Santaland Diary

Although I’m a huge proponent of one holiday at a time, we took Ellie to visit Santa the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I guess I’m just a bigger fan of “no lines” than of holiday monogamy.

So Ellie and I -- with three (yes, three) grandparents in tow -- went to Santa’s Village at Fashion Valley Mall. And there was NO line! The head elf directed us right in to meet Jolly Ole St. Nick (after first asking which package we had selected).

You could tell it was early in the Santa’s Village season, because Santa was still jolly and even thanked me for letting him hold Ellie. Her cuteness quotient -- plus no crying (or pooping or barfing) probably helped.

Surprisingly, they allowed Grandpa Don to snap away with his own digital camera – I guess it’s allowed with a minimum package purchase – and these people could sense a package-purchaser a mile away. Three grandparents equal lots of pictures. In fact, we started out with just one package, but had to return for a second package because the second shot was just too cute. (See below.)

The day almost ended in a Santaland tragedy. We realized when we were all the way across the mall that no one had the envelopes with the pictures. Oh no! So we quickly returned to visit the manager elf to see if they had been turned in. Luckily, the nice man at the win-a-$1000-shopping-spree table can’t recognize a priceless photo when he sees one and relinquished the photos to the manager elf. Phew! Now you can share in the Christmas cuteness. Let’s all say it together… “aaaawwww.”

Photo #1

Photo #2
"Yea, Christmas!" (or "Santa rocks!")

Sleep Training, Day 2

This is probably one of the most controversial topics of parenting out there. You wouldn’t think you would need to train a baby how to sleep. On one hand you have Dr. Sears telling you to feed your baby on demand and to “co-sleep” in the family bed -- and on the other extreme you have Dr. Ezzo of “Babywise” fame (infamy?) telling you to put your baby on a schedule and “train” them how to fall asleep on their own.

Because I’m tired of being the human pacifier (we still haven’t used the plastic variety yet) – and I don’t want Ellie dependent on me to nurse her/rock her to sleep every time, I’m trying a hybrid approach.

The New Rules:
1. No snacking – the goal is a full meal at every feeding. (Mama gets NOTHING done when you snack/cat nap all day.)
2. Eat, play, sleep. (Instead of eat, fall asleep, play.)
3. If baby is awake for more than two hours, put her in her crib for a nap -- or if she shows signs of being tired earlier than two hours. (This way we strategically avoid the overtired state we affectionately refer to as Grumpy McFrumpy.)
4. Establish a bedtime routine. (Ours consists of swaddling and then rocking in the glider while I sing her a lullaby.)

So, how’s it going so far, you ask? It’s actually going better than expected. It’s definitely hard to let her cry – but it’s usually only 5 minutes or so and then she falls asleep. And she went to bed at 9pm last night on her own without crying at all! But the best part is, I realize now that I no longer have to offer her the boob every time Grumpy McFrumpy makes her appearance. That she might just be tired, and not hungry. And hopefully she’s on the road to happy and healthy sleep habits – that will allow us have happy, healthy sleep habits as well.

TPLO-my-god why didn't we buy pet insurance?

I just dropped Katy off at the vet’s and the house feels pretty darn empty without her. She’s having Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) surgery today -- reconstructive knee surgery to fix a torn ACL. I know she’s going to hate us for it – she won’t be able to be off-leash for 2 whole weeks (not even to go outside to eat her food or do her business) and then will have to take it easy for a few months.

But, it will be a good thing in the long-run. She hasn’t been able to go to the dog park or her favorite place in the whole wide world – dog beach – for months. And when we break down and let her play with her best doggy friend, Bismark, she limps dramatically the next day. So, we’re biting the bullet (emotionally and financially) and putting her under the knife. She’ll stay at the vet’s until 11am tomorrow morning when we go to pick her up. Jason is working from home tomorrow to help me juggle the baby and the drugged-up dog with the “Elizabethan collar” (AKA clown cone). Please wish her a speedy recovery.

One month ago today...

Dear Ellie,

Happy one-month birthday! I can’t believe you’ve been in our lives a whole month already! Time has sure flown by. And you’ve grown so much in 4 short weeks. You now hold up your head and have discovered that your fists taste good. Yum! You’ve had your first bath and like the water – just not the getting out and drying off part. But the best part of it all is that you’re starting to smile at us when we talk to you!

It’s fun to see your personality start to develop – and it appears you’re going to be a fiery redhead! Or perhaps more of a smoldering strawberry blonde. I think I would describe you as a somewhat intense baby – but not in a high-maintenance type of way. More of in a 'you let us know when you don’t like things' – such as mom trying on TWO different Christmas outfits on you in a row. (How dare she?) Or when you’re tired and have been up 5 minutes too long … But on the plus side, you’re very alert and inquisitive and can entertain yourself for good amounts of time. Thankfully, you sleep well at night, but haven’t discovered yet that naps are rad. You prefer to nap in motion – in the car, the swing, the stroller, the vibrating bouncy chair ... But as long as you continue to sleep well at night, that’s ok by me.

It’s true what they say, that you don’t know exactly how much your parents love you until you have a child of your own. Because I love you so very much! You bring such joy and happiness to me and your dad every day and we feel so lucky to have you in our family.

Much love,
Mama

Quote of the Day

"I was a much better parent before I had children." - Anonymous

As Ellie naps soundly in her swing... hey, whatever works! :)

So far we've avoided using a pacifier, but we're headed on our first road trip this afternoon (to Lake Arrowhead to celebrate our FIVE YEAR anniversary!) and I've packed one. Just in case.

Little love bug

Ellie's first Halloween
I don't think she'll remember much of it ... She slept through two parties and Jeremy's book kick-off. That girl knows how to party. :)