Reflecting on Parenting... Personalities...And Food Allergies

We have some sickies in the house (cold and cough) and so I cannot believe that I am the first one awake (well, besides Hubby getting ready for work!). My early birds are usually up at the crack of dawn! So I am taking this time to get some thing out real quick.

As I was laying there in the dark I was reflecting on how much Pip is growing. She is fourteen months now and she is changing so much. I was thinking about my experience with all my babies, and how she is probably my quirkiest one yet!

Everyone wants to have an easy baby, one that eats and sleeps well -nothing wrong with that. I desperately wanted that. My oldest was quite an education on what babies could be - and it wasn't on the "easy" spectrum, at all!

Roo 6mos

 She had colic and we had a nine week nightmare of learning to breastfeed. She was in general a very intense baby, who woke often and never napped well, in her first year. This is how she napped most of her first year:

Well generally not outside... ;0)

 And then she blossomed into this fantastic, fun, sweet, amiable little toddler. She napped an hour and a half daily from fifteen months to...Well, even now at FIVE she still takes a good long nap a few days a week.
She of course had her whiny and very intense teething months

The "Rock and the Hard Place" Birth

I wrote this (I'll be honest, mushy and raw) post in January of 2011...Then mother of a newly 3 year old Roo Girl and 17 month old Friendly. I wanted to share it here too... It's been interesting to read over and remember, how true this lesson has been! I don't think a week goes by that it doesn't hit my heart in some form or another...Just keep swimming!

 ***Possible Birth Trauma TRIGGER WARNING in my first birth story***. 

I'm pondering the moment I became a mother, twice.

I labored with my firstborn, I was scared. I didn't feel safe. Some thing was off. I wasn't connecting with the people who were supposed to be helping me. The Midwife that every one raved about- she wasn't getting it. My labor stalled. I was put through every intervention in the book. I came to that Rock and a Hard place with my firstborn, but it wasn't during her birth. Her birth? I remember snippets.

I was soo doped. :(

 I remember feeling exposed. Scared and panicky. I remember my neck was throbbing so badly (in a horrid spasm thanks to the epidural). I couldn't move my arms to relieve the spasm because they were strapped down to a table. I remember the clock on the wall to my right. I remember feeling like I couldn't breath, like I was sure my baby was going to suffocate me on the tilted table of the OR. I remember my husband coming in, pale and anxious. I remember him stroking my hair and talking me through. I remember tugging and the official announcement "It's a girl" I think they lifted her naked body over the curtain for a moment. I couldn't reach out to touch her. I remember them bringing a this bundled little squinched up and unhappy baby near my face for a moment to snap a picture and then she left me. I remember falling asleep and having a hard time waking up for the next 2 days.

I remember the first time I held her the nurse "scolded" me for bending my arm and setting the blood pressure cuff reading off. I remember how pretty her eyes were, how sweet she looked. I could feel how happy she was to see me. She nursed readily and hungrily. In my memory I can remember the Roo-ness of her, isms and quircks I know so well now.

Those early months were the most painful and stretching I have ever experienced. Her birth was not what I had wanted. But it was what I needed.

 My birth as a mother did not come with

Let it Roll...Preschool Style...

You know, as draining as it can be, I love the baby stage. Apart from colic and the hours Hubby and I have spent passing fussy upset baby back and forth: I still love the baby stage. Okay, I hate teething too, and all the night waking that involves.  But still: Baby sad? There is almost always a simple solution.

Then toddlerhood arrives, it's a bit more work to calm them and help them stay content. The whining involved with cutting molars is pretty awful. But it's okay... Generally, some time nursing (or all your time nursing, as the case may be), a snuggle, getting outside- there are things that calm the wild teething beast.

And then they turn three. Joyous three! Boastful Three! Bright and curious THREE! Three year olds are so very quirky, the two I have experienced so far have these funny almost OCD rituals, and habits.

But you know what is the hardest part about three year olds (and some times this hits at 2 too...It did with my second)?

Eyes to See...You have ARRIVED!

Whenever I write a blog post I feel like I need to write some sort of "I hope I don't sound presumptuous- I'm 5 years in to this gig...This is coming from a heart that is learning...I don't claim to have any special..hmmm...Well, any thing. I write to process...And I've come up for air, so hang on!! Also, my spell check is UK English, so if some thing is spelled wrong- ha!"


It's been a very busy and full few months. We haven't gone anywhere much, or done any thing special. And yet it's felt so very busy. Most of that has been inside my head. I'm an internal processor and when I'm learning a lot, or feeling stretched, I climb inside my brain and baten down the hatch.

Which makes me think of a submarine or a bomb shelter...Let's stick with submarine. Some times I feel like I am going through life as a

Struggles...Are my Ally.

This month has been rough. About two weeks ago Hubby and Friendly both came down with the flu. Thankfully, Friendly's case wasn't too bad. She had a high fever (103+) for 3 days and a cough, was miserable but kept comfortable with Motrin. Hubby on the other hand was laid flat; high fever, horrible cough, and knocked out hard core for several days.
 Which left me solo parenting, dealing with a sleepless and teething baby, and praying I wouldn't get the flu too.

I didn't get it (wohoo!) But I came down with some thing else this weekend (sinus infection? virus? I'm still trying to decide). I am not nearly as miserable, but enough to be laid up on yesterday for the Pip Squeaks first Birthday.

Being sick, has also given me time to think- a luxury I haven't had in weeks.

What was I thinking about?

BALANCE

 Mostly how unfair it feels to me. Finding balance is such a struggle!
Sleep deprivation is super hard on any body...But especially mine...I try to brush it off...Soldier on, but it sucks. Add to it long standing autoimmune issues, anxiety and SAD and it has been an uphill battle for me this past month.

I read some thing a friend shared the other day that really impacted me.

The BEST "Push Present"

And it is essentially From you, FOR you...It is called, REST.

Recently, the subject of postpartum rest has been getting a bit of attention here and there on the internet. Okay, I came across it twice in my Facebook newsfeed and wrote so much in the blurb before the link that I thought, Hmm...this should be a blog post ...Nah, don't have time!

Well, I am making time. This post has actually been brewing since the birth of my first baby over 5 years ago.

My First Exposure to Pregnancy In Our Culture
 If you are a Mom on the Internets, you have had to come across the Pregnancy Boards. You know, the ones with "Due Date Clubs" and "Birth Month" boards. In my experience, if you can practice a good eye roll, avoid dramatic threads/users- that these boards can be wonderful! Especially with my first baby, I met other first-time Mom's from all over the world. I wasn't alone in this big kind of scary journey! We commiserated, we bonded, we shared our fears and worries. We cheered each other on during our labor threads, and shared our birth stories. I am still quite close (have even met a few "IRL") to some of these Mama's I met nearly six (6!!!!) years ago. Those boards can be a great resource, community can be made, support can be found! I recommend, I do.

But they also have a hidden danger

New ...Year...

This has probably been my longest break from blogging in a few years. It has been a busy few months...One with little time spent in introspection.

But I just had "coffee" (I drank  Synergy Mango Kombucha- if you haven't discovered it yet, try some so yummy!) with a friend, we talked about so many things, and I am feeling some bloginess coming on.

The Holidays were wonderful...

We celebrated a special advent

Advent calender (a blog post on this coming soon!)

And Roo Girl turned 5

Pup Cakes at our Puppy Party