First time eating anything besides a bottle--baby cereal
Thursday, September 30, 2010
firsts
First time in the exersaucer--she liked it!
First time eating anything besides a bottle--baby cereal
She loved it and cried when I stopped feeding her! That's my little eater! Rachel didn't like it for the first several weeks at all and I just stopped giving it to her for awhile. Little did I know that it would be foreshadowing of her feelings toward food today....
First time eating anything besides a bottle--baby cereal
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
the kitchen nightmare
Last year for Christmas, one of my gifts was a kitchen sink. My husband told me he was going to install a new countertop, sink, and faucet for me in our kitchen. I was excited, but because I was pregnant and hormonal and couldn't handle one single decision or frustration during those nine months, I wouldn't let him put it in yet. He kept wanting to, but I kept saying no, that it was too much stress and I didn't want to have to pick out anything at that point. I couldn't handle the pressure and couldn't handle the frustration of not having a kitchen for a time. I know it probably sounds silly, but I've suffered from perinatal depression during both of my pregnancies, and both times chose not to take anything for it until after the baby was born because of its effect on the baby, so every little thing completely overwhelmed me (but that's all a topic for another day).
Fast forward to August, when my husband was in Peru. One night I put the dishes in the dishwasher, turned it on, and it didn't work. It's an old dishwasher that came with the house, and it hasn't worked quite right since we moved here, but it's always done the job okay. My mom and I tried to figure out what was wrong, but couldn't. At 10:00 at night we were using the shop-vac to suck water out of the dishwasher so it wouldn't leak anymore all over the floor. We washed dishes by hand the rest of the week, waiting for my husband to come home to decide what to do about it. Since it was so old, it wasn't worth bringing a repairman to the house and paying $100 just to get it looked at. After several weeks of washing dishes by hand, I finally got my husband to try to fix it a week or so ago, but after looking at it he said there wasn't anything he could do, so we needed to buy a new dishwasher.
He went to the store to look at them, and when he came home he said that if we were going to tear up the kitchen we should do it all at once, and he'd get started on the countertop/sink/faucet project as well. So we bought a dishwasher, finally picked out the countertop, and chose a faucet (I already had the sink). I wasn't looking forward to the process, since it meant no water and a huge mess for who knows how long, but at this point I was ready to put up with it for awhile in order to have my sink. (I didn't care so much about a new countertop. I just wanted a new sink and faucet to replace my leaky one. He thought we needed the new countertop before putting in a new sink.)
My husband's a great woodworker. He has made countless pieces of furniture for Rachel that are just beautiful. So he has the tools and the ability to do a lot of things with wood. He thought he could build the countertop himself inexpensively and save some money. He bought the supplies and set to work on Friday night, removing our old sink and countertop and getting the wood cut for the new countertop. Things were ahead of schedule after that night. He thought he could get it done by Sunday. No problem, I thought. I could wash dishes in the basement laundry tub for a couple of days and eat microwaved meals for the weekend until my kitchen was back in working order. My parents came down so my dad could help him on Saturday. But on Saturday they kept running into one problem after another. First the formica wouldn't stick properly to the wood. Then his router kept making marks on the sides of the countertop as he cut it, ruining it beyond repair. The tops looked great, but the sides were a mess, no matter what he tried. And the wall behind our sink is not flat, and he was running into problems with getting it to lay right in that spot as well.
On Sunday he decided he was throwing in the towel. We went to Home Depot to price having someone else come put in a new countertop. It actually was less than we thought it would be, but still lots more than we wanted to pay (since we had already spent all of the money on the other supplies!). Plus I would have to wait three weeks before it was done and I would have running water in my kitchen. We were going to go to Lowe's to get another quote, but decided to stop at home first to measure the sink, which we had forgotten to do before. While we were at home someone (I don't know if it was Brian, me, or one of my parents) came up with the idea of putting wood trim on the sides of the countertop to cover up the mistakes. Wood trim isn't quite as "in style" as it used to be, but it could solve our problem and save us some money. We went to Lowes and priced wood trim. It was going to be much, MUCH cheaper than having a new countertop made and installed and we could have it done much sooner. So we bought the wood for the trim and came home so he could start installing the sink (the countertops were done, except for the trim, which he could install later).
He and my dad measured and cut the hole for the sink. They dropped it in and the started working on the plumbing. Then it was time for my parents to leave. My husband tried to connect the garbage disposal and ran into problems. At that point I had to leave to take the girls to a birthday party, so he was on his own.
When I came home a few hours later, I was hoping to arrive home to running water in the new sink. No such luck. Instead I came home to an even messier kitchen and a disgruntled husband who had been working the whole time and had only come up against more problems. The old dishwasher was somehow leaking all over the floor, the brand new faucet was leaking, and there was no hot water or garbage disposal.
He gave up for the night. So we started the week with no water and a kitchen that looked like a hurricane went through. More microwaved meals. More washing dishes in the laundry tub (so lots of using paper plates!). Monday night he worked from the moment he got home from work until he went to bed, and still continued to run into problems. No success.
Tuesday the new dishwasher was installed. The installer ran into problems because our plumbing wasn't working. (In order to test the dishwasher to make sure it worked he had to put a bucket under the drain to catch the water coming out. A couple of times he forgot and water came pouring out under the sink!) But he installed it. I asked him how much he would charge for fixing the plumbing for us, but he said he wasn't allowed, because we wouldn't be going through Lowe's, where we bought the dishwasher, and he could lose his job. He said it didn't look too difficult, though.
Tuesday night my husband set to work again, with the plans that if it didn't work, he was going to call a plumber. This time, after several attempts, he was able to get it to work. Hooray! Now I have a working sink, faucet, and dishwasher!
The countertops still need their trim, so we can't put the things back in the cabinets (the living room is full of boxes with the contents of my drawers and bottom cupboards), but at least now I can use the stove and oven and wash dishes (and bottles!) again. Because of the constant need for bottles, I was washing them a lot, and bending over the basement laundry tub was killing my back. I'm so thankful to have a sink again.
And the sink....oh, the sink! I LOVE it! My old sink was a standard contractor's grade stainless steel sink that comes in apartments and so forth. It was small and curved on the bottom so that you couldn't stand a glass up in it without it falling over. This sink is deep and has a flat bottom. It's wonderful! And the dishwasher is super duper quiet. (our last dishwasher was about thirty years old, according to the installer, and sounded like a freight train when it was on, so that you had to turn the TV way up when washing dishes! You can barely hear this one!)
So I'm still a little ways from having my kitchen done, but I'm a LONG way from where I was a few days ago. The nightmare is pretty much over. When it's all done I'll put some pictures on.
Fast forward to August, when my husband was in Peru. One night I put the dishes in the dishwasher, turned it on, and it didn't work. It's an old dishwasher that came with the house, and it hasn't worked quite right since we moved here, but it's always done the job okay. My mom and I tried to figure out what was wrong, but couldn't. At 10:00 at night we were using the shop-vac to suck water out of the dishwasher so it wouldn't leak anymore all over the floor. We washed dishes by hand the rest of the week, waiting for my husband to come home to decide what to do about it. Since it was so old, it wasn't worth bringing a repairman to the house and paying $100 just to get it looked at. After several weeks of washing dishes by hand, I finally got my husband to try to fix it a week or so ago, but after looking at it he said there wasn't anything he could do, so we needed to buy a new dishwasher.
He went to the store to look at them, and when he came home he said that if we were going to tear up the kitchen we should do it all at once, and he'd get started on the countertop/sink/faucet project as well. So we bought a dishwasher, finally picked out the countertop, and chose a faucet (I already had the sink). I wasn't looking forward to the process, since it meant no water and a huge mess for who knows how long, but at this point I was ready to put up with it for awhile in order to have my sink. (I didn't care so much about a new countertop. I just wanted a new sink and faucet to replace my leaky one. He thought we needed the new countertop before putting in a new sink.)
My husband's a great woodworker. He has made countless pieces of furniture for Rachel that are just beautiful. So he has the tools and the ability to do a lot of things with wood. He thought he could build the countertop himself inexpensively and save some money. He bought the supplies and set to work on Friday night, removing our old sink and countertop and getting the wood cut for the new countertop. Things were ahead of schedule after that night. He thought he could get it done by Sunday. No problem, I thought. I could wash dishes in the basement laundry tub for a couple of days and eat microwaved meals for the weekend until my kitchen was back in working order. My parents came down so my dad could help him on Saturday. But on Saturday they kept running into one problem after another. First the formica wouldn't stick properly to the wood. Then his router kept making marks on the sides of the countertop as he cut it, ruining it beyond repair. The tops looked great, but the sides were a mess, no matter what he tried. And the wall behind our sink is not flat, and he was running into problems with getting it to lay right in that spot as well.
On Sunday he decided he was throwing in the towel. We went to Home Depot to price having someone else come put in a new countertop. It actually was less than we thought it would be, but still lots more than we wanted to pay (since we had already spent all of the money on the other supplies!). Plus I would have to wait three weeks before it was done and I would have running water in my kitchen. We were going to go to Lowe's to get another quote, but decided to stop at home first to measure the sink, which we had forgotten to do before. While we were at home someone (I don't know if it was Brian, me, or one of my parents) came up with the idea of putting wood trim on the sides of the countertop to cover up the mistakes. Wood trim isn't quite as "in style" as it used to be, but it could solve our problem and save us some money. We went to Lowes and priced wood trim. It was going to be much, MUCH cheaper than having a new countertop made and installed and we could have it done much sooner. So we bought the wood for the trim and came home so he could start installing the sink (the countertops were done, except for the trim, which he could install later).
He and my dad measured and cut the hole for the sink. They dropped it in and the started working on the plumbing. Then it was time for my parents to leave. My husband tried to connect the garbage disposal and ran into problems. At that point I had to leave to take the girls to a birthday party, so he was on his own.
When I came home a few hours later, I was hoping to arrive home to running water in the new sink. No such luck. Instead I came home to an even messier kitchen and a disgruntled husband who had been working the whole time and had only come up against more problems. The old dishwasher was somehow leaking all over the floor, the brand new faucet was leaking, and there was no hot water or garbage disposal.
He gave up for the night. So we started the week with no water and a kitchen that looked like a hurricane went through. More microwaved meals. More washing dishes in the laundry tub (so lots of using paper plates!). Monday night he worked from the moment he got home from work until he went to bed, and still continued to run into problems. No success.
Tuesday the new dishwasher was installed. The installer ran into problems because our plumbing wasn't working. (In order to test the dishwasher to make sure it worked he had to put a bucket under the drain to catch the water coming out. A couple of times he forgot and water came pouring out under the sink!) But he installed it. I asked him how much he would charge for fixing the plumbing for us, but he said he wasn't allowed, because we wouldn't be going through Lowe's, where we bought the dishwasher, and he could lose his job. He said it didn't look too difficult, though.
Tuesday night my husband set to work again, with the plans that if it didn't work, he was going to call a plumber. This time, after several attempts, he was able to get it to work. Hooray! Now I have a working sink, faucet, and dishwasher!
The countertops still need their trim, so we can't put the things back in the cabinets (the living room is full of boxes with the contents of my drawers and bottom cupboards), but at least now I can use the stove and oven and wash dishes (and bottles!) again. Because of the constant need for bottles, I was washing them a lot, and bending over the basement laundry tub was killing my back. I'm so thankful to have a sink again.
And the sink....oh, the sink! I LOVE it! My old sink was a standard contractor's grade stainless steel sink that comes in apartments and so forth. It was small and curved on the bottom so that you couldn't stand a glass up in it without it falling over. This sink is deep and has a flat bottom. It's wonderful! And the dishwasher is super duper quiet. (our last dishwasher was about thirty years old, according to the installer, and sounded like a freight train when it was on, so that you had to turn the TV way up when washing dishes! You can barely hear this one!)
So I'm still a little ways from having my kitchen done, but I'm a LONG way from where I was a few days ago. The nightmare is pretty much over. When it's all done I'll put some pictures on.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
4 month stats
Hooray! She's no longer on a "diet!"
Weight: 15 pounds, 8 ounces (75th %)
Height: 24 3/4 inches (75th %)
Head Circumference: 16 1/2 inches (75th %)
So she's big, but not huge, and definitely proportional, so the doctor told me I can feed her what she wants. I'm so relieved. I was so stressed about giving her too much, not enough, etc. Now I can relax about it.
The doctor wants to have her evaluated by "Help Me Grow," the early intervention organization in our state that helps hook you up with therapies and so forth for babies through school aged kids. Rebecca doesn't push herself up when she's on her tummy, she doesn't roll over (or show any inclination to do so), doesn't put weight on her feet, and her feet still turn in. She didn't seem overly concerned, but wants to have her evaluated to see if she's eligible for any therapy to get her up to speed. She said she's not concerned about the rolling over, but would like to see her pushing up more. So I called, and we'll see what I find out.
In other news, we've been having a kitchen nightmare at our house....and one of these days I'll do a post on it, but I think I'll wait until it's all resolved. Ugh....
UPDATE: The biggest part of the problem is resolved....HOORAY! I now have a functioning kitchen again. I'll try to write the whole story in the next couple of days.
Weight: 15 pounds, 8 ounces (75th %)
Height: 24 3/4 inches (75th %)
Head Circumference: 16 1/2 inches (75th %)
So she's big, but not huge, and definitely proportional, so the doctor told me I can feed her what she wants. I'm so relieved. I was so stressed about giving her too much, not enough, etc. Now I can relax about it.
The doctor wants to have her evaluated by "Help Me Grow," the early intervention organization in our state that helps hook you up with therapies and so forth for babies through school aged kids. Rebecca doesn't push herself up when she's on her tummy, she doesn't roll over (or show any inclination to do so), doesn't put weight on her feet, and her feet still turn in. She didn't seem overly concerned, but wants to have her evaluated to see if she's eligible for any therapy to get her up to speed. She said she's not concerned about the rolling over, but would like to see her pushing up more. So I called, and we'll see what I find out.
In other news, we've been having a kitchen nightmare at our house....and one of these days I'll do a post on it, but I think I'll wait until it's all resolved. Ugh....
UPDATE: The biggest part of the problem is resolved....HOORAY! I now have a functioning kitchen again. I'll try to write the whole story in the next couple of days.
Monday, September 27, 2010
four months
Rebecca's four months old today. I can't believe how fast the time is flying. I'm trying to enjoy each minute of her infancy (the only moments I'm not enjoying are the middle of the night ones! But even those are sweet sometimes.)
She doesn't have any new tricks to tell you about. She still chews on her hands non stop, likes to look at herself in the mirror, smiles when she has a full tummy, and rubs her eyes when she's tired. She goes to the doctor tomorrow, so I'll know more about her weight and eating and all of that--my biggest concern.
Here she is--still a deer in a headlights when the camera comes out and all smiles before and after.
Chewing on her hands....
The smiling ones are always blurry...
Love that baby girl!
She doesn't have any new tricks to tell you about. She still chews on her hands non stop, likes to look at herself in the mirror, smiles when she has a full tummy, and rubs her eyes when she's tired. She goes to the doctor tomorrow, so I'll know more about her weight and eating and all of that--my biggest concern.
Here she is--still a deer in a headlights when the camera comes out and all smiles before and after.
The smiling ones are always blurry...
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
apple picking
Yesterday was Rachel's school field trip to the apple farm. Daddy took the day off to go with her so I could stay home with Rebecca. She and Daddy had a good time and there is an apple pie in our future....
Daddy said she got shy as soon as she got there and didn't talk to her friends who all told her hi. Sometimes I just don't understand that girl--so talkative and social, yet so different a lot of times around other kids. That's the whole reason we're sending her to preschool, so she'll hopefully overcome some of that.
Monday, September 20, 2010
picnicking
Yesterday was our church's fall picnic. It's a huge affair with tons of people and things to do. Tons of food, too, but we didn't get over to eat until almost all of it was gone or really picked over. :(
Hayride
Pumpkin decorating
Cotton Candy
Face painting
Pony ride!
Hayride
Sunday, September 19, 2010
swinging
4:30ish-7:00 is the roughest time of the day at our house. Rebecca wakes up from a quick cat nap during this time and then is pretty fussy until she goes to bed at 7:00. We try lots of things to try and pass the time with her. Yesterday we tried this for the first time.
She didn't smile, but she didn't fuss, either, so it must not have been too bad for her!
Not to be outdone, her sister also wanted to join in on the fun.
She didn't smile, but she didn't fuss, either, so it must not have been too bad for her!
Not to be outdone, her sister also wanted to join in on the fun.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
no news is good news
I haven't written much lately because I don't have a lot to write about, but things are just fine. Rachel's loving school. Her favorite thing is that they have show and tell on Fridays--she didn't have it last year and she loves figuring out what to take. Her teacher tells them whatever they bring in has to start with the letter of the week, so the first week was F, and she chose to take in her kissing frogs. The next week was M and she chose (after much deliberating) to take a movie...Mary Poppins. This week is B, and she immediately knew she wanted to take one of her Care Bears--her current obsession.
My favorite thing is that on Fridays we get a paper that tells us what they learned about that week. We never got anything like that last year, and I feel much more informed this year. It's hard to get much out of Rachel or to always understand correctly what she's trying to tell me.
My least favorite thing is trying to fit Rebecca's morning nap around taking and picking up Rachel. She is often ready to go back to bed around 8:15 or 8:30, but I have to keep her up until a little after 9 when we finally get home from taking Rachel. That often means 30-45 minutes of fussing and crying from a sleepy girl, or she'll catch a brief nap in the car on the way there or back, and then get mad when I put her down for real in bed. I wish there was a way around it, but oh well. I think that's the lot of the second child. I was a stickler for making sure Rachel's naps were at home and in bed, but that can't be the case with Rebecca, because our life is busier now and we're often on the go in the mornings.
I think Rebecca's been going through yet another growth spurt, because she's been eating a TON the last several days and sleeping really badly. But what's happened in the past during a growth spurt is a few rough days and then a few days of really good sleep, so I'm hoping those days of good sleep are not far away!
Rachel's current favorite things are Care Bears (she's seriously obsessed!!), listening to stories on CD (I've reserved a million at the library in the last few weeks!), and doing puzzles with Mommy. She's always loved puzzles, and is good at them, but she goes through phases with them. Sometimes she doesn't want to do them at all, but right now she wants to do them all the time, but she wants me to help her--even though she can do them herself. She's now doing around 65 piece puzzles. I don't think it'll be long before she's ready for the 100 pieces. She has a hard time doing the edges, though--she'd much rather do the center part, so I often put the outside edges together and she does the inside. I always thought the edges were the easy part!
And the books on CDs are the greatest invention ever. She plays in her room for an hour at a time sometimes, just listening to them over and over while she plays. I think she likes them because they keep her company. She doesn't like being by herself for long, otherwise.
Rebecca's current "favorite" things, if you can call them that, are her hands. She chews and chews and chews on them. I can see some little teeth below the surface on the bottom of her gums, so we'll see how long it'll take for them to poke through. She's been drooling like crazy for about three weeks or so. She's now able to grab her toys that hang down. She still hasn't been able to grab her feet, though she likes to stare at them when she's sitting up on my lap.
Last week Rebecca went to the physical therapist for an evaluation about her feet (and the fact that they turn in so much). She said we'll keep an eye on them (I'm supposed to call her next month to tell her how they're looking, and then go in again at 6 months and 9 months), but we don't need to do any therapy right now. I also found out that I'm quite delinquent in giving her "tummy time." The therapist told me she's supposed to be on her tummy for around 4 hours a day by now. WHAT????? She's hardly even awake 4 hours a day! Needless to say, she's not on her tummy even close to that much (unless you count the hours she spends sleeping on her tummy....but shhhhhh... I didn't tell you that, because she's not supposed to be sleeping on her tummy!), but I have tried to be better about making sure she gets some more playtime on her tummy as well.
And that's what's going on in my neck of the woods.
My favorite thing is that on Fridays we get a paper that tells us what they learned about that week. We never got anything like that last year, and I feel much more informed this year. It's hard to get much out of Rachel or to always understand correctly what she's trying to tell me.
My least favorite thing is trying to fit Rebecca's morning nap around taking and picking up Rachel. She is often ready to go back to bed around 8:15 or 8:30, but I have to keep her up until a little after 9 when we finally get home from taking Rachel. That often means 30-45 minutes of fussing and crying from a sleepy girl, or she'll catch a brief nap in the car on the way there or back, and then get mad when I put her down for real in bed. I wish there was a way around it, but oh well. I think that's the lot of the second child. I was a stickler for making sure Rachel's naps were at home and in bed, but that can't be the case with Rebecca, because our life is busier now and we're often on the go in the mornings.
I think Rebecca's been going through yet another growth spurt, because she's been eating a TON the last several days and sleeping really badly. But what's happened in the past during a growth spurt is a few rough days and then a few days of really good sleep, so I'm hoping those days of good sleep are not far away!
Rachel's current favorite things are Care Bears (she's seriously obsessed!!), listening to stories on CD (I've reserved a million at the library in the last few weeks!), and doing puzzles with Mommy. She's always loved puzzles, and is good at them, but she goes through phases with them. Sometimes she doesn't want to do them at all, but right now she wants to do them all the time, but she wants me to help her--even though she can do them herself. She's now doing around 65 piece puzzles. I don't think it'll be long before she's ready for the 100 pieces. She has a hard time doing the edges, though--she'd much rather do the center part, so I often put the outside edges together and she does the inside. I always thought the edges were the easy part!
And the books on CDs are the greatest invention ever. She plays in her room for an hour at a time sometimes, just listening to them over and over while she plays. I think she likes them because they keep her company. She doesn't like being by herself for long, otherwise.
Rebecca's current "favorite" things, if you can call them that, are her hands. She chews and chews and chews on them. I can see some little teeth below the surface on the bottom of her gums, so we'll see how long it'll take for them to poke through. She's been drooling like crazy for about three weeks or so. She's now able to grab her toys that hang down. She still hasn't been able to grab her feet, though she likes to stare at them when she's sitting up on my lap.
Last week Rebecca went to the physical therapist for an evaluation about her feet (and the fact that they turn in so much). She said we'll keep an eye on them (I'm supposed to call her next month to tell her how they're looking, and then go in again at 6 months and 9 months), but we don't need to do any therapy right now. I also found out that I'm quite delinquent in giving her "tummy time." The therapist told me she's supposed to be on her tummy for around 4 hours a day by now. WHAT????? She's hardly even awake 4 hours a day! Needless to say, she's not on her tummy even close to that much (unless you count the hours she spends sleeping on her tummy....but shhhhhh... I didn't tell you that, because she's not supposed to be sleeping on her tummy!), but I have tried to be better about making sure she gets some more playtime on her tummy as well.
And that's what's going on in my neck of the woods.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Thursday, September 02, 2010
'Rachel-y'
My husband has been in Peru since Saturday, so Grandma has been here helping out. (She left this morning to go see my brother and his wife, but she'll be back in a couple of days to help some more, so I'm only a single mom for a day and a half or so, thankfully!). The other night my dad called to talk to my mom and he must've asked, "How's Rachel?" My mom's answer: "Very Rachel-y!"
So what does Rachel-y mean?
*talking non-stop from the time she wakes up until the time she goes to sleep
*boundless energy--running, skipping, or dancing from room to room all day long--the girl is in perpetual motion!
*endless enthusiasm and a zest for life like none I've ever seen!
*constant talk about princesses and Care Bears (her current passion)
*imaginative stories and role-playing
*talking with her hands, using signature 'Rachel-isms' in her speech
And here's a new Rachel-ism to add to the collection....tonight she was across the room from me and she said, "Mommy, I'm going to blow tickles at you!" So instead of blowing me kisses, she was blowing me tickles, and I had to laugh when the tickles reached me. What an imagination!
I said to my mom the other night after she coined the word, 'Rachel-y,' "I wonder what we'll consider to be 'Rebecca-y' in a couple of years!?"
So what does Rachel-y mean?
*talking non-stop from the time she wakes up until the time she goes to sleep
*boundless energy--running, skipping, or dancing from room to room all day long--the girl is in perpetual motion!
*endless enthusiasm and a zest for life like none I've ever seen!
*constant talk about princesses and Care Bears (her current passion)
*imaginative stories and role-playing
*talking with her hands, using signature 'Rachel-isms' in her speech
And here's a new Rachel-ism to add to the collection....tonight she was across the room from me and she said, "Mommy, I'm going to blow tickles at you!" So instead of blowing me kisses, she was blowing me tickles, and I had to laugh when the tickles reached me. What an imagination!
I said to my mom the other night after she coined the word, 'Rachel-y,' "I wonder what we'll consider to be 'Rebecca-y' in a couple of years!?"