I had a lady at the grocery store ask me today if you were 8 months. That's a first, usually people guess older. I also got the bazillionth comment on how nicely shaped your head is. Whenever people see pictures of you as a baby they assume I had a C section since your noggin was and is so round. Just lucky I guess!
Yesterday your right bottom lateral incisor finally made it's appearance. I suppose that might explain why you were so fussy there for a few days. That's a total of 6 teeth you have now. Not that you need them, you can "chew" just about anything with your gums these days.
You LOVE to run around naked. You've got kind of a nasty little case of diaper rash right now so I've been trying to let you run around in your birthday suit as much as possible, and you could not be happier. You prance from room to room laughing and giggling like there was nothing more fun in the world.
You love to move items from place to place. You started by always emptying everything - drawers, cupboards, bins, etc. Now you will occasionally put things back. Not always in the correct places but sometimes. I do get a good laugh when I open up a drawer in the kitchen and find one of your toys there.
You are far more attached to your pacifier than I ever thought you would be. You still get it at night when we put you to bed, and during naps. You've gotten really good at finding it by yourself during the night when you wake up. But when you can't find it, or you can't reach it because you've tossed it out of the crib - watch out! Get the earplugs 'cuz you'll be screaming bloody murder.
You love riding in the shopping cart at the grocery store, mainly in the parking lot. I guess it's the vibration of the cart running across the pavement but you get the biggest smile on your face like it's the most fun you've ever had. I have to be careful where I park the cart during checkout because whatever you can reach goes on the floor. Oh, and the other day you exploded a jar of hoisin sauce right on the floor of Safeway. Cleanup on aisle 15! I never thought I'd get to say that and really mean it. I was mortified of course and you were oblivious.
You seem to be sleeping a little better at night with your blankets. But it also could be because that tooth came through. We'll see I guess.
Only 10 more days until your first Christmas! I think you might be getting a new car seat, since it's officially time to retire your infant one. Today I weighed you and you were 22.8lbs. Only about 1 lb to go and you'll be triple your birth weight. You are one sturdy little boy.
That's all. Hopefully tomorrow we can finish up your calendar shoot and I can post some more pictures!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Seth 11 Months
Dear Seth,
Today you are 11 months old. One more month and you'll be A YEAR OLD! What the heck? Seriously it just seems like the year has flown by faster than any other year in my life. Almost exactly one year ago (Dec 13th '09) I packed my bags for the hospital because the next morning we were going in for your ECV, since you were all cattywampus in my ute. Well, that's not exactly accurate... cattywampus technically means "askew" which would really seem to indicate that you were just slightly out of position, when in fact you were completely upside down, but I digress - just a little trivia for you. This is important because you have been born into a family of word nerds and will be mocked mercilessly if you use a word incorrectly. But I'm sure you never will because you are going to be brilliant, like me.
Now, this picture isn't going to win you any Gerber baby awards I'm sure, but I wanted to post it so the world can see your two top teeth coming in. Your teeth make me very nervous, my little angel. When I look at them I see dollar $ign$ and the Lexus that I'll be buying for your future orthodontist.
Now, I know that having crooked baby teeth does not always lead to crooked adult teeth... but... your mama worries.
You are getting so big and strong. Over the last month or so you had discovered how much fun it is to go shake the baker's rack and listen to the cocktail glasses clink against each other. So you started to hear what will surely be your first word - "NO!" Eventually I took the glasses down to reduce the temptation. Well then you just started shaking it harder and this past week you almost got your first spanking because you were hauling on that thing SO hard we thought you might pull it down on top of yourself. It only weighs about a bazillion pounds and has two dozen liquor bottles on it. Ultimately it was decided that you are too young for spankings and the thing needed to be bolted to the wall anyway. Problem solved. Now you go over there, grab it, and turn around to see who's looking. There's no doubt that you know you're not supposed to.
You love the cats. Sometimes I think you'll give yourself whiplash trying to turn around in your high chair to see what they're up to. I'm trying to teach you how to pet Max gently but so far your motor skills are only refined enough to grip tightly on his ears or fur. He is EXCEEDINGLY patient with you though and I have never worried about you getting scratched. Buttercup just stays far, far away from you but has recently claimed the changing station from your pack and play as her own personal air mattress.
You are still extremely independent and have not shown any signs of separation anxiety. Last week when we picked you up from the church nursery one of the girls said "oh, yours is the one that doesn't care whether you are here or not." I'm pretty sure if I set you down in a department store you would be that kid who just wanders off to explore without a care in the world. You may never turn around to make sure Mom or Dad is still there. You walk vs. crawl now at least 95% of the time and you can walk FAST, almost run. We finally got you some shoes last week and they are so cute! At first when Daddy tried some shoes on you in the store you refused to walk in them but now it's like you've been wearing them all your life.
You wave bye-bye pretty well on command now. When you first figured it out you were waving at everyone, including strangers, so enthusiastically. Now it's almost seemed to become a bed or nap time cue. If you're tired and I pick you up, you start waving, even if no one is there to wave at. But yesterday when we dropped you off with Grandpa and Nana you did wave to daddy and I as we were leaving, it was so cute!
Last night daddy gave you a bath for the first time since you were so small you couldn't even hold your head up. You thanked him by pooping in the water. Hee hee.
You have had a rough week in terms of sleep. Your room for some reason stays several degrees colder than the rest of the house. I can't figure it out. So I think you are probably just waking up because you are cold, even in fleece pajamas and a fleece sleep sack over that. Last night was the worst and you were up crying off and on for what seemed like hours, and clearly exhausted all day today. A couple of times I have been so tempted to bring you in to sleep with us at night but that is a dangerous game. I think tonight I'm going to put a blanket on you before I go to bed. Don't tell the AAP, but it's either that or a space heater, so I think a blanket is the lesser of two evils. So we'll see how that goes. On good nights you sleep from 6pm until 7 or 8am, hopefully we can get back to that soon. I've grown to love my 7 hour stretches.
I am trying to put together a Seth themed photo calendar for all the family members this year for Christmas, so we had a little photo shoot today. You were pretty grumpy from the aforementioned lack of sleep, so there were a few interesting outtakes. In hindsight I am actually pretty impressed with how patient you were with all the wardrobe changes. I took 86 pictures and we still have 6 months to go!
ONE MORE MONTH until your birthday. I'm happy to report that you have not had any formula since you were 5 days old and one of the nurses in the NICU slipped you some against our wishes. Whew! I am not going to lie, I am more than ready to be done breastfeeding but you sure can't beat the price tag. You have been a real trooper and I'm grateful that we have had minimal issues over the last 10 months or so. You've even kept those teeth in check for the most part, although I've definitely felt a nibble once or twice.
That's all I can think of for now. No monkey pictures today, I thought you needed a break from the camera after our calendar work. But maybe I'll try for one later in the week. Love you buddy, you're my favorite!
Love,
Mama
Today you are 11 months old. One more month and you'll be A YEAR OLD! What the heck? Seriously it just seems like the year has flown by faster than any other year in my life. Almost exactly one year ago (Dec 13th '09) I packed my bags for the hospital because the next morning we were going in for your ECV, since you were all cattywampus in my ute. Well, that's not exactly accurate... cattywampus technically means "askew" which would really seem to indicate that you were just slightly out of position, when in fact you were completely upside down, but I digress - just a little trivia for you. This is important because you have been born into a family of word nerds and will be mocked mercilessly if you use a word incorrectly. But I'm sure you never will because you are going to be brilliant, like me.
Now, this picture isn't going to win you any Gerber baby awards I'm sure, but I wanted to post it so the world can see your two top teeth coming in. Your teeth make me very nervous, my little angel. When I look at them I see dollar $ign$ and the Lexus that I'll be buying for your future orthodontist.
Now, I know that having crooked baby teeth does not always lead to crooked adult teeth... but... your mama worries.
You are getting so big and strong. Over the last month or so you had discovered how much fun it is to go shake the baker's rack and listen to the cocktail glasses clink against each other. So you started to hear what will surely be your first word - "NO!" Eventually I took the glasses down to reduce the temptation. Well then you just started shaking it harder and this past week you almost got your first spanking because you were hauling on that thing SO hard we thought you might pull it down on top of yourself. It only weighs about a bazillion pounds and has two dozen liquor bottles on it. Ultimately it was decided that you are too young for spankings and the thing needed to be bolted to the wall anyway. Problem solved. Now you go over there, grab it, and turn around to see who's looking. There's no doubt that you know you're not supposed to.
You love the cats. Sometimes I think you'll give yourself whiplash trying to turn around in your high chair to see what they're up to. I'm trying to teach you how to pet Max gently but so far your motor skills are only refined enough to grip tightly on his ears or fur. He is EXCEEDINGLY patient with you though and I have never worried about you getting scratched. Buttercup just stays far, far away from you but has recently claimed the changing station from your pack and play as her own personal air mattress.
You are still extremely independent and have not shown any signs of separation anxiety. Last week when we picked you up from the church nursery one of the girls said "oh, yours is the one that doesn't care whether you are here or not." I'm pretty sure if I set you down in a department store you would be that kid who just wanders off to explore without a care in the world. You may never turn around to make sure Mom or Dad is still there. You walk vs. crawl now at least 95% of the time and you can walk FAST, almost run. We finally got you some shoes last week and they are so cute! At first when Daddy tried some shoes on you in the store you refused to walk in them but now it's like you've been wearing them all your life.
You wave bye-bye pretty well on command now. When you first figured it out you were waving at everyone, including strangers, so enthusiastically. Now it's almost seemed to become a bed or nap time cue. If you're tired and I pick you up, you start waving, even if no one is there to wave at. But yesterday when we dropped you off with Grandpa and Nana you did wave to daddy and I as we were leaving, it was so cute!
Last night daddy gave you a bath for the first time since you were so small you couldn't even hold your head up. You thanked him by pooping in the water. Hee hee.
You have had a rough week in terms of sleep. Your room for some reason stays several degrees colder than the rest of the house. I can't figure it out. So I think you are probably just waking up because you are cold, even in fleece pajamas and a fleece sleep sack over that. Last night was the worst and you were up crying off and on for what seemed like hours, and clearly exhausted all day today. A couple of times I have been so tempted to bring you in to sleep with us at night but that is a dangerous game. I think tonight I'm going to put a blanket on you before I go to bed. Don't tell the AAP, but it's either that or a space heater, so I think a blanket is the lesser of two evils. So we'll see how that goes. On good nights you sleep from 6pm until 7 or 8am, hopefully we can get back to that soon. I've grown to love my 7 hour stretches.
I am trying to put together a Seth themed photo calendar for all the family members this year for Christmas, so we had a little photo shoot today. You were pretty grumpy from the aforementioned lack of sleep, so there were a few interesting outtakes. In hindsight I am actually pretty impressed with how patient you were with all the wardrobe changes. I took 86 pictures and we still have 6 months to go!
ONE MORE MONTH until your birthday. I'm happy to report that you have not had any formula since you were 5 days old and one of the nurses in the NICU slipped you some against our wishes. Whew! I am not going to lie, I am more than ready to be done breastfeeding but you sure can't beat the price tag. You have been a real trooper and I'm grateful that we have had minimal issues over the last 10 months or so. You've even kept those teeth in check for the most part, although I've definitely felt a nibble once or twice.
That's all I can think of for now. No monkey pictures today, I thought you needed a break from the camera after our calendar work. But maybe I'll try for one later in the week. Love you buddy, you're my favorite!
Love,
Mama
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Seth 10 Months
Dear Seth,
Well my little Sethy Poo, you are 10 months old now. I know I have been a little self absorbed lately and only blogging about coupons and my new job. So this one's for you. I'm a little late as usual, you keep me pretty busy these days. You would NOT cooperate this month when I tried to take your picture with the monkey. You would think I was trying to burn you with a hot poker the way you squirmed and arched your back the whole time. Oh well, better luck next time.
As I briefly mentioned yesterday, you are walking like crazy now. When you want to get from one side of the room to the other, you almost always walk. You only drop down and crawl when you want to get there REALLY fast, and this afternoon you actually took a few fast walking steps first before dropping down and sprinting the rest of the way on your hands and knees. What were you sprinting toward? I'll tell you - the bathroom. You are obsessed with the bottom drawer where I keep my feminine products. I've had to throw away many a tampon that you've slobbered all over. Thankfully I haven't needed a lot of those lately. One day I also spotted you trucking across the bedroom with one pad in your mouth and another in your hand. Not sure where you were going but you were on a mission with those pads. So anyway, the second you are set free in our bedroom you make a beeline for that drawer and start eating stuff and tossing the rest all over the place. I think we're getting along into your "I-need-to-empty-this-container-immediately" phase. We've strategically placed things around that are safe for you to scatter around. Maybe not completely sanitary, but safe. The tupperware is now in a lower cabinet where you can reach and I spend several evenings a week retrieving plastic bowls and lids from all over the kitchen and putting them away. Today you emptied two of the drawers in your dresser in about 10 seconds flat. We also have a lower drawer where we keep a bunch of "safe" kitchen utensils, like wire whisks, spatulas, wooden spoons, things like that... well last night I glanced down at you and what did you have in your mouth but a MICROPLANE. Um, whoops! And what am I supposed to do, just yank it out of your mouth? Yikes. I managed to extract it from your grip without zesting your mouth, thankfully. And put it away in the correct drawer with the other hazardous and sharp objects. Geez.
Oh! So we did take you for a little checkup at the pediatrician last week. I totally do not know your stats :( I want to say you were about 21 lbs 7 oz and 29.5 inches.... but I can't remember specifically. But that's pretty close. You were fascinated by the big mirror next to the exam table and spent a good amount of time high fiving yourself and yelling. You got a very concerned look on your face when the doctor checked your ears, and were really annoyed about daddy holding you while the nurse took some blood from your toe. But other than that you were very pleased with the whole experience. No shots this time, lucky for you. We talked about the flu shot a little because we were mildly concerned about the puking incidents you'd had after eating eggs. You have since eaten a bit of egg without puking so it's probably nothing, but we decided to just skip it this time. Surprisingly, the doc didn't pressure us about it and just said we might want to get it ourselves since he's probably not going to catch it anywhere else.
What else... oh other fun stuff, the church nursery! We started going to the 5pm service at a church in town and you've been to the nursery 3 weeks in a row now. We put you in with the walkers since you were so close to walking at the time and we didn't want to have to move you right away. You seem to really like it. Plenty of room to cruise around and lots of new toys to play with. Last week while we were signing you in I had you sitting on the counter in front of me and you kept whipping around to see what was going on in the classroom. It was pretty clear you knew where we were and what fun was to be had. I'm excited for you to learn that Jesus loves you.
You've been uncharacteristically fussy this week and today we found out why. Your top two teeth are coming in! Your right tooth is poking right on through and the left one looks like it is not far behind. I'm not sure how I feel about that. When you just had teeth on the bottom you still were pretty baby like but now you're going to be looking so much more like a little boy. *sniff* Where did the time go?
Oh, and one more thing, which is kind of about me I guess. The other day I was trying to juggle some of the shapes from your shape sorter. Really I was just throwing them up in the air and they were going everywhere because I couldn't really do it at all. You were watching me and laughing hysterically. So I got all crafty and made myself three bean bags out of some of your old clothes. And I taught myself to juggle for real. I'm not circus clown material yet by any means but I am proud of my progress just in the past week. I can actually do 5 or 6 tosses before I get out of control and bean bags come raining down around you. I'm determined to be the cool mom who can juggle. Kids eat that up, I'm telling you.
Well my little nugget, it's getting late and I should try to get some sleep. I love you bunches and even though I'm sad to see you grow up so fast, I am already so proud of you and I can't wait to see what you're capable of as you get older.
Love always,
Mama
P.S. We took you to the water park the other day but I have some red-eye fixing to do before I can post most of the pictures. But here's a sneak peek.
Well my little Sethy Poo, you are 10 months old now. I know I have been a little self absorbed lately and only blogging about coupons and my new job. So this one's for you. I'm a little late as usual, you keep me pretty busy these days. You would NOT cooperate this month when I tried to take your picture with the monkey. You would think I was trying to burn you with a hot poker the way you squirmed and arched your back the whole time. Oh well, better luck next time.
As I briefly mentioned yesterday, you are walking like crazy now. When you want to get from one side of the room to the other, you almost always walk. You only drop down and crawl when you want to get there REALLY fast, and this afternoon you actually took a few fast walking steps first before dropping down and sprinting the rest of the way on your hands and knees. What were you sprinting toward? I'll tell you - the bathroom. You are obsessed with the bottom drawer where I keep my feminine products. I've had to throw away many a tampon that you've slobbered all over. Thankfully I haven't needed a lot of those lately. One day I also spotted you trucking across the bedroom with one pad in your mouth and another in your hand. Not sure where you were going but you were on a mission with those pads. So anyway, the second you are set free in our bedroom you make a beeline for that drawer and start eating stuff and tossing the rest all over the place. I think we're getting along into your "I-need-to-empty-this-container-immediately" phase. We've strategically placed things around that are safe for you to scatter around. Maybe not completely sanitary, but safe. The tupperware is now in a lower cabinet where you can reach and I spend several evenings a week retrieving plastic bowls and lids from all over the kitchen and putting them away. Today you emptied two of the drawers in your dresser in about 10 seconds flat. We also have a lower drawer where we keep a bunch of "safe" kitchen utensils, like wire whisks, spatulas, wooden spoons, things like that... well last night I glanced down at you and what did you have in your mouth but a MICROPLANE. Um, whoops! And what am I supposed to do, just yank it out of your mouth? Yikes. I managed to extract it from your grip without zesting your mouth, thankfully. And put it away in the correct drawer with the other hazardous and sharp objects. Geez.
Oh! So we did take you for a little checkup at the pediatrician last week. I totally do not know your stats :( I want to say you were about 21 lbs 7 oz and 29.5 inches.... but I can't remember specifically. But that's pretty close. You were fascinated by the big mirror next to the exam table and spent a good amount of time high fiving yourself and yelling. You got a very concerned look on your face when the doctor checked your ears, and were really annoyed about daddy holding you while the nurse took some blood from your toe. But other than that you were very pleased with the whole experience. No shots this time, lucky for you. We talked about the flu shot a little because we were mildly concerned about the puking incidents you'd had after eating eggs. You have since eaten a bit of egg without puking so it's probably nothing, but we decided to just skip it this time. Surprisingly, the doc didn't pressure us about it and just said we might want to get it ourselves since he's probably not going to catch it anywhere else.
What else... oh other fun stuff, the church nursery! We started going to the 5pm service at a church in town and you've been to the nursery 3 weeks in a row now. We put you in with the walkers since you were so close to walking at the time and we didn't want to have to move you right away. You seem to really like it. Plenty of room to cruise around and lots of new toys to play with. Last week while we were signing you in I had you sitting on the counter in front of me and you kept whipping around to see what was going on in the classroom. It was pretty clear you knew where we were and what fun was to be had. I'm excited for you to learn that Jesus loves you.
You've been uncharacteristically fussy this week and today we found out why. Your top two teeth are coming in! Your right tooth is poking right on through and the left one looks like it is not far behind. I'm not sure how I feel about that. When you just had teeth on the bottom you still were pretty baby like but now you're going to be looking so much more like a little boy. *sniff* Where did the time go?
Oh, and one more thing, which is kind of about me I guess. The other day I was trying to juggle some of the shapes from your shape sorter. Really I was just throwing them up in the air and they were going everywhere because I couldn't really do it at all. You were watching me and laughing hysterically. So I got all crafty and made myself three bean bags out of some of your old clothes. And I taught myself to juggle for real. I'm not circus clown material yet by any means but I am proud of my progress just in the past week. I can actually do 5 or 6 tosses before I get out of control and bean bags come raining down around you. I'm determined to be the cool mom who can juggle. Kids eat that up, I'm telling you.
Well my little nugget, it's getting late and I should try to get some sleep. I love you bunches and even though I'm sad to see you grow up so fast, I am already so proud of you and I can't wait to see what you're capable of as you get older.
Love always,
Mama
P.S. We took you to the water park the other day but I have some red-eye fixing to do before I can post most of the pictures. But here's a sneak peek.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Winds of Change
Big happenings today... I resigned from my jobby job. I've accepted a position at CHAS, where I previously worked for 4 years after graduating from WSU. It seems that a new era has begun right on schedule. 4 years of high school, 4 years of college, 4 years at CHAS, 4 years at INHS, and now this. This opportunity actually presented itself about a year ago, and for various reasons ended up falling through. When it came up again I felt like I had to jump on it. CHAS made me a really nice offer - fair salary, same schedule, awesome benefits, the opportunity to work from home occasionally, and most importantly an escape route away from the I.T. support business. Because you know how much I have loved taking calls from the help desk the last 4 years. NOT! So I filled out the application about 2 weeks ago, went in for an interview yesterday, signed the job offer today and gave my notice. PHEW! The last 24 hours have been seriously stressful but I'm finally starting to calm down.
So, on December 1st I will walk out the door of INHS and basically step directly onto a plane to Portland, where I will attend a 2 day training seminar as the new CHAS Business Intelligence Analyst. I know, fancy pants title, huh? We'll just have to wait and see what that really means. For now though my understanding is that it will be everything I love about my current job, and NONE of the things that I hate. Score! And just to be clear, at least 75% of my current job is comprised of the things that I hate. Blech.
And speaking of change... Seth is VERY quickly mastering this whole walking thing. As of today I would say he walks at least as much as he crawls, maybe more. He walks all over the place, it is CRAZY. My BABY can walk. That is so weird.
So, on December 1st I will walk out the door of INHS and basically step directly onto a plane to Portland, where I will attend a 2 day training seminar as the new CHAS Business Intelligence Analyst. I know, fancy pants title, huh? We'll just have to wait and see what that really means. For now though my understanding is that it will be everything I love about my current job, and NONE of the things that I hate. Score! And just to be clear, at least 75% of my current job is comprised of the things that I hate. Blech.
And speaking of change... Seth is VERY quickly mastering this whole walking thing. As of today I would say he walks at least as much as he crawls, maybe more. He walks all over the place, it is CRAZY. My BABY can walk. That is so weird.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Rite Aid Rookie Shop
I can't believe coupon has now become a verb in my vocabulary! So I've been "couponing" now for, oh, about a month I guess. It's been a learning experience. I have gotten frustrated a lot because I'll spend some time at home carefully putting together a deal scenario, only to get to the store and have it all fly out the window because I get distracted and put other things in my cart, the store is out of something that I was going to get, etc, etc. But today everything came together, not exactly perfect but I am pretty proud. This is what I bought.
All of the above rang up at $44 and some change. After coupons I ran my debit card for $10.87 and got back $5 in rewards to use on my next shopping trip. So basically $5.87 for ALL of the above. I'm getting better at this! And I have to give Seth a lot of credit, he is so very patient on our bargain hunting adventures. I just wish I could convince him that he should not chew on the shopping cart.
A word of caution about shopping at Rite Aid... if you're paying full price there you are paying too much. Knowing what I do now I would never shop there without matching a sale with a coupon every single time.
All of the above rang up at $44 and some change. After coupons I ran my debit card for $10.87 and got back $5 in rewards to use on my next shopping trip. So basically $5.87 for ALL of the above. I'm getting better at this! And I have to give Seth a lot of credit, he is so very patient on our bargain hunting adventures. I just wish I could convince him that he should not chew on the shopping cart.
A word of caution about shopping at Rite Aid... if you're paying full price there you are paying too much. Knowing what I do now I would never shop there without matching a sale with a coupon every single time.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Hip Hip Hooray!
So just a quick post here as I promised myself I'd go to bed by 9pm tonight. I've been staying up well past 10:30pm every night lately and it's made the mornings really tough.
I can officially say that Seth is sleeping through the night most nights. He goes to bed really easy right around 7/7:30pm. Before we go to bed we hear him occasionally whimpering a bit but he usually goes back to sleep without needing any help. Once in a great while Eric will go in and replace a pacifier, but that's it. He sleeps good until past 5am now but wakes up then to eat, usually by 6am. But I feed him and he goes back to sleep until at least 7:30, sometimes 8am or later if Eric is lucky.
If you hadn't noticed I have been on hiatus from running since my hip has been bothering me. I have self diagnosed IT(iliotibial) band syndrome. My running friends tell me it's usually because of tightness so I have to let it heal and then make sure I do plenty of stretching to keep that bunch of tissue nice and loose. So I've been "off" for almost two weeks now and I can finally say today it barely hurt when I walked. I'm told after it stops hurting completely I should still wait another week before I start running again. Major setback, boo. After all my research though I am not surprised at all, this is a very common thing to get during pregnancy, which I did, and then have it recur.
So there you have it. That's all I have time for, it is 9:05pm so I'm already late. Night Night.
I can officially say that Seth is sleeping through the night most nights. He goes to bed really easy right around 7/7:30pm. Before we go to bed we hear him occasionally whimpering a bit but he usually goes back to sleep without needing any help. Once in a great while Eric will go in and replace a pacifier, but that's it. He sleeps good until past 5am now but wakes up then to eat, usually by 6am. But I feed him and he goes back to sleep until at least 7:30, sometimes 8am or later if Eric is lucky.
If you hadn't noticed I have been on hiatus from running since my hip has been bothering me. I have self diagnosed IT(iliotibial) band syndrome. My running friends tell me it's usually because of tightness so I have to let it heal and then make sure I do plenty of stretching to keep that bunch of tissue nice and loose. So I've been "off" for almost two weeks now and I can finally say today it barely hurt when I walked. I'm told after it stops hurting completely I should still wait another week before I start running again. Major setback, boo. After all my research though I am not surprised at all, this is a very common thing to get during pregnancy, which I did, and then have it recur.
So there you have it. That's all I have time for, it is 9:05pm so I'm already late. Night Night.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Baby steps! (not so baby post)
Seth has been really taking strides ;) with his mobility lately and today was one for the record books. When I got home from work he was standing up holding on to the couch so I crouched down a few feet away and asked him to come say hi. He is always really excited to see me after work so he was highly motivated. He let go of the couch, wobbled a little, and took a tiny little step with his left foot. Then he took another tiny little step with his left foot. Then he took ANOTHER tiny step with his left foot. All with no hands! Then he dropped to his knees and stomped over to me. So proud of my little guy! Alright, so it's not technically walking but it is so darn close. Later in the evening he did it again. Just the left foot still but this time it was a much bigger step, probably the equivalent of the first three combined. I'm guessing we'll have some real walking here within a week or so. Yikes! He's also quite the climber and is always trying to crawl out of my lap and over the back of the couch. Nana says 9 months is way too young to be walking because kids are so dumb at that age. No fear baby!
Above is the little Samurai suit Natalie picked up in Hong Kong. So adorable!
We took Seth to the Spokane County Fair back in September, Geez I am so behind! The reason I bring it up actually is just to note that around that time Seth suddenly started getting startled by loud noises. We had stopped to watch the kids' tractor pull and I had Seth in the Moby wrap. Well there was quite a crowd cheering the kids on and all of a sudden I noticed Seth was FREAKING out and crying. We moved away from the chaos and he calmed down right away. He also had a poopy diaper so I'm sure that wasn't helping. Here we are checking out a hot tub, before he got upset of course.
Since then he has also gotten upset once when I cheered him on for going on the potty, more on that later, as well as tonight when Natalie and I cheered him on for taking a step. So not sure what that is about but I'll have to try to be more sensitive to his feelings because my natural instinct is to laugh at him for some reason. Mother of the year, right here!
One of his favorite games right now is hide and go seek. Eric or I will get down on our hands and knees and crawl out of sight. He loves to come "find" us and laughs hysterically when he does. It is so much fun! One of my favorite sounds in the world now is the pitter patter of little hands on the carpet with him panting with the effort. This is a good activity to do in the hour or so before bedtime, it really seems to wear him out. After awhile he takes frequent breaks with his head down on the floor. Then of course he seems to sleep really well after that.
Eric observed that he's so much more grown up in his sleeping habits these days, like a "real boy." Whereas when he was little of course you would lay him down in his crib and there he would stay, now we find him in all sorts of crazy positions. He moves around a LOT during the night. Last night he was flat on his back in the center of his crib with both arms sticking straight out perpendicular to his body (above). Eric says I am playing with fire taking pictures like that. Flash and everything, but he didn't move a muscle.
He is also very good at finding his pacifier and has it in his mouth a lot more than he used to. When he is with me he very rarely gets it unless it's bedtime or naptime. Daddy is a little more lenient and occasionally he'll get it to tide him over while he waits for me to get home from work to feed him. By the way I have since replaced the bumper on the back side of the crib so that outlet is not so tempting. I was also trying to deter him from pushing the pacifiers right out through the rails, but no he still just drops them over the top, little stinker. Whenever it seems like we are running low I can just pull the crib out from the wall and gather them up. Of course he rarely throws them towards the middle of the room where I can easily retrieve them.
He has now peed while sitting on the toilet TWICE. The first time 100% of it went on my pants and the floor. The second time about 50% actually went IN, sweeeeet! I have been taking him into the bathroom right when he gets up from his nap if his diaper is still dry. He usually looks at me like I'm crazy but I think he will figure it out eventually. Even if it saves us one diaper a week, that is something. He pooped in no less than FIVE of them today, 4 of them on daddy's shift. Haha, that's my boy! We have sort of made the switch to Huggies because I got a super awesome deal on them at Rite Aid. We tried them out this week and they fit awesome (the Pure & Natural size 4). The Pampers Baby Dry size 3 we ran out of and they seemed kind of tight anyway, but the size 4's are a little big and have leaked a few times. My big kiddo was 21.6 lbs as of yesterday but I suppose a little less today after all his poops. He is still legal up to 22 lbs in his original Chicco car seat although we did get a convertible too, which we love. But I'll be sad when we have to keep moving it back and forth from Eric's car to mine. Right now we have one in each which is really convenient.
It seems like everyone I know is posting pumpkin patch pictures, so I better jump on the bandwagon while I have a minute. We took Seth 2 weeks ago up in Greenbluff and I think he had a pretty good time. Lots to see. I might post a few more pictures from that day later.
Well this post was originally intended just to report on the walking. But I've been killing time waiting for a scheduled database backup to complete so I can do a server upgrade. And now the time has come. Nighty night! Congratulations if you made it all the way to the end of this monster post.
Above is the little Samurai suit Natalie picked up in Hong Kong. So adorable!
We took Seth to the Spokane County Fair back in September, Geez I am so behind! The reason I bring it up actually is just to note that around that time Seth suddenly started getting startled by loud noises. We had stopped to watch the kids' tractor pull and I had Seth in the Moby wrap. Well there was quite a crowd cheering the kids on and all of a sudden I noticed Seth was FREAKING out and crying. We moved away from the chaos and he calmed down right away. He also had a poopy diaper so I'm sure that wasn't helping. Here we are checking out a hot tub, before he got upset of course.
Since then he has also gotten upset once when I cheered him on for going on the potty, more on that later, as well as tonight when Natalie and I cheered him on for taking a step. So not sure what that is about but I'll have to try to be more sensitive to his feelings because my natural instinct is to laugh at him for some reason. Mother of the year, right here!
One of his favorite games right now is hide and go seek. Eric or I will get down on our hands and knees and crawl out of sight. He loves to come "find" us and laughs hysterically when he does. It is so much fun! One of my favorite sounds in the world now is the pitter patter of little hands on the carpet with him panting with the effort. This is a good activity to do in the hour or so before bedtime, it really seems to wear him out. After awhile he takes frequent breaks with his head down on the floor. Then of course he seems to sleep really well after that.
Eric observed that he's so much more grown up in his sleeping habits these days, like a "real boy." Whereas when he was little of course you would lay him down in his crib and there he would stay, now we find him in all sorts of crazy positions. He moves around a LOT during the night. Last night he was flat on his back in the center of his crib with both arms sticking straight out perpendicular to his body (above). Eric says I am playing with fire taking pictures like that. Flash and everything, but he didn't move a muscle.
He is also very good at finding his pacifier and has it in his mouth a lot more than he used to. When he is with me he very rarely gets it unless it's bedtime or naptime. Daddy is a little more lenient and occasionally he'll get it to tide him over while he waits for me to get home from work to feed him. By the way I have since replaced the bumper on the back side of the crib so that outlet is not so tempting. I was also trying to deter him from pushing the pacifiers right out through the rails, but no he still just drops them over the top, little stinker. Whenever it seems like we are running low I can just pull the crib out from the wall and gather them up. Of course he rarely throws them towards the middle of the room where I can easily retrieve them.
He has now peed while sitting on the toilet TWICE. The first time 100% of it went on my pants and the floor. The second time about 50% actually went IN, sweeeeet! I have been taking him into the bathroom right when he gets up from his nap if his diaper is still dry. He usually looks at me like I'm crazy but I think he will figure it out eventually. Even if it saves us one diaper a week, that is something. He pooped in no less than FIVE of them today, 4 of them on daddy's shift. Haha, that's my boy! We have sort of made the switch to Huggies because I got a super awesome deal on them at Rite Aid. We tried them out this week and they fit awesome (the Pure & Natural size 4). The Pampers Baby Dry size 3 we ran out of and they seemed kind of tight anyway, but the size 4's are a little big and have leaked a few times. My big kiddo was 21.6 lbs as of yesterday but I suppose a little less today after all his poops. He is still legal up to 22 lbs in his original Chicco car seat although we did get a convertible too, which we love. But I'll be sad when we have to keep moving it back and forth from Eric's car to mine. Right now we have one in each which is really convenient.
It seems like everyone I know is posting pumpkin patch pictures, so I better jump on the bandwagon while I have a minute. We took Seth 2 weeks ago up in Greenbluff and I think he had a pretty good time. Lots to see. I might post a few more pictures from that day later.
Well this post was originally intended just to report on the walking. But I've been killing time waiting for a scheduled database backup to complete so I can do a server upgrade. And now the time has come. Nighty night! Congratulations if you made it all the way to the end of this monster post.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Seth 9 months
Dear Seth,
Holy cow, you are already 9 months old! You've now officially been outside of me as long as you were inside of me. And I still have about 3 pesky pounds to lose. Dangit! You're going to help me out with that though since I'll be chasing you all over the place pretty soon.
Not a whole lot has changed with your mobility in the few weeks since you started to crawl. Your crawl is SO funny to watch because you always "stomp" your hands on the ground. Usually you've got your head down too and aren't necessarily looking where you are going. You can pull yourself up and walk along a straight edge of the couch holding on with ease. But no amount of coaxing can get you to turn a corner. You don't seem interested in the least in practicing walking with someone holding your hands. You usually immediately drop to your knees and crawl where you want to go. You know your limits, and like Grandpa says, one of these days you'll probably just run across the room out of the blue. You do practice balancing upright on your feet quite a bit and can stand there without holding on for a good 20-30 seconds at a time. Oh, and you have climbed the stairs twice all by yourself with no hesitation.
I'm happy to report your sleeping at night has gotten a lot better. Still no 12 hour stretches but it's nothing like it used to be (thanks to Dr. Ferber). The last few days we seem to be regressing a bit, but Eric insists you are going through a growth spurt. Maybe he is right because you can sure put away the food. Or maybe you're working on your 4th tooth? We'll see! Speaking of food, you will eat just about anything (including grass, the remote control, cat hair, my face, etc). You get a real disgusted look on your face when we put stuff in your mouth you don't like, but usually you'll keep eating it anyway.
You've had 2 episodes of barfing now. The second one happened on Daddy's shift, about two weeks ago I think. The two of you were actually at Toys R Us at the time. I wish I could have seen it because apparently Daddy was standing there cupping your bib under your chin, trying to catch all your puke, and this lady comes up and goes "Ohhh what little cutie! Are you going to smile for me?" Hahaha. Daddy was like "uh, do you not see what is happening here?" Some people are just so dumb. Don't ever repeat that buddy. Anyway, these two barf incidents coincidentally both happened after eating egg yolk. I talked to the nurse in your pediatrician's office and she said "oh honey we don't recommend giving solid foods until at least 6 months and table foods not until a year." Mind you, this was right after I had told her that you were 8 months old. And what exactly is a "table food"? And who does she think she is calling me "Honey"??? Needless to say we won't be giving you egg again for awhile, and maybe we'll even get you tested just to make sure you are not allergic. Since you probably should get a flu shot... but the jury is still out on that one. But you are getting good at mashing stuff up with your gums and can handle chunks of banana, pears, tofu, bread, and the latest and my favoritest - CHEESE! You were all over the cheese yesterday.
Play time is interesting. You will go from whining and needing constant interaction for an hour to suddenly being totally independent and quietly pulling toys out of your bin and examining them one by one. We got you a set of Mega Blocks last week which you and Daddy both enjoy. Daddy builds these elaborate towers and you humor him for a little while before crawling over and destroying them like Godzilla.
You're starting to show slight signs of separation anxiety. When I come home from work in the afternoon, once you've spotted me I cannot leave your sight again for awhile or you get really upset. Usually I try to sneak in the door so I can go change my clothes and use the bathroom before I say hi. Maybe it's because you love me, which I'm sure is true but mostly I think it's because you're hungry. Yup, you are still breastfeeding. I don't know what I'm going to do when you stop because I've gotten so used to being able to eat whatever I want.
Well my darling, time to sign off for today. I forgot to get a monkey picture today but I did get this, which is pretty awesome.
I have a TON of other pictures I need to post. So if you do me a favor and entertain yourself for awhile this week I will get right on it.
Loves,
Mama
Holy cow, you are already 9 months old! You've now officially been outside of me as long as you were inside of me. And I still have about 3 pesky pounds to lose. Dangit! You're going to help me out with that though since I'll be chasing you all over the place pretty soon.
Not a whole lot has changed with your mobility in the few weeks since you started to crawl. Your crawl is SO funny to watch because you always "stomp" your hands on the ground. Usually you've got your head down too and aren't necessarily looking where you are going. You can pull yourself up and walk along a straight edge of the couch holding on with ease. But no amount of coaxing can get you to turn a corner. You don't seem interested in the least in practicing walking with someone holding your hands. You usually immediately drop to your knees and crawl where you want to go. You know your limits, and like Grandpa says, one of these days you'll probably just run across the room out of the blue. You do practice balancing upright on your feet quite a bit and can stand there without holding on for a good 20-30 seconds at a time. Oh, and you have climbed the stairs twice all by yourself with no hesitation.
I'm happy to report your sleeping at night has gotten a lot better. Still no 12 hour stretches but it's nothing like it used to be (thanks to Dr. Ferber). The last few days we seem to be regressing a bit, but Eric insists you are going through a growth spurt. Maybe he is right because you can sure put away the food. Or maybe you're working on your 4th tooth? We'll see! Speaking of food, you will eat just about anything (including grass, the remote control, cat hair, my face, etc). You get a real disgusted look on your face when we put stuff in your mouth you don't like, but usually you'll keep eating it anyway.
You've had 2 episodes of barfing now. The second one happened on Daddy's shift, about two weeks ago I think. The two of you were actually at Toys R Us at the time. I wish I could have seen it because apparently Daddy was standing there cupping your bib under your chin, trying to catch all your puke, and this lady comes up and goes "Ohhh what little cutie! Are you going to smile for me?" Hahaha. Daddy was like "uh, do you not see what is happening here?" Some people are just so dumb. Don't ever repeat that buddy. Anyway, these two barf incidents coincidentally both happened after eating egg yolk. I talked to the nurse in your pediatrician's office and she said "oh honey we don't recommend giving solid foods until at least 6 months and table foods not until a year." Mind you, this was right after I had told her that you were 8 months old. And what exactly is a "table food"? And who does she think she is calling me "Honey"??? Needless to say we won't be giving you egg again for awhile, and maybe we'll even get you tested just to make sure you are not allergic. Since you probably should get a flu shot... but the jury is still out on that one. But you are getting good at mashing stuff up with your gums and can handle chunks of banana, pears, tofu, bread, and the latest and my favoritest - CHEESE! You were all over the cheese yesterday.
Play time is interesting. You will go from whining and needing constant interaction for an hour to suddenly being totally independent and quietly pulling toys out of your bin and examining them one by one. We got you a set of Mega Blocks last week which you and Daddy both enjoy. Daddy builds these elaborate towers and you humor him for a little while before crawling over and destroying them like Godzilla.
You're starting to show slight signs of separation anxiety. When I come home from work in the afternoon, once you've spotted me I cannot leave your sight again for awhile or you get really upset. Usually I try to sneak in the door so I can go change my clothes and use the bathroom before I say hi. Maybe it's because you love me, which I'm sure is true but mostly I think it's because you're hungry. Yup, you are still breastfeeding. I don't know what I'm going to do when you stop because I've gotten so used to being able to eat whatever I want.
Well my darling, time to sign off for today. I forgot to get a monkey picture today but I did get this, which is pretty awesome.
I have a TON of other pictures I need to post. So if you do me a favor and entertain yourself for awhile this week I will get right on it.
Loves,
Mama
Monday, October 11, 2010
Bargain shopping adventures
So, I could basically write a whole book about what's gone on with me all week in my quest to find the greatest deals in all of Spokane. But I'm sure it would be boring, so suffice to say it involved dragging Seth around to an average of 3 stores a day, every day last week. I did want to document the specifics of my shopping trip yesterday though because I felt like it was the cherry on the sundae that was my week.
I spent hours in the morning painstakingly going through the ads and coupons from the Sunday paper and matching up with what I already had, seeing what items we actually use, etc etc. I put together a pretty awesome deal at Rite Aid that was going to get me over $45 worth of cleaning supplies and moisturizer for under $9. Now, this is rookie level savings believe it or not. But for me it... was... awesome.
It all started because I had a coupon for $1 off any 2 Cascade gel dishwasher detergent. And Rite Aid had 45oz Cascade gel on sale 2/$6 with a $1 "Up" Reward which is (if you don't shop at Rite Aid) kind of like a rebate but better because there's no forms to fill out and mail in or submit online. So basically it was going to be 2/$4 which works out to about 4.5 cents an ounce. I also had a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase and they were having a big Buy 1 Get 1 Free sale on some other cleaning supplies. ANYWAY, long story short I went to 3 different Rite Aids only to find the shelf devoid of 45oz Cascade gel at each one. Boo! At the 4th Rite Aid the sale price tag was stuck on to the shelf where the 75oz size was sitting so I gave it a shot. No such luck, they rang up at 5.99 each but since I had already finished checking out (and survived the skeptical cashier ringing up my SIXTEEN coupons), I was kind of exhausted and REALLY thirsty I just headed back out to my car.
I pounded the Powerade Zero I had bought and with renewed energy I hit a 4th Rite Aid and they didn't have the right size either.
Aside: before you judge me for wasting gas or something I did want to mention that I was going out to the valley already to run on the trail and there were two almost right on my way. Then later I was up on the South Hill to go to Safeway and there are literally 3 Rite Aid stores within about a 1 mile radius.
After Rite Aid #4 I got smart and called the 5th one (I know, I'm a little slow). Yes, they said they had the size that was on sale, so away I went. I walked in and they HAD NO 45oz CASCADE. Ugh. Totally disgusted I managed to track down the girl I had talked to on the phone and while she went to investigate the case of the missing detergent I had the cashier refund my previous purchase of the larger size. When he gets done I look down the aisle and see my helper standing back by the detergent with the manager basically scratching her head. I wandered back to see how things were going and she explained that the 45oz size on sale must have too many phosphates so they probably weren't going to even get it in. They said what they could do was give me the larger size for the sale price. I actually felt bad about that and said that wasn't really necessary but they pretty much insisted and I caved, I mean what do I look like, a saint? So I got 150oz of Cascade detergent for $5. FIVE DOLLARS. That's about 50% off Wal*Mart's online price, which was the cheapest I could find. Besides, I never would have bought it at Wal*Mart anyway because I hate going there and normally I would have just waited until we ran out and then buy it at Fred Meyer whether it was on sale or not.
In conclusion, over the last two weeks I have used over $160 in coupons and sent in for over $75 in rebates. That's $235+ in savings which doesn't even factor in my savings off of the shelf price by paying attention to what is on sale.
We are ALL stocked up now on quite a few things so I think I'm going on hiatus from shopping, briefly, to reflect on what I've learned and more importantly let the adrenaline drain from my body.
Tomorrow Seth will be 9 months old. Where has the year gone?
I spent hours in the morning painstakingly going through the ads and coupons from the Sunday paper and matching up with what I already had, seeing what items we actually use, etc etc. I put together a pretty awesome deal at Rite Aid that was going to get me over $45 worth of cleaning supplies and moisturizer for under $9. Now, this is rookie level savings believe it or not. But for me it... was... awesome.
It all started because I had a coupon for $1 off any 2 Cascade gel dishwasher detergent. And Rite Aid had 45oz Cascade gel on sale 2/$6 with a $1 "Up" Reward which is (if you don't shop at Rite Aid) kind of like a rebate but better because there's no forms to fill out and mail in or submit online. So basically it was going to be 2/$4 which works out to about 4.5 cents an ounce. I also had a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase and they were having a big Buy 1 Get 1 Free sale on some other cleaning supplies. ANYWAY, long story short I went to 3 different Rite Aids only to find the shelf devoid of 45oz Cascade gel at each one. Boo! At the 4th Rite Aid the sale price tag was stuck on to the shelf where the 75oz size was sitting so I gave it a shot. No such luck, they rang up at 5.99 each but since I had already finished checking out (and survived the skeptical cashier ringing up my SIXTEEN coupons), I was kind of exhausted and REALLY thirsty I just headed back out to my car.
I pounded the Powerade Zero I had bought and with renewed energy I hit a 4th Rite Aid and they didn't have the right size either.
Aside: before you judge me for wasting gas or something I did want to mention that I was going out to the valley already to run on the trail and there were two almost right on my way. Then later I was up on the South Hill to go to Safeway and there are literally 3 Rite Aid stores within about a 1 mile radius.
After Rite Aid #4 I got smart and called the 5th one (I know, I'm a little slow). Yes, they said they had the size that was on sale, so away I went. I walked in and they HAD NO 45oz CASCADE. Ugh. Totally disgusted I managed to track down the girl I had talked to on the phone and while she went to investigate the case of the missing detergent I had the cashier refund my previous purchase of the larger size. When he gets done I look down the aisle and see my helper standing back by the detergent with the manager basically scratching her head. I wandered back to see how things were going and she explained that the 45oz size on sale must have too many phosphates so they probably weren't going to even get it in. They said what they could do was give me the larger size for the sale price. I actually felt bad about that and said that wasn't really necessary but they pretty much insisted and I caved, I mean what do I look like, a saint? So I got 150oz of Cascade detergent for $5. FIVE DOLLARS. That's about 50% off Wal*Mart's online price, which was the cheapest I could find. Besides, I never would have bought it at Wal*Mart anyway because I hate going there and normally I would have just waited until we ran out and then buy it at Fred Meyer whether it was on sale or not.
In conclusion, over the last two weeks I have used over $160 in coupons and sent in for over $75 in rebates. That's $235+ in savings which doesn't even factor in my savings off of the shelf price by paying attention to what is on sale.
We are ALL stocked up now on quite a few things so I think I'm going on hiatus from shopping, briefly, to reflect on what I've learned and more importantly let the adrenaline drain from my body.
Tomorrow Seth will be 9 months old. Where has the year gone?
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Seth 38 Weeks
Dear Seth,
You are 38 weeks old today and I noticed this afternoon you have a third tooth poking through. No wonder you have been whining so much! It is your bottom left lateral incisor.
That's all I have time for.
Loves,
Mama
You are 38 weeks old today and I noticed this afternoon you have a third tooth poking through. No wonder you have been whining so much! It is your bottom left lateral incisor.
That's all I have time for.
Loves,
Mama
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Obsession of the week: Coupons!
The other day I was inspired by this post from a fellow LHS alumni, so I started poking around to see what other deals I could find for my little
family. My eyes have been opened to a whole WORLD of coupons. The
number of sites and blogs dedicated to this is completely overwhelming,
but this week I have scored some majorly good deals and I am hooked.
Ironic, because one of my all time favorite movie quotes is from Orange
County when Catherine O'Hara is telling Colin Hanks about how she almost
married her tennis instructor, Damian, and if she had they'd be "living
in a condo clipping coupons and eating lunch meat." Anyway, I digress.
The point is I guess in the past I have just been too proud (and lazy)
to clip coupons. Really it seemed like $.25 or $.75 here and there just
wasn't worth the effort. Come to find out it adds up fast if you are
careful and don't buy stuff you wouldn't otherwise buy JUST because you
have a coupon.
family. My eyes have been opened to a whole WORLD of coupons. The
number of sites and blogs dedicated to this is completely overwhelming,
but this week I have scored some majorly good deals and I am hooked.
Ironic, because one of my all time favorite movie quotes is from Orange
County when Catherine O'Hara is telling Colin Hanks about how she almost
married her tennis instructor, Damian, and if she had they'd be "living
in a condo clipping coupons and eating lunch meat." Anyway, I digress.
The point is I guess in the past I have just been too proud (and lazy)
to clip coupons. Really it seemed like $.25 or $.75 here and there just
wasn't worth the effort. Come to find out it adds up fast if you are
careful and don't buy stuff you wouldn't otherwise buy JUST because you
have a coupon.
So here's what I got this week that I'm most proud of.
4 cans of Eric's (Edge) shaving cream for $1.99
Regularly ~$2.50 each = saved $8
2 x 100oz Tide Free & Gentle for 15.98
Regularly ~$14.50 each = saved $13
Needless to say, we are set on shaving cream and laundry detergent for
awhile and I have $21 in my pocket to spend on... Starbucks! Which is
good because I'm totally addicted to their Passion Tea Lemonade.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Seth 37 Weeks
Dear Seth,
You are 37 weeks old today. I've really been slacking on my weekly letters AND pictures. It's just been so busy lately and I've been exhausted.
Sleep: last night I'm not 100% sure but I think you slept EIGHT hours in a row. EIGHT. It was glorious. Letting you cry a little bit has really paid off. The downside is I think you're sleeping better so when you wake up early in the morning you are ready to go! The last few days you've been bright eyed and bushy tailed before 7am. It doesn't bother me too much since I have to be up for work anyway, but I'm sure your daddy could use another hour.
Eat: So due to the above we have been able to drop one feeding at night most nights. Yay! So you usually nurse 3x a day now and we try to creatively mix breast milk in with your solid food as much as possible. You don't have a bottle in the morning at all anymore so I could probably stop pumping at work, but it's nice to keep my stock up just in case.
Mischief: Yesterday you plucked the letter H off the keyboard of a laptop, swallowed it, and then up-chucked it (along with most of your dinner). Auntie Natalie got to deal with that one. You are a pro crawler now and don't seem too interested in taking the next "step" haha. If we hold your hands and try to get you to walk towards us you just lower down onto your knees as if to say "guys, this is what I'm doing now, don't rush me." I'm not sure if this is true of all babies but you sure seem to have a destructive streak. Daddy builds these elaborate towers out of books and blocks and other various stackable toys, and as soon as you see it you speed crawl over and knock it down. And no, just knocking it down isn't enough, you have to completely level it and then use one hand to paw at the pile of rubble until it's spread out across the room as much as possible.
You've got the sniffles again this week. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to not be able to blow my nose but as usual it doesn't seem to bother you too much. I try to help you out but you are absolutely against having your nose suctioned or even wiped. I used to always wonder how "those moms" could let their child run around with snot all over their face, but now I understand.
Once again I thought I would have nothing to say and ended up writing a novel. And I could probably go on, you are just so fascinating and changing all the time. I can't wait to see what's in store for you this week!
Love, Mama
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Decaf... And tears
I've been virtually caffeine free now for over A WEEK and I think I'm through the worst of the withdrawl. Score! I had been drinking regular coffee again ever since I went back to work, and it had really gotten out of hand. Whenever I would get one of my wicked migraines I would drink a TON of coffee hoping to take the edge off. So I was up to like 3 cups a day or more. Lately I've been contemplating making the switch back to decaf since Seth has been such a little pill at night and was showing NO SIGN of improvement no matter what we did. According to my research you should be able to have up to 5 cups of coffee without affecting your little one, so this may be only temporary. We'll see.
As for the tears… I've been letting Seth cry a little bit. I hate hearing it but I have to admit it works better than anything else we've tried. Against my better judgement we had really gotten into the bad bad habit of rocking him to sleep for almost every nap and bed time. For naps I think both of us - actually all THREE of us - were kind of enjoying the rocking. Eric and I really don't mind rocking in the chair with sleeping Seth in our arms. It's nice and relaxing and it's one opportunity we have to snuggle when he's not squirming to get down or reaching for something. During the day, it's nice. At night, multiple times a night, not so nice. Besides, both of us have fallen asleep in the chair holding him and that is just a recipe for a bump on the noggin if I ever heard one.
So he cries. For the last 3 days or so I've been roughly following the advice of Dr. Ferber and doing a progressive waiting method, starting with 3 minutes, then 5, then 7. About half the time he falls asleep before the 5 minutes is up, and I've never had to go in a 3rd time so far. Last night at bedtime he cried for less than a minute. A big change is that I do not pick him up at all when I go in and I only stay for about a minute or less. This has just been implemented at the start of a nap or at bed time. I'm not doing any timings in the wee hours yet because I'm still trying to catch enough z's to get through the work day, so he has been getting a feeding if it's been 5 or 6 hours. But in just a few days it seems we have already significantly decreased the number of other wake ups during the night which I think is helpful for daddy. I think I'll stick with this routine for awhile and see how it goes before I make any other drastic changes.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Puke part 2
Sorry to keep you on pins and needles, Eric and I were heading out the door to the Spokane County Fair this morning, yay! More on that later. I'm so behind on blogging, OMG! I still haven't even written about Seaside yet. Puke blogging is just so much more interesting and worthy of my time.
Anyway, after Seth was asleep for like 5 minutes and I was thanking my lucky stars, he wakes up and pukes again. On my bed. Somehow it also gets all over his head and his arm. This one could probably technically be classified as spit up, it was pretty much all breast milk. But it had that puke smell. Ick! I was at the end of my rope. I called Eric at work (or maybe he called me?) near tears. I still hadn't completely cleaned up the first puke mess, Seth was all gooey, and by now it was way past his bedtime. Do you even understand how hard it is to get pukey pajamas off an 8 month old without getting it all over yourself and everything around you? I don't think you do. Not to mention the bewilderment I was starting to feel. I mean, why in the world was my precious little angel puking his little guts out?
My night in shining armor came home from work. He cleaned up 99.9% of the puke and changed the sheets on our bed while I called the pediatrician and my mom. Get this - our pediatrician does not have a doctor on call for parents to talk to. Their answering machine message says something about how most insurances have a 24 hour nurse hotline, blah blah blah, "please call back during business hours because we really do want to answer your pediatric questions." Um, what? FAIL! Guess who might be shopping for a new pediatrician? I also could not find anything on my insurance card or insurance company website about any such 24 hour hotline. Meanwhile Seth is just crawling around in the living room in just a diaper, happy as a clam. We took his temperature and it was normal and he did not seem to be upset in the least about the events of the evening. I consulted with my own personal nurse hotline aka my mom and we decided not to worry too much about it unless things got worse. Eric went back to work and I managed to get Seth to sleep without any further ado.
A little later I was laying in bed thinking I was sure I remembered reading something on my company intranet about a nurse hotline available for employees. I found the number and gave them a call just for giggles. Here's a little play by play of that conversation:
Nurse hotline: Hello, how can I help you?
Me: I just had a question for the nurse, my 8 month old son was throwing up a bit tonight for no apparent reason.
Nurse hotline: Um, is this an emergency?
Me: Um, no, not really I guess. I mean, I don't think so...
Nurse hotline: Well does he have a pediatrician?
Me: Yes, their answering machine message says to call the nurse hotline.
Nurse hotline: Well here's the thing. If this isn't an emergency then it's going to be tomorrow before anyone calls you back.
Me: Well that's stupid. If this was an emergency I'm pretty sure I would have called 911.
Nurse hotline: I don't know what to tell you ma'am, I'm just an answering service.
Me: Forget it. *click*
Can you even believe that crap????? I am so annoyed. I immediately e-mailed my HR department and told them what I thought of their so-called "24 hour nurse hotline."
So much for making a long story short. This morning Seth was fine and he hasn't shown any signs of illness or other abnormal behavior except for the record FIVE poopy diapers today. FIVE. We haven't had that many in one day since he was a newborn.
And for the record I have since decided that puke is definitely worse than poop. At least poop is usually in a diaper and not all unpredictable and all over the place.
Anyway, after Seth was asleep for like 5 minutes and I was thanking my lucky stars, he wakes up and pukes again. On my bed. Somehow it also gets all over his head and his arm. This one could probably technically be classified as spit up, it was pretty much all breast milk. But it had that puke smell. Ick! I was at the end of my rope. I called Eric at work (or maybe he called me?) near tears. I still hadn't completely cleaned up the first puke mess, Seth was all gooey, and by now it was way past his bedtime. Do you even understand how hard it is to get pukey pajamas off an 8 month old without getting it all over yourself and everything around you? I don't think you do. Not to mention the bewilderment I was starting to feel. I mean, why in the world was my precious little angel puking his little guts out?
My night in shining armor came home from work. He cleaned up 99.9% of the puke and changed the sheets on our bed while I called the pediatrician and my mom. Get this - our pediatrician does not have a doctor on call for parents to talk to. Their answering machine message says something about how most insurances have a 24 hour nurse hotline, blah blah blah, "please call back during business hours because we really do want to answer your pediatric questions." Um, what? FAIL! Guess who might be shopping for a new pediatrician? I also could not find anything on my insurance card or insurance company website about any such 24 hour hotline. Meanwhile Seth is just crawling around in the living room in just a diaper, happy as a clam. We took his temperature and it was normal and he did not seem to be upset in the least about the events of the evening. I consulted with my own personal nurse hotline aka my mom and we decided not to worry too much about it unless things got worse. Eric went back to work and I managed to get Seth to sleep without any further ado.
A little later I was laying in bed thinking I was sure I remembered reading something on my company intranet about a nurse hotline available for employees. I found the number and gave them a call just for giggles. Here's a little play by play of that conversation:
Nurse hotline: Hello, how can I help you?
Me: I just had a question for the nurse, my 8 month old son was throwing up a bit tonight for no apparent reason.
Nurse hotline: Um, is this an emergency?
Me: Um, no, not really I guess. I mean, I don't think so...
Nurse hotline: Well does he have a pediatrician?
Me: Yes, their answering machine message says to call the nurse hotline.
Nurse hotline: Well here's the thing. If this isn't an emergency then it's going to be tomorrow before anyone calls you back.
Me: Well that's stupid. If this was an emergency I'm pretty sure I would have called 911.
Nurse hotline: I don't know what to tell you ma'am, I'm just an answering service.
Me: Forget it. *click*
Can you even believe that crap????? I am so annoyed. I immediately e-mailed my HR department and told them what I thought of their so-called "24 hour nurse hotline."
So much for making a long story short. This morning Seth was fine and he hasn't shown any signs of illness or other abnormal behavior except for the record FIVE poopy diapers today. FIVE. We haven't had that many in one day since he was a newborn.
And for the record I have since decided that puke is definitely worse than poop. At least poop is usually in a diaper and not all unpredictable and all over the place.
To puke or not to puke...part 1
PUKE! I have to be honest, ever since Eric and I contemplated becoming parents, I have been DREADING this day (er, yesterday). I have a really hard time with puke, even my own. It could be even worse than poop in my book, but it's really a toss up. So I've been scared about kid puke and having to clean it up, getting it on me, etc. Well last night was my puke initiation apparently. I was getting ready to put Seth to bed and we were having our usual pre bedtime nursing session. When I let down Seth came up coughing and sputtering like he tends to do from time to time. However, this time he didn't just cough, he coughed and gagged, and evicted the ENTIRE contents of his stomach down onto his pajamas, my leg, my arm, and the chair. He'd had a big dinner, green beans, egg, peach banana with some yogurt, mmmm. All over both of us. Of course like most people, Seth doesn't seem to enjoy puking so he was sobbing and crying and trying to bury his head in my chest, with throw up dribbling down his chin. I just sat there frozen like a deer in the headlights.
To make a long story short, I managed to compose myself (sort of), gave us both a bath and got us dressed again. Then he threw up again all over his fresh pajamas, but this time I managed to avoid the shrapnel. So we got yet another pair of pjs on, and laid down in my bed to see if we could get some food down. He nursed a little bit and then fell asleep so I thought I was home free. Not so much.
To be continued....
To make a long story short, I managed to compose myself (sort of), gave us both a bath and got us dressed again. Then he threw up again all over his fresh pajamas, but this time I managed to avoid the shrapnel. So we got yet another pair of pjs on, and laid down in my bed to see if we could get some food down. He nursed a little bit and then fell asleep so I thought I was home free. Not so much.
To be continued....
Friday, September 10, 2010
Random
I have the worst migraine headache this afternoon. I'm thinking about going in to Urgent Care since my regular doctor's office is closed. But wouldn't you know it, I have to wait for Seth to wake up from his nap and today he's decided he wants to sleep longer than the 30 minutes that has been his norm all week.
As much as I hate Wal*Mart, I went there this week to get a new belt for our vacuum (and on that same note - having a broken vacuum when your baby is crawling = gross). Anyway, Wal*Mart's Earth's Best baby food is far cheaper than anywhere else I have seen.
We have been feeding Seth (solids) just at breakfast and dinner, but starting today I'm going to add lunch and see if I can't stuff him full at every meal. I swear he is starving when he wakes up at night, but nursing him during the day is like pulling teeth he is so distracted.
I'm also going to try making breast milk yogurt.
As much as I hate Wal*Mart, I went there this week to get a new belt for our vacuum (and on that same note - having a broken vacuum when your baby is crawling = gross). Anyway, Wal*Mart's Earth's Best baby food is far cheaper than anywhere else I have seen.
We have been feeding Seth (solids) just at breakfast and dinner, but starting today I'm going to add lunch and see if I can't stuff him full at every meal. I swear he is starving when he wakes up at night, but nursing him during the day is like pulling teeth he is so distracted.
I'm also going to try making breast milk yogurt.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Seth 34 Weeks
Dear Seth,
You are now 34 weeks old and getting to be quite the handful. I mean, you always have been I guess, but these days you are really keeping me on my toes. Your lurching crawl has turned into a full blown coordinated CRAWL and you speed across the room lickity split when you want something, e.g. Max, a newspaper, my shoe, etc.
Now that you've sort of mastered the art of moving around, you've turned your attention to other skills. You clap now, all the time. You don't quite make a sound yet because usually your left fist is pretty much closed, but I know exactly what you're doing. You clap with GLEE when you're happy, and smile and laugh at the same time. You still also love watching other people clap. Yay, clapping is so fun! You are babbling a LOT more now too and have added a bunch of sounds to your vocabulary, mostly "da", "ya", and "la". There have been a few more but they all blur together so it's hard to pinpoint the individual syllables.
Last week while we were on vacation you bit me, twice, in the you-know-what. I was NOT happy about that and I let you know it. It hasn't actually happened since, so either you got the message or you've decided your other annoying habit is much more fun. Lately during the day, you start to eat and then you pull off and squish my boob with all your might with both hands. Milk squirts everywhere, and the first few times it was so funny I couldn't help but laugh. Which I'm sure is why you do it constantly now. It's not funny anymore, it hurts and it's wasteful, so I need you to stop it.
Eating solid foods is going pretty swimmingly. I'm pretty willy nilly about feeding you different foods and haven't kept a real detailed list of what you have had and haven't had or your likes and dislikes. As far as I can tell, you just aren't that into it. There are definitely things that you open your mouth more willingly for than others, and a couple of things you flat out refuse. But so far I haven't noticed you get really excited about anything in particular. If I HAD to name your top three favorites I would probably say Zucchini, Pears, and the Gerber Sweet Potato rice puffs. When you like something you hold your arms out and rock back and forth watching and waiting for the next bite. If it's not something you like but you're just tolerating then you're twisting and turning in the high chair trying to keep tabs on what the cats are up to. If you really don't like it then you fuss and arch your back like you're trying to escape, and eventually you stop opening your mouth. I have found that although initially you didn't seem to like peas at all, if I mix them with enough rice cereal you will eat them without making any faces.
Sleep still has its ups and downs. Naps are ok for the most part, still totally inconsistent in terms of length, but I'm learning not to stress too much about it. Night sleep on the other hand - I'm getting motivated to work on. You're still getting fed right before you go down at night around 7ish, then one other time, and then again when I get up in the morning around 5ish (but you go back to bed). So my preference obviously would be to eliminate that middle feeding because I'm sure it would feel glorious to get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night or at least most nights. You sometimes will go 5 or 6 hours during the day without getting a really good meal so I know this is possible. I just have to be strong. And daddy has to be on board, and maybe he needs to take a couple of days off work since he'll most likely be the one dealing with you at least part of the time. My guess is that it will only take a few nights and you'll get the idea. We'll see. It's hard to really know what you're capable of since you've gotten so mobile. Even if you aren't waking up just to eat, you still wake up and immediately sit or stand up and I'm pretty sure you don't know how to get down yet without falling.
Anyway... I do have a monkey picture that I took yesterday, on time.... but it's on my computer downstairs and I don't feel like going down there to get it posted. So you'll just have to check it out tomorrow!
Love,
Mama
You are now 34 weeks old and getting to be quite the handful. I mean, you always have been I guess, but these days you are really keeping me on my toes. Your lurching crawl has turned into a full blown coordinated CRAWL and you speed across the room lickity split when you want something, e.g. Max, a newspaper, my shoe, etc.
Now that you've sort of mastered the art of moving around, you've turned your attention to other skills. You clap now, all the time. You don't quite make a sound yet because usually your left fist is pretty much closed, but I know exactly what you're doing. You clap with GLEE when you're happy, and smile and laugh at the same time. You still also love watching other people clap. Yay, clapping is so fun! You are babbling a LOT more now too and have added a bunch of sounds to your vocabulary, mostly "da", "ya", and "la". There have been a few more but they all blur together so it's hard to pinpoint the individual syllables.
Last week while we were on vacation you bit me, twice, in the you-know-what. I was NOT happy about that and I let you know it. It hasn't actually happened since, so either you got the message or you've decided your other annoying habit is much more fun. Lately during the day, you start to eat and then you pull off and squish my boob with all your might with both hands. Milk squirts everywhere, and the first few times it was so funny I couldn't help but laugh. Which I'm sure is why you do it constantly now. It's not funny anymore, it hurts and it's wasteful, so I need you to stop it.
Eating solid foods is going pretty swimmingly. I'm pretty willy nilly about feeding you different foods and haven't kept a real detailed list of what you have had and haven't had or your likes and dislikes. As far as I can tell, you just aren't that into it. There are definitely things that you open your mouth more willingly for than others, and a couple of things you flat out refuse. But so far I haven't noticed you get really excited about anything in particular. If I HAD to name your top three favorites I would probably say Zucchini, Pears, and the Gerber Sweet Potato rice puffs. When you like something you hold your arms out and rock back and forth watching and waiting for the next bite. If it's not something you like but you're just tolerating then you're twisting and turning in the high chair trying to keep tabs on what the cats are up to. If you really don't like it then you fuss and arch your back like you're trying to escape, and eventually you stop opening your mouth. I have found that although initially you didn't seem to like peas at all, if I mix them with enough rice cereal you will eat them without making any faces.
Sleep still has its ups and downs. Naps are ok for the most part, still totally inconsistent in terms of length, but I'm learning not to stress too much about it. Night sleep on the other hand - I'm getting motivated to work on. You're still getting fed right before you go down at night around 7ish, then one other time, and then again when I get up in the morning around 5ish (but you go back to bed). So my preference obviously would be to eliminate that middle feeding because I'm sure it would feel glorious to get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night or at least most nights. You sometimes will go 5 or 6 hours during the day without getting a really good meal so I know this is possible. I just have to be strong. And daddy has to be on board, and maybe he needs to take a couple of days off work since he'll most likely be the one dealing with you at least part of the time. My guess is that it will only take a few nights and you'll get the idea. We'll see. It's hard to really know what you're capable of since you've gotten so mobile. Even if you aren't waking up just to eat, you still wake up and immediately sit or stand up and I'm pretty sure you don't know how to get down yet without falling.
Anyway... I do have a monkey picture that I took yesterday, on time.... but it's on my computer downstairs and I don't feel like going down there to get it posted. So you'll just have to check it out tomorrow!
Love,
Mama
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Seth 32 Weeks
Dear Seth,
You are 32 weeks old now and I'm getting exhausted. I'm going to switch to a prenatal with iron in it to see if that helps a little. Like you would care. Anyway, your mobility has improved literally leaps and bounds in the last week. You are ALL over the place. You see something across the room and you can actually GET IT! Your crawl is more of a "dive forward, then crawl with one leg, then push with the other foot, then sit up, repeat" but you can do it all day. For about a week you got a bit of a rug burn on your forehead from face planting so often, but you've got a lot more control now and it has faded away. Then when you get to the side of the couch, up you go, just like you've been doing it your whole life. I watched you today get into your first "mischief" in which you pulled up on the entertainment center and started grabbing stuff and throwing it to the ground. Just some empty DVD cases and the box my phone came in thankfully. There is going to need to be some serious baby proofing done in the coming weeks, I cannot put it off any longer.
Your sleep has definitely suffered as a result of your discovery of movement. You just want to wake up or stay awake to practice all the time. Even when you're clearly tired and fussing and moaning with your eyes closed in my arms, you're still trying to sit up and as soon as I lay you down you roll over and up you go into a sort of downward dog position, but with your forehead on the mattress. I know that pose has its own name actually, but it's not coming to me at the moment.
You are content now as long as you have FREEDOM. You're impatient in the stroller and in the high chair so I need lots of distractions while I feed you, especially if it's not something you're a huge fan of (like edamame or peas). The other day daddy juggled and you stared at him and dutifully opened your mouth while I hurriedly shoveled your dinner in. My tri weekly running is going to come to a halt as well if I can't figure out how to entertain you in the stroller because you only last now about 15 minutes before you start crying. But set you down in the middle of an empty room and you're ecstatic! You flap your arms with glee and LAUGH at just about everything these days. You LOVE to bounce and finally got the hang of the Johnny Jump up, which is a relief. If only there were a doorway in the kitchen to hang you in. But you're happy there for a bit while I get dressed or tidy up my bedroom. No longer can I just stick you in the middle of the bed because in half a second flat you will be diving face first off the edge to the ground.
Another one of your latest tricks is flipping over on the changing table. I'm starting to have to wrestle you to get your diaper changed or your pajamas on. You're going to be learning "no" pretty fast.
Next week we are taking your first trip TO THE OCEAN! Yaaaayyyyyyyy! This is a trip I look forward to all year long. On Saturday morning bright and early we are taking you to Seaside, OR for a week. It's going to be a long drive to get there, especially because I'm not sure how happy you'll be hanging out in the car seat for that much time. But once we get there I am sure you will be fascinated by the wind and waves and sand and seagulls and crabs, not to mention a whole new big house to explore. Can't wait!
Love,
Mama
You are 32 weeks old now and I'm getting exhausted. I'm going to switch to a prenatal with iron in it to see if that helps a little. Like you would care. Anyway, your mobility has improved literally leaps and bounds in the last week. You are ALL over the place. You see something across the room and you can actually GET IT! Your crawl is more of a "dive forward, then crawl with one leg, then push with the other foot, then sit up, repeat" but you can do it all day. For about a week you got a bit of a rug burn on your forehead from face planting so often, but you've got a lot more control now and it has faded away. Then when you get to the side of the couch, up you go, just like you've been doing it your whole life. I watched you today get into your first "mischief" in which you pulled up on the entertainment center and started grabbing stuff and throwing it to the ground. Just some empty DVD cases and the box my phone came in thankfully. There is going to need to be some serious baby proofing done in the coming weeks, I cannot put it off any longer.
Your sleep has definitely suffered as a result of your discovery of movement. You just want to wake up or stay awake to practice all the time. Even when you're clearly tired and fussing and moaning with your eyes closed in my arms, you're still trying to sit up and as soon as I lay you down you roll over and up you go into a sort of downward dog position, but with your forehead on the mattress. I know that pose has its own name actually, but it's not coming to me at the moment.
You are content now as long as you have FREEDOM. You're impatient in the stroller and in the high chair so I need lots of distractions while I feed you, especially if it's not something you're a huge fan of (like edamame or peas). The other day daddy juggled and you stared at him and dutifully opened your mouth while I hurriedly shoveled your dinner in. My tri weekly running is going to come to a halt as well if I can't figure out how to entertain you in the stroller because you only last now about 15 minutes before you start crying. But set you down in the middle of an empty room and you're ecstatic! You flap your arms with glee and LAUGH at just about everything these days. You LOVE to bounce and finally got the hang of the Johnny Jump up, which is a relief. If only there were a doorway in the kitchen to hang you in. But you're happy there for a bit while I get dressed or tidy up my bedroom. No longer can I just stick you in the middle of the bed because in half a second flat you will be diving face first off the edge to the ground.
Another one of your latest tricks is flipping over on the changing table. I'm starting to have to wrestle you to get your diaper changed or your pajamas on. You're going to be learning "no" pretty fast.
Next week we are taking your first trip TO THE OCEAN! Yaaaayyyyyyyy! This is a trip I look forward to all year long. On Saturday morning bright and early we are taking you to Seaside, OR for a week. It's going to be a long drive to get there, especially because I'm not sure how happy you'll be hanging out in the car seat for that much time. But once we get there I am sure you will be fascinated by the wind and waves and sand and seagulls and crabs, not to mention a whole new big house to explore. Can't wait!
Love,
Mama
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
On a completely different note
If you follow my blog because you want to see what Seth is up to, this post is not for you. It really has nothing to do with him, aside from the incidental fact that I'm his mom and these are my thoughts. My blog, my rules.
First of all, I discovered Aveeno shampoo this past week and it is A-mazing. For some reason ever since I've been showering in the downstairs bathroom when I get out my hair is all matted, I think maybe because of the angle of the shower head, but who knows. Since childhood I have had this hatred/fear of combing through wet tangled hair, so I've also been using CHI Keratin hair mist as a detangler slash leave-in conditioner. My hair has been SUPER silky ever since starting this regimin and I can't stop running my fingers through it. So thought I'd share that in case any of my female "bleaders" are in a hair product rut they've been looking to escape from. Or male ones I guess, if there are any. Eric did jokingly whine that his hair was super soft when I told him he better keep his mitts off my shampoo and go get some VO5 for himself. ;)
The road that is immediately adjacent to my parking lot at work is closed due to some utility work, but local traffic obviously is ok. So of course this means people think they can just swerve into oncoming traffic in order to get around the sign. Hello, am I invisible? Also, there are two lanes that turn from 3rd Ave eastbound onto the freeway, but you have to cross 2 other lanes in order to get to the on ramp. For some reason people in the outside lane always think they are the only car on the road so they cut me off on the inside 90% of the time. Thankfully my cat like reflexes enable me to avoid accidents there on a weekly basis.
I've mentioned a couple of times that we (Seth and I) have been working our way through a Couch to 5k program, which if the name isn't explanatory enough, is a training program designed to get you off "the couch" to running a 5k. Clever, right? So I've been using this app on my droid to guide me through the process and the latest version of the app allows me to automatically post to Facebook when I complete a session. Who cares, the point is that yesterday one of my BFs asked if I was going to run in a marathon. Which is really funny because that very day, or maybe the day before, I had been pondering that EXACT question as I was driving along on my way home from work. It's like she read my mind!! To make a long story short, the answer of course is an emphatic "NOT LIKELY!" So you can stop reading now if that's all you needed to know.
But since this is my blog I will continue with the long story. Like I said, the other day which I'm pretty sure now was Monday because how this all came about was that as I was driving home I was actually looking forward to my run, which is SO weird because I've always hated running and thought runners were weird and used to say things like "I'm not a runner" and "I don't run" whenever someone would ask if I wanted to go running. Wow, was that ever a run-on sentence (HA HA!!). Anyway. So I was also thinking to myself "how far do I actually want to be able to run?" Marathon? Out of the question. I still think marathon runners are kind of weird (no offense). I mean, seriously, even if you run a 7 minute mile, which is pretty freakin' fast, a marathon still takes more than 3 hours. THREE HOURS!!!! That's just silly to me. The reason I am running is A) it is good exercise and B) it makes me feel good. Three hours to me is an excessive period of time to be exercising at a stretch. I don't have that kind of time. And if I can get the same "feel good" benefit in 30 minutes then really what is the point? So even a half marathon I thought is probably not on my radar.
Even I'm getting bored now with this post, so time to wrap it up. What I settled on for my immediate goal is the Turkey Trot, which is a Thanksgiving Day "fun run" 5k. I should be done with the Couch to 5k program by early September and then after that I can work on running faster. Not sure yet what my goal is in terms of speed but I'm thinking probably in the neighborhood of a 9ish minute mile. That would make me feel somewhat respectable. I've also set my sights on Bloomsday 2011, which is May 1st and is 12k. I decided that's my max. If I can run Bloomsday, or at least finish in about 90 minutes, I'll be happy. Sorry Seth (OMG there he is again!!), if you're pushing a stroller in Bloomsday you have to walk or you're disqualified and banned for life, so you'll have to sit this one out or convince Nana or Auntie Natalie to push you.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Seth 31 Weeks
Dear Seth,
You are 31 weeks old today. You crawl. You scoot. You roll. You pivot. You sit up. You stand up. You fall down. You're officially mobile.
Here you are pulling yourself up on the side of the crib.
And the result:
Note the above was an accidental photo, it's not like I watched you fall down and thought "oh gotta get that on camera!" My intention was really to take a picture of the proud look on your face, but it all went horribly wrong and I just happened to be snapping a picture right when you lost your grip. I swear I dropped the camera in the midst of the ensuing screams and picked you right up. You made a miraculous recovery and will live to pull yourself up again.
You are BUSY BUSY BUSY. You don't stop moving until you fall asleep, which you do sometimes mid crawl. So CUTE!!
I love you mucho little dude.
Love,
Mama
You are 31 weeks old today. You crawl. You scoot. You roll. You pivot. You sit up. You stand up. You fall down. You're officially mobile.
Here you are pulling yourself up on the side of the crib.
And the result:
Note the above was an accidental photo, it's not like I watched you fall down and thought "oh gotta get that on camera!" My intention was really to take a picture of the proud look on your face, but it all went horribly wrong and I just happened to be snapping a picture right when you lost your grip. I swear I dropped the camera in the midst of the ensuing screams and picked you right up. You made a miraculous recovery and will live to pull yourself up again.
You are BUSY BUSY BUSY. You don't stop moving until you fall asleep, which you do sometimes mid crawl. So CUTE!!
I love you mucho little dude.
Love,
Mama
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Seth 7 Months
Dear Seth,
At 8:17am on a Tuesday, just 7 short months ago, you came into this world. You gave us all the biggest fright when you didn't cry at first because you couldn't breathe. Thankfully we were in a hospital with doctors and nurses close by, who sprung into action, got your oxygen going and to this day you still hardly ever cry. I was just looking at some of your newborn pictures and I cannot believe my eyes. Your legs were soooo skinny! And your pacifier took up like half your face! You were just a helpless little blob who stared blankly at me during the brief moments of calm in between endless hours of sleeping and eating. So much has changed. Now you are big, and strong, and you've got personality!
To date your longest stretch of sleep at night has been 7.5 hours. You still wake up usually twice to eat and maybe twice more just to fuss. Daddy does a good job fielding them all and I help out a bit with the eating part. Lately your fussing is mainly due to your ability to sit up, but then not lay down again and get comfortable. It's like you wake up and say to yourself "let me just try this one more time real quick" and up you go. "Oh shoot, now what? Whaaaa!" Either that, or like you did the other day, you'll tip over and bang your head on the side of the crib and end up wedged in the corner. Those screams got me up to your room in a jiffy! Naps - still 2 or 3 a day, depending on what else we have going on. We're back to a bit of a power struggle at nap time but I do find you're much happier if I rock you for a little while before laying you down. I know I run the risk of getting you too used to it... but I kinda like it, it's the only time you're snuggley. Meh. I'm pretty sure I won't have to come down and rock you to sleep in your dorm room, so it's all good.
You do. not. like. peas. It's one of the only things I've given you so far that you stopped opening your mouth for. You've had other stuff where you made faces and scrunched up your forehead a bit, but down the hatch it went. Peas, not so much. You take after your mom I guess, I hate them too. Another trait you have that resembles Mama is that it takes you awhile to wake up. After your naps and in the morning you are quiet and glassy eyed for about 5 minutes staring around with a very serious look on your face. You won't crack a smile for anything. Then it's like a switch flips on and the motor starts running. You start yelling (yes, Y-E-L-L-I-N-G) and babbling and smiling and trying to 'git' stuff. It's pretty cute.
Let's see... speaking of yelling... no longer can we take you to a restaurant and have a peaceful meal while you gaze in silent open mouthed wonder around the room. Last weekend we had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory and they seated us downstairs in a smallish dining area, which was lame. You sat in the high chair and yelled at the top of your lungs. Not the whole time mind you, but a lot. You weren't crying or being bratty or anything like that, just enjoying the sound of your own voice. It made me sweat a little bit but it was also then easier to shovel food into your mouth. Next time we're going to Red Robin, you might blend in more there.
We did have to lower the crib mattress this week. I came in and you were sitting up holding on to the bars, pulling on them (and knocking your head against the rail). I thought it is way too risky just hoping you'll learn to pull yourself up when we're there to supervise. So down it went. You can push yourself up to standing now with some assistance, so it's probably a good thing. Today when I came home from work you were in the middle of the floor surrounded by pillows and your dad was just watching you struggle to stand up. It's like you had decided crawling was too much trouble so maybe you'd try a new strategy. There's no way you're gonna walk soon though, you've got a lot to learn when it comes to balancing on those little feet.
Mama
At 8:17am on a Tuesday, just 7 short months ago, you came into this world. You gave us all the biggest fright when you didn't cry at first because you couldn't breathe. Thankfully we were in a hospital with doctors and nurses close by, who sprung into action, got your oxygen going and to this day you still hardly ever cry. I was just looking at some of your newborn pictures and I cannot believe my eyes. Your legs were soooo skinny! And your pacifier took up like half your face! You were just a helpless little blob who stared blankly at me during the brief moments of calm in between endless hours of sleeping and eating. So much has changed. Now you are big, and strong, and you've got personality!
To date your longest stretch of sleep at night has been 7.5 hours. You still wake up usually twice to eat and maybe twice more just to fuss. Daddy does a good job fielding them all and I help out a bit with the eating part. Lately your fussing is mainly due to your ability to sit up, but then not lay down again and get comfortable. It's like you wake up and say to yourself "let me just try this one more time real quick" and up you go. "Oh shoot, now what? Whaaaa!" Either that, or like you did the other day, you'll tip over and bang your head on the side of the crib and end up wedged in the corner. Those screams got me up to your room in a jiffy! Naps - still 2 or 3 a day, depending on what else we have going on. We're back to a bit of a power struggle at nap time but I do find you're much happier if I rock you for a little while before laying you down. I know I run the risk of getting you too used to it... but I kinda like it, it's the only time you're snuggley. Meh. I'm pretty sure I won't have to come down and rock you to sleep in your dorm room, so it's all good.
You do. not. like. peas. It's one of the only things I've given you so far that you stopped opening your mouth for. You've had other stuff where you made faces and scrunched up your forehead a bit, but down the hatch it went. Peas, not so much. You take after your mom I guess, I hate them too. Another trait you have that resembles Mama is that it takes you awhile to wake up. After your naps and in the morning you are quiet and glassy eyed for about 5 minutes staring around with a very serious look on your face. You won't crack a smile for anything. Then it's like a switch flips on and the motor starts running. You start yelling (yes, Y-E-L-L-I-N-G) and babbling and smiling and trying to 'git' stuff. It's pretty cute.
Let's see... speaking of yelling... no longer can we take you to a restaurant and have a peaceful meal while you gaze in silent open mouthed wonder around the room. Last weekend we had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory and they seated us downstairs in a smallish dining area, which was lame. You sat in the high chair and yelled at the top of your lungs. Not the whole time mind you, but a lot. You weren't crying or being bratty or anything like that, just enjoying the sound of your own voice. It made me sweat a little bit but it was also then easier to shovel food into your mouth. Next time we're going to Red Robin, you might blend in more there.
A couple of weeks ago we went to Grandpa's house and went swimming, again. You love the water. I even dunked you under a few times and other than a very surprised look on your face and some sputtering, you didn't seem to mind. We also went to the park last week and went for a ride on the swings. You liked that okay but it wasn't the huge hit I thought it would be. I think you had more fun after I sat you down in the grass.
We did have to lower the crib mattress this week. I came in and you were sitting up holding on to the bars, pulling on them (and knocking your head against the rail). I thought it is way too risky just hoping you'll learn to pull yourself up when we're there to supervise. So down it went. You can push yourself up to standing now with some assistance, so it's probably a good thing. Today when I came home from work you were in the middle of the floor surrounded by pillows and your dad was just watching you struggle to stand up. It's like you had decided crawling was too much trouble so maybe you'd try a new strategy. There's no way you're gonna walk soon though, you've got a lot to learn when it comes to balancing on those little feet.
This week you got the second cold of your life. This one wasn't as bad as the first one and it ran its course in just about 4 days. It started with a runny nose and sneezing and ended with a few coughs here and there. Not a lot of marathon naps like last time so it must have been pretty minor. You were only slightly less pleasant than usual.
Still just the two teeth on the bottom so far. But I suspect we'll be seeing some others pop out of nowhere any day now. For a few weeks there it seemed the drool slowed way down but today I noticed the faucets were back on full blast. And you are kind of a fussy butt sometimes.
Well it is wayyy past my bed time, so I best be wrapping this up. Tomorrow we're heading out for one more weekend at Grandpa's house and then in another week you'll be spending the night ALONE at Nana and Grandpa Haynes' while Mama and Daddy go to the Yakima Valley for a hospital benefit dinner and dance, and perhaps some wine tasting as well. Mama is a little nervous about leaving you with someone other than Daddy for a whole 24 hours, but also excited about the potential for uninterrupted sleep.
Love and kisses,Mama
Saturday, August 7, 2010
My little monkey
So the latest is that Seth can push up to a sitting position on his own. Today when he woke up from his nap I went in there and he was sitting up in his crib crying. He stiffens his whole body and screams as loud as he can, it's hilarious... and not. So now I'm sure his sleep will be disrupted by his need to wake up and practice crawling and sitting up. I had to take the mobile down off the crib because he can reach it now. And pretty soon we'll have to lower the mattress since he can almost pull himself up on stuff. Just when my back was starting to feel normal again.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Seth meets Steve Zahn
So on Monday we were out doing our Couch to 5k run and who did we happen to see? Steve Zahn! You may know him from Reality Bites, That Thing You Do, or Riding in Cars with Boys, or You've Got Mail, or more recently Management with Jenifer Aniston, or my personal favorite, Saving Silverman - "Before Judith, our fun level was at an all time high. Ninety-three, it is now an eight." Anyway. So...apparently he is in town filming his latest movie. On Monday I was kind of kicking myself for not stopping him to get a picture or something so I decided since I was going running again today I might as well go at about the same time again, on the same route. I actually walked from Gonzaga into downtown and did some shopping and then came back a totally different way. But as luck would have it, on my way across the bridge back to the Gonzaga campus I looked up and THERE HE WAS AGAIN! I couldn't believe it and mustered up the courage to stop him. At first he was like "WHAAAT?" (he had headphones on). But then he was totally cool and even turned the stroller around so that the sun would not be behind them while I took the picture. Then he said something about what a fun age Seth was and how he missed those days (some fan I am I did not even know he had kids!!) and I thanked him and we ran our separate ways. At one point Seth actually was looking at the camera and smiling, but my dumb phone is slow so this is what I got. Either way, AWESOME!
P.S. In the picture I am pretty sure Seth was trying to grab Steve's iPod. That would have been funny.
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