How To Age 20 Years in One Minute

     I did my research and it is universally agreed upon that the fastest creature on Earth is the Peregrine Falcon, which can dive out of the sky at a speed upwards of 200 miles per hour.  I would like to dispute this apparently well known fact and add my daughter, Sophie, to the list of contenders.
     Before I get into the "Why?" of the above statement I must say that I almost didn't write about this incident.  However, to be fair to the "reality" of this blog, I think it is necessary to report the good and the funny with the scary and the bad.  I know that I have said that you have to try to find humor in the hard situations of parenthood but what happened last night is hard to find funny.  However, I will try to inject some humor if possible.
     Last night as I was getting my little gal ready for her bath I learned the lesson of  "I should have known better."  Ever since Sophie was a teeny tiny little squirt we have laid her on a towel on the bathroom counter to undress her before bathtime, and again to dry her off and get her into her p.j.'s.  This has worked out pretty well up until last night. 
     Sophie has become very skilled at rolling over which is where the "should have known better" lesson comes into play.  I knew that she should probably not be set up on the counter anymore and I have kept a very close distance and eye on her when she is up there.  Last night after getting her undressed I pivoted to the side to turn on the bath tub water.  The sound that I heard in the split second that my back was turned will, literally, stay with me forever.
     In that fraction of a second, the world's newest fastest creature - Sophie, flipped herself off the counter landing SMACK on her back on our saltillo tile bathroom floor.  The pandemonium that ensued would probably make it onto America's Funniest Home Videos.  You know that cry that little kids do where they turn apple red, their faces are scrunched, mouth open but no sound comes out?  Well, that's what I got.  When the wail did finally come to her it was a doozy!
    My wonderful neighbor is a Dr. so he got a madwoman crazed phone call from me.  He ran over and took a look and advised me better to be safe than sorry and head to the E.R..  Flash forward to me driving down the highway, bawling, with an actually quite composed baby in the back.  I must say that Sophie handled the whole incident with much more grace than I.
     Long story short, one CT scan later we were in the clear.  She just sustained a bad bump, possibly a very mild concussion, and we were sent home.  She had a bottle and went to sleep while I felt like I had gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson and basically stayed up all night listening for any little peep out of her.  I do honestly believe that I may have aged about 20 years!

Lessons Learned: 1) No more counter tops for little one, 2) I know now that I go into Autopilot mode in a crisis seeing as the details right after the fall are a little hazy to me, 3) Apparently my body still works even when my heart stops beating 4) Sophie is the world's fastest creature in my book. 4) Kids are pretty darn resilient little things.

I have to thank: Presbyterian Plano ER - the nurses and Dr. Holland, our pediatrician Dr. Thai - who calmed me down while I was crying and careening down the highway to the hospital, Mark and Glen for being the greatest neighbors and, most importantly, my little angel Sophie for being one strong chick.  You may look more like your dad but you are as hard headed as your mom!

To Swaddle or Not To Swaddle? That Is The Question.

     If you have read any of my previous posts then you know that our little Sophie suffered from a colic-rager the first 3 months of her life.  Since we tried everything except voodoo (which I would have resorted to if I thought it would have worked) to calm the savage beast that was our child, we have been big advocates of the swaddle.  Swaddling, in our case, really did help calm her down for naps and bedtime.  We used the Aden + Anais muslin swaddles for their breathability and stretchiness.  We would wrap her up like a little cigar and she would settle right down.
     Well, we are almost to her 6 month birthday.  Colic left the building 3 months ago but the swaddle remains.  What was once a blessing has now become our curse because Sophie can not and will not sleep without being swaddled.
     Last week we implemented Project No Swaddle in which we decided to forgo the swaddle at naptime (I'm waaaay too big of a weakling to attempt it at night yet, I need my beauty sleep!).  I was ready to go and fired up over getting Sophie over the swaddle.  My sorority-mate, Brenna, was going through the same thing with her son so I recruited her (long-distance as she is in Chicago) to be my wingman through this difficult process.  We wrote back and forth each day discussing our success and failures.  SIDENOTE- Ladies!  A Wingman is very helpful for surviving motherhood obstacles with grace and sanity! So thank you Brenna! 
     First off I must say that Brenna is a stronger woman than I as she went swaddle-free at night as well.  And, I must say that she mostly shared success stories while I shared failures.  Her little guy seemed a bit more open to the idea of going free-arming during sleep than my gal.
     Here is how it went down in my home.  Sophie would get very sleepy for her nap.  I would rock her (which I don't normally do to get her to sleep) but I wanted her good and asleep before I put her down.  I then got her in her sleep sack and put her down.  She would sleep about 30 minutes and be up rubbing her face, waving those little arms and being generally miserable.  Poor lady just can't do it.  Those arms are a great and powerful mystery to her.  Although I try to explain to her that they are attached to her body and that SHE controls them she just doesn't seem to get it!
     Five days later of basically no napping we finally gave up on Project No Swaddle.  Brenna is still going strong!  Go Brenna!
     We determined that Soph is just not ready for the big time yet.  I, personally, am trying to adopt a more go with the flow attitude to this motherhood gig and, let me tell ya, that can be hard at times.  Anyway, we are taking a more organic approach with the swaddle and letting her work it out.  As my neighbor Annette told me, "You aren't going to have to swaddle her to sleep when she is 15."  My gawd I certainly hope not.
     In the meantime, as I have also stated before, you have to laugh at tough situations or your just won't make it through.  So, I downloaded Run DMC "It's Tricky" and my husband and I had a great time watching the video monitor, listening to that song, and watching Soph wave those arms around.  She may have a future in break dancing.

Happy (Very Belated) Mother's Day! And I Swear You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

     I want to wish a long overdue Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there and especially to the new mothers. 
     I don't know what I really expected for my first Mother's Day but I must admit that hazy, happy visions of sleeping in, followed by brunch, maybe a shopping trip to Northpark (all by myself!) or a spa package dreamily ran through my head.  Reality, as it tends to be, ended up being far more colorful.
     I swear the following is all true, even I'm not creative enough to make this stuff up,  but I'm now going to walk you through my memorable and "hit you in the face with a frying pan" real first Mother's Day.
     I am the wife of a die-hard sports freak.  Not just a "fan", not a "fanatic" but a true blue FREAK.  I am a football widow.  I am a fantasy football survivor.  Basically, I am an awesome wife for putting up with the level of freakness that goes on in this house.  For example, we did a slide show of photos at our rehearsal dinner and about 75% of the photos of the two of us were taken at some sporting event.  Anyway, you get the idea.  Well, as luck would have it, the Dallas Mavericks (of which we are season ticket holders - Freak) happened to be in the playoffs vs. the Lakers the weekend of Mother's Day. So my husband invites a friend in town, who shall remain nameless, but you know who you are.  They go to the game Friday night of Mother's Day weekend which means I'm babysitting, home, alone.
     Oh Wait!  I'm not home alone! I'm also home with my dog who has an ear infection and is on steroids.  Poor poor baby has to go pee about every 10 minutes due to the steroids and I can't let him in the backyard because we have 3 baby bluejays who have taken up residence, can't fly yet, and who my dog would promptly kill if he was allowed out there.  So every time he has to go to the bathroom I have to bjorn up the baby and leash up the dog and head out to the front yard.  Let me tell ya, it wasn't a beating at all!
     Saturday comes around and we still have our guest in town because now the boys are all meeting up for Fantasy Football Lotto!  REALLY!  So, yes, that means that it's me, baby and over-peeing pooch again.  However, to make it a little more interesting, our guest uses the guest bath, flushes, and every toilet, bathtub and shower in the house begin to overflow.  So now I'm home alone (b/c the boys have lotto), waiting for a plumber with the over-peeing pooch and baby who is getting cranky because it's past bedtime.  Once the plumber fixes the problem and baby goes to bed I then got the honor of cleaning all the poo water off the floors, toilets, tubs and showers.  IT WAS AWESOME!
     This brings us to Sunday, Mother's Day.  Well guess what? The Mavs have another home game.  Bye bye hubs!  Off to the game again which again leaves me with (say it with me) baby and over-peeing pooch.

I deserve a medal!

Hope you all had a good one that did not require Lysol-ing your entire house.