Friday, February 08, 2002

Tonight, and last night for dinner, Jenn fed Mia chopped up American cheese and chopped up turkey sandwich meat.
posted by Rick Umali 10:04 PM

Someone posted an encouraging response to my wife's message. I took some time to look at some of the items in that bulletin board (titled Parenting High-Needs Children,). A lot of the posts were of the vein "things will get better", "be patient", and "get the husband to be more involved."

I think it's wonderful there are outlets for people to just 'vent' about how hard things are. It gives me perspective. Some seem to have it really hard. I think Jenn and I are lucky. This new Mia may be temporary, or it may be a phase. Either way, the folks at BabyCenter will provide a nice sounding board.
posted by Rick Umali 10:03 PM

Mia slept fine last night.
posted by Rick Umali 9:57 PM

Thursday, February 07, 2002

Last night, Mia woke up crying loudly around 3:00AM. Because of all the past days' activity, I rushed in, and picked her up, then rocked her back to sleep. Satisfied with myself, and with her, I went back to sleep. 3:15AM, and the crying begins anew. This time Jenn goes in, and hugs her, and lulls her to sleep in the rocker. I went in there, and suggested that this isn't right. The next time Mia cried, we didn't go in. We just let her cry, nearly ten minutes. It does feel like she's learning to sleep all over again, but Brazelton suggests that this is normal. We'll 'ignore' her again tonight.
posted by Rick Umali 10:10 PM

My wife posted a message to a BabyCenter bulletin board. I hope she gets some responses. Mia had a good time at day care. Then she turned into a bit of screamer when Jenn got her home. Both seemed fine when I made back from work (around 5:30PM). We'll see.
posted by Rick Umali 10:06 PM

Wednesday, February 06, 2002

An exhuasting day. I'm very ready to go to bed right now.

I stayed home 'sick', so that Jenn could rest while I helped take care of Mia. She wasn't as monstrous as she was yesterday, but in the afternoon, she started crying as if she were throwing a tantrum. The angry, frustrated crying lasted for quite some time, and it jangled my nerves. Jenn and I couldn't comfort her, until we decided maybe her diaper needed to be changed. When we looked, it was damp, but not overly so. Still, this calmed her down remarkably.

It was a good day, and a hard day. Mia was fun to play with, but she didn't take a long afternoon nap, so I was working on fumes by the time her dinner rolled along. Tomorrow I'll be at work, which is nothing compared to taking care of a baby.
posted by Rick Umali 9:26 PM

Tuesday, February 05, 2002

Jenn had a hard day today. Mia apparently cried throughout the entire day. With Jenn still trying to recover from a cold, Mia was quite overbearing. Jenn called me at work at 4:25PM, asking me to come home now. I could hear the crying in her voice.

Of course, when I got home, Mia was lamb-like. No tantrums or crying. Jenn was perplexed, and allowed herself the thought that maybe Mia really doesn't like her. We quickly decided that this wasn't the case: Mia has never acted in such a petulant manner before. It must be 'cabin fever', or the fact that she's finally 'well' after being with the flu for so long.

All I know is that it was a hard day for Jenn, and I always hate to hear that.
posted by Rick Umali 10:01 PM

Monday, February 04, 2002

I haven't reported on this in some time: Mia has plenty of teeth now. A few are at the top, and few more are on the bottom. It's amazing seeing these come in. She hasn't been as cranky about these new ones coming in.
posted by Rick Umali 10:52 PM

Mia was all better today. Her schedule was still a little off (she didn't have an afternoon nap, and she was quite cranky by 5PM). Now Jenn and I feel under the weather. I remarked to Fr. Daley at church today that I didn't think I could get sick from a baby's germs. "That's wishful thinking on your part," he said. "After all, you're just a big baby." He chuckled, and I marvelled at this wisdom.
posted by Rick Umali 12:15 AM