Sleepy-Time Struggles

And the musical beds continue. Liberty can’t go to sleep by herself, and it’s becoming harder and harder for her to stay in her own bed when she does go to sleep. The simplest solution would be to squeeze a king-sized bed in our room, but that’s not going to happen.

I was thinking about giving her melatonin at night, but when Dr. Google told me about the possible side effects, I nixed that. Instead I read about the importance of routines–bath, story, bed, etc. Our schedules make routines like that so incredibly difficult, but how can we be good parents if we can’t manage an evening routine for our child?

So I explained to Liberty yesterday that I read that what helps kids go to sleep at night is no TV in the evenings. Instead, we take a bath, get ready for bed, and then play a game or read a book. She wasn’t thrilled about the no TV part (watching a few minutes of HGTV with me in the evenings has become something of a ritual with us), but was game for the rest of it.

Tonight Derrick took the kids to church with him for choir practice while I worked on my diss for a few hours. We got home around 9 pm, and I hustled Liberty into her pajamas. Then while I was feeding Barrett, she asked for a game. When I said it was too late, she asked, “But didn’t the book say that playing games helps children go to sleep?”

Busted.

So we used the animals from her Barnyard Uno game as buttons to act out Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. Then as she was protesting bedtime (“A story! A story!”), I told her to ask her Dad to tell her a story while she was going to sleep.

Now my brain function is steadily deteriorating. It’s time for sleep.

Oh, did I mention that our furnace is out? This morning the indoor temp was 61 degrees; the pilot light was out and won’t stay lit when Derrick relights it. We’re waiting to hear back from the landlord.

In other cheerful news, Barrett’s goopy eyes aren’t getting better (glued shut when he woke up this morning–so distressing for the little guy!) so I made a Dr. appt. for him Friday afternoon. Also I have less than 24 hours to make this house presentable for our guests who are coming for Student Welcome day.

Sleep, spring break and warmer weather can’t come soon enough!

4 Years; 7 Months

On February 25th Barrett turned 7 months old; the next day Liberty turned 4. Liberty’s birthday was also a snow day, so she got to stay home, eat pancakes, and watch TV–exactly the way she’d like to spend every morning. On Saturday we had her party here at our house–10 kids and 9 adults. The requested theme was “Strawshorcake.” I wanted to make a doll cake, but Derrick wisely talked me out of it so we ordered one from Hy-Vee instead. Last year we learned that the kids were more interested in free play than in planned activities so this time we ate cake first and opened presents, then Derrick and some of the other adults took the kids out to play in the snow. When they came back in we had hot chocolate and opened the pinata.

I felt terrible sugaring the kids up like we did, but when you’re trying to do a party on the cheap…

Last night we were playing musical beds again. First Liberty crawled in with us, and then when Barrett woke up hungry around 5:15 I settled into Liberty’s bed with him. A short while later Liberty crawled in with me, and I could feel immediately that she was running a fever. Thankfully it was just 100 F, but high enough to stay home and watch Strawshorcake videos on Youtube all morning.

As if the day wasn’t special enough already, I then learned that George Justice and Devoney Looser are leaving MU to take on new jobs at Arizona State University. As happy as I want to be for them, I’m still processing this one.

This afternoon I realized the Strawshorcake videos on Youtube had suddenly become Barbie videos. When Liberty requested the one with Barbie in a wedding veil and white underwear, I pointed out to her that we don’t take pictures of ourselves in our underwear and put them on the internet, so we don’t watch pictures like that of others. We’ll see how long she’ll go with that.

Later after we had read a chapter from Little House in the Big Woods, I suggested that she watch the BBC documentary Amish: A Secret Life. She’s watched it before and was fascinated with the little kids in it. She provided a running commentary:

“They have no ‘lectricity…like Laura and Mary and Baby Carrie…and no TV!”

“They have God in their life.”
Me: “What does that mean?”
“I think they pray.”

“They’re barefeet! The children are barefeet. [pause to think] It’s the summer there!”

“They’re at Target. They’re at Target!”

“They put sugar in their yogurt. Isn’t that too bad?” [A few days ago I explained to her that I don't like to buy yogurt at the store because it has so much added sugar.]

“I jus’ don’t like the song, but I do like it, but I don’t like it.” [Referring to a haunting rendition of Salve Regina (a Catholic anthem) set to Pachelbel's Canon which ironically is the soundtrack to the Sunday morning scene of Anabaptist worshipers gathering.]

I wonder how David and Miriam, the young Old Order Amish couple featured in the film, are doing. A sweet family facing such tough decisions!

Barrett – 7 months

Sick and Snow 2.0

Little did I know last time I posted that we were heading right back into a relapse or round 2 of sickness–this time with a stomach/intestinal twist to it. This time around Derrick and Liberty were hit hardest, and Barrett and I fared better.

In the aftermath of all that, life felt like riding a runaway train–all you could do was hang on and hope it didn’t jump the rails.

Last week, Derrick and the kids and I packed up and went to the Networked Humanities conference in Lexington, KY where I presented a paper. We stayed with a dear friend A. who sadly had to leave the day after we arrived. She kindly let us stay at her house while she was gone. It was a good trip in spite of a lost (and then refound) key, my unexpected 2.2 mile walk to bring the extra key, and cold, windy weather. I got to meet and chat with people who have been influential in my work, and learned about other scholarship that sounds very promising for my diss! And the food! The food was amazing–especially the second day when they had a full Indian buffet. I’ve never had better.

Then this week we were hit with Winter Storm Q. Thursday morning the thunder snow began; I cancelled my 9:30 class, and then the University closed around noon and remained closed on Friday. Which meant no daycare. So today I’m trying to cram two day’s worth of work into one while Derrick is out playing in the snow with the kids. I’m holed up in Conley House, keeping Aunt Sally company. I thought I heard her using the printer on the other side of the wall a while ago, but she was either too fast for me or she was printing on invisible paper because I didn’t see anything when I checked.

And the best part? They say there’s another round of snow coming on Tuesday. Great. Just great.

Last night Derrick and I worked to all hours to get our house in shape. (Is there anything more luxurious than waking up to a clean house? I think not.) Tonight we’re hosting a group of (mostly new) friends. Some have called it a Mennonite gathering, but it’s more or less comprised of people with Menno/Amish roots or affiliation in the Columbia area. Should be fun.

And now I need to get back to work. On to reading for and drafting the third of four body chapters!

In Sickness and in Health

Has it really been 9 days since the last post? And that wasn’t a proper post either. Sigh.

We’ve just slid into the weekend after the first week of school. But the week before that the children were tag-teaming fevers and I was sickish most of the week until I tested positive for the flu on Thursday. On the same day, Barrett was diagnosed with an ear infection and cellulitis (the area around his eye was red and puffy–presumably related to the ear infection). The doc (not our regular doctor) prescribed Tamiflu for the family for which we paid a small fortune. By mid-afternoon, Derrick came home sick from work as well.

The following day Barrett went in for a check-up, and since his eye was about the same, the doctor suggested we go to the ER. We begged for a less expensive option, and ended up seeing a specialist at the University Hospital where we were told that cellulitis can take a long time to resolve–typically more than 24 hours to see an improvement. Happy with the confirmation that the doctor had put us on the right path, we went home and were sick all afternoon.

As tough as the week/weekend was, it could have been much worse. Liberty stayed strong, and I only felt miserable every other day. Derrick was over it by Monday. Barrett grinned and giggled all the way through it. What a child! I think the massive quantities of Vitamin C we’d been consuming must have helped.

This semester I’m teaching one course (a fantastic group of students so far), doing a research assistantship with the Campus Writing Program, taking two professionalization courses, and writing my dissertation. I’m 2,700 words into my second body chapter. With my workload so full, the kids are both in full-time daycare. The adjustment of leaving Barrett there all day has been harder than it was when Liberty started. (My last baby!) They both, of course, are doing fine. It’s me that feels anxiety about it. I really, really want to crank out a draft of each chapter by the end of the semester. I feel as though that’s the only way I can justify the expense of daycare.

Tonight I was planning to spend a few hours on my diss once everyone was in bed, but my brain simply will not cooperate. Writing a blog post is about as good as it gets.

And lest I forget, today Barrett is six months old–halfway to his first birthday! Son, you are a joy beyond anything we could have imagined! You have rolled over a time or two, but it was more an accident than anything intentional. However, you are an expert kicker. When you lay flat on the floor, you kick like a wild thing. In the bath tub, you kick the water with joyful intensity. Bouncing in your johnny-jump-up is your favorite trick. You can’t sit in my lap without almost bouncing out of my arms.

You charm all you meet. People who normally have nothing more than a nod for me stop to hold full-length conversations with you. It’s as if they truly believe you smile especially for them.

You love to eat–breast milk, formula, egg yolks, vegetable puree–you can’t get enough. You love kisses. Nothing delights you more than smooches on one cheek and then the other. You love your toys, reaching for your yellow duck, grinning like it’s an old friend. You love music, not in the background, but loud enough to fill the room.

At first you only recognized your daddy and me, then slowly your sister’s face seemed to grow on you. One day you grinned when you saw her, and now at the end of every day when we are all reunited, you are all eyes for her, loving her attention, her loud, ungainly BOO! in your face. Seeing her dote on your and you soaking up the attention reminds us one more time why we are so happy to have two kids.

We love you, Barrett, and part of us wishes you could stay like this forever.

Sick but happy baby Barrett in our messy front hall.

Myers-Briggs (for the heck of it)

Introverted (I) 70.59% Extroverted (E) 29.41% Sensing (S) 54.55% Intuitive (N) 45.45% Thinking (T) 65.63% Feeling (F) 34.38% Judging (J) 64.71% Perceiving (P) 35.29%

Your type is: ISTJ

ISTJ - “Trustee”. Decisiveness in practical affairs. Guardian of time- honored institutions. Dependable. 11.6% of total population.

http://similarminds.com/cgi-bin/newmb.pl

<div align=”center”><!–70.59 54.55 65.63 64.71–> <table border=”0″ cellpadding=”0″ cellspacing=”0″ bgcolor=”#dddddd”> <tr> <td width=”250″> <div align=”center”> <font color=”black”><b><a href=”http://similarminds.com/jung/istj.html”>ISTJ</a></b&gt; – “Trustee”. Decisiveness in practical affairs. Guardian of time- honored institutions. Dependable. 11.6% of total population. </font></div> </td> </tr> </table> <a href=”http://similarminds.com/jung.html”>Take Free Jung Personality Test</a><br><font size=”1″><a href=”http://similarminds.com/personality_tests.html”>Personality Test</a> by <a href=”http://similarminds.com/”>SimilarMinds.com</a></font></div&gt;

 

Indulgence

Since this is my near-private corner of the Internet with few, if any, readers, I’m going to indulge in a little bragging.

Just before the New Year, I read an inspiring blog post about losing weight fast. Desperate to do just that–but expecting a gimmick–I found the enthusiasm contagious. Basically, the post describes a low carb diet*, less than 50 grams of carbs a day.

In the past I’ve had some success in cutting out sugar and simple carbs, but nothing dramatic. My sweet tooth is a bottomless pit, and I can eat savory carbs like a farm hand. So starting on Jan. 1 I started eating low carb–sorta. However, I kept reading the online forums, etc. and quickly realized that in spite of previous weight-loss efforts, I have been inhaling carbs (fruit, whole wheat products) at a shocking rate. No wonder the results were mediocre at best.

On Sunday, I rebooted the program. I’m not tracking carbs, but I’m eating meals for the Induction phase that keep carbs around 20 grams–mostly eggs, veggies, meat, and a little yogurt. Today is the fourth day I’ve been on the plan–so far so good! Staying out of the house all day (working on my diss in Conley House this week) has been key. I’m down four pounds (that’s a pound a day, if you’re trying to do the math). After trying–and mostly failing–to lose a pound a week, that works for me!

So long, baby weight! Let’s plan to buy a new swimsuit in May!

*Of course, for best results, it shouldn’t be approached as a short-term diet, but as a long-term way of eating. Lucky for me, Derrick has no qualms about eating this way either. He agreed he could make rice for himself if he wanted it. Liberty is old enough to have very specific likes and dislikes, but I hope she’s young enough we can slowly but surely guide her away from carbs as well. Our genes haven’t set her (or Barrett) up for success in our carb-saturated world.

Proud Moments

Last night was very rough. I’m not sure if it’s when the clock strikes midnight or when I settle in for the night that the children spontaneously awake. Liberty will come over and need to be resettled or Barrett will begin yowling in pain. His incoming teeth just won’t give him a break.

As a result I’ve been dragging most of the day and wondering how I will fare tomorrow when my week of intensive dissertation-writing begins.

There have been two particularly redeeming moments though. 1) Just now Liberty held up a toy magnifying glass and asked, “Can you put milk in a magnifying glass?”

I think that’s her first ever joke.

2) Earlier this morning while Derrick and Liberty were at church, I was breastfeeding Barrett when he turned to grin at me. It was a little unexpected because I thought he was about to fall sleep. But then he also grunted a little, so we flew to the bathroom where I set him on the toilet. And sure enough, he had another poop!

Call me nuts–or disturbingly obsessed with my child’s poops–but I really think he was trying to communicate with me!

The first episode of Downton Abbey, Season Three is on in four minutes. Now I need to choose between watching it or going to bed or cleaning up the house.