Baby Signs

I got this little board book called Baby Signs for Bedtime from the library a few days ago, both because she loves books with pictures of babies in them, and also because I thought it might introduce/reinforce some signs for her. It's a very cute book with lots of great pictures, and it's fun to read. But more importantly, it's really working to teach her more signs!

There are 10 signs in this book: moon, stars, sleepy, bath, toothbrush, quiet, book, blanket, love, and light. After having the book for less than a week, Madeleine is making the signs for moon, bath, quiet, blanket, light, and most adorable of all: love! Mind you, she makes them mostly when we read through the book, but you would not believe how sweet it is to see her little finger go to her lips to signal "quiet".

Frankly I'm amazed at how well this baby sign language thing is going--her "vocabulary" seems to be growing daily. Today, over lunch, we had an incredibly full "conversation":

We were in the bedroom reading books when she started to make the sign for "cereal" (putting thumb & forefinger together in a circle), and putting her fingers to her mouth. "Oh!" I said, "Do you want some Nutrios?" (note that Nutrios are *not* Cheerios--not at all!! They are "nutritious" not "cheery"--good marketing for mama & dada!!).

She doesn't nod yet to signal yes, but she kept on making the sign so I brought her into the dining room, strapped her into her high chair, and gave her some Nutrios. I then cut up some pieces of cheese and ate some in front of her. She stretched out her hand, which obviously means "I want!" so I gave her some cheese. So it went through the meal--she also ate a piece of potato and a couple mini spoonfuls of applesauce.

She looked bored a couple of times so I would ask her "All done?", making the sign for it, which is brushing your hands like you've completed a task, but she would pick up another Nutrio or piece of cheese and keep eating. Once she'd had enough applesauce, I asked her again, "All done?" and she looked at me and clapped her hands--her version of the sign. "Okay," I said, "All done," and I wiped her face and took her out.

It might not seem like much--just a very normal meal--but to me it was extraordinary. It was so calm, and at the same time, exciting, to be really communicating with my daughter! It was the first time I felt like there was such a confident give and take between us, with no frustration at all.

I don't know why baby sign language is such a new thing, as it seems so natural, but I would recommend it as a standard practice for every family. I know this isn't scientific proof, but our limited experience is so positive, I'm publishing the results anyway!

. . . to the tune of "Rubber Ducky"

I'm sure every parent does it, makes up silly songs for their baby, or changes the words to songs in their baby repertoire. The sad truth is that sometimes making up stupid lyrics is the most brain-stimulating thing I might do in a day.

I don't even have a rubber ducky, but when my brain is running on auto pilot, "Rubber Ducky" is the song I find myself singing in there. So much so that new versions just keep coming out. My favourite is:


Poopy Baby (to the tune of "Rubber Ducky")

Poopy baby, you're the one
you make diapey time so much fun
Poopy baby I'm awfully fond of you
Poop poop poopy doop.

Poopy baby, joy of joys,
When you're pooping, you make noise
Poopy baby I'm awfully fond of you.

Oh, every day when I make my way to the diapey,
I find a lovely poopy that's yellow, goopy and smelly
Scrub-a-dub dubby.

Poopy baby, you're so fine
And I'm happy that you're mine
Poopy baby I'm awfully fond of you!

I also found myself singing a "Baby Mum-Mum" version including "when I eat you, you make noise" . . .

In the same vein, desperate times call for desperate measures, and before we revolutionized our sleeping arrangements and put a futon on the floor of our bedroom for Madelbean's naps, we would spend hours each night rocking her to sleep (now a few minutes lying down with her does the trick!!). During those sweet, but let's face it--slightly boring, times, the brain starts turning to mush, and my husband and I created a little word game song to keep us entertained.

It came up by accident since neither of us can ever remember anything past the first couple verses of the Mockingbird lullaby. We would start singing

Hush little baby, don't say a word
Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

and keep going until we couldn't remember what comes next. At that point, you have to make up a rhyming line to complete the verse:

And if that looking glass should break,
Mama's gonna buy you a giant cake.

And if that giant cake gets ate,
Mama's gonna buy you a souvenir plate.

And if that plate should gather dust,
Mama's gonna get you a Mozart bust.

La la la . . .

We have others, including one for "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" and another one for "Kumbaya", but that one's the most fun and the most challenging. Try trading off verses with your partner so you can both share the joy of those long sleepless nights!

Toys! Toys! Toys!

Madeleine needed some new toys. Or rather, I needed Madeleine to have some new toys. Anything to capture her attention for more than 2 minutes! I wanted some new toys to help us through the Hell Hour.

Two stores, ninety minutes and under thirty dollars later, I'm the proud owner of about 10 pounds of new toys. New to *us*, that is. I absolutely believe that babies do not need brand-new things. First off, they don't know the difference, and secondly, the next developmental stage comes all too soon, bringing its own slew of new needs. Not only that, but if you only paid $4 for something, you don't feel too bad about giving it away after it's served its purpose. It's not so easy to get rid of that $50 piece of singing-flashing-vibrating plastic that entertained your baby for a couple minutes once when she was 10 weeks old. Trust me.

We hit the Salvation Army and the Value Village near Bank and Walkley. We just missed the 50% off sale at the Sally Ann, but even still I walked away with a bus, a purse and a rabbit pelt for under $13.

The Value Village, however, was where it's at for kids' toys. There were, by conservative estimate, one million various dolls and stuffed animals hanging suffocating in plastic bags, several large bags of assorted big blocks (Mega Blocs, Lego and Duplo), even a Micro-Lite ice cream maker! I came out with one of the block bags, a shape sorter worm, and a tree house thing with an attached mat that says the alphabet and makes animal sounds for each letter. On the way out of the store, I was told repeatedly that X-rayfish begins with X. X-rayfish??? *sigh* Sadly, my vow to avoid electronic noise-making toys lasted about six months with her.

Anyway, it worked! Madeleine played with her tree-house-with-alphabet-animal-saying-mat for almost half an hour today. I'm going to be strategic in introducing the rest, and be sure to take away the last one when I introduce the new one to guarantee more thrill time a few weeks down the road.

Hell Hour, I'm ready to take you on!

Madelbean's Head

It gets more interesting as time goes on, her head. She has a strawberry birthmark that feels a little like a bloated gummy-bear, on the right side of her head behind her ear. It's strangely puffy, and while it doesn't worry me any more, it is a bit weird. Her hair is also getting more and more interesting. She has two cowlicks on her forehead that are going to present major challenges to the teenage Madelbean, and a swirl on her crown around which a long curl is wrapping itself. If you catch a glimpse from a certain angle, it almost looks like she's wearing a yarmulke.

Stuff goes in (milk, food, toys, fluffs off the floor), stuff comes out (sounds, snot, puke, food). Stuff also goes on, including all the food she tries using as hair product. Banana has a firm hold and conditioning properties; toast has a medium hold and a light wheaty aroma. Yesterday at lunch she really concentrated on grinding a piece of toast into the area behind her ear. "You can't eat through osmosis," I tell her. Trust me, I've tried.

She's also started hitting herself in the head. Why? We're not sure. She looks at us like she's trying to tell us something, and then, smack, smack, smack. We say "Dada? Are you saying dada?" Smack, smack, smack. "Are you tired?" Smack, smack, smack. "Yes, your hat goes on your head!" Smack.

My fear is that she's reminding me of all the times I let her get bonked on the head. Last night I had her in the Snugli and Mama Horsie was gearing up for a gallop around the house. I went to check her expression in the bathroom mirror, and "WHACK" . . .

"WAAAAAAAHHHH"

She had leaned over the side to see where we were going and I/we smacked her precious head into the cruel, cruel door frame. There is nothing worse than accidentally hurting your baby. I wanted to cry! Daddy swooped in for a consoling hug and a reproachful look, and it wasn't long before she was back to saying "Hi-da" (which we figure means "Hi there") to the dolls.

There are nice things about her head too. It smells sooooooo nice, especially after her bath, but even after three or four non-bath days, it smells better than most other things in this world. And she has started doing the sweetest thing. When she's tired, she lays her head against our chest and just for a moment the world is still. Just a moment, and then she's back to squirming and waving and saying "Hi-da" to the dolls.

Dealing with the Hell Hour

I don't think I mentioned it, but I was feeling really down last week. That hell hour between 4-5 pm was really getting to me; Madeleine wouldn't go down for a nap, but was obviously tired, so her attention span was about 30 seconds, and I felt like I couldn't handle it. She also started waking up at 8 am instead of 9, which was a big change for me.

After reading The Science of Parenting, I figured I would try a couple of things to make myself feel better. The upshot is that it worked, though I couldn't say exactly *what* worked :) Here's a list of the changes I made:

• started taking salmon oil supplements to boost Omega 3s and DHA (supposed to make happy brain chemicals)
• started exercising daily in addition to our daily walks (this feels like "me" time, which I've been missing!)
• stopped eating chocolate in the afternoon (sugary things apparently boost mood at first, then send it sliding)
• making sure I spend time with people who "recharge my emotional batteries" every day, either in person or over the phone
  
• made some career-related decisions I'd been putting off (this sort of just happened--my theory is that my boosted mood allowed me to face the ideas that had been percolating for a long time)

I also tried out my vintage Snugli for the first time and Madeleine loved it! I've never used a back carrier with her before, and it's so much easier than the Bjorn or the sling. Now I can just load her on my back, and Mama Horsie runs around the house, dances to music, etc while my little jockey spurs me on for awhile before gently falling asleep on my shoulder. Improved mood also means trying creative solutions instead of getting desperate!

Very sweet!

Our Routine: Mondays

Well, it USED to be our routine to go to the Health Unit every Monday for the Well Baby weigh-in, but we haven't made it for . . . maybe 8 weeks? It's about time we went back to check on the little one's weight.

To be honest, I'm a bit worried. She hasn't grown out of any clothes recently, and though she does look to be glowing healthy, she's not really "chubby" anymore. Furthermore, I'm not sure what she eats! She's reduced her nursing to three times in the day and usually 2 times in the night (as far as I can tell--sometimes I sleep through it), and she really doesn't eat much food. I don't really know what I'm doing wrong except maybe being less persistent than I should be, and not providing enough different foods. This parenting thing is full of guilt traps!

Anyway, I'll let you know if my fears are confirmed, and any recommendations they might have. Usually it turns out that I'm just paranoid . . . here's hoping!

Otherwise, I've started working out. Just 15 minutes a day, when Madeleine has her morning nap. Okay, I only did yesterday and today, but I'm going to try to make it a habit. I read somewhere that if you do something 14 times, it becomes a habit. It seems to have worked with doing the dishes every day after supper, so I'm hopeful.

I have this video game called "Yourself Fitness" which guides you through a workout, rewarding you for showing up for x number of workouts in a row, and tracking your weight, strength, fitness and flexibility to help you meet your goals. I've used it before and found it very motivating so I'm feeling positive about this time around.

I'll check in later after the health unit.


Post-health unit:
Well, as usual, my fears are unfounded! Madelbean is a healthy 19 lbs, 12 0z, meaning she gained a pound in 2 months, right on schedule. I am reassured.

Teething Time

Why is the simple process of cutting teeth so darn cruel?

While our experience is way milder than so many kids I've heard about, it still seems to be unnecessarily difficult. She's been experiencing cold symptoms: congestion, runny nose, mild fever, as well as red, chapped cheeks, and being alternately hyperactive and super tired at night. I woke up several times last night to hold her at an incline, letting the mucous drain so she could fall asleep peacefully. It was also difficult for her to nurse since her nose is so plugged up.

On the plus side, all those teeth are really helping her with her solid foods. Her favourite is chicken fingers, but she also likes bananas, nectarines, tomato (surprise!), Nutrios (these are "nutritious", not "cheery"!). It's hard when she won't accept anything on a spoon--she wants to do it! But as long as her weight gain is still good, I'm just going to go with it. We'll try really hard to make it in to the health unit on Monday so we can check on that just to be sure.

Other than that, it's just another wild Saturday night: two 30-year-olds staying home, watching movies on TV while the baby sleeps in the bedroom . . .

Beer Run

It's always fun pushing a stroller full of empty beer and wine bottles through downtown, especially when you're having a bad hair day and decide to wear a bandanna, and then run into the poshest mom of the Baby group on the corner . . . But it's all worth it to get those shiny toonies jingling in your pocket on the way home.

At the beer store, there's inevitably some cute young overfriendly guy in line who tries to befriend the unkempt mom & baby (ie. me and the Bean) as they wait for their shiny toonies. The guy today, after oohing and ahing over her cuteness, asked me "So what's she drinking?" Ha ha. Beer for babies. I just laughed one of those "Oh, you wit, you" laughs and looked the other way. On the way home I came up with a really good comeback:

"Well, she prefers cans to bottles . . . these cans." (point to boobs)

Oh, l'esprit d'escalier!

Our Routine: Wednesdays

Today was the first English-version Baby Time of the new year at the Ottawa Public Library. It was so neat to see the babies after the 4-week break. They've changed so much! Lucas is tall and thin, Abigail is looking so alert, Emma is running around on chubby little toddler legs . . .

Madeleine was fascinated with Amelia, who is 15 months and walking and generally very interactive. Amelia wasn't quite so interested in Madeleine, though she kept on stealing whatever books Madeleine was looking at. It's not easy for them to interact at these ages, as they are much more likely to yank each other's hair or pull their pants down than do anything resembling "play" together.

I got two more issues of The Compleat Mother out but have yet to take a look at them. It's a neat magazine; a bit flaky, but full of positive birth stories, mostly home births. In one of the last issues I learned about "Lotus Birth" practices, where the umbilical cord is not severed, but allowed to detach naturally a few days after the birth. Some say it's a beautiful practice and a "logical" extension of natural birthing . . . others say "eeeeeew".

One other note: I was talking to a mom who is by herself at home. She is enjoying motherhood so much, but the loneliness is really getting to her. It's a long day at home with a little one, even when you know the relief troops are coming at 5:30. I can't imagine what it would be like to be the only one, 24/7. If you (readers? if there are any?) know any single moms, go ahead and invite yourself over, even just for a quick visit. It just might save her sanity!

Our Routine: Tuesdays

Today I brought Madeleine to the French Baby Time at the library. As it turns out, there are two other Madeleines there! (that's okay, because ours is cutest.) I'm enjoying this baby stuff as a way to improve my own French, though I suppose there's only so far "bonhomme de neige" and "roule, roule, boule de neige" will get me in a job interview. But really, there are so many great baby books published in France; the design is particularly appealing and the Bean loves them.

So yes, Baby Time (en francais) starts at 10:30--I'm starting to be a real morning person! It works with her schedule right now to take her out at that time and get home for about noon to feed her and have some lunch myself. After lunch she had a super long nap, and then we went for groceries in the afternoon.

The other Tuesday thing which I skipped today (and the last 10 or so Tuesdays . . .) is swimming. Maybe next week . . .