Should have knocked on wood

On Monday Vi had a vaccination called PREVNAR. It's supposed to help prevent strep-pneumonia and ear infections. Apparently, one of the possible side effects is diarrhea. So many wonderful stories there...but don't worry, I won't bother you with such colorful tales.

We've discovered that Vi is extremely sensitive to vaccinations. Not necessarily to the shot, the needle, but to the actual junk that's injected into her tiny little body. (Which is, by the way, not so tiny anymore. She can hardly stand up beneath the dining room table, her thighs finally have a little pudge, and her belly is getting a bit round.) Knowing that I'm quite sensitive to all medicines (and life in general), that there are allergies and Aspergers and other risk factors on both sides of her family tree, we decided when she was born to consult with a homeopathic doctor in our area whose specialties are pediatrics and immunizations. She helped us create a customized immunization schedule based on Vi's family medical history.

She prescribed a homeopathic remedy which, I'm convinced, got Vi to stop crying in the car.

Vi had a horrible reaction to her first shot. She didn't really notice the needle, and was in good spirits for a few hours. Towards the end of the day, she completely melted down and was inconsolable. Completely inconsolable. Dan called the homeopathic doctor, she told him what remedy to try, and within twenty minutes Vi had fallen into a deep, contented slumber.

So, we like her. She GETS it. She GETS our parenting style. She GETS Vi. Her homeopathic remedies work for Vi. And, she is very, very cool.

The "should have knocked on wood" part is that since Monday's shot, Vi hasn't slept through the night. I had a sick, superstitious feeling when I created my last post that just by thinking it out loud, the spell would be broken, and we would be back to 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 4 o'clock wakings.

We are.

We made the mistake of breaking with some of our patterns that first night. And we broke the patterns every other night, too. So, we're back to square one, because I think she's pretty much un-learned everything she had figured out about how to sleep. The good news is that - according to this doctor - she'll probably be able to get back to where she was last week quickly. Maybe just a few nights.

And if not, she's got a remedy for that, too.

Knock on Wood

For almost eleven months now, I've been asked the question "Is she a good baby?" Which, by the way, seems like a very strange question to me. I mean, really. What could she do to be classified as a "bad" baby? Burn the house down? Cuss? I don't think I would want to have a baby who was completely uninterested in exploring the world around her. But that's just me.

I usually respond to the question by saying, yeah, she's a wonderful baby, she's a pretty happy baby, she eats well and is so funny. She's not good at sleeping more than three hours a stretch, but that doesn't seem to bother her a bit. We're exhausted wrecks, but she's happy.

The mildly superstitious side of me is concerned that announcing this week's turn of events will jinx her progress.

But, screw it. The fog is starting to clear, and I want to shout from the rooftop. Vi has slept until 4:00 am five nights this week! She's doing it! Finally! FINALLY!!!

Things we tried:
A crib in her room
White noise
Night light
Repetitive lullabies
Sleeping in her room, for quick, comforting shushing and bottom-taps
Co-sleeper (which, duh, isn't for the already-crawling baby)
Bed-sharing (which isn't for the hates-to-be-kicked parent. Fine and wonderful for the newborn and for parts of the night, but not for all-night with a 10-month old)
Waiting two minutes, then three minutes, then four minutes before going to comfort her (which totally did not work for any of us. When I got to thinking about it, what exactly is the lesson a baby is learning from that exercise? Our doctor recommended this method, but he's all about Ferber. Sleep issues is one issue on which he and I don't see eye to eye. I'm not interested in forcing her to learn to sleep on her own just so I can get some rest and feel less insane. She'll learn on her own time and with gentle, loving care that makes her feel safe enough to progress.)
Feeding more food during the day, eliminating feedings one by one overnight.
Nighttime routine - bath, massage, bed. This didn't work for us. We changed it to bath, family-time/book-time/snuggle-time, bed. We climb into bed with a pile of books, read, point, ooh and ahh, and then she climbs around, flops around, rolls around until she's asleep. With very little help from us.
A pack-n-play in our room

Things we didn't try:
Letting her cry it out.
Letting her cry herself to sleep.
Leaving her alone to cry until she fell asleep exhausted.
The Ferber method.
The Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby method.
The Baby Whisperer method.
Any method that involved her crying herself to sleep.
Pattern? Yup. I was told that 1) I had to be tough and let her cry herself to sleep or she'd NEVER learn and 2) I'll let my second baby cry his/herself to sleep (which, I really hope I don't).

The final winner is a combination of the things we tried. Night time routine of bath and family time. One theory I had was that she missed Dan, because he's working long summer hours, and was waking up wanting to see him. Extra time with him before bed seemed to help. Pack-n-play in our room is great for her and us - It's easy for us to hear her if she does need us, and she can hear us, which seems to be soothing to her. Feeding more during the day and not at night. I don't believe in stuffing a baby at bed time - everything I've read says that against conventional wisdom, this isn't effective.

That's it. We'll see if she's just turned a corner, or is trying something out for this week. I'll keep you posted. For now, we're catching up on several months of sleep deprivation, and looking forward to a much less cloudy outlook on life and less anxiety at night.

Weekend on the Cape

Dan, Vi and I travelled to Cape Cod for a family wedding this weekend. The wedding was sweet and short, and the reception was hoppin'. For the meat lovers, the filet mignon was apparently TO DIE FOR. We stayed in a cool condo in a little wooded area in Mashpee - Cape Cod Holiday Estates. I would highly recommend this place if you're travelling to that area! We had a two-bedroom unit. It had a master bedroom with a huge bathroom - jacuzzi, shower, high ceilings - and a second bedroom with two twin beds and a 3/4 bath. Full kitchen - FULL = table to seat 8, full-size fridge, oven, toaster, coffee pot, microwave, DISHWASHER. Living room with sofas, coffee table, desk with internet access. Sitting room with TV and a pull-out queen-size sofa bed. I don't know how this is possible, but it was only $120. Clean, nice, and, oh! I forgot - a deck with a grill.

My friend Bonnie came up from RI to watch Vi during the wedding. Had it not been for the other 250 guests, Dan and I would have had a real date. :-) After the event, Bonnie and I stayed up and watched Footloose! and whined about silly boys. Some Hagen Daaz would have completed the effect.


Other than that, same-old, same-old. We're both working hard. We have 3 more weddings this summer, and too many birthdays to count. Dan's prepping the boat for sale. That's right - not for S-A-I-L, but for S-A-L-E. (Know anyone who wants to buy a cool 16-foot outboard runaround?) We're selling it so that we can install a wood-burning stove, since oil prices will force us to choose between starvation and frostbite this winter.

Vi is growing fast. She really wants to be walking, but isn't quite there yet. She will do animal noises - when she wants to. Her piggy impression is quite good. She's trying hard for a good elephant sound, often succeeds at a very clear Woof or Quack, really enjoys trying a Cock-a-Doodle-Doo, and can definitely do the fishy noise. When I say, "What does the rabbit say?" She immediately turns her head to look at me twitching my nose and making a toothy face. Apparently the rabbit says - Don't worry, Momma will do it.

Here's a video of her latest specialty:

(Disclaimer: I was behind the camera, so many of you know what that implies about the quality of the film. For those of you who don't know...my apologies. Yes, I know it's sideways. yes, I know it's dark. Sorry, sorry.)

A few more pictures from this Spring.

Crazy hair
Playing with the fur pelt at Dan's parents' house:

Uncle Jasper, also playing with the fur pelt. Sorry ladies, he's not really that furry.

Vi playing with her Cheerios. Trouble ahead.

Trouble DIRECTLY ahead.