My Baby Blue
June 22nd, 2009
Adam and I were remembering earlier in the evening how bad The Screaming was, thanks to the photo below. I mean, part of me has no business complaining about how shitty Sam’s sleep is, when we have The Screaming in our history. You guys, our evenings were RIDICULOUS. She’d finish a feeding at 6:30 p.m. and we’d put her face down on my chest, too afraid to put her on her back, lest The Screaming be worse than it had to be. If I had to pee, I handed her off to Adam for the briefest of moments, and then resumed the position, pausing only for feedings and brief, uh, playtime. Or whatever.
Lather, rinse, repeat. She would start screaming sometime between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., and would go for HOURS, calmed only by Adam rocking her in the bathroom, the sink on full throttle, while I would rush to get my pajamas on — usually at least three layers, as I couldn’t use even a sheet and our room was FAH-REEZING, because I was on SIDS patrol and refused to put the thermostat above 62, as I figured she was getting so much BODY HEAT* — and lie down in bed, a cascade of pillows propping me to the perfect angle. Eventually, she would come in, swaddled, and I would have to UN-swaddle her — VERY GENTLY — and place her on my chest. Peeing, for the evening, had to be complete unless I wanted to do it at 3 a.m., with her attached to my boob.
There was a two-week period where I had to be pinned under her for NAPS. GAH.
My God. We are in a totally different place now. If that’s not perspective, I don’t know what is.
*Ahem. I may have been a bit crazy here with the fear of overheating and now realize I’m lucky I didn’t freeze my daughter to death instead. I now allow the thermostat to climb to a respectable 68 or even — gasp! — 69!
P.S., this is what I wore somewhat regularly. Honestly. That’s three T-shirts, two pairs of pants and a heavy-duty pair of socks. No kidding.
I’ve got to go to bed, but a few miscellaneous observations, some television-related:
– What the hell was up with the Real Housewives being the SHORTEST SEASON EVER? No, seriously. WTF?
– Lack of sleep caused my husband to use the word “bubbies” in total un-ironic fashion in conversation today. We met for lunch mid-day, and he recounted the conversation word for word and frankly, I died laughing on the spot. “I said BUBBIES,” he helplessly recalled. “I actually said BUBBIES.” HA HA HA. He had to later explain to the recipient that I’d subjected him to too much RHoNJ and really wow, that was wildly inappropriate. BUT HILARIOUS.
– True Blood is meh for me this season. I think it’s because I can’t savor it, and instead have to desperately sandwich it in chunks between naptimes, after that one time realizing that Sam has eyes that work beyond a few inches now and maybe — just maybe — she could be, you know, scarred for life watching (hot, weirdly sexy) Eric Northman devour some dude in the basement of Fangtasia in the most graphic of fashions. I think this is going to be something I struggle with in parenthood, figuring out what’s appropriate and what isn’t. I forget that kids have, you know, nightmares and shit. Gawd.
– Not television related, but just once, I would like to know what it’s like to nurse my child without a heavy breathing pug trying to horn in on the action. JUST ONCE.
– NYC Prep: Don’t think I can handle it, and y’all KNOW what kind of a whore I am for Bravo. But honestly, a bunch of snotty rich kids acting above the law in every way smacks of a mix of Gossip Girl, Less Than Zero and American Psycho. I’m not sure why.
– After our washer died, our freezer also decided to go haywire. This resulted in me depositing approximately 9,876 ounces of frozen breastmilk in my friend’s freezer. I mean, dude, that is a good friend. Am I right?
And finally, did someone ask for pictures of my kid? I’m sure they did, even though I’ve been whoring them out to everyone in the world, and you’ve probably seen them all. No mind! You shall suffer again! A few of my recent favorites:
She’ll have the nachos, please. With extra guacamole.
I swear she smiles right up to the point where I click the button. I swear.
She LOVES the baby in the mirror, and hasn’t quite figured out how it all works. She can recognize my face in the mirror and her mind is quite clearly blown when she looks and sees me — TWICE! — in real life AND in the glass. Like, WTF OMG.
OH! Before I forget: We’re coming up on the need for a high chair in the next few months and it is the ONE PIECE of equipment I haven’t researched at all, nor do I really even want to. So someone, please, point me in the direction of your high chair if you like it.
Happy Tuesday!
*Shut up, Dave Matthews off of their new album. SHUT UP. I couldn’t HELP myself. I bought it in a fit of nostalgia, and since Sam and I listen to music ALL DAY LONG, it was time. But of course, I haven’t really listened to it yet to tell you how it is. So there’s that.
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43 Comments Add your own
1. sarah | June 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 pm
We had The Screaming, too, with our 2nd son– it was hell. Now, though, he sleeps 12 hours every night plus 2 2-hour naps during the day (he’s 14 months, and he’s been sleeping like this for 7 months. 7 blissful months). hang in there– she’s adorable.
2. Swiggy | June 22nd, 2009 at 9:04 pm
I love my high chair. It’s called the Comtempo by Graco. What I like about it: the multi-recline position you can use for any age, the removable top tray while still using bottom tray, removable bottom tray, the chair can be made “smaller” for storing when not in use. But most importantly, I love the quick release straps. I’ve used this feature too many times to count when the Chipmunk decided that it was time to start choking on his baby food. With the Monkey, it was much harder to get him out of his high chair, I would not have been able to get him out of his chair quickly if needed. Here’s the site:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3330192
Although I use it for my boy, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen pictures on someone else’s blog who was using it for her girl.
Hope this helps!
3. cathy | June 22nd, 2009 at 9:09 pm
I have bizarrely strong feelings about high chairs – on the pricey end, I love the Stokke, and on the supercheap end, the Ikea Antilop (although its legs splay out quite a bit, so you need a decent amount of floor space). Glad to hear you’ve moved past The Screaming!
4. Megan | June 22nd, 2009 at 9:40 pm
She is SO CUTE, Jonna, I can’t take the cheeks!
We haven’t thought about high chairs yet. My sister has the phil & ted something or other, the one that clips to the table. I may get one of those, not sure yet, I really have no idea, seeing as we still eat on the couch.
5. Rebecca (Bearca) | June 22nd, 2009 at 9:58 pm
She is the CUTEST. I mean for real. Those cheeks. I want to nibble on them.
6. Nic | June 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Sam is just too cute. Obviously I know nothing about high chairs but my vote would be for whatever is easiest to powerwash.
As for RH, I don’t know why the season was only seven episodes, I kind of wonder if there wasn’t enough drama. It was also filmed an entire year ago. It’s pretty obvious the producers planted the book within the cast. They probably eked all of the interesting out of them that they could.
7. Sadie | June 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Oh Jonna I miss you.
And that picture of you two in your fucked up pajamas is teh awesomest. Your baby is ridiculous! She totally DID want the guacamole.
8. foradifferentkindofgirl (fadkog) | June 22nd, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Sweet, sweet baby face! How adorable she is!
My kids are 11 and 7, and last night, my husband was all, “Hey, want to watch True Blood before the boys come inside from playing?” and I practically lunged at him. “Are you kidding me!? Are we watching the same show?! What if they come in for a drink or have to pee and there’s something nasty on the screen?!”
He relented, and thank goodness for that, because even I cringed at the flesh eating and tossed limbs last night. But then there was the male shirtlessness and I was surprisingly ok with that.
9. Anyabeth | June 22nd, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Oh it is the little lips that kill me. So perfect.
I actually really love my high chair, which is the Chico one. Good tray, reclines, can totally be put through the car wash (which you think I am kidding but no)–the only drawback is that the straps do get nasty but a good soak and they come clean.
And it wasn’t covered in gingham and bears and geese with bonnets. I don’t want to stab some one when I look at it which is a plus.
10. Blythe | June 22nd, 2009 at 10:33 pm
We used the Chicco Polly. It’s fine, though if you can find a seat with fewer nooks and crannies in the vinyl cushion, I’d go for that. It horrifies me to remember the crud we would scrape out of that thing on a daily basis.
We eventually graduated to the Fisher Price Healthy Care booster, and part of me wonders why we didn’t just use it from the outset. Much easier to clean and nice to have him at the table with us.
Now, we have a Mutsy Easy Grow, which I love.
(photo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theblythespirit/3227839108/)
I can tell we’ll use it for ages and he can climb in/out by himself and (bonus!) it’s not ugly. The Stokke TrippTrapp would accomplish the same thing and I’ve heard they’re great..
11. She Likes Purple | June 22nd, 2009 at 10:59 pm
I love Dave Matthews and only recently realized maybe I should be kind of ashamed of it after the 87th person rolled their eyes when I’d QUOTE THEM UNIRONICALLY. Next you’ll tell me I should be ashamed I own the first Ashlee Simpson CD. AND LIKE IT.
12. Maggy | June 22nd, 2009 at 11:41 pm
We used the Fisher Price Healthy Care booster seat. It’s portable and easy to clean (The whole thing can go in the dishwasher.) and cost $30. It doesn’t recline, but non-special needs babies don’t need solids til they can sit up, anyway. It can be used with or without the tray. We never bought a traditional highchair.
That is a good friend to lend you that much freezer space. I need to carve out some more freezer space myself.
13. Sara | June 22nd, 2009 at 11:50 pm
another vote for the fisher price healthy care booster seat – it’s cheap, doesn’t take up extra space, & works like a charm. I have friends who even keep a 2nd one in their car so they can use their own (clean) high chair in restaurants.
14. Lippy | June 23rd, 2009 at 12:11 am
I second the Graco Contempo, it will stand when it is folded and you can put it in very tiny places. It is also easy to operate, even my mom can manage it and she keeps mistaking her phone for the tv remote. It has a cloth cover which can just be tossed in the washer, I liked that as well. Sam is such a doll, you must spend hours kissing those cheeky cheeks.
15. Shelly | June 23rd, 2009 at 8:04 am
She is SO SO cute! So glad she’s past the screaming stage.
16. Mrs. CPA | June 23rd, 2009 at 8:12 am
We use one of those boosters, somethign like this:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3312379
It reclines, so it’s great for infants. There aren’t 462 crevices that mashed peas can get into. Most of it can go in the dishwasher or washing machine, no loss of floor space and you can take it with you anywhere. You can drag it into the kitchen just like a high chair. The bottom of the seat covers most of the chair, so you don’t have to worry about stains if you have cloth covered chairs.
I have a fabulous, wooden flip tray high chair in the attic. I’ll probably never get it down. The booster is too easy to use and clean.
17. Mrs. CPA | June 23rd, 2009 at 8:14 am
Also… CUTE Baby!
You’ll look back and never remeber the screaming that came from that cute little face.
Well, you probably will, but you won’t remember how loud it was.
18. birdgal | June 23rd, 2009 at 8:16 am
We had a Graco contempo highchair for my daughter, but it decided to collapse with her in it (and it wasn’t our fault; the chair itself was actually recalled because of the design flaw that caused the collapse)–we didn’t want to spend alot of money on a replacement, so we bought the Fisher Price space saver high chair for $55 at Target (they still carry it; the link was a little long so I didn’t include it here). Dude, we LOVE this chair; we wished we’d had it from the beginning, really.
19. Kristin | June 23rd, 2009 at 8:26 am
My feeling with high chairs is that they are one of the few baby items that you can get away with spending very little money on. Really, what do you need it to do besides securely hold your child when she is eating? We bought ours at Shopko for around $30 (I think it’s Graco) and it has been completely fine. We’ll be using it with baby #2 in a few months. The key thing you want is washability–the fewer the crevasses and creases and corners the better, both in the seat and the tray. We didn’t go the booster seat route because I wanted to be able to roll the chair into multiple locations (our table isn’t in our kitchen), but I think that is a good option too, especially if you are at all pressed for space.
As far as the RHoNJ–I totally agree with you! What a weirdly short season, and just a strange show in general. I started off loving it, and then it just got kind of boring and the drama was so artificial. Disappointing.
20. -R- | June 23rd, 2009 at 9:07 am
We use the Fisher Price booster seat that others have already recommended. We just put it on a kitchen chair, with a kitchen towel underneath, and it has worked great.
B used to smile at me in the mirror and then turn around and see me in person and be so startled but happy. It was so funny.
21. Sarah @ BecomingSarah.com | June 23rd, 2009 at 11:21 am
Keep trying and I’m sure you’ll capture the smile sometime soon =)
We have a hand-me-down high chair for use when the bambino gets there and honestly, I have no idea what it is. I think all forms of idenitification have been licked off by countless children in the family lol.
22. TwoBusy | June 23rd, 2009 at 11:36 am
Dave Matthews? I had no idea the situation was this desperate. I’m going to airlift you some better music.
23. SwingCheese | June 23rd, 2009 at 11:51 am
My little one just started solids about a week and a half ago. We also have the Fisher Price space saver and I love it.It fits snugly on the chair, is very easy to clean, and the first time we put the boyo in it, he looked very pleased and proud of himself.
24. Lauren | June 23rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
We have the Stokke chair, and I really like it. I liked the fact that it grows with them, and will eventually just be a regular chair. it’s easy to clean, and with the infant tray attachment, they can use it as soon as they can sit up.
We also have the Fisher Price booster, it’s a good portable option.
I’m so glad you’re past the Screaming. It’s amazing what you can power through when you’re in the midst of it, and how quickly you can adapt.
25. H | June 23rd, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Sam is a doll!
Since our high chair was purchased in 1988, I won’t give you any useless high chair advice.
Again – your baby is cute. The end.
26. Kristin H | June 23rd, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Um. I bought our high chair at a garage sale for $20 and can’t even tell you what kind it was. But I CAN tell you what I liked about it, and that is that it had a solid part where the legs went through, so that when I took the tray off the baby could not plunge headfirst onto the floor. Yes, yes, they do all have straps to hold the baby in, but I am either A) lazy, or 2) the world’s worst mother, because I could not be bothered to buckle and unbuckle the strap every time the kid went in and out of the chair.
27. hollylynne | June 23rd, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I’m having a little trouble getting back into True Blood as well, but I think this Sunday’s episode was wayyyyy better than the first . . . It’ll get its groove back yet, I hope!
Your baby girl is totally adorable!
28. Leah | June 23rd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
We selected our high chair on the spur of the moment because it was $35 and matched our kitchen. IMO, this is not something that requires extensive research and $$$$$.
And what is it with people rolling their eyes at Dave Matthews? I get that his concert-going fan base is 95 percent frat douches, but the man is one hell of a songwriter and musician. Is there no love for talent?!
29. dianarepublic | June 23rd, 2009 at 3:03 pm
First things first – Sam is beyond cute.
Now on to more trivial things: RHoNJ was very short and I was sad because there I was enjoying the accents and the Jerseyness of it all.
As far as NY Prep – I am frightened by the concept and the fact that it may destroy my faith in humanity and yet I feel that I have to watch. I went to prep school and while my experience was nothing like this, I know that some (husband) who think that this show portrays how all preppies live.
30. samantha jo campen | June 23rd, 2009 at 7:43 pm
I love our Chicco. There’s no ADD animals or toys on it, it’s neutral color so photos aren’t obnoxious and it will work for kid #2 regardless of gender. Plus it’s not that spendy. The Peg Perego is OBNOXIOUS.
31. Lindsay | June 23rd, 2009 at 8:19 pm
i’m still on the dave matthews bandwagon and really like the new cd…skip to song seven and ten since you are pressed for time.
Cuuuute kid.
32. ali | June 24th, 2009 at 8:10 am
oh, pictures! squish. she is too too cute!!!!!
and i will tell you this about high chairs. DO NOT SPEND A LOT.
we got a peg perego leatherette $300 high chair and it was crap. so hard to clean. the tray was too high and too far away so food fell into their laps ALL THE DAMN TIME.
so with Isabella i went out and bought a fisher price easy clean high chair for, like, 69 dollars. and it was the BEST EVER.
33. marty | June 24th, 2009 at 11:42 am
She is ADORABLE! Such a cutie. Thanks for posting pictures!
34. Joceline | June 24th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
We have the Stokke Tripp Trapp, and you can pry it out of my cold, dead hands. It is sooooo easy to clean, no one even notices it as being a high chair, and it lasts forever. In fact, I’m trying to justify how we can buy a second one for our daughter soon (two kids 15 months apart=two high chairs). The only drawback might be that it doesn’t have a tray (not important to me, but I know important to some people).
35. Beth | June 24th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
We used the $30 Fisher price boosters with Daughter the first, and now use the Fisher Price Space Saver High chair with Daughter the second (who is just a few weeks older than Sam). I went with the on-your-dining-room-chair options because I think the “real” high chairs take up crazy floor space and I like having us all at the table. I like the Space saver better because it reclines, has a padded seat, and can be jacked up now when they’re little and cranked lower as they get taller. Downside, not as good for travel because it’s bigger. Both clean up fast and easy.
36. Ang | June 24th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Sooooooooo cute!!! And yes, more pictures please!
I won’t give any high chair advice but when she’s bigger, maybe 3ish, do invest in a Cooshie Booster – great for someone who thinks she’s too big for a high chair but still to short to sit well and reach the table.
37. Kristabella | June 25th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
She is the cutest baby ever! I’m sorry to all the other parents, but SHE IS FREAKING ADORABLE! I just want to pinch her cheeks!
38. willikat | June 25th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
thanks again for a dose of real parenting life. your baby is so beautiful…good to see some new photos!
39. Miss E | June 26th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
She is so freaking adorable! I follow you on Twitter, and love to catch up on how she’s doing/sleeping/screaming, etc. Oh, and your Kate Gosselin? Hilarious!
40. Halala Mama | June 28th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
I didn’t have to endure the screaming – but a friend did. She said that the only thing that worked was a hair dryer running full blast under her daughter’s bed. I silently thought – what kind of crazy night brought that discovery about?
This is my high chair: http://www.target.com/Eddie-Bauer-Wooden-Highchair-Kingston/dp/B000X1JXUE/sr=1-2/qid=1246249275/ref=sr_1_2/182-2023690-5085433?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tgt-index&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3Abauer%20high%20chair&page=1 Except I bought mine for half price on craigslist. I LOVE It.
41. kakaty | June 29th, 2009 at 8:46 am
I love our Fisher Price Booster Seat http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=2002&e=demo&pid=27475 for tons of reasons. 1 – it doesn’t take up all kinds of space, 2 – you really can take it with you on trips & 3 you can throw the entire damn thing in the dishwasher (not that this is reccomended, but I do it on a warm wash setting and OMFG this is a god send). And, it’s a booster chair so nothing new to buy later.
42. Sara | July 20th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Sam has the cutest little cheeks to kiss! She is adorable. She also wants a beer to wash down those nachos!
)
I could leave an entire novel about the screaming with my 2 kids, but I won’t. Needless to say, it does get better, but you don’t really forget. At least, I haven’t!
I agree about the fisher-price booster seat. Used a traditional high chair for a while with my first, then bought 2 of the boosters. One for home and one for the car. My 10 month old TOTALED the high chair last week with spaghetti and is now using the booster seat. She may have made her permanent move!
43. carved chairs | January 24th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
I hope you update more info.
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