I Hate Being Hot

I hate feeling sticky and hot. It's gross. I'll post another day when I'm not so hot. And from the looks of it, it'll be hot for a loooong time.

In other news, please pray for baby Stellan, again, at My Charming Kids.

His mama just tweeted: "Stellan finally hit the wall @ 5am. SVT persists. He's listless, grey, low blood pressure, thready pulses, cold extremities."

Pray for this poor little boy.
kortney elise xoxo

It’s Too Hot

(jumping on the trampoline with Auntie Bre and having the time of her life!)

I've been a lazy blogger lately…simply because I am too hot. Truly!!!

And I'm still too hot to post and/or think. So this is just a quick post to share a couple of fabulous milestones Alexys has reached! And early, too boot!

She said her first word (with meaning!) – Grandma (Gamma)! She said it to my mom clear as a bell multiple times the other day. The next day she started on Mama. It's been two whole days of Mama – when she woke up from her nap I heard Mama. Mama. Mama. She looks at me, smiles, and says Mama. She knows exactly what she is saying. I love it. I'm also pretty sure she knows water (wawa), but we'll not count that one yet and wait and see a couple more times.

Oh, and for Daddy's sake – her first babbling symbols that sounded like a word were yaya, then Dada!

I can't believe how big she is.
kortney elise xoxo

PS: I thought the first time she smiled melted my heart – the first time she said Mama was even better!

My Canadian Hero

Okay, well not hero...but I don't like the word idol. Role model is maybe better?

I was just going through and labeling old posts (I'm trying to catch up - I have over 500 posts though...that's a lot of labeling to do!) and came across some of the ones about Joannie Rochette. It made me want to post about her and tell you about HOW FREAKING EXCITED I AM (yes, that deserves yelling) to go to the Olympics and see her. Just her short program, but know I'll be GLUED to the TV when she's doing her long program. And when she medals, I will go downtown and take a picture of the "re-medal" ceremony they do at an outside venue. Just so you know.

Reasons I Like Joannie Rochette:

• Recently she took a trip to Peru to help World Vision Canada. This is key training/touring/choreography time for skaters...and in an Olympic year. Way to go above and beyond Joannie.
  
• She's freaking hot.
• She won a medal at worlds...the first for a Canadian woman since 1988.
• She has a boyfriend and isn't afraid to tell the world. I like honesty.

There's more. Don't worry, but I won't bore you with the details.
I haven't liked a skater this much since the days of Tara and Elvis.

kortney elise xoxo

Booooring

I'd like to do a nice interesting blog post. Except life hasn't brought any interesting circumstances in the past few days...you can only read that my daughter won't nap and doesn't like to go to bed so many times, right?

However, that being said, we are on the up and up with nap and bed times. Following no book but the one I'm writing in my head (and it's a good one!). Alexys has been going to bed between 9 and 10:30 (tonight was even 8:45, so there!) on a mostly regular basis. She's been sleeping in her own bed until about 3:30 or 4. I feed her and mostly have been putting her back in her own bed, where she sleeps again until 6 or 7. Then I bring her into my bed where she goes back to sleep until somewhere between 8 and 10. I can usually get one long nap out of her a day and the location of the nap varies from my bed to swing to her bed to stroller. Whatever works.

In other news of my 7 month old (7 months! Who knew 7 months could make such a different in life!):

• She's teething horribly again. For about a week. I'd like to assume this means her second tooth on the bottom is going to arrive soon, but it's not even anywhere near the surface. Sigh.
  
• Pickles make a teething baby be quiet long enough for mama's to make dinner.
• I bathed my baby outside tonight because she was hot and it was cooler out there.
  
• She can move...kinda. She has started to push herself backwards (think tummy time with arms pushing her head up and then pushing her arms so she goes backwards). She does it especially well in her crib at bedtime and in the pool.
  
• She's a superstar swimmer. Like actually. I joked about her being a swimmer while she was in my belly. I think I might have been right.
  

That's all for now...
kortney elise xoxo

Not Me

Are you interested in participating in Not Me this week too? Then click over to MckMama's blog where she shares what she and hundreds of others haven't done this week. Not quite ready for an entire post, feel free to leave your not me's in the comments. And if you don't get it, click over to My Charming Kids to get it!!

On Thursday night at 11:49pm, I was not plunging the toilet in the dark, because it was not mere millimeters from overflowing. I did not forget to flush a diaper earlier and consequently have a very expanded diaper clogging the toilet. I was not afraid to wake up my husband, since he would have been so helpful at that hour. Not me. I don't follow this ordeal by a shower, because clearly I was not up to my eyeballs in poop wrists in pee.

I was not a little sad on Friday morning in the wee hours, because Alexys actually slept through most of the night in her own bed. Not me. After all I've done hours of complaining about her in my bed, and I should be glad that she was independent enough to sleep in her own bed. I was not lonely and did not miss her. Not me. I was also not in shock and slightly confused when, on Sunday night, Alexys fell asleep in less than 5 minutes. I didn't proceed to feel her forehead, wondering if something was wrong – not me.

I did not let Alexys sleep until 10:45 on Sunday morning. What kind of mother lets her baby sleep ALL day. Not me, of course. I did the right thing and got her up at 7. I didn't keep on sleeping right next to her either. After all, I am efficient and used the chance to catch up on schoolwork and chores.

I did not let Alexys try an ice cream sandwich the other night, just because it had good humor factor. After all, she's only 7 months old, and I am very careful about the food she eats. I always feed her healthy, nutritious food.

I'm not cutting this post short because my BFF is here…and besides, I'm perfect and don't do anything wrong. Ever.

kortney elise xoxo

On Sleep

Edited to Add: None of this was Alexys until she started teething at 5.5 months. She was sleeping through the night on her own accord, and just an angel baby...I think part of the reason this is all so frustrating is because it didn't start when she was little. It's all new!

This post turned into a really long one. Read it if you wish, but just know it is about Alexys and I and our sleeping discoveries – not all of this is true for every baby. This is just us. Sorry it's so long and blabbering – there was just a lot of points I felt like I wanted to address. It also went from research more onto personal experience. Deal with it. I'm sleep deprived!

I've done a LOT of research on sleep lately. Both for babies and for adults. I thought I'd share a little more into my journey, because maybe you're curious. Maybe you're in the same boat. Or maybe you just have nothing else to read. Whatever the case, I'd like to acknowledge that nothing works for every baby. What works for yours, didn't work for mine (trust me, I tried). Oh, and, of course, most of the sites I learned things from, I didn't bookmark and can't find again. So some of the links aren't my original links, but that's okay. I can't link it all!!

According to my research (in the words of Dorothy Ann):

• Our body (adults and babies), if left totally natural, would run more than a 24 hour cycle – somewhere between 24.5 and 25 hours naturally. This, obviously, is a problem in our world, because we live on a 24 hour clock. That means our natural sleep pattern, if left to be, would vary by an hour each day, causing various other problems. It's not a perfect theory but there is definitely some truth to it.
  
• Our biological clock is NOT left alone each day and is reset each day, either by natural light or electric light. This relates to what is known as the Circadian rhythm.
  
• Babies are not born with a biological clock – it is developed and not smoothed or mature until a baby is 4 or 5 months old.
  
• Breastfeeding is the most natural way to feed a human baby (of course I know it doesn't always work for everyone, I'm not judging or condemning). What makes this interesting for me is how humans compare to other mammals. There are four types of mammals – Cache, Nest, Follow, and Carry. All four types of mamma's have different types of milk and all four correspond with how a baby is cared for after birth (ie: carry mammals cannot walk at birth and need to be attended to around the clock, while cache mammals are mature when they are born and need to only eat every 12 hours). To me this made sense to believe – why should my baby not eat during the night? She is not a cache mammal, she is a carry mammal. She should not sleep through the night, because she is not mature. She cannot walk. She needs mamma's milk.
  
• Lots of people will disagree with this point, but I'm going to say it. Breastfed babies sleep differently than formula fed babies. I cannot find a good link to back this up, but in my heart I know that it is true. I am not saying it is impossible for breastfed babies to sleep through the night, because by no means is this true – lots do. And on the same note, lots of formula fed babies do not sleep through the night. However, I think that formula fed babies DO sleep better, once they are asleep. Breast milk is digested more quickly than formula and that is fact. This is bound to affect all babies differently.
  
• Most doctors consider sleeping through the night a five hour stretch at any point during the night, though most commonly from midnight to 5am. Most parents consider sleeping through the night 12 hours without being bugged. Interesting, no? (I did have websites for this, but I can't find good ones again).
  
• Due to the increase of SIDs and the research that shows this risk is reduced significantly, babies sleep on their backs now-a-days. I support this and Alexys does sleep on her back most nights. However, I also believe that most babies sleep more deeply on their stomachs (which is perhaps why SIDs occurs when babies are on their tummies – a deeper sleep is thought to be the reason SIDs occurs). However, when I was little, I slept on my tummy, because that was how babies were supposed to sleep (early to mid 80s). My brothers slept on their sides (early 90s). I'm not going to suggest putting your baby on their tummy, because it's a personal choice, and I don't think I would do it before a baby is 6 months old (95 percent of cases of SIDs occur before the age of 6 months), but sometimes it works for us. Alexys can roll over both ways and is strong enough to lift her head. I'm comfortable putting her to bed on her tummy some nights (even if it I end up checking on her more frequently). I do also find that these are the nights she sleeps best. Coincidence? Perhaps. SIDs and sleeping through the night on her tummy OR alive and frequent waking? I'll take the second option.
  
• I absolutely hate the term Attachment Parenting. It brings to mind hippies with long, full skirts, and unbrushed hair. It makes me think of people who are, well, crazy overprotective. And yet, I suppose by definition, I am an "attached parent." There are "7 Bs" to attached parenting according to Dr. Sears, who coined the term: Breastfeeding (check), Birth Bonding (check), Babywearing (uncheck…Alexys would *love* if I wore her in a sling all day. I physically cannot. She is too big and I am too small.), Bedding Close to Baby (check), Belief in Baby's Cry (check), Beware of Baby Training (this is slowly becoming a check), Balance (check…I hope!). Even though I hate the term, I am very aware that this is the kind of parent I am becoming. I originally was 100 percent for sleep training. I know it works for some babies (and works very well, at that). However, not all babies are the same. Some babies will not and do not respond to sleep training. Alexys is one of those babies. However, that does not mean I let her do what she pleases, when she pleases. It just means a different type of hard work is instituted in our house.
  
• We co-sleep (another term which I detest) sometimes. I felt guilty about this because I really thought Alexys needed the independence of her own crib. And sometimes she does. I remember my mom and dad having to sleep with my brother's for years and years. I thought that this was bad and that it should be avoided. But maybe it shouldn't be. Maybe Alexys really does need and want me. Why is that so bad? Most countries around the world encourage co-sleeping – it is standard. Babies need their moms. My idea on this changed the other day when my dad, of all people, said "some kids just need their parents close." I have accepted that now and when Alexys wants to come into bed with me, she'll let me know. She won't be a baby forever and if she wants to sleep in our bed until she's 9, that's fine. It won't happen every night and already it doesn't. My brothers are independent, intelligent grown-ups (well, 17 in 3 days and 18.5) now. They don't climb into bed with my parents at night anymore. They don't have any issues because they climbed into bed with their parents at night. I am not black and white on this issue – I will not co-sleep with the next kid, just because I did with Alexys. It might work. It might not. This might be temporary, it might not. I am using my mother's instinct to do what is right for Alexys each night.
  
• Consistency. I think that this term should be unconsistency in our house. Routine is very important for a baby, and in fact, children thrive on routine. Most research shows that babies like to know what is next and by keeping them on routine they will fall into a natural pattern on their own. However, for Alexys the same thing every night and day, is not her. We tried that for a while and we ended up worse and worse each night. Alexys does not fall asleep the same way each night. Do you? I definitely don't. Some nights on my tummy. Some nights my back. Sometimes I toss and turn, sometimes I fall straight asleep. Alexys is just like her mommy, apparently. We have found a similar routine that has been working most nights…but not always. I use the 4 Bs – bath, book, boob, bed – and usually that works. Alexys knows to expect those things – in that order – before bedtime and most often she'll fall asleep within 30 minutes of putting her down. Aside: We didn't always bath before bed – when she was younger it woke her up way too much at night to bath and so until she was 6 months old, she bathed in the morning.
  
• Going to bed awake is something I feel that is important to help babies learn to sleep. Unfortunately, Alexys does not like this idea. She did for many months, and I was proud of myself – I could put her in her bed, tell her goodnight and she would go to bed. That is no more. Now, however, I still feel it is important that she goes to bed awake. Yes, she uses a soother (that is a whole other post) and I am not taking it away. She is in her crib awake and if I walk away she will not sleep. I have to either hold her down (like pin her arms so she doesn't flail) or hold her butt down if she is on her tummy. On her tummy I pat her butt. On her back I play with her hair. I should note here that swaddling her does not work – she views this as a challenge to beat. I should also note that soothing her without picking her up from her crib does not work. She screams. And it's not like I can just pick her up and rock her. She hates that. She doesn't like to be rocked to sleep. She won't breastfeed to sleep. She's picky. I don't have much other choice, except to put her to bed awake. The odd night she does fall asleep in her chair and I carry her to her room. Sometimes you are desperate and you do what works.
  
• In my opinion, it is hard to wean breastfed babies at night without the use of bottles. We couldn't use bottles for so long and are now choosing not to use them (she will take one with breast milk only – she does not like formula and I am not going to force her to take it – at this point I cannot pump more than an ounce maybe every other day), because she is 7 months old. She will drink from a sippy cup and we will just switch to regular milk when it is time. I will continue to breastfeed until at least one year and probably beyond. It will be a mutually agreeable decision between the two of us. I'll leave it at that.
  
• Window of Opportunity – I probably read that in some book, but figures – I can't find a link for it. I believe there is a small window of time every night where babies will go down without a fight. If you miss it, it will be a fight. Needless to say, I am rushing to post this (because if I don't do it now, I'll forget and my time will have been wasted) because I missed my window tonight and bedtime become a very long 3 hour ordeal.
  
• Sleep breeds sleep. The more Alexys naps the better she sleeps at night. I could go into details. I'm not going to – see above bullet.
  

kortney elise xoxo

PS: I would also like to add that I just finished 12 Hours by 12 Weeks – not going to work for us either – but I know it worked fabulously for my friend Amanda and her cute baby boy, Asher. I think it would be the perfect book for formula fed babies or mamma's who pump and use bottles with breastfeeding. I was really hopeful for this book, but it's not so hot now.
PPS: I am reading the No-Cry Sleep Solution…and I LOVE it. I'll share from it soon.

Success Night 1

It took awhile for Alexys to go down last night, BUT once she was down...at 10:30...she slept until 5:30. I think I got up 8 times to see if she was breathing.

I hope this was not a one time thing, but I'm feeling very encouraged this morning.
kortney elise xoxo

Such a Baby

Update: Just to be fair I need to share the update. Alexys was up from about 10:45 until 11:30 last night. She thought she'd had a nap. She was so cranky. I gave her some teething tablets. They seemed to work. She went back to sleep (in my bed) until 2:30 and ate, and then till 6 and ate...and then until 9:30. She cried out in her sleep a lot and won't keep her hands out of her mouth. She's got "teething" poop. I hate teeth.

Me. Not Alexys. Alexys is actually just the opposite if you ask me.

Jordon was away for three days (I didn't tell you because I don't like to inform the whole world that my house was empty!). I stayed at my mom's for 2 of those days, because I am scared of the dark, robbers, and bad guys. For real. Jordon is home now though, thankfully, and I don't have to worry about those things tonight.

I don't really have anything else to tell you, except that Alexys was in bed before nine. Bath, book, boob, bed seems to be working great. She's going to bed, in her own bed, awake. I have to hold down her limbs still, but it is progress and we'll take it. Now if she'd only stay IN her own bed the whole night. That's the next step. Followed by taking away her feeding one at a time (there is two – 1 at 2:30am and the other at 6ish). That's not for now. Tonight we'll work on keeping her in her own after her 2am feeding.

kortney elise xoxo

Not Me

Are you interested in participating in Not Me this week too? Then click over to MckMama's blog where she shares what she and hundreds of others haven't done this week. Not quite ready for an entire post, feel free to leave your not me's in the comments. And if you don't get it, click over to My Charming Kids to get it!!

I'm not presently sitting on the computer writing a Not Me post instead of doing the dishes in my sink. The dishes do not fill up both sides of the sink and are definitely not at least three days worth of dishes. That would be gross, and I know my Mom would yell at me. I'm not using the excuse that Alexys is sleeping and she awakens to banging pots. Not me. I'm also not writing this post instead of finishing up some schoolwork.

I don't spend a strange amount of time playing stupid games on Facebook, like Mafia Wars and Farmville. Not me. Those games are targeted at teenagers with nothing better to do – and clearly I have a lot of things better to do!

There wasn't a night this week that Alexys leaked through her diaper onto the our bed. It wasn't me who changed her diaper quickly (at 4am), and instead of changing the sheet, I did not throw a towel over the small wet spot. Not me. It also wasn't me who realized that it wasn't Alexys who was leaking after changing her diaper…and her pajamas weren't wet. It couldn't possibly be me still leaking after 7 months of breastfeeding. Not me.

I guess this week hasn't been so bad after all. I'm going to bed!!
kortney elise xoxo

(who always Not Me's on Sunday nights…and posts them on Monday mornings!)

On Books

Books We've Read and Tried Given Up On:

• The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg
  
• What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff
  
• What to Expect The First Year by Heidi Murkoff
  
• The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp
  
• Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo
  
• Baby Wise Book II by Gary Ezzo
  
• The Attachment Parenting Book by William Sears
  
• The Baby Sleep Book by William Sears
  
• Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber
  

Books We're Going to Try Read for Fun:

• The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley
  
• Twelve Hours' Sleep by Twelve Weeks Old by Suzy Giordano
  
• Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka
  

Books I Need to Write:

• The Book for When All Other Books Fail: What to Do When Your Child Makes Her Own Rules (copyright pending – Kortney Story)
  

kortney elise xoxo

PS: It took me 3 minutes to figure out why "copywrite" wasn't spelled correctly on my spellchecker. Yes, I have lost my mind officially.

Hmph

Four Square is on. I have five minutes. I have a cold and I'm REAL grumpy about it. I've had THREE colds since having Alexys, even if she's only had one. I NEVER used to get colds. Strange illnesses, yes. Colds? Never. I hate colds. I just sent Jordon to get Subway for lunch, because a) I need to go grocery shopping and don't feel like it and b) I want it. Having a cold makes everything worse. It makes waking up three times at night way worse. It's very hard to not drop snot on your breastfeeding baby. Trust me. If I snuffle it in too much she jolts and wakes right up, and then thinks it's playtime. Ask me how I found THAT out. So instead I let myself drip on my pajamas. Lovely.

On a brighter note, bedtimes have been easier three days in a row. It's not perfect, but we're working on it. We've done the four B's – bath, book, boob, bed – and that seems to work out lovely. We've just pin holding down Alexys' arms and legs while she's in her own bed (swaddling doesn't work – I can't get it tight enough for her to not get out of, plus it's too hot) – and propped up on a pillow. Once she's asleep I take the pillow out of her bed. For whatever reason she falls asleep if she's sitting up a bit, much easier, then fighting the complete on her back thing. I can work with that. The whole routine (from start of bath) to asleep has only taken 45 minutes the past few nights, so I feel like there's hope. She's still waking up lots in the night, but again. We'll work on that. Plus I've been too sick and tired to deal with anything but nursing her back to sleep during the night. Once I feel better and the going to be routine is a little more familiar we'll work with the longer stretches at night.

Alexys is also taking from a bottle everyday fairly regularly again. Just water and breastmilk, but I can work with that.

But I'm still grumpy…AND I still hate the heat. Just in case you've forgotten. I REALLY hate being hot and wish my house was air-conditioned.
kortney elise xoxo

Swimming Lessons + Milestones

Just a quick update – I'm feeling inspired to do schoolwork tonight and get ahead of the game, and this past week that feeling has been rare, so I better focus on it while I can!

Alexys started swimming lessons on Monday – she goes twice a week for 30 minutes and so far she loves it! I'm definitely signing her up for another round in August, and hopefully keep it up throughout the year if she continues to like it. I am a terrible swimmer, and Jordon was almost a lifeguard (he was just too young to complete the lifeguarding and so he quit!)…my hope is that she'll take after her Dad! She's built right to be a swimmer, and I decided that I wouldn't mind being a swimming mom. It's not outside, but it's not cold either. The weather is always right and the equipment isn't too brutal (although I'm sure it's worse than I imagine, as with most sports). Anyways, obviously Alexys will choose, but she does have to learn how to swim.

She has done so well in her swimming lessons – her age group is 6-12 months, so she's on the younger side – a lot of the babies can crawl already. However, she's doing pretty good at keeping up, and literally kicks her legs for half an hour! She's totally got the right idea and doesn't cry like some of the other babies. Her dad and I take turns taking her in and we have a lot of fun!

In other milestone news, Alexys has been quite the accomplishing little girl these past few weeks!

• She has her first tooth…bottom on the left. It actually looks like a tooth now and she likes to make a chomping motion with her mouth all day long. The second tooth musn't be too far along, as I've read, but it doesn't seem like it's close – the gum isn't white or bumpy. I hope it's not too spread out. Let's get these first four over and done with!
  
• She claps now and is getting better at it every day! She especially likes to clap toys together, but if you clap your hands and say "yeah" Alexys will mimic you and say "yayayaya" and clap her hands together. It's too cute!
• I noticed today she's starting to develop a "pincher" grasp. Not with food yet, but with her toys. She was playing with the antlers on her little bug today with just 2 fingers for a long time.
  
• She can almost pull herself into the sitting position…on her own. For a lazy kid, she's got great core strength. She's not sitting up in the usual fashion that most babies her age do – she's literally sitting straight up from the lying down position – like she's doing a sit up. She can get all the way up from just under a 45 degree angle. She's nuts and is going to be ripped. (In the picture you can see how she's lazy - she'll lay down for just a few minutes to "watch TV" and then just pull herself back up to play. I kid you not. She purposely lies down for a break.)
• She sits all by herself all the time. Even in a restaurant high chair. She's super strong. (At East Side Mario's with Mom and Dad on Canada Day!).
  
  
  

I know there was more I wanted to add, but I'll save it for next time.
Off to the land of schoolwork!

kortney elise xoxo

Free DVD AND a Giveaway

Anyone interested in a free DVD? Just pay $2.99 (Canadian) for shipping and you get a free Veggietales DVD from Big Idea. All you have to do is sign up for their newsletter. No biggie!!

Clicky


Here's another giveaway too - it's another comment to win type of deal. I would love to win these things - they're stong engraved things. I love them!!

Clicky

Don't say I never do anything for you.
kortney elise xoxo