Friday, June 28, 2013

Sleep Regression.

18 Months, Week 3

I thought we were done with sleep regressions - apparently the 18-month mark is yet another. Blergh.

Last night Tim was at a happy hour so I went to lay Nora down and she was upset and cried for 5-10 minutes. She hasn’t done that in months... but she put herself to sleep. She had a few whimpers in the night, but not bad. 

Tonight, Tim put her down and she wailed for 15 minutes calling “Dadddeeeee! Dadddeeeeee!” Sobbing to the point she couldn’t catch her breath - heartbreaking. So Tim tried to console her, and of course after trying to lay her back down, she went nuts even harder. So after another 10 minutes, I went up and held her for a good 10 minutes... she wasn’t lying down so as she stood in her crib, I hugged her and tried to explain that she was okay; Chica and Puppy and Bear and Bunny were all laying down and going ‘Night-‘Night. 

She laid down sucking her thumb and rubbing her eye, so I smiled at her and gently patted her and walked out... she cried. This time only 10 minutes and she finally put herself down. 

Nora is showing signs of another round of separation anxiety - getting anxious if we leave the room. 

For now, we’ll just have to try and console her if she’s afraid at night and roll with this phase until she grows out of it just like the rest!


Thursday, June 27, 2013

Nightmares?

18 Months, Week 3

For the past week or so, Nora will wake up between 2-4am crying out; “Mommeeee!? Mommee? Daddeeee?! Aillohhhh!” She sounds pretty frightened and we can tell she’s standing up in her crib. 

Finally last night we decided if she goes again, we have to go reassure her she’s okay because it truly sounds like she’s waking up frightened from a bad dream. 

Sure enough at 4:25am, she woke up calling for us, scared. Tim went in to comfort her and when he tried to lay her back down, she went nuts - it sucked. Her sleep training went very well for us, so this new “nightmare” thing is throwing me and feels like we’re back to it... however with nightmares, I do want to go in and comfort her at least for a little bit. Somehow she needs to know that we’re in the next room and that she’s safe... 

We’ll see how things transpire... 


Friday, June 21, 2013

Fathers’ Day Weekend


18 Months, Week 2

Fathers’ Day weekend was nice a chill... 

Saturday we went to our local library for a puppet show! Tim and I had no idea how Nora would react; be wiggly and restless or totally engaged. Luckily she was totally engaged. The show was 30 minutes and was interspersed with songs and a large variety of puppets. The story was about Jack the Sheep winning a contest so he could give his winnings to his Granny.



Tim and I were amazed at how well the room full of 25 kids were so well behaved - they all listened and laughed and cheered - it was awesome and we can’t wait for the next one! 

Saturday evening I made a potato salad for dinner in which Nora asked “Tay-toh?” I said “Sure, why not!” Rinsed that bad boy off, and Nora gnawed away. Wow. Guess there’s some farm girl in her.




Fathers’ Day was rainy and we had our A/C serviced, so the morning wasn’t as relaxing as we’d wanted. Nora got Daddy an Amazon Kindle - again, the nice gifts will occur until Nora starts making hand-made gifts : ) 

Unfortunately Tim’s day was rainy and we couldn’t go outside with our restless toddler, so we made the decision to up the ante with her toys - she still has many baby toys that are now ignored - and decided to head to IKEA for an affordable and aesthetically pleasing toy kitchen for her to play with. Along with the addition of some plastic fruits & veggies and kitchen tools, she’s set for a while! 

As Tim said, “3 hours, half a bottle of rum and $27.50 in the swear jar and Nora now has a better kitchen than us.” It ought to grow with her. 


Nora has also been growing leaps and bounds within the past two weeks; she’s starting to interact with her animals; giving them drinks of water, hugging them, washing them... And her vocabulary is exploding! We definitely have to watch what we say and she’s putting 3-4 words together now! “Go Bobby’s home?” Being able to communicate is so awesome now. 

We’re all caught up now - peace out, Homey.



Party Weekend Part 2

18 Months, Week 1

The day after Evelyn’s party, we met up again with the Cowans and Godfrey-Morris’ to go to a church festival. The festival was very small and the rides never showed up and it rained... so we ended up going back to the Cowans for pizza - which was probably more fun!

Evelyn got a sweet ride for her birthday that Nora gave a spin... and loved it.

Mount up!


Nora doesn't need her banana cut anymore!





Oh boy!

Latest Thrift Find:


18 Months, Week 1

A sweet pair of sparkly pink Converse - luckily they aren’t terribly flashy, but for $5 - heck yeah!


Party Weekend Part 1


18 Months, Week 1

Nora’s pal Evelyn Morris turned 1 on June 7th and had a big circus-themed bash to celebrate. Nora had a great time with all the other kids - her other friend Ellie Cowan and her friend Alice Stender whose Mommy took the same Hypnobirthing class as me! 

The food was fantastic and all types of beverages and sweets galore! 

We gifted Evelyn with a UC Bearcat onesie - go Bearcats! 

Oh - and I thought I’d make Nora cute with some tights under her dress. Nice try, Mom. Ripped through those before we even arrived...

Nice try, Mom.

Evelyn & Nora

Circus Krons!



Betsie & Ellie Cowan joining us on the blanket


Alice & Nora pal-ing around.

Silly goose

Tim being worked!

Muffin Monster

18 Months, Week 1

She took my muffin!






Thursday, June 20, 2013

Photo Dump!

18 Months, Week 3

Was waiting for my college friends to share their photos so in turn I could share them here!  Thankful for people who still use nice, real cameras : ) 

Zomkowskis [Paul took the photo], Mealys, Heyls, Timmans [minus Chris], Krons, Fearings and Joyces 

So sweet!






Nora liked trying to hold Baby Elliott.




Kara taking a photo with Nora...

Where’d that tongue come from?



Friday, June 7, 2013

18-month Check Up


19 Months, Week 1

First, I’m amazed at how Nora’s vocabulary is starting to take off these past two weeks; “Daddy car!” “Mommy shoe” “Ailo go!” It’s awesome that we can somewhat communicate with Nora and understand one another. 

Today was Nora’s 18 [!] month check-up and the good news is she’s super healthy and growing well! 32.25" tall [70th percentile] and 26.4lbs [70th percentile]

The rough part of today was everything else. Nora now gets her weight and height checked on an adult scale - making her stand with her feet and head against the wall? Not easy. This same nurse took Nora’s head circumference - simply laying back on the paper-lined table made Nora anxious and want to sit up - I had to force her head down : ( So that made her cry. 

The very sweet doctor came in and immediately Nora says, “Bye bye!” The stethoscope made Nora anxious, which only snowballed for lying back again on the table for her eyes, mouth and ears to be check which set her off and crying “All done! All done!” Oh my God. It’s bad enough when your child cries at the doctor’s office, but when she can verbally tell you how upset she is? Wrenching.

We still have two shots to go. Sigh. The third practitioner comes in and asks if Nora should lay down or sit up. “Sit up!” Nora can already tell something is afoot and starts reaching for me to pick her up. I hug Nora, but keep her seated and keep her arm out of reach so she won’t disturb the nurse administering the shots. As expected, the two shots send Nora into a tailspin. I know I’ve been through this since she was an infant, but it never gets easier. 

Thankfully Nora bounces back easily and she’s eager to get her clothes back on and go “Bye bye!” I’m also thankful she’s never had adverse reactions to any shots other than being a little extra sleepy from the drama and a little loss of appetite. 




Those Special Moments...

Month 19, Week 1

It’s those special moments as a family that make you so grateful... Like when you’re giving your 18-mo daughter a bath and she’s learned to dump cupfuls of water out of the tub and into your lap with glee. And once you and your loving husband are drying off that lovely daughter with a towel, all huddled in the tiny bathroom and your faithful dog, just at the threshold of the door, emits a curdling, eggy fart that engulfs all three humans in the bathroom to the point of choking them out... 

All we could do was laugh and cough. And Nora laughed because we were laughing. I’m pretty sure she can’t detect rancid dog farts yet...

Special.



Sunday, June 2, 2013

10-Year College Reunion

I use that term loosely because about 36 people were invited [?] and about 8 of us showed up with our families. Nor did the organizer show up because he had a sick child. None of us cared because we were all so close in college, it was just fun to see everyone and meet their kids/toddlers/babies!

We met at Ault Park at 11am so we all brought a picnic lunch - thank heavens the weather held out amazingly. We had picnic tables, a few swings and a mulch pile - everything those kids could need. 

Our small group is about halvsies - Half of us are still in town and the others came in from Cleveland, Indy and Huntington, Alabama! [Those Zomkowskis are amazing travelers] Nora enjoyed the other kids, but still had her own agenda, running here and there and everywhere. 

Nora relaxes with a book on the way to the park.






It was so great to see everyone - I miss the out-of-towners and it feels like we just easily pick up from the last time we were together in person. I liked high school, but I loved college and feel my friendships in college meant a lot more. 

My friend/old roomie Kara, posted this fantastic photo on Instagram that I nabbed a screengrab of:


So sweet!