Allergies Oh my!!!

Dear I,
Well I hate to break the news to you so early in life, but it looks like I may have no choice. There are EVIL little fairies that live outside in the trees. They sprinkle their green and yellow toxic little fairy dust all over the place. Dont be fooled baby, these fairies are pure EVIL and their fairy dust does nothing more than get into your precious little nose and eyes and ears and wreak HAVOC on us! They are the allergy fairies and their evil pollen fairy dust. I  didnt know you would be susceptible to them so early but I was unfortunately wrong! My poor baby!

Ever since we have been back in Vegas your tiny little beautiful eyes have been tearing up all day long, your nose runs like a faucet and you sneeze more than ever. Now I know your awful Nono and Noni will be quick to blame your precious brothers zorro, doc and prada....but even they have fallen victim to the evil fairies.... no one is safe from the evil pollen monster! Mommy has been living on Claritin ( and I have yet to decide which is worse, the pollen or the disgusting aftertaste the medicine leaves in your mouth!)
Dont worry My little monster, the allergies in Vegas will soon go away when the unbearable heat rolls in....Lucky us! These are the perks of living in "Fabulous Sin City". Ugh... but I digress....
In other news you are getting bigger and more vocal daily! I have a feeling that you will be crawling and sprouting teeth VERY soon! EVERYTHING goes in your mouth these days. Just wait until you figure out this crawling thing....Mommy and Daddy will be in for a HUGE surprise then! After that, I have a feeling those babbles will soon be making sense to us! Talking already??? It must e all that (educational) TV Mommy lets you watch....All for the greater good Baby!
In celebrity news, you are on your way to stardom earlier than I thought! YEsterday while at the UPS store, you shot your very first TV commercial! Apparently they are doing a Summerlin Promotional commercial and your cute little face...(ok, it was your hat..) caught the eye ofthe director and BAM DONE you were all Lights, Camera, Action!!!We will forgive the director for thinking you were a cute liitle girl, she was obviously taken by your star quality!  Hopefully I will be able to get a copy of it...but for those of you in the LV area it will air after May 10 on all channels! YEAH!! Mommy and Daddy are on our way to retirement!!!

I have been getting you ready for your First Easter this Weekend. I have been telling you all about the Easter Bunny and how he will be hopping into town this Sunday.... your Daddy is skeptical, but somehow I think the Easter bunny found him first... how else can you explain all the Fruit Roll-ups, Twizzlers, Candy  and sodas we find under his bed???? Hmmmmm??? It must be the Bunny, Right???!!!!!
Well Baby I, we are off to the gym for MOmmy's 20 minute workout. Thankfully you give me just enough time to get on the treadmill before you have a meltdown....Thats ok though...Mommy isnt that big on working out just yet! :)
I love you Baby Monster!!!
Love, Mommy

Mile High Monster

Dear I
This one will be quick, but I just wanted to report that we are back in Vegas and slowly getting readjusted to West  Coast time.
The flight home?? How can I answer  this one with justice...Hmmm...Let's just say you know things are NOT going well when the entire flight crew offers you free drinks the entire flight! Thank God we were sitting next to two angelic women on the plane! They did all they could to calm you down! They even offered to walk up and down the aisle with you when I got tired of doing it!

Ugh I was a wreck! (of course!) I could not calm you down to save my life! You would sleep for 15 to 20 minutes and wake up screaming as if I dropped you. The ENTIRE flight!!!! I know all the other passengers wanted to kill me, but they were very graceful in their attempts to look unaffected by your tantrums. I will have to keep that in  mind next time I want to go off on somebody wrongfully existing in my presence - ok I will try at least!
The vote is unanimous  - you are an official Mama's Boy! Who would of thought??? I tried my hardest to pawn you off on others, but you always made your way back to me...I will remind you of that someday when you think I am the dumbest person alive!! :) Mama's Little Monster!

But lo and behold we are back on solid ground. Daddy was so excited to see you (he said me too, but the jury is still out on the sincerity of that..) He missed us so much that he even put together our very own room so we dont have to wake him up at night when you are screaming! How nice of him huh?? Zorro was glad to see you back, he was very worried with out you in his eye sight, but I think Doc was pretty content thinking we were gone for good. Oh well Doc, maybe you would be happier at the pound without us there to ruin your day? HUh tough guy???
Seriously I love the room though....The room looks great and it is great to see out "Tigger" back up on the wall.  I will have to tell you the story of "Tigger" someday!
We do miss all of our NEPA crowd though. After that last flight they are all definitely on the hook to fly out here for the next visit! We are going to put your cousin Brat to work this summer! We will drag her out here to be our full time nanny  - Mommy will need a break by then.... and Daddy and I could use a date night without getting puked on!
By the way your Dr  (Shaeic, We LOVE her!!) says I cannot let you be an only child. Drs orders! We had to take you in because you spiked a fever on our last day in NEPA right before our flight out. SHe laughed and said Mommy is a hypochondriac, but baby is fine. When I told her you are still as difficult as ever she said, the next one will be easier.... but we wont tell your daddy that!
And just a little shout out to US AIR: I think it is a BRILLIANT policy that you would rather have a sick kid with a fever on your plane rather than allow us to reschedule our flight. It makes perfect sense to me. Why not put him in a floating germ capsule to infect every one else right?? The odds of it being contagious are slim to none I am sure. Great Policy. Koodoos to management! I hope we never have a silly pandemic that would encourage people to secretly fly ill rather than allowing them switch their flights (without a $200 penalty). That probably would NEVER happen. Bacon or Ham anyone??
Well off to make the morning coffee...you have been up since 3AM, Hopefully it is just because you are sill on East Coast time - but I am being generous I am sure!
I Love you my little baby Monster, but you are SURE lucky your are cute!!!
To all the NEPA peeps we miss you very much and cannot wait to see you again!! Thanks for a great visit and we love you all very much!!!
Love, Mommy

All is well in the Vall....

Dear I,

Boohoo we are on our last full day here in the good ol' valley. We are having a great time thus far. As expected you have cried for just about everyone who has held you other than me....but we are working on that! Daddy will surely be disappointed at your lack of sleeping thru the night when we return to Vegas. We will just have to remind him you are a work in progress!
You did have your first "Real Crib" experience while we were here. But as expected you screamed your bloody head off until I  pulled you out of (what I assumed must have been)  a "shark infested crib!" You wanted NO PART of the wooden baby cage! I did manage to slip you in there when you fell asleep for a nap, but you let it be VERY known you hated it when you woke up in there.
Everything has been going rather well since we got here. I am sure Noni and Nono will be finding baby food on the floors and walls long after we leave! Nona has been doing her part to make you smile too. Just one lullabye from her and you are off into dream land. We will have to fly her out to Vegas soon!

The weather has been great while we are here! We spent plenty of time outside (which you LOVE..you must get that from Daddy!), we got to play with your girlfriend Sophia, Sonny, Chloe, Nico, and all the other neighborhood kids who came by to say hi. Sunday dinner alone brought by an extra 30 or so people just to check you out (and to squabble over the health care bill...but we will just say they are here for you)!! I hope as you grow up you remember all the big family gatherings and get togethers, as they are some of Mommy's favorite childhood memories too.
Yes, we have been busy and it is not over yet! I am sure the rain won't slow us down a bit! I hear it is getting pretty toasty back in Vegas. Which can only mean it is almost "pool time" for you!! I have a feeling you are going to love the pool...I just hope Prada doesn't mind sharing his swim time with you!
Well it is time to start the day....
I love you Baby!
Mommy

NEPA Bound!

Dear Baby I!!!

Happy 7 month Bday!!! 7 months old and still wont sleep a wink! But......We made it!!! Our first solo trip to NEPA! What a day we had! It started late last night, our flight left at 10:30 pm. YOu would think that showing up at the airport at 9 would be enough, yet we found ourselves running thru the terminal at 10:20 anyway! I am not really sure how we got out of there without your Daddy killing someone, but it must have been 'half-priced employee' night at McCarran!  The security was such a hassle. They obviously had no mercy on the single parent travelers. 3 People watched me struggle to empty all my bags, fold up my stroller, take off my sweater and shoes, all while Holding you!! I even asked for help and all they could tell me was "sorry ma'am we are not allowed to touch you in any way"...Really people??? I wasn't looking to get some before my flight, but just some help getting my laptop out of my bag would have been great! I could see your Daddy on the other side of the security line going crazy too...I thought for sure this was going to be the beginning of a long night!!

The flight was packed! Never again will I NOT buy you a ticket! Thankfully some God-sent soul traded seats with me so we had a spare seat for you to lay on. I hate to admit it but we pulled a Benadryl card for the flight. I hate giving you medicines just yet...but I think I hate more that it worked so well! You slept like a champ...the whole way! What a relief!!!
I thought our 3 hour layover in Philly would be a long nitemare, but you loved it! I should have known that all the people and commotion would be right up your alley! You were a big hit with all the passersby, as we laid on our blankie with you glued to "Super WHy" on the Mac! You were loving it and the time flew by!

Finally our trip to Scranton was over and done with in a snap and we got off the plane to an eager Noni and Bratty waiting for you! Of course you cried when I handed you over to them, but they didnt care....and quite frankly either did I!! I was ready for a nap!!! Aunt Gina, Krissy, Noni, Bratty, Zizi, and NOna will have to duke it out over you....altho I am pretty sure you are going to throw the game in my favor!
So we shall see how the week goes between your separation anxiety, jet lag and people overload! Daddy says you have to be sleeping thru the nite by the time we go home! HA! I will settle for that 4 hour stint with NO Benadryl!!! Noni even put up a crib for you here...funny she thinks you are going to sleep in there! I have a feeling you are going to be perched right beside me in bed...again!
More thoughts to come for sure! Right now Mommy has been up since Monday night and needs some long awaited shut eye!!!
I love you Baby!
mommy

The Tides are turning ?!?!?!?!?!

(sorry Baby, I forgot to post this one last week - it was a short lived miracle!)


Dear Baby I,
I would really hate to jinx myself here, but after a HELLISH week of a miserable baby and an equally miserable mommy, I find myself writing this blog as you peacefully sleep.  We are miraculously on night #3 of you getting at least 7 or 8 solid hours of rest (...not consecutive, lets be realistic people!)
Maybe the tides are turning? Maybe all my(and everyone who has spoken to me lately!!) praying is working off? Maybe you were just testing me the past 6 months? I don't know! All I know is you and I are different people when we have some solid snoozing under our belts...and less baggage under our eyes!
Maybe it is your new room that you are liking. Perhaps Daddy and I were cramping your style too much by making you share a room with us. Maybe I just sleep thru more of your awake time with you in the other room.... who knows, but it works.  Every night you will sleep til at least 2AM until I have to pick you up...usually because you are SOAKING wet!! Then you and I cuddle up on the floor (yes, the floor, we pretend we are camping!) for another 4 hour shot of ZZZs! It has been AAAAAMAAAAZING (to quote your dear cousin BRatty!) YEsterday we  even took a 3 hour nap together!!
I know I should let you sleep solo....but you are SLEEPING - so I do not care how it happens!!! I just cannot believe it is happening!!

Mommy must be crazy!

Dear I,

Well I am very sorry I dragged you to the Dr office the other day to sit in the waiting room for 90 minutes just to hear the Dr say "you are just vying for my attention and Mommy is a little crazy!" Stupid me! I should have known I was crazy the whole time! Apparently those screaming sessions in the middle of the night while I AM HOLDING YOU to calm you down are simply your way of saying "mommy hold me.." NO Baby, I do not understand either. But maybe someday you can tell me all about how terrified you were or how I didnt pay enough attention to you...
On the other hand, I am glad to know that I am the one with issues and not you....that is comforting,  I guess.
As I write this letter to you at 4am on a Saturday morning I can only feel like the light at the end of the tunnel has finally gone out. When you were born it was 'wait until he is 3 months,' then 'by 6 months it will all work out,' now we are on the cusp of month 7 and I just spent the last 3 hours with my head buried under a pillow praying for you to shut up and fall asleep! I swore I was not going to put a bottle in your mouth every time you woke up, and since you ate 10:30 I was not going to feed you at midnite. But you called my bluff!!! You just screamed your head off til the next feeding time, 3 hours later! You downed a whole bottle, tossed and turned for another 30 minutes and finally fell asleep! Of course as soon as you fell asleep I smelled the odoriferous wonder coming from your diaper - but like hell was I going to roll you over to change you now! It's not like you wont be up at 5 anyway... 2 hours of a stanky diaper cant hurt right???

You definitely have become very clingy in the past few weeks, which leads me to think that maybe your dr was right - Maybe it is me? You always want to be held and you scream for me every time you see me, as if I am supposed to pick you up every time I am in your eyesight! I dont get it! You hate to be left alone even for a second...you freak out....you are almost worse than Doc! What causes such extreme separation anxiety? and how do we get rid of it! I honestly did not think we were spoiling you that much to cause such extreme neediness. Once again I am clueless!
 We just spent a whole week letting you "cry it out".  That was fun. By day 5 I would put you down for your 830AM nap and like clockwork you will scream til 10/10:30 and sleep for 15/ 20 minutes! Everyday I have been wasting 2 or 3 hours for you to take a half hour nap! Is that what I am supposed to be doing? 'They' say let you cry and check every 15 to 20 minutes....but by the time I put you down and the time you fall asleep you are either hungry again or so worked up you cannot calm down enough to get a good nap. Maybe 'crying it out' is not for every baby - maybe crying it out isn't for every mommy....then again whatever I am doing now is not working either!
I keep thinking I am such a horrible mother.  I cant believe teenagers can handle this and I can not! What a wimp am I?! I just surfed the internet for hours on baby sleep(as in: My baby won't!), baby cry (what is too much?), postpartum depression (really??? can I blame my craziness on chemistry??), and how to ease separation anxiety. Essentially it was just a waste of time, but I have been up for 4 hours and there is no chance of me falling back to sleep now! so it is either surf or eat....and we are out of munchies! grrrr....
In other news, the weather out here in vegas is beautiful right now!(well, during normal daytime hours!) THis is definitely the time to live here (shh!). Nicer weather means more outside, more walks, more trips to the dog park, Hooray! Although, the nicer is it is now only means the quicker the hot stuff is on the way! Oh no!!!
Daddy starts his new job on MOnday...then my 'vacation' is really over....it is back to me and you solo all day kiddo! I think I am secretly terrified! But only for a week, then you and I go on our first solo  trip to NEPA on the 16th! Hooray!!! Noni can have you for a whole week! Well she can try at least, because I know you will give her a hard time and scream for me....my little koala! You are definitely quite the Mama's Boy! I guess I should enjoy it for now. I am sure in no time you will want nothing to do with your daddy and me, so I shall enjoy it now.
uh oh....Someone's 3am to 4 am nap is over....you' re killing me kid, killin me!!!
Lucky you are cute!!! But I love you anyway!
love, mommy

A Mother's Plea....

Dear Baby I,
You know how much I love you right? You are by far the greatest thing that has ever happened to Daddy and Me. We would do anything for you walk burning coals, eat snails- even jump in front of a moving train! You are the apple of our eye and we built our futures and family around you. You are our precious little angel, but....
Well....BUT (its a big but!)... I was just kind of wondering as your devoted mother and caregiver, if it were at all possible if for JUST ONE NIGHT you can cut us some slack and SLEEP!!!! I am not even asking you to sleep the WHOLE night...just give us a solid 3 or 4 hours and I will be fine! I beg you! PLEASE!!!! Before Mommy throws herself in front of a moving train!!!
I cannot wait for the day when you can tell us what is wrong! 'Mommy my belly hurts.' 'Mommy my teeth hurt.' 'Mommy the sheets are scratchy.' 'Mommy its too hot in here!' 'Mommy hold me, I am scared.' 'Mommy the dog wont stop licking itself!' Because right now I spend every waking minute of the night (which is every minute of the night!)  trying to guess what it is and I am doing a horrible job at it! I have taken the advice. I have read the books, studied the internet, swaddled you, fed you, rocked you, let you cry....nothing seems to work! Maybe I am just a wuss for a mom but I really thought by 6 months old you would have a longer stretch of sleep than 2 hours under your diapee!

In the past 3 nights you averaged MAYBE 3 hours of sleep per night...and that is being generous! Saturday night you actually started crying at 11pm and by 4:30AM we were driving the street of Las Vegas trying to get you to sleep(which is blog-worthy itself!)! I put 25 miles on the car (which is a lease that i will be paying dearly for in mile overage fees - that is coming out of your allowance!!!) for you to sleep 20 minutes and awake as soon as I turned the engine off!! You cried so loud and long last night that the dogs even scratched at the door to get out of the room!!!
Honestly Baby I feel like I am failing you in some way - like there is something I have done or something I have failed to do that makes you this uncontrollable at night. Did I hold you too much? Have I completely spoiled you silly by 6 months? I wish I knew the answer! I just know that complaining about it doesnt help and by now I think everyone must think I the wimpiest mom on the planet! But if Dr Moss's office were open at 3 AM  I would have gone in for an emergency Hysterectomy last night!!
'They' say I am supposed to let you cry - but last night was the longest 4 and a half hours of crying I have ever experienced!! And it wasnt just you crying either! I woke up so dehydrated this morning I felt like a camel!! Last nite was pure hell and I dont think I am strong enough to do it again. I dont agree with the Ferber method and I dont think that putting you to bed should be something you - and I dread....so what to do??
You have to help me out here kiddo! Mommy is running out of ideas and in desperate need of some sleep! You have me completely defeated....I just count down the hours till bedtime with complete and dreadful anticipation....and I really just want us both to get a good nights sleep!

Love,

your ever-tired, ever-loving Mommy

PS Happy happy bday to daddy! We had a great day in the snow and cant wait to do it again!!! Altho I think the doggies had the best time of all!! We love you Daddy!!!