The walking stick

One of Kira's favorite toys is one of those plastic cones with stacking rings in colors of the rainbow. Only she finds it rather boring just to stack the rings, study the colors, or chew on the plastic. She has found it useful to help her walk. First it was the cone. She would mankey crawl all the way over to the toy, plop her little round booty down and dump the plastic rings on the floor. Then, she would make her way around the room. Crawling up on her tippy toes, with one hand on the floor and the other propped on the top of the cone, hoisting it up and forward as she moved along. She could really move this way, too! We dubbed it her "walking stick" and she was rarely moving without it (I would make fun of her choice of toys, but I believe I carried around a puzzle piece of Alison from the mousekateers as MY favorite toy...or so I'm told).
Yesterday, she suddenly realized the full potential of the toy. If she put one ring under each hand and, again, pressed up on her tippy toes and pushed off, she could really go far! Instead of having to lift her hands to move, she just kinda scooted along. It really is quite a sight.
So, it seems the stacking rings, while quite old-fashioned in design, can serve quite a purpose in a new mover's life!
Video of this can be seen at www.jusspress.com/bearskat. Have a good laugh!

The standoff

It was one of those nights again. Not that it took forever to get her to sleep, but she woke up thinking it was time to play! Hey Kira, don't you see that it's DARK outside? That no one else in the house is moving but you?
It all started, though, with the standoff. It has happened once before. I wake up to the sound of Kira's door (which badly needs to be oiled) opening. (Darn it, I thought I had it latched shut!) Then, tiny footsteps going across the floor. A thud. And a small cry from Kira. I drag myself into her room, knowing what I will find. Yup, she's done it again. Cici (our cat) has let herself into the room and right up into Kira's crib. What I find is not a cat curled up sweetly next to our sleeping baby. No, it's a standoff. Kira is sitting up in the crib looking at Cici and Cici is sitting up looking at Kira.
"It's MY crib!"
"No, it's MY crib!"
Ugh. I toss Cici out of the crib and into the hall. I pick up the now wide awake Kira and take her into our room. Again.
"NO ONE gets the crib."

Hi, I'm Kira's Mom and I'm a gymboholic

Seriously, I have a problem. It seems that no matter what I do, I can't stop buying baby clothes...and more specifically, the oh-so-precious gymboree lines. Now, before you say it, I NEVER pay full price for these dainty, yet expensive lines. If I don't pay over $20 for a pair of jeans for myself, do you really think I'm gonna spend $32 for a pair for my baby? Well, ok, so I might. In any case, I discovered e-bay first. The place where you can buy used or overstocked items for a great deal. This led me to finding lines where I just had to have this or that to match. You know, buy the shirt and pants, but still need to find the shoes, hat, and matching socks! In my searches for these missing items, I discovered how to work the sales rack at the local gymbo. Oh, yeah, and how to get the best deal with the sale on top of a sale. But, there was still something missing. Other gymboholics! I couldn't believe my luck when I found GROUPS of people out there all addicted to buying clothes from gymboree! Woohoo! I thought I was bad, you should SEE some of these people. But, they did lead me to one final, and important part of the gymboholic creed. Resale. You MUST resell all the old gymbo clothes to make way for the new ones. And you know, gymboholics know how to work it...and get money back PLUS some. Those gymbo clothes are great collectors items.
So, when you see my little one all dolled up with her mini espadrilles and floppy market hats...just remember...her momma's got it all figured out!

Why do they call it teething if there are no teeth?

What a week. After all the rescheduling of babysitters, I thought I could relax a little...
But, then the teething began. The salon feeding was the last good feeding for hours...and hours...and hours. Kira suddenly seemed to find it painful to eat. She would act so hungry, but would pull away and stop after just seconds. She wouldn't sleep, either. That night, it took 2 of us over 3 hours to get her to finally fall asleep...in my bed next to me no less. She would wake up every hour or so, sit straight up in bed and scream. Wah! I was so sad for her. We got out the tylenol, teething tablets, and teether toys from the fridge. Nothing helped dramatically, but at least she would calm down after grabbing a cold toy and furiously rubbing it on her top gums.
So, why then are there no teeth to show for it?
We had 48 hours of very little nursing and little to no eating. 48 hours of broken night sleeping and only 30 minutes of napping during the day. And lots and lots of chewing, drooling, and rubbing the gums. Lots and lots of heartbreaking cries. But, NO TEETH! I don't get it. Shouldn't teething lead to at least a little glimpse of a tooth? Maybe just a shiny spot on the gums? Nope. Nothing.
Finally, after a good sleep last night and a lot of nursing and napping today, Kira is more her happy self. But, we are still waiting for the teeth...and dreading the teething.

What's that under your cape?

I’ve had very bad luck this week with babysitters. Not one, not two, not three, but FOUR different people have had to cancel for June in the past 24 hours. While we have most of them arranged (but I’m still too stressed to share the details), yesterday was “the big hair day.” You know…that time when you realize it has been FIVE MONTHS since you had your hair done and you are starting to look a little more than a little shaggy. When people stop asking you where you get your hair done and start commenting on how they have never seen you out of a ponytail. So, of course, I was so excited that I had finally called Crystal to make an appointment, found a babysitter and was planning an afternoon of rediscovering haircolor!
As my luck turned down, though, my babysitter cancelled on me. So, I tossed some toys into Petunia Picklebottom, loaded up the stroller, and off we went. I even got there 15 minutes early so we could duck into the back lobby for some private feeding time...and hopefully a nap. Kira knew I was up to something, though, so she had other plans. Like checking out all the mirrors and pretty decorations...and all the GIRLS all around. There was no time for eating...she was intrigued! Back into the stroller she went. Since we had our first big highchair experience the week before, I knew what would happen to all the toys I gave her. Play with it for five minutes and then THROW it onto the floor. In order for me to not have to ask Crystal to stop every 5 minutes, I gave her about 10 toys and we proceeded with the appointment. And, it worked! All the girls would walk by and say what a good baby she was...and then see all the toys scattered around us on the ground.
And then it happened...the girls didn't stop to talk to her as much and the salon wasn't as new and exciting...and Kira got hungry. I was in the middle of getting my hair cut by then, but I DID have a cape on. A nice big cape. So, under the cape she went. Her whole body was swallowed up, but she found what she was looking for. Crystal kept cutting my hair and my cape just sort of squirmed around a bit. Crystal said that was the first time she had a client do that. I bet. But, Kira was happy, mom was happy, and Crystal was done on time!

sleepless nights and sleepy days

The sleepless nights are courtesy of 6 month old Kira, and the sleepy days belong to her mom. I would like to punch the next person who asks us if Kira is "sleeping through the night." We are being punished for bragging so much about our wonderful angel baby who slept through the night before she was a month old. It seems she is turning into the newborn she never was.
In the early weeks, Kira would wake up for a feeding or two each night, but would fall asleep easily with a full belly. As a family, we were late to bed and late to rise, but Kira seemed to be just like us in that regard. We always got at least one 4-5 hour stretch of sleep at a time during the night, and that, friends, is sleeping through the night. We were impressed with our angel baby and took every opportunity to brag. The transition to the crib was even a smooth one. Kira was able, with pacifier and yellow blankie nearby, to put herself to sleep with no problem at all.
The trouble began a few weeks ago. Suddenly, Kira decided she wanted to play at night. Her crib became more of a "baby jail" and she wanted OUT! Nighttime became a game of rocking, reading, and rubbing the back...all to the sounds of tears and wails. Wait a minute...aren't kids supposed to START sleeping through the night as they get older. Why is she STOPPING sleeping through the night? At first we thought it was teething...but no pearly whites have been added to the early two. Then, we thought it might be that she missed sleeping with us...but she is happy to climb and play on top of us in our bed if we move her there. Finally, I decided...it must be a growth spurt...but one that lasts for WEEKS on end?
So, here we are. One playful baby and one tired momma. Even daddy has taken his turn forming a palat on the ground in the living room so I could get some sleep. Daytime turns to nighttime and she only seems to gather more energy than before.
And once she falls asleep, she doesn't stay that way for long. It's up every 2-3 hours to nurse. I feel like the mother of a newborn all over again. Only this time I don't have the luxury of a stay-at-home-dad or maternity leave to help. I was once a hip mom...everyone always saying how good I looked, and how do I find the time? Now I live in my jammies, throw my rarely washed hair into a ponytail, grab one cup of coffee in the morning and try to wake up all day. No one has said I look good in a long time.
And just where is Kira now? Shhhhhhhh.....she's asleep in her crib for the longest nap she's had in DAYS...maybe even WEEKS! I only hope it is the start of a new trend.