A One Off?

Last night, Maya only woke up once! I know this is probably just a one off. But I am convinced the sleep machine is working. Since we started it last weekend, she has only awakened 2 or less times per night instead of 3-4.

I have also read that toddler sleep gets disturbed when they are starting to walk and Maya is pretty much walking (video soon). So maybe some of the sleep improvement is due to her becoming a better walker?

Addendum - We've now had three nights in a row of 1 waking only!!!! Thank you, thank you Marilyn!

Maya Wanna Cracka?

The answer would be a resounding yes! Maya has become a "cracka" addict. Maya likes crackas so much, it's one of her first words along with mama, up, and papa. We (and she) are very impressed by this. Check out the video!

The Sleep Situation

Has improved, but only marginally.

When we arrived back in Canada, Maya refused to sleep in the crib, waked frequently at night (every 1-1.5 hours between 11 and 3am) and was very hungry (consuming up to three 8 oz bottles of formula throughout the night). And she also only wanted to sleep with her mama!

We've made progress on the hunger front. We now have her on solids + formula during the day. At night, she only occasionally needs a bottle. We were concerned about tooth decay with multiple formula feedings during the night plus she was less hungry during the day. We curbed the formula feeds at night by increasing solids intake during the day, "tanking" her up right before bedtime, and offering water at night.

She goes down at about 8:30 pm pretty consistently without a lot of trouble. But she is still waking multiple times between 11 and 3 am - from what seems to be fear as she is not interested in the bottle usually.

Mike is now able to sleep with her (so that I can get a decent night sleep on the weekend). So I guess that is a marginal improvement.

I'd like to get her sleep through the night and/or into the crib next. We have started using a sleep machine (white noise). It may be helping her a bit - I definitely find the sound of waves crashing on the Hawaiian shore relaxing when I have insomnia in the middle of the night!

We've tried pulling the crib right up to the side of our bed - but she wouldn't go for that.

We may try infant massage next.

If you have suggestions on how to curb the frequent waking, please share in the comments section. Thanks!

Happy Earth Day!

As mothers and citizens of planet we should all spend a few moments today thinking about how we can protect the planet for our children and grandchildren.

Here are some suggestions:
- line-dry your clothes instead of using the dryer (you'll save about 20% on your electricity bill)
- eat less meat
- drive less and less aggressively
- seal up the cracks in your house and/or have an energy audit done
- get a programmable thermostat
- unplug unneeded appliances
- shut your computer and monitor off when you are not using them
- buy energy star appliances
- fly less
- support renewable energy through bullfrogpower
- plant a tree

Maya's First Earth Day - Tree Planting in the Neighbourhood

Aidan is Awesome

Ever since we came home with Maya, Aidan has been awesome! He has been feeding Maya, walking her in the stroller, and playing with her. No obvious jealousy yet. This response has all come as a bit of a surprise as Aidan was very ambivalent about the impending arrival of his sister. After all, seven years of being an only child has been pretty good!

It was not my plan to have a six year gap between my children. For now, it's working out well. They love each other and there is very little sibling rivalry. And when they are adults six years won't be very much.

Here are a few photos showing what an awesome big brother Aidan is.....

Getting down to a tune on the internet...

TDH Gala

Even though we had only been back from Vietnam for 10 days, I really wanted to attend the TDH gala - mostly because all proceeds would be directed to Maya's orphanage - Vung Tau 3. It was extremely short notice, but our friends, Nia and Ken, were also able to join us. Last year we had a table of 8, this year a table of 4 adults, and next year we will aim for 2 tables!! It was a lovely evening thanks to Christine and her gala team! Here are a few snaps from the evening...

Aidan sporting his new au dai along with a new gap in his smile!

Me and Maya with my friend Nia (left)

Thanks Nia and Ken for the moccasins for Maya all the way from Manitoulan Island! Thanks also for the book for Aidan - he LOVES it!!

I was worried that Maya might be overwhelmed by all the strangers. I was wrong! She and Nia hit it off!!

Note - You can still donate to TDH for Vung Tau 3 here. Thanks to my company for donating to TDH in lieu of a baby gift!

So How Old is Maya Anyway?

This is a question that i have been pondering since we picked Maya up, but particularly since we visited the pediatrician last Friday. Our pediatrician thinks she presents as a 14 or 15 month old child, not a 12 month old child.

All Maya's paperwork is dated based on the estimated age at abandonment - 5 days- (when she weighed 3.1 kg). I went back and looked at the tiny abandonment photo I have. It's a very small photo, but I'm pretty sure Maya is not 5 days old. However, in my opinion, she doesn't look 3 months old either - maybe a 6 week old child?

Developmentally, she seems to be at the 14 month old stage - she can wave bye-bye, definitely calls me mama, and can bend over a pick up an object while standing. She is also at the 90th percentile for height on the North America charts (and still very tall if we assume she is 14 months old).

The other information we have is her referral medical, conducted 4 months after abandonment. We also have several photos at this stage. She was definitely doing all or more than a 4 month old should do. And now looking back at those photos, it's possible she was actually 5.5 months but I think 7 months old would be a stretch. And Dr. Jonathan made no notes with respect to her possibly being a lot older.

So it will probably remain a bit of a mystery and I guess a couple months really doesn't matter in the long term. We will celebrate her birthday according to her birth certificate - April 16 (this Friday!).

Plug for TDH and Vung Tau 3 Fundraiser

An online auction to support TDH and the Vung Tau 3 orphanage is now available.There are two categories of items you can bid on: items for your own personal use and items that will be donated to the orphanage. For all the details, a full list of items (Blue Jay tickets! Raptor tickets! a ski getaway!) and to start bidding, visit http://tdhgalaauction2010.blogspot.com/.

Rough Re-Entry

I haven't posted in a few days because we are all suffering bad jet lag and not sleeping well at night.

Poor Maya was somewhat traumatized by the change in scenery between Vietnam and Canada and cried all the way from the airport to our house. Although she had slept well on the flight, she suffered an allergic reaction from a wheat roll we had given her on our flight from HCMC to Hong Kong. Her skin was terrible.

She refuses to sleep in her crib in our room and will only sleep with me. We have tried a few times without success to get her to sleep in the crib. I have decided that she needs to sleep with us until she can sleep better - she is waking up partly because she is scared and partly because she is starving. the orphanage had her on formula and rice cereal only. she desperately wants solids. however, we need to introduce them slowly as we have already identified at least one food allergy.

Hopefully she will start to sleep better soon!