Rewards

Less than 24 hours in, the reward chart seems to be a decent motivator. Andy was proud to get the smiley faces (all green, naturally) for doing the things on his list. This week, on his list is:

1. Get dressed
2. Wear underwear (this wasn't a official selection, I cut out a picture of underwear from the Spiderman underwear label)
3. No whining
4. Take bath
5. Get ready for bed
6. Brush teeth
7. Put away toys

He got them all yesterday except for whining so we talked about it and he said he'll do better today. We'll see. Now that we have the chart, I need to back off and stop pushing these things. I need to offer it and if he initially rejects, let me know he won't get a smiley and move on. As it was yesterday, he didn't want to take a bath, but once I backed off and he realized he wasn't getting a smiley, he came around. This is going to be an adjustment for all of us, but hopefully we'll get the behavior we want.

I took Baby Meg to the doctor. The good news is she doesn't have an ear infection or signs of anything other than a cold. She said if she didn't improve within a couple of days, to bring her back in. Fortunately, she seems to generally be feeling better and is back to her smiling and cooing self.

Getting enough sleep proves to still be elusive for all of us. Meg has fortunately only been getting up usually once a night, lately between two and three. Unfortunately, Andy likes to wake up, too, usually around five and wants to insist someone sleep with him. Last night I made the mistake of caving on that request because I didn't want him to scream and wake up the baby. Now I'm afraid he's going to insist on it.

Oh, and breaking news, Andy pooped on the toilet this morning. He said he didn't have to earlier in the morning, but I let him eat breakfast naked and by the end, he had to go so he declared it, ran to the toilet and went. Just like that. Fingers crossed that this is clicking for him finally.

Poor babies

Poor Meg has been sick with a bad cold. It started Saturday and seemed to be worse this morning after a tough night so I'm taking her to the doctor this afternoon. She was pretty fussy off and on this morning, somewhat unconsolable (at least to me since she never really cries much). I gave her a warm bath this morning which put her in a good mood and she's been more mellow since then. The doctor's visit is really just a precaution to make sure whatever she has doesn't get worse.

Meanwhile, after Andy's tantrum and potty training mishaps last week, I've been reading up on discipline strategies and asking my friends for ideas on helping get through his hump. I heard almost universally that a reward chart seemed to work as a good motivator. We went to the house of some friends Saturday that had this cool magnetic/dry erase chart from Melissa and Doug so I went to Toys R Us and picked one up for $20 today. I'm going to unveil it to him tonight. I think he's going to be excited about it. I hope.

Potty training

Thanks, Internet, for your support against the tyrant formerly known as Andy. I wish I could report that after that incident, he's been a perfect angel. We haven't had any flare ups like the one at Chipotle since then and I think he is recognizing that my campaign against crying and whining is serious, but we're a ways off from him stopping his really obnoxious behavior. My theory is that there are several things at play. I think the preparation and arrival of Baby Meg allowed us (me especially) to overlook some behavior that I should have put an end to earlier. That combined with him being three and wanting to test limits combined with a cold combined with his erratic nap/sleep schedule these days has created a perfect storm of irritating behavior. I'm hopeful this stage will pass, sooner rather than later.

In exciting news, Andy came home from school yesterday having worn his new Spiderman underpants all day (including nap time) without any accidents. When we got home, I told him if he pooped on the toilet, that I'd take him for ice cream. So he did. Just like that. So I scooped him and Meg up and headed to Baskin-Robbins. He absolutely loved it. Strangely, all the canisters are too high for little kids so I put him on a chair to look at the selection. He was amazed and thrilled. A boy after my own heart, he picked Chocolate Mint in a sugar cone. I love that flavor for the taste and he just picked it because it was green. He was thrilled with what he had done and the reward, declaring all the way home that he wanted to poop again and get more ice cream. Then he did. In his pants. Oh well.

Does anyone know how to make my kid less regular? I swear he must go three or four times a day. If it was just once or twice, I think we'd have fewer problems with this aspect of potty training. Like this morning, he was excited about his underpants and then pooped in them. And when he came up to tell me about it, he subsequently peed. On the floor. Yuck. On the one hand, I'm ready to shelve this potty training nonsense until he seems more ready. But on the other hand, he can totally do it when he wants to and at times, he seems so close. If anyone has suggestions, please post them. I could use some new ideas.

P.S. I posted a few more pictures on Flickr. There are some cute pictures of Meg practicing holding her head up as well as a picture of Andy and his friend Daniel naked from the waist down in a car. We were trying to practice potty training by letting them run free from the waist down and it was so cute and gay we had to take pictures. That will be my reward for surviving this potty training ordeal.

Tough love

Andy threw a mother of all tantrums yesterday. It started with the underpants. I told him on his way to school that if he didn't have any accidents in his underpants, that I'd take him to the burrito store after school to celebrate.

Andy: The burrito store?
Me: Yes. If you stay dry -- no pee or poops in your underpants all day, we can go to the burrito store.
Andy: And can we eat there?
Me: Yes.
Andy: I love the burrito store.

So when I picked him up, sure enough, he'd been dry all day. They put him into a pull-up before nap that he was still in, but he'd been dry all morning. So true to my word, I took him to Chipotle. It was early, like 5:15, when we got there and we were ahead of the dinner rush. He started acting obnoxious, saying he didn't want this or that in his whiney voice and yelling at me if I disagreed. I explained, as I have been lately, that it's not okay to act like that. And that if he kept it up, we would leave. I probably gave him three or four chances to act right and when he didn't, I grabbed a to-go bag, packed up our stuff in Meg's stroller and headed out, dragging Andy by the wrist.

He was PISSED. Seriously. He started screaming full scale once he realized I was serious. I tried loading him into the car, but he was wigging out, jumping out of his seat, trying to hit me and throwing his earphones into the back seat. I was failing at everything so I threatened him with spanking; I NEVER do that, but it was in the parking lot with lots of traffic and a baby in a stroller and I was feeling anxious that it was dangerous. When he still didn't act right, I pulled him out, swatted him on the behind (not hard really) and finally got his attention long enough to get him into his car seat. He started screaming for his earphones, which he had thrown, and I ignored him all the way home and he screamed. It was 15 minutes of torture listening to him breathlessly scream. It was funny it was so awful.

I finally got him home and tried to herd him into his room and he was still freaking out, screaming and jumping around. By then, Meg woke up and started crying that she was hungry so I tried to placate Andy as best I could while I tended to her. I banished him to his room, where he refused to stay, screaming and closing and opening the door. When I said he couldn't leave his room, he flopped around on the threshold for a while. The whole episode probably lasted about an hour. It was pretty ugly and, at moments, pretty funny. He finally calmed down, we talked about how it wasn't okay to act like that and then had a nice dinner together. He then took a bath and went to bed, exhausted, and was asleep by about 7:30. He woke up about 1 a.m. and wanted to get in bed with me. I told him no and left him. He then woke up about 6:30, called for me. When I didn't come, he put himself back to sleep. He's been waking up a lot in the night, partially looking for attention, and I really need to put an end to that, too.

I swear, this motherhood stuff is tough sometimes. Really tough. On the one hand, I think he's acting out. He's got a lot of new stuff going on and he's competing with a new baby. I've tried to be sympathetic, but my tactics so far haven't made much of a difference so I'm trying tough love. If he starts whining at home (and by whining, I mean pretty obnoxious stuff that ends up with him yelling at me), I send him to his room or to time out. I'm done negotiating with the terrorist.

What was great though was after all that drama, he woke up a refreshed and happy kid. We talked again about how it's not okay to act like the way he did and then he peacefully went to school -- no drama about not going, no screaming about not wanting this or that for breakfast. I hope this is making a difference because, damn, this discipline stuff is hard.

On another note, his school has started posting the kids' "art" online. Check out Andy's here. Talk about a gifted artist.

Smiles

Apparently Meg thinks Seth Meyer and Amy Poehler are funny, too.

Big smiles

I managed to catch both kids in the same frame. They are pretty adorable, you know, when they're smiling or sleeping, just not screaming that they need something. Andy is doing a little bit of regressing, that I think is pretty normal for a kid with a new sibling. He wants to drink milk out of a baby bottle (I cut the top off an old nipple so he has a "special" one that's all his own). He also cries his fake cry when he wants my attention. He sees that it works for Meg so he's trying it, too. And since it usually works, I need to do a better job of not responding when he acts like that.

Another unfortunate part of this regression is he doesn't like sleeping through the night as much. I find her schedule has been more predictable than his. It further convinces me that it may be 2015 before both of them sleep through the night at the same time.

I caught an adorable short video of Meg smiling yesterday. Unfortunately, neither Blogger nor YouTube are cooperating getting the video public.

My list

Inspired by this site, here is a list of things going on around here:

1. Operation big boy pants (i.e. potty training) has been temporarily suspended due to a sudden bout of diarrhea. Yes, it's as gross as it sounds.
2. Last week, we had potty training boot camp at a friends where we let the boys run naked in the back yard for several hours. Andy did great. Then I went to another friends and he went on the carpet. We ended up having to give the boys a bath to get Andy clean.
3. Is there a Hallmark card with the sentiment, "I'm sorry my kid soiled your home?"
4. Andy said unbidden last week, "There is no crying in baseball." What a good boy.
5. In response to me telling him he could do X, Y or Z after he did something else, he said, "No, Mommy. I'll make you a deal." I was so surprised I wanted to know what deal he would offer me. He didn't have one (and doesn't seem to quite get the phrase), but it cracked me up because I must say that a lot.
6. Meg slept from 8:45 last night until 5:15 this morning.
7. That would have been great if Andy wasn't up at 4:45 this morning wanting something.
8. I have hurt my back, probably lifting the car seat in and out of the car and have been sleeping with a heating pad.
9. Meg is smiling and talking a lot. However, I can't seem to get her to smile at the camera. It clicks just as she stops smiling. I took about 20 pictures of her after-smile this weekend.
10. My tulips in the front yard are gorgeous.
11. Our tax return is on its way to the IRS in Atlanta. I even went and mailed it personally at the post office to ensure it had enough postage for all 47 pages and the check.
12. Bjorn is out of town until Wednesday. Boo hoo.
13. I watched the E! True Hollywood Story of Owen and Luke Wilson. Who knew they grew up so close to me in Dallas?
14. The laundry is totally done. And folded. And (mostly) put away. I want a medal.

For once, not counting down until bedtime

Precious angel baby doll, Meg, slept from about 10:30 last night until 6:30 this morning. Andy also complied by sleeping from about 8:30 until 7:30. It's amazing how much brighter my outlook for the day is if I don't wake up counting the hours until bed time. This is especially good because Bjorn is leaving for a work trip tomorrow. He'll only be gone half the week, but it will be a good test for me. Fingers crossed the kids don't make me regret my decision to have them in the first place.

The kids sleeping a little better is so great because it takes me a little out of survival mode and into a place where I can start to enjoy life a little bit again. Like last night, with both kids in bed I actually stayed up and read for a few minutes. It was quite nice.

Speaking of nice, Jennifer babysat for a few hours yesterday and let us get out to a movie. Bjorn didn't want to see Juno, claiming it was a girl movie, but we went anyway and we both enjoyed it. His huge crush on Allison Janney (formerly known as Claudia Jean Cregg) continues. The movie was really good. I may need to rent it when it comes out I liked it so much.

Game on

Today we went to the house of a friend's who is also trying to potty train her three year old boy. It's a nice day here in Virginia so we let the boys play alfresco in the backyard. Well, they did have t-shirts on. We took lots of pictures (to be posted once I get my act together) of these adorable boys and their scrawny little boy bottoms running around, climbing the ladder, riding in the car. Unfortunately, they were too engrossed in playing really to want to do much peeing, but it was a good experiment that I will have to repeat in my own yard as the weather improves. The only downside is I fear by the end of the summer he won't want to wear pants anywhere.

After a very long Thursday day due to an exceptionally long and weird Wednesday night, I managed to get both kids in bed and asleep by 9:30 (special thanks to Jennifer for helping get Andy down). Meg woke up once at 4:00, ate and went right back to sleep within 20 minutes and slept until 8 a.m. Andy slept until about 7 a.m., but still, big improvements. Plus, that hour I got to spend to myself after they were both asleep and the good shows were finally back after the horrible, tragic writers' strike was a welcome break. And if those MILF Island t-shirts weren't $24, I might have to have one.

One step forward, five steps back

So the part about potty training success? Yeah, not so much. So Monday, Andy went to school in underwear (under his clothes, not just his underpants, thanks Jennifer). He came home in them, having been dry all day and getting lots of praise from his teachers. Tuesday, he again went in underpants and came home in a different outfit wearing a diaper. Then yesterday, he refused to wear his underwear, exclaiming, "Only girls wear underwear. I'm not a girl!" No, I can't explain it either. He steadfastly refused to use the toilet all day. Nice. Today he did let me put underwear on him so fingers crossed that it works out.

Meanwhile, the baby is sleeping somewhat predictably (knock wood), waking up once between midnight and 9 a.m. The late bedtime is not ideal and I'm working on it, but she has proven she can often go four or five, sometimes six, hours without waking. Andy, however, keeps getting up in the night.

I've been trying to move his bedtime earlier to avoid some of the customary meltdowns that come with him trying to drop his afternoon nap. Yesterday, he was somewhat ornery and I've taken a new stand that when he acts up by whining or crying, I'm going to send him to his room until he calms down. About six, he was giving me grief about dinner, shouting that, "It's NOT dinner time! NO! I don't WANT dinner." So I sent him to his room and laid him in bed. I came back a little while later and he was asleep. I kept thinking it was a catnap, but when I checked in on him about 7, he said he was tired and wanted to go to bed. He then slept like an angel. Until 3:30 a.m. I retucked him and went to bed. At 4:30, she woke up so I got up, fed her and put her back to bed. In the meantime, Andy woke up bright eyed, happy and hungry. Bjorn got up and gave him some dinner/breakfast and Andy refused to go back to bed. Bjorn kindly let me sleep until about 7 when we traded off again.

It's weird. The sleep thing with Andy as a baby was a pain, but we muddled through it and he eventually started being a good sleeper. When we had Meg, I figured we had him more or less solved so we could focus on her. It somehow didn't occur to me that we'd be up and down all night with him, too. I can only imagine folks with big families of five or more kids NEVER get any sleep.

Moments of success

So we sent Andy to school yesterday in just his underwear, no diaper. After screaming at Bjorn the entire way to school, he went the whole day without going in his pants. I am as stunned as you are. Granted, he didn't poop at school and that has been the barrier, but he did go dry all day and got lots of stickers and praise from his teachers, who encouraged us to do it again today. It's a start. Funny, I don't mind changing Meg's baby diapers so much, after all they're small and not quite human like yet, but somehow cleaning off poop off a real person is pretty icky. Go figure.

Speaking of Meg, she is a full blown infant now. With a huge crush on my ceiling fan. She lies under the fan and smiles and laughs at it, practically craning her head to get around me or Bjorn. It's just adorable. She's sleeping decently now, often just getting up once in the night. However, she wakes up and wants to play, rather than just eat and go back to sleep. It would be more annoying if she wasn't so darn adorable right now.

I have about a month left before I go back to work and I think I may be just about ready. We have the daycare lined up, I feel good about where the kids are going and the thought of spending the day talking to adults doesn't seem so bad right now. I may feel totally different when the time comes.

I'm also tinkering with Flickr trying to get more pictures posted. Bear with me, I have no idea what I'm doing.

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Originally uploaded by kegan72

Here is Andy, exhausted after a walk with Pop.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Pictures

Darling eight month old Emma. I wonder what she is thinking.

Easter Brunch at the DCC. Bjorn wore those ears all day. When asked, he told other patrons he lost a bet with Byron Egan and they all nodded in agreement that it made perfect sense.

Andy and Megan in matching green (he in the shirt, she in the dress) at the Easter Egg Hunt at the Dallas Country Club. The hunt itself was terribly organized, but the kids enjoyed it.

Elizabeth and I are our kids with our cousin Jennifer and her son who were visiting from London en route to the middle east for a new job.

Blogger is having trouble adding photos at the moment. More to come later.

We're back

After 11 days in Dallas, we are back in Virginia. My sister and three year old niece Megan came back with us for three days, leaving 8 month Emma behind with my mother. It was a great visit, but it was also a tornado of noise and chaos having two three year olds in the house at the same time. My sister and I would just sit down after getting them situated with something only for one to run in complain and/or cry that they needed help with something or that the other had taken a toy/hit the other. It was really funny seeing them together teaching each other new bad habits. It's funny -- the house is more or less babyproofed for Andy, but I wasn't quite prepared for Megan as she did all sorts of things Andy wouldn't think of, like climbing on the banister or using the trash can as a stepstool to reach something. Clever little one.

Amazing, after three straight weeks of visiting family, either here or in Dallas, I don't have anything lined up with my side of the family until after my maternity leave ends in May. It's weird to think about. Meanwhile, I have dozens of great pictures. I have so many that it's taking ages to upload so I'll post more later.

The land of sleep and poop

Meg is really working on her sleeping. Thursday night, she slept eight hours at a stretch, to the shock and surprise of everyone. That would have been awesome had Andy not been up every hour coughing and crying. Last night she slept from 10 to about 3:45, not quite six hours but there is definitely a trend in this. I hope it keeps up when we go home Monday.

Andy, however, is still avoiding his afternoon nap and throwing everything off. Unfortunately, it makes him so ornery by the evening if he doesn't nap that it's terrible for everyone. Thursday my friend Susan came over with her boys and at about 8:30, he was whining and crying so much I finally put him in his bed and said I'd be back in 20 minutes to tuck him in. I came back in five minutes and he was already asleep. Yesterday, I tried putting him down for a nap in the room with my sister and Emma thinking that the peer pressure would work. It didn't. But about 4:30 when I was getting my hair cut (finally!), he conked out on the couch in front of the TV for about two hours after throwing a huge fit. I am missing the routine of school to sort of keep his day and nights in order.

With the warm weather in Dallas and us being on vacation, I thought I would take this as an opportunity to really work on potty training. Andy can clearly pee on the toilet. He usually needs to be prompted, but when I get him there, he can go. In fact, he can often go hours with a dry pull up. Sadly, the kid can't avoid pooping in his diaper. Or underpants. Earlier in the week, I switched to underpants during the day. I reminded him over and over that he was wearing big boy underpants and that he had to tell me when he needed to pee or poop. He managed to pee at my mom's, at my sister's and at IKEA. However, he also managed to poop in his underpants. Twice. And if you thought cleaning up adult caliber crap from a diaper was gross, imagine having to clean his butt, jeans and underpants in the bathroom at IKEA. Yuck city. I did this for days and I just can't get him to crap on a toilet, no matter how many bribes I offer. Any suggestions, Internet?

Mark your calendar

Baby Meg slept six hours at a stretch last night, from about 10 p.m. to about 4 a.m. I wish I knew what trick it was other than having the whole family around and lots of activities. She's been sleeping in the pack and play in the room next to mine, connected by a bathroom. She's a noisy sleeper so it's better for me to have her in the next room so that I only hear her when she really needs me. The bonus is that room is right next to my parents' so my mother has been kind enough to be getting up for feedings as well.

The only downside is that Andy is sleeping in the room with me. He's in a crib (his choice) and it's easier to have him with me than worry Meg will wake him when she gets up, but it's taking him forever to wind down from the day so bedtime and nap time are quite a chore. Who knew I'd be worried about the three year old sleeping rather than the baby?

We've been in town a week now. It's been great to have such a long visit. My family has been incredibly hospitable and accommodating, but it will be nice get back to Bjorn as well as my own stuff and semblance of routine.

We're here

We're in Dallas now where the weather is 70 and the grandparents, aunts and nieces are nearby for playing. Andy is having a blast with his cousin Megan. Meg hasn't noticed so much, but she did sleep for 5 1/2 hours at a stretch last night. Fingers crossed that she keeps that up. Both kids did fine on the plane. Andy's portable DVD ran out of juice about 2 1/2 hours in so the last half hour was pretty busy keeping him from knocking the seat in front of him and generally being a royal pain in the neck to the other passengers (and his parents). Meg did great though. I actually find it easier to console her than Andy in those kinds of situations.

On the way back, my sister Elizabeth is coming with Megan (leaving baby Emma at home) so we'll have three kids and two adults. Andy and Megan usually play pretty nicely together so the hope is they can entertain each other. Let's just hope they don't entertain each other by acting more obnoxious than usual.

Terrible threes

So that part about Andy being fine with his new sister? Well, he may be fine with her, but most definitely the terrible threes crawled up and bit him on the ass. Hard. The kid is either a terror or a delight -- never one in between. We're still struggling with potty training. He's alternately enthusiastic and then screaming that he doesn't want to go.

The screaming, sweet Jesus, is just beyond annoying. He gets like that about almost anything, "I do NOT want to watch Thomas. I WANT Little Einsteins." Or "I do NOT want to get in the BATH. NO! NO BATH," which is usually followed 15 minutes later by "I'm NOT getting out of the bath. I want to stay HERE. I NEED to stay here." I don't believe in hitting children, even spanking really, but damn, it's times like this that I really understand how a person could be driven to it.

Of course, after all the screaming, then he'll be really funny and cute, like when he wanted to wear nothing one cold Sunday afternoon and spent the day peacefully playing completely nude. It was cool in the house, but he didn't seem to mind.

We leave today for Dallas for 11 days. Bjorn is coming for the weekend and then comes back while the kids and I will stay in Dallas through the following weekend. It's going to be nice to have a good, long visit with my family. I just hope we're all still speaking to each other other at the end of it.

Shameless plug

My sister Mary is training for her first triathalon and is humbly raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you can swing a couple of bucks, please, please donate to her cause. For your donation, I promise never to post a naked picture of myself.

Pictures

Andy has been generally really sweet and wants to play and hug his sister. I just need to make sure I'm watching so he doesn't try to hug her putting his butt over her face.

Giving kids boxing gloves is a great idea, isn't it? Clearly this was an idea their fathers came up with.

Tia, Meg and Andy at the zoo. If you can read his shirt, it says "Future Aggie Vet." Mary shirts for Andy and one for Meg, but the one for Meg is 18 months so Andy has been proudly wearing it as an undershirt for the time being. The concept of it being his sisters doesn't seem to register.

Precious darling angel baby when sleeping. When screaming? Not as much, but there is something very special and magical about a sleeping baby. If only they came with on/off switches.

Andy's self-declared best friend Mia holding Meg. I love this picture of Mia.

Tia trip

My sister Mary has been visiting this week. Andy has loved having his Tia around and it's been great for me, too (Meg hasn't noticed really, I believe). The plan was originally to drive up and go skiing in Pennsylvania, but a warm winter combined with an early spring meant that the slopes were barely covered in snow, less than ideal for skiing and tubing so we've had to settle for more local entertainment, like shopping, the zoo, the Smithsonian and the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Meanwhile, the NCAA basketball tournament starts Thursday and since I'm not working at the moment, I haven't found a March Madness pool to waste my $10. If you know of one, let me know. Next weekend is my favorite weekend of the year. There are games on all day, they're exciting with lots of upsets and it's not until the end of the weekend that I realize I'm totally out of the pool.

Six weeks

Meg had her six week appointment today. (I just love our pediatrician. I geekily want to be her BFF.) First, the stats:

• Weight: 11pounds, 4 ounces, 75-90th percentile.
• Height: 22 inches, 50-75th percentile.
• Head circumference: 15 1/8 inches, 75th percentile.
• Chest: 15 1/4 percentile,

She has been deemed "perfect" by medical professionals. And not incidentally, voted the cutest baby of the day by the staff. (Sure, it was only 11 a.m., but I'll take it.) Before the vaccinations began, she cooed adorably and even smiled, a cute side smile in an early Joey Potter way before Katie Holmes got mixed up with Tom Cruise and turned creepy.

Poor baby got four shots in her legs, which made her cry hysterically. I didn't cry, but I sure wanted to. It was pretty awful. I was smart and brought Tylenol to take the edge off. I'm not sure it did much good for her, but I felt better.

The no nap crisis of 2008

Andy is quickly outgrowing his afternoon nap. This isn't a surprise as he is three and that's when kids naturally start to outgrow it, but it turns out we really need that nap. I need the break, and damn, that kid does too or else he's luggage come bedtime. Unfortunately, evenings are also when Meg is awake and fussy so I am juggling two cranky kids through the maze of dinner, bath and (hopefully) bed. Neither wants to give me long enough to get the other situated so I find I have two crying kids for two hours and at the end, I want to cry myself and/or finish a gallon of vodka. By the end of it, when they're both in bed and asleep, I love them more than anything, but in those moments? Well, not so much.

Everything is improving every day, including my ability to multitask. Meg woke up last week a full-fledged infant. She's able to spend 15 minutes under her mobile happily staring, waving her arms and legs and talking to the animals. She hasn't quite figured out how to smile yet, but she's really close. She can also coo a little bit. Her eyes are still slate blue, but they are lightening up ever so slightly.

And despite Andy being an obnoxious three year old, he can actually be quite useful. He loves to help and I am finding him great at grabbing a burp cloth for me or getting the washcloth to give Meg a bath. Granted, his lack of attention span makes him far from a reliable apprentice, but at least for that moment I know he doesn't have a wet screwdriver in the electric socket.

What the?

Andy has fallen out of bed twice in the past week. Since we got the new bed last spring/summer, he fell out of bed maybe once or twice in the very beginning. Now months and months later, twice in a week. What's what all about? We wake up to a thud, followed by crying. He's usually more scared than hurt and can quickly settle back down once he's lifted back into bed (which is much easier for Bjorn since the kid weighs nearly 35 pounds now). He also doesn't remember it in the morning.

After he goes to bed, I usually go in and check on him and make sure his "gate" of pillows is lined up on the edge of the bed and that he's tucked in and off the edge. The kid must be discovering sleep walking or something though because the last few weeks I sometimes find him half hanging off the edge as if he started to go somewhere and fell asleep. Very strange. I still have the guard rail in the closet that we had on his old bed, but with the configuration of new bed with the top and all, that would mean the only way to get in and out would be at the foot of the bed. I may give this another few days/week and then reassess. Between the two kids waking up in the night and Mark coming home at random hours, I am starting to think it will be 2010 before I get a decent night's sleep.

I know I'm tired when I wake up thinking, "Great. Just 14 hours until bedtime. And 38 hours until Maria comes. To make matters worse (or better?), I am returning to indoor soccer tonight. It is not going to be pretty. I run the way Elaine on Sienfeld dances right now. I have a feeling mocking and/or vomiting may ensue.

Projectile vomiting 101

Meg has discovered throwing up. I was hoping she could wait on that until her freshman year of college so at least I wouldn't have to clean it up. She has thrown up three times of varying degrees in the last 12 hours, including one massive barf all over the bassinet we borrowed (don't worry, Jenn, it will be clean before we give it back!) Fearing something other than overacheiving spit-up, I took her to the doctor's today who says she has reflux (an official diagnosis of profusely spitting up).

She recommended putting a little rice cereal in her bottle as well as elevating her crib mattress to an incline by putting a phone book or towel under one end. Considering the bassinet now has to be totally reassembled, it looks like we're moving her to the crib. I'm going to see how it goes and if it's not better by next week for her well visit, we may consider a baby antacid.

Fortunately, she seems happy and mostly unbothered by all this. I, however, have gone through two different sweaters this morning alone. On the bright side, this is making me look back into my closet to get my regular clothes back into the rotation.

On the Andy front, he's trying hard to give up his afternoon nap. There are many days though where if he doesn't lay down for a bit by three or four in the afternoon, he's a raging pile of toddler mush like in the picture above. He'd gone on a walk with me in the morning and then to Costco with Bjorn around lunchtime. Despite protests, "I am NOT tired. I do NOT need a NAP," I finally coerced him into his room to change him out of his clothes that were soaked due to a lid malfunction in the car. I left him on his bed for a minute to go take care of Meg and came back to find him totally passed out. He then slept for 2 1/2 hours. Clearly he didn't need a nap.

Daycare search

With my time off with a kid with an unpredictable schedule that doesn't want me to nap, I'm doing some research of childcare options. I like Andy's school, but it doesn't start until age two and I'm interesting researching places where both of them can go together. My reasons for that are selfish - I'd like the convenience of one place. Plus, at three, Andy can tell me about his day and I like the idea that he can tell me about Meg's day, too. I also think Andy would like being in school with his sister.

I first looked at the KinderCare in my neighborhood last week. Several friends go there and really love it. It's way convenient - only a mile from my house - and I like that we'd know other parents and kids there. The staff was very nice. The baby room was quite clean and bright and the teachers just love babies, which I like to hear. The thing I didn't like was they don't turn out the lights for nap time. I'm not sure why that bothers me, but it's a small thing to get over. For Meg, it's most important for me that there are people there to hold her and love her more so than activities at this point.

For Andy's room, the class size is 20 with two teachers and floaters for special things, like music. It was loud, but all the kids seemed to be having fun. They also have a nice playground segregated by age so the little kids don't have to mingle with the older ones on the playground. I liked that the teachers were interacting with the kids and doing projects. The school menu is also good and healthy. It's funny, I'm willing to feed Andy crap like McDonald's, but if I'm paying for it, I'd like it to be a healthier choice. The school also does neat stuff like Parents' Night Out when they rent a moon bounce or something like that and the kids eat pizza and play while the parents can go out.

Today, I met with a lovely woman who has a daycare out of her home in Annandale. She's the main teacher, but her older mother is there during the week to help. Her daughter is a college student and GW and is home a lot to help as well. I had a good vibe from them. The house was nice and clean (as you would expect since they knew I was coming). The playroom in the basement was pretty cool. Lots of preschool stuff that Andy loved that focuses on reading and numbers. It was very well organized and clearly geared toward learning. She also takes lots of pictures so the kids can see pictures next to words for their schedule and toys. It would be a smaller ratio of teacher to kids (at most five), not counting when the daughter and mother are there.

It felt more like a school at my sister or mother's house in that it felt very warm and family like. She takes the kids out to dig in the garden and they walk to the playground down the street. In the summer, they play with water in the backyard or even go to the pool. She even takes them to the library sometimes. The mother loved Meg and I have a feeling she would spend most of the day holding her, which I liked. Andy liked it so much that he cried when we had to leave.

Who knows what we'll do, but it's nice to know there are some good options out there.

Bye bye breastmilk

I apologize for the terrible formatting below. I can't figure out how to make it look normal.

Meg eats like a horse. I really love it and love how big she's getting (although I'm dreading in advance all the rude comments from people saying how fat she is. Fat isn't nice to say about adults so why say it about a baby?) I also firmly believe that full baby usually equals happy baby. And I have hope that every ounce she consumes makes us that much closer to a good night's rest.

I have been breastfeeding this whole time. Not exclusively, but if there are 12 feedings in a day, 11 come from me. Last week, there was a day that she was fussy all day long. I kept nursing her and nursing her and that didn't put her into that happy food coma. Instead, she kept being cranky. I took her on a long walk in the brisk air. She napped in the car seat and popped right back awake when we got home. Finally, exhausted, at about 9 p.m., I offered her some formula. Just two ounces to test if that's what was bugging her. She drank all of it as if she'd been starved for days. I made another two ounces and she took that, too. And then passed out.

This trend has been going for the past week so I think this is the beginning of the end of breastfeeding. It's sort of circular in that the less I feed her, the less milk I'll produce so it's a downward spiral since as she gets bigger, she'll eat more and I'll have less to offer.

On the one hand, I'm relieved. I'm totally okay with formula and more bottles means that my tender chest will no longer be main source of snackfood. It means I don't have to whip out my boob at McDonald's to feed a screaming baby. I'm no La Leche League person who believes in breastfeeding until the child goes off to college. I actually believe society now puts all this pressure on women about breastfeeding so that when new mothers can't do it, it puts undue stress on their delicate psyche.

That said, I'm surprised by how much it bothers me that it's not working out. When Andy was a couple weeks old, his pediatrician wasn't happy with his weight gain and recommended supplementing. I was secretly relieved. I wasn't digging the process, I didn't know what I was doing and the whole business intimidated me (how would I ever go out? I could never breastfeed in public!) I liked to have an excuse for not having to nurse. But now, I'm much more confident. She and I have mastered the latch and I'm not afraid to drape myself in a blanket and feed her if that's what I need to do. Sigh.

Meanwhile, here's a great post I read recently about the peaks and valleys of having a newborn with a toddler in the house that really resonated with me (and is way better written than I could do).

Pictures

Andy thinks he's a cat so I got him ears and a tail to complete the look.

Meg with Maria who is helping keep us sane. She's also a super swaddler. Look at that.

A picture with both kids, neither of which looks that great. They are both in the same picture though and looking at the camera.

Girly parts

After three years of changing diapers on a boy, I must admit that looking at a little girl naked looks very strange. Boy parts are just so obvious somehow - nothing hidden, it's all out there. With Meg, it has taken me a little while to get used to her diaper because I hate to, you know, invade her privacy. Somehow it seemed natural to invade the privacy of a boy, but you know how girls are. God, the gender stereotyping starts at hour one. I did ask my pediatrician about what to clean, just to make sure. Her answer (if you're curious) was just to clean the poop and leave the girl parts alone unless there is poop there. Makes sense.

What is also startling about changing a girl is when she pees on the table. Penises just shoot at you so it has taken me by surprise several times when she has peed on the table. "Hey, that's weird. What's all that water? Hey..." She's done this every couple of days since birth and it STILL surprises me.

Speaking of girl parts, Andy is fascinated with my "bleasts." When I'm nursing Meg or pumping, he really wants to come and stare at my chest. I am trying to play it cool and use real terms in the hopes he'll leave me alone, but I'll admit, as natural as it is, I do find it a little creepy.

Related

Meg at three weeks.

Andy at three weeks.

Think these kids are related with the same spiky hair, nose, scowl and pointy chin (not to mention same blanket)? It will be interesting to see how much they look like each other when they get older.

Pictures

Andy and Madeline holding Meg, who seems less than impressed with them.
Meg crying where you can clearly see her awesome hair.

Andy swimming in the bathtub. The water is milky because he likes to liberally use the Ivory soap.

Look how big that belly is getting! I love it.

One month

Meg is four weeks today. It's hard to believe how far we've come in just a month. The big thing this week is that she has woken up. She is now having longer stretches of being awake. It's really neat watching her observe the world (well, the world within 12 inches). She's not smiling back yet, but she's definitely testing out how to smile. Now if her awake periods would also translate into longer sleeping, we'd be all set.

The big drama last week was she had a couple of days of being really fussy/gassy. After talking with Maria who is helping us as nights, she diagnosed the problem as broccoli I had eaten earlier. I never eat broccoli, but it was in a casserole someone brought by (I love that people bring food. What a great gift! Now if I could just keep the big boys from eating is all.) After the broccoli episode on Thursday, Meg had a much better day on Friday. Serves me right for eating something green.



In the past month, I've gotten better about handling two kids at once. I marvel to think how really big families with five plus kids handle things because two just seems overwhelming sometimes. I slowly figuring out how to prioritize when both kids desperately (it seems) need something.



I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do about daycare and work. I have Meg tentatively down for a spot at a school affiliated with Andy's. I really liked the baby room, but the downside is it's a separate facility a 1/2 mile away meaning I'd have to make two separate stops. Not the end of the world, but not ideal. They also don't have a spot available until June when I really need something in May. Some soccer friends take their kids to a KinderCare around the corner and really like it (one family likes it so much they commute from Mt. Vernon to Burke every day). The downside there is that of the four kids we know who go there, they are aged four and two so Andy wouldn't walk in with friends in his class. The upside is it's really close to the house. I also want to investigate some in home care and possibly even a nanny. I would worry that Andy would be bored staying home with someone and the baby all day, but if it were the right person with the right outlook (and price), I would be persuaded.

Of course, in my sleep deprivation/getting through the day sane mode, I haven't followed up on any of this. Or scheduled Meg's six week check-up. Or scheduled my own six week check-up. Next week, hopefully.

Picture is of Andy's new house in the backyard, compliments of a neighbor who gave us first dibs before she offered it on Freecycle. We also ended up with a big plastic slide adding to the menagerie of plastic objects in our backyard.

Growth spurt

Meg is going through a growth spurt apparently. Either that or she's decided eating non-stop is a fun way to keep her parents up all night. I swear yesterday I was trapped under a 10 pound child for most of the day while she ate and ate and ate and I was prevented from getting anything done, like eating dinner or going to the bathroom (or even picking up the floor as you can see in the picture). Cheeky little girl. She's also decided to become more alert, which is great except when it's been three hours and I'm really ready for her to go ahead and sleep already because I'm tired.

In her alert periods, I'm trying to remember what to do with an awake infant other than carry her around all day (her preference, not my back's). It turns out she likes her mobile and her little occasionally crossed eyes can now follow the animals for a bit. Andy also really likes the mobile and always wants to climb into the crib with her. Bjorn (foolishly, in my mind) taught him now to put his feet into the slats of the crib so now he knows how to do it. I am already envisioning a time when we move her to her crib full-time when he climbs in when we're not around and either hurts her while trying to hug her or falls out of the crib and cracks open his head. Yes, I do worry a lot.

Andy has generally been good about Meg, but I'm finding that if I am stuck nursing her for an hour in the evening, he finds that to be a great time to play with the electrical outlets or other off limit item despite my ever louder chorus of, "Andy, leave that alone. ANDY, put that down! I mean it, NOW, do you want to sit in time out? Please, I beg you, Mommy is stuck, just put that down already."

Meanwhile, keep this little baby who is exactly the same age as Meg in your thoughts. She's undergoing another surgery today. Yikes.

Pictures

Bjorn and Meg in the middle of a much needed cat nap.

Meg trying to bust a move. Her movements are still pretty herky jerky so when she is under the mobile, she looks startled most of the time.

The chart in the bathroom. For every five pee stickers, he gets a piece of chocolate. We've upped the ante to a piece of candy for each successful poop since he has yet to earn one.

Andy's hot Thomas the Tank Engine underpants. Notice the green motif, complete with green sippy cup with matching green top. It is clearly his favorite color .

Having my hands full all the time these days, I'm having a hard time finding time to find my camera and then get the pictures uploaded. At least I'm taking the pictures. That may change as Meg gets more mobile and I have to spend more time chasing her around.

Potty training

We're working on potty training -- just what I need when my hands are newly full, but it's a step in the right direction that Andy is finally interested. For the past few days, he has been occasionally wearing underwear at home. The rub is that we have to bug him every 15 minutes to see if he has to go on the potty, but after enough prompting, he's been going. He now proudly stands on a stool in front of the toilet and pees standing up "like Daddy." It's real progress on the potty training front, but I'm finding it challenging to have a baby attached to my boob in one hand and helping Andy pull up and down his pants. I have a new appreciation for the phrase/word multi-tasking, that's for sure.

Andy had his three year check-up with the doctor yesterday. He weighs 33 pounds and is 37 3/4 inches tall, 75th percentile for weight and 50th for height. He passed all the motor skills and language challenges Dr. Staats posed him (as he flirted with her by showing his gymnastic moves while wearing only a pull-up and his green socks). They also asked him to pee in a cup. It seemed like an odd challenge to a kid who can't regularly pee in the toilet, but I took him into the bathroom and he surprised me by performing. Now, naturally after getting so much praise, he wants to pee in a cup at home, too. They also screened him for anemia and cholesterol. I was surprised by the cholesterol test, but apparently some kids have bad diets and need the early monitoring. He passed both tests with flying colors, scoring a 95 on the cholesterol test (under 150 is considered good, apparently).

To no surprise, Meg's sleeping continues to be a challenge. I actually don't mind getting up to do a super early morning feeding, it's when she refuses to go back to sleep afterwards that I wish I were dead. The smartest thing I have done this time around is hire a night nanny to come twice a week to help out. A friend recommended a woman who is a full-time nanny during the week, but who loves babies so she picks up some evening work taking care of newborns overnight. Maria has only been twice, but it's amazing the difference is makes to know that twice a week, I'll get a good night's sleep. Maria will give Meg one of the feedings and then wake me for the second so my boobs don't explode. She'll also do all the changing and rocking back to sleep. She's not cheap, but I figure my sanity is worth it. If only I were Christina Aguilera and could afford a 24/7 baby nurse. No wonder these silly celebrities talk about loving having a newborn since they have help that takes care of the baby while they go to premieres along with a personal trainer and chef.

On my own

This has been my first week on my own without my mom or Bjorn home to help. It's definitely proved challenging handling having two kids at once, especially as I struggle to remember all this new baby stuff all over again. I think we're getting there though. I am finding it almost impossible to sleep when the baby sleeps though as by the time I've finally got her to a nap point in the afternoon, it's time to pick Andy up from school. And naturally, during the day I get almost nothing done around the house except maybe loading or unloading the dishwasher and maybe a load of laundry.

Speaking of sleeping, Meg is waking up at least three times a night lately and sometimes more. The hardest is when I get up to feed her and then she doesn't want to go back to sleep after that. Bjorn has been a big help on that front as a few times I've had to hand her off after an hour or more trying to get her down. He's done the same a few times after he's gotten up to give her a bottle and then had her refuse to go back to sleep. We're working on trying to find some pattern to the madness, but every night is a new and different challenge, that's for sure.

Despite the sleep deprivation and maniacal crying she gives in the car periodically, it has been really special having a new baby again. She still has that new baby smell in her hair (which is sticking straight up after her bath earlier this week) and I just love it when she sleeps on my chest. She's not officially smiling back yet, but she's been flashing me a few test smiles and they do make up for a lot, like her tendancy to pee on the diaper table just after I've put on a new diaper and outfit.

Andy seems to have hit a growth spurt in his language development, which is good and bad. His new favorite word is "why" which accompanies just about every conversation. He has also developed some more advanced reasoning. He now tries to negotiate if he's not getting what he wants and even tries going to Dad if Mom doesn't work. Again, also good and bad. The hardest part of where he is right now is that he's getting stingy with the hugs. I almost have to tackle him to get a hug out of him these days. Little bugger.

Pictures

Just a terribly cute picture of Andy.

A cute picture of my mother with two of her grandchildren.

The mobile Andy had is broken so I bought a new one from Tiny Luv that Andy adores more than Meg. He insisted on getting in the crib to listen to it.

Precious darling sleeping baby. Too bad she doesn't feel like sleeping at night these days.

Big brother update

Everyone keeps asking how Andy is doing with this whole big brother nonsense. So far (knock on wood), he seems pretty good. He hasn't really complained that I've been busy with Meg and generally any brattiness seems to be related to being three and not necessarily to the new addition to the house. Of course, I must caveat this by saying there have been a lot of people around to pay attention to Andy. The first week and a half, Bjorn was home and then my mother came to help for five days so there have been extra hands to help Andy feel loved. It hasn't hurt that a lot of my friends and relatives have been kind enough to bring big brother presents for Andy so the big brother business has sure come with some perks for him.

Next week is the first real test as Bjorn will be at work and I'll be on my own. I think I'm up for it. At least I hope so. I can handle Meg (more or less) by myself during the day, but the evenings when it's me and both kids by myself are going to be interesting. The good news for Andy is he'll probably get to watch a lot more Thomas and Little Einsteins in the evenings when I have to tend to Meg or attempt to put some dinner on the table.

Breaking news

I can now fit into my fat jeans. I won't disclose the size, but they are real jeans with a real waist complete with belt loops and a zipper. I can't tell you how great it feels to now be wearing stretchy maternity clothes any longer. Of course, I have only one pair of jeans like this so I may instead be wearing these every day.

Bjorn has gone back to work and my mother is here helping. It's so wonderful having her here to help ease into having two kids. It's going to be very strange next week when I'm on my own with both kids when Andy is home from school and Bjorn is still at work.

Andy is tolerating Meg pretty well these days and generally seems pretty interested in her. It will be different once it's just the two of us and his needs have to take a backseat.

Birth Story, Part ii

We showed up at the hospital at exactly 7:02 p.m. I know this because I still have the parking garage ticket since they don't charge to exit on weekends. We proceeded to the labor and delivery floor, complete with me waddling and Bjorn carrying my bag and two pillows with distinctive pillowcases so there would be no mistaking they belonged to us and not the hospital. It was shift change time so there were about a dozen young, prettish nurses going over charts at the check in desk. After quickly registering, we were taken to room 3, a big room with a window with blinds, camoflaguing the fact that the windows overlook the lobby of the building.


We soon met our fabulous L&D nurse Kelly who would spend the next 12 hours getting to know us really well. I changed into my gown, which naturally made me look thin and svelte. Kelly then spent the next hour going over my medical history and forms for us to sign. She also got me hooked up to an IV and generally got me prepped for my doctor who came in about 8:30 p.m. We chatted for a bit and she gave me a painful exam. She deemed that I was only 2-3 centimeters dialated, not the 3-4 that my other doctor had declared me just that morning, but I wasn't too surprised as I'd heard from friends that my first doctor is a little generous with the centimeters. She then hooked me up to a little pitocin to help get labor started for real.


The contractions started off quite mild so we watched some bad TV, cursing the writer's strike and the fact that is was a Friday night so there wasn't even a college basketball game on to mindlessly watch. After about an hour, my doctor came back in, performed another painful exam and declared me officially at 3 cm dialated. She offered the epidural then, saying it would take about 20-30 minutes to page the anesthesiologist and get one in place once I called for it. By then, they had upped the pitocin a bit so it was starting to feel less comfortable and I could imagine how it would be in an hour so I asked for the epidural. By then, it was probably 10:30 p.m. The epidural hurt worse than I remembered last time, but then, last time I had endured the pain of getting to transitional labor of 5-6 cm so the stick in my back was less noticable. The anesthesiologist also had a rather sour personality so I wasn't sad to see him go. The best part of this epidural was it came with a button that I could push every 10 minutes to give myself a bolus of pain medicine. I didn't need it then, but I sure would later.


About 11 p.m., the contractions started to get more intense (or so I could see on the monitor, I couldn't really feel them). The other thing I noticed was the pain medicine was making me really itchy. Apparently Virginia Hospital Center's type of epidural includes a morphine-based pain killer that can make people itchy. They gave me a Benadryl intravenously to control the itching, which also made me really sleepy. It was sort of surreal to be in labor and be nodding off in the middle.


At mightnight-ish, my doctor came in to check again and I was at about 4 cm and was progressing on schedule for a delivery, she predicted, at around 6 or 7 in the morning. I was generally feeling okay, just sleepy except for a pain in my arm. Nurse Kelly had tried unsuccesfully in the beginning to find a vein in my left arm and was met with resistence so she had to try the right arm. Unfortunately, that really bruised my arm which hurt every 15 minutes when they took blood pressure.


At the 1:30 a.m. check, my doctor was stunned to find that in an hour, I had gone from 4 cm to 9 cm. That meant that in another 30 minutes to an hour, I'd be ready to push. Bjorn and I were definitely getting excited that it was going to be sooner rather than later. Immediately after that, the different nurses came in to set up a surgical table with all the surgical instruments. I began to think this baby was going to come rather quickly, but instead it took probably an hour to get all the way to 10 and to have everything prepped and ready, including my doctor putting on special disposable scrubs to cover her legs, shoes, head and torso. I must say that it's a little unnerving to watch your doctor cover herself in waders to protect herself from all the blood that is going to come.


The idea was to let me get as close to delivering the baby on my own as possible with just the contractions alone so that when the time came to push, it wouldn't be so difficult. In preparation for the pushing, I began to hit the bolus every 10 minutes regardless of if I felt any pain. With Andy, I felt a lot of pain through the 2 1/2 hours of pushing so I was hoping to stock up on the anesthesia to avoid that. I did a really good job though because when they finally did tell me to push, I was so numb I couldn't really tell what I was doing or pushing. I just did what they told me and that seemed to work.


I pushed for about 15 minutes and was starting to get really tired when my doctor was paged. She gave me a couple of minutes to catch my breath, which was the best thing for me. When she came back in about 5 minutes later, all it took was another 5-10 minutes of pushing and Meg was born at 3:09 a.m. They immediately put her on my chest and we were in awe. She just looked so big and healthy and at the same time so small and perfect. She was also completely covered in the white vernix. After a couple of minutes, they took her away to wash her, weigh her and give her a quick exam. It was then that I sent Bjorn over to make sure she really was a girl and that she did indeed have 10 fingers and 10 toes.


It was a pretty overwhelming moment. We were just so happy and relieved that she was perfect. And that labor was over and everything had turned out well. I had worried off and on that while I'd had a million prenatal tests, you just don't know about all the stuff that can go wrong until it you get there. We kept saying grateful we were to be so lucky.

P.S. Blogger spell check is not working so I apologize for any obvious typos that I can't seem to see.

Sleep?

It's been unseasonably warm here to we went to the park yesterday. I thought I had my strength back, but once I got to the park, I'd wished I brought my phone so I could have Bjorn pick us up. I was quite tired. Plus, Meg did NOT appreciate riding in the stroller.
I asked Andy to pick out shoes to wear to the park and this is what he brought me. He looked like a good German boy with his sandals, pants and green socks.

This is a great picture of Liz, but Meg looks like someone told her she looks like Santa Claus in that red jumper with white socks. I can't blame her, no one wants to be told they look like an old fat man.

Here she is peacefully sleeping so you can see her face. I still can't see that she resembles anyone yet. As you can see, she's wearing a lot of Andy's old sleepers. I am finding the outfits with legs are the best since they cover her feet and don't ride up as I try to feed/change/comfort her. Unfortunately, she's not quite big enough yet for the size 0-3 months and only a couple of the newborn outfits fit her.

No surprise, we're struggling with sleep in our house. Meg slept beautifully the first couple of days at home, waking just twice to eat and go right back to sleep. Then she went through two days in a row of waking every hour, at least, and then refusing to go back to sleep. Fortunately, Bjorn is still home and has been able to help out a ton and let me get a little rest. Last night, she was up off and on from like 10:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., but then settled down from 1 to 4 a.m., I fed her and changed her diaper until about 4:45 a.m. and then she slept until 9:30 a.m. I can handle a schedule like that. The only problem will be when Bjorn goes back to work this week and we don't have the luxury of sleeping as late.

The hard part I'm finding is understanding her cries. Well, they're more like shrieks and they really do command my attention immediately or I start to sweat a little. Seriously. What a clever trick of biology to cause such anxiety in the mother of the infant so ensure I care for her immediately. Good thing she doesn't know what she's doing or her teenage years could be even more difficult.

Andy continues to be a good sport about the whole thing. He hasn't yet said he wants the baby to go back. We have been trying really hard to make sure he feels he's still getting lots of attention. It also doesn't hurt that all our friends who come by have brought a present for him, too. He's not excited about going to school right now though. I don't think he's put it together that the rest of us aren't going to work right now, but I think he definitely senses something is up.

Bilirubin down

Good news - bilirubin count is finally on the way down so we're finally done with the daily heel sticks. Part of the problem the last two days had been her lack of, er, output. Apparently bilirubin is removed from the body through poop and she wasn't pooping so we were instructed to get children's glycerin suppositories, cut one in half, insert (I know, ew) and wait. Bjorn kindly volunteered to do the dirty work and about 9 last night, he put her on the diaper table for the procedure that somehow, she slept through. Within about a minute, before the diaper even went back on, she had pooped and managed to have three more dirty diapers in the next hour. She hadn't been particularly fussy yesterday, but I imagine she felt much better afterwards.

Today Bjorn took her for her doctor's appointment where her bili count was down to 17.6 from 18.1 yesterday. Apparently once the counts start to go down, they rarely come back up so she should be home free from jaundice. Jaundice certainly isn't that big a deal, nothing like what's happening over here, but it was still a little scary and we're glad it's over. Our next appointment isn't for another week.

While Bjorn was at the doctor's, I took Andy to our regular Friday playgroup to try to get some one on one time with him. It was good for both of us to see our friends and check out some more Thomas books. This time as we looked at the books on the shelves, he kept saying, "We have that one," to just about every title. I do believe we have read every Thomas book in the entire Fairfax County Library selection at least half a dozen times so it's funny that he's just NOW catching on to that fact. I suggested we pick another type of book and he said no and opted for two Thomas books instead. You can't blame a guy for knowing what he likes.

Baby face

Here's a picture of Meg's face, compliments of Jennifer. Her hair looks a little darker already, but she does have some blond highlights.

(Warning: The phrase anal sphincter mentioned below). Today's bili count was held steady at 18. A new complication is constipation (she had no dirty diaper yesterday), which is preventing the bilirubin from leaving her body. To check that her anal sphinchter isn't "too tight" and thus preventing bowel movements, Dr. Murphy took a gloved finger and felt inside, you know, there. The result was immediate poop and a screaming baby, but the sphincter is fine. The remedy is a suppository if no poops later today. And being that there have been none, Bjorn has stepped up to the plate and will administer the treatment. Groan on all counts, especially hers. We go back tomorrow. Hopefully the count will be down and we can move on.

Heel sticks

Well, the jaundice saga continues. Bjorn took Meg back to the pediatrician's today where her bilirubin came back at 18. So we've gone from 14.5 on Monday afternoon to 17.5 on Tuesday morning. Then it was 17 at the hospital on their more accurate machine only to be 18 on his limited screening machine. The worry is that if it gets up over 20, brain damage is a worry. Great.

The good news is that the better machine confirmed it's not the really bad kind of jaundice (although apparently there is no good kind exactly). He thinks that it has plateaued, but we have to keep coming back for heel sticks and bilirubin checks until it's confirmed to be on the way down. In the meantime, we were instructed to put her in the sun as the sun helps process the bilirubin. Fortunately, it was a warmish day, about 50, so we were able to sit outside a little. It does seems strange to purposely have a five day old baby out in the sun with all the worry about sun damage, but it does seem worth it in this case.

Meanwhile, my sister was saying she hadn't seen a picture of Meg's face to get an idea who she looks like. This is a little out of focus, but it's the best straight on picture I have. I didn't realize how round her face was until I saw this picture. She does resemble Andy as a baby, but that's as far as I've gotten.