Z: August 2007 Archives
And you thought that you could only play those dancing games with a game console and a dance pad. Au contraire says my Z Baby. Come 5 to 7 pm every day now*, she has come up with an alternate way to play -- Dance, Dance Revolution Baby Style.
First of all, Mommy, get some comfy dancing clothes. Nothing too warm, since we're going to get sweaty. After that, it's time to strap on the Baby Bjorn** and put me in it. OK! Now I'm ready. Next, load up iTunes and queue up some music. You know how I love that Erasure greatest hits album***. Now it's time to dance, Mommy. Dance, Mommy, Dance! Here's how I'm going to let you know if you're getting the steps right.
If you're failing to hit those beats on the current tune, be prepared to see this:
If you're getting most of it right, but not quite hitting those beats like you should, I'll let you know by giving you this look:
If you're doing really well, hitting most of those beats, I'll give you this sign:
And if you really nail those beats, the game ends and you get the big prize:
Ready, Mommy? Let's go! 1...2...3... Dance!
* It's the subject of some debate as to whether Ms. Z is colicky or not. My mother in law thinks she is (based on two babysitting sessions that happen to occur during her regular fussy phase). I think she just has a more active phase of the day (some days she will go with almost no sleep between 5 and midnight -- although this behavior is not consistent... some days she sleeps on a very regular schedule) and that she gets bored and/or over-tired and then starts to fuss, as her crying can be ameliorated by walking around with her. I will admit that she definitely has her moments -- Z is not one of those completely peaceful babies who spends all her waking time cooing happily -- but she doesn't cry for three hours straight for no reason, either. Maybe I just don't want to give her a label that suggests "problem baby" so that I (and others) won't start to think about her that way. I like to think she's just a very interactive baby with a way too active brain that needs constant stimulation, but that can't quite handle all the stimulation that it wants.
** The Baby Bjorn is a gift from the gods right now. It is the Z baby's favorite mode of conveyance and one of the only ways to calm her when she hits her fussy period.
*** You can all laugh, but whenever John and I turn on the 80's dance music, this kid stops what she's doing and pays attention. They say babies' musical tastes are influenced by what they heard while they were in the womb... poor Zosia. All that blast from the past music her mother likes is going to be stuck with her forever. At least I got some Scissor Sisters in there to balance it out.
Since my baby is probably my biggist DIY project ever, and since taking care of her is such a big part of my life now, I've decided that once a week or so I'll probably have a post devoted to her and what is going on, what I'm thinking about or reading or observing. I'll try to make these posts obvious so that anyone who doesn't want to hear about babies doesn't have to stick around to find out there's no knitting or crafting involved.
I always figured I'd have a baby who challenged me. I just didn't think she'd be a pediatric rebel so soon.
Yesirree Bob, Z's favorite nap time position is on her tummy -- something that the pediatric medical community, the March of Dimes and just about every other organization that has anything to do with babies is rather opposed to given studies of SIDS that indicate babies who aren't on their backs have a higher risk of SIDS. But when you let Z sleep on her tummy, she goes to sleep better on her own, she doesn't need to be all swaddled up and it seems like she sleeps better. Apparently my baby has not been reading all the reports -- or she's been reading them and has already decided she needs to rebel against the confines of societal dictates.
And you know what? I'm not entirely discouraging her.
Before I get labeled as a terrible Mom, let me put a few things out on the table. 1) When we put her down in her crib for her night time snoozes, we do put her on her back. 2) When she's tummy sleeping, there's almost always someone with her and she's on a firm surface. 3) We started letting her do this because we spent some time watching her while she was fussy and having a hard time getting to sleep when we knew she needed to get to sleep -- when we held her against our chests or let her roll onto her tummy (which, amazingly, she can almost do on her own and she is always trying to do) she calmed down and was easier to soothe.
If I'm learning anything about being a mom, it's that it's usually worth paying attention to advice (especially when it comes to the health of the child), but that sometimes I have to take a look at my child individually and see if there are extenuating circumstances. I think this is some of the hardest stuff I have had to do with her so far. Like most folks, when people I respect make recommendations, I want to follow them. In fact, I'm really hard wired into following rules (if we were playing D&D I would definitely be in the "lawful" part of the alignment spectrum) and it's often very difficult for me to think outside the rule-based box (y'all should have seen me agonizing over the "right" time to introduce a bottle so that I wouldn't disturb her breastfeeding instincts). But while babies follow developmental trends, they don't follow rules. They don't know that there are rules. They just know what they like. And my baby likes her tummy time -- whether she is cuddled up on someone's chest or enjoying her Gymini or hanging out with her parents on our futon in the computer room.
Along the way, I have also discovered another rule: Happy, well rested baby = Happy parents.
So I'm breaking one rule in favor of honoring another. I think I'm making the right decision for Z and for my mental health!
P.S. Yes, I also know about the recommendations against loose blankets for infants. Once again, it helps her sleep and I was in the room all the time she was sleeping under it.
We had a good adventure into Michigan for the Michigan Fiber Festival on Saturday. Zosia slept all the way there (and most of the way back), Mom got to do a little shopping, Dad got to catch a short nap, and Grandma and Grandpa got some high quality baby time. In fact, I didn't have the baby much at all except to nurse her. Zosia spent a lot of time in her Baby Bjorn with one of her grandparents while we strolled through the festival.
Which gave me the chance to take a look at the goods to be had. I was pretty reserved this festival. Really, I don't need any more yarn right now (at least not until I finish something I'm already working on) and I really don't need much fiber at the moment either. But I always get drawn into Tracy Bunkers booth. I guess last time I saw her, I must not have been spinning, because I didn't remember the spinning fiber. So I made up for that with a few spinning stash additions.
Both of the bits of fiber I got are dyed in her Limeola colorway. The bundle on the left is a Silk/Merino/Alpaca blend and the roving on the right is superwash merino. I think both are destined to be two ply yarns. The Silk/Merino/Alpaca I'm going to attempt to get into the lace/sport weight range, the superwash merino is going to be, you guessed it, sock yarn. The whole green thing is out of my usual range of color selections -- perhaps my eye is being influenced by someone I know who has a passion for greens in this range?
Speaking of Alpaca, alpaca seems to be the new black these days. Almost every booth I went into seemed to have a good deal of alpaca or alpaca blend fibers and yarns. Alpaca is not generally my thing, as fiber goes, (not enough elasticity for me, and I find it to be a little hairy) so while I admired a lot of things, not very much ended up in my shopping basket.
Two other things that I was happy to find were Addi Turbo lace needles and Cat Bordi's new sock book. I always like to see creative new approaches to sock knitting and New Pathways for Sock Knitters looks like the kind of book that helps get the creative juices flowing. I've only been able to go through it at a cursory level, but her illustrations are lovely, and there are a number of sock projects I can see myself tackling. And I love how she demonstrates most of the sock designs and techniques on small sized socks -- given the new addition to my world, I think it would be kind of fun to try out a new technique and add to Ms. Z's wardrobe at the same time.
And speaking of Ms. Z... I didn't get too many pictures of her because she was busy entertaining her grandparents (and doing a lot of sleeping). But I did get one picture that I really loved.
Of course, you can't tell in this picture, but my Dad and Z are sitting on top of my parents' Gold Wing Trike (a Gold Wing where the rear axle has two wheels instead of just one) -- so Z has now officially been on her first motorcycle!
