Giggling with Grandma K

This weekend two of the Grand-minions visited. At first the Tiny Overlord was displeased and communicated her displeasure in her native tongue. During this time she tried to teach us a new dialect. This one is considerably higher pitched, being composed entirely of shrieks.

She did eventually decide that these new minions were to her liking, as they were sensible enough to agree that she is the most beautiful and wonderful and smartest overlord in the world.

After a bit, she allowed them to amuse her. She found their new game to be quite fun and gifted them with a first - her first real laughs.

Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough with my camera. I only captured two laughs.

Monday went fairly well. I got home around 5 and was able to load & run the dishwasher, take out the trash and get a shower before the Petite Princess and Minion #2 arrived home. A quick dinner (Monday night Mexican) while the Princess grew increasingly agitated and cranky, and then we started the Ritual of Bedtime.

This consists of a relaxing warm bath and a quick massage while I towel her dry. We change her into a disposable nighttime diaper and use Maximum Strength Desitin to protect her little tush. We dress her in a one piece outfit and put her wearable blanket on her, then it's story time. As I said, she was tired and cranky, so it was a short book, "I spy in the Ocean". Then we say goodnight to her fish and head downstairs for cuddles and nursing to fill up her tummy.

When she falls asleep I put her in her bassinet. This used to wake her up instantly, but now she either stays asleep or wakes up, looks around, and goes right back to sleep. For once I was smart and went right to sleep myself. We both slept straight through until 5 am! She woke up, nursed, and went back to sleep, while I started my day.

I had to stay late at school, and the custodian almost walked in on me - if he'd come through literally one minute earlier it would have been bad. I had one of the Spanish teachers translate a note for me and hopefully that will solve the problem. He's a nice person, a gentlemanly grandfather, we're just having some multilingual miscommunication.

Monday Morning

Yesterday she wouldn't nap. By the time we got dinner cooked and eaten, it was 8pm. I had hoped for both of us to be in bed at 8. Quick bath, short book, downstairs for nursing. She didn't fall into her usual deep sleep, though. At 10 I gave up, resigned myself to nursing her all night and put her in the bassinet so I could go to the bathroom, put on my sweats, etc. She fell asleep as soon as was in her bassinet, though. I was able to collapse in bed next to her and finally sleep.

She woke up at 3am, which was 5 hours so she still technically "slept through the night." Nursed until 3:30, then wouldn't get back to sleep. At 3:45 there was a tremendous poo. I took her upstairs to change her diaper and ended up having to strip her, wash her entire back with baby wipes (up to her shoulders) and redress her. So of course she was wide awake.

A little after 4am I put her in her swing, with the whole house dark. No luck. Singing lullabies didn't help. She did take a pacifier but still no sleep. I reset the alarm from 5 to 5:30. By now it was 4:20. I told myself that if she wasn't asleep by 4:30 I'd wake up Steve to watch her while I got an hour of sleep. I turned on the white noise on her swing, on the water noises that she seems to like best. It's on a 7 minute timer, which is ridiculously short. But it worked. She fells asleep before it ended. I curled up on the couch and fell asleep around 5.

Steve woke me up when the alarm went off. Made breakfast, pumped a bit but only got half of the usual morning amount. Woke Summer up at 6:30 so she could nurse. It's 7 right now and I haven't changed her or gotten her dressed. Not a good start.

7 more weeks of this...

Quick Note

I am so proud of her! She can get herself back to sleep now, and she's sleeping through the night. Some of this is because she doesn't nap well at the baby sitters. It's only her first week, and it's a new environment, so it's understandable. But she seems happy and fine when she gets home. She falls asleep after her bath and throughout the night and morning, when she wakes up, most times she looks around and then goes right back to sleep. In the past, if I wasn't there with her, she couldn't or wouldn't go back to sleep.

I'm really glad she's sleeping well. And in her bassinet, for the most part.

A New 24 Hours

4 am Tiny Overlord is thrashing in her sleep. She does this every night. It will continue until she lets out a series of loud farts, then she will fall peacefully back to sleep. I chuckle.

4:30 am Tiny Overlord did not go back sleep; she wanted to nurse. She slept through the night so it's not a hardship.

4:45 am Tiny Overlord is content and back to sleep. My alarm goes off at 5 am, so I don't even bother to try to go back to sleep. Turn off alarm, go into kitchen to wash up the baby bottles that I was too tired to wash last night.

5:00 am Start oatmeal, put clean baby bottles in the backpack that holds the pump, unload dishwasher, put dirty dishes in. French braid hair, put in contact lenses.

5:30 am Tiny Overlord wakes up. I nurse her on one side, pump on another, eat and try to catch up on email.

6:00 I should be doing other things, but I spend 30 minutes with the Tiny Overlord, just enjoying her company.

6:30 Change her diaper, get her dressed for the day. Find an extra bib and diaper overwrap to go with her. Get dressed in outfit I laid out on Sunday afternoon. Brush teeth, touch ups to my hair.

7:00 Put Tiny Overlord in her car seat and talk to her to keep her entertained until both Minions are ready to head out door. I grab my lunch and pump, Minion #2 grabs diaper bag, the lunchbox of milk for the day and of course the Tiny Overlord herself.

7:15 am Everything is loaded into the cars, kisses all around, and we both drive off. I stop at a local bakery for coffee (decaff) and a pastry because I'm feeling a bit blue.

7:40 am - arrive at work, drop stuff off in classroom, walk to office, clock in, check mailbox, tell people who ask "yes it's hard being back", walk back to classroom

7:55 am first work pumping. Lock door, cover window in door, arrange pump so anyone looking through space between construction paper cover and the window frame won't see anything.

8:10 am put milk in little cooler in staff room refrigerator, wash pump parts, start work.

8:20 students enter classroom, start teaching

12:00 Lunch time pumping, eat lunch, observe a colleague and ask questions to learn how to use graphic organizer she designed for us.

3:40 students leave for day.Science department meeting.

4:00 Tutor a student. Prepare a powerpoint for forensics class. Forget to grade papers (sigh)

4:30 Student leaves. Afterschool pumping. Collect breastmilk cooler from refrigerator, pack up, head home.

5:00 arrive home. Put milk in fridge. Wash pump parts and empty bottles. Make lunch for tomorrow. Clean litterbox, take out trash. Take shower. Publish science blog (hoping to one day have enough visitors to it to make some money from it, so publishing on time is somewhat important)

5:45 Minion #2 arrives home, escorting a sleeping Tiny Overlord. Wash baby bottles. Load her lunchbox up with fresh milk for tomorrow. Dirty diapers into diaper pail.

6:00 Tiny Overlord wakes up and gifts us with play time. Minion #2 takes quite a few pictures of the Tiny Overlord. We tell her how smart and beautiful she is, and exclaim in delight over her attempts to sit up. She approves of the praise.

6:30 Minion #2 makes dinner while Tiny Overlord demands a fresh meal. Eat dinner, careful not to spill any on her.

7:00 Tiny Overlord sleeps in my lap. I try not to fall asleep, with little luck. Attempt to spend some time watching tv with Minion #2, also with little luck.

7:30 Tiny Overlord's bath time, followed by reading of last half of Hop on Pop. Tiny Overlord approves.

8:00 Tiny Overlord snacks, then falls asleep on my lap. Minions watch Mythbusters.

9:00 Minions watch Supernanny as research for later.

10:00 I realize how late it is and put Tiny Overlord in her bassinet. Brush teeth, take out contacts, put on sweat pants and sweat shirt, which is as close to her pajamas as I can get. The Tiny Overlord can not have a blanket (chance of smothering) so I don't use one either. If I'm comfortable in what I'm wearing then she should be comfortable also. Fall asleep after checking on her several times. Hopefully she'll sleep until 4 am again.

Baby Poo

I think this song by the Arrogant Worms (yes, they're a real band) sums it all up.

A New Day

Yesterday, while far from being good, was not quite as hellish as I expected. I didn't love my job before, and I definitely don't love it now, so that's harder. I now have to officially work until 4pm, and with required book study, professional learning, required tutoring,and meetings, I really have to work until 5.

But a phone call to Sharon at the end of school made me feel better, as she reported that Her Exquisite Eminence was having a good day, which comforted me immeasurably.

Last night she dozed in my lap off and on from 8 until 9:30. I decided to put us both to bed. As soon as I walked in the bedroom, she fell asleep. I was able to put her in her bassinet for the first time in weeks, and she slept straight through until 4am! I however, was up at 1:30 because I was hungry. Had a bowl of cereal and decided to pump to help keep my milk supply up.

A lot of women say that when they start pumping, their milk supply decreases until they can't continue. I really want to at least make it through this school year so I can breast feed through the summer, giving her at least 7 months of breastmilk. Ideally I still want to nurse her for at least a year. We'll see how it goes.

She woke up early this morning (5:30) and fell asleep in my lap. I really should be doing things to get ready for work, but right now, time with her is more important than anything else.

Going Back to Work

Oh today is going to suck. Steve loaded a digital photo frame full of pictures for me, and printed a picture to go in a normal frame. I'll probably call her caregiver every chance I get.

This is so unfair.

Vicious Tiny Overlord

Here she demonstrates what will happen to those who displease her. I don't know what the crinkle bug or the koala did, but the punishment is fierce.

Changed a few pictures

I changed the picture for the "3 Months" post to be a portrait of her at 3 months. The previous photo, of Summer in her butterfly outfit, is now the picture for the post "Last Day of Maternity Leave." I also changed the bumbo picture in the "Morning in Our House" post to be an actual picture of the Cranky Czarina herself, not some other baby.

100 Days

The Tiny Overlord has been ruling our house and hearts for 100 days as of yesterday. So very many changes have happened.

The Tiny Overlord's Current Decrees:

1. The Tiny Overlord shall eat anytime she wishes. She holds on to me when she's nursing now. Sometimes it's my bra, and sometimes my shirt. And sometimes she still just claws my chest; I look like I've been attacked by a very angry cat.

2. The Tiny Overlord shall be kept warm. This has become much easier with the arrival of spring. I'm looking out the kitchen windows at the new spring leaves unfolding. The house across the way is hidden once again, and the sunlight is bright and warm. Most of the birds are back, and the woods are full of their songs. The Tiny Overlord is pleased with this, as she enjoys looking at the birds. And oh, the pollen is back. Anything over 120 is high; earlier this week the count was over 5,000. The entire state is yellow. The Tiny Overlord does not seem to mind, however.

3. The Tiny Overlord shall be kept entertained. I can't wait to put her in her Exer-saucer at the end of this month; I think she's really going to enjoy it. She's starting to play with her toys now. The other day she grabbed a butterfly on her floor gym. It has wings filled with crinkle stuff - cellophane, maybe? She seemed surprised and pleased.

4. The Tiny Overlord shall be carried so that she may enjoy looking at new sights. She observes and interacts with the world around her now. When we go for walks, instead of immediately falling asleep, she watches everything. We've been going out on the porch and sitting in one of the rocking chairs. She watches the birds, and the wind in the trees. I try to explain things to her, and sometimes she talks to me, but usually she's too busy watching.

5. The Tiny Overlord now demands that her limbs obey her. She's much improved at grabbing things. This includes grabbing handfuls of our flesh and trying to pull it off; quite painful on the face, neck and forearms. She has almost complete control of her arms now; it's rare for them to fly out of control and smack her in the face. Her head control is getting close to perfect; all that time spent on tummy time was worth it!

6. The Tiny Overlord is beginning to see advantages to being self mobile, instead of demanding that her minions carry her everywhere. If she's on her back she can push with her legs and scoot a bit. She's getting better at it on her tummy, too, but she still has a tendency to put her face on the floor while doing so.

7. The Tiny Overlord shall be waited upon even during her sleep. Unfortunately one of her decrees is that I shall lay down with her whenever she wishes to sleep at night. For now, that means I have an effective bedtime of 8 pm. I am trying to assure and instruct Her Majesty that she can indeed fall asleep without nursing. She is not at all convinced that I know what I'm talking about, but she is grudgingly willing to give me a chance.

8. Except for sleep, The Tiny Overlord is tired of lying on her back. This means that her bouncy throne is now at a much more upright angle, and she is utilizing her Bumbo throne more often.

The Tiny Overlord has gone from from a squalling, screaming alien creature that did nothing but cry, poop and sleep (and not nearly enough of that) to a (still) alien who smiles and coos and plays with us, in addition to the aforementioned crying, pooping and sleeping (and still not nearly enough of that).

Last Day of maternity leave

There were times in those rough first weeks when I thought this time would never come. That changed to looking forward to her growth and changes and milestones, and dreading the end of our time together. But dreaded or anticipated, days come to pass.

Did you know Canada gives its mothers a full year with their babies? And some Scandanavian countries give two? Why does the U.S. think 3 measly months is enough?

I've been working on some sleep training, using methods in The No Cry Sleep Solution, which is an excellent book. It makes a lot of sense, and I really think it will help. But for this one last day, I'm indulging myself, and letting her sleep on my lap.

And I'm crying.

A Conversation with the Tiny Overlord

Here the Tiny Overlord directs her minions. We're not certain what she was saying, but it was obviously important.

Mommy Moment

This morning was the first time I used Mommy Spit (tm) to clean something off of her face. When I caught myself doing it, I laughed so hard!

Update on the Update

Today she scooted forward a few inches while she was on her tummy. Later in the evening, she gave a very short but distinctive laugh.

More Silly Singing

Me singing while the Petite Princess looks on approvingly. To the tune of "Baby Bumblebee"

I'm waking from napping as sleepy as can be
Won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm waking up from napping as sleepy as can be
Oh! Mommy's gonna feed me!


I'm drinking up my milk as fast as can be
Won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm drinking up my milk as fast as can be
Oh! Mommy burped me!

I'm burping at my mommy as loud as can be
Won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm burping at my mommy as loud as can be
Oh! Mommy kissed me!


I'm smiling at my mommy, full of glee
Won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm smiling at my mommy, full of glee
Oh! Mommy tickled me!

I'm laughing at my mommy, tee hee hee
Won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm laughing at my mommy, tee hee hee
Oh! She hugged me!

I'm giggling and I'm dancing for my mommy
Won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm giggling and I'm dancing for my mommy
Oh! She smelled me!

I'm filling up my diaper full of pee
Won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm filling up my diaper full of pee
Oh! Mommy changed me!

I'm starting to be a baby who's sleepy
Won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm starting to be a baby who's sleepy
Oh! Time for my nap...

14 Weeks

The Runty Royalty turns 14 weeks tomorrow. Here's an update on her:

She's trying to sit up! Her legs come up when she contracts her abdominal muscles, so instead of sitting up she does baby crunches, but that's okay. It'll strengthen her muscles, and she'll figure out the coordination soon enough.

If we let her hold our fingers, she can pull herself into a sitting position. She's very proud of herself for this, and rightly so.

This past Friday morning she discovered her toes. Since then she's forgotten and rediscovered them a few times.

There's a spot of white on her lower gum that I swear is a tooth just starting to break the surface. I think this explains the random fussiness we've been encountering and the return of sleeping problems.

She's sleeping at night, but only if I'm next to her and she falls asleep nursing. I just downloaded The No Cry Sleep Solution and I'm starting some of the suggestions in the book to hopefully help her to learn that she can get herself to sleep. It's not off to a smooth start, though, because she's being fussy and not napping well today. I finally got her to sleep in my lap. I'm definitely her touchstone for sleep - she just woke up, looked me in the eyes, and went right back to sleep as soon as she knew I was here.

I'm working on getting her to take pacifiers again. She's not only taking them, but she's getting much better at keeping them in her mouth. I know it's a habit we'll have to break later, but for now they're helping her to sleep and that's more important at the moment. Also, it's easier to get them off pacifiers than to stop sucking their thumbs. I sucked mine until I was 6, despite the very best efforts of my mom.

I'm worried about next week, when I go back to work. Sharon is wonderful, and Her Runty Royalty seems to get along with her fine, but it's still going to be a huge adjustment. For both of us.

Steve probably won't get home with her until 5:45 or 6. We start her bedtime routine at 7:30 with the goal of having her asleep by 8. I'm going to go from having all day with her to having roughly two hours. Should I go pick her up early? Should I go home and get all of the cleaning and cooking done so that when she's home I can spend my time with her and just her? Steve is looking into the possibility of going in to work early, so he'll leave the house when I do in the morning, and then leaving work early. It would give us another hour with her.