Toddler Bed: Take 1

We have some good friends who's 2 1/2 year old recently fell out of her crib and got bumped up. So when Sto found Pippa climbing halfway out of bed one morning, we sort of freaked out. Climbing is a very recent passion of hers. I blame it on the playground in the mall where she watches all the other kids climb and jump all over everything. She suddenly realized that she can do it, too, with complete disregard to my rattled nerves! So we were faced with a choice: convert the crib to a toddler bed?, or hope she doesn't continue these climbing adventures and fall on her head? It was a very tough question and I sat on fence all morning long. Then I decided that it was most likely going to be a rough adjustment no matter when we did it, so it might as well be now. I really didn't want to end up with a bloody nose, chipped teeth, or worse on my hands. So I broke out the conversion kit and allen wrench (What is up with those? Why can't they just use normal screws?!) and got to work.

I made sure Pippa helped me and was involved in the whole process. We talked about how exciting it was going to be for her to sleep in her 'big girl bed'. She looked slightly worried when I started taking her beloved crib apart but put on a brave face. And it was really exciting when it was done. She climbed right in and got under her special quilt with her bed toys. I was starting to have doubts when I was forced to teach her how to get out of it the right way and not by crawling over the safety rail (that would defeat the whole purpose now wouldn't it). I questioned whether I should really be teaching her how to get out at all, but knew she'd figure it out within 5 minutes anyway.

So here comes the first test: nap time. Sto was home by then and was able to put her down after she proudly showed it off to him. We hunkered down to watch some football and listen to her through the monitor. Would she climb out of bed?...duh, of course she would! Soon enough we heard bumping around and various toys being played with. Not sure how best to handle it, we decided let it go hoping she would just drift off. She did eventually go quiet for a while and sort of had bed-head when we went in to get her, though I seriously doubt she fell asleep in the bed.

Ok, not too bad for a first try. I'm hopeful! But now it's time for bed. Mind you, she was already a little over tired from getting to bed late the day before. And Pippa dearly likes her sleep. So when it was clear she was out of bed playing we went in to put her back to bed. First, Sto tried. Then I went in to lay down the law. Again, it was hard to know how to handle it and it's not surprising she was having a hard time adjusting, so I sat with her for a long time hoping she would fall asleep. But she can really keep herself awake when she wants to (and I was starving!) so I said good night. Soon, she was out of bed again so I decided to deal with it Super Nanny style. Very little talking and/or eye contact. After several attempts at this (and a good amount of crying) Sto said enough! (Good decision, honey) We went in together, allen wrench in hand, and converted the bed back to a crib. She was asleep within 5 minutes, poor kid. I guess it's just not time.

The good news is that because of the conversion we discovered we could still lower the mattress another couple of inches so she should be trapped in there for a while longer. Phew! Hopefully by the time she grows tall enough to climb out she really will be ready for a big girl bed...in, like, a year!

Finger Painting is Fun!

I made finger paint today for Pippa to play with. Any excuse to get all messy is always a good thing in my book. She caught right on! Here is the recipe I used. One thing I did find, though, is that it thickens up a little more when it cools so you don't need to cook it down too much. And it would have worked even better if I had that special finger painting paper. But I just used craft paper and it was still a hoot. 


1/2 c corn starch
3 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 c cold water
food coloring



In a medium pan, mix all the ingredients together to make the finger paint. Cook over low heat 10 to 15 minutes. Keep stirring the finger paint mixture until it is smooth and thick. After the finger paint has thickened take the pan off the stove and let the mixture cool.
After cooling, divide the finger paint into storage containers depending on how many colors you would like. Add a few drops of food coloring to each container. Stir the coloring in to the paint to determine the shade of color. You're ready to finger paint! Cover tightly when storing.

2 Month Holla'

Lincoln just had his 2 month pediatric appointment. Here are his my little piggy's stats:

Height: 22 1/2 inch, 25%
Weight: 13lbs 6 oz, 90%
Head Circ: 39 cms, 25%


I've been saying he's a good eater! Honestly, though, he doesn't look like the 90%. He looks like a perfect, chubby little baby. But he is a champion nurser. He nurses for less than 10 minutes on one breast and is done. I'm constantly doubting if he's eaten enough because he's so fast. Well, I guess I'll stop offering so much. Clearly he's getting plenty of milk.

He is finally starting to sleep a little longer at night, though it's still not consistent. He'll sleep for 5-8 hours for that first block of time and then 3-4 hours at a time after that.  I was a little worried that I might have a hard time getting both of my kids to go to bed around the same time of night, but Lincoln has worked that out for himself. He goes to bed between 5:30 and 6 every night. Actually, before 6 is a little too early so hopefully we can gently push that back a bit. It's all a work in progress. Naps are getting a little more regular, too. He's learning to put himself to sleep pretty quickly though, I wish he would figure out how to suck his thumb. I'm starting to thing it'll never happen. But I suppose that means he'll never have the habit to break so I shouldn't complain.

He smiling and cooing like crazy. Especially first thing in the morning. That toothless smile and those bright eyes are priceless. He is definitely a social little guy. He likes to be held and talked to. He also like being held facing out so he can see what's going on. And he's totally fascinated by his older sister. And she's just as fascinated by him. I can't wait for him to get a little older so they can start to actually play together. They are already such great friends, they are going to have a blast!

Book Club

I don't think I've written about book club yet. Laura invited me last spring. It's mainly a bunch of women she knows from here and there, and now I've gotten to know them too. It's always held in the city and I am definitely the only one with kids. Actually, until last month, I was the only married one too. That makes for an interesting time. On the one hand I miss my single (or at least childless) city days when I was skinny and fashionable and had a multitude of things to talk about other than cloth diapers or teething. But on the other hand, it gives me a chance to go out in the city and pretend I'm still that fascinating person. After the first meeting, I was literally giddy on the drive home. I called another mommy friend and said, 'It was so great. I actually had intelligent things to say and kept up with the witty banter'! 

So over the course of the spring and early summer they got to watch my belly growing bigger and bigger and said they were all eager for me to bring the baby to the next meeting, and yes, of course, you should feel free to breastfeed openly. Well, I took them up on their offer and brought Lincoln to the last meeting. I admit I was looking forward to showing up looking cute, hair actually done and make up actually on. So what that I didn't manage to keep my new dress spit up free. No one will look that closely anyway. I was also planning on showing off my effortless mother skills by nursing Lincoln to sleep and laying him peacefully down in the corner while I enjoyed a glass of wine and a good laugh. 

Funny how these little one's always like to keep us on our toes. I spent the far majority of the time with him in the sling, bouncing him and shushing him until he finally fell asleep, only to start crying again when I sat down. I was dripping with sweat and starving because I was barely able to eat a thing. I can only hope the smile on my face looked real enough instead of the anxiety strained one that it really was. I think I had them all hypnotized with the bouncing/rocking motion I was doing for about an hour straight, which I of course laughed off as my secret way to burn off the baby weight. (I said, followed by a fake but polite little chuckle.)

Well, hopefully I didn't scare any of them away from having children some day. And while I'm thankful they were open enough for me to bring him, I'll make sure to leave him home next time. I think book club is better when I can step outside my day to day life anyway. 

Sesame Place

Sto was finished with work early last
Friday so we decided to go to Sesame Place at the last minute. We were able to buy twilight passes for just the evening, which was a good thing because this place charges almost as much as Disney World. But let me tell you, it's no Disney! For being such a big deal, I've always thought it was odd that it's basically in the parking lot of the local mall.

But it is pretty cute once you get inside. We started wandering around with no real plan and decided on the carousel for our first ride. After an agonizingly long wait in line, Sto and Pippa rode on a pink horse. (Have I mentioned Pippa's current obsession is horses?) Though she looked quite serious throughout the whole ride, she was actually tickled pink. I know this because she threw a mini temper tantrum when the ride was over. Then we headed to Grover's World Tour (aka, The Tea Cups). After a surprisingly long wait for a relatively short line, Pippa enjoyed the ride with a little grin on her face. I  then passed Lincoln off to Sto and took my little girl on Big Bird's Balloon Race. But only after waiting far too long in line. When you start to memorize the music played during the ride you know you've been waiting too long. Seriously, who do they hire to work in this place?! Is 'snail's pace' a requirement? And we almost didn't get on because we didn't walk fast enough to a seat and they got filled up! But I was a little snotty and were able to share a booth with another family. I was NOT waiting another 10 minutes for a 3 minute ride!

So after our grand total of 3 rides we grabbed a quick dinner and headed home. Yup. That was the extent of our first visit to Sesame Place. I've learned a few valuable lessons. Mainly, to make a plan ahead of time. We should have gone to one of the shows. That way she could have seen Elmo in person! This is what I learned while chatting with other parents in line for our stupid ride. Probably it's just as well we didn't, though, because Pippa was scared of the Cookie Monster she saw walking around the park anyway. But live and learn, right? Next year we'll get a season's pass and go when it's the least crowded. Now, does anyone know when that is?

Our Life At 1 Month

 So it's been just over a month since Lincoln's birth. 5 weeks, exactly. So how are we doing? Great, overall! He is a total cutey and I'm pretty much obsessed with him. Having 2 under 2 is a challenge, as expected. We have our good days and bad days. Today was a good day so I'm willing to say that the good days outweigh the bad. But I was singing a different tune yesterday! I admit that much of what determines our day depends on how much sleep I've gotten and how willing Pippa is to walk instead of being carried.

Lincoln is doing fabulous, though he is 'colicky'. It's pretty typical colic, worse in the evenings, etc., and thankfully keeps his fussing to the day time. (Hope I'm not jinxing myself!). I've tried all of the usual things and nothing really seems to help. I wear him in the sling most evening and sometimes he falls asleep, sometimes he just cries on and off for a couple of hours as I prepare dinner and get Pippa ready for bed. He is finally going longer than 3 hours between feedings at night, too. Though his longest block of time (5 hours) generally starts around 6 so it doesn't give me much more sleep. But I really can't complain. It's very normal for this age. (Can you tell I'm reassuring myself?)

He is starting to reward us with those awesome, gummy smiles! He is so cute it almost makes me forget all the crying...but not quite. He's working hard on developing his eye sight as evidence by frequent funny crossed eye'd faces. It seems every time I go to take a picture, he crosses his eyes! I'd prefer not to have a million pictures like that! Really, I swear he has a sweet little face. He's also working hard on finding his thumb. Please let it happen soon!

He's growing like a weed thanks to all that great breast milk he's getting. His 1 month stats are: Height 21 inches (50%), Weight 10 lbs 5 oz (55%, little piggy!).

Lincoln's Birth Story

Sorry I've been so neglectful of my blog lately. Well, I guess I've had good reason. We had our baby! Yeah! Here is the story:

After a lot of thought and talking with a Midwife group in the area we decided to plan for a home birth! I was so excited that Sto was on board. After Pippa's short labor (only 4 hours) I was pretty worried that I might not make it to the hospital in time and there was NO WAY I was having a baby in the car. Or the parking lot. Or the lobby. And since I'd already had one smooth, natural/unmedicated birth, I was confident this was a good decision for us. After all, the likely hood of a problem was extremely low and midwives are extremely capable of handing emergencies. And the thought of sleeping in my own bed and using my own shower was too good to pass up!

My due date, or should I say estimated due date, was July 2nd. Originally it was June 26th, however, and since Pippa was only 1 day early I was 100% sure I would go into labor at least a few days early. That's what always happens with subsequent births, right? Wrong. Oh so very wrong. I ended up being 5 days late. That doesn't sound like all that much, and it's not in hind sight, but let me set the stage for you. My mother in-law was going to be out of town for a week surrounding my due date. This meant I needed to have someone handy to help out with Pippa when I went into labor. So my mom (God bless her!) came to stay with us at that time, roughly a week before I was due. My father and brother were also planning on coming over the holiday weekend to meet the baby. At the same time, Sto had a major case he had scheduled but ended up postponing it because we were sure I'd go into labor in the middle of it and he'd miss the birth. (He ended up rescheduling it 3 times!) On top of that, he only had someone to cover him at work through the weekend and then Sto would have to do the covering of not only himself, but this other Dr. and the ER! Needless to say, with every passing day I felt like time was running out. And if one more person asked me if I was in labor yet or how was I feeling (you know, feeling. Wink, wink. As if that was a different question and therefore OK to ask) my head was going to explode!

I was trying all sorts of natural ways to induce labor. Spicy food, acupressure points, sex, and I even ate an entire pineapple after someone told me that could work. And I walked so much my feet hurt. In fact, one night I woke up with some contractions (or was is gas? Still not sure.) so I got out of bed and walked around the block for 45 minutes in my night gown at 3 in the morning. It didn't work. But I did sleep really well after that!

Finally, I was so late that it was time for my scheduled weekly appointment with my midwife. You know, the appointment I never intended to keep. I waddled into the office and we did an non-stress test to make sure the baby was doing well (which he was) and she checked me. I was 3-4 cms and 90% effaced! Thank God! I was worried she was going to say I wasn't dilated at all! So I went home hoping the irregular and painless contractions I had been having all day would actually progress into labor....

At almost exactly 5pm I had my first real contraction. It made me pause from doing the dishes and take notice. It was starting just like Pippa's labor so I knew this was the real thing. I called Sto to make sure he was on his way home, which he was, and then I paged the midwife. When we spoke I described my contractions: 4 minutes apart but less than a minute. I could still talk through them but they were already getting stronger. She said she would finish up at the office an come on over. I said, 'Ok, but take your time.' (Ha!) My mom took over caring for Pippa and I headed upstairs to my bedroom. By the time Sto got home (maybe 10 minutes later) was having serious contractions. I had to get down on my hands and knees and could barely talk through them. He set up the room for the birth and I climbed onto the bed, piled up some pillows to lean over and continued to labor on my hands and knees. It was the only position that was remotely comfortable to me. I was definitely having some back labor this time. Contractions were coming very fast and even more intensely. It was all moving so fast and was so intense (way more intense than my first labor!) that I remember thinking, 'Where are my endorphins, god dammit!' You see, normally contractions start slowly and build gradually and the body reacts by releasing endorphins that act as pain killers. The stronger the contractions get, the more endorphins are released. This is part of the key to handling a natural childbirth. But when a labor is really fast, there isn't time for the endorphins to get released and start working their magic, leaving me to cope all by myself! But cope, I did. I just kept reminding myself to let the contraction do it's job and bring my baby closer to birth. Moaning really helps too, though this labor also included some crying and some cursing in my head! By this time Sto called the midwife again to make sure she was on her way, which she was. But very soon I was feeling the need to push! I said, 'He's coming!' and Sto checked me and could feel his head! He said he thought he might have to deliver the baby himself, which would have been fine, but he wasn't familiar with the position I was in and asked if I could roll over. Um, NO!!! I CAN'T!!! Always calm under pressure, he was just going handle it. But luckily the midwife and her assistant came, literally running, up the stairs into the bedroom. It was about 6:10 at this point and 7 minutes later Lincoln Fredrick was in my arms! Total labor time 1 hour and 17 minutes! I was shocked! It sure seemed like longer to me!

There was some meconium but because of my birthing position he cleared his airway really well and they were able to suction him immediately. The other great thing about that position is that I did not tear at all! Lincoln did great and is the cutest little boy I've ever seen. 6 lbs 9 oz. and 20 inches long. He has big hands and feet (like a puppy) so we think he's going to be a tall drink of water. We started nursing right away and while it's taken a little work to make sure he's getting a good latch, he's nursing like a champ and I am so relieved.

Pippa is doing great with him too. She is so gentle and loves to hug and kiss him. While I'm nursing she usually comes over and lays her hand on his hand or foot, sucks her thumb and snuggles with us. Priceless. If I had a 3rd hand I'd snap a picture. She's going to be a great big sister!


So now the real fun begins!