Sunday, October 19, 2008

One Month

I wasn't going to post for one month, but I wanted to say that Evie rolled from her stomach to her back for the first time today! She was in "tummy time" on her play mat and I had fun playing with her for over 20 minutes, the longest she's ever had the patience for it. While I'm hear, I might as well continue with a few things...

Tomorrow we have our final interview with our SW before Evie's adoption is finalized next week. I think she's just going to be asking us how it's going and make sure we don't want to back out of the deal in order to regain our sleep. Yeah, right.
Here's our little bug in her ladybug Halloween costume that we tried on her a couple of nights ago. This is the only picture in which you can't quite tell how angry she was! Speaking of angry, Evie has started pulling my hair (unintentionally I think) when she gets worked up while I'm holding her. More ponytails for me. She also frequently scratches J when he's holding her in his bathrobe. Such a violent little girl! :)
I appreciate the comments I got on my last post(s) about wearing her in order to get things done while J is gone. I was loving my wraps and sling while we were still at the hospital and hotel, but there are some limitations to that as a solution while at home:
  • Evie doesn't stay happy for long unless she's being patted and rocked while she's held, so I'm still one-handed even with a carrier.
  • She often spits out her pacifier while upright in a wrap and I find myself spending a lot of time replacing it in her mouth or retrieving it from the floor and washing it, or finding a new one.
  • She doesn't want me to sit down with her in a carrier anymore (she didn't mind during the first week), so I can't check e-mail, work on writing thank-you notes and addressing birth announcements, eat or make phone calls (I am hating the crick in my neck from talking on the phone while trying to keep her happy).
  • I can't quite figure out how to do laundry with her in a carrier, especially leaning down into the washer and carrying a heavy basket of wet laundry.
  • Unloading and loading the dishwasher is also difficult because of the bending involved.
  • Wearing her in a carrier makes us both sweaty sometimes and it's a time of year when we are conserving energy with neither heat nor air running in the house. During the day it can get a bit warm in the house even without a little furnace baby riding around with me.
  • Finally, she's just not as happy in my wraps and sling as she was at first. She loves the BabyBjörn for taking walks, but the weather is going to be too cold for that soon and that's beside the point because taking a walk doesn't get the laundry done (although the dogs are happy!).
Despite my complaints and objections, I will try to use my wraps and sling this week and see how much I can get done. Now if only I could wear one in the shower...


5 comments:

  1. Not sure where you live but we walked all winter in Michigan with our daughter in a bjorn (she was a November baby). I just put her in the bjorn, wrapped a blanket snug around her (with a hat on her head) and then wore a huge jacket that covered both of us. Just a suggestion from someone in a cold state! :-)

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  2. Start off slow with the wraps...she has to get used to it. I always always vacuumed with my boys in it first because I remained upright and I was constantly swaying back and forth. Once they are okay with that, I moved on to just tiding up, cleaning counters, anything that doesn't involve bending. Now the boys are 6 months old and I can sit, bend, pick up the other one, help my daughter, even lay down with them in the wrap. They don't even peep. Just keep at it and it will get better. :)

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  3. Fortunately Lilli doesn't need constant carrying around. She is very happy on her playmat most of the time. She gets fussy after a while, then I usually pick her up.
    We also haven't figured out the feeding on schedule quite yet. Lilli wants to eat an hour after she wakes up in the morning and then about every two hours during the day. But she only drinks about two to three ounces per feeding. At night she goes for longer stretches, but she still doesn't sleep through the night. Please keep us posted how you get her on a schedule.

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  4. One thing I read in a book that, at the time, I thought was cruel but it saved my sanity- if you need to do something quick, shower or whatever, it's okay to leave a baby in the crib or play-yard. Yes, they may cry, but if the wraps, etc. don't work what is the alternative? Never taking showers? Not being able to get anything done? When I first read that, I thought I would never do it, but about a month in, I was putting Eric in his crib to shower. I felt guilty, but I also felt clean!

    Now that Eric is 9 months it really is impossible to get things done. He's down to 2 naps and is so mobile, he gets into everything. You can't turn your back for a moment. Between 3-6 months with Evie, you'll get more done. She'll lay happily on her back while playing and stay there. Happy times. :-)

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  5. I love the ladybug pic! The costume is adorable, but Evie's face is priceless. (Despite the costume angle, I can still tell she's peeved!)

    I'm SO with you on the sling thing. I've tried it with Snippet now several times, but he doesn't seem to care for it. He did make a solid hour the other day, but he seems....squished up to me. Plus, I'm Terrified I'm going to whack his head into a door casing or countertop. ERG. Have you had any luck carrying Evie around indoors in the Bjorn? I'm thinking of trying that, just to see....

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