I have taken a lot of pictures lately. And Casey has, too. Some quite artistic. But I won't be sharing any in this post because I'm afraid to download them to this computer. I've actually used up all the space on the C drive. I've never had that happen before. I didn't even know it was possible. But apparently it is, and I've done it. So this week Jason is helping me transfer everything over to a better computer with more capacity, and then I'll be able to add some photos.
The Bus
Casey started riding the bus. He takes it two mornings a week from the elementary school where he has speech therapy to the preschool he attends. He loves it. They walk him from his class out to the waiting bus, strap him into his seat belt, and then deliver him to his preschool teachers. Jason followed him the first day and took pictures, so I can't wait to upload them when I have more computer memory. I'm just happy he's so happy about taking the bus.
Marcie's Sleeping
I have written about Marcie's sleep issues more times than I care to count. Maybe even as often as I was writing about her bowel movements back during Poop Watch 2006. And the good news is that we appear to have trained her.
I wrote before that the crying was whittling down. Well as of around the 24th (maybe even before that, actually), there were no more tears at bedtime. She puts herself right to sleep. When she asks me to lay down with her, I tell her no very gently and remind her that I love her. She rolls over, sucks on her blanket, and puts herself to sleep. Every once in a while, she does still wake up in the middle of the night crying. Sometimes she wants me. Sometimes she wants Jason. Usually we just need to rub her back and let her know we're still there. We tell her to put herself back to sleep, and she does. Last night I heard her cry once, and then it stopped immediately. So she's definitely getting the routine.
I'm sure it helps some that she's so busy at school all day and so tired by the time we get home. I know I'm in a better mood. I can't believe I didn't suck it up and sleep train her sooner! I mean a girl could get used to sleeping more than 3 or 4 continuous hours of sleep a night!
Marcie and her Preschool
I continue to be impressed with Marcie's preschool teachers. She loved going the first couple days, but then the honeymoon ended. The first morning she told me, "No school," I tried to get her to tell me why (yup, that's me, trying to have a rational conversation with a 22-month-old). She didn't like my approach and went to Jason. He reminded her of all the fun things she gets to do at school, and she stopped fussing.
For a few days, she whined and cried as we pulled into the school parking lot. One morning she cried so hard, I'm sure I made it worse by sitting with her on the playground until she calmed down. When I finally left, she was really unhappy. But her teacher told me she stopped crying less than five minutes later and didn't complain the rest of the day.
I know she's still adjusting. It's been less than two weeks, and they say it takes 4-6 weeks for a two-year-old to adjust to being away from home, regardless of the number of days each week they attend. But she is definitely learning new things. And Casey's preschool teachers take him to visit her some days during lunch or play time. He stops by and gives her a hug and a kiss and says hi. And they play together in the afternoons. So that's all good.
She sure does come home dirty, though. One day I made the mistake of just putting a barrette in her hair, no rubber bands. She wore a white shirt, khaki skirt, and white tights. When I arrived to pick her up at the end of the day, she had dirt smudges and a little bit of juice stained around her mouth. She'd spilled juice and I-don't-know-what-else on the once-white shirt; the tights were no longer a white, but a shade of beige from the sandbox I presume; and the backside of her skirt looked like she'd been rolling around on the ground (and she probably had). Plus, her bangs were hanging down, obscuring the top half of her eyes. She looked like one of those children they feature in the ads where they want you to sponsor a child in a developing country by giving food money each month-- except Marcie, of course, doesn't look like she needs to eat. I wish I'd had my camera that day! Suffice it to say she is now in rubber bands always, and we're moving away from white clothes (what was I thinking?!? Casey hated getting even the littlest bit dirty at Marcie's age, so I guess I just thought all kids were like that. . . what a dummy).
Swimming
Casey's entering his sixth week of swimming lessons, and he's been doing-- well, swimmingly. He's mastered any fear of dunking his face. He knows how to make giant scoops with his arms, and he even tries kicking simultaneously. He does it for as long as he can hold his breath, then he stands up, waves to me, and does it again. He's also been working on his elementary back stroke, which cracks me up because I can hear him doing the motions. They've taught the kids that they should make arms like a chicken, then an airplane, then shoot their harms down against their sides like a rocket. So I can hear Casey going "Bock! Bock! Zoooooom! Kerpow!" over and over again as he makes the motions. He can't quite do anything on his own yet, but he's made definite improvements!
Music
Marcie started music class this week. As part of the class, we get a book and a CD of the music. Which the kids both love. If Casey's Sports of all Sorts (soccer, baseball, and basketball) didn't conflict, I'd enroll him, too! Their favorite song is about a duck. But earlier today I heard Casey singing Mary Had a Little Lamb. Except instead of "little lamb" he was singing, "Mary had a little man, little man, little man . . . and everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went; everywhere that Mary went, the man was sure to go." It brings new meaning to the word stalker. Anyway, I have some great pictures a friend took of Marcie in music class, but alas, they will have to wait until I can download on the new computer.
The Car
I did get my car back. The repair place did a great job. But part of the bumper appears to be coming loose, so we'll be taking it back in this week. I'm hopeful it's a one-day fixer so that we don't have to worry about renting again. But really, who knows.
Oddly, my one of my sisters-in-law had her car broken into the week before last and another sister--in-law was hit by a crazy driver who decided to make a left turn right into the front of her beautiful car. She's uninjured but the car may be totalled. We all have the same insurance company, so they must think the S. family is quite a risk to have on the books these days!
The New Job
And last is that I start my new job tomorrow. I don't really know what to expect. I mean, I interned there last summer, so I kind of know what to expect. But I'm quite certain that it'll be different from the summer experience, too. Check in tomorrow, and I'll try to remember to post how things went. (I've been scattered in posting because I finally went to the doctor and it turns out that the pain in my neck is not psychosomatic; I have had a month-long-muscle spasm. I was prescribed a muscle relaxant, but I can't stay awake on the stuff, so I take it when I put the kids to bed, and then I'm out like a light within the hour. . .)
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Super Eater, Super Sleeper
It dawns on me as I write this that perhaps I should not compare our kids. Hmm. I don't mean it like we are creating expectations for one based on the other. Just that it's interesting to see how they handle things differently.
For instance, Marcie is a super eater. She'll try anything. I'm not exaggerating here. Admittedly, she doesn't like everything, but just about. She always turns away lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes, for example. But if she sees anyone eating something, she wants it, too. This is so nice. Last night for dinner, I made Marcie and Casey pizza, and Jason and I had flounder. Marcie asked me for some of my flounder (by grunting at me) and then gobbled it up and asked for more. What not-even-two-year-old eats fish? Casey, on the other hand, is not adventurous with food. It's a battle just to get him to smell something new. Forget about tasting it. Of course, on the flip side of this, Casey doesn't eat constantly, isn't really a big fan of sweets (including cake), and we don't worry that he'll eat himself silly.
On the flip side of things, Casey is a super sleeper. He lays down at bed time (or nap time) and sings to himself or counts sheep or whatever. We just kiss him good-night, shut off the light, and walk about the door. He naps, even 4 1/2 for at least an hour a day. And lately, his nighttime sleep has been extending (I actually wake him up at 6:45am many mornings now, when he used to wake me up at 6:00am). Marcie, on the other hand, is not so good with the sleeping. She cat naps for like 30 minutes at a time. If we're lucky, she might nap for a solid hour in the afternoon. She screams when we put her down at bed, and she wakes up anywhere between once and four times during the night (and wakes us up right along with her). Then she's up between 5:45am and 6:15am for the day.
Last week -- or the week before-- I decided enough was enough-- it was time for Marcie to learn to put herself to sleep. So on Thursday night (I think it was Thursday), when I put her in bed, I told her she needed to put herself to sleep. That I loved her. That I was right outside her door. And that I'd be there in the morning. And good-night. I turn off the light, and I put up the gate in the doorway. And she began to cry. And cry. And scream. And cry. It started out with the loud wails. Then progressed into, "MOMMY! PO- PO!" (Po-po is essentially hold me in Cantonese.) Then she started yelling, "ALL DONE!" and finally began clapping her hands in between screams.
This all in the first five minutes after I put her down. After five minutes I walked into her bedroom, picked her up, put her in bed, told her I loved her, I would be there when she woke up, and covered her back up. Left the room and put the gate up. And repeated the scenario. I did this every 5 minutes for the first 1/2 hour. Then every 10 minutes for the next half hour. Then every 15 minutes (where I planned to hold it until she fell asleep). Thankfully, after the first 15 minutes of screaming and carrying on, she finally fell asleep.
The next night, it was the same. Except instead of taking an hour and a half, it only took maybe 45 minutes. And the next night we were out for the night. She cried and cried in the babysitter's arms for about an hour, until she fell asleep. (I guess we got our money's worth that evening!) Sunday, it was more like 20 minutes, and then for the past week, it's been between 10 and 15 minutes of crying. Over the weekend, the crying (whimpering, really) started when it was time to brush teeth now. Then, a couple nights ago, when I put her down I told her to put herself to sleep, and that I'd check on her in 10 minutes. Eight minutes later, she began crying out for me to hold her. At 10 minutes, I put her back in bed and told her I loved her. She asked me to lay down, and I told her no because she needed to learn to put herself to sleep. And when I checked on her 10 minutes later, she'd put herself to sleep! (As a side note to all of this, Casey actually has been able to sleep through all of Marcie's carrying on-- he really is a super sleeper.) And last night and tonight she went down with no tears at all. I'm banking on the theory that three nights in a row is a pattern. Yippee!
Now, I have very mixed feelings about this sleep-training. Some people call it Ferberizing, and I think I've written about it before. Others call it controlled crying because you don't leave the child in distress to cry for hours on end. I call it heart-wrenching and pretty sucky. And if I could survive on bouts of 3 hours of sleep for years on end and was confident I'd be home at bedtime to lay down with each child to help him or her fall asleep, I might consider not sleep-training. But the truth is that we all know how important sleep is. And I'd be doing a disservice to Marcie if I didn't help her learn how to put herself to sleep. I mean, if she wanted to eat chocolate kisses and only chocolate kisses, and she screamed and cried and carried on if I told her she had to eat something else, I surely wouldn't give in. Because it's bad for her teeth and bad for her growth. I think sleep is kind of like that.
On the other hand, I must admit, I've really been putting off this sleep training in many respects (though I've toyed with doing it off and on for a while) because she's adopted. If you haven't adopted a child who was older than newborn, this probably sounds crazy to you. But if you have adopted a child who's older than just-born, you probably know exactly what I mean. It's all connected to the issue of attachment. And in this sense, I may have fallen prey to the very thing I never want my kids to feel (though I imagine some day they might)-- that they behave in a particular way or feel a certain way simply because they are adopted. I don't want how they joined their family, our family, to be an excuse. For anything. And yet here I am, using it as an excuse myself.
Because a part of me worries that Marcie doesn't like sleeping alone at night (or any time, actually) because it's foreign to her. She feels safer surrounded by others-- just how it was when she lived in China. I know it's irrational because she probably doesn't even remember China anymore. But aren't fears irrational? Maybe she doesn't know why being alone in her bedroom causes her anxiety but it's because of this childhood experience she doesn't remember. Is that possible? As much as I cling to this fear, though, I also know deep in my gut and just as deeply in my heart that Marcie knows she is part of our family and always has been, since the day she was born. She has shown no difficulties with attachment, really. She seems to feel safe and secure and really appears to love being part of this little family of ours. I have no reason to believe the bedtime blues are anything but typical toddler behavior (except the Internet reading I've done on the subject of attachment, or lack thereof, which can display in just one area of a child's life sometimes).
In the end, though, I know she needs to sleep. I need to sleep. And Marcie understands when we tell her we love her, and we'll be there when she wakes up in the morning. So it'll be okay, right?
For instance, Marcie is a super eater. She'll try anything. I'm not exaggerating here. Admittedly, she doesn't like everything, but just about. She always turns away lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes, for example. But if she sees anyone eating something, she wants it, too. This is so nice. Last night for dinner, I made Marcie and Casey pizza, and Jason and I had flounder. Marcie asked me for some of my flounder (by grunting at me) and then gobbled it up and asked for more. What not-even-two-year-old eats fish? Casey, on the other hand, is not adventurous with food. It's a battle just to get him to smell something new. Forget about tasting it. Of course, on the flip side of this, Casey doesn't eat constantly, isn't really a big fan of sweets (including cake), and we don't worry that he'll eat himself silly.
On the flip side of things, Casey is a super sleeper. He lays down at bed time (or nap time) and sings to himself or counts sheep or whatever. We just kiss him good-night, shut off the light, and walk about the door. He naps, even 4 1/2 for at least an hour a day. And lately, his nighttime sleep has been extending (I actually wake him up at 6:45am many mornings now, when he used to wake me up at 6:00am). Marcie, on the other hand, is not so good with the sleeping. She cat naps for like 30 minutes at a time. If we're lucky, she might nap for a solid hour in the afternoon. She screams when we put her down at bed, and she wakes up anywhere between once and four times during the night (and wakes us up right along with her). Then she's up between 5:45am and 6:15am for the day.
Last week -- or the week before-- I decided enough was enough-- it was time for Marcie to learn to put herself to sleep. So on Thursday night (I think it was Thursday), when I put her in bed, I told her she needed to put herself to sleep. That I loved her. That I was right outside her door. And that I'd be there in the morning. And good-night. I turn off the light, and I put up the gate in the doorway. And she began to cry. And cry. And scream. And cry. It started out with the loud wails. Then progressed into, "MOMMY! PO- PO!" (Po-po is essentially hold me in Cantonese.) Then she started yelling, "ALL DONE!" and finally began clapping her hands in between screams.
This all in the first five minutes after I put her down. After five minutes I walked into her bedroom, picked her up, put her in bed, told her I loved her, I would be there when she woke up, and covered her back up. Left the room and put the gate up. And repeated the scenario. I did this every 5 minutes for the first 1/2 hour. Then every 10 minutes for the next half hour. Then every 15 minutes (where I planned to hold it until she fell asleep). Thankfully, after the first 15 minutes of screaming and carrying on, she finally fell asleep.
The next night, it was the same. Except instead of taking an hour and a half, it only took maybe 45 minutes. And the next night we were out for the night. She cried and cried in the babysitter's arms for about an hour, until she fell asleep. (I guess we got our money's worth that evening!) Sunday, it was more like 20 minutes, and then for the past week, it's been between 10 and 15 minutes of crying. Over the weekend, the crying (whimpering, really) started when it was time to brush teeth now. Then, a couple nights ago, when I put her down I told her to put herself to sleep, and that I'd check on her in 10 minutes. Eight minutes later, she began crying out for me to hold her. At 10 minutes, I put her back in bed and told her I loved her. She asked me to lay down, and I told her no because she needed to learn to put herself to sleep. And when I checked on her 10 minutes later, she'd put herself to sleep! (As a side note to all of this, Casey actually has been able to sleep through all of Marcie's carrying on-- he really is a super sleeper.) And last night and tonight she went down with no tears at all. I'm banking on the theory that three nights in a row is a pattern. Yippee!
Now, I have very mixed feelings about this sleep-training. Some people call it Ferberizing, and I think I've written about it before. Others call it controlled crying because you don't leave the child in distress to cry for hours on end. I call it heart-wrenching and pretty sucky. And if I could survive on bouts of 3 hours of sleep for years on end and was confident I'd be home at bedtime to lay down with each child to help him or her fall asleep, I might consider not sleep-training. But the truth is that we all know how important sleep is. And I'd be doing a disservice to Marcie if I didn't help her learn how to put herself to sleep. I mean, if she wanted to eat chocolate kisses and only chocolate kisses, and she screamed and cried and carried on if I told her she had to eat something else, I surely wouldn't give in. Because it's bad for her teeth and bad for her growth. I think sleep is kind of like that.
On the other hand, I must admit, I've really been putting off this sleep training in many respects (though I've toyed with doing it off and on for a while) because she's adopted. If you haven't adopted a child who was older than newborn, this probably sounds crazy to you. But if you have adopted a child who's older than just-born, you probably know exactly what I mean. It's all connected to the issue of attachment. And in this sense, I may have fallen prey to the very thing I never want my kids to feel (though I imagine some day they might)-- that they behave in a particular way or feel a certain way simply because they are adopted. I don't want how they joined their family, our family, to be an excuse. For anything. And yet here I am, using it as an excuse myself.
Because a part of me worries that Marcie doesn't like sleeping alone at night (or any time, actually) because it's foreign to her. She feels safer surrounded by others-- just how it was when she lived in China. I know it's irrational because she probably doesn't even remember China anymore. But aren't fears irrational? Maybe she doesn't know why being alone in her bedroom causes her anxiety but it's because of this childhood experience she doesn't remember. Is that possible? As much as I cling to this fear, though, I also know deep in my gut and just as deeply in my heart that Marcie knows she is part of our family and always has been, since the day she was born. She has shown no difficulties with attachment, really. She seems to feel safe and secure and really appears to love being part of this little family of ours. I have no reason to believe the bedtime blues are anything but typical toddler behavior (except the Internet reading I've done on the subject of attachment, or lack thereof, which can display in just one area of a child's life sometimes).
In the end, though, I know she needs to sleep. I need to sleep. And Marcie understands when we tell her we love her, and we'll be there when she wakes up in the morning. So it'll be okay, right?
Friday, June 22, 2007
Jumping, Soccer, and other Fun
Sorry it's been a while. Is anyone even still reading this thing? Who would have guessed that studying for the bar would take so much out of me? Honestly, what's really kept me from blogging is lack of Internet access during the daytime. I'm too tired to get online when I get home, and I don't have Internet access during class. Which is probably better for my studying and focus. . .
So the big news this week is that Marcie has learned to jump. She is a riot with it. After the Little Gym class last week, she decided to try on her own. During class, she always bends her knees and lets me lift her, but this past weekend she decided to jump on her own. And, my, she is very proud of herself. And so darn cute doing it. She has also begun to run. Not speed walk (I am always so surprised and impressed at how quickly toddlers move!), but run. This morning, she ran from the car to her grandmother's front door. She paused before the stoop step and stepped up it carefully, then stretched up on her tippy toes to ring the doorbell. All. By. her. self. It's crazy how fast she's growing up.
As pleased as I am with her motor development (and her language skills, which never cease to impress me-- this morning she said thank you unprompted!), I am really displeased with her sleep habits. I vaguely remember Casey going through this phase of waking in the middle of the night and wanting a milk cup/bottle-- or was it chicken? There was also a phase during which he'd wake up at 1am and ask for chicken to eat. And I remember talking to someone (my mom? Jason? friends?) about how it was bad for his teeth and I needed to break him of it. But I was so tired, that it was just so hard not to just give him the drink and let him put himself back to sleep. For the life of me, I cannot remember what we did to resolve the issue. Or if it cleared on its own. I think it might have gone away on its own, and we chalked it up to a growth spurt. Oh, but if only it were so easy with Marcie. After going to bed last night, she got up twice-- once around midnight and the other time around 5am. I guess that's 5 hours of sleep in a row. But the night before-- goodness almighty-- I was up with her four times. Each time she asked me for milk, and each time I said no. Until 4am. When I finally gave in and gave her some water. I probably just totally ruined things doing that, huh? I probably almost had her trained to believe I wouldn't get her middle-of-the-night beverages and blew it when she asked the fourth time. Anyway, it's getting old.
And I can't help but wonder my eternal question-- are Marcie's sleep issues just regular kid issues or adoption issues? Is she just not used to sleeping alone? She's been home with us in her own bed now since November, so around 7 1/2 months. Is it that she is frightened by the dark? (We leave a hall light on now.) Is it that she wants to make sure I'm still around? Or am I just making too much of it all? It's so hard to know-- and as I have explained to all those people around me who roll their eyes at me when I talk about it-- I don't want to be one of those people who blames everything on adoption. But I also don't want to ignore the fact that Marcie may have issues that we need to give more time to than we would if she were with us from birth. And for me, sleeping is just one of those things. I go back and forth on it. Sometimes I think, "Enough is enough already!" But then the next day I think, "Geez, Karen, give it some time, already!"
Anyway, in other news, Casey plays in his first real soccer game this Saturday! Hopefully we'll get some photos or video of that. More importantly, hopefully he won't just lay down on the field and ignore the ball. And the real big news of last week was the arrival of my nephew, Ethan Xavier H. He is the seventh grandchild to my parents, the sixth boy. (Poor Marcie!)He was 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 20 inches. He had a full head of hair (almost as much as Marcie!!!), and eyebrows already. I'd post a picture of me and Jason with him, but I stupidly forgot my camera when we went to visit him in the hospital, and I've been staying away ever since (because I developed a viral throat infection on Sunday-- good times, but at least I can breathe, so I'm grateful for that!).
I DO have more to tell- I think I left everyone hanging with our adoption decision. And we did make one. And we are paper-chasing for BS #3. But I'll have to save that for another post, when I have a bit more time to write.
Oh. And for those of you still reading this blog. Thank you.
So the big news this week is that Marcie has learned to jump. She is a riot with it. After the Little Gym class last week, she decided to try on her own. During class, she always bends her knees and lets me lift her, but this past weekend she decided to jump on her own. And, my, she is very proud of herself. And so darn cute doing it. She has also begun to run. Not speed walk (I am always so surprised and impressed at how quickly toddlers move!), but run. This morning, she ran from the car to her grandmother's front door. She paused before the stoop step and stepped up it carefully, then stretched up on her tippy toes to ring the doorbell. All. By. her. self. It's crazy how fast she's growing up.
As pleased as I am with her motor development (and her language skills, which never cease to impress me-- this morning she said thank you unprompted!), I am really displeased with her sleep habits. I vaguely remember Casey going through this phase of waking in the middle of the night and wanting a milk cup/bottle-- or was it chicken? There was also a phase during which he'd wake up at 1am and ask for chicken to eat. And I remember talking to someone (my mom? Jason? friends?) about how it was bad for his teeth and I needed to break him of it. But I was so tired, that it was just so hard not to just give him the drink and let him put himself back to sleep. For the life of me, I cannot remember what we did to resolve the issue. Or if it cleared on its own. I think it might have gone away on its own, and we chalked it up to a growth spurt. Oh, but if only it were so easy with Marcie. After going to bed last night, she got up twice-- once around midnight and the other time around 5am. I guess that's 5 hours of sleep in a row. But the night before-- goodness almighty-- I was up with her four times. Each time she asked me for milk, and each time I said no. Until 4am. When I finally gave in and gave her some water. I probably just totally ruined things doing that, huh? I probably almost had her trained to believe I wouldn't get her middle-of-the-night beverages and blew it when she asked the fourth time. Anyway, it's getting old.
And I can't help but wonder my eternal question-- are Marcie's sleep issues just regular kid issues or adoption issues? Is she just not used to sleeping alone? She's been home with us in her own bed now since November, so around 7 1/2 months. Is it that she is frightened by the dark? (We leave a hall light on now.) Is it that she wants to make sure I'm still around? Or am I just making too much of it all? It's so hard to know-- and as I have explained to all those people around me who roll their eyes at me when I talk about it-- I don't want to be one of those people who blames everything on adoption. But I also don't want to ignore the fact that Marcie may have issues that we need to give more time to than we would if she were with us from birth. And for me, sleeping is just one of those things. I go back and forth on it. Sometimes I think, "Enough is enough already!" But then the next day I think, "Geez, Karen, give it some time, already!"
Anyway, in other news, Casey plays in his first real soccer game this Saturday! Hopefully we'll get some photos or video of that. More importantly, hopefully he won't just lay down on the field and ignore the ball. And the real big news of last week was the arrival of my nephew, Ethan Xavier H. He is the seventh grandchild to my parents, the sixth boy. (Poor Marcie!)He was 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 20 inches. He had a full head of hair (almost as much as Marcie!!!), and eyebrows already. I'd post a picture of me and Jason with him, but I stupidly forgot my camera when we went to visit him in the hospital, and I've been staying away ever since (because I developed a viral throat infection on Sunday-- good times, but at least I can breathe, so I'm grateful for that!).
I DO have more to tell- I think I left everyone hanging with our adoption decision. And we did make one. And we are paper-chasing for BS #3. But I'll have to save that for another post, when I have a bit more time to write.
Oh. And for those of you still reading this blog. Thank you.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Sniffles and Hacking
Marcie finished her antibiotic eye drops on Saturday for the eye infection. Guess what she woke up with yesterday? A cold. The poor child hasn't gone (I think maybe literally) a whole week healthy in I-don't-remember-how-long! A part of me wonders why. We don't have her in day care. (But her brother is in preschool and apparently likes to bring home germs!) And a part of me thinks, Well, at least she's building up her immune system now.
She had her 18 month check up yesterday. I had class so Jason took her. They wanted to give her vaccinations even though she has a cold. They explained that it's still recommended by the American Pediatrics Association to do it and that most doctors will. Jason told them they can wait a week for her immune system to build up some. She's been on antibiotics almost continuously for so long-- her body needs some time to heal itself. And this cold. They were pretty high-pressure, but Jason held his ground. She'll go back next week for the shots.
Here are her stats:
Age: 18 months, 1 day
Height: 32.75 inches (80th percentile)-- this is less than before. At her 1-year, she was in the 90-something percentile.
Weight: 27 lbs (80th percentile)-- so for all those people out there who comment what a "healthy" girl she is, she is exactly proportionate!
Head Circumference: 47 cm (65th percentile). We think her head is large now! Not too big for her body, just large. I can't imagine if her noggin were also in the 80th percentile!
We're also sleep training. Marcie goes down to bed like a dream now (thanks to Jason). No tears. She just lays down in bed and puts herself asleep. It took about 5 days to train her to do that. But she's still waking up at least once in the night-- and sometimes twice and screaming for me. Then falling right back asleep if one of us goes in with her.
I've been really paranoid (that's not the right word for it-- cautious is more appropriate) about sleep training. Though Marcie has transitioned into our family beautifully, I know that sometimes children only exhibit attachment problems at night. One school of thought is that if you don't show up when your child is screaming for you, she will feel abandoned. Another school of thought is that if you're there for hr the other 98% of the time, it's all fine. I don't think either is necessarily right 100% of the time. And I think that with children adopted in the later parts of infancy from an institution or from foster care, you really have to trust your gut.
I can hear in Marcie's scream that she is not actually scared. Her nighttime screaming and crying is her tantrum screaming and crying. And so I've taught her that if she pitches a fit, I will come. It's time to re-teach her. It's important that she know how to put herself back to sleep.
Last night she woke up twice. The first time, I was still up. After a couple minutes, I just appeared in her doorway and told her, "Mommy's here. Go back to sleep, Marcie. Lay down." and she did. The second time, she didn't calm down from my words. So I went into the room and rubbed her back and told her I loved her and it was time to sleep. I kissed her goodnight and left the room.
She woke me up again around 5:45am this morning, which is normal for her. So I think that's a good sign. Of course, I've said that before and been wrong. Plus, apparently she woke up Monday and Tuesday nights, too, and I didn't hear her-- so Jason went in with her. He's not up yet, so it's possible he spent part of last night with her, too.
Anyway, that's what we're up to these days!
She had her 18 month check up yesterday. I had class so Jason took her. They wanted to give her vaccinations even though she has a cold. They explained that it's still recommended by the American Pediatrics Association to do it and that most doctors will. Jason told them they can wait a week for her immune system to build up some. She's been on antibiotics almost continuously for so long-- her body needs some time to heal itself. And this cold. They were pretty high-pressure, but Jason held his ground. She'll go back next week for the shots.
Here are her stats:
Age: 18 months, 1 day
Height: 32.75 inches (80th percentile)-- this is less than before. At her 1-year, she was in the 90-something percentile.
Weight: 27 lbs (80th percentile)-- so for all those people out there who comment what a "healthy" girl she is, she is exactly proportionate!
Head Circumference: 47 cm (65th percentile). We think her head is large now! Not too big for her body, just large. I can't imagine if her noggin were also in the 80th percentile!
We're also sleep training. Marcie goes down to bed like a dream now (thanks to Jason). No tears. She just lays down in bed and puts herself asleep. It took about 5 days to train her to do that. But she's still waking up at least once in the night-- and sometimes twice and screaming for me. Then falling right back asleep if one of us goes in with her.
I've been really paranoid (that's not the right word for it-- cautious is more appropriate) about sleep training. Though Marcie has transitioned into our family beautifully, I know that sometimes children only exhibit attachment problems at night. One school of thought is that if you don't show up when your child is screaming for you, she will feel abandoned. Another school of thought is that if you're there for hr the other 98% of the time, it's all fine. I don't think either is necessarily right 100% of the time. And I think that with children adopted in the later parts of infancy from an institution or from foster care, you really have to trust your gut.
I can hear in Marcie's scream that she is not actually scared. Her nighttime screaming and crying is her tantrum screaming and crying. And so I've taught her that if she pitches a fit, I will come. It's time to re-teach her. It's important that she know how to put herself back to sleep.
Last night she woke up twice. The first time, I was still up. After a couple minutes, I just appeared in her doorway and told her, "Mommy's here. Go back to sleep, Marcie. Lay down." and she did. The second time, she didn't calm down from my words. So I went into the room and rubbed her back and told her I loved her and it was time to sleep. I kissed her goodnight and left the room.
She woke me up again around 5:45am this morning, which is normal for her. So I think that's a good sign. Of course, I've said that before and been wrong. Plus, apparently she woke up Monday and Tuesday nights, too, and I didn't hear her-- so Jason went in with her. He's not up yet, so it's possible he spent part of last night with her, too.
Anyway, that's what we're up to these days!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Car Scares
Does this ever happen to you?
It's happened to me a few times now, and it scares the hell out of me every time.
Here's what happens:
6:00am (maybe 5:45am) Marcie wakes up. Bright eyed. Cheery even. This morning she sang out "MOMMY!" and got right up in my face to wake me up.
6:02 am Marcie gets dressed.
6:05 am Marcie watches her brother get dressed.
6:10 am Marcie and Casey brush their teeth.
6:15 am Marcie drinks a couple of milk and snacks on dry cereal while she toddles around and gets into things. Casey gets a bowl of cereal and 30 minutes of TV (if he was good when it was time to dress and brush his teeth).
6:30 am Marcie harasses Casey and they bicker. I intervene. Casey tells Marcie to stop trying to eat his cereal already! I remind Casey he needs to eat his cereal.
6:35 am Marcie watches me make Casey's lunch and Jason's breakfast. She begs for more food because she's finished eating her dry cereal. She wants bread with peanut butter. More often than not, I don't relent because I know she's had enough dry cereal.
6:45 am The TV goes off and Marcie begins following Casey around while he plays. Marcie checks on me in the bathroom, where I'm usually showering and putting on make up at this point in the morning.
7:15 am We say good bye to Casey and to Daddy. I search for a sweatshirt or jacket to put on Marcie. I load up the car. I put Marcie in her car seat and buckle her in. I try to entice her to read a book in the backseat.
7:30am We finally pull out of the driveway to go to Grandma's house where Marcie will spend the day.
7:40am I chat with Marcie while we are at a stop light. I can see in the rear view mirror that she is occupying herself by untying her shoelaces and bending over to reach a lace and chew on it. We smile and laugh.
7:45am I look back in the rear view mirror, and Marcie is still playing with the shoelace.
7:47am I look back as we round the corner to Grandma's street and Marcie is passed out. Sometimes she's slumped sideways. Sometimes her head is tossed back. I feel sudden panic. How could she fall asleep that quickly? She didn't even look tired! IS she asleep? Did she get something and choke on it? Is she breathing? I call out to her, "Marcie! Marcie! Wake up!" Horrible thoughts run through my mind -- I try to remember how to do mouth-to-mouth as I pull into Grandma's driveway, ready to pull her out of her car seat and throw her on the grass to perform whatever life-saving technique is necessary.
7:49am I put the car in park and turn off the engine. I leap out of the car, race to the side her car seat is on, and begin tugging on the straps to undo them. I try to check her pulse with my left hand while I unbuckle the belt with my right. No luck. So I lean over her face, hoping to feel her breath on my cheek. I do. And I feel sudden relief.
7:50am I lift Marcie out of the car seat and walk her to the front door. I am so glad she is okay. Grandma reaches out for Marcie, and we quietly remove her shoes so she can nap.
But seriously-- a nap? Already? The kid hasn't been awake even two hours! She 18 months old! She goes without napping at all some days!
All this worrying sure does tucker me out sometimes.
It's happened to me a few times now, and it scares the hell out of me every time.
Here's what happens:
6:00am (maybe 5:45am) Marcie wakes up. Bright eyed. Cheery even. This morning she sang out "MOMMY!" and got right up in my face to wake me up.
6:02 am Marcie gets dressed.
6:05 am Marcie watches her brother get dressed.
6:10 am Marcie and Casey brush their teeth.
6:15 am Marcie drinks a couple of milk and snacks on dry cereal while she toddles around and gets into things. Casey gets a bowl of cereal and 30 minutes of TV (if he was good when it was time to dress and brush his teeth).
6:30 am Marcie harasses Casey and they bicker. I intervene. Casey tells Marcie to stop trying to eat his cereal already! I remind Casey he needs to eat his cereal.
6:35 am Marcie watches me make Casey's lunch and Jason's breakfast. She begs for more food because she's finished eating her dry cereal. She wants bread with peanut butter. More often than not, I don't relent because I know she's had enough dry cereal.
6:45 am The TV goes off and Marcie begins following Casey around while he plays. Marcie checks on me in the bathroom, where I'm usually showering and putting on make up at this point in the morning.
7:15 am We say good bye to Casey and to Daddy. I search for a sweatshirt or jacket to put on Marcie. I load up the car. I put Marcie in her car seat and buckle her in. I try to entice her to read a book in the backseat.
7:30am We finally pull out of the driveway to go to Grandma's house where Marcie will spend the day.
7:40am I chat with Marcie while we are at a stop light. I can see in the rear view mirror that she is occupying herself by untying her shoelaces and bending over to reach a lace and chew on it. We smile and laugh.
7:45am I look back in the rear view mirror, and Marcie is still playing with the shoelace.
7:47am I look back as we round the corner to Grandma's street and Marcie is passed out. Sometimes she's slumped sideways. Sometimes her head is tossed back. I feel sudden panic. How could she fall asleep that quickly? She didn't even look tired! IS she asleep? Did she get something and choke on it? Is she breathing? I call out to her, "Marcie! Marcie! Wake up!" Horrible thoughts run through my mind -- I try to remember how to do mouth-to-mouth as I pull into Grandma's driveway, ready to pull her out of her car seat and throw her on the grass to perform whatever life-saving technique is necessary.
7:49am I put the car in park and turn off the engine. I leap out of the car, race to the side her car seat is on, and begin tugging on the straps to undo them. I try to check her pulse with my left hand while I unbuckle the belt with my right. No luck. So I lean over her face, hoping to feel her breath on my cheek. I do. And I feel sudden relief.
7:50am I lift Marcie out of the car seat and walk her to the front door. I am so glad she is okay. Grandma reaches out for Marcie, and we quietly remove her shoes so she can nap.
But seriously-- a nap? Already? The kid hasn't been awake even two hours! She 18 months old! She goes without napping at all some days!
All this worrying sure does tucker me out sometimes.
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