Sleep Regression

Is there such thing as 14 month sleep regression? If so, we are in the middle of it, and it is BAD. Worse than any other time since she was born.

It all started about a week ago when Jane randomly woke up in the middle of the night. She still wakes up every so often to have her paci back in but normally she goes right back to sleep as soon as the paci hits her lips. The paci is magic!

That night was different though. Mr. Hunt went in to give her the paci back and she immediately start screaming crying before he even left the room. Normally my rule to myself is never to pick her up out of the crib because I don't want her to associate her crying and me going in to get her out of the crib. My other rule is not to speak a word or make eye contact. I know it sounds cruel, but its worked so far.

As she was crying the magic of the paci wasn't working and he eventually picked her up to try to rock her back to sleep. I was laying in bed watching the monitor. About 10 minutes went by which is a lot longer than its ever taken to get her back to sleep (except for one time) and I saw him try to lay her back in the crib. As he was lowering her down she started crying again, so he came in to ask if I would give it a try.

I went in a got her back out (against the rule) and tried to rock her to sleep but she was WIDE awake. Her big eyes were just looking all around the room but she was quietly sucking on her paci as content as could be. I was frustrated that she was wide awake but I was trying to enjoy rocking her. Of course a million things we running through my head, "Is she sick" "is she teething" "is she hot" "is she hungry" So finally after 30 minutes of rocking her, I woke Mr. Hunt up to grab the baby Tylenol while I changed her into some lighter pjs and checked her temp. No fever, new jammies, and some Tylenol didn't do the trick either.

After another 30 minutes of rocking I decided that maybe she was uncomfortable in the chair with me. After all she is getting so long and we don't fit as well as we used to. Of course she started crying even before I laid her down, but I told her everything was going to be OK and I walked out hoping she would end up falling asleep on her own. Plus I had to use the restroom! haha!

I know that a cry it out method has worked for many moms, but its just not for me. I only let Jane cry for 10 minutes before I go back in. So, of course 10 minutes went by and I had to go back in. This time I stuck to my "no picking her up" rule and I just stood there by her crib with my hand rubbing her belly and head. She finally settled down and 30 minutes later she fell asleep. So, 2 hours later I went back to sleep.

This has been happening every single night since. Some nights worse than others. On an average though, she is waking up twice a night and is awake for at least 30 minutes at a time.

Last night I couldn't even get her to go to sleep initially. Her bed time is 8pm and she is usually asleep within 5 minutes. Last night, she didn't fall asleep until 9:45pm. I was in and out of her room the entire time. She was wide awake just playing in her crib, but as soon as I would start to leave the room she would scream like her life was over.

I'm really really hoping this is just a sleep regression thing. I'm trying really hard to teach her that I'm not going to pick her up and that its time to be sleeping, but its also so sad to see her so upset.

I'm starting to think she is finally showing separation anxiety. She definitely doesn't experience this when we are out and about. She could care less if Mr. Hunt or I leave her anywhere. Maybe she is having nighttime separation anxiety. Is there such thing? Has anyone ever gone through this? What did you do?

Love,
Jennifer

My Daughter is So Embarrassed by Me.

I feel like I'm already dealing with a daughter who is so embarrassed of her mommy. Lately, Ill start singing and Jane will shake her head no and make a noise as if she really wants me to stop. haha! 

Then I was trying to get a picture of us to send to Mr. Hunt. She wasn't into it. She wanted to play. 

So in order to get her attention, I asked her for a kiss and this is what I got. I guess this is better than what I normally get. Mr. Hunt gets a million kisses from Jane over and over every time he asks. When I ask I normally get a slap in the face, followed by "uh oh" and another shaking of her head no. I'm telling you, I know she loves me, but sometimes I question this. And yes, we are working on her not slapping. Good thing is she only does it to me and Hannah. She's only hit Mr. Hunt once and never River. It does make it that much sweeter when she does kiss me though. So this turn of the head to avoid the kiss was better than the latter.

Then I asked one more time and got this...

Let just say that after that, I let her get down and do her own thing. Then my feelings were really hurt. Jane will be Jane I guess.

Love,
Jane's Mommy

Cabinet Rummaging

When we moved into this house in downtown Austin when Jane was 3 months old, I knew right away that this wasn't a "kid/baby friendly" house. One of the main things is this pantry that is very low to the ground. As well as no where else to plug in our Internet which leaves a bunch of cords that you can see in the picture below. I brushed all of this aside because we really really wanted to live downtown and we knew it was just for a short time since this isn't a permanent situation. Our next (more permanent) house I will be more picky about a baby proof house.

Anyway, I know what you are thinking....where are the cabinet locks? Well, I have decided not to get any at this rental home. I refuse to use the ones that are on the outside of the cabinet. No offense to those who have them, but the kitchen is already pretty ugly and the last thing I need is to add hideous cabinet locks. I actually wouldn't mind them in the bathroom where I can shut the door and not see them, but just not in the kitchen. The cabinet locks that I have found for the inside of the cabinets all require you to drill a hole which I'm not going to do at this rental house. I don't want to pay for that on these already ugly cabinets. Also, the cabinets are so old that most inside cabinet locks that Ive looked into don't even fit. 

Moving on....I keep a very good eye on Jane as it is so once she started to get into the cabinets I had to do a little switching around of what was in the cabinets. Most of the cabinets are OK for her to get into now. Besides it being very annoying to clean up, she can get into the Tupperware and pots and pans. But the kitchen is already small so there wasn't a lot of room to switch things around so the cleaning supplies are still in her reach....not good...and so are the baking goods in this low down pantry. 

So, one day, I heard her rummaging through something in that cabinet. I was actually sitting right next to her but my back was to her. I knew there wasn't anything bad for her to get into in there so I wasn't paying that much attention. Finally I was wondering why she was so quiet and I turned around to see this....

Mini chocolate chips....and she was LOVING them. I just laughed and got out the camera. The whole time, even while I was cleaning them up, she was trying to stuff as many as she could in her face. This was her first chocolate experience and if she is anything like me, it won't be the last. 

Later in the day I was tickling her and found this.

 Chocolate must have got down her shirt as well and melted! haha!

So I brushed it off and vowed to pay more attention, after all there wasn't much I could do besides putting everything on the counter instead and that would drive me crazy. I like clean uncluttered counters.

A few weeks later, it happened again. This time it was pecans and she wasn't so much of a fan. The chocolate was definitely better in her book....mine too!

Its happened a few times since, but as long as there isn't anything dangerous in there, the only bad thing is that I'm losing some food and cleaning it up is annoying.

Kids will be kids right?

Love,
Jennifer

Children's Museum

Mr. Hunt and I decided to take Jane to the newly opened Children's Museum here in Austin, The Thinkery. I actually used to work at the Children's Museum in Columbia SC when I was in college, it was so fun!

Since I had worked at a children's museum prior, I knew that they are usually geared toward older kids (older than Jane at least). I also looked at their website and saw that there were specific times you could bring your 24 month and younger child, but we decided to go at our own time and just see what there was. After all, Jane loves people watching....specifically other kid watching. She could sit in a stroller (as long as its constantly moving) and watch other people for hours (OK, maybe only like 30 minutes before she gets antsy).

Speaking of antsy, I'm pretty sure I have the antsiest (is that a word) child in the world. When we got there right at opening, there was a long line because apparently the first 500 children to show up that day got in free. Since Jane is only 14 months old, she already got to get in free so it was nothing special for us. Anyway, all the other children, even kids her age, were all either standing patiently by their parents, or in a stroller chillin. Our child on the other hand was fidgeting and eventually screaming to get out of the stroller, and I know way too well that she doesn't just stand quietly next to us. So Mr. Hunt got her out and they ran around in the front lawn for about 30 minutes while I waited in line. I was starting to think she was going to be too worn out by the time we got into the building.

Let me also say that I was a little worried about this because any and every time I let Jane "do her own thing" she doesnt just sit and play in one spot, she would rather just run around so I was worried that once I let her go inside, it was just going to be me and Mr. Hunt just chasing her inside. So once we got in I went straight to the first thing I saw that might be something in her age group. It was a boxed in area that she couldn't get out of and she could play with a bunch of toys in it. Mr. Hunt and I thought it was great because she obviously couldn't run away.

After she was in there for a few minutes, we realized she was probably too big to be in there. There was another baby in there that couldn't walk yet and Jane was trying to play with him as well as went right over to him and open mouthed kissed him. We decided that we needed to find another fun spot.

The next spot we went to was this....

Just a bunch of pegs that would light up when you put them in the holes. Jane was more interested in taking the pegs out and throwing them on the floor, but she liked how they glowed too. 

She also loved herself in the mirror as usual. She kissed herself. 

We went to another area which was like a house where kids could pretend, but I didn't get many pictures. There wasn't much in there that Jane could play with which ended up her just running around which I expected. There was another little girl Jane's age in there and she LOVED Jane. She came over and gave Jane the biggest hug which ended up with them both falling to the floor in an embrace. Kind of funny, but it scared Jane a little bit.

Jane's favorite spot and the spot that she stood still the most was this water area. I read online about this and it said to bring an extra pair of clothes because they would get really wet. They also had these cute aprons. Jane's was just long enough. haha!

Jane loves playing in the dog water bowl so this was better!

She just did her own thing in here and it was so cute. I kept telling Mr. Hunt how surprised I was that she was standing still to play.

 She was watching the older kids and then trying to copy them. I could also tell that even though it wasn't her nap time yet, she was getting sleepy. Must have been all the running around before we even got in the building.

One last place we went was for kids her age. We had to take out shoes off and it was a gated area for her to run around in. She did bump her head in that area about three times which kept making her cry for a few seconds. I think that area was more for crawlers and Jane doenst crawl anymore so when she would try to stand up in areas, she would bump her head.

All in all it was a fun time and we are definitely going to go back. We learned that Jane is VERY independent. She didn't ONCE look for Mr. Hunt or I the entire time we were there. We could have dropped her off and she would have done her own thing. Even when she bumped her head, she would just cry a few seconds and go on to the next thing.

Its sad because I kind of want her to want me, or want her to want me to play with her. Its also scary because when she gets older, I hope she doesn't just walk off and get lost not realizing or caring where her parents are. But on the other hand I guess its good for her to be independent. She likes learning things on her own and making friends so that's good.

I recommend going to your nearest children's museum one weekend. Its so fun!

Love,
JRH

Love Day

We had a great Valentine's Day and I hope y'all did too. Since I already talked about Valentine's Day in general in my last post, I just wanted to share what we did on the special day. 

Mr. Hunt left Jane and I surprises on the kitchen table for when we woke up. I got a box of chocolates and Jane got this big pink teddy that she LOVES!!

He also got her a card with finger puppets that she loved as well. She "read" the card all day but then I took it away before she ripped it for safe keeping so she can always have the Valentine's Day card from her Daddy

I'm obsessed with these jammies and every time I put them on her I think to myself how sad its going to be when she outgrows them. I'm not sure if its the hood, the cute pocket in the front, or the design. Its just cute! So naturally I take a million pictures.

She wanted the hood back on. haha!

Never can get enough of the feet.

Look at theses curls! Or just waves.

After I got up the courage to take off her cute jammies, I dressed her in her Valentine's Day outfit.

Look at this face! Oh my!

The gold headband didn't last long....naturally.

Those eyes!

Now onto the Valentine's goodies!

I set the table up with everything!

I got this cute banner at target. I love it, and it was pretty cheap!

Jane finger painted her Daddy this picture. It turned out perfect, but she did eat some paint. Don't worry, it was non toxic and we ended the painting session right then and there.

Jane got a cute outfit form her Mimi and Pawpaw

She got three board books about love of course! The candle is just decoration. I had two that I burned throughout the day to make it smell fruity in the house for Love Day.

My grandpa sent us this sock monkey. I once made a sock monkey out of two socks, but this one looks much better. Plus its a ballerina with blonde hair.

I made these yummy cookies that I pinned on my pinterest. They are strawberry cookies with strawberry icing. Despite what they look like they are really really good. Mr. Hunt laughed at me when I showed him what they were "supposed" to look like, and what they turned out to really look like.

NAILED IT!!!

Here is the box of chocolate Mr. Hunt gave me....yum!

I got Mr. Hunt these hot sauces. If you know anything about him, you know he loves anything and everything spicy!

This is Jane's teddy from her daddy and a heart shape bowl full of Reese candy!

That's the card Mr. Hunt got me as well as anther book for Jane. I also made Mr. Hunt chocolate covered Jalapenos and pretzels.

I had never made those before and I had no idea how they would turn out. I took all the seeds out so that they wouldn't be so spicy. Turns out they weren't that good. They weren't awful either.  I won't be making them again though. Its the thought that counts.

Here are the finger puppets that came on Jane's card. She liked them, but they got ripped in half pretty quickly.

For dinner we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant. Are you surprised? I'm not. It was a nice day/evening and it was fun celebrating Jane's second Valentine's Day.

Love,
Jennifer

Happy Valentines Day!

We are known to not do much on Valentine's Day, but I wanted to come to say Happy Valentines Day to everyone!

Maybe I should share the one Valentines Day experience that sticks out in my mind every time I think of Valentines Day.

This was a few years back when Mr. Hunt and I were dating. We decided just to go to this Chinese place that we liked for dinner and then try to get home in time to watch our favorite show at the time, Lost. Mind you, this was before we had DVR so it was imperative that we got back so that we didn't miss anything. We didn't plan ahead so we didn't have any reservations at a nice place or anything, this was just a Chinese restaurant that we liked right by our house.

There wasn't a wait and we st right down at our table. Mr. Hunt ordered a beer and I ordered a wine. When they gave me my wine, I was shocked! It was in a beer mug filled to the top. When I gave them a weird look, the waitress quickly realized she messed up and told me to hurry and drink some so that her manager didn't see how much she gave me for the price of one glass. It was quite funny. We ordered our food and while we were waiting, we were giggling about the wine thing and I was a little tipsy already since I had chugged some wine.

Next thing we knew, the waitress brought us our check. Yeah.....we still didn't even get our meals. She brought the check without us even eating. When we told her we still didn't get our food, she was so embarrassed. We kind of felt bad but at the same time we were in a rush. We told her never mind and we just paid for our drinks and left. I think the waitress was just a little overwhelmed because it was a lot busier than it was normally there and she just wasn't on her game. We probably would have stayed if it wasn't for our show coming on and honestly I felt kind of bad for the waitress. Instead we quickly went to get a frozen pizza and we were home right before Lost came on. So now anytime I think about Valentines Day, I think of that.

Even though we don't celebrate Valentines Day really big around here, I feel like since we have a kid now, its only appropriate to celebrate as many holidays as we can.

I made some Valentines Day cards for Jane to send to her family this year. This meant a photo shoot!

This is her same dress she wore on Christmas.

Love her giggles

Thanks Great Aunt Lisa for this precious dress. It fits perfect!

Of course she had to stand up.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

And here is the end product!

Happy Valentines Day everyone. Ill be back with what we did today to celebrate a little.

Love,
Jennifer