Oh dear. I want to be a stay-at-home mom. I’ve always had a vision of staying home with kids. And for years I said as a matter of course that I wanted to stay home at least until the kids were all in school. However, these were the words of a naive young woman who …
Adorable things Alya does. When she’s hungry, as she’s reaching for the nipple, she says “Leh” or “Heh-leh” – it’s her “word” for milk, hungry, etc.! The way she comes off the breast sometimes when she’s feeding but not super-hungry, and just stares at me, big dark eyes, no blinking, just staring. And after a …
The other elimination. My quest to get our possessions down to a minimum continues. Sometimes the process is sheer joy; other times work; occasionally, a frustrating obsession. I’ve been a bit out of it the last few days, not wanting to socialize or go anywhere as I pawed through boxes and cupboards to find things …
Alya & I continue our learning adventure around bathroom fun. And fun it sometimes is, until my anxiety gets in the way! We have some days that are winners: 8+ pees caught, sometimes a dry diaper for several hours in a row. Victory! And yesterday we caught not only many pees but her end-of-day poo. …
Alexis has a post up about Things that are True. Her list, and my ongoing questions from being a new mom, crystallize around these two topics. What are the truths I want to live my life by, and establish as the foundation of the family in which we raise our beloved daughter? And how do …
I missed poop #4 as well. In my defense, it was a quieter, unexpected explosion. But #5: I saw the fussiness, took the signal, sat her on the potty with a bottle in her mouth, and caught it!! Smiles, celebrations. The next day I had a number of catches, including in the bathroom at Chapters …
Today I learned that when Alya is pooping, she will refuse to nurse and cry when I bring her near the breast, all while insisting on downing a bottle – followed by extreme calm and silence. This would be a helpful signal to get her on the potty if I could remember it for more …
The other night Alya & I went to a birthday party for our doula’s daughter who’s turning 5. It was big outing for us: M wasn’t able to come so we went alone, and it was a party, and it was at night. But we love our doula and her daughter, and we had a …
Sitting on the couch with Alya. She’s eaten, and she gets that look in her eye … so I rush her to the bedroom, take off the diaper and plop her on the potty. She’s perfectly happy to sit there, but nothing comes out. So into the bathroom we go, as it’s bathtime. I try …
Relatively speaking, sleep hasn’t been the biggest issue with Alya. In the beginning, if anything, she slept too much and nursed too little (though that may have also been due to not enough milk). We still sometimes get 5 or 6 hour stretches at night, and very often 3 hours or more. However, we also …