Two-Week Countdown is On!

I cannot believe my son is 11 1/2 months old. My perfect, beautiful, not-so-small-anymore baby boy is going to be one year old in two weeks. Where did that year go? Thank goodness I live in an age where I was easily able to document every step of his development for the past twelve months with pictures, videos, and blogs, so when my moody fifteen-year-old wants nothing to do with me, I can reminisce when I used to be the center of his universe.



So, in the past month, MonkeyBoy has grown in leaps and bounds, literally. On October 4th, he had enough of the brusied knees and took his first steps! Let's just say life hasn't been the same since for either of us! About a week ago, the crawling had offically stopped, and his feet became the preferred mode of transportation. Or mom's hip since he still loves to be carried. Being 27" tall does have it's limits.

On the weight front, however, it has been a painfully slow progress. I can only attribute his one-ounce-weight-gain for the past month to his added mobility and energy consumption plus, the unfortunate circumstance of a cold and double ear infection we've been fighting the last three weeks. The stronger antibiotics seem to be working, so hopefully it will be mostly cleared up just in time for our trip to Ohio next week to visit Grandma and Grandpa.

This will be MB's first trip to the Buckeye State. We've been prepping him, being sure he can spot on sight Brutus and properly give the Bronx Cheer to Michigan. We're so proud!




So far we have had the most wonderful Fall. Lots of time spent outside playing and taking walks, plus mama's been baking like crazy. For Halloween weekend this year, we had a ball at Uncle Buck's costume party dressed up like Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, R2D2, and my little handsome man was Han Solo. On Halloween night we decided to walk Nathaniel around Wakefield Mall in his pumpkin costume for trick-or-treat since his ears were still bothering him, and we didn't have to worry about the cold or traffic. He had the time of his life running around visiting all the stores! And, of course, he was the cutest pumpkin out there, if I do say so myself.

Pumpkin Spice Rice Crispie Treats

"Who's scruffy lookin'?" 

Well, we've picked pumpkins, visited horses, picked apples, leaf-peeped in NH, partied, went trick-or-treating, carved Jack-o-lanterns, played in the leaves, baked tons of treats...the only thing possibly left to do this harvest season is to have turkey, eat pumpkin pie, celebrate a special you-know-who's birthday, and watch the Macy's Parade, and welcome Santa to town!

 

Whew! I didn't think we'd get it all done!!!


Yankee Doodle Dandy,
– TYG


11.5 Months
18 lbs
27+"

"That was easy" [insert Staples ad here]

One year ago this weekend (yes, ONE year ago!!!), I was gigantic and pregnant celebrating the impending birth of MonkeyBoy at my baby shower.

Now look at him, driving farm tractors. How far they come in such short periods of time...


And I’m getting back to my svelte self.

Mama’s most favorite time of year is upon us, and I’m having the best time spending it with MB. We had the best day going to a harvest festival in Richmond. MB saw his first pumpkin patch and navigated his first corn maze. We had intentions of going to upstate NY to Sleepy Hollow this weekend, but alas, the weather is not cooperating, so we may need to scrap that for next year.

On the developmental front, MB has started giving signs back! He now knows airplane and light. Plus, we distinctly heard him say light, bird (but only once), and he tries really hard to say Kitty (kit! kit!). He's been stacking blocks, playing the xylophone, throwing Weebles, standing on his own, and has taken two steps. He's also relentlessly pointing at everything asking "s'at?".


MB's developed a fascination for sticks and dirt, like a typical boy, I suppose. He likes nothing better then finding a stick and flicking leaves around and digging dirt, covering himself from head to toe. His socialization has changed dramatically, too. He has always been indifferent towards other babies, but now he completely engages his "friends", trying to "hug" and "kiss" them, but without fine-turned motor control, this usually turns into a tackle and bite. Needless to say, mama has to stay on top of him during play time to prevent unintentional tears.


Well, we have an exciting October planned: lot's of pumpkin carving, hopefully a trip to Vermont to visit our friends' new baby, baking, and the big breast cancer walk. And let's not forget Halloween! We'll probably dress him up and walk around the neighborhood for a little bit. For convenience (and less emotional stress on MB and us), we purchased a slip-over pumpkin costume at a consignment event. Gotta love things that are cheap and easy. 


Uh...well...I meant inexpensive and simple. Although, depending on where you are in life, cheap and easy could be good, too...


Yankee Doodle Dandy,
–TYG

And....He's....Off!

Three o’clock Monday afternoon marked a momentous occasion:  Nathaniel can now army crawl across the room! Jeff and I researched a “Kiddie Corral” system since baby proofing this house is next to impossible with our lack of storage. We found a fabulous fence at Kaplan Learning Center: great reviews, sturdy, expandable/shrinkable, seven and a half square feet to start, all-weather, brightly colored, not cheap but well worth the money. I’ll definitely need something for outside this summer, and it will be a great unit to have, along with those foam play mat floors, when his buddies come over for play dates. Although our lawn may look “green”, it’s actually all moss and crab grass; not very conducive for crawling babies, sensitive knees, and clean clothes. Well, clean”er” clothes, at least.

This week I have lots of new videos up at TheYankeeGirl. We had a great day on Monday, going to the park and discovering that being mobile is the way to exist! Thanks to Uncle Buck, we also have some “vintage” footage of when he was three days old.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheYankeeGirlVideos

The solid food aspect is going great. So far, he likes avocados, peas, and helping mom take bites out of her apples. Carrots are the end all, be all food (until he has sweet potatoes or pears, I assume!), and bananas....not so much.  I’ve added rice cereal to our morning routine, since he was feeling left out watching mama eat her oatmeal.

Well, with all this mobility, I felt the need to lower his crib mattress :(  I cannot believe he’s old enough that I had to do that! It’s going by way too fast, and I just thank God that I’ve been able to spend every waking minute with him to watch it happen.

While out killing time at our favorite store (Marshall’s), we picked up a new bed-rail system at a fantastic price since we do keep his trundle bed up, mainly for mama and nursing in the middle of the night and easier diaper and outfit changes. And what’s the first thing he does? Tries to lift himself up to stand on the bed! Geez, can he stop advancing forward for one minute to let mama take in his last advancement!?!

For those of you not on Facebook, last Sunday night I popped over to a neighbor’s that had finished a yard sale and scored big time. They were getting rid of the remainder for free, and I took home a glider rocker, Boppy pillow, and Graco car seat with base. Not too shabby! I bought a remnant of upholstery fabric for $6, so I just need to recover the cushions and touch-up stain the chips, and we are good to go! The Boppy washed out beautifully, and it’s super convenient having an extra car seat and base for the grandparents and aunties.

This week’s a hot one! Nineties for sure. We definitely need to get the air conditioners in and hit the beach!

Until next week....
Love,
AJ, MJ, & NJ

Charlie In Charge!

New elephant in the neighborhood.

He lives in my crib, and it's understood,

He's there to snuggle close with me, 

Just like I snuggle with my mommy.

Charlie in charge of my days and my nights.

Charlie in charge of my woes and my cries, and I see

I want, Charlie in charge of me.

Reasons to have Children

1.  Adore and love them.

2. Someone to mow the lawn.

3. Watch a part of you and your spouse grow into loving adults to continue your family legacy.

4. Someone to shovel snow.

5. Perpetuate the  species.

6. Make fun of them.

I love you, son! No, I really do! I'm just immortalizing you in one of the best movies of all time. That's all.

Yankee Doodle Dandy,
–TYG

Oooo, that smarts!

MonkeyBoy has been showing signs of teething for weeks. What I thought were signs of acid reflux may have actually been blisters of his bottom teeth coming in.

I feel so bad for the little dude. If his teeth were coming in when the average baby's came in, he would already be able to hold teething toys and soothe himself. Since he's only two and a half months old, when he notices the pain, he's one unhappy dude. He doesn't like to chew on anything other than his shirts and mom and dad's thumbs.

Not looking forward to the day those bad boys cut... and just when we got the breast feeding down pat.

Do they make nipple shields in a stainless steel variety?

Yankee Doodle Dandy,
–TYG

Little Bits of My Life Returning...

Of course, having a child changes your life profoundly. A total given, and I wasn't expecting anything other than an upside-down existence.

• I rarely eat a hot meal. The kid eats first.

• I don't pee alone. The kid has to come to the door and watch.

• I don't shower alone. The kid joins me.

• I only get five to six hours of intermittent sleep a night. The kid nurses every couple hours.

Running to the supermarket to get a gallon of milk requires foreplanning and lots of luggage. And a heavy kid in an even heavier infant carrier.

I was so excited at my six-week post pardum doctor's visit when I was given the go to resume my regular activites. I could work out again (among other things *wink*wink*). The Jeep Liberty stroller was itching for an inaugural turn around the neighborhood, the kid needs fresh air, and mama needs some exercise. Who'd of thought we would have a snowpocolypse every week making the sidewalks impassable?

So, today I got on the treadmill for the first time since my second trimester. I needed to start chisling down the 46 pounds I gained to give birth to the MonkeyBoy. I was able to drop the first 28 pounds in the first six weeks, but the remaining 18 are going to take some work.

The kid was in the Björn walking with me. He likes to cry a lot now. This at least put him to sleep for 25 minutes. I just wish I had the energy to go longer...

Yankee Doodle Dandy,
–TYG

Suck on this Lemon: Update

So, the little Crankee Yankee (aka MonkeyBoy), just seems to be that: cranky. He seems to be showing all the signs of what a six to eight week old should exhibit: crankious pantus. He may have a bit of acid reflux, but there doesn't seem to be a cause for concern since he's gaining weight according to schedule. He should definitely be hitting the 10-pound mark by next week! I just need to keep him upright more and angle his sleep position to about 30 to 45 degrees. If I pump, maybe add a little rice cereal to the bottle.

specimen of crankious pantus

Still waiting on that prescription to make him sleep through the night.

Yankee Doodle (Yawn) Dandy,
–TYG

Suck on this Lemon

I have a blog, yet I don't blog. That's just bad blogging.

I need to get to blogging.

And fast.

Since my six-week-old is about to wake up to demand my attention.

Today's confession: I think my son has acid reflux.  I know that's not profound in anyway, but still, a confession none the least.

Symptons:  arches back and throws head back, grabs angrily at face, looks like he's perpetually sucking a lemon, congestion in his throat, grunts and growls like he's smoked a pack-a-day for twenty years, aggressive and mean when coming to the breast, taking a bottle, or Wonderful Mr. Soothie (pacifier), foams at the mouth, always licks his chops. No, it's not rabies.

Poor little dude is just plain miserable.

One bad lemon spoils the whole bunch

There's a lot of
OTC's and scripts to offer. I'm hoping that just Mylanta will work or a magnesium supplement for him and me.  I'll have to start propping him up 30 degrees to sleep and eat and watch what I eat. Since I nurse, what I eat, he eats later that day.

His pediatrician will check him out tomorrow and determine a course of action. Hopefully, it will lead to a happier little MonkeyBoy who will want to sleep longer than two hours at a time.

Here's to wishin'...

Yankee Doodle Dandy,
–TYG