A Swimming We Will Go

We recently started taking G to swim lessons every Saturday afternoon.  I know some of you (if there is actually anyone reading this) may be thinking, "Swimming for an 8 month old???"

It's a parent/child class with the purpose of acclimating your baby to the water.  So far R has been the parent in the pool ... let's just stay that mama isn't too stoked about being in a bathing suit right now, hehe.  The first class we attended, I'll be honest - G was not a big fan.  I expected him to love it since he LOVES his bath time.  I'm not sure if it was the water temp that shocked his system (he actually shuddered when he first got into the water, poor baby), the sensory overload, or the fact that he was just worn out since his Gymboree class that unfortunately is immediately beforehand.

The swim class is only 30 minutes and most of the time is devoted to different stations that you rotate around to with your baby.  He cried at the station where you pour water on your baby's head with a watering can.  I knew that reaction was coming since he does NOT like water in his eyes.  At the end of the class he was searching for me with the most pitiful face and lost it.  We pulled him out of the pool five minutes before class was supposed to end and called it a day.

He has gone twice since then and has been great both times!  He is slowly adjusting and although he is not laughing and splashing around, he is tolerating it just fine.  We really want him to become a good swimmer from an early age and with the rate that he is growing, swim team is just around the corner!

First swim lesson - he did smile for me :)

Crappy phone pic but he looked so cute on the lilly pad

Poop

As a parent, you deal with a lot of poop.  A LOT.  I know my days of butt wiping are far from over and I am okay with that.  Some days, though, I am SO over poop.

The more experience you have as a parent (or just with kids in general), the less phased you get about kids and their bodily functions.  This was an actual scenario from this evening:

(Looking down) What is that on my jeans?
Hmmm... (Checking G's diaper)
Yep, it's poop.
(Now looking at my shirt) Ugh, what's that?
(Now smelling shirt) Also poop.

Trying to change G's diaper these days is like trying to wrestle a baby alligator.  He does not want to stay on his back and almost always immediately tries to flip over to his tummy.  I have tried using the changing pad strap, distracting him with toys, and keeping him between my legs in a "leg lock."  It's an adventure to say the least.

Most days are manageable, and then, well, there are days like this...

Please note the oozing bum and please try not to notice my crazy hair...

He somehow managed to poop out of his diaper and JUST get it on his foot (not down the leg, not in the seat, not on his clothes!).  Then he was happily playing as if nothing even happened.  Awesome.

Warning: Mom Nerd Alert

I am finding myself to be a mom nerd these days, but the best part is, I don't even care!

The evidence:

• I always love this time of year in Texas when the bluebonnets and other wildflowers start to bloom alongside the highway.  This year though?  Über excited to take pictures of G sitting in them.

• Our good friends had their baby boy yesterday at the same hospital where G was born.  We went to visit them tonight and I felt a wave of nostalgia rush over me as we walked the same halls I waddled around as a post-prego. (*side note: As a first time prego, I wasn't expecting to STILL be waddling after the delivery - obviously for other reasons.)  There are already new things at the hospital - a digital picture photo center and different linens on the beds.  Was it really just eight months ago?

• It is almost midnight and I am still awake making baby food and perusing etsy.  What can I say?  I'm a multi-tasker.  I recently ran across this awesome blog that has homemade baby food recipes.  I found it after I googled "spinach, mango, and pear baby food purée." G LOVES the Happy Baby pouch version but I was curious to see if I could find a good enough recipe and make it myself.  He hasn't tried mine yet, so the verdict has not been reached as to whether he will be just as happy.  While making his food is obviously more laborious than opening a jar, I like putting in the effort and trying new recipes.  R would probably appreciate it if I used this gusto to try new recipes for adult meals as well, I am sure.  :)  

A perk to making G's food is I can make several things and have them last me for a while.  G has almost gone through my first round of food, so there are slim pickings in the freezer.  Last week we went to Whole Foods, aka the ultimate food mecca, and left after spending $90 on not that much.  I use all organic fruits and veggies in his food and unfortunately cannot find everything I am looking for at my local grocery store.  I think I'm going to try Sprouts next time and compare prices.

This past weekend I was all pumped to make round two of baby food and had the ultimate baby food making fail.  The $6 container of raspberries that I had just purchased already had mold.  Obviously those went in the trash.  I then decided that instead of making a pear raspberry compote, that I would go for a mango pear combination.  I am still learning when a mango is properly ripe because as it turns out, I started peeling one that was not ready to be eaten.  That went into the trash as well.

Plan C was to throw some apple in with the pear and add just a dash of cinnamon.   A dash ended up being a huge dollop, so that batch went down the sink.  Fail.  Flustered and out of produce, I gave up.  Tonight has been much more successful.  I made a carrot, apple, and ginger purée AND a blueberry, mango, and pear purée.  I'm curious what my little foodie's taste buds think.

And now that it is after midnight and I just wrote an entire essay on baby food making, I am going to take my mom nerd crown off and head to bed.  :)

Happy Thursday!

Seven Months

Another month down ... another post that is two weeks overdue!

G is really starting to look more like a little boy these days instead of a little baby.  Makes my mama heart a bit sad, but he is at such a FUN stage right now (although I feel like I say that with every monthly post... hehe!).

He is talking up a storm these days and has added more consonants to his daily babble.  The ones that we pick out the easiest are Mama (yes!  I'll admit my competitive side was delighted to hear him say this one FIRST!), Dada (he says this one constantly now), and Baba.  While at first he only said Mama, now he will only say this if he is really sad.  He is quite the talker in the car and amuses himself easily.  Thank goodness we are no longer Mr. Cranky in the car seat.

He is still army crawling like a champ and moves around fast!  His teachers at school made the comment that he is "all over the place."  Yep, stationary baby no más.  There is no leaving this baby out of sight anymore.  We keep thinking he will start to crawl on his knees any day now - he has been getting on his knees and rocking like crazy the past few days but will then resort back to his tummy crawl.

His first tooth FINALLY popped out on the bottom.  The tooth fairy can add G to her list of future patrons :).

He still loves his food and we have recently added solids as a lunch meal too, so he is getting solids 3x/day.

Sleep - still inconsistent.  Some nights he will sleep through until 6 a.m. and other nights he will wake up 4 times/night.  I finally decided Dr. Ferber needed to make a house visit and I got R on board with my sleep training plan.  Just this past week alone G has been sleeping through the night or getting up only once.  We no longer feed him anything until he gets up around 5:00 or 6:00 - then he takes a bottle and goes back down.  While I wish I could say that he is sleeping 11-12 hours straight, we have come a very long way in the sleep department.  I am grateful for the amount we are getting and can only hope that it keeps getting better!

Some of his favorite things these days... going for walks, "playing" with the dog, taking a bath, playing in his exersaucer or walker, reading books and any toy that lights up or plays music.

My Sweet G,

I know I say this every time, but I can't believe how fast you are growing!  You are rarely without a smile on your face, and I love watching you observe and explore.  Even though you are always on the move, you will still come over to give me your big slobber kisses.  I know one day you will be too embarrassed to kiss your mama, so I will gladly take all that you give me until then.  I love you to the moon and back.

Love,

Mama


And now I'll leave you with, "The many faces of G."  His expressions right now are priceless!

Haha!  This one has to be my favorite!  I caught him mid-babble... I promise he isn't upset.  :)

Random Ramblings

As I sit here to type this, I'm still rockin' my jammies, I have laundry piled up nice and clean beside me, and I have a sweet baby sleeping upstairs (*side note: thank goodness he sleeps better at home than he does at school!).  My heart is full and life is good.

R has been gone since Monday and while we miss dada, it has been nice to have some "just me and G" time.  Some real quality, "I don't have to rush around to get you ready for school, bath, bed, etc." time.  And truth be told, I love it (my time with G, not the fact that R is away).  I am trying to soak up every ounce of this time we have together this week before I go back to the grind.  I am hoping that this week will carry me through the rest of the school year until I am once again back at home.  Because really, as cheesy as it may be, home is where my heart is.

This is one of my favorite times of the day... just awake, ready to play, sportin' the bed head and still in jammies.

While normally I would be giddy about the fact that there are only TWO more days until the weekend, now I find myself exclaiming, "Awwww, only two more days until the weekend!"  Funny how perspective is everything sometimes.  Happy Hump Day, all!

Survival Mode

G came down with a bad cold and though my sweet boy finally seems to be on the mend, it's still lingering almost two weeks later. As any parent knows, the two things that will throw a wrench in a baby's sleeping routine are sickness and traveling. G has always been a pretty inconsistent sleeper, but to go from sleeping through the night/waking up once at most to waking up several times a night was a little disheartening. Poor baby just could not sleep well with his congestion, but I am happy to report that he has slept through the night for the past two nights (*fingers crossed*).

Even when he is obviously not feeling well, he is still the same sweet, happy and easygoing boy that melts my heart.

Is it too early to start the brainwashing?  :)

In other news, I started making G's food this week.  The Beaba is so incredibly easy to use and G seems to be enjoying his homemade grub.  So far I have made an apple/pear combo, butternut squash, and carrots.  Next up is a mango/banana mixture!  I slightly feel like a granola hipster/über mom nerd making it, but I like knowing exactly what is in the food he is eating AND it's cheaper in the grand scheme of things.  Bonus!

Freshly made food ... right next to my Skinny Cow ice cream.  Don't judge!

P.S. Did I mention that my Spring Break starts in just two days?  Survival mode until then... "I think I can, I think I can..."

Six Months

My sweet lovebug made the half year mark a couple of weeks ago, but I was patiently waiting for his stats from his doctor's check-up to write this post.

Six months!  I am proud to say that we made it this far... not that I had any doubts, but it's a nice pat on the back to think how far you have come from the first few days in the hospital as parental newbies.  We co-hosted a baby shower for close friends (and G's god parents) today.  They threw our shower last summer, so it was nice to return the favor and also crazy to look back and think how much has changed since then.

I wore the same dress this year, just minus the big 'ole belly :)

G is such a happy, easygoing baby.  He is still a good eater and will accept whatever you offer him, whether it is from mama or from a bottle.  He is eating solids twice a day like a champ.  He gets impatient when I sit him down in his bumbo because he knows what is coming and wants his food NOW!  He is opening his mouth eagerly for each bite and his current faves are pears, peaches, applesauce and carrots.  He is not a big fan of peas - just like his daddy!  His doc gave us the green light to add yogurt and meat to his diet, so those will be the next things we try.

He recently slept through the night (!!!) for the first time ever.  Coming from a mama who is used to waking up twice a night on average, this was HUGE!  He did this three nights straight but has since been inconsistent.  I am so ready to sleep train and everything I have read on the subject (and what G's doc has also told me) says that by 6 months babies who wake up at night and want to eat are doing it out of habit than out of need.  Now that I know he is capable of doing it on his own, it is game time.

He is also finally content going for walks in the jogging stroller for extended periods, so I think actually using the jogging stroller to jog with him in it is next on my list.  The half marathon has motivated me to start running again.  

He has decided that he was over being stationary and is now army crawling all over the place.  It's not the most conventional method of crawling, but it gets him places.  Gone are the days when I could put him down unsupervised for a few minutes while I went to the bathroom, got a glass of water, etc.  We are about to start the baby proofing of our house phase.  When he is not crawling, he is flipping over ALL the time.  If I put him on his back, he will immediately flip over to his tummy and start moving towards something that he sees.  I will often go and check on him while he is sleeping only to find that he is in a completely different position, side of the bed, etc. than the one I had laid him down in.  Funny boy!

He is a new fan of reading books with his absolute favorite being Where is Baby's Puppy?  He loves his jumperoo and walker the most but will still play in the bouncer and on his tummy time mat.  

He is much easier to put down at night and we keep the same routine every night - bath, bottle (or the other), and bed, or the 3 B's as I like to call them.  Once I get him out of the tub and start putting his pj's on, he is ready to have his milk and go to sleep.  I feed him, lay him down, and turn his sleep sheep on.  He very rarely cries and is always asleep by 8:00.

Six month stats:

Weight - 18 pounds, 2 ounces = 70th%

Height - 27.5 cm = 75th%

Head Circumference - Ummm... off the charts.  Yeah, he has a big noggin but the doc is not concerned.  

Also, no teeth yet but drooling like crazy.  He has a very good grip and has surprised us with his ability to swipe and knock over things in record speed.  

Dear Sweet Love,

Time keeps flying by and each day just keeps getting better.  I love being your mama!  Every time you see me you break out into a grin and always have the best, slobbery open mouthed kisses to give me.  So many people comment on how sweet and laid back you are, and it makes my heart swell with pride.  I love you to the moon and back.

Love,

Mama