More goldfish, please

It’s Tuesday again, my Monday. But it hasn’t been bad at all. I didn’t even feel the normal grogginess I do on Tuesdays. Ella, on the other hand, was a bit grumpy today.

She cried the minute I put her in her highchair so I quickly got her some cereal. Which she threw on the floor. Ok, let’s try a breakfast bar, I thought. Nope, she threw it with anger this time as if I had seriously offended her. So I picked her up and tried again and she happily ate it in my lap. Guess she just wanted a little snuggle time this morning. She was really tired I think.

She seems to be feeling good though. She didn’t wake up at all last night. Gotta love the antibiotics.

Sara says her little boy (seven weeks older than Ella) got out of his crib last weekend! So, I’m worried about that. She’s upstairs, close to some stairs, so we have to be sure the gate is closed at all times. Plus I think I’ll just panic if I ever go to her crib and she’s not there.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun with the neighbor boys this weekend, who turned 2 and had a great farm themed birthday party, complete with wagon rides, bales of staw and animal masks. Here’s a photo of Ella and Carson as they contemplate their next round of goldfish snacks. Hope you don’t mind Holly!

Everything in moderation

Thanks for your supportive blogs about the TV watching. I’m learning to chill out about it, and you guys made some good points. A lot of us watched TV growing up and have quite fond memories of  Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers and so on … and we’re all actually pretty productive, happy, thinking individuals! Back to my old, still best philosophy: EVERYTHING in MODERATION. Speaking of, Project Runway was so good last week! Boy that Kenley girl is getting pretty bratty. She acts like Tim doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If she ever watched the show, she’d know his comments are always right on!

My husband is back in town, from a seminar in Florida.  I’m so glad. It seemed like a long time. It was getting a little boring around here. He was so homesick for Ella he went and picked her up at my mom’s when he got home late last night while I was at work. I thought it was sweet. Even sweeter my mom had agreed to keep Ella overnight and she made us chicken enchiladas for dinner before I had to go to work. How’s that for a babysitter?

Ella seems to be feeling better. I did end up taking her to the doctor on Saturday and she does have a bit of an ear infection, and she’s now on antibiotics. I still get a little confused about when to take her in, but I did remember doctors saying if a fever persists for four days, get them checked out. I told my SIL, cold and flu season has begun. I am so not ready for that.

I bought Ella a Halloween costume today. It’s so cute! I don’t think I’ll tell you what it is. You’ll see photos. She did bawl when I put it on her though. It may have been too small and she was definitely ready for a nap, so I hope we can fix though problems. I love it.

We met my parents, SIL, brother and nephew Grant for breakfast at Cracker Barrell today. It was fun. Ella sure loves Grant. And my brother was wearing a shirt that says Hookers are fun. Yeah, that’s right. Sorry, Rachel. That’s my brother, he loves to shock people.

Tonight we have a birthday party so I need to to catch up on SNL from last night and do Sunday things like make a grocery list and throw in laundry.

P.S. My two pregnant friends are getting pretty far into their pregnancies. Their blogs are so fun to read. Catch up with them here and here.

Mommy needs a little TV

OK my new stance on cutting back television came at a bad time.

I noticed Ella was really hot last night and after looking all over for the thermometer and not finding it, I decided that yes, she did have a fever. I don’t need a little stick to tell me her skin is blazing hot compared to mine. I gave her a little children’s ibuprofen and sent her to bed.

I heard her cry a few times through the night, which isn’t that unusual but I was kinda on edge all night. Probably because Steve’s gone. I notice every little noise when he’s not here.

Anyway, at three in the morning I went to feel her forehead and she was burning up again. I figured that cough she had been working on had finally developed into something, so  I set my alarm in time to call off work and call the sitter.

In the morning she was in that just-hold-me-I’m-sick mode intermixed with bouts of playing with her toys. I remembered once when she was sick I held her and we watched House Hunters ALL day. Don’t tell the child development experts.

But today, she seemed well enough for plenty of bookreading – I think we read our book on Baby Animals a jillion times – and I stuck to my guns. No more TV. Well, I turned on Ellen for like 10 minutes, then felt badly for giving in so easily.

But as the day progressed, we ran out of things to do. In between laying in my arms, we played with playdough, her new super cool farm animals from the Tractor Supply Company, her piggy bank … We read every book in the house. Twice.

I even thought some fresh air might be nice so after her nap I walked her to the park. It was too hot. Especially for a feverish little girl. We came right back.

By 7 p.m. she was getting cranky and I was tired from the entertaining. I just wanted my TV!! So I decided everything in moderation and my little design reality show was not going to give her permanent brain damage. She did lay her head on my chest and watch for a few minutes, but then she went and played with her puzzles. Aaah. Finally a little break. You know how some kids just play by themselves? Somedays Ella doesn’t do that at all. She wants constant bookreading, waterfilling up, puzzle help … it’s exhausting!

Anyway, that sounds like I didn’t enjoy it, but I did. And even though having a sick child sucks, I secretly love when she gets all cuddly and wants to be held all day.

I guess that’s why they call parenting selfless

Eww, it’s been one of those emotional rollercoaster days at work. Someone gets all rude about something then I get all revved up. But now I think, what am I even worried about here? There are so much bigger things to worry about in life than someone being snippy over some detail at work. So, there, I am done with that.

I’m also working on a little research on how much TV kids should watch. Well, I knew the answer. They don’t need any and they say none for kids under 2 and about 1 hour for kids older. I figured these things, but after pouring over different research I’m feeling really bad about the recent mornings where Ella watches cartoons for 15 minutes while I get ready for work. And we often have the TV blazing at nighttime as well – not that she’s watching, but there’s also question about whether background TV could lead to attention deficit as well. And then there are those nights when she just doesn’t want to go to sleep and I pull her into bed with me and we lay watching TV for a little while before I put her back in bed.

Oy. The thing is it’s HARD to get up before 6 a.m. four days a week, after three days of 8 a.m., to get Ella and I both ready, and drive all over two counties avoiding stupid road construction that’s taken a YEAR for a grand total of 45 minutes to arrive at work at 7 a.m. So I love that extra 20 minutes of sleep I get from letting Ella eat her breakfast and watch a cartoon while I get myself ready.

And we love TV. I admit it. I love reality TV. I love sitcoms especially. How I Met Your Mother, New Adventures of the Old Christine, Entourage … I can’t wait for Desperate Housewives to start back up this Sunday.

I’m a believer in moderation. When Ella’s a little older, I’ll let her watch a little TV each day. But I do see how I’m making hard habits to break. And I do see that she doesn’t eat as good a breakfast when she eats it with TV. And I’m trying not to start the habit of dinner in front of the TV, so that’s only confusing matters.

So I guess I know what I want to do. Get up earlier and not let Ella watch TV in the morning. And at night, I think we should watch our shows after she goes to bed. It’s not that big of a deal now, we can go play in the backyard or to a park. But, this is going to get tricky in the winter. And I think we better get stricter about her 8 p.m. bedtime, or it’s only going to be harder.