Now that The Tot is eating chunkier foods but still shouldn’t have a lot of salt, I decided to find baby-friendly recipes. I came across Superfoods: For Babies and Children
Money-saving tip: See if your local library has this book and try it before you buy it. That’s where I found it.
Last night was a mini-repeat of Saturday night. Ugh. It takes me back to the “Dark Ages” when The Princess was colicky and it makes me think that she will be an only child. I am too old and tired to do this again. Everyone I talk to says that, when Tater Tot is two, these memories will magically fade and/or disappear and I will want a second. I have a hard time believing that but I guess it could happen. I mean it would be nice for The Tot to have a sibling but, seriously, could my 38-year-old (at least 39-year-old by then) body and psyche handle this much sleeplessness and fatigue? I know people do it all the time and that makes me feel like a wimp. I guess we’ll just have to see how I feel later. Much later.
Back to last night. She had the courtesy to sleep until 11:30 last night so I could get at least three hours of sleep in before she got me up. But she was completely discourteous by not letting me sit down to rock her for two hours. I gave her the homeopathic teething tablets again and swayed/walked with her for two hours, determined NOT to play with her. I did NOT want this to become the ”let’s get up in the middle of the night so we can play with Mommy” ritual. So, just as my arms were about to fall off, I ended up waking up The Daddy to seal the deal. She was mellow and quiet but I my body just wasn’t cooperating any more. The Baby Whisperer worked his magic and I finally got to get some more sleep. Not quite enough to feel great but enough to get through the day. Luckily her first nap went as usual. Maybe that’s a sign that she’s getting back on the right track. Either that or she’s too tired from sleep deprivation!Â
I’m not sure how to tell if she is waking up in the middle of the night due to teething pain or if it’s just her wanting her Mommy’s company. That makes deciding what to do in the middle of the night a bit more complicated. I feel like I want to comfort her and assume that it’s teething pain but when she looks and acts fine just until I start the “sleepytime routine”, that makes me wonder. She has begun crying when I leave the room lately so that points to separation anxiety but she also has 6 teeth coming in. Huh. Hopefully she’ll get back to normal tonight and give The Mommy a break. Fat chance, huh?
Last night was the worst night we’ve had since Princess Tater Tot was 3 months old and colicky. I remember doing the “Tater Tot Stairmaster” up and down and up and down our staircase singing “I’m going up the stairs with Tater Tot in my arms” over and over and over until I was pouring sweat and I thought I was going to die because that is the only thing that would keep her from screaming her head off. Man, have I gotten spoiled since then! But last night I felt like I had gone back in time. She woke up at 9pm wailing. I gave her homeopathic teething tablets. Still crying. Walked and swayed and sang. Still fussy. Gave her Tylenol. Let her play on the big comfy chair with the lights low (yeah, like that makes a difference! Playing is playing and she probably thinks that she can wake up and play in the middle of the night all the time now!). Calm, smiling, happy. Until I start the “sleepytime routine” again. Then screamin’ her head off. To top it off we had a house guest. Suffice it to say he didn’t get a lot of sleep last night either.
Three and a half hours later, she is still fussy. What the hell? I’ve given her all the medication I feel comfortable giving her, I have rocked her, given her an extra bottle, and generally done every flippin’ thing I can think of and….NOTHIN’! Not even a HINT of readiness to go to sleep. Finally I just let her wail in her crib because I was about to just fall down dead! Well, that woke up The Daddy and he took over. It took him another hour to rock her to sleep.
What happened to my happy little sleeper? Who came in the night and replaced her with Alien Baby With Attitude? Granted, she is getting six new teeth in various stages of breaking through but I did dose her up with all the stuff that’s supposed to make it better. AND she seemed abso-friggin-lutely FINE while we were sitting quietly and she was shaking the homeopathic teething tablet bottle and grinning like the Cheshire Cat. That’s why I’m wondering if it’s part teething and part separation anxiety. She is rather attached to The Mommy right now… Maybe I’ll never know but all I can say is I’m really, really, really glad that whatever it is, it will pass. I just hope I can last until it does…
On a happier note, we went to the beach today and she had a ball! She loved playing in the sand and watching the birds fly around. That’s good news for me. Maybe this kid will end up being a surfer like her Mommy. It sure would make it easier for me to get back in the water. As soon as this kid can swim, I gotta get her on a surf board.
But can’t. For several reasons. Some are “too personal”. Others I just have not untangled in my head yet. So, instead I will ramble somewhat incoherently about our day.
Today Princess Tater Tot decided that 5am was the time to wake up, get up, and get started with our day. Huh. The Mommy didn’t really think so but I also didn’t really want to have my neighbors hate me for the wailing that was going on so…we got up an hour early. We did go to the beach for our walk today and I even had the energy to run instead of walk (where that came from I will never know).Â
After putting The Tot down for her nap, I showered and got on about the business of grocery shopping. I return home to realize that I forgot to get the homeopathic teething tablets I had wanted to get at the local health food store and that I’d have to go back with The Tot getting 6 teeth and all. I ask The Daddy how long Princess Tater Tot has been awake and he says “Oh, she woke up when you left”. Huh. “She wasn’t asleep when I left”, I say (she was talking herself to sleep when I left). “Oh” he says. Hm. Well, I left to go back to the health food store after we decided The Daddy would try to put her down again after she finished her DVD. This time it took and she napped for an hour and a half! Even The Mommy got a snooze in. Hallelujah!
I decided that Tater Tot and I would go to Grandma and Grandpa’s for the night to visit after our nap since The Daddy was going to have a friend over so we packed everything but the kitchen sink up and got in the car for our hour and a half drive. Fifteen minutes later, The Tot is screaming hysterically in the back of the car. So I pull over and get her out of the car seat. Instant calm. We look at the seagulls try to poop on us, notice and giggle at our surroundings and generally improve The Tot’s mood. Instant screaming once in the car seat again. Huh. Call The Daddy: “Sorry Honey, we’re coming home”. So much for Boys Night. I just couldn’t stomach the thought of her screaming for an hour and a half. She’s done it before when she was a wee one and I about had a mental breakdown by the time we got where we were going (after three different stops taking her out of the car seat and comforting her on the way). So we crashed the party and it’s just as well. She was much happier back at home in her usual surroundings. And The Mommy got to eat an absolutely delicious hamburger that The Daddy fixed (seriously, these were the bomb!).
So now The Mommy is again staying up too late on the computer instead of getting her Mommy Butt to bed in case Princess Tater Tot wakes up in the middle of the night because she’s teething again. When will I learn? Uh, maybe tonight. Bye.
The long day did not end when it usually ends, unfortunately, last night. I rocked The Princess as usual after her bedtime bottle and another dose of Tylenol and Orajel but she was not ready (as evidenced by the wailing). So I put her down anyway, inhaled a slice of Friday Night Pizza in record time and ran back up there to rock her some more. And then a little bit more. But eventually she did go down. Of course, The Mommy then gets on the computer and stays on too long. Just long enough for the Tot to wake up and cry some more. Of course, it’s an hour before I can give her more Tylenol and she doesn’t want to be held but she doesn’t want to not be held. And she doesn’t want to play (yes, I know, playing with her when she wakes up may set a dangerous precedent…I was desperate here!). So we muddled through until it was Tylenol time, gave her more Tylenol, and then rocked her some more. The Mommy’s gonna have some guns (arm muscles for those of you who may think that I’m referring to actual fire arms) by the time The Tot has all her teeth!  Seriously, they’re sore today.
Anyway, she woke up crying again at 3:00 am but she was able to soothe herself that time within a few minutes. But at 5am guess who’s ready to roll? Yep, The Tot. So I got my Tired Mommy Butt out of bed and started the morning routine early. Blech. But I figured, since our routine is so out of whack anyway, we’re going down to the beach where Mommy wants to be for our walk. And it was nice. Got to see some people I surfed with before I became The Mommy and didn’t surf anymore. And Princess Tater Tot loved it! Wouldn’t stop saying “Eee”, which she does when she’s excited. LOVED seeing the birds and wanted to play in the sand. Which is nice except that she was still in her pajamas and usually stays that way until after her first nap (she naps early). *Heavy sigh* Now she’s talking herself to sleep for her first nap and I’ve got my fingers crossed that it’ll actually happen (unlike yesterday). But right now it’s The Daddy’s problem because I’ve gotta go get all our grocery shopping done for the week. Oh yeah, and get something for The Daddy for Valentine’s Day. And look for birthday presents for The Tot. Huh. That’s not all gonna happen, I can tell you that right now. Oh well. You can only do what you can do. Master of The Obvious.  But the first thing on my list is buying Princess Tater Tot some homeopathic teething tablets. They’re supposed to work wonders and this Mommy needs some wonders right now!
*Heavy Sigh* My day started at 2:45 with the wailing of a poor teething almost-one-year old. After a diaper change, some Tylenol, Orajel and a bottle, we rocked. And rocked. And rocked. Until Princess Tater Tot fell asleep. Poor thing. And poor Mommy. By the time she fell asleep it was 5am and time for The Mommy to start her day. Friday is my housecleaning day. Not that I don’t clean the house every day but Fridays I hit every room with the dusting, vacuuming, sheets-changing, rug laundering duties that keep the house from going to pot. So up I was, dusting, changing, laundering. No vacuuming. Too early.
So I thought that she might sleep a little later than usual, hence napping a little later than usual but we would still be able to have a day and run our errands. Huh. Not so much. The gist of my day was rocking and holding my little Princess because she was cranky. You’d be cranky too if you had SIX TEETH COMING IN! Yes, you read me right. She had two already, she has three that have just poked through in the last week and three more that are ready to come through. Poor baby.  So we rocked and hugged and snuggled and distracted her instead of trying to “make” her nap, doing the recycling, returning that overdue DVD to the library and doing the majority of the grocery shopping.  They can wait. Although I’m completely spent and almost falling asleep as I type, it is worth it to know that I was able to comfort her and make her life a little bit better today. It’s what Mommies do.
I know that this entry will resonate with someone out there. Today I was playing with The Princess Tater Tot and happened to spy her longer-than-Mommy’s fingernails. And mine ain’t short. They’re not super-long but Tater Tot’s are longer! It seems like I just trimmed ‘em yesterday! Then I spy the orange ear wax collecting in her little ear. Didn’t I just dig all of that out yesterday, too? And as she turns her sweet little face up to me I see a ginormous booger in her nose. Aw, crap. I KNOW she’s not gonna like me digging in there. As we sit down for lunch, I notice that I have again failed to clean her high chair tray from the last meal and it is crusted over with gunk. Blech. Time to whip out the dishrag and disinfecting wipes. And when I’m changing her there is the unmistakeable whiff of Pooky Pants Past since I am holding off on buying another fragrant diaper pail refill because we are transitioning to cloth diapers (if they would ever arrive!). Then, of course, there is the ever-present laundry/dishwasher/toilet swish/counter-swipe/put-stuff-away duty of the day. Lest anyone think that I am complaining, I am not. I am merely observing how things you think you have a handle on creep up on you and pinch you in the arse when you aren’t looking. And I am considering myself pinched. In the arse.
I just finished reading a news story about a school district in Pennsylvania that covered up sexual assault of a first-grader by another student. What the hell? The student went on to assault three more first-graders. The district now is saying that they are not legally responsible for the assaults in the case that three of the victim’s parents are bringing against the district. Having worked in school districts as a school counselor and school social worker for 10 years all I can say is SHAME ON THEM! While I understand that it can be very expensive to deal with settling a law suit and people’s careers can be damaged if not ruined, THESE ARE 6 YEAR OLDS WE’RE TALKING ABOUT! Six year olds whose lives have been changed forever because a school district did not take the actions that they needed to take to protect them. And to stand up and say we don’t have a legal duty to protect the children at our schools is absolutely ridiculous and disrespectful. Disrespectful to the children and their parents as well as to the profession of education. Why are you in education if you do not care to protect the children you are responsible for teaching? I cannot imagine how the principal, superintendent, and teachers involved can sleep at night “towing the party line” that they do not have a responsibility to protect children. There is a special place in hell for people like that.
Okay, I think I’m done with my rant. I gotta stop clicking on links I KNOW are gonna get me riled up!
So, yesterday morning my head decided to take another trip to Dizzyland. I thought I was through it but the vertigo decided to make another half-day appearance. Luckily it wasn’t as bad as Monday and I didn’t have to take Dramamine. By noon I was almost back to normal and feelin’ fine. It did prompt me to make a call to my doc, though. I’m going in to try to get a referral to an Ear/Nose/Throat doc to see if the diagnosis is correct or if there is something else going on. I also need some answers other than “take Dramamine and deal with it”. As Dr. Phil says, “How’s that workin’ for ya’”? Uh, it’s not. Hopefully I’ll get some different answers.
Now it’s off to get a shower in before The Princess wakes up from her nap!
As it turns out, The Princess has become quite the screamer when it comes to shots of any kind lately. When she was younger she was such a trooper! Had blood drawn at one month old, nary a peep at her immunizations, and didn’t flinch at her flu shot. But today she made it clear that she did NOT, I repeat DID NOT want a shot of any kind. Or to have her clothes taken off. Or to be weighed so that they could get the proper dosing for the shot. Or to have her clothes put back on. Or to do anything besides rest comfortably snuggled in her Mama’s arms with her chin draped dramatically over my shoulder sniffling quietly (and not so quietly).  Phew, the drama of it all. But we got it done and the doc said that she might not need another shot this RSV season because the RSV activity may die down by next month. That would be nice.
More drama at dinnertime. We’re out of Puffs (Tater Tot’s favorite appetizer). Oh, the horror! How can The Princess be expected to sit in her high chair and wait for Mommy to make her dinner without an appetizer? So, The Mommy improvised and Princess Tater Tot got her first taste of spelt tortilla. Spelt is a kind of wheat that doesn’t seem to produce the reaction that normal wheat gluten does. Pretty tasty, too. Flexibility…it’s what Mommies do.
With the help of The Daddy, Baby Einstein, and a whole lot of playing on the floor (laying on the floor for The Mommy), we made it through the day yesterday! And I feel a thousand times better today.Â
j,,,. ,io  hvnbcxgnmnnmnmn That’s “hello everyone” from Princess Tater Tot.
Now it’s off to the doc to get Princess Tater Tot’s RSV shot…
