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Watching her videos on her iPod on a LONG interstate car ride home from a funeral. Worked like a charm and she fell right asleep.
We had to go up north for my mother's funeral. We were gone for 5 days and had to spend four overnights in a hotel. It was a very sad event.
Sasha didn't really understand what was going on. She had fun at Mcdonalds and she also got to go swimming with her dad in the hotel swimming pool. She adjusted okay to the change of surroundings and routine and seeing all the people. She loved one of my parent's cats. She ate well and slept well. I was surprised at how well she switched to a day shift schedule and how well she did with a routine. I hope we can keep the day shift and routine going now that we are back home again.

Fun with Daddy

We went to Ikea and they had a ball pit! So we had to let Sasha play in the ball pit with her daddy for a little bit. She had fun!

When we went up north, we went to a McDonald's with a maze-like playland inside. Sasha and her dad ran amok and had a blast. I couldn't help but remark on how much more fearless Sasha is compared to her big sister. At the same McDonalds a decade earlier, I used to take Cassie when she was a little toddler, and Cassie was always afraid to play in the playland. Sasha had a healthy curiosity and playfulness although she had her dad with her every step of the way.

Death in the family

On Sunday morning, my mom died. Actually, she was my step-mother but she was the woman that raised me since I was seven. Her loss is very sad for me and my family and it was painfully sudden and unexpected. Especially for Cassie, who lived with her grandparents for a few years while I went to college. My father is devastated and my brother is very upset also.
I wanted to rush up home right away, but the weather had been very bad. Earlier in the week, Cassie had wanted to go up and visit her grandparents for the three-day weekend. My mom declined. My mom would normally do anything to see Cassie but she was afraid that the weather would be bad on Sunday so she said maybe the next weekend.
My brother is with my father and is staying with him and helping him out, so they do not need me yet. They are having a difficult time with the final preparations. We think we can have a funeral on Saturday and do the final burial on Monday. My father wants me to return home on Thursday so that we can pick a dress for her. He is finding that task very difficult. Cassie says she knows exactly what dress should be chosen so she will probably help with that.
Just waiting to return home.

Strange mealtime manners

We had a very strange dinner.
I made a beef roast, with side dishes of black-eyed peas and rice pilaf, and some broccoli. We all sat at the table for a family dinner. I gave Sasha some rice and some other foods because I didn't think she would be interested in our beef or broccoli. I did put two small spears of broccoli on her high chair table just to familiarize her with broccoli, but I really didn't expect her to eat it.
As I was eating, I was surprised to see Sasha pick up the broccoli and inspect it closely. I don't know what was going through her mind, but she made the broccoli dance. She just started bouncing it on her tray as if it was dancing around and said "dan dan dan" which is how she says "dance dance dance". We all laughed and she was amused with herself. I went back to eating. About a minute later she shoved the broccoli in her mouth and ate it. I was very very surprised and said "Oh look! She's eating broccoli". She really seemed to like it. She ate both spears. I gave her a few more and she started eating those.
That's my girl!
But strangely, about a minute later, her head started bobbing forward. She put her head down on her tray and stayed like that for a little while. I realized she just instantly fell asleep. I was scared at first, worried that maybe she passed out or something. But nope, she just got tired and fell asleep right there at the dinner table.

Another Snow Day

Today was another snow day! No school for Cassie. We had a nice blizzard and we got to spend more time together.
Sasha has been on a day shift for the last two weeks. My husband needed some sleep (he has a hard time sleeping with Sasha as she night wakes every half-hour) so we let him sleep until about 11am and I got to go to bed at about noon.
I woke up about 6:30pm and we made and ate a spaghetti dinner. We decided to try a new method of trying to keep up with kitchen housework. From now on, when we eat our family dinner, nobody will leave the table to another activity until the dishes are done. And whoever cooked dinner is exempt from doing the dishes. We hope this will help us keep the kitchen cleaner and maybe that will encourage each of us to try planning and cooking dinners.
Since Sasha was born, we've almost always at least had our family dinners together in the evenings. I think it's good for Sasha to observe the whole family eating and it's good for everyone really. We can connect together and talk.

Food Poisoning and a start at weaning

I did something really dumb at work and ate some pizza of questionable age. That mistake cost me much trouble. I was violently ill with food poisoning which left me sick for two days and feeling queasy for at least a few more days after.

I had read that although you can nurse your child while you are sick, you should NOT nurse your child when you have food poisoning because the toxins from the poisons are passed on to the child in breastmilk. It made sense to me so I had no choice but to abstain from nursing Sasha while I was ill. She was not pleased at first and spent many miserable moments at my side sadly crying "mama! mama! mama!" while furiously signing milk at me. I was heartbroken and that compounded my misery. But eventually she carried on without me and eventually it seemed like she and her daddy were having a grand time without her mama.

So I guess you could say that the weaning process seems to have started. My milk production (and ahem... chest size) dropped and although Sasha was not happy to go to sleep without a nursing, she eventually seemed okay during the day. By the time I recovered, Sasha wasn't asking me anymore.

I wasn't quite prepared for a weaning like this, so we are back to nursing for naps and at bedtime, but otherwise we're now in the "Don't Offer; Don't Refuse" phase of weaning. If she does ask during the day, I offer her some juice or a cup of milk first and she is usually appeased by that instead. I did want to at least continue to nurse her at least once a day until the end of the cold and flu season, just in case. But I think I do want to have her weaned by her 18th month-old "birthday" in March.

Again I must note that with the decrease in nursing, Sasha's appetite has increased a lot. So I do believe that weaning will be good for her when the time comes to make the cut off. Until that cut off, we are in a state of reduced nursings, and I will have a month or so to figure out how to get her off her dependance on nursing to get to sleep.

Snow Day

We had a little bit of a blizzard, and so today was a snow day. No school for Cassie. She spent the day at home. Today she actually did wish she could go to school.

Sasha had another non-eating day today. I barely got one single spoonful of rice into her and that was borderline forceful getting that spoonful in. She refused her juice boxes. She nursed like twice. I don't know how this girl survives at times. I get so scared sometimes when this happens. She didn't eat much yesterday or the day before either but each day she's eating less.