co-sleeping wannabee

We co-sleep from time to time. Usually when I am just so tired that I fall asleep nursing in the middle of the night and wake up an hour later with a baby in the bed. Or we are on vacation and have a king sized bed.

I remember when there was a time I said I would never co-sleep.

Yeah, that lasted, oh, about 28 hours. And that was only because the sprout was in NICU for the first 24h.

How we eat our words.

Still, nightly co-sleeping never became much of a habit mainly due to the size of our double bed. And the uncanny ability that tiny babies seem to have for taking up as much space as possible (think starfish).

Until recently, that is, when the sprout decided that sleep was for sissies (of which he definitely is not). He's ended up in bed a lot lately. Secretly, I love it.
But then last night he up and sleeps through the entire night in his own bed. What the? What about me? What about my cuddle time? And I thought I'd be happy that he slept through the night.

I don't. I feel put out.

eco-pottying

I'm all for being green and using sustainable materials. Seriously. C'mon, my 7-month-old is quasi-potty trained. Admittedly, we have been spending a lot of time in the bathroom lately. (Someone hasn't learned the art of how to hold it.) Still, I can't see us ever getting one of these bamboo potty seats:Sometimes I think that people take living green to a ridiculously silly level. This would be right up there, maybe not at the top of the list of silly green things, but pretty high on the list. I think I'll go with the greenest eco-potty seat available - not having one. It's more fun watching your child fall into the toilet anyways.

From Growing Up Green.

adventures in potty training my 7-month old

You may remember this. Well, since then we have mostly been skipping the bucket step and holding the sprout directly over the toilet. One less thing to worry about cleaning. And he can't knock pee all over my bed from the toilet since the toilet is, well, stationary, in the washroom and not my bedroom.

I used to take a clothed baby into the bathroom, lay him on the floor, strip off his pants and diaper and then over the toilet we'd go. We had lots of success with this method. Success of the peeing and pooping kind, anyways. But my back was starting to ache from all the lifting up down up down. So I got cheeky.

Lately, if the sprout's been playing and needs to go I just strip him right there, in the living room, and then pick up a half naked baby, cheeks out for all the neighbours to see and walk to the bathroom. So far, so good. I've been doing this for about a month now.

Well, this afternoon I picked up a half naked baby and started to walk to the bathroom. On my way there I thought, "Gee, little sprout, you seem awfully warm..."

Yes, my half naked baby peed on me.

I was asking for it, wasn't I?

recalls

It seems lately that there have been a lot of recalls on baby items. Drop side cribs that malfunction, strollers that amputate fingers, plastic bottles that might cause cancer. We try so hard to protect our little ones by providing them with things that aren't harmful, that aren't dangerous and that aren't carcinogens. The companies can only do so much. There is one variable that no one can completely predict: humans. I think Douglas Adams said it best.

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

I hope that the world will eventually realize that there is only so much others can do to help prevent unforeseen circumstances and that we need to take responsibility for our own wellbeing. After all, what do you trust more? Your motherly instincts, or the "hot" indicator on the bottom of the rubber ducky?

remember that thing...

Do you remember that thing? You know what I'm talking about... That thing that you do... usually when it gets dark outside. And you wear pyjamas. It generally involves a bed with pillows and blankets. And your eyes are closed. Yeah. That thing.

Oh, right, sleep!

Yeah, I miss that.

fool-proof birthday presents

Today is nana's birthday. I never fully realized (until now) how easy it is to make a birthday present for a grandparent. Seriously! And let me tell you, it's cheap too. Dirt cheap. Like, less than $5 cheap. And it takes about 5 minutes. Well, maybe 10 minutes. 15 if you want to be really really creative. Guaranteed to make the receiver teary eyed, unless you're nana, then there was probably out right crying.

Step 1: make a sign. This is the fun crafty part, but since it's from a baby it doesn't matter if it's crappy. The whole point is that the baby made it. You don't even have to be witty or long winded.

Step 2: take a picture of the baby holding the sign. If the baby is really young you can "help" them hold the sign. The sprout wanted to chew on his sign, but that just made for better pictures.

Step 3: print pictures. Since what you wanted to say was on the sign already you don't even have to pen a card.

Et, voila!

yoga pose du jour

Ananda balasana
(aka happy baby pose!)

milk, please

For the last couple months we have been trying to teach the sprout to sign "milk" when he wants boob. I like the idea of baby signing. It seems like a great way for the baby to communicate what he wants while his verbal speech is still lagging behind. So, every time I go to feed him I ask, "Tu veux du lait?" and I open and close my hand to sign milk. Then when he is eating I usually do the sign a few more times. Repetition seems to be important for the sprout to remember anything. He has a few issues with memory at the moment.

I thought "milk" would be easiest for him to learn because he always wants boob. I decided just to stick to one sign first, as not to confuse or overwhelm him. Also, up until the dude bought me a baby sign language book yesterday, I didn't know any other signs. But I digress...

The sprout can now open and close his hand successfully. I have no idea if he understands that he's asking for milk. He tends to open and close his hand around my hair... but he sure is happy to receive boobies!

Now, I'd really like to learn the sign for, "Mummy, I need to pee." It would make pottying so much easier.