Peanut butter and jelly

There will be no Peanut butter or jelly, I was just kidding.

I just wanted to get your attention so I could show you these.

Hi Peanut,

You are 6 weeks old today.

I can't even begin to tell you how happy you make your mommy and daddy.

I love you to pieces.

The end.

Friday Five - Ways to get your baby to fall asleep

Thursday was a "meltdown" day.  We have one of those in our house about every couple of days.  This usually includes Peanut screaming inconsolably for a couple of hours while I try every single thing that I have ever heard/read/seen/made up to calm her.  This is followed by me crying.  Sometimes it's while she's still crying, other times it's after.  Jon and I are almost positive that this only happens when she is overtired and can't seem to sooth herself to sleep.  Therefore it is our job as her parents (sidenote: OMG we're someone's parents...yipes!) to sooth her to sleep.

Which brings me to our Friday Five - Ways to get your baby to fall asleep.  Here is what works in our house.

1.  Wear your Peanut in a carrier such as the Baby Bjorn.

This one actually works every single time.  When it's the afternoon and Peanut hasn't taken a nap, I can almost see the meltdown coming.  Then, as predicted, she begins to wail inconsolably; so I pull out the baby bjorn, stick my little Peanut in it, and "wear" her around the house.  This is great when you want to go for a walk or get some stuff done around the house.  However, I must warn you.  It does a number on your back/neck/shoulders.

2.  Put your Peanut in the swing.

Sometimes babies just get tired of you.  And over stimulated by the world.  At this point it's best to just put them in the swing and leave them alone.  Our little Peanut can spend an hour just looking at herself in the mirror in the center of the mobile.


3.  Place your Peanut over the shoulder and pat the butt lightly but very quickly.

I'm not sure why this one works for us, but it does.  When she is just beginning her meltdown I can sometimes just throw her over my shoulder in the "burping" position and pat her butt.  She usually slumps down on my shoulder and falls asleep.  This one works best in the middle of the night.

4.  Swaddle your Peanut and put her in the crib with the Sleep Sheep.

We are trying to develop a sleep routine at our house and this is part of it.  So far it's been working pretty well.  This is also the case when we want her to go back to sleep after a midnight or a 2 am feeding.  We just swaddle her tightly and put her back in the crib or co-sleeper and turn on the sleep sheep.  Then hope for the best.  Often the pacifier is also involved.

5.  Lay your Peanut in the Bouncer, turn on the music, turn on the vibration, and continually rock the Bouncer with your foot.

Ugh, that brings me to Thursday.  We had a meltdown for almost the entire day.  I don't think she got a good night's sleep and proceeded to wail most of the day.  After carrying her around most of the morning and early afternoon my back wanted out and I wasn't blaming it.  So I thought I'd try one of the many other options that have previously worked.  Except nothing was working.  So I put her in the bouncer.  She wailed.  I turned on the music in the bouncer.  She watched me for a minute, then wailed.  So I turned on the vibration in the bouncer.  She looked at me, confused, then wailed.  So I started bouncing her with my foot.  She seemed curious.  I kept bouncing.  She looked disinterested.  I kept bouncing.  She started closing her eyes.  I continued to bounce her for the next 2 and half hours.

When creating this, I also had some weigh ins from the cyber world.  Here are some other ways to get your baby to sleep:

• Put your baby on your chest and sing Amazing Grace
• Put your baby in the car seat and rock

I am also currently re-reading Sleeping Through the Night...and other lies by Sandi Kahn Shelton (I'll tell you more about Sandi and her book in a whole other post sometime...hint- she was our landlord in the apartment we got engaged in) and this is a quick excerpt from her book about getting your baby to sleep:

Sometimes turning on the clothes dryer works.
Sometimes walking very fast while singing the words to your high school fight song works.
Sometimes wrapping the baby's feet in a blanket helps.
Sometimes not eating garlic for a while will prevent other incidents like that, but probably not retroactively for this time.

But sometimes - I can't lie to you - you just have to stay up all night, holding onto this miserable little person, and all you can come away with is the knowledge that when the sun comes up, it doesn't get light all at once, but just kind of gradually gets lighter and lighter gray until you can start to notice things like flowers and lawn furniture and the individual leaves on the trees.  

And that's when you realize the baby is asleep, and that you're most likely going to live through this time in your life.

Especially if you can laugh.

In fact, definitely if you can laugh.

Now, we all know how much I just adore your comments and advice.  Even the unrelated comments (you know who you are - I love that you don't have kids and still leave me very funny comments).  So please.  Let's hear your ideas!

Linkup:
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March Blog Feature - The Morris Family

I am so excited about this month's Blog Feature!  I found Betty's blog through The Marriage Confessions and have been following it since Betty was pregnant.  At that point I was still day dreaming of the day that I would get to be pregnant.  Then Levi was born and I became even more addicted to her blog than I was before.  Her insights on marriage, raising their first baby, and just getting through life are so truthful that you can't help but be hooked.  You can check out The Morris Family for yourself!

I really didn't know what I was going to write about, when Kat asked me to guest blog. See, I'm more of a jack of all trades (wife, mom, pharmacist, etc), but master/expert of none. Matt and I have been married 3 1/2 years, I've been a pharmacist for 1 1/2 years, and Levi is 6 months old. So I am still in the "new" stages of all my "trades."

All weekend long I have been thinking and brain-storming about what I could possible put here, and then yesterday, Levi gave me all the ammunition I need. He began to crawl (cue horror music). He turns 6 months old on March 6, so we really haven't been thinking much about baby-proofing or, you know, vacuuming more than once a week, or anything like that. I mean, yes, he's been getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth, but that's just for us to look at and coo over, right?

No. Apparently not. Now all of a sudden things I put out of his reach aren't out of his reach anymore. And when I lay him down, I have to *gasp* stay in the same room as him all the time!

But I'm not going to lie, Matt and I are thrilled. As much as I miss him being so small and tiny (and still) as a newborn, I have loved every stage he's gone through. And it is so exciting to see him learn and do new things! Now, when we lay him down in his bed at night, he can crane his head real high and you see his eyes peak over the railing and he watches us walk out. On one hand, it's so sad/heart-wrenching as he watches us leave him, and on the other, it's so neat that he is aware of us now.

 

 

So, the moral of the story (or so I'm learning) is to enjoy it. I am trying to enjoy every stage that Levi goes through, because the older I get, the faster time flies. And I know that 10 years from now, I'll miss this cute little wriggly ball of energy he is now and wonder where it all went!

Turkey Fried Rice

Don't run away.  It's delicious, I swear!  And if you're not into replacing almost anything with chicken or turkey, you can always do Pork Fried Rice.

Regardless of your choice, this is a super easy, quick recipe that's sure to satisfy most taste buds (at least in my house hold).

Here's what you'll need:

• Vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoon plus 1/4 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 bunch scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
• 1/2 pound ground turkey (or pork if you want)
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 3/4 cup uncooked rice
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

 In a large nonstick skillet (or a wok if you got one), heat about a tablespoon of oil over high heat.  In another pot cook the rice with water (for 3/4 cup of rice you'll need 1.5 cups of water). 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl lightly beat the eggs with about 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce. 

Add the eggs to the skillet and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. 

Cook without stirring until almost set (about 1 minute), then fold in thirds.  Take out of the skillet and cut into small pieces.  Set aside.

Add more oil to the skillet then add garlic and scallion whites and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds.

Now the turkey.

Or pork.  Or if you're a vegetarian, just skip this part.  (Kari, I'm talking to you).

Add the turkey to the skiller and cook, breaking up through. 

This will take about 3 minutes.

Add carrots, peas, and rice and stir to combine.

Add cooked egg and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and vinegar.  Cook stirring constantly until rice is coated (about 3 minutes).

Let it cook, undisturbed until everything is nice and warm (about 1 minute).

Top with scallion greens.

Schedules and Routines - 5 weeks old

So apparently it's super hard to find any time to do anything that might be of any interest to you when you have a one-month old.  I have no idea what happened around the one-month mark but everything has changed.  Peanut is this totally awake, playful, curious baby.  She is no longer a newborn and I love every moment of it.

Except for the lack of "me" moments.  That part is a little hard to get used to.

Nonetheless, it's super fun to watch her develop and do new things almost daily.

And starting today I am going to try to get Peanut on a routine that will benefit her and me.  I've been reading up on things that babies her age need and here's what I've come up with.

6.30am - Wake up and feed

Play for about an hour, nap for about an hour.  This means mommy can shower and get ready for the day.

9.00am - Wake up and feed

Play for about an hour, nap for about an hour.  This is usually when I would have breakfast and get some house work done (like maybe make the bed finally or maybe get the grocery shopping done - online or at the store with her).

11.30am - Wake up and feed

Play for about an hour, nap for about an hour.  I sometimes get lunch.  Then we go for a walk if it's warm enough outside.

2.30pm - Wake up and feed

Play for about an hour, nap for about an hour. If my friend can walk at this time, I walk with her instead of earlier.  Otherwise I might do or finish the house chores and maybe even work out.

5.00pm - Wake up and feed.

Play for about an hour, nap for about an hour.  This way daddy can get to play with the baby right when he comes home from work or eventually, both of us will be picking her up from daycare around this time.  Then we usually make dinner and finish up any household stuff or get ready for the next day.

7-7.30pm - Wake up and feed.
At this point we spend a few minutes with her if she's awake and then begin the bedtime routine.  This might include a bath on "bath days" or just rocking and reading her a couple of books in her room.  Then we swaddle her and put her in her crib.

Then we get up about every 2-5 minutes to put the pacifier back in her mouth which she spits out and then wails for.  Once she actually falls asleep (if she does), this gives us a little time to ourselves.  And this time - for me to actually blog!

10.00pm - Change, feed and make as little noise as possible.  Then hopefully go to bed.  All of us.

She usually wakes up once or twice during the night as well.  We do the super quiet, "do-not-engage" change and feed, then put her right back to bed in the co-sleeper.

What do you guys think?  What are your routines or experiences with routines at this age?  I'm dying to know!

***Adjustment:
I just wanted to let you guys know that this isn't set in stone.  We're pretty flexible, so if we're off by a half hour here or there, or if Peanut sleeps through her play-time, we don't fret too much.  This has been primarily set by her and adjusted here and there by me to make sure she gets the full 16 or so hours of sleep, eats every 2-3 hours, and gets some time to play.