or anyone you know has had any experiences with adoption, feel free to share. I am looking forward to learning more about adoption and whether or not it will be something our family will pursue.

Sleep Update

Don’t tell anyone I mentioned this! You did not hear this from me! Amor Chiquito has been sleeping for six to seven hours at a time for the past four nights!

I am ecstatic. I had not slept this well in… I have no idea how long it has been. And, this has not happened too many times since she was born.

What is different? Nothing, absolutely nothing. She is doing it all on her own, out of the blue.

We are co sleeping again. She spends most of her sleep time on our bed. Most of the time, I am loving it. I love feeling her near me. I especially love when she puts her leg on me!

I have her go to sleep on her bed every now and then so that she is used to it. She might need to do it every now and then if I am not around.

More on Adoption: an Update

Here is an update.

Last night I had a meltdown because I was certain we would never be able to adopt. At that point in time, I had only talked to one agency, the one that charges $32-42k. My awesome husband talked me through it, reminded me that I had only begun my research, and that, most importantly, I was under the influence… The influence of freaking hormones, I mean! I do not recall how he put it, but that is what he was saying! He was right. He is the best! I love that man!

For the record, I am grateful that my reproductive system works well. Otherwise, I might not have Ari. But I hate how I get during that one week of the month. Moody, sad, achy, hot flashes… Any or all of the above!

Back to adoption. I spent some time looking up and calling agencies this morning. It turns out that most of the agencies I found in western MA no longer exist. Thus far, I only know of one local agency that is still operating, the one that charges over $30k. Oh, by the way, this is the same agency that Mr. Geek worked for almost ten years ago! I called, spoke to the director, and she recognized his name!

I found an agency in Cape Cod that does international adoptions. The wait period ranges from six to eighteen months. They do closed adoptions. The child typically comes home around ten to twelve months of age. The fees? $25-30k. Better, but still a lot of money for us. But, hey, it was progress.

The next agency I talked to has offices in four different states: Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina, and California. They can work with me even though I live in MA. I would just need to find a local agency that would do our home study (I will define home study later.) This agency does open adoptions. The mom could be anywhere in the U.S. 80% of the moms are in the four states where the agency has offices. Birth moms (while pregnant) and prospective adoptive parents can contact each other via phone or email. Once there is a match, we would fly out to meet the birth mom.

We would fly out a second time around the mother’s due date. We would stay there for about two weeks. We would meet the baby at the hospital. The baby will be discharged to us. After completing some paperwork for both states (basically informing both states that a minor is leaving one state and moving to the other state), we get to fly home with a newborn!

The wait period with this agency ranges from six to eighteen months. This agency’s fees range from $11 to $17k, depending on our income. We are in the $13.5k bracket. We would have to add the cost of the home study and travel expenses (I am guessing; forgot to ask re travel expenses).

A frequently asked question: substance abuse. These moms are placing their children for adoption voluntarily. 80% of them are not consuming alcohol or drugs during their pregnancies. Of the 20% that are, most might have had a drink before they knew they were expecting. This group of moms is very different than the group of moms we would interact with if we were adopting through the local department of children and families. I prefer this option; it would be better for our mental health!

My opinion on the moms working with the agency I am interested in: I admire them. They are dealing with an unplanned pregnancy in the best possible way. They are taking care of themselves and doing everything in their power to do right by their children. They could abort and be done with it. But, instead, they carry their pregnancy to term, give birth, and give their children to loving families because they feel that would be best for their children.

Adoption lingo, if you are interested:

Home study: This is a process whereby the agency gets to know the prospective adoptive family. The agency conducting the home study visits the adoptive family three to five times. They learn about us: our home, our personalities, our state of mind, our employment status, our income, etc.

“Dear birth mom” letter: Basically, this is the adoptive family’s biography or profile. It includes about five pages of text and photos. Its purpose is for the birth moms to get to know us.

Open adoption: the birth and the adoptive families remain in contact, limited contact. We would provide letters and photos of the baby. The birth parents choose whether they want them right away, later, or not at all.

Closed adoption: Once the adoption is finalized, there is no longer any contact between the two families.

I feel like I might have forgotten something… The edit feature is useful, isn’t it?

Oh, a little update on us: Mr. Geek and I are talking about it. If we decide to pursue adoption, we would need some time before we sign up, mostly so we can save, save, save! I am happy. I have hope. I feel like we would be able to do this. There might be a new member in our family in, say, two years! Wow!

Adoption

I have been thinking about adopting a child lately. I always thought I wanted to adopt some day, since I was ten or so.

The last few months, I kept noticing how perfect our family feels. But I was not convinced about anything: remaining a family of three, getting pregnant again, or adopting a baby. I was so conflicted about Amor Chiquito being an only child, among many other things. I figured I would do my best to avoid thinking about it. When it is the right time for us to decide, we will make a decision together and we will be happy with our decision. That was until… Two days ago?

I don’t recall how it all started. I take that back… I started thinking about adoption after the Haiti earthquake. A few days ago, I don’t know if I was dreaming, somewhat awake, or what… All I know is it felt as though something clicked. The idea of adding one member to our family, an adopted child, felt right. I got an indescribable feeling on my chest. Just thinking about it made me smile. It was strange, but a good feeling.

I decided to do some research and talk about this with Mr. Geek!

What I have learned thus far:

We could adopt through the local department of children and families. It would be free. But it would take years. Most importantly, the state removes the kids from their homes. The battle between the parents and the government lasts years. The adoptive parents-to-be just sit and wait. We might be told “Here is a child. She is a foster child now, but you will be able to adopt her in a year or so.” Then, six months later, a judge decides that child is going back to mom, who may or may not be in a good position to be a good mom to that child. Meanwhile, my family will be heartbroken. I have seen it. I have lived it. My aunt adopted four kids that way. Time and time again, I got attached to kids, loved them, helped her take care of them. Now, we have no idea where they are or how they are doing. The emotional price is incredibly high. We could do that, knowing what to expect from day one, but would it be fair to our Ari? Should I expose her to that? I am a grown-up and I can figure out how to cope, but what about her?

Another option is domestic adoption through a private organization. The expected wait time is nine to eighteen months. (We could have a newborn in our home in two years tops. Ari would be 4.5 years old. It would be perfect.) The birth mother decides that it would be best for her child to be with a different family. She picks the adoptive family, while she is still pregnant, in most cases. Four days after the baby is born, s/he comes home. But… There is always a but… The fees range from $32 to $42 thousand dollars.

I spent close to an hour reading the frequently asked questions on an adoption agency’s website. I was so happy. It sounded great. Then… I talked to the director and she gave me the news. What can I say? I wanted to cry. We don’t have that kind of money. We will not have that kind of money any time soon, unless some sort of miracle happens. Like the woman said to me, if you can have babies, you could put that money towards your daughter’s education.

Why adopt? I would most likely get pregnant easily. I had a perfect pregnancy. I am aware of my body, so, most likely, it would not take long to conceive.

My response: why not adopt? There are children already in this world. They did not choose to join us. Their parents are caring, kind and responsible enough to know that their children would be better off with a different family. We could be one of those families. Our home is full of love. We have so much to offer to one of those precious babies… For what it is worth, adopting feels right. It is what my heart, gut, whatever you want to call it… is telling me…

To conclude, I will continue my research and we will continue talking. We have not made a final decision. But this is what is in my heart today. If only we had thirty-something thousand dollars!

WIC, breastfeeding, formula...

Check out this article for an interesting debate about the WIC program providing mothers formula and what message that action might be sending to people who are not well educated on how much of a difference breastfeeding does make:
http://rixarixa.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-wic-breastfeeding-package.html

I wish there were more people at the hospital trying to help moms learn how to breastfeed, rather than handing us diaper bags full of formula. Don't get me wrong. I don't think formula is evil. But I do think that parents and parents-to-be should receive education and advice instead of multiple cans of formula.

If there is one thing I think mommies interested in breastfeeding should know before going to the hospital, it is the following:
There are lactation consultants. They are beyond helpful. Ask to see one at the hospital. Find out ahead of time if there are LC's at your hospital or at your pediatrician's office.

We are home!

We are back from our first family trip. Our Sunday afternoon flight was cancelled because Baltimore got almost 30 inches of snow. We came home Tuesday afternoon. We were on the last flight to Hartford. The flight after ours was cancelled because of yet another snow storm.

I am happy to say that our trip went well and was a lot of fun; it was not the disaster I was afraid it might be! Yes, I tend to worry too much, I know! When Amor Chiquito was younger, doing anything that was outside of her routine was tough on her, and, therefore, tough on us. As she gets older, she is doing better and better when it comes to doing different, new things.

Here are the highlights of our trip.

The good:

Ari was on an airplane for the first time and she loved it. When the plane was taking off, she looked a bit intimidated. I reminded her that it was fun and that helped, worked like a charm, actually. Her ears did not bother her. One more plus for breastfeeding!

Ari was on a boat for the first time. She did not get seasick once; instead, she walked around quite well, even when there was bad weather and the boat was rocking a fair bit. I almost fell once or twice, but not her!

Ari had a blast looking out the windows at the ocean.

All of us had a great deal of fun at the pool and the world pool. Eventually, we came up with a pool game that involved the three of us and much fun was had by all! Mommy held Ari and went after Daddy. Daddy walks much faster in the water than Mommy, isn’t holding a baby, and has much better eyes. So it took a while for Mommy and Ari to get Daddy! It was nighttime when we played, so Ari pointed at Daddy and said “alli, alli (Spanish for there).” After a while, we switched. Daddy and Ari got Mommy much quicker than Mommy got Daddy. Daddy had way too much fun kicking mommy’s butt and rubbing it in!

We found the baby pool! It is about six inches deep. Ari went in it the day the ship stopped at Nassau, Bahamas. Most people got off the ship, so she had the pool all to herself for about an hour.

We were checking out the ship and were not planning on going in the pool, so we were not dressed appropriately. Daddy went to the cabin for Ari’s sunsuit and Mommy stayed at the pool area with Ari. Ari was putting her feet in the water. Next thing I know, Ari has taken her clothes off, is throwing them on the ground, and is going in the pool completely naked! I simply could not stop laughing! She knew it would be good to take her clothes off so they would not get wet. So, nekid baby it is, problem solved!

Daddy and Mommy had the two-story twisting slide to ourselves too. We had so much fun!

Daddy and Ari enjoyed a fair bit of ice-cream. There are ice-cream stations throughout the boat. As for me, I am all about desert, preferably anything chocolate!

Healthy, crunchy me was not as crunchy as usual. I figured if Ari eats a good meal, she can have a bit of ice-cream. Live a little! And, as for me, I am sure I gained some of the weight I had lost. The elliptical is waiting for me!

Crunchy me did strike a few times. I did not say this, but I had vegetarian meals a few times! Yaminette, you did not just read that! They were delicious, so long as there was cheese involved, of course!

Excellent customer service. For example, we assigned sitting at dinnertime. Starting the second night, Ari's booster seat was at our table and there was a bowl of strawberries waiting for her.

Towel animals. Every night, there was an animal made out of towels in our room. Ari looked forward to it every night. There was a monkey hanging off of the ceiling one night!

The bad: the weather. It was cold the first three days, so cold we did not get to enjoy our balcony until Wednesday afternoon. We were unable to dock at Freeport, Bahamas because of the wind. As I said above, we did not fly home on Sunday. But the weather did not keep us from having a good time!

The ugly: Ari’s sleep schedule, what else? She did well in that we would get a five-hour chunk. The issue was when she fell asleep. Every night, she was up until at least 11pm. Twice, she was up until 1am. This, of course, means that she sleeps in, naps late, goes to bed late… It is a cycle… When we got on the boat, we could not get into our cabin until 2:30pm. Once there, Ari was having fun checking out the new place. So, on day one, her nap schedule was off. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Just an inconvenience.

Ari’s current favorite words and phrases:
Ehpane (airplane)
Up in ty (up in the sky)
Fy (fly)
Boat
Agua (water)

I got Ari an inflatable boat at the shop on the boat. She loves it. I hope that that boat will help keep the wonderful memories we made for a while. I know we don’t tend to remember things that happened at age two, but, at this point in her life, long-term memory is starting to develop. She is still talking about the helium balloon that flew away about a month ago!

I will be making a collage of photos of our trip. It will be up on our living room. I am excited about that little project!

I feel very grateful and very happy that we got to go on this trip. There were several times when I was frustrated due to sleep deprivation. But, for the most part, it was awesome. I can’t wait for the next one! We have pictures and a journal, so we will for ever remember our first family trip!