Birthdays Aren't Fun Anymore

Even though Sydney's birthday is still a good six weeks away, she has been talking about it non-stop for about a month now. She is so excited about having her party at her gymnastics club I think she's going to explode soon. Ah.....to be young again and look forward to your birthday.

The last two years, my birthdays have, for lack of a better word, sucked. Yeah, yeah, I was slightly depressed about turning 30 last year, but the fear of having a miscarriage weighed more heavily on my mind last year than hitting the big 3-0. My OB basically told me (on my birthday) to not get my hopes up. Thankfully, everything turned out fine and I'm now a proud mama of two great kids.

This year, I'm not depressed about turning 31. I was actually looking forward to spending the evening with my family celebrating not only my big day, but the 9th birthday of my niece, Laura. A little bit of cake, a couple of presents, the whole thing.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to enjoy the cake or any other food or beverage tomorrow. That's because, once again, I had to have another root canal today. This makes number four. Yes, four root canals by the age of 31.

So instead of celebrating my birthday with cake, ice cream and perhaps a glass of wine later in the evening, I'll be popping a Vicodin or two instead. No sugar rush for me....oh no....I'll be on a narcotic high instead.

Here's hoping next year's b-day will be uneventful and pain free.

My celebrity look-alikes

I can't believe I look like Emma Thompson. Pretty cool.
I can't believe I look like Tony Danza and a fat, French actor. Not cool.
Who do you look like?

Our Little Baldie

Poor Liam and his lack of hair. He is the baldest kid at every playgroup that we attend. Maybe we should buy him one of these.

Sleep Training

I don't always like the jokes/anecdotes that get sent to me, but this one made me laugh uncontrollably given that I have recently read four books on baby sleep training. Anyone who has or has had small children can relate.


OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months.
The first few months were great--I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened.

Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night).

At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like it's pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months.

Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30+ years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan.

I call it The Crybaby Shuffle.

It goes like this:

Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed.

I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.

Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.

Night 3--every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights.

Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!!

If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change.

If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep.

Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.

Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it.

BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with.

My sleep sack tickled my foot.

I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.

My mobile made a shadow on the wall.

I burped, and it tasted like pears (I hadn't eaten pears since lunch - what's up with that?)

The cat said "meow" (I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.)

Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.

Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn' t matter! Keep crying!!

It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am.

You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.

P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, NO milk will come out! Trust me.

States I've Visited

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The Funniest Movie EVER

With Sydney at school and Liam napping, I decided to sit down and watch part of a movie (only after completing several chores - I don't want you to think I'm totally lazy). After scrolling through the tv listings, I settled on "The Money Pit". I haven't seen it in years and despite the fact that it was made in 1986 (boy, do I feel old), it is so true to life.

I'm sure I laughed the first time I saw it, but this time, I was laughing so hard I nearly choked on my glass of water. If you haven't seen it, Shelley Long and Tom Hanks buy a house that is literally falling apart at the seams. Physical humor ensues and months later, the house is finally not only habitable, but beautiful.

I guess you can call our 80 year old bungalow our "money pit." Every time we go to fix or replace one thing, we wind up dealing with several more issues and making numerous trips to Home Depot. I don't know how many times we've uttered the phrase, "What were these people thinking?" while working on a project. Really, why would you put a gutter over the front door and not make sure it covered the whole length of the door? Why would you not include a full tub and shower in the only bathroom in the house?

While we love our house and neighborhood, sometimes I long to live in a brand new McMansion out in the 'burbs. But despite the problems we've had with it, we generally get a laugh out of dealing with the issues that come with living in an old home. And after looking at what else we need to do around here, I think many more laughs are in our future.

Woo Hoo!

I got back in my "skinny" jeans today! Goodbye "mom" jeans!