Best day at my old job: children paid attention and enjoyed my lesson plan. Joked around with co-workers, free food in the break room, get to go home early/on time.
Worst day at my old job: all but one class put at ratio, 20+ kids at naptime, late lunch, confrontation with a co worker, criticized for things I care about that no one else does, go home late because other people were sent home early.
Best day doing what I do now: babies sleep at the same time for two-three hours in the morning and afternoon, we go for a walk on a beautiful day, coffee, i take care of my home and my business while the babies sleep or play, i get cuddles and snuggles. I decide what we do and when and what activities to accomplish.
Worst day doing what I do now: babies only sleep for 30 minute increments or at opposite times, I don't sit down long enough to do anything, i get nothing done BUT I am still my own boss, at my own home, eating my own food, having my coffee whenever and wherever I want.
My "worst day" at home is still 10x better than any job I've had. It's only going to get better.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Winnie the Pooh
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Bottle Success!!
So, last week was terrible. The babies slept for 45 minutes segments and I eventually gave up on the bottle feeding. She only took it one day out of the 5. However, by friday I had just decided not to expect much and not to sweat it with the bottle. She did play with a new one and got some of it in her mouth. There was at least no screaming and arching of her back.
THIS week has been fantastic. Both babies are sleeping for two hours in the morning and in the afternoon. And baby 1 has decided she likes the new bottle. I am being a bit sneaky and giving it to her as she is coming out of her afternoon nap. She is technically still asleep, but it slips right in and yesterday she drank 5 ounces from it! Waahhhoooo! She was only taking maybe one ounce and it was a struggle all last week. We have decided they are both going through growth spurts since they are wanting to eat and sleep all the time. Basically what I've decided is that just when I think I've figured them out, they change on me.
I rearranged the furniture a bit in order to prepare for baby #3. He should be starting on the 21st of this month. I'm excited! He will only be 2 months old, so teeny tiny. I've gotten so used to my two 3 month olds, it might take some adjusting - no, it WILL take some adjusting once he starts. But I am excited.
I found a great website yesterday that has little activities to do with babies for each week from newborn until a year old. It's perfect! http://www.babycenter.com/
I'll be trying some of the three month activities over the next couple of weeks. They are getting closer to 4 months!
THIS week has been fantastic. Both babies are sleeping for two hours in the morning and in the afternoon. And baby 1 has decided she likes the new bottle. I am being a bit sneaky and giving it to her as she is coming out of her afternoon nap. She is technically still asleep, but it slips right in and yesterday she drank 5 ounces from it! Waahhhoooo! She was only taking maybe one ounce and it was a struggle all last week. We have decided they are both going through growth spurts since they are wanting to eat and sleep all the time. Basically what I've decided is that just when I think I've figured them out, they change on me.
I rearranged the furniture a bit in order to prepare for baby #3. He should be starting on the 21st of this month. I'm excited! He will only be 2 months old, so teeny tiny. I've gotten so used to my two 3 month olds, it might take some adjusting - no, it WILL take some adjusting once he starts. But I am excited.
I found a great website yesterday that has little activities to do with babies for each week from newborn until a year old. It's perfect! http://www.babycenter.com/
I'll be trying some of the three month activities over the next couple of weeks. They are getting closer to 4 months!
Monday, January 23, 2012
how time flies...
Has it really been a week since I last posted? Wow. The time really has flown by. Last week, I only had baby 1 until friday. It was a pretty easy week. She was on a great napping schedule, I had two-three hours at a time where she would sleep, allowing me to do things around the apartment. Friday came and baby 2 had forgotten how to sleep. Sigh...it is certainly a challenge getting them both to sleep and not wake the other one up. Mostly, I figure they will just learn to sleep through a lot of noise. They will have to. They do ok, there are just the occasional hiccups.
Today, baby 1 came in having slept only 6 hrs in the last 36. Not cool. She took her morning two hour nap for me as usual and would've slept longer, but I had to wake her for a feeding. This afternoon however, she slept 45 minutes and was then awakened by baby 2's fussiness. She was obviously still tired, but I tried for 45 more minutes to put her back to sleep but to no avail. She was up. So our afternoon two hour nap turned into a mini 45 minute cat nap. Boo.
If baby 1 wasn't sleeping well, do you really think she was going to take her bottle well? Ahh, you catch on quick! I had to resort to using the medicine dropper which I have not had to do since the very first week. It was an hour long tedious process of getting her to take it all, but she ate about 3 1/2 oz. Hard to tell with spilling some, and her spitting some out, but oh well.
Baby 2, after playing on the floor, was looking sleepy, rubbing his eyes (so cute!) so I swaddled him up and laid him in his bed. Baby 1 began to look sleepy too. Swaddled her up and did the same. I am working on getting them to put themselves to sleep. So, I lay them down while sleepy, but still awake. If they cry, I check on them every two minutes and reassure them that I am still there, but do not pick them up. Baby 2 is pretty good at it. Baby 1 is decent, but she still takes a few checks. This afternoon I decided to let her go longer than 2 minutes...at 3 minutes and thirty seconds, she had stopped crying. Sigh...it's been 20 minutes of peaceful silence, although it really feels much longer. Here's hoping for a good 2 hour nap to replace the earlier one. Do you know, that at 3-4 months of age, they are only supposed to be awake for 1-2 hrs at a time and then sleep about 16 hrs a day?? Crazy. Anyway, I do my best to keep within those time constraints. I know they need that sleep to rest and grow and develop.
Two babies is certainly more challenging than one and they are so unpredictable sometimes. I'm hoping I continue to get better at it and that they do too :-) The stress and frustration I experience when I can't get them to stop crying is so minor compared to what I experienced at my previous jobs. This still beats working for someone else, any day.
In brighter news, last friday I had the babies make their first craft! Foot print snowmen! Love them.
Today, baby 1 came in having slept only 6 hrs in the last 36. Not cool. She took her morning two hour nap for me as usual and would've slept longer, but I had to wake her for a feeding. This afternoon however, she slept 45 minutes and was then awakened by baby 2's fussiness. She was obviously still tired, but I tried for 45 more minutes to put her back to sleep but to no avail. She was up. So our afternoon two hour nap turned into a mini 45 minute cat nap. Boo.
If baby 1 wasn't sleeping well, do you really think she was going to take her bottle well? Ahh, you catch on quick! I had to resort to using the medicine dropper which I have not had to do since the very first week. It was an hour long tedious process of getting her to take it all, but she ate about 3 1/2 oz. Hard to tell with spilling some, and her spitting some out, but oh well.
Baby 2, after playing on the floor, was looking sleepy, rubbing his eyes (so cute!) so I swaddled him up and laid him in his bed. Baby 1 began to look sleepy too. Swaddled her up and did the same. I am working on getting them to put themselves to sleep. So, I lay them down while sleepy, but still awake. If they cry, I check on them every two minutes and reassure them that I am still there, but do not pick them up. Baby 2 is pretty good at it. Baby 1 is decent, but she still takes a few checks. This afternoon I decided to let her go longer than 2 minutes...at 3 minutes and thirty seconds, she had stopped crying. Sigh...it's been 20 minutes of peaceful silence, although it really feels much longer. Here's hoping for a good 2 hour nap to replace the earlier one. Do you know, that at 3-4 months of age, they are only supposed to be awake for 1-2 hrs at a time and then sleep about 16 hrs a day?? Crazy. Anyway, I do my best to keep within those time constraints. I know they need that sleep to rest and grow and develop.
Two babies is certainly more challenging than one and they are so unpredictable sometimes. I'm hoping I continue to get better at it and that they do too :-) The stress and frustration I experience when I can't get them to stop crying is so minor compared to what I experienced at my previous jobs. This still beats working for someone else, any day.
In brighter news, last friday I had the babies make their first craft! Foot print snowmen! Love them.
Monday, January 16, 2012
easy breezy daze
Well, today has been completely uneventful...so far. Baby 1 is my only one for most of the week until friday. She took a great nap this morning. Then, mom came to nurse her. She then showed me her new tricks of scooting around in a cirlce on a blanket on the floor. She is changing so fast! After that we danced to some good ol' 80s music: Let's Hear it For the Boy & Footloose. She really liked my dancing to footloose! Lol. I read that dancing with and for babies their age is a way to play with them. After that, she was sleepy again (they sleep 16-18 hrs a day!!) so she went back to sleep. When she wakes up, we will attempt the bottle once more (fingers crossed...)
Here is my nursery project complete. The Winnie the Pooh wall decals. You can see the remnants of the adhesive that I attempted to remove...and then the greasy residue of goo gone that I also tried to remove. Sigh...sometimes, things just don't work out the way we want them to and for now, it has to be good enough.
Here is my nursery project complete. The Winnie the Pooh wall decals. You can see the remnants of the adhesive that I attempted to remove...and then the greasy residue of goo gone that I also tried to remove. Sigh...sometimes, things just don't work out the way we want them to and for now, it has to be good enough.
It's a work in progress. As I get babies 3 & 4, the room will have to change a bit. I'm also looking for a decent changing table and found this great idea for displaying books on pinterest. Waiting to have $$$.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
6 & 7 Daze...Learn that my best is my best
I recently took the myers briggs personality test. It was very enlightening and pretty spot on. I came out as an ENFJ, "The Giver." It makes sense why I enjoy structure and organizing, serving and teaching others. Those are some of the positives. One of the negatives is being really hard on myself. The last couple of days, the pressure of doing a "great" (ie "perfect" in my mind) job has gotten to me a bit.
I have made a few mistakes or perceived mistakes. I mean, these aren't my children. They belong to someone else who knows them very well. Most parents are pretty particular about their children, and I know I would be too. Keeping them on a set schedule of feeding and sleeping has proved to be a little bit of a challenge.
I think someone swapped the babies on me today, because Baby 1 slept for two and half hours this morning while Baby 2 slept for 30 and 20 minutes at a time. Totally reversed. Baby 2 didn't want his bottle and was fussy.
*BIG NEWS*
Baby 1, after seeing the speech pathologist yesterday, took her bottle like she had been doing it since birth!! She was fantastic. I took some tips from the speech pathologist, like giving her my latex gloved finger to suck on first, sitting her up in my lap with her head against my upper arm (kind of forward facing) and slipped the bottle in after she had been sucking on my finger. Done! 3 ounces in 3 minutes. Amazing! I warmed up one more ounce for her and she might've even eaten more. Due to her fuller belly, she has been very content and happy while awake, and sleeps much more soundly and for longer periods of time.
Baby 2 had maybe slept an hour and half total (all in 10, 20 and 30 minute increments) by 3:15. Finally, when he woke up after 20 minutes of sleep, I didn't pick him up but let him lay there. He wasn't crying and still yawned. 10 minutes later, he was back asleep until his mom came at around 5:15. The only problem was *mistake alert* he should've had another bottle at 4 pm. Oops. But that is also what happened this morning. He had finally fallen good and asleep at 10 and I had to wake him at 10:30 so he could take his bottle on schedule. Frustrating. Not sure what to do about that, because his eating and sleeping schedules seem to be intersecting more than they should.
Taking care of these babies is such a huge responsibility. I enjoy it and I know I'm doing a great job. I just have to learn to let myself make mistakes now and then. I mean, I've really only been at this for two weeks...not even! Whew...it's all a process. All in all, this was a great day.
I have made a few mistakes or perceived mistakes. I mean, these aren't my children. They belong to someone else who knows them very well. Most parents are pretty particular about their children, and I know I would be too. Keeping them on a set schedule of feeding and sleeping has proved to be a little bit of a challenge.
I think someone swapped the babies on me today, because Baby 1 slept for two and half hours this morning while Baby 2 slept for 30 and 20 minutes at a time. Totally reversed. Baby 2 didn't want his bottle and was fussy.
*BIG NEWS*
Baby 1, after seeing the speech pathologist yesterday, took her bottle like she had been doing it since birth!! She was fantastic. I took some tips from the speech pathologist, like giving her my latex gloved finger to suck on first, sitting her up in my lap with her head against my upper arm (kind of forward facing) and slipped the bottle in after she had been sucking on my finger. Done! 3 ounces in 3 minutes. Amazing! I warmed up one more ounce for her and she might've even eaten more. Due to her fuller belly, she has been very content and happy while awake, and sleeps much more soundly and for longer periods of time.
Baby 2 had maybe slept an hour and half total (all in 10, 20 and 30 minute increments) by 3:15. Finally, when he woke up after 20 minutes of sleep, I didn't pick him up but let him lay there. He wasn't crying and still yawned. 10 minutes later, he was back asleep until his mom came at around 5:15. The only problem was *mistake alert* he should've had another bottle at 4 pm. Oops. But that is also what happened this morning. He had finally fallen good and asleep at 10 and I had to wake him at 10:30 so he could take his bottle on schedule. Frustrating. Not sure what to do about that, because his eating and sleeping schedules seem to be intersecting more than they should.
Taking care of these babies is such a huge responsibility. I enjoy it and I know I'm doing a great job. I just have to learn to let myself make mistakes now and then. I mean, I've really only been at this for two weeks...not even! Whew...it's all a process. All in all, this was a great day.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Sticky daze
After a weekend of being in the car (from KY to WVA to NC to WVA to OH to KY) I was suprisingly well rested today.
Only had Baby 1. She barely slept at all today and barely ate. I finally put her in the swing, which kept her asleep for about an hour and a half. Otherwise she would wake up after 20-30 minutes. She did well with the bottle, but just didn't seem very hungry. She has been a fickle baby. Oh well.
All in all, the work day went by very quickly.
This evening, beat a game of Sudoku in 37 minutes (I don't know if that's very good, it was my first time playing on my new app), chatted with a bestie, went to the grocery with the hubby and then stopped by my parents' house. Mom made chili for dinner...yummm. Food tastes the best when you don't have to make it yourself.
I wanted to have pictures here of the nursery project I am working on, but it is not going so well. My advice to anyone: never put foam adhesive squares on your wall. Big mess. Now, the ones with the hooks and the pull tabs are perfect. These were for a bulletin board and they left a big mess. I tried GooGone and LOC kitchen cleaner. It just wouldn't budge. So then, in my genius, I took a flat head screwdriver to it and scraped it off...along with the paint! Oops. I am attempting to create a nice clean surface for my classic pooh wall decals from ebay. Alas, I scrubbed and scrubbed and now it is yucky. To top off the evening I slid on the kitchen floor in my socks and landed hard on my right hip and wrist. I felt like saying, "I've fallen and I can't get up!" Instead I just laid there for a minute while Matt rubbed my back attempting to console me and I'm sure choked back laughter. If I'd seen it happen to someone else I would've laughed. Sigh...I think it's time to quit for the night. Going to watch House, MD episodes before bed. Nighty night.
Only had Baby 1. She barely slept at all today and barely ate. I finally put her in the swing, which kept her asleep for about an hour and a half. Otherwise she would wake up after 20-30 minutes. She did well with the bottle, but just didn't seem very hungry. She has been a fickle baby. Oh well.
All in all, the work day went by very quickly.
This evening, beat a game of Sudoku in 37 minutes (I don't know if that's very good, it was my first time playing on my new app), chatted with a bestie, went to the grocery with the hubby and then stopped by my parents' house. Mom made chili for dinner...yummm. Food tastes the best when you don't have to make it yourself.
I wanted to have pictures here of the nursery project I am working on, but it is not going so well. My advice to anyone: never put foam adhesive squares on your wall. Big mess. Now, the ones with the hooks and the pull tabs are perfect. These were for a bulletin board and they left a big mess. I tried GooGone and LOC kitchen cleaner. It just wouldn't budge. So then, in my genius, I took a flat head screwdriver to it and scraped it off...along with the paint! Oops. I am attempting to create a nice clean surface for my classic pooh wall decals from ebay. Alas, I scrubbed and scrubbed and now it is yucky. To top off the evening I slid on the kitchen floor in my socks and landed hard on my right hip and wrist. I felt like saying, "I've fallen and I can't get up!" Instead I just laid there for a minute while Matt rubbed my back attempting to console me and I'm sure choked back laughter. If I'd seen it happen to someone else I would've laughed. Sigh...I think it's time to quit for the night. Going to watch House, MD episodes before bed. Nighty night.
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