Pookster finally sleeps in her crib all night since coming back from Australia

On Saturday night, I slept in the air mattress we set up next to Kaia’s crib, with the front rail removed. While she fussed a couple times through the night, she mostly just needed the pacifier back in her mouth, as well as to get a brief back rub (she mostly prefers to sleep on her stomach at this stage). At around 2am, she fussed and needed to be comforted, so I pulled her off the crib mattress and onto my chest so that she could fall asleep on top of me, and eventually put her back on her back on the crib mattress. She slept soundly all the way until about 7am on Sunday morning. I opened my eyes at about 7:12am, and I found her sitting on her knees on her crib mattress, staring down at me, probably wondering when mommy would finally wake up.

Then last night, at Chris’s suggestion, I snuck out of the room after her first mini fuss, at around 12:30am. I went back to our own bed and slept there, checking on her twice through the night to make sure she was okay. She slept all by herself in her room until around 6am, when Chris woke up and saw her standing at the crib, waiting for us to get her. He went to retrieve her and brought her back to our bed, where she slept for another 45 minutes before waking up. It was like in the old days, before the Australia trip, when she happily slept in her crib but would occasionally want to join our bed in the early morning.

It took a while to get here, but I hope this keeps up. I want her to feel safe and comfortable in her crib, in her own room, without us there. I just hope no future trip disrupts this and causes her separation anxiety to come back again.

Don’t withhold food from the Pookster; she will come for you

Kaia’s palate always seems to surprise pretty much everyone. Our nanny doubted me when I introduced different new, strongly flavored and spiced food to her way in the beginning of our solids journey. Other nannies tell our nanny that she is lying or exaggerating when she talks about what Kaia eats. Parents on both sides have questioned whether our approach has been smart or safe. Envious friends have suggested that not all parents would be comfortable implementing the same feeding approach. But the funny thing is, even though we have certainly been bold and seemingly fearless in introducing as many new flavors to her as possible, especially in the period leading up to her turning 1, Pookster also occasionally astonishes us, as well.

With some of the produce we picked up in Jackson Heights and Woodside yesterday, I made a fresh sour mango salad as part of our dinner this evening. I really didn’t have that many sour green mangoes, so we really just had enough mangoes for Chris and me as part of our meal. Because I pounded two Thai chilies into the garlic for the dressing and tasted it, it seemed a bit too spicy, so I decided not to give Kaia any.

Well, I probably “decided” that too soon because while feeding her dinner, she kept peering into my dinner bowl, wondering what I was eating, and probably also wondering why the hell she didn’t get the same thing. My baby gets massive FOMO when it comes to food. She whined until I gave her some, and then of course, she had to have 4-5 more spoonfuls until I had no more salad for myself left, except the parts with pounded chili residual.

Okay, well I guess I learned something: next time, I will not only buy more sour green mangoes, but I will also just give her the spicy food while I eat it. There’s really no need for me to be a tease with my own child, is there?

Pookster gets sick again

The last thing any parent wants is to have their child sick. So after we learned that one of her friends was sick with an ear infection late last week, and they had spent time together, I wondered if Kaia would catch the sickness. Ear infections are not contagious, per se, but apparently the colds that result from ear infections are. In the last couple of days, my sweet baby’s appetite has not been good; she’s even rejected her favorite things, like oatmeal fingers, mushrooms, and even bread (MAJOR RED FLAG). Kaia has gotten sick a few other times, but only once before, when she had COVID back in June, was her appetite affected. She’s been fussier than usual, especially in the late afternoons and evenings. Luckily, in the mornings, she still seems of good spirits, and she even enjoyed her first music class yesterday and was bobbing her head up and down and “dancing.” And then last night, she kept waking up about every 1-2 hours to fuss when she changed positions. She’s been sneezing a lot, and with each sneeze, her boogers and nose discharge fly everywhere. My poor little Pookster.

I cannot even imagine what it would be like if she were sick literally every week, which is what I hear from many parents regarding their young babies/toddlers in daycare. It would be never-ending exhaustion and borderline worry. I really feel for other parents and their seemingly perpetually sick babies. It’s like you never get a real break.

Second steroid shot on the left wrist

Today, I went over to the Upper East Side for a follow-up appointment with my orthopedic doctor. Honestly, I was hoping to never, ever see him again after my last two visits in October, when I had a cortisone shot on my left wrist and my right wrist, because seeing him again would mean that the pain and inflammation in my mommy thumb/wrist returned. Early last month, I realized that the pain had returned in my left wrist. It would come back quite suddenly and painfully after the most random movements, whether that was slipping my hand through a sleeve or just holding something in a certain angle. That horrible, sharp “snapping” pain would re-emerge, and I’d just think, really? AGAIN? I figured that this time around, I probably shouldn’t wait five months before just sucking it up and getting the shot.

So after a quick chat and examination, the doctor gave me my second steroid shot in my left wrist. He told me that in 80 percent of cases where someone comes in for a steroid shot for mommy thumb/de Quervain’s Tenosynovitis, they are cured fully and never have to come back again. I suppose that means I’m in the unlucky 20 percent that had the pain return… at least for now, it’s just in my left side. The shot helped for the last 4+ months, so a decent amount of time. Now, for those who come in for a second shot, it’s really 50/50 whether the pain will fully go away (please…), or return. He said if the pain does return, while a third cortisone shot would always be an option, surgery to release the tendon would be the more permanent option. A third cortisone shot would usually not be a permanent fix.

I do not want surgery under any circumstances. Please, inflammation, do not ever return. Please…..

When a first time mom teaches a nanny how to feed baby

This morning as the “treat” at the end of her breakfast, I washed some blackberries and served them whole for Kaia. In general, for berries like blackberries or blueberries, it’s not advised to give them whole at her age…. unless the child has shown advanced chewing/biting abilities. So with both types of berries now, I just give them to her whole (occasionally, I flatten the blueberries slightly), and she’s comfortable and more than able to chew through them and swallow. Our nanny watched Kaia shove one whole blackberry into her mouth after the other and laughed.

“If you told me a year ago that I was going to allow a 15-month old to eat WHOLE blackberries under my watch, I would have told you that you were crazy!” our nanny laughed. “I’ll be honest, Yvonne. I have learned a lot about what babies are capable of with food because of you.”

I smiled. It’s always funny when your nanny relents that she was wrong, and you were right. I’d say that with 8+ months of practice with chewing and biting, it’s partly just practice that led Kaia to being the good eater she is. But the other part of it could also just be luck. Maybe if another kid had her same environment and conditions, perhaps they wouldn’t be as mature as Kaia is with food. Who knows?

“Maybe you will do this same form of baby-led weaning for your next nanny kid at your next job,” I said to her, winking.

She shook her head. “No, no… I don’t think so. I will stick with what I am comfortable with!!”

Molds and crowns

Yesterday, I went to the dentist to have a mold created for my very first crown, and a temporary crown placed on my decayed tooth from last May. While I have gotten over the fact that an unexpected side effect of pregnancy was a decayed tooth, I still have not gotten over that I’m getting a crown before the age of 40. I’ve always taken such good care of my teeth (at least, what was within my power), and so just thinking about how I had to get this done, plus that god-awful root canal last spring, was really a dent into my self esteem.

The other sad thing is that this tooth that decayed, had a root canal, and is now getting a crown is right next to one of my two baby teeth that still linger in my mouth. As a previous dentist once said, “they are hanging on angel wings.” There’s literally no root for them to hold onto in my gums. And the latest x-rays show that the bit of bone that they used to hang on… has since deteriorated since pregnancy, likely meaning that pregnancy was also a culprit for this bone wearing away. This baby tooth next to my soon-to-be crowned tooth could be further destabilized because of the crowning.

“You need to start saving for (tooth) implants – two of them,” my dentist warned me yesterday. “Those teeth could really go anytime… tomorrow, in two years. Who knows! But you’ll need to be ready.”

Dental health – the absolute worst. I would like to never have to get any implants, especially since a single implant from start to finish can cost $6-9K. But who knows – it may be in my uncertain future. My real takeaway from this is… even though all of this was pretty much out of my control: I need to try my very hardest to instill good dental hygiene and care into Kaia. I really do not want her to face all these issues when she’s older. And good habits start young.

Snot sucking: a true highlight of early parenthood

When a baby body care box that included a snot sucker (Nose Frida) was gifted to us from our registry, I figured that this manual snot sucking contraption would come in most handy if and when Kaia would fall ill. What I didn’t realize is that snot sucking would need to be a nearly daily task that I’d have to do for Kaia. And it would be especially hideous when Kaia would actually be congested.

Since Saturday, Kaia has had a little cold. She’s been stuffy, runny, and having endless snot stuck in her system. On the bright side, she’s still maintained good spirits and has still eaten well, so we haven’t been too worried. But I have had to increase snot sucker usage from once a day before bed to 3-4 times a day. On the worst night, I had to wake up three times in the middle of the night to clear her system out.

Today, I cleared her out before breakfast and again before lunch. Both times, it took longer than I would have preferred, which means Kaia was angry and trying to break free of our nanny holding her down in place, and I was getting out of breath and tired. And when you looked at the results of the snot sucker post suck, you’d really have to wonder… how can this much snot and nasal yuckiness come out of such a tiny human?

Vocabulary explosion at 15-months

In the last week, Kaia’s new words have just exploded. I was already having a hard time keeping track of all the words, but just in the last week, it’s gotten a bit out of control in a good way.

I keep a cup of water for myself by my bedside table each night, and I’ve also kept Kaia’s water cup on the same stand. Yesterday, she started charging toward the table to grab my phone, and I called out, “Pooks, watch out!” She looked at me and giggled, responding, “Watch out!”

She’s said, “oh no,” and “no, no, no!” more times than I can count. She points at her pacifier and yells out “paci!” She goes into her sock drawer, pulling all the socks out, yelling “socks!” over and over again. She pointed at my bowl of dinner and repeated “rice” many times. She knows what beets are and how to say them. She even said “mian,” Chinese for “noodles” multiple times, and said “xi shou,” Chinese for washing hands, when I brought her to the sink to wash up. When she occasionally tries to throw food off her tray and our nanny wags her finger at her to admonish her, Kaia giggles and yells back, “oh, no, no, no, no!” She says “e i e i o” after the “Old McDonald Had a Farm” song, almost at the right pitch. And she also sings the first part of the “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” song — “Up above (the world so high).” When we practice walking together, and I say “up, up, up!” she repeats after me. She also loves to yell, “go!” And of course, she is never shy about asking for “more?” when it comes to her very favorite foods.

My chatty baby is learning so much and is a human sponge. I can’t even properly express in words how proud and happy it makes me. Sometimes, I look at her face, and I can’t believe how freaking lucky I got.

A trail of snot and boogers… in my mouth

Despite being very irritable and unhappy last night at her congestion, Kaia woke up this morning seeming as chipper and happy as she could have been. Just listening to her babble, giggle, and whine, I could tell she was still congested, but it didn’t sound as bad as last night luckily. I had to regularly rub Vicks vapor rub on her chest and under her nose to try to keep clear, as well as suck her nose with the Frida Nose sucker every 4-5 hours. Elsewhere, anytime she crawls around and/or sneezes, she seems to be leaving snot and runny nose liquid everywhere. I guess we have a lot of laundry to do in the next laundry cycle.

And well, something happened that I think a lot of new parents who use a snot sucker fear would happen. I was being lazy and wasn’t always replacing the Frida snot sucker filters that prevent the snot from getting sucked… well, into my mouth. I figured that Kaia had not been anywhere as snotty as she was as a newborn, so there wasn’t a need to use a filter each time. The annoying thing about the filters is that there’s only so many of them that come with the snot sucker, and so once you use them up, you inevitably need to buy more (win for the Friday baby product company, but a loss for every parent who buys Frida anything). And because I’m cheap, I don’t want to buy more. So it finally happened today: she had so much snot and yuck in her nose that I sucked it hard enough to get some of it IN MY MOUTH. I immediately realized what happened and went to the bathroom to spit it out. Chris was holding Kaia as this happened, so he sat there holding her, laughing at me getting our daughter’s boogers in my mouth.

Well, I’m amazed this didn’t happen to me sooner than the 15-month mark, so I am sort of pleased with myself that it took this long. I guess this is a rite of passage in some way?

Pookie catches her first cold

After her mid-morning nap today, I noticed that Kaia didn’t sound completely clear. She sounded as though she had some congestion, and when I looked up her nostrils, she definitely had a lot of snot up there that needed to be removed. It wasn’t that clear that she had some sort of cold, though, until bedtime, when I sucked her snot with the Nose Frida and saw exactly how MUCH she had stuck up there. We decided that tonight, I’d sleep on the air mattress on the floor next to her to remove any separation anxiety and to finally get her acclimated into a full night of sleeping in her crib again — or so we hoped. But after 3.5 hours, this attempt was cut short because of her stuffiness. When I first went to lie down next to her, I noticed her snoring, which usually isn’t normal for babies her age unless they are congested. Eventually, she woke up at around 11pm and was clearly distressed. She had this look on her face that was half confusion, half panic: she started coughing, wheezing, and crawled over to me and buried her face in my chest. When she cried, it was like a feeble cry: super crackly, congested, and weak sounding. I knew she had some blockage and brought her back to our bed so that Chris could hold her while I sucked her nose with the Nose Frida again. We rubbed her chest and under her nose with baby Vicks rub, and then Chris had her lying slightly upright to keep her nasal passages a bit clearer.

It was sad and initially a little scary to hear her this way; in the last fifteen months of her existence, she’d never really gotten any real congestion or respiratory problem, and so this was all new to us. No parent of a baby wants to see/hear that their baby is having difficulties breathing; if anything, all of us try to reassure ourselves that our babies are breathing while sleeping all the time — by watching to see if their chest or back (if stomach lying) is rising and falling. Babies are so tiny, which means that their nasal passages are so tiny, which then means even the tiniest blockage can cause things like wheezing. Thankfully, Kaia is an older baby at 15+ months, and so she can learn through trial and error to breathe through her mouth; younger babies (less than four months old) simply don’t know how to do this, so when they get colds, it’s just that much scarier.

I also had thoughts of — how has she gotten sick yet again after hand foot mouth relatively recently? Is it all just because she’s getting exposed to more things? Is it because of the time of year with winter and cold weather? Or is it because now that I’ve weaned, she doesn’t have the protection of my antibodies anymore through consuming my breast milk? The mommy guilt slightly sat on top of me when thinking about this. It seemed futile, but I thought about it anyway and wondered.

We just wanted her to be comfortable and to monitor her more closely, so she slept between us on our bed once again. I hope it’s just a little cold that she gets over quickly. I hate to see my baby confused and not sound like herself.