Tea Time

On Sunday we decided it was time for an exersaucer. Two of Frankie's newest skills, standing and grasping, make this the perfect toy. We picked up the tea party model on Sunday night instantly doubling the amount of pink in our house. She can pivot all the way around in it which improves her perspective (previously limited to the ceiling from her back) considerably.

Ooohhh ...

Can you go in my mouth?

The illusive smiling Frankie. Okay not that illusive just as tricky as the polkaroo to capture on camera. When she smiles she smiles with her whole body - legs kick, arms flail and head and bum do a little wiggle. This results in some super blurry snaps.

Tea time over.

As I Lay Me Down To Sleep

Tonight I sshhhed a baby to sleep for the first time. I'm pretty proud of myself. As is our regular routine she had been nursed and rocked to sleep. But kept waking up. Again and again and again. Armed with the knowledge that she couldn't be hungry I decided to try and leave her where she was and sshh her. It took a few tries but there is now one baby sleeping soundly in her own bassinet at the foot of the bed. 

I'm starting to learn that in baby land persistence is the name of the game. If five minutes of rocking in the afternoon doesn't help her nap then try ten. If a few sshhhes don't put her to sleep at night keep on sshhhing. 

A big part of the no-cry sleep solution is helping her learn how to put herself to sleep (a skill this baby was most definitely born without) and so tonight is a step in the right direction. Since finishing the book we've developed a sleep plan but its implementation has been admittedly spotty. In hindsight her going to bed whenever she fell asleep (sometime between 11pm and 1am) was pretty convenient - as in conveniently also my bedtime. 

Despite periodic lapses in sticking to a regular bedtime and bedtime routine her sleep has improved a bit. No one's well rested around here just yet but I think we've moved beyond her waking every two hours. Some nights she'll go three and some nights four and one night there was even a five hour (hallelujah) stretch. 

Baby steps ...

Neighbourhood Watch

We've recently taken up amateur neighbourhood tourism. With baby, coffees and camera in tow we'll choose an area of town and get lost (not literally - this is a pretty small town) admiring the colour of shutters on this house or the well kept lawn on that one. This is the outcome of some lovely late summer weather, Frank's Snugli happiness and our dreams of a tiny housing empire. 

On the agenda today - Whitney Pier: a beautiful and unique neighbourhood with so much history and so many different identities. 

Home sweet home - on a hill with a view, neat angles and offshoots, pretty colours and wood shingles. In the age of vinyl siding it takes a lot of commitment to maintain wood shingles.

Our little green Bonhomme ... snug as a bug in a snugli.

King of the Hill

Find Frances: The Sequel

The first day of fall! The first day of root vegetables, crisp mornings, crunchy leaf walks, and knit scarves!

Last night, our last night of summer, was beautiful - warm and calm and lit up by a big bright harvest moon. The perfect evening for a nice slow walk through the park. 

Today was also the first day of babies and books - an hour each week that we'll spend at the library with storybooks, babes, and mums. It was so lovely to be out and the little bug was super. She liked the books and puppets and nursery rhymes and all but she loved the other babies. She spent her time looking from baby to baby and then put her head down on my shoulder and fell asleep.  

When we got home we decided that it was time to move the playpen into the kitchen. We live in our kitchen and even though the bug's playtime on the table is supervised she's become quite the roller. As soon as she's set down - whap - she's on her belly and its a long way down if she decides to keep on rolling.

Although it means a little less space in the kitchen it means a home for all the toys that have been endlessly pushed from one end of the table to the other. 

All the Small Things

Dear Frankie,

There are lots of important baby milestones that I'm certain I won't soon forget. Like the first time I held you, your first big smile and how much I love to cuddle you while you sleep. But there are also these tiny little parts of you, parts that might be missed in photos and baby book entries, that I hope also find a forever home in my heart.

1. You like to hold your fist in the air. Just one fist and often for quite a long time. I like to think of this as your fight the power fist.

2. Sometimes you stretch just like the rest of us. Arms way up, back arched and head pushed to one side or the other. But once in a while you do a stretch that involves everything going down - arms pushed down by your sides as far as they will go, legs reaching for the floor and your little face squished down into your neck. It's super funny.

3. When you were first born you possessed the expressions of a seasoned stage actor. You did angry, confused, suspicious, bored, weary and doubtful. These weren't (as far as we can tell) attempts to convey emotion as much as they were attempts to master your facial muscles. The results were always pretty comical.

4. Sometimes when you wake up you start to cry. It's like you don't know what's going on. You don't know where you're coming from or going to in those few seconds between asleep and awake. Then you see someone you recognize and your pout instantly transforms into a big gummy baby grin.

5. Your always good for half of your diaper change. Put you on the change table - good. Undo diaper - good. Remove diaper - good. Set new diaper under you - good. Try to get new diaper in place around you and fastened - like trying to hold onto an oily duck. This is when you will either bring both legs up to your chest or thrust them straight down and hold them together making diapering impossible. You're never upset when you do this - its always with a smile on your face - so this must be (a) a very fun baby game or (b) you trying to tell us you want to be a nudist.

6. You like to put your hands in your mouth. Holy do you ever like to put you hands in your mouth! Your two feats here include: (1) wedging one entire fist in your mouth (and us worrying that it was going to get stuck in there) and (2) getting four fingers from each hand into your mouth at the same time as if you're just about to whistle and call everyone in for lunch.

So Much Love,

Your Mum

One of Those Days

We are two-thirds of the way to six months, solid foods and a night over at nana and granddads.

Reassuringly noted by R after a long baby day with no baby naps

Highland Zebras

Today was Open Farm Day. We visited Twin Lighthouse Farms and and Hank's Family Farm and introduced Frances to horses and donkeys and pigs and chickens and ducks. And to miniature horses, whose utility we debated, and to a zebra. A zebra! Who knew there was a zebra on the island? She seemed quite taken by the animals, watching them come and go, likely wondering where all these big and different shaped fur brothers came from and if they'd be coming home with us. Or wondering why these animals weren't as brightly-hued as the stuffed red and blue elephants and purple monkey she has at home. Or wondering when she was going to get fed next.

It was another warm and sunny Sunday on the island made even better by how wonderfully she took to the car. Yes, wonderfully. Just a little fussing, no wailing and lots of sleeping. We're almost ready to declare her dislike of cars to be a nighttime phenomenon. Our last few daytime trips have been on the up and up. If this does turn out to be the case we'll officially be in the market for a baby miners helmet. Message if you have one.

Her early bedtimes and our more determined efforts to get her to nap also seem to be going well. She's still up every two-ish hours but the name of this game is small victories. She's generally sleeping three times throughout the day now (still in our arms but sleeping nonetheless) and tonight she was in bed by nine. The house was so quiet. I did the dishes and some laundry and tidied the linen closet and couldn't have been happier. I know - sleep when she sleeps, but sleep has nothing on restocking the Qtips and sorting the Canadian Tire money when it comes to a hard earned sense of satisfaction. What? Small victories.

This Week in Pictures

The little miss with her nana and granddad at the Port Morien fair. In Ontario fair season was my favourite. Animals and veggies and so much food-on-a-stick (mmm). Today we stopped by the Port Morien fair and meandered through the knit goods and prize zucchinis and always beautiful quilts. We also made a quick mental list of who to invite to tea based on the results of the date square and apple pie baking contests.

(Photo by Nana)

The fair was Frank's second trip to the coast this week. On Thursday R and I escaped for dinner while she spent a few hours with her grandparents.

It was so lovely. We didn't have to spend the evening with an eye on a sleepy babe wondering when she'll wake or arms under a wakeful babe wondering when she will have had enough. We didn't have to eat at dangerous speeds or take turns enjoying what we had ordered. Frances has taught us many things including how to appreciate these moments of quiet and rest.

During her visit her nana uncovered this treasure - a tiny yellow track suit that R wore when he was wee. It is absolutely seventies, absolutely perfect and absolutely gets you humming the Rocky theme song.

Today she embarked on what is very possibly my favourite baby stage - the "I can put my own foot in my mouth" stage. I don't know why I find it so cute. Maybe because it's a talent and a desire restricted to the tiniest of humans (and the cast of Cirque de Soleil).

We're in an endless debate here about whether she's teething: "maybe she's teething" "she could be teething" "do you think she's teething" "she must be teething." Repeat. Everything goes into her mouth including all of her fingers (and toes) and ours (just the fingers not the toes). And she gnaws on them. And she is a factory of drool. And three and a half months isn't all that early to be getting teeth. And I would really love an explanation for her sleep woes that involves a definitive end to those woes.

Finally, this was Friday night's project - a new seat cover for the scooter. It began as a sewing project, ended up as a reupholstery job, and resulted in the poshest scooter on the island.

The View From Here

Hi My Name is Frances

(Photo by Nana)

Frances and Jack on our visit to Jack's new home.

For the first time they were pretty intrigued with each other. Too sweet!

Sunday Surprises

Yesterday was one of those wonderful Sundays that makes you wish it was always the weekend. We had a pretty good sleep, a warm and delicious breakfast and a long leisurely walk on a cool fall afternoon. We sipped on coffees, visited France’s cousin Jack’s beautiful new home, picked out houses we liked (with wrap around verandas and big bay windows) and picked up panzerottis for supper.

Maybe a little too perfect. Just as we were about to pay the friendly man behind the pizza place counter an unmistakable sound filled the room. I turned around to see a river of baby poop dripping from the baby, all over R, and all over the floor of the poor unsuspecting pizza place.

She’d been settled in her snuggli for the better part of the afternoon which, it seems, slowly compressed (and voided the absorbency of) her diaper. When it came it had no where to go but straight out.

Baths for everyone ensued.

7:30? Seriously?

No-Cry Sleep Solution Night Number One was a success. We haven’t read the whole book just yet. Only a small part of it. Still there are already suggestions that seemed made for Miss Frances Moon. Like an 8pm bedtime. Apparently babies’ internal clocks are preprogrammed for a 7:30-8:30pm bedtime. Apparently I missed this in every other book and website I’ve looked at. How could I have missed this? All along I thought that a baby’s bedtime was when it fell asleep – for Frances somewhere between eleven and midnight.

I was pretty sure there was no way she was going to go for this new bedtime. But last night she was fussy and hungry at 7:45 so we went to bed. Granted she woke up a few times between 8pm and 11pm but not like I expected (bright-eyed and ready to squeal like she is in the mornings). In a matter of minutes and with no protest she was back asleep. She still woke up at her regular intervals after that but this extra sleep in the beginning meant a lot more sleep for her in the end.

Other seemingly brilliant ideas we’ve glimpsed so far: a regular bedtime routine (to signal that sleep is coming), a regular daytime routine (to help regulate her internal clock), frequent and filling daytime feedings, and more and better naps. This last one is going to be a challenge but the (important) idea is that better sleep during the day means better sleep at night and vice versa. A baby her age is supposed to be sleeping sixteen hours every twenty four hours (ten at night and five to six during the day). This kid is seriously failing sleep class. On a good day, naps and night included, she’s in for eight hours.

Who knew there was so much to know about sleep? I new there was a lot to know about breast feeding. The first thing you learn about breast feeding is that there’s a lot to learn about breast feeding. The second thing you learn about breast feeding is that it takes practice, patience and determination. I guess the same can be said about baby sleep.

Dear Sandman - More Sand

Shortly after settling into her new home Frances started to sleep for five hours straight. Every night. Then she began sleeping six hours straight and seven. Things were going from good to better ... holy was parenting ever a breeze. Whenever someone asked how she slept I always emphasized how lucky and grateful I felt to have this seemingly born-to-sleep baby. Surely my gratitude would ward off any evil anti-sleep demons.

About a month ago everything changed. Instead of waking up once a night to nurse she began to wake up twice a night and then three times and four times. Now she goes to bed at eleven, like always, and I can count on her to wake up at two, four, six and eight. Sometimes she'll only nurse for ten minutes, other times for an hour.

Four weeks in and I feel like a zombie. It takes every ounce of energy to get through the day and that's without getting anything done. Despite this change in her nighttime sleep her daytime routine remains the same so sleeping (or cleaning or cooking or knitting or reading or blogging) when she sleeps (bordering on never) isn't an option. Oh right - the subtitle of this post is Woe Is I.

We're not alone though. Google has stories of hundreds of other parents enduring similar sleepless nights. The commonness of it all sometimes makes me feel better. Then I read the pleas of parents with toddlers still waking at these awful intervals and I want to crawl into the basement and lock myself in the drier.

These last few days R has almost had me convinced to let her try crying it out. Almost. It's not just that I hate the sound of her crying it's the thought of her crying in agony and sadness and fear ... for hours. I know that the Cry-It-Out method has worked for many but I also know my tolerance for a three month old wailing like she's on fire is about zero. Sorry Mr. Ferber.

Today we picked up The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley - a basket in which I am placing a great deal of eggs. The online reviews are great. It positions itself as a Third Way - an alternative to crying-it-out and parental martyrdom. It's definitely not a quick fix and I have no illusions about sleeping in tomorrow morning. Most reviewers found it took at least three weeks of consistent effort and thats after getting through its nearly three hundred pages. But I am game. Fully and completely. Tonight while she takes her usual hour and a half to fall asleep I'll be highlighting and underlining like a madperson.

You've Got Mail

Guess what arrived in the post yesterday? Not this delicious little baby - just her headband. I almost purchased two when placing the order but thought I should see how it fit and looked first. Now I wish I had ordered four.

And today after two inclement weather cancellations I passed my scooter test. Motorcycle test really but whose counting. R and I did the written portion together back in May but I thought I should probably wait until I didn't have such a big belly (and until my centre of gravity returned to normal) to take the balance test. I was so nervous. When I did my regular road test ten years ago I lost four points for taking turns too slowly. Guess what happens when you take turns too slowly on a scooter? The scooter runs over you after you fall under it. Not so good. But I didn't fall under it and it didn't run over me and so I am now licensed to drive this most awesome (and fuel efficient) of machines.

Jolly Swaying

Jolly - yes

Jumping - still in the works

Standing Orders

The Earl-y Bird

It was the quietest of Labour Day weekends here at FMC headquarters. I can't believe September is here already. Time with Frankie is definitely a new experience: while I measure my days in smaller and smaller increments - time till next feeding and time till next nap - the larger increments (the weeks and months) dissipate faster than ever.

The mummahaze doesn't help. I've read about this brain-melting phenomenon in a few places and am glad I'm not alone. It probably has a lot to do with sleep deprivation. Nonetheless I can't seem to get out of the house without forgetting make-up or deodorant or to change out of my bright blue crocs and I've been trying to think of the word for searching for water (with one of those y-shaped sticks) for three weeks.

Other weekend happenings? Frank has started to roll over. From back to front and mostly when she's upset. When she's sad or angry she gets herself into a little ball and this facilitates rolling. It's pretty funny actually. She fusses herself onto her stomach and then looks around completely surprised and unsure of what's going on. This new skill means no more leaving her on the kitchen table which was probably a less than parent-of-the-year idea to begin with.

Earl was here on Saturday and he took his work pretty seriously. The winds picked up early in the afternoon and we could still feel the house shift and shake when we went to bed at midnight. I forget in the intervals between hurricanes how long they can last. We lost our power but just long enough to play a few board games by candlelight (and flick on the light switches in room after room only to remember the reason the room was so dark in the first place).

Also this which is quite sweet:

(reblogged from tupelo honey)

Hot Child In The City

Bridge jumpers

R watching the jumpers F wondering what jumpers are

First dip in the Mira

Going for gold

Pacifier improv win