Whispering

So I guess the conversation always comes back to sleep.

Or at least if your talking to me these days it does.

Piper went from sleeping pretty darn good to sleeping...sporadically at best.

And the longer it went on, the harder it got for everyone. So something had to change.

My friend Alison let me borrow her Mother (Thanks Vicky!) for some sleeping advice and support. And I poured over books, internet sites, and asked friends (and strangers) what worked for them.

I was driving Josh crazy.

He wanted to go with the flow. But what flow? It wasn't flowing! My thought is, the more info you have the better to create a plan that works for you and your family. Everyone is different after all. Which is just what I found, no one book had the answers (I wanted to hear) but I kept coming back to The Baby Whisper (Thanks Cousin Denise!) because it had sound advice that did not involve crying, I could ignore what I felt I needed to and I could start now.

Sleeping is learned.

Teaching sleeping is hard.

But the earlier you start the less traumatic and the less likely we'll be bleary eyed and cranky when she's four (at least thats my hope). So yesterday we decided to start in the morning and just do naps. No more relying on "junk sleep" which means so more swing naps *sob* and my new task is to keep Piper from sleeping while she's nursing. Wonderful. How in the heck do I do that?! Thats our fail safe! Thats how she goes to bed at night!

But on the first try Miss Piper went down for a nap in her crib with some support from her parents. Now, she only slept for a 1/2 hour but hey- we're learning here. Next nap, 45 minutes (which Josh was able to put her down for). Then another 1/2 hour stint and so it continued until she was over tired. Truth be told, I came very close to slipping back into the old stand by, but Josh had read and been on board and I didn't want to let down my team mate, so I stuck to it. This morning she was down for her nap in 10 minutes with out so much as a whimper. Yahoo!!

Then I sat.

Sat with her and waited for her to stir so that I could help lull her into the next phase of sleep. And it worked! Its been almost 2 and a 1/2 hours now and she's fast asleep still.

Now, I'm not so naive to think this is the end, I know we have a long road ahead of us with ups and downs. However, success in 24 hours feels pretty darn good to me.

Merry Muscles

Its here! Its here! Some of you may have heard me talk about this little gadget, a fun play/development thing called Merry Muscles. Its like a Johnny Jump-up except its designed (by a Chiropractor) from as young as 2 months old to 2 years old . To say we were excited for its arrival would be an understatement. Piper loves to "stand" and push off on her feet, so I had a feeling this would be a big hit. Truth be told she's not up for more than an hour or so at a time these days. She gets really tired, really quick = cranky Piper. But when she is up, she's all smiles and ready to play. So my thought was, best make the most out of the time she's up.

Enter Merry Muscles!

She was having a ball, when she realized what she had to do to make it bounce.

Then could lean back and take a breather

But in all honesty there were a few moments of confusion....

"Did I do that?"

And evening stroll with the owls

We're still trying to figure out bed time over here so last night, just after an impromptu late afternoon nap and not quite time for bed we took a stroll across the street to see the owls.

Thats right, she's forward facing.

Her neck control is getting much better,

and quite honestly she gets frustrated

if she can't see whats going on. Who can blame her.

We saw this fort someone had made and thought,

How cool- Piper could be playing in these trees before we know it.

Its a wonderland for a kid.

And here's one of the owls.....

She was soaking it all up. And drooling...lots of drooling these days.

Rural Living

Last night as we wound down I took Piper into her room for a change and Josh said quietly, "Deana look up"

These young bucks were all over the yard. We get coyotes, elk, porcupine, owls...you name the mountain dwellers and they come to visit. But it takes you back a step when they're this close. But they're hungry.

That right there is a whole mess of them eating "deer resistant" plants in our front yard.

great.

Meeting Maki

It came close, I almost didn't get to see her. My friend Maki (aka my Japanese Sister) was back in Crestone for the Anniversary working. She was working so much (as was I) that we almost didn't get to see each other. She leaves for Japan today, but last night we had a very short visit up at Mountain View (Shumei's dorm for visiting tour groups). Maki worked in Crestone at Shumei and moved back to Japan last year. She and I used to go out and explore Taos and Salida and the conversation once came to the subject of kids. Both of us married and the same age we both received the same constant questions about starting a family. And both of us had no clue what to say when asked. When I first told Maki I was pregnant she said, "You should have baby on Kenichi's (her husband's) birthday, it is Bill (Ellzey's) birthday too. It is a day for artist." Well she called it!

When Maki saw Piper for the first time she said, "oh my goodness real baby!"

This lady took Piper off Maki's hands when she became too heavy and

Piper didn't mind one bit.

old.....new......

When having your first child I think most parents experience what Josh and I did. You buy something and the child could care less (or cries), you don't buy something and the child looks to need it. Being a first time Mom I had no clue about the play gym. Thinking it was just more plastic (which it is) I didn't want to put too much effort into it. So we rigged something with a mobile and a blanket in the living room for tummy time and hanging out.

Hey, it worked. And it worked for quite some time. But then it was becoming obvious she needed a little more stimulation.

Enter the new play gym.

I did the research, asked the questions and ended up getting a space themed play gym that has a motorized mechanism that moves the toys. And as we all know now, movement is good.

It makes her smile

and it has a little mirror

And she seemed so intent, so focused...

I was thrilled she was getting something out of the new purchase. Obviously by the look of her she's really flexing those mind muscles- Wonderful! Out of curiosity I wondered what had her attention, so I got down to her level to investigate.

yep.

Thats right folks.

The purple part there is the Velcro keeping the motor attached.

All joking aside we've learned that Piper loves the color yellow right now and with Freddy the Firefly and the yellow sun on this gym Piper seems quite happy to play with her new friends.

And do some Velcro gazing from time to time...

We Survived

As some of you know I work for one of the spiritual groups here in Crestone. Shumei International Institute is a group based out of Japan, read more about them at www.shumeicrestone.org. I organize art events among other random tasks for them and from the beginning they all have been unbelievably supportive of my journey into Motherhood.It is not uncommon for little ones to be running through the office.

This last weekend was their 9th Anniversary. In Japan Anniversaries are a big deal, and this is no exception. We start planning for the event in December and much time, effort and thought goes into each detail. Before Piper was even born much had gone into how to juggle her during this weekend. I wanted to be involved as much as I could, without throwing her for a loop. Saturday is an interfaith day with 25 of the local spiritual groups sharing information, talks, songs, and intensives throughout the day. Sunday is the actual Anniversary with concerts and art receptions. Our plan of attack was to have Josh be on Daddy Duty Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I would do what I needed to do and we would check in with each other. Saturday's events were at Dharma Ocean (www.dharmaocean.org) and so in setting up I had a little room with couches for our use should we need it. Morning naps are the norm here so Friday morning Piper slept while I ran up to begin setting up. Upon waking later that morning it became clear she was not going to take the bottle, even though we've had one successful meal. Nope. No-how-no way. So Josh would bring her up to me, she would eat and cuddle and then head back home for another nap. And so the cycle continued. With only one meltdown on Sunday morning we survived.

Here are a few photos from the weekend

Piper Chillin' in the Shrine room while Kirtan Practice began

Piper meets my little friend Matsanori.

This Lady touching Piper couldn't get enough of her. In fact, I noticed most of these Japanese ladies loved poking at Piper. "So sweet- Baby"

Piper even had a chance to meet Ms. Koyama, Shumei's Spiritual Leader and President, but unfortunately I didn't get photos of that.

This is us at the art opening with our friend Tia who was one of the artists in the show.

Josh's hand, making fun of all the poking of sweet Piper

She was over it by the end of the day, but not so over it she couldn't give us a smile...

Freddy the Firefly

Freddy has always gotten Piper's eye, but lately their relationship has grown...

Catching up

So much is happening from day to day its hard to catch up. More rolling, more smiles, first Weddings, first ambulance meetings and first dinners out. Too bad I keep forgetting to take photos (oops- sorry).
This is a photo from Piper's first wedding. It was the themed wedding of Amulya and Doug and once again Piper hit her mellow up at the Zen Center. She did wonderfully and even dressed up for the SteamPunk theme. Complete with black and white stripped tights. Yet another nap strike found us at the bar for the reception where Josh held her while I enjoyed a much needed Guinness. Hey, it really does help nursing Mother's like they claim! In more ways than one!

Morning Rituals

There is only so much we can predict on any given day, but it is safe to say these days that once awake- Piper is ready for a nap. After breakfast she's quite content to rest on my shoulder (calmest she'll be all day) and watch her Dad move around the house getting ready to leave for work. She watches Josh a lot. Anytime he's around she tends to keep an eye on him.

Houdini

Piper is a wild child. Sweet as she may be she wiggles and squirms and fidgets constantly. This makes sleeping a challenge as she doesn't have full control of her arms yet so she flails and wakes herself up. She loves a good swaddle. She smiles and looks relieved when she's finally wrapped up and ready for a snooze. But try as we might she always escapes. We have Velcro straightjacket like wraps, zip wraps, tuck and go wraps....she can get out of anything.

Busy and a nap strike

It is less than two weeks to Shumei's 9th Anniversary so meetings, emails, and phone calls fill the time during naps. Mother's day was a big day as we ran from cleaning house and meeting with our realtor to a meeting up at Shumei. Too much for Miss Piper, as she went on a nap strike and we spent the evening trying to convince her that sleep was a good thing. She eventually slept of course, but not without trying every trick we could muster. Its a lesson I already knew - more sleep is better than no sleep. But once again, can't predict what will happen. Last meeting she slept through. This one- no go. These nap strikes seems to be happening more and more. Its as if she knows fun stuff is happening and she doesn't want to miss a thing. Sweet, but not good for any of us as the day wears on.
Here are some shots of our time up at Shumei.


Osamu graciously held Piper as I readied myself for some bouncing in the carrier.


Before that Naoko got some one on one Piper time before the meeting began.

Smiley Baby

Once and awhile we'd get a random smile, but nothing like the past few days.

Piper woke up a few days ago with big grins. If we kiss her cheeks, make funny sounds or smile back at her she is beams. Especially upon waking. Which really softens the blow to her new early morning schedule. I'm not used to 6am at all, but Josh is loving the new early start to the day with a beaming baby.

Second Try

I know. I know.

There are about a million opinions out there for and against the bottle. But we all have to make our own decisions.

We tried again. Because as much as I hate the plastic I realized for us, and our little Piper (who eats when awake every hour or sooner) we needed another option. Both for Josh wanting to bond and me wanting to be able to have an alternative if need be (be it to have a massage (happy Mommy happy baby) or go to work without her). Well this try went smashing. She smiled and teased Josh as she took the bottle with no issue. And then came back to Mom at the next meal as if nothing happened.

But in true form the next time we tried the bottle ...not having it. This is part of the experience though, right? You have your plan but your plan involves another human being, as small as she may be.