Violet portion of the post con't

The following isn't entertaining nor is it witty, just a "snap shot" of current lewicki life...
So last night I began a post and was interrupted by sweet Violet needing a late night snack.  Now that I'm back to finish the post I realize how tired and nonsensical I was last night.  Ridiculous.  It was titled "Stop Growing", but should have been labeled "momma's going crazy".  Maybe I'll try again.

Although last week I would have described Violet as a "bad sleeper", Now I will say she is "unpredictable".  She took two great 2 hr naps yesterday and 2 good naps today.  Her second one was "only" an hour and a half so I put her to bed early tonight.  She loves her new schedule(the past 3ish weeks)

• wake up & nurse (lately 6:15ish  )
• Breakfast 
• Nurse & Nap 2 hrs after we woke up 
• Lunch between 11 and 12
• Nurse & Nap between 12 and 1ish
• Nurse @ 4
• Supper @5:30 (and sometimes again when the rest of us eat)
• Bath @ 6:30 or 7:00
• Nurse when she acts tired
• Bed by 8

I might have already posted that I got a schedule example off of http://www.babycenter.com/.  Its pretty close to the example they give for nursing stay at home moms.  When I was at my wits end a few weeks ago, I just copied it down, and told Violet that the next day when she was crabby, I would just look at the next thing on the list to determine our activity.  It was amazing.  When I'm consistent she seems to follow.  Who would have thought...!

Her nights are awful.  She's waking up after 2ish hours.  This is a new development over the last week and 1/2.   She was getting up once at 1:30, and then sometimes one more time before she got up at 7ish.  Now, She goes down at 7 or 8, wakes up sometimes at 10 or 11, occasionally has a two or three hour stretch, and then every hour and a half till her 6ish alarm clock.  I have to stop feeding her more than once a night, and either bouncing with her or patting her back while she cries, but I'm so tired and it seems like an unbearable amount of work when i think about it in the middle of the night.  maybe this weekend...Did I mention she's back in our closet???

I know that last night I talked about how mobile she is.  Its insane.  She follows Benjamin and I EVERYWHERE, and only wants the toys he's currently playing with.  There is no longer the ability to play the "distracting game".  I think she's going to be walking in about 2 months.  I'm pretty sad about it. 

Although I can't argue that she is a definite mommas girl, I don't think she's as bad as I was at her age.  (from what I'm told).  This is very happy news for Joel.  In fact this last week I worked quite a few hours, and she was soo good for him, with great naps, and fun play time, and only lost it from the time I walked in the door to the time it took me to pick her up.  

I think I also said last night was her first stern voice from daddy and momma has continued it all day when she screams for attention or more food.  It doesn't take anything but a stern "Violet" or "No", to bring out the pouty lip and silence.  It must be addressed or we are prepared to lose all friends and invitations to social events.  Its ridiculous.  

Joel and I know she has strong resemblance of her brother, but lately have seen more and more of momma.  She has these "crazy eyes" as Joel calls them.  They come out when she catches you looking at her, or when I bring her to bed with us in the morning, and she curls up and tries to convince you that its time to play, or when you get up real close and tickle her...Joel says we both have the same manipulative crazy eyes.

We sure love her a lot and as excited as we are to see her little character unfold, we would mind if time slowed down just to let us drink in this phase of life.  In the meantime, I'll just keep pushing her down so she isn't tempted to walk!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GewZfLskUuM - its pretty non eventful, but a quick look at the well rested version of violet!

Stop Growing!

I'm so tired right now that I wrote the title for this post, and then just stared at the screen, thinking about what I was going to write, instead of just typing.  Exhaustion happens to all mommas.  Some in the infant stage while nursing frequently, some when the have crazy busy toddlers, some when the have children in multiple stages...but my baby isn't an infant anymore, my toddler is kinda calm(this is questionable), and I "only" have two kids...however while helping one sleep uninterrupted in a big boy bed, and one just sleep more than 1 or 2 hours at a time, I have reached my limit!  On a happy note, Violet took a two 2 1/2 hr naps today, and I'm hoping that not being sleep deprived will help her sleep longer stretches.  I don't have a very optimistic attitude.  History prevents it!  (I know she has one tooth coming in, and I feel like she is going through her 9 month growth spurt.  I've stopped giving her tylenol, because I think its side effects for her include the inability to sleep.Its like I shoot caffeine in her veins.)

I didn't mean to start so negatively.  When Violet is well rested, she's sooo great.  She plays by herself for super long periods of time if she just has a bucked of random toys in front of her.  She's super mobile.  Have I blogged about that yet?  I can't remember.  She went from crawling, pulling herself up, standing for long periods of time, and taking a step or two in a little over a week...Right at 8 months  She's trying so hard to keep up with her brother.  His train track building operations have been seriously compromised.  We're working on sharing, and having patience.

Speaking of patience, Joel and I had to have serious patience(and kind of failed) at supper.  Benjamin has starting taking a bite or two at the end of the meal, and leaving it in his cheeks.  Its the same food he's eaten the entire dinner, but for some reason he just refuses to swallow.  He will make the swallowing motion, he will make the sound, he will take drinks, yet the food remains.  Tonight it ended in gagging and spitting it up...any suggestions?

He also has another new/odd habit.  He will randomly either lie face down, straight a pin on the floor, or curl up in the fetal position if he feels sad, embarrassed, or other similar emotions.  I've seen him do it mostly when he is around his friends and occasionally just with me at home.  I'm trying to either just let him have his time, or talk him through it.  Any thoughts?

His new phrases are "Bery Hot" "not working" "mmmm good" "Help please Momma" and we're working on "no thank you".  He is so stinking funny right now, and we're having to stop talking about him, in front of him.  He's much too aware of whats going on.  He also has this new thing, when we say "no", he asks again with a smile, and then a bigger smile, etc etc etc.  Manipulator!

Back to Violet, yesterday afternoon was her first good nap in a while, and today she took two of them.  This is worth repeating because we were starting to forgot how happy and cuddly she was before this sleep boycott.  Her cuteness carried us through the stubborn sleep issue, but her happy/sad/exciting/hurt scream that is always the same tone, and always soo loud was driving us a little batty.  Joel got stern with her for the first time tonight, telling her to be quieter, and I wish I had her pouty lip and tears on film.  It isn't good that sometimes I think she's cutest when she's sad!  

Her constant and only phrase is "babababababa".  Benjamin loves to repeat her. Well,I hear her, so I gotta go, write more later!

Greenpoint!

Here's just a few snapshots of our great weekend with family up in northern Minnesota!  Joel spent a lot of time on the boat, Benjamin had quite a bit of fun with his cousins, and Violet got plenty of love as well!  Between good family time, and a great book on Friday, it was the perfect northern retreat!

Kawaii Diapers

I've been wanting to blog about these for a while, and since they have come up in conversation with several people the last week, I decided that the time is now!

(scroll down to the bottom if you just want the facts!)

I had better start off by saying that I always saw people CRAZY about Cloth diapering, and their obsession and Initialing of everything scared me away.  Well, I still refuse to go by initials, but i'm not so critical of their passion.  I have found a diaper that seems to be great for both Violet and I, and one of the best money saving decisions Joel and I have made in a long time (it's only comparison is the decision to shop at Aldi sometimes)  :)  So try to gloss over my passion, and just take a glance at the facts.  For someone who's budget is super tight, and who's day is filled with poo...It's pretty exciting!

My diapering story started with disposable.  Joel wasn't on board with cloth.  I then began to request diapers as gifts, and experiment with Benjamin.  I didn't find them to be as much work as I was expecting and soon bought Econobums.  They were cost effective but the short story is: #1) they snaped, and I hated snaps(personal) #2) they were a prefold (the insert sat on top of the cover) and because the moisture sat on my babies bottoms, they seemed to get rashes.  It wasn't a failure of an experiment, but a good learning experience,  I was able to find someone who could use them, and didn't loose any money (I had good coupons when I bought them).

My sister had gotten me BumGenius and Fuzzibuns as gifts, and although I loved them, they were too expensive.  I just couldn't make that big of an investment without Joel on board, and without knowing if I would keep up with it.  I'm a great started, and HORRIBLE finisher.

This is where my sister becomes the hero of the story.  She found Kawaii diapers at http://www.theluvyourbaby.com/.  Then she found the website: http://jackbenatural.com/.  I'm not sure which one I'm more in love with...the Kawaii diaper or jackbenatural.com.  Both are Amazing.  I have found the Kawaii diaper to be equivalent to the BumGenious line.  Same functionality and almost same appearance (I actually think the Kawaii's are a little slimmer/cuter).  theluvyourbaby.com website isn't super for ordering.  This is where jackbenatural.com comes into play.  As soon as they have stock, the diapers are super speedy.  Their emailing communication is extraordinary.  They have a rewards system for ordering, and deliver with special samples and gifts.  AHHH!  I love them.  Oh, and this is how I got Joel on board:
(ps, I feel these are very conservatives numbers for # of diapers a day, and price of diapers...)

3640 diapers 0-18 months
 * 12, 10, 8, & then 6, diapers per day
$ .16 per diaper
 * average cost of diaper(up & up target brand)
$582.4 on diapers by 18 months
 * + $151.2 by 2yrs = $733.6 ToTaL


So, from a money saving perspective...So far I have spent about $30 on Violets disposable diapers, and $95 on her cloth.  We are 8 months, and a 90% cloth user.  I bought the style that only goes up to 22 lbs soI will sell them, and re buy in a few months.  The great thing is that even If I only get half my money back when I sell them, my total disposable & cloth investment, would be $155.

Its totally different for all parents, but for us $155 vs $733 seemed like a pretty great deal!