Mommy FTW

I am a full time stay at home mom with a 9 month old girl, and a 3 year old boy.  My son was always an epic napper.  I was spoiled, and nap time was my favorite time of day – I could get things done around the house, and even have the chance to relax for a few minutes of my ‘work day.’  I was worried about juggling it all when my daughter was born, but I knew I would have my son’s nap time as the glue that would hold my day together.

When my son started to drop his nap time (first he would skip one day a week.. then it was three…) it really started to stress me out.  We would have fights about it every day.  I would give him toys I got at yard sales when he napped, and take toys or privileges away when he didn’t.  We were all pretty miserable!  I decided to bring up the topic at my son’s 3 year check up with his pediatrician.

During our discussion of Cameron’s sleep I mentioned that sometimes Cam wakes up with what I called ‘night terrors’ – he is sort of awake, but a bit delirious, and usually inconsolable and screaming.  The pediatrician asked me when Cam went to bed, to which I answered, on days he naps around 10pm, and on days he doesn’t around 7:30.  She noted that those 10 days must be “long days” – you got that right!  And then she made what was to me, an earth shattering suggestion: drop nap time.  She said that night terrors are often linked to over tired children, and with Cam going to bed so late, he wasn’t getting the solid chunk of night sleep he needed.  She said, still give him “rest time” (quiet time in his room for an hour or so) – if he falls asleep, fine, but take the pressure off and don’t stress over it.

Here’s how I made it happen – For Cameron, rest time is from 2 – 3:15.  2 is also when his sister goes down for his nap – so for my sanity I like to have them be in their rooms at the same time.  The reason I picked 3:15 as the end time is because it is very easy for Cameron to see on his clock – both hands point to the same spot.  We have a great clock from IKEA that is perfect for this.  Cameron’s door knob used to have a ’safety cover’ which we got from Amazon that keeps him from being able to let himself out – we don’t need this any more as he is with the program and knows that he has to stay in his room for the designated time period – but you might want to try something like that initially.  Finally, we have a video monitor in Cam’s room (honestly we bought it for Violet but we get a lot more use out of it with Cameron!)  I use it to make sure he isn’t getting into too much trouble up there.  It has a PA system so I can talk to him if I need to.

Cameron is allowed to play with toys (nothing electronic) and read books.  For now, the system is working great – Cam generally doesn’t give too much of a fight about staying up there the whole time.  In the evening, my husband has an alarm on his iPhone that signals that it’s time to get in the bath and then go to bed.  Cameron is usually quite happy to start his relaxing routine!  I think if you are getting to the point of stressing over and fighting with your child about nap time, it might be time to try switching to a ‘rest time’ or quiet time in the room.  It revolutionized the evening routine at my house and I couldn’t be happier!

I’d like to start this post by saying I am still in the middle of Cameron’s potty training (my 2.5 year old boy,) so I am by no means an expert!  But obviously it’s a hot topic in our house, so I thought I would post what I’ve learned so far, and some of the advice I’ve gotten from other moms.

Potty training is tricky.  Lots of people say you don’t want to miss your chance otherwise your child will be in diapers forever.  Other people say it’s important not to push them too hard.  So apparently there’s some fine line in there we’re supposed to walk to get our sassy, opinionated, toddlers to reach this milestone.  I think our experience has been complicated by Violet’s arrival which happened right about when you are “supposed” to potty train a boy.  We definitely suffered some setbacks when the baby arrived at the house.  But now, I think we are back on track.

I could have used a picture of Cameron working on his potty training, but I didn't want to embarass him *too* much.

I started off by purchasing the book Potty Training Boys the Easy Way from Amazon.  I found it pretty useful – it’s not a very dense read, and I got through it quickly.  Basically the book promotes using “sessions” to help your son realize when he has to go to the bathroom.  For an hour or so at a time, you put underpants on your son, or let him go naked.  If he pees and has an accident, you clean it up and don’t make a big deal about it.  Eventually they will come to realize that they don’t like getting wet and will start to tell you when they have to pee.  This basically worked for Cameron.  He can hold his pee for hours and for the most part is pretty good and getting to the potty in time.  I will tell you we have to react fast – so far we only have about 30 seconds warning ’till the pee comes out.  I’m guessing this will improve with time.  We also have 2 potties (both exactly the same).  One near Cam’s playroom and the living room, and one up in his bedroom.  The book suggested this (multiple potties so they are near by, and the same so that your toddler doesn’t only want to go in the “red potty” for example).  Cam helped me pick the potty out – we went with the Baby Bjorn Potty.

I have also been bribing Cameron with stickers when he goes pee in the potty.  He seems to enjoy getting them and it was working well – for pee.  We had made zero progress in the poop on the potty department.  I reached out to my mom friends for some advice in this area, and basically it seemed that I needed to up my bribery game.  We promised Cameron a Thomas Train if he would poop on the potty.  Lo and behold, it worked!  Yes, that makes it an expensive poop – but if he makes it out of diapers, then it’s worth it.  We will downgrade to matchbox cars I’m sure, and then maybe back to stickers, but for now I’m fine with the trains!

I wanted to post some other advice and suggestions I got from other moms in case they seem like they might work for you:

No diapers in the house – cold turkey! (Except nap time and bed time, and eventually take them away when your little one seems to wake up dry more often than not).  This seems similar to the “sessions” approach that I used but more intense.

Get underpants that your toddler is really excited about – and shop for them together.  Cameron loves his Thomas undies, and he doesn’t want to get Thomas wet or dirty. Tell your son or daughter that they can wear them if they want to use the potty.

Put underwear under the pullups for overnight – this makes peeing really soggy and uncomfortable, while keeping the laundry situation under control.  Personally, I think this idea is genius and when we  start to tackle the night time issue, I may give it a try.

Bribery, bribery, bribery – Many moms suggested this in many forms.  M and M’s, stickers, matchbox cars, and one mom who gave her child a skateboard at 50 dry nights!  I think you just need to find that sweet spot of something your kid really wants and bribe them with it.  In a toddler’s world, it seems to go a long way.

Good luck everyone!  And please feel free to comment with your own ideas and suggestions.

My sister in law, Kate McKenna, is a photographer based out of the Boston area – but since she’s family I was very lucky to receive from her a newborn photo session for my brand new baby girl, Violet, even thought I’m down in Washington DC.   She and my brother made the trip down shortly after Violet was born.  I wanted to share some of the pictures with you guys since I thought they were so beautiful!

I have to admit when I had Cameron two and a half years ago I didn’t really give any thought to have pictures of him.  It wasn’t until I started seing the images that Kate had taken of other babies that made me think this time around I really wanted to document this important moment in my family’s lives.

Kate came fully prepared with all her equipment, adorable accessories for me to choose from, her patience, and her creativity.  For someone who doesn’t have her own baby (yet!) she was remarkably good at dealing with newborns.  The session took a few hours because in between poses we let Violet fall asleep and get comfortable, and of course, there were diaper changes and feedings throughout.  Never did I feel rushed, and I was always very comfortable with how she handled Violet.

After seeing the final products, I am SO happy that we had these done, and I would encourage you to consider newborn photos for your little additions.  And, if you are in the Boston area, check out Kate’s website featuring her Crabapple Photography portfolio and blog.  FYI, Kate also does family photo sessions, maternity sessions, kids of all ages, wedding photography, and lots more.  Of course I am biased, but I think her stuff is great!

Hello friends and fans!  A lot of people have been asking to hear Violet’s birth story, so I thought I would include it as part of my posts about Sibley Hospital.  Part 2 will cover Tips and Tricks that I picked up along the way that hopefully will make your stay a little easier.

At 11:30 pm on Thursday March 31 I was watching Hulu in bed with my husband an I heard a popping noise, followed by a small gush.  I ran to the bathroom saying “I think my water just broke….?”  My husband looked concerned, but I told him I wasn’t having any contractions.  To be careful we started putting last minute items in the hospital bag.  I called my OB’s answering service.

At 11:34 my OB called me back sounding totally exhausted.  He had just gotten back from 2 deliveries at Sibley.  I told him I thought my water broke, but I wasn’t really having contractions.  He said I should go to the hospital if I started having contractions, and said they would call him when I checked in.  After I got off the phone the contractions started, but they were pretty mild.  We called our neighbor to come over and stay with Cam so we could head to the hospital.

On the way to Sibley Hospital, which thankfully is only about a 5 minute drive from our house, things really started to get painful.  My husband asked me if I wanted to be dropped off at the ER entrance or if we could park in the garage.  I said the garage would be fine, so we headed that way.  According to the ticket we were issued on entrance, we got to the garage at 12:09 am.  By the time we were actually parking I had a change of heart and I jumped out of the car walking as fast as I could towards the ER leaving my husband in the dust.

The check in at the ER seemed to take FOREVER, but apparently it really didn’t.  During the process I was having some really painful contractions, and I felt like I was going to have an “accident” so I started yelling for the bathroom.  I ran towards it and when I got there realized I was bleeding.  My husband went to finish the check in and told them about the blood.  Everyone starts yelling “DON’T PUSH!” which is exactly the only thing I wanted to do.  I was screaming.  They came back with a wheelchair and took me to Labor and Delivery.

They got me in a room, undressed, and IV in, and on the bed.  I was still screaming (from pain, and for the epidural).  They checked me and told me the head was coming out, and it was too late.  My husband says I screamed “NOOOOOOO” which I don’t recall, but it sounds about right.

I kept asking if I could push, and finally they said yes.  It hurt.  A lot.  There were several rounds of pushing, and screaming on my part.  I remember looking down at the staff OB (my doctor hadn’t made it yet) and asking her why she wasn’t pulling the baby out of me.  At the time this seemed like a reasonable request!  I was told I was close, and just needed one more round of pushing.  Then, there was whispering among the nurses and the doc and they told me to stop pushing.  This seemed like a cruel joke.  Apparently, the cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck twice and they needed to free her.  My OB walked into the room.  The baby was freed and in one more push, she was out.  It was 12:40 am on Friday, April 1st.

Miss Violet Paige makes her appearance April 1st at 12:40 am.

I felt a huge sense of relief, and shock.  I think for the next hour I kept saying “I can’t believe that just happened.”  My OB checked me out and said I didn’t need any stitches and everything looked great.  I didn’t feel so great, but that didn’t last too long.  The baby was healthy and as happy as a recently delivered baby can be.  She weighed 7lbs, and measured 19.5 inches.  We named her Violet Paige.

Overall, the experience was extremely intense and painful, yet empowering.  I felt like if I could do that, I could do anything.  I could walk pretty much immediately after, and I got to leave the hospital on Saturday.  If I was to have another child (not the plan!) I wouldn’t choose to go without the pain meds, but it certainly did have its upside after-the fact.

Stay tuned for Part 2 – Tips and Tricks for making your stay at Sibley a little easier.  Hopefully this post wasn’t too personal for you guys!    If anyone else has a story they’d like to share, please leave it in the comments.

A few weeks ago I posted a link on the Mommy FTW Facebook fan page about how to prepare your toddler for a new sibling, and I reached out to the fans for any additional advice because I am not exactly an expert on this topic.  I got some great ideas from both the article and my fellow moms that I wanted to share with the rest of the Mommy FTW readers.

I started off by requesting some books from the library about newborns and older siblings.  I know at both the the DC and Brooklyn libraries you can search the online catalogs and request that books be placed on hold for you.  You get an email when the books are at your local branch to pick up.  It’s really easy!  The books I got were:

Baby on the Way by Martha Sears

I’m a Big Brother (or, I’m a Big Sister) by Joanna Cole

Brand-New baby Blues by Kathi Appeit

I also ordered a baby doll from Amazon.  I got the Melissa and Doug baby Jenna – it had great reviews, and the price was very affordable.  Cameron loved the doll from the second it came out of the box.  We put diapers on it and get it dressed.  He gives it hugs and kisses and tucks it in under his blanket.  He even puts the baby in his Sister’s crib and says “shh quiet” because she is sleeping.

Cameron's little sister, taken Jan 2011

I talk to Cameron a lot about the baby, and he likes to give my tummy hugs and kisses.  I’m not sure he really understands what’s going on in mommy because one time he pointed to my husband’s stomach and said “baby.”  Oh well!  It can’t hurt!

Lately I try and get Cameron to help me as much as possible with small tasks around the house.  I think this makes him feel useful, and hopefully will make him feel good about himself and involved when the baby comes.

Other bits of advice I got from some of the fans was to spend as much one on one time with Cameron when the baby comes (especially in those early days when the baby is sleeping a lot).

Also, just as sometimes Cameron will have to wait when I am doing something with the baby, it is good to ask the baby to wait a minute while I do things with Cameron (use your best judgment, of course!)  That way he won’t always feel like he is second.

Another fan suggested a Sibling Preparation class at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis.  I didn’t check this out myself but it sounds like a great idea.  You can find out more about this class and the 2011 schedule via this link.  Sibley Hospital (where I’m to deliver) has a “Sibling Tour” with activities for young kids as well.  Find out more at the bottom of this page.  If you aren’t in the DC area, check with your local hospital to see if they offer any classes.  I didn’t even know classes like these existed!

If anyone has any other advice, please share it with me.  I have to admit I feel nervous about such a big change in our family, but I am sure Cameron will handle it like a champ – and that brother and sister will become the best of friends over the years!

For those of you out there looking for Holiday gift ideas – Cameron just had his 2nd Birthday last week and there were a few presents that were the clear winners in his mind.  I thought I would post them for your info (of course every child is different but….)

The Kid Galaxy My First RC Go Go Firetruck was clearly the most exciting toy Cameron got.  It’s a super simple RC vehicle (the only controls are forward and turn – in one direction).  Cameron LOVES firetrucks so this is right up his alley.  FYI, this toy also comes in Dump Truck, School Bus, Police Car, Bubble Gum Racer (which is of course, pink,) Train, Wheelie Cycle Speedster (a motorcycle,) and several more.  Basically, no matter what your child is obsessed with, they make an RC for it.

Cameron has always had a blankee that his Auntie Kate gave him at birth which he absolutely must sleep with.  But, we thought it was time to get him a full sized “big boy” blanket to sleep under in his crib.  Well, he’s not exacltly sleeping under it (yet) but he LOVES the cars, trucks, and snuggle-ability of this blanket.

This MEGA Bloks Fill and Dump Wagon was bought by Cameron’s other Aunt Jen – who just had a baby (Congrats!)  Not only does this wagon have awesome blocks which Cam loves to stack, it is also portable and he can fill it with all kinds of junk.  By the way, it comes in pink too.  I think this toy is a great one for encouraging your little one to clean up – a key skill!

Hello dear readers – those of you who keep up with the blog might have noticed that I’ve been posting more about Washington DC activities lately.  Well, that’s because Cameron, my husband and I have moved down to DC – my home town!

For my Brooklyn readers, never fear, I still plan to keep up with Brooklyn news and post information for you guys.  Also, I will keep posting general baby and toddler info (like “What’s Cameron Eating?” and updates on favorite toys, books, and other products and so on).  I also hope to help readers out there who have new babies or who have just moved somewhere to find out how to meet other moms and get your kids involved in the communities.  Starting (over) can be so hard… and we can do it together!  So hopefully there will still be something for everyone.  This leads me to my second big annoucement…..

I’m expecting a second child!  I’m due in early April 2011 – so I will be blogging about my pregnancy, juggling two children, and my experiences with a newborn (since I started the blog when Cameron was a few months old, I missed out on these topics the first time around).  I hope that all my readers find this useful – especially those of you who are expanding your little families as well!

I am all about cutting Cameron’s hair myself – it’s free, and after all… when else in his life can I give him a really bad hair cut, and he won’t mind? But, after over a year of at home cuts Cameron’s hair was getting pretty out of control. I’ve never been really able to get a good cut around the ears or in the back. So I decided it was time to bite the bullet and call on the professionals.

In my neck of the woods, LuLu’s Cuts (48 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, (718) 832-3732)‎ is pretty much the place to go. I was able to get Cam a same day appointment. Unfortunately, although we showed up on time, they were running about 15 minutes behind schedule. I was stressing because we had to get home for Fresh Direct, but Cam was having a great time playing with the huge train set that is in the front of the store.

Once it was our turn, they put Cameron in a firetruck chair, which he thought was pretty cool – especially the bell on the front.  They gave me some options for videos to put on (Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, etc) that show on a little TV in front of the chair.  Cameron was having a grand ole time until the cutting began, and then he freaked out.  But, the stylist kept on going without batting an eyelash.  She was done in 10 minutes.  I did my best to keep Cameron calm, but it didn’t really help.  Once he got his balloon at the end, everything was honky dory again… and his hair looked great!  They also gave me an adorable little certificate with a lock of his hair commemorating the experience.

So, was it worth the $22 for a child’s cut?  I say yes.  Would I do it every time Cam needs a trim?  Most likely no – I think alternating between home hair cuts and professional would be just fine for now.

Cameron has always had quite a head of hair, and it grows like a weed.  I think we’ve cut it at least 6 times since his birth in November 08.  And, as much as getting a nice professional hair cut sounds appealing, frankly, I don’t see the point in spending the money.

Cam gets his hair cut

This past weekend my hubby and I gave Cam his most recent hair cut, and we developed a new strategy to contain the hair – and wash him off quickly afterward.  We cut his hair in the bath – pre bath time – then cleaned up as much as we could and put it in the trash, washed the tub out with the shower attachment, and then ran the bath so we could wash Cameron off.
It worked out pretty well – and the cut wasn’t half bad either.  I think the more times we do the cut, the better we get at it.  So don’t be afraid to try it at home and save yourself a few bucks!  After all, it grows back!

I’m the kind of person who orders everything off the internet – from my groceries, to my diapers, and everything in between.  When it came time to get Cameron his first set of “big boy shoes” (hard soled shoes for walking) I had my doubts about ordering online.  After all, fit is really important, and I didn’t want to slow Cameron down with the wrong shoes.  When I was in DC this past week visiting my parents with Cameron my mom suggested we check out Ramer’s Shoes (3810 N. Hampton St NW DC).  They are a Stride Rite retailer.  She told me that she used to take me to Ramer’s Shoes when I was little… and once we got over there, I definitely remembered it.  Dear readers, I am 31 – so that should tell you this place has been around for awhile!

When we arrived we walked in on another mom who was also there getting her babies first walking shoes.  The mom and baby both seemed very happy with their recent purchase, and I was feeling confident that the saleswoman would take good care of Cameron.  Indeed she did!

Cameron gets measured

She expertly measured his feet – informing me that one was half a size smaller than the other, and that his feet were unusually narrow (like my husband’s feet).  She told me that shoes with laces were better for early walkers, because they offer more support (I had asked for velcro, but she told me this was a no-no).  We tried on a few pairs of shoes and found the right one.

And we try on the first pair of shoes....

They even have  a little piano that is perfect for having babies stand at so you can see how the shoe fits when the baby is putting pressure on the foot.  They also keep a chart on your child of their shoe size, and send you reminders when it’s time to get a new pair.  Overall, the service was outstanding, and I am so glad we went there for Cameron’s first shoes.

Putting them to the test

I am all about buying things online, but I think in this case, going to a real shoe store with someone who knows what they are doing was the right thing to do.  So moms in the Washington DC area, check out Ramer’s Shoes!