Cheryl Katz

So again, I was right not to claim victory on the sleep front, because last night Sami woke up at midnight as I was going to bed, and Ben was unable to get her to settle (he was still up; I was 90% asleep) so brought her to me in our bed. Even though this was precisely what we’d decided we weren’t going to do any more. The alternative was for me to get out of bed, nurse her in the spare bed in her room, then put her back down, go back and forth between our rooms settling her a few times due to teething pain, then finally go back to bed.

Yup, I took the easy way out, which had been presented to me by my husband ALSO taking the easy way out.

I didn’t write about sleep for a very long time, because after a few days of letting her cry for 7-10 minutes at a time, she slept pretty faithfully through the night for a while. But I don’t do the crying thing while her brains are a’sploding with the teething. This is just another storm we’ll have to weather. We have before, we will again, and I think this is the last stand. Her molars are coming, and there’s not much left to go after that.

Thank goodness.

Bedtime routine now runs from bath, through jammy-time, to bedtime snack – which seems to help Sami sleep longer. The bedtime snack serves not only as a way to keep her belly full longer while she sleeps, but as an incentive to get out of the bathtub, which involved screaming and removal against her will until the introduction of Bedtime Snack.

She signed for cheerios while she was eating animal crackers – we didn’t have any cheerios, which bummed us both out, but she seemed satisfied when I explained that we don’t have any cheerios, but she could have another animal cracker instead.

And then she nursed briefly, fell asleep before the night-nights (we say night-night to practically everything in our house) and proceeded to sleep from 8 PM all the way through to 6:30 AM in her very own bed.

I will not claim victory yet, because whenever I do, my Plan of the Moment backfires. But I can declare Well Rested for one day, anyway, and continue praying that her molars come in soon and that teething leaves us unscathed for the long term.

Baby in truck!

Originally uploaded by cinediva
Pay no attention to the green blobby reflection of me in the window. But just above my head is a cute cute cute baby girl, whose daddy leaves her outside in the truck every day when he walks his son into day care for 5 or 10 minutes. This makes me very angry.

I called the police and they told me to call 911 while the truck is still there when I see it again. I will.

I may be butting in to someone else’s private business, but if my nosiness saves a child from abduction or worse, then I consider it worth it.

http://birdsnestbody.com/scents.html

Little did I suspect that when my new friend Nancy had a few jars of the Pineapple Oasis salt scrub out on her coffee table, that it was part of a whole line of natural body products!  I haven’t tried any of her products, but the Pineapple Oasis scent was to die for – as in to die of complete decadence lying on a beach in the sun.

I love supporting local businesses, even better when the proprietors are my friends.  I think Nancy is giving LUSH a run for their money, and I’m all for it because… there is no LUSH in San Diego, and since she’s local, no shipping involved!

I will report back when I’ve tried a few of her items.  Yum!

I have finally nailed down my feelings on the Democratic primary.

If the mere fact that I’m still thinking about it is not clear indication, then I will tell you that I am still feeling uncertain.

I like Obama better than Hillary.  But I think that Hillary would be a better president.  The voting with my head over the loud protests of my kneejerk reaction is causing some cognitive dissonance.

I’d vote for either one of them in November, so ultimately all this anxiety will be irrelevant anyway.

That is all.

I saw the most distressing thing, this morning, that I have seen in a long time.

When I pulled in to the parking lot of Sami’s day care, a father with a preschool boy and an infant girl was getting the boy out of his truck.  I didn’t think anything of it until I noticed that he had walked away leaving the baby girl in the truck alone!  He walked to the OTHER preschool, next door to Sami’s, maybe 30 yards away.

I rarely have panic attacks, but this really nearly pushed me into one.  I could not believe that someone would leave their child alone, unattended, in a locked truck in a parking lot.  I got Sami out of our car, but I stayed by the truck until the dad came back.  I didn’t say anything, because honestly confrontation when accusing someone of negligent parenting is never productive.  But I did find out from the director of Sami’s day care that leaving a child unattended in a vehicle for any length of time is illegal in several different areas of law, not to mention dangerous and negligent.

The baby was OK, but I did go into the other preschool and explain what I had seen, and just asked if someone there could mention that the father’s behaviour had been observed, and that on top of the risk for the baby, if reported he could be in a lot of trouble.  I hope the message gets across; my heart really goes out to that kid.

Laceweight Camel Hair Singles

Originally uploaded by cinediva

Nobody told me spinning laceweight singles on a spindle takes for. freaking. ever.

But I’m enjoying it. Camel hair is luscious and soft, different from spinning wool but equally satisfying in a tactile sense. This is the spindle my mom-in-law gave me for Chanukah – I heart it.

We’ll start with the satisfaction, just ‘cuz.  I purchased this the moment I received the reprint notification email from Threadless:

I got a girly tee for me, and a kids’ one for Sami, so we will match.

In the lust column, please file this:

A Golding RingSpindle. Handcrafted and downright freakin’ gorgeous. I would love this particular design even more if it were in Purpleheart wood, but truth be told, I’d settle for pretty much any non-painted wood spindle Golding makes.

This ends my spate of materialism. Perhaps I should go get some sleep.

I’m excited to read that Hillary Clinton will take California. I think my malaise is starting to subside. My vote feels like it mattered for something, and I’m wearing this button:

Ben and I each received one as a sweet and lovely gift from AB, who knows us too well, despite having not discussed our private votes.