Nigh Nigh Mission

 I know that my blog entries have stopped but this baby thing is kicking my butt. Actually, the lack of sleep is kicking my butt.

Yesterday, we attended Caio's one month check up. I showed up with high hopes since I suspected Caio to weigh more than 10 pounds. Let me explain. I once read that once a baby weighs more than 10 lbs, he/she can go the night without feedings, so logically I was thrilled to hear that he is slightly above 10 lbs. In learning the news, I began to make plans of how I would help Caio sleep through the night. Well, the doc had a differ view. Though she agrees that  he can now sleep through the night, she believes that I should feed him on demand and that he will slowly adjust on his own. She also went on to say that babies begin to sleep through the night between their 4th to 8th month and that I should be patient. After 8 months, if he is not sleeping through the night, we are to intervene. 8 months! Is she out of her mind?! I'm a working mom. I can't go 8 months without a decent night of sleep. I become extremely cranky and bitch when I'm tired and hungry. Without sleep, I am capable of killing or driving those around me crazy. I can picture myself now saying, "No, your Honor. I plead not guilty due to temporary insanity."

Slightly frustrated by the doc's comments, I decided to "help" Caio sleep through the night as I did with my daughter. Calling this the Nigh Nigh mission, I devised a plan of action. For the first few nights, I will no longer wake Caio up for a feeding--those days are long gone! I will feed him when he asks for it as recommended by the doctor. Next, hubby and I will put him to bed by 10 pm. We began doing this last week and it has been going well. I will also move Caio's bassinet away from my bed. After having kids, I became a light sleeper. Any little noise wakes me up, so when Caio grunts or moves in his sleep I immediately wake up. By moving him, I'm hoping that I will sleep better and that I will disrupt his sleep less. There will also be no talking during the night. I want Caio to understand that night time is sleep/quiet time; it is not play time with mommy. Finally, I am using the French wait method (this comes from the book Bringing up Bebe). When Caio grunts or moves at night, I am going to wait a little before picking him up. Hopefully, this will help him learn to fall asleep by himself and not with my assistance. With my plan in action, I'm hoping that he will sleep through the night by his 2 month check up. Wish me luck!

Other side effects of a sleepless night: I have noticed that I look much older. Perhaps it's the dark circles under my eyes or my tired expression...regardless, I look older and that needs to change. Here is a before and after picture of me.

Before sleep                                                                                                            After sleep

Baby Boy

New baby boy

The nine month wait is finally over. My baby boy was born on Easter, April 8th, after 17 hours of labor!

Baby and mom:

Aquarela Kids Above:

Throughout the preg, I opted not to know the sex of the baby. Since knowing but not allowed to talk about it was too much pressure, hubby also decided not to know the sex of the baby.

We would have been more than happy with either sex, but the idea of having a little boy and girl, a couple, was top on our list. Needless to say, we were and are thrilled to have a little boy. He is going to learn how to dance with mom and will become a soccer-fan-cake-baking little boy with dad!

Baby and Dad:

While at the hospital, we were given the option to circumcise him. To be honest, I know little of the benefits or disadvantages associated with the procedure, but hubby felt no need to go through with it. After a little research, I discovered that C is on the decline in the U.S. Excluding cultural or religious reasons, parents and doctors see little benefits to it.

After asking around, a friend sent me this video on circumcisions. It's a little long and graphic but informative.

Not Finding Out the Gender

I recently discovered a baby registry designed for parent who choose not to know the gender of the baby. According to the registry, friends and family can select items and once the baby is born the gender-appropriate gift and color is mail to the parents.

Unfortunately, Not Finding Out still perpetuates gender specific colors and items but it does make it easier for friends and family shopping for couples who choose not to know the gender of the baby.

Must everything be pink or blue?

Camila's Bedroom

As the delivery date approaches, hubby and I have started shopping for baby things. The problem, however, is that most things are pink or blue, girl or boy. This poses a problem at time since hubby and I chose to keep the gender of the baby a surprise (We are not the only crazy ones. Click on the article for other crazy parents). I'm under the belief that learning the gender of the baby is going to be one of the few pleasurable experiences on the day of delivery. Consequently, we are having a difficult time shopping and redecorating the kids' room.Camila and the baby will share a room. While we have tried to make it into a gender neutral room, we have failed miserably. The room is full of pink storage containers, flowers on the walls, and girly bedding. We have failed because the baby to come may be a boy (for some odd reason I have a strong gut feeling that the baby will be a mini version of my hubby--a little boy with a big butt).

Though we are not sure of the colors and style , we are set on a few decorating ideas that will help make it gender neutral:

Reading nook for Camila and the baby:
I love the idea of letting kids have a space designated for reading. I hope that by fostering positive reading habits, I'm going to set my kids up for a successful future.

Bunk beds for the kids:

Our space is limited so a bunk bed just sounds like the logical solution. Plus, it just seems so fun.

A faux polar bear rug:

I don't really have a reason for this. I just really like it.

Imaginative Play and the Behavior of Kids

Call me old fashion but should babies have an iPad case? Hell! Should they have an iPad?

Fisher Price recently released an iPad case for toddlers. The case, which costs less than $40, protects the iPad against biting and drooling. They actually market it that way...crazy!

I'm pro entertainment and using educational resources to motivate, guide, distract, and teach kids, but what has happened to letting kids use their imagination to build, discover, create, learn, and self-monitor? What is wrong with imaginative play? What is wrong with letting kids be bored? What is wrong with Fisher Price?

I'm sorry, but the Fisher Price case has really gotten me fired up!

A few years ago, I heard a great report on NPR about imaginative play, which I'm sharing with you. It provides a hypothesis to why some believe kids are less mature today them they were in prior years. I found the report very informative and it helped shed light on the disruptive and immature behavior of some of my students. As a parent, the report reminded me that kids need time, space, and opportunities to be creative and free-thinkers.

Please read the article. You may be surprised to learn that it began with toys.

Here is another great article:

Imaginative play for Toddlers

Growing Belly

Rutabaga

Each week, I receive an email letting me know how my baby is developing. The size of the baby is always compared to a fruit or vegetable. This week, my 13" developing baby is a rutabaga (It's a beet-looking vegetable--I had to look it up).

What the email fails to say is that my rutabaga baby is made out of lead! Really, all of a sudden, my belly and size are overwhelmingly noticeable to me. I feel huge, clumsy, and exhausted. I can no longer see my feet, which are now in a constant 45 degree angle so to accommodate my waddle. When practicing my Warrior pose, I feel like a sumo wrestler getting ready for battle. I am big and getting bigger!

To make matters worst, my loving hubby said, as I walked passed him, "Being pregnant must really be uncomfortable." No, shit! I don't want to over react or make assumptions, but he only came to this eye-opening conclusion after seeing me struggle to get up from the sofa and waddle my way past him.

Now a bigger question comes to mind--was he trying to say something or am I reading too much into it? Since I'm a loving wife with raging hormones, I'm going to assume the latter. Simply, it's like the time he asked, "Does it really hurt?" This after I gave birth to my daughter. I replied by saying that "I wished I could leave my body."

To ease my mind and since I am a loving wife, I'm going to say that my loving husband had no clue of what he was saying. He was overwhelmed by the miracle of childbirth and my overwhelmingly large tummy, right?