Tuesday Joys

Since Tom is the music-man for Vacation Bible School (VBS) this whole week at church, it means I have a lot more of Zuzu on my hands - and studying in the later hours! 

I, for some mysterious reason, chose this as the time to introduce Zuzu to her own room and her own bed. She's 8 months tomorrow, and when I came in to get her from her nap the other day, there she was - sitting up! My heart gave a big jump and I said, no no this just won't do. It was either a king bed and bed rails (not in the budget or cards), or introduce her to her own room. So she's learning...learning she can sleep there, learning she's allowed to play quietly in there if she wants. We don't fel comfortable with CIO, so when she cries, I go to her - to nurse, pat, rock, snuggle, giggle. She's learning. I'm learning. It's our glamorous life. *wink wink*

Chewing on some rosemary from the garden...

Decides the camera looks more appetizing

I snapped up some frames at Goodwill yesterday - sale, 50 cents each! Sadly...I discovered when I got home that the old Florida citrus ads I intended to use them with, are too large. Le sigh. But aren't the ads pretty anyway?

All my new ones! 

I have several that are already framed and hanging on my (not yet painted...it's only been two years...) walls:

Great colors in this one...

Partial to this one for obvious reasons

We drive through Zolfo Springs to get to my parents' place in Orlando, so I really like this one

Also at Goodwill, some silly people had gotten rid of some truly excellent books, which I snapped up quite quickly:

A whole ton of books from the Redwall series (one of my favorites!) and the 6th Harry Potter on the bottom, without its dust jacket but still in hardcover!

Zuzu was pleased...or at least, she was pleased to get to come home and hang out in the nude.

Hope you're having a great week as well! 

My Newborn Has No Schedule

We are very blessed in that we have a huge community that is providing wonderful support to us as we figure out this parenting-thing! That means people bringing meals, helping around the house, good substitutes for my husband at work...and everyone wants to know before they stop by, when is a good time? This is a great question! It is considerate and appropriate! I love people who are both of those things!

But unfortunately, I have no answer.

I don't think that a 12-day old baby is supposed to have a schedule. It was my general impression that babies this young are still figuring out the world; they're still getting the hang of basic bodily functions, input and output, and aren't really ready to be part of the timed world. So any time I say could end up being a "bad" time - she could be nursing (which I've found makes some people uber-uncomfortable!), she could be sleeping (which then makes everyone sad because they wanted to hold her), or I could be in my pajamas (which means baby and I will be hiding in my room at the sound of the door bell).

This is my adorable child. ADORABLE. 

I have already received some advice on helping her get "on schedule." The greatest areas of scheduling for a newborn (since they're not popping out to do yogalates or anything) are sleeping and eating. And the top bit of sleep advice has been that I should swaddle her to help her sleep. And herein I reveal my horrific mothering: I hate swaddling. I do not know how Zuzu feels about it, having tried it a grand total of twice, but I hate it. Can I tell you why? Because it makes my child look like an amputee. It does. It frightens me! I think, oh my gosh, this is what she would look like with no arms!! Besides, her little hands and fingers are so sweet and kissable, why would I put them away? She doesn't have trouble sleeping - she just doesn't want to sleep in her bassinet...or anywhere besides on my chest, or right next to me. Which would be fine, except when she sleeps on me, I can't sleep, because I have nightmares about suffocating her (and she is a SQUIRMY and NOISY sleeper). And when I can't sleep, I turn into a basket case (for real - the other night I got like two seconds of sleep and cried the whole next day about basically nothing).

Look at that sassy hand - how could I restrict it?? It should be free - freeeeee! 

So as I am trying to get the hang of parenting, I am open to advice. If anyone wants to tell me the wonders of swaddling or how to co-sleep without blind terror taking over, I'm all ears. Because y'know, my newborn is just so unscheduled.