We have Words!

Today at the park I was on the phone and I said something about a cat. Right away, Hayden said, "ca, ca, ca". I thought it was cool, but I didn't really think much of it. Later, when I was telling Brian about it, I told him that Hayden said "cat" and instantly she said, "cat" with the "t" and everything. It was really weird. Honestly, it was as if the cat had turned around and said, "what's up?". I mean, we talk to her all the time, it just never really crossed my mind that she's listening. That changes everything. I guess it's time to stop swearing like pirates, hu?

The Least Jolly of All Jumpers

You know those jumpers that hang in the doorway that every baby goes nuts over? We've been told by so many people that those things are a secret weapon that will buy us time to make dinner, empty the dishwasher, and even pay bills...all in the same night. Now, that's a pretty tall order, but we were psyched at the thought of it. Seeing as we haven't done laundry since before the PA primaries I'll take any secret weapon I can get.

So, we rigged the thing up between the living room and the kitchen. Brian had to make a door frame of sorts to hang it, which meant using power tools, which scared the cub. Once she was scared, that was it. The Jolly Jumper became the source of all things scary, and there were tears. We put her in it and she cried. We gave her cherrios and she sobbed. We gave her her white kitty and she was not impressed. Finally, Brian gave her a push and she thought about that for a minute, since she really loves to swing. But, no, the tears won out again. She is not a jolly jumper. We'll give it another try tomorrow, but I don't know about this. It's not feeling like a secret weapon.

In other news, Hayden is asleep! She went down with no tears, no fussing and no baby puke. I just poured a glass of wine, and I'm ready to relax for an hour before my bedtime.

All Things Inappropriate

Why is it that I can give the baby a blanket, a cool toy or a bottle, and she'll crawl all the way across the kitchen floor to haul off the fire extinguisher? It's like she has baby radar to find the worst possible thing to become obsessed with at the worst time. On Monday night we went out to dinner, to a nice restaurant, I might add, and she insisted on bringing her sneaker to chew on. Granted, it was brand new, and had never touched the ground, but the patrons in the restaurant don't know that. But, the fact that she projectile vomited her dinner across the dining room may have trumped the sneaker (needless to say, one hell of a tip was left). On Sunday I went out to do yard work, and Hayden insisted on bringing a plastic coat hanger with her. She threw such a crazy, demonic fit when I tried to take it away that I figured she could just have it. Tonight it was a water bottle. Not bad at all really, but I wish sometimes she could be obsessed with "kid" things. A lovey perhaps. A stuffed bear. But a fire extinguisher, a sneaker and a coat hanger? What are we, the Clampets?

The Long Lost Art Of Sleeping

For the past week, things have been rough in sleepy land. Hayden went from being a girl who went down at 8pm like clockwork with no problem, and slept until about 6am. No waking up in the night, no fussiness going down. It was baby heaven.

Then, a week ago, something happened. We're blaming it on object permanence, but who knows. All I know is, Hayden screamed when her little head hit the pillow, and while we waited out our Ferber/Brazelton ten minutes, she got so upset she threw up. Now, that makes you feel like a fantastic parent, let me tell you. Next night, same deal, only this time it took only five minutes for her to throw up, and she did it twice. Third night, three minutes to puking. We were clearly going in the wrong direction. For the past week, we just caved. I couldn't stand to hear her cry, and the laundry was getting out of control. But, after only getting three hours of sleep last night, which was sort of our fault for going out and having fun till about 2am and then getting up with the kiddo at 5am, we decided we had to break the cycle, puking or not.

So, this morning, Brian got up with her at 5am, changed her diaper, but didn't feed her, and put her back down, alla Ferber and Brazelton. After about five minutes of ear splitting screaming, she settled back down to sleep and now, at 8:30, she just got up. Life is so good. Brian is still sleeping, and Hayden is trying to unplug the computer. Time to tend to my child.

I feel like we're a bit late in the game here since Hayden is nine months old already. But, in the words of Dr. Phil (God help me) the only thing worse than putting something off for one day is putting it off for two. But, seriously, Dr. Phil? I used to read literature for God's sake. Real, big kid books. Now, it's Parenting Magazine, and random books that I start and never finish. So far, that list includes:
Eat, Pray, Love (good first chapter)
My Sister's Keeper (again, compelling first chapter. That was recommended by a student)
The Burn Journals (disturbing. About a kid who sets himself on fire. True story. Makes me hope he came from a screwed up family so I can feel safe from that)
Wild Ducks Flying Backward (I started that so long ago I have to re-start it)
Water for Elephants

OK, this is getting embarrassing, but suffice it to say, I just can't hold a thought anymore. Hell, maybe that was always the case, and now I just have an excuse.

The kiddo just went down to bed, and I haven't had a real conversation with husband man in a long time, so we'll start this thing for real in the morning.