Gilad Shalit

I read a lot of disturbing, terrifying, and heart-wrenching news stories. For some reason, one never, ever leaves my mind. I cannot forget about Gilad Shalit. Apparently, Olmert can, but this isn't going to be a political rant. Gilad is always in my thoughts. I pray for his safe return daily. I especially pray for him every Friday evening as I welcome the shabbat. I have considered adding an extra candle for him. This morning he was especially on my mind. I couldn't shake it. I decided to google him and found that today is the third anniversary of his kidnapping. I had not remembered that at all. Kind of spooky that somehow my subconcious, or maybe my soul, did know. Three years. Three YEARS! How has it been that long?! How has his mother survived three years knowing her baby is in the hands of the enemy?! How did Israel not bring one of their own home when they were in Gaza a few months ago? Where IS Gilad? Is he alive? Is he okay? Will we ever see him again? I don't know why I am so moved by it all. But I am.

Ball Busters

I cannot STAND it when people have to bring you down. You know what I'm talking about- you are feeling good about something and share that and one jackass always has to ruin it for you. While it was always irritating, it seems that it started to occur more often once I became a mom. It actually started during pregnancy. Here are some actual exchanges that have taken place:

Me: I feel pretty good so far.
Ball Buster: Just wait until the morning sickness kicks in!

Me: I'm starting to get past the first trimester stuff and feel good again.
BB: Just wait until your third trimester when you are huge and uncomfortable!

Me: Recovery has been okay so far.
BB: Just wait until you are out of pain meds!

Me: I have the opposite of the Baby Blues- I'm so happy!
BB: Just wait until the sleep deprivation catches up with you!

Me: My kids are awesome- I love them so much!
BB: Just wait until they start killing each other!

Hey, BB, you keep it up and I'll start killing YOU. Well, maybe not. But I won't just smile and stay quiet anymore. Stop hatin' on me. As Coolio once said, "if you got beef then eat a pork chop." I'm not letting your bad attitude affect mine!

Desperately Wanting A Night Out

Last night I felt old. Shimmy and I, along with the brother-in-law and sister-in-law went to the Better Than Ezra show at 9:30 Club. See above picture. The reason my hand stamp is so faded is because I immediately used the bathroom and washed my hands after entering the club. Yesterday morning I loaded up the kids and met my mom in Rockville to run some errands. Then we went back to her house, where I left the kids and returned later to spend the night. BIL and SIL came over and I drove us downtown to meet Shimmy for dinner. Shimmy and I ate too much fried food and red meat, so our stomachs were a mess afterwards. Most of us ordered coffee with dessert so that we'd be able to stay up for the concert. Before driving away, SIL noticed a CVS and asked BIL to buy her ear plugs since she was afraid the volume of the music would make her cranky. Then we drove to the club. Since our SUV is full of car seats, Shimmy drove, BIL sat in the front, SIL sat in the back wedged between the car seats, and I sat in the "third row" with my knees pressed into the back of the seat in front of me. When we got there, I had to pump in the car first. We had a good time- the show was awesome. The best part was the fact that it ended at 11:30! Not too late- woohoo! So, yea, I'm old. But too old and set in my ways to care :)

PS: Here's a recent picture of Sophie riding her trike. Notice:
1. Her very fancy skirt, which she insisted she wear.
2. Her very cool sunglasses.
3. Her friend from 2 doors down, who is her age exactly, but who Sophie towers over.

Jinxed It

Apparently, my last post "jinxed" it all for me. This week, Lilah has not slept more than 4 hours at a time, and has spent most of her broken up sleep in my bed instead of in her crib. I am tired and cranky.

On the upside, Shimmy has been home a lot more lately. He has worked from home 2 days and gone in 2 days. Tomorrow is Friday, so he'll be home again. Parenting is so much easier with 2 parents. I have a pretty good handle on this 2 kid thing- much more so than I thought I would have, but it is still nice to have someone to share the load with!

I'm not sure what we're all going to do today. Sophie is home since it's Thursday. It looks like it's going to rain again. I would love to stay home in our pj's all day. We'll see how stir crazy Sophie gets. We could go to the grocery store. We do need some things, but nothing we can't live without for a while. And taking both kids to the grocery store is kind of an ordeal. I have enough projects to keep me busy around here, but Sophie needs constant stimulation.

I guess I'm done rambling.

HOW DO YOU DO IT???

This post is dedicated to Sarah, and everyone else who wants to know how I got Lilah to sleep through the night by the time she was 2 months. Here's the thing- it's mostly luck. I've read that babies' little tummies can stay full enough to keep them sleeping through the night (which is defined at 6+ hours, BTW) once they weigh 11 pounds. I have found this to be true for my kids. Sophie did not weigh 11 pounds until she was closer to 3 months, and that's when she started sleeping 8 hours straight. Lilah was 11 pounds shortly before she turned 2 months, and that's when she started sleeping 7 hours straight. So it's partly just a waiting game. Sophie's last feeding was formula, so I thought that had something to do with it. However, Lilah is exclusively breast fed, so there goes that theory. The only thing I CAN pass along is routine routine routine. Sophie was horrible with eating and sleeping so I just had to force her into a routine. Once I did, she slept better for longer and was a much happier baby. Lilah pretty much put herself on a schedule, but once I picked up on what she was doing when, I started helping her maintain her schedule. I started putting her down roughly the same time every night to send her the message of bedtime. Then she just kept increasing the amount of hours between bedtime and next feeding. Another thing I have read (and found to be true) is that babies who sleep more during the day actually sleep better at night. So a baby who does not nap well during the day will likely not sleep well at night. If the baby is at least 3 months old, I recommend doing some sleep training to help them learn to nap during the day. This made all the difference in the world with Sophie. Once I helped her learn how to nap during the day, she was a totally different baby. And how did I do THAT? I was dead set against letting her cry it out. At all. If she peeped, I picked her up. Rookie mistake. I was not doing her any favors by letting her stay awake. She was so overtired that she was miserable. One day it dawned on me that she was crying because she was TIRED. I decided to take care of all of her needs- eating, changing, cuddling before putting her down. That way I would know that she was not crying for any of those reasons. Then I let her cry. I would not let her cry for longer than 20 minutes, but it rarely took her that long to fall asleep. And each day it took less and less time until she stopped crying at all. I think first time parents make the same mistakes I did- not remembering that one of the reasons babies cry is from being tired, and thinking that letting them cry at all is tantamount to torturing them. Not so. Robbing them of sleep and of the necessary skill of putting themselves to sleep is much worse than letting them cry for a few minutes. One more thing comes to mind when helping babies learn to sleep longer. I do not get my kids at the first peep. I hear them and I roll right back over. If they continue crying or start crying louder a couple minutes later, THEN I get them. But I often find that the next time I open my eyes another couple of hours have passed. Sometimes babies stir and cry out in their sleep, but they aren't ready to wake up yet. So don't hurry to wake them up!

That's all I got. For now.