Tag Archives: sleep

Popular at Papa’s Party and Giving the Finger

01/19/2015 R.C. Liley 1 Comment

This past Saturday, January 17, Going Mom, Avery, and I met friends and family at Kona Grill to celebrate Papa’s (Kelley’s dad) 60th birthday. Nana had two large tables reserved and arranged the get-together for her loving husband’s big “Six-Oh”.

The party started at 4pm, which meant something all parents to babies and toddlers fear the most…..Nap Time Disruption! Despite this fear, Avery had a somewhat good nap before we made the drive down to Papa’s celebration.

We were the last ones to show, no thanks to a wreck on the highway and our own non-punctuality (c’mon, we have a baby!), but we weren’t that late.

The two tables were lined with family and friends along with a variety of appetizers to choose from. Kona Grill serves a mix of American fare along with sushi. Weird mix if you ask me, but the do serve quality food and cook from scratch. Then menu was set, but the servers kindly had a lobster sushi roll made just for me with no creamy sauce on top.

One of the pros of family gatherings is that everyone has to hold the baby, Avery, and it gives Going Mom and I a short break. The moment we arrived, before we could take our seats, Taylor and Ashlee, Avery’s cousins, rushed over to take her away.

Just hangin' with the girls — Just hangin’ with the girls

We enjoy a little free-from-baby time, family gets to hold our precious baby, and we all win! The infatuation with holding other peoples’ babies, I don’t totally understand, but our baby, it’s a no brainer, she’s the prettiest one EVER! Biased Parenting, we all do it, right?

Avery behaved better than expected for getting passed around all over the restaurant and also running around all over the restaurant as everyone took turns chasing after her. Well, there was one moment when I think Avery got a little annoyed with the constant too close for comfort attention. She didn’t say it, but in this case pictures really do speak louder than words!

Cute, huh? How's this for "cute"?! — Cute, huh? How’s this for “cute”?!

It was great to see my mom (G-Ma) there, and despite Avery flipping the bird, she took part in the baby holding/chasing experience.

Two beautiful ladies!

Speaking of, Nana and Aunt Lindsay along with a good friend all got the memo to wear white and looked fabulous as usual.

Left to Right: Friend, Nana, Aunt Lindsay

I was lucky enough to have my picture taken with two beautiful ladies as well. One with my wonderful mom….

….and another with Going Mom/my stunning wife!

Everyone complimented Avery on how precious she was and repeatedly told us how they adored her. We love hearing compliments about our awesome baby, and we couldn’t agree more with each bit of praise she receives. There was one instance, when someone tried to tell us Avery doesn’t have baby fat and that we need to give her sugar. I laughed for a second, then put my serious face on to get ready for battle!

Luckily, they finally gave up and Going Mom and I were able to contain ourselves (kinda) as we clenched our teeth. Phew, never challenge our parenting, especially when it comes to what we feed our daughter!!

Anyway, as the party neared the end, Papa was presented with a big carrot cake as we all sang “Happy Birthday” to him. Nana made sure to cheer him on as he drew in a big breath to blow out the candles. Luckily she didn’t have a candle for each year, he’d need a big breath and fire extinguisher to put those out! Sorry, Steve, just had a give you a good ole son-in-law jab at your age! Will you still let me keep your daughter as my wife? Okay, just one picture with her, but seriously, I want her back! 🙂

After opening gifts and the cake presentation, Avery had made several rounds with everyone holding and playing with her and we were still proud at how well she held up. But, she finally started getting cranky and wound up back with us.

It didn’t take long for us to catch on to Avery’s cues of being tired and ready to leave, so we said our goodbyes and made the trek back home.

Since we didn’t have much of the appetizers, we were hungry, and despite it being late, we still went for our evening (fast) walk before dinner. Avery slept well that night, and for that, so did we.

Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Steve/Papa, we all love you!

Do you have events that require a disruption from normal nap time procedure?

If so, is it hard for you to find an alternative?

Ever catch your kid giving the finger to the camera? To you?

Life, Parenting

#TBT: Fighting Sleep at G-Ma’s House

12/18/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Since she was born, we have only made a handful of trips to spend the night at G-Ma’s (my mom) with Avery. But, G-Ma has come to stay at our house numerous times and we are forever grateful for all of her help. We really appreciate her watching Avery when Going Mom and I have a couple’s night.

With each visit we’ve made to G-Ma’s house, my wife and I always have the same question to ponder; will she sleep? Granted, that’s a daily concern for any parent anywhere, even at home. But, the difficulty level seems to increase ~~three~~ infinity fold (it’s a thing) when we go to G-Ma’s to spend the night.

Last weekend we spent the night there and, as expected, Avery did not go down easily or quietly. I get it, sleeping in a different place with different surroundings is tough for anyone. Plus, having to sleep in a small play yard instead of her crib with solid wood rails that she can kick like a kangaroo only exacerbates the issue. I mean, before I go to sleep, I have to kick something in bed really hard for a while first. My poor wife, huh?

Just as we thought, Avery fought sleep as my awesome, breastfeeding wife stood the front lines and ran the course of nursing her to sleep like she does every night. Lately, Avery will be out cold in her arms, but the moment she goes to lay her down, you’d think she set her on a tack.

Who needs a baby monitor when you can hear the shrill screams reverberate throughout the house and probably next door too? The crying gives Going Mom anxiety, but it doesn’t affect me too much. Must be a motherly bond thing; anyone else experience this?

After going back in to offer the comfort of boob, Kelley nursed Avery to sleep once more. And, upon lying her in the play yard, Avery shot right back up and started crying again. Maybe there is a tack in there? #fail

This time we let Avery run her course of a screaming fit for 30 grueling minutes until she finally succumbed to sleep. G-Ma somehow fell asleep during the long spell, but Kelley and I were wide awake, listening to our daughter’s excellent, ear-piercing vocals.

Despite the sleeping (or lack thereof), we had a great time with G-Ma and Avery even got a “new” smartphone from G-Ma. It was her old, non-working iPhone, but she was adamant about keeping it with her the whole time. Avery spent plenty of time walking around the house to point out things that needed baby-proofing and show off her new walking skills.

Got my iPhone and I can walk....I Rule!! — Got my iPhone and I can walk….I Rule!!

We were all impressed and scared at the same time since you can’t hear babies as well when they are on their feet vs crawling on their hands and knees. How do they get around so quickly and quietly?!

What? Did you not hear me walk over here and sit right behind your feet?

It’s hard to believe that Avery was just a frumpy baby hardly rolling around when we spent the night at G-Ma’s last March and put old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle puzzles together. Avery fought sleep that time too, even after I had a long conversation with her before we left home and she promised to be good.

She's grown since.... — She’s grown since….

As you can see, we had an action packed night!

Drinking and cartoon puzzles is where it's at! — Drinking and cartoon puzzles is where it’s at!

The next month, April, we visited G-Ma again and were excited for Avery’s increase in activity from only a month ago. She was more attentive to her surroundings and could sit up much better. At this point, it was exciting because we could lay her on a blanket and watch her roll around. Sleep, as my might’ve guessed, was still an issue.

Ahhh, the times of having control of where our baby could go! Now, on our last trip, she had us moving from room to room and picking up debris along the way. What a destructive little girl!

Good thing G-Ma is very, VERY patient (she raised 2 boys after all) and didn’t mind Avery’s rearranging of the house. That, or this is just a forced smile…..nahhhh

We aren’t sure when the next time we’ll be spending the night at G-Ma’s is, but one thing’s certain, we’ll still fear nighttime!

Do you have trouble staying the night at your relatives’ house with your kid?

Any advice on how to make it easier; for the kids and parents?

Life, Parenting

Why I Now Cherish Our Teething Baby…..Kind of

11/04/2014 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

It hurts right about.....EVERYWHERE!! — It hurts right about…..EVERYWHERE!!

All weekend long, Avery spent most of the time in a cranky, no good for nothing mood, and poor Going Mom didn’t get to see much of a happy baby. I’ve come to accept the fussiness from Avery since she is my “co-worker” every day of the week, but it bothers me when she is so cantankerous on the weekends.

I always hope Avery will be in a great mood all weekend long while Mommy is home so Kelley can see only Happy Avery, but it rarely happens to work out that way. I can’t explain how appreciative I am of Kelley for taking over most of the baby duty on the weekend, and actually, I really need to work on doing more since I’m guilty of taking advantage. Sorry, dear, I’ll do better! 🙂

After reading through a list of symptoms for a certain stage of teething, we quickly confirmed Avery was in a full blown session of sprouting molars. Biting, excessive pooping, very moody, hands in mouth, refusing food, etc. You name it, Avery was doing it.

Most of the signs started showing on Friday, and lasted until, well, they’re still here actually. Damn. But besides the agony of hearing your baby in agony, something happened late Sunday night/early Monday morning; we had a family bonding experience.

It was the usual scene in our house, we were in the living room and I was eating (I typically eat 2 big meals a day, and the 2nd one is the biggest and late at night) the second part of my meal and Kelley was asleep on the couch when Avery’s cries emanated through the monitor. Sometimes they’re really quick and only happen when she is shifting in her crib, this wasn’t one of those times.

Sitting up and screaming, my stubborn self tried to tell Kelley to just let it pass, but she’s too caring of a mother and quickly went to Avery’s aid to nurse her back to sleep. Or so she thought. Instead, Avery nursed some but then wouldn’t have anymore and instead more screaming ensued.

I was still sitting down with the last of my food when I heard the screaming start back up, and continued for several minutes. Finally, I put what I had back in the fridge and went to see how I could help. Before I made it to the nursery, Kelley appeared in the living room with our poor little Avery crying in pain.

We sat in the living room as Kelley held Avery and tried to figure out what to do. Turn on the TV? No, too stimulating. Give her homeopathic teething pills? No, too ineffective at this point. Pet the cat? Ohhh, yes, that worked…….for a minute. Our attempts were futile so we continued sitting there holding Avery and hoping she’d finally calm down and go back to sleep.

Hoping only gets you far. After taking turns holding her, I suggested we just lay on the rug in the middle of our living room and hope she falls asleep with us or we’ll all join in on the crying fest. We grabbed pillows from the couch and laid down next to each other with Avery to see what she would do.

More crying followed, interspersed with yawns and putting her hands in her mouth. Going Mom was taking a beating from Avery’s flailing limbs, so I took over holding our restless baby. Still crying and squirming in my arms, we were at our wit’s end on what else to do, so I just laid flat on my back and had Avery resting on her back on my stomach. I mean, why not, right?

Well, the crying stopped, but every half second she’d turn her head to the left or right and swing her arms around. I felt like it was a lost cause, but then Avery grew silent and her arms hung to the side and head stayed still. She was quiet and almost asleep!

Kelley and I exchanged glances in disbelief as it happened so suddenly, but we didn’t want to risk testing her. Part of me felt extremely guilty after my dear wife spent so long trying to comfort Avery and after she became so exhausted, she winds up falling asleep on me. But then again, maybe my wife didn’t really want a 20+ pound baby lying on her chest on the flat, hard ground.

My lower back was in pain and my feet couldn’t stretch all the way out, but there was no way I was messing this up! She was sliding a little, so I slowly turned Avery over on her stomach while still on my chest and secured her as best as I could. Kelley and I, laying side by side on our living room floor, said “I love you” to each other and fell asleep.

Okay, I didn’t sleep much as I had to keep readjusting Avery and my urge to pee was increasing by the minute. Finally, after about an hour and a half, I really had to pee and didn’t see Avery lasting much longer on my chest anyway. Using my Turkish Get-up skills, I stood up with Avery still asleep and laid her in her crib. She hardly budged, poor girl was worn out!

Our bed welcomed Kelley and me as we transferred from the floor, but as uncomfortable as it was, I will always look back on that night and smile. We rarely get to hold Avery to our chest when sleeping like we did almost daily as a newborn, so this rare occasion was a treat. And to think, I didn’t even want my wife going in there in the first place! Thank you, Kelley, for not listening to me! 🙂

This post is part of the Brilliant Blog Posts Link-up on the Honest Mum blog. Make sure to head on over and see all of the featured Brilliant Blog Posts from bloggers all over!

Do you have any sweet memorable moments during a stressful time?