Tidbits, Part Two

• So yeah, I totally jinxed it by boasting to the Interwebs that Phoebe is a super-sleeper. Last Friday night was awful. Not only was I getting a cold and sleeping badly, Phoebe was essentially awake from 12:30 until 5.  After I fed her for the second time, knowing that she was full and not hungry, we gave up and let her cry it out a bit in her crib. She fell asleep shortly thereafter, but I was awake. Kudos to Chris for staying up with her most of the night.
• Saturday night was better, but not by much.  We went out to dinner for our anniversary (it was delicious and we overate, big time) and got home around 10:30.  Our poor babysitter had to deal with a fussy Phoebe who cried off and on for about 45 minutes.  Then, at around midnight, we thought we heard Phoebe on the monitor. Nope, instead, it was Charlotte, who had wandered out of bed to check to see if we were back home.  Chris led her back to her room and put her back to bed. 4AM and Phoebe woke us up to yet another crying fit.
• We gave Phoebe some infant Tylenol because she had a slight fever and was majorly fussy. This seemed to work, only to later cause me to panic when I noticed what I surmised could only be blood in her diaper.  (A trip to her doctor yesterday, with used diapers in hand, confirmed it was not blood).
• She's woken up the past two mornings at 5AM, absolutely starving. I'm calling another growth spurt.
• On a cuter/funnier note, Charlotte's gymnastics class had a mock Olympics medal ceremony, whereby every child gets to go on the podium and receive a medal.  Here is how Charlotte was announced: "Charlotte is three years old. When she grows up, she wants to be four." I can't stop laughing every time I think about it. Our little girl has such deep and lofty aspirations in life. :)
• Phoebe is a master eater.  I introduced rice cereal about two weeks ago, and I was amazed at how she knew how to eat from a spoon from the get-go. Charlotte pushed out the food with her tongue for a long time before realizing that she wasn't eating any food that way.  In fact, I was so amazed by Phoebe's eating prowess that I called her daycare lady up to see if she'd given her any solids yet. She said, "Oh, I would never give her solids before getting the okay from you." I certainly wasn't accusing her, just curious as to where these spoon skills came from.  Well, these innate abilities must stem from Phoebe's love of food; she scarfs down that rice cereal and emits these "mmm" sounds when she wants more (her "mmm" sounds are definitely used to express frustration). I pulled out the BabyCook this morning and steamed up some sweet potatoes. I forgot how easy that BabyCook is to make homemade baby food.
• Post-partum hair loss.  It started when Phoebe turned three months old and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. My hair is so painfully thin right now. I dread washing my hair because hundreds of strands come out.  I find little strands of hair all over Phoebe, my pillow, the couch, my clothes, (well, you get the idea). I know this happened with Charlotte, but I don't remember this much hair loss.
• The heat. This cold Phoebe gave me is made so much worse by this awful heat wave. We are now on day 10 (?) of 100+ temperatures; I think the record in our area, set in July 2006, is 11 days of straight temperatures over 100 degrees. I think we'll be breaking the record this week! I'm looking forward to this weekend when it will be a downright cool 95.

Tidbits

I wanted to post about our trip to Yosemite two weeks ago, but our computer is not cooperating. Instead, some random bits of things going on in our lives right now.

• Charlotte has a friend at KinderCare named Evan (I think - I have yet to meet the elusive Evan, but Chris has). He's blond and kind of a bully.  Apparently, yesterday, when Chris picked Charlotte up, Evan was being reprimanded for pulling Charlotte's hair.  The lady at KinderCare explained that Charlotte loves playing with Evan, but he always ends up hurting her.  Chris likened it to Charlotte later staying in an abusive relationship with a boy even though he hurts her. I turned to Charlotte and said: "You shouldn't play with kids who hurt you," and Charlotte replied: "But I LIKE him." Chris: "See!"
• The unswaddling has been a major success. Barring the cold weather in Yosemite, Phoebe has slept through the night consistently for two weeks now, and I'm talking not even hearing a peep from her for 11 plus hours (I'm sure I've totally jinxed it by declaring her awesome sleeping). Even though she's had her first major cold, resulting in red, watery eyes and a runny nose, she still slept great.
• The terrible threes. It's true. It's awful. Charlotte comes home every night whining. The incessant whining!  It's usually because she wants a snack as soon as she gets home, and she won't stop whining until we give it to her. I don't think we've had a night without a meltdown in weeks.
• Meanwhile, Phoebe is just this totally sweet, mellow baby. You can tell she's thinking her sister is a total drama queen. I'm savoring these moments before I have two drama queens. I'm sure it won't be long.
• I finally broke down and bought a very over-priced one-month subscription to care.com. Care.com matches you up with nannies, babysitters, and pet-sitters.  For the cost of a night out, we now have two lovely college girls lined up to take care of our babies. We went out on Tuesday night for a few hours, and we're going out again on Saturday night to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary!
• The heat. When will it stop? I am so over high electric bills, stifling heat, and brown grass. I can't wait for Fall to arrive!  In the meantime, we'll be at the pool if you need us.