Soap Box

So Blogger and I are in a huge fight right now. I have been on this dang computer since 9:00 AM this morning and have yet to get it to do anything I want it to. My first post is only partially finished because the photos kept disappearing and all this ridiculous blank, white space will not go away. My second post is also incomplete, and I am just done. Finished. Kaput. It was going to be all sweet and wonderful about my parents and Clint's parents, but forget it. I hate Blogger today. Is anyone else having this problem?

Maybe I'll get the Halloween photos updated soon before Thanksgiving arrives, but today there will be no more photos.

It's 2:30 now, and I'm still in my red jommers with a ponytail on top of my head. It's cold outside -- maybe 45 degrees -- but beautiful, and I have seen different groups of people playing at the park all day . . . while my child is still in her jommers and has been watching cartoons all morning. She doesn't mind since she's about to take a nap anyway and she lubs her new jommers. They are very big-girl -- the kind that buttons up the front like a shirt and has matching pants with cuffs at the bottom. I would really like a pair like this for myself. Must put new jommers on my to-do list. Which is about a mile and a half long. There are still some thank-you notes that need to get written. I have some outfits I've sewn for friends that are sitting by the door ready to be mailed, but I'm too lazy to get to the post office. I need to figure out what in the world is wrong with my sewing machine that it hates brown thread. If you've asked me to make something for you requiring brown thread, it may not happen anytime soon. I need to go to the bank and deposit some checks. But today I am done with everything. I think I'll just make some hot chocolate for myself. I also think I may put some Kahlua in it.

I kind of had a crummy night that I won't go into, so instead of addressing the real issue I'll just complain about everything else because that's much easier to do. And the real issue will probably work itself out if I will just be patient, so it needs no more attention.

Other than that, everything is going well. Mimi is still cracking me up. I just put her down for a nap, and it's always such a silly production. She knows that as soon as Olivia goes off that I will walk over to her and tell her we need to go upstairs and read. At this point she turns into a noodle and dramatically tells me, "I watch TV! I play blocks! I need milk! My milk! My milk!" And then she likes to tell me, "Mommy, I crying!" like that will change anything. But as soon as we get halfway up the stairs she snuggles up to me and sucks her fingers. Then I must get her baby, her blanket, close the blinds, and turn on the noise maker. We read a book -- today it was a Curious George book about snow (I feel like I need to prepare her for the winter) -- and then she tells me, "Mommy, I go night-night now."

Before Mack was born, Mimi made me hold her until she fell asleep for her nap, which could take up to an hour and a half. If I left her in her room to cry, she would fuss for this hour and a half, which was sooo draining for me. The first day my mom was gone and I had both children on my own, Mack began to cry as soon as I took Mimi to her room for a nap. I knew that was the day she would have to be a big girl, so I told her that Mack was crying and I needed to check on him. I put her down to sleep, and, you know what? She went to sleep. Crazy. She totally understands that Mack needs me, too, and she seems to be cool with it.

I was just talking with a friend about how amazed I am that Mimi is so sweet to Mack. Last night she and I went on a Mommy-Daughter date to eat comfort food at Wishbone (a Southern restaurant near my house), and she had to make sure she kissed him before we left. She makes up songs about Mimi and Mack and will get upset when he is crying. But there's one thing she's not so sure about. It's something that he has that she doesn't.

While I was changing his diaper a few weeks ago, Mimi was standing on the side of the pack 'n play observing and suddenly became very distraught. "Mommy, what is that? Oh no! A monster?! Yucky monster!"

I was totally taken by surprise that she even noticed, and since I didn't know how to handle this I just ignored it. Maybe I misunderstood exactly what she said, but then she said it again the next day. I still hadn't spoken with Clint about what we should name it. I know that some people say you should just call it what it is, but I am NOT having my babies walk around saying penis and vagina. Sorry. So I told her it was a "wee-wee." And then she said, "A wee-wee monster! Ew, yucky." I told Clint about this later on, and he said to not correct her. That is exactly what she should think it is.

And she just got annoyed with him for the first time yesterday morning. He was lying on our bed practicing running for a marathon, and Mimi decided to climb on the bed and sit next to him to watch Mickey Mouse. When she finally got settled, he continued kicking, and she looked down at him and said, "Stop it, baby Mack." And then she smiled at him and said, "Siiilly!"

I think little Mack will have a good time with his big sister as long as she continues with this. By the way, he slept through the night a couple of nights ago. He hasn't done it since, but we're on the right track. He's basically eating every three hours during the day now rather than just whenever, which is what he had been doing for a while. My routine with the second child is much different than with the first. With Mimi I tried to so hard to read all the babY books and put her on a set schedule as soon as possible. I tried to force her to sleep longer or wait out feedings longer. I overanalyzed what worked when she did sleep longer at night and came up with these "theories" about what would make her stop crying or eat faster or sleep longer. Oh, you moms know about these "theories." "If I feed her 4 ounces and 8PM then another ounce at 9PM, then she'll sleep through the night. If I do not drink any caffeine, he won't be so fussy. If I count to ten before picking her up when she cries, then she'll learn to self-soothe." All the crazy terminology. Self-soothe. Sleep training. Dream bottle. Swaddle. Geez.

I have new theories this time around. If Mack is hungry, I feed him. If he is sleepy, I put him down to sleep. If he cries for no reason, I check his diaper or just hold him. Okay, now I only need a publisher for this book. I'm patenting my techniques. Because they work.

My mother, who happens to have four children herself, tried to teach me these "techniques" when I had Mimi. She said her the doctors always told her to use common sense. What a great idea.

I love that I have so many mommy friends on Facebook who post their questions about new babies. I try to not put in my two cents because I know they are going to get oodles of advice from other new mommies who are also clueless. And this is how we learned. Lucky for me I had two good friends going through it at the same time I was with Mimi, and I just let them figure it out for me. But what they did didn't always work for me because every child is different. Mack is so different from Mimi. When he is sleepy, he wants to be left alone. Stick him in his swing, his bassinet, or in the corner by himself. Back off, Mommy. Mimi wanted to be held while she was sleeping and would wake up the second her body hit a mattress. I tried putting my hand on the mattress or blanket to warm it up, but nothing worked. But I didn't mind holding her. Just like I haven't minded feeding Mack every hour or so for the past few weeks. He's a chubby little baby now because of this, so no harm done. I just found myself feeding him during my dinner, at the park, in the Grove, in the car, or at a restaurant. Thank you, accepting society.

So I've just written myself into a better mood, which was what I was hoping for. I didn't even have to pull out the Kahlua. I'm sorry this is a horrible post and I'll try to get the Halloween photos up soon. That is, whenever my patience returns.