An Hour Behind

"What time is it again?" These are probably the most uttered words on the day after Daylight Savings Time. This is even more likely to be heard in households with children under 3, as I can personally attest to. When babies and toddlers are on a schedule, that schedule is dictated by what's in their little brains, and not a clock. After DST, when our young'uns bedtimes are at 8 PM, they're extremely grumpy by this time because their internal clocks are telling them it's an hour past bedtime. When they are used to waking up at 6 AM every day, they are now waking up at 5 AM. Which leads to grumpy parents.

To combat this, one week before you switch the clocks back or forwards, start to shift their schedule, in 10-15 minute increments. If bedtime is at 7 PM, make it 7:10 PM, then 7:20 PM, etc. every evening They'll adjust more fluidly come the day the clocks actually shift. Now this makes sense, and sounds easy enough to do on paper. But when you're actually trying to get your toddler to go to bed just at any consistent time at all, after dinner, a bath, playtime, TV time, story time, and a song before bed, it's darn near impossible.

Don't worry though – you'll get used to waking up an hour earlier after a week or so.

Similac Recall

Heads up for Similac drinkers, which includes my own family (well, the baby in the family) (which isn't me, depending on who in the family you ask):

Abbott is recalling these products following an internal quality review, which detected the remote possibility of the presence of a small common beetle in the product produced in one production area in a single manufacturing facility. The United States Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has determined that while the formula containing these beetles poses no immediate health risk, there is a possibility that infants who consume formula containing the beetles or their larvae, could experience symptoms of gastrointestinal discomfort and refusal to eat as a result of small insect parts irritating the GI tract. If these symptoms persist for more than a few days, a physician should be consulted.

To immediately find out if the product in your possession is included in this recall, parents and caregivers should visit www.similac.com/recall/lookup, and type in their lot number to determine if their product is affected, or call (800) 986-8850.

11+1 is 12

Mui Mui hit 11 months last weekend!
OK, we don't really celebrate all the monthly birthdays, but the 11^th month is kind of like the warning sign that this baby, who was moved from newborn, to infant, is now on the cusp of becoming a one-year-old toddler. She's climbing and standing pretty steadily on her stubby little legs (I promise not to say that to her when she's in High School), and I predict she'll be walking before her first birthday. Now any parent can sympathize – it's hard to see your child, who used to be small enough to cradle in a forearm, get so big that you can pull a minor muscle group lifting them. It might be a feeling of seeing them grow more independent, where they won't need you to carry them around anymore to get somewhere (but still need you to feed them). But it's also a little depressing to know that you can never go back. The memory of you having to support their neck when you held them won't happen again. And it'll be replaced with supporting their arms for their first steps, or balancing them on one foot when they put their shoes on to go to the park.

I don't want to grow up!

But it's never good to live in the past, so I will save these words and pictures and accept them as rapidly passing memories and look forward to what these two will teach me as they, and I, get older.

6 Months Later

I read somewhere that 92% of the blogs on the Internet aren't updated. Although I've fallen into that statistic for the last 6 months, I have good reason to! With Mui Mui around, we needed more space for scooting, crawling, and toys, so we packed up the kids and relocated to a suburb where they can roam free. In Suburbia, we've now got a room for everyone, a dedicated play area within our four walls, more than one bathroom, and a lawnmower.

The following are the top five most stressful things in anyone's life:

• Having a child
  
• Moving
  
• Starting a new job
  
• Getting married
  
• Getting divorced
  

We've accomplished the first two of the five in the past few months (and don't plan on the other three). Personally, my handy man resume has slowly been growing, so I'm learning as many new skills as the kids at this point. I've established a daily schedule, gotten used to the commute, and will make the best use of my commuting time to update this when I can. It's especially important now, since Suburbia is much farther than where we used to be, so keeping up with the kids will be tougher for people who used to see us in person a lot more.

Mui Mui has just started to crawl as of last weekend, and that changes everything. (She decided to crawl on the first weekend we've ever left her overnight, so we missed her first strides.)

We have the new place baby proofed somewhat, because big brother was never one to get himself caught under a falling object or inserting small, sharp objects in his mouth. Mui mui, on the other hand, has the reflexes of an overweight ninja; although she's not too quick on her feet yet, her chubby arms face no wind resistance when swiping silverware off the table. I've already found her playing with electric cords, and pushing her hands through the slats of a safety gate. She's already been voted "Most Likely to Break Something and then Eat It" in the household.

Brother and sister still get along, but more tug-a-wars happen now since she's learned to grab things from Gwo Gwo. He will also provide an early warning system to keep her out of trouble, by screaming "No, Mui Mui!" whenever she's nearing a danger zone, "Back, Mui Mui!" when she gets too close to his trains, or "Mui Mui's coming!" when she leaves the family room. Now Gwo Gwo isn't speaking in full sentences yet, especially compared to those two year old females he's been meeting (I should clarify meeting in person, not online). We believe it's a little below average for him in his toddler evolution, but he's certainly trying to speak. He knows his alphabet and letters, and repeats pretty much anything he hears now. He can recognize and recite the alphabet, and count from 1 to 10 (in two languages). The sentence he uses the most is "I do it!" but he doesn't put together words as aggressively as he should be for 2.5 years old. We do see progress every day, as you can see him really thinking and trying to understand the words that are coming out of your mouth. He did use an adjective the other day, when driving in the car (that's the only way to get around in Suburbia), he screamed out "Dog big!" from the back seat.

For the next few months, we're planning on shopping for a bigger car, and getting ready for Mui Mui to turn one year old. I'll also do a little catching up over the past few months, because even though I took a break from typing, I haven't stopped with the camera and video taping.

Sick of It

Every child will get sick eventually, and there's very little any parent can do about it but be prepared. We had a vicious circle of germs in our family earlier this month, and it all started at the library with a simple kiss from a two year old girl to our first born. Now whether this girl likes younger men, or why she's kissing strangers in public places is none of my concern. What that little Jezebel did was infect my son with a nasty cold, that had him sniffling through a box of tissues every 24 hours. We did our best to keep Gwo Gwo from infecting Mui Mui, but even teaching him to kiss Mui Mui no higher than her feet, was not a strong enough preventive measure to keep the germs from her little nose, and she was sniffling and sneezing a few days after. So what can you do to prevent having to quarantine your own family? Unfortunately, asides form constantly washing hands and surfaces, very little. Think of getting sick as a vitamin which makes them stronger. It kicks up their antibodies and immune system, so it isn't an entirely bad thing. The best you can do is be prepared. Even though medicine can't cure the common cold, The following should make things more bearable on their road to recovery:

• Little Noses – saline drops that get shot directly up the nose to lessen congestion. Read the directions on the box of other brands; this brand doesn't ask you to keep them on their back for any extended period of time after application. Once you try and apply it, you'll understand why this is important.
• Infant/Toddler Motrin – this is recommended by our Pediatrician as a more effective fever reducer than Tylenol. It comes in either infant (under two years old) and toddler (over two) dosages.
• Pedialyte - the Gatorade of baby drinks. Give them plenty of this to keep them hydrated in case of forceful expulsion of fluids (i.e. vomiting and/or diarrhea).
• PediaCare Gentle Vapors - it's a menthol room vaporizer and nightlight in one. Very effective in filling up a room with soothing "blend of aromatic ingredients," but the bright blue nightlight you can't turn off, can keep a curious toddler up at night. Plug it in behind a piece of furniture to hide the light – the scent should still be just as effective.

Even with all this, baby germs are not confined to babies. One of the things worse than having a sick child is being sicker than the child you have to take care of. And worse than that Is to be the nursing Mom, who can't take anything to alleviate her sickly symptoms. So what Daddy took was:

• Airborne – who knows if this stuff really works. You take these dissolving tablets made out of all natural ingredients to prevent cold germs from taking root. They've worked for me in the past (or did they?), but not this time. And if they're all natural, why does it say on the label to not take it if you're nursing?
• Nighttime Tylenol Cold – sleep is the most reliable crutch to help you get better. Taking any sort of nighttime drug early enough in the nighttime to knock you out so you get at least 8 hours of straight sleep will probably be more beneficial than anything.
• Juice – lots of it, to keep your fluids intake high, and keep up with that Vitamin C. Of course, take juices high in Vitamin C; carrot juice probably won't be as beneficial.

Hopefully, the family will be back on its feet, or crawling, or doing tummy time, in no time.