MAMA MIA!

Big Sigh! I had an interview this morning with some of the big wigs at Capilano University - not the blood-less ones - but the ones whose hands my fate lies in. Well, not exactly. They can just decide whether I get a certain instructional position in the fall...in addition to my current position.

I prepared well, bought new clothes (mostly because none of my work pants fit me....yet), and gave it a good shot. Paul took on the night time parenting so I could have a goodnight sleep. I feel pretty good about how it went and had a little fun with the teaching segment. I'm just glad it's over!

I'm eager to devote more of my time to parenting than I have in the past week and I'm glad I'm not working the load I had thought I would be at the time. Already things feel super busy and our time has really been divided lately. I think Anneka is suffering a bit because of it. She doesn't seem to be sleeping enough and I'm sure it's the reason. She doesn't complain about it, but we can see it in her behaviour and her current sleep problem. Every night it comes to a complete meltdown before Anneka falls asleep and by then it is usually after nine. She isn't napping and isn't sleeping in and I'm sure it is catching up to her. Also she's gotten up in the night some nights.

She says she doesn't want to sleep and does not like bed time. It may just come to us tightening up the routine around bedtime and ignoring her many demands. Maybe we'll have to let those tears of frustration come earlier. In conjunction, I'd like to be putting in more quality time with her so she feels secure in her world. I don't think I've lost the connection with her, but my parenting has slipped.

The BIG INTERVIEW is over Anneka, I am yours!

Cinnamon Girl

She's just so damn cute, funny, bratty and lovely!

Snuggle Bug Update

I'm always a little, or a lot, behind these days.

A little behind on the garden. A lot behind on the baby books. Always behind in the house work. Behind on my course preparations, but ON TIME with my marking! Way behind in my fitness goals, and of course, behind with this blog

Ah, who cares really! Not I! However, I would like about 5 more hours in every day and 10 in every night! If there was more time, I'd write about Anneka and her development as a 2 going on 3 year old, or I'd like to make comparisons about adjusting to a baby a second time around, or I'd really like to do a side by side photo presentation of Anneka and Halle at the same ages. But what I'll do this time, is devote a little time for a Snuggle Bug Update.

Little Halle Bug is now 15 weeks. She is truly a gem - well of course I think that. With Halle, as with Anneka, there were some nights in the first couple of months, I thought "Oh, no, I think she might be a colicky baby!" Well, she just had some collicky nights; in reflection, and now that they are seemingly "way" in the past, it is clear she was, and is, a pretty content baby.

I have made zero effort to move her into a routine of any sort, and although there is still none, perhaps a greater consistency is emerging. These days she is usually down for the night around 8:30. Some nights that means she will not wake again for 3-4 hours, and others, she'll need to be resettled a few times before I turn in around 10 or 10:30. As mentioned previously, her sleep hasn't been as good as it was in the first couple of months. For a while there, she would sleep 5 - almost 7 hours before waking up to nurse. These days 4 seems to be the max, but most nights she is settling after nursing quite well. Still, I can't really seem to shake this fatique. Even on those days where I feel energized, as soon as I stop doing stuff, I feel like laying down and having a snooze. What's up?


Back to the routine. A nice thing about Halle, is she doesn't usually get up for the day until after 8. That, I appreciate. If Paul gets up with Anneka that usually means I can sneak in a bit more sleep, which seems to make a huge difference. (Why does this keep going back to me???)

Naps are a little more erratic and so is nursing. In fact, I have no idea what her nursing routine is since I don't really pay attention and large chunks of some days she is being bottle fed expressed breast milk. She usually falls asleep while being carried or while nursing. Her naps can be any where from 20 minutes to 2+ hours. Some days she may have 4 or 5 shorter naps and some days she may have only two really long naps. More often than not, she seems to have one longish naps and a couple of medium length naps and maybe a cat-nap here or there. Between naps she is up anywhere from a bit more than an hour to three or four on the rare occasion. Usually she is up for just under two.

Now here's the fun part. What does she do while awake? She coos and "chats" a lot. She can really get on a role, barely letting anyone get a word in. She is very into squealing and shrieking. She has the sweetest, goofiest smile which makes me giggle every time, and she uses it a lot. Her little nose gets all scrunched up, but it's hard to get a picture of due to her balking at the damn flash!


She hangs out for LONG periods of time in the jolly jumper and on her mats, and shorter lengths of times in her bouncy chair and exersaucer. She has been hanging out on blankets in the shade while I garden. She pushes up straight on her long, skinny legs and holds her back and neck so straight, waving her arms about. She is getting really good at reaching and grabbing objects. But her greatest trick (drum roll, please) is rolling over. For a month or so she has been toppling over from her front to her back on occasion, but in the last couple of weeks she has been purposely rolling over from her back to her front. She is to the point where she just goes for it as soon as you put her on her back and can roll in either direction. Very precocious indeed, miss Halle!

the Scoop on Sleep

OK. you can't have a newborn and not blog about sleep right, accept if things are going well, then you don't dare blog about it for fear of jinxing it. Too late I divulged to much on the phone to a friend: it's JINXED!

The word is out - for the first three months Halle has been a great little sleeper. No, no all nighters, but she's nurse once or twice in a 10 - 12 hour period and otherwise, just sleep. Well, maybe the first few weeks she nursed a little more. There were a couple of nights that were a bit restless. She's been a good napper too on most days and falls asleep easily.

More often than not I have felt well rested - more so than the latter part of pregnancy. I've even been cranking up the dance tunes and gettin' down with the girls! (So much fun to see Anneka shake her little booty and Halle all grins in her jolly jumper!)

But today my eyes sting a little. And yesterday even more. The last four nights have reminded me what baby sleep CAN be like. Not that she's been crying or anything. Last night was somewhat better, but the previous three she was waking often.

Paul has offered to do a night with her solo, while I sleep in the spare room downstairs. He offered last night and I backed out at the last minute. I like our room and our bed; and I like sleeping with Halle. What if they had a terrible night; then I'd feel terrible for both of them and Paul would be grumpy which I hate.

He's offered again tonight, and maybe I'll take him up on him. I have stock-piled milk and am buoyed be the fact that everyone thinks Halle is so 'chill'. She hasn't really been freaked out by others looking after her and bottles and spends lots of time (hours and hours) in Paul's care and he is fantastic with her (and Anneka too.) (I don't think many Dads take their newborn and toddler to Vancouver to see the sites without Mum, or make there little girl flapping birds and butterflies and teach her all about how things work.)

Should I do it...I'll have to do a mid-night pump session. Maybe!