Vocal Stylings by Naomi

Naomi has started "talking" alot to us, to herself, to her toys. But the past few days she's started doing this growl all the time. It sounds alot like Hope's imitation of the wild pig races:) At first I thought she was mad about something when I heard her doing it. After I fed her last night, instead of burping and laying her head down like she usually does, she started growling- she was still growling to herself when I put her in her crib and left. What a goofball!

My Obedient Liitle Girl

We put Hope to bed about an hour ago. We could hear her in her room and assumed she was playing since she wasn't tired at bedtime. But I finally went up to check on her and see what she was doing. She'd been up there crying the whole time because we'd forgotten one step of the bedtime routine. (she's ALL about the routines) When I asked why she didn't come to the top of the stairs like she usually does if she needs something, she said "Well, daddy told me to stay in my room". I guess maybe we need to clarify the rules a little, but I was proud of her that even though she was upset, she obeyed what daddy had said. Her morning rule is she can't leave her room until I come get her. Even on Christmas day, when we woke up at nine in the morning, she was still in her bed, talking to her "guys" and "playing pretend" as she says. I know we still have a lot of years to mess up, but so far I think we've done an awfully good job rearing this little girl.

All I Want For Christmas....

All Hope really asked Santa for was a WishingFairy Dora and coloring books. Well, she got that and more! It looks like Toys R Us threw up in our living room. Not only did she get Dora and coloring books, she got an art easel, all kinds of paints and brushes and markers, books, puzzles, games, clothes, dora bedding, a leapfrog globe, Veggie movies, and a little piano. And guess what her favorite toy has been the past two days. Naomi's plastic snap-together beads that Santa brought. (And being the OCD child that she is, they have been color-coded and cannot be mixed together- I got in big trouble when I tried) We really didn't spend very much money on Hope this year because all the stuff we were going to get for her other people bought instead, but she had to have gotten $300 worth of presents. And instead of playing with any of it, she's playing with her little sister's classic, five-dollar toy. Let this be a lesson to me that more expensive is NOT better, and the things she sees on TV aren't really what she wants, regardless of what she tells me.

She actually does like her presents; she's just on overload. We had to force her to open most of her gifts- she wanted to play with each thing she opened instead of opening everything and then playing with them. I think I'm going to put some of them away and let her play with a couple toys at a time. She loves her "play-ano" and microphone. She's serenaded us quite a bit already- we videotaped a lovely rendition of Away in a Manger. There's a volume control on the piano, but not on the mic and she doesn't understand "Sing quitely", so I think it's going to be put in her playroom so she can sing as loudly as she wants. She's painted a few masterpieces already, but ran out of room on the fridge to hang them, so she had to stop. Santa put some Silly Putty in her stocking, and she learned the hard way that mixing red and green sillyputty isn't a good idea- she now has a lump of brown putty.

All in all, Hopey had a wonderful christmas. I'm going to have to clean out some of her old toys so there's space for the new ones in her playroom; now the problem is how to explain to her the concept of Goodwill...

For The Love of WalMart

I used to hate WalMart. I wouldn't go in the place unless forced. It's always crowded, and stupid people seem to congregate there. They're slow (we all know how well I tolerate slow people) and they stand in the middle of the aisle, so you can't go around them. Do they make their aisles narrow on purpose? It sure seems that way. But a couple of years ago, Dad and Phil'n'Bell both started telling me that they did all their grocery shopping at WalMart and that it was the cheapest place around. Since I'm all about the cheapies, I figured we'd give it a try. We'd go at times that weren't so crowded so I wouldn't have a hissy fit and leave, and although we didn't continue to shop there all the time, we did go occasionally and I didn't mind it when we needed to go there.

In Spokane, whenever we needed something and had to run to the store, we went to Albertson's cause it was one minute away. Well, now our store that's close is WalMart. It isn't one minute away, but probably three minutes. Last night I was there getting a few things and I got started thinking about how, if I hadn't gotten used to shopping there when we lived in Spokane, I would HATE the fact that I had to go to WalMart and that would be just one more reason to not exactly love Rockford. But, because God knew that I would live by WalMart, He allowed me to get used to it before we moved. So I walked through the store with a smile on my face, grateful for a God who gently changes my heart about little things, knowing that one day it would be a big thing to me.

GUESS WHO HAS TWO TOOTHERS!!

Sleeping Like a Baby

We've been working with Naomi, trying to get her to sleep better, and I think we're finally succeeding. We were so lucky with Hope, although we didn't know it at the time. But we also made some mistakes with her sleeping habits that we're trying to avoid making with Naomi.

When Hope was a baby, one of us would lay down with her and snuggle her until she fell asleep. Then when she was a little older, I'd rock her and sing to her until she fell asleep and then put her in her crib. She finally got to where we could put her in her crib and she'd go to sleep at night, but we still had to lay down with her at naptime. But when she had pneumonia, we made the mistake of letting her sleep with us, and that started alot of sleep problems. I figured I'd be up checking on her anyway, so might as well have her in bed with me, right? Well, she never would go back to her bed. She had pneumonia in October, and in January she was still in our bed. She was a very active sleeper, and neither of us got decent sleep with her in bed with us, so finally I decided enough was enough. The problem was she didn't think enough was enough. She'd cry so hard when we put her in her crib that she'd make herself throw up. So I'd go in, clean her up, and put her in our bed, where she'd promptly go to sleep. I even put Zach's bed in our room thinking she'd sleep ok if she was right next to us. No luck- she had to be IN OUR BED. Finally one night, I laid there for forty-five minutes and listened to her scream and vomit, determined that that little girl was going to relearn to sleep by herself. That one night was horrible, but the next night she cried some but fell asleep fairly quickly, and that was the end of her sleeping issues. After that, we could just put her in her crib and she'd go to sleep. Even at nap time when she slept on our bed or Zach's bed, she'd stay put. We'd cover her up and tell her to go to sleep, and for the most part she would. Now I can just tell her to go upstairs and take a nap; I don't even have to supervise.

We haven't let Naomi sleep with us and have purposely tried to not snuggle her at bedtime and have her be dependent on us holding her to get to sleep. We'd put her pacifier in her mouth and turn on her music, and as long as the pacifier was in, she'd go to sleep. The problems came when the binky fell out- she could not get back to sleep unless we went back in and put the pacifier back in for her. Well, now, five months later, we have another little girl who needs our help to sleep. At this age, she should not be waking up three or four times a night to eat, so I decided it was time to do something about her too. I hate the "cry it out" idea, but I know it does work better than just about anything else.

Right now, Naomi is learning to sit up. Based on previous experience, I have no doubt that in learning to sit, she'll fall alot. Lord knows Hope did- there was the infamous fall off the counter, and she toppled over on cement floor a few times. There will be some hurt body parts and lots of tears. Does that mean I never give her the chance to sit by herself until I'm sure she won't fall? No. Do I hold her whenever she wants to sit up so she doesn't risk toppling over and shedding some tears? No. So why would I not let her practice sleeping on her own, knowing she'll cry some? I hate the sound of her crying, knowing it would be so easy for me to comfort her, but at some point she has to learn to sleep. Might as well be now.

For the past week, when it's nap time (and she now has scheduled naptimes) I take her up to her crib, turn on her music, and close the door. If she cries, then I go fold laundry so I can't hear her. At first she was rolling onto her stomach and squirming around, getting her legs stuck in the slats of the crib. So we put the bumper back in and put in a firm pillow, and lay her against the side of the crib so she can't go anywhere. The past few days, I've put her in there, and not heard a sound until she wakes up two hours later. Bedtime is now at six or seven, depending on when she woke up from her afternoon nap. I'll get up and feed her once a night, and otherwise she has to figure out how to get back to sleep by herself, and she is. In fact, last night she didn't even wake up except when her diaper leaked and her jammies were wet. I'm amazed at how well she's doing, and even though it's hard to listen when she cries, it feels so good to be consistent with her and know it's paying off.

Elmo's World

Last night David and Hope went to see Sesame Street Live. It was the Elmo Makes Music one- gee, elmo and music, do you think Hope liked it? They sang all the sesame street songs, and apparently Big Bird talked to her; he really made an announcement over the PA system, but whatever. David said she sat perfectly still with an amazed look on her face the whole time! She came home with a huge elmo balloon- he's the same size as her from her knees to her head. David said she really wanted one, but they were eight bucks, so he told her they were too expensive. But one of the other people from Swedish bought two for her friend's girls, and apperently the girls share a room and decided they didn't need two and gave one to Hope. She has carried the thing everywhere since she came home. She even had to take it to the bathroom with her last night. At first she was afraid to let go of it- I guess she remembers losing too many balloons to the vaulted ceilings in our old house, but we showed her that these ceilings are lower and it won't go too high. This morning she was up before David left for work, filling him in on what happened last night, just in case he forgot- she gave him a complete rundown of the story, and then did the same for me when I got up. She had to shove her elmo balloon in Naomi's face so she could see it. This morning on PBS there was a commercial for next year's Sesame Street Super Grover- she informed me that daddy was going to take her to that. He probably will, but to be on the safe side, I think we won't watch PBS for about a month before Super Grover gets here.

Roly Poly Naomi

Naomi figured out how to roll over quite a while ago, but she didn't do it much until the past few days. Now she rolls over as soon as you put her on the floor. The problem with that is she hates being on her tummy for more than thirty seconds and she can't roll back over onto her back. So this is our routine:
-I put Naomi on her blanket on the floor
-she rolls over instantly
-she waits a few seconds and then cries
-I turn her back over
-before I can resume what I was doing she's on her tummy again
I've told her to stop rolling over, but somehow she doesn't get it:) I'm thinking of putting pillows on both sides of her so she can't make it over. This morning she was crying in her crib and I just assumed she was on her tummy, so I finished what I was doing before I went in there. Well, she was on her tummy, but she'd somehow scooted around and backwards and had both legs stuck through the slats of the cribs. No wonder she was mad!

On a different note, we have at least a foot of snow that has fallen since last night. Aren't I excited. It's so deep that our patio chairs are covered up past the seats. Hope was telling me she wanted to build a snowman. I explained that snowman snow has to be wet so it will hold together, and it's so cold that this snow is too dry. She opened the curtain, looked outside, and said "Oh yes, you're right". I'm right!?! I guess there's a first time for everything:)

I See Expensive Taste in her Future

Today Hope says to me: "Mom, I'm very very hungry. Maybe we could go to Red Lobster?" What three-year-old asks to go to Red Lobster?!?

Silly Hope Things

You know that ketchup holder from grandma? Hope has decided it's Bob, and has to carry it everywhere with her. She even wanted to take it to show the doctor today- I vetoed that. People will think we're strange if my daughter carries around a plastic tomato.

Also this morning she decided to start in on the stool in her bathroom. Some days she just picks something to dwell on, and today it was the stool. Never mind that we've had it for two years. She asked who gave it to her. I told her I bought it at the store. She says "cause you thought I'd like it?" I said yes. She said "but it's not red" and walked off. As she was walking away I heard her say "this is terrible..." What a drama queen!

Is it really that hard??

David has a co-worker who kind of talks funny anyway, but she always pronounces Naomi's name "Nigh-omi". I just figured it's cause it's her. But Saturday we took Naomi to get her 3-month pictures, and the photographer said it the same way. I thought David said her name pretty clearly when she asked what her name was, so I couldn't figure out why she was mispronouncing it. Maybe I'm just smarter than most people:) but I think it's pretty easy. "NA-O-MI" Ok, I can see messing up the last syllable, but really, how can 'na' make a long 'i' sound? And I know Naomi isn't a common name, but I would think most people have at least heard it. Naomi Judd, Naomi Campbell, Naomi in the bible; it's not like I named her some made-up name. I had a patient once named Brede. Guess how his parents pronounced it. Brady. Now I can see not getting that one right. But come on, Naomi?!? Can you say, "Hooked on Phonics worked for me".

I like her; I like her not

The past two weeks Naomi has become a much more content baby. She's gotten to the point that she rarely cries; she was SO good during our trip to Spokane- cried just a little on the plane trips. While we were there, I remember thinking I was starting to really like my daughter. Before that, I hadn't really liked her much- all she did was demand my attention and deprive me of my sleep. I've also been reading about a member on a forum I check alot who just lost a daughter to SIDS- her baby was two weeks older than Naomi. So I've felt so bad for my ambivalence toward Naomi; so sorry for this poor woman who will forever wonder what would be if she'd just checked on her baby five minutes earlier; and so thankful for the fact that I'm not in her position when I so easily could be.

But then, just when I start to like her, she blows it. After crying alot today, she just spit up about 4 ounces of milk. She soaked me, the couch, and a receiving blanket. I spend almost two hours a day pumping since the kid is too lazy to suck effectively, and then she just throws it back up on me?!? We've discovered that she does better with enfamil's formula with rice starch added to it; if it weren't so dang expensive, I'd quit pumping and just let her have that. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll forget about the milk bath and like her again:)

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Today the high temperature in Rockford is supposed to be 40 degrees. Yes, that was the high, not the low. Right now it's 27 degrees and my back deck is covered in snow! If this was mid-November I might not be surprised, but snow!?! Sunday it was 75 and we were in t-shirts outside. Four days later it's snowing. I don't like this midwest weather!! Fortunately the cold is only supposed to last a couple days. When Hope saw the snow outside, she said "Oh, good, now Santa Claus is coming!"

David has decided, based on my last few posts I suppose, to implement a shift system for Naomi's sleep habits. Now I go to bed at 8 after I put Hope to bed. He stays up with Naomi until midnight, and then it's my turn to get up with her. Last night he put her in her swing around 10 and slept on the couch. At 2:30 I woke up and realized they were still downstairs- she'd slept so well in the swing that he didn't wake up when his shift was over:) I told you she loves that swing! So I got almost six hours of continuous sleep. I feel really good this morning, and thought I'd try to take a shower and go shopping at a few places today, but I'm not real sure I want to be out in this cold weather.

Yankees Suck

Yesterday David and I watched a GREAT baseball game. As a member-by-default of the RedSox nation, I had to be happy the yanks lost. It's so nice to watch those cocky jerks get their superiority complex batted out of them. Every time I see Jeter's smug smirk, I wish a bat would fly right into his pretty little mouth. So it was fun to watch a team that came from nowhere, with a 23-year-old pitcher I had only heard of because dad worked with one of his relatives, single-handedly silence the Yankee-lovers of the world.

What really got me, though, was after the game. One of the commentators said something about Joe Torre and the "dynasty years" of the 1990's. Dynasty years??? The yanks won the world series four times in five years. Ok, maybe that's not so bad. But they hadn't been in a world series game for 15 years before that. That's not a dynasty. It's a few good years. A dynasty is UCLA when John Wooden coached. They won the NCAA championship 10 times in 12 years; 7 of those championships were consecutive; and 40 years later they are still one of the top teams every single year. Granted, Lew Alcindor played for them a few of those championship years, but even Michael Jordan's college team only won once, and I think most people would admit that Mike is a little better than Kareem. So you can't say it was cause they had one great player. I really wanted to email the station and ask, exactly what is their definition of a dynasty? Cause I think it's a lot different than Webster's.

Beyond the yanks losing though, I really do love this time of year. I wouldn't say I live for October baseball like the commercials say, but I sure do enjoy it. I don't even care who's playing- it's just fun to watch a game. I remember the first time I really got in to baseball. It was the summer Hope was born, and I was home all the time with her. That year we got lucky with our cable "poverty package"- we had ESPN and FOX Sports. So six or seven nights of the week, there was a Mariners game on and I'd watch most of them, even when David wasn't around. The first weekend of October was sad because I really liked the M's that year and I wasn't going to be able to watch them anymore. So tonight, since the Yankees were kind enough to lose quickly rather than dragging it out, there are no baseball games on. And while most females wouldn't really care, I'm disappointed that I can't watch a game.

Sorry David

It seems I hurt David's feeling with my last post, because he's sitting here not talking to me after reading it. In his defense, he does have to get up for work and I don't. He can't go back to sleep easily and I can. And some weekend nights he has let me sleep the whole night and he even keeps Naomi downstairs and sleeps on the couch so they won't disturb me. So I certainly don't have it bad- he's a wonderful help with both girls, especially considering how involved (or non-involved) some fathers are. I was just crabby that day.

False Alarm

Why did I get excited about Naomi sleeping? She was back to her old self last night:( She fell asleep about 9:30; I went to bed at 10:30 and fed her some then thinking that she'd sleep till at least 2:30 or 3:00 with the extra food. Nope- she woke up at 11:30, 2:15, 5:30, and 7:30. The other day- monday maybe- she slept for six hours in her swing. SIX HOURS!!! Why, oh why can she not do that at night?

I'm the one that gets up with her at night because I fall right back asleep; once David wakes up it can take him hours to go to sleep again. So I thought I was being the great wife by getting up with her so he can sleep since he's the one who has to get up early for work. He'd even said several times lately that he's getting better about sleeping through her crying- he asks every morning how many times I had to get up and says he didn't even hear me. Well, yesterday he slipped up. He was just talking about work but mentioned something about how he'd told them I try so hard to be quiet but he wakes up every time I get up with her and doesn't go back to sleep for sometimes an hour afterward. Last night when he woke me up to tell me she was crying- what the heck is up with that??- I wanted to say, You're awake-and apparently you'll be awake for another hour- why don't you go feed her!

Never mind me- as Mandy used to say "Shishy soooo cabby!!"

I'm telling you, she's Bryn's kid

If I didn't know better, I'd say Bryn is Hope's mom. She's exactly like Bryn was at this age. Today on Dora, there was a pinata. Hope told me she was going to pretend to have her own pinata, so I watched her pretend to break it. Then things got a little nutso. She was showing me all the "stuff" in the pinata (imaginary, of course). There was candy, toys, suckers, and stickers. Then she started passing them out. Apparently, there were alot more people here than I realized- she had all sorts of friends sitting on the hearth that she'd take something over to. Even Shrek and princess Fiona got suckers.

Dad is concerned that she's not in preschool because she doesn't have anyone to play with. As I told him, she has all the playmates she needs right inside her little head! Right, Brynner?

She Did It!!!

Ok, so maybe she didn't completely sleep through the night, but Naomi only woke up once last night! Hopefully this is a trend that will continue for awhile:)

Don't Swallow!

In anticipation of our plane trip to Spokane, we're trying to teach Hope how to chew gum. I figure it's the best way to make sure her ears don't hurt on the plane. I remember when we flew to Seattle to go to Disneyland when I was five, uncle Ron took us to the airport and gave me and Mandy gum and told us to chew it; I had no idea why we were supposed to but I did because he said to. So last night at the store we got a few packs for her to practice with. David wanted to get her Juicy Fruit; why would mom never let us have that? It's not like its alcoholic or addictive; well, maybe it's addictive- she sure went through enough packs of it. I still say they should make JuicyFruit candy- that stuff tastes so good but the flavor lasts about two minutes and then it's time to spit it out and have another piece. Anyway, we got boring ole' sugar-free bubble gum flavor and came home to practice. I bet we looked like dorks sitting around the table watching each other chew gum. David reviewed the basics- chew but don't swallow it, no playing with it, and no putting it in your hair. Luckily, I made her bite off about a quarter of a stick at first. She chewed it several times and then swallowed it. So we went over the rules again and she had some more. This time she chewed it for quite a bit longer, but still swallowed it. Third time was a charm. She chewed it for about ten minutes and then we threw it away.
As soon as she came downstairs this morning she was bugging me for more gum. I told her she had to wait for David to come home, so the instant he walked in the door she was groping around on the counter trying to get a pack. She remembered the no-swallowing part, but forgot the don't play with it part. I caught her pulling it out of her mouth. So I expect that tomorrow will be gum-in-the-hair day. Oh well, I'm going to have Trish cut her hair some anyway; maybe I'll just have to cut parts of it a little early.

The Hope Show

This blog is becoming a list of silly things that little girl says, but there are so many things that are funny. She should have her own sitcom; some of the things I'd expect to see on a goofy comedy show. Last night for dinner I made parmesan-crusted tilapia, new potatoes, and ceasar salad- pretty good for me! At the table, Hope says "Dad, this is the best dinner ever!" (she says that every night). David told her she was talking to the wrong person and she needed to discuss that with mommy. So she says to me (you can see it coming, can't you) "Mommy,....Daddy made the best dinner ever."

Naomi continues to wake up three times a night. The doctor said friday that we have two to four more weeks of "purgatory" before she starts to sleep longer, but I think she still has a little bit of daytime/nighttime confusion. Maybe it's that I have more fun playing on the computer than taking care of her during the day. She'll sleep for four hours in her swing, wake up and eat, and sleep another three hours, but at night she can barely make it two or three hours at a stretch. I guess I'm going to have to make an effort to keep her up a little more during the day. And move her swing up to her bedroom:)