I can’t even tell you what is going through my head right now because I can’t get my mind to sit still long enough to figure it out. Shock, elation, excitement, terror. Check!
It was just so surreal, from the moment the ultrasound started I spotted two flickers and knew right away that baby B was alive and well. ( As it turns out both have great heartbeats and B is measuring only a few days behind A. )
I don’t even know if I’m surprised or not, because on the one hand there were the super high hormone levels and I have been at least twice as sick than I was with Jasper. So my gut instinct based on symptoms alone was that there had to be more than one. But all the googling I did between this scan and last did not turn up many instances with a good outcome for a baby 6 weeks and 5 days with no heartbeat so I just didn’t know WHAT to expect.
Now it makes sense: The extreme exhaustion (I fall asleep by 7:30 on the couch most nights) the extreme nausea, the OBSESSION with food. Everything is heightened at least double what I felt when I was pregnant with Jasper! For example, it’s 10:30 right now and even though I had breakfast I could eat my own hand I’m so hungry (apparently twin pregnancies demand 600 extra calories per day and I’m sure I’m at that at least!)
Of course we feel blessed, children are always a blessing, particularly when you’ve wanted them so badly and tried so hard. But I’d be lying if I didn’t also admit I have a LOT of fear and questions about how I can possibly handle two (three with Jasper). Will I EVER leave the house again? Will I ever shower or sleep again? How will I keep my business running? What car can fit three carseats? How will we ever afford to send all three to Waldorf school or college?
And then there are so many decisions to make about the pregnancy and birth, what MFM, what OB at what hospital that has to have a NICU etc and how will my irritable uterus handle TWO (not to mention that I’m 4 years older than I was with Jasper!)
I still can’t believe what a roller-coaster this has been..how did TWO viable pregnancies come out of only 4 mature eggs retrieved? It’s just beyond comprehension.
I KNOW that this is a “good thing” and we are soooo lucky considering the alternative (no babies!) but it’s just more than I bargained for, I never thought I’d ever mother more than 2, if that. That’s the funny thing about infertility though.. you can go from nothing to a full house in a heartbeat. Or two.
Adobe’s marketing materials state: “The new Adobe® Photoshop® Touch app lets you quickly combine images, apply professional effects, share the results with friends and family through social networking sites like Facebook, and more — all from the convenience of your iPad or Android tablet.”
And clearly all this is true, however when I tried the app out for the first time in October I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the question of what would I use it for? Who is the intended audience? Does it offer something to users who already have Photoshop CS5 on their desktops? I.e What can this do for ME and other Pro Photographers?
Obviously there are portability advantages to being able to “play” with images on the go on your mobile devices – but given that it’s a pixel based program (unlike Adobe ideas which is vector and scalable) and the max resolution is 1600×1600 I just couldn’t see myself devoting time to editing something and then having to do it all over again in Photoshop if I needed it high res or larger which I always do. PLUS, my workflow usually starts at my home computer anyway, so myopically perhaps I just wasn’t sure in what capacity I would find myself using it.
And then I found out that it supports transparent PNG layers and in a lightbulb moment I realized just how AWESOMELY powerful this tool can be for the professional photographer!
I probably lost you there, so let me explain:
By supporting both layers and transparencies, virtually ANY Photoshop template can be converted to be easily used within PS touch making it a portable drag and drop presentation tool for you to show your clients their images in any template design!
Obviously my first thought was that this would work so well with my Wall Guides- and it DOES. All I needed to do was flatten the layers, “Cut out” the image openings and save as a transparent png and then from within PS Touch I can drag and drop my clients images (that I stored in my creative cloud, more on that later!) behind that png layer:
You can see how I have my layers arranged in PS touch, the top layer is the PNG with the room background and the cut outs where whatever images I put beneath the room background png will show through – I just touch the layer of the image I want to put in there and use the move tool to drag it in the opening where I want it!
Now I know that not everyone reading this has or wants my wall guides, so lets use the example of a birth announcement and I’ll walk you through step-by-step on how to prepare the file and use it to insert images of your clients on your iPad within minutes.
Step 1: Open the PSD template file and flatten it.
Step 2: Go to your layer panel and right click on the Background layer and choose “Layer from Background.” PS will automatically rename your background layer to “Layer 0″.
Step 3: Create a new blank layer and drag it beneath your Layer 0. Your layer panel should now look like this:
Step 4: Make your background (Layer 0) your active layer and then use your magic wand tool to select the areas of your template where images will be showing through. This is a simple template so I only need to click into the large grey area above the blue rectangle. If you have more than one image on your template, you can hold down the shift key to select multiple areas and then when you are finished, click Delete to “cut” these areas out of this image layer.
Step 5: Resize to max of 72dpi and 1600 pixels on the longest side (remember PS touch only supports images 1600×1600 max)
Step 6: Go to “File > Save for web” and choose “PNG 24″ and make sure that ” transparency” is checked off! Remember where you saved your file because you will need to upload that to your creative cloud files in the next step!
Step 7: You are now ready to upload any flattened template images like this one that you may have created for use from within the PS touch app, as well as any client images that you want to have access to. You can also use images from your iPad’s camera roll, so you can always navigate via safari to your own website and save them from there or FB and access your client images that way too. To upload to your creative cloud files, you must have an adobe ID and have signed up for it from within one of your Adobe Mobile Apps. Once you have done that, you will have access to your files from within any Adobe touch app as well as from your desktop by signing in here:
creative.adobe.com
I signed in and uploaded my template by clicking on the little upload icon that I circled in red below:
I am now ready to use this birth announcement template on my iPad!
Step 8: Launch the Photoshop Touch App on your iPad or Android device. Click on “create new project”
When it asks you what size canvas you want, enter the same pixel dimensions as the PNG template you saved in step 6. Mine was 1600h by 1159 w, so my new blank canvas looks like this, the same dimensions as my vertical birth announcement:
Step 8: Click on the + icon in the layers area to insert a new layer, then choose “Photo Layer” from the Add layer dialogue. This will now prompt you to choose the source and then the photo for this new layer. Notice that you can choose creative cloud (where we uploaded our template) but you may also choose Facebook, take a new picture with your camera, your local photos from your iPad camera roll or Google.
Obviously I choose creative cloud as the source (note that if you are not signed in to your creative cloud account you will have to first) and then the template that we created before and clicked “Add”
Now repeat step 8, the process of creating a new photo layer for any client images you want to put into the template.
For the template image, you can ignore the “move and scale” dialogue that comes up when you add any photo layer, but for you client images, you may want to make use of it. Just be aware that PS touch does crop out any excess image that goes beyond the borders of the canvas (kind of a bummer) so that can make recropping tougher later. Here is what that dialogue box looks like:
Once you are happy with the placement click “done” and you will see it added to your project!
Note that I dragged the client image below the template layer which “hides” any part of the image that is outside of what was my photo mask in my original template.
Now, if you were to load in other image options to show your client you could load in a few images and just deactivate the layer of the images you DON’T want showing, OR you can just drag the image you want to show to the position just beneath the template layer because only the top layer will show anyway.
Here it is with another image I loaded, in this example I deactivated the first image layer which is why it has no white circle next to it’s thumnail in the layer area:
Lastly, you can save your entire project to use again at will, deleting old client image layers and adding new ones!
I know I’ve made this seem way more complicated than it is, If I knew how to do a screencapture video of me using my iPad you would see that immediately. Hopefully I’ve at least enticed you to try it out for yourself!
There are so many other features included with PS Touch including really easy “scribble” selections, image effects and so much more that I encourage you to read more about it on the Adobe website or just buy it and play with it yourself!
But I think what I’ve tried to “touch” on here (pun intended!) is that for professional photographers, PS Touch can be so much more than that – essentially it can turn any of your design templates into something useable via a touch interface which opens up a whole new world of possibilities!
Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments section and I’ll try my best to answer or get you an answer :)
The trip got off to a great start when I started reading the Hunger Games on my iPad – totally engrossing, I started and finished book I with more than an hour left in my flight and was cursing myself for not having purchased the whole series ahead of time! It’s amazing how self-indulgent the simple act of reading a book can seem but it’s something I only manage to find time for when I’m traveling (which is once a year max!!)
After arriving at the gate in LV, I was amused that this was the first thing to greet me:
Just in case there were any doubts that I’d traveled to the wrong destination!
After I collected my bag, I went outside and waited in the longest line I’ve ever seen for a taxi. Seriously, it was like a line for a ride at Disney land.. during spring break! When I finally arrived at the MGM and was waiting in line to check in I realized I had left my iPad in the seatback!!!!!!!!! TEARS!!
I dropped my bag off in my room and headed BACK to the airport to the luggage office and had them check the plane, but of course it had been taken. So I did what any spoiled sane person would do and looked up the location of the nearest Apple store..which was only a mile away and was open until MIDNIGHT. I don’t know why people call New York the city that never sleeps because Vegas definitely owns that.
After making far too many decisions that I was too tired and jet-lagged to make (what size, wi-fi or 3G, ATT or Verizon, case color!) I finally returned to the hotel with my shiny new silver hot-pink covered iPad 2 and collapsed into bed.
The WPPI room block was in the newly renovated section of the MGM which was super nice! I didn’t have too much on the agenda for Sunday morning, but I really WISH I’d gone to the print competition judging, I heard after the fact that you can learn tons by attending.
The pano books are really gorgeous – gutterless, photographic and at an amazing pricepoint. The pages are not board thick, but slightly bendy sort of the way that Graphistudio album pages feel (if you’ve ever seen them) but made in the USA with a 1 day turnaround! :)
The iPhone 4 cases are soooo cool – I can’t wait to design and order one! They are clear, so you can do something subtle like just your logo, or do a full cover image design on the back. And the price is amazing!
After Launch pad I went back to the room and waited for Keri Meyers to arrive – meeting her was one of the absolute highlights of my trip, I can’t wait for her to come to my studio in September and host her workshop! She was just as lovely and wonderful as I knew she would be.
After hanging in our room for a bit I headed to dinner with a few of the H&H folks. I know I’ve said it before but they are the most genuine, kindest, caring people that I have ever met – They always make me feel like I’m part of their big happy family when I’m with them! I got rather sad realizing that I probably won’t be able to see any of them for well over a year being that come next convention season I’ll have a 3-4 month old!
The following day (Monday) I had my first class which was a Masters class. The way WPPI works is that there are Masters classes that cost about $50 to attend and “Platform” classes that are free with your registration. Out of the 3 classes I paid for, two of them were awful, including the one I attended Monday. So it’s definitely NOT true that you get what you pay for (just a little tip for you if you ever attend!)
That night Ava and attended a dinner organized by her friend Augie Chang. We were the ONLY non-wedding photographers there, and I was the only non west-coaster there for sure but dinner was delicious and it was nice to network outside my usual group for a change. Dinner was however marred by the distressing phone call I got from Jeff telling me that they could not find Bear and Jasper had cried himself to sleep after two hours of sobbing and woke up repeatedly in the middle of the night crying out for him! There’s nothing worse than knowing your baby is suffering and there’s not a thing you can do to help him :(
I am happy to report that Bear was found the next day shoved into Jasper’s train table drawer so there were no more bearless nights – THANK GOD!
The next day Tuesday was my super-busy day, I had a platform class with Jamie Schultz in the morning which was awesome. She made an excellent case for how as photographers we tend to try to shoot for feedback in forums, or for what’s trendy or new and in doing so we lose sight of what’s important to our clients. She also always makes you cry! I also just really admire how she has a thriving photography business, design business, and lunchbox/inspiration blog and still manages to keep it all together. She’s a great speaker and well worth seeing if you have the chance (she greeted all the attendees at the door with a handshake – nice touch!)
I spent a bit of time at another BAAAAD master class and then it was time to meet Anita of Rustic Star Photography for an AWESOME shoot at the Nelson Village Ghost town that she spent weeks coordinating and invited me to even though we’d never met (she is a wall guides customer!) I will post in detail about the shoot in a separate post, but the synopsis is that there were 4 photographers, 3 toddlers and a GORGEOUS mama all in vintage clothing – having tons of fun in a stunning location. Definitely a highlight of my trip!
On the way to Nelson village, out the window of the rented prius!
Our gorgeous mamma/model Ashely!
Sunset on the way back to the strip..
Anita, I can’t thank you enough for inviting me and it was so great to meet you and Elise, Ashley, Amanda, Alycia (Ariana & Anita) aka the “A” club plus Elise!
That night the impossibly GORGEOUS and uber-talented Meg Borders hosted a meetup at Zuri bar that a bunch of the Clickinmoms admins and mentors also attended, so I got to meet a whole crowd of lovely ladies I’d only formerly known by screen-name!
Wednesday morning I took an EXCELLENT master class by Nichole Van – highly recommend seeing her if you get the chance. She really had it together with handouts that included her most important slides (and also jelly beans!) and even did an in class demo of using bare bulb alien bees to bounce on a wall behind you. Pretty great!
Wednesday was also the last day that the tradeshow floor was open so Anita and I ran around like maniacs making some last minute purchases.
So now I’m going to discuss some items/products that I saw at the show that I really loved. There were no clear trends like last year with the die cut cards, but there were some things that stood out.
Printable iPhone 4 cases
I already mentioned H&H’s, I saw one other vendor had them too, but I honestly don’t remember who and don’t care because you should buy them from H&H :)
Two Sues Bag
Kelly Moore’s new Two Sues Bag – it has what they call a “Posey pouch” that stores your CF cards and credit cards, plus I LOVE anything that comes in Mustard!
Icelight
Another product I found kind of fascinating was one that Jerry Ghionis created with Westcott called the “Icelight“.
It’s just an LED wand of light, but it creates REALLY flattering light in a super portable, storng, easy to use daylight balanced package. It’s kind of pricey, but I might have sprung for it anyway if I shot seniors – it’s super dramatic!
Wood Prints
There were two vendors there offering images printed on wood blocks which results in a really nice soft, organic and almost vintagey effect.
This product I thought about for 3 days and then had to purchase before leaving (they offered a great show special!)
It’s a brilliant little contraption that attaches to your flash hotshoe and allows you to attach puppets or (and this is what sold me) your iPhone! I love the idea that I can play something different for baby clients (black and white patterns for example) or even an episode of yo-gabba-gabba or whatever for preschool clients.
I’ll keep you posted on how it goes once I have a chance to try it out!
After running around the show floor, Anita and I went to the Forum shops and cajoled some fellow tourists to snap a shot of us:
We had a delicious dinner at Diego and I was literally falling asleep on my way back to my room (thanks to progesterone plus jet-lag!)
The next morning I packed up and flew home – and was welcomed by the best hugs and kisses from my little guy, a fire in the fireplace and a slight sense of disorientation being in our new house. But I was thrilled to be home nonetheless.
And the next morning, lounging in our new living room, I was treated to this:
Yes, it’s good to be home!
If you attended this year, who/what was your favorite product, vendor or speaker?
I got back from WPPI last night (will post all about WPPI later of course!) to the most wonderful welcome – a fire in the fireplace, most of the house unpacked (thanks to Jeff!) and tons of hugs and kisses from my little guy who I missed TERRIBLY.
This morning it was back to reality and a visit to my RE’s office for an ultrasound and bloodwork. I knew the second the image came up that there was more than one.
WHAT? Yep, two sacs.
Dr. K looked a little surprised, stopped for second to look at my chart again and then back at the screen. Baby A was measuring perfectly, one day ahead actually at 6 weeks 5 days and we immediately spotted and then heard the heard the heartbeat -it was a little loud at first for Jasper’s taste (he covered his ears!) but when I told him what it was he thought it was pretty cool.
Baby B is more than an empty sac, there is a yolk sac (not sure about a fetal pole) but there was no heartbeat. I’m not sure what the odds are at this point that Baby B will be viable, but I DO know that at 6 weeks 5 days a heartbeat should be at the very least visible if not audible, so my guess is that it’s more of a longshot than anything. It didn’t look SO much smaller than Baby A, but I’m certain that it did implant later or we would have most likely seen it at the first scan so I guess there is a small chance it could pull through – of course we have to wait another long nail-biting week to know for sure!
I do know that my HCG levels are pretty sky high, 52,775 at the equivalent of 32 dpo (29days post 3 day transfer) and I’ve been experiencing much worse morning sickness than I did with Jasper.
The nurse who called me with the HCG levels told me I could decrease my progesterone level to half what I’ve been injecting. Half the dosage, not half the shots unfortunately. She also told me I need to start thinking about what OB I’ll be using so they can transfer my records as I’ll likely get discharged next week from the clinic!
Of course I’m totally unprepared for that, I haven’t really thought about weather I want to stay with Phelps the hospital where Jasper was born. It doesn’t have a NICU and I wasn’t happy at ALL with the postpartum and pediatric care I received there even though the labor & delivery team is amazing. If it’s twins of course I’ll be looking for a hospital with a high level NICU and that will change my pool of possible OBs or midwives completely.
So much to think about.. on so many levels.
Have a great weekend everyone, can’t wait to fill you in on my week in Vegas and WPPI, but that will have to wait until next week!
Well, the move is “finished,” quotation marks because a good deal of our stuff is still at the old house due to a NIGHTMARE experience with the moving company where we basically told them to leave after a few hours (they were that bad.)
The new house is amazing, though I was up most of the night from panic attacks about the fact that I’m leaving for Vegas tomorrow and everything is still so disorganized. I have NO idea how I’m supposed to pack when I don’t know where anything is. It took me two hours this morning to get ready for the day because every single thing needed to be located (towels, hairdryer, clothes for me, clothes for Jasper, plates & utensils for breakfast etc etc.
Somehow I have to move my computer (LIFELINE!!!) so that when the Fios person comes tomorrow I can make sure I’m back online before I leave, otherwise I can’t access my computer remotely. The only problem is that we haven’t yet really decided where my office will be. We just haven’t figured out all that kind of stuff yet, it’s going to take a little while to sort of feel out how we best “fit” into the space!
Last night we lit our first fire in the fireplace, and this morning we enjoyed our beautiful view of the Hudson river while we sipped coffee in our mostly empty living room (we need TONS more furniture!) so that’s a great start!
In fact the list of what we need is a bit overwhelming.. have I said yet that I can’t believe I’m leaving??? Sigh.
At least Jasper seems to be LOVING the house, though it’s so big we keep “losing” him in it!
Here are the pictures from the real estate listing (i.e they have the sellers furniture etc)
I don’t think I will manage to be able to blog again until a week from today – at which point I hope to have great news about baby #2 and lots to fill you in on about WPPI!
I will probably be instagramming a lot (is that word?) from the conference so if you have any interest in following, my screenname is arianaf.
For the longest time, Jasper held a flame for a girl in his preschool named Shelby. Nevermind that Shelby was two years older than him, or even that she CHANGED SCHOOLS. 8 months later he was still referring to her as his girlfriend, until recently when he started talking about his new preschool girlfriend Georgia.
Last night as I was putting him to bed he said “How long until we get married Mommy?”
I explained to him that I was already married to daddy, but one day when he grows up he will find a very lucky girl that he loves and ask her to marry him.
“Maybe Georgia! She has really beautiful blonde hair” he replied.
‘Maybe” I agreed.
He thought for a second and then said “Maybe I’ll wear my Batman hat.”
Despite my sky high Beta levels, today’s ultrasound at 5 weeks showed just one little high HCG producing sac! I must admit, we are quite relieved.
Aside from the obvious challenges of having newborn twins and a prescho0ler, I was really worried about my ability to carry a twin pregnancy to term given my “irritable uterus” and history of pre-term labor scares. I also had such bad hip pain with Jasper, that I can’t even imagine the havoc a twin pregnancy would wreak on my body, particularly given that I am also 4 years older.
So truly, this is the best possible outcome!
I am leaving on Saturday for WPPI and will be gone until Thursday night, so the next time I will see my RE we SHOULD (fingers crossed) if all goes well see a heartbeat! With every milestone there is always another one to hold your breath for.
In addition, I am very happy to report that we FINALLY, got clearance from our bank to close on our new house! Closing will be Wednesday morning, we move on Thursday. I can’t believe I have to get on a plane two days later – good thing that Jeff is a packing/un-packing machine.
I do worry though about leaving Jasper after a MAJOR life change like a move (his first ever!) particularly since he seems to be smack in the middle of a major mommy attachment phase. We had another terrible drop off at pre-school, even though Thursday and Friday went really well :(
No one in our house seems to be getting a good night’s sleep lately.
Last night Jasper let out a blood-curdling scream in the middle of the night which scared the bejezus out of Jeff and I. Then this morning he woke up COMPLETELY distraught and said:
“I was taking a bath and I threw bear and he landed in the toilet and then Bear flushed himself down the toilet!!!!”
He was in tears as he said this, so in an attempt to comfort him I pointed out that bear was here, safe in his arms..
At which point he clutched bear tightly and pointing his finger at us accusingly yelled “You bought me a NEW bear!”
I honestly was taken aback that his mind was capable of imagining such elaborate subterfuge, but yes, that’s probably exactly what we WOULD have done had this happened in real life instead of a dream and if there were actually other “Bears” out there to buy (there are not.)
He was only assuaged when I showed him Bear’s belovedly dirty bow, and told him to sniff Bear and told him that a new bear wouldn’t smell stinky like real Bear!
For my part, I woke up at 3am and was unable to fall back a sleep for hours.. the stress of trying to close the mortgage on our new house (HSBC is jerking us around like you wouldn’t BELIEVE) and thinking about the upcoming ultrasound on Monday just got to me. I started worrying about my lack of symptoms and actually took a pregnancy test this morning! It came up very positive thank god.. how psychotic is it that I’m actually LOOKING FORWARD to morning sickness just so I can feel like something is actually going on?
Monday could potentially be a BIG day for us, first Ultrasound (is it 1, 2…3???) and POSSIBLY even closing on our new house, if HSBC doesn’t manage to screw us YET AGAIN.
First of all – I want to thank all of you who gave me advice on the daycare drop-off situation! It kind of went the same way today, but the more I think about it the more I realize that this is some sort of mommy-attachment phase he’s going through. He threw a fit the other day when he had to go in Jeff’s car vs. with me for example. And it makes sense because after our embryo transfer I avoided picking him up and he knows that he has to be careful with mommy and that the shots hurt her sometimes etc, so he probably is just responding to something “changing” with me. At any rate, it helps even just to hear that others have been through the same thing and come out the other side OK!
But today’s topic is a really simple Valentine’s day photoshoot setup that anyone can do! Some of you recall that last year I did a rather elaborate cookie baking theme that required many more props. This year, being that I was in the middle of the IVF cycle I didn’t have time for anything quite so complicated, but I LOVE valentine’s day so I had to do something..
I got the idea for this year’s set up from the twine and clothespins that we used to hang our Christmas cards above the mantle this year:
sorry for the crappy iPhone pic!
I wanted to a “heart garland” that would use hearts cut out of pretty paper and attached to the twine with clothespins, the same way the cards are above.
This is seriously SO easy that it seems silly to post a how-to but here goes!
What you will need:
Twine (not too thick)
Clothespins (regular size, the mini ones are too small to clip to twine)
Book of pretty 10×10 scrapbook paper that has more than one design. I used a book of Amy Butler designs that I’d bought at Michael’s years ago just because I loved the designs. Glad I finally found a use for them!
Scissors
Pencil
Thumbtacks or painter’s tape or whatever you want to use to attach the galrand to your wall or seamless paper.
Instructions:
Fold one of the 10×10 sheets of cardstock in half with the “good” side in. Draw half a heart shape with the inside of the heart facing the seam. Try to use as much of the paper as possible, this first shape will become your template! Cut along the shape you drew, when you unfold you should have a fab looking heart shape!
If you like the one you have, you can fold it back up and use it as a template to place on the next piece of folded paper and trace around it. If you want to make some corrections, you can try again with a new sheet.
Repeat as many times as hearts that you want for your garland, I believe mine had about 8. When you are ready to set up for your shoot, simply attach each heart to the twine with a clothespin. Easy Peasy!
The garland can be set up pretty much anywhere, find a place where the light is pretty (ideally coming in at about a 45 degree angle between you and your subjects) and hang either from a wall or seamless paper if you have a seamless set up.
The pink frame is from the Organic Bloom, I painted one side of the insert with chalkboard paint, though they also sell chalkboard inserts. I use this prop a LOT in photoshoots!
Jasper’s adorable tie is from the Etsy shop “Petite Peanut” that has pretty much the cutest kids ties and bow-ties in existence.
I can’t end this post without including one other image I took of Jasper that day, while not very “Valentinesy” I do think he looks incredibly handsome..
..and more importantly HAPPY! I love that smile :)
There is really no worse way to start your day than taking your child to daycare and them having to be pried off you crying hysterically. Well, OK, there is a worse way when you have to deal with your geriatric dog refuses to pee outside no matter how long she is out there and will then come in and immediately pee on the carpet and THEN you bring your child to daycare with your stress levels already through the roof and spend the next 15-20 minutes unsuccessful trying to leave without a scene.
I have no idea what is going on with Jasper, but it’s breaking my heart and stressing me out beyond belief. He’s been going to the same daycare for 3.25 years! And yes, he’s always been clingy when I drop off, but it has reached a whole new untenable level complete with him trying to actually BLOCK me from leaving and then crying hysterically when I do.
No amount of reasoning, or me staying for a while is working anymore even though it used to. We’ve pulled out all the stops like being given a special task by the director to do, I’ve told him mommy needs his special help to be a good boy, we’ve tried getting him interested in the snack the rest of the kids are having.. all these things used to work after a little cajoling and he’d give me a final kiss and hug and let me go.
Has anyone experienced a sudden chance in behavior like this? If so what did you do and how long did it last?
It’s NOT that he doesn’t like his daycare, infact he often runs away from me and doesn’t want to come home when I pick him up!
Any advice would be appreciated. Oh, and on the geriatric-only-pees-in-the-house dog situation too. I’m at my wit’s end!
Ariana (aka becoming-mom) is a 30 something self admitted helicopter mom of a three year-old with a habit of blurting out everything about infertility, pregnancy, birth, parenting and just about anything else to anyone who will listen. (read more...)
