A former full-time teacher living her life-long dream of staying at home.
And homeschooling to boot!
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kimlepper at gmail.com
This morning my poor baby woke up like this: She was CRABBY. Dear lord, I thought her colic had returned. But I realized, yet again, how glad I am that we moved back to Lincoln! We called Dr. Maach, my family's chiropractor for over 23 years, and he was able to get her in today. The man is awesome. Kind of like a Grandpa to me. Thankfully, he sees her for free!
Anyway, after she came back (and was royally P.O.ed at what "that man" did to her), she took a much needed nap and woke up like this:
(Photo curiosity of Lucy- got her to smile and everything!)
Every time before we go to sleep I sing the same 4 songs. Lately she will sit so still while I'm singing that I think she's asleep. Today she started singing with me! When I would start she would start, and when I finished a song she would pause and then sing a few notes as if to say "One more time mommy!" My heart just melted- And we sang for a MUCH longer time than usual...
Samantha has been through the wringer her first 3 months!
She had a horrible and persistent diaper rash until she was 4 weeks old. Then we figured out she had food allergies (dairy, beef, tomato, chocolate and soy). Then her face eczema got so bad all she would do is claw at her face or rub it in our chests. And even when we figured this all out, she still would just cry.
Her colic really ended when she was 10 weeks old, but it wasn't until she was 11 weeks that I started to notice. She still was screaming, but only when it was time to sleep. When she was 12 weeks old and playing happily for an hour at a time by herself Jer and I realized she'd just developed a really bad habit of screaming when she was tired. That's all she knew! We would walk into our bedroom and as soon as we turned off the light she would start screaming. For anyone out there who currently has a colicky baby, there isn't a cure. However, there are a few things we did that gave us some extra sleep now and then:
Probiotics. We are still using these now. Samantha was jerking in her sleep, constantly waking herself up. This has helped, even post-colic!
Soy/Dairy free diet- sucks, but helps the screaming while eating
Get Help- but specifically from moms already in the the Colic Club. Samantha would sleep for 2 hrs at a time with my mom, simply because my mom has her own tricks and she was much less frustrated than me! (and the babies read your frustration)
On a lighter note: We have the happiest and easiest baby now! It's amazing. I think we are enjoying her more than the average parent would simply because it is such a difference from what she use to be like!
Samantha goes to sleep with minimal crying (now it's just protesting. Her last "protest" lasted 10 seconds)
Really, the key word here is SLEEP. She is even sleeping wonderfully at night. We had a FIVE hour stretch last night! I just get giddy thinking about it!
She will play by herself for over an hour at a time (as long as someone is in sight)
She hates tummy time. Unfortunately, she's a little behind on the holding-her-head-up milestone. The last thing we wanted to do the past 3 months was do something that made her scream.
She loves to read books (Lucy is her best reading buddy)
When she's tired she rubs her eyes, curls up her legs, and shoves both fists in her mouth (she's given up on the thumb).
She loves to cuddle
She doesn't really cry anymore. Just pouts and protests. The pout is SO CUTE!
Bath time is still a big hit (she goes nuts when I turn on the water)
She is a big-time mama's girl. Jer had the flu last week and she saw me and only me for 4 straight days. Now she pouts big time when someone else (even Papa!) tries to hold/play with her.
Seriously, I could go on and on. She's just so much fun and cute! * I'll post the video later, Blogger is giving me trouble and my Flip is broken :(
My mom said it perfectly on the phone to me while I was crying to her during one of my escapes to the grocery store, "It's like a club Kim. You have to be initiated to understand."
After weeks of either listening to my baby scream or the hairdryer on full blast I was filled with horrendous jealousy of those "other babies." The ones that were content to be held. The ones that slept for longer than an hour at a time. The ones that didn't make their parents break down crying in the middle of the night due to sheer exhaustion.
I wanted my baby to be "normal".
I wanted to be able to take the constant advice I heard from everyone to "sleep when she sleeps."
I wanted to be ABLE to sleep.
On the rare occasion that I had the courage (or stupidity?) to take Samantha to the grocery store, I felt like I was a horrible mother for being so angry at the strangers making comments like "Oh, how sweet! Enjoy this while you can!" (This, of course was before she'd start screaming.) I was so angry. Angry at God for doing this to us-- we had moved, started a new job and had a new baby. Why colic too?! I was angry at Jeremy--how dare he say he was tired when he was gone all day and didn't get up all night to feed her. I was angry at myself for not holding together better.
There was one piece of solace that I clung to when I was ready to give up. It stemmed from another comment my mother made on another tear filled phone call:
" You know Kim, it makes you think. This opens your eyes to other parents and maybe become a little less judgmental. My theory is that this is how babies suffer from Shaken Baby Syndrome." This, of course, brought on another flood of tears. I had actually thought of that. Not shaking my baby- but that I could see how someone might just tip over the edge, slipping into an irrevocable moment of insanity out of weeks and weeks of endless frustration. After hanging up the phone, because my own baby started crying again, I held on to her tight and cried along with her. I realized why we were given this baby. Not as a test or punishment. Not to change us in any way.
We were given this bundle of screams because He knew she'd be safe with us.
When Samantha and I need a break, we go to Grandma and Papa's house for some much needed entertainment and attention from her aunts Lucy and Amanda.
Lucy immediately asks to hold Samantha. She better enjoy it while she can! Samantha is squirming more and more every day.
Tasting the sound of the wind chime
Both Amanda and Lucy are entering their long awaited rights of passage; Amanda to High School and Lucy to Kindergarten. They both recently got their uniforms and came out to model their excitement.
I'd like to say how horribly jealous I am of Amanda's uniform. They are now allowing Dennis uniforms (they were forbidden while I was there- we were convinced because they were actually comfortable) and their shirts have this band on the bottom always giving the illusion that the shirt is tucked in. (No Shirt Police for her...gr...)
Lucy had to run and get her uniform on too. Amanda has taught her how to pose.
Samantha had a bath and went gangster for a few minutes.
I thought this was so cute (and very typical). Amanda was entertaining Samantha and Lucy was watching/giggling at Amanda entertaining Samantha.
Sam thought Amanda was very funny.
We then read some books. Sam cooed the whole time.
The girls benefited too- it was cleaning day. We provided much wanted distractions. Can you hear my mom calling Amanda? (and notice Amanda ignoring her? *tisktisk*)
Lucy then read some. (Yes, she is 5 and can read. I have a feeling she'll be very bored in Kindergarten learning the ABC's.)
