Geek in Heels - Page 92

May 24, 2011 • In Baby, Claire, Parenting, Personal

Growing Pains

About a month ago, Claire’s first two teeth popped out. And the very next day, she no longer started screaming for (seemingly) no reason and resumed waking up only once per night.

And within days of that, she *magically* started sleeping a full 12-13 hours through the night. And taking at least one 1-hour nap per day (well, 2 hours when her Aunt Annie is watching her but we all know that it’s only because she’s kissing up to her).

You guys, you don’t understand how good it feels to have your baby sleep that long. Especially after 5 consecutive weeks of multiple night wakings, scattered catnaps that do little to rest her tired little body, and endless fussing/crying/screaming from pain and discomfort.

We experienced two full weeks of this blissful period.

And now, we think Claire is teething again. Because for the past few days she has resumed that nightmare of a schedule and returned to interminable fussing.

Claire’s favorite teething remedy at the moment is
teething feeders which I fill with chilled sliced fruit.

What’s worse, we think that she is outgrowing her 3-nap schedule and needs to transition to a 2-nap schedule. (Not that we have a set schedule — because the length of her naps have never been consistent — but we try our best to stick with the same number of naps per day.)

According to my handy infant sleep chart, most babies transition from two to three naps between the ages of 5-8 months, and since Claire will be turning 8 months old in just a week, she is definitely ready. There’s also the fact that she is fighting her naps more than ever, and seems to be doing just fine going 2.5 hours between each nap.

Eliminating a nap is no easy task for most babies. (Don’t believe me? Just google “3 to 2 nap transition” or “2 to 1 nap transition.”) Add teething to that and…

You get stories like Claire who has now been up for almost five hours and still refuses to go to sleep.

I can only hope that her teeth will continue to pop out in pairs, like her first two did.

Interruption

This is a perfect illustration of what happens on my bed when Comang decides that walking around me would take too much effort.

Via WarrenEllis.com.

Five

One…

Holy crap can you believe this is a cupcake??!??

Via This Isn’t Happiness.

Two…

The difference a year makes:

Via Young Me/Now Me.

Three…

Age verification win:

Via The Fail Blog.

Four…

The Legion of Super-Groomsmen:

Via Wired: Geek Dad.

Five…

And just because I can:

P.S. —

Someone asked me earlier this week if I, as a Christian, believe anything will happen tomorrow.

“Meh, probably not,” I replied.

I believe in a post-tribulational rapture, not a pre-tribulational rapture as Harold Camping preaches or the popular Left Behind books illustrate. (See this article at Desiring God for the difference between the two, as well as the arguments for post-tribulationism.)

But I am looking forward to tomorrow for another reason: I plan to chop off five inches of my hair! My hair hasn’t been that short since college and I’m ready for a change. So if the rapture does happen, at least I’ll have a new hairdo to go with it.

Rethinking My Role as a SAHM

I am no longer on bedrest. I still need to take it easy (ie, no heavy lifting, getting as much rest as possible, etc) until my next OB appt in two weeks — when hopefully we will find out BebeDeux’s gender! — but I am no longer confined to the bed. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

I actually quite enjoyed bedrest. Although I felt a bit bad for J, my SIL, and my mother who were all chipping in to help with Claire, it was a nice break for this pregnant and tired blogger. For all that, I am certain that I probably would have hated it if it lasted longer. I seriously don’t know how other pregnant women who are ordered to bedrest for months do it.

Lying in bed for a few days got me thinking about a lot of things. And one of those things has been my role as a SAHM.

I always thought that my being a SAHM would be the most beneficial to our family. But for the past couple of months I have seriously been reconsidering my position. I am thinking about going back to work, and leaving Claire and BebeDeux with a nanny (the daycares around our area are not that great). I know that I will most likely make less money than I had before, and that I will miss my children tremendously when I’m at work. But I feel that my health — both mental and physical — is really suffering as a result of my being a SAHM.

Because it’s not that I don’t love my children; rather, perhaps I care for them a little too much and/or is too sensitive to their emotions. After almost 8 months of being a SAHM, my heartrate still shoots through the roof whenever Claire cries. It physically pains me (I get uncomfortably tight feelings in my chest) whenever she is not happy — not just crying but not happy — and it’s just impossible to keep a child happy at all times, KWIM?

I wish I could make Claire this happy ALL the time, but it’s just not possible.

Additionally, my personality has me questioning if I’m really cut out to be a SAHM. When I was employed, I had complete control over my work. I got feedback on whether I was doing a good job or not. As a SAHM, I don’t.

Be that as it may, I am afraid that if I do return to work, I will not be able to give it my all. Both the supervisors at my two previous jobs have told me that I have been the best employee at those positions — and commended me various times for the efficiency and quality of my work. I fear that if I were to return to work with two babies at home, I will not be able to put in the caliber of work for which I can take pride. And I know that my half-assing it would not be fair to my employer or myself.

And all the problems I had described above about being a SAHM? They won’t disappear if I return to work. I may have less exposure to them, but they will not be solved by any means.

Luckily this pregnancy gives me at least a few more months to think about this decision.

I have read many stories of mothers who chose to quit their jobs in order to become SAHMs, and couldn’t be happier with the result. I wonder if there are as many SAHMs who chose to return to work and are just as happy with their decisions?

Bedrest

I woke up this morning to some cramping and bleeding. A visit to the doctor showed that BebeDeux is doing fine and that my cervix is still closed, but I have been diagnosed with marginal placenta previa which may have caused the bleeding. Nonetheless, I have been put on bedrest for a few days.

Needless to say, I’m pretty scared. I know that tons of women experience bleeding in their pregnancies and go on to have healthy babies. I also know that placenta previa diagnosed before the 20th week gives the placenta plenty of time to move up in the uterus before going into labor.

But I also have friends who have lost babies well into their 2nd trimesters, as well as those who were put on bedrest for months due to placenta previa.

Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers…

The 7 Deadly Sins of Disney Princesses

A compelling concept by artist Chris Hill (and one that might ruin your view of Disney princesses).

I’m not sure if I completely agree; I would think that Ariel as lust, Belle as greed, and Cinderella as vanity would be more appropriate. What do you think?

Via Flavorwire.

If Fonts Were Dogs

I know that I do my fair share of Comic Sans bashing on this blog, and I can’t help but feel a bit sorry for the ubiquitous typeface from time to time. But when I saw this in my Google Reader this morning, I almost spit out my drink and knew that I had to share it with my readers. Enjoy!

Via Gizmodo.

Blog Announcement

I have stated in the past that I do not make money from blogging.

Actually, I make some money from linking via Amazon Associates. But that doesn’t amount to much at all…$10 a month on the good months.

I have gotten inquiries about advertising on Geek in Heels, but I always brushed them off because most of them were not companies/products I would enthusiastically endorse.

But after having been a SAHM for 7 months and contributing no money into our household income, I have decided that perhaps it is time for me to start trying to make some money from blogging. I did some research and discovered that with the amount of traffic I receive, I can make a decent amount of money from ads (that is, assuming people/companies will want to advertise here).

And while this means that my readers will be subjected to advertisements when they visit Geek in Heels, it also means that I can do more giveaways, featuring grander prizes. (It also means that I can treat myself to a new outfit every once in a while without feeling guilty.)

I have already applied to a respectable ad network, and was accepted later that day. While they charge a commission, they will advertise advertising on my blog for me (does that make sense?) and I have complete control over which ads will appear, in addition to the type, size, etc.

I hope you guys don’t think of me as a sellout, because I kinda have some guilt about that.

I will slowly be changing the layout of this site in the next few days/weeks to make room for the ads, so things may look a bit funky time to time.

And I will make an announcement once the ads are up and running, just in case anyone reading this wants to advertise too. 🙂

Lastly, because I don’t like to publish posts without pictures, here’s something that made me smile the other day…

(via Miss Cellania)

The Science of Toilet Paper Orientation

The good people of Engineering Degree have tackled one of the most pressing issues of our time: should toilet paper hang over or under?

Check out the infographic below for a scientific approach to toilet paper orientation. For instance, did you know that how you prefer your toilet paper may determine your personality? And that I am among the 20% of people who have flipped a roll around when it was facing (what we believe to be) the wrong direction?

Frankly, all this data makes my head spin a little — especially the formulas…physics was my worst subject at school — and almost has me longing for three seashells instead. (Three points for anyone who can guess what movie I’m referencing!)

Via CNET.

P.S. — According to commenter Peter, toilet paper should always hang over for sanitary reasons.

Consistency

I have a friend whose 2-year-old girl has looked exactly the same since birth. Of course, there are telltale signs of growth such a longer hair and the presence of teeth, but every time I see the little girl she just looks like a bigger and longer version of herself as an infant. (And her parents agree with me.)

Then there are babies like Claire who look different day to day. She has changed so much since birth, and still continues to transform that sometimes I wonder if I’ll be able to recognize her in pictures years down the road.

One day old