Toddler Fear

Eliza has been having a few challenges lately- one of which is fear. All of a sudden she seems to be scared of lots of things she didn't mind before. I want to say it started happening about a month ago. At night she sometimes wakes up crying from what seems to be a nightmare. She is usually talking or crying and not fully awake. She is talking about toys so I guess she is dreaming about playing. One night she woke up and was crying to go downstairs. The other night she woke up crying about her letter puzzles. She has an obsession with the letter A in general and woke up saying, "Where's the A?".


I took her on an errand to Lowe's and thought it would be fun to show her the Christmas decorations. Bad Idea! She started freaking out and screaming, "Go Home. "I tried to cheer her up by showing her a singing snowman. bad idea #2! I hauled A$$ out of the x-mas section and that helped.


She is also wondering about every sound she hears. "What's that?" One day she heard a leaf blower outside and told me the ghost was coming. She actually started freaking me out this time. Does she have the sixth sense?


One day we attempted to enjoy the nice weather. I lugged the double stroller out of the car and took a walk to the playground on the other side of the development. She saw/heard the bulldozer and immediately wanted to go home. She clung to me as hard as she could. We ended up sitting in a pavilion and watching the bulldozer.

Her most challenging fear is of cars. As soon as we turned her front facing she started getting scared of riding in cars. This make it very difficult to do anything outside of the house. She refuses to even leave the condo if she knows we are headed to the car.

She was watching Thomas one day and was very afraid after Thomas got stuck in the mud. She has been talking about it for weeks! The other day I had The Santa Clause 2 on and she started crying when she saw the toy soldiers.

I know it is just a phase but it is certainly a challenge. I never seem know what it going to scare her. Have you had to deal with any toddler fears?

Aden and Anais Sleeping Bag Review

I was lucky enough to receive a muslin sleeping bag to review from Aden + Anais before Jude was born. I have been a big fan of this company since Eliza was little and was eager to try out any new products. As I have written before, we had to swaddle Eliza a lot. Eliza was very fussy and we had a hard time soothing her. I read about swaddling and at first I thought swaddling was ineffective. I soon realized it was my swaddling blankets that were ineffective. Luckily I discovered two companies that made amazing swaddles, one of those companies was Aden + Anais. We primarily used their swaddle blankets with Eliza for 7 months!

Here is my sweet E! This seems like only yesterday.

It is hard to believe she is 26 months already!

Here is Jude in his sister's swaddle blanket!

If you are not familiar with the company here is a little background. Aden + Anais was started by two Aussie moms who moved to the states in 1996. The arrival of their children - Aden and Anais- led to the realization that the high quality muslin swaddles that had been so prominent in Australia were not available in the states. And of course they started the company to provide American moms with amazing swaddle blankets, hooded towels, washcloths and now sleep blankets.

Unlike Eliza, Jude didn't need to be be swaddled so instead we use a sleeping bag to keep him snug as a bug. I love the muslin fabric because it is soft and breathable. The sleeping bag is made from the same 100% cotton muslin as the swaddles. There is a single layer of soft waffled cotton (which gets even softer with washing) which keeps babies cozy but prevents them from overheating.

Here is Jude rockin his mod about baby - bee sleeping bag

These muslin sleeping bags make an adorable gift for any new mom. They come in 8 prints and retail for $29.95. You can order online or check the store locator for a location near you.

I have been more than happy with my Aden + Anais products over the past few years. Although we no longer use our blankets for swaddling, we continually find other uses for them. If I could bare to part with them, I would use them as eco-friendly wrapping paper. They were certainly a worthy investment. I can't say the same about the traditional receiving blankets I have stacked in my linen closet collecting dust.

Jude is 3 months old!

My lil boy is 3 months old (14 weeks!)! I think those were the fastest three months of my life. We went to the doctor on the 18th for a shots only visit. Jude weighed 14lbs. This means he pretty much doubled his birth weight in 3 months!

We are still breastfeeding. Jude eats almost every two hours day and night. He does go a little longer on occasion to give me a break. I think he is definitely a nocturnal feeder. he eats much better at night than during the day. I have a feeling I will be nocturnal for quite some time as well.

We are also still cosleeping-of course. Eliza is sleeping in a twin bed next to our bed. Jude is in bed with us now-but we are thinking of sidecarring his crib to give us some more room. With him eating so often at night cosleeping really seems to be the best arrangement for us right now.

Jude is already a heartbreaker!

Here he is with Madison.

They were born one day apart!

Wordless Wednesday

Bye Bye Binky

Each weekend I swear I am going to blog every single day the following week- I have no idea what goes wrong-but I suspect it has something to do with Facebook and Twitter eating up my time. I'll do better this week-maybe.

On Wednesday I made the decision to put the kibosh on Eliza's binky habit. Since Jude was born she had become even more attached to her binkies and was asking for them almost all the time. Before Jude was born she had only used them for sleep. It was getting to the point where she would scream and cry uncontrollably saying, "ZAZA need binky" or "ZAZA want binky." I would say no for a while but eventually I would just give in to make her stop the insanity. I know this is probably the worst thing I could have done-but it did get her quiet.

So on Wednesday I decided no more Binky. It was kinda a spur of the moment decision. I was just fed up with the tantrums. Also, I had promised the dentist we would say goodbye at 2 years anyway and I didn't want to explain myself or lie at her appointment in December. We knew if we waited any longer it would just be harder for everyone.

We told her the binky fairy came and took her binkies to give to other little babies who needed them. We showed her the empty cup where we usually stored them and that was it. I never thought I would be using any kind of fairy story with E but-like I said-it was spur of the moment and I was desperate. Pete and I were both expecting her to go through some MAJOR withdrawal. I expected lots of crying, no naps and sleepless nights for at least a few days. However, Eliza really surprised us both. She has asked for the binky only a handful of times since Wednesday. She did cry and ask for it at bedtime the first night. I was laying in bed with Jude listening to her and Pete and I felt sad and guilty. Luckily, it didn't last long. She said, "binkies for the babies" and settled to sleep.

Overall, It has been a surprisingly easy transition. Thank goodness. She really is growing up fast!

Jude doesn't seem to be a big fan of the binky so I might phase it out after four months-unless he seems to need it still. I am wondering what life will be like when I am not constantly looking for a binky.

I'd unravel any riddle...

I miss sleep. Or should I say I miss extended periods of sleep. I miss REM. I really miss the long naps I took with Eliza when I was pregnant.

Jude still gets up every two-three hours at night and sometimes he gets up more than that.I think I have learned to live on less sleep. I just tell myself adapt, improvise and overcome. I think that is what all moms eventually do in this situation. I really have no choice but to function on what I would consider to be a schedule of mental torture. I do go to bed VERY early. I know it makes me a lame ass but if I need to go to bed at 9:00pm to function- I am going to bed.

I am pretty much brainless at this point. I do pretty well in my house doing things that require little or no thought. However, I went to the store one day and totally lost my car in the parking lot. I was wandering around and around and had no clue where I parked. I also have trouble with simple things like food shopping-the thought that goes into selecting produce is just too much for me. I ran into a neighbor and could barely hold a conversation. That is what sleep deprivation does to the brain.

I might as well have straw up there.

I have big enough bags under my eyes for a two week vacation.

ah vacation- I used to sleep on vacation.

My straw for brains has me thinkin all funny. Eliza LOVES to watch Mary Poppins and usually watches a fifteen minute snippet here and there at some point during the day. Last night we watched it too close to bed time and every single time Jude woke up to eat I could not get this song out of my head.

Sister Suffragette

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Halloween

We had a fantastic Halloween. E dressed as a flower and Jude was a giraffe. I wore a scarecrow costume my mom made about 25 years ago! We went trick-or-treating for about an hour and then E was pooped. She discovered she could EAT the candy. She handed out candy with my mom- all the while taking all the Kit Kats and declaring, "red ones for za za!" Oh Boy are we in trouble!