Well You Were All Right...

Remember weeks ago how I was trying to find a way to get Parker to sleep in his bassinet and not on my chest?

You all warned me to eat it up while I could...because when he was finally doing it I would miss out time together.

Well, it happened last night.

It was only like 8:45 and I put him down in his crib, still awake, so I knew that he'd start crying in like 5 minutes. So I went and did something quick. 5 minutes passed and nothing. So I went to check on him...

He was sleeping.

For this first time in his life, he has "self-soothed" himself to sleep.

I would have thought I would be jumping for joy....yet there I was. Standing there staring at him with a look of shock and disappointment on my face. It was only 8:50..I wanted to cuddle for a bit!

It took everything in me not to pick him up and go cuddle.

So there you go guys. All of you were right. While I do enjoy my 5+ hours of sleep...I am already missing those long nights of him sleeping on me. :/

My baby is growing up.

Quickly.

Pinterest:

That's One For The Baby Book!

Parker slept 8 hours on Sunday night.

8 HOURS.

To bad I had taken a 2 hour nap anticipating a long night, so I was still up every 3 hours.

Maybe it was the nap...oooorrrrr maybe it was that I wanted to make sure he was still breathing?

Yes, the second one.

Everyone has told me that the first time their child made it through the night they were up checking, so I had hoped that I could be rational knowing that everyone does it but their baby is always ok.

Nope. Couldn't help it. Had to make sure his chest was still moving, and of course it was.

8 hours is way better, compared to Friday night...when I am pretty sure Parker thought, "I'm going to do my best to make sure mom cries tonight."

Ha! Little did he know that Thane was going to be up with me. Tag team...saves my sanity every time.

He was up to eat every 3 hours, but also woke up upset every 1.5 hours. Oiy..it was a long night.

Anyway, I had hoped it was the real deal...that it would happen again. Nope. Not yet.

He got his second round of shots yesterday. The shots that can come with a fever. (Don't get me started about shots.) The nurse made him bleed. It was horrible.

So anyways. He only slept 4 hours at a time last night, but I was still up checking him to make sure he had no symptoms from the shots. I hate shots. I don't get them. But when it comes to him...I don't have that choice. I need to get over my dislike of meds and do what is best for him. Thankfully, we can split up the doses- which I didn't know until it came time. So that makes me feel better about it...but still. Scary stuff. Dosing your child with all these meds. Ugh.

Well...as I said. I get to write his book. "First time slept through the night." March 24th.

Good job baby.

Pinterest Find:

I love it....

I'm So Sorry...

So Parker and I went shopping today. Weird.

What was weird was he was a grump the whole time. I hope he isn't getting sick or something :/

So anyways, we get to Target...I change him and he starts to cry after. Well ya...he is hungry. That's what babies do.

So the plan was to get a coffee from Starbucks and sit and feed him, but this time he was way too hungry so obviously I skipped the coffee and just got to feeding him.

I walked over to all the table by Starbucks, and of course it is packed. And by packed I mean like 3 tables were full. So I sat as far away from people as I could so I wouldn't bother them.

Parker is crying..and getting louder. I throw down all my stuff and quickly get his bottle ready. Clearly I was trying my best to bust my ass and get the bottle in his mouth. I got it ready...put it in his mouth..he instantly stops crying and that is when it happened....

I heard, "Thank God."

Clear as day.

I'm sorry?

The table closest to me, full of Target employees, was apparently VERY annoyed with my crying baby...who cried for a total of maybe 45 seconds.

Apparently they thought I was going to just sit at the table and leisurely stare out the window while I let my baby cry. Obviously that is what you do when a baby is crying. So yes...thank God I did something to calm my child.

Are you kidding? I was beyond pissed...after I settled in to feeding him. At the time I was way too flustered trying to get him to stop crying to even register how annoying her comment was.

She is lucky.

After I had settled down, I became very, very angry. I understand that crying babies totally bother some people.  To each their own. BUT. A.) Like I already said- he wasn't crying that long...and obviously I was hurrying to quiet him and B.) when you say something like that, generally you say it quietly to your friends... not loud enough for the mom to *clearly* hear it.

I am pretty sure I know which one said it...the same one who talked the ENTIRE time about her friggin mom moving from her "tiny house" to her "big house." Ya...I'd rather listen to my baby scream than your stupid conversation ever again.

If I had known it was her...I would have gone VERY passive aggressive on her.

For Example: "Thank God" Me: "Oh? I'm sorry..did my baby crying for 45 seconds just ruin your day? Please...keep talking loud enough for all of Target to hear you....that is way better."

or..."Thank God" Me: "Oh? I'm sorry...my baby was just telling me that he too would like to eat his lunch because ya know...he needs food to grow, and well dangit-he can't talk yet. He's so behind. So carry on sir, bitching about how your wife can't eat a fucking Popsicle."

or.."Thank God." Me: "Oh I'm sorry...and I not allowed to go out in public because God forbid my child get hungry or upset and cry? I didn't know I was confined to my house just because I had a baby. Didn't realize Target was now a 5-Star resturant."

or..."Thank God." Me: "Oh? I'm sorry that my baby crying is SO annoying for you. You're ugly."

ya...that's how mad I was, and yes..all these things went through my head.

At 10 Weeks...

My baby is huge. He may not even fit into the uber over-priced Easter outfit I got him. Oiy.

It occurred to me today that he is now starting to develop things that he likes...he not longer just eats, sleeps, and poops. He is awake a lot more now...and demands that you do what he wants. :)

Usually when he is awake I am on the floor with him with stations set up. I have all his favorite things surrounding us. His play mat, a blanket, the boopie, and the bumbo seat. I then rotate him from station to station whenever he starts to cry at one. It's exhausting...but I love watching him play. 

He swats at things now. So many weeks of him just looking at the wall, while there was cool rattles hanging in his face. Now..he kicks that lion's ass. I don't blame him..this stupid lion is always in Parker's face...always hanging out and gently hitting him in the cheek. I'd beat him up too baby.

So I was thinking..as I get closer to going back to work, I need to let his nanny know what he likes.. 

Likes:

• His play yard. He loves to bat at the rattles and when they come back and hit him in the face...he doesn't take it layin down! No..he fights back!
• Laying on people's chests. He likes to show off his neck muscles. If he is fussing with you..this is your best bet.
• When you hold the back of his neck and his butt and make him dance. He likes to shake his hips, he may be the next Luke Bryan. Usually I sing inappropriate songs to him, like I Like Big Butts or I hum the Harlem Shake. It makes him smile....a lot.
• Eating. Clearly he loves to eat. 
• His swing. He has this new awesome thing where when he gets tired he turns into a bear. A BEAR I tell you. So...when he hits this, we go in the swing and he watches the mobile and eventually....dream land. 
• Duck Dynasty. We now watch it every night while I'm trying to get him to go to sleep. I'm pretty sure this is why he stayed up til 12 last night. He just can't get enough.
• Pooping...and farting. This kid...he farts so loud I swear it's his dad. 

Dislikes:

• Bath time. Soothing my ass.
• Bumbo seat. He hates this thing, he lasts about 3 minutes and then he screams. Sorry buddy...it builds your back muscles...your sittin in it..
• When mommy sleeps. He likes to spend as much time with me as possible...

Such a cool kid. 

Pinterest Find:

 

This.

 



So true.

 

I think my favorite part is "stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world."

 

In a world where every kid gets a ribbon for participating, everyone gets a prize in the coloring contest because God forbid if someone doesn't win (even in they scribble...well they are for sure the most creative!!), and where kids rarely hear the word "no"- this article says it all. 

 

That is all I have to say. I like this article. I feel that some kids need it taped to their fridge, maybe even their forehead.

 

Good day.

 

 

First Night Away

First off: If you plan to read this and judge me for leaving my baby overnight....just stop reading now. Thanks. :)

Thanks to our first night away I have learned two very important things:
1.) No one is Parent of the Year. Don't judge people and their parenting skills because you aren't with them and their children every day- day in and day out- you don't know what goes on in their lives.
2.) We are not 20 anymore...nor should we drink like we are. It is not fun to be a parent when you can't sit up without your head exploding...

So I am pretty sure I have said this before, but in the coming months we will have to leave burrito with my mom and dad at least once a month. Not happy about it, but you do what you have to do. Thane and I are in a wedding and between the bach parties and the wedding it means two weekends away from our baby. I did not want my first night away to be the bachelorette party. I knew I was going to have a hard time...and the bachelorette party is supposed to be a fun time celebrating the bride, not take time out of the night to console the blubbering mom.

So this weekend was my "blubbering mom" trial period. I didn't pass.

Parker had an amazing night sleep Friday night. So we didn't even get up and going until 7 Saturday morning. I fed him, packed the car, and we were off to Grandmas.

Well, wait it wasn't that easy. Thane was getting ready and I was holding Parker and it hit me that I won't be with him that night. And meltdown #1 happened. The look on Thane's face was priceless. A combo of "Really Pam?" and "Oh boy...it's going to be a long night."

Driving to Grandma's...Meltdown #2 happened.

Got to Arena....Meltdown #3. Oh boy.

Got to my mom's and after 2 hours of making sure she knew every detail about his routine and his faces, and how to get him to burp...I finally left. Thane called me on the way home and when he said, "You don't sound so good..." Meltdown #4 happened. Oiy.

Before I left, my mom told me that her and dad were betting it would take me 2 hours to call and check in. I scoffed. I'm not that mom.

It took me about an hour and 45 minutes before I got this uncontrollable urge to call and check in. I'm that mom.

I made my dish to pass for that night, and went to try and nap....and checked FB. NOT a good idea. I saw some things on there that really made me upset and question my mom skills. Was I doing the wrong thing? I had taken him to my mom's so Thane and I could go be with our friends for the night. Was that selfish? In Thane's words...."well kinda..but?" I then informed him through my tears that his response was NOT the right one. Meltdown#...what am I even on?!

Were we being selfish? Yes. But, I knew he was safe and in very loving hands. In fact, if I hadn't let my mom watch him soon...I'm pretty sure I would have woken up one weekend and she would have literally come in the middle of the night to borrow him. Not lying. So while we were being selfish, I honestly think that during my child's lifetime...I will need to be selfish once in a while as to not lose who I am. Yes I am a mom..but I am also Pam. I don't want to totally throw the old Pam away. There has a be a balance somewhere right? Usually Parker comes with when we go see our friends..but being responsible, this weekend was not a weekend for that.

It is really important to me that Parker is comfortable with other people, and staying with other people over night. So that if I can't be with him, I know he isn't upset because I'm not there. It makes it easier on everyone involved. So anyways, I learned not to judge other people's parenting skills. Everyone has a reason for what they do...there is no one way to be a perfect parent.

Moving on. We went to the party, where in my head I repeated a million times- "I am a good mom." I dont even know what time it was...or how I got there, but I all of a sudden remember looking at Erika crying..tears just rolling down my face and I couldn't stop them. I believe she said, "Oh boy guys..here we go." and all my friends circled up and did their best to console me. That's what friends are for.

My favorite part of this situation is that it left me wondering if they all had a plan of action for when I had my drunken meltdown. Cause it sure seemed like it. Love you guys.

This is so long....so fast forward to Sunday. I'm pretty sure a truck ran us over. This is when I felt like a horrible mom. All I wanted to do was go get Parker, but we literally couldn't. Seems that 8 months of being pregnant + 2 months of having a newborn = no tolerance. Lesson #2....we are not 20 anymore. We don't bounce back.

We were laid out almost all day. Thank god Parker sleeps a lot. Lesson learned....NEVER do that again. I am glad it happened though...made us wake up. I hated not being able to go get him...I won't let that happen again.

So lesson learned, and what a valuable lesson.

I am a good mom....I just gotta learn while we go. 

Trial and error. I don't think we will mess him up too much. ;)

2 Months Down...

a fantastic lifetime to go.

Lots of things happened today.

I found out that my baby is no longer really a baby...he is 11 pounds 2 ounces. He is soooo close to those baby leg rolls I love so much. The double chin..ya he is rockin that.

That is almost double this birth weight! It's so much that when the nurse put it in her comptuer it warned her that he weighs to much, by 1 ounce. Really? She then informed me that a "fat baby means a healthy baby." :D Yaaa baby.

He is now 22.5 inches long. 3.5 inches longer than at birth. He is growing so fast.

He also got his first shots today. Ugh. It went better than I thought, I hope he doesn't react badly to them. I am having them give him the shots at 2 seperate appointments. Medicine freaks me out..I don't like taking it, I don't like giving it to my baby. I'm not some natrual herbal person by any means, I would just rather tough it out when I'm sick. I can't do that to my baby though. So shots it is!

The doctor thinks that Parker has acid reflux. At first she was thinking that he just has his days and nights mixed up, but then I informed her that no..we went through that already. When I explained that he spazzes out from 3-6ish am..she was thinking maybe that's not normal. Thank god.

A friend on Facebook just told me that a combo of meds and a sleeper allowed her to get 4hrs stright of sleep... wait, People actually do that??? People sleep more than 3 hours at a time? I have a hard time remembering when I was able to do that. ;)

So all in all....Parker's 2 month birthday..a great day.

Love you Chunkers.

Pinterest Find:

I Have a New Job...

As a food critic. Clearly I like food....so I'm an expert.

A new Chinese restaurant has opened in town. Apparently its first weekend, and weekends since, there has been a line out the door. One night they even told a friend of mine that they were no longer accepting orders and it was only like 6pm. So clearly they are doing really well! Good for them!!

So we finally ordered some tonight...here is my review.

First. Appearance- why must ALL Chinese restaurants look the same?? It is a brand new place, totally redone from the pizza joint that used to be there, yet they managed to make it look old. Maybe it is the horrible yellow and orange paint job? Maybe it is the shitty cheap Chinese decorations on the wall? You can't tell me that in all of China, they only decorations they use are cheap Oriental Trading looking banners? Sigh..come on.

Next- about appearance...why is everything so open in the back?? I guess some people like seeing how they cook their food, I do not. I don't like seeing the boxes piled up against the back wall. It looks like shit. Why can't they put a wall up behind the register? I highly doubt there is some law saying that all Chinese restaurants must have an open layout. I have been watching a LOT of HGTV..I could totally design a better set-up. I'd add a wall. Even a half wall, so they can still yell around it.

And the board with their menu on it? Is there seriously a store somewhere called, "If You Own a Chinese Restaurant Get Your Menu Board Here" and only have one option? and the same for their menu. I am guessing they all use Vistaprint? and its just a template they order?

I guess I was hoping they would be original. Not sure why I care?

Second. Food. Well.....it's Chinese food! It was pretty good. The egg rolls were better than most I've had...much better than the old place in town. They may have been a little overzealous on the deep fryer? But whatever...it was good food.

I am just very annoyed about the building. Will I still get their food again? Yes. Just saying...if they want help redoing stuff...I'll be glad to help. ;)

Next big thing in town...the new Millers opens!!! Stay tuned for my review of that. ;)

Happy Daylight Savings...

Back At It!

I got on the elliptical today!! 20 minutes- not much, but it's a start. Not to mention that I totally hate my elliptical, and all ellipticals for that matter, so I think 20 minutes is pretty good.

I was reminded that I have this little event in May, called a wedding, that I have to stand in front of a lot of people in a long dress. Long dress=only skin showing is back and arms. My fatty fat arms. SO after that, I decided today I should lift some weights too.

Thank god for this wedding! It is giving me to motivation to workout and lift. (I don't want to ruin Carla's pictures!) I rejoined Weight Watchers on Thursday. It was a great meeting, and I left totally pumped up to be back in the program. It really is the only thing that helps me be accountable for what I eat. It also helps big time that almost all my favorite people are in WW too, it helps when the people you spend the most time with have to be aware of what they shove in their face too. :) 

Best part, Parker let me do cardio, lift, AND shower. Whaaaat??

On the baby front: He was awake today from 10:30 til like 1:30. We are making progress. Let's hope this means he will fall asleep much sooner tonight and not kill me with the fussy time. UGH. It's killing me. Last night, he started earlier and ended earlier...but total time was longer. He doesn't scream the whole time- thank god- but if you even think about putting him down his eyes fly open and let the screaming begin.

I love the 5 Ss guy. If I could meet him, I would kiss him. Swaddling and shhhing work wonders on my bundle of screaming joy. ;)

Best part of fussy time: the reminder that we are not ready for another baby. Not for a looong time.  Either it's Parker's way of telling us that he wants to be the only child for a while, or its nature's own form of birth control. Either way....there is always a plus side to everything. Even fussy time.

Pinterest: