Costa Rica: Day One

We're in Costa Rica! Yes, again. We're super spoiled. Tommy has already been here twice and he's not even a year and a half old yet! So here's what happened the first day...

We had gone to Kansas City the night before our flight so we wouldn't have to leave our house at 3am. Tommy decided he didn't want to sleep from 12:30-2:30 in the morning, so none of us got very much sleep. Yikes.

We left for the airport around 5 (ugh), and everything went smoothly all the way to Houston, TX. We got some lunch and caught our next flight just in time for Tommy's nap. Perfect. He slept for 2 hours, which was wonderful, because it was just about half the flight. If he had been awake the whole time, we all (like, the whole plane) would have been miserable.

Tommy was actually pretty cheerful for the rest of the flight. He seemed to understand that we couldn't really go anywhere or do anything, so he contented himself by climbing in and out of our laps over and over and over again. At least he wasn't fussy or crying.

As we neared our arrival time, Nate noticed that we were circling the same spot of land over and over again. We were in a holding pattern for some reason. Finally they announced that there was a storm in San Jose, and we were being diverted to Liberia.

Although it's only another 20 minutes away by plane, Liberia is about a 3-hour drive to San Jose. We groaned and wondered how in the world we were going to get to San Jose from there, and how we would get in touch with Nate's family. We figured we'd be stuck on a bus for 3+ hours, and that would have been a major bummer. Especially since we needed to get some real food for Tommy.

Luckily they told us we would just stay aboard the plane until the weather passed and then we'd fly back to San Jose. We weren't very excited about being stuck on the plane, but at least we would end up in the right city!

We sat in Liberia for about an hour before we took off again and headed back to San Jose. By the time we landed, we had been on that plane for almost 6 hours and were arriving 2 hours late. Yikes! Tommy was a trooper the whole time and hardly fussed at all. He's such a good traveler!

...But there's always a limit.

Other planes had been diverted to wait out the storm as well, and they had all come back around the same time as us, so the line for customs was super long.  Like Disneyland on steroids. So we were even more bummed (read: annoyed, angry, frustrated, tired) that we would be stuck in that stupid line for at least an hour, with a quickly-getting-cranky toddler who we couldn't put down because he wanted to wander.

Tommy lasted almost an hour. And then he lost it. A lady behind me joked that maybe if he cried loud enough, they would let us go to the front, and almost before she finished saying it an airline employee was making his way over to get us. I was SO relieved. Tommy was so exhausted and hungry (he had little baby snacks, but those have zero substance) and I was exhausted and hungry. Then, trying to be helpful, the man who checked our passports and customs forms said, "there's a shorter line over there just for families." (waaaay the heck down at the end of the room) Um. Well. I guess that's nice to know if we ever come back again, or when traveling elsewhere we can look for such a line, but it just made me more frustrated. Because an employee had directed us into the other line without saying a thing about one for families. Seriously? Did you not see my small child? Gah!

Anyway, the guy was really nice and we got our bags, went through one last security point, and finally got to Nate's mom and the car. It was storming again, so there was lots of traffic, but Tommy was back to his usually-happy self and we finally made it home.

It has been so nice to just relax and enjoy the beautiful weather. I'll try to keep this updated so anyone who's interested can hear about our trip, but for a few days we'll be in a house on the beach (darn) and I don't think there will be Internet. Adios!

Eleven Months!

No, that's not how long it's been since I was consistent at blogging, though it does feel that way.

-

Tommy is almost a year old! And we're long overdue for an update.

So I'm about to gush about how awesome he is.

Ready? Go!

-

First of all, I think this has been the most fun couple of months yet.

Being a mom is hard work, but it is SO rewarding.

Watching my little baby grow up and learn so many new things every day is just

mind-blowing

and amazing

and wonderful.

-

I am so blessed and

I have never been so in love.

(Sorry Nate)

He's about 30" tall and somewhere around 22 pounds.

-

He's walking. All by himself.

Just yesterday he figured out how to stand up from the ground

without holding onto anything for support.

I'll miss the little "downward dog" pose he did trying to get the hang of it.

He used to get really mad if you didn't let him hold your hand to walk him all over the apartment,

but he's a little more independent now.

He still comes and takes my hand plenty often.

I think he likes the company,

and so do I.

He's super smart.

I mean, I can't believe how fast this kid learns.

Allow me to brag about his vocabulary.

-

His favorite words are Dada and Dat (that)

but he also says:

Hi

Mama

Sack (snack)

Baba (bye bye)

Crsh (crunchies)

Ight (light)

and

Baku (vacuum)

-

He tries to repeat words all the time too.

Some favorites are:

Dakey (blankie)

Ugck (yuck)

Tasth (trash)

Dasth (dance)

Gafspth (glasses)

Mesthp (mess)

-

[S's are hard- think Daffy Duck saying "desthpicable"]

-

And of course he makes all sorts of other fun noises that I don't understand.

-

We also play the "where is" game, and he can point to:

Mama

Dada

Light

Bike

Snack

Blankie

-

He still LOVES his bath.

Every night Nate says, "Tommy, is it bath-time?"

And his whole face lights up and he hustles off, leading the way to the bathroom.

Then he stands at the edge of the tub while I strip him down

(he knows to step out of his pants one leg at a time)

and bounces impatiently with a huge grin while we wait for the water to fill up.

It's adorable.

Current Obsessions/Quirks:

-

Tommy loves the lights in our house.

All of them.

And he knows how to turn the switch up and down to turn them on and off.

[He turns his bedroom light on every morning.]

He points at all the lights and wants me to hold him up to them so he can touch them.

-

He also loves the quilt I made for our bed.

The first day I put it on, he got super excited and rolled around on it, laying his head on it

and flopping into our pillows.

Now he just loves to play on our bed, which he can climb onto by himself.

(It's low to the ground, about a foot high)

-

He gets very upset when you take anything away from him,

but lately, the worst has been when you throw away his diapers.

Yep.

He cries and cries.

"That was my favorite diaper! Wahhh..."

It's seriously just as bad as not letting him have my cell phone.

-

He loves the vacuum cleaner. 

He crawls around it in circles or crawls in front of it really fast,

like he's playing Chicken with it.

Sometimes he pats the head (?) of it while it's on.

-

He likes to see how close he can get to cords that are plugged in before we say no.

Sometimes he actually listens and wont touch them, but other times he just goes for it.

Too bad you can't really explain "dangerous" to a baby.

-

He is obsessed with the drawer under our oven.

Nate finally taped it closed because Tommy wanted to climb in and out of it again

over and over and over.

He usually ended up getting frustrated and crying and driving us crazy.

(But I might let him play in it sometimes when I need a distraction in the kitchen...)

There is one cupboard he's allowed to climb into, and he still likes that.

-

He loves music!

He has ever since he was teeny, but now he can dance!

Even if you just say "music" or "dance," he'll start to bob up and down or rock side to side.

And when you actually play music, he gets really excited and boogies.

Pretty much the cutest thing you've ever seen.

-

He has finally gotten better at taking naps

(though he likes to poop as soon as you put him down for his first one, of course)

and at night he has been sleeping till 6am.

Thank. Goodness!

The 5:00 thing was getting really old.

He's also been sleeping through the night on most nights, though sometimes we have to go plug in the pacifier. Then he's out cold again. Occasionally he gets a bottle at night, but only if he cries a lot.

-

He's eating all sorts of tasty food.

I'm pretty sure he thinks he's ready to eat "real" food only and no more of that pureed stuff,

because he's a total mooch!

He wants everything we eat, all the time.

Luckily he's got four teeth (yay!) so we let him try most everything.

-

His favorite food is cake.

Or perhaps the cream inside of Oreos.

But he doesn't get those very often. :]

-

He also loves fruit and every type of bread he's tried:

Pancakes, waffles, toast, plain bread, crackers, pizza crust...

Don't judge- he likes to try things, and it's fun to watch his reactions.

-

He also loves water and is starting to realize that juice is pretty tasty too.

He tolerates veggies, but we think carrots are his favorite.

He hates peas.

-

He likes to stick his tongue out and say "ahh" when his mouth is full.

(I swear we didn't teach him that.)

He is actually a pretty serious baby and it's pretty rare for him to really laugh.

But when he does, it's awesome.

I will do whatever it is that makes him laugh as long as he'll keep laughing,

no matter how silly or ridiculous it is,

because it's the best sound in the world.

-

I love my baby.

I can't believe it's almost been a whole year.

As much fun as it has been and will be to watch him grow up,

sometimes I wish he would stay this age forever.

I Have Returned! ...with a DMV Rant.

Dear Lady at the DMV with Whom I Spoke on the Phone:

When I called and asked your hours, I was debating whether I had time to come in and renew my license before putting my baby down for a nap. Because you're only 3 minutes from my house and you open at 7:00 (it was almost 8), I figured I'd give it a shot. After gathering the necessary documents and getting myself and said baby ready in record-breaking time, I hopped in the car with high hopes that this would be done in less than an hour, because in the past, mornings at the DMV have been less-busy than afternoons.

Now, I also usually try to be extra nice to people at the DMV because I know how crappy it can be to deal with grouchy customers all day, and the DMV is pretty notorious for being, well, Hated. However, when I arrived at an empty building with a sign taped to the door telling me you had relocated to a different place 15 minutes away, I was pretty freaking annoyed. And I didn't even have to set foot in your office!

Seriously?? This information is not updated on the internet either. You couldn't have just mentioned to me that you had moved when we spoke? "Oh, BY THE WAY, did you know we've moved to a new office?" How HARD would that be? Especially if it was a recent enough move that your information hasn't been updated online and there's still a sign taped to your freaking door?? Because a 30-minute roundtrip drive is a whole 'nother ballgame when you have a baby who will need a nap soon.

Frustrated at my failed efforts, I buckled my son (who I had dragged out into the cold for a pointless 6-minute cruise) back into his carseat and drove home. Perhaps I will try again on Monday. I'll be the one waiting at the door with my baby no later than 7:15. And I'll still be nice... but I will definitely mention how much easier it would have been if you had told me you had moved. Ever heard of common courtesy, or even common sense?

Thanks for wasting my time.
Sincerely,
Beth

[Yes, I know this is probably an overreaction. Maybe she normally tells people they moved but just happened to forget this one time. But also, maybe she's just stupid. It's my blog and I can rant if I want to.]

Mothering Fail: Tommy vs. the Booger Sucker

So today when I put Tommy down for his last nap, he didn't think he wanted to sleep yet. He's had to cry himself to sleep a couple times during the day (it takes, like, 20 minutes max- average 10) so I figured that was about to happen again.

I listened to him talk to himself, wondering how long till he got annoyed and started to cry. He coughed a couple times, but that's not unusual because he tends to choke on his drool a lot since he's teething. I wondered if I should peek at him, but that tends to backfire when you want him to sleep and he isn't. So I just kept listening.

Then I heard another cough- this one a bit (sorry) mucus-y sounding. 

That got my attention, so I decided to go see what was up. I've felt like I've been fighting a cold for a couple days, so I wondered if maybe he was coming down with something too.

The first thing I saw when I got to Tommy was a massive puddle of spit-up. Enough to be considered vomit. Pretty sure I gasped, since he's never done that before. Then, still just thinking he must definitely be sick while also distractedly registering the fact that he could now reach the items on the changing table that's against the back of the crib, I moved and wiped off the booger sucker from within the giant puddle.

I had already taken him out of the crib and stripped off the sheet and wiped off gak-splatters before it finally dawned on me.

The booger sucker. 

Tommy wasn't sick!

He gagged himself on the booger sucker and made himself throw up!

...

Holy crap.

How did I let that happen? How did I not hear him getting into things? Why didn't it occur to me that a baby who is pulling himself up on everything could probably reach that stuff by now? Why didn't I go in sooner? He could've been really hurt! 

GAH. 

Poor baby. At least he's ok.

Needless to say, the changing table was pulled away from the crib and is awaiting a new destination in Tommy's room.

Gotta love those awesome moments of motherhood!

Post Explosion

Howdy!

I'm trying to be better about blogging on a more regular basis- mostly because I really think it's good for me to sit and write, stay in touch with family and friends, and meet new people- but this last week I (obviously) didn't do so well. So here's to another shot at being a better blogger.

A friend of mine wrote a post full of "mini-posts" not too long ago, and I'm going to copy her. So here are the things I've been wanting to talk about, each in it's own neat little nutshell:

My Beliefs

I've always been hesitant to write about my own personal beliefs on this blog, because I know many of my family members who are not of the same faith read it to know what's going on with my little family. I don't want them to feel overwhelmed by too much "church-talk" or to stop reading. But my beliefs form the core of who I am. They are a part of everything I do. And I admire others who write about the church and their beliefs openly, without fear of rejection or causing problems or debates (possibly my least favorite thing in the world) and with no shame, and I want to be more like them. So, my wonderful, amazing family, if you do not want to read about what I believe, you can skim/skip those posts. But please don't stop reading my blog, because I want you to be a part of my life, and since we're all spread out, this is an easy way to do that. And I'm also more than willing to talk about anything, anytime, if you have questions- even if it's "how can you believe in [insert topic here]??" as long as we do it without bad feelings or spite. ...K?

Whew! Had to get that out. 

This leads to my next mini-post:

General Conference 

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that there are still prophets on the earth today, as there were in Biblical times. And twice a year the prophet speaks to us in a worldwide conference that is broadcast over TV and internet. Six months ago for the last one, I was in the hospital after giving birth to Tommy, and didn't really catch a whole lot of it. This time I got to sit with my husband and watch (almost) all of it (babies require naps and diaper changes, you know), and it was great. Conference is always so uplifting! And yes, I'm going to talk about the biggest buzz too- new missionary ages! Wow! [Guys can now leave at age 18, rather than 19; and girls can leave at 19 rather than 21.] I think it's especially neat for girls, because- let's be honest- there's always been a stereotype that "girls only go on missions because they can't get married." First of all, how awful is that? We should never question anyone's reason for wanting to serve a mission. But now? Now I think that thought-process can be thrown out to the garbage for good. Girls can serve missions when they are 19. Now it's more obviously a choice to serve out of a true, sincere desire, and not just a "might as well, since I can't get hitched!" How cool is that? And just think of the massive influx of missionaries that will go out in the next year or so: all the 19-year-old guys and 21-year-old girls, PLUS all the 18-year-old guys AND 19 through 20-year-old girls. Good thing they've been expanding the MTC!

"A marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men...

For behold, the field is white already to harvest."

Tommy is Crawling

For those of you who saw my "Ahhh he's crawling! WithOUT the bellyflops!" post on Facebook, that was literally within seconds of it happening. Tommy has officially mastered the crawl. He was already getting into things before he was a master-crawler, but it's definitely gotten worse. And he's speedy! But with crawling also comes a new-found desire to get UP. Tommy pulls himself to his knees on any surface that he can reach. TV stand, coffee table, couch, mom and dad's legs, and most recently, the crib. Yep, we had to lower the mattress finally, because Tommy was hanging on (for dear life) to the edge of his crib at 3am, not knowing how to let himself down. Last night we discovered it didn't help much, because he still pulled himself up with the bars (instead of the top beam) anyway. Yeesh.

Nate was walking (or running, as his parents describe it) by 8 months. EIGHT MONTHS. If I have a walker in two months, I will eat my hat.

(Don't worry- I don't actually have any hats.)

Tommy is also teething, which he has been forever, but there's actually a little white tooth-tip poking through his lower gums, and it now hurts when he bites my face. Yes, you read that right. Tommy likes to bite-slash-latch-on to my chin when he gets close enough. Makes me feel a bit self-conscious about my chin! It's not that big/pointy, is it?? (That's actually how I discovered he had a tooth coming in.) He doesn't do this to Nate because he has a beard. Who wants to suck on a beard-face? Blech.

AND (I hesitate to say this "out loud" for fear I'll jinx myself) Tommy is napping! Easily! His first nap is sometimes still only 40 minutes, but that's ok. It tends to hover around an hour. I use that time to try and get a little workout in each morning. Then he takes another nap that's usually 2 hours-ish, and sometimes a 3rd mini-nap in the late afternoon. It's a pretty good little routine.

The best part?

He puts himself to sleep.

And he LIKES to put himself to sleep.

He used to fall asleep in my arms, but now when he's ready to sleep he gets super squirmy and fussy unless you put him down in his crib. Then he promptly wiggles around, gets comfy, and goes to sleep all by himself. This is so so so nice.

=)

Fall is Here! Psych.

[Speaking of Psych, does anyone else LOVE that show?]

So, I was going to write about how much I love Fall, and how pretty and wonderful it is, and THEN all of the sudden it was 28 degrees outside. What is the deal! Right when I was getting ready to enjoy Fall --I even made homemade personal-sized chicken pot pies JUST for Fall (thanks to April's inspiration- but I forgot to take pictures)-- it whipped around and turned into Winter.

"It's not usually 110 degrees all Summer in Kansas, I promise!"

I suspect you'll tell me it's also not usually 28 degrees in October?

Luckily the weather has come back around again for a little while (I hope) and it's been hovering around 50 at night. I can handle that. Let's just not rush into Winter too soon, ok?

Well, there's more I could talk about, but this turned out quite a bit longer than I expected.

Have a happy Monday!

[Sorry for the lack of pictures- I have a bunch I need to upload!]

Logan

Hey friends.

Sorry for the lack of blogging this last week. I had plans and ideas- a few saved drafts- but each time I logged into blogger or started to write, I just couldn't bring myself to finish.

You see, last week my sister was 15 1/2 weeks pregnant. 

And now she's not.

She lost her sweet little baby boy.

They named him Logan.

Ever since then all of my posts have seemed so mundane and trivial. Unimportant mush. How can I write a post about how cold it is in Kansas already, or what cool shoes I'm currently coveting, or, perhaps worst, how my own little boy is seemingly progressing into toddler-hood much too early?

Why can't the whole world stop for a little while to let people grieve, instead of just running along as if something completely earth-shattering and devastating hasn't just happened?

I'm sad for my sister. I'm sad for my brother in law. I'm sad for their daughters, who won't get to pick on and spoil their little brother. I'm sad that I don't get to meet my nephew. I'm sad that he doesn't get to be Tommy's little buddy. I'm sad that all the things my sister and I dreamed about for our boys won't happen.

But at the same time I'm grateful that families are eternal. I don't know when exactly during pregnancy a spirit enters a body, but I believe that Logan's little spirit is up in heaven, keeping an eye on his family. And I believe that someday they will all be reunited, and Cait and Chase will get to raise their son.

And I hope that someday Cait will get to have another little boy- a healthy, happy child who will bring her family much joy in this life. She is a wonderful mother, and her children are so lucky to have her.

When I first found out, I cried and hugged my little Tommy tighter than he probably liked. I am so blessed to have him. And all week, when he has been fussy or awake in the middle of the night, or refusing to eat solid food and basically making me frustrated, I have had a completely new perspective.  I have tried to be more patient. It's ok if he is frustrating sometimes, because that means I have him.

Caity, I hope I'm not writing this too soon for you. My heart aches for you all. And please know that even though I will continue posting about things that don't "really" matter, my world and my perspective on life have been changed.

I love you.

Wednesday Wants: Colored Jeans

So earlier today I thought I'd be all clever and cute like all the bloggers I like and use an alliterative post-title for a weekly theme: Wednesday Wants. My plan was (still is) to share products with you guys that I would love to have! And since I've been coveting everyone with their cool colored jeans lately, that was going to be my first item of choice.

Well, funny story.

I was getting ready to write this post, doing some Pinterest browsing and Facebook stalking- you know the deal- when my friend Kaycie posted an Instagram pic of her sweet new colored jeans! from Old Navy on sale today only!

Whaaaat!?

Ironic, no?

Unfortunately since I live in Teeny-tiny-ville, the closest Old Navy is an hour away. Bummer. But you can bet your [colored-jean-wearing] behind that I got my [not-yet-colored-jean-wearing] behind on their website to get in on this greatness!

Check out these cool colors!

"Tsunami" - Old Navy

"Tobiko Orange" - Old Navy

But... I was really really hoping they would have some colored jeans that weren't skinny jeans.

They look great on a lot of people. Maybe even most people? Maybe even me.

But I bought a pair of [not-colored] skinny jeans once, and while Nate insisted that they looked good, I only wore them a few times before giving them away. It's true- I'm self-conscious about my calves. I don't think they're fat... I just... don't like them. Plus, the pants were tighter on one leg than the other and that was just super awkward. Ha!

But for the same $19.99 sale price they did have some boot-cut jeans, so I got a black pair of those. Behold, my new pants, coming soon!

"Black Jack" - Old Navy

I hope I like them (and that they fit!) I actually would have preferred a good-old jeans color since they didn't have any colored boot cut jeans, but those were all out too. Man, ya snooze ya lose! 

Someday (hopefully before the fun colored-pants trend completely dies), I'll have something awesome like these:

Anthropologie, via Pinterest.

 Someday, my colored-trouser friend. Someday.

6 Months Old!

Happy half birthday Tommy!!

Yesterday my sweet little baby boy turned 6 months old. Here are some fun facts about him:

Stats:

Height: 27.5" {84th percentile}

Weight: 18lb, 10oz {71st percentile}

Noggin: 41.5cm {5th percentile}
Still tall and thin with a teeny little brain-case! But growing well month-to-month.

Words:

Bababababa, gheeeeee, mmmm, gagaga, and my favorite, "hoo, hoo, hoo."

Ok, not words. But he babbles a lot, especially when he's nomming on a toy. And it's cute. 

Foods:

Likes pears and apples, is suspicious about bananas, and is not a fan of sweet potatoes (all of which are just like Mama). Going to start stretching his palate more soon!

Talents:

Army crawling! It used to be sort of a mix between the Worm and a bellyflop, but he's a little more coordinated now. Still doesn't do a traditional "crawl," but he is definitely on the move!

He can also sit up by himself (for a little while), is great at grabbing things, and is already trying to pull up onto the coffee table. Can you say, yikes?

As mentioned before, he now can put himself to sleep. Yay! Still wakes up really early sometimes, but mostly just chatters away happily instead of crying. This is good.

But he does cry and throw a fit when I don't let him have things like the laptop or my phone. Why didn't anyone tell me tantrums start so dang early!? At least they're short-lived.

Favorite Toys:

Mommy's cell phone case (since he can't have the phone), a chewy-twisty-knobby teething ball thing, any shoes he can find, and Daddy's backpack and bike pedals. The fact that only one of those is actually a toy? Irrelevant.

LOVES:

Playing with Daddy. He gets carried upside-down, bounced on the bed, tickled, and held up high in the air. Nate gets the most smiles, squeals, and giggles by far. But that's ok, because hearing them laugh together is music to my ears, and I do get plenty of my own.

Also loves bath time. Hard to say who ends up more wet- Tommy, or the one giving him the bath. Sometimes cries when we take him out because he wants to keep splashing!

Sometimes he drives me crazy

Most of the time we have lots of fun

Already keeps me on my toes 

Always I love him!

Sunday Shorts: Lift Up Our Eyes

Getting Tommy to Sleep

{Ok, I promise I wont only post about my child's sleep issues all the time. I actually have quite a few post ideas just waiting around for me to type them up. But before we get to those...}

Well, third time's the charm! We went ahead and started the crying thing again. For the third time. It took a couple more horrible, awful, sleepless nights for us to really have the gumption to do it. 

But it was still hard.

The first night, Tommy cried for an hour and a half. 
[To clarify: I was going in every 15-20 minutes to check on/calm him. I can't do the one were you just completely ignore them the whole time, though I ain't judgin' if you have! Every mom has to do what works for herself and her family.]

I only cried a little bit.

The second night I prepared myself for another long wait for him to fall asleep. I had a book to read and my little chart to write down what time I went in to check on him.
But I only had to go in twice before he zonked. That's right, he only cried for 30 minutes. Talk about a major improvement from the night before! What a relief.

Night number 3 took 20 minutes.

Night 4?
No minutes.
No crying. At all.
He just played with his taggie blanket and fell asleep, all by himself.

Can I get a Halle-freaking-lujah? 

Now he goes down and either doesn't cry at all, or only cries for 5-20 minutes. 20 may still sound like a lot, but it's really not.

But our problem wasn't just putting him down- it was that he kept waking up.
We had to let him cry a few times when he woke up at 10 or 11pm, but surprisingly, even after just a couple days, he only cried for about 10 minutes before falling back to sleep.
And while he does still do this occasionally, it's pretty rare now.

As hard as it is to listen to your little baby cry for a long time, the freedom of being able to put him down at night and know that he'll go to sleep on his own is so nice. Now we're working on his naps, which are sometimes easy, and sometimes hard, and still usually too short. But I'll let you know how it goes.

Here's What Happened

So, we started the sleep training thing one night, and it was pretty awful.

Tommy cried for an hour and a half before he fell asleep. 

[Yes, I did go in intermittently and check on him- 15 minutes has never gone so slowly!]

Remember, we don't want this: I'm awake! His eyes look so tired! :(

Overall the 1st night went just the way the book said, though. When I woke him to feed him (instead of letting him wake up on his own), he went right back down and slept till 6:30, with only one teeny peep around 3, for which I did go in and give him his pacifier (the book says not to- whatever). I was thinking, Hey! This might actually work!

But then we decided to put it on hold for another week. Here's why:

The 2nd night, he went down without crying at all! (Maybe I put him down too drowsy?) So when he woke in the middle of the night, way earlier than normal, not in teething pain and not hungry, (why are you doing this?? More below.) I didn't want to make him cry after he hadn't had to just prior. I was afraid he'd be confused and sad and angry. :( So I guess I chickened out.

But there are a few other reasons that kind of throw a wrench into the mix. He's got teeth that are super close to breaking through (or so I've been thinking for 2 weeks!) and I don't want him "crying it out" when he's in pain. Pain needs to be attended to!

Then, he's almost crawling. Supposedly, when a baby is close to hitting a new milestone, they have a harder time sleeping because they are "excited" to keep practicing it. This actually seems to be pretty true of Tommy, who rolls onto his belly and pushes himself up multiple times each night. And then gets frustrated because his habit is to push up, making it so he just wont/can't/doesn't sleep on his belly because he doesn't relax. Sigh.

I love to crawl around my crib!

And finally, my dad is going to stay here tonight, and will be sharing Tommy's room. Pretty sure having an extra person (who tends to snore like a freight train- love ya Dad!) in his room will distract Tommy and any hard work we would have already accomplished would just go down the drain.

I know that I'll be able to find reasons like this all the time. Babies are pretty much constantly teething and learning new milestones, and there's always going to be some random something that comes up to mess with things. So we decided to just wait till after my dad left, and then we'll start again, teeth and crawling regardless (unless when he cries I can tell it's from pain- and I wont be completely ignoring him anyway).

And it's SO TIME for this, because the last couple nights, he's been going down easily but waking up about 2-3 hours later, and not going back to sleep for at least two hours!!

He doesn't want food, he doesn't act like he's in pain- he's just wide awake. I think somehow he's convinced himself that bedtime (we've done the same routine since he was like 6 weeks old) is now another naptime. Sleep a little, then be awake again for a while! Then bedtime, around 12 or 1am. Which means he's usually waking up right after I fall asleep.

Ahh! How do I fix this!? 
Hopefully the sleep training thing will help, but what if it doesn't?
What if he cries the whole two hours?
I will literally lose my mind.

I'm trying to be optimistic, but sometimes it's hard. It really has been helpful to hear about others who have had trouble with this too, though; it's always good to know we're not alone.

Come on, Tommy, let's do this thing!

Thank You!

Just a quick post to say thanks to everyone for your encouraging comments! 

We're starting a day later than planned, so I will let you know how it goes.

Here's to good sleep habits!

Operation: Get My Sanity Back

Tomorrow we start "the sleep easy solution!" with hopes of getting Tommy out of this I-can't-sleep-without-Mom-or-Dad funk. I'm sorry, but I can't sit in that dang chair every day for much longer. My iPhone keeps me entertained, but there's only so much Solitaire/Words with Friends/Bejeweled Blitz a woman can take.

Their website

This book was sent to me by my mother-in-law with hopes that it would be a miracle cure for our problems. Here's what we are hoping to change:

1. Requiring a lap to fall asleep in (or, a nap in which to fall asleep, for those of you who prefer correct grammar)
2. Wont let you put him in his crib awake (hence the lap)
3. Crappy naps. Average nap lasts about 40 minutes or less (lately he's been waking minutes after I put him down, and refusing to go back to sleep- I don't know what to do!)
4. Average total daily nap-time of 2 hours (should get 3-4)
5. "Night noshing" (he only takes one bottle, but the goal here is to sleep through the whole night)
6. Night sleep that lasts no more than 9 hours
7. Early waking (we want him to sleep past 5:40!)

I've kind of been against sleep books. I don't really know why. Maybe because I know I'm an uber-perfectionist who will freak out if something doesn't go exactly the way the book says it should. Which we all know it probably wont.

[Remember the lady with magic photographic-hearing-memory who "knows what babies are saying" based on the sounds they make? Made the first couple months of Tommy's life super stressful for me. "That lady said this means he's hungry! Why wont he eat!? HE'S HUNGRY BUT HE WONT EAT! Gaaaahhhh..." Not everything is true for everyone, friends. Even if Oprah says it is.]

ANYway, this book claims to have a solution for all of these issues. I'm nervous to try it because it says bedtime fixes usually only take about 4 or 5 days, but nap fixes take longer, and those are my biggest problem. They also happen to occur while Nate's at school, so he wont be able to help keep me sane. We'll see what happens. 

Their method, in a nutshell:

1. Do your normal bedtime routine, but don't let Baby fall asleep during
2. Put Baby down still awake
3. Say goodnight and walk away
4. After Baby starts to cry* wait 5 minutes, then go check on him, shush him (for no more than 30 seconds, no physical contact)
5. Repeat Step 3
6. Wait 10 minutes, repeat check, walk away
7. Wait 15 minutes, check, leave
8. Continue to check on Baby at 15-minute intervals until he stops crying and falls asleep.

Supposedly the time it takes for him to fall asleep should shorten each night and by about day 4 or 5, he should put himself to sleep soon after you put him in the crib. We'll see what happens! And you do the same thing for naps, though it usually takes a week or longer to change (which is going to suck- letting my baby cry without someone home to comfort/calm me? For days in a row? Yikes.)

*I'm afraid Tommy wont start to cry. For a long time. Because that's what he's done other times that I've gotten fed up and walked away. He plays/talks/rolls around/tries to crawl in his crib for a lonnnng time, but doesn't go to sleep. So what's the problem, you ask? "If he's not fussing, who cares?" I care! Because he's tired! He's super sleep deprived and grouchy all day long! The child can't put himself to sleep even when he's exhausted, and somehow we have to fix that.

This is a not-quite-crying-it-out method, and I hope it works. Because I am at my wit's end.

I'm sure there are people reading this going, "what a crappy idea!" Well, if you have a miracle method, please, do tell. If this one doesn't work, I will be willing to try just about anything. And of course, I will keep you all updated.

Source

Just a Little Something

I enjoy reading other peoples' blogs. Who doesn't like a little sneak peek into what everyone else is doing? Humans are nosy by nature. I am happy to have a public blog that people can read and enjoy, because I know I like to do the same.

But bloggers also like feedback and comments. I don't post my life on the Internet just so you can all quietly snoop without saying anything! Fess up! Leave a comment! I want to hear from you. Even if we haven't talked in a long time, or haven't seen each other since high school, or even if I don't know you. Say hi! I'm blunt, but I (usually) don't bite. I do my best to comment on my friends' blogs when I have a reaction to what they post, and you should too.

Did you know that Blogger tells me how many people look at each post, and where they link from?

Out of 50+ Facebook viewers per post, I only get 2 or 3 comments?

Ouch.

I don't want to scare anyone away- if you're too quiet/shy/uninterested/bored/boring? to say anything, please, feel free to keep reading all about my life and secretly getting to know me. But if you have something to say, please do!

It will make me happy. :)

And if you have a blog that I don't know about and/or haven't commented on, give me the link! I would love to check it out.

That is all. Have a nice day!

Source

Just Keep Swimming...

Picture Post!

Tommy's first time "swimming."

 Two cool dudes.

 Sup?

 Gotta test the water first...

 Feet!

 Tommy is easily distracted.

Mostly I just like my hair in this one.

 Kisses!

 Hangin' with Daddy.

Sharky!

Tommy wasn't too sure about the gigantic, cold bathtub at first (especially when Daddy slipped getting in with him! oops!) but he relaxed after a few minutes and had a great time. Especially loved kicking his feet to splash, and playing peek-a-boo with Mommy coming up from underwater.

A note to my cancer-cautious family:

It was overcast and shady and we were only outside for a short time.

Tommy did not get sunburned. Neither did I.

A Hairy Situation

I know I said I'd write about swimming. I lied. First, I want to show you my new hair!

So, a long time ago I wrote this post about how I wanted this hair: 

but neglected to take a photo with me so I ended up going just uber short (again).

Well, a few weeks back when my mom was here and I was super frustrated with Tommy, I got that itch again. The I-really-want-to-have-a-spunky-cut itch that I get every once in a while, even though I promise Nate to grow it long all the time. I think I needed "hairapy."

So my mom watched Tommy and told me to go get my hair did. I even took the pictures with me.

AND THEN, the girl cutting my hair sort of talked me out of doing it asymmetrically. She said it would be easier to style/tend if it was the same length. And with a 5 month old baby, easy is nice. Plus, she mentioned that they "don't do many short haircuts" 'cause out here in farm-country, girls like their hair long.

Well gee, thanks for giving me confidence that you can create the look I want!

So I didn't do it. Again. 2 1/2 years after I first tried it, I still wanted it, and still didn't get it. How frustrating!

I came back with this:

Blegh.

Ok, it's not that bad, but the problem was that it actually took FOREVER to style, because the hair in the back flipped out in every direction except the way I wanted! Ever try to use a straightener on the back of your short hair? Not very easy. And I don't have that much time to spend on my hair, so this was not going to work. 

So about a week (or was it two?) later, I went to another salon to try it again.

And came back with this:

It's not bad either, but my hair is so thick that it came out too poofy. And apparently Kansas is like Texas- they like big hair. I thought I looked like a mushroom. The short side was too short to stay tucked behind my ear, but also too long to look ...right.

So I did something I'd never done before- I went back to get it re-cut. AGAIN.

Usually I'm not nervous about getting my hair cut into a new style. It grows fast, and I don't mind it being different. But this was now on my fourth attempt to get the stupid Victoria Beckham hair that I've wanted for a long time, and I was nervous!

What if the lady couldn't figure it out?

What if I came out with a half-shaved head?

What if I just can't pull it off?

What if I end up with it all really short again?

But I went anyway, and finally, came out with the haircut I originally wanted. (Actually a touch shorter, but I'm ok with that.) 

So here is my current hair!

The lighting in this pic is gross, but at least you can see the hair. I'm much happier with it.

What do you think?

My Son has a Death Wish

First of all, welcome to the new blog layout. I hope you like it.

Second of all,

Holy Crap My Son is Making Me Crazy!!

Tommy is an extremely wiggly baby. And when I say wiggly I mean, he is constantly going. He can't quite crawl yet (though I predict he will by the end of the week- no joke!) but he just goes, and goes, and goes. 

They call it "Hyperactive" or "High Need." Anyone else have a hyperactive baby? This website has some good information about it- finally I feel like there must be other people out there dealing with this, and I'm not totally alone. 

Some parts that describe us fairly well: 

The cry of a high need baby is not a mere request, it's an urgent demand. These babies put more energy into everything they do. They cry loudly, feed voraciously, laugh with gusto, and protest more forcefully if their needs are not met to their satisfaction. Because they feel so deeply, they react more powerfully if their feelings are disturbed. "If I don't feed him as soon as he fusses, he falls apart" is a common statement from the mother of such a baby. 

Tommy doesn't cry the way you normally think of a baby crying. When he wants something, he literally yells at us. In this obnoxious-but-sometimes-adorable-and-hilarious little baby language until we meet the need. It often makes us laugh. But if we don't do it quickly enough and he does cry? Read on.

After a while, I found myself going into over-drive instantly whenever she cried, because I knew if it got out of control she'd quickly disintegrate and it would take her a long time to come back around. I became obsessive in trying to prevent her from getting upset in any way because there was hell to pay if she did.

This is us, 100%. When Tommy wakes up only 20 minutes into his nap, we try to get to him with a pacifier before he wakes up enough to cry. Otherwise that nap was completely worthless, because we'll spend the next hour trying to calm him/get him to sleep. And then the rest of the day is messed up, and I am not a happy mommy.

About 3 months. "Yelling."

Also, cry-it-out does not work for Tommy. I've tried it. No matter how long you let him "cry it out," he will not. settle. down. Period. My mom even flew out here a few weeks ago to grant me some sanity and sleep by dealing with Tommy during the night, and one day while Nate and I were out, she tried CIO. When we got home, even she agreed that it doesn't work with him. And she's the Baby Whisperer.

"Why do high need babies need more of everything but sleep?" groaned a tired mother. You would think that high need babies would need more sleep; certainly their tired parents do.

This might be our biggest problem. I don't know what the deal is, but hyperactive babies, as tired as you would expect them to be, SUCK at sleeping. Tommy literally CANNOT make himself relax. No matter how tired he gets. And once he does fall asleep, he wakes up. During the day its after very short periods- 30 or 40 minutes, sometimes resulting in a total daily naptime of about 2-3 hours. At this age he "should be" getting about 4. I wish. And during the night, he wakes up over and over because he moves all over the place. Hyperactive babies are restless. I have to go in multiple times a night to give him his pacifier so he'll go back to sleep. Therefore I may be in bed for 7 hours, but with all the interruptions its sometimes like being awake all night.

And this: HI Mom!! I only slept for 5 minutes but I feel SO Refreshed!

Swaddling doesn't help, because he can get out of all of them. Even the velcro ones, even the uber-velcro ones. We have to do a blanket swaddle to get him to sleep, because if his hands are out he rubs his face over and over, takes out his pacifier, and just keeps himself awake. Then he gets his arms out in his sleep and proceeds to roll around. And I've tried many times to get him to sleep unswaddled, and it probably only worked twice. When he was ridiculously exhausted. And I'm pretty sure I was too. AND he didn't stay asleep for long.

Isn't this thing supposed to keep me restrained?

SO.
(Still reading?)
When Tommy was younger, we could rock him almost to sleep, and put him in his crib while he was still slightly awake, and he would go to sleep the rest of the way on his own. It was great. Sometimes it took a long time to get to that point, but things were relatively good. Tommy was learning to go to bed without needing us to get him all the way out.

Then about 4 weeks ago, Tommy started flipping out if we tried to put him down while he was still slightly awake (another High Needs Baby tendency: separation sensitivity). He would burst into tears and we would have to start all over with a baby that was practically inconsolable. His crying felt like he was having his heart broken- Mommy is leaving me all alone in this bed and I'm never going to see her again ever! I felt like I was breaking his trust. I quickly gave up this ridiculous game because I couldn't take it anymore, and went ahead and rocked him all the way to sleep. In a rocking chair, in my lap, in a blanket-swaddle, with soothing music playing on my phone. And there I sit, replacing his pacifier over and over while he cries, until he finally falls asleep, and then after about ten minutes (for fear of him not being asleep enough and freaking out all over again) I go put him in his crib.

The only way he will fall asleep. After much fussing.

And this, friends, is where I am still stuck. Thank goodness my parents got me an iPhone, so I can at least entertain myself for the crazy amount of time I spend in that chair (and thank goodness its a cushy couch rocker thing and not hard wood!).

But this too, is starting to fall apart. It's starting not to work. Naptime and bedtime are getting harder again, and I'm running out of ideas. The last two nights in a row, we haven't been able to get him to sleep till about 10:30! He used to be asleep by 8 or 8:30, which was so nice, but now he pretty much just fights us that whole time. (Even leaving him alone doesn't work- like I said, he can't self-soothe). The worst part is that its obvious that he's super tired, but for whatever reason he can't/wont sleep.

And SOME days (I'm almost done, I promise), I feel nothing but compassion for him. Oh, poor baby, what's wrong? Why wont you sleep?

Other days I have to leave the room and close the door so I wont hurt him! Sounds awful, doesn't it? You're probably not a mom.

And those days (yesterday) are the ones that I have a complete meltdown. I've yelled at him before- told him to shut up and go to sleep already! (He's only 5 months old!) And then I just completely fall apart and sob, because I know he's an innocent little baby and he can't help it. And I feel like an awful mother, and wonder how God could have entrusted me with such a sweet little baby when I have so many, many flaws.

I love my son. He is the biggest blessing in my life. But some days he is also the biggest frustration, and  sometimes I don't know how to handle it.

On a lighter note! We took Tommy swimming for the first time today, and although he wasn't too thrilled at first, he quickly cheered up and giggled whenever I popped out from underwater and surprised him. I'll post pics of that tomorrow.

I love this little stinker. With all of my heart. Even though some days I'm not sure he's going to see his first birthday, I would never go back to life without him. All of the frustration is worth it, even though sometimes that's hard to remember.

Time for an Update

Ok readers, if there are any of you left.

 I'm ready to get back to blogging. About being a mom, about food, about books, about things that annoy me, and about sewing/craft projects, about life in general. Like before.

But I want to start fresh.

So, should I make a completely new blog? (I have had this one for 4 years!)
-or-
Do I just revamp (again) what I already have?

I'm thinking: New blog name, new layout, new everything. And more frequent posts.

Let me know what you think!

Allow me to esplain.

To those of you who may read my blog now and then, I don't have internet right now. (I'm currently at the library). Hence the major lack of posts. We hope to get it soon. I'm not dead.
Peace.

We Meet Again

Well hello there, blog friends!

I don’t know how all you “Mommy Bloggers” do it. I only have one child, and I can hardly make time to sit down and type out a blog post. It’s been 9 weeks since he was born and I’ve only written once! Perhaps its because I only have one child- I haven’t quite figured it all out just yet. Also, he gives me a little trouble with naptime during the day, so that’s a big part of it. Luckily he’s napping now, and I am cramming in some cereal and a quick post hopefully before he wakes back up.

And he’s awake.

I was just about to pour milk on my cereal. Glad I heard him before doing that, or I’d have some soggy cheerios.

...

Ok, I think we’re safe. Keeping my fingers crossed though! You know babies have a super power where they know the exact most inconvenient time to wake up and cry, like right after you put milk on your cheerios, or right when you finish making your sandwich for lunch. Or when you really have to pee. Luckily they can usually wait a couple minutes.

The other day Tommy kept refusing to nap, so I tied him to myself in a sling, hoping to get something done. After struggling with the stupid 5 yards of fabric for 5 minutes, as soon as I got him all tied down- he pooped. I’m telling you, they know.

Anyway! Life has been good and crazy. Since the last post, we’ve moved to Manhattan, Kansas and Nate has started his graduate research in Agronomy at Kansas State University. It’s going pretty well so far- he has already started writing his thesis. The best part for me is that he’s home in the mornings when Tommy’s up, so he takes him after I feed him to let me shower, and then he’s back early in the afternoon so we get to have him in the evenings too. It’s SO helpful and so nice to have his company! We always used to work at such different times that we almost only saw each other in passing, it seemed.

It was bittersweet to leave Virginia. Being at home with my parents was actually a lot easier than I originally expected it to be, and I really enjoyed being with them. Plus, they were super helpful with Tommy- my mom really is the Baby Whisperer. She and Tommy are best buds. I’m pretty sure he misses her. Just the other day I called her because he was in a happy, chatty mood, and I wanted her to hear him talk. As soon as he heard her voice he burst into tears! I like to think it’s because he misses her.

Being away from them is hard sometimes, but it’s also really nice to be back in our own little place as our own family unit. And it’s nice to have more than just a bedroom for all the stuff we own! We even have a dining room for the first time! And a dishwasher. Ah, the joys of life.

And we’re only a couple hours away from my sister and my aunts, and we’ve already visited them twice! My almost-thirteen-year-old nephew is already 6 feet tall. I can’t get over it.

[Tangent: On the way to Yara’s last time, there was a small herd of ZEBRAS on the side of the road! Of course there are about a million and a half cows all over the plains here, but all the sudden there were Zebras! How random is that? We think maybe someone raises them for the circus? Who knows!]

Let’s see, what else is going on... Like I said, Tommy is 9 weeks old now. He had his 2-month appointment a few days ago, and his stats are:

Height: 23.5” 71^st percentile

Weight: 12lbs 8oz, 69^th percentile

Head Circumference: 37½ cm, 5^th percentile.

Everyone thinks he's older than 2 months when they first meet him, because apparently he's a pretty big boy! Except for that little head- no, that’s not a typo for 50^th- Tommy’s head really is a teeny little peanut in the 5^th percentile. No giant Cloyd noggin over here! :)

He had to have two more shots and an oral vaccination too. Poor baby screamed his little peanut head off when they stuck him. He does not like shots. But who does??

Also, if you’ve seen the photos on Facebook, you know we went to the annual Wiener Dog Races out here, and it was awesome! It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Definitely going to go again next year. Then Tommy will be able to enjoy it too!

So there’s a quick little update. I’ll try to get back to blogging again more often!