Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Peanut's Aunty Graduates and The Near-Suffocation-Encounter

Peanut has so many extended family members. One of her favorites is Aunty who lives in Columbus. Aunty graduated this past weekend, and Peanut was so excited to see her get her diploma. I told Daddy C that would be Peanut one day, but he said 'not anytime soon!'.

She was good on the ride down and slept the entire time. Once she got there, however, she was a fussybutt, and I resorted to constantly nursing her to keep her from causing a scene. (I've gotten quite adept at nursing in public these days!). Grandma 1 helped out a bit but was busy trying to catch glimpses of Aunty through the stadium doors. Grandma 2 couldn't get over how cute Peanut was in her bonnet and booties and frilly dress and so had to call Aunty who lives in Washington DC to tell her and give her live updates on the other Aunty's graduation.

During the first nursing episode, I found a chair in a lounge so I could latch Peanut on. I have this excellent nursing cover to shield myself from view and prevent any boob exposure. Well, one of the staff members who was helping direct traffic saw me and Peanut. She walked right up to me and exclaimed in an outraged voice, "She's suffocating!!"

This old lady (and why, my dear friends, is it ALWAYS the older ladies?!) proceeded to tell me Peanut was uncomfortable and that 'so many people get carried away with that!'.

Uh, ok.

First, why would I suffocate my own child in public? And second, why would Peanut be uncomfortable when she is sucking happily away and cooing in contentment? And thirdly, WHO DOES THIS LADY THINK SHE IS?!?

No answer needed.

I stared that lady down like I was going to pounce on her. She got the picture and quickly walked away. I moved to another lounge. All was peaceful in the end. Aunty got her diploma and Peanut survived the nursing-cover-suffocation incident without a scratch. But older ladies should watch out- I've got my eye on them!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Peanut's First Triathlon!

This past weekend, we took Peanut on her first road trip to Springfield, OH where Daddy C competed in his first Spring Triathlon (which he kicked butt at!). She did very good on the way down and promptly slept the entire way. Since this was the first time much of our extended family had seen her, she definitely needed the sleep! Upon arrival at Grandma 2's, she was showered with affection (perhaps a wee bit too much!) by aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Peanut was surprised to discover she had so many family members!

Although her naps were all over the place (ok, non-existant), Peanut did very well. At night, she slept like a pea in her travel bed, which I, Mommy C, was worried about. This is good news since next week we are going on vacation and she will not be sleeping in her crib for 5 nights! I know, what are we thinking?! Thus, the Springfield trip served as a trial run.

Peanut has been traveling since she was 2 days old, so I guess she is used to it. She always does well in the car, in fact, there have been many times when Daddy C and I have taken her for a ride in order to get her to sleep at night! (Shhh, don't tell!). It was fun to be around family, and I am glad Peanut has so many admirers. I'm so happy she is such a good little travel-bug.

Although, I have to say, she does have quite a bit of luggage. But that's another story...

Thursday, August 19, 2010

The Great Awakening

Yesterday I woke up only to find Peanut lying sideways at the bottom of her crib. She is such a wiggle worm- I don't understand how she managed to break free of the sleep position-er (which wasn't moved at all) and scurry herself not only a foot and a half away but turn herself perfectly sideways in the process. I should have taken a picture, and I would have, had it not been for the fact that I smelled pee. Yes, pee.

As soon as I picked her up, I took in the damage. The crib sheets were soaked, as was her SwaddleMe and PJs. I quickly carried her over to the changing table and undressed the poor thing. That's when I made the horrific discovery. She was in a NEWBORN diaper, not a size 1! The diaper was actually halfway off her butt because of her sliding around and the fact that it was way too small for her.

Now, in case you blame me for such a terrible mistake, please be aware that Daddy C is in charge of night-time diaper duty. He really must have been tired during this one, because the old newborn sized diapers were right next to the size 1 diapers. His defense? "I couldn't find the right size, so I had to put her in that one!". Um...Ok. Well, he does have a hard time seeing whenever he takes his contacts out for the night...

Back to the diaper change. I gently removed the soiled and scrunched up diaper and began wiping poor Peanut's bottom. As I reached for a new diaper, that's when it happened. Yes, the mothers who are reading this know exactly what I'm talking about. Thank goodness I removed my hand in time! Peanut had let loose, and instead of being covered in old pee, she now was covered in the fresh stuff as well as a nice batch of yellow, seedy poo.

I stood there for about 2 minutes trying to figure out what to do.

Finally I realized she would have to be bathed, because who wants poop smeared all over them all day long? So Peanut had her bath, and I then proceeded to add a mountain of fresh dirty laundry on top of the already Everest-high pile.

And that, my friends, is what I like to refer to as 'The Great Awakening'.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Peanut's Extraordinary Nap Routine

Any parent of a young child knows how important naps are to ensure quality sleep at night. Whenever Peanut gets plenty of rest throughout the day, she then bestows upon herself, and us, a long night of continuous sleep. The challenge lies in getting her to take her naps each day. Enter, nap routine.

This routine was discovered upon by accident. Last week I wore her in the moby wrap (Peanut's favorite place to be) to a new moms group one afternoon. It was time for her nap, and after eating, she screamed for about 3 minutes before conking out. I found this strange, but I kept it in mind for other days. Maybe putting her in the moby wrap would help get her to sleep when she was supposed to?

I tried it the next day, and it worked then too. I did it again, and it worked a third time. Then, over the weekend, I thought it would be fun for Peanut to listen to some music (Stevie Nicks). Little did I know, she was tired and ready for a nice long slumber. I danced around with her in the moby wrap, and in an instant, she was out! Who knew music could have such a sedative effect on newborns? Or at least, this one...

So, whenever Peanut shows signs of tiredness, I gently pick her up and plop her in the moby wrap, turn on some Stevie Nicks, and dance with her for a minute before she turns limp like a log. And strange as it may be, I'm sticking with this routine, because, hey, it works and Mommy C needs her sleep too.

What kind of nap routines (if any) do you have for your baby?

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Not all diapers are created equal...

Due to my uncanny ability to unearth good deals on diapers during the last months of my pregnancy, we have quite the stash under Peanut's crib. I'm not brand loyal to much of anything, the lowest price generally gets my attention, so we've used several diaper brands on Peanut.

The first ones were Luvs, which worked quite well, until she outgrew them. Next, we tried out the Target-brand diapers, which, although a bit more roomy, proved to result in fewer diaper blowouts. We've also used Pampers here and there (I had an odd assortment of free samples), but the super-absorbency of these preemies made it difficult to tell when she had peed. Now, I'm just getting into my Huggie's stash. And I've come to the conclusion- I HATE Huggies.

Now, given that Huggies diapers are more expensive (regular-priced, not Mommy C-priced) than either Luvs or the Target brand diapers, this comes as a shock. I don't know why they think making diapers super snug, fitting almost like underwear, will be good for babies. Especially babies that tend to let loose with such force their parents have resorted to yelling, 'Release the Cracken!' every time she relieves herself. The inevitable result is poo spilling out from all sides, seeping onto all sorts of pretty outfits Mommy C proudly put together, often just moments ago. And usually, she is being held during these times of tiny explosions, meaning Mommy C or Daddy D end up covered in the poo as well, forcing them to change into a new outfit of their own.

The result of all these Huggie blowouts is that I have a never-ending volume of laundry to attend to each day. What used to be one load a week before Peanut was born has morphed into one load a day. This gets complicated quickly considering I usually forget to turn a load over or don't have time to fold the finished load from the day before. And although a distant memory chants, "sort the whites, separate the colors, add the bleach, apply stain remover", my frazzled self does not stop to listen. Which results in more problems since poor Peanut now has ample amounts of poo stained clothing in shades of yellow-orange.

So, although I may occasionally pick up a package of Huggies Diapers in the future, they certainly don't make the Campbell Household Hall of Brands. Choose your diaper wisely!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Welcome Peanut Campbell!

At 6 weeks old, I think I've finally started to figure out what makes Baby Campbell tick. Oh, wait, I didn't update you all on our sweet little addition? Our beautiful baby girl, whom I will be referring to as Peanut, was born on June 26th 2010 weighing 7lbs and measuring 21 inches long. She was two days late, and I think she just liked keeping us on our toes. My labor was 7 hours long, but I had days (no, correction, WEEKS) of early labor. I was blessed with the wonderful experience of back labor (shudder), whereupon I finally succumbed to an epidural. To read more about Peanut's birth story, visit my pregnancy blog.
The first 6 weeks were rough. I'm not going to sugarcoat it and lie about having nervous breakdowns in the wee hours of the night as our tiny newborn practiced exercising her new found lungs. Or about the struggles with breastfeeding and concerns about not having enough milk. Or about the countless trips to the pediatrician because our little peanut had developed some nasty jaundice that required photo-therapy under a light box.

Sore nipples and depleted pocketbook aside, things have been going quite well with our new family. Daddy C, although difficult to wake in the middle of the night, has become a pro at giving Peanut evening baths and lotion rub downs. We've really enjoyed showing off our precious baby girl to family and friends, although Mommy C gets really tired of strangers asking the same questions over and over while momentously sticking their noses and germy breath in Peanut's face. (Although, I've discovered that people are less likely to try and touch Peanut while she is snuggled safely in the Moby wrap with only her head poking out. If people try to touch her, they would end up touching my face too, which no one wants to do, so they leave be.)

Last week she started smiling, which just makes you want to smile too. After weeks of scrunching up her face in various distorted expressions, a smile reminds us that she is indeed, a person of her own who actually likes us, despite our uncanny ability to knock her around and move her out of comfy positions while she is sleeping.


Life as a new mom has been interesting, and I have a feeling things are only going to get even more interesting from here on out. Stay tuned for more updates from the Campbell Castle, adorable photos of Peanut and counts of horrific discoveries inside diapers.