pants I started putting her into pants lately when I learned on this thread that those footie sleepers are supposed to just be pajamas. (I don't have a lot of dresses for her because tights don't seem comfortable to me.) I wanted to see what I thought about dressing her up. It's so cold here that she either has to wear pants or two or more layers of sleepers.
housecleaning I'm slowly getting through the backlog of housework that needs to be done. Every once in awhile I have to remind myself to just enjoy where she is, right now, and put the laundry down.
homestays It seems quite young to me to be going away to another country, but you should probably go with your gut about this.
AP I feel like I kind of fell into AP. Last year I moved to a town that's very into natural parenting, and when I went to the used book sale last year, I happened to pick up one written by some "Sears" guy. It made a lot of sense to me. Beyond that, I think DD herself kind of led me into it. My mom, my sister, my sister in law, and my mother in law all said she was the fussiest, most particular baby they'd ever met. I think I've had to adopt some of the tenets of AP (willingly or no) just to deal with her. She demanded to be held all the time and wouldn't go to sleep at night unless she was held. She hated the swaddle. She even cried if, when you were holding her, you started talking to somebody else.
Sometimes I have my doubts about what we're doing. I hope it all turns out for the best. So I can't really judge anybody for the choices they do. At the local new mom's group, one woman shared how she was, in effect, letting her son CIO at night so that he'd learn to sleep in his crib. It sounded awful both for her and for him. But I can't judge her for not being AP enough because I'm not working full time right now and in need of sleep in the same way as she is. I think AP just offers another set of tools and alternatives, and you have to figure out what works best for your family.
tv I don't own a tv, but I do spend lots of time on the internet. That's a habit I hope to break before she becomes older and more aware of technology. The saddest sight I ever saw was sitting in a pho restaurant in Seattle watching two parents just glued to their iphones as their daughter, who looked to be about 5 or 6, stared sadly into space. I can see DP and I being like that with our laptops, and I need to change that.
errands Props to the moms who venture out with more than one kid. My biggest aggravation with errand-running is taking the bus and dealing with baby in the front, backpack in the back.
afm After that one time, DD has gone back to refusing the bottle. So DP takes her in during my lunch to nurse, but that means I only have a few minutes to gulp my lunch, or like today, not eat at all. So I was not in a good mood then when I came home today and he helpfully suggested that I apply for a full time job . I don't even know how he's thinking we'd manage that, with him studying for 2 grad degrees and working 2 pt jobs.
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