Happy birthday!
Today is Devon's actual birthday, but we celebrated with a little birthday dinner last night. My mom, Jon and Aaron came over for an early dinner and birthday cake. Our plans backfired a bit, though, because Walt was installing the sink (for about the 4th time) and it took longer than we expected -- so we got a late start. [A note on the sink: I think I may finally be able to stop blogging about this sink/disposal/filter combination. After a ton of fussing with the super-duper and totally over the top, only-needed-on-a-farm water filter, he threw up his hands and insisted that we buy a much simpler filter for us to use and then when we sell the place, we can pitch the ultra high-end filter. So then he had to take out the sink and disposal again to install this new filter -- and we now have the new filter hooked up to the tap and the super filter still installed but just sitting in the cabinet waiting to be used by future inhabitants...]. It reminded me a bit of Avinash's wife's home remodeling technique, where everything she's doing to their new house is done with the resale value in mind (although of course their idea of putting in a bath tub with jets will likely add a lot more value to their house than a water filter will to ours!).
Devon was totally thrilled to have everyone over celebrating her birthday; she had talked about it theoretically, but now that it was actually happening, it was really exciting. She was especially excited about presents and cake -- presents, for obvious reasons, and cake because she'd get to have cake after dinner, which pretty much doesn't happen for her since Walt and I have dessert after she's in bed. When everyone showed up, we had them put their presents in the living room (partly because the sink and disposal were on the kitchen floor) and then come into the kitchen for some wine and cheese. Devon kept bringing the presents into the kitchen, where she'd pile them up (or put them on my mom's lap) and exclaim, "Presents! Devon presents!" She kept trying to open them and was so insistent that we finally let her open one present before dinner. The thrill of ripping off the wrapping and playing with the toy was such that she could hardly contain herself until after dinner. We also had to sing Happy Birthday to her before she opened the present (perhaps to get herself in the right mood).
Devon wasn't too impressed with dinner itself (polenta with bolognese sauce), but she REALLY loved the cake.
I made a carrot cake (trying to eliminate any possiblity of chocolate consumption, since sugar before bed is bad enough without adding caffeine), and after dinner we put two candles in it and sang Happy Birthday. She was so excited about it that we had to sing Happy Birthday two more times -- in fact, I think we sang it 5 or 6 times that evening (at her insistence). Couple that with a birthday cake all for her plus getting to eat a piece before bed, and Devon was on cloud nine.
It was really fun to have the party, actually, even though it was very small. I had forgotten how truly wonderful birthdays (and other celebrations) are for small children; her excitement was just infectious. I think the most exciting present for her was two small, wind up dinosaurs that Aaron gave her. You wind them up and they walk across a surface -- these were especially neat because their arms moved and the T-Rex's mouth also opened and closed. We did a lot of walking with the dinosaurs, and later in the evening when everyone had left, she insisted on sleeping with both of them (she subsequently rolled over on the T-Rex, or did something, so now it's limping). We had a bit of a meltdown later in the evening when we gave some cake to Aaron and Mama Lynn to take home -- it was probably a combination of being over stimulated plus having too much sugar (and maybe she didn't want anyone to take her birthday cake either). But it was a lovely evening.
Earlier in the day she and I went to the Discovery Museum in Sausalito, which we had been to once before. It's a great kids' museum, with lots of hands-on exhibits, arts and crafts and a big playground. We immediately went to the arts and crafts room, where Devon painted and played with "play dough" (they actually have something called Delta Sand, which is a combination of wax and pumice -- works a bit like Play Doh but it doesn't dry out). Later we hit the playground and then most of the exhibits, including the ones with Brio train sets and demonstrations of waves. Devon had loads of fun, and I decided to buy an annual membership so we could come back regularly. It's literally 8 minutes from our apartment across the bridge (the museum is literally at the foot of the Golden Gate), and it's got such a great combination of physical and mental play that I think we'll return often. It also had the great advantage of tiring her out, so we got a terrifically long nap when we got home.
We've been obsessing over sleep lately, or more precisely, over Devon's sleep. We had a good run where she was sleeping through the night until about 6am more or less, but now she's waking up at about 1 or 2am and crying for mom and dad.
It's really thrown a wrench in our sleep patterns. A few nights ago, Walt actually got up and tried to get her back to sleep, but it was an epic adventure, including a bottle of milk, rocking in the chair, and on and on. Now we're just trying to let her cry through it and go back to sleep -- my personal theory (unsubstantiated by any science) is that we're encouraging this behavior when we get up and go see her, since it reinforces the behavior. Last night, though, after trying my quasi-Ferberizing technique, after an hour of yelling and crying (like "Open the door! Dadda, open the door!" or "Milk! Go big bed," and such), I finally got up and eventually got her back to sleep. I hope that this is just a phase, because it's really miserable for Walt and me. Devon, since she goes to bed at 8pm, is still getting a good night's sleep even after being awake for an hour at 1am.
Interestingly, I was just reading Jim's blog, and he was mentioning that Henry is now increasing his nighttime filibuster, which is putting a wrench in their sleep too. I guess I have to resign myself to never getting a solid 8 hours until Devon goes off to college (at which time I'll be a geriatric and will probably have descended into old peoples' insomnia anyway).
Devon was totally thrilled to have everyone over celebrating her birthday; she had talked about it theoretically, but now that it was actually happening, it was really exciting. She was especially excited about presents and cake -- presents, for obvious reasons, and cake because she'd get to have cake after dinner, which pretty much doesn't happen for her since Walt and I have dessert after she's in bed. When everyone showed up, we had them put their presents in the living room (partly because the sink and disposal were on the kitchen floor) and then come into the kitchen for some wine and cheese. Devon kept bringing the presents into the kitchen, where she'd pile them up (or put them on my mom's lap) and exclaim, "Presents! Devon presents!" She kept trying to open them and was so insistent that we finally let her open one present before dinner. The thrill of ripping off the wrapping and playing with the toy was such that she could hardly contain herself until after dinner. We also had to sing Happy Birthday to her before she opened the present (perhaps to get herself in the right mood).
Devon wasn't too impressed with dinner itself (polenta with bolognese sauce), but she REALLY loved the cake.
I made a carrot cake (trying to eliminate any possiblity of chocolate consumption, since sugar before bed is bad enough without adding caffeine), and after dinner we put two candles in it and sang Happy Birthday. She was so excited about it that we had to sing Happy Birthday two more times -- in fact, I think we sang it 5 or 6 times that evening (at her insistence). Couple that with a birthday cake all for her plus getting to eat a piece before bed, and Devon was on cloud nine.It was really fun to have the party, actually, even though it was very small. I had forgotten how truly wonderful birthdays (and other celebrations) are for small children; her excitement was just infectious. I think the most exciting present for her was two small, wind up dinosaurs that Aaron gave her. You wind them up and they walk across a surface -- these were especially neat because their arms moved and the T-Rex's mouth also opened and closed. We did a lot of walking with the dinosaurs, and later in the evening when everyone had left, she insisted on sleeping with both of them (she subsequently rolled over on the T-Rex, or did something, so now it's limping). We had a bit of a meltdown later in the evening when we gave some cake to Aaron and Mama Lynn to take home -- it was probably a combination of being over stimulated plus having too much sugar (and maybe she didn't want anyone to take her birthday cake either). But it was a lovely evening.
Earlier in the day she and I went to the Discovery Museum in Sausalito, which we had been to once before. It's a great kids' museum, with lots of hands-on exhibits, arts and crafts and a big playground. We immediately went to the arts and crafts room, where Devon painted and played with "play dough" (they actually have something called Delta Sand, which is a combination of wax and pumice -- works a bit like Play Doh but it doesn't dry out). Later we hit the playground and then most of the exhibits, including the ones with Brio train sets and demonstrations of waves. Devon had loads of fun, and I decided to buy an annual membership so we could come back regularly. It's literally 8 minutes from our apartment across the bridge (the museum is literally at the foot of the Golden Gate), and it's got such a great combination of physical and mental play that I think we'll return often. It also had the great advantage of tiring her out, so we got a terrifically long nap when we got home.
We've been obsessing over sleep lately, or more precisely, over Devon's sleep. We had a good run where she was sleeping through the night until about 6am more or less, but now she's waking up at about 1 or 2am and crying for mom and dad.
It's really thrown a wrench in our sleep patterns. A few nights ago, Walt actually got up and tried to get her back to sleep, but it was an epic adventure, including a bottle of milk, rocking in the chair, and on and on. Now we're just trying to let her cry through it and go back to sleep -- my personal theory (unsubstantiated by any science) is that we're encouraging this behavior when we get up and go see her, since it reinforces the behavior. Last night, though, after trying my quasi-Ferberizing technique, after an hour of yelling and crying (like "Open the door! Dadda, open the door!" or "Milk! Go big bed," and such), I finally got up and eventually got her back to sleep. I hope that this is just a phase, because it's really miserable for Walt and me. Devon, since she goes to bed at 8pm, is still getting a good night's sleep even after being awake for an hour at 1am.Interestingly, I was just reading Jim's blog, and he was mentioning that Henry is now increasing his nighttime filibuster, which is putting a wrench in their sleep too. I guess I have to resign myself to never getting a solid 8 hours until Devon goes off to college (at which time I'll be a geriatric and will probably have descended into old peoples' insomnia anyway).
posted by Devon Szalva at
8:43 PM
1 Comments:
"Everything, good or bad, is only a phase."
The truest words I ever got on parenting. Henry has already started to slow down on the filibuster. He has been through several rounds of sleeping through the night and then not doing it very well. All episodic. I think you guys are smart not to take her into "the boat." Another option is to sit in her room while she lies down. That way she's not alone, but she is not "with" you, either. I think at some point we went from milk to water to soothe Henry at night. Not popular, but not reinforcing, either...
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Jim Sailer, at 8:45 PM
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