Eight is Great!
1/5/10:
Happy 8 months little one! Where has the time gone? I am so lucky to have spent every single day with you. I've spent every single night with you too but I don't consider myself lucky for that one, hehee.
Well month 8 is off to a great start :) Drew was crawling around the living room, into the kitchen, then back through the dinning room. He was taking a little longer than normal so I go out to see what was going on and there was my baby splashing away in the cat water bowl. Silly baby! A few minutes later he was acting like there was something in his mouth, when I opened his mouth to find out there were cat food crumbs in there. He ate cat food. Well, at least we buy high quality food. Note to self, put bowls up when it's baby exercise time!
I've started finger painting with Drew. He really enjoys it and what's weird is that he never tries to put the paint in his mouth. Maybe because I mix it with soap for easy clean it smells like his bath soap. I don't know, maybe he's just a genius and knows not to eat paint. I think that's it :)
I can't believe how smart Drew is. He really figures things out fast and understands a lot. He acts like a little person :) He has preferences and wants certain things and is able to communicate to me what those are. It's amazing. He loves the kitties and the fish, loves them! His face lights up and he smiles when he sees the cats. He even says Keeey when he pets the cats. It is just amazing. He's started saying isss isss when we watch the fish too. Today we were reading a duck book at the library (one that we've read many times before) and he said duck, just as clear as day. I was amazed, he said duck just as clear as he says mama and dadee. He even understands words that I say. I'll say where's your blanket and he looks around, when I told him to get cow he reached for his cow stuffed animal when there were other animals sitting right there.
Drew is so smart with his toys too, you just show him how to do something once and he gets it. Even when he can't get it because his hands are too small or not strong enough he still understands what he is supposed to do. Each day I sit and play with him and read to him. It's amazing how fast he's growing and learning, I just hope I'm doing a good job and giving him what he needs. There are so many little things that I don't know about babies and kids I just hope he's not missing out on something because I don't know what I'm doing.
Drew's still not crawling like a traditional crawl and he's not pulling himself up yet but I guess that's okay. It just seems like he's been doing his version of crawling for a long time now, 2 months. But he gets where he wants to go and he's quick too, so I don't see a problem with it.
Many people told me at 6 weeks your baby would sleep through the night, at 12 weeks, at 5 months, at 6 months. Others told me weight, at 8 pounds, 10 pounds, 12 pounds. Still others told me when he started cereal, food, starts sitting, starts crawling. Nothing as been correct. My pediatrician said the very first time I saw him that Drew will sleep through the night when he is developmentally ready. All babies are programmed different and some of them are needy, day and night. He joked about Drew not wanting the wolves to get him. Well I think maybe my pediatrician was right. Drew is starting to sleep better at nap time and can now sleep half the night in his crib. I guess he is finally secure enough and safe enough with his surroundings to be alone for a few hours. He has survived 8 months, momma hasn't let the wolves get him, not once. I guess he trusts that he's in good hands!
Now to pat myself on the back. Drew is 8 months old and 22 pounds and I've gotten him there. I've breastfed this baby on demand his whole life! There has been no feeding schedule or bottles or times that he eats, when he's hungry or just needs comforting I've been there. Day and night for 8 months I've been there. It has been really hard, people say breastfeeding is natural which makes you think it's easy but it is not easy. Along with just dealing with a baby that wants to be attached to your chest every second of every day you have to deal with wearing ugly bras that make your boobs look frumpy, boobs that like to leak through your shirts when you even have a glimmer of a thought of your baby and wet waist bands. What? Did I just say waist bands? Yes, this is because Drew will start to eat then take a break but apparently he didn't tell the chef to stop making the food so while he's lounging around I have milk pouring down my stomach and getting my pants wet. In addition to this I have had to deal with getting bit, which upsets Drew I think more than me. Then he's afraid to latch on after that and just screams and cries. I also get pinched repeatedly, he squeezes and pinches me the whole time he eats, and getting scratched. Those baby nails are wicked and so difficult to keep short enough. People don't warn you about all of this when you start breastfeeding. I'm very proud of myself and think I deserve to wear a medal around my neck so other people know how awesome I am. I mean they have the Olympics and the Special Olympics, why don't they have the Momolympics?
1/6/10:
My child really is a genius :) Today he said car. It sounded like he was from Boston but it was still car. We were in the parking lot and I said look at all the cars, then he pointed and said car. Then at Gymboree he said it again when he saw a toy car.
At Gymboree today a little boy crawled over and took a ball that Drew was playing with and Drew burst into tears, it was the very first time someone has ever taken a toy away from him. Wow, I guess you can tell he's an only child! When the other baby was here that I used to babysit neither one of them was mobile enough to crawl over and take a toy. Poor Drew, it's tough growing up.
I'm so excited yesterday at the library and now today at Gymboree Drew participated and had fun! We've been going for 2 whole months and finally, finally he's opening up and smiling and having fun not just sitting in mommy's lap.
It's adorable Drew is now sharing. He wants to give everything he has to you, toys, food - eaten or not, clothes. He especially likes to share with daddy. What a good little boy :) He even tried sharing Nicki's own buttons on her sweater with her, he's so cute. He's also started pointing at things. I didn't think anything of it until the Gymboree teacher thought that was pretty good for his age. He points at everything so I tell him the name of everything, which means I have more running conversations with an infant in the grocery store. I'm sure people think I'm crazy but I want my child to have a good vocabulary, and how boring would it be to be ignored by mom for an hour while you sit in the cart at the store?
So many things to update about...Drew now loves flap books. He has 3 of them where you lift the flap and see something under it. It takes us about 30 minutes to read these books, he lifts the flaps about 20 times and giggles and laughs when the same image is there. And of course if he lifts the flap 20 times I say the name of what's under it 20 times. He'll learn those words fast :)
Oops mommy moment...I didn't know babies could drink out of straws. I had a soda and Drew kept reaching for it so I offered him the straw, well he knew just what to do. He had his first sip of ginger ale. So now we've moved on to cups with straws, tonight at dinner Drew drank his apple juice out of a straw. He also had cottage cheese for the first time tonight, he liked it! My little guy is growing up so fast, I just can't even believe it. I think every mom should stay home with their kid for their first year at least. Think of everything I would have missed if I sent him to daycare for 8 hours a day. I'm so happy with my life right now!
1/8/10
Don't get me wrong, I love my life but I just thought being a stay at home mom would be different. Now I didn't imagine my life getting all desperate housewives or something but I did think "I" would have more of a life. I'm sure Gary thinks I do nothing all day but I entertain Drew. It's hard to even finish a short task like dishes or laundry because I have to keep my eyes on Drew, he is into everything. And when I'm upstairs I have to put him in his crib with toys because we don't have a gate. He is still very clingy and I really only get about 5 minutes before he needs me to check back in with him. The other day I was folding clothes and putting them in a pile just to look over and see a giggly smiley face pulling the freshly folded laundry over himself. So cute, but still annoying that I have to fold it again. I really don't have time to do much scrapbooking, I can never finish a book in the 2 weeks that the library gives you, I don't enjoy cleaning the house so when I get time to do that it's still not me time, it's work. And why do we have to eat every single day? I get tired of making dinner every day. It's fun for about 4 days then the other 3 I just don't feel doing anything! I haven't been anywhere without Drew, except the dentist, in 8 months. No, no I take that back I had pizza once with a friend. I really do just want to go get a haircut. Some days little things just get me down. I wish Drew napped a good solid 90 minutes a day. That would be heaven. Some days I could be productive but some days I could have me time. Even as I type this I have a baby attached to me. It's hard. I think it will be better when it warms up so I can go outside. Being in the house doesn't help my blahness, and neither does getting 5 hours a sleep at night...still...after 8 months.
1/10/10
Today Drew had blueberry pancakes and goldfish crackers for the 1st time!
Things are improving at night...sounds a little naughty....things are getting better in the bedroom, haha. Seriously though, Drew is starting to sleep in his crib. He woke up crying pretty bad last night but I think I may have put his mattress on too much of an incline. He was laying the wrong way at the bottom of the hill with his head hitting the bars and under the decorative blanket draped over the bottom of the crib. When I walked in his room I couldn't see his head, it took me a minute, I was thinking oh no, the first night I let my little one sleep alone and he loses his head! He did finish out the rest of the night with momma but he slept great until 5am when, even though he was rubbing his eyes, he thought it would be fun to play. Daddy and him went downstairs and mommy stayed in bed! Yippie!
Today we went to the free zoo....Pet Co. Drew loved looking at hundreds of fish, cute little birds, bunnies, ferrets, hamsters, rats, mice and lots and lots of dogs and cats, it was adoption day. It was great entertainment and we spent no money! I would love to take him to the aquarium but it's $25 for an adult ticket and $30 to park your car, just crazy! Maybe they will do free Tuesdays in February like the art museum.
Is it silly to do a birthday party for a one year old? Part of me thinks yes, absolutely! It is insane to spend a handful of money on a party for someone who hasn't learn the concept of party yet. But then my sentimental side comes through and wants to do something special for Drew's very first birthday. I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I'll just have a little luncheon party at my house and save the fun places for when he's older.
Bragging time...Drew is so smart, have I said that before? He is learning that you can use one thing to do something else. He had a blast smashing cereal with his cup. Then he pulled the place mat to get a toy closer to him. He knew enough to pull something else to get what you want, pretty smart!
1/11/10
Drew got his first top tooth today!
My sweet baby Drew is learning to soothe himself. He was crying in his crib then stopped. I peeked down the hall and saw his seahorse lit up. He was just laying there listening to the music watching the light. Awww, I wanted to give him a hug but I stayed strong and stayed out of his room. My little independent boy didn't need me to fall back to sleep. I love it, I really do, I just hope he's happy and not going to bed sad.
Okay, I'm trying to a better 1950's housewife. I really am trying, but it's really not fun. How did those women do it? I bet it's because the whole block was home so they didn't feel so isolated. They could chit chat and have fun and then hurry home and take care of the house before hubby got home. I don't care what people say, put on all the music you want, dance with the vacuum, it's still housework, I can't be tricked that easily!
1/12/10
I was looking at Drew last night and he's starting to look more little boyish to me not babyish. My baby, why must you grow up. Life is easier just the way you are, momma can protect you from everything still as you get bigger and more independent momma will not be able to protect you from all the bad things, but at least I'll always be here to try to make things better. Growing up will be scary for both of us. Even eating is becoming more complicated. As you are get closer to one year I am getting more nervous about if you are getting enough fruits and vegetables and proteins. I enjoyed having you on a full liquid diet, I knew it was 100% balanced for you. Now we struggled with flavors and textures that you like and don't like, we struggle with you wanting to self feed but still choking so easily, please stop growing up so fast baby. To think about the last 8 months though I wouldn't change a thing. I've held you and rocked almost every waking moment. I know every inch of your body like it's my own, I've stared at each finger and toe for countless number of hours. I caressed those chubby little cheeks while you slept in my arms day after day. While it's been hard for me I can't imagine it any other way, I can't imagine not spending all my time devoted to you.
My baby is growing, he's dropped one feeding during the day and really only likes to settle down and nurse at nap time, bedtime, and in the morning. My little one is busy and doesn't want to be snuggled next to momma too long. This week he has also started giving up that morning nap. Seriously? I feel like I just got in a good groove since quitting my babysitting job and now my baby is changing. I feel like I cheated Drew out of a good set structure and schedule for the 5 months that I babysat but at least I didn't cheat him out of having mommy home. He is such a quiet, happy baby. I can really see how he benefits from one on one attention without other commotion around. I wonder if it's just coincidence that just 2 weeks after I stop watching the other baby Drew is napping and sleeping in his crib. Was he so clingy because he had to share me all day he was making up for it at night?
Last night Drew had peas and carrots, the first time he has had canned veggies. They were prefect, small and mushy. He loved them, he ate 3 bowls full...well he had 3 bowls full, I think one of those ended up all over the dining room.
I hope you enjoy the kitchen photo shoot from today. Drew had a lot of fun :)
1/15/10:
I hate teething! Poor little Drew has 2 or 3 teeth coming in on the top, ugh, it's a nightmare! Last night he screamed at cried every 2 hours. Stupid teeth...why do they take so long to finally come in anyway, they should just pop through instead of lingering for 4 days! This week has been awful and Gary has had to work late most nights. I know I shouldn't complain but it's exhausting taking care of a screaming baby all day long. I want my happy baby back!
1/17/10:
Sigh, I never imagined the hardest part of all of this would be the sleep issues. We were doing so good, Drew was actually sleeping in his crib. Now he's back to going to sleep in his crib and waking up after 2 or three hours then again after another 1 or 2 hours then he just gets put in bed with mom. I was reading my baby book and there is a section on co-sleeping, it does say that around 10 months babies start wanting their own space so many co-sleepers are willing to go into their crib at that time. Hopefully this is the case with Drew. Another reason I need to get him out of my bed, I swear he saves all his pee all day and then pees 10 gallons at night. I've been woken up twice by someone peeing on me. Ugh, not my idea of a nice wake up call. I need to look into overnight diapers I guess.
1/18/10:
There's always so much in my head but when I find the time to sit down without a baby in my arms and type I tend to go blank. What did I want to say? Have I told you that I love being a stay at home mom, that I have the cutest baby in the world? Have I said those things?
Where do nicknames come from? I have a son, his name is Andrew, some would say his nickname is Drew, however if they were to hang out with me in the house they would swear that I named my child buggy. What? Yes, I said Buggy. Peanut, Monkey, Pumpkin, none of those sound right, none of those fit. I have a little buggy. I actually have to make a conscience effort to call him Drew so that he learns his name. I'm afraid he's going to think his name is buggy. I don't know how this happened, I don't remember ever thinking that I will call my child by some silly name, I don't even remember the first time I called him buggy but it happened and it stuck. The funny thing is that my grandpa called me a little bug when I was a baby.
Before you have kids you hear about different phases that kids go through. A normal childless adult hears the word phase and thinks something like a phase of the moon, it starts slow grows into something then subsides and moves on to something else. Baby phases are not like this. A baby phase can be anywhere from 3 seconds to 30 months (I'm guessing on that last part since I only have an 8 month old), and unlike the gradual moon phase baby phases jump out of nowhere. Let's take teething for example. This is an on again off again "phase" that always starts up at 2am and can last all night or come and go throughout the night, but don't worry it will subside come daylight to a manageable level which brainwashes you into thinking that everything is okay. So what can you do? The same thing you do for everything that's involved with a baby. Think this too shall pass? Heck No! Spend money and drug your kid! Hahaha, I wish I was kidding. We have spent oodles of money to help soothe the pain of daggers stabbing through our babies gums. What could you possibly spend so much money on you ask? teethers, not one or two but a bucket full. This is because this is the time in a baby's life when they will decide to be picky about what goes in their mouth. Oh it's okay with them if it's your cashmere sweater, or a string of pearls or even some cat food but give them a baby approved teether and all of a sudden they have opinions. We have hard teethers, soft teethers, frozen teethers, cool teether, bead teether, water teethers, crinkle teethers, and nubby teethers, and of all things battery operated vibrating teethers. I kid you not, they vibrate. Now for the good stuff, the drugs. We have all natural teething strips, teething tabs, Orajel daytime, Orajel nighttime...because as I've previously discussed teeth do know day from night, and we have infant tylenol...in 2 flavors. I think the better route to take on this would have been to invest in drugs for mommy, then my heart wouldn't break when my little man cries and I could fall asleep.
1/19/10
Drew learned how to blow bubbles in his drink. He found this hilarious. He is going to have fun with his first glass of milk. Water and apple juice don't bubble over.
1/20/10
Over the past 8 months I've bought just a couple of diapers :) So here's my thoughts on them...
White Cloud - F sucks, don't waste your money. If you get them as a gift trade them in for something else, they suck that bad. They are stiff, non-absorbant, the tabs aren't sticky so they shift around, and they don't curve right. I think they are made of wax paper too, everything just sits there against the skin instead of being wicked away.
Huggies - B- OK, a little bunchy, says shaped for my baby but not really, real stretchy which is nice, not a lot of crotch room so poo oozes out. Can't soak up as much pee as you would think.
Luvs - C very crinkly sounding but a good price and there are always luvs coupons in the paper. The thighs don't hug tight so there are thigh accidents a lot, a little stiff but Drew didn't seem to mind.
Pampers Swaddlers - A+ awesome, expensive but worth it if you can spend the money. Soft and flexible, not too many stupid characters all over it, smells nice (except when poopy), holds stuff in, very cottony and if you get the sensitive ones they have an indicator line to see when they are wet...very cool for tiny babies.
Pampers Cruisers - A Once your baby is into size 3's and above you have to get cruisers not swaddlers. These are good, nice smell, good fit, snug around thighs they just aren't as cottony as swaddlers and Drew kept grabbing at his leg...I think all the thigh ruffles itched him sometimes, but that could be because he crawls weird :)
Target - B- good for the money, even cheaper than Luvs and about the same quality, better shaped for a curvy body. A little crinkly but good stretchy tabs, they smell when they get a wet, a weird chemical smell. gaps in the back a lot, lets poo out. Will hold lots of pee if baby is on back, sides leak overnight if baby is a stomach sleeper
Pampers Extra protection - A+ awesome! Drew has been waking up wet lately so we bought these, now he wakes up dry and his skin isn't even sticky feeling. Love them but the price tag is a little high. They even have a nice powdery smell.
1/21/10:
I guess I should be happy that I have a hubby that does housework but sometimes I feel like he's redoing my work. Imagine how you would feel if you worked all day every day in an office and then your boss waltzed in the started doing your work, worse yet, doing work you already did. It would make you feel pretty bad, well that's how I feel sometimes when hubby finishes laundry I've started or cleans the kitchen when I cleaned it after lunch. I feel like he's silently telling me I didn't do "my job" correctly. I know I'm being crazy but right now the house and kid are all I have, if they aren't looking good then it reflects on me.
I haven't had many dreams in the last 8 months, I don't think I've entered that phase of sleep very often but the other night I had one. I went to visit some friends and when I got there they said oh you didn't bring Drew and while I told them no, not today in my head I was thinking oh crap, where's Drew. I started to wonder if I left him in the car or if I left him home alone or worse yet if I had brought him with me and then lost him. I was really panicky and finally told my friends I had to go pick up Drew, truth was I had to go find Drew!! But don't worry this was just a dream because when I opened my eyes there he was :)
Why won't my baby stay away from the cat bowls?! He ate another piece of cat food again today. I feel awful when I see him munching on something and I find out it's cat food. I pick up the bowls but he always seems to find a little piece here or there. Poor baby, I'm sorry if you grow whiskers and a tail.
1/24/10:
Welcome temper phase, I didn't think I would be seeing you until year 2. Drew's arms have grown significantly in his 8 month. Now don't picture him like a monkey man with super long arms but my friend laughed at him when he was born that he couldn't even reach the top of his head. Now he can finally reach his own head, and pull his own hair. My hope is that he will realize that pulling hair really hurts and he will stop pulling mommy's hair. Around 9 months babies learn object permanence. So, now add up longer grabbier arms and the brain power to know that when mommy takes things away they don't vanish and you end up with a kicking screaming tantrum. Wow this must come from daddy's side :)
Drew has really let me know when he doesn't like something, he arches and yells and kicks like a mad man. Now sometimes it's not a big deal to me so I give him whatever it was he was fussing over but I don't want to teach him that you can yell and get what you want so other times I do not give in and anyone that knows a Poyer knows they can be stubborn, so no I will never give in if I don't really want to. This is when Drew starts banging his head. Oh my god baby, not the head. You have 2 of most everything else but not the head. Please don't hurt the head. How did you know that mommy is afraid of head injuries. But still I don't give in, I just move him away from things he can bang his head on. At least at this age I can end the tantrum with a nice belly raspberry. As soon as he giggles he forgets he was mad. I hope this is just a developmental phase and not another part of his personality showing through.
A couple first for my little Drew bug this weekend:
1st lollipop - he got it from the lady at the bank. He enjoyed eating the stick more than the candy (it was lemon, can you blame him)
1st item ordered off a menu for him - white toast, exciting huh.
1st store bought cookie, oh sorry it was a fig newton not a cookie (it's fruit and cake) - he didn't like it
1st time climbing up and down a small step (about half the height of the steps at home) It was at the library, he was climbing on the stage.
1/25/10:
I'm so tired. I've sat here thinking how I can write about Drew's sleep issues in a light humorous way but I just can't, I'm too tired. And besides that I don't find lack of sleep funny. Many things in motherhood I can find the humorous side but sleep, sleep is essential. I thought we were turning a corner but now we're back to square one. Drew is not sleeping, not alone, not with mommy, not at all. I don't know what to do, I really don't and I'm losing my patience at night. I'm exhausted come 4pm so I just can not deal with the evenings in the same light hearted way I deal with the days. Gary really does help out a lot in the evenings now but I'm still in the house with a crabby baby. Some days I really can't take it. Some days I feel like a bad mom because I don't have the energy to crawl on the floor and play, I don't have the patience to let Drew feed himself, I don't want to fight Drew at bedtime. I wish they sold some baby drugs that could help me but nothing OTC is approved for infants. It has been a hellishly long 8.5 months and I'm so lucky that Gary is so low key and laid back. I'm lucky he's not one that likes to argue and yell. When he gets mad he just goes to work :) Good, let him take it out on them. Haha
1/27/10:
Hilarious moment of the day: It was snack time, around 3pm, and I decided cheese and crackers for mommy and just ritz for Drew would be good. I got out about 12 crackers and had them stacked up. I handed Drew one and he was happy for a second but was grumpy that there was a huge stack of crackers and he only had one. So I handed him another one. Now he had one cracker in each hand, he was happy. This is until he looked at the stack of crackers mommy was eating off of. He reached for the stack but with a cracker in your hand you can't pick up any more. I told him sorry baby, you'll have to eat one of those crackers before you can have any more. Well he proved me wrong, he leaned forward and bit a cracker. Now he was happy, he had a cracker in each hand and one in his mouth. Silly silly (smart) baby.
I posted 3 videos, one of me trying to teach Drew fish and one where Drew steals the camera and one of Drew 'eating' oatmeal.
sitting across from Drew at dinner tonight was strange. Drew had on a little light blue and yellow top, it is a boy's shirt but could be gender neutral. His light blond hair flipped over the tops of his ears and his pretty blue eyes looking back at me I thought I was looking at a picture of myself. I can not believe how much my son looks like me sometimes. I wish my mom could spend more time with him, it really would be weird I think for her to hang out with him when he looks soooo much like me. This is why I do not recommend those expensive 3D ultrasounds. I did not have one but at my last ultrasound I thought Drew looked like Gary, had his profile and nose. But nope, he's 100% me right now. My friend did have one of those ultrasounds and I do not see the resemblance, save your money...well save it until you need to buy diapers and wipes.
When I was pregnant I was seriously considering cloth diapers. I liked the idea of not exposing my baby to chemicals, getting him potty trained faster, and in the long run spending less money on something you throw in the trash. I then remembered that I don't like poop. Seriously I don't own a dog because I don't want to pick up poop with my hand, it's yucky even with those magic doggie poop bags. I know cats you still have to deal with their poop but Gary cleans the boxes most of the time and cat poop is just tiny little tootsie rolls, and I don't have to touch it when it's warm! Now, back to baby poop. Putting cost aside from the upfront buying of all those cloth diapers I would have to swish globs of poop out in the toilet, then put the poop residue wet diaper in a bin to take to my washing machine. I would then wash poop in my washer. After that I would put my clothes in the same washer. I have a bottom of the line washer and I know it doesn't clean all that well. I know there would be fecal matter all over all my clothes, little tiny bits of fecal matter smattered all over everything. YUCK! I couldn't stand the thought of that. Now, how about those diaper services? I would get back diapers that had someone else's poop in it. Gross. Let me just peel the icky diaper off my child's bum, fold it up and toss it in the trash. No more work! So, I'm sorry environment, I'm sorry Drew's butt for exposing you to chemicals and I'm sorry checking account, I just couldn't do it.
1/29/10:
What is a typical day like for a SAHM? Well, there is no typical day :) Generally Drew wakes up around 5am when daddy leaves for work and I feed him in bed, we fall back to sleep and sleep until 8am, almost on the button every morning. I guess this is pretty late for a baby to sleep in but I love it. Then we play in bed for a bit, we play under the covers and we wake up the stuffed animals, Drew is so happy when he wakes up in the morning. I love it. After that we go down to Drew's room and change him and get him dressed. He then has a few minutes by himself while mommy gets dressed, some mornings he is okay with this others mornings I better get dressed real fast. Then we play the name game. Drew points and things and i name them. He loves to point at things, and it's usually the same things everyday. After that we go downstairs and get breakfast. Breakfast is usually a pretty good meal and takes about half and hour. Now it's crawling time. There's no TV in the mornings so mommy puts on music or we play with toys that make music. Around 10:00ish Drew is usually ready for milkie time and most mornings he falls asleep while eating. This is a short nap and he's up by 11ish. Then we read some books and sing some songs and act really silly. Then it's lunch time. Lunch is iffy, he usally doesn't eat and throws a fit and makes a mess. By this point I am usually over hungry and don't handle the situation like I should. I get mad. Okay mommy, deep breathe, it doesn't matter if the outfit gets dirty, just let your little one explore. After lunch honestly mommy is tired and hoping daddy doesn't work late. This is when I give Drew independent time. I try to get some stuff done around the house while Drew crawls around and plays. He usually just follows me around the house but I guess he needs to learn that not every second can be spent on him so I'm trying to teach him it's okay to entertain yourself. He is finding that the kitchen is a fun fun place. The afternoon we also work on language development, it sounds so formal but I just name things for him to find and play with a toy phone to encourage him to talk. We also work with shapes and color blocks. We have fun and I can see him learning a little everyday. Around 2pm he's ready for milkie again so I grab a book and sit down to nurse him again. This is also when I will get a good nap out of him. He will nurse for a while and finally fall asleep. He will sleep 2 hours if nothing disturbs him. If he's in his swing or crib then I do Alyssa things, though many times he's on my lap or lying in bed next to me. I don't care really, These days will be gone before long. When Drew wakes up daddy is usually home and then it's snack and daddy time while mommy picks up and gets ready for dinner. Dinner is rough, Drew gets really frustrated and we struggle through the whole meal. I'm working on keeping my cool, I just want a nice family meal. After dinner we only have about an hour and then Drew gets a bath if it's bath night, a massage, jammies, songs and rhymes, a book, milkie and then bed.
Phew, my days are full but most times I feel like I accomplished nothing. I guess because I don't have an outbox to look at and say see what I did. Gary will ask what I did all day and I say entertain Drew. He's high needs. I can't even imagine what he would be like if he went to day care. He gets grumpy by the end of the day and if he was away from mommy all day I bet it would be even worse. He is a very hands on, clingy, needed baby but since I have just him it's okay.
1/30/10:
Drew slept 6 hours in his crib! Yippee!!! 6 hours!!! WooHoo!!! So at 15 weeks and 35 weeks, these are the only 2 times he's slept through the night not next to mommy!!!!
I was watching Clifford the big red dog on TV yesterday and in the opening song it said that Emily's love for Clifford made him grow so big, well I guess that's why Drew is so big. All my love has made him grow so big :)
2/3/10:
I know how moms can go out of the house looking crazy, it's not that they don't have the time to brush their hair or that they are just too frazzled to pick the banana pieces off their shirt (well maybe in some cases) the reason is your baby always smiles at you. I wake up and Drew smiles at me like I'm Ms. America, so I assume, since someone is smiling at me, that I must look pretty darn good. My other problem is that I only have a mirror in my bathroom and if Drew is keeping me busy and I don't get to linger in the bathroom I never see myself. There have been days where I thought I looked much cuter than I actually did just because my little guy's face lit up every single time he saw me.
There's no doubt that I'm Drew's best friend, and until you're 5 it's cool to have mom as your best friend so it's okay, but Drew has found a new friend that he likes to play with. A few weeks ago I wrote about my little guy feeding his penis oatmeal, well now he offers it toys. Every time I undo his diaper he grabs a toy and hold it down, like he's offering it to his new little buddy, hey you bored down there? You want a rattle, or a stuffed anumal? Eventually I have to cover up his little buddy and he cries and cries. Ahh the joy of boys.
Happy 8 months little one! Where has the time gone? I am so lucky to have spent every single day with you. I've spent every single night with you too but I don't consider myself lucky for that one, hehee.
Well month 8 is off to a great start :) Drew was crawling around the living room, into the kitchen, then back through the dinning room. He was taking a little longer than normal so I go out to see what was going on and there was my baby splashing away in the cat water bowl. Silly baby! A few minutes later he was acting like there was something in his mouth, when I opened his mouth to find out there were cat food crumbs in there. He ate cat food. Well, at least we buy high quality food. Note to self, put bowls up when it's baby exercise time!
I've started finger painting with Drew. He really enjoys it and what's weird is that he never tries to put the paint in his mouth. Maybe because I mix it with soap for easy clean it smells like his bath soap. I don't know, maybe he's just a genius and knows not to eat paint. I think that's it :)
I can't believe how smart Drew is. He really figures things out fast and understands a lot. He acts like a little person :) He has preferences and wants certain things and is able to communicate to me what those are. It's amazing. He loves the kitties and the fish, loves them! His face lights up and he smiles when he sees the cats. He even says Keeey when he pets the cats. It is just amazing. He's started saying isss isss when we watch the fish too. Today we were reading a duck book at the library (one that we've read many times before) and he said duck, just as clear as day. I was amazed, he said duck just as clear as he says mama and dadee. He even understands words that I say. I'll say where's your blanket and he looks around, when I told him to get cow he reached for his cow stuffed animal when there were other animals sitting right there.
Drew is so smart with his toys too, you just show him how to do something once and he gets it. Even when he can't get it because his hands are too small or not strong enough he still understands what he is supposed to do. Each day I sit and play with him and read to him. It's amazing how fast he's growing and learning, I just hope I'm doing a good job and giving him what he needs. There are so many little things that I don't know about babies and kids I just hope he's not missing out on something because I don't know what I'm doing.
Drew's still not crawling like a traditional crawl and he's not pulling himself up yet but I guess that's okay. It just seems like he's been doing his version of crawling for a long time now, 2 months. But he gets where he wants to go and he's quick too, so I don't see a problem with it.
Many people told me at 6 weeks your baby would sleep through the night, at 12 weeks, at 5 months, at 6 months. Others told me weight, at 8 pounds, 10 pounds, 12 pounds. Still others told me when he started cereal, food, starts sitting, starts crawling. Nothing as been correct. My pediatrician said the very first time I saw him that Drew will sleep through the night when he is developmentally ready. All babies are programmed different and some of them are needy, day and night. He joked about Drew not wanting the wolves to get him. Well I think maybe my pediatrician was right. Drew is starting to sleep better at nap time and can now sleep half the night in his crib. I guess he is finally secure enough and safe enough with his surroundings to be alone for a few hours. He has survived 8 months, momma hasn't let the wolves get him, not once. I guess he trusts that he's in good hands!
Now to pat myself on the back. Drew is 8 months old and 22 pounds and I've gotten him there. I've breastfed this baby on demand his whole life! There has been no feeding schedule or bottles or times that he eats, when he's hungry or just needs comforting I've been there. Day and night for 8 months I've been there. It has been really hard, people say breastfeeding is natural which makes you think it's easy but it is not easy. Along with just dealing with a baby that wants to be attached to your chest every second of every day you have to deal with wearing ugly bras that make your boobs look frumpy, boobs that like to leak through your shirts when you even have a glimmer of a thought of your baby and wet waist bands. What? Did I just say waist bands? Yes, this is because Drew will start to eat then take a break but apparently he didn't tell the chef to stop making the food so while he's lounging around I have milk pouring down my stomach and getting my pants wet. In addition to this I have had to deal with getting bit, which upsets Drew I think more than me. Then he's afraid to latch on after that and just screams and cries. I also get pinched repeatedly, he squeezes and pinches me the whole time he eats, and getting scratched. Those baby nails are wicked and so difficult to keep short enough. People don't warn you about all of this when you start breastfeeding. I'm very proud of myself and think I deserve to wear a medal around my neck so other people know how awesome I am. I mean they have the Olympics and the Special Olympics, why don't they have the Momolympics?
1/6/10:
My child really is a genius :) Today he said car. It sounded like he was from Boston but it was still car. We were in the parking lot and I said look at all the cars, then he pointed and said car. Then at Gymboree he said it again when he saw a toy car.
At Gymboree today a little boy crawled over and took a ball that Drew was playing with and Drew burst into tears, it was the very first time someone has ever taken a toy away from him. Wow, I guess you can tell he's an only child! When the other baby was here that I used to babysit neither one of them was mobile enough to crawl over and take a toy. Poor Drew, it's tough growing up.
I'm so excited yesterday at the library and now today at Gymboree Drew participated and had fun! We've been going for 2 whole months and finally, finally he's opening up and smiling and having fun not just sitting in mommy's lap.
It's adorable Drew is now sharing. He wants to give everything he has to you, toys, food - eaten or not, clothes. He especially likes to share with daddy. What a good little boy :) He even tried sharing Nicki's own buttons on her sweater with her, he's so cute. He's also started pointing at things. I didn't think anything of it until the Gymboree teacher thought that was pretty good for his age. He points at everything so I tell him the name of everything, which means I have more running conversations with an infant in the grocery store. I'm sure people think I'm crazy but I want my child to have a good vocabulary, and how boring would it be to be ignored by mom for an hour while you sit in the cart at the store?
So many things to update about...Drew now loves flap books. He has 3 of them where you lift the flap and see something under it. It takes us about 30 minutes to read these books, he lifts the flaps about 20 times and giggles and laughs when the same image is there. And of course if he lifts the flap 20 times I say the name of what's under it 20 times. He'll learn those words fast :)
Oops mommy moment...I didn't know babies could drink out of straws. I had a soda and Drew kept reaching for it so I offered him the straw, well he knew just what to do. He had his first sip of ginger ale. So now we've moved on to cups with straws, tonight at dinner Drew drank his apple juice out of a straw. He also had cottage cheese for the first time tonight, he liked it! My little guy is growing up so fast, I just can't even believe it. I think every mom should stay home with their kid for their first year at least. Think of everything I would have missed if I sent him to daycare for 8 hours a day. I'm so happy with my life right now!
1/8/10
Don't get me wrong, I love my life but I just thought being a stay at home mom would be different. Now I didn't imagine my life getting all desperate housewives or something but I did think "I" would have more of a life. I'm sure Gary thinks I do nothing all day but I entertain Drew. It's hard to even finish a short task like dishes or laundry because I have to keep my eyes on Drew, he is into everything. And when I'm upstairs I have to put him in his crib with toys because we don't have a gate. He is still very clingy and I really only get about 5 minutes before he needs me to check back in with him. The other day I was folding clothes and putting them in a pile just to look over and see a giggly smiley face pulling the freshly folded laundry over himself. So cute, but still annoying that I have to fold it again. I really don't have time to do much scrapbooking, I can never finish a book in the 2 weeks that the library gives you, I don't enjoy cleaning the house so when I get time to do that it's still not me time, it's work. And why do we have to eat every single day? I get tired of making dinner every day. It's fun for about 4 days then the other 3 I just don't feel doing anything! I haven't been anywhere without Drew, except the dentist, in 8 months. No, no I take that back I had pizza once with a friend. I really do just want to go get a haircut. Some days little things just get me down. I wish Drew napped a good solid 90 minutes a day. That would be heaven. Some days I could be productive but some days I could have me time. Even as I type this I have a baby attached to me. It's hard. I think it will be better when it warms up so I can go outside. Being in the house doesn't help my blahness, and neither does getting 5 hours a sleep at night...still...after 8 months.
1/10/10
Today Drew had blueberry pancakes and goldfish crackers for the 1st time!
Things are improving at night...sounds a little naughty....things are getting better in the bedroom, haha. Seriously though, Drew is starting to sleep in his crib. He woke up crying pretty bad last night but I think I may have put his mattress on too much of an incline. He was laying the wrong way at the bottom of the hill with his head hitting the bars and under the decorative blanket draped over the bottom of the crib. When I walked in his room I couldn't see his head, it took me a minute, I was thinking oh no, the first night I let my little one sleep alone and he loses his head! He did finish out the rest of the night with momma but he slept great until 5am when, even though he was rubbing his eyes, he thought it would be fun to play. Daddy and him went downstairs and mommy stayed in bed! Yippie!
Today we went to the free zoo....Pet Co. Drew loved looking at hundreds of fish, cute little birds, bunnies, ferrets, hamsters, rats, mice and lots and lots of dogs and cats, it was adoption day. It was great entertainment and we spent no money! I would love to take him to the aquarium but it's $25 for an adult ticket and $30 to park your car, just crazy! Maybe they will do free Tuesdays in February like the art museum.
Is it silly to do a birthday party for a one year old? Part of me thinks yes, absolutely! It is insane to spend a handful of money on a party for someone who hasn't learn the concept of party yet. But then my sentimental side comes through and wants to do something special for Drew's very first birthday. I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I'll just have a little luncheon party at my house and save the fun places for when he's older.
Bragging time...Drew is so smart, have I said that before? He is learning that you can use one thing to do something else. He had a blast smashing cereal with his cup. Then he pulled the place mat to get a toy closer to him. He knew enough to pull something else to get what you want, pretty smart!
1/11/10
Drew got his first top tooth today!
My sweet baby Drew is learning to soothe himself. He was crying in his crib then stopped. I peeked down the hall and saw his seahorse lit up. He was just laying there listening to the music watching the light. Awww, I wanted to give him a hug but I stayed strong and stayed out of his room. My little independent boy didn't need me to fall back to sleep. I love it, I really do, I just hope he's happy and not going to bed sad.
Okay, I'm trying to a better 1950's housewife. I really am trying, but it's really not fun. How did those women do it? I bet it's because the whole block was home so they didn't feel so isolated. They could chit chat and have fun and then hurry home and take care of the house before hubby got home. I don't care what people say, put on all the music you want, dance with the vacuum, it's still housework, I can't be tricked that easily!
1/12/10
I was looking at Drew last night and he's starting to look more little boyish to me not babyish. My baby, why must you grow up. Life is easier just the way you are, momma can protect you from everything still as you get bigger and more independent momma will not be able to protect you from all the bad things, but at least I'll always be here to try to make things better. Growing up will be scary for both of us. Even eating is becoming more complicated. As you are get closer to one year I am getting more nervous about if you are getting enough fruits and vegetables and proteins. I enjoyed having you on a full liquid diet, I knew it was 100% balanced for you. Now we struggled with flavors and textures that you like and don't like, we struggle with you wanting to self feed but still choking so easily, please stop growing up so fast baby. To think about the last 8 months though I wouldn't change a thing. I've held you and rocked almost every waking moment. I know every inch of your body like it's my own, I've stared at each finger and toe for countless number of hours. I caressed those chubby little cheeks while you slept in my arms day after day. While it's been hard for me I can't imagine it any other way, I can't imagine not spending all my time devoted to you.
My baby is growing, he's dropped one feeding during the day and really only likes to settle down and nurse at nap time, bedtime, and in the morning. My little one is busy and doesn't want to be snuggled next to momma too long. This week he has also started giving up that morning nap. Seriously? I feel like I just got in a good groove since quitting my babysitting job and now my baby is changing. I feel like I cheated Drew out of a good set structure and schedule for the 5 months that I babysat but at least I didn't cheat him out of having mommy home. He is such a quiet, happy baby. I can really see how he benefits from one on one attention without other commotion around. I wonder if it's just coincidence that just 2 weeks after I stop watching the other baby Drew is napping and sleeping in his crib. Was he so clingy because he had to share me all day he was making up for it at night?
Last night Drew had peas and carrots, the first time he has had canned veggies. They were prefect, small and mushy. He loved them, he ate 3 bowls full...well he had 3 bowls full, I think one of those ended up all over the dining room.
I hope you enjoy the kitchen photo shoot from today. Drew had a lot of fun :)
1/15/10:
I hate teething! Poor little Drew has 2 or 3 teeth coming in on the top, ugh, it's a nightmare! Last night he screamed at cried every 2 hours. Stupid teeth...why do they take so long to finally come in anyway, they should just pop through instead of lingering for 4 days! This week has been awful and Gary has had to work late most nights. I know I shouldn't complain but it's exhausting taking care of a screaming baby all day long. I want my happy baby back!
1/17/10:
Sigh, I never imagined the hardest part of all of this would be the sleep issues. We were doing so good, Drew was actually sleeping in his crib. Now he's back to going to sleep in his crib and waking up after 2 or three hours then again after another 1 or 2 hours then he just gets put in bed with mom. I was reading my baby book and there is a section on co-sleeping, it does say that around 10 months babies start wanting their own space so many co-sleepers are willing to go into their crib at that time. Hopefully this is the case with Drew. Another reason I need to get him out of my bed, I swear he saves all his pee all day and then pees 10 gallons at night. I've been woken up twice by someone peeing on me. Ugh, not my idea of a nice wake up call. I need to look into overnight diapers I guess.
1/18/10:
There's always so much in my head but when I find the time to sit down without a baby in my arms and type I tend to go blank. What did I want to say? Have I told you that I love being a stay at home mom, that I have the cutest baby in the world? Have I said those things?
Where do nicknames come from? I have a son, his name is Andrew, some would say his nickname is Drew, however if they were to hang out with me in the house they would swear that I named my child buggy. What? Yes, I said Buggy. Peanut, Monkey, Pumpkin, none of those sound right, none of those fit. I have a little buggy. I actually have to make a conscience effort to call him Drew so that he learns his name. I'm afraid he's going to think his name is buggy. I don't know how this happened, I don't remember ever thinking that I will call my child by some silly name, I don't even remember the first time I called him buggy but it happened and it stuck. The funny thing is that my grandpa called me a little bug when I was a baby.
Before you have kids you hear about different phases that kids go through. A normal childless adult hears the word phase and thinks something like a phase of the moon, it starts slow grows into something then subsides and moves on to something else. Baby phases are not like this. A baby phase can be anywhere from 3 seconds to 30 months (I'm guessing on that last part since I only have an 8 month old), and unlike the gradual moon phase baby phases jump out of nowhere. Let's take teething for example. This is an on again off again "phase" that always starts up at 2am and can last all night or come and go throughout the night, but don't worry it will subside come daylight to a manageable level which brainwashes you into thinking that everything is okay. So what can you do? The same thing you do for everything that's involved with a baby. Think this too shall pass? Heck No! Spend money and drug your kid! Hahaha, I wish I was kidding. We have spent oodles of money to help soothe the pain of daggers stabbing through our babies gums. What could you possibly spend so much money on you ask? teethers, not one or two but a bucket full. This is because this is the time in a baby's life when they will decide to be picky about what goes in their mouth. Oh it's okay with them if it's your cashmere sweater, or a string of pearls or even some cat food but give them a baby approved teether and all of a sudden they have opinions. We have hard teethers, soft teethers, frozen teethers, cool teether, bead teether, water teethers, crinkle teethers, and nubby teethers, and of all things battery operated vibrating teethers. I kid you not, they vibrate. Now for the good stuff, the drugs. We have all natural teething strips, teething tabs, Orajel daytime, Orajel nighttime...because as I've previously discussed teeth do know day from night, and we have infant tylenol...in 2 flavors. I think the better route to take on this would have been to invest in drugs for mommy, then my heart wouldn't break when my little man cries and I could fall asleep.
1/19/10
Drew learned how to blow bubbles in his drink. He found this hilarious. He is going to have fun with his first glass of milk. Water and apple juice don't bubble over.
1/20/10
Over the past 8 months I've bought just a couple of diapers :) So here's my thoughts on them...
White Cloud - F sucks, don't waste your money. If you get them as a gift trade them in for something else, they suck that bad. They are stiff, non-absorbant, the tabs aren't sticky so they shift around, and they don't curve right. I think they are made of wax paper too, everything just sits there against the skin instead of being wicked away.
Huggies - B- OK, a little bunchy, says shaped for my baby but not really, real stretchy which is nice, not a lot of crotch room so poo oozes out. Can't soak up as much pee as you would think.
Luvs - C very crinkly sounding but a good price and there are always luvs coupons in the paper. The thighs don't hug tight so there are thigh accidents a lot, a little stiff but Drew didn't seem to mind.
Pampers Swaddlers - A+ awesome, expensive but worth it if you can spend the money. Soft and flexible, not too many stupid characters all over it, smells nice (except when poopy), holds stuff in, very cottony and if you get the sensitive ones they have an indicator line to see when they are wet...very cool for tiny babies.
Pampers Cruisers - A Once your baby is into size 3's and above you have to get cruisers not swaddlers. These are good, nice smell, good fit, snug around thighs they just aren't as cottony as swaddlers and Drew kept grabbing at his leg...I think all the thigh ruffles itched him sometimes, but that could be because he crawls weird :)
Target - B- good for the money, even cheaper than Luvs and about the same quality, better shaped for a curvy body. A little crinkly but good stretchy tabs, they smell when they get a wet, a weird chemical smell. gaps in the back a lot, lets poo out. Will hold lots of pee if baby is on back, sides leak overnight if baby is a stomach sleeper
Pampers Extra protection - A+ awesome! Drew has been waking up wet lately so we bought these, now he wakes up dry and his skin isn't even sticky feeling. Love them but the price tag is a little high. They even have a nice powdery smell.
1/21/10:
I guess I should be happy that I have a hubby that does housework but sometimes I feel like he's redoing my work. Imagine how you would feel if you worked all day every day in an office and then your boss waltzed in the started doing your work, worse yet, doing work you already did. It would make you feel pretty bad, well that's how I feel sometimes when hubby finishes laundry I've started or cleans the kitchen when I cleaned it after lunch. I feel like he's silently telling me I didn't do "my job" correctly. I know I'm being crazy but right now the house and kid are all I have, if they aren't looking good then it reflects on me.
I haven't had many dreams in the last 8 months, I don't think I've entered that phase of sleep very often but the other night I had one. I went to visit some friends and when I got there they said oh you didn't bring Drew and while I told them no, not today in my head I was thinking oh crap, where's Drew. I started to wonder if I left him in the car or if I left him home alone or worse yet if I had brought him with me and then lost him. I was really panicky and finally told my friends I had to go pick up Drew, truth was I had to go find Drew!! But don't worry this was just a dream because when I opened my eyes there he was :)
Why won't my baby stay away from the cat bowls?! He ate another piece of cat food again today. I feel awful when I see him munching on something and I find out it's cat food. I pick up the bowls but he always seems to find a little piece here or there. Poor baby, I'm sorry if you grow whiskers and a tail.
1/24/10:
Welcome temper phase, I didn't think I would be seeing you until year 2. Drew's arms have grown significantly in his 8 month. Now don't picture him like a monkey man with super long arms but my friend laughed at him when he was born that he couldn't even reach the top of his head. Now he can finally reach his own head, and pull his own hair. My hope is that he will realize that pulling hair really hurts and he will stop pulling mommy's hair. Around 9 months babies learn object permanence. So, now add up longer grabbier arms and the brain power to know that when mommy takes things away they don't vanish and you end up with a kicking screaming tantrum. Wow this must come from daddy's side :)
Drew has really let me know when he doesn't like something, he arches and yells and kicks like a mad man. Now sometimes it's not a big deal to me so I give him whatever it was he was fussing over but I don't want to teach him that you can yell and get what you want so other times I do not give in and anyone that knows a Poyer knows they can be stubborn, so no I will never give in if I don't really want to. This is when Drew starts banging his head. Oh my god baby, not the head. You have 2 of most everything else but not the head. Please don't hurt the head. How did you know that mommy is afraid of head injuries. But still I don't give in, I just move him away from things he can bang his head on. At least at this age I can end the tantrum with a nice belly raspberry. As soon as he giggles he forgets he was mad. I hope this is just a developmental phase and not another part of his personality showing through.
A couple first for my little Drew bug this weekend:
1st lollipop - he got it from the lady at the bank. He enjoyed eating the stick more than the candy (it was lemon, can you blame him)
1st item ordered off a menu for him - white toast, exciting huh.
1st store bought cookie, oh sorry it was a fig newton not a cookie (it's fruit and cake) - he didn't like it
1st time climbing up and down a small step (about half the height of the steps at home) It was at the library, he was climbing on the stage.
1/25/10:
I'm so tired. I've sat here thinking how I can write about Drew's sleep issues in a light humorous way but I just can't, I'm too tired. And besides that I don't find lack of sleep funny. Many things in motherhood I can find the humorous side but sleep, sleep is essential. I thought we were turning a corner but now we're back to square one. Drew is not sleeping, not alone, not with mommy, not at all. I don't know what to do, I really don't and I'm losing my patience at night. I'm exhausted come 4pm so I just can not deal with the evenings in the same light hearted way I deal with the days. Gary really does help out a lot in the evenings now but I'm still in the house with a crabby baby. Some days I really can't take it. Some days I feel like a bad mom because I don't have the energy to crawl on the floor and play, I don't have the patience to let Drew feed himself, I don't want to fight Drew at bedtime. I wish they sold some baby drugs that could help me but nothing OTC is approved for infants. It has been a hellishly long 8.5 months and I'm so lucky that Gary is so low key and laid back. I'm lucky he's not one that likes to argue and yell. When he gets mad he just goes to work :) Good, let him take it out on them. Haha
1/27/10:
Hilarious moment of the day: It was snack time, around 3pm, and I decided cheese and crackers for mommy and just ritz for Drew would be good. I got out about 12 crackers and had them stacked up. I handed Drew one and he was happy for a second but was grumpy that there was a huge stack of crackers and he only had one. So I handed him another one. Now he had one cracker in each hand, he was happy. This is until he looked at the stack of crackers mommy was eating off of. He reached for the stack but with a cracker in your hand you can't pick up any more. I told him sorry baby, you'll have to eat one of those crackers before you can have any more. Well he proved me wrong, he leaned forward and bit a cracker. Now he was happy, he had a cracker in each hand and one in his mouth. Silly silly (smart) baby.
I posted 3 videos, one of me trying to teach Drew fish and one where Drew steals the camera and one of Drew 'eating' oatmeal.
sitting across from Drew at dinner tonight was strange. Drew had on a little light blue and yellow top, it is a boy's shirt but could be gender neutral. His light blond hair flipped over the tops of his ears and his pretty blue eyes looking back at me I thought I was looking at a picture of myself. I can not believe how much my son looks like me sometimes. I wish my mom could spend more time with him, it really would be weird I think for her to hang out with him when he looks soooo much like me. This is why I do not recommend those expensive 3D ultrasounds. I did not have one but at my last ultrasound I thought Drew looked like Gary, had his profile and nose. But nope, he's 100% me right now. My friend did have one of those ultrasounds and I do not see the resemblance, save your money...well save it until you need to buy diapers and wipes.
When I was pregnant I was seriously considering cloth diapers. I liked the idea of not exposing my baby to chemicals, getting him potty trained faster, and in the long run spending less money on something you throw in the trash. I then remembered that I don't like poop. Seriously I don't own a dog because I don't want to pick up poop with my hand, it's yucky even with those magic doggie poop bags. I know cats you still have to deal with their poop but Gary cleans the boxes most of the time and cat poop is just tiny little tootsie rolls, and I don't have to touch it when it's warm! Now, back to baby poop. Putting cost aside from the upfront buying of all those cloth diapers I would have to swish globs of poop out in the toilet, then put the poop residue wet diaper in a bin to take to my washing machine. I would then wash poop in my washer. After that I would put my clothes in the same washer. I have a bottom of the line washer and I know it doesn't clean all that well. I know there would be fecal matter all over all my clothes, little tiny bits of fecal matter smattered all over everything. YUCK! I couldn't stand the thought of that. Now, how about those diaper services? I would get back diapers that had someone else's poop in it. Gross. Let me just peel the icky diaper off my child's bum, fold it up and toss it in the trash. No more work! So, I'm sorry environment, I'm sorry Drew's butt for exposing you to chemicals and I'm sorry checking account, I just couldn't do it.
1/29/10:
What is a typical day like for a SAHM? Well, there is no typical day :) Generally Drew wakes up around 5am when daddy leaves for work and I feed him in bed, we fall back to sleep and sleep until 8am, almost on the button every morning. I guess this is pretty late for a baby to sleep in but I love it. Then we play in bed for a bit, we play under the covers and we wake up the stuffed animals, Drew is so happy when he wakes up in the morning. I love it. After that we go down to Drew's room and change him and get him dressed. He then has a few minutes by himself while mommy gets dressed, some mornings he is okay with this others mornings I better get dressed real fast. Then we play the name game. Drew points and things and i name them. He loves to point at things, and it's usually the same things everyday. After that we go downstairs and get breakfast. Breakfast is usually a pretty good meal and takes about half and hour. Now it's crawling time. There's no TV in the mornings so mommy puts on music or we play with toys that make music. Around 10:00ish Drew is usually ready for milkie time and most mornings he falls asleep while eating. This is a short nap and he's up by 11ish. Then we read some books and sing some songs and act really silly. Then it's lunch time. Lunch is iffy, he usally doesn't eat and throws a fit and makes a mess. By this point I am usually over hungry and don't handle the situation like I should. I get mad. Okay mommy, deep breathe, it doesn't matter if the outfit gets dirty, just let your little one explore. After lunch honestly mommy is tired and hoping daddy doesn't work late. This is when I give Drew independent time. I try to get some stuff done around the house while Drew crawls around and plays. He usually just follows me around the house but I guess he needs to learn that not every second can be spent on him so I'm trying to teach him it's okay to entertain yourself. He is finding that the kitchen is a fun fun place. The afternoon we also work on language development, it sounds so formal but I just name things for him to find and play with a toy phone to encourage him to talk. We also work with shapes and color blocks. We have fun and I can see him learning a little everyday. Around 2pm he's ready for milkie again so I grab a book and sit down to nurse him again. This is also when I will get a good nap out of him. He will nurse for a while and finally fall asleep. He will sleep 2 hours if nothing disturbs him. If he's in his swing or crib then I do Alyssa things, though many times he's on my lap or lying in bed next to me. I don't care really, These days will be gone before long. When Drew wakes up daddy is usually home and then it's snack and daddy time while mommy picks up and gets ready for dinner. Dinner is rough, Drew gets really frustrated and we struggle through the whole meal. I'm working on keeping my cool, I just want a nice family meal. After dinner we only have about an hour and then Drew gets a bath if it's bath night, a massage, jammies, songs and rhymes, a book, milkie and then bed.
Phew, my days are full but most times I feel like I accomplished nothing. I guess because I don't have an outbox to look at and say see what I did. Gary will ask what I did all day and I say entertain Drew. He's high needs. I can't even imagine what he would be like if he went to day care. He gets grumpy by the end of the day and if he was away from mommy all day I bet it would be even worse. He is a very hands on, clingy, needed baby but since I have just him it's okay.
1/30/10:
Drew slept 6 hours in his crib! Yippee!!! 6 hours!!! WooHoo!!! So at 15 weeks and 35 weeks, these are the only 2 times he's slept through the night not next to mommy!!!!
I was watching Clifford the big red dog on TV yesterday and in the opening song it said that Emily's love for Clifford made him grow so big, well I guess that's why Drew is so big. All my love has made him grow so big :)
2/3/10:
I know how moms can go out of the house looking crazy, it's not that they don't have the time to brush their hair or that they are just too frazzled to pick the banana pieces off their shirt (well maybe in some cases) the reason is your baby always smiles at you. I wake up and Drew smiles at me like I'm Ms. America, so I assume, since someone is smiling at me, that I must look pretty darn good. My other problem is that I only have a mirror in my bathroom and if Drew is keeping me busy and I don't get to linger in the bathroom I never see myself. There have been days where I thought I looked much cuter than I actually did just because my little guy's face lit up every single time he saw me.
There's no doubt that I'm Drew's best friend, and until you're 5 it's cool to have mom as your best friend so it's okay, but Drew has found a new friend that he likes to play with. A few weeks ago I wrote about my little guy feeding his penis oatmeal, well now he offers it toys. Every time I undo his diaper he grabs a toy and hold it down, like he's offering it to his new little buddy, hey you bored down there? You want a rattle, or a stuffed anumal? Eventually I have to cover up his little buddy and he cries and cries. Ahh the joy of boys.
Monkey Shirt Photo Shoot 1/5/10:
This shirt and hat was a gift from a friend so we decided to make a fun day of wearing it so she could see how cute my chunky monkey is!
Snow Day and eating egg yolks for the first time and playing with the cat scratcher ramp (aka the new car ramp) 1/7/2010:
We got about 7 inches of snow so I took Drew outside to play in it...he wasn't too fond of it. Daddy had a great idea of bringing the snow inside. Drew really enjoyed eating it, until his hands got too cold then mommy had to warm them up. After the snow Drew tried placing his cars on the kitty scratch ramp, to his amazement they rolled down. This created a fun game of dropping cars down the ramp. He's so smart!
Just any old Saturday 1/9/10
Just a Saturday...First Drew is eating his very first homemade cookie! I'm not sure if he liked it. Then it was breakfast time, yes we had cookies before breakfast! He drank his water from a straw, this is his preferred method of drinking from a cup now. He's not fond of the traditional sippy cup, and honestly I think they are a little silly. You get the baby away from using a bottle only to suck on a cup? He is pretty good with an open cup too but has a tendency to open his mouth and let all the water run back out. Next he's eating his yogurt and trying to use his spoon, he's getting so good at it except when he gives up and just eats the container. And finally before nap he is playing in the adventure zone that mommy set up. Just to give him something different to do.
After a short nap and a skype talk with Grammy we decided to go shopping, first we had to change the diaper...and look how silly mommy makes Drew look by pulling his socks up. So his legs won't get cold and so he won't pull them off. All bundled, riding in the car, daddy pumping gas, mommy's McRib! Shopping, home to play - learning how to roll a ball, banged lip on the toy...lots of tears, mommy made it better, playing with kitty, time to eat the laptop.
Mail came...Drew got something. Thank you for the sweater Grammy!
After a short nap and a skype talk with Grammy we decided to go shopping, first we had to change the diaper...and look how silly mommy makes Drew look by pulling his socks up. So his legs won't get cold and so he won't pull them off. All bundled, riding in the car, daddy pumping gas, mommy's McRib! Shopping, home to play - learning how to roll a ball, banged lip on the toy...lots of tears, mommy made it better, playing with kitty, time to eat the laptop.
Mail came...Drew got something. Thank you for the sweater Grammy!
Kitchen Photo Shoot 1/12/10:
Mommy was bored today so she had a little fun. Drew enjoyed it too, after I got the pictures he got to bang on pots and pans!
Little Red Wagon 1/13/10
This little red wagon was a base to a flower display that I got when Drew was born. Today I dressed Drew in a outfit with wagons on it and thought, I have to get a picture. Now that I see it I wish I had gotten pictures of him with the wagon every month...but it's not like I don't have pictures of him from every single week, so I'm not too upset by it. I had thought about taking a picture with an object every week but when Drew was little it was hard to prop him up with anything and make it look half way decent.
Diego thought the wagon looked like fun so he came to check it out...all boys love little red wagons :)
Diego thought the wagon looked like fun so he came to check it out...all boys love little red wagons :)
Friday morning fun 1/15/10
It's Friday! Just thought I would play around with my camera a little this morning, nothing big. I tried setting up my background in the bedroom to keep the clutter out of the living room, then I realized why I don't do that...I couldn't get far enough back to take good pictures, there wasn't enough room. Oh well...I'll set up the bath props again when I have more room and get a couple of cute shots. Then I dressed Drew and was so proud of myself for making the bed I thought I would play around with some pictures there :)
Man of the Year! 1/26/10
When the going gets tough the tough take pictures! Drew is congested and not sleeping well so I decided to have fun this morning to put me in a better mood. Drew played in the laundry basket until he was like oh mom, stop. Then I put his Bears jersey on, he was a little unsure at first but I told him anything is okay for pictures and he cooperated with a smile. Finally he is showing off his man of the year shirt, he was about out of smiles by then though and the boogies were back so we had to stop. Later in the day Drew played with his first puzzle, we also finger painted but mommy had too much paint on her hands to grab the camera :)
Finally synced my iPhone
I will go weeks without syhncing my phone, which is bad I know, but I can't keep track of that little white cord. Here's some random pictures that I've taken with my phone. Obviously the quality isn't fabulous but sometimes I just don't have my big camera with reach. Here you will see Drew playing with the cat toy...cats and babies love this, chase the ball but you can't get it! Then Drew is standing up looking at the fish, next he's playing peek-a-boo with Diego, he's on my laptop and immediately after my mouse stopped working...Drew has been banished from my laptop. Drew's reading in his rocking chair, so cute! And he's napping with Diego, both on and off me and finally he's testing out the potty chair, no I'm not potty training yet but he's afraid of the world so I figure it will take us a few months before he's not afraid of the frog.
1/24 - 2/4 - More iPhone pictures
Drew's at the library here. Look how little he is, smaller than a book! There's mommy reading to Drew and there's Drew leaving to go check out the wheels on the stroller.
Drew has a little ball pit! Drew's lion toy...it plays pretty cool music. Drew playing his guitar, see he hold it's right (his shirt says future knight in shinning armor, so cute)
Drew with his Dino-toy, modeling the alligator outfit...why does he have to outgrow the cute clothes too. Then he had to check out himself in the mirror
Drew's at the library here. Look how little he is, smaller than a book! There's mommy reading to Drew and there's Drew leaving to go check out the wheels on the stroller.
Drew has a little ball pit! Drew's lion toy...it plays pretty cool music. Drew playing his guitar, see he hold it's right (his shirt says future knight in shinning armor, so cute)
Drew with his Dino-toy, modeling the alligator outfit...why does he have to outgrow the cute clothes too. Then he had to check out himself in the mirror
Packing up and leaving 8 months behind...
We are stuck in the house today waiting for the mail to come so it was time to break out the camera. Drew had fun but it's getting harder to get pictures now that he figured out he can crawl away from me!
Shake that cable 1/30/10
Teaching Drew 'Fish'
Camera Thief
Why breakfast takes an hour
Drew's 1st lollipop from the bank 1/21/10
The music table 1/18/10
Okay you all know I'm a first time mom so just laugh when you see me nervously grab for Drew becuase he wiggles too much
