Tag Archives: sleep

A Hissing Goose and An Ass Woke My Baby

03/28/2014 R.C. Liley 5 Comments

Hello, how is everybody doing? Probably better than other days since you’re reading this on Friday. Right?

Well, Thursday started out pretty similar to other mornings in our house. Kelley woke up to get ready for work and I laid in bed a little longer with our sleeping burrito, better known as Avery in a swaddle.

She was extra squirmy when I brought her to bed early in the morning, and poor Kelley had to deal with her wrath while trying to feed her. Even with her hands stuck to her side, Avery is a mover and shaker!

On the Supreme 90 workout schedule, I had Tabata Inferno to tend to as Avery kept me company. She kept flashing me smiles whenever I’d look at her and stayed happy for the most part. Then, close to the end, I caught her eyes going in and out; time for a nap!

But first, I figured I’d take a shot at getting Avery to roll from her back to her stomach. She did it for the first time with Going Mom on Wednesday night, but I missed it because I was in the kitchen. I can’t get myself out of that place! Anyway, I was determined to capture her rolling on film……..or memory; whatever it’s called now.

Annnnnddd, she did it! After filming her for a total of 30 minutes the day before and only getting a lot of close calls, she rolled both ways in a couple of minutes! Awesome, proud parent alert! Here’s the video:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwF8SvLDeXc?rel=0&w=420&h=315]

After her triumph, she went down for her morning nap with a little more pride and experience under her onesie.

She must’ve been pretty worn out after all of the twisting because she slept good! Once awake, it was time to go on our long walk and enjoy the warmer, although humid, weather. Oh yeah, it was really windy too, so I made good use of the integrated hood on the Onya to keep Avery shielded.

It didn’t take long and she was asleep again. Must be pretty cozy in there! Along our usual route, we ran into two geese on two separate occasions. The first time was a goose we see almost every time we walk, and the entire neighborhood has given him several names.

Henry, Harry, Marvin, and Chris. So I guess we’re going with it being a male! The other goose we ran into was a Canadian goose with a black, snaky neck and a mean hiss to boot. I knew that they can hiss, but it always catches me off guard when I hear it.

Even Abby wasn’t too sure what to make of the goose, so she just pretended to act interested in the grass.

I was relieved the Avery stayed asleep through the hissing goose event and happily carried along with our warm, windy walk. Part of our route brings us by a ranch that houses cows, horses, and one ass (donkey). As we passed, I made eye contact with the donkey…

Several parents bring their children to feed the donkey every now and then, so he’s a harmless ass. But, I guess he thought I had something for him because all of the sudden….

He was in our face! And during his trip toward us, he let out boisterous “hee-haw” sounds just like a donkey would. I had my phone with me so I decided I’d capture him on video.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZuAGdIBiUA?rel=0&w=420&h=315]

It doesn’t sound like a very inviting “pet me” noise, but like I said, he’s harmless. Unfortunately, he did wake up my sleepy baby who wanted to know what all the commotion was about.

At least she didn’t get fussy, just kinda looked around for the rest of the walk. I tried to take a selfie of Avery and me with the donkey behind us, but then the ranch owner turned into the driveway (which I was standing in!) and I promptly waved and carried on my way. Oops! I should’ve told him I just wanted a picture of his ass.

So that was our Thursday highlight; rolling both ways, getting hissed at by a goose, and a loud ass. How do you top that? I don’t know, but I’ll be sure to share with you when that day comes.

Total time in the Onya was an hour and twenty minutes since I took an extended walk. The only real annoyance so far is having the loose straps blow around when it’s windy. Not really an issue, just something to note. Still loving as usual.

Have a great Friday right into the weekend!

Have you ever heard a goose hiss?

Ever hear an ass make noise? No, not that ass!!

Parenting

Sleeping on the Nursery Floor and Onya Outback Progress

03/25/2014 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

So, Monday was off to a great start with Avery firing up her vocals nice and early at midnight. For almost an hour, we laid in bed listening to her wavy whimpers and watching her do what looked like reverse crunches on the baby monitor. We decided I would feed her a bottle and let her fall back asleep so I could put her back in her crib. Well, at least it sounded like a good plan…

At first, Avery accepted the bottle, but after only a few minutes she would jerk her head away. This happened a numerous amount of times with crying in between. She was hungry, but not really taking to the bottle. Teething? Maybe. Baby? Yes.

I gave up on the bottle after a while and started trying to rock her to sleep. I used Kelley’s Boppy pillow to lay her across my lap and she was out fast. How Kelley gets the damn pillow from off of her waist to put Avery in the crib, I haven’t a clue. That thing just stuck on my waist like an inner tube!

After gently shaking my butt to get the Boppy off while holding Avery, I crept over to her crib and laid her down. Nope. Instant squirming and crying ensued. WTF!? I could’ve sneezed 5 times while holding her, but even a mouse fart seems to wake her up when not being held!

This same scenario, Boppy and all, occurred another 3 times over the course of an hour before I was ready to reach for some bourbon and ease myself to sleep. But, although I do like bourbon, I’m no alcoholic nor a bad parent, so I just laid on her blanket on the nursery floor.

Boppy's are good for more than just breast feeding! — Boppy’s are good for more than just breast feeding!

As I laid there, listening to our baby go in and out of high and low pitch crying, I felt I’d never get to sleep. Next thing I know, Kelley is waking me up at 5 in the morning and telling me to come to bed. Wow, I guess Avery’s cries were just melodic enough to put me to sleep!

Avery then woke up at 6 and I brought her to our room so Kelley could feed her. Luckily, she fell right back asleep and Kelley was kind enough to let us both sleep past our usual 7 a.m. wake-up time. Good times, but hope to never sleep on the nursery floor again.

Once her morning nap was over, it was time for a long walk in the nice weather. I buckled the Onya Baby Outback on and secured Avery in the front carry position. I used the chest clip again and I’m convinced I like it the most for ease of putting on. Plus, when crossing the straps, I don’t like how they just drag on the floor when unclipped.

Right before heading out and falling asleep

Not 10 minutes had passed with Avery in the Outback and she was out. Hmm, maybe someone didn’t get much sleep last night! It was a refreshing 4+ mile walk around the neighborhood lasting right at an hour and Avery slept the entire time.

And then she's out... — And then she’s out…

That was a first. Yeah, Avery went to sleep in the Baby Bjorn, but would never last long until waking up from my movement or a loud noise. I even wore her again to vacuum the house and she was out at the snap of my fingers. But I didn’t really snap my fingers, if you were wondering.

Total time in the Onya Outback for Monday = 1.5 hours. Avery slept this entire time and didn’t fuss either, so we’re making great progress! I am really loving our Onya and hope our second store trip on Tuesday goes over well!

Have you ever resorted to sleeping on the floor of your baby’s room?

Does or did your baby sleep soundly when being held and instantly wake up when you laid them down?

Parenting, Uncategorized

Our Baby is a Puppy Smuggler

03/09/2014 R.C. Liley 5 Comments

Saturday was off to a great start with Avery letting us sleep in and waking up happy as can be. We can’t get enough of her smiles, I mean just look at her…..

After laying in bed trying to get Avery to flash us as many smiles as possible, we migrated to the kitchen for breakfast. I normally make some form of protein pancakes on Saturday and this day was no different. In the batch was unflavored protein powder, coconut flour, cooked teff, peanut flour, stevia, and egg whites. I’ll be happy to share a recipe just as soon as I actually measure ingredients!

Avery played in her jumper and flashed us more smiles for a while, but then she started to get fussy. So, Kelley took her to the nursery to feed and get her to take a nap while I finished making the pancakes.

With Avery down, Kelley and I took to doing things around the house. 10 times out of 10, this means Kelley pulls weeds (weather permitting) or cleans something while I pretty much find something to do in the kitchen. I seriously could keep myself busy in this part of the house all day!

3 hours later with Avery up and done eating, we got in the car to go to the bank and then Costco. Oh, and Starbucks just happened to be on the way……twice. Free refills with a member card MUST be taken advantage of!

At Costco with Avery in the Baby Bjorn (seriously can’t wait for the Onya!) and my jacket zipped over her, she took deep interest in the crowds of people walking by. Then, against our approval, some old and wrinkly lady with 7 layers of makeup approached and poked at Avery with her evil witch smile. Avery just stared and thankfully the lady went on her way; probably back to Oz.

We checked out the Nutri Bullet since I was looking for something to make baby food, but after comparing prices against the Magic Bullet, we decided we don’t need one. We do have a food processor and Vita-mix after all, so that would just be a waste of money and take up more space. Now I need to look for some good baby food recipes for the Vita-mix. Know of any?

Back home, we praised Avery for being such a great baby the whole day and hardly fussing while out. Since the weather decided to suck again (cold and windy = suck) Kelley and I agreed to skip our daily walk and do a workout video instead. We have a dvd collection of a cheaper version of P90X called Supreme 90 Day that uses weights and I think is better anyway. We did the Cardio Challenge video which is 30 minutes of 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off of different exercises. Good stuff.

Avery sat in her swing and watched us or the TV as we worked through the video. She would fuss, but I would substitute burpees for several of the exercises and that kept her quiet….for 30 seconds. That and I would just swing her around during the 30 seconds rest. Either way, it was fun and I’m glad Kelley and I got through it with Avery!

Right after, Kelley jumped in the shower while I held Avery and cooked dinner. We pretty much followed the nightly routine from there and Avery was asleep in her crib like normal. She hardly even cried after the bath; it felt too good to be true.

While she slept, we watched two episodes of Breaking Bad since the last of the series became available on Netflix. Only 6 more episodes until we’re done! It’s always bittersweet when you finish a good series.

Then, midnight struck and we heard crying. We sat staring at our baby on the monitor just squirming and kicking while letting out short bursts of squeaks and cries. Once we decided she wasn’t going to just go back to sleep, Kelley went in to try and nurse her back to sleep while I just laid on the nursery floor to keep company.

She fell back asleep pretty fast and was back in her crib minutes later. That was something new, but the problem was quickly solved. Time for us to go to bed now……wrong! Not 5 minutes later and squirmy puppy dog noises were emitting from the monitor again.

Staring at the monitor once more, Avery would have periods of silence and we thought she was out again, but nope, she’d start back up. We agreed it would be best to let her try falling asleep on her own unless the cries turned into loud screams, so we went to bed.

Listening to the puppy dog noises, we obviously couldn’t sleep, so we sat up talking about puppies for Avery when she gets older and other random things. I mentioned how she sounded like a puppy, and Kelley said she’s probably smuggling them under her crib. With both of us laughing, I said she’s probably only making those cries to cover up the puppy’s noises.

It sure is fun to make something up while trying to make it through your poor baby crying. And, finally, Avery went to sleep and so did we.

I don’t know what brought on this change in Avery since she’s been sleeping through the night for that past few days, but we blame Daylight Savings Time. Probably Avery being a typical baby is more accurate, but I like placing blame on other things. Plus, losing an hour makes me a grouch too!

Do you make your own baby food? Any recipes or links you can share….please?

Have you struggled to let your baby to fall asleep on their own? Ever pretend they are doing something as ridiculous as puppy smuggling?