Weaning process

I started this post on 1-24-13; Jacqueline had turned one 2 weeks before that date, she's now almost 14 months.

Technically I started weaning months ago when Jacqueline began eating food.
As I stopped pumping at work & only feeding Jacqueline at home (3-4 times a day M-F, feeding her on demand on weekends), we transitioned from less breast milk to another milk source (soy primarily) & MORE food.

Weaning myself from the pump at work was a process - it took 3 weeks which I didn't expect, but it's a step down process like with BFing sessions. I do not want to get an infection and/or being wicked uncomfortable! It's also strange to shift your mindset. For a year you've been feeding a baby constantly and now you're trying to stop (eventually it happens). However, I remember when you're feeding a newborn 12 times a day, every 2 hours, then it's 10 times, finally only 8 times, and 6 times a day was our regular routine for the last 6 months or so.

• Week 1 was 2 times, stretching out the time between each pumping session, being comfortable with every 4-5 hours instead of 3 hours. 
• Week 2 was 1 time, feeding Jacqueline at home at 5:30-6a, stretching the time until a pumping session around 12-12:30p, getting comfortable with it being every 6 hours. 
• Week 3 was 1 time also, again feeding Jacqueline at 6-6:30, stretching the time until I pumped at 1:00p on Monday, then 1:30p on Tuesday, then 2:30p on Wednesday, trying to be less uncomfortable until I'd leave for home & feed Jacqueline at 4:00pm! 

In week 3 I also pumped for 5-10 minutes only instead of usual 15-20 minutes, again trying to tell my body to make less milk. Finally I told myself on Jan. 31, this is it. I am NOT pumping in February!  I did have to pump one time in February, the next week because I had faculty meeting & I could not make it through the meeting with that discomfort!  I left the pump at work in case (it's still there, I keep forgetting to put it in my car!). However, the best thing to do at this point is to be slightly (hopefully only a little!) uncomfortable until you get home, then find your baby & hope she's not taking a nap when you get home.

If she is, oh, well, she probably won't be asleep much longer, especially Jacqueline. She could be a better napper, just 1 good nap a day is all I ask (Jai really!). She never took 2 long naps like Julia did and we were sad when Julia transitioned to the 1 long nap, but at least we got that 1 nap consistently for years now. Julia still takes a 2 hour nap 4 days a week (not TU & TH because of school & usually once on weekend to my disappointment!). We are not looking forward to that loss if Julia starts K this year! In MNPS Pre-K, the students take a short nap.

Back to Jacqueline & weaning!
Now she eats almost anything, but rice cakes, soy butter, goat cheese, whole grain bread, beans, rice, quinoa, hummus are some of her favorites, especially beans!

I don't think she drinks enough milk during the day, but she still nurses 3 times, sometimes 4, but we're working on dropping the 1-2a feeding. That's a whole another process! I've been getting lots more sleep which is lovely. However, in order to train Jacqueline, Jai has been the one to handle her when she wakes up. Luckily it is before he goes to sleep anyway, but she is sleeping in the Pack-N-Play in the guest room so that is where Jai goes to sleep. It's been a solid week, almost 2, of consistently feeding her around 7-8p, then again at 6-6:30a.

The next step is getting Jacqueline in her crib OUT of our bedroom & hopefully NOT waking up at all. I wish we could put her in Julia's room, but I don't think they are ready for this step.

Actually they would LOVE to be in same room, but they'd keep each other awake! : )

"I really miss my husband"

Setting: family eating at dinner table

Julia: "I really miss my husband."
Jai & Tara: we pause & look at each other before saying "... where is he?"
Julia: "He's with Maria Sharapova ... seeing "Skyfall."
J/T: "Really ... well, it's movie, he'll be home soon."
We asked her about Maria being in Russia or Florida, she said Russia.
We wondered how she communicates with MS, by email or phone.
Julia said she really needs a computer in her room so she can email Maria.

This "conversation" was about 10 minutes after listening to Julia's dramatic interpretation of her Krug creation (ENCORE). It involved singing & dancing of course & lots of storytelling - typical Julia!

I said to Jai "my brain doesn't work that way. I'm not creative like that." Some of it is part of a 4 year's developmentally appropriate imaginative play. However, some of it is Julia. She's SO funny, quite the drama queen - sometimes in a good way! : )

We're really curious about the Maria S. part. She talks about MS often. We know why she knows her, I watch tennis, Julia watches with me, we talk about the players. She also knows Serena & Venus, but does not talk about them as much as MS. Maria is like her BFF. It's so strange yet hilarious to hear her talk about Maria Sharapova! She says SHARAPOVA!

Downton Abbey 2/17/13

Susie didn't send me quotes from 2/3/13 & 2/10/13 (not sure what happened).
I decided to write some from season 3's season finale before I delete it from DVR. So sad to have to wait until January 2014 for new DA episodes!

Pregnant Mary (yeah, Matthew & Mary!) - always critical of Edith, still seems kinder though not towards Edith's editor.

I do NOT understand what direction that story is going! I like Michael Gregson & Edith writing for the newspaper though Robert does not!Is Edith going to become Mr. Gregson's mistress?

While the family is on holiday in Scotland
Jimmy/Alfred: Will we have some time off?
Carson: I don't understand. As someone forgotten to pay your wages?

Then when everyone wants to go to fair in Thirsk
Carson: What are we paying them for? ... I don't believe it. Must I be undermined at every turn?
Ms. Hughes: You were young once.
Carson: I'm young now ... I'm not old.

Rose's mother (distant cousin in Scotland): Rose, you are not wearing that dress.
Rose: Daddy, please stick up for me!
Rose's mother to R's father: She looks like a slut in that dress.
Cousin Violet: Good heavens. That's not often a word you hear among the heather.

Watching Mosley's drunken loud dancing
Robert: They do say there's a wild man inside all of us.
Dowager: If only he would stay inside.

O'Brien meeting her match with the lady's maid equivalent in Scotland.

Tom - struggling to find his place & role in the family & Downton community, missing Sybil so much! I feel for him, but the maid Edna was not appropriate! I love how supportive Ms. Hughes is.

Then Carson being sweet with baby Sybbie & sentimental about Lady Sybil!

Romance/Friendship
Flirtation with Dr. Clarkson & Mrs. Crawley - they'd be a good pair!

James/Jimmy being friendly with Thomas - so sweet, I really like that resolution.

Such sweet moments with Anna & Bates - picnic, cheering up Rose, Anna dancing the reel & surprising everyone - I want them to have a baby!

Finally the arrival of baby Crawley, new heir to Downton. So sad about ending ... why did Dan Stevens think leaving the series makes any kind of career sense?
It shall be interesting to see what happens with Mary and being a new mother & widow and still really young even for 1920s.

Family Visit

My dad, step-mother & half-sister visited us for the post-Valentine's weekend. The visit was in honor of my dad's birthday earlier in week & V-day & of course to see the grand kids. It was nice to see them. On Friday Lisa cooked a pasta dish for dinner & also provided dessert, a HUGE key lime cake her friend created. It was a green color I've never seen on a cake! We all enjoyed it ... everyone except for Jacqueline. She must be a "cake monster" only for Mommy's cakes! : )

Again it was nice to see them as we've only Skyped a few times since their last visit in November. Julia went to church on Saturday with my step-mother while I exercised & showered at the Y. My dad & Lisa & Jacqueline napped. Jai hid in kitchen & cleaned up breakfast dishes!: )

Jai & I got a DATE NIGHT also! They love playing with the girls so it was a win-win. : ) We saw "Life of Pi" in 3D - incredible! It was so good, fascinating story & amazing visuals. Also I was able to check off a 8-9 nominations on Oscar ballot! : )  Then we ate dinner at Athens - I had a yummy fish dish, Jai had chicken.
When we returned at 8p (the movie was at 3:20pm), they said "you're back early ... what happened?" We thought it was late! : )

Hopefully we'll get to Chattanooga to visit Lisa in March or April, then planning a road trip in NC in July probably. Our next trip is to Phoenix during Spring Break - 4 additional people in my sister's medium sized 2 bedroom/1 bathroom house. FUN! FUN! : )

Sleep. Who needs it?

Side Note: This is a really old post. Tara gets woken once at night sometimes to feed Jacqueline, but nothing like when the baby was 5-6 months old which is when Jai started this post!

Everybody hears about the sleep deprived parents of an infant. The baby wakes up every couple of hours all night and all day and so does everybody else, right? What you don't hear about is the sleep deprived pre-schooler and the sleep deprived infant making sleep deprived parents.

Julia refuses to go to sleep at night without a fight and a long period of staying up talking. Things have been in flux with her bedtime habits since Tara was about 8 months pregnant but they have come to a head that is about to make me lose mine. During the last months of the pregnancy and first few months of Jacqueline being home Julia would come into our bed and depending on how tired I was she would sleep the remainder of the night there. Then we go on vacation and we stay in an open plan beach house with Julia's grandmother and aunt. She spent the night in a different room each night but either stayed up late or pitched a fit and sometimes both. We came home with her aunt and every night has been filled with tantrums about being scared and endless chatter and singing after the last story is read. So, here we are another night where she is awake 3 hours past that last story. She still takes her nap but I cannot wait till we get a grasp on this bedtime thing.

Jacqueline is the queen of catnaps. She will fall asleep while eating all day and then at night she will power eat. I don't have to deal with this too much because Tara is the sole provider of food but still it means Tara is getting up and down during the night and neither of us is getting a full nights sleep.

Between the two kids and the two adults I cannot believe we are all functioning as well as we are. The worse part is that I had gotten spoiled. Julia was such a good sleeper that now I am flustered and frustrated by her new pattern.

Exuberence

I think this is the one word that describes Julia best. She is so much but within it all she is full of gusto.

It starts at moment one. Every morning you here a thump quite often accompanied with singing or chatter followed by a heavier than you would expect set of footfalls until right in your sleeping face is Julia usually smiling big and filled with "Daddy, daddy..." or "Wellesley Pig didn't want to go to sleep last night because, um, well, she heard a noise and it keeped her awake." Take that and keep it running all day long, add too much volume and some maniacal laughter and that is the sound of Julia in the house. Oh, and that lasts until she is asleep.

The fascinating part is that she applies the same enthusiasm to everything thing she does. When she reads she dives completely in the book augmenting and personalizing the story as she goes and yelling to the world when she recognizes new words. When she eats food she truly enjoys - which changes from day to day - you hear it. She hums when the food is good and she focuses intently on that food. You see a determination and curiosity when she plays and dances that can be infectious. That's the fun side.

The bad side would make you believe you are living with Regan McNeil (the possessed girl in The Exorcist) or some highly energetic melodrama (take Downton Abbey add the hotheaded Italian stereotype). Its the most insane, surreal feeling to see Julia get upset about whatever. "NO DADDY!! **sniff**, **huff*, SCREAMING SOBS." "I DON'T WANT YOU TO PUT THE FORK ON THAT SIDE OF THE PLATE." **more SCREAMING SOBS and WAILS.**

Her play and storytelling falls right in. She runs and squeals with abandon. Her stories are convoluted and imaginative (unpronounceable names with weird and illegal relationships) while keeping one foot in reality (maintaining rules of conduct which sound a lot like the rules imposed on her).

I'm sure all of this will come in handy as she grows older but what will take her where she wants to go is an internal exuberance for connecting the dots and learning what you can see happening under the surface.

I'm exhausted

Yes, that sounds like something I would say (well I say it almost every day).
However, this time these words came from a 4 year old motormouth, usually full of constant energy, at 7:15pm last night!

I guess that's what a busy day at school, including an ENCORE field trip will do to you. We hope so! We'd like our children to go to bed before 9-10pm, especially as I want to be in bed. I'm exhausted! : )

More words & other amazing stuff from Julia!

Literally the words never end - Julia added 3 more for me to highlight on the Sight Word list today. The list is 220 words - 11 lists with 20 words on each list.  Students need to know 40 words at end of K and 220 words at beginning of 2nd grade. It includes 11 color words & 10 number words which Julia knows. These words are some of the most common words as children start to read sentences, phrases & books.

The list doesn't include 13 words she also knows:
apple, baby, mommy, daddy, dog, cat, pig, cow, book, moon, king, library, bus

In addition to some proper nouns for real & fictional people:
God, Jesus, Dora, Boots
Julia's first & last names
first & last names of Tara, Jai, Jacqueline, Bonnie, Susie
our home address, city, and phone number

Reading Strategy
She has this really interesting technique. She thinks of a familiar phrase or book title she's seen before  - like "llama llama mad AT mama." Then she says "at" & keeps reading. I told a co-worker about this technique. She said that teachers try to encourage students to use this strategy, but it's hard to teach. She was amazed, especially as we didn't teach her this skill, she told me about it!

"Call the Midwife"
Julia & I are in my car, driving somewhere, in a quiet contemplative space; I decide to turn on my audio book. Listening to books to & from work is the only way I really read these days.  It is barely on before Julia says "that's Call the Midwife ... "yes" I say in surprise ... "how do you know that?" ... Julia says "it's the woman's voice from the TV show."

... like duh, mom! Uhh, really, she recognized the narrator's voice which isn't even the same voice of narrator on the TV show. It's probably the British accent, but she didn't say "Downton Abbey," another program she knows I watch & she has seen before. I told my co-worker this story too & she said "wow she knows the word "midwife." That's not so shocking since we worked with midwives with both pregnancies. Julia heard us talk about them & she went to some appointments & met a few of thewidwives.

However, we think Julia must have a photographic memory or very close to it. She remembers EVERYTHING - words, directions, tiny details we don't even realize she's heard or noticed. Julia's truly an amazing young person; she's so smart! It seems like we're in for a fast ride & Jai & I hope we can keep up!

Downton Abbey 1/27/13

More quotes from awesome show, thanks again to sister, Susie. 
This was a tear jerker episode! Poor Sybil, Tom & Cora!

Mrs. Patmore: Why are you talking about having babies for, Ivy? I think we can leave that for a little further down the menu, thank you.

James: It is always an idea to be prepared.
Thomas: I expect you are always prepared.

James: I try to be, Mr. Barrow.
Mr. Carson: I do not like the direction this conversation is taking. Could we all begin the day's tasks, please?
Ivy: It is exciting though isn't it, to have a baby in the house?
Daisy: It will not make much difference to you. Now get back in the kitchen and do as you are told!

Mrs. Crawley/Isobel: Where will you go?
Mrs. Bird: Back to Manchester and stay with my sister. She says there is plenty of work for a plain cook these days.
Mrs. Crawley/Isobel: And they will find one in you. Goodbye, Mrs. Bird, and good luck.

Cora: Your grandmother will be with us every night until the baby is born.
Lady Grantham/Granny/Violet: I hate to get news secondhand.

Matthew: Edith, have you written back to your editor yet?
Lady Grantham/Granny/Violet: What is this?
Matthew: Edith has had an invitation to write a newspaper column.
Lady Grantham/Granny/Violet: And when may she expect an offer to appear on the London stage?

Mrs. Crawley: Are you all right, Ethel? Only I heard a shout.
Ethel: Fine, ma'am. Everything is fine. It is a kidney souffle, ma'am.
Mrs. Crawley: A kidney souffle? Isn't that a bit adventurous?
Ethel: I have seen Mrs. Patmore do it a hundred times.
Mrs. Crawley: Yes, but she cannot have begun her career as a cook by making a kidney souffle.
Ethel: Shall I try something else, ma'am?
Mrs. Crawley: No. If we are to avoid a midnight feast, it is too late to turn back.

Mrs. Hughes: But Ethel has given all that up.
Mr. Carson: I did not think she was running a brothel in Mrs. Crawley's kitchen!

Lady Grantham/Granny/Violet: Well, do not look at me. Cora is right. The decision lies with the chauffeur.

Once again, Susie forgot the scene between Mary & Edith as they discuss the need to be nicer sisters to each other.

Downton Abbey 1/20/13

More great quotes from favorite show, thanks to sister, Susie.

Thomas: I do not like to feel that the house is not being properly represented.

Obrien's nephew: Is that aimed at me?
Thomas: If the cap fits, wear it.

Granny: Thank you, my dear, that is very kind. How much do I owe you?
Edith: A guinea.
Granny: (cork pops) A guinea? For a bottle of scent? Did he have a mask and a gun?

Granny: There must something you can put your mind to.
Edith: Like what? Gardening?

Granny: Oh no, you cannot be as desperate as that.

Mary: He will explain what has happened when our guest is gone.
Lady Grantham/Violet/Granny: Something to look forward to.

Tom: Then they set fire to it.
Edith: What a tragedy.
Lady Grantham/Violet/Granny: Well, yes and no. That house was hideous. But, of course, that is no excuse.
[everyone talking about Branson being there or not and why]
Tom: Those places are different for me. I do not look at them and see charm and gracious living. I see something horrible.

Lady Grantham/Violet: With Drumgoole Castle, I rather agree.
Robert: Mama, you are not helping.

Mary: Well it is settled then. Tell the maids they can buy their valentines.

Tom: I was always against any personal violence. I swear it.
Lady Grantham/Violet/Granny: Oh, so at least we can sleep in our beds.

Lady Grantham/Violet/Granny: What do you mean you wrote to a newspaper? No lady writes to a newspaper.
Edith: What about Lady Sarah Wilson? She is the daughter of a duke and she worked as a war journalist.
Lady Grantham/Violet/Granny: She is a Churchill. The Churchills are different.
Mary: Have we no Churchill blood?
Cora: I think Granny is right.
Lady Grantham/Violet/Granny: Can somebody write that down?

Susie forgot a favorite! At the end of the episode, the conversation between Matthew & Cousin Violet. Violet as always comically expressed such surprise that M was coming to her to discuss the future of Downton Abbey. 

Downton Abbey 1/13/13

I appreciate my sister sending me some of our favorite moments to relive the episode.  Poor Edith!

Edith: Isn't it exciting?

Granny: At my age, one must ration one's excitement.

Granny: I really think you should to go to bed. No bride wants to look tired at her wedding. It either means she is anxious or been up to no good.

Edith: I will not sleep a wink.

Sybil: Tonight or tomorrow?

Granny: Sybil, vulgarity is no substitute for wit.

Sybil: Well, you started it!

(Edith giggling)

Oh, my goodness, the look Granny gives Sybil is awesomely priceless! :D

Mama/Granny: Robert, Edith is beginning her life as an old man's drudge. I should not have thought a large drawing room much compensation.

Robert: Why dwell on that now?

Mama/Granny: Because I want the pleasure of saying I told you so.

Lady Grantham/Violet/Granny: He looks as if he is waiting for a beating from the headmaster.

Vicar/Pastor: Do you think I should reassure him?

Lady Grantham/Violet/Granny: How? He has done it before, so he must be in possession of all the facts.

Somebody needs to eat the cake and drink the champagne!

Lady Grantham/Cora: Carson, I do not want Edith to see any of the wedding food.

Carson: Mrs. Hughes and Anna are taking what is left down to Mr. Travis tomorrow, m'lady, for the poor.

Lady Grantham/Violet: If the poor do not want it, you can bring it over to me. (smirking)

[sad commentary and that woeful music]

Anna: What would you like me to get you?

Edith: A different life.

And the war between Ms. O'Brien and Thomas, love budding with Alfred and Daisy, and possibly Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes are delicious!!

Downton Abbey 1/6/13

Maggie Smith: "No guest should be admitted without the date of their departure settled." (referring to character played by Shirley McClaine)
They play the mother of son and mother of daughter who are the Lord & Lady Grantham of Downton Abbey.

I know there are more, but this is all I've got. : )

Love Maggie Smith

I have some Downton Abbey posts to come, but I'm watching DVD of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" (for the elderly & beautiful) right now. It has lots of some favorite older British actors in it, including Dame Judi Dench and the awesome Maggie Smith.

MS's character appears to be quite a racist & seems to be in need of a hip transplant, but the waiting list is 6 months out. She says "I cannot plan that far in advance. I don't even buy green bananas." : )

I find that funny in particular because we eat tons of bananas each week. We usually buy a few yellow to eat now & a green bunch to have time before they all get too ripe.

"Pickled onions, pickled eggs, just pickles" ... first 2 not allowed on the plane flight, but the pickles were OK.  Strange.

ENCORE

We had an evaluation completed on Jan. 7.
Julia is officially identified as Gifted.

• she knows all, but 1 of the standards for Pre-K
• she knows many of the standards for Kindergarten
• knows 50 sight words (1/23/13) - K benchmark is 40
• knows 67 words (2/1/13)
• she reads books! (not every passage & page completely)
• with assistance, she's learning new words constantly! It's crazy!

Her eligibility meeting was on Monday - determined not eligible because there is no evidence of a disability. Currently ENCORE are general education services provided for all Pre-school children identified as Gifted. The eligibility & IEP situation is different, we have to determine if there is a disability & whether special education services are needed. We're considering for Julia to start Kindergarten early (see above info) ... in order for that to happen, she must have an IEP. We need to consult with her ENCORE teacher in a few weeks/months.  Which means we have to wait ... I hate waiting! I'm not a patient person!

Julia's first ENCORE class was Thursday. We had to complete all kinds of registration forms ... I didn't expect that.  I officially have a child in MNPS! How wild is that??!!

I knew it would happen soon, but it was in the future even though we'd applied for optional schools in November. However, the paperwork part really made it more real, even after getting her psychological report on Monday.  Being a parent of a MNPS student is slightly different than being a MNPS employee. It is a unique position, perspective to have. I know policy & procedure, but it's been other people's children before. Now I'm applying this information to my child.  It is an advantage yet also crazy, weird, exciting!

Julia had a great time at ENCORE (at Robertson Academy)! She walked right into class & started checking out room, comfortable & confident. Her teacher said "she's quite a thinker."

No joke! She's a never ending thinking, talking, running & constantly emoting 4 year old girl! Jai & I need a support group! Seriously!

SNOW DAY!

Posted on MNPS website when I checked at 6:20am!!! All Metro Nashville Public Schools are closed Friday, Feb. 1,  due to inclement weather.

WOO! HOO! Finally!
Best news ever - well recently! : )

I'm awake because I went to bed last night at 8:45pm, after falling asleep while reading with Julia. Jacqueline was already asleep, Jai was dozing on couch.
I got about 6-7 hours of sleep which is lovely, especially as I woke up late at 6:10am. I was going to be pushing it to get ready & out the door around 7am.

When Jai brought Jacqueline upstairs (the guest room is like her new favorite place to sleep for her first stretch) to eat at 3:30am, he said it had snowed for only about 15 minutes. He mentioned that trash cans were covered. I said, "well let's hope Joelton is really covered up"! Plus he said it was about 20 degrees.

The combination will create the "perfect storm" for a snow day & it did!!!! : )

I've posted 1X this week!! GOAL!!

Now I'm going to watch a movie all by myself since my family won't wake up for 2 more hours!!!! : )