Kakey

Some updates on Acadia's daily life for my records :)

~Acadia usually wakes up around 7:30
~We give her a sippy of milk and bring her into bed with us
~She has breakfast at 8am - some of her favorites are pancakes (I make batches of blueberry, strawberry and banana on the weekends and freeze them), eggs, toast with jam, bagels with cream cheese, fruit (strawberries and grapes are her favorites)
~She is in day care twice a week - Monday and Friday from 8:30ish-12:30
~She eats lunch at noon and goes down for a nap shortly afterwards
~She naps for about 2-2 1/2 hours
~Dinner is around 6
~Bath after dinner
~Bedtime at 7

Our weekly schedule looks like this: Mondays she goes to school, Tuesday mornings we have MOPS (every other week - the weeks we don't have MOPS, we have a playgroup), Wednesday mornings we have playgroup, Thursday mornings we have music time at the library and Fridays she is back in school.

Also - she pronounces Cadi "Kakey", so it's become her new nickname :)

I remember Monday

I remember...the first few months of Acadia's life thinking of the huge possibility that I might die. I mean...surely someone can die of sleep deprivation, right? You go from the last trimester, where you are using the restroom 10 times a night, to a long and exhausting labor, to having a newborn that wakes up every two hours. And the funny part? The two things that a mother actually NEEDS (and I mean needs to, like, survive): alcohol and coffee, are off limits if you're nursing. If I could have had a caffeine drip, I know I would have. And at night, having a glass of wine to relax was about the most perfect ending of the day that I could think of. But for the first couple of months, I stayed away from my two best friends.

I remember being up in the middle of the night in tears, because I was in pain, emotional and completely and utterly exhausted. Matt was an amazing father and husband and would stay up with me many of the nights and do what he could to change the baby, get me comfortable and keep me company. But there was only so much he could do, and many times, I felt so alone. Sitting there at 2am, while Matt silently snored, I would nurse the baby for the 20th time that day. A few times I would break down, and our dog Mercedes, would come over to me and put her head in my lap, which of course, would make me cry harder.

We would sleep when Acadia slept during the day and when we were awake, would wander around in a daze, unshowered in our pjs, wondering when we would ever feel normal again. What we have learned is that there is now a new type of normal. We will never feel completely rested again - that much is true. But having Acadia wake up during the night twice a month, now, due to a cold, is nothing compared to the awful, awful "infant stage".

I'm not looking forward to going through it again come May, but I know that if we survived it once, Team Paradee can do it again...

What's this?

Achoo!

Uncle Jay taught Acadia how to sneeze the other day...

I'm not ready

I just went into your room....you're sound asleep and look like a perfect angel...before I was pregnant, I rarely went into your room after you fell asleep for fear of waking you...now it's a must before I go to bed...to see you one more time...

I'm not ready for you to be the big sister...
I'm not ready for you to be a toddler...
I'm not ready for you to move into your new room...
I'm not ready for your big girl bed...
I'm not ready for my time to be taken away from you...
I'm not ready....sometimes it hits me out of nowhere - I feel like I can't breathe, I have a tightness in my chest and I ask myself how this happened...how my baby turned into a little girl...I'm just not ready for any of this...

I know that tomorrow when I wake up, my face will no longer be red from crying...I will be excited for you to welcome your baby sibling soon...and I will feel better about everything...tomorrow...but for tonight....I'm just not ready....

Have you succeeded?

To laugh often and love much: to win respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give one's self; to leave the world a little better,whether by a healthy child, a garden patch,or redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived...this is to have succeeded.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy halloween!!

I know, I know - I am so backed up with my pictures. Acadia had an awesome time trick or treating a couple of weeks ago. Since we had gone to the Burton Halloween party and Acadia had had her first taste of TOTing and candy, she was definitely was excited! When I started getting her dressed, and got her TOTing bag out, she kept asking for "Moo" and would look into the bag, see nothing there, and ask, "Moo?" (ie. Where the ef is the candy, mom?!) I ended up having to put some dried apple slices in her bag to keep her happy while we were getting ready.



So excited to go to her first house!

Leaving with her posse

My favorite picture of the whole night - playing in the leaves with Grandma

TFT - Time alone

Tonight is my sister in law's boyfriend's birthday (you got that?) and Matt and Acadia are at my in-laws for dinner. I was supposed to have sewing class tonight, but had to cancel because I'm still sick. So instead, I'm home alone watching tv and eating a pizza. Do you know what I call that? Heaven. Seriously - being home alone never, ever, ever happens, much less for two whole hours!! I think I might grab my book later and take a warm bath.

Before I had Acadia, I would get lonely and bored if I was home alone for a few hours at a time. Now, I enjoy the peace and quiet more than anything in the world! Having an hour or so of alone time recharges me and I end up, of course, missing Acadia like crazy near the end of the hour.

TFT - What do you like to do if you have the house to yourself for a couple hours?

Melissa is posting about children's television shows

Wordless Wednesday: Family

Update on Acadia June

Her croup is much better!! Yesterday was her first day back to preschool, thank goodness! I didn't realize how much I had come to rely on my two 4 hour breaks per week until I didn't have them last week! When I dropped her off yesterday, she didn't give me a hug goodbye and she cried when I picked her up. That's a first!

Also, we have decided to start "time out". Originally we weren't going to start time out until two or after, but we have been realizing more and more lately that she definitely knows the difference between right and wrong. The other day she started dumping her snack on the floor. One dropped and I told her no. Two dropped and I told her no and asked her to start picking up her snacks. She then told me no. So off to time out she went, for the first time. She actually sat there for about 30 seconds, and when I told her she could get out of time out if she picked up her snacks, she went right over to the few snacks she had dropped to the ground and picked them up! Since then, I think I have put her in time out twice.

So, last night Acadia threw a block and I told her that we don't throw our toys. She picked up another block and it looked like she was about to throw it again, so Matt said, "Acadia - we don't throw our toys. Do you want to go to time out?" And she dropped the block and went over to the time out area and sat and stared at her hands! LOL!! It was so cute I had to laugh. Then Matt told me not to laugh. He's probably right. I don't know that discipline is my strong suit - she's too cute for it! In any case, we told her she didn't have to actually sit in time out - how do you explain to a one year old that Daddy was just threatening you? LOL!

So even though time outs are very rarely needed in the Paradee household, they seem to be working!

Burton's Halloween Party

Burton had their first annual Halloween party for the employee's families a couple weeks ago and Acadia had SO much fun! I think the parents were a little overstimulated and I know I was thankful that her costume was a bright yellow, so we could keep track of her, because it was packed!

Trying her very first piece of chocolate


Zoning out about two minutes after she ate the chocolate

Acadia and her buddy Max (look at the pose he has! I think I see modeling in his future...)

The beginning of her obsession with the ape, which she kept referring to as monkey

She loved the penguin, until she notices the monkey - you can see her realize there's a monkey in the room in this picture

Running past the stupid penguin

Love at first sight...waiting her turn to hug monkey

Her "loot"


Taking a break to read a snowboarding mag

After the party, we went to a sushi place - trying miso soup for the first time - she loved it!

Updates

I haven't been able to find my camera cord in forever and a day, so I haven't had many Acadia pics up lately. I finally found it last night, so I'll try to update what we've been up to over the next few days.

The weekend before Halloween, the Ronner-Blands had us to their house for a pumpkin carving party. Max and Ollie are less than a year older than Acadia, so it was really fun seeing them all play together. Acadia loved Maxwell's toys! Especially his car :)

Watching It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (isn't that movie the BEST?!)

I Remember Mondays

This pregnancy seems to be flying by, as it did when I was pregnant with Acadia, and I'm so caught up in trying to remember every detail of Acadia's pregnancy, birth and first few months, as I didn't write those memories down. If I had ten minutes when Acadia was a month old, I slept, not blogged! With every passing day, I can't help but think that it is one less day I will have with Acadia alone - before we know it, baby #2 will be here and my time with Cadi will be much more limited than it is now.

Watching Acadia grow has been very bittersweet, and I'm sure most parents feel this way. While it's amazing to see her grow and learn, it's also sad to realize how quickly the past 19 months have flown by. It feels like it was just yesterday that she was born and now here she is, becoming a big sister.

I have decided to start "I remember Mondays" as a way of remembering and recording those early months of Acadia's birth and my pregnancy, so I will have them to share with her when she becomes a mother herself. So here it goes....

I remember...bringing Acadia home from the hospital. On the drive home, every single car was the enemy and a potential car accident. Matt drove with two hands firmly on the wheel and I sat in the back taking turns staring at my precious baby and giving other cars dagger eyes.

That first night, and for the next couple of weeks, Matt and I took turns watching Acadia sleep throughout the night. Every little noise she made was a death sentence, and one of us would jump up and stare into the bassinet at her little body to make sure she was still breathing. One of us would lay back down while the other sat on the bed. Staring. Watching. Waiting. For her to stop breathing. Every morning when I woke up, I swear to God, I was shocked that she was still alive. I remember feeling quite proud of Matt and I by the fact that she had lived 5 straight days. Then 6. 7. 8. Over time, we became less and less paranoid, and now she's lucky if we even remember to get her out of her crib in the morning. But I will always remember those first few weeks of being new parents and watching her through the night...

Tag, I'm It!

Traci tagged me, which means that I get to share 6 interesting facts about myself and then "tag" other blog friends to share their own facts. I tag Miche, Kyler, Alissa, Aly and Holly.

1. Until about the age of 15, I wanted to be a boy. Really badly. Matt is very lucky that I changed my mind!

2. I have lived in Vermont my whole life

3. My favorite movie is The Story of Us, which also happens to be the movie Matt and I went on for our first date.

4. When I am drunk and at a party, I always ask Miche to put quarters in her cheeks. I mean the girl can put quarters in her cheeks! It makes me proud every time LOL!

5. I used to love tomato soup when I was a little girl, but then one time when I was eating it, I threw up. To this day, if I smell tomato soup, it makes me nauseous.

6. I am very, very shy. I think people think that I'm very outgoing because I am with my friends, but if I go to a party and don't know anyone, you can usually find me clinging by Matt's side.

A new record

My "Welcome, Mr President" post set a new record for comments (28 so far) and visitors per day (350), so obviously people are very passionate about this election, which is great!

After reading all the comments, I thought this one was worded very eloquently for someone who was behind a president nominee that lost:

"Disappointed...but with loyal opposition. We need to come together across the country to turn things around. I am proud to say that those who voted for McCain will give Obama the respect a president deserves as we know the importance of being patriotic and don't want to put up obstacles that do nothing but lead to failure."

Well said and absolutely true - I do hope that we can all come together as a nation and support our new president, no matter who we voted for.

Now, I will do what my husband respectfully requested of me last night, "Honey...no more political posts, ok?" Ok.

TFT - Mr. Paradee

Sometimes life gets so busy that Matt will come home from the end of the work day, I will give him a peck on the check and run off to either change Cadi's diaper, give her a bath, start dinner or hand her off to Matt.

Yesterday was one of those days that I had to hand her off to Matt. I'm going on day #4 of dealing with a sick baby all. day. long. She's been clingy, whiney, fussy, and generally miserable. I can't blame her one bit, poor thing, but it's exhausting to deal with. Combine that with not being able to go anywhere, as I don't want any other kids to catch her cold, and the two of us are downright miserable. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, and it hasn't been all bad all the time this past week, but yesterday was definitely a tough day.

So when Mr. Paradee got home from work last night and offered to do bath and bedtime, I fell in love with him a little bit more. And he said the magic words over and over again - "What can I do for you? How can I help you feel less stressed out?" That was pretty much all I needed. Well....that and the fact that he insisted that we order take away from my favorite Thai place.

So, even though some days it feels like we are extras in the movie Groundhog Day, and I sometimes forget to tell you, Mr. Paradee....I love you. I appreciate you. I couldn't do this without you. Thank you.

TFT - Tell me why you love your husband

ETA: If you're doing TFT, let me know and I'll link you

Melissa is writing about Keeping her Family Healthy

Welcome, Mr. President

Mini poll: Are you happy today or upset?

Is everyone else on pins and needles like me?

Funny kid

It doesn't matter who you're voting for - THIS is funny!!!

ps. I should probably mention - this is one of my friend's son, not just some random kid! LOL!

Croup

Sorry I haven't updated in a while - it's been a bit of a whirlwind weekend. We had a great time on Halloween (I'll post pics soon) and all went to bed happy. Around 2am on Saturday morning, Acadia woke up struggling to breath and coughing. I was ready to take her to the ER, but luckily Matt suggested calling our pediatrician. When Matt explained Acadia's symptoms to the doctor, he diagnosed her with croup. For those of you whose children have had croup, you know that there isn't much you can do besides steam and short periods of cold air. Matt and I took turns on Friday night rocking with her, taking her into the bathroom with the shower as hot as it would go, and taking her outside on the porch quickly for some cold air.

We made it through Friday night, and she seemed ok on Saturday - acting like herself and eating pretty normally. Saturday night, my mom had been planning on coming over and watching Acadia while Matt and I went out to dinner. Because Acadia seemed to be ok and because croup isn't contagious to adults, we went out to dinner and headed to the store to upgrad the humidifier we had for Acadia's room.

Saturday and Sunday night, she slept through the night, which was a shock to us. She's been pretty clingy and not eating well, but when I spoke to the doctor's office this morning, they told me that the important thing right now is that she drink plenty of fluids.

I'll update you when she's feeling better :)