All Aboard the Sleep Train

I only have two talents: packing a box/car/closet/dishwasher and getting babies to sleep through the night. Until I had children, I only thought I had one talent. I really felt sorry for myself! Well, now I have to say I'd rather have these talents than be able to sing, decorate, paint, whatever. Nothing is better than sleep. Wouldn't you agree? And NOTHING is better than a precious baby that sleeps through the night.

One quick disclaimer. It really hoarks a lot of people off when I brag about getting my sleep these days. If you're the jealous type, I suggest you don't read this blog entry. I don't get mad when someone sings well, so I don't know why this bothers people so much. But, obviously sleep is a sensitive issue. But, they say if you've got it flaunt it: so here goes! Plus, 95% of the people who read my blog are either pregnant or have a newborn and I'd really love to help. Be warned, this process is a lot of work and you will be exhausted the first few weeks. But it'll be worth it. And by the way, I don't judge you if your baby doesn't sleep through the night. I'm not like that...

So, without further small-talk, please pull up a chair for the first ever Another Day-Another Dollar Blog Talent Show!!!!!

First of all, I do not believe in cry-it-out for newborns. I do think it's a good idea for older babies, but if you stick to my tips, you won't have an older baby that needs to cry it out.

I hear people tell me every day that I'm lucky because their baby will NOT sleep. Maybe I am lucky and maybe your baby won't sleep. Maybe, but I doubt it. One of my favorite bloggers just spent the last week successfully sleep-training her 7-month old. She has 3-year old triplets that slept through the night at 14 weeks (5 weeks after adjusting for prematurity). It was HER discipline that worked with all of her children. (Her discipline just came a little later the second time around.) My opinion is that success depends more on mom and dad's discipline than on baby's temperment.

Let me tell you a little about my good little sleepers.

Buddy was tiny when he was born. He was 5 lbs 13 oz when we got him at 5 days old. He was wide awake the first day and night we had him. I remember thinking from day one that I must have been mistaken about that "sleeping like a baby" notion. Aren't babies supposed to sleep all the time? I even asked my caseworker about it. I learned that Buddy didn't need a lot of sleep and still doesn't. It would take forever to get him to sleep -- still does. We'd have to rock him and ever-so-gently put him in his carseat (where he slept) when he was drowsy. Any sudden movement or sound would wake him right up. He was busy and strong from day one. He hated being swaddled and was a 5-pound Houdini. He would fight and twist and fight some more to get out of his blankets... and by the time he did that, he'd be wide awake. And boy could that kid eat. He wouldn't tolerate being hungry and is exactly the same to this day. Buddy had really bad reflux and we had to suction his nose several times a day and night so he could breathe. At his two-month appointment, our pediatrician told me Buddy was beyond ready to sleep through the night. I had already been prepping for it and he was already sleeping 8 hours, I just didn't think a baby that young was "allowed" to go without food ALL night. This was Buddy we were talking about. A veracious eater.

Well, that night he slept 12 hours -- at 9 weeks old. I won't go into the details about how I got him to do it because I think there's a much easier way. A way I perfected with baby #2.

Pee-Wee was bigger when we got him (7 lbs 8 oz) but was four weeks early, so he was sound asleep for the first few weeks of his life. You couldn't wake that baby up for anything. He even ate in his sleep. It took forever, but he could do it. Before he was born, EVERYONE told me to rest up because there was no way he'd be as good of a sleep as Buddy. But the moment I met him, I knew he'd be a piece of cake -- he was that calm. His birth mom warned us that he hated to be swaddled. G and I thought, oh no. Getting the baby to sleep through the night is so much easier if they're swaddled, but we did it with Buddy, so we can do it again. Well, they were wrong. Pee-Wee loves to be swaddled. It's his favorite thing in the whole world! Pee-Wee's reflux is even worse than Buddy's was -- if that's possible. He chokes and spits up all night long, so we have him sleep upright in a bouncy seat. He was having growing problems early on, so he's now on medication to help his reflux and to help him grow. With all that said, his pediatrician and I agree that he does not need food during the night. Food is for day and sleep is for night.
Pee-Wee slept 8 hours at 3 weeks. It was still hit-or-miss at that point, but by 8 weeks he slept 10 hours. He's 12 weeks now and he sleeps between 10 and 12 hours at night with several naps during the day.

So, to summarize: both of my babies slept through the night as newborns. Through reflux and illness (we're just coming out of a fun bout with the stomach flu for both kids) these children sleep and so do I. And it's wonderful! These boys have very different temperments, biology's and sleep patterns -- and your baby will obviously be different than my babies. Buddy is busy and needs very little sleep. He stopped napping well at 2 1/2 and was very difficult to get him to nap even as a baby. But he always slept well at night. Even if it took him forever to get to sleep, once he did, he slept well until morning. Pee-Wee is calm and goes with the flow. He needs a lot of sleep and will fall asleep at the drop of a hat. I have a feeling he'll be one to nap until he's 3 or 4 or beyond! Let's hope anyway. So it really matters very little what kind of child you have.

Step one: I believe in starting this process from day one. A newborn naturally sleeps more than say a 2-month old or an 8-month old. Of course, a newborn also eats more often, but you can't possibly eliminate feedings if your baby doesn't know how to sleep well for long stretches on his own. Does that make sense? I will repeat: This process must start right away. Here's why:

At a few months old babies learn "object permanence," which means they learn that objects and people exist even if they can't see/smell/hear them. A six-month old baby will wake up and remember their mommy and will cry. A newborn will not do that. They may wake up and know they are hungry or uncomfortable, but they won't wake up and want you per se. I hope that doesn't hurt anyone's feelings, but it's true. If a mom that smelled and looked like you showed up to breastfeed, the baby could be calmed (of course that would never happen... ) It is so much easier to get a baby to sleep through the night if they don't know you are in the other room. An older baby knows you are. And good luck getting them to sleep on their own at that point. That's where cry-it-out becomes helpful.

Step two: Most babies have days and nights mixed up. So what. Your first few weeks will be hell as you try to sort that out, but it'll be worth it in the long-run. So you're up all night for a few weeks. It's better than being up all night for a few months. Do not give in just because you're tired. Oh, I was sorely tempted with both of my babies. When Buddy was a newborn I had to finish up my job, so I was up early every morning to get ready for work. And we were moving. And G was a brand new attorney. And it was Christmas. I was exhausted to put it mildly. But I didn't give up.

Step three: I do not believe in letting my babies sleep with me. I did it occasionally with Buddy and it never worked. I did it twice for a few hours at a time with Pee-Wee and it really set us back. I think he would have slept 10 hours much earlier if I hadn't done that. From day one, let your baby sleep on his own. I hold Pee-Wee the majority of the day, but never at night. You will not sleep well if you've got a baby in your arms. And they won't either. Every little move or sound either of you makes will disturb the other. Not only that, it's a SIDS risk and I just get really freaked out about possibly crushing my baby. But again, I don't judge you if you do. It's just not helpful in the long-run.

Step four: This step is key! Swaddle with two blankets. Get a stretchy thin blanket and swaddle as tight as you can. Then get a heavier blanket and swaddle again as tight as you can. This works for most babies, but not for all (Buddy), so if your baby hates to be swaddled, swaddle him anyway but leave his arms out. Before you try that, though, if he hates to be swaddled, do it tighter. I think that was the issue with Pee-Wee. His birth mom wasn't doing it tight enough. Does that make sense? They were snug and warm in the womb, afterall!

Step five: Have a night-time routine from day one. We change Pee-Wee into pajamas, double-swaddle, feed, burp, and place him in his bouncy seat. Some babies (Buddy) will first need to be rocked until drowsy.

Step six: Put your baby to sleep drowsy, not asleep. They need to learn to self-sooth and this is so much easier when they're little and they don't know any better. Pee-Wee is sound asleep by the time the bottle hits his lips, so we've had to teach him to put himself to sleep during naps.

Step seven: Put your baby to sleep in the same exact place every night. Pee-Wee sleeps in his bouncy seat right next to the couch. This just goes back to the routine idea. Both of my babies loved the bouncy seat with a vibrator. It's cozier than a crib but more upright than a bassinet. And choose a bedtime based on your goal of getting your baby to sleep 12 hours. Truthfully, I need to be better about this. I'd like Pee-Wee to get up around 8:30 or 9:00, so I should put him to bed around then too. This is hard, especially since I love cuddling with just him after Buddy goes to bed.

Step eight: When your baby still needs to eat during the night, keep the lights low and do not interact with them. That's harder than it sounds because there is nothing cuter than a newborn baby swaddled up just staring at you... but try to resist and spend your time with them during the day. If you do turn on the light or TV, cover your baby's eyes with a burp cloth.

Step nine: When Buddy was a baby I was complaining to a friend that when I would change his diaper during the night it would wake him up so much it would be hours before he'd get back to sleep. She asked why I was even changing his diaper at night. And that was a good point. In my experience, brand new babies pee a lot and you have to stay on top of their diaper changes. But after a few weeks, just put a big name-brand diaper on the baby at night and they'll be fine until morning. If they poop you'll have to change them, but Pee-Wee only pooped once during the night. Maybe I'll be charged with child abuse: but if they leak during the night, so what. Who cares? They'll be asleep and swaddled with two blankets, so they won't even notice and it's a lot easier to throw a couple blankets in the laundry in the morning than to be up all night with a wide-awake baby. And if you're not feeding them as much during the night, they certainly won't be peeing as much. And if they're consistently leaking, get bigger diapers.

Step ten: If your baby wakes up, don't rush to feed him. Many, many times my babies would go back to sleep if I waited or jiggled the bouncy seat or reswaddled or said "shhhh" in their ear or put the binky in their mouth. Babies don't wake up just because they're hungry.

I don't have strong opinions about binky's, by the way. I don't like them, but they do work. Buddy hated them and never got coordinated enough to keep the darn thing in his mouth. He did get to sleep easier when he had one in his mouth, but he couldn't ever keep it there -- and then he'd wake up mad. Pee-Wee on the other hand loves his, but doesn't depend on it. I actually think they make it harder for the baby to sleep through the night because no newborn is proficient at keeping it in. But do whatever works for you. If you're baby doesn't love it, go without I guess.

I know what you're thinking: You feed your baby formula. I breastfeed, which takes a lot less time to digest. I don't dispute that. I really don't. BUT... You can't tell me that it takes 3 hours to digest breast milk but 10 hours to digest formula. No, of course not. And if it did, why did Buddy start rooting and crying like a crazy baby as soon as his tummy got empty during the day -- but was totally fine all night? Breast milk may digest quicker, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not that much quicker. When we're talking a full night, it's not going to make a difference. Yeah, your baby might not sleep through the night as early or might not sleep as long, but I bet it's still possible.

I thought long and hard about this issue and this is what I think: it's easier to breastfeed a baby in your sleep (at least I assume), so it's asking a lot to get up and work on getting your baby back to sleep if they wake up. For us formula moms, you have to get up to make the bottle and then stay awake to feed the baby which took forever with my little Pee-Wee. By the time I did all that, I was wide awake because there's no way you can hold a bottle upright in your sleep. And if I was going to be wide awake, I might as well spend my awake time getting Pee-Wee to stay asleep so he didn't do that to me again! So I think that's a bigger issue than the digestion thing.

Step eleven: When you're done feeding, put your baby right back to bed. If they won't go to sleep or if they start to cry, pick them up, console them and put them right back to bed. You may have to repeat this for hours, but do not let the baby sleep with you. I did this every night until Pee-Wee slept through the night and low and behold, he knows how to put himself to sleep.

Step twelve: Sleep begets sleep. Your baby will sleep a lot better at night if they are well-rested during the day. It's a law of nature, I think. If your baby misses naps or gets overly stimulated during the day, your nights will be a lot worse.

Now some comments on older babies that once knew how to sleep through the night, but no longer do. Go re-read my feelings on object permanence. At around six months, Buddy would wake up screaming for me. I refused to mess with the good fortune we had by removing him from his crib. So when he would do that, I'd give him the shirt I had worn that day. He'd cuddle with that, possibly thinking about me as he drifted back to sleep. Worked every time. This will NOT work if you pick them up and comfort them. Why would they then go back to sleep with a shirt when they've realized they can go back to sleep with you? When Buddy started waking up at night I also gave him some small stuffed animals and a blanket. After a few months he fell head-over heels in love with Teddy, one of the "lovies" I provided him with. Buddy sucked on Teddy for months and years and still to this day he receives so much comfort from Teddy. I think this is so important for all children: to have something that is comforting besides mommy and daddy.

If you want your baby to sleep longer in the morning, might I suggest dark blinds. I cannot understand why people put white blinds, thin blinds, or no blinds at all in their kids' rooms and then they can't figure out why they wake up at dawn. Up until this summer, Buddy never woke up before 9:00. Now he gets up between 8:00 and 9:00, but if he ever sleeps somewhere without dark blinds, he's up at 6:00 just like every other kid in America without dark blinds. And strangely, the few times we've had friends and guests spend the night (or even nap) at our house, they sleep longer too! I love dark blinds.

Well, I think I'll stop there. Please leave a comment if you have any other ideas. Now, if anyone has the talent of having patience with a 4-year old, please let me know. That's something I have not mastered.

Movie Review: Across the Universe

I'm not at all a movie buff. I pass on most movies and rarely have any idea what movies are "out" at any given time. A movie has to be really good to get my recommendation. And you know it has to be really good to make my blog.

I loved this movie. Watched it both Friday and Saturday night in fact. If you like the Beatles, or music in general, art, history, current events, or musicals, you must see this movie. The music is really cool, the acting is fresh and I loved ALL the characters. And what's even more amazing, all the actors were no-names. Yet they all sang well and sang live -- no dubbing and lip singing happening in this movie. Amazing.

I saw Oprah several months ago and she had the cast and director on to talk about the movie. I was intrigued by the concept but didn't expect much. I mean, like I said, a movie has to be really good to meet my expectations. Finally we got around to renting it this weekend, and I just can't say enough good things about it. The writing and directing are brilliant. The concept is this: it's a story with themes of love and war and activism. It's a musical, so the story is told with more than 30 Beatles songs. The story takes place in New York and Liverpool, England during the 60's -- right in the middle of the Vietnam War. Considering the situation the U.S. is in overseas currently, it was interesting to watch the culture and attitudes of that war 40 years ago. I was so impressed with the details and symbolism that went into each scene. The cleverness and creativity of the directing and how the music drives the story just is incredible, especially since the story was created many years after the music became popular. Enjoy! And taking a line from G (and his cravings after watching TV), you'll have to let me know if you got a craving for strawberries while watching it. Had to make myself a strawberry smoothie halfway through watching it the second time.

TV

Because of the recently concluded writer’s strike, we were forced to add some new shows to the TV line-up. I mean, what else are we going to do, read a book? One of the shows that M decided was worth watching was the Bigg.est Lo.ser. At first I made fun of her for it, but then I started watching it. I have become a fan. However, much like my post about Supe.rsize Me, I don’t think this show has had the effect on me that it should.

The other night, we were watching an episode where the contestants were sent home for a week. Instead of getting support from their families and friends, many of them were being taunted to eat all sorts of stuff. As I’m watching this, and seeing all of the food, I got extremely hungry. Never mind the fact that I had eaten plenty during the day. Finally, I had to break out the two boxes of cookies that I had just gotten that day to satisfy my cravings. It helped, but I tried to get M off the couch to go get some chicken wings. It was probably good that she didn’t. I guess I’d better get back to the gym.

Star Struck

My sister blogged about taking her baby (in utero) to his first concert the other night. They saw Mika. I'm a little jealous, Henry!
Well, not to be out-done, Pee-Wee attended his first concert yesterday and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it. Buddy did, that's for sure. The Children's Museum hosted Captain Bogg and Salty, a pirate rock band that performs for children and adults alike. By day they perform in schools and at libraries, and by night you can catch them at local nightclubs. They're a Portland band, but as of this year, they're touring nationwide -- which is pretty lucky for my blog readers who live in other states.
Captain Bogg and Salty are totally cool. Make no bones about it. G and Buddy went with some friends to the Pirate Festival in Portland during the summer and heard the band perform. Everyone came home raving about how entertaining they were. I couldn't imagine. I mean, I've listened to their CD's a hundred times and while I'll admit the songs are catchy, I just couldn't imagine giving them a rave review. They're a bunch of dudes dressed up like pirates for crying out loud. Well, here you have it. They were amazing in concert. They sing well, their dance moves are cool, they're fun, and they have a good mix of kid and adult humor. And to be honest, I'm really surprised G hasn't quit his day job to try to join the band. Buddy loves cool music too and has been dead set on being a "worker guy playing the guitar" in Sum 41. But now he's torn. Being a kid entertainer in a pirate band... now that's a dream job. Move over Wi.ggles and any other annoying kid bands (I can't think of any others, but I know they exist). Captain Bogg is in the HOUSE!Check out some song samples on Amazon. And check out their website soon for an list of their upcoming concerts.

"What?" Deaf But Not Mute

I have to blog about this to get this all off my chest. This is seriously testing my patience. (That and the fact that G has been working til 2:00 AM every day for a couple of weeks)...

I don't have a lot of experience with ear infections. I don't ever recall having one and Buddy has only had two very mild ones. Until last week.

He hadn't been feeling well all week, mostly just complaining of a headache. By Thursday morning he had a fever, more of a headache, and later that day he started saying his ears hurt. I thought for sure that he was just getting a cold and had pressure in his ears from that. While he wasn't acting himself per se, he was really pleasant and was still eating and playing (although he was napping, which isn't normal).

I always tell myself to remember the tell-tale sign that Buddy is really sick: He starts behaving like an angel. He was like a dream child last week and was still delightful by Saturday. In fact, I was starting to feel guilty that I was enjoying having him sick. But I was still convinced it was a cold and his nose would start to drain any moment. I should have known...

I was also ignoring the fact that he had gone deaf. No, you didn't read that wrong. His high-pitched incessant talking hadn't made ME go deaf. It was him. Couldn't hear a darn thing I said. At first it was funny. I would tease him and ask him if he liked pink. And he'd just ignore me. I asked him if he was a girl. And he just ignored me. I asked him if I could throw Teddy away. And he just ignored me.

You know when you're talking to someone who truly is going deaf? And they don't know what you said and it's getting awkward, so they just say something. Even if it doesn't relate? Well, he kept doing that. He'd see my lips moving from across the room and he'd say something, just to say it.

So finally I took him to an urgent care facility on Saturday and it turns out he had two raging ear infections. Anyway, we put him on an antibiotic and by Sunday he was feeling great. Except he still couldn't hear me. By Tuesday MY ears are sore from all the yelling I've been doing to get his attention. I'm dead serious about that. It has been a terrible problem. So I hauled him to his own pediatrician, who confirmed two raging ear infections. Who knows if they had gotten better or worse, so we switched him to a different antibiotic. And he confirmed what others had been telling me: THE HEARING LOSS WILL LAST UP TO FOUR TO SIX WEEKS. Nothing permanent -- thank goodness--but a huge amount of frustration in the meantime. I honestly can't imagine keeping this up for another several weeks.

And don't even get me started about Pee-Wee's reflux and the joys of dealing with insurance/Co.st.co/and non-stop vomiting.

And can anyone tell me how to re-enable spellcheck?

Another Tag

Yin tagged me for this one.

Here's the tag:

1. Pick up the nearest book (one of at least 123 pages)

2. Open the page to 123

3. Find the 5th sentence.

4. Post the next 3 sentences

5. Tag 5 people.

Here's my response:

Oregon Rules of Court 2007 published by Thompson West

"The privilege stated in this subsection agrees with the privilege in ORS 44.040(1)(b), which is repealed, although the latter statute did not set forth specific types of communications to be protected."

This is some of the commentary discussing Oregon Rule of Evidence 503 which describes the attorney-client privilege.

I know you are probably all enthralled with this. However, since I've been prepping for trial, this has been my life for the last few weeks and will continue to be for at least another month.

I tag everyone who reads our blog.

A Dream Come True

Buddy loves anything that wields a sword or anything with big teeth. The bigger the teeth, the more cool: sharks, crocodiles, and dinosaurs top his list. He LOVES T. Rexes and is a T. Rex about half the time. I always thought it would be so great to have a child into dinosaurs (for the smartness factor). But then I realized that having a child that loves dinosaurs means being a mom that loves to read dinosaur books. So that's why G found me this shirt. I haven't ordered it yet, but I think I should. (For Valentine's Day, G?)

Anyway, dinosaurs have become my thing too, even if they bore me to tears.

So imagine my joy when my good friend, Nicki, called me the other night to invite me and Buddy to go to a preview of the new dinosaur exhibit at the science museum in Portland. Just the night before I had been online checking out the details because I knew Buddy would love it. Nicki called me around 4:30. By 5:00 I was in the car ready to go with a VERY excited little boy in the backseat.

We got to the museum and discovered that most of the people attending the preview were adults, apparently employees of the companies sponsoring the exhibit. There were very few kids, so Buddy and his friend James had free reign of the place. When we walked in and Buddy got a glimpse of all the dinosaurs and dinosaur bones he said, "Is this a dream, or is this real?!" He was that impressed.

We got to see several real dinosaurs, including a real T. Rex which was a highlight of the whole visit (notice Buddy's T. Rex hands in the picture above). James was mildly nervous by the size and realness of the robotic T. Rex, I mean real T. Rex. Nicki and I reassured him that it was just a robot, which put him at ease. But that put Buddy into a panic. Buddy has now reiterated to me 1000 times since that it was a real T. Rex, not a robot. He also mentioned that he doesn't know why there was a computer by the T. Rex, but it is real. Do T. Rexes eat computers, he asked?

We stayed until the museum closed and the boys also enjoyed all the bones on display, digging in the sand for bones like paleontologists, and playing in a sand and water display.

Buddy was so thrilled about it all that he told G all about everything he saw -- giving him a detailed play-by-play the whole car ride home and he called my mom first thing the next morning. And now a week later he's still talking about it. We'll definitely go again, but the real fun in that evening was having the place virtually to outselves. Thanks Nicki!!!!

Super Tuesday, Super Smart-Mouth, and Super Cute!

Today is Super Tuesday and I'm really excited. I have been totally obsessed with this election, the candidates, the media coverage, and of course the issues being debated. I just love it all.

Well, except when Hillary Clinton keeps "tearing up" a few days before critical primaries. Why does she keep doing that? She drives me nuts on a good day, and when she cries and wears bright yellow pants suits... yuck. And I don't like that McCain is doing so well. The most pressing issues are the economy and Iraq and I honestly don't trust him with either one.

I do, however, like that Giuliani and Edwards dropped out. Thank goodness. They were both driving me crazy too. Edwards was a good enough guy, just not right for this contest. And they didn't add any drama to the election. Who needs a boring and ill-qualified candidate?

Anyway, that leaves Obama, Romney, and Huckabee. I fully trust all three, although politically, of course, I agree most with the religious two. Obama is a smooth talker and a great leader but I'm still not totally sure about his stance on a lot of issues. But I admit, he'd make a decent president. Romney is smart and respectable but a little stiff and awkward. And Huckabee is just downright cool, but I realize doesn't have a prayer (if I can say that about a preacher-man).

I've been reading my News.week magazines like crazy (although I'm admittedly a little behind), I've been watching election coverage on TV (although I really wish we got the cable news channels), and I've been reading online as much as possible. Oh, who needs writers when there is election coverage! Kind of reminds me of a situation during the last election. I was part of a bunko club and the monthly game night fell on the night of one of the debates between Bush and Kerry. No kidding, I found myself a substitute for the game so I wouldn't have to miss the debate. What a dork, I know.

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Buddy is so hilarious, but SUCH a smart-mouth. That kid...

There's an indoor fieldhouse in town which is really great when it's raining. Like it has been here for the past two months straight. Anway, it's in a hard-to-find location in a residential neighborhood and I hadn't been in a good year. So the first time I went this winter I had some trouble finding it. Eventually we found our way. Well the next time we went, I set out to go a different way. Buddy got all concerned that I was taking him somewhere else. I reassured him that we were going to the fieldhouse, I was just going a different way. He said, "Will you get lost this time?" I told him I knew right where I was going. He replied, "Well, imagine that."

On Sunday during church Buddy leaned over and whispered, "I wish I could be a daddy." I asked him why, assuming he was going to say something cute and touching since a good friend just finished blessing his newborn daughter -- and Buddy has been really curious about the priesthood. Nope. He said, "Because daddies always yell at their kids during church."

And then this morning I was rushing around trying to get everybody ready to go to the library for story time. Buddy was finishing breakfast and I was trying to locate the two movies that were due at the library. Buddy has this strange obsession with staring at the cases of DVD's. He re-plays the movie in his mind while he studies the pictures. Anyway, I had looked everywhere, including the playroom which is where Buddy insisted they were. We were running late, I had a headache, and I was pretty much in a bad mood about the whole thing. Buddy kept telling me, "As soon as I'm done with my breakfast, I'll get them." I kept telling him that I'd looked a hundred times in the playroom and the movies weren't there. "Mom! I told you. I'd find them when I'm done. IT'S NOT THAT HARD!"

For the record, he couldn't find them either. So we renewed them, which made him happy in the long-run.

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I want to freeze time. My baby is 2 months old today and I am so depressed. I want him to stay just like he is for another few months and THEN he can grow up. Ah, he is just perfect.
Spell check isn't working. Sorry if there are misspellings...