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

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.

Only six weeks of Maternity Leave...not Fair!

Our Priorities

I'm mad at the world or at least our society. With the birth of the baby approaching, I am now dealing with the logistics of maternity leave. The fact that it lasts only 6 weeks upsets me. It took my daughter longer than six weeks before she started sleeping through the night and the stress of pumping at work drove me nuts. Clearly, the lack of time to recuperate and time to properly nurse my daughter was the cause of my stress. Even my students noticed and periodically reminded me to take it easy!

Why are we not conscious of the needs and struggles of new parents? How can we expect new parents to be productive at work when they don't even get a good night sleep. Really, where are our priorities? Again, this all upsets me!

Below is a map of the world and the allocated amount of maternity leave for each county. Note that the U.S. is one of the few first-world countries that provides less than three months of maternity leave and the only industrialized nation that does not mandate paid leave for new parents.

Click on the link below for a better view of the map:

NPR World Map Report

Art Projects for a 2-Year Old

Art Projects

With the birth of the baby fast approaching, hubby and I are trying to get Camila ready for the new addition to the family. As the only child, she now gets ALL the attention and we worry that she may have a difficult time accepting the baby. To combat this, we try to include the baby in our conversations and, when possible, activities.

We recently completed a few tasks that I must share :)

Belly Art:

Materials needed:
* Paint: We like Crayola but I'm sure any washable paint works.
* A pregnant belly: You can probably find one on eBay. They have everything!


Camila's bedroom wreath:
The purpose for this project was to keep Camila away from the television on a rainy day. It was such an easy and fun project.

Materials:

• Cardboard 12" round wreath
• Cupcake baking cups
• Elmer's glue
• Heart ornament
• 2 flower pins
• Ribbon
  

Together, Camila and I glued cupcake baking cups to a cardboard wreath. Later, I secured the heart and ribbon with flower pins. We had a great time and Camila was very proud of her work :)

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

Baby-Free Day

Years ago, pre-parenthood, I asked a good friend what he and his wife did on date night (a concept I did not understand until I had kids of my own). He replied that he and his wife liked going to Macy's to look at furniture. Furniture! What happened to dancing, dinner, movies, drinks at an awesome lounge? Needless to say, I did not understand his choice of entertainment.

I'm now a parent and fully understand the trials and tribulations of parenthood. My parents kidnapped my daughter for 3 days and 2 nights. According to my childless friends, I now should be living it up, going out, enjoying life! The truth, however, is that my husband and I really miss our little Camilusca. In fact, her departure was bitter-sweet. As my father drove off with her, tears filled our eyes but the prospect of waking up at anytime and going to Macy's to look at furniture gave us a feeling of excitement.