Felt Playhouse

I need want this felt playhouse for Mungee.  In pink, of course ... and maybe with a cat instead of a dog.  Do I have any volunteers?  It would make a great 1st birthday present!

*Playhouse designed by homemade by jill

Creating a Bad Example

Yesterday, on the way home from MyGym, I went through the drive-through at Krystal's.  We stayed at the gym a little later than usual and I knew I would have to rush to give Mungee her lunch and attempt to get her down for her nap once we got home.  I was already pretty hungry and I didn't want to wait to eat.  I thought Krystal's would be delicious cheap, fast and convenient.  And it was all those things.  But I realized, as the delicious greasy french fries burned the roof of my mouth when I was inhaling them while driving, that I was setting a terrible example.  I do not want to lay the groundwork for desperate time-saving lazy drive-through runs for myself, or even worse for Mungee when she's old enough to enjoy consume the delicious non-nutritive "meals" they offer.  (Chick-fil-a, you and your seasonal peach milkshake are exempt from this generalization).

When we got home, I threw away the evidence trash in our outdoor trashcan.  Unfortunately, it was really windy and the trashcan got knocked over.  Mungee's Pa saw the debris and we both pretended some random neighbor tossed their trash into our can.  Eventually I admitted it was mine, but he already knew that.  He's done the same thing a time or two.

Have you found healthy alternatives for eating on the run?  What do you do when you're just so hungry that the thought of preparing something yourself makes you retreat into your mind and you wind up curled in the fetal position rocking back and forth in the corner?

Hosting an E-Party with The Crafty Moms

You are invited to a virtual The Crafty Mom's E-Party!

Date: Monday, April 26th, 2010- Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Hostess: Mungee and Me  www.mungeeandme.blogspot.com

A virtual party is as simple as 1,2,3!

Here's how it works:

1. Click on the link! Simply visit The Crafty Moms to check out all the cute hair bows, accessories, pettiskirts, tutus, beanies ...

2. Choose your favorites! Choose what you would like to order and email it toTerre at craftymoms@live.com letting her know what items you would like to purchase.  BE SURE TO MENTION Mungee and Me's NAME IN YOUR MESSAGE! Terre will send you an email asking how you prefer to pay (either credit card/paypal or personal check) and verify the order.

3.Your items will be in the mail to you within 7 days or sooner!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Terre  at craftymoms@live.com  

** If you are interested in hosting a party Mungee and Me will earn an additional credit **  

Many thanks for your support!

*Disclosure: I contacted The Crafty Moms with a request to host this party.  I was not contacted or paid to do so.  I will receive hostess credit for orders placed.

**Some of you may receive an email with this same information, please disregard or send me a request to opt-out.  I very much respect your privacy.

Right Place at the Right Time

Do you ever think G-d leads you to a certain place at a certain time under specific circumstances for a reason?  

-Mungee being sick led me to the doctor, who informed me that Mungee has an ear infection and that bananas were making her constipated.

-Which led me to the grocery store to fill her prescription and return 5 jars of bananas, but not the location I normally go to (I went to this one to avoid heavy after-work traffic).

-Returning the bananas at the customer service desk led to me being near the coupon kiosk and gravitating toward it because I can't resist a good deal with coupons, even if it's for something I don't ever use or need.

-Perusing the coupons led me to strike up a conversation with someone who was also browsing.  

It turns out that this person is an avid couponer like myself.  Not only that, but she and some friends get together to clip coupons, and have coffee or cocktails (depending on the time of day).  After chatting for a while, we discovered that we live a few blocks away from one another and she has a friend that lives right around the corner from me.  She invited me to join the group sometime.  She has a son who is almost one year old (and another who is 10) and was happy to offer parenting advice, but even more so, support.  Funny the conversations that you can strike up in the most common of places with someone you've never met.

It was really nice to make this connection.  Being at home with Mungee all day, I find that I am sorely lacking in adult interactions the majority of the time.  As I drove home, I thought about all those things that fell into place to put me at the coupon kiosk at the same time as my new acquaintance.  I think G-d wants me to get out more.

Can you think of a time when you realized in hindsight that all the pieces fell into place for something good to happen to you just when you needed it?  I'd love to read about it.

Video: Mungee Tries Puffs

I Have an Olympian

If pooing was (were?) an Olympic sport, Mungee would have won the Gold Medal several times over today.

This afternoon I met up with some girlfriends from my local Nest Board.  It's the second time I've been out socially without Mungee in 8 months (the first time was yesterday).  Mungee's Pa took care of her while I was gone.  I called on my way home and DH said "I was just about to call you.  Our child has made an Olympic sport out of pooing this afternoon".  Now, I must admit, when I heard the first part of that sentence, I thought he was going to say army crawling or some new feat.  I suppose, after being constipated, that pooing as much as she has today is a feat of sorts.  She's taken on two outfits, the Exersaucer and a couple brand new diapers.

The unfortunate side effect of this is that she has a pretty bad diaper rash now.

On another note, I am happy to report that Mungee took a 25 minute nap in her crib this afternoon.  She screamed and cried at first, but I went back in her room and rubbed her back for a few minutes.  She fell asleep for about a minute and then woke back up and screamed and cried again.  I rubbed her back again and she fell asleep!  I know that napping for that short amount of time isn't ideal, but it was in the crib, so I consider it a small victory.  

Maybe one of these days Mungee will be a champion crib nap sleeper.  We already know she's number one in number two.

Mobility

Today I went to a birthday party for my old college roommate's daughter, who turned one.  The birthday girl was napping when I got there, so I asked her mom, B, if she was walking yet.  She said O had been walking since 8 months old.  Um, what?  Mungee is 8 months and one week old and she still can't even get up on her knees or army crawl.  There was another baby there who is three weeks younger than Mungee who was crawling all over the place and pulling up to standing.  I know I should be thankful Mungee is not on the move yet, because once she is, there's no turning back.  I've read that crawling isn't even considered a milestone, so I ought not to worry, but I can't help but wonder if she's behind.

When did your little one become mobile?  Was he or she sitting across the room from you one moment, and you blinked and the next moment they were climbing up your leg?

Friday Follow! - April 23, 2010

This may be a little late for my fellow East Coasters, but those on the West Coast ought to have plenty of time to read my entire blog from start to finish (you know you want to!)

Friday Follow is hosted by One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapades.  It's a way for bloggers to "meet", share laughs, inspire and learn from one another.

Thanks for visiting!

All Backed Up

Poor Mungee has another ear infection - in only one ear this time, thank goodness.  She was exhibiting all the same behaviors as the last time she was sick - sneezing, runny nose, coughing, protruding tongue, irritability and pulling on her ears.  She's also teething, so I could attribute the symptoms to that, but I wanted to play it safe.  The doctor said it's a good thing that I brought her in since her left ear was pretty bad.  I hope Mungee wasn't suffering with it for too long before we caught it.

In addition to that, she's also, shall we say, all backed up.  Her little belly is not so little, it looks like she swallowed a fully inflated balloon.  The doctor said I should only give her cereal once a day and I said I do in the morning and I mix it with bananas.  She looked at me and said "Well there's the problem.  Banana is a constipating food".  *Smacks self on the forehead*  The doctor suggested prunes or peaches as an alternative to the bananas.  We got the go-ahead to mix the cereal with diluted juice instead of water.  Mungee can also have some diluted juice during the day.  I'm sure she'll enjoy the new taste - I got white grape juice and pear.  I would try it with the sippy cup, but she thinks that is a chew toy, so I'll probably introduce it with a bottle. 

Mungee weighed 19 lb, 1 oz.  That's up practically two pounds in a month.  Being that she is constipated and had her clothes on, I am not convinced the measurement was accurate, but my aching back thinks otherwise.

Dear Dr. Ferber

Dear Dr. Ferber,

Your advice for teaching my baby how to fall asleep comes highly recommended.  I'm sure you're qualified.  After all, an actual VERB has been created out of your name.

Unfortunately, you make me feel like a jerk.  A jerk for letting my baby fall asleep nuzzled against the warmth of my bosom, then transferring her to the cold, stark loneliness of her crib, only to have her wake up immediately and look at me like I have just killed a kitten.

How can I not pick her up when she looks at me like she has lost all hope and that the world is ending, while screaming hysterically?  

Typing on the MyTouch with one hand while I hold my sleeping baby so she'll take a nap,

Mungee's Ma

Today I tried to get Mungee to take her afternoon nap in her crib.  She was exhibiting the signs of being tired and it was close to naptime.  I made sure she was fed, burped, had a clean diaper, etc., yada and so forth.  I stayed with her for a while soothing her, telling her I loved her and that it was naptime and to go to sleep.  She kept rolling around in her crib and trying to climb out (a skill which I think she is going to accomplish any day now, even though she just discovered how to push down the bumpers yesterday - note to self: lower crib mattress).   I left her in her room for a while so I could take a few minutes to eat lunch ... selfish, I know.  The screaming never subsided so I resorted to getting her out of the crib and bringing her to my room and laying down with her.  Propped her up to nurse her and she was asleep in less than 5 minutes and slept for an hour an a half while I held her.

While I do enjoy this cuddle time with Mungee, I feel like I spend the majority of my day trying to keep her happy and not crying.  I feel guilty about eating, going to the bathroom and doing chores (okay, not that last one really), because it's time I'm not 100% focused on Mungee.  For my sanity however, I need to teach her how to take a nap in her crib.  Any suggestions?

8 Month Letter

Dear Mungee,

You are 8 months old!  That's two-thirds of the way to a year! 

Many things have taken place in the last month:

-In the middle of March, you got a terrible ear infection and a cold, and at the same time I suspected that you were teething.  Your first tooth emerged at the beginning of April and was soon joined by your second a few days later.

-You celebrated your first Passover

-At the beginning of April, you discovered the joy of holding a toy in each hand and banging them together.  You especially like to do this with the rings from your ring stacker.  Here you are banging together the rings from the ring toss game at MyGym:

-You are working on waving.  You currently flap and flail your arms but we know what you mean.

-You sit in your Floppy seat at restaurants and sat in a shopping cart at Target.  You weren't too sure about the shopping cart.  You have a tendency to lean and slouch in the high chair and cart.  Good thing that Floppy seat is padded!

-You sit up very well for long periods of time, but you still fall back every so often.  While sitting, you stretch as far forward as possible to grab at toys that are out of your reach and then you can sit back up.

-You stand right up by grabbing our thumbs, but you haven't pulled up on anything else yet, nor have you taken any steps.

-You are working so hard on trying to crawl.  You can pivot in all directions on your belly, but you can't figure out how to get your knees underneath you to propel you forward.  When you're really concentrating you even stick out your tongue and curl it to the side of your mouth - this is something new you've added in just the last few days.

-You've become much more vocal.  You babble constantly, and more so when you're tired.  Your "words" include mamama, dadada, eh na na, buh, uh, mmmmm, eeee!, and yee yee.

-You show affection for your toys by sticking out your tongue and spitting at them.  You love to focus on the eyes of toys that have faces.  You scratch at them and try to eat their face. 

-You still love to eat tags and straps.  You constantly nom nom on the high chair straps.

-You figured out how to bounce in your Exersaucer and you get quite excited and bouncy when we play peekaboo with you from the kitchen.

-You will look at an object in the direction that we point and you have even started making the pointing motion yourself!

-On your 8 month birthday, you tried Puffs.  We're practicing daily to get the hang of things.

This looks interesting ...

Okay, now what?

We've finally figured out a schedule and you seem to be a happier baby because of it.  I know when you need to nap and now it's easier to get you to take a nap - even though you're napping on me and not in your crib.  I recently read something another mother wrote, "All things with babies are temporary".  That really resonated with me and I try to remind myself of it when I'm feeling anxious or stressed.  So I don't mind being temporarily immobile for a few hours a day if it means you're getting the rest you need and I'm not fighting you for hours to take a nap.

You suffered a pretty significant setback in your sleep habits.  You were sleeping through the night, but after you got sick, you started waking once, then twice, then three times a night.  The easiest thing to do is to nurse you and put you back in your crib and you'll go back to sleep.  Miraculously, I feel that a change is coming*, but I don't want to jinx anything by typing out the difference we experienced the last two nights.  *Fingers crossed!

You continue to grow and change and have new experiences each day.  I hope that we provide you with all the love and care you need to thrive.  Sometimes I feel like I'm rushing you to achieve your milestones, and once you do, I'll long for the days when you would curl up on my chest and I could drink in your baby snores.

Love always,

Mama and Daddy

The Duck Pond

Nearby our house, but unfortunately not within walking distance, is a duck pond. Mungee and I headed there last Friday.  We had a nice time sitting on a bench, watching the pigeons, fountains, ducks and turtles.  Next time, we'll have to remember to bring some stale bread.  The one disappointing factor about the duck pond is that it's surrounded by houses, so you can't walk around it at all.

(This is the first time she's sat in grass)

When we first arrived, I almost took a nose dive, Mungee first, into the concrete because the sidewalk was uneven.  That shook me up quite a bit.  I always think about what I would do if I tripped and fell while holding Mungee.  I think I would have to find a way to contort myself so that I would land on my back and she would land on me, rather than me landing on her.  Have you ever fallen with your little one?

First Trip to the Beach

4.7.10: Mungee took her first trip to the beach

(Notice the fake umbrella?  I can't stand it when random people are in my pictures.  Have I mentioned that I'm quirky?)

Mungee wasn't sure what to think of the beach.  We'll have to try it again when she's not so tired.  After the beach we headed to an Irish Pub.  Mungee was on her way to a full meltdown and we were having a hard time eating our dinner.  Our kind server held her and walked around with her so we could eat.  She really seemed to enjoy it.  Mungee gets jealous when we eat or drink and tries to take our food/beverages off our hands, as you can see here:

Have you been excited about your little one's first of something, only to be disappointed that it didn't go as you envisioned?

What an Honor!

I am so excited to share that I have received my first blog award.  Melissa from Mommy Living the Life of Riley! has kindly bestowed the honor upon Mungee and Me.  Check out Melissa's blog for THE lowdown on the practical way to enter online sweepstakes, contests and giveaways.

Here are the rules:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. List who gave the award to you and use a link to her blog (or hyperlink).
3. List 10 things that make you happy.
4. Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know about the award.

10 Things That Make Me Happy (in no particular order):

1) Mungee - no explanation needed

2) Mungee's Pa for being such a caring, loving and involved father and husband

3) The peach milkshake is back at Chic-fil-a

4) Stacking coupons on top of Buy-One-Get-One Free sales

5) Gelato

6) Samples at Whole Foods (I had 4 pieces of SUSHI there one day!)

7) Sleep (I should be doing this right now)

8) Good friends with babies around Mungee's age

9) Fitting into pre-pregnancy clothes

10) Lists

And to you, I giveth thee:

Three Pugs and a Baby - tales of a modern mom

The Mommy Logs - adventures (and misadventures) of breastfeeding, babywearing, co-sleeping, staying at home and in general: Mommydom

Alabaster Cow - come for the gin. stay for the crazy.

Thanks again Melissa, for sharing this award with Mungee and Me!

Setting Off the Sprinklers

A while back, Mungee set off the sprinkler system at JCPenney's. 

Well, sort of.

Before I figured out when Mungee needed to take a nap in the morning, Mondays were our "mall day".  She typically would fall asleep in the stroller after we walked around for a while.  Since we would spend several hours at the mall, I needed to nurse her at some point.  I found a large dressing room at JCPenney and the feeding commenced.  

This particular dressing room had a loud chime to alert the salespeople whenever a customer entered or exited.  Just as I felt my milk let down, the chime went off and Mungee quickly detached from my breast to check out the noise.  I looked down and saw what appeared to be a thin white hair on my nipple.  I proceeded to pick it off, then realized that it was actually milk spraying out!  I couldn't help but laugh.  I had been nursing her for at least 6 months at this point and this had never happened before.

As Mungee becomes increasingly curious about the world and is easily distracted when she's nursing, this has happened several more times.  It's usually when I'm trying to watch TV or when her Pa enters the room.

Nursing moms, tell me about your breastfeeding snafus.  We've all had at least one.

Friday Follow!

I'm very excited to participate in my first Friday Follow, hosted by One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapades!  Friday Follow allows bloggers to link up so those with common interests can find their blogs and vice versa.

I hope to participate regularly in Friday Follow and make many new friends!

Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

The weather has been beautiful here lately, so the other day, I took Mungee to a neighborhood park.  

The sun was shining BRIGHT overhead and unfortunately there was no shade on the playground, so Mungee was unable to enjoy the bucket swings.  She sat on a table in the picnic area instead.

We people watched for a little while and then Mungee asked to go get a new toy at TJMaxx (this is the truth, I swear).  I lucked out in finding the Playskool Busy Lil Garden Bench on clearance for $20.  This is normally anywhere from $30-$45!

We left TJMaxx and went to Panera so I could get a pumpkin muffin (love) and a smoothie.  I decided to change Mungee's diaper first.  At some point in time, Mungee decided that she didn't like the NEW outfit she was wearing and that she was going to force her poo out of the back of her diaper.  The smell was unlike any other - I'll spare you the details.  Thank goodness I had a change of clothes for her in the diaper bag.  I got my muffin and smoothie and we sat at a table outside.  Mungee had had enough at this point and demanded to go home.  I asked her to be patient for just a few moments so I could enjoy my muffin and smoothie.  But an almost 8 month old doesn't quite yet know what patience is. 

To other moms of young babies, as warmer weather arrives, what kinds of outdoor activities will you do with your little ones to get the Vitamin D flowing?

It's a Popularity Contest!

I wasn't popular in high school.  Sure, people knew who I was, but I wasn't invited to the parties or to hang out at the local mini-golf course, which, in high school, was The Place to Be Seen.  

I don't want Mungee to be stuck hanging out with her parents on a Friday night (gahh!  The horror!) because she doesn't have a group of girlfriends (NO BOYS!) with whom to spend her time.  I feel that it is my duty as her mother to give her a head start on becoming popular.

Can you help a baby out?  Please click the link on the right (under the followers section) to vote for Mungee and Me at "Top Baby Blogs".

If you vote, your baby's farts will smell like your favorite flowers.  And if you don't have a baby, then your dog's will.  And if you don't have a dog then YOURS will.  Everybody wins!

Double the Pleasure

Tooth #2 has joined up with Mungee's first in the Conspiracy Against Mama's Nipples.  They are accepting recruits, I just know it.

Dun ... dun ... DUN!

I Can Haz Peekle?

Two Generations of Best Friends

My best friend D and I have known each other since she was 15 and I was 14 (or so).  I will not tell you how many years we've known each other, because then you could figure out how old I am.   Um, anyway ...

Life took us on different paths during high school, college and beyond, but fortunately fate brought us back together - true friends like that are meant to be.  We've decided that our daughters are best friends too.  D's daughter I just celebrated her first birthday.  Mungee is not too far behind.  It's not too early to start planning her party, is it?  

How did this happen?

Mungee looks like a big girl in this picture.  She is almost 8 months old, but I still see her as a tiny, delicate, blobular baby.  My mom said "Look, she has a neck!"

... and just because ...

Oh You See Ache

Ouch.  Maybe that last letter should be phonetically spelled "aych", but "ache" was more appropriate as I anticipate what's to come ...

Mungee has cut her first tooth.

Routine - Part One, The Morning

Okay, where was I?

After banging my head against the wall (or sometimes the floor, while curled in the fetal position) for seven months, I think we've got some semblance of a routine that keeps me from cutting myself going insane calling an adoption agency crying a lot.

Mungee wakes up between 7 and 8 a.m.  Toward the earlier end of that range if she didn't wake up somewhere between 3 and 5 a.m. and toward the latter end of that range if she did.  I should be getting up prior to her waking so I can shower, but I take advantage of every moment of shut eye I can get, even if it means I stink for a good portion of the day.

Once Mungee is starting to get frustrated that we haven't come to rescue her yet, I go in, greet her, change her diaper and then we go in the den and I nurse her, while watching a snippet of the news or one of the elevently-billion shows I DVR because I rarely watch anything at the time it actually airs.  Then Mungee gets to play while I have coffee and snarf* down breakfast (*do my best vacuum cleaner impression).

After I selfishly feed myself, I plop* Mungee into the highchair and prepare her delicious multigrain cereal spiked with bananas (*buckle her in while being ever so careful as not to pinch her fingers as she is grabbing for the straps to gnaw).  Mungee eats breakfast and then I read her a book (usually Mr. Brown Can Moo) and sing a few songs.  At this point it's about 9 a.m. and a couple different things could happen:

*I could plop* (*see above) her into the bouncy seat in the bathroom while I take a "quick" shower and then the morning nap commences (more on this in a moment).

*I can tell that she is already too tired to patiently wait out me taking a shower without quickly going into meltdown mode and so I skip the shower and therefore the morning nap commences.

Morning Nap Ritual:

1. Go to my bedroom
2. Change back into sleep-type clothes (if I was actually already dressed for human-other-than-Mungee's Pa interactions)
   
3. Hide Google phone from Mungee under covers so I can chat on The Nest, read Facebook status updates and play Solitaire once Mungee has fallen asleep
   
4. Nurse Mungee
5. Burp Mungee
6. Settle Mungee onto me laying down chest to chest
7. Endure Mungee finding and eating my bra strap
8. Endure Mungee trying to give me a hickey on my chin
9. Endure Mungee pulling on her ears and ripping at her dry skin in some weird and twisted self-soothing mechanism
10. Feel Mungee's stomach contracting just as she is about to fall asleep
    
11. Hear farts
12. Hear poo
13. Hope the poo was just a little squirt that can be changed later
14. Hear more poo
15. Proceed to get up and change diaper (and outfit if poo has leaked)
    
16. Come back to bedroom to get settled again
17. Repeat 10-16
18. Endure Mungee twisting her body around so her face lands in the crook of my elbow
19. Reposition Mungee so we are both more comfortable
    
20. Hear Mungee's breathing change from that of awake baby to that of asleep baby
21. Suppress urgent need to go to the bathroom
22. Pull out phone and commence time-wasting living vicariously through others aforementioned activities
    

Obviously this is not ideal.  Ideally, Mungee would nap in her crib, allowing me to incessantly read other mommy blogs that are way cooler than mine clean the house and prepare dinner.  But it's what works for now.

Sound crazy?  Have a baby around Mungee's age?  What's your morning routine?

Please stay tuned for Routine, Part Two - The Late Morning/Early Afternoon Depending on When the Morning Nap Started/How Late it Went