The Baby Expert: April 2012

April 27, 2012

Home Improvement

If you do a search on Amazon for “wall stickers,” under the department, Tools and Home Improvement, there are 518,959 results. I was determined to go through each page and look at every design and had gotten up to around 6,000 when my co-worker finally made me stop.

Perhaps he had grown tired of seeing me look at page after page of wall stickers for a whole week or perhaps he had taken pity on my obsessive compulsive behavior. Either way, I’m glad I stopped because it was beginning to get a bit out of hand.

In the overall scheme of things, a measly wall sticker is probably the last thing one should worry about when remodeling a home. But to me, it’s extremely important. And it’s a job I take very, very seriously.

I probably care more about what Caitlyn’s room looks like than the rest of the apartment because as a child, I never had a cool room. I had four walls of plain white with no pictures or posters or stickers hanging up on the walls. It was boring and mundane, and I refuse to let my daughter go through that. I want her to have the dream room I never had. So maybe, I’m living vicariously through her now.

White trees, but with a blue wall

Change the tree to white and the wall, blue

After considerable deliberation and input from others, I’ve finally narrowed my choices down to two tree designs that I like. The room color that I’m currently considering is a light, ice blue color. I think having a tree that’s white will nicely offset the blue wall. I’d like the baby’s room to have a nature-like feel to it, which will hopefully help calm and soothe her. I also have some other arts and crafts ideas that I want to make to add some pizazz to the room. I'm thinking that an overall design that’s not too cartoony will allow her to grow into her room, not out of it.

And of course, all my talk about what I want our daughter’s room to look like has caused a wave of disconcertment to wash over the wife. But true to her word, she has yet to impose her will on my ideas. At the very least, I can say that the room will be a bit more straightforward than say, a North European/country style.

Feed me and I'll be your friend

Come home earlier so you can play with me more often!

Look at the camera!

Give Uncle Kimi a high-five!

April 17, 2012

No Worries

I think I’ve had a revelation this weekend concerning our baby’s refusal to be held by others – who cares! On Sunday, we visited our friend Karen and her baby, the Mav. No one was in Caitlyn’s face or trying to convince her to be held. She just did her thing on the floor, and we all just sat around and interacted with her without being too overwhelming. And the best part of it was that she was happy, which was surprising since this was at 3 in the afternoon and she had only had a 10 minute nap since 8 that morning.

All this made me realize that it doesn’t really matter if our baby lets other people hold her or not. If she does, then great. But if she doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world. The more we try and push her towards this, the more she’s probably just going to fight and resent it. I mean, when she grows up, being held by others isn’t a skill set she’s going to need. But being able to interact well with others is. And from what I’ve seen so far, she’s pretty good at it.

Now that I’m no longer burdened by this worry, I can turn my focus elsewhere. And that focus comes in the form of interior decorating. I am pleased to announce that the wife and I are now official home owners! After a year or two of searching and debating whether we should buy a place, we’ve finally landed a pretty nice little pad. And the best part is, it’s in the same apartment complex as the wife’s oldest sister and her two kids. That can only mean one thing – free, convenient babysitting service!

This also means that I can finally begin seriously thinking about what I want Caitlyn’s room to look like. If you remember, the wife had promised that I could decorate her room how I wanted, unimpeded, if I allowed her to decorate the rest of the apartment.

I’m not saying I have the best taste in the world, but it worries me when the wife says that people always tell her that she has great taste and then follows that up by saying she wants a north European/country style for our place. North European/country style?! What is the heck is that?! Are we talking about Scandinavian cowboys or Norwegian farmers here?

In all the design books that we’ve looked at thus far, she has yet to see anything remotely to her liking. I have no idea what our place will look like in the end, but this should definitely be interesting.

How do I get down?

Go get the ball!

Hello down there!

Am I laughing or crying?

Why won't anyone play with me?

My double eyelids popped out for the day!

Wanna play ball?

My hair is a mess

I <3 U!

Sleeping with Rosette

April 11, 2012

Back to Square One

When the wife’s sister Sally and her husband and their two kids Jocelyn and Jack came back from Italy a week ago to visit, we had high hopes that this would be a good opportunity for everyone to bond with Caitlyn. After all, she had been getting better about being around and held by others.

However, instead of the happy family reunion that I had pictured in my head, Caitlyn has suddenly reverted back to her former self – a crying, fussy baby that only wants Mommy. And there's no real discernible reason why.

Last night, I made a last ditch effort to help our baby while Sally and her kids are still here before they leave at the end of the week. I made the wife stay at home while I took the baby over to Grandma’s house for dinner by myself. I had hoped that by not having the wife there, Caitlyn might actually behave better.

In the past, having no Mommy around usually meant a calmer, more manageable baby, but that was if Mommy disappeared while the baby was still sleeping. Yesterday, the wife left while Caitlyn was still awake, but I figured we’d try anyways. I even brought my camera along with me, thinking I could get good video evidence of how well the baby behaves when the wife’s not around.

Well, the instant I step through the door and Caitlyn sees Grandma’s face, she bursts into tears. Not a good sign of things to come. I hurry on over to play with Jocelyn and Jack, hoping to distract Caitlyn. And it works. For a bit at least. Then the fussing and crying returned and just got worse as people began trickling in. And it didn’t stop until we left to go back home. That was the one and only time that Caitlyn stopped crying and smiled during the whole trip – when we left.

Even after this failed experiment, I haven’t given up hope. If anything, I’m encouraged by the fact that she’s not intimidated by kids, as she is fine with her cousins and other children. But as far as adults are concerned, perhaps the best tactic is to have them be in close proximity, but not actually interacting with her. This way, she can slowly get used to the person on her own terms instead of being thrust into their arms or face. I'm pretty confident we'll have this problem fixed soon enough. For sure by the time she heads off to college.