Smart Daddy

Boo hasn't been eating much. She takes a few bites and says "I'm done." We have been struggling between helping her create healthy eating habits, supporting her to have opinions, and wanting her to be healthy. We've tried several things, with moderate success.

Last night the menu was chicken with potato salad & vegetable slaw (Albertson's cooked since Daddy was stuck in traffic and Mama was shopping for Halloween). We gave Boo a drumstick because we thought that food with a "handle" would be fun. Wrong. It made her hands messy and she doesn't like messy hands. She took a bite of each salad and announced she was "done".

Daddy suddenly got inspired.

"Boo, do you want some dessert salad?"

"Dessert salad? Yes!"

Daddy goes to the kitchen and makes a big deal about scooping secret desert salad onto her plate (extra serving of potato salad).

"Yummy dessert salad, Daddy!"

That lasted 3 or 4 bites, but big ones, then she was "done" again.

"Do you want some Dora salad?"

"Dora salad? Yes!"

More production over the slaw.

"Yummy Dora salad, Daddy!"

Altogether it was worth enough calories to get her through the night.

Daytime Mama told me today that Boo always finishes her lunch because she wants to be able to dunk a cookie. So, now we can try that!

Safe

I wanted to let you know that Striders' California family are all currently safe and still in their own homes. The air quality is a concern for some of them, but so far they are among the fortunate in their communities. I will let you know if there are any changes.

Au Revoir, Jenny

You will be missed!

5 Months

Likes:

• Eye Contact
• Boo
• Boobs

Dislikes:

• Cold Beds
• Gas
• Being alone

Sleep training from a baby's perspective

OK, here is my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great - I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I have talked to other babies, and it seems like it is pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months, and apparently you're lucky if it's not earlier. Here is the thing: these Mommies do not really need to sleep. It is just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just do not need it anymore. So, I am implementing a plan. I call it the Cry-baby Shuffle. It goes like this:

Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you are fed. I know, it is hard. It is hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it is for her own good.

Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you are fed.

Night 3 - every hour. Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Do not give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT IS HARD! However, she really does not need the sleep; she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it. Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason could come up with:

• My sleep sack tickled my foot.
• I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.
• My mobile made a shadow on the wall.
• I burped, and it tasted like pears. (I hadn't eaten pears since lunch, what is up with that?)
• The cat said "meow". (I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day.)
• Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.
• Too hot, too cold, just right--does not matter! KEEP CRYING!

It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4 am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30 am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks. Good Luck!

P.S. Do not let those rubber things fool you; no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me.

(No, Mama did not write this. It came on the internet).

Open Letter to Oosje

Dear Oosje,

As you know, Dora still holds a lion's share of the room in the toy box. However, Boo's television preferences have moved from Dora to Blue.

Blue is a dog who lives with his friend Steve, or Steve's little brother Joe, depending on the season, and who leaves "Blue's Clues" about the house to convey some message to Steve/Joe. The Steve years ended when Steven Burns started losing his hair (despite looking about 12) and didn't want to go bald on children's TV. So, Steve went to college and little brother Joe moved in to take care of Blue. Daddy, who watched Blue's Clues long before he was a parent, prefers Steve. Boo is a Joe girl.

In the show, Blue leaves paw prints on three items, which are the "clues". Steve/Joe find the clues with the help of the audience, and draw each in a "Handy Dandy Notebook", that lives in the side-table drawer. After all three clues are collected, Steve/Joe goes to sit in his "thinking chair" and figure out the clues.

Daddy is especially happy about a little bit of relief from Dora. Blue's Clues is far mellower and more adult-friendly. Blue is to Dora what Grover is to Elmo.

So, Daddy and Boo were watching Blue, and Boo told Daddy he needed to get out of his favorite chair in the living room because it was time to sit in the "thinking chair". Use the couch? Silly Daddy. There's no "thinking couch", there's only a "thinking chair". Thinking quickly (maybe sitting in the chair helped), Daddy managed to convince Boo that her Dora chair was her thinking chair. He then said to Boo, "We're going to have to get you a notebook." Boo looked at him without hesitation and said "Oosje is going to get me a handy dandy notebook."

So, we just thought Oosje should know that, and also perhaps what a handy dandy notebook looks like.

Steve's notebook is on the left and Joe's notebook is on the right. Presumably Steve needed a "handy dandy notebook" in college.

Post script for Nanna and Papa: Yes, I know this isn't what you meant by "more pictures, please." I just wanted to play with my new toy by the fire and Daddy hasn't loaded the pictures onto my computer yet. I'll get some up, I promise!

Here a Dora, there a Dora, everywhere a Dora-Dora

First there was Dora, the explorer who goes on adventures with her best friend, Boots the Monkey, along with help from the Map, Backpack, friends Benny the Bull, Isa the Iguana, and Tico the Squirrel, and cousin Diego. Thanks to many of you, we collected many Doras, each of which ended up with a descriptive name.

Big Dora came first.

Then came a Fisher Price Snap n Style Doll. These dolls, which are dressable in hard plastic snap-on outfits (which are slightly reminiscent of Britney Spears' style in her pre-meltdown days), come in a variety of hair and eye colors so that girls can get one that matches them. But, Boo doesn't see a brown-haired, brown-eyed doll as like herself so much as she sees it as Dora. Thus, Little Dora arrived.

After that things got a little bit complicated. Squeaky Dora, a large balloon, was acquired at the State Fair. But, she is larger than Big Dora, leaving Formerly-Big Dora identity-less and nameless, other than just plain "Dora", which isn't very helpful in Strider's house.

Teeny Tiny Dora was acquired, already very well loved, when Princess Leah's family was done with it. That left "Little Dora" a bit out in the cold, although we usually still can tell those apart. It also left the Dora that came with the truck without a moniker, as she is far smaller than Teeny Tiny Dora.

Daddy rocks

Thanks to Daddy, I never have to choose between sitting by the fire and blogging again! My shiny new red laptop has arrived and Daddy has set up wireless internet. Boo and R2 are in bed, Daddy is off helping a friend "secret shop" a local restaurant, all is quiet. A rare treat for Mama. On top of that, R2 (and also Mama) slept for 3 hours straight last night, and then for 4 1/2 hours after that... a very exciting first! Boo also slept in her room all night for the first time in several months, again thanks to Daddy who slept in there with her. Sleep, a quiet evening, and internet mobility. What more could a Mama ask for?

Big

R2's 4-month checkup numbers:

14 lbs, 9 oz (50%)
26 3/4 inches (95%)

I just got his 3-to-6 month clothes all organized and marked with his name for his daytime Mama. The next day she handed him over to me wearing borrowed clothes and said "He's in 6-to-9 month clothes now. You need to put these away." Sheesh!!! How did I miss an entire clothing size??? Spatial relations is not my strong suit, even when I'm not sleep deprived and trying to master a whole new family structure.