Happy 7 Months Andrew!
Okay, now that my baby has survived over half of a year I feel confident enough to reveal my bad mother moments. Bad mother moment number 1: Drew was little, I was just getting comfortable carrying him around. He was sleeping in my arms when I had to get something, I walked through the doorway only to misjudge where his head was and where the door frame was. I whacked his head on the door! Oh my god, there was a red splotch where his head hit the door. when Drew is older and people ask geez did your mom drop you when you were a baby he can say no, she ran me into a door! The crazy thing, he didn't even wake up, just shifted positions. I was seriously going to wake him up, what if he had a concussion and I was letting him sleep. Oh my god, I'm a horrible mother. Children only have one head and here I am wrecking it! Well he lived so now it's onto bad mother moment number 2: I bathe Drew often with soap and water, I thought I knew how to wash babies properly....no. I was giving Drew a baby massage with oil when all this crud slid out from one of his thigh folds. It was fuzz, dead skin, and whatever else. I understand you have to wash in the fat folds, I didn't know I would need a power washer to get in there and blast the stuff out. A gentle scrub doesn't get to the bottom of the caverns that Drew has. Along with that comes bad mother moment number 3: Babies don't have necks and until 3 months when they can stabilize their heads it's hard to do anything with their neck area. Drew tilted his head back one day and yuck, I saw I had missed cleaning under there. I did wash under his chin but like the fat rolls it's a black pit that just sucks in gunk. Even now I miss things from time to time, Drew hates having his neck cleaned. And finally bad mother moment number 4. Why does Drew hate getting shirts on? Oh my god, I bent his tiny baby finger back when pulling the sleeve on. He makes fists all the time, why did he decide to stretch his fingers out now?! My poor baby, I can't carry you, clean you, or dress you. At least I know how to feed you!!!!
12/6/09: Drew is so smart...SO SMART! he was eating and started crying. I didn't know why, he then did the sign for drink, not milk, but drink. I went and got his juice. He drank 1/2 an ounce and was done. I tried to feed him more dinner and he held up his hand (like talk to the hand). He told me he was all done (all done is turning your hand but he can't do that yet, he just holds it up). I took him out of the highchair and he was crying and doing the eat sign. I tried giving him a couple different things but he wouldn't eat them. I then picked up the container of cereal and he got all happy, he knew he wanted cereal and he told me. I love it! I can not believe how fast he picked up eat and drink. I worked for 2 months for him to learn milk and in a week he picked up the others. Time for mommy to hit the books and learn some more signs.
*Drew finally said Dada :)
12/7/09: Drew saw his 1st snow today. He wanted to pick it up but he was unsure the minute his hands touched it. There's a short video.
Drew has learned all done in sign language. I put Ethan in the jumper and Drew looked at him then looked at me and did the all done sign, I don;t think Drew wanted Ethan to use the jumper. Very funny!
12/11/09: One year ago I was doing the same thing I am now. Sitting up in the middle of the night, freezing, updating my website, wide awake while hubby sleeps. The only difference now is that I can see the baby resting on my lap. My poor Drew, why doesn't he sleep? He wants to sleep but he wakes up crying about every 2 hours. Most times he doesn't even really wake up, he's crying but his eyes are still closed and he acts asleep. He doesn't need anything that I can figure out. He isn't hungry, he doesn't need closeness since he is 100% co-sleeping now. What's wrong? He cries out like he's in pain and he won't stop until I sit him up. Is it reflux? I can hear odd little noises from him. He also whimpers a lot in his sleep and squirms around. Why can't he just get comfortable and go to sleep? I am so tired and I feel so bad for him. He wakes if I'm holding him too, something is going on and I just don't know what to do or who to ask for help.
12/12/09: Andrew discovered he has control over his tongue. He spent today sticking his tongue out and trying to lick his nose.
We went to the arboretum today to look at the Christmas trains, Drew loved studying each one, he is so serious when he sees something new. We also met author Jim Aylesworth and Drew got his first signed book, The Mitten.
12/13/09: Drew got to hear Mommy's French Horn today :)
On a side note, I got a new camera and it's giving me trouble uploading pictures to this site. I'll get it sorted out soon.
12/17/09: Well I'm not watching another baby anymore so now Drew has me all to himself. Yesterday we went to Gymboree. I am glad that I get to go because Drew is so clingy clingy. The class is 45 minutes and about every 10 minutes Drew needs to be picked up and cuddled. Every other baby is fine for the class but not my little Drew bug. He will play and crawl for a bit then need cuddle time, we'll sing and do parachute then he'll need cuddle time. He turns to me whenever he is lonely, scared, hurt, or trying something new. He loves me :)
Today we went to lapsit at the library, it's a free program for little ones. Again he needed momma throughout the program, and this one is only 30 minutes long. He is my little stick tight. I guess that's not a bad thing, I love it but can get worn out real fast some days. He is hugging me back most times I pick him up. Ahhh, I love his hugs. I think he tried kissing me the other day too. I kiss him a billion times a day and sometimes do big noisy smooches. They other day he kept mushing his face into mine and going BA and pulling away. I think it was like when I go Muah and kiss him. So so so so so cute!
12/20/09: I used to see these dirty strollers and dirty high chairs and think why would people let their stuff get that dirty, I mean wash it once in a while. Ohhh, now I get it. It doesn't take months or weeks or even days for something to get disgustingly grossly encrusted with baby goo. It takes one snack time, not even a meal, just a snack for the high chair, car seat, and for the baby himself to be covered head to toe with sticky baby mess. I wonder what baby spit is made of? It's stickier than any glue I've ever seen and it won't wash off.
Tonight Drew had mashed peas, he has so much fun playing with his food. I'm fine with it too, I mean it's messy, really really messy but you're only little once, have fun mash your peas, rub carrots in your hair, pretty soon it won't be socially acceptable. I'm sure he's learning something by playing with food too. He's so silly with his food and what he will eat. At our Christmas party he had a cucumber and a tomato, he loved them. And at home he's been eating pickles. What a silly baby, he won't eat green beans but he'll eat pickles and tomatoes.
Got another bad mother moment for you...Drew has a cough, I'm sure it's nothing just dry winter air. Hmm, the cough is getting worse. Maybe I'll need to call the Dr...wait what's that in your mouth? Is that? Oh my god, Drew had scotch tape in his mouth and was coughing because it was tickling his throat. Where the heck did he get the scotch tape? He ripped it off one of the presents! Naughty baby! Naughty mommy!
12/23/09:
Drew had his first bowl of pasta :)
Drew wants in to those presents under the tree. He keeps crawling over and trying to play drums on them and eat them. He plays drums on everything. He turns his food bowl upside down and bangs on it, his block box, his xylophone, everything becomes a bongo drum!
12/25/09:
Merry 1st Christmas Drew!
Drew did pretty good today, he enjoyed helping mommy and daddy open presents and he liked banging on the boxes. He wasn't excited over the toys at first but as the day went on he really enjoyed playing with the new toys. Christmas took a long time this year :) Half way through opening we had to stop for a milk break and some cuddle time. I love my little Drew bug. I posted some videos of today. The hit toy was this ball popping thing. It's pretty fun!
Funny story that Drew will hate me for...
Drew had a wardrobe malfunction this morning and needed a new outfit so I stripped him down and went upstairs to find a new festive outfit. When I came down I see my naked little boy shoving oatmeal on himself, it looked like he was trying to feed his penis oatmeal. So funny!
12/26/09:
I just wanted to say I am happy with the way my life is. Money is fun to have but I don't think that every penny needs to be spent on kids for Christmas. I am happy with what Drew received and he got more than I expected from Grandmas and his Aunt and Uncle. Perhaps I watched the Grinch too much as a kid but Christmas really isn't about the gifts, yes that's the fun part, but Christmas is about the time surrounding the holiday. The making cookies with family, decorating, reading stories together, just being together and staying inside. Children need to learn that they can't have every single little thing in the world. I think that's the problem with so many kids, they get everything the second they want it and they have so much that they don't appreciate what they do have. I know my brother and I got a lot of what we wanted when we were young but I also know that we heard the words 'no' and 'not today' as well. It is hard to not feel a little jealous when you see what other people get and know that they must have dropped more than a mortgage payment on their kid for Christmas but when you think back to your childhood memories it's not the toys that stand out but the moments that you did things with your loved ones. I love my family and I thank everyone for making my Christmas special this year.
12/28/09:
12/29/09:
Drew pulled himself up today!
I've started trying to get Drew back into his crib. I don't mind if he co-sleeps every once in a while but it's getting too much. I am not getting enough sleep, not even close! Last night I felt like Dumbo's mother. I was sitting on the floor reaching my arm through the slats of the crib holding on to Drew and singing to him. If I knew all the words to baby mine I probably would have sang that song :) It took 30 minutes but Drew fell asleep in his own crib...now, how to keep him there. He woke up an hour later and wanted me. This is when I don't know what to do. I can't let him cry, I live in a town house, it's small. If he cries Gary is woken up, so it's easier to pick him up and make him stop crying. At least then one person in the house gets sleep.
1/1/2010
Happy New Year!
Drew celebrated by sleeping, and even sleeping in until 9:15! That means mommy got to sleep in too!
12/6/09: Drew is so smart...SO SMART! he was eating and started crying. I didn't know why, he then did the sign for drink, not milk, but drink. I went and got his juice. He drank 1/2 an ounce and was done. I tried to feed him more dinner and he held up his hand (like talk to the hand). He told me he was all done (all done is turning your hand but he can't do that yet, he just holds it up). I took him out of the highchair and he was crying and doing the eat sign. I tried giving him a couple different things but he wouldn't eat them. I then picked up the container of cereal and he got all happy, he knew he wanted cereal and he told me. I love it! I can not believe how fast he picked up eat and drink. I worked for 2 months for him to learn milk and in a week he picked up the others. Time for mommy to hit the books and learn some more signs.
*Drew finally said Dada :)
12/7/09: Drew saw his 1st snow today. He wanted to pick it up but he was unsure the minute his hands touched it. There's a short video.
Drew has learned all done in sign language. I put Ethan in the jumper and Drew looked at him then looked at me and did the all done sign, I don;t think Drew wanted Ethan to use the jumper. Very funny!
12/11/09: One year ago I was doing the same thing I am now. Sitting up in the middle of the night, freezing, updating my website, wide awake while hubby sleeps. The only difference now is that I can see the baby resting on my lap. My poor Drew, why doesn't he sleep? He wants to sleep but he wakes up crying about every 2 hours. Most times he doesn't even really wake up, he's crying but his eyes are still closed and he acts asleep. He doesn't need anything that I can figure out. He isn't hungry, he doesn't need closeness since he is 100% co-sleeping now. What's wrong? He cries out like he's in pain and he won't stop until I sit him up. Is it reflux? I can hear odd little noises from him. He also whimpers a lot in his sleep and squirms around. Why can't he just get comfortable and go to sleep? I am so tired and I feel so bad for him. He wakes if I'm holding him too, something is going on and I just don't know what to do or who to ask for help.
12/12/09: Andrew discovered he has control over his tongue. He spent today sticking his tongue out and trying to lick his nose.
We went to the arboretum today to look at the Christmas trains, Drew loved studying each one, he is so serious when he sees something new. We also met author Jim Aylesworth and Drew got his first signed book, The Mitten.
12/13/09: Drew got to hear Mommy's French Horn today :)
On a side note, I got a new camera and it's giving me trouble uploading pictures to this site. I'll get it sorted out soon.
12/17/09: Well I'm not watching another baby anymore so now Drew has me all to himself. Yesterday we went to Gymboree. I am glad that I get to go because Drew is so clingy clingy. The class is 45 minutes and about every 10 minutes Drew needs to be picked up and cuddled. Every other baby is fine for the class but not my little Drew bug. He will play and crawl for a bit then need cuddle time, we'll sing and do parachute then he'll need cuddle time. He turns to me whenever he is lonely, scared, hurt, or trying something new. He loves me :)
Today we went to lapsit at the library, it's a free program for little ones. Again he needed momma throughout the program, and this one is only 30 minutes long. He is my little stick tight. I guess that's not a bad thing, I love it but can get worn out real fast some days. He is hugging me back most times I pick him up. Ahhh, I love his hugs. I think he tried kissing me the other day too. I kiss him a billion times a day and sometimes do big noisy smooches. They other day he kept mushing his face into mine and going BA and pulling away. I think it was like when I go Muah and kiss him. So so so so so cute!
12/20/09: I used to see these dirty strollers and dirty high chairs and think why would people let their stuff get that dirty, I mean wash it once in a while. Ohhh, now I get it. It doesn't take months or weeks or even days for something to get disgustingly grossly encrusted with baby goo. It takes one snack time, not even a meal, just a snack for the high chair, car seat, and for the baby himself to be covered head to toe with sticky baby mess. I wonder what baby spit is made of? It's stickier than any glue I've ever seen and it won't wash off.
Tonight Drew had mashed peas, he has so much fun playing with his food. I'm fine with it too, I mean it's messy, really really messy but you're only little once, have fun mash your peas, rub carrots in your hair, pretty soon it won't be socially acceptable. I'm sure he's learning something by playing with food too. He's so silly with his food and what he will eat. At our Christmas party he had a cucumber and a tomato, he loved them. And at home he's been eating pickles. What a silly baby, he won't eat green beans but he'll eat pickles and tomatoes.
Got another bad mother moment for you...Drew has a cough, I'm sure it's nothing just dry winter air. Hmm, the cough is getting worse. Maybe I'll need to call the Dr...wait what's that in your mouth? Is that? Oh my god, Drew had scotch tape in his mouth and was coughing because it was tickling his throat. Where the heck did he get the scotch tape? He ripped it off one of the presents! Naughty baby! Naughty mommy!
12/23/09:
Drew had his first bowl of pasta :)
Drew wants in to those presents under the tree. He keeps crawling over and trying to play drums on them and eat them. He plays drums on everything. He turns his food bowl upside down and bangs on it, his block box, his xylophone, everything becomes a bongo drum!
12/25/09:
Merry 1st Christmas Drew!
Drew did pretty good today, he enjoyed helping mommy and daddy open presents and he liked banging on the boxes. He wasn't excited over the toys at first but as the day went on he really enjoyed playing with the new toys. Christmas took a long time this year :) Half way through opening we had to stop for a milk break and some cuddle time. I love my little Drew bug. I posted some videos of today. The hit toy was this ball popping thing. It's pretty fun!
Funny story that Drew will hate me for...
Drew had a wardrobe malfunction this morning and needed a new outfit so I stripped him down and went upstairs to find a new festive outfit. When I came down I see my naked little boy shoving oatmeal on himself, it looked like he was trying to feed his penis oatmeal. So funny!
12/26/09:
I just wanted to say I am happy with the way my life is. Money is fun to have but I don't think that every penny needs to be spent on kids for Christmas. I am happy with what Drew received and he got more than I expected from Grandmas and his Aunt and Uncle. Perhaps I watched the Grinch too much as a kid but Christmas really isn't about the gifts, yes that's the fun part, but Christmas is about the time surrounding the holiday. The making cookies with family, decorating, reading stories together, just being together and staying inside. Children need to learn that they can't have every single little thing in the world. I think that's the problem with so many kids, they get everything the second they want it and they have so much that they don't appreciate what they do have. I know my brother and I got a lot of what we wanted when we were young but I also know that we heard the words 'no' and 'not today' as well. It is hard to not feel a little jealous when you see what other people get and know that they must have dropped more than a mortgage payment on their kid for Christmas but when you think back to your childhood memories it's not the toys that stand out but the moments that you did things with your loved ones. I love my family and I thank everyone for making my Christmas special this year.
12/28/09:
12/29/09:
Drew pulled himself up today!
I've started trying to get Drew back into his crib. I don't mind if he co-sleeps every once in a while but it's getting too much. I am not getting enough sleep, not even close! Last night I felt like Dumbo's mother. I was sitting on the floor reaching my arm through the slats of the crib holding on to Drew and singing to him. If I knew all the words to baby mine I probably would have sang that song :) It took 30 minutes but Drew fell asleep in his own crib...now, how to keep him there. He woke up an hour later and wanted me. This is when I don't know what to do. I can't let him cry, I live in a town house, it's small. If he cries Gary is woken up, so it's easier to pick him up and make him stop crying. At least then one person in the house gets sleep.
1/1/2010
Happy New Year!
Drew celebrated by sleeping, and even sleeping in until 9:15! That means mommy got to sleep in too!
Christmas Pictures:
December Pictures:
At the Arboretum
Ipod Photos:
Christmas Day!
