So, as I reflect on the last year of Teddy's life I really wish I had taken more pictures and had journaled more, on here or in his baby books. I feel like I blinked and whole months just flew by.
Teddy seems to have figured out all sorts of things in the last few days. He's getting much braver about taking steps on his own, can climb up the stairs and back down. I really think he's starting to figure out the word "no." He says "up!" whenever he sees stairs and when he wants to be picked up. He loves finding our noses, and knows how big he is (How big is Teddy? Soooo big!! With arms up high). He can sign "more" perfectly, "milk" and "all done." I'm working on Mommy and Daddy again because he's not consistently saying them and also trying to differentiate between water, milk in a sippy and 'mommy milk.'
You can really see him figure things out these days. I just can't believe how big he is! I feel like I can barely remember him as a baby. The first few months we weren't able to do much. Doug worked long hard hours and I frequently didn't have access to the car even. Teddy slept awful and when he was awake I typically had to be quiet because of Doug. He slept the first 4 months in my arms. So, that didn't give me much chance to do anything. By the time I was able to sleep train him, I just wanted to recouperate some! We had just moved to the condo which was such a wreck I refused to even cook in it for months. Then Doug left Applebee's and money became so tight. And now we're with his dad again. I wish things had been less hectic and more calm. I wish we had more time and means as a family for real memories.
But I remember the little things. The way his eyes look as he looks up at me while nursing. How he likes to be tickled and hugged. How he loves to grab onto my hands- just like he did when we first met. So maybe I didn't write down the first time he laughed or rolled. But I have a million small little memories which make me his mother.
But definitely with our future kids I will take more pictures and journal more. I'll let the laundry pile up and instead of relaxing, reading about how to fix some kind of problem, napping or cooking I'll be blogging about my kids. I can always ask for some help with those things or pay someone to help me, but I can't have someone make memories and record them for me!
Something specific about today: We had a birthday dinner at our church for our eldest pastor. He's 77 years old!! It's been a hard year for him as he had heart surgery and quite a few complications but he's really been on the mend lately. He's a tough man and has been through a lot! I always get such a kick out of him because he's such a paradox. He'll sit in the car and honk the horn waiting on his wife. You can say he's a bit impatient. But then, as a pastor he can be the most patient man I've ever seen. He can seem no nonsense on one hand, but on the other can be gentle and say a kind word just when someone needs it the most.
And so while we were celebrating this, it was during Teddy's nap time. He's transitioning to one nap and the dinner fell right during nap time. So I tried to get him to sleep in the morning, which didn't work very well. Then we ended up being late and before we left he had just totally had it. The dinners are tough because there's nothing really for him to do yet. He can't walk on his own, and it will be even longer before I can let him down and play really. But he's not content to just be held. He wants to crawl and play. And he won't just tune everything out like other kids and go to sleep when he needs to. But despite all that he took a few steps on his own today! And while I was up with the choir and singing he was clapping to the music.
And last night we were at my work's Christmas party. We were supposed to just drop in and say hi and then leave for church but they had offered ahead of time to serve us dinner. Well, I was under the impression that it would all be ready but it wasn't. And it was a really nice 4 course meal. So we kept having to wait for the next course. By the time it was done we were going to be over an hour late for service and Teddy was tired!! But he was so good while we were there. It was definitely not the place you'd normally bring a child to but he barely made a peep. It was content with the food we gave him and just looked at all the lights and people. I guess given the two choices, I'm glad he behaved better last night instead of this afternoon.
It's just things like this make me feel like a mommy failure because I don't know what to do with him/what I'm doing wrong when every other kid is happy and occupied. I can't even try to make him happy because he gets SO LOUD when he's happy. I think he just has more intense emotions than most other babies. Not really a surprise, his momma sure does!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Once again, quite behind! Teddy is one!!
I can't even believe it!! Keeping this short and sweet. I'll post pics and do his monthly survey and nothing else to add really but that we've declared bankruptcy, moved out of our condo and are currently living with my father-in-law again. Pray for us, I've always been such a planner but now am having to take things just one day as a time. Things have changed so drastically in the last year, well the last 2 actually. But who knows, maybe tomorrow Doug will get a perfect job and things will turn around positively just as drastically.
Monthly Survey
1. How old is baby? 12 months 3 weeks and 2 days.
2. Stats: as of 11/15
a. Weight: 24 pounds, 5 oz.
b. Height: 31.25 inches
c. Clothes size: mostly 18 months, he's actually even worn a few that are 24 months. I refuse to say 2T though.
d. Diaper size: Squeezing into mediums for cloth diapers still. I'm buying the next size up with the next pay check, probably.
e. Hair color: it's turning more strawberry blonde.
f. Eye color: they change colors a lot. Most days look like they're leaning towards brown.
g. Anything else?
3. Milestones:
a. Teething: 10!!! 4 top and 4 bottom front teeth. Bottom right molar is through and just a hint of the bottom left. Sleep has been awful the last week because of it. And yes, once again they came through in pairs. Craziness.
b. Talking: He will babble up a storm. He seems to actually "read" books to us and himself these days. I swear last night he tried to say "Amen" in church. He has said Dada, Daddy and Mama- and to the right people. But mostly he says ball, he said up for the first time 2 minutes ago, bye bye.
c. Rolling: almost off the changing table everysingletime.
d. Walking: He's great at doing it while holding on to our hand(s) but has only taken a few steps on his own. In fact, he's refused to in the last week. He will cruise around a room holding on to things though.
e. Crawling: His preferred mode of transportation, he's really fast these days!
f. Anything else? He is obsessed with opening and closing doors. He can also sign "more" now. He had been doing it for awhile, but it was just like clapping. Now he actually does it correctly. He can also be gentle with the cat now.
4. Things he likes: He still loves everything from before but I've recently given him puffs for the first time (I was holding out because they're not as cheap as cheerios) and he's in love. He loves walks in the stroller, other kids, music, Sis. Faith (a new girl at our church who is a grad student at JMU and is from Kenya).
a. Toys: As before he still loves nontoys a lot. But he just had his birthday and got tons of presents. He got two sit and ride toys and he actually loves to push around instead of ride on, haha. He got a toy cell phone from us which lights up and sings and now Doug and I actually get ours to ourselves!! He's really into books these days. He loves all of his toys but those are what he gravitates to the most. Oh, and balls.
b. Books: I mentioned last time that he had "Maisy goes to bed" memorized, well now he has quite an attachment to that book. He cries when we put it away! We have another lift the tab book about shapes that he also really likes. And Aunt Debbie got him a Mickey Mouse music one, where you press the symbol and it also has a light switch on it. He really likes that one!
d. TV Shows: We're watching TV less and I don't sit him in front of it, so he might catch a glimpse here and there but not actually watching.
e. Other activities: He loves to be tickled and gentle wrestling.
5. Things he dislikes: at the moment he doesn't like finger foods. Last week he did. Fickle.
6. Sleeping: Naps are going ok. There are days when he doesn't nap the best for mom or the babysitter but I can still usually get a 2 hour morning nap and a 1 hour afternoon nap out of him. Night time, he's mostly down to just one waking and I am still feeding him then. I keep saying I'm going to stop but it just never seems the right time, or I convince myself that he really is hungry. I need to come up with a plan though because now that I'm working and especially since I have to wake up to pump sometimes too, I'm pretty exhausted.
7. Eating: he eats pretty much everything. He likes strawberry yogurt and sweet potato puffs a lot. Oooh, and he liked his birthday cake.
8. Nicknames: Teddy, Teddy Bear, Chunky, Chunky Monkey, Chunk a Monk, Chunkers, Smiley, Wiggle worm, Silly, Son, The Boy, Honey, Sweetie, Sweetie Pie, Angel, Lovey, Stinky Butt, Fussy Pants, Fussbucket,
9. Things we’re looking forward to next month: Christmas with him! He's young enough to not ask for anything but old enough to enjoy his presents this year.
10. How I like motherhood:
a. Likes: I love how happy he is to see me when I get home from work! I love watching him grow and learn and being able to teach him things. I love how much everyone else loves him and how much he loves everyone else too. The world seems much less cold and dark and much more full of love now.
b. Dislikes: We're working on weaning. Very slowly. He cut out one of his day time feedings on his own and when not teething terribly sleeps through the night. I'm working on cutting out the last day time nursing session but I think it's too much with the teething. Then I'll cut out the morning session and lastly the bed time one. He likes his whole cow's milk and is doing just sippies now, no more bottles. But I'm in between sad about ending nursing and excited about having my body back to myself.
I can't even believe it!! Keeping this short and sweet. I'll post pics and do his monthly survey and nothing else to add really but that we've declared bankruptcy, moved out of our condo and are currently living with my father-in-law again. Pray for us, I've always been such a planner but now am having to take things just one day as a time. Things have changed so drastically in the last year, well the last 2 actually. But who knows, maybe tomorrow Doug will get a perfect job and things will turn around positively just as drastically.
1. How old is baby? 12 months 3 weeks and 2 days.
2. Stats: as of 11/15
a. Weight: 24 pounds, 5 oz.
b. Height: 31.25 inches
c. Clothes size: mostly 18 months, he's actually even worn a few that are 24 months. I refuse to say 2T though.
d. Diaper size: Squeezing into mediums for cloth diapers still. I'm buying the next size up with the next pay check, probably.
e. Hair color: it's turning more strawberry blonde.
f. Eye color: they change colors a lot. Most days look like they're leaning towards brown.
g. Anything else?
3. Milestones:
a. Teething: 10!!! 4 top and 4 bottom front teeth. Bottom right molar is through and just a hint of the bottom left. Sleep has been awful the last week because of it. And yes, once again they came through in pairs. Craziness.
b. Talking: He will babble up a storm. He seems to actually "read" books to us and himself these days. I swear last night he tried to say "Amen" in church. He has said Dada, Daddy and Mama- and to the right people. But mostly he says ball, he said up for the first time 2 minutes ago, bye bye.
c. Rolling: almost off the changing table everysingletime.
d. Walking: He's great at doing it while holding on to our hand(s) but has only taken a few steps on his own. In fact, he's refused to in the last week. He will cruise around a room holding on to things though.
e. Crawling: His preferred mode of transportation, he's really fast these days!
f. Anything else? He is obsessed with opening and closing doors. He can also sign "more" now. He had been doing it for awhile, but it was just like clapping. Now he actually does it correctly. He can also be gentle with the cat now.
4. Things he likes: He still loves everything from before but I've recently given him puffs for the first time (I was holding out because they're not as cheap as cheerios) and he's in love. He loves walks in the stroller, other kids, music, Sis. Faith (a new girl at our church who is a grad student at JMU and is from Kenya).
a. Toys: As before he still loves nontoys a lot. But he just had his birthday and got tons of presents. He got two sit and ride toys and he actually loves to push around instead of ride on, haha. He got a toy cell phone from us which lights up and sings and now Doug and I actually get ours to ourselves!! He's really into books these days. He loves all of his toys but those are what he gravitates to the most. Oh, and balls.
b. Books: I mentioned last time that he had "Maisy goes to bed" memorized, well now he has quite an attachment to that book. He cries when we put it away! We have another lift the tab book about shapes that he also really likes. And Aunt Debbie got him a Mickey Mouse music one, where you press the symbol and it also has a light switch on it. He really likes that one!
d. TV Shows: We're watching TV less and I don't sit him in front of it, so he might catch a glimpse here and there but not actually watching.
e. Other activities: He loves to be tickled and gentle wrestling.
5. Things he dislikes: at the moment he doesn't like finger foods. Last week he did. Fickle.
6. Sleeping: Naps are going ok. There are days when he doesn't nap the best for mom or the babysitter but I can still usually get a 2 hour morning nap and a 1 hour afternoon nap out of him. Night time, he's mostly down to just one waking and I am still feeding him then. I keep saying I'm going to stop but it just never seems the right time, or I convince myself that he really is hungry. I need to come up with a plan though because now that I'm working and especially since I have to wake up to pump sometimes too, I'm pretty exhausted.
7. Eating: he eats pretty much everything. He likes strawberry yogurt and sweet potato puffs a lot. Oooh, and he liked his birthday cake.
8. Nicknames: Teddy, Teddy Bear, Chunky, Chunky Monkey, Chunk a Monk, Chunkers, Smiley, Wiggle worm, Silly, Son, The Boy, Honey, Sweetie, Sweetie Pie, Angel, Lovey, Stinky Butt, Fussy Pants, Fussbucket,
9. Things we’re looking forward to next month: Christmas with him! He's young enough to not ask for anything but old enough to enjoy his presents this year.
10. How I like motherhood:
a. Likes: I love how happy he is to see me when I get home from work! I love watching him grow and learn and being able to teach him things. I love how much everyone else loves him and how much he loves everyone else too. The world seems much less cold and dark and much more full of love now.
b. Dislikes: We're working on weaning. Very slowly. He cut out one of his day time feedings on his own and when not teething terribly sleeps through the night. I'm working on cutting out the last day time nursing session but I think it's too much with the teething. Then I'll cut out the morning session and lastly the bed time one. He likes his whole cow's milk and is doing just sippies now, no more bottles. But I'm in between sad about ending nursing and excited about having my body back to myself.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
10 months
Teddy finally had his 9 month appointment, but he was 10 months and 5 days at the time. His pediatric office was overflowing due to school starting so after continually being put off I decided to go to Harrisonburg Family Practice. I think just using a family doctor will be fine. He was 23 pounds, 6 ounces and 30.5 inches long! What a big boy!! 95% for everything!
I've started working at doctor's office in town and I really like it! It's definitely the best job I've had and they're so good to me there. They're very accomadating with the pumping, but I'm glad there's only a few weeks left of that. I will continue to nurse in the evenings but am looking forward to not being consumed with making sure I make and leave enough breast milk on days I work. There have been a few times when I've had to wake up to pump in the middle of the night to make sure there's enough. Teddy seems to be adjusting to me working just fine. So far it's only 2 days a week and my mom has flexible hours so she keeps him a good deal of the time too. I'm glad I didn't start any earlier though, now seems like a great time for me emotionally. I'm ready for him to spend that sort of time away from me, whereas any earlier I think I would have been resentful. It's also nice to use my brain in non-Mom ways. I don't mean to start any debates, I know that's a touchy subject with stay at home moms vs. working moms. I don't mean I think it's a "use it or lose it" scenario, just that I think I was getting awkward and a little consumed and it's good for me to be around adults more without it focusing on our children. And it's good for Teddy to be with others. Not really other kids yet since there aren't but unlike some SAHMs I know, I don't have a lot of family I can rely on to watch him while I run to the grocery store. The kid's been stuck to my side since he was born, pretty much. Which is great, I love it, but I know he needs to get used to being with other people, who do things differently, too.
Things are interesting with my mom and brother living with us. I think we're adjusting well enough but there have been a few complications. My sister's car broke down and so she is borrowing my mom's. Jeffrey's car is about to go as well. Doug recently bought a motorcycle, otherwise all 4 of us working adults would be trying to function off of one vehicle. The saving grace of this all is that mom and I work only a block apart so one of us can walk to the vehicle. And right now Jeffrey's car still works, otherwise things would really unravel. Also, my mom's pain is really getting out of control, there's a chance she might need to go out on FMLA leave if her job finds they can't accomadate her new restrictions. But we'll figure it all out.
Since I'm working now and am not the only one caring for Teddy I've decided to put him on the regular vaccine schedule. So at his appointment on Friday he got 4 shots, but took them just fine. He had a mild fever for a day and has a little knot on one leg but is just fine. We'll have to go again in October for some more and then have all the regular shots and then some at the 12 month appointment. Then we should be about caught up.
We're shopping around for private insurance and it's pretty nerve wracking! It's so expensive without employer contribution! And of course it's just a gamble. I mean, God forbid, something happens that costs over $5,000 to cover (average deductible amount I saw PER PERSON) then it will all be worth it. But otherwise, you're paying the monthly fee and still having to contribute towards the deductible. Though, I've heard often times facilities have a lower contracted price with insurance companies than they do with self-pay plans, so I guess there's that. None of them have maternity included and most of them don't even have it as an additional option. If I had every reason to believe that I'd have an easy pregnancy and delivery then being a self-pay wouldn't be so bad. But, given my history we can't take that risk. It's frustrating because all of this is contributing so much to when we will have another. It seems like a very complicated math equation: finished with grad school + more money+ either bigger house or no roommates + insurance + ability to conceive = baby #2. I think we're going to wind up with several years between Teddy and another baby. We originally wanted them close together, so of course we'd welcome a surprise, but it's just kind of sad that things aren't going to go according to our original plan. But we know that God has the best plan of all. And we still want more than 2 so perhaps 2 & 3 will be close together.
Monthly Survey
1. How old is baby? 10 months, 1 week, 2 days
2. Stats: as of 9/15
a. Weight: 23 pounds, 6 ounces
b. Height: 30.5 inches
c. Clothes size: 12 months, some 18 months
d. Diaper size: Still medium for cloth diapers, he can go up to large now since the weights overlap, but I think we'll wait until we have to.
e. Hair color: beautiful red!
f. Eye color: blue/green
g. Anything else?
3. Milestones:
a. Teething: 2 bottom front teeth, and I think one more about to come through. 3 top front teeth.
b. Talking: He will say bababa, gagaga, and we've heard an occasional dada- but not to Doug. He doesn't seem to want to talk much yet.
c. Rolling: Since he's a crawling pro he doesn't do it as much.
d. Walking: He doesn't want to hold on to us and do it as much now that he's so great at crawling
e. Crawling: On August 30th he started crawling on all fours. It took longer than I thought it'd take to get there but once he started he was fast!! And he hasn't started since. It's pretty much all he wants to do. Which is a pain in public places because I'm not letting him get down and crawl around on a dirty floor.
f. Anything else? He loves to pull up on things. That's his other big thing. And I think he's working on standing on his own. He'll be in the crawl position and then push with his legs and get on his toes and arch his back and try to push up with his arms. Growing up too fast!!!
4. Things he likes: cheerios, eating (though it varies between purees and finger foods), mommy, daddy, grandma, music, CLAPPING (he doesn't do it yet but he loves clapping to music and of course clapping in praise to him), making a mess, KITTY, dogs, laughing- he's just all around so happy!
a. Toys: Now that he can get around he's much more interested in exploring all the non toys in the house rather than the official toys that are for him. But he still likes pretty much everything he did in the other posts. Now he'd rather stand on the outside of the exersaucer than the inside, but he'll still go in there if you catch him at the right time.
b. Books: He loves opening up books and leafing through them. His favorite ones for us to read to him are the pull flap kinds. He has Maisy Goes to Sleep memorized, I swear. It's a pull tab and a pull flap kind. The flaps are easy to tell there's something there but the tabs are flush with the page and weeks ago he knew that the scene on that page changes and he'd grab at that specific spot. Now he can pull the tabs too, and of course knows about the flaps. Sometimes he's just not quite gentle enough though.
c. Songs: He loves pretty much any song and anything with music. A great distraction tool for when trying to change his diaper.
d. TV Shows: We're watching TV less and I don't sit him in front of it, so he might catch a glimpse here and there but not actually watching.
e. Other activities: He loves to be tickled and gentle wrestling.
5. Things he dislikes: at the moment he doesn't like finger foods. Last week he did. Fickle.
6. Sleeping: Naps are going ok. There are days when he doesn't nap the best for mom or the babysitter but I can still usually get a 2 hour morning nap and a 1 hour afternoon nap out of him. Night time, he's mostly down to just one waking and I am still feeding him then. I keep saying I'm going to stop but it just never seems the right time, or I convince myself that he really is hungry. I need to come up with a plan though because now that I'm working and especially since I have to wake up to pump sometimes too, I'm pretty exhausted.
7. Eating: he eats pretty much everything. He tried blueberry pancakes for the first time on Sunday and loved them!
8. Nicknames: Teddy, Teddy Bear, Chunky, Chunky Monkey, Chunk a Monk, Chunkers, Smiley, Wiggle worm, Silly, Son, The Boy, Honey, Sweetie, Sweetie Pie, Angel, Lovey, Stinky Butt, Fussy Pants, Fussbucket,
9. Things we’re looking forward to next month: We're getting one year photos taken of him in October, by a friend. I'm looking forward to fall and the leaves changing and falling and letting him play in them. We're having a fun get together for our church that we're going to dress up for, so I'm looking forward to doing that with him. I'm working on planning his birthday party. And I hope in the next month to hear mama, even if it's not directed at me!
10. How I like motherhood:
a. Likes: I love how happy he is to see me when I get home from work! I love watching him grow and learn and being able to teach him things. I love how much everyone else loves him and how much he loves everyone else too. The world seems much less cold and dark and much more full of love now.
b. Dislikes: Got to admit, the lack of sleep is getting a bit old. And he's got a touch of separation anxiety so there are times (especially when he's getting sleepy) when he only wants me, if I'm around. That's not a pure dislike, it's pretty flattering. But, there are times when I'd like to sit next to my husband in church and Teddy sit with him for more than 2 minutes before lunging for me. It's a phase and I know before too long I'll miss that so I'm not complaining. Oh, and I dislike pumping. I don't HATE it the actual process isn't so bad. I play around on the phone for 15 minutes while a machine does all the work. I just hate that I have to be consumed with the amount he has. I hate that I have to take 20 minutes out of my lunch break for it. I hate that I have to do it before bed every single night and then I'm always worried that Teddy will wake up shortly afterwards and there won't be enough for him. Though, I guess that would probably help train him to quit waking. But I will definitely miss nursing when the time comes to stop.
And if I ever find my camera charger then I will load some recent pics of him and of course get to take more.
I've started working at doctor's office in town and I really like it! It's definitely the best job I've had and they're so good to me there. They're very accomadating with the pumping, but I'm glad there's only a few weeks left of that. I will continue to nurse in the evenings but am looking forward to not being consumed with making sure I make and leave enough breast milk on days I work. There have been a few times when I've had to wake up to pump in the middle of the night to make sure there's enough. Teddy seems to be adjusting to me working just fine. So far it's only 2 days a week and my mom has flexible hours so she keeps him a good deal of the time too. I'm glad I didn't start any earlier though, now seems like a great time for me emotionally. I'm ready for him to spend that sort of time away from me, whereas any earlier I think I would have been resentful. It's also nice to use my brain in non-Mom ways. I don't mean to start any debates, I know that's a touchy subject with stay at home moms vs. working moms. I don't mean I think it's a "use it or lose it" scenario, just that I think I was getting awkward and a little consumed and it's good for me to be around adults more without it focusing on our children. And it's good for Teddy to be with others. Not really other kids yet since there aren't but unlike some SAHMs I know, I don't have a lot of family I can rely on to watch him while I run to the grocery store. The kid's been stuck to my side since he was born, pretty much. Which is great, I love it, but I know he needs to get used to being with other people, who do things differently, too.
Things are interesting with my mom and brother living with us. I think we're adjusting well enough but there have been a few complications. My sister's car broke down and so she is borrowing my mom's. Jeffrey's car is about to go as well. Doug recently bought a motorcycle, otherwise all 4 of us working adults would be trying to function off of one vehicle. The saving grace of this all is that mom and I work only a block apart so one of us can walk to the vehicle. And right now Jeffrey's car still works, otherwise things would really unravel. Also, my mom's pain is really getting out of control, there's a chance she might need to go out on FMLA leave if her job finds they can't accomadate her new restrictions. But we'll figure it all out.
Since I'm working now and am not the only one caring for Teddy I've decided to put him on the regular vaccine schedule. So at his appointment on Friday he got 4 shots, but took them just fine. He had a mild fever for a day and has a little knot on one leg but is just fine. We'll have to go again in October for some more and then have all the regular shots and then some at the 12 month appointment. Then we should be about caught up.
We're shopping around for private insurance and it's pretty nerve wracking! It's so expensive without employer contribution! And of course it's just a gamble. I mean, God forbid, something happens that costs over $5,000 to cover (average deductible amount I saw PER PERSON) then it will all be worth it. But otherwise, you're paying the monthly fee and still having to contribute towards the deductible. Though, I've heard often times facilities have a lower contracted price with insurance companies than they do with self-pay plans, so I guess there's that. None of them have maternity included and most of them don't even have it as an additional option. If I had every reason to believe that I'd have an easy pregnancy and delivery then being a self-pay wouldn't be so bad. But, given my history we can't take that risk. It's frustrating because all of this is contributing so much to when we will have another. It seems like a very complicated math equation: finished with grad school + more money+ either bigger house or no roommates + insurance + ability to conceive = baby #2. I think we're going to wind up with several years between Teddy and another baby. We originally wanted them close together, so of course we'd welcome a surprise, but it's just kind of sad that things aren't going to go according to our original plan. But we know that God has the best plan of all. And we still want more than 2 so perhaps 2 & 3 will be close together.
Monthly Survey
1. How old is baby? 10 months, 1 week, 2 days
2. Stats: as of 9/15
a. Weight: 23 pounds, 6 ounces
b. Height: 30.5 inches
c. Clothes size: 12 months, some 18 months
d. Diaper size: Still medium for cloth diapers, he can go up to large now since the weights overlap, but I think we'll wait until we have to.
e. Hair color: beautiful red!
f. Eye color: blue/green
g. Anything else?
3. Milestones:
a. Teething: 2 bottom front teeth, and I think one more about to come through. 3 top front teeth.
b. Talking: He will say bababa, gagaga, and we've heard an occasional dada- but not to Doug. He doesn't seem to want to talk much yet.
c. Rolling: Since he's a crawling pro he doesn't do it as much.
d. Walking: He doesn't want to hold on to us and do it as much now that he's so great at crawling
e. Crawling: On August 30th he started crawling on all fours. It took longer than I thought it'd take to get there but once he started he was fast!! And he hasn't started since. It's pretty much all he wants to do. Which is a pain in public places because I'm not letting him get down and crawl around on a dirty floor.
f. Anything else? He loves to pull up on things. That's his other big thing. And I think he's working on standing on his own. He'll be in the crawl position and then push with his legs and get on his toes and arch his back and try to push up with his arms. Growing up too fast!!!
4. Things he likes: cheerios, eating (though it varies between purees and finger foods), mommy, daddy, grandma, music, CLAPPING (he doesn't do it yet but he loves clapping to music and of course clapping in praise to him), making a mess, KITTY, dogs, laughing- he's just all around so happy!
a. Toys: Now that he can get around he's much more interested in exploring all the non toys in the house rather than the official toys that are for him. But he still likes pretty much everything he did in the other posts. Now he'd rather stand on the outside of the exersaucer than the inside, but he'll still go in there if you catch him at the right time.
b. Books: He loves opening up books and leafing through them. His favorite ones for us to read to him are the pull flap kinds. He has Maisy Goes to Sleep memorized, I swear. It's a pull tab and a pull flap kind. The flaps are easy to tell there's something there but the tabs are flush with the page and weeks ago he knew that the scene on that page changes and he'd grab at that specific spot. Now he can pull the tabs too, and of course knows about the flaps. Sometimes he's just not quite gentle enough though.
c. Songs: He loves pretty much any song and anything with music. A great distraction tool for when trying to change his diaper.
d. TV Shows: We're watching TV less and I don't sit him in front of it, so he might catch a glimpse here and there but not actually watching.
e. Other activities: He loves to be tickled and gentle wrestling.
5. Things he dislikes: at the moment he doesn't like finger foods. Last week he did. Fickle.
6. Sleeping: Naps are going ok. There are days when he doesn't nap the best for mom or the babysitter but I can still usually get a 2 hour morning nap and a 1 hour afternoon nap out of him. Night time, he's mostly down to just one waking and I am still feeding him then. I keep saying I'm going to stop but it just never seems the right time, or I convince myself that he really is hungry. I need to come up with a plan though because now that I'm working and especially since I have to wake up to pump sometimes too, I'm pretty exhausted.
7. Eating: he eats pretty much everything. He tried blueberry pancakes for the first time on Sunday and loved them!
8. Nicknames: Teddy, Teddy Bear, Chunky, Chunky Monkey, Chunk a Monk, Chunkers, Smiley, Wiggle worm, Silly, Son, The Boy, Honey, Sweetie, Sweetie Pie, Angel, Lovey, Stinky Butt, Fussy Pants, Fussbucket,
9. Things we’re looking forward to next month: We're getting one year photos taken of him in October, by a friend. I'm looking forward to fall and the leaves changing and falling and letting him play in them. We're having a fun get together for our church that we're going to dress up for, so I'm looking forward to doing that with him. I'm working on planning his birthday party. And I hope in the next month to hear mama, even if it's not directed at me!
10. How I like motherhood:
a. Likes: I love how happy he is to see me when I get home from work! I love watching him grow and learn and being able to teach him things. I love how much everyone else loves him and how much he loves everyone else too. The world seems much less cold and dark and much more full of love now.
b. Dislikes: Got to admit, the lack of sleep is getting a bit old. And he's got a touch of separation anxiety so there are times (especially when he's getting sleepy) when he only wants me, if I'm around. That's not a pure dislike, it's pretty flattering. But, there are times when I'd like to sit next to my husband in church and Teddy sit with him for more than 2 minutes before lunging for me. It's a phase and I know before too long I'll miss that so I'm not complaining. Oh, and I dislike pumping. I don't HATE it the actual process isn't so bad. I play around on the phone for 15 minutes while a machine does all the work. I just hate that I have to be consumed with the amount he has. I hate that I have to take 20 minutes out of my lunch break for it. I hate that I have to do it before bed every single night and then I'm always worried that Teddy will wake up shortly afterwards and there won't be enough for him. Though, I guess that would probably help train him to quit waking. But I will definitely miss nursing when the time comes to stop.
And if I ever find my camera charger then I will load some recent pics of him and of course get to take more.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
8 months...and then some
So, clearly I'm terrible at this now. Lots to update! Aside from the monthly survey I'm going to do again here's some news. Doug quit his job at Applebee's. It was just going down hill fast, not that it ever started good. The hours were crappy and he had to commute 30 miles there and back. It was a distance problem (ie, gas money!!) versus a time problem. Plenty of people commute 30 minutes, just not usually 30 miles in a car. So his hours were roughly 3 pm to 3 am. Then he'd be up until 5 am, sleep until 1 or 2 pm and off to work again. Notice how there's no time for family. He was supposed to have every other weekend off, but never did. Shortly after he began one of the other managers was fired and the staff got rearranged. Just before he left they finally got a new manager in. It took 7 months! So they were always short handed. Too many other things to go into. So here's the short story of the final straw: While dealing with a customer complaint at one table, another table had a complaint and felt he did not get to them fast enough. They wrote a formal complaint to the company. The distract manager at first wanted to fire him (Doug found this out via e-mail communication between the district manager and the store manager- and it was in the basic manager e-mail so they weren't trying to hide anything). The store manager fought for him to stay but he was basically told to cut losses (ie not compensate so much when people are mad) and increase productivity and that he could still be fired at any time. He chose to put in his 2 weeks notice instead of dealing with all of that. Because when customers complain about the food, while there is teamwork, it's not his fault and yet he has to take the fall for it.
He started working part time with his father's plumbing, electrical and heating company. He's decided to get his journeyman's license in plumbing as he has enough hours in experience and just needs some classroom training which he can do via distance learning.
In the mean time I've been looking for a job and have at least one possibility. He was also hired at a rental car company on a Friday. On Saturday he was told it would be 50 hours a week. They were closed on Sunday. On Monday he was told that they decided to hire another person and only give him part time hours. He had Tuesday off. On Tuesday the boss showed up at our house and said that his wife decided to do most of the admin work and so Doug had no job. This came after I had a little fender bender the day before and also had a chance to start working at Kohl's but the lady was really stupid and didn't call me in time. She called me at 6:30 on Sunday while I was at church. I didn't get the message until 10:30 and the store closed at 8. The message was about starting orientation the next day at 9 am. I called as soon as the store was open but all the slots were filled and she sounded so annoyed that I wasn't available between 6:30-8pm on a Sunday regarding 14 hours of notice. I wasn't able to sleep at all in between. I had no clue how things were going to work out if I was able to start the training. How long was it going to be? I didn't have any milk pumped, if it was more than 4 hours I'd have to buy formula I guess, which I hate the thought of doing just for something like that. Who could I get to babysit? I didn't have a clue for how long it would be! Who could I get at 7 am? Ugh, the anxiety, just to be told it wouldn't work out anyway!
Fortunately, Doug has found another job and officially starts on Friday, though he put in some hours tonight. It's doing some odd jobs for a man who knew Doug's maternal grandfather growing up. "Bampa," as he's called, ran his father's farms and he idolized him. Hopefully this job will work out. Hours are supposed to be 9am-6pm Mon-Wed and Friday, 9am-1pm on Saturday, with Thursday and Sunday off.
Also, my mother and youngest brother are moving in. My sister has moved to VA Beach! I really miss her actually. And I really wish we'd have some money to visit her (and the beach, of course!) We'll see, but I doubt it will happen before school starts for her. Speaking of school, I still haven't started a new semester, hopefully I can get that taken care of soon!
On to Teddy!!
Monthly Survey
1. How old is baby? Today he is 8 months 2 weeks and 2 days old. I have an online ticker, I don't just know all that off the top of my head, lol.
2. Stats: Using home measurements
a. Weight: 21 pounds on our scale
b. Height: 27.5 inches (95th percentile) back on 5/16, I haven't tried to measure him
c. Clothes size: Mostly 6-9 months but those are getting a bit tight in the sleepers. He fits 9-12 just fine too, so I really need to buy more of those (and the next size up!)
d. Diaper size: Still medium for cloth diapers
e. Hair color: Still red!!
f. Eye color: blue, looking kind of gray we think they may turn green!!
g. Anything else? His head was 17.5 cm (50th percentile) on 5/16
3. Milestones:
a. Teething: he has his 2 bottom teeth and last we checked we could feel 4 top ones, but it doesn't look like any are very close to popping through.
b. Talking: Still just Agoo and other vowels. No mama or dada yet!
c. Rolling: All.over.the.place.:)
d. Walking: While holding on to our hands and he's getting really good at it!
e. Crawling: yep, he's been crawling for just over a week now!
f. Anything else?
4. Things he likes:
a. Toys: He loves his excersaucer! It's an old school Graco one but does the job. He favors toys that are easy to get in his mouth. His Uncle Jon Jon bought him a sit and walk Winnie the Pooh toy which he loves! And his musical puppy.
b. Books: I have Goodnight Moon memorized and we read stories before bed. He will finally let me sit and read and he will either try to scratch the pages or help me turn it.
c. Songs: He likes Skinamrinky dinky dink, Jesus Loves Me and really most other songs he hears. The other night he was trying to dance to the music at church!
d. TV Shows: He doesn't really watch but he'll glance up when Ziva is on while I watch NCIS. It's weird. I think he likes her voice and thinks she is pretty.
e. Other activities: He loves his car seat these days! He will try to climb out of my arms to get into it. He knows that we're going some where fun when he sees it! It's been really hot out lately so I haven't been as good about walking, even though I try to do it earlier in the day.
5. Things she dislikes: The stackable ring toy because the one I bought is actually kind of slippery and he just knocks it over so it frustrates him. He also hates not being able to get things in his mouth.
6. Sleeping: It's decent. He's dropped to just 2 naps and I think is trying to drop to one as well. Right now he's going from 7-10:30 awake time and then will nap from 10:30-noon. Then he won't need another nap until 3:30 or 4 but it messes with bed time some. Today he woke a little late (8:30) and didn't go to sleep until 11 and slept until 1. Then he stayed up until bed time at 6:30. I gave him 25 minutes of quiet time in the crib around 5 though. Bed time is still around 6:30-7 most nights, unless he has a real late nap, and of course not on the weekends because of church. He will sleep until about 12 hours from when he went to bed or 8 am, whichever is earlier ;). But he will wake anywhere from 1-3 times still. And yes, he's still nursing at night, even though I guess he's probably not truly hungry.
7. Eating: He's nursing every 3-4 hours, it varies by his naps. He's also getting 3 meals of solids a day (unless it's terribly inconvenient). He loves almost anything pureed but isn't seeming to like chunks of food as much. He loves Cheerios though!
8. Nicknames: Teddy, Teddy Bear, Chunky, Chunky Monkey, Chunk a Monk, Chunkers, Smiley, Wiggle worm, Silly, Son, The Boy, Honey, Sweetie, Sweetie Pie, Angel, Lovey....I'm sure there's lots of others!
9. Things we’re looking forward to next month: He's got a 9 month appointment coming up and will get vaccines for that. I started using Dr. Sear's schedule but I think I'm gong to put him on the regular schedule now since it's likely he will start day care soon and we don't have insurance right now either. I can't wait to get his official stats.
10. How I like motherhood: I LOVE it! He amazes me every day! Even these last few days when I've been sick with vertigo he's been so great. It's like he knew he had to take it easy on me!
a. Likes: I love watching him learn and play. I love the hugs, kisses and smiles I get! He's the most important thing I will ever do with my life and so much more important than anything else. I'm still getting my MA in history but I feel like I had a lot of pointless conversations in college that made it seem like politics etc. were so important and they're just not. Nothing is as important as being a good parent.
b. Dislikes: There isn’t much I don’t like. Sometimes I wish I had more “me” time.
He started working part time with his father's plumbing, electrical and heating company. He's decided to get his journeyman's license in plumbing as he has enough hours in experience and just needs some classroom training which he can do via distance learning.
In the mean time I've been looking for a job and have at least one possibility. He was also hired at a rental car company on a Friday. On Saturday he was told it would be 50 hours a week. They were closed on Sunday. On Monday he was told that they decided to hire another person and only give him part time hours. He had Tuesday off. On Tuesday the boss showed up at our house and said that his wife decided to do most of the admin work and so Doug had no job. This came after I had a little fender bender the day before and also had a chance to start working at Kohl's but the lady was really stupid and didn't call me in time. She called me at 6:30 on Sunday while I was at church. I didn't get the message until 10:30 and the store closed at 8. The message was about starting orientation the next day at 9 am. I called as soon as the store was open but all the slots were filled and she sounded so annoyed that I wasn't available between 6:30-8pm on a Sunday regarding 14 hours of notice. I wasn't able to sleep at all in between. I had no clue how things were going to work out if I was able to start the training. How long was it going to be? I didn't have any milk pumped, if it was more than 4 hours I'd have to buy formula I guess, which I hate the thought of doing just for something like that. Who could I get to babysit? I didn't have a clue for how long it would be! Who could I get at 7 am? Ugh, the anxiety, just to be told it wouldn't work out anyway!
Fortunately, Doug has found another job and officially starts on Friday, though he put in some hours tonight. It's doing some odd jobs for a man who knew Doug's maternal grandfather growing up. "Bampa," as he's called, ran his father's farms and he idolized him. Hopefully this job will work out. Hours are supposed to be 9am-6pm Mon-Wed and Friday, 9am-1pm on Saturday, with Thursday and Sunday off.
Also, my mother and youngest brother are moving in. My sister has moved to VA Beach! I really miss her actually. And I really wish we'd have some money to visit her (and the beach, of course!) We'll see, but I doubt it will happen before school starts for her. Speaking of school, I still haven't started a new semester, hopefully I can get that taken care of soon!
On to Teddy!!
Monthly Survey
1. How old is baby? Today he is 8 months 2 weeks and 2 days old. I have an online ticker, I don't just know all that off the top of my head, lol.
2. Stats: Using home measurements
a. Weight: 21 pounds on our scale
b. Height: 27.5 inches (95th percentile) back on 5/16, I haven't tried to measure him
c. Clothes size: Mostly 6-9 months but those are getting a bit tight in the sleepers. He fits 9-12 just fine too, so I really need to buy more of those (and the next size up!)
d. Diaper size: Still medium for cloth diapers
e. Hair color: Still red!!
f. Eye color: blue, looking kind of gray we think they may turn green!!
g. Anything else? His head was 17.5 cm (50th percentile) on 5/16
3. Milestones:
a. Teething: he has his 2 bottom teeth and last we checked we could feel 4 top ones, but it doesn't look like any are very close to popping through.
b. Talking: Still just Agoo and other vowels. No mama or dada yet!
c. Rolling: All.over.the.place.:)
d. Walking: While holding on to our hands and he's getting really good at it!
e. Crawling: yep, he's been crawling for just over a week now!
f. Anything else?
4. Things he likes:
a. Toys: He loves his excersaucer! It's an old school Graco one but does the job. He favors toys that are easy to get in his mouth. His Uncle Jon Jon bought him a sit and walk Winnie the Pooh toy which he loves! And his musical puppy.
b. Books: I have Goodnight Moon memorized and we read stories before bed. He will finally let me sit and read and he will either try to scratch the pages or help me turn it.
c. Songs: He likes Skinamrinky dinky dink, Jesus Loves Me and really most other songs he hears. The other night he was trying to dance to the music at church!
d. TV Shows: He doesn't really watch but he'll glance up when Ziva is on while I watch NCIS. It's weird. I think he likes her voice and thinks she is pretty.
e. Other activities: He loves his car seat these days! He will try to climb out of my arms to get into it. He knows that we're going some where fun when he sees it! It's been really hot out lately so I haven't been as good about walking, even though I try to do it earlier in the day.
5. Things she dislikes: The stackable ring toy because the one I bought is actually kind of slippery and he just knocks it over so it frustrates him. He also hates not being able to get things in his mouth.
6. Sleeping: It's decent. He's dropped to just 2 naps and I think is trying to drop to one as well. Right now he's going from 7-10:30 awake time and then will nap from 10:30-noon. Then he won't need another nap until 3:30 or 4 but it messes with bed time some. Today he woke a little late (8:30) and didn't go to sleep until 11 and slept until 1. Then he stayed up until bed time at 6:30. I gave him 25 minutes of quiet time in the crib around 5 though. Bed time is still around 6:30-7 most nights, unless he has a real late nap, and of course not on the weekends because of church. He will sleep until about 12 hours from when he went to bed or 8 am, whichever is earlier ;). But he will wake anywhere from 1-3 times still. And yes, he's still nursing at night, even though I guess he's probably not truly hungry.
7. Eating: He's nursing every 3-4 hours, it varies by his naps. He's also getting 3 meals of solids a day (unless it's terribly inconvenient). He loves almost anything pureed but isn't seeming to like chunks of food as much. He loves Cheerios though!
8. Nicknames: Teddy, Teddy Bear, Chunky, Chunky Monkey, Chunk a Monk, Chunkers, Smiley, Wiggle worm, Silly, Son, The Boy, Honey, Sweetie, Sweetie Pie, Angel, Lovey....I'm sure there's lots of others!
9. Things we’re looking forward to next month: He's got a 9 month appointment coming up and will get vaccines for that. I started using Dr. Sear's schedule but I think I'm gong to put him on the regular schedule now since it's likely he will start day care soon and we don't have insurance right now either. I can't wait to get his official stats.
10. How I like motherhood: I LOVE it! He amazes me every day! Even these last few days when I've been sick with vertigo he's been so great. It's like he knew he had to take it easy on me!
a. Likes: I love watching him learn and play. I love the hugs, kisses and smiles I get! He's the most important thing I will ever do with my life and so much more important than anything else. I'm still getting my MA in history but I feel like I had a lot of pointless conversations in college that made it seem like politics etc. were so important and they're just not. Nothing is as important as being a good parent.
b. Dislikes: There isn’t much I don’t like. Sometimes I wish I had more “me” time.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
6 months!
So, it's been a loooooong time! I have very little time these days! We moved in March and then transitioned Teddy to the crib via the Ferber Method and are still working on getting him to nap longer than 45 minutes. But here's a survey to cover where he's at and then I'll post a bunch of pics too.
Monthly Survey
1. How old is baby? Today he is 6 months and 6 days old
2. Stats: As of 5/16/2011
a. Weight: 19 lbs, 12 ounces (95th percentile)
b. Height: 27.5 inches (95th percentile)
c. Clothes size: Mostly 6-9 months but those are getting a bit tight in the sleepers. He fits 9-12 just fine too, so I really need to buy more of those (and the next size up!)
d. Diaper size: Still medium for cloth diapers, size 3 for disposables (but haven't used any in a month).
e. Hair color: Still red!!
f. Eye color: Still blue
g. Anything else? His head was 17.5 cm (50th percentile)
3. Milestones:
a. Teething: She has been teething for 2.5 months and still no teeth! Top 2 are poking through, bottom gums are soooo swollen and sore. Poor thing!
b. Talking: Still just Agoo and other vowels. No mama or dada yet!
c. Rolling: All.over.the.place.:) His favorite mode of getting from point A to point B
d. Walking: Nope. Thank you dear Lord!
e. Crawling: Not yet. He sort of scoots backwards. Yesterday after his 6 month appointment he pushed up on his knees a few times. Today he seems to not be interested in that and prefers to roll again.
f. Anything else? He's a sitting pro now!
4. Things he likes:
a. Toys: He loves his excersaucer! It's an old school Graco one but does the job. He favors toys that are easy to get in his mouth.
b. Books: I have Goodnight Moon memorized and we read stories before bed. He's just gotten to the point where he reaches for the book (to eat it) and previously would look at everything else instead. So, it doesn't seem like he's got a favorite.
c. Songs: He likes Skinamrinky dinky dink, Jesus Loves Me and really most other songs he hears.
d. TV Shows: He doesn't really watch but he'll glance up when Ziva is on while I watch NCIS. It's weird. I think he likes her voice and thinks she is pretty.
e. Other activities: When it's nice out I've been going on walks in the stroller (finally bought one) and he seems to really like it!
5. Things she dislikes: The stackable ring toy because the one I bought is actually kind of slippery and he just knocks it over so it frustrates him. He also hates not being able to get things in his mouth.
6. Sleeping: It’s so much better! He puts himself to sleep now in the crib! Generally asleep by 7 pm and will sleep until 7 am, getting up once or twice. He seems to be dropping his 3rd nap but I still can't get him to consistently sleep more than 45 minutes.
7. Eating: He's nursing every 2.5-3 hours still and now gets a late morning meal of rice cereal and bananas and one other flavor. So far he's had sweet potatoes and squash. He's only been on solids for 2 weeks but once I figured out the right time (after his morning nap instead of before) he has been gobbling them up. Bananas are his favorite so far. I'm adding a "dinner" meal today and plan to do that for a few weeks before adding a third.
8. Nicknames: Teddy, Teddy Bear, Chunky, Chunky Monkey, Chunk a Monk, Chunkers, Smiley, Wiggle worm, Silly, Son, The Boy, Honey, Sweetie, Sweetie Pie, Angel, Lovey....I'm sure there's lots of others!
9. Things we’re looking forward to next month: I really want to book portrait photography before 7 months, start planning his first birthday and the professional family photography for that.
10. How I like motherhood: I LOVE it! There were a few times before we tried Ferber, when we were trying something else to sleep train and I just wanted to run away. Not forever, but just really needed a break. I felt inadequate. It's still really hard but I finally feel like I'm able to get some things done while he's asleep and after he's down for the night. I feel like I can co-exist as a person. I think it's really helped that he's sleeping on his own and we are in our own place. Before that we had one big room and he was in our bed and I had to lay next to him for hours and hours before I was sleepy and couldn't do anything!
a. Likes: I love watching him learn and play. I love the hugs, kisses and smiles I get! He's the most important thing I will ever do with my life and so much more important than anything else. I'm still getting my MA in history but I feel like I had a lot of pointless conversations in college that made it seem like politics etc. were so important and they're just not. Nothing is as important as being a good parent.
b. Dislikes: There isn’t much I don’t like. Sometimes I wish I had more “me” time. I wish Doug had more time with us!
Monthly Survey
1. How old is baby? Today he is 6 months and 6 days old
2. Stats: As of 5/16/2011
a. Weight: 19 lbs, 12 ounces (95th percentile)
b. Height: 27.5 inches (95th percentile)
c. Clothes size: Mostly 6-9 months but those are getting a bit tight in the sleepers. He fits 9-12 just fine too, so I really need to buy more of those (and the next size up!)
d. Diaper size: Still medium for cloth diapers, size 3 for disposables (but haven't used any in a month).
e. Hair color: Still red!!
f. Eye color: Still blue
g. Anything else? His head was 17.5 cm (50th percentile)
3. Milestones:
a. Teething: She has been teething for 2.5 months and still no teeth! Top 2 are poking through, bottom gums are soooo swollen and sore. Poor thing!
b. Talking: Still just Agoo and other vowels. No mama or dada yet!
c. Rolling: All.over.the.place.:) His favorite mode of getting from point A to point B
d. Walking: Nope. Thank you dear Lord!
e. Crawling: Not yet. He sort of scoots backwards. Yesterday after his 6 month appointment he pushed up on his knees a few times. Today he seems to not be interested in that and prefers to roll again.
f. Anything else? He's a sitting pro now!
4. Things he likes:
a. Toys: He loves his excersaucer! It's an old school Graco one but does the job. He favors toys that are easy to get in his mouth.
b. Books: I have Goodnight Moon memorized and we read stories before bed. He's just gotten to the point where he reaches for the book (to eat it) and previously would look at everything else instead. So, it doesn't seem like he's got a favorite.
c. Songs: He likes Skinamrinky dinky dink, Jesus Loves Me and really most other songs he hears.
d. TV Shows: He doesn't really watch but he'll glance up when Ziva is on while I watch NCIS. It's weird. I think he likes her voice and thinks she is pretty.
e. Other activities: When it's nice out I've been going on walks in the stroller (finally bought one) and he seems to really like it!
5. Things she dislikes: The stackable ring toy because the one I bought is actually kind of slippery and he just knocks it over so it frustrates him. He also hates not being able to get things in his mouth.
6. Sleeping: It’s so much better! He puts himself to sleep now in the crib! Generally asleep by 7 pm and will sleep until 7 am, getting up once or twice. He seems to be dropping his 3rd nap but I still can't get him to consistently sleep more than 45 minutes.
7. Eating: He's nursing every 2.5-3 hours still and now gets a late morning meal of rice cereal and bananas and one other flavor. So far he's had sweet potatoes and squash. He's only been on solids for 2 weeks but once I figured out the right time (after his morning nap instead of before) he has been gobbling them up. Bananas are his favorite so far. I'm adding a "dinner" meal today and plan to do that for a few weeks before adding a third.
8. Nicknames: Teddy, Teddy Bear, Chunky, Chunky Monkey, Chunk a Monk, Chunkers, Smiley, Wiggle worm, Silly, Son, The Boy, Honey, Sweetie, Sweetie Pie, Angel, Lovey....I'm sure there's lots of others!
9. Things we’re looking forward to next month: I really want to book portrait photography before 7 months, start planning his first birthday and the professional family photography for that.
10. How I like motherhood: I LOVE it! There were a few times before we tried Ferber, when we were trying something else to sleep train and I just wanted to run away. Not forever, but just really needed a break. I felt inadequate. It's still really hard but I finally feel like I'm able to get some things done while he's asleep and after he's down for the night. I feel like I can co-exist as a person. I think it's really helped that he's sleeping on his own and we are in our own place. Before that we had one big room and he was in our bed and I had to lay next to him for hours and hours before I was sleepy and couldn't do anything!
a. Likes: I love watching him learn and play. I love the hugs, kisses and smiles I get! He's the most important thing I will ever do with my life and so much more important than anything else. I'm still getting my MA in history but I feel like I had a lot of pointless conversations in college that made it seem like politics etc. were so important and they're just not. Nothing is as important as being a good parent.
b. Dislikes: There isn’t much I don’t like. Sometimes I wish I had more “me” time. I wish Doug had more time with us!
6 months old!
With Mommy on 6 month birthday
On Mother's Day
At Gettysburg
Again at Gettysburg
Hanging out with Daddy on Easter
With his Easter basket. His onesie says "I'm wearing my Easter best!"
Family pic on Easter!
5 months old!
4 months old!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Where does the time go?
Every time I go to change Teddy's diaper it seems like he's gotten older and longer. He loves to sit and stand and talk. He still loves looking at light and shadows still. Napping is still getting a little easier. The other day I got him to nap, though for a shorter period of time, in the swing all day. The next day we were running errands and he fell asleep with the light on and everything, though it helped that he was in the moby and I was moving around. He's still pretty clingy for me but if you get him just after he's been fed he's usually pretty good.
He is almost to the point of rolling over on his back. He will twist himself and can turn to be almost on his side. No rolling from the tummy, since he still hates tummy time. He still needs to be swaddled at night and he looks like a giant armless baby. Last night I tried leaving one arm out and it did not work. He kept knocking his pacifier out of his mouth, scratching himself, flailing etc. He kept looking at me like he was all confused as to why on earth his arm was out if it was time for bed. He's pretty advanced in some ways but not so much in others. Which I'm fine with. But I've got goals to work on: napping independently, sleeping in crib, no swaddling. Not really sure for the timeline I have on these things though.
We're moving! Our friends are moving out of the condo we bought as they're buying a townhouse. We're happy for them! We had another set of friends who were going to move in but now they've got another opportunity in Northern Virginia so they can't move in. We don't want it to go to strangers and I'm more than ready to have my own place again. I haven't had a real kitchen in 15 months! It will be nice to have more space for all of us too. And privacy. Our situation in Alaska felt like a room mate situation (not having our own shower, for example) and obviously the same thing here. I'm pretty over it. I'm a 25 year old woman who has been married for 6 years, has a baby, a college degree and a mortgage. I think I'm past the roomate era. Hopefully I can still remain at home and hurry up and finish my MA and then I'll teach online from home. Then the plan is to sell the condo next year and buy some land and build a house. Hopefully the market will improve enough for that to happen next year.
Gosh, next year! Teddy will be over a year old. I just can't believe it. On thebump.com some of the girls on my birth month board are starting their babies on solids and sippy cups already. Gah! No!! Make him stay a little baby forever. Though, if I can't keep him as a little baby, I have to say I'm so in love in his little personality. He is amazing!
He is almost to the point of rolling over on his back. He will twist himself and can turn to be almost on his side. No rolling from the tummy, since he still hates tummy time. He still needs to be swaddled at night and he looks like a giant armless baby. Last night I tried leaving one arm out and it did not work. He kept knocking his pacifier out of his mouth, scratching himself, flailing etc. He kept looking at me like he was all confused as to why on earth his arm was out if it was time for bed. He's pretty advanced in some ways but not so much in others. Which I'm fine with. But I've got goals to work on: napping independently, sleeping in crib, no swaddling. Not really sure for the timeline I have on these things though.
We're moving! Our friends are moving out of the condo we bought as they're buying a townhouse. We're happy for them! We had another set of friends who were going to move in but now they've got another opportunity in Northern Virginia so they can't move in. We don't want it to go to strangers and I'm more than ready to have my own place again. I haven't had a real kitchen in 15 months! It will be nice to have more space for all of us too. And privacy. Our situation in Alaska felt like a room mate situation (not having our own shower, for example) and obviously the same thing here. I'm pretty over it. I'm a 25 year old woman who has been married for 6 years, has a baby, a college degree and a mortgage. I think I'm past the roomate era. Hopefully I can still remain at home and hurry up and finish my MA and then I'll teach online from home. Then the plan is to sell the condo next year and buy some land and build a house. Hopefully the market will improve enough for that to happen next year.
Gosh, next year! Teddy will be over a year old. I just can't believe it. On thebump.com some of the girls on my birth month board are starting their babies on solids and sippy cups already. Gah! No!! Make him stay a little baby forever. Though, if I can't keep him as a little baby, I have to say I'm so in love in his little personality. He is amazing!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Comments
For some reason when pregnant I didn't get a lot of annoying comments from people. If it were only from strangers than I'd assume those that know me didn't want to risk me going all hormonal on them on top of my less than meek demeanor, but it wasn't. So I guess I'm not used to this the way other moms are, but I have to vent somewhere.
My mother told me a woman at church made the comment that I never let her (my mother) hold Teddy. Um, just because it doesn't happen at church doesn't mean it doesn't happen. She works full time and is a full time student but still sees him multiple times a week. While church can be hard to fit into our daily schedule it's pretty easy to handle him. If I need help, I will ask, such as the other week when we left the pacifier in the car and I asked for a friend in the nursery to hold him so I didn't have to bundle him up etc. I don't think I need Mom to just hold him at church. Maybe once he's older and can ask for her, needs to be entertained more etc. But as for now it's not necessary. Also, I don't get out of the house much because we only have one car right now so church is kind of practice on what it's like to be out of the house and handling Teddy.
Another fun comment: "Mommy's spoiling you." Said by his grandfather. While HE was holding him. Teddy is not spoiled but if you're going to say that then you say it when he's crying because he's NOT being held. Not because he just doesn't like you. It's not my fault you look kind of scary and are loud and don't make any time to see him and frequently wake him up from naps. Also, he's not behind because he's not starting to crawl or walk yet and he's not ready for solid foods. Quit pretending like you know everything about babies. Most of the time you can't even remember how old he is and I"ll never forget the time you called him Little Dougie instead. Oh, and quit telling me that you took care of Doug when he was a newborn while you were laid up on your back on the couch. Newborns requrie actual movement. If anything, your wife just had two babies to take care of.
My mother told me a woman at church made the comment that I never let her (my mother) hold Teddy. Um, just because it doesn't happen at church doesn't mean it doesn't happen. She works full time and is a full time student but still sees him multiple times a week. While church can be hard to fit into our daily schedule it's pretty easy to handle him. If I need help, I will ask, such as the other week when we left the pacifier in the car and I asked for a friend in the nursery to hold him so I didn't have to bundle him up etc. I don't think I need Mom to just hold him at church. Maybe once he's older and can ask for her, needs to be entertained more etc. But as for now it's not necessary. Also, I don't get out of the house much because we only have one car right now so church is kind of practice on what it's like to be out of the house and handling Teddy.
Another fun comment: "Mommy's spoiling you." Said by his grandfather. While HE was holding him. Teddy is not spoiled but if you're going to say that then you say it when he's crying because he's NOT being held. Not because he just doesn't like you. It's not my fault you look kind of scary and are loud and don't make any time to see him and frequently wake him up from naps. Also, he's not behind because he's not starting to crawl or walk yet and he's not ready for solid foods. Quit pretending like you know everything about babies. Most of the time you can't even remember how old he is and I"ll never forget the time you called him Little Dougie instead. Oh, and quit telling me that you took care of Doug when he was a newborn while you were laid up on your back on the couch. Newborns requrie actual movement. If anything, your wife just had two babies to take care of.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
So it's been awhile
But Teddy is 3 months old!!
He's gotten so much better at naps in the moby and there's been a few times I haven't had to cover up the lights and he seems less sound sensitive too. I'm still not able to set him down during a nap though.
He loves to sit up and stand (while being held by me). He tries to pull himself into a sitting position all the time. He's also discovered his hands. He's so close to giving a real laugh and adding in some syllables to his cooing. We've tried out the excersaucer a few times and he seems to like it in limited doses. He doesn't like any particular activity besides looking and talking at me for more than a few minutes. He's been on a bit of a tummy time strike though.
He got his 3 month shots on Friday, the PCV and the HiB. He did not like them. At all. He was pretty fussy for the rest of the day and had the most pathetic little cry if I put him down at all. But he's all smiles today!
We've tried out the crib a few times. On Wednesday I got 3.5 hours with out him waking, we usually get 4 in the swing or with us. But then he started waking up to eat every hour and officially began his growth spurt. But that seems to be over, much better than the 6 week one!
He's gotten so much better at naps in the moby and there's been a few times I haven't had to cover up the lights and he seems less sound sensitive too. I'm still not able to set him down during a nap though.
He loves to sit up and stand (while being held by me). He tries to pull himself into a sitting position all the time. He's also discovered his hands. He's so close to giving a real laugh and adding in some syllables to his cooing. We've tried out the excersaucer a few times and he seems to like it in limited doses. He doesn't like any particular activity besides looking and talking at me for more than a few minutes. He's been on a bit of a tummy time strike though.
He got his 3 month shots on Friday, the PCV and the HiB. He did not like them. At all. He was pretty fussy for the rest of the day and had the most pathetic little cry if I put him down at all. But he's all smiles today!
We've tried out the crib a few times. On Wednesday I got 3.5 hours with out him waking, we usually get 4 in the swing or with us. But then he started waking up to eat every hour and officially began his growth spurt. But that seems to be over, much better than the 6 week one!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Nap time
So we've been having some nap time issues. When he was really little, Teddy just slept. He'd stay awake for a few minutes after eating and then fall asleep on his own. Then he hit a growth spurt that was pretty long and it took a long time to get over it. I think by that time he was so over tired he kind of forgot how to sleep! He would stay awake for hours and hours on end, even though I tried to get him to sleep. Two Saturdays while out with a friend I was asked if he gets easily overstimulated while out. I had only been out about 2 other times with him so I couldn't really say. But I went home and looked it up and it turns out that he had signs of overstimulation at home all the time. So for a while I was having to make the room dark, turn on the noisemaker etc just so he would sleep a little. But he would rarely sleep anywhere but my arms, and even then usually only for 30-45 minutes. But slowly it was getting a little better. He would fall asleep faster and could only manage to be awake for a few minutes before getting fussy and needing to sleep a little again. But it was better than him being a monster because he was awake for 6 hours straight! And he started sleeping longer at night too. But, last Wednesday I bought a Moby Wrap (and a bunch of other things we hadn't picked up yet) and used my completion coupon and my Target Red Debit Card so I got a 15% discount on the total purchase. Anyway, it has been amazing! I love it so much! Teddy will sleep for hours in it, Doug can use it, my Mom etc. I tried a sling but Teddy was too big for the newborn hold, but it should work when he can be trusted to have total head support (though that's almost right now). So now I'm actually getting some easy housework done, catching up on e-mails and will be able to do some homework too.
Teddy is growing so much! I can barely believe it, somedays I swear he grows overnight. I can't believe he's almost 11 weeks old, that's almost 3 months! When did that happen? How can I have been blessed with this beautiful baby boy for almost 3 months now?!! He loves bath time now, just not being taken out. He tolerates tummy time a little better. If he's lounging on his boppy he can almost pull himself up to a sitting position for a minute. He holds his head up nearly all the time, except when sleepy. He sticks his tongue out, drools and blows bubbles, smiles, coos loudly, kind of laughs and giggles. His eyes are becoming lighter blue and he's more expressive with his face every day!
He's such a cutie and I just can't get enough of him!!
Teddy is growing so much! I can barely believe it, somedays I swear he grows overnight. I can't believe he's almost 11 weeks old, that's almost 3 months! When did that happen? How can I have been blessed with this beautiful baby boy for almost 3 months now?!! He loves bath time now, just not being taken out. He tolerates tummy time a little better. If he's lounging on his boppy he can almost pull himself up to a sitting position for a minute. He holds his head up nearly all the time, except when sleepy. He sticks his tongue out, drools and blows bubbles, smiles, coos loudly, kind of laughs and giggles. His eyes are becoming lighter blue and he's more expressive with his face every day!
He's such a cutie and I just can't get enough of him!!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
2 months old
Do you hear that? Yeah, me too. The sound of a sleeping baby. For over an hour now!
So for the last few weeks I've had one fussy baby on my hands! He was spitting up a lot and not napping well. He'd wake up after a few minutes of sleep, wouldn't let me put him down and/or wake at the slightest sound. I had to have lights off, noisemaker on high. He had all the symptoms of acid reflux and I was getting really worried. But then I read on a website that babies with reflux can end up with foremilk/hindmilk inbalance and to not change sides so frequently. He was still eating every 1.5 hours even after his growth spurt "ended." After taking that advice things are so much better! Almost immediately. He was getting too much lactose that was in the foremilk and not enough of the fat from the hindmilk. So he'd be temporarily full off the foremilk but then hungry again quickly, but never really get it. In the meantime the high lactose wouldn't sit well in his stomach and he'd be gassy and need to spit up and even vomit a lot. Now Teddy only eats every 3 hours, and sleeps 5 hours straight at night. He's much better at burping, spitting up less, no vomit, and I rarely need to use the gas drops now (it had been after every feeding for about 2 weeks). The only downside is that it took a while for my supply to even out. But as of right now, he's been asleep for almost 2 hours, in his swing for over an hour and half, lights on, tv on and I finally can get some things done! Hallelujah!!!!
We had his 2 month appointment yesterday. He weighed in at 13 pounds and was 24 1/2 inches long. Upper 95% for both measurements. He's a big chunker!! I'm doing an alternate vaccination schedule so he got the oral Rotavirus and the DTaP shot.
Here's a pic from today:
So for the last few weeks I've had one fussy baby on my hands! He was spitting up a lot and not napping well. He'd wake up after a few minutes of sleep, wouldn't let me put him down and/or wake at the slightest sound. I had to have lights off, noisemaker on high. He had all the symptoms of acid reflux and I was getting really worried. But then I read on a website that babies with reflux can end up with foremilk/hindmilk inbalance and to not change sides so frequently. He was still eating every 1.5 hours even after his growth spurt "ended." After taking that advice things are so much better! Almost immediately. He was getting too much lactose that was in the foremilk and not enough of the fat from the hindmilk. So he'd be temporarily full off the foremilk but then hungry again quickly, but never really get it. In the meantime the high lactose wouldn't sit well in his stomach and he'd be gassy and need to spit up and even vomit a lot. Now Teddy only eats every 3 hours, and sleeps 5 hours straight at night. He's much better at burping, spitting up less, no vomit, and I rarely need to use the gas drops now (it had been after every feeding for about 2 weeks). The only downside is that it took a while for my supply to even out. But as of right now, he's been asleep for almost 2 hours, in his swing for over an hour and half, lights on, tv on and I finally can get some things done! Hallelujah!!!!
We had his 2 month appointment yesterday. He weighed in at 13 pounds and was 24 1/2 inches long. Upper 95% for both measurements. He's a big chunker!! I'm doing an alternate vaccination schedule so he got the oral Rotavirus and the DTaP shot.
Here's a pic from today:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)