the usual

[mamajoan]

So, we had a weekend. Uh...it's kind of a blur now. ;) I guess it had its ups and downs.

Saturday, I was cranky pretty much all day so it was just as well to skip the Hot Foods party. We did make a brief excursion to Target with my mom, after she had taken Ruthie away for a few hours which was VERY sorely needed. I am definitely reaching a breaking point on this whole "sobbing horribly if I put her down for one second" thing. It seems that she does this primarily when she's tired; and lately she's almost always tired. And why would that be? Because she isn't sleeping well, of course. The last few days, at naptime (and sometimes overnight as well), we lie down together and she latches on to the boob and nurses pretty much nonstop for the entire hour or two (or whatever). So she never manages to get into a really deep sleep, which means that when we get up, she isn't refreshed. So within minutes of getting up, she's cranky. Ugh!

I think the main problem is that my milk isn't enough for her any more and she needs "real" food as well. But for whatever reason these past few days, she hasn't been too interested in "real" food. Believe me, I've tried! I think we need to find more things that she can feed herself, rather than things she needs to be spoon-fed, because she's really not enamored of being fed. She wants to spoon-feed herself, but of course she doesn't quite have that down yet.

Anyway, the bottom line is that she spent most of the weekend hungry and tired, and there was little I could do about it; and thus we were both cranky. I'm not happy with how often I've been losing my patience with Ruthie lately, but well, she has really been trying! Oh, and did I mention the past few days she has been waking up significantly earlier in the mornings? Like 7am instead of 8? Ugh! Meanwhile Isaac has come down with this cold as well, although it seems to be fairly mild for him, knock wood.

Sinus-wise, things are still "interesting" in my head. All day, and especially when I lie down, I can feel stuff moving around in there. It's quite unpleasant and makes for not-so-restful naptime experiences. I really feel that one should not be able to hear one's sinuses.

In other news, I filled in a bit more of the info on my online tax return and it bumped my refund up to about $2330 (federal) and about $85 state. I think the state will increase a bit more when I get to the part where you say how much you spent on heating oil. So, that's pretty exciting; that'll be a nice chunk of change. I'm still waiting on the official statement from our old daycare before I can file. I just put in estimated numbers based on going through my online banking and adding up all the checks that I wrote to them.

In other financial news, due to overuse of my Amazon credit card, I've earned enough points for a $25 Amazon gift certificate. I am trying to convince myself that I can spend it on frivolous stuff for me (e.g. the latest Lois Bujold novel) and not have to feel guilty about it. So far no luck with that. Jewish Guilt 1, Sense of Entitlement 0.

Comments

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

You know I'm not a hard-line AP-er, so I think Ruthie's old enough to learn how to cope with not being held. It's not like she's an infant who's still adjusting to life outside the womb. When you're in physical contact with her nearly 24/7, then of course she's going to freak out when you're separated! I'd do a version of the Ferber technique, putting her down for increasing periods of time, like one minute, then two, etc. That way she can learn how to calm herself down and she'll also learn that you always come back. You can also try the whole "comfort object" thing, but Ilana never took to that, so maybe Ruth wouldn't either.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the main problem is that I did hold her 24/7 during the week that she was sick, and now she needs to re-learn how to not need that. I know she can do it, but when she's tired and cranky (which is almost all the time lately), she won't try. Of course, when my mom came over, Ruthie was totally cheery and played on the floor by herself for ages, just to make me look like a liar! ;)

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

How about trying to create some positive associations with not being held, like giving her a favorite food or toy only when she's on her own?

[mishaslair.livejournal.com]

Surely you're allowed to reward yourself for getting your taxes done early by using that gift certificate on something frivolous. :-)

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, having a baby (i.e. adding a new deduction) does lovely things for your tax picture. Between that, and the mortgage interest deduction, and the childcare credits, it's more than enough to offset the fact that I didn't pay taxes on any of the unemployment benefits I got.

[metafrantic.livejournal.com]

I hope our new deduction (Baz), plus the childcare credits, are enough to offset the fact that sandykidd was a contract employee and not paying taxes for a good while...

[mogwar.livejournal.com]

Do be careful on that, because contract employees pay an extra %15+ on top of any state and federal taxes, so even a small amount of contract income can lead to a huge tax bill.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Hopefully it will. Also, in MA you can deduct a portion of your rent, which can be awfully helpful.

[metafrantic.livejournal.com]

I did not know that! Thanks for telling me! I'll be adding that to the list...

[sophie-spence.livejournal.com]

You've had to shoulder some mighty, ahem, shall we say "challenging" burdens in the past year, dear chlaal. FWIW, I think you are totally entitled to spend the GC on books for you. Think of it as self-nurturing; you owe it to your children to set an example of healthy self-nurturing, yes?

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Thanks :)

bujold

[queenalia.livejournal.com]

the latest book i didn't buy: i started it in the bookstore, and was sorely disappointed. not her usual awesome self.

but ymmv...

alia

Re: bujold

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

well, I don't necessarily mean her actual latest, but the latest that I haven't read...the 3rd in the Chalion series?

Re: bujold

[azurelunatic]

That one doesn't hold me on re-reads as well as they normally do. On the other hand, I adore The Sharing Knife to itty bitty pieces on the floor.

Re: bujold

[queenalia.livejournal.com]

we bought it... but mainly for the minor characters. the hero and heroine were... unsatisfactory?

of course, this is because i hold her to a higher standard. i *heart* her middle aged characters...