Happy Father’s Day

Dear Dad:

I remember when:

-You told me everything was going to be okay when I had a nightmare and couldn’t sleep.

-You made me an awesome wooden puppet show theatre from scratch in your work area in the basement.

-You sat with me at our dining room table after dinner teaching me geometry and algebra problems on pad after pad of yellow office paper.

-You let me visit you at work and bought me a doughnut.

-You helped me make the most amazing Science Fair projects and you truly loved every minute of it.

-You did magic tricks for all my little girlfriends at my birthday parties.

-You held my hand on the Ocean City boardwalk.

-You threw softballs to me in the backyard (and you never took it easy on me.)

-You would always wait for me in the center court after a day of shopping and you always had that little white bag of chocolate coconut crispies.

-You loaded all my stuff in the mini van and dropped me off at college.

-You loaded all my stuff in the mini van and drove me home from NYC.

-You walked me down the aisle.

-You were always there for me.  Thank you, Dad.  Happy Father’s Day.

Love, Your Daughter

:::

Dear Baby,

I remember when:

-You always stayed positive even when I was so discouraged after months of negative pregnancy tests.

-You finally saw the positive pregnancy test in the bathroom of our Atlantic City hotel room after hours of playing poker downstairs.  Priceless.

-You told me we could handle anything after we got some bad news.

-You held my hand and told me funny stories so I wouldn’t cry during the MRI at Children’s Hospital.

-You bought that bookcase from the consignment shop and painted it for the nursery.

-You held Bean for the first time and changed his very first diaper.  You never hesitated for a second.

-You watched movies with Bean in the basement so I could sleep.

-You flew home every weekend so you could spend precious time with your baby.

-You were so happy to unwrap the second positive pregnancy test on Father’s Day 2007.

-You held Annabel for the first time and called her a “Kissie Magnet.”  You were right.

Thank you for being an amazing Daddy and role model, Baby.  Daniel and Annabel are so blessed to have you in their lives.  Happy Father’s Day.

Love, Your Wife

Big Boy Bed

My son has graduated…from the crib!  I am very excited, nervous, and sad all at the same time.  I feel like every milestone that he accomplishes is amazing, but it’s also a milestone that is COMPLETED.  It just brings him one step closer to packing up all of his clothes, throwing them in the back of an SUV, and leaving me FOREVER.  (Am I overreacting???)

Daniel has a BIG BOY BED! 

We have been talking about this forever.  Should we buy him a toddler bed or a twin/full bed?  Daniel has always loved his crib.   He sleeps in it like magic.  It’s amazing.  But he is a big dude and he’s turning three in two months, so it was time to move on.  We thought the toddler bed was a good choice because it would be an easier transition.  It is basically the exact same size as the crib, minus the baby prison bars.  We can use the same mattress.  The one negative was that down the road we will have to transition him AGAIN to a bigger bed. 

But we were strolling past Pottery Barn Kids two weeks ago and there it was – the CUTEST little toddler bed just sitting there in the entrance.  It was welcoming us in with open arms and saying, “Buy me!  Sure, I cost more than those toddler beds at Target and Toys R Us, but don’t you want the best for your son?  PLUS, I’m from PBKids!  I’m COOL!”

We bought it.  We had to wait seven whole business days for the color we wanted to arrive (the dark brown), but now it’s here!  My husband picked it up this afternoon and it only took us thirty minutes to put together!  I mean, MY HUSBAND put it together in thirty minutes while I tried to keep Daniel from jumping on the wooden planks and Annabel from eating metal screws. But it’s all put together and in his room now. I just love it.  I am crossing my fingers that Daniel will love to sleep in it.  

Now we just have to wait and see if he sleeps there ALL NIGHT LONG.   While I wait, I have wine AND a little something to read.

(Is that a real snake moving towards his, um, okay, anyways….)

Obsession with Sleep

The biggest piece of unsolicited advice I received when I was pregnant with my first child was “SLEEP!”  Moms would always tell me to “Sleep NOW because you won’t sleep again for a LONG time!”  I heard a lot of  “sleep when the baby sleeps” advice too.  I just logged it in the back of my mind with all the other pieces of advice like “take a breastfeeding class” and “buy a wipe warmer.” (Which I never used, BTW.)

I also read all those pregnancy BIBLES (What To Expect…,  The Girlfriends Guide…) and they just had chapter after chapter of overwhelming information.  There was the chapter about the MANY delivery options. The one about the scary things that can happen to the baby.  The one about the scary things that can happen to your BOOBS.  So maybe I just skimmed the chapter on sleep.

I just summed up the sleep part to this: babies like to sleep.  They sleep a lot.  They will eat, poop, and sleep.  That’s what will happen.  Okay, got it.

Bean was a good sleeper during those first three nights in the hospital.  I later read that this is called a big TEASE.  Babies just sleep ALOT when they are first born.  It’s great!  So when we all came home from the hospital, I was ready for my new baby routine.  I thrive on schedules so I was ready for my eat, poop, sleep cycle.  Well, it worked for a little while and then…it didn’t.

I became OBSESSED with sleep.  I could not understand why (after a feeding, a bath, a swaddle, a book and a song) Daniel could not just close his eyes and fall asleep.  He would fight it. I decided to rock him a little longer in my arms so he would get a little more tired.  That didn’t work.  Each day I started messing with the schedule so I could figure out what worked best.  I would panic when Bean would fall asleep in the car seat or the swing.  My husband would tell me to “just let him sleep!”  But I didn’t want him to rock in dreamland for two hours in a car seat or swing because that would equal two hours that he would not sleep at night!  (Well, that’s what I THOUGHT).

I called my sister, who already had two kids, and she recommended this book.  I didn’t really vibe with the sleep parts, so I started researching other sleep books.  That was when my exhausted, new mommy eyes were opened wide for the first time.  There are a bazillion book just on baby sleep!  I thought I was so cool and organized with my five books and my baby planner, but NO.  I surely missed the boat on this world of baby sleep.  I read all the reviews and decided on Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. 

It honestly changed my life. I read the book cover to cover and started to put some of the sleep habits into play.  They worked.  I learned that babies need to go to bed ALOT earlier than you think.  I learned to put Bean down for naps when I saw the very first signs of tiredness.  I learned that “sleep begets sleep” and that a baby who is overtired will sleep LESS.  I learned that your child just can’t sleep too much.  I learned about the sleep cycles and that babies have to teach themselves to sleep.  (Thus the famous “Cry It Out” method all new moms speak about.  It was like torture for me for three nights, but then it was done and my kids SLEPT). It was also a perfect book to reference during each stage of my child’s life.  Weissbluth writes clearly and really made me understand the importance of sleep to a child’s development and temperament.  It made sense to me.  It worked for me.  

I love this book so much that I now give unsolicited advice to new moms-to-be.  “Buy Weissbluth. He rocks!”  They might roll their eyes, but it’s like I uncovered this cool new mom mystery and I just have to share it. 

I still reference the book today.  I wonder when Bean will give up his nap.  (There is a chapter about that.) We are buying him a “big boy bed” this week and I worry that it will mess up his sleep.  (There is a chapter about that.) Every time I hear Annabel coo over the monitor at night, I still wake up and wait until it’s quiet again.  But I don’t go in. (There’s a chapter about that.)

My obsession with sleep continues as my children keep growing, but for now….I have to go to bed.  Good night.

First Dentist Visit

I HATE going to the dentist.  I don’t know when it started.  I think it was with my very first cavity when I was ten. Once I experienced a drill, forget it.  I didn’t want to go back.   I have very “weak” teeth.  I know that sounds like the biggest excuse in the world, but I definitely have problems.  I always had a cavity when my brother and sister would be in the clear.  They ate the same foods I did and brushed their teeth the same number of times I did.  So why me?  It was very frustrating. 

Then, after college, I moved to New York City for a fun radio gig and I really just forgot to the go to the dentist for a couple years.  (It could have been that I was making peanuts and had no health insurance.)  When I finally got back in the dentist chair, I had to have my wisdom teeth pulled.  Then, I had a root canal.  Then, that same tooth cracked and I had to have it pulled.  I also had some not-so-nice dentists and hygienists who would say things like, “How could this hurt?  It SHOULDN’T hurt.”  Yes, because I’m LYING to you that I am in terrible pain.  The last time I went to the dentist was when I was pregnant with Annabel.  I had some final cavities filled.  I don’t think there is much else they can do to my teeth now except the regular cleanings.  Well, I HOPE. 

So, it makes perfect sense that I was super anxious when it was time to take Daniel to his very first dentist visit this morning.  He is almost three.  They recommend you take a child for their first appointment between two and three, so it was time for him to go.  He was excited!  He had seen a child go to the dentist on Sesame Street and ever since then he was constantly saying, “Mama! Mama! Daniel want to go to dentist too!”  I wanted to scream back, “NO! YOU REALLY DON’T KID!”  But I refrained and we made the appointment.

It was a blast.   The pediatric dental office is amazing.  There are colorful chairs and television screens and a video game console.  Daniel got to pick out his own toothbrush.  He wore headphones and watched Stuart Little on the ceiling (!) while the hygienist cleaned and counted his teeth.  He wore super cool shades.  The dentist said his teeth looked great and gave Daniel a high five. Daniel picked out a toy and we left.  It was fun and he loved it which was the most important thing.  (I wish they had pediatric dentists for grown ups.)

Oh, and they can already tell he will need braces. So we can start the Daniel Orthodontic Savings Fund now.

Great Day

Today was a great day.

I took Daniel and Annabel to “Family Preschool Storytime” at the public library.  There is a wonderful children’s area with fun puzzles, games, a coloring table, toys, and of course, tons of books.  Every Wednesday morning, they have a storytime program which consists of 30 minutes of crafts and 30 minutes of storytelling with music.  I usually just take Daniel.  It’s our one-on-one “Mommy and Bean” time.  Annabel stays home with her “GG.”  Today GG was sick, so I decided to brave the storytime by myself with two kiddies.  It’s not that I’m a big wimp, but Daniel and Annabel are at two tough ages.  Daniel does not like to sit still and sometimes has a tendency to run away from me.  Annabel wants to be out of the stroller, but she can’t be left alone for a second.  My fear is that I have to run after one child while I leave the other one unattended.  I also really enjoy the one-on-one time with Daniel.  It’s a treat for me and he loves all the undivided attention. Today, with both my kiddies in tow, I was a little nervous.  But it was GREAT.

Annabel was so pleasant in the stroller.  I gave her board books to “read” while Daniel and I made a fun ocean scene during craft time.  We laughed while Daniel glued on starfish googly eyes and colored the ocean green and blue.  Annabel even helped color the starfish bright pink.  They loved it.  Then, during storytime, something amazing happened.  For the VERY FIRST TIME, Daniel walked to the front of the room and sat down right in front of the librarian.  Annabel sat on my lap and I watched Daniel as he listened intently to each story.  Then, he participated in a sign language poem, shouted out colors during a game, and played with egg shakers and scarves during the song portion.  From time to time, he would turn and look for me.  He would give me a BIG smile and then turn around and continue.  I almost teared up.  I was having so much fun watching him.  For the very first time, I could picture him in preschool.  I often wonder if he’s ready to go into a three year old program.  I felt like I was experiencing it.  Just last week at the library, Daniel would listen to five minutes of a story and then run down an aisle of books or try to sit in a chair.  He was so distracted.  But today, he was a new kid and it was so cool to watch.  It was just GREAT.

Later in the afternoon, I took Annabel to a follow up appointment at the ophthalmologist.  Annabel had eye surgery in February to unplug a clogged tear duct.  It was non evasive surgery, but she did have to go under.  It was scary.  She came out of it with flying colors, but then I kept noticing that her eye was still watering.  The doctor said it would just work itself out, but we should definitely come back in three months for a follow up.  We went in today and the doctor gave us two thumbs up.  Annabel’s eye looks fine and we would just have to do an annual check up.  That felt GREAT.

Then we came home and Annabel WALKED.  She decided TODAY was the DAY and she just walked across the room.  The light bulb went on; she found her equilibrium; and she said “Okay, no more crawling. I’ll walk now.” Annabel is almost 16 months old so she is definitely a late walker.  Because she is my second child I wasn’t really worried.  With Daniel, forget it! I worried every time he was a day late on any milestone. I was wondering when she was going to get the hang of it, but I wasn’t concerned.  For the past month, she has only walked two or three steps before she fell down to crawl.  But today, she WALKED! 

It was a GREAT day.

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