Sleeping In

One of the things I miss about Pre-PK-Life is sleeping in. (As an aside, I wouldn't trade my life with PK for anyrhing.) The hubby and I would often sleep in on weekends until 10 or 11am. To be fair, the hubby would have preferred to sleep in until noon or 1pm, but I have this constant urge to be productive during daylight hours.

Anyway, sleeping in is no longer an option with PK around, as she often wakes up every day between 7 and 8am. If we're lucky, she wakes up at 9am. I realize that 7 or 8am is still heaven to most parents, so I should be quite thankful, which I am. I'm told by my mother, for example, that I woke up at 5am EVERY DAY. Still, being able to sleep in is a nice option.

We do on occasion get the opportunity to sleep in on Sunday mornings when PK stays with one of our sets of parents overnight. The hubby takes full advantage of this while I seem to wake up at 8am whether I want to or not. Damned Daylight Savings Time!

Today, we had a rare treat. PK woke up at 7am. We were pooped, so the hubby went up and put some toys in her crib to distract her while we tried to sleep some more. She didn't like that, so we got up, changed her, and fed her breakfast. We then tried to get her to watch Sesame Street. She was totally hyper, so she wasn't at all into it. Then at 9:30am she started rubbing her eyes. She was pooped. And no wonder. No nap the day before (we were out with her all day and she wanted to take it all in), and a restless sleep last night. So we put her up in her room for a nap. She protested loudly for less than one minute, and then total silence. She was out cold. She slept for 2.5 hours, and so did we. We all woke up refreshed. Now I'm ready for the day!
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Brushing Teeth

These days, brushing PK's teeth can be quite a task. Gone are the days when she used to find her silicone thimble toothbrush amusing and ticklish. Nowadays, the sight of her toothbrush elicits some very dramatic close-mouthed moaning. The only way I can get her to open her mouth is if hold her toothbrush in one hand and her soother in the other. As a bring the soother towards PK's face, she opens her mouth, at which time I swoop in with the toothbrush and work as quickly as possible. Thank goodness PK only has her two bottom teeth for now!

Today, I tried a different tactic. I grabbed her toothbrush, and as I moved it toward PK's mouth, I started humming the "Jaws" theme song. PK found this EXTREMELY amusing, so I kept going. She found this so amusing that I managed to brush her teeth without any incident. Note to self: hum the "Jaws" theme song while brushing PK's teeth. Why didn't I think of that sooner???
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Storytime

When PK was born, I used to read a LOT to her. I read her Dr. Seuss, I read her a book of Greek myths, I read her a book of fairytales. I read in English, French, and Portuguese. When PK was about 2 or 3 months old, I discovered that reading Goodnight Moon to her before bedtime was great for helping her fall asleep. It was miraculous. Somewhere along the way, however, we stopped doing that. I think it's because Goodnight Moon just didn't have its magical effect anymore.

As she got older, I found that I didn't read as much to her anymore. First off, she didn't sleep as much (I read to her a lot while she slept in my arms). Secondly, she just didn't want to sit still while I read to her. Lastly, I didn't have enough baby-friendly books. Sure, we'd bought her a ton of kids books, but they were for older kids - picture books with lots of words. I now know why the baby books are mostly pictures with VERY few words. Still, I did try to read to her at least once a day, whether she liked it or not. She also went to storytime every week, so she got her fill of reading there. The lady who runs it would read 3 to 4 stories each week.

Eventually, PK began taking an interest in books. I think this started 2 or 3 months ago. At that point, I'd resorted to reading to her either while she was sitting on the floor playing, playing in her exer-saucer, or sitting in the hubby's lap. I couldn't have her sitting in my lap while I read to her because she got squirmy and had the urge to pull the book from my hands and either eat it or flip to the cover and start slapping it. While this is very entertaining, it is frustrating when you're trying to read a story. Still, the slapping and book-eating at least showed that she was aware of books. I'm told that this sort of thing helps to promote literacy because it gets kids used to books. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Anyway, we thought for the longest time that we were just reading all of these stories in vain. Sure, she thought that books were fun toys, but that's about it. One of her favorite things of all-time (still to this day) is standing up in front of her bookcase and pulling as many books out of it as she can. She doesn't discriminate. Any book is fair game.

Then one day, the unthinkable happened. We were getting ready to put PK to bed. The hubby had her drinking a bottle in his lap. I did the usual of pulling up my exercise ball beside the glider, getting ready to read her a book. I had Goodnight Moon with me. All of a sudden, PK pushed the bottle away and sat right up. She was ready for her story! She shrieked with delight as I read each page - she actually recognized the story and the pictures. The hubby and I were just floored.

These days, I read three books to PK every night, usually two English books (one of them being Good Night Moon) and one French book. I will occasionally read her a Portuguese book, but we don't have too many of these. Good Night Moon is still her favorite book, which is why I read it to her every night. The hubby and I alternate reading this book, with each of us takes a page.

PK still very much enjoys closing the book and slapping the cover, so when I read to her, I need to keep the book close enough so that she can see it, but far enough so that she doesn't slap it shut. She has, however, in the last week or so taken interest in touchy-feely books, so I need to keep those relatively close to her. Getting PK to take interest in touchy-feely books has taken a while. There was a time when she'd touch ANYTHING BUT the part that was supposed to be for touching. It was quite amusing, but also quite frustrating. Now she actually seeks out the touchy-feely parts. Very cool.

PK has also learned to turn pages in books all by herself. She doesn't always have the book oriented the right way, and she sometimes gets stuck flipping one page back-and-forth, but it's a start. She still enjoys chewing her books, and while it's sad to see a perfectly good book being mangled, at least I know that it's promoting literacy and that it's well-loved. You can't ask for much more than that! And in case you're wondering, I'm only letting her eat/play with board books. Those things can totally take a beating and still look okay-ish at the end of the day.

Here are some of PK's favorites:
Busy Bunnies
Let's Dance Little Pookie
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?
Moo Baa La La La
Goodnight Moon
Le Crocodile Glouton
Les Chiffres avec les Animaux de la Ferme
Les Coulers avec les Animaux Tropicaux
Robinson Toupie
Guess How Much I Love You
Pat the Bunny
That's Not my Bunny

Eight Seconds

PK stood on her own for a good eight seconds or so today, putting her arms out for balance. While she has stood on her own before, this is the first time that she's been aware of it. On top of that, she was able to repeat it several times in a row. How cool is that?!
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Carrier Defeat

So a couple of months ago, I was all excited about getting the Ergo Baby carrier, thinking that this was the most awesome carrier ever. I still think that it is. It is easy to put on (after some practice), and is compact. PK, however, HATES facing me while in the carrier. Instead, she prefers her Baby Trekker carrier, because she gets to face forward. She really, really LOVES it! When she starts squirming in the stroller (which is often, these days), I put her onto the carrier, and she's happy as can be. So now I'm once again lugging the Baby Trekker carrier around with me instead of my beloved Ergo Carrier. I'm happy that she's happy, but it's too bad that the Trekker is so damned dangly (it is aptly named the Octopus by many). I'm still hoping that the Ergo may work out if I can figure out how to do the hip carry. Until then, I've got to stick to what makes the baby happy.

Nine Months Old!

PK turned 9 months old just a little over two weeks ago. I can now say that she has spent more time on the "outside" than on the "inside"! (Sounds like I'm talking about a prison inmate, doesn't it?) Every time another month goes by, I can't help thinking how time has just flown by! I mean, over 9 months ago, PK was this teeny little baby who couldn't do much other than eat, cry, pee, and poop. And now, PK is blossoming into this independent little lady with a feisty personality.

Some highlights:

1. Crawling
While PK doesn't quite crawl, she has mastered dragging herself across the floor to get from point A to point B, and does it quite well, I might add - especially when there's motivation (i.e. soother or favorite toy). She has started being able to get on all fours for a few seconds. We'll see if that turns into full-on crawling in the coming weeks.

2. Walking
PK has mastered walking while holding onto mom (or dad's or grandma's...you get the point) hands. She's still pretty wobbly, but she knows that she needs to move her legs in order to get from point A to point B. She's gotten really good at traversing her playpen on her own, and right now we're working on getting her to walk while holding onto only one hand. She hasn't mastered standing on her own just yet, so she can only do this in short bursts.

3. Standing
PK has mastered standing with assistance for a long time, and has been able to stand while holding on with one hand for a few months. I've seen her stand unassisted for a few seconds, and whenever that happens, I always take such delight in it!

4. Up and Down
Last week, PK figured out how to sit own her own from a standing position in her playpen. It always catches me by surprise when she does it, especially when she does it on the floor, because of the big thud that accompanies it. How cool! She has also gotten pretty good at standing up from a seated position, though she seems to feel most comfortable doing it if she's pulling herself up while holding onto my fingers. I have seen her use my lap to get to a standing position - it's all about her having the right motivation.

5. Clapping
Last week, PK finally mastered clapping, after months of training! I think my mom, the hubby, and I have been working with her on this before she even turned 6 months old. She started doing it consistently last week, at my sister's graduation from medical school. Basically she started clapping whenever everyone else in the audience was clapping. How cool is that? And she also reacts to the various clapping songs that I've been singing to her all this time. I never thought that seeing my own baby clap would be so cool. I really can't get enough of it.

6. Chit-Chat
PK started saying "da-da-da" a week or two after she turned 8 months old. I have to say that I never knew that there were so many different ways to say "da". I've her her say "da", "deh", "daaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaah", "deh-deh", and I've even heard a "daddy" mixed in there too. She sometimes makes "ma-ma", "ba-ba", and "ta-ta" sounds, but those are few and far-between. Today the hubby told me that PK uttered her first sound sentence: "ba-ba-da-ga". Unfortunately, I missed this, because I was taking out the trash, which included some seriously poopy diapers. (No, we don't have a Green Bin because we live in a condo complex...stupid city of Toronto...)

That's it for now. I'm sure I'll have loads of updates at 10 months!

Seriously Bummed

I have been seriously bummed these days. So much so that I really haven't had any desire to update this blog. Music class finished almost a month ago, and the summer session doesn't start until July. The mommy group has all but disbanded, as nobody wants to host a bunch of crawling babies at their house, especially with turnouts of 13 moms and their babies. Storytime will come to a close this coming Friday, and won't start back on until next October, at which time I'll already be at work. I've tried making plans to meet up with moms from the mommy group and/or storytime, but they keep cancelling on me at the last minute. Besides, I'm getting sick and tired of always being the one to initiate plans. PK and I haven't interacted with another mom and baby in two weeks, and even that was ever-so-brief at storytime, where everyone seemed to be in a rush to leave after it was done.

Times like these get me really bummed out, because it makes me realize that the only reason why I even hung out with these other moms is because I was invited as part of a group, or because I did the inviting. It's not that they wanted to spend time with ME. On top of all that, I feel like a bit of a prisoner these days, because I don't usually make it out the door into the sunshine until at least 3 or 4pm due to PK's nap schedule. She usually has her long, 2-hour nap, after lunch, and I like to play with her for an hour before taking her outside since she ends up sitting in a stroller for an hour or two.

I feel frustrated too because it seems that every mom around me seems to have gotten the Parenting Memo, which obviously never made its way into my hands. All these moms seem to be so good with their babies. Such naturals. So connected. And me, I feel like I'm just fumbling around, trying to figure out how to pass the days until I start back at work. On Mother's Day, I felt like an impostor. I felt like I didn't even deserve to celebrate it, because I didn't see the difference between me and a nanny. What makes me so special to deserve the title Mom?

I feel a bit better these days, though I regret the fact that I had the world's crappiest Mother's Day (mostly my own doing). Seeing PK learn new things, seeing how interactive she is, how fascinated she is by everything, and how she reacts to familiar sights and sounds are helping me to get out of this funk. The nicer weather helps a bit, though I hate looking out the window at a beautiful, bright, warm, sunny day, knowing that it'll be 3 or 4 hours until I can make it out. All I know is that I'd better get out of this funk, because I start back at work on July 6th, so my days of being home with PK full-time are numbered.

The Definition of Normal

What exactly constitutes a so-called normal relationship (marriage, dating)? Is spending too much time together a bad thing? Is spending too little time together equally-bad?

I know some couples who do EVERYTHING together. They want to spend as much time together as possible, and even when they're not together, they're always in touch. Is that a bad thing? Is it borderline obsessive?

I also know some couples who don't spend all that much time together. They go off and do their own thing most of the time, but come together for some good quality time. Does that mean that they don't care about each other? Or does it just mean that they have different interests but that the time that they spend together is extra-special?

Is there such a thing as a middle-ground? There most likely is. But how many couples have this middle ground relationship? How many couples' relationships fall under either extreme? Are the extreme ends considered to be unbalanced/unhealthy, or are they just a reflection of the personalities of the two individuals involved in the relationship?

My personal opinion is that each relationship is unique, and that couples in successful relationships manage to tailor their relationships around their personalities. They do what works best. I also think that successful relationships evolve with time. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I see it as a good thing. Evolution, after all, comes about to accommodate changing circumstances. In the case of a relationship, we can see evolution due to change in relationship status (going from dating to being married), or due to the arrival of a baby. The evolution may be subtle, yet significant. Maybe a married couple who spent all of their time together now must spend more time apart after the arrival of a baby in order to give one of the parents a well-deserved break. Or maybe a married couple who spent more time apart before having a baby comes together more BECAUSE of the baby.

Whatever your relationship may be, one thing matters: happiness. If you're happy, then hey, do whatever floats your boat, right?

Readers: What's your relationship to your significant other like?