Layla is bored

Layla is bored because her mommy had her wisdom teeth taken out today. I am good for nothing other than lying on the floor and playing with a few toys. I'm not in the mood to talk, and I'm surely not in the mood for crying. Good thing my little princess has actually been a princess today. I took some old clothes upstairs today and came across the bear suit. I miss her little cuddly bear days.

Door to door salesman

So Layla and I were sitting outside after just getting back from a short walk when I noticed a strange car very slowly driving down the block. There was a young man driving this older model light blue Corolla. I watched as he came back up the street and parked in front of my neighbor's house, all while I was on the phone with Amanda. My neighbor had just been outside with her two grandkids, but wisely decided to go back inside as this guy slowly made his way back up the street.

He walked up to their house with some sort of book in hand, but alas, they did not open the door. I rightly figured that I would be his next prey. Quite humorously, he moved his car less than the length of one house so it is closer to my driveway. Next this guy walkd up as I'm on the phone, and just as he was about to speak I interrupted him, "So are you trying to sell me something?" He sort of mumbled no, introduced himself as a university student Jack (pronounced Yaak) from Estonia, which is also embroidered on his shirt. He says in a very generic European accent ( I think it was fake) that he has been meeting all the "cool kids and cool parents in the neighborhood" and proceeds to even drop some names, asking me if I know the people. I reply that I don't know them because I don't actually live here, I'm just visiting with my parents. So anyway, he continued and said that he would like to introduce me to some educational materials that he is marketing. I cut him off and say "It was nice to meet you Yaak, but I need to get back to my phone call, so maybe you can tell me another time." He walked off without another word.

I am not a fan of people marketing products door to door. They try to unfarily take advantage of people home with young children. They will talk to you for half an hour, then you will buy something out of guilt for wasting their time. Don't take the bait! If these people have any intelligence, they are paid by the hour anyway.

By the way, Layla is also feeling better today. She only had to take her Tylenol 2x all day!

She's sick...

So it wasn't just teething after all. Layla's fever got higher yesterday afternoon, so I decided to take her in and have it checked out. She just has a sore throat, and one of her ears looked a little red inside. As much as I'm not a fan of antibiotics, she is on Amoxacillin as well as Motrin and Tylenol. Whenever the medicine wears off, her fever spikes again. The highest she's gotten was 102.4. We're just taking it easy today, trying to get her to sleep as much as possible. We'll also work on getting her back to normal with a probiotic once she finished the antibiotics course. She even wanted so sleep laying on my chest last night, which she hasn't done in months.

Pray for our sick Layla.

Teething again

Layla has had 6 teeth now since she was 6 mos. old. Now she seems to be getting ready to pop some more. She is chewing on everything she can get her hands on, suddenly has less interest in eating, and has had a low fever for the last day. We've just been taking it easy today because I can tell she doesn't feel the greatest. I'm just focusing on making sure she gets enough sleep and fluids. I just hope that she doesn't get 6 teeth at once like she did last time.

A small step

Today I must have done something right. Layla took a nap without hardly crying. I nursed her, laid her down in the crib half asleep and walked away. From distance I observed her as she got up, stood up in the crib, fussed a little bit, then was quiet. A few minutes later I walked over and noticed that she was asleep on the opposite end of the crib from where I had laid her. She slept a little over an hour and woke up in a fairly good mood. Maybe I'm on to something.

Worst sleeper award

So I'm sitting here feeling drowsy yet again. I thought that a baby's sleep is supposed to get more consistent over time, but I've been proven wrong.
When Layla was little, she would sleep on her tummy. It worked best if I would lay her down, and immediately walk away. She slept more easily if she couldn't see anyone near her.

More recently, she liked to sleep on her back, but I would have to stay with her until she was completely asleep. It took awhile some days and was very frustrating.

Now she has changed again. She used to almost never fall asleep nursing. Now she has to fall asleep nursing and lay on her back. She also wakes up way too easily.

What's a mother to do?

Adventures in little sleep...

Are there any other moms out there with older babies who won't sleep well? Layla has never slept through the night yet and she is 9 mos old. I have tried multiple methods. Filling her up with cereal or other food doesn't work. Staying with her until she is sound asleep doesn't work. Putting her down when she is just drowsy doesn't work. Putting her to bed later definitely doesn't work.
I am basically out of options and glad that I don't have to work at this point in time.
Living with a difficult baby is difficult, but I try to love every minute of it.