From Clingy to Carefree

Some of the changes that have occurred since I stopped blogging for a few months have been big things. One of them is school. Well, sort of. Squiggle attends the same school (a preschool and child care center) that Bobble does, though she is only 2 ½ years old. I guess she’s in pre preschool?

She has been there many times while I pick up or drop off her brother, and when I would volunteer to help with functions or parties with his class. Sometimes I would take her to pick him up 30 minutes before we actually needed to leave, and I’d let her play with the other kids for those 30 minutes (the staff never minded).

Considering how clingy she is, I was still really worried with how she’d take being away from me. The longest she had ever been away from me was 2 hours, and that was once. I was getting a hair cut and running to a store, and she was home with her dad. There would be times I would come home from a brief outing (15min) and she would be hyperventilating or in hysterics because I left. She was with her father. Let me repeat: SHE WAS WITH HER FATHER.

She loves her daddy. It’s not like she doesn’t like being with him. She totally adores him… but he’s not mom. She is really that clingy, and that’s something that has always surprised me considering how strong-willed and independent she acts.

I am still at home with the kids, but as I near the end of my degree program, the work load gets heavier. That makes sense, so we made the decision to send her to school for a couple days a week for just a few hours in the morning. She would throw a tantrum every time her brother left (or we dropped him off and she was in the car) and she couldn’t go. She really, really wanted to go. We just crossed our fingers that this was the right decision for her.

Her first day of school she didn’t care we showed up to pick her up. I’m not joking! We both showed up to collect Squiggle and Bobble, and Squiggle just kept running around and around, playing with the kids in her class. When she saw us, she grinned at us and kept running with her friends. She didn’t care that we were there.

Her teacher mentioned that at about 2.5 hours into her 3.5 hour school day, she teared up a bit and asked for mommy. The teacher told her we would be there after she eats, and invited her to come play. She did. That was the only time she cried for me, though she did ask for me a couple other times that first week.

She has now been at school for about 6 weeks, and still throws a tantrum when we take her brother and not her (he goes 5 days a week for preschool, she goes 3 days). That can only be a good sign, right?

This is all being shared with you not to just keep you updated on my family, but for encouragement. I know there are many, many parents out there with really clingy children. I know they probably had people questioning their parenting style because their child still sleeps with them (in their bed, in their room, whatever), still nurses, etc. Even a super clingy child that was still cosleeping and would cry if you try to leave them with their daddy for a minute can transition to being away from parents quickly and amazingly well. 

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

What we've been up to

I thought I'd take these few quiet minutes while Bobble is sleeping (and inevitably getting ready to wake up since I started this post, right?) to let you all into my world a little bit. I know I haven't done a "what's happening" sort of entry in a while, so here's what's going on in our neck of the woods!

Bobble was moved from the younger group of children in his Montessori Toddler Program to the older group of children. They are still in the same room with the same teachers, but the activities are slightly different. They made this move a bit before the holidays because they noticed him imitating the older children more, and just showing more interest in them in general. Since moving to that group, he has started (verbally) speaking a bit more (remember, he signs) and listens every bit as well as the older children in the program.

This was great news for me, as I'm slightly concerned about his (verbal) speech. I don't think my child has a learning disability, and I can tell he's very smart.... but he's simply not saying much and I guess I really can't wait for him to start verbally speaking more. Yes, I know, I know. "Once they start talking, you won't get them to shut up!" I've heard that a million times. I try not to compare him to other children, but there are boatloads of other children who speak before age 2. He turned 2 this past week, and I don't think he (verbally) says 20 words. He understands beautifully. He can follow complex directions easily. He definitely has no issue knowing what we're saying.... he just doesn't say it himself. Our pediatrician isn't worried since he knows well over 120 signs and obviously knows the meanings of words since he can do multi-part tasks, but I'm just sitting here knowing that I spoke (phrases) at 10 months, and seeing people commenting on their children speaking (before one).... and then seeing them post things on social networking pages like their son "said he wanted *name* for his birthday." ....that child was just a couple days under two, but was asking for his younger sister (at that point, due any day) by her name. That is what he wanted as a present.

Slight bit of jealousy there, I suppose. I know Bobble will get there, but boy would it be nice if that happened sooner than later. Especially when it comes to him needing to interact with teachers at school!

On the Squiggle front, I'm 17w4d pregnant with Squiggle. I've been a bit down about the pregnancy, too. I kept thinking that the second time around I'd feel movement sooner. Granted, I think I've felt movement that was baby-related.... but nothing so obvious that I can't brush it off as potentially something else. It would have helped if I hadn't gotten that horrid stomach bug (last week? the week before? I don't remember!) that caused all sorts of gurglies in my stomach around the same time I started feeling movement. Now my brain just doesn't want to believe it's baby, I guess.

On a positive note, we loved the midwife we went to see a few weeks back. I'm so relieved to finally have a person we are comfortable with... that really helps put my mind at ease for a few things down the road!

We have our anomaly scan for Squiggle scheduled for Monday, the 11th of February. Yes, I will be finding out the gender if they cooperate. I'm more concerned with making sure everything is okay with Squiggle, though. Hopefully everything turns out fantastic, and maybe they won't be shy, either! I'm still betting on Squiggle being a girl. I've felt Squiggle was a girl since I realized we might end up getting pregnant that cycle (so before a positive test, even!). There have been a few differences with the pregnancy, too. For starters, I've had lots of morning sickness. With Bobble, I could just eat something with carbs every hour or two and I was good. Yeah... totally didn't work this time around.

Also, I didn't have any weird cravings with Bobble. Sure, I wanted steak.... but when don't I? The biggest thing with Bobble was the huge food aversion to grilled chicken (just the taste, not the smell), and the huge food aversion to fast food. (At that point in time, I wasn't completely aware as to how fast food meat was really.... well, made, I guess. I don't eat fast food now.) With Squiggle, I've had random cravings for..... fast food. Thank goodness if I give in to it, it sounds repulsive if I think about it after... which is good because that stuff IS repulsive! So far it's only happened twice, and two completely different types of fast food. I still hate the fact I even ate it, though. Squiggle won't let me really eat chicken at all (which is my favorite meat!), and the SMELL of it is gross to me. I have craved jalapeno poppers, though. I'm not a spicy food sort of person, but I've been wanting these a lot lately. I think I'm going to start getting my own peppers, halving them, and putting cream cheese in the middle and just baking them. I find the breading gross, and the fact they are processed means they have to have gross stuff in them. I'll try my own and see how it works out. I really just want the pepper and cheese, anyway.

Lastly, the heart rate. Bobble's heart rate was in the 170s a lot, and later in the 160s. I believe Squiggle's heart rate at the last appointment was in the upper 140s. I know that the heart rate doesn't actually tell you what the child will be.... but if nothing else, I'm hoping that means that Squiggle will be a more lax child. I could really use a break! *laughs*

Hubby started classes back up two weeks ago. He's been very busy trying to stay on top of school work already. Heck, he has an exam this week! It sure moves quickly... that's one thing I don't miss about school!

So, that's about it as far as home life goes. We at least all seem to be healthy for the time being... I'm sure you noticed that by all the posts lately. Slowly but surely, I'm catching up!

Speaking of posts... you'll want to keep your eye out for a big announcement in a couple of weeks. It's something you're not going to want to miss!

I guess I had it coming

Anyone that's followed this blog for a while knows that I wrote about pinkeye, and how I had unintentionally been judging those parents way back when. I just thought it was so gross how they didn't wash their hands, and didn't think anything of it. Obviously, from the entry linked above, you can see I realized that might be inaccurate, and it was unfair of me to assume they don't wash their hands.

Then there's today. I have pinkeye. My son has pinkeye. My husband has pinkeye. The only household members without pinkeye? My 3 cats. So I knew that pinkeye was highly contagious, and I knew that you could get it from not washing your hands after bathroom usage/diaper changes. When I got a letter from Bobble's school (Montessori -- he goes to childcare there) stating that they had a child with a confirmed case of pinkeye, I wasn't too concerned. That child was actually in preschool, Bobble is in the Toddler Program.

Unfortunately, Bobble has been sick since September started, much less October. Teething, Stomach Bug, Cold, Staph (rash), Ear Infection, Pinkeye, Thrush, Yeast..... it's been one battle after another. Two weeks ago was the Upper Respiratory Infection and Pinkeye diagnosis. Drats. I thought I got away without the pinkeye issue. Three days ago I woke up with a less-than-happy eye, but I didn't think it was pinkeye for a few reasons:

• Bobble has no visible signs of Pinkeye anymore
• I had no crusties or drainage of any type
• My eye was only bloodshot near the tear duct, nowhere else

Well, the following morning, I woke up with crusties and my entire eye unhappy. Shoot. On the bright side, I have the ability to just use my breastmilk to take care of it, though I wasn't certain how much or how often to use it. I called my doctor's office and they told me 2-3 drops 4-5x a day. Yes, they actually gave me a dosage for my own breastmilk. At least that means they know it will work, right?

I went to work anyway, as I had a deadline that only I could work on, and they needed it. When I was done working, they "strongly encouraged" me to go home. I was promised I wouldn't be in trouble for missing work (since I had missed a lot with Bobble lately... namely just leaving early for appointments), and then gave me the okay to take off today as well to get "less contagious". I argued a wee bit with them, saying I didn't see how it was that big of a deal. I was using germ-x at my PERSONAL computer if I touched my face (before touching my desk/mouse/keyboard again), the couple of times I used a public computer I lysoled the mouse/keyboard, and I didn't use my hands to open doors at all. I told them that it wasn't like I was going to rub my eye on people. A co-worker chimed in that you can get it without touching the person.... and that she knew this from working at a daycare way-back-when.

This intrigued me, so I Googled it. First things first, I didn't realize there was a bacterial form and a viral form of pinkeye. Here's what I learned:

Viral pinkeye

Viral pinkeye is often caused by an adenovirus, which is a common respiratory virus that can also cause a sore throat or upper respiratory infection. The herpes virus can also cause viral pinkeye.
From: http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/tc/pinkeye-topic-overview

Bacterial pinkeye

An infection may develop when bacteria enter the eye or the area around the eye. Some common infections that cause pinkeye include:

• Staph infection.
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib).
• Cat-scratch disease.
• Gonorrhea.
  From: http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/tc/pinkeye-topic-overview

 Soooo, as you can see, it wasn't just from "bathroom" related things! I honestly had no idea. So we all have had some sort of virus that has caused throat pain and coughing for the last 1-3 weeks (depending on which one of us it is), and my little Bobble also was being treated for a (staph) rash. I guess we were just doomed for this one.

I also thought we were in the clear when I caught pinkeye. Bobble had no symptoms anymore, as I said. He has, however, been poking me in the eye (learning body parts, and eyes/nose are his current favorites), and I'm assuming that's how I got it.

Yesterday I administered breastmilk drops to my eye. My husband insisted upon buying the eyedrop medicine. By the end of the day yesterday, my eye looked 2x better than it had (still bad though). It also was instant relief when milk was dropped into my eye. Today, my eye looks barely bloodshot at all. Nobody would think it was anything more than maybe an eyelash snuck into my eye. That's it. I love it! Still using milk, but it's always on hand, so not a big deal. My husband, however, put in eye drops last night. Instantly started going "owwwwwww, this STINGS!!!!!". He still insists that he must use those drops as he doesn't think the milk will help. I guess he likes the pain. I'm just thankful that I'm still breastfeeding!

Cloth and Childcare

This past Thursday Bobble finished up his third week of childcare at the Montessori School. This has been a big transition for us as he had never been in the care of someone else for any real period of time. My husband drops him off in the morning and I pick him up on the way home from work.

Each night that is a "school" night, I pack up a cute little backpack for Bobble. Inside I have a change of clothes, a couple cloth diapers, cloth wipes, a sample size of CJ's, spray solution, a wet bag, and some disposable wipes (in case they happen to run out of the cloth ones for that day -- I imagine that could happen if he has a couple of nasty diapers). It has worked out pretty well so far, though we have had a few unexpected issues.

Now, honestly, these "issues" might have been easily foreseen by someone, but I guess I just figured I covered all bases with the teachers already, and there would not be any issues. At the end of last school year I had gone in and showed the different diapers to the teachers, showed them a wet bag, and showed them the wipes. I explained that any diaper sent for him will be ready to put on (pre-stuffed, pre-snapped in, pre-whatevered to make it ready-to-go), and that he would always have a wet bag for dirty diapers. They were impressed by the changes in cloth since they last used them, and requested that I please try to send only aplix/hook&loop/velcro diapers since it's hard to get a wiggly toddler to hold still for the change, much less figuring out which snaps they needed. That was fair. I purchased a couple extra aplix diapers (oh darn!), and made sure I had enough to cover all 3 days of childcare since they are all in a row and I probably wouldn't have the diaper laundry ready to go in time. (I might have washed the load, but not dried it yet, or not stuffed something in time to run out the door so I'm not late in the morning, etc etc etc.)

So, the issues!

Issue #1: I picked up Bobble to find that he had one dirty diaper in an empty s'posies package to be sent home.

*blink* Really? I check to see if I forgot a wet bag. Nope. I stare in disbelief that he had ONE dirty diaper from 8:30am until 4:30 when I picked him up. I spoke with the husband about this and he agreed that if they are only doing one diaper change, then we have a problem. He spoke with them the next morning and we found out that they check at 9, noon, and 3pm (and if they smell something or see a diaper issue!). He had a clean diaper when he got there, changed at noon, and I guess it didn't seem dirty at 3pm or they got confused. It was their first day and a different teacher changes them each time. I figured I could overlook this since it was day one and they were trying to get things straightened up and in order. The teacher that did change him did a horrible job putting the diaper on! He didn't leak, but I feared a future visit with a diaper changing 101 theme to it. She also didn't realize what the wet bag was. I later learned she thought it was a cute shirt since she saw a cute dinosaur print (never took it out) and just figured she needed to find a bag.

Okay, so none of those issues were ever "issues" again. He is frequently sent home with 2 diapers dirty (which makes sense since he gets there 30 mins before a check), and the wet bags are almost always used.

Almost always.

Issue #2: I was so proud of my adorable wet bags with prints that by the time I finally sent a plain (solid white) wet bag, they didn't realize what it was without the adorable print, and put diapers in plastic bags to send home. D'oh!

The next time I sent that wet bag, it got used.

Issue #3: Wipes. It didn't dawn on me that I didn't have to replace the cloth wipes in his bag until after week 2. I asked my husband if he had put more wipes in, and he said he hadn't. I mentioned that I haven't noticed any wipes in the wet bags. Then I noticed a note. That same day they had sent home a note asking for more wipes. I then realized they had been using the disposables only. I purchased another pack of disposables and placed them in the bag, but wrote a little note requesting that they please use the cloth and spray solution since he tends to break out when using disposables, but that I will keep disposables in there in case there is something too difficult (for them) to use cloth on, or if they run out. Granted, he is much better with the disposables since we started buying Earth's Best wipes, but that doesn't mean I want to use disposables regularly. If they had put up a fight, I would have conceded since they were still using cloth diapers (which I'm thankful for!).

They have not used the last few disposable wipes, and the new package isn't open. I have had to replace the cloth wipes though. Awesomeness.

And finally, an issue that is 100% MY FAULT:

Issue #4: I have a horrible tendency to take the wet bags from childcare out of his backpack, throw them next to the pail in his room, and then grab the clean diapers and wet bag to refill his backpack with and place it near the door for the next morning. I do this so I won't forget to put the stuff in there.... but I forget about the wet bag. What's worse, I forget that they CANNOT empty any diaper into the toilet, even if it's a ploppable poo. I guess it's a hygiene issue (the poo could splash water up, they might miss the toilet, where they would have to set the diaper until they got the child re-diapered, dressed, cleaned up and out of the room... ), and I understand that, but I forget about that possibility.

A lot.

Bobble normally goes first thing in the morning, before school and everything. This fact makes me forget that there is the possibility he could have gone at school. A couple of times I've grabbed one of the bags and taken it to the washer along with my hanging pail and pail liner, only to find a nasty diaper in there. Yep. Those are fun to clean out the next day. Heck, those suck to clean out at the end of that same day, let alone any amount of time past that!

Looking at those issues, they all resolved themselves except for #4, and #4 is totally my issue, not the school's issue. We've had great luck with cloth and childcare so far, and I look forward to the rest of the school year going even more smoothly. They've noticed when he was a bit red and applied the CJ's cream I had in his bag. Their diapering abilities with these diapers have DRASTICALLY improved (you wouldn't know they were newbies anymore!). They use cloth wipes and spray without hesitation. I really couldn't ask for more. Well, aside from use of a diaper sprayer, but they turned down my offer to supply one (the whole hygiene reason, remember?).

In case you're curious, here are the types of (APLIX) diapers I send for him on any given day:
BumGenius 4.0 with just the large insert
BumGenius AIO
Kawai'i Baby (just 1 insert)
Grovia (with a liner already laying across the snapped-in insert to help keep wetness away from skin)
Thirsties DUO AIO

Sneak-entry!

I hate being unable to write much, but it's been the norm the last week or so. Unfortunately for me, not only has Bobble started cutting his two upper canines, but he had a bug last weekend, seems to be getting a cold now, and also decided to break my wireless router. This means I have very limited use of the internet at this point in time. My husband is back in classes and he needs to be using his computer for those, so I understand. He is on his way back from class now, Bobble is sleeping, so I'm letting you know where I disappeared to!

I also wanted to let you know of a couple of blog topics I am going to be writing about in the near future:

• Baltic Amber
• Maternity Clothes (Get the most out of your money!)
• Healthy (/healthier) food ideas for your little one
• Using Covers (with prefolds/flats)
• Stuffing Pocket Diapers (quickly, even when the PUL is sticky!)
• Halloween
• Our Experience With Cloth at Childcare

If you have any other topics you would like to see covered, or simply have something you want me to  simply talk about, let me know! I always read all comments left.