Annoying

Yes, I realize this is going to sound like a whiney post, but it's really not meant to be. We can't all have cute, perfect and wonderful babies 100% of the time. I am sure you can also name a few things that your baby or child does that is annoying.

Here are my annoyances:

* Jack throws things away. I often find his cup, puzzle pieces or his blocks in such places as the recycling bin, garbage can or (ick) his diaper pail. Most of the time it's not an issue, but there have been instances where I am just not reaching into a diaper pail for a block. He has a billion more just like it.

* When he's tired, he lets you know by shoving his hand down your shirt. While this is cute sometimes, and a good way of letting me know, it's kind of obnoxious when it occurs in public. Oh when he does it to your mother-in-law. Awkward!

* He doesn't eat much. Once in a while, he will eat like a porker, but normally, he picks like a bird. This makes it incredibly difficult to know how much to make him for a meal. I don't cook during the week, so he gets special dinners or nibbles on things like eggs and cheese, or veggies.

* Lately, he has separation anxiety issues. Which in itself isn't annoying. I know they go through stages. However, when I need my "me" time, which is not often, it seems to coincide with his anxiety. I try dropping him off at the church nursery every Sunday and most times, he cries or is extremely happy the entire time. I can't concentrate on my worship time when I am trying to entertain a baby.

* He is starting the tantrum phase. If you take him away from something he wants (the entertainment center components, the garbage can, the cat dishes), he pitches a fit. Not cute buddy. I know he's just trying to show his independence and strong will, but it's hard sometimes.

* When Jack gets a hold of something he's not supposed to have, he takes off running with it. Okay, so this one is slightly cute. At least I get some exercise out of the deal by chasing after him.

So he's not perfect, but he's pretty darn cute and smart. What annoying things do your kiddos do?

First Haircut!

My toddler is certainly getting bigger, and his hair is growing longer. Today, Daddy and Jack got haircuts. The first for Jack but not for Daddy (of course).

Jack did pretty well. He sat in my lap while Jason played photographer. He only squirmed when she was cutting the hair over his ears.

Dude, why do I look so FAT in this picture? Ick. Good thing my child is cute to make up for it.



We had a very nice family day, which doesn't happen often. Even though we were running errands (grocery shopping, haircuts, trip to Jamba Juice), it was still fun. We even get to have a dinner together tonight since Jason doesn't have his usual Saturday night game.
My kiddo is getting so big. Already time for his first haircut!

Sleep Anxiety

Over the past few days, I have veen overly anxious about getting Jack to sleep. Not just getting him to sleep, but having him stay asleep. He will sleep from about 7:00pm to 6:00am, however, he wakes up. Several times. Since he is in bed with me, this is not a huge deal, but now that he's older, we know it's time.

I happened across this article: http://drjaygordon.com/attachment/sleeppattern.html

I read it and thought "Huh". That's it. Just "Huh". I by no means have any real expectations that this is going to work. The No Cry Sleep Solution didn't work. The Baby Whisperer or whatever her name is didn't work. I have read many many sleep books. I read so many that I stopped reading because I became jaded.

This one caught my eye, and we are willing to try it, but won't be shocked if it doesn't work.

I know what you are thinking. I don't need to hear any of the following: Why don't you just let him cry it out? He isn't sleeping through the night yet? If you have read my blog at all, you will know the answers to these questions. In case you don't, I will explain again.

I don't believe in cry it out for my baby.....er......toddler. I know other parents that use it for their children and that is perfectly fine. I have no issues with that. It works for their family. I just don't want to try it for my family.

Jack doesn't sleep through the night. I don't exactly know why. My suspicion is that because he had such bad reflux, he was used to eating every hour or two. His belly couldn't hold much so he would wake often to eat. After a period of time, this became a pattern and patterns are hard to be broken.

Why am I anxious? Because I know that it's time. 1 year olds don't need to eat during the night. They might want to, but don't physically NEED to. I am also anxious because it's expected as a mom that you are in control of your baby's sleep. You have to fix the problem that you created. I don't necessarily subscribe to that belief, but it's so ingrained that after a period of time, I start to to believe it.

I don't want to sleep train. I really don't. We will try that method. If it works, great! If it doesn't, I guess we will reevaluate in a few more months. I am concerned that at some point psychologically, there is need to transition Jack to his own bed. I just don't know what the point is. 12 months? 18 months?

Any constructive advice would be great. For those that comment anonymously, feel free to bash me. I know what works for my child and my family. I am sure you are the perfect parent anyways which must be why you feel the need to comment under anonymous. CHICKEN!

Yum Spaghetti!

I had my sister and her boyfriend over for dinner and cake last night as a belated birthday celebration. I was not only looking forward to the company, but to the SPAGHETTI! It's our family recipe and we look forward to it, especially when it's an undertaking to make.

What did Jack think about it? Well, just take a look:

Yum all around! Even though he looks concerned in this picture, Jack LOVED his spaghetti. My mom would be proud.
He couldn't shovel the noodles into his mouth fast enough. Even my child, who loves carbs and bread, didn't touch his Italian bread. He went right for the penne with sauce.
Little man, you are my child! Mommy loves spaghetti too.

First Birthday

I just realized I never posted about Jack's birthday. Wow, I suck.

I had originally invited about 15 people (family only) and most everyone showed up. I am glad not everyone came because the house was packed.

Jack's party was Sesame Street themed. I wanted to get away from so much dinosaur stuff (aka Mommy is tired of dinosaurs at the moment). I had ordered a Sesame Street cake from a bakery. Now before you get all self-righteous about a store bought cake, I usually make homemade. However, I wasn't sure just how many people would be there, so store bought was easier. I plan on making from scratch in the future.

Here is my mother-in-law's living room all decorated:

I went with simple decorations as I am not crafty. And yes that is nuclear red punch. What's it to you? And a yard sale highchair. Neener neener.

We kept the party fairly short. Cake and ice cream and then presents. Since Jack is on a 2 hour schedule for the most part, it was better this way.

Jack got his very own slice of cake (after we sang to him of course). It was a lot of fun watching him devour it. Here is what he looked like in the middle of sugar-rush land.

Isn't this hat awesome? He sure thought so too as evidenced by the look on his face.

My kid is cute right?

Jack got a haul of presents. It was really embarrassing actually. That was a big reason that I didn't want to invite more people. I didn't want it to seem like I was begging for gifts. And I didn't want to overwhelm my in-laws who graciously hosted the party.

Jack got four riding toys. FOUR! A dinosaur, a cool vintage bumper car, a dumptruck with a very loud siren (do dumptrucks normally even HAVE sirens?!) and a wagon that holds blocks that he can ride on also. Spoiled.Rotten.Kid. This is on top of all his other presents as well.

All in all, it was a good day.

When I was a kid, we had cake and ice cream at home with our favorite dinner and presents. It was very simple and quiet. That is exactly what I want to do for future birthdays.

So there is my wrap-up birthday post. Better late than never!

Weigh In

My weigh-in for the week:

Down another 2.6 pounds.
Total loss: 8.8 pounds.

So this Weight Watchers thing is working.

Who Are You?

Yes, two posts in one day. I was looking at my Visitor feed and got curious. Who are my readers? I see a couple of readers from New Brunswick, Canada. One from New York, and yet another from North Carolina. Oh and "hi" to my Concord, New Hampshire reader. I know who you are ; )

Check in, leave me a comment and let me know who you are. I have disabled the Anonymous comment option so you don't need a Blogger account to comment.

Is there anything you would like me to answer? A topic you would like to see me blog about?

Don't be shy!

Rough Week

This week was well.......trying. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either.

It started out Monday with an ear infection for Jack. We didn't even know he had it, but honestly, if it had gone on much longer, he would have made it known. Especially since the last two times he had them he woke up in the night screaming. I am glad it didn't get to that point.

Wednesday, I made mention that I was sick. Well, it got progressively worse throughout the day. Thursday, I felt like death warmed over but I had to go to work. My entire body ached, I was extremely dizzy and just wanted to sleep. But I could. I had to work. The evening didn't prove much better. What is it about when you don't feel well? Certain people (cough, cough: Jack: cough, cough) were acting very very naughty. I pulled him out of the cat food dishes countless times while trying not to pass out from dizziness. He threw his bottle in the trash. Threw toys at me (not cute when they almost pean you in the face), fussed, and wouldn't go to sleep. All Mommy wanted was a cup of tea, but I couldn't have my cup in the near vicinity of baby hands.

On Thursday night, Jack slept like crap, which means Mommy slept like crap. This does not help the cold get better. Oh well, trudge on to work. Jack went to Nana's and I went to the office. I couldn't make it past 10:30. I had to go home. I felt awful and was extremely unproductive.

Friday night, Jack slept even worse. It was pretty clear to me that either his ear infection was getting worse, or something else was going on. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke, so I observed him all day. He tugged at his ear pretty much every time he layed down. He didn't nap well. He didn't eat all too spectacularly, other than the massive amount of grapes that he inhaled. He was squirmy at our tax appointment and he didn't go to sleep very easily.

It's now Sunday. Jack slept pretty well last night, but that's only because I slept with him propped up so he wasn't laying down completely. I didn't want the pressure in his ears to get painful. He also was medicated with Tylenol. Now say what you will about giving children pain medication, but you are not me. I am sorry, I find it cruel that when a baby is in pain, you don't give them anything for it. When I am in pain, I take an Advil. Why should it be any different for my baby?

I called the pediatrician after church and explained that the medication wasn't working. I shouldn't be surprised since it didn't work the last time either. Apparently my child has an immunity to Amoxicillin. Thank God Jack's pediatrician was the one on call so she phoned in the prescription that worked last time: Omnicef. It's very strong. Go with what works right?

Today was rough. Jack took a grand total of one 30 minute nap from the time he woke up at 6:45 until about 4:15. We finally got him down for a nap at 4:15 after giving him some more Tylenol. It's the first dose he has had since last night. It became very clear he needed it when he was rubbing his ears and crying when you tried to lay him down in your arms for a nap. Poor baby.

I really hate that my child is sick. I could give a damn that I am. I just want HIM to feel better. It literally feels like my heart is being ripped from my chest when he cries in pain. I have always been sensitive, but it's magnified now that I have a child. Anything having to do with Jack, I get very sensitive and touchy.

Please pray that this medication works. If it doesn't, there aren't too many options left for drugs that are more powerful. Plus, there is the worry about ear tubes. But, I can't let my mind go there.

Weigh In

I forgot to post my weigh in this week.

I was down another 2 pounds (yay!).

Starting weight: 205.8
Current weight: 199.6

Total loss: 6.2 pounds

I have a feeling this week is going to be a bit harder. I am sick and only want to eat things that are bad for me. I will force myself to track even though I probably don't want to see the numbers.

12 Month Appointment

Today was Jack's 12 month pediatrician appointment, and I am so glad it was today. More on that later.

I was in for a lot of surprises today, but all good ones! When I picked Jack up today, I asked Karen what they had for lunch. Turns out they had spaghetti and meatballs. Um what? My child doesn't like tomato sauce. Or meat. Yeah......apparently he does. Well that's great! He is finally eating some protein. I can feed him something other than peanut butter and know that he is getting some protein.

We got to the pediatrician's office and Jack didn't want to be held. He wanted to get down and observe and play with the other kids. And bang on the fish tank. I put him down and at first he was hesitant and grabbed on to my leg. Then he saw the kids playing on the play structure and it was game over. My kid was socializing and then showed off for everyone and started climbing the stairs. What? WHAT?!? Where on earth did he learn to do that? There aren't stairs at my house, Nana's house or Karen's house. I was shocked. Two surprises in one day.

Jack's appointment went pretty well. He weighs 22.5 pounds (45th percentile) and is 30.25 inches tall (85th percentile). We talked about his eating and drinking and such. He can now have whole milk, which is great! I am hoping that this transition will help his sleep and his eating. The pediatrician would like him weaned off the pacifier and bottle by 15 months. That is going to prove slightly harder. Jack flirted with the nurses and the doctor. He usually is scared and very timid. Not today! Surprise number three.

Guess what? Jack has an ear infection. Surprise number four. Remember when I said I was glad that I took him in today? That's why. I didn't even know it (talk about feeling like a bad mom by the way). I thought his not so great sleeping (tossing and turning at night) and drooling and general fussiness was chalked up to teething. Not so much.

On our way home, we stopped at the store to pick up a prescription for his ear infection, and while we waited, we did some grocery shopping. I wanted to pick up some whole milk and a few other necessities. Like cookies. Those are always a necessity.

At home, Jack was tired but needed to eat some dinner. I gave him a sippy cup of milk with dinner and he didn't want anything to do with it until I took the lid off. He wanted to drink like a big boy out of the cup. When I did that he LOVED the milk. Surprise number five. So much in fact that when he wanted to go down for a nap, instead of giving him formula, I gave him milk. He loved loved loved it. I guess the transition to milk won't be so bad.

Today was full of pleasant surprises, except for that whole pesky ear infection thing. It seems that overnight, my baby has transformed to a full-blown toddler. It's crazy. It was like his birthday flipped a switch.

And speaking of his birthday, look for a separate post on that soon!

One Year Old!

Jack, what a long way you have come! You went from this:

To this:

You were yelling at Mommy in this picture. Little man, it's your birthday! You are one whole year old today. At officially 7:38pm, you will be one. I can't believe just how far you have come.

You are officially walking......er......running. People keep telling me that I am going to have to watch you because you are going to get into everything. What they don't know is that you have already been in to everything. From the time you could pull yourself up, you could get into nearly anything in reach. You aren't getting into more things now, it's just that you are much faster about it.

I was thinking back to last year at this very time and I was laying in my hospital bed waiting for you to arrive. When you did, you swept me away with your love. It sounds cheesy, but I love you more than I ever thought I would. People say "just wait", but I had no clue. I honestly can say that I love you more each day and that you are constantly amazing me.

I am biased, but I think you are very smart. You know what toys go where. For example, the other day I found a ball under the coffee table. When I gave it to you, you went to your toybin and pulled out your dumptruck and put that very ball in the back of the dumptruck. You knew that particular ball went with the dumptruck. This wasn't a fluke either. You had played with balls earlier in the day and didn't put any of them into the truck.

You are still saying "Mama" and "Dada" and occasionally "Nana" and "Papa". It really melts my heart when you reach up to me and call me by name. You try and say other words, but it's still babble. Pretty soon little man! Pretty soon.

You climb, stand up in the middle of the floor, push your car all around, play with toys, and are very active! A ball of energy you are. People are constantly telling me just how active and busy you are. I wouldn't want it any other way. I love that you are curious.

Doors seem to be a very favorite thing lately. You love to open cabinet doors, desk drawers, the door at the play structure at church. Any door is your friend. I practice saying "open" and "closed" with you. Maybe you will say it back to me soon.

The last few days, you have become very gentle with the kitties. You don't pull tails as much, and don't smack them, but instead, pet them gently. It's very sweet.

You love to nuzzle and play coy with everybody, even me! Last week, I brought you over to the mirror and you leaned your head in and played shy with yourself. It was very cute! I wonder if you knew that it was you in the mirror?

Jack Emmett, we love you. So many people love you and are amazed by you. I can't believe you are 1 today. It seems so big. I can't call you a baby anymore. You are officially a toddler. That makes it very bittersweet for me.

I need to stop typing before I cry. I love you Jack Jack.