UnSuper Nanny

Once the wife discovered the joys of being a stay-at-home mom, i.e., dealing with a fussy, crying baby 24 hours a day, she’s been on the lookout for a nanny. Never mind the fact that we said that we’d try raising our baby by ourselves. Sometimes it’s good to know when you’re in over your head.

It was finally decided that we would try and find a nanny who could care for Caitlyn about two or three times a week, for a few hours each time, so Jessie could have some time to herself or so she could go run errands.

Unfortunately, the nanny that Jessie’s sister used for her two kids currently has her hands full and is unable to take in another baby. However, she was able to recommend us to one of her friends. After speaking with the woman over the phone and having her come over for a short visit, things seemed like a done deal.

She was quite affordable, was willing to come to our house to take care of the baby, and was flexible enough to fit into our schedule. Sounds too good to be true, right? It was.

When she came over to babysit for the first time, the wife decided to stay home that day to observe how the nanny did with Caitlyn. Unfortunately, what she saw wasn’t very encouraging.

The nanny was picking the baby up by her armpits with no support behind the neck, and she seemed unsure at times of what to do when the baby would start to cry. Add in the fact that she’s 70 years old and hasn’t really taken care of any children since her last grandchild, which was probably years ago, and we’ve got cause for concern.

Even so, we decided to give her another shot. This time, the wife and I went out to run some errands for a few hours and left the nanny behind with the baby. Even though Caitlyn was doing fine when we came back, we quickly realized that we could never really trust our baby to someone we really didn’t know.

In the end, Jessie had to admit that having a nanny probably wasn’t the best idea for us and the worrying she would do while away from the baby would outweigh having that free time to herself. Besides, we still have her mom to count on in case we do need help. And if all else fails, I’m slowly grooming Uncle Elvis to be our new nanny.

Nanny-in-training

Uncle Elvis demonstrating the proper feeding technique

Posing with her mobile

Pooped out after a hard day of studying

 

Lounging around

Cutie pie!

Bath time

Hairdresser: So how’s your baby doing now?
Me: She’s doing fine. She’s two months old now.
Hairdresser: I bet you don’t know how to hold her.
Me: Uh, actually I do.
Hairdresser: No….
Me: Yes.
Hairdresser: No….
Me: Yes.
Hairdresser: You know you can’t be too rough with a baby, right?
Me: Yes, I know that.
Hairdresser: So you can really hold a baby?
Me: Yes.
Hairdresser: No….
Me: I even give her baths.
Hairdresser: What?! No….
Me: Yes.
Hairdresser: You know you can’t be too rough with a baby, right?
Me: Yes, I know that.
Hairdresser: So, you really know how to hold a baby, huh?
Me: Sigh….

Sure, the person who cuts my hair is of an older generation, but come on, people! It’s the 21^st century. Taking care of a baby is no longer just a woman’s job anymore. Men can also change diapers, change clothes, wash bottles, give baths, and feed a baby.

Speaking of giving baths, I am pleased to announce that I have finally mastered giving Caitlyn a bath without any screaming or crying. Gone are the days of trying to bathe her with clothes on. Gone are the days of trying to frantically hold on to her while she bucked around in the sink. Bath time is now fun time for all of us.

I am also pleased to announce that Jessie has finally given Caitlyn her first bath. Well done to the both of you! 

  

 

 

  

 

Isn't she super cute when she's not crying?

Bookworm

I distinctly remember my very first recollection of reading. I was upstairs looking at the book, Chester, by Syd Hoff, when the letters and words suddenly had meaning to me and everything just clicked together. Excited, I rushed downstairs and demonstrated to my mom that I could read on my own. Very proudly, she told me to show my dad when he got home from work.

As a child, I always enjoyed going to the library to read books. But somewhere in middle school and high school, the enjoyment disappeared, and story books were replaced with textbooks. During this time, I don’t think I picked up a book strictly for entertainment, and the ones that I did touch were ones required for class.

This continued up until I entered graduate school, where I had to enroll in a children’s literature class. In the class, we had a list of 50+ children’s books that we had to read, which spanned a wide range of levels.

It was during this time that I remembered how much I used to enjoy reading. Today, I am happy to say that I still read books for pleasure, though most of the books I read now deal with taking care of fussy babies.

That’s why I went to the mall to purchase some books to read to Caitlyn. I want to make sure she starts off with a good foundation that will hopefully turn into a lifelong appreciation for books.

Even though I wasn’t thinking it at the store, I’m sure I was subconsciously aware that the 4 books that I had bought were just the beginning of what was to transpire.

4 books obviously weren’t going to cut it for someone like me who tends to go overboard on whatever he does. Therefore, I went home and found an online bookstore that sells books at half-price. Then, I proceeded for the next three days to spend hour upon hour price-checking books, reading reviews on various books, researching different book series, and deliberating which books I should buy.

The wife could only stand by and watch, with what must have been a bemused look on her face, at what should have been a pretty straightforward task. But then again, you are talking about the guy that spent days researching and analyzing which crib mobile to buy. Finally in the end, I somehow managed to get permission from the wife to order 30 books.

Did I really have to order all 30 books at once? Probably not, and I do admit a bit of regret for doing it now. But it’s not like the books will be going to waste. Yes, Caitlyn won’t really start understanding what I’m reading and saying to her for a few more months, but just knowing I have the books at my disposal is a comfort to me.

The icing on the cake will be when I send Caitlyn off to Harvard, knowing it was her first 30 (34 if you count the ones from the mall) books that helped pave the way.

Such a studious student!

There will be a quiz after this lesson.

Where's the mouse?

Point to the fishy!

Naps, Trips, and Books

Jessie: Everyday is a weekday for me now.

That more or less sums up Jessie’s life these days. Somewhat depressing, isn’t it?

It’s now been a week since my parents went back home and left Jessie alone to fend for herself with the baby. It also didn’t help that I was sick for most of that week and tried to avoid getting anyone else sick. Thankfully, Caitlyn is still slowly making progress to make life somewhat easier for the wife.

First time dozing off by herself!

Her new favorite sleeping position

This doesn't look very comfortable

Conked out

The biggest milestone thus far is Caitlyn being able to self-soothe herself now. No longer do we have to carry her in our arms for hours on end. We can put her in the rocker or bassinet when she’s tired, she’ll fuss and cry a little, and then she’ll doze off to sleep all by herself. Whoo-hoo!

However, bedtime for her is still around 12-1:30 a.m. No matter how hard we try to get her to sleep before then, she refuses to budge. Sure, she might take a quick cat nap before then, but it’s nowhere in the range of 3 to 4 hours.

To help her drift off to sleep, we’ve started using white noise and background sounds to calm Caitlyn down. I downloaded an app for the iPhone that has several different sounds that you can choose and mix from. Caitlyn has a preference for running water, so for the majority of the day and night, our house sounds like we’re in the middle of a torrential downpour or we’re listening to the dripping sounds of a Chinese water torture.

First time in her car seat

Looking pretty pitiful

 Wave to the camera and smile!

Snoozing

After having success the first time we took Caitlyn out in the stroller, we’ve started taking her out on a more frequent basis. This includes going to Grandma’s house, trips around the block, a trip to a restaurant, and the granddaddy of them all, a 4-hour trip to the shopping mall.

I’ll admit I was a bit hesitant about going to the shopping mall, but Jessie was going a bit crazy after being pent up with the baby, so I decided to take them out for a change of scenery. Caitlyn slept like, well, a baby, for most of our time there, except during a diaper change and a quick feeding. Therefore, I am happy to report our lengthy excursion as a success.

My main objective for going to the mall was so that I could go to the bookstore to buy some good board and cloth books to read to Caitlyn. I stumbled upon a series of books that I really like. This is the Begin Smart series. I bought 4 of them at the store.

They have their books leveled for the appropriate age group: 0 to 6 months, 6 to 9 months, 9 months to 12 months, and so on. These books are simplistic in design, but not too tacky looking at the same time. I like this better than the Baby Einstein series. My only wish is that they would have more actual photographs than drawings in their books. Hopefully, these books will live up to their name.
 

Hamming it up with Uncle Elvis

Posing with her new best friend, Jocelyn

The happiest and cutest baby...

on the block!

Baby Steps

No more eczema!

No more baby zits!

Two weeks in and we’re slowly starting to make some progress around here. Caitlyn’s face has cleared up quite well after using the medication. Hopefully, it’ll stay that way. If not, at least I know a little dab of pee can clear it right up.

Caitlyn’s also all of a sudden gained an insatiable appetite. Just a few days ago, she was averaging about 30 to 50 ml of milk per feeding. Now she’s drinking around 90 to 120 ml. An amount I once thought unachievable for her. And she's having more of a regular feeding schedule to go along with it, too.

I’m not sure what’s caused this sudden feeding frenzy. Maybe she feels better now that her face isn’t all scratchy and itchy. Or maybe she’s going through a growth spurt. Whatever the reason is, I hope it holds.

The only downfall is that Jessie’s supply hasn’t been able to keep up with demand. Furiously pumping her breasts every few hours is becoming quite taxing for her. But at least there’s always formula to fall back on.

Another area where she’s made small gains is sleeping. Her night time schedule is pretty consistent now where she’ll sleep for 3-4 hours, wake up to feed, and then fall asleep for another 3-4 hours before waking up again to feed. As far as daytime napping is concerned though, we’re still working out the kinks. Maybe I can go buy a mannequin and place Caitlyn in its arms instead of mine.

Today was a huge step for her. It was the first day we took her out in the stroller. We weren’t sure how she’d take to it since she pretty much dislikes everything except our arms, but surprisingly enough, after a quick test drive around the living room, she quieted down and seemed to enjoy the passing scenery when we went out.

We were trying to get photos taken for her passport, but apparently she doesn’t like anybody but Daddy taking pictures of her because she put up quite a fuss. This in turn caused the photographer to tell us to come back another day when she was calm and not crying. But that’s alright. I’m still proud of our baby for the progress she’s making!

In Defense of Pee

Unsatisfied with the doctor’s diagnosis last time, Jessie decides she wants a second opinion regarding Caitlyn’s skin. We therefore went to another doctor yesterday.

After feeding her before leaving the house, Caitlyn falls asleep in my arms. During the taxi ride there, while waiting for our turn at an extremely noisy and busy clinic filled with kids, during the doctor’s examination, and on the ride back home, Caitlyn soundly slept through everything. When we arrived home and I put her into her bassinet (we decided to downsize to make her feel more secure), no more than 30 seconds later, she starts to cry. Go figure.

The doctor confirmed the previous doctor’s diagnosis of seborrheic eczema. However, the ointment she prescribed this time was specifically for the eczema. Last time’s doctor gave us ointment to treat Caitlyn’s pimples. But as with the other doctor, today’s also said the condition was completely normal and that there’s nothing to worry about. It should clear up in about a month.

After seeing poor Caitlyn’s face, various people have stepped in to try and give advice on how we should go about treating her skin. One of the more unusual remedies was wiping her face with one of her wet diapers. Not one, not two, but three people recommended this. I don’t know if it’s important, but all three people were black. Maybe it’s a black thing? Completely kidding, of course! Or not.

While the use of urine in this manner might be shocking to some people, I wasn’t really taken aback because I’ve had some experience with pee myself. When I was a kid, my mom told me that I should pee on mosquito bites to make them stop itching and go away faster. I remember trying it once or twice on some mosquito bites I had on my arm, but hard to say if it was actually of any help.

I also remember thinking, “Hey, if pee is helpful on mosquito bites, maybe pee is helpful to plants too!” I have no idea what made me come up with this conclusion, but I decided to go into our backyard and pee on a couple of plants to see what would happen. I thought it would act like magic fertilizer and the plants would all become more robustly green and leafy. Obviously, they all died in a matter of days, and my mom was left wondering what had happened to her beautiful plants that were healthy one minute and dead the next.

Who can also forget the scene from the Ben Stiller movie, The Heartbreak Kid, where his wife pees on him after he gets stung by a jellyfish. There was even a nature program once that documented how some African tribes used urine from their livestock to wash their faces. (So maybe it is a black thing?)

And once, after having a bit too much to drink, I mistook my trashcan for the toilet and ended up peeing in it along with the wall and the carpet and whatever else was in the way. When I woke up the next morning, I wondered why my room smelled funny, since I had no recollection of what happened the previous night. But I might be getting a bit off-track now.

So, after hearing about using pee to cure my baby’s eczema and stirring up all these old memories, I decided to see exactly what benefits and usefulness urine actually has.

While most people think that urine is nasty and dirty, it’s actually sterile. Urine does not contain bacteria. Any toxins are removed through the skin and kidney. It’s 95% water, 2.5% urea, and 2.5% is a mixture of minerals, salts, hormones and enzymes. In fact, urine is so clean that some African tribes use it to wash wounds and as an eye-wash because it’s far more sterile than the available "fresh" water that they have.

There are also a large number of followers that believe in urine therapy. That is, the drinking of urine for health benefits. In fact, according to the Xinhua news agency in China, over 3 million Chinese people practice drinking their own urine, claiming it strengthens their immune system. (So maybe it’s a black and yellow thing!)

Other uses of urine include: tanning hides, color dying, bleaching, curing tobacco, restoring color to coral, cheese making, tattooing, removing ink stains, hair shampoo, face and body wash, clearing up acne, and washing dishes and utensils to name a few.

With an impressive list like that, what’s not to like about urine? I’m ready to jump aboard the bandwagon! Even my mom is all for rubbing the baby’s face with pee after I told her about it. That doesn’t surprise me, since this is coming from a person who also said that dog saliva can help with itchy mosquito bites. Is there anything that won’t help with mosquito bites?!

Jessie, on the other hand, might be a little harder to convince. She doesn’t seem to be much of a pee aficionado, but I'm working on it.

I can't tell...

is it getting any better?

Baby Blues

As you can tell from the pictures, Caitlyn’s skin condition has gotten a lot worse. It really is as bad as it looks. And it’s not helping that she keeps scratching or rubbing at it with her hands if she’s not swaddled.

Yesterday, we took her to the doctor to get it checked out, and she said that it was seborrheic eczema. Characteristics of this skin disorder include scaly, flaky, itchy, red skin. We were prescribed some ointment, but there has been no marked improvement yet. I’m just hoping that it’ll improve soon, because it’s quite difficult seeing her like this.

My mom and dad have recommended a home remedy of tea water and salt to bathe her in. They claim when my sister and I were smaller, we had the same skin condition that Caitlyn has now, and by washing us with the salty tea water, our skin improved. I’m not really one to believe in old wives’ tales, but I suppose I have nothing to lose.

To make myself feel better about Caitlyn’s fussy behavior, I tell myself that she behaves this way because of the eczema. If she didn’t have it, then we would have a perfectly content, happy baby. This may or may not be true, but I can cling on to that hope, or at least until her skin clears up and she’s still as fussy as ever. Then I’ll really be at my wits end over what to do.

Along with her skin condition, Caitlyn’s sleeping pattern hasn’t gotten much better either. A baby her age should average roughly 15-16 hours of sleep a day. Caitlyn gets about 11.5 hours. To help combat this, I finally broke down and started using a pacifier. I really didn’t want to, because I fear that the baby and I may begin depending on it too much and that it’ll become a crutch later on.

But I can see why everybody loves pacifiers. It really does make the baby stop crying and fussing! Stick it in their mouth and the baby is immediately calmed down. Magic! Just like my 5 S’s. I’m in love with this thing.

Instead of waiting for Caitlyn to fall asleep in our arms and then putting her into her crib, we can now put her in her crib while awake, give her a pacifier, and watch her go to sleep by herself.

But like with anything that’s too good to be true, the pacifier usually falls out of her mouth as she begins to doze off. She starts crying, and we’re sent running the room to put it back in. Doing this 10-15 times in a row is just about as fun as rocking and holding the baby for an hour in my arms. If there were only some way to strap it in, then I think we’d have the perfect baby calming product.

I’ve also started using the baby carrier to carry Caitlyn around in. A few minutes of walking back and forth doing my usual chores, and the rocking motions usually put her to sleep. I’m OK with having her sleep in it while I carry her around for 30-60 minutes, but when you’re trying to get a baby to take a 3 hour nap, it just isn’t really ideal.

I quickly realized that the baby carrier wasn’t the best thing to use if the end goal is to try to get the baby back into her crib. All the straps and buckles make it difficult to remove her and I usually ended up compromising by putting her on the bed with the carrier still on.

All of these various problems that we’ve been struggling with have gotten Jessie worried about handling the baby on her own when I go back to work in a week. She doesn’t think she’ll be able to take care of Caitlyn by herself.

I’m going to have to agree with her on this. Our fussy baby really does require two pairs of hands. Especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. She’s already started talking about giving Caitlyn over to a nanny. I don’t tell her “no,” but at the same time, I tell her not to give up so quickly.

If our moms could raise 6 children between the both of them with little to no help, then surely we can manage one! But of course, that’s easy for me to say because I’ll be happily at work while she’s the one stuck at home with Chili Pepper.