Help not Hug

Rhea dropped a noodle on Duke's head tonight.  Duke could not reach the noodle on his head so he was freaking out.  It was quite funny to watch.  Justin and I were laughing while he struggled to scratch, lick, bark the noodle off his head.  Rhea found it hilarious too.  She was belly laughing watching Duke do all these crazy things.  I finally said to Rhea "are you going to help him?'  She looked at me and walked over to Duke, who was sitting on the floor, and hugs him.  And he let her hug him.  It was so cute to see.  I said "Rhea you have to help him" and she bent down and hugged him again.  I guess hugging is the only help she knows how to give.  Eventually the noodle fell off his head.

Today's Griswald moment brought to you by the Wnukowski Family

Justin & I had a night out on the town last nite.  Justin was in rough shape today so we were looking forward to a quiet night at home with Rhea and Duke.  At 7PM I picked Rhea up to give her a hug only to become covered in poop.  She has a massive blowout.  An hour goes by and she goes to bed.  She refuses a bottle but goes down without a fuss.  This should have been my first warning sign that something is not right.  At 9:30 I am laying in bed and no sooner do the words "I am going to sleep.  This was such a relaxing night"does all hell break loose.  Rhea starts crying.  Justin goes in to find that she had puked all over her crib.  I strip the bed and he brings her to the living room.  She proceeds to puke some more which caused my hungover husband to puke.  I tell him to leave the room and I left Rhea finish puking.  Justin comes and takes her and I begin cleaning only to find Duke eating the puke which made me pretty much puke.  Needless to say it is going to be a long night in Grafton!

sometimes I wonder...

I left Justin alone to put Rhea to sleep tonight.  We are trying to get better with a bedtime routine in the hopes that she will sleep through the night.  Part of the this routine includes brushing her teeth.

Me: How did she do tonight?
Justin: She did alright.  She cried for like a half hour.  I checked on her twice
Me: How did brushing her teeth go?
Justin: I mean it went fine.  Once I got my finger in there she basically eats the tooth paste.
Me: what do you mean "put your finger in there"?
Justin: I used my finger to brush her teeth.  I didn't see a tooth brush so I thought you wanted me to use my fingers.
Me: Did you look in the tooth brush holder
Justin: No

Sometimes I wonder how he has made it this far in life

One Year

One year ago today my Dr called me at 6 AM and told us my preeclampsia had progressed to a point were it was no longer safe.  Justin and I jumped in the car and made the drive to Boston.  Within two hours and exactly one month early,  she came into our lives.  She had a rough start and spent a few days in the NICU but she is strong and a fighter. She has made each day a new adventure for Justin and me.   We truly believe everything she does is amazing. This year has flown by.  Most parents tell you treasure these moments they fly by.  That is the only piece of parenting advice you should ever listen to because it does.  I mean she is one today.  One!  She has changed our lives for the better and I have enjoyed getting to know her this year.  I am not sure if she will ever know the depths of my love but I am ok with that.  When she wakes up first thing in the morning or I pick her up from daycare and she has that ear to ear grin, I think that is her way of telling me she loves me too.  It melts my heart every time.  So Happy Birthday Rhea.  I hope you enjoy what we have planned for you.

Breakfast of Champions

When I got home tonight I noticed the baby yogurt I bought yesterday had not been open.  Strange because Justin had to feed Rhea this morning and she eats yogurt and Cheerios every morning.  So I asked him what he gave her for breakfast.  His response?  "Goldfish because it's what she really wanted.  But don't worry I gave her some applesauce too"  Sometimes I just have no words.

Zombie Parents

I have decided Justin and I should go as our scary selves for Halloween this year.  We have turned into zombies.  Sleepless zombies who are solely functioning on caffeine.  I have taken every one's advice, have tried every method, trick, and nothing works.  She will go to bed at 8 with little to no problem but Rhea wakes almost every night at 2 and screams and cries until almost 4.  This has been going on for months.  We have let her cry it out.  After two hours you realize she isn't going back to sleep.  She has slept with us but even this doesn't work because she is up at 2 screaming and kicking, or talking to herself or trying to talk to me.  We have tried feeding her.  Sometimes she will drink 8 ounces, other nights she will not take anything.  We have tried giving her a dolly, a blankie, a stuffed monkey.   My mother-in-law had her overnight on Saturday and she did the same thing for her.  I guess she is just "one of those kids"  I love her dearly but I want my ZZZ's back.  Any suggestions?

Pour me a glass of whine

I love a good glass of wine.  I am known to have a glass at the end of the day or socially with friends.  Occasionally I will enjoy a whole bottle by myself.  Rhea seems to have misunderstood my love of wine as she believes I love all wine and that just not true.   I like red, but hate Merlot.  I also am not a fan of whining.  And that is were the misunderstanding has come into play.  Every night from 6-8 she just whines.  Non-stop.  There are no tears and most of the time no motivation for the whining.  Just good old fashion body convulsing, feet stomping, hand throwing whining.  I know it is a phase but I am hoping the face below is gone.  Soon.  So I can go back to enjoying my wine and not hers.

Belated Grandparents Day

Grandparents are a funny breed of people.  One day they are just Mom and Dad and the next they are these crazy people obsessed with one thing and one thing only.  Your Baby.  My Dad took Rhea on Sunday to spend the day with him.  He also brought her to Toys R Us and let her go on a mini shopping spree letting her get "whatever she wanted"  When I tried to argue with him that I had sent toys for her to play with he insisted she needed new ones.  I mean she is 10 months old.  She would has the attention span of a fly.  She ended up playing in a cooler with her cousin Noah all afternoon.  Go figure.  The thing about my parents being grandparents now is that it makes me miss my grandparents.  I had amazing grandparents.  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about them in someway.  Grandparents offer unconditional love.  I am not saying your parents don't love you unconditionally but during periods of your life your parents have disliked you.  But not grandparents.  My Papa swore I hung the moon, anything I did was amazing.  And once you see your parents with your children, you can actually visualize the love they have for you.  It is pretty powerful stuff.  Justin's Dad is a great example of the "grandparent effect".  He is utterly nuts about Rhea.  And she in turn in nuts about him. It is heart warming watching him sit on the floor and be goofy with her because he usually is so reserved.  Rhea is lucky in the fact that she not only has two sets of loving grandparents, but two Great Grandmothers who think she is the best thing since sliced bread!  Conversations usually go like this when we are with them "She just smiled, can you believe it, she is AMAZING!" "She just stood up, that little bugger, how does she do that?  AMAZING" I had a re-occurring dream when I was pregnant that I was riding in a car with my Papa.  It was so real.  And I think it was his way of telling me he is watching us and is nuts about her too.  Either that or he was trying to warn me about what my parents were going to turn into and was trying to help me escape!