Spirited

Reading another book about babies and what to expect through the toddler years. Yeah, I know what you are thinking, "didn't those other books make her crazy". Well this book is already calming me down for some reason.

The Happiest Toddler on the Block (name of the book) is supposed to teach me how to communicate with my little cave person. Speak toddler language, how to listen, and how to react to major NO NO's in the household fill the pages of the book.

Of course things go out the window in the heat of the moment but I feel that I need to be reading this or doing something to teach Belle now before we get really out of control. She has already started bitting when she doesn't like what you are doing....

There are three temperaments that toddlers fall under (according to this book):

Easy- She could be described as easy so we can't rule this out. As a first time parent who knows if she is easy or I am just overreacting about little things.

Shy- Not at all so leave that one for some other kid

Spirited: Described as in the book- "These super active kids range from cheery to moody, stubborn, and defiant. Fortunately, spirited children usually grow into happy, enthusiastic kids as long as they get lots of outside play, consistent but flexible limits, and a steady supply of patience and love."

More on Spirited: Fidgets a lot, unpredictable patterns (with eating and sleeping), either delight or complete rejection for strangers, moods have big ups and big downs, very persistent, sensitive to noise and distracts easily.

Oh how this describes Belle more than other way that I could describe her! She is so independent but needy at the same time... does that make any sense? No. It doesn't to me either but I love her all the same. When she gets in a really rough mood she doesn't want you to hold her, so she points down, and when you put her down she gets even more angry. So I work with distraction quite a bit and that works for a little while!

Another test that the book stated to figure out your babies temperament was to take them to the mall when it's not crowded and pretend to turn your back for 2 seconds- does she stand still=easy; does she cling to you and cry= shy; does she take off running= spirited. I had a hard time basing figuring it out based on these examples because I honestly could see her doing all three of them. Oh the joys of having a child! Unpredictable (rubik's cube).

Then we went to the park. Uncrowded. An she just took off walking toward what she wanted. THE BALL. BALL. BA. BA!

The whole time she was saying BA BA. 

Finally getting her BA and only then did she realize that she was
alone without me.

Right now I am delighted and relieved to say that I have a spirited child. She will continue to challenge me and I love it. I am impressed with everything she does and I have become the parent that LOVES anything that my baby does. 

Ahhh another day which I have no idea what will bring me. Bring it!

Tchau,

Sara

Rubik's Cube

They other day make the first day that Belle's bowel habits returned to normal. The diaper rash is cleared and I can stop giving her gatorade/pedialyte and make the switch back to water. For the time being I am going to stay clear of all milk products and then after a week slowly introduce them back one at a time.

First I will start with yogurt and then wait a few days to see if she tolerates it at all. Then I will know if milk is what is causing her problems once and for all.

So now that her general health seems to be back on track she has decided that sleep is no longer required. It takes her forever to fall asleep for her naps and then she will only sleep for like 30 min. Then last night, for the second time this week, she woke up at 4:30 am which in an awkward time to wake up since it is super close to her real wake up time in the morning. Really, I don't mind the waking up part if only I could fix why she is crying or upset.

Finally she went back to sleep at 6am which is 30 min to an hour before her real wake up time. Ugggh I had to set an alarm to wake myself back up to wake her up. Why? you ask. Well because I don't want to have to put her to bed for the evening at 10pm. I go to bed at 9pm and with her already going to bed at 8 that leaves very little time for me to even get ready for bed and decompress from the day.

Of course I couldn't drag myself out of bed and I ended up waking her up around 745am. Bleh. Another day ruined with her not wanting to sleep at all because I have to rearrange her nap times.

A little part of me wonders if she is trying to drop her morning nap. Really, I thought that the sleeping should be stable at this point for awhile. Like Nate said, "Belle is like a rubik's cube". Thanks for the pep talk and just when I thought I had figured things out.

Tchau,
Sara

Spaghetti dinner or finger painting?

Tchau,
Sara
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Time for the scraps and scars

Three days ago Belle had her first bloody lip :( she fell while walking and hit her mouth on the granite floor. A few hugs and kisses and she was off running again. 

Then yesterday is happened again.

The before picture... right after this she couldn't stop smiling and
 she was saying BA BA the whole way to the court.

Afterward. A skinned up nose. She was so excited to be playing ball
and trip over the ball and nose dived into the cement. 

Poor little girl. Things just are not going her way lately. Right after getting sick last week she started having a little stomach bug. I can't figure out if it's her allergy to milk or something else. Either way she is Pedialyting it up for the past three days. 

Today is the start of a new week and I am hoping that we really are on the mend for a awhile. I don't want to have to keep her in a bubble for the next year!

Off to start the week.

Tchau,

Sara

Favorite Pic

This is my fav pic ever!
Tchau,
Sara
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Belle in Phone Photos

Couldn't pick a better way to showcase what we have been up to lately than through phone photos!  

Everything has become a phone... this is the air conditioner remote. 

This is her fake tv remote that makes noises. She presses it so hard against her ear that the
 buttons are pressed and noise is made.

Getting used to shoes and walking. Yes, her onsie is rolled up because it's so hard to get her to
 lay still long enough to snap the three buttons. 

She loves to love everything soft. It's adorable to see her cuddle with soft
blankets and stuffed animals.

Most of the pictures I take now are action shots that are very blurred.
 I should start calling her flash!

Well there you go. Life is pretty much back to normal and she slept through the night again last night. Maybe I am jinxing myself but who cares cause I actually have sleep in me and I feel great.

Tomorrow Nate and I have a date night planned and Rosa is going to stay and watch Belle after I put her down for the night. I am looking forward to the evening and I know that she is in good hands. Belle loves Rosa and will even push me away to go to her. Breaks my heart sometimes but I am glad that she has found someone that she loves and that loves her back in Brazil. 

Tchau,

Sara

Neutral

Dare I say that we are back to neutral? Last night was the first night in over a week that Belle kinda slept throughout the night. She awoke around 3am fussing a little but then found her blanket and went back down without me having to help her out or sing to her.

This morning she was a little clingy but generally in a good mood. The weather is pretty crappy so her first day back in the saddle and we have to spend the day inside :(

I look forward to the days ahead of us and really enjoying all the new discoveries that Belle has made. I am also looking forward to actually having my partner in crime back on the scene. Nate shouldn't be traveling for a few weeks so that really really makes me smile.

I know that I am so far behind on the blog but I really have been trying. Having zero sleep really messes with me. This morning I feel awesome though.

Tchau,
Sara

Mending

Belle and I are both on the mend right now. Last night she was only up twice and unfortunately the only thing that would calm her down happened to be me singing... for 20 minutes. I lost my voice toward the end of the event.

Today she seemed to be back to normal with a great appetite and zero screaming spells. No fever so no Tylenol given just tons of hugs and kisses. Mainly I spent the day so thrilled to see her happy and my wishful thinking that we both might get some rest tonight.

I also don't think that I have mentioned that Nate is once again away from home. Which is why I have been so worn out and overwhelmed. He left on Tuesday night and was supposed to return in the morning but had to extend his stay until Sunday morning. I pray for his return.

Times like these really make it hard to be so far away from family. It's hard being alone. Really hard :(
I guess that's the life of an expat.


Tchau,
Sara

Smiling

Its nice to see her smiling again. Last night was traumatic with her waking six times so I wasn't expecting smiles! It washes away most of my exhaustion.

Tchau
Sara
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My Apartment

Liars. I was helping out a friend who is interested in moving to Rio and I stumbled upon a model of our apartment. LIARS!! 

I like how the photo is NOT drawn to scale and it would look as though we have a huge apartment. I have to admit that for standards in Rio, our place is larger than average. Especially for one small family. Why lie to people though? Thought I would share this absurdity with you... if you even care. 

BTW, the square footage of our place is around 1500 including the walls and the maids quarters (shown on the far left by the kitchen)

Tchau,

Sara

10 Months

Last night went ok. Not great but not miserable. This morning however was another story we won't get into now. Luckily she felt good enough to appease the camera for a little bit even though it took her a few frames to wake up :)

What are you doing?

I asked you a question....

Seriously. (All three are different pictures and I will spare you the other
25 photos that look exactly like this.)

Finally there is a smile!

Loving her Pooh Bear.

Can you see those eye lashes?

Now she poses for the camera.

Look at her go!

I am taking the bear and the blanket with me.

What shall I destroy next??

Hmmmm...

Why would you pick me up and put me back down??
I don't want any more pictures!!

That's better mom.

Ahhh. The life.

Yes I know that my house has some daycare qualities but who cares right? I love it and it makes it super easier to play with her and know that she is safe and clean! She hasn't started walking everywhere but she tries often. Basically it depends on how fast she wants to get to where she is going. 

She loves putting things in buckets and then taking them out again. One day I am sure we can make a game out of cleaning up all the toys. 

Anytime she hears music she starts to move her little body around. Makes me laugh every time. I hope that she gets rhythm from somewhere! 

She loves throwing around toys and likes rolling a ball or bouncing it. I think she tries to say ball but just says ba every time she sees one around. 

She also says Bye-bye and waves (not all the time but most of the time). When she wants to go somewhere she points and coos or babas until she gets what she wants, and she has stopped saying mama and dada. I guess we know whats important to her right now :)

Her favorite book right now is Hop on Pop by Dr. Suess and it drives me crazy. Good thing we have the shortened version :) It's hard not to smile though when she laughs at the pages. Books happen to be right up there with balls on the toy scale. She will pull down her whole library and practice opening books and she will also sit in your lap still while you read..... unless she wants a different book. 

This morning on our walk she saw tons of dogs and cried when she couldn't get out of the stroller to chase them around. One day far in the future we will try to have another dog but this is not something we can do now even for Belle. One lady was nice enough to let Belle pet her golden retriever and she just giggled the whole time. Too cute.

Her eating and sleeping have been erratic because of the tonsillitis so I won't even go into detail on them. Trying to get her to eat anything has become the challenge and I just worry about her getting dehydrated with the fever so I always have juice near by for her. Sleep? What's that?? Back to the good ole days of not getting any because even when she does sleep I hear phantom crying and I wake up. Maybe I have psychosis? 

That seems to be it for now. Hope everyone is having a blessed week!

Tchau,

Sara

Tonsillitis

Blah. It rained the whole time we were away for the weekend so we ended up coming home early. Good thing we did because Belle came down with a fever yesterday. I gave her Tylenol and ibuprofen, alternating of course and not at the same time, but to no avail the fever stayed. The night started out rough and ended descent. This morning she still had a fever so off to the doctor we went. The poor girl has tonsillitis and because it's viral we just have to ride it out for the week. Wish us luck. Hopefully more tomorrow when I plan on taking her 10 month photos! Tchau, Sara

Car ride

Not sure if this will work but I am sending this photo from my Brazilian phone. We are on our way to Buzios now and it will be the first long car ride in a very long time. Wish us luck!
Tchau
Sara

Belle walking!!

Belle taking some solo steps! She took a few and then decided that she wanted to practice! Nate just got off work so we both got to see this little miracle! I love her soooo much and this just made my day :)



Tchau,
Sara

Brazilian Home

Well we are back and settled in. Belle is still on her sleeping time schedule for Oklahoma and we have yet to get her switched to Brazil time. Good thing is that she sleeps until about 8am... bad thing is she doesn't go to bed until 10pm...

Hopefully I can get her switched to bedtime 830 and wake time of 630.. that would be perfect. I really am just thankful that she is sleeping well and through the night.

It's amazing how much easier things get when your baby finally sleeps. I have soooo much more energy. Now that she is moving around and into so much more I guess God designed it that way, babies finally sleep to give mom more energy to chase them.

Really. Things are easier and I am having so much fun playing with her and interacting. It's so neat to see her figure things out and learn. What an amazing gift to see.

That being said things on the home front her are going pretty well. I have reconnected with my Brazilian friends in the park and had a playdate for Belle earlier today. This weekend we are traveling to Buzios for a golf tournament but all my English speaking friends will be there from Macae and Rio so it will be great to catch up.

While Nate plays golf I plan to stay by the pool and maybe the ocean with Belle. Of course lunch with friends and maybe a glass of wine after Belle goes down for the night. I might even get some time to hit a few balls at the driving range, with Belle in tow of course.

Everyone that I know is staying at the hotel and there will be a reception for all the players in the tournament even a dinner at the end of the day. This makes things super easier for me to enjoy friends all together in one place. Fingers crossed it doesn't rain!

Off to cook dinner and clean the house a little bit before Nate gets home that way it's looks like I do something all day besides play :)
  
Disclaimer: Today is the one day of the week that our maid doesn't come now so really I have to clean and cook for myself. What a brat I know.

Tchau,
Sara

Made it

We are home and exhausted. The flight was still really rough for all of us. Just put Belle down for a nap and now I am going to pass out. Nate is still wired from the 24 oz of red bull he drank to help me out on the flight.

Tchau,
Sara

Sara

Almost There

So shortly after I wrote the other post about Belle sleeping she woke up screaming... Flash backs hit me like a ton of bricks.

Finally we got her back down only for her to wake another hour later screaming again. Another dose of ibuprofen and some more rocking and she is sleeping but restless.

Needless to say that Nate and I haven't slept a bit. I think both of us are worried about her rolling off the seat.

Every so often I allow myself to look at the progress of the flight on the tv monitors lining the walkways. This one photo I took tells me that there is less than four hours till we land!!

Tchau,
Sara

Belle on the Flight

We rigged up a canopy so that Belle could fall asleep even though the cabin lights were still on. It took me taking her to the back and rocking her for a little bit to calm her down and put her to sleep.

Then very very carefully I placed her on the seat and Nate covered her up! I am hoping that she stays asleep the whole time but I will just be happy if she doesn't cry the whole night!

Tchau,
Sara

Airport!

At the airport now waiting on our first flight out!

Tchau,
Sara

Saying Goodbye

The time has come to pack our bags and head on home. It will be nice to be home but soooo sad to be away from family!

Wish us luck on the flight. I am scared.

Tchau,
Sara

Shopping List

The past few days Nate and I have been saying our goodbyes (again) and mowing through our shopping list. I am thinking that unless the flight home goes great and I somehow am teleported back then we won't be returning to the US until Christmas time.

This means I need to stock up on clothes for Belle and toys.... I am just having such a hard time trying to figure out what she will need or want to play with!

The other day Nate and I stepped into Toy's R Us for the first time and honestly the air evacuated my lungs so fast I didn't have time to scream. That place is ridiculous! Nate and I decided to tell Belle that Toy's R Us is a made up place and it doesn't really exist so we never have to return! I prefer to splurge online through Amazon :)

Sunday is the big day for leaving so lets just hope that everything fits and we get a chance to say goodbye to everyone!

Tchau,
Sara