Eat-Sleep-Love | Maryland DC & Virginia Sleep Coach, Baby Planner, Maternity & Child Consultant

Maternity & Parenting Center

I cried my eyes out

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Today was Micah’s first day at child care at The Children in the Shoe, and I cried my eyes out! He is now officially a Little Star (I had it wrong before . . . I thought he was going into the Lambs classroom). I always knew he was a superstar!

Our day was crazy (as usual). We went to our playgroup this morning, and we brought a kosher for Passover birthday cake we baked for one of the other moms. Nothing fancy, but it wasn’t bad for a Passover cake.

Micah had a great time at playgroup! He played on the playmat, and his friend Juliet couldn’t stop running her fingers through his hair (okay, more like grabbing a chunk, but at that age, same thing!!) They were even holding hands for a while. I think some of the other women took some photos – I will try and update those later.

We stayed a little too long at playgroup, and I needed to race out of there and get gas for Elliot’s car. We finally made it to the daycare center at 2:00 – about 1/2 hour later than I’d planned. I brought him back to the room, and left him there. As I walked out . . . I started to bawl. I was just so sad to leave him. I was worried he would be afraid with all the strangers, and I didn’t want him to be sad or lonely. I kept thinking they wouldn’t talk to him enough and that he would not get enough stimulation. Crazy, right? It also worries me that many of them speak with an accent, and I worry that hearing poor English will affect his language development. I went to the office and filled out all the paperwork, and then I went back and checked on him. He was sitting in a bouncy seat, playing with a blue stuffed elephant. He wasn’t smiling and chatting like he does at home, but he looked like he was fine, so I ran out of there in a mad race to get to my meeting on time!

My meeting went well – I won’t bore you with the details, but it looks like I have a chance at another contract. After my meeting, I checked in with Elliot, and he was about to pick Micah up from daycare. I raced home and waited for them. When Elliot walked through the door with Micah, he was clearly happy to see me. He couldn’t stop beaming and laughing, and he was just so happy to be with me. I can assure you, the feeling was mutual!

Micah did just fine . . . he enjoyed playing with the blue stuffed elephant while he sat in a bouncy seat, and he took his bottle. They said he was happy and easy the whole time – he even got a wonderful report card to prove it!

All in all, he did really well, but I was a bit frustrated with his caretaker, Aneta. When we arrived, Micah was asleep. We decided to place his car seat in the crib so we did not wake him up (I told her he desperately needed to nap for an hour or two). So, after we placed him in the crib . . . she woke him up to put in his paci “so he would sleep better.” HELLO – how does WAKING A BABY UP help them sleep better? I did my best to bite my frustration back, and I went to the front office. I came back to check on Micah before I left, and he was quietly playing. DH picked him up at 4:30, and he was napping – but he had JUST fallen asleep. According to Aneta, Micah took 5 ounces. I told her he probably shouldn’t need more than 4 – I have a feeling she force-fed him the last ounce instead of taking the bottle away when he was just comfort-sucking. I’ll have to have a discussion with her about not over-feeding him. Needless to say, his belly hurt a bit when we brought him home, and he had a meltdown around 7:30 because he had not gotten enough sleep during the day. We’ll have to work that out.

I had to run out after nursing Micah to attend a viewing – the father of our family friend, Pat, died last week. I made it back a little after 8, and Micah was still in melt-down mode. Elliot managed to get him to sleep for a few minutes, but I needed to nurse him again before he finally drifted off. I guess my little guy just needed a bit more mommy time. He was SOOO over-tired today.

Update. . . . 1:02 am. It has been a rough night. Micah was hysterical at bed time, then woke up again at 8:45 and needed to nurse. He went back to sleep, but Elliot and I have needed to run upstairs MANY times to reinsert the paci. I was getting ready to pump when the fussing started again. I reinserted the paci, but he didn’t seem satisfied, so I picked him up and decided to nurse him again. While I was nursing him, he was making this horrible rattling noise – he was extremely congested. We used that blue nasal squeegey to clear things out (he did NOT like that) and I finished nursing him. He is currently asleep, on his side, but it is a very restless sleep. I think we’re in for a long night and an early morning! Maybe daycare did really throw him off more than we thought.

Childcare Update

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We are still working on figuring out a nanny solution (either a part-time nanny just for us, or a nanny-share situation with friends of ours), but in the interim, we decided to take the spot that opened up at the daycare. They offered us Mondays and Fridays (lousy days) but we decided to take just Mondays. Until May 20, they have openings everyday, so we can take advantage of drop-off days in addition to Mondays. We are going to test this out and see how it goes. If the nanny thing falls through, it gets us in the door at the daycare, and we should be able to work out better days by the Fall. We went back to visit the facility this past Wednesday to see the classroom and meet his primary caretaker (he will be a Little Lamb). I was crying while we were there . . . I know I need to get help so I can get my work done . . . but the thought of someone else caring for my little guy breaks my heart. He is thriving, and I’m so proud of the fact that we did that, and I don’t think anyone can make him grow and thrive the way we can. But I do realize that I can’t do it all myself. I keep thinking I’ll feel more comfortable with daycare when he is older – I can kind of consider it early preschool at that point. I guess we’ll try this out, and it will give me a chance to see how I’m feeling and if this will work for us. We can add more days if necessary, or cancel our spot and switch to a nanny. I really do believe that this facility will be wonderful for Micah as he gets older, but I wish I was ready for him to be in daycare right now. Keep your fingers crossed that we can find a nanny situation!

Can I have my ear back?

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It is Passover . . . a lovely holiday that has those of us who are observing eating cardboard for 8 days. Okay, not exactly. Passover commemorates our freedom from slavery in Egypt . . . the story of Moses (queue The Ten Commandments). We have seders, a special ceremonial dinner, the first two nights of Passover, to retell the story of Passover and celebrate our current lives of freedom. We then continue to eat matzah and do not eat any bread/grains for 8 days to remind us that our ancestors fled Egypt in such a hurry that they did not have sufficient time to let their bread rise.

The first night, my parents hosted seder at their house. Jeremy and Jen and my two nieces all came down, and it was a good event. We grew up with a family who lives around the corner from my parents. My brother and their oldest daughter Rayna were best friends, and we always refer to Rayna and Stuart as our brother and sister. They were back in town this week for Passover, so as is our tradition, they came over to spend time at my parents’ house before the seders began. My oldest niece Paige was a bit unsure of Stuart . . . which is amazing, because he is so sweet and gentle that EVERYONE loves him! Early on during their visit, he “took” her nose and her ear. She mostly avoided him the rest of the visit, and cautiously watched him from afar. Just as Stu was getting ready to leave, she said “Excuse me, can I have my ear back?” He laughed for a second and then got very serious. He carefully took her ear out and put it back for her. He asked if that was okay, and she responded with “and my nose.” He promptly returned her nose, she flashed him a smile, and walked away. Aren’t 2 1/2 year olds wonderful?

During their visit, my younger niece Peyton was still napping. We decided that we would head over to their house to visit and show off the babies to their Grandma Della once Peyton woke up. At 5:00, we headed over there for a visit. It was so much fun to introduce the next generation of our family to Della. We had a nice visit before returning for our seder. When we were growing up, our families always did a seder together, so this holiday is filled with so many collective memories for us.

Another milestone: Micah can push buttons on toys! He was downstairs on the floor with my two nieces, and they kept bringing him toys and showing him how to work them. He had a piano and another toy that played music when you pushed a button, and he kept pushing the buttons and keys over and over again. I can’t believe he is ready for new toys!!

We hosted the second seder at our house. Elliot’s parents, his brother Steven and his wife Jodi, and two of their chidlren (Brian and Stephanie) joined us, along with my parents. We had a lovely dinner, and Micah got to spend time with his grandparents and cousins. It was a very pleasant evening, and the food was wonderful (if I do say so myself). Elliot made turkey and meatloaf and chicken soup, my mom made brisket and kosher for passover mandel bread (Jewish biscotti) and I made the side dishes and dessert (matzah balls for the soup, matzah farfel, which is the Passover version of stuffing, asparagus, a spinach souffle, a broccoli souffle, kosher for passover brownies and cake – it is amazing how ground up matzah and eggs can actually taste pretty good!). I decorated the cake for my in-laws birthdays. We did have one disaster – the apple charlotte . . . basically, it is made from apples, raisins, crumbled matzah, and eggs, and it is kind of like an apple crisp. It is one of my favorite dishes. It came out perfectly, and I had it cooling on the range. Elliot wasn’t paying attention, and when he turned the burner on to heat up the soup, he turned on the wrong burner . . . and kind of set fire to the apple charlotte. He was still hoping to save it and just cut out the burnt parts (yeah, right). My dad, in an effort to help, tried to move the dish from the range top to the granite countertop to get it out of the way while we were cooking. It was so hot that the minute it touched the cold granite, the glass pyrex dish EXPLODED!! Needless to say, we had to throw it away.

I’m now sitting in bed, my niece and nephew asleep downstairs, Elliot watching tv, and I’m typing this and watching Micah on the monitor. I received an email from a friend of mine who is expecting a baby soon saying she got the same monitor and has been playing around with it. They are looking forward to plugging it in to their tv in their bedroom at night. It is funny, because we were going to set it up and plug it in for everyone to watch tonight . . . and then we got distracted. In fact, I don’t think we’ve ever plugged it in to the tv yet. I think we are going to try and plug it in soon and see if we can record some footage of Micah in bed – I’ll try and post it when we do that. He is currently sleeping across the width of the crib (or at 90 degrees, as we like to say). He keeps almost rolling over in bed, but he does not fully make it over to his tummy – mostly because he keeps trying to roll “uphill” since he is sleeping the wrong way in his crib. He loves to get so close to the bumpers when he sleeps – I should be more worried about how close his face gets to the material, but I guess I feel like I survived on my tummy and with blankets in the crib, he should be just fine.

In the morning, Elliot’s other brother Daniel, his wife Jody, and their son Ethan, are driving down, and the whole family will get together. We are going to try and see some of the cherry blossoms before they leave (weather permitting). I’m making breakfast for everyone in the morning, and it should be a nice day together. My friend Tammy is coming tomorrow night, and I’m hoping the rain will disappear so we can go see the cherry blossoms together. It should be a wonderful weekend.

I think I used to be fun

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As the title of this post says, I think I used to be a lot of fun. I really don’t sleep, so I was always willing to spontaneously run out and go wherever, any hour of the day or night. Bored and want to play pool? Call Jessica, she’ll come meet you! Interested in staying out all night and dancing? Call Jessica, she’ll come along! Need to just chat on the phone about work/boyfriend/date/crazy night . . . call Jessica, she’ll pick up any time! Want to go for a walk at 3:30 because the weather is nice . . . call Jessica, she never makes plans in advance and will almost always drop everything to get out of the house and procrastinate. Looking for company to get a massage or a manicure? You get the picture. Interested in going shopping . . . okay, that was never my bailiwick. For that, you should probably call my father.

I used to travel a lot – all over the world. I’ve been to over 35 states and more than 14 countries. I always had a trip planned or in the works. For our honeymoon, we went to Africa. I’ve been all over Europe, on cruises, and all around the Caribbean. I am a foodie, and I have eaten in some of the best restaurants around the country. I love going to the movies, seeing shows, going up to New York to catch Broadway shows, and attending concerts.

All of this is to say that I do not think I am fun or interesting anymore. Getting out is a challenge, I have no idea the next time I will be going on a non-work vacation, and the only thing I think when the phone rings after 8:00 pm is “I hope that doesn’t wake Micah.” When I hear about parties, I think it sounds like too much trouble. When I get a call to go on a walk, I think “do I have enough time to go before I have to feed Micah?”

I really miss being fun sometimes. I wouldn’t trade a second of my time with Micah, but it does make me wonder if I will ever be fun again.

You’ve got the cutest little baby face

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Today, we will be presenting a photo essay. Micah in pictures. Here are a few of my favorite things:

Hanging out in my loungewear . . . like the slippers?

And the mullet shots (okay, it is part faux hawk). . .

business in the front. . . .

party in the back . . .


Look at that luscious hair!


Can you see my curls?



And let’s finish this off with an installment of Micah tv. Press the triangle on the lower left of each picture to watch the videos! Enjoy Micah chatting and playing:

Micah in Wonderland

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The good news is, things have improved on the sleep front with Micah. We discovered that Micah has just been hungry at bedtime, so we’ve been giving him some extra milk before bed, and bedtime has become a joy again. We’re not sure if my milk supply is low or if Micah is growing and just needs a little more right now, but things seem to be under control for now.

I have to say, Micah amazes me when he sleeps. He can be an incredibly restless sleeper some nights – kicking all over the place, making noises, plunging his hands into that gorgeous head of hair (who wouldn’t want to do that?) and trying to shove his fists into his mouth. Other nights, he barely moves or makes a sound. When he was younger, we had him sleeping on an incline secure sleeper – it is made of foam, it kept his head elevated to minimize the acid reflux, and it had pillows for his arms to keep him from sliding down. The only problem was, he kept sliding down, so all night long, we’d have to go in and slide him back up. He would either wake up from sliding down, or he would be irritated when we lifted him back up, prompting a round of kicks and punches that would, of course, cause him to slide back down again. As he grew larger and we stopped swaddling him, we decided to remove the incline sleeper and buy a crib wedge – basically, a triangular-shaped wedge that lays on top of his mattress to keep his head a bit elevated to reduce problems with acid reflux.

This new sleeping situation has been a major improvement! We do not need to run in and out of his room all night lifting him up and waiting for him to slide down. For the first few weeks, it was ideal. As Micah has grown stronger, however, he is moving around the crib a bit more. The past few nights, he seems to like to turn 90 degrees and lay across his crib. I’m fairly certain the crib wedge does not help reflux when the baby refuses to lay on it. The past several mornings, he wakes up crying when he has turned 180 degrees . . . yes, that is right, he uses the crib wedge to put his feet up. I’m fairly certain dangling the head downwards is NOT good for reflux. In general, we have been leaving Micah to move about the crib as he pleases, as long as he seems comfortable and sleeps. He has been sleeping so soundly that we have not needed to go in to reinsert the paci at all the past few nights.

Tonight, we went upstairs, put him in his pajamas, gave him his medicine, and I nursed him while Elliot read him a goodnight story. I thought Micah was finished eating – I seemed to be out of milk, and he seemed contented with his paci. He was smiling at me, so I decided to read him another story while we rocked together. Suddenly, he started to get fussy and restless again, so I tried nursing him some more. Just in case, I had another 2 ounces of milk in a bottle on hand. He was quite insistent on what he wanted – he would have none of the right side, and was all about the left side. I got him into position, and away he nursed. I did not think he would get enough, but after a few minutes, his eyes began to close and he sort of relaxed. I made the decision to nurse him to sleep rather than try moving him or separating him before he decided to pull off. Maybe he just needed some bonding with mommy tonight. It took another 5-10 minutes, but Micah passed out and flopped off. I popped in his paci, and moved him into the crib.

After Elliot and I did some cooking in preparation for our upcoming Passover seder on Thursday night, I checked Micah on the monitor because he was so quiet. Once again, he had turned 90 degrees and was sleeping across the crib. I give up! He is very cute . . . I guess eventually he’ll outgrow this position. I may need to give up on the crib wedge, too, although I think it at least keeps him from spitting up for the first few hours he is in the crib after eating.

Micah does such a great job sleeping and napping – I’m so lucky that he is such a good baby. I have been terrible, however, about making him nap in his crib. I have a feeling I am going to regret that one of these days. He really does not like to nap in his crib – most days, he isn’t even too thrilled with the pack n play. He does most of his naps either in the swing, his car seat, or the stroller. Does anyone have tips about napping locations?

We also bought a new stroller tonight. We had been using just the Graco stroller frame – you just snap the car seat in and go. It is easy to use, and really has been perfect for us. Elliot picked up a metrolite stroller as a backup stroller at a consignment shop about a month ago. The pattern is ugly and it is a bit bulky, but it has been good to have an extra stroller in my car or at the house sometimes. Since we will not be able to use the stroller frame once Micah outgrows his car seat (we still have a few more months on that front), we’ve been hunting for our “permanent” stroller. We decided to buy the BabyJogger CityMini stroller. We think it will be great for walking around Bethesda and DC (we plan to test it out next weekend when we take Tammy to see the Cherry Blossoms), it is easy to fold and store, and it is so easy to maneuver. I’m already excited about it, and we have not even used it yet! We may still need to get just a regular old umbrella stroller at some point, but we’ll worry about that when the time comes.

A day in my life on Facebook

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Jessica is watching Elliot chase a wet dog around the house with a very little towel. Nugget 1, Elliot 0. Ah yes, and then Nugget decides to towel dry herself on Micah’s playmat. Lovely!
Stu likes this.
Elliot at 1:34am April 3
I didn’t chase – I let her come to me, which she did (or at least tried to run past me like the maniac she becomes when wet) and caught her in this towel, where I dried her off. She took to the playmat before I could get the towel. I would at least say the score is tied, if not me in the lead 😉
Jessica at 2:01am April 3
You chased . . . and she was faster. You only “caught” her when she climbed on the couch to relax after her wild run through the house tracking muddy wet paw prints on the newly washed floor!
Elliot at 2:06am April 3
Keep telling yourself that!
Jessica at 2:12am April 3
I know what I saw . . . and anyone who knows Nugget will know the truth.
Stu at 6:22am April 3
I hope you guys are sitting next to each other typing this… Can’t wait to see you guys next week!!!!
Jessica at 9:31pm April 3
Of course we were! Can’t wait to see you, too!

I love DC

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Every so often, something reminds me how much I love DC. This past week, it was the cherry blossoms in bloom. This area is absolutely BEAUTIFUL in the Spring. I was heading downtown to a meeting last week, and decided to drive down Rock Creek Parkway and take the back roads around the Tidal Basin to hop on Independence Ave and then cut over to 12th Street to get to the Department of Education. On a normal day, as every local Washingtonian knows, this back-road route is always the fastest way through town. Except when the cherry blossoms are in bloom (or some other major event is happening on the mall). Well, last week was the start of the Cherry Blossom Festival – and one of the most bone-headed times to drive through the Tidal Basin. As is par for the course with me, I was totally oblivious to the date and the time of year, and I drove right into the heart of the Cherry Blossom Festival without even a thought.

And yet . . . I’m so glad I did it! I drove through just early enough in the day that the traffic was heavy, but not gridlocked. The trees were in full bloom, and the drive was stunningly gorgeous. I love how the beautiful cherry blossom trees frame the monuments. The city comes alive with the pink-tinged accents. I rolled down my windows and enjoyed the warm weather and beautiful scents from the trees. I couldn’t stop beaming. When I lived in New York, the world was always grey . . . the sidewalks, the buildings, everything. I used to feel “color deprived” living there – I never saw signs of nature (and living down in the village, the trek up to Central Park was just too much). I remember coming home in the spring, and flying over the monuments to land, and seeing the cherry blossoms. I remember driving down the cherry blossom lined street to my parents’ house on the way back from the airport and just beaming with sheer joy to see such magnificence and beauty, and I remember how the colors just jumped out at me – it was as if I had stepped out of a black-and-white photo and into color. There is something so elegantly joyous about cherry blossom trees . . . and magnolias . . . and this time of year, nearly every street and neighborhood is painted pink. Hundreds and hundreds of shades of pink. There is the soft almost white pink from some varieties of trees, and the truly rich girly-girl pink of other trees, and the bright hot-pink that the magnolias bring to the mix. Add in a splash of hydrangea and azalea, and well . . . we are living in a pink Spring wonderland.

Today as we drove out to Hyattsville for an art exhibit, we enjoyed even more spring beauty. Every day, I have been looking forward to my morning walks with Nugget, just so I can see how many more trees are now in bloom. This is my favorite time of year, and there is no better place to enjoy Spring than in Washington, DC. It reminds me how lucky we are to live here.

My friend Tammy is coming down for a visit this weekend, and I can’t wait to show off Washington in bloom. It will also be Micah’s first trip on the metro, and I’m so excited to wander around the monuments with him. I truly love DC – it is fast-paced when you need, slow and lazy and suburban at the same time, full of culture and opportunities and politics and energy, and in 20 minutes you can be in the middle of the country, or enjoying picking your own berries at a local farm. I hope one day Micah appreciates this crazy place as much as I do!

Video Sunday

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I’ve decided to declare today Video Sunday. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I will post way too much Micah video! Our little guy is chatting (okay, the rest of you would call it babbling) and laughing now, and he can sit on his own in the Bumbo seat! As a reminder, click on the triangle on the bottom left corner of the images to make each of the videos play.

Micah on the plane back from LA:

Micah playing at the Denver Airport:

Micah laughing at home:

Micah playing on the playmat:

Micah in the Bumbo:

Let’s talk about Frank, baby

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Today was my fluid ultrasound to check on the status of Frank (you know, the pesky fibroid). The good news is, Frank shrank back down to only 1.5 cm. He is only on the outside of my uterus, outer layer. My doctor felt that there was no reason to go in and surgically remove him. I have to say, I was stunned – things never go that well for me. I asked about whether Frank would re-grow during a future pregnancy and cause me problems, and while he said the possibility exists, he felt that Frank was done growing. The even better news is that the other fibroids I used to have on the outside of my uterus (there were 5) have all disappeared. He could not find any evidence of any additional fibroids! So, hopefully that means any future pregnancies would not be riddled with contractions and pain. Then again, Frank could defy expectations and get cranky again next pregnancy. I guess the upside to that is I would have extra monitoring, probably earlier on, to watch frank throughout the pregnancy.

I do have a band of scar tissue from Micah’s birth that he recommended I have removed. He said “there is no reason to put up with that.” So . . . we’ll see. I have to make an appointment with a different doctor to discuss it. I know I should do it, but it involves a needle, and well, you know how NOT good I am with needles.

Results of the day: there are no impediments to trying again for #2 when we are ready!