Friday, March 30, 2007

Out of control

That's the pollen this past week in Atlanta. Yesterday was the second highest count on record with April '99 holding the record at 6013.

pollen countpollen weekEven though we've had a higher one day record in '99, I don't remember so many days in a row being so high. Luckily Eammon, Maisie nor I suffer from pollen allergies, but with counts so high even we feel the effects. I'm just about ready to scratch my eyeballs out due to so much pollen getting between my eyeballs and contact lenses. And breathing, it's like trying to suck air though pea soup, the air is just so thick. It's impossible to be outside for even a short time without pollen collecting on you and especially I find that it likes to be on our eyelashes, thus getting into our eyes. Hopefully we'll get some significant rain in the next few days and that will help knock down some of this yellow haze.

Even with the pollen and itchy eyes we've still been busy this week. Monday Maisie and I attended story time at the library and then we spent the afternoon at the playground.

Feb 27 2007 3 Tuesday we attended a lovely luncheon hosted by Kathy. I had Maisie dressed in an adorable dress and I think she looked so cute and even allowed Lisa to take some piccies of her. Deb & LiLi were at the lunch too so Maisie had a playmate as she waits for all the other Mom's to be matched so that she'll have more playmates. We also got to meet Randi who's over a year into her wait and Amy who's just about at the end of her paper chase. It was a fun afternoon and we thank Kathy for arranging it and inviting us.

Feb 27 2007 2 
Wednesday morning was our final Music Together class in the Drum program and next week we start a new program, Tambourine. In the afternoon I took Maisie to the park and met up with Deb, Dan, Ian & LiLi. On Wednesday afternoons all summer long, Jay Memory is at the park singing and the park is just filled with kids and their parents. Maisie really enjoyed the music and loved running around. When we got home she was filthy and exhausted. Eammon was at work later than usual and so I kept Maisie up so that he could visit with her before she went to bed. When I laid her down in the pnp she didn't even whimper, she was so exhausted and I was excited as I didn't have to spend all evening trying to get her to sleep.

I thought I had a great night going until about 2am when she awoke screaming. As she usually does, she stood up in the pnp and I reached over to stroke her head and shhhhh her. But before my hand could even make it to her she just somersaulted herself out and over the top of the pnp. I heard her head hit the wood floor and she ended up on her back with her head under the pnp. Luckily it was a short fall and she was probably more startled than in pain as she cried for less than a minute. Once I checked her over and made sure that all was working OK she was back asleep in the pnp but no sleep for me as I was afraid that she would climb out again. Needless to say, Thursday morning started with a visit to BRU for the purchase of a crib tent. In addition to the crib tent I had to buy new outlet plugs because little Miss figured out how to lever out the ones that were in the sockets.

Our day improved after that as we met Trixie at the Roswell Teahouse for lunch. In the afternoon I tried to run little Miss ragged so that hopefully she'd go to sleep in her newly tented pnp. Come bedtime she was barely staying awake as she played with us and her toys but once she heard me zip up the tent, all he11 broke lose and she screamed her head off. She did spend the night safely in her tent and I slept better knowing that she was safe. Today we've had another busy day and I'm hoping that she won't stress the tent too much tonight.

Zoodles Finally, here is a piccie of Maisie from Wednesday morning wearing one of the the very first outfits that I bought for her way back, the day after we were DTC. When I pulled out her summer clothes I was bummed to see that this duck outfit (as well as the dress she wore when she met the bunnies) were size 6-9 months. But as you can see they both fit her perfectly...well perfectly as long as the pants are cinched in and safety pinned to her diaper so that they don't fall off her. I've been very lucky with the clothing that I purchased so long ago because only one outfit is too small and all the others either fit her now or hopefully will in the future.

15 comments:

  1. It was so great visiting with you at Kathy's house. Of course, it is always a treat to see Maisie.

    I agree with you on the pollen. It is a nightmare right now.

    Love Maisie's duck outfit!

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  2. Such cute pics! I love the duckie jammers! Love the crib tent! I'll have to keep that in mind when my climber realizes she can escape the crib.

    Tiffany

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  3. LOVE that dress! Maisie is so cute.
    And as for all that pollen, thank God for Allegra (in my case).
    Florida is covered in our yearly "yellow snow" as well!

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  4. Anonymous12:26 PM

    I'm a blog visitor who enjoys reading the stories of the girls adopted from China. Started as an interest in foreign adoption and the cultural transition the girls must make. And continued because I got caught up in their ongoing stories. I read the following on ellensgrind.blogspot.com last October and thought it might be of interest to you.

    "Sleep Suggestions

    Today I had an hour counseling session with a sleep therapist at Red Threads, the CCAI Counseling Center. Wow. As Jen (the therapist) put it: "I can tell you don't like what I'm telling you." I don't know what I thought, but I had hoped it wouldn't involve a location change. Ah well. I told myself when we got close to referral that I would do whatever I had to do to make Mae's transition smooth. If she was in foster care and co-slept, we would co-sleep (and I am not into that at all.) If she was used to a crib mate, I would set up the co-sleeper thingee attatched to our bed. I was all ready. Well. She slept in a crib by herself, so that was easy. Or so we thought. After talking with Jen, she thinks that (and this is VERY VERY common and the #1 thing Jen does with adoptive families, so we are not alone) her Amygdala is over-sensative. This is the part of the brain that provides the 'fight or flight' response. In a 'normal' baby, the parent functions as the developing hippocampus, reassuring the baby whenever he is startled. Although the ratio of 1 nanny to 4 babies was excellent, Mae probably didn't get the reassurance she needed all of the time, so her Amygdala freaks out at any threat. Waking up is scary, although most 14-month olds can scream once, look around, recognize their room, and self-soothe themselves back to sleep. A 5-month old can't though...how many 5-month olds sleep through the night? (Some, because Ted did, but not all). So. Here is our plan of attack:


    Be pro-active. She tends to wake every 1.5 hrs, so I am to go in every hour (before I go to bed myself) to pat her on the head. This might awaken her slightly, re-set her sleep pattern, and allow her to sleep through the normal waking time.
    Go in EVERY SINGLE TIME she cries. While some of her crying is not desperate, it may speed the process if I go in each time. "Every time Mommy will come" is the message we need to get across.

    Be calm and nurturing. Being angry or emotion-less will not help the situation. Things may improve dramatically simply by being in-tune to her emotions.

    So there you have it. Paul and I were talking tonight and while we were on vacation she was doing pretty well...and I was in the room with her. So we are going to try me sleeping in her room on a mattress and calming her from there. We'll see how it goes. I am to call Jen back in 2 weeks to report how things are going.

    *yawn* Wish us luck.

    Posted by Ellen at 8:22 PM 2 comments"

    Sincerely,
    Betty Palme

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  5. I had a wonderful time seeing you both and thanks for calling yesterday! WaWa did have a good day and enjoyed his basketball even if there weren't 1000 people here to watch with him. Hope E. enjoyed his event today.

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  6. That dress is gorgeous but then again look who is modelling it!

    Maisie just gets cuter and I hope she isn't scared of her tent on her P-N-P. That would have scared me silly too.

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  7. Glad everyone was okay. I had never even heard of a crib tent...WOW!

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  8. Very cute pictures! Don't you just hate it when they fall?! It scares the bajeepers out of me.

    That ducky outfit is just too darn cute! Are they jammies? Cuz I would keep her in them all day! :)

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  9. Anonymous12:13 PM

    Her best feature must be that smile - just beautiful!!
    Stephanie
    www.forksandchopsticks.wordpress.com

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  10. The duckie outfit is so adorable (and so is Maisie!)

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  11. Anonymous4:59 PM

    so dainty in that white dress. Does that come from your side of the family or Eammon?

    Judy B.
    (yes, it's comments like that which is why Eammon hates me!)

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  12. Oh how I hate the advent of spring. Pollen = Snot Fest 2007 in the ladybug house.

    Maisie's a cutie, and I love how much her hair has grown in! She looks like such a big girl (tall and lanky), I can't believe she's so tiny!

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  13. Maisie looks fabulous. Hair is beautiful and very shiny. She looks healthy and happy!

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  14. I am an adoptive mom of a beautiful girl from China, after reading your post I signed Feng mei up for Music and Me classes. Just wanted to say thanks!!! She loves it.

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  15. Maisie's so beautiful. Thanks for sharing all her styling pics with us.

    And my oh my - do you girls ever slow down? Sheesh! :)

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