Sleep, the Elusive Mistress

I have lamented before about Ryan's sleep issues. They come and go, as phases are know to do, but we are now in the midst of another level of trouble. Summertime in the NW means that it does not get dark outside until after 9:30. This means all neighborhood children are still galavanting freely in the street, screaming and playing with all their might. You can't blame them, but when you tell a 2-year old that it's time for bed around 8:30, you are met with some mighty resistance. We have given up on early bedtimes for now. I haven't been working since late May, so we usually don't need to be up early in the morning. Today, we both slept until 9:30. (more on my troubles later).

We begin the bedtime process for Ry just before 8 PM, with a bath and teeth brushing. Then we move to the couch for a book or two, then into the bedroom for 2 more books, and talking about our day. Singing seems to be out for now, I'm okay with it. The problem comes when the parental unit attempts to detach from our leech of a boy and exit his bedroom. Ryan wants us to lay down with him (double bed, so totally happens). Last night, this was at 9:15. He screamed and cried about "Mommy holding his hand so he won't be scared" until after 10:15. Last night we let him go on, with check ups at 5, 10, and 15 minute increments to hopefully wear him down. It's really wearing us down. It's horribly unnerving to know that your child is scared of some unknown. I have told him that we are just down the hall, and that I will look in on him before I go to bed, all to no avail. Jeff gave in last night and retired with Ryan at 10:15. I stayed up until 11, then went to tug on his foot to signal that he could escape to our bedroom. The poor guy (Jeff) is getting up at 5AM to make the ferry commute and bank some time up for when Nugget gets here, and doesn't need to be fighting this sleep battle with the Boy. I don't have the energy either. So we are back to no adult alone time. :( How will we fit a newborn into this crazy dance? EEK.

Now my troubles. Temperature regulation, itching feet and hands (yes, I moisturize several times a night), bladder emptying, and a fetus who just loves to grind her head into my pelvic floor are just a sampling of the joys that I am currently experiencing. These are all pregnancy related and I have to wonder if it will be easier to deal with the baby than deal with all of this stuff! I will find out in 6 weeks.

I was WIDE awake from 3-6 AM today. I got up at 3 for Ryan's crying fit and lay with him for about 30 minutes. Then I was hungry, so I had Breakfast #1. Then I went back to my own bed and lay there. When I was finally dozing at 5, Jeff's alarm clock went off. So I got up again and made his lunch, and lay back down. Ryan called me in at 8 AM for a snuggle and we fell asleep together until 9:30.

What do you do for insane toddler sleep issues?

Mama Bear Syndrome AKA Hormonal Overdrive?-32 weeks

I've reached a certain point in this pregnancy where I feel like an adult that has the ability (and uses it) to strike fear in the hearts of other people's children. I'm not doing it to be malicious, but being feared/respected?/and minded by other's is an empowering feeling, especially when my own offspring can be such a dictator. I call this feeling Mama Bear Syndrome. I've had two incidences in the last week, and am becoming fearful of waddling my wide load out into public, as I will act upon my thoughts immediately. Public be warned!

It first struck me at the Fourth of July celebration we attended, where children were playing on a huge playground waiting for darkness to fall and the sky to light up. Three girls, (ages 9-11?) were hanging out at the top of the tunnel slide and talking. One girl was hanging off of the outside of the slide and dangling her body dangerously over the ground. I heard another mother voice her concerns to her friends about the girl falling, but I'm the one who acted on it.

I'm sure the girl felt perfectly safe doing this and proud of her strength. However, I have a highly impressionable two-year old, (and there were MANY kids of ALL ages out there) who might think that he could do that move too. So, I approached the girl and asked her to please come down, as she was setting a bad example for the little kids on the playground. Her friends gave me a pre-teen sneer, but she came down. Triumph for Mama Bear!

The second occurred at my house at 11:30 last night. It has finally reached 90 degrees in Seattle, and most homes are not air-conditioned. Therefore, we were sleeping (not insomniac me) with our windows open to catch the night breeze. My neighbors (the good ones) have two kids: one boy age 10, and one girl age 17. These are good kids, we even hire the girl to watch our cat when we are out of town. Last night, the kids were playing basketball in the street at 11:30 PM. Mama Bear came out to tell them that it was time to put the ball away and go inside. I'm not sure if their parents were home or not, but they have air-conditioning, so I'm sure the repetitive sound of a basketball on asphalt was muffled by the closed windows and air compressor. I told the kids that I had a sleeping baby next door, and if he were to wake up from their antics, I would be VERY unhappy. I said that they could stay outside, but the ball needed to stop, and if they were setting off fireworks (someone in a mile vicinity was) that should stop too. I tried to be polite, but was up until 2 AM feeling like a mean old lady who yells at other people's children. I need some blogging love to know that my hormones have not driven me over the edge of socially acceptable behavior.

I am trying to raise my child(ren) to be respectful of others and conscious of their actions in public. So far, I hear that my little tyrant is very well behaved (for others) after two overnight visits with grandparents etc.

In other news, I've hit a milestone. With Ryan, I was in the hospital at this point, so I didn't have a chance to yell at other people's children! My biggest complaint is that in the photos, my body is growing and it seems that my head is shrinking! The bones in my feet hurt too, but since last pregnancy I was off of them at 28 weeks, it is a new feeling. I've only gained 20 pounds so far (with Ryan at 34 weeks, I hit 40- but water was to blame for the last 10).

Some Ryan updates:

Ryan had his first solo camping trip with his dad at the end of June. See photos. Very fun for both.

Yesterday, I took Ry to McDonald's for a "biggar" (hamburger) (very rare treat for him). He scooted into the booth after we had washed our hands. I said we needed to go order our food. He said, "No Mommy, the lady is coming." (the waitress?) I think we might take him out to eat a bit much if he is expecting a waitress to take his order at McDeath! So funny.

We've been crafting more. See the dinosaur to the top of this post. A fellow blogger suggested this website, which has been very helpful for finding age appropriate, learning type crafts. No Time for Flash Cards.

That's all for now, I'm off to take a nap! Only about 7 more weeks of baby cooking to go!

Adrenaline Junkie

I've had a heck of a week. Jeff's parents are visiting from Indiana, so we have spent lots of time with them, at our house and at a vacation rental on Whidbey Island. We're at the end of a record heat wave for western Washington, where homes do not typically have air-conditioning, as it is not NEEDED--except this week.
I scurried Ryan from place to place with A/C, we did the library, several trips to Baskin & Robbins, "shopping" in the toy aisle of Wal-Mart for an hour, etc. But I've had a big round of three bad things happen to cause my adrenaline to rush and stress me out for a bit.

1. A nice old man scraped the bumper of my 2009 Forester while I was parked at Trader Joe's. An alert lady let me know what happened. I waited for the man in 98 degree heat, with frozen foods and milk and Ryan in the parking lot to discuss it (not fun). I also called the police to file an official report. Luckily, the man was honest, and my car will be repaired soon.

2. The next night, I was attempted to bed down in my 85 degree house at 11PM. Jeff was doing laundry (not a common occurrence) in the garage. All of a sudden, there was a POUNDING at the front door. My first thought was, "why did he go outside, and why is he pounding on the door? He knows that Ryan is asleep!" Then the door knocker yelled "Open the effing door! (he said the word though). I yelled back through the screen near the door--WHO ARE YOU? He replied "Jeff" and I said, "NO---you're not." (not MY Jeff anyway). I was dialing 911 during this exchange. I said, "Go away, I'm calling the police." He mumbled something about Christine, which I think is my trashy neighbor's name. He then started begging me to NOT contact the police. I told the would-be intruder to go away and the police would not come. He complied with my request, however; I was left with a serious case of the shakes, and it took me a good long while to fall asleep that night. We think he meant to go next door, but I haven't found out, and I'm not sure how to ask my trashy neighbor about it, since we have suspicions about activities at that house, and this theory would support it. Too bad you can't choose your neighbors.

3. Ryan spent a nice day at the Children's Museum with his Granna and Grampa on Thursday. It is just two blocks from my office, so I met them for lunch at a cafe. All was going well until I received a dreadful phone call at about 2:30 from my MIL saying that Ryan had hit his head and she thought he needed stitches. They came to my office, we loaded up and went to the doctor. My little guy now has 2 stitches in his forehead. No photos yet, it's under a bandaid until it can stop being all gross and weepy. In the course of this experience, I was asked by the nurse to pin my baby down in a sheet swaddle. Besides his writhing body and blood curdling screams (supposedly his wound was numbed, but I don't think the stuff worked) he stopped asking for me and started asking for his Grampa. I got woosy and had to lie down. Basically, the nurse pinned me on top of Ryan, which wasn't helping my woosyness. I eventually flipped over and laid him on my chest, making it MUCH easier to breathe. After 10 minutes of laying there, another nurse took my blood pressure, which was only 94/70. I felt like such a wuss, but I think the week's events culminated there on the treatment table. Seeing and feeling my baby hurt was the last straw.

You will be glad to know now, faithful blog followers (all 4 of you) that I am now home ALONE for the night. It is my first night away from Ryan, he and Jeff went back to Whidbey to stay with Granna and Grampa. I will join them tomorrow, but I'm taking tonight for ME. I don't have a car, so I'm not going anywhere. So far, I've laid in the hammock, while sipping a cocktail and reading a book, cleaned the kitchen uninterrupted, cooked zucchini bread from homegrown squash, and am now writing a very long blog post. Oh, I also did one load of laundry. So much for a glamorous evening alone! I plan to get a FULL NIGHT OF SLEEP for the first time in a LONG time. Woo-hoo!

Macy's Rant

Dear Macy's,
I am very disappointed in you. I'm not sure how to retaliate against a corporate giant such as yourself, so I will post a rant that all 5 of my readers will take to heart, and possibly boycott you for a day or two. Probably won't break your bank, but I'm pissed off --so there.
Here's the situation: Last week, I received an ad for your men's sale. I found The Perfect Blazer for my husband amongst its pages, but had to wait until today for the sale to begin. My whole day today revolved around getting to Macy's to buy The Perfect Blazer.
I know that my husband's small stature sometimes requires calling other stores, and extra looking to find the right size, but your employees are always more than happy to help me, especially when they learn that I have the "black card". (Higher in status than platnum, I didn't know you could top that!)
Anyway, I walked into my local large Macy's, with the boy happily in his stroller to find The Perfect Blazer. I had a nice young man help me trying to locate it in several stores. This kid called all the way to CALIFORNIA and never found a Macy's store that CARRIES THE EFFING BLAZER THAT IS SHOWN IN THE AD!!!!!! (Meantime, my son plops the stinkiest poop of his LIFE while I'm waiting at the counter. Nasty little baby!)
Why advertise something that you DON'T EVEN HAVE!! After coming home, I checked online at macys.com, and they don't even carry this brand. Somebody in marketing needs to lose their job over this!! I'm furious!
Even though I couldn't find The Perfect Blazer in the store, I looked around to see if I could find one that is similar. No such luck. So, I went to the ladies shoe department to lick my wounds. I'm in the market for some sexy black boots, my current pair are older than my entire relationship with my husband, and need to be replaced. I found The Perfect Boots quickly, and after deciding that with the sale, my coupon, and my credit card, they would be BARELY three digits in cost, I tried them on. The Perfect Boots also let me down, as they were scraping the bottoms of my knee caps with each step. I asked the sales girl if I had short lower legs, or is this how they were supposed to fit? She said they are very tall boots. Now I've never had a blister on my lower knee cap, but if I tried to wear these for more than a few minutes, that is where I would be. So I looked at all the other boots to find equal or similar perfection. The only pair that came close cost $548, and were not eligible for ANY discounts. Didn't even try those puppies on.
Now I'm home, didn't buy a darn thing at the big Macy's sale, and I want to beat them up.
The End.
To my readers: call your local Macy's for me and see if they carry Andrew Fezza sportcoats. Then call me if they do. I will give you a treat if we can find The Perfect Blazer.

WTB ad

PEMCO insurance has these Northwest Profile commercials which are HILARIOUS. Anyway, they have a WTB guy one that I have to share.

Has to Bike Vs. Wants to Bike

In honor of National Bike To Work Month, and Jen's Granny Post, I have a rant to share.

There are two types of biker's out in the world today, the Has to Bikes (HTB) and the Wants to Bikes (WTB). Separated by socioeconomic status and possibly number of DUI convictions, these are two very different species. Let's start with the more palatable (sometimes) WTB.

This person is frequently seen the the Pacific Northwest. He typically has a membership to REI, as he is COMPLETELY outfitted in head to toe Bike Gear. As unsavory as those bike shorts can be, the WTB is proud to wear them with his bright yellow commuter jacket, brightly colored biking jersey, special padded gloves, and helmet. My husband was one of these goons on Monday, as he is a stay at home dad on Fridays and did not get to particpate in Bike to Work Day on Friday.

The other species, the HTB has an often varied with optional pieces wardrobe. This one is often seen shirtless, with it tucked into a back pocket for safe keeping. This species does not wear a helmet, opting instead for the windblown long haired look or a baseball cap.

I recently discovered a new stereotype to throw into this mix: I believe it's a HTB, but more b/c of car ownership issues than legal status to drive one. I often observe men who seem to be of Hispanic descent (I'm guessing based on appearance, I didn't stop to take a poll) who ride bikes. The stereotype is that NONE of them have adjusted the seat so that they have proper riding form. They all ride with the seat in the lowest position, resulting in a slumped appearance and knees that come up to the chin. My husband thinks it's some sort of fashion statement, I just don't get it. He also feels that it is not appropriate blog material, but I need to get it out there. Hello all 7 people who read this blog, have you seen this person in your neck of the woods?