Starving our baby and then abandoning her

A catchy title, eh? I hope nobody from Child Protective Services happens across our blog...maybe we'd better make it private...

Well, the reason for the title is simply that on Friday evening it was made crystal-clear to us that we are still rookie parents who only by some combination of love, luck, and supportive family, have managed not to kill our child through a combination of negligence and ignorance. On Friday night we put Emma down to sleep at her regular time. She slept fine until sometime after 11 PM. It has not been uncommon for her to wake up once during the night and fall right back to sleep. On this particular occasion, Laura got up with her and rocked her back to sleep. (Side note: usually when Emma wakes up in the night we leave her for a few minutes to see if she will fall back asleep on her own. During this waiting period, Lauralee and I debate on whose turn it is to go in with her. It's usually a very civil debate, with each of us explaining what we have done with the baby that day that warrants the other person getting up with her. For example:
Quinn: "I changed her last poopy diaper."
Laura: "I fed her at dinner AND before bedtime."
Quinn: "I played with her for two hours after I got home from work and before she ate."
Laura: "I gave her a bath."
Quinn: "I worked all day today." -- this sentence signifies that Quinn has run out of baby-related clauses.)

Well, on this particular occasion, LLL dispensed with the debate immediately and volunteered to go in with her. She certainly got no debate from me, and even though I knew this meant that if Emma woke up again, it would be my turn, I felt that the odds were pretty much in my favor.

Lauralee did get Emma back to sleep, and all was well in the world, for about 45 minutes anyway, until Emma woke up again at about midnight (of her own accord, not because of any alarm clock/mother-in-law hijinx -- see previous post).

I stumbled into her room and lifted her out of her crib. She stopped crying immediately and flashed that killer smile of hers, which made me wonder if I had not just been punked by an 8-month-old. In fact she was quite calm, maybe even a little hyper. Why on earth was she awake? Diaper was good, she was yawning as if she was tired, she had eaten a full bottle before bedtime -- what else does a baby need? Interesting conversation? A sense of belonging? Cheaper car insurance?

I rocked her for awhile and she slowly nodded off, but when I went to make that tenuous transfer from arms to crib, she woke up again. So I sat down and started rocking some more. She wasn't crying at all, just very peaceful, but not drifting off into a deep sleep by any means. This was more of a "Sunday afternoon" level of slumber. I again tried to put her in the crib, but she woke up and starting rolling around and playing with the bars on the crib/trying to reach her mobile, etc. So I just let her lay there and play, hoping that she'd tire herself out and fall asleep -- yeah right. Isn't it funny how we always hope that they'll magically fall asleep on their own? I thought maybe the lamp was what was keeping her up, so I flipped the lamp off -- big mistake. Our daughter apparently doesn't like being left in the dark [writing this down on my list of things not to do in the future....check]

So it has now been about an hour and forty-five minutes and Emma seems content to just hang out but is not keen on falling asleep. What do you do with a baby who wants to play at 2 in the morning? You tag your partner. I went back into our bedroom to wake up Laura, but Emma screamed into the baby monitor and beat me to it. Laura was a real sweetheart and told me to get some sleep. I told her about all of my failed attempts to get the baby to sleep and mentioned, just before collapsing on the bed, that maybe she was hungry since she'd been awake for so long now.

Lauralee tried all of the things I had tried, including taking her downstairs to play with her toys. After at least an hour of the same gyrations I had gone through, she made a bottle of formula just to see if Emma was interested -- and boy, was she interested. She drank the whole thing and almost immediately fell asleep. It was after 3 AM. Emma had been hungry all along.

The next day was Lagoon day for my company, so we got up early (for a Saturday) and, of course, had to wake up Emma who probably would have slept all morning. After starving our baby the night before, we had to get to Ogden to drop her off with the Van Bibbers so that Lauralee and I could go have fun at Lagoon. We hadn't been there since we were dating -- and that particular visit was cut short due to a freak rainstorm that blew in just in the few minutes it took for us to go through Dracula's Castle.

Some comments on Lagoon day:

The Wicked roller coaster was really cool but way too short.

The Samurai was fun too but felt a little bit like being in a car accident.

The Colossus is still a pretty darn good roller coaster.

The Screamer, Jet Star, and Spider were all closed. C'mon Lagoon: it's not like you have a gabillion rides -- keep the good ones open!

I still love the bumper cars. Everybody smiles on the bumper cars. Next time you're there, take a look. Everybody smiles.

As with everything else in life, Lagoon made me feel old. Just a few somersaults in the Rock-O-Plane made me dizzy and even the Bat -- by all accounts a pretty wussy roller coaster -- banged my ears against my harness so many times that I felt like a boxer. In fact, after we got home from Lagoon, I couldn't believe that my body was sore! We'd been on something like 10 rides. When I was young I could spend all day at Lagoon, but on Saturday we cut out after about 5 1/2 hours, and we were both exhausted.

We came back to the Van Bibbers to find a baby that was happy, and who didn't seem to care that we'd starved and abandoned her all in the span of 24 hours.

This past Monday night we had an interesting thing happen to us. Emma spent the day with her Grandma Van Bibber while Quinn and I worked. That night it took us a couple of tries to get her to sleep. Finally we were able to get to bed around 11:00 pm. We got a very rude awakening an hour later but not by Emma. I was asleep and suddenly I hear the song "5 Little Fish". I sing it to Emma and it is on one of her CDs. The song first became part of my dream but then as it kept going I thought it was my alarm going off and I was mad because I still felt so tired and then it dawned on me that this song would not be playing from my alarm clock. I realized the song was coming from Emma's room and it was quite loud and I was hearing it through the baby monitor. I jumped up and ran to her room and sure enough her CD/alarm clock was playing her CD. As she is a baby and does not need an alarm, the alarm time was still set at the default, midnight. I quickly turned off the music and the alarm and looked over at Emma who had thankfully slept through the whole thing. I guess her Grandma had accidentally turned on the alarm. We need to had a little tutorial on how to work the CD player apparently. I really don't need my heart to race in the middle of the night again.

Silly faces at Dinner!

She just kept winking at us once I got the camera out. I think she was anticipating the flash!

The next day, Tuesday, we headed up to Snowbird with Uncle Daniel, Aunt Hannah, Uncle Taylor and Cousins Eric, Kaylee, and Alley. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Zundel for letting us use your place. We had a great time swimming.Emma is still a water baby and loved every minute. She is not to fond of her life jacket because it smashes her face up. She we didn't wear it the whole time. She has no fear of the water yet which is good and bad. We will definitely have to put her is lessons someday.

Hannah, Kaylee and Alley

Daniel and Emma

Eric and Taylor

At the Playground

Eric

Kaylee

Alley

Playing peek-a-boo with Emma

Daniel and Hannah kept Eric and Kaylee overnight but Quinn and I brought needed to get Alley back home. Taylor also needed to get home that night and so he got smashed into the back between the two car seats. I don't know how he fit. What a good sport. We hope you made it home the rest of the way okay on front-runner :)

Animal Planet Expo

Last Saturday we packed up Emma and all our gear on the hottest day of the summer so far and headed to Liberty Park in Salt Lake. The Animal Planet Channel was having an expo and it was free. So we decided to check it out. We didn't quite know what to expect but we hoped to see animals or exhibits about animals. Most of what was there was geared towards kids ages 3-12. They had blow up slides and things to climb through and on. There was face painting and bean bag toss. They only had a few animals display: frogs, lizards, snakes, butterflies, bugs. Not very exciting. We did catch a bit of the dog/Frisbee show and one of the animal shows but the crowd was very large and the stage you stand around very small. It was hard to see even for us. Emma was not impressed and it was so very hot. But it was free and if they come again so day when she is older she would enjoy it a lot more. To cool off we headed over to the playground to let Emma swing and to play a bit in the little water park there. She loved to swing but was not too sure about getting wet in her clothes. As we were leaving we passed the Carousel and decided to let Emma go for a ride. She loved it even though she was so tired. After an adventurous day we all headed home to cool off and to take a nap. Our nap couldn't last long though because we headed up to Willard to see the play "Around the World in Eighty Days" (after dropping Emma off at my parents). The play was being directed by our friend Katie Paschall. The show was very good and funny. She did a great job.

Our Second Playdate - July 9th!

After our first play date involving swimming we decided to try just going to the playground and maybe getting a chance to visit while the kids played on their own. We met here at my house and then headed over to Hogan Park with our lunch. This time Jessica and her new son, Jonathan joined us. She needed to get out of her house. Jonathan was born a few weeks early but is doing very well now. We didn't last long at the park though, Emma got tired and was too distracted to go to sleep and Melissa's little boy Dallin ran off and almost got to the street before she caught up to him. So we headed back to my house to let the kids play on my small swing set but fenced in back yard. This also allowed Emma to get a nap. This turned out to be the best idea because all three boys were very excited that trains kept going by and would have to stop whatever they were doing to watch and run up and tell us that the train was going by. It was so nice to just sit and visit.

Melissa and Emily

Brooke with the three boys. Her sons, Dawson and Raiden and Melissa's son Dallin.

Jessica and Jonathan

I had no picture of Emma from that day so here is one from a few days later. She is playing peek-a-boo with me.

The memory game

If blogging is about nothing else, it's about doing what everybody else does. With that in mind, please indulge us in "The Memory Game". Here are the rules:

1. Add a comment of a memory you have of the two of us together. It doesn't matter if you know me very well or just a little, it can be anything. It can be a recent memory or from way back. Once you leave a comment I will assume you are playing too.

2. Add these instructions to you own post and wait for the memories to start rolling in.

You can leave a favorite memory for Lauralee or Quinn or both.

Our Summer Vacation at Bear Lake

Well, we have survived our first camping trip with Emma. Everyone is alive and well. We are only a little sunburned, but I seem to be the only one covered in misquito bites. No matter how much clothing I wore or how much repellant I put on the little buggers just loved me.

We made it through 5 days and 4 nights of sleeping in a tent with our darling little girl. By the last day however I was certainly ready for a real shower and my own bed. Emma did really well for being in a strange place and being outside in the sun and wind all day. She did have one freak out moment the first night when we went to put her to bed. She has been teething lately and was probably over stimulated and over tired. She decided to fuss, cry, and scream for two hours before finally falling alseep exhausted. I love my husband dearly but the silly boy was ready to get in the car and drive home that very minute. But we survived and she was really great the rest of the time. I think she just had to get used the sound the tent made and sleeping in her play-pen. The only other issue we had was that Emma woke up at 4:50 one morning and would not go back to sleep. We tried everything for about an hour. After that we gave up and decided to take her for a walk so we wouldn't disturb everyone around us. On the walking path we passed a nice older couple who just smiled at us and commented on how you never get to sleep in once you have kids and don't we know it. We must have looked tired.

Here she is with her Uncle Daniel already for bed.

We had a great time with our many activities up at the property which involved: eating, relaxing, eating, playing games, eating, reading, eating, watching Emma play and talk to herself and did I mention eating. (the diet was ignored for the week) Emma was so entertained by everyone that was there that life is probably really boring now with just Mom to play with. She learned how to say Ga-Ga and so she practiced it over and over again.




Playing Games!

Emma playing!

We also spent one day at the beach. Normally we would go at least twice during our stays at Bear Lake but it being the first week of July the water was still really cold and going to the beach with a baby is hard work. One day was enough for me. Emma was great though. She loved the water. I think we have a water baby on our hands and will have to watch her carefully. She also enjoyed her first boat ride. We timed it to coincide with her nap time. Quinn did not believe me that she would fall asleep but I was right. She was asleep with in minutes. On that ride I also proved to myself that I can still water-ski after having a baby. I wanted to try and wakeboard but the water was so cold and my body was only up for a few minutes of skiing, so maybe later this summer.

Our Water Baby!!

We also had a great time going for a bike ride down to the pizza place. We were also fortunate enough to find a bike trailer for Emma to ride in so she wasn't left behind. She slept most of the way which was great, she needed it. Our bike ride was not without incident however. At one point I noticed Emma's hat had fallen off so Quinn and I pulled over and stopped to put it back on like good parents to keep the sun off her. We were not good bikers however and did not signal that we were going to stop. My Grandparents were behind us a little ways. Grandma saw us and slowed to a stop just behind us. Grandpa however was playing with all his cool gagets on his bike (pedometer, speedometer, time, temp, ect.) He did not see Grandma until the last second and crashed into her sending her and her bike into the weeds and himself skidding across the bike path. Once we got Grandma untanled from her bike and on her feet again we were able to see she only had a few scraps and one small bleeding cut on her hand, she was sore the next day though. Grandpa was fine. We are very lucky also that neither one hit Emma, although she was strapped in she had no helmet. We liked the trailer so much I think we will get one for ourselves.










Our strong Dad and trusting sleeping baby girl!












This is just me showing off my ametuer photography skills!

The whole crew!

We also enjoyed exploring the Minnetonka Cave. Carly's boyfriend Jeff had never been. Our tour guide was great and really fun. Mom and Dad did the Grandparents thing and sat outside the entrance with Emma. We hiked all 444 stairs down and then back up all in a cool 40 degree temp.












The misquitos were horrible at the mouth of the cave!




On our last day at Bear Lake we played softball. Quinn, Me, Anne, and Dad won - ten to four. Sorry Jeff, Carly, Taylor and Mom. Good luck next time. Emma had to stay with her Great-Grandma and take a nap.

The Winning Team!

The Second Place Team!

Overall we had a great trip and hope Emma comes to love Bear Lake as much as we do.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Moore for letting us come up and thanks to my parents for doing all the food. We know its a lot of work and really appreciate it.

Tagged by Becky

I've been "tagged" by Becky to complete this rather silly questionaire which, by the way, seems geared toward women. I almost decided to ignore the tag altogether. But then I remembered how much I love tag.

Lloyd: You're it.

Harry: You're it.

Lloyd: You're it, quitsies!

Harry: Anti-quitsies, you're it, quitsies, no anti-quitsies, no startsies!

Lloyd: You can't do that!

Harry: Can too!

Lloyd: Cannot, stamp it!

Harry: Can too, double stamp it, no erasies!

Lloyd: Cannot, triple stamp, no erasies, Touch blue make it true.

Harry: No, you can't do that... you can't triple stamp a double stamp, you can't triple stamp a double stamp! Lloyd!

Lloyd: [hands over ears] LA LA LA LA LA LA! Stamped it!

So anywhoooo, here goes.

#1 Post a picture of your sink as it looks this very minute.

As you can see, it is still decorated for Cinco de Mayo.



#2 Post a picture of your toilet.

#3 Post a picture of your laundry room.

#4 Post a picture of the inside of your fridge.

#5 Post a picture of your wife/kids and what they are doing right now.

She is such a sweetheart that she watches kids that aren't even ours.



#6 Show us your favorite shoes.

Pump it!



#7 Show us your favorite room in your house.

My meditation chamber is where I get a lot of my thinking done. The hyperbaric feature helps keep me healthy. Plus it puts on my helmet for me.



#8 Show us a picture of your closet.

I was going to clean it tomorrow...



#9 What is your dream vacation?
Well, that's really difficult to say, but here are a few pictures of my dream vacation:

Although she will go on amusement park rides with me, Laura will never play chess with me...



#10 Post a self portrait as you look right now.

You'll have to excuse me: I haven't shaved in a couple of hours.


By virtue of reading this sentence, you are now tagged.

Quinn