Sunshine...not just for poop stains!

I mentioned in a previous blog that when Maggie was super little (she is getting bigger by the second) she had these crazy poop blow outs.  I thought her cute little outfits were ruined, but my mom mentioned that when we were babies she used cloth diapers.  She would wash them herself and then hang them to dry outside.  The sun would bleach out the stains.  This worked wonderfully for me and I'm happy to say that Maggie's clothes are free of poop stains.  I don't have the blow out problems anymore, but she has started eating baby food.  Sweet potatoes and peas are the new stain problems.  I tried the sunshine trick and what do you know...the stains disappear.  I can't believe it!  I wash the clothes and instead of putting them in the dryer I just put them in the sunlight.  The stains bleach out and it takes no time at all.  By the time the clothes are dry the stain is gone.  It does not change the color or pattern of the outfit, so all in all a perfect remedy!  Definitely worth a try!  I don't think it works on old stains, but I haven't really tried it either.

A weekend all to myself!

I had my first two nights away from Maggie.  Did I miss her....absolutely!  Did I cry or freak out....absolutely not!  I went to a girlfriend's wedding and I had about 40 hours all to myself!  I took full advantage and got a nice hotel room, took a bath, ordered champagne and even had my hair and makeup done!  It was full on pampering.  I was slightly worried that Kaleb would be stressed out back home, but after it was all said and done he did just fine (let's just say that he had lots of help from his mom).  I came back fairly refreshed and so excited to see my little girl.  The hardest part about travelling like that was the fact that I am still nursing.  I had to pump throughout the whole trip and even at the airport.  In fact, when I landed in Minneapolis I had a friend picking me up.  We were going out to dinner and then out to meet more friends.  I wasn't going to be able to pump in private and I definitely wasn't going to do it at the bar.  So, as soon as I landed I found one of the family bathrooms at the airport and got all my pumping equipment unloaded and everything out (literally) and ready to pump.  I turn the power on and the stupid outlet didn't work.  I put everything away and went on a search for another bathroom.  Pretty annoying, but that's how it goes.  I guess my next question is...when do I get to do it again??  Maybe with Kaleb this time...maybe.

first cold...

I thought babies who were breast feeding were not likely to get sick...not true.  Maggie was hit with her first cold.  Yuck!  It wasn't a really bad one, so there wasn't any coughing (thank goodness), but her nose was running like crazy.  She would sneeze a ton and her nose constantly ran.  I had to use the nose suction thing 5 or 6 times a day.  Poor thing...I'm sure she is going to have nightmares about nose suctions and then flash backs when she sees a turkey baster. :)  My sister did tell me about a product called Little Noses.  It is a simple saline solution that you add to their nose to help loosen everything up (Target also sells a generic brand).  It also makes it easier to suction everything out.  I actually use the saline every night (even when she is not sick) after her bath.  That way her nose is nice and clear while sleeping and a sneeze won't wake her in the middle of the night.  Maybe Maggie's cold would have been worse if I wasn't nursing, but it still did last about 6 days.  It also screwed up her sleeping schedule and she went from sleeping through the night to waking up at 3 in the morning.  It took almost 3 weeks to get back on track.  Who knew it would be this hard...only every other mother out there! :)

Your Baby Can Read - Month 2

Maggie is on month two of Your Baby Can Read.Not much difference since last month.  She still likes the videos and does some overall good squealing, but she is not reading any Dickens yet.  The videos are actually pretty amateur/dated, so they get old (for me) very fast.  We had a friend give us some Baby Einstein videos and they are done much better.  There is a whole series of Baby Einstein:  Monet, Da Vinci, Galileo, etc.  I enjoy them much more, although I don't think Maggie cares that much.  She just likes the pictures, colors and songs.  Your Baby Can Read does focus much more on the words and does show them on the screen and repeats them twice.  It then shows a picture of whatever the word is.  It is everything from animals to motions.  It does say to show the video twice a day and that never happens.  I don't even show it everyday.  I think at 5 months, there isn't too much to worry about and I think that if I followed what the instructions say it would be a bit much.  There are also flash cards that have words on them too.  You are supposed to show the flash card and repeat the word.  We are not very diligent about that, but at 5 months it feels a bit like overkill.  I will continue to use it and we'll see how it goes.  I do have to say that she loves books.  She loves to hold them and she will look at the pictures as I turn the pages.  It's amazing that at 5 months it seems as if she is listening to me read the story.  It really shows how important it is to read to your child!  So, no Oliver Twist, but she loves Belly Button Book! by Sandra Boynton.  Happy Reading!

Smoke Detectors!!

I found out that my baby can sleep...through just about anything!  In our house the smoke detectors are all hard wired and have batteries as back up in case the power were to go out.  I don't know what went wrong, but the other night every single smoke detector in the house went off at once.  We were all asleep and we were jolted up (it was only 11pm...definitely considered the middle of the night in our house now) by the screeching sound of smoke alarms.  There was no fire, but there must have been a short in the wires or something.  Anyways, Kaleb had to throw on clothes and run outside to flip the breaker in the electrical box to turn them off.  After I figured out what was going on I ran into Maggie's room to make sure she was ok and she was sound asleep.  She was on her back with her arms up over her head sleeping like, well, a baby. There is even a smoke detector in her room...holy cow.  Now I'm thinking I don't need to whisper every time she goes down for a nap!

The Lay Down

I mentioned in a past blog that I used to rock Maggie to sleep...every time she went down.  I have finally broken that habit and am so much happier...plus my arms are getting the rest they deserve.  It is tough work rocking a 17 pound baby and having to walk laps around the house (because she did not like it when I rocked sitting down).  Man, was I spoiling her rotten!  Well, Kaleb was not having this marathon rocking session and he would put her in her crib to sleep and would let her cry.  I did not like this...at first.  It made me anxious and I really just wanted to pick her up.  We tried it a few times and I said I would wait 10 minutes and if she hadn't stopped then I would pick her up.  It really has never even taken 10 minutes and now that she is used to laying down she doesn't really cry at all.  She gets situated and will almost always go to sleep without a cry.  I know Maggie's schedule and can tell when she is tired, so it is easy to lay her down for a nap.  I feel like she falls asleep much quicker (I think the rocking was actually keeping her awake longer) and it is less frustration for me.  I think it would have been one thing to have this calm rocking chair experience with your sleepy baby, but mine was a constant shaking/rocking and like I said I would have to do laps around the house.  So, here is what I do.  When I can tell Maggie is getting sleepy I will lay her down with her WubbaNub (see previous post) and close the door.  Sometimes she will cry for a few minutes and other times she will just kind coo herself to sleep.  I will let her cry for about 10 minutes (if I even need to) and then go in and soothe her by rubbing her back and putting the pacifier back in (the pacifier is slowly becoming a thing of the past.  I usually start with that when I lay her down to find that she has spit it out and gone for her fingers). I try not to wait until she is too tired because this seems to be more difficult and she tends to try and fight the sleep.  I've also put her down for a nap thinking she was tired only to go in and check on her 10/15 minutes later to see that she is sucking on her big toe.  Probably not tired...or that is her new pacifier!  Now that I have a routine and will just lay Maggie down for a nap - life has gotten much easier.  I finally think I have a handle on this whole motherhood thing...but I hear that can change real quick!

Breaking Routine...just when I had it down

I'm all about the routine.  Most mornings Maggie takes a good 3 hour nap.  This is a great time for me to get a lot of work done.  When she doesn't do the 3 hour nap she tends to get cranky and the entire day is more difficult.  So, being at home where it is easy to follow the routine is best, but then you feel like you never leave the house.  Sometimes I feel like I've been stuck in my house for 4 months straight, but at home I feel more rested.  When I get cabin fever and decide to head up to the cabin (that's ironic) or even visit friends, or go shopping the routine is out of wack.  Maggie never sleeps the same somewhere else, so this leaves her more tired and then she actually wakes up earlier or even in the middle of the night.  When this happens I am also tired that is usually when I wish I was just at home.  My mom thinks it is a better idea to take her out as much as possible, so that she gets used to sleeping other places.  She thinks I will appreciate this more in the long run.  Basically I take all this time to get this routine figured out just to find out that maybe being dependent on a routine is the problem.  I know I'm fairly selfish in saying that my own sleep is very precious and I get much more of it at home.  Maggie always does well travelling in the car or plane, but it's her sleeping patterns when we get there that seems to be the problem.  Maybe my sleep is the sacrifice to having a vacation, but I'm not sure how enjoyable I am to be around.  Who knows what the answer is, but if anyone has and idea I would love to hear it!