3/14/2015

Esther is so fun. Here are some excerpts from our day.

We were folding laundry. She saw my phone and picked it up. She pulled her shirt up and put the phone against her tummy and tried to slide it down.

'what the heck is she doing?' I thought but I knew she usually had a reason. 

She seemed annoyed that whatever she was doing wasn't working and put the phone on the floor and took off her pants. 

and left.

I was still confused.

Then she came back 5 minutes later; she had been in her bedroom and brought back a new pair of pants. She indicated that I should put them on her. 

Satisfied she picked up the phone again, lifted the shirt off her tummy again and opened a hip pocket in the new and improved pair of pants, to put the phone in. 

I laughed out loud. 

I love the thought process. She copies behavior that she sees, and I always put my phone in my pocked so she had started to do the same, but came up one pocket short, so she solved the problem!

I love her.

***

Then she was off again. From where I was folding I could see her reaching for something on the bathroom counter. She tried several different ways of getting it and finally succeeded. She ran back to me when she had her prizes. Toothpaste and a plastic toothbrush. 

I put a little bit of toothpaste on the toothbrush and gave it back to her. 

She put the toothbrush to her mouth and brushed, while making a sound like an electric toothbrush.

Crib climbing update

Wednesday night I thought I was set.
I started the bedtime process at 7:30 bringing the locked door in early and had her asleep in bed by 8. Feeling successful, I read Van stories, unlocked Esther's door and then even retreated to watch movies for an hour, finally going to bed myself at 10.

Then at 11:45 PM who should show up in my room? The cutest little footie pajama'ed monster you've ever seen. I can't say I really even remember the rest of the night. I remember various combinations: her in my bed, me in her bed, Van in my bed, diaper changes, bottles, my door locked, her door locked but finally at 3:15 AM we were all asleep again.

So Thursday was a rough day and I learned an important lesson, the door has to stay locked all night.

Last night I fell blissfully asleep at 8:45PM and although I heard some thumping on the door at various times during the night, she never cried so I never moved. It was a glorious night.
I took at picture at 5:30 AM as I was leaving.

Not exactly in the position I left her in, but she made it back to the bed.

Crib climber

As long as Esther stayed in her crib, I was happy keeping her there. But starting yesterday she has climbed out every time you put her down. Multiple times. It's creating chaos with her normally systematic sleep schedule.

Normal schedule:
Nap: 12 - 2:30PM
Bedtime: In bed at 7:30 - 8:30PM maybe up once with a poopy diaper then asleep all night.
Up at 7:30 - 8:30 AM

New schedule:
No nap (2 hours of nap attempts)
Bed Time: Start at 7:30PM. Baby in crib.
Shows up downstairs at 7:45
Try again at 8:00PM. Baby in crib.
Shows up downstairs at 8:15 while I wash dishes, but hides. Peaks around the corner when she thinks I can't see, then runs upstairs to find toys to play with.
Try again at 8:30. Baby in crib.
Show up when I'm reading stories to Van at 8:45
Try again at 9:00PM with the door 'locked'. Baby on mattress on the floor.

9:00 - 9:20 PM talking, singing, fingers under the door, door opening attempts.
         Van: (Hears door opening attempts and wants to see what it is. Looks at the ribbon and is concerned) "Are you going to let her out in the morning?"
         Me: "Yes, I'll untie the door as soon as she falls asleep. I did the same thing to you when you were that age"
          Van: "Oh OK." Smiles, visibly less worried.

9:20 - 9:40 PM asleep by the door.

9:45 PM Untie ribbon. Carefully roll baby out of the way with one arm. Sneak in transfer baby to mattress. she wakes up, glares at me and cries.I change her diaper, give her a new bottle, put her in bed and run away fast.

9:45 - 10:00 PM wait outside door with fingers crossed

10:00 PM Asleep in bed!

At least she looks exhausted. I hope at least she sleeps in.
Van was up with me at 5:30 AM.
Today is Zamzam's birthday but she might have some cranky kids.

2013 Van

My phone was full so I was deleting old videos/pictures that I already have copies of on the computer. I came across this clip of Van and I exploring John's park 2 years ago. 

That was the uniform in those days: rain gear, helmet and backpack. (At this point I'm carrying his push bike, but in later videos he is riding it).

15.2

I'm doing the CrossFit Open. On Friday I did 15.2, it goes like this (I do the scaled division):

Scaled
(Scaled Men, Scaled Masters Men 40-44, Scaled Masters Men 45-49, Scaled Masters Men 50-54, Scaled Women, Scaled Masters Women 40-44, Scaled Masters Women 45-49, Scaled Masters Women 50-54)

Every 3 minutes for as long as possible complete:

From 0:00-3:00

   2 rounds of:

   6 overhead squats (65 / 45 lb.)

   6 chin-over-bar pull-ups

From 3:00-6:00

   2 rounds of:

   8 overhead squats (65 / 45 lb.)

   8 chin-over-bar pull-ups

From 6:00-9:00

   2 rounds of:

   10 overhead squats (65 / 45 lb.)

   10 chin-over-bar pull-ups

Etc., following same pattern until you fail to complete both rounds

So on Friday I was 1 pullup short of finishing the set of 8 before 6 minutes. I was new to kipping pull-ups, so I knew I could do better if I practiced.

Also you really have to get into the right mindset. It's so hard when you're working as hard as you can to convince yourself to go as hard as possible, because the better you do, the longer and harder the workout becomes.

Anyway, you have to post your score before Monday afternoon, so I had one last opportunity to redo the workout today at noon. Van went with Svea and her kids on a hike, but I couldn't find anyone to watch Esther. Since I knew it would be quick, I just took her to the gym, hoping someone there would help keep an eye on her.

Luckily another mom was there, and she showed me the baby-in-a-Rogue-box trick. I had packed snacks and it worked like a charm.

They color the boxes with chalk

 Esther has goldfish, a mermaid, a bottle and a jump rope.

 A good view of the gym

 Head just above box level.

 I did it! from a score of 55 on Friday, I got a new score of 128!

 My score on the website and validated.

Dressed and ready to go home in her box

After the workout we went to Prospect to meet Svea and her friends on the end of their hike.

Yes, both kids ended up soaking wet by the end.

Blowing it up

Nap

The kids both fell asleep on the drive home. When we got home we put Esther in her crib.
I was tired too. I told Van he had to play upstairs because I was going to take a nap and then I fell asleep on the couch.

I felt Van put a quilt on me. And when I woke up I saw this.

 

Van: "Oh I got you some food and water if you want, for when you wake up."

Me: "You are so good at taking care of your mama"

Van: "Yeah. It's hard to take care of people, I mean, some people think it's hard but I just think it's easy breezy lemon squeezy."