Going Crazy

Yesterday, I thought I was going crazy.

I kept seeing flies in the house (remember those maggots? Guess we didn't get them all...). That wasn't the crazy part. They were slow and very easy to kill. Also, they were only by the back door, staring at the pretty light of the outdoors.

No, the crazy part was, after killing a couple, I couldn't find the flyswatter. There was another fly, and I wanted to render it dead, but the flyswatter was not where it goes. That was weird. I remembered getting it down from the top of the cabinet, taking it out of its plastic bag, killing the flies, and then putting away the swatter before dealing with the dead flies. I knew I must have at least put it in its bag, because it wasn't on the kitchen floor where I left it.

But it wasn't on top of the cabinet. I got out a chair to look. Nope. Definitely not there. I looked next to the trash can. Not there. I looked IN the trash can. Nope. I tried in the cabinet, and over by the back door, and all the various crevices in the living room and kitchen. Nope, nope, nope.

Where on EARTH did I put that thing?! And why couldn't I remember? Was I losing my mind?

So I gave up. I didn't know where else to look, and I figured I could do something more productive, or at least more interesting, with my time.

When Anthony got home, I told him about my adventure with the flyswatter. We both started looking. We looked everywhere (except Hazel's room, because she was sleeping when it happened. I'd like to think I'd remember going in her room...). Still no swatter. We decided to just leave it be, because we needed to go shopping before Hazel's bedtime.

What was HAPPENING to me? Was I really that scatterbrained?

Later that evening, after the baby was sleeping, Anthony tried looking on top of the cabinet again. Instead of just standing on the chair, he climbed on the counter catti-corner to the cabinet and actually got his head above it.

He said, "Denise, I found the flyswatter." (Or something like that, it's not like I have a stenographer recording everything that happens around here, okay?)

When this apartment was built, someone decided it would be a good idea to place a cabinet a couple of inches away from the wall. They thought, "hm, better wall that in on the front, so it looks better." However, they also thought it would be a great idea to leave a gap on the top of the cabinet.


Well, frankly, I don't agree. Not at all.

We still haven't quite decided how to try to get it out of the pit. The only thing we've thought of involves yarn and the hook part of a plastic clothes hanger. Any ideas?

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If you came here hoping to read about Hazel, don't go away!

Today I clipped her nails for the very first time. In the past I've just filed them, bitten them, or left them alone. She was very interested in my bright orange baby clippers. And I liked them a lot. They were worth buying!

Laundry

I have been saving up thoughts about laundry for a while, thinking I needed to write a post about the topic. I will share with you now.

My first week of college, I went to do laundry. I've been doing my own laundry since ninth grade, so I just did it. While I was there, I saw the funniest thing: a guy my own age on the phone with someone I can only assume was his mom, asking her how to do laundry. Thank you, Mom, for not letting me suffer that ignorant fate!

My first married apartment had a very tiny laundry room that served way more people than it should have. It only had two washers and two dryers, for an apartment building that probably had about forty people in it, most of whom would be doing their laundry separately. Also, it was used by a couple of other small buildings nearby. It's hard to not have access to laundry when you plan for it.

At my second married apartment, laundry was a pretty big hassle. We were on the third floor, and even though our building was very close to the (fortunately very large) laundry room, it is hard to carry a big hamper on the stairs. And then I got pregnant, and carrying laundry up and down stairs became even harder!

We moved to a new apartment in the same complex, and our situation was the same: third floor, near the laundry room. But in this quad, I quickly noticed that people noticed me, and I got many offers to carry my hamper for me. Being six and more months pregnant, I never declined. It was so nice to be offered this help!

Then our baby was born. Laundry went from once a week to twice or more a week (with just as many loads per laundry day, might I add!) However, now I had the added tasks of figuring out what to do with my baby while I went down to the laundry room and figuring out how to get poop stains out of lots of things. Baby poop does NOT just wash right out. I asked my mom, went online, and tried lots of things. I still don't really have a strategy. Shout spray works pretty well, and if an item still has a stain on it, I wash it over and over without drying it until I can't see anything anymore. Sometimes this means it's out of commission for a few weeks! Thankfully, she hardly ever poops on her clothing anymore.

As far as what to do with Hazel during laundry, I never totally figured that one out. If she's napping, that's great, but her naps don't often last the two hours it takes to get laundry totally done. So, I carry her with me in our snugli or sling, and if I feel like I just can't do that, I leave her, safe but sad, in her crib until I get back.

Now that I'm in Virginia, though, things have been different. It is SO NICE to have a washer and dryer in the actual place where you live! I can do laundry every day or every other day if I need to, because it's not a huge deal! I can do it while my baby is awake! I don't have to walk stairs! I don't have to rush to get things out of the dryer as soon as it stops out of fear that someone will steal it or move it out of the way! I don't have to look at the dried up, blackened stuff on the inside of the dryer and hope that it doesn't get onto my clothes! I don't have to look at the leftover sludge in the detergent area of the washer and hope that the person before me didn't use bleach!

Having a personal washer and dryer is everything I hoped for, and more.

Another thing I've noticed since getting here: I'm beginning to suspect that non-high-efficiency washers work better. It shouldn't be true, but I think it is. Washing clothes in lots of water just works better.

Also, I should add, I do most of the laundry, but not because I'm a beaten-down wife who does all the housework. No, it's because I'm at home more, so I usually end up having time to do it even with taking care of our baby.

Also, I'd rather do laundry than dishes!

Our New Apartment, OR Murdering Maggots in the Morning

So, I'm beginning to feel like Pharoah must have felt when Moses came and there were all those plagues. Okay, not really...but we have had some troubles with this new apartment.

Plague #1 Elmos
We have lots of Elmos. There are a whole bunch of Elmos of different types in the corner between the couches. It's a little bit creepy, but Hazel likes to look at them.

Plague #2 Junk
The apartment is a sublet, so the girl we're renting from left her stuff here while she went away for the summer. I thought that meant she was going to leave everything in her bedroom (which locks) leaving the furniture and the rest of the space for us. Well, I was wrong. When we got here, there was stuff all over the place. Every surface was covered in random junk. *sigh* So we sorted it, bagged it, and stowed it in the garage.

Plague #3 Alcohol Paraphernalia
When we visited to check the place out beforehand, I somehow overlooked this. Empty vodka bottles (maybe they thought they were decorative?) on the counter, a couple of drinks-mixy contraptions, a few bottles that still had the alcohol in them...

Plague #4 Filthiness
Also something I overlooked when we visited. I mostly looked at the living room, where we were sitting talking to our prospective landlady. It looked pretty good. I think she shampoos the carpets regularly. But, I didn't look closely at the edges (which may have never been cleaned, ever), or the kitchen floor/cabinets (ick!). And, when some things in a house are dirty, I feel like EVERYTHING is, and I can't rest until it's all clean.

Plague #5 Coins
Why would someone leave little piles of coins spread throughout the house? I don't understand this.

Plague #6 Air Fresheners
Every room had multiple air fresheners. Spray fresheners, automatic-squirt fresheners, plugins...why would you want so many? It made the place stink!

Plague #7 Unfamiliar Cleaning Products
As I was gathering up the junk in preparation to clean the surfaces it was all resting on, I looked for cleaning supplies. I found several, but almost nothing that I'd ever used before. On the upside, I discovered that the multipurpose Fantastik is quite good!

Plague #8 Untrustworthy Dishes/Disposable Dishes
Part of the deal is that we got to use her dishes and stuff. But, her dishes mostly worried me. Nonstick pots with the nonstick coming off, stuff that didn't look clean... Also, she just didn't have a lot of normal dishes. Some things there were a lot of, but others (like plates and silverware), we just couldn't find enough of. It seems like she was mostly using disposable dishes, which were bountiful indeed.

Plague #9 Sauces
When I went to clean the fridge (which was pretty gross), I found that they had tons and tons of sauces and condiments. We managed to relegate them all to the door and the bottom drawer, but the door was TOTALLY full, with a goodly amount of the drawer taken up as well.

Plague #10 Brown Decorations
It seems like most of the stuff she chose to decorate with is brown or beige. I think I'm just not classy enough for that. I like color too much.

Plague #11 Poor Lighting
No overhead lights, except in the kitchen/dining room.

Plague #12 Dead Clocks
I counted six.

Plague #13 Daddy Long-legs
Okay, this one isn't really a plague. But most days there is a daddy long-legs on the screen of the back door. And it usually stays there all day long.

Plague #14 Ants
Two days ago, we found ants in the baby's room. This was really disgusting to me. However, I found out that there are many ways to kill ants, and I so I attacked them with baby powder. I'm not convinced that it kills them, but after powdering them, vacuuming thoroughly, and powdering again, they've been gone for over one day. It's kind of cool that there's something that I don't mind Hazel touching that will keep ants away. :)

Plague #15 Maggots
Finally, the worst thing of all, and the thing that caused me to want to write this post. MAGGOTS. Gross! We have been battling maggots all day. Here's how it went.

This morning I went into the kitchen, and I was like, Anthony, there's a little white wormy thing on the floor. And he was like, oh, there's another one.

That's when we realized there were LOTS of them! And they weren't just any old worms, they were MAGGOTS. And I began to feel like this:

Then we began killing them. (Anthony did most of it, because that is the arrangement. Anthony kills bugs for me. That is one of the reasons I love him so much.) We discovered that the only way that actually works, is to squish them, one by one. These things are practically invincible! We used spray bleach, we dumped boiling water on them, we drowned them in rubbing alcohol, we moussed them (I read hairspray would do it; we don't have any), we used Raid, we sprayed them with Comet, and combinations of some of these things. Time after time, they crawled right out of whatever toxic chemical we had just put all over them.


Well, the maggots are gone now. I hope.

After all this complaining, I should give you some good news. How about:

Hazel is still the cutest thing ever. :)

This Hazel was made for walking

And that's just what she'll do!

On Wednesday, I was very proud of myself. I had finally gotten the floors of our new place (by the way, we're in a new apartment...) almost all clean, clean enough that I felt okay not wearing socks inside any more. Also, I finally had our stuff almost organized. Anthony called to tell me he was coming home. Feeling very accomplished, I said to him, "You'll like what you see when you get here!"

Hazel and I were in the living room. She was finding various things in my sorting and playing with them as I tried to put them away. I found the little bird call Anthony gave me while we were dating as kind of a joke (it makes a squeaky sound that is a bit annoying and does not sound like a bird at all). I squeaked it. Hazel looked at me, from where she was standing up, playing with something I was about to take away because it was too small.

She took a step toward me. I (obviously) got really excited. I quickly moved a suitcase out from in front of her feet. I squeaked the bird call some more. She loved it, and took about three more steps over to me.

OH MY GOSH! She WALKED!!

Then Anthony came home. My pride in myself for cleaning was completely overshadowed by what Hazel did. She got all the glory. She walked for him twice, once TO him, to his delight.

We still don't have a video. I will continue to work on it, but I'm not sure if I can do it by myself. I think it's a two-person job; one person to hold the camera, and one person to entice her with something amazing.

Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is that we just didn't understand that bird call. It was actually a Hazel-call. :)

Back

Hellooooo...

I have been shamefully absent for the past month and a half or so. Let me tell you why.

1. I made a prom dress for my sister.

Though I was asked to do this a year ahead of time, things really started to get down to the wire. I kept getting sick, sewing is hard with a baby around, and the plan kept changing. But, with with dedication on my part and Anthony's as well, the dress was finished.

2. Taxes

What is there to say? We did them. On time, too.

3. Weaning

I ended up weaning Hazel the same week we moved. It was earlier than I had planned, but due to health reasons and frustration levels, we decided that would be best. I got her down to just two breastfeedings, one at bedtime, and one in the morning, then decided to just go cold-turkey from there. After a few days of soreness for me, and a few days of gas for Hazel, things normalized.

Despite feeling sad about it for a bit, I think that really was the best thing to do. Hazel had no problems just switching to bottles; she didn't even seem to miss nursing! In fact, I now realize that she actually wanted to wean. Every time I went to feed her, she rolled away, over and over again. When I gave her bottles, she settled down and finished it all. Oh, well. We made it nine months, which is pretty darn amazing, considering the obstacles we had!

4. Moving out/cleaning the apartment

This was pretty hard. Anthony and I have made a lot of moves since getting married (this makes the fourth, including moving in together when we got married) (did I mention we've only been married a little over two years?). However, all the other moves were just from one place in town to another. This time, we had to pack some stuff to come with us for the summer and pack the rest of it to go with us. We couldn't reuse boxes, unlike previous times, and we actually had to rent a truck! (This was new also, because for the first two moves, we had virtually no furniture, and for the third, our new apartment was a two minute walk from our old one.)

We probably wouldn't have been able to do it if it weren't for the many friends and neighbors who helped us move and clean. Seriously, there were a lot of them! Even with their help, we managed to get everything done several hours later than we planned, just barely in time to...

5. Drive across the country

We'd never done this with a baby before. Really, though, it wasn't so bad. The car was packed to the rafters (of COURSE we have rafters in our car--don't you?), courtesy of me! I really was quite proud to fit everything in. A Civic can hold more than you'd think.

Hazel and I rode in the backseat together, while Anthony drove the whole way. Hazel was extremely good. She did get bored, though, and it was a challenge to keep her entertained. When all else failed, Anthony and I sang primary songs to her, which she usually likes. We were going to try to eat food we brought with us in the car, but ended up just eating out along the way. It turns out that Hazel can have a lot of fun in a booth at a fast food place. She got to stretch her legs and we got to eat. Sweeeet.

It got to the point where when the car stopped and Hazel heard the parking brake, she would start to kick her legs, flail her arms, and look around for Daddy. It was pretty cute, and she always went along with us when we put her back in her carseat. I was afraid she would start getting upset to go back in, but she never did. What a sweetie. (By the way, this seems to have become a permanent habit. Even if we're only in the car for five minutes, she gets totally excited to get out.)

We did learn that we weren't very good at stopping in time for Hazel's wet diapers. Kirkland Signature is the best, but even they couldn't hold up long enough! Whoops...

6. Visiting family

We got to stop for about a week and stay with my parents. It was really fun, and I know they loved seeing Hazel. And she loved seeing them. My dad is apparently the master of peek-a-boo, and Mom kept giving Hazel lots of different foods. What a fun grandma and grandpa!

After a little more driving, we got to visit the other grandparents. Grammy Anita read Hazel lots of books, and Grandpa Selino charmed her quickly, possibly because of his glasses...but possibly not. :)

7. Starting a job and trying to find better housing

Aaaand, then, we finally wound up here in Virginia, where Anthony has started his internship. The thing is, the place we're staying in is a bit too expensive. It may be asking a lot, but wouldn't it be nice to actually make some money this summer?

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We did more things, but those are the big things I can think of. I'm planning on posting more regularly now, if my "i" key doesn't give out on me...

New Talents

Hazel has been learning so many new things. I already mentioned that she can crawl; well, she just keeps getting better at it! She follows me or Anthony around all the time. It's really cute to look down and see her sneaking up on me, looking up at me--so happy with herself!

She also uses her crawling abilities to stand up on everything. She pulls up all the time, and sometimes she doesn't even keep leaning on something. That's right; she's getting some balance! :)
Basically, she's just the cutest ever.

A bit of a rant (just a little!)

Sorry this post isn't anything like what I usually write. If you were hoping to hear about a certain adorable baby, you will be disappointed. But I've been thinking a lot about health care, especially since I, personally, need to get on a new health insurance as soon as possible.

Things I'd like to see in health care in America:
*opening up state boundaries so that health insurance companies have to compete with each other (capitalism isn't always evil!)
*a few basic regulations for insurance companies: no lifetime maximums, no discriminating based on preexisting conditions
*government health care as a backup, not as something everyone is forced into; also, I think this should be run by the states, not by the federal government
*less expensive. Last year, we paid over a fourth of our income just for my insurance premiums. I am glad I have such good insurance, but we can't really afford that much. But (I know, a lot of buts) we can't afford not to have it for me, since I have one of those pesky preexisting conditions and need the continuous coverage.

Oh, yeah. And people shouldn't be forced to have health insurance if they don't want it.

There are lots of generous people. Helping others should not be compulsory; it should be done because people see the need and want to fill it.

I want everyone to be able to get health care, I do. But...they can. Hospitals don't turn people away even if they can't pay (for emergency health care). So, people who can pay are subsidizing those who cannot. That's not ideal. I want things to be better. But people who can't afford to pay for health care or health insurance do not have to die.

The bill that has just been passed has some good things in it. But it is not nearly good enough. Far too many congressmen voted for something their constituents didn't want. I am sure they could have come up with something better.

So, even though it is a little dramatic, I feel that a quotation from one of my favorite authors is in order:
"...[S]omeone had to act!"
"No one had to act! There is never a time when it's better to do something terrible than to do nothing at all!"

Sorry for the disorganization. Good night!

Sign Dancers: Why?

Why do businesses hire people to dance by the street holding signs? When Anthony and I drive anywhere, we always seem to see these people. It's not really working as advertising for me, because I see them and am unable to even look at the sign they are holding because I am so transfixed by how embarrassing it is. Many of them just wave the sign back and forth, preserving some dignity; however, there is one woman who dances incessantly (and not particularly well) with her pizza-place sign. Dance, dance, dance.

*sigh*

Hazel is doing many wonderful things. She learned to crawl about two weeks ago.


Also, she babbles like crazy now. And blows raspberries in new and exciting ways.

Unfortunately, we are both sick right now. I've been sick way too often since she was born. I wonder why that is.

Conditioning

I think I may have successfully conditioned Hazel. For the past month or so, I've been humming or singing the same lullaby almost every time she is falling asleep anyway, usually while she's nursing or I'm cuddling her. I was thinking it might come in handy for helping her learn to fall asleep without sucking on anything. The other night, she woke up crying in the night, and it seemed like it might have helped, but today was even better. I finished feeding her and put her in her crib for her nap. She woke up as I was laying her down, and as I was reaching for the pacifier, I started to hum. She immediately turned her head to the side and fell back asleep.

Isn't that cool?! Of course, she might have done that anyway. I can't tell. But, if it is working, that will be so nice.

Also, it wouldn't be the first thing she's gotten conditioned to. Almost from birth, I trained her to suck when I stroke the back of her neck. And Anthony accidentally trained her to expect something to come to her mouth when he makes an airplane noise.

I love my baby.

Since I don't have many pictures of me and Hazel together, I got Anthony to take some this weekend.

She almost always smiles when I kiss her. As you can imagine, I love that!

A dose of reality: Hazel loves grabbing faces. She seems to go for the eyes...

Mommy and baby.

Dance

Anthony and I are going to a 1920's themed dance next Saturday! I am so excited. I haven't been to a dance in over a year. And for someone who used to go to every youth dance possible (about every other month), that is a very long time. I love dances. Having a dance at home is fun, but not the same. I need the energy I gain from all the other people in the room, or I am wiped out after like five songs. Guess I'm getting old.

The thing that bugs me, though, is the lack of dances in the married wards I've been in. Married ward (or stake) dances would be ideal! Everyone has a partner. :)

Did I mention that there are going to be cupcakes at this dance?

The Sleeping One

It's been so long since I posted last! I know your lives must have been dreadfully boring without the chance to hear about mine. I am so sorry.

Hazel has improved her scooting forward skills, her creeping backward skills, her raspberry-blowing skills, and (of course) her being-cute skills.

She has started pulling herself up on stuff. She can't get all the way up most of the time, but the main reason seems to be her tendency to have her feet turned on their sides. If she could get them bottom down, I think she would pull to a full stand all the time.


Today I gave her a sippy cup for the first time. She caught on immediately--literally! As soon as she saw it, she reached out and grabbed it, stuck the spout in her mouth, and sucked. It was a little harder to figure out that she needed to tip it more to get more. Anyway, sippy cup=big success. She loves it. I don't know how much she was getting, however; it seemed like she dribbled it down her shirt instead of swallowing it.

We went to the doctor on Friday for her six-month checkup. (Yes, she is seven months old. That's what we get for picking a super-popular doctor) (And no, I don't regret it; he is so nice!) So I have new statistics for you. Hazel is...

27 inches--81st percentile
21 pounds--98th percentile

In other words, she is humongous. :) And, since her carseat only goes to twenty-two pounds, we had to get a new one.
It's a convertible carseat; it can be rear-facing until 35 pounds and then turn forward until 40. I was very excited to find out that the least expensive carseat of this type is the one with the best safety rating. It's the Cosco Scenera, in case you want one. :) I think it's interesting that the other companies aren't dying of shame to be selling their products for two or three times as much with a lower safety rating. Just sayin'. I'd be embarrassed.

The moment you've all been waiting for (but mostly the moment I'VE been waiting for)! Hazel has slept all through the night five out of six nights this week. I'm loving it! And she's getting better at taking naps. My baby is awesome. I hope this continues.

My Sweet Husband

I didn't change a single diaper this Saturday or Sunday.

Bother

I really don't like the trash truck that comes to empty the dumpsters by our apartment.

Don't get me wrong. I am glad they get emptied. No, what I am unhappy about is the way they honk every time they come. And I'm pretty sure they come every day. And we have dumpsters on both sides of our quad, for some reason, so I hear honks over and over again. I think the honking may have something to do with the brakes, but still. Not acceptable.

Well, it would be more acceptable if they didn't have the uncanny knack of coming only when Hazel is napping. It's not like she naps all that consistently. It's like they're timing it on purpose to get here at different times every day when she's asleep.

I know what you're wondering. Does it actually wake her up? Only once. That once was enough.

Just one more thing to put on the list for my dream house: no huge honkin' trash trucks.

To lighten the tone of this post, I think I will conclude with some more features my dream house would include.

*A sprayer at the kitchen sink
*A non-white kitchen sink
*Carpet that is one color
*A giant box filled with different pillows that I can swim through
*An erosion table
*Furniture that cost more than $5

TOOTH!!!

Hazel's first tooth finally broke through! We got a couple of (kinda) good looks tonight, and her left front top tooth is definitely showing through the gums.

No pictures this time. It was just too exciting not to post at once. :)

Movement

Hazel is on the move! Today she made a full lap around the living room, with some help in avoiding obstacles. Why did she need the assistance, you ask?

Because she can only move backwards!

I'm not sure if this counts as crawling or not. Either way, she's really starting to get around.

Something more exciting actually happened today: Hazel got her entire tummy off the ground. I don't think she's ever done this before. The tummy is so big that this was quite the accomplishment!

Rolling, et cetera

Hazel finally rolled over! Last night, she rolled all the way from her back to her tummy. Anthony and I have been working on getting her to do this for a couple of weeks, and she has done many partial rolls up onto her side, but has never made it all the way. I am so proud! When she first rolled onto her back from her tummy (at two months), it could have been an accident. This was no accident. I could see her effort and concentration.

And she just did it again! What a prodigy. Here she is on her tummy after rolling.


Another development over the weekend: she has begun a sort of babbling. What noise does she make? "Mama, mama, mama, mama." It's so cute! The downside is that she has incorporated this sound mostly into her crying/fussing. This is extremely strategic for her, since it's almost impossible for me to leave her for even a minute while she's calling out my name! I wish I knew if she means it.

On Friday night, Anthony and I went on a real date. It was really nice. It's our fourth time leaving our baby, but it's still hard! And it seems like she was not happy we left her; she actually refused to eat the rice cereal my sister offered her. Michelle got lots of exercise when all Hazel wanted was to be walked around and sung to.

Oh, yes, the date. We went to Cafe Rio and then got Jamba Juice afterward. It really is nice to get out of the house without our baby once in a while. However, I was still eying every baby I noticed. I just can't help it!

On Sunday we put Hazel in the sweater and bonnet that Grandma Jen knitted for her, since she's big enough for it now. And it was even cuter than I ever imagined.

Snow Angel

There's something I had been wanting to do, and this Sunday I finally did it. That's right, I had Hazel make a snow angel! She didn't cooperate super well, but it was fun anyway.



Still no sign of those teethsies peeking through.

Scones

I made scones last night. I love scones, but Anthony doesn't, so when I make them it is a selfish act. However, I get to eat the whole batch! Yum yum. And it's a double batch, too.

Hazel developed a new talent today. That's right, she can blow raspberries while eating! When we got to the carrots, I put on an old shirt as a smock. Those things stain. Hazel was already mostly undressed.

Anyway, I tried really hard to get a video of her doing this. Here it is.



There's not much of raspberries, but we did get lots of pounding! Other activities that make it difficult to feed Hazel include head turning (to look around, not to avoid the spoon!), looking down to examine the straps, pushing her bib into her mouth, putting her fist in her mouth, and leaning forward to nom on the high chair tray.

Hazel is starting to make more noises. We're enjoying this, but we're still waiting to hear actual babbling. You know, "babababababa," that kind of thing. Little syllables with consonants. Apparently that can show up around four months. Oh, well. I'm sure she'll start talking sometime!

Additionally, she is getting better at clapping! That's right, folks! She actually has her hands flat, and she hardly ever misses! (I tried really hard to get the ratio on this back to normal, but couldn't get MovieMaker to do it. Not the best program ever.)



So, after we instated a bedtime routine and a bit of cry-it-out two months ago, Hazel started sleeping through the night about half the time. I mean, from 8:30 PM to 8:00 AM. Great, huh? On the other nights, she'd wake up once, and sometimes twice, but not more. Over Christmas break, she got sick, and started waking up at least once every single night. Right as she was getting over her illness (cough, cold, ear infections), she started teething! So, none of us have gotten a full night's sleep for over a month, just when we thought things were getting good.

The night before last, though, she mysteriously slept all the way through again. Wonderful! I was hoping it would continue.

It didn't. Last night we had the dreaded TWO wakeup night. *Sigh*

Hazel has become quite obsessed with my feet. Whether I'm wearing cool socks or not. It's pretty cute. And now she is blowing raspberries that are like sweet invitations unto me: Mom! Come feed me! Pleeeeeeeeease?

How can I resist?

My Own Blog

So, I'm making a blog. I used to have one three or four years ago, but that was on Xanga, and I feel like getting with the times. I created this particular blog for my Persuasive Writing class last year, so the first few entries are kind of weird. You can ignore them. Or you can read them and learn amazing things about the persuasive arguments contained in stuff.

Or you can just be happy that I passed the class and now it is over.

Whichever you prefer.

So, the main reason I've been desiring to begin a blog again is because I've been reading others' blogs and finding them vastly entertaining. Also, sometimes, I just feel like ranting or like sharing my opinions in a non-ranty way. And I guess there's the hope that what I have to say is interesting to others. We'll see.

I'll start with Hazel. She is teething, and it's getting a little crazy. We've had a few false alarms, but this time it's really happening: the pediatrician diagnosed it. At first, she was just batting at her ears, but now she's been getting quite fussy. Oragel seems to help, but it's so hard to put it on her gums! She won't let me get at her mouth, so I tried a new tactic today. I laid her on the floor on her back and straddled her, pinning her arms down with my knees. I used one hand to move her lips aside, and the other hand was armed with the cherry-flavored gel. Seems foolproof, right?

Nope. Didn't work at all. I finally succeeded anyway. Then I gave her her special apple teether. It helped for a few minutes, but not very long! So I nursed her, she fell asleep, and she is napping as I type this.

If only those little teethsies didn't cause so much trouble!


Aaaand, since I believe every blog post should have a picture, here's one of Hazel today when she wasn't being bothered by teething.