Nurse Mama

Little kids are the epitome of germs and sickness.

 Fortunately we've been lucky enough not to have to deal with a sick child for 15 months now. Sure, she's had a slight cold before, equipped with a runny nose and cough but never has Natalie been sick to the point it affects her mood or she has a fever or vomits.

 Yesterday morning that all changed when she woke up miserable.

 She was crying so hard and clinging to Matt. She got really upset when I went to use the bathroom even though I offered to bring her along with me (yes, sometimes I pee with my kid in the bathroom with me) and continued to cry and hold on to Daddy.

 Then Matt yells, "Grab a towel or something, she just threw up!"

That was a first. And from there on we've had a sick little baby.

She was pretty off yesterday, not her normal happy self. She didn't want to do much and took a really long nap (2.5 hours compared to her usual 1-1.5 hour nap). She seemed kinda spaced out and would just stare off from time to time.

The weather was actually pretty decent yesterday and I thought some fresh air might help cheer her up. We went to the park (in retrospect probably not the best place for a sick child, no one else was there though) but she wasn't all that interested.

She went down all the slides, played in the sandbox and we swung together on the swings but really just wanted her mama to hold her and carry her around. I did manage to get her to crack a few smiles though.

Even though she isn't feeling so good you can tell she's trying to do her best. She wants to be happy.

Today I think she might be feeling even worse though. She woke up a lot through the night crying and she's still asleep right now (it's past 10:00 am). I've given her some acetaminophen to help with the crankiness and slight fever and will shower her with extra love and care when she wakes up.

I know this is just part of parenting but it's really sad seeing your child in the state they're in when sick.

What Can I Say?

Sometimes I take breaks from blogging, usually because I have nothing much to say, but sometimes because I get in these weird, bored with blog land kinda moods.

I go through the day and while Natalie learns a new word, or does something incredibly cute, I just don't feel like talking about every little thing right then and there and save some stuff for a larger update (like her 15 month post coming soon).

We have play dates with friends or enjoy an awesome afternoon at the park but I'm sometimes overcome with an, "Do I really need to put my whole life on display?" feeling.

Do I even need to write this post now explaining myself?

I know I'm not obligated to blog. I can share as much or as little as I'd like on any given day.

I enjoy it a lot but sometimes I just can't find it in me to stop by and update. I don't mean to sound negative or whiny in any way, I just want to give a brief reason why I go weeks without posting sometimes.

 It doesn't help that I get moody about real life sometimes and just feel stuck in a rut. I have such a good life, what is there to complain about?

Absolutely nothing.

I start to feel bored though, or like a loser. I know that sounds kinda fucked up considering my daily life is centered around Natalie. I do get lonely though, especially when the weather is freezing and we are cooped up inside all day. I have been lucky enough to have some friends come visit a few times last week and I'm really grateful for that.

Again, I know I have nothing to complain about and I'm not, I'm just letting out how I feel sometimes.

Valentine's Day

Our Valentine’s Day started out with me running over to Matt’s parent’s house in the morning so I could try and concoct his gift without him around and without Natalie destroying my project. (I also had no supplies I needed to make the gift and Matt’s mom is like a craft store, she has everything.)

 A few weeks ago I decided I would make him a card with pictures of Natalie and I. The card in theory seemed easy enough to make. Get some paper, glue the pictures to them, punch some holes in the paper and thread some string through so it can be hung on the wall.

Holy shit, when I said before that crafts weren't my niche I had no idea just how challenged I really am when it comes to making things. I don't know exactly what I did wrong, a combination of punching the holes crooked and putting too much glue on the photos/paper but the card came out looking pretty messed up. After a couple of hours it started to crumple and bend itself up.

Natalie and I went through our typical day to day activities (park, nap, running errands) and then I dropped Natalie off at Matt's parents to clean up my disgusting house and get dinner started. Matt got off work and picked Natalie up from his parent's.

Matt gave me flowers, wine and a really sappy card that made me tear up. I gave him my pathetic hand made card and laughed about it. It's a shame Natalie's not old enough that I can at least lie and say she helped make it and that's why it came out so crappy.

We ate dinner while chasing Natalie around because she can't sit still to eat for more then a few minutes at a time. Then we struggled to get Natalie to bed since her nap that day lasted longer than usual.

Finally around 11:30 she fell asleep and we spent some alone time together before going to bed.

We both had a really good night, even if things weren't perfect. I think what made yesterday so special though was making time for each other and doing little nice things for one another. A few nights ago we had a talk about how our marriage has changed since becoming parents and that has made me feel a lot  closer to Matt.

(My SLR is broken, so I haven't been able to take any quality pictures. Here are a few taken on my phone.)

Pretty cute idea that didn't work out too well. We're holding three signs, one says "we" the other is a heart and the last says "you". 

"You talkin' to me?"

Little sweetie.

She wasn't ready to wake up from her nap, so after I brought her downstairs I rocked her in the glider and she slept in my arms another half hour. That hasn't happened in at least nine months or so.

So sweet just to hold her.

Roses, wine and sappy card. Loved it.

Beating up on Daddy.

Sunday Snapshots

 We went down to the airport today to watch the planes come in and to throw a frisbee around, just to have something to do.

We only ended up staying 15 minutes because it was a lot colder out than we thought!

Had to put my scarf on her. 

Look of such wonder. 

Instagram Me

Do you like obnoxious amounts of pictures, mostly of Natalie, sometimes of my face?! If so then let's be friends on Instagram.

Click here or search for me under username: seanmariec

I'm pretty sure the ten followers I have are sick of how much I post on there already, so I could really use some new people to annoy.

Have a great weekend, and if you're in the path of the blizzard that's hitting the Northeast then stay safe! Fortunately it's just missing us here.

Earlier this week, at the park. She has a way of making swinging look like the most depressing thing to do.

Baby Cakes

I always find a reason to overindulge and not eat healthy and today is certainly no exception. I mean come on, my child is now 14 months old, why shouldn't I celebrate that by making a batch of cupcakes and shoving them into my face? I'm just being a good, loving mother by doing so.

Natalie is a really good baby and has been less of a picky eater recently, plus she's the "birthday" girl so I let her have a cupcake too.

I decorated the cupcakes with toppers shaped like cupcakes (seems a little redundant, doesn't it?) and she used it as a spoon to scoop up frosting. It made her so happy. She was smiling and kept looking at me like, "Is this really okay, Mom?"

Her face full of delight was well worth the mess I had to clean up afterwards.

Here are some little things she's been doing lately:

-She stopped saying "Da-da" and now just says "Dad," but it comes out sounding more like "Dat".

-She covers her eyes with her palms facing outward and then peeks out and yells "map!" I don't know what "map" means but I think it's her way of saying "boo".

-She asks me to dance when I have on music. She'll point to the T.V. (when I have it on the music channels that play music 24/7) and she'll asked for "more". When I ask her if she wants to dance she nods her head "yes" very enthusiastically.

-She's been doing this for about a month, but she loves spinning herself around in circles until she almost falls down.

-I'm totally jinxing this by saying it, but bedtime has gotten so much easier and less stressful. For the past three or so weeks she's been going to sleep pretty easily and at a reasonable hour. She's taking a really long nap right now though, so I already know tonight is going to be a bit of a struggle.

-She will always hug you if you're laying down. It's so sweet and she can be so affectionate.

-She walks/limps on her tipy toes from time to time.

-If you ask her what a cow says she goes, "mooo!" For a frog she sticks her tongue in and out of her mouth (like she's catching flies) and for monkey she'll say, "ahhh!"

I ran out of heart wrappers so one had to be blue. 

"A cupcake? For me?" 

Sugar rush! 

"Mmmm..."

Cry, Baby, Cry

Since it’s been going on for around five months now, I have slowly started to accept the fact that Natalie almost always prefers Matt over me.

There are the rare occasions when she will gladly leave his arms when I reach for her but most the time she clings to him and shakes her head “no” when I ask her to come to me. Instead of breaking down crying I have to just laugh about it at this point. It is kinda funny when she picks out a book and I tell her to let me read it to her but she gives me a dirty look and runs to Matt to look at it with him instead.

I work on Saturdays, so Matt is home with her all day. Today I called just to see how their day was going and he said when he laid her down for her nap, Natalie started crying and saying, "Mama," and signing "more".

It seems so wrong to be happy about it, but I am overjoyed that my child shed tears for me!

My giant greasy head up close. 

Little smirk

Thrilled.