Lookie my octopus!

Halloween costume recycling at it's finest... How cute is she?!

Autism-Free Zone

Yep. This blog is an Autism-Free Zone. A place where I and everyone else can get away from the curse and the obsession. So I'm going to voice aloud (er, write.. um.. not aloud?) the thoughts I have so often, looking at Sierra.

My pregnancy with Sierra was hell. At 31 weeks I went into labor. Went to the hospital and got put on Magnesium, which the nurse warned me would make me feel awful. I had no clue. As soon as it started, I felt like I was burning to death, was thirsty beyond belief but not allowed to drink, and so weak I couldn't move my head. The shots of Terbutaline made it hard to breathe and I found myself gasping and crying hysterically while the doctor tried to calm me down.

They transferred me an hour away to Sarasota hospital, where they had a NICU. I got put in a back room, where they forgot about me for quite some time, until I was practically begging them to take out the goddamned catheter they hadmade me have for the ambulance ride there. They finally did that, set me up on a megnesium drip, and left for another 5 hours. Apparently they overdosed me on the magnesium, because for that 5 hours I could not lift my head, get up to go to the bathroom, and I threw up all over my pillow but had to lie in it.

It was not a fun week. Everyone was angry at me because after 3 days of magnesium, I could not take it any more, and told them to stop with it. They did the steroids and Terbutaline, and lectured me on how irresponsible I was being. But I couldn't take the pain and sickness anymore.

I cried all week, and laid there just suffering... Then finally got to come home, on strict bed rest. Obviously, this didn't work out, as Jason didn't understand bed rest, and I had to take care of Jaymes. Sierra was born a week later, at 33 weeks.

My mother in law took over half an hour to drive 5 minutes to watch Jaymes. We got to the hospital, they tried to give me more Terbutaline to stop the contractions, but it wasn't happening. They gave up, got me my Epidural, and left me be for awhile. Jaosn read his comic books and looked annoyed everytime I moaned through a contraction.

The epidural started to wear off. Something it had not done during Jaymes' birth. I begged the doctor and nurse to give me more quickly, but they said it was too late, it was time to push. So it was a natural birth, really. I felt every agonizing second of it. I cried like a baby, and cursed at the doctor. She finally had to yell at me to shut up and push, then later apologized for being too intense. I was glad she was though, I was panicked and needed that.

Jason screamed and cried the entire birth. It was weird and I wanted to slap him. I didn't even get to hold Sierra, they took her away and it was 6 hours till I could have her again.

Once I had her, I didn't give her up again. She slept with me, she snuggled with me, I buried my face in her sweet baby smelling hair. For some bizarre reason my mother in law took a photo of her pooping. It's a gross photo.

I was so scared when we got home, I thought she would stop breathing or something. Jason dropped me and her and Jaymes off and left to go set up a TV for his mother.. I was really nervous. But she was so good and sweet and quiet.

She's always been good. Trouble, but good. She amazes me every day with how fast she learns. All the things she says, the phrases she picks up, the way she plays with her baby doll. She's the smartest child I know... Having Sierra is like being a new parent all over again. So different from her brother. SO different.

She's picking up language so fast. She's surpassed Jaymes already, and she actually teaches him things. She plays make believe, she pretends to be mommy. When the wolf on my radio station howls, she knows to howl too. She knows every animal's name, and what they are. She bosses Jaymes around, tells me NO!, and brushes her hair. She sits on the potty. She helps clean up after Jaymes.

She is a little prodigy, in this house at least. Every miserable moment of that pregnancy was worth it and everything she does fills me with awe.

Stop squeezing the cat, Sierra! Seriously...

Sierra is becoming more and more antagonistic toward the cat. She means well, I think, but what cat likes to be tackled? Phoenix is not a football player, and would certainly prefer not to be treated as such. Sierra however, does not get this and will come barreling into the room, leap onto the couch with superbaby speed, and tackle the hapless cat napping on the pillow.

And then of course much chaos ensues. Screeching, giggles, a hiss. The hiss is always followed by a scream of utter shock, horror, and agony from Sierra. She has no clue why the mean ole cat scratched her. I mean, all she was doing was chewing on the cat's leg and trying to pull her tail off her rear end. What, 22 pounds of toddler on the 5 pound cat is too much?

Sierra disagrees.

Tangled Si-Si

If the blog name Tangled Me had not been taken, I might have had to delete this blog and start a new one under that name. Sierra had a tangling problem. Nope, no complex, tangled emotional issues. No tangled up finances, or relationships.

Her hair. She twirls it incessantly. She sucks her thumb and twirls her hair, and soon there are knots the size of my fist. And minutes after I spend allllll that time untangling the globs of hair, I pick her up and what do I find? MORE! The back of her head mats like a cocker spaniel. It's awful. I think it's the combination of curly hair, twirly fingers, and the stickiness of most everything Sierra eats.

Generally I can remove the knots with minimal hair loss, but so far I have had a couple knots that simply had to be cut out. If she continues this, she will be bald.

Icomb it out, use detangler.. and yet I cannot stop or prevent these knots of death. Poor Sierra may end up with a bowl cut. Now I understand why mothers do those horrible haircuts- to avoid this situation!

Her hair is sooooo pretty...

Jaymes isn't the only Problem Child

Sierra has some issues we need to address. Obviously, the first thing that comes to my mind is that unlike Jaymes, she has no excuse to behave poorly. But that's unfair. She has a bad role model in Jaymes, and she is younger. Jaymes isn't excused from behaving properly either.

Sierra, though, has been spoiled horribly. She's the delicate little girl, and she's a daddy's girl. I've done my share of spoiling, but Jason has really turned my little princess into a snotball. Some of the things were cute at first- toothless baby biting our hands and growling. Cute, funny. Not so much now that she has a mouth full of razor sharp fangs. She's got a real biting problem. If you aren't careful, you'll end up with her teeth sunk into whatever flesh is available. She bites HARD and it HURTS. Then she giggles.

She also hits and scratches. Daddy thought it would be funny to teach her to poke mommy with a stick too, so now she wails on me with pencils, the broom, her doll... It was cute for a brief time, now it just sucks.

She's definately shown us the mistakes we've made in our parenting, and now it's time to fix it. She's started to get a 1 minute time out for any hitting/biting/scratching/throwing things, and she is learning that if she throws her plate at the wall in a rage, she has to wait until her next meal to eat again. It's hard, putting our little princess through this, but she needs to stop this. It can only get worse if we ignore it, and it'll make her life and ours much harder.

On the other side of things... My god, that child is so smart. She talks SO much. She learned the word NO and loves to use it. She loves to yell out whatever she's heard us say recently "Bad baby! NO NO NO!" "I CiCi!" "JAAAYYYYYMES!"

When my radio station (93.1 The Wolf) plays their jingle, she knows right when to howl with it. She sings to some of the songs on the radio that have repetative parts. She takes her doll and pretends to feed her and change her diaper, and dress her.

It's amazing... It's like being a parent for the first time, because she is so very different from Jaymes. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to make Jaymes seem less special. He is wonderful in his own ways. But that belongs in DBTD, this is Sierra's blog!

Babydoll mania!

Sierra has a new obsession, second only to her extreme love of shoes. It is an obsession both Jason and I had hoped fervently to avoid, but it would seem we've been thwarted. Baby dolls. Creepy, lifeless little babies for other little babies to lug around.

Actually, I think it's adorable, to an extent. Jason, not so impressed.

I have to admit that I am continually amazed at Sierra's intelligence, and while she is really on the low-ish end of "normal", she often makes me say "my little prodigy!"

So, back to the babies. Sierra looooves them. She has two, one I got her last week that was dirt cheap and is creepy and poorly made. it's face creeps me out horribly. It had tiny feet and hands, not atb all proportional to it's body. It wears a sort of clown suit, in pinks and purples. It had a gnome type hat, but I got rid of it, because it made the entire look all the more disturbing.

The other baby I bought her today, because it was adorable and on sale super cheap from it's original $30. It's cute, anatomically appropriate (eyes and ears don't look like aliens), and came with a ton of cool accessories. Diaper bag, teething ring, pillow, little bed, teddy bear, hat, and bottle. Veru cute set.

Which baby does Sierra prefer? Take a guess?

Yeah. The creepy one. Of course.

However, she carries both around, and in the car does the annoying "throw baby down and scream till mommy picks it up" game. But the cuteness wins out, in the end. She snuggles Baby. She feeds baby the bottle, feeds baby her food, kisses baby. She puts her diapers and clothes and treasured shoes on baby, then shows me with a huge grin on her face.

Life with my little shoe diva is amazing. I love my Jaymes, but Sierra just amazes me a little more every day.

New blog in progress...

Sierra needs her own blog, it's rather unfair to expect her to share with Jaymes. She's ready to be in the spotlight!