I had my first official post-partum work out yesterday. I say "official" because doing exercise videos at home and walking around the neighborhood was considered a work out until yesterday so I guess those were all poor excuses for getting off my butt but this actual work-out was one that kicked my butt.
Kick seems like an understatement.
I got my butt whipped.
It was a studio group fitness class at Equinox (where the motto is "It's Not Fitness, It's Life") with one of my favorite instructors from two and a half years ago (the last time I was in this gym). She does her entire class with weights and a bosu ball and usually has really fun music and has us up and down all over the ball working our core, our thighs and our arms. It is fabulous!
Or so I remembered....
Yesterday was horrific. I was heaving and hoeing, my heart was racing, my head was pounding, sweat was dripping down my face, and I was unsure if I'd make it through. I felt like hurling many times, and used this as an excuse to walk to the back of the studio to get my camelback and slowly sip some water. I drank so much water that I was even able to sneak out of the studio twice to refill my water bottle. Halfway through the class, I started thinking of excuses I could use to leave the class.
The music was too loud to speak over it so I could gesture something to the instructor, maybe about my ankle or knee or... I could just faint. The aftermath might be too messy to deal with. I could whisper VERY quietly but LOUDLY WITH MY LIPS that I had to go... but it all seemed rude unless I really couldn't make it.. which I very well might not have...
So I stuck it out. For the reps I could do full out, I did, the rest I just breathed and watched others in awe. At one point she had us jumping down to a plank on the bosu ball which was upside down (so you had to balance since the ball side was on the floor), doing a push up, jumping up to a position with a lunge, standing up and then lifting the bosu ball (it is quite heavy!) and doing a press-up into the air - ugh - and she did this in repeat 6 reps first with 4 times, then 2 times and then 1 time. I was DYING.
To make matters worse, I had obtained a 3 lb weight because I knew I was not ready for anything larger than that - the instructor had also obtained a 3 lb weight. But she reminded the class repeatedly that she was using "sissy" weights since she had injured herself over the weekend but hey, that's what she got for being 50 years old and going mountain biking. First off, her body is a ROCK and she looks more like 40. I could not believe it. I wanted to yell, "I just had a baby!" but there was no nonchalant way of doing so. Instead, I sucked it up and tried my best.
Through my eternity of "I'm not ready to work out at a gym suffering" of one hour last night, the abs and cool down felt so satisfying. And once I was done, I was ready to do it again just not today or tomorrow...I need time to heal first. It's true what they say about challenges building character and how rewarding it is to overcome them. I'm definitely far from overcoming my lack of aerobic strength and utter usefulness in the gym but I am ready to tackle it, one horrific work out at a time. To sum it up, it was quite painful indeed... but now that I'm done and had the endorphin rush yesterday.... it was also quite delightful too.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
My Super Clutch Save
This Sunday, Andy had post-call so I was going to Church with Jordan alone. I embraced the opportunity to be punctual on my own (this will probably be a normal situation once we're in Residency) and prepared by taking a shower at 7:15 AM which gave me ample time to feed Jordan at 8 AM. One thing about Jordan these days is that he is becoming sillier when he feeds, often smiling, stopping to stare and ensure I am paying attention before he continues to eat. He will come off of the boob, look at me with his puppy eyes waiting for me to respond, and when I say something to him, he will smile, look around and then latch on again. He cracks me up but I try not to smile and instead sternly advise him it's time to eat, not play, and surprisingly he always looks as if he understands until the next time around.
Following his 8 AM feeding, I geared up to get him into his Sunday best but as I was getting ready to dress him, we were joined by the loud blast of his poop. His face was priceless - a sort of clench in his jaw which immediately turned into a glorified sigh of relief. I waited a couple of minutes, because he usually has more poop on its way and going too quickly to the diaper changing table spells trouble. As predicted, within mere seconds, a second blast of poop was heard. So I took him to his favorite place these days, the diaper changing pad.
Once on the pad, he looked up at me with excitement, probably because he now recognizes the routine and understands he will feel a lot better down below soon. I prepared by taking out two wipes which were to my right, then opening a new diaper to my left, proceeded to unbutton his onesie, opened his soiled diaper and carefully placed it to my right. He was all smiles and giggles as I changed him and then, his expression immediately changed. I braced myself, already knowing there was a huge possibility this meant more poop and without disappointing me, he started to poop more. Since his poop is not yet solid as he is only drinking milk, imagine a shade lighter than peanut butter (like almond butter) with a consistency of tomato soup - thick but still creamy and liquidy. At this point, my left hand is holding his two feet in the air and my right hand is holding a wipe, his butt is stil covered with poop, the clean diaper is to the left - ugh, too far, the soiled diaper is to the right - ugh, also too far, so I quickly think what else I can do. This is when I decide I will meticulously try to balance the one wipe I'm holding to rest on my palm instead of between my fingers and try my best to balance his watery poop.
Have you ever tried balancing a book on your head and walking down a straight line as you do so? That's how it felt... only my mind was racing with - please don't poop so much that there's no way I can catch this. Please don't kick too hard with your feet, I can do this (wouldn't have been a huge deal if I didn't - just messier and more time consuming to clean), please hurry and finish pooping! And then, just like that he was done. Only now, I had to carefully, with every ounce of balance and precision, move the wipe covered with liquified poop to the soiled diaper and drop it in. I even slowly moved my body with it, so that the jerk from my arm to the hands holding it would be smoother. I got closer... and closer... and then BAM - it was in!
I did it! The third poop was safe and sound in the soiled diaper, and I finished cleaning Jordan up. I dressed Jordan, changed my mind on outfits about five times (it's still hard with most of my stuff too tight!), quickly braided my bangs, put Jordan into the carseat, and off we went! It's as if Jordan knew Daddy was missing and was on extra good behavior getting to Church, through Sacrament and even the second hour of Church. He didn't start to get restless until the third hour, probably missing his Daddy who has been taking him to Elder's Quorum during the third hour for the last two weeks, and then, he just wanted to go outside and lay on the couch and stare at Jesus.
I am still smiling at my clutch save of the diaper that morning. It made my day! On the drive to Church, we even sang (well I sang but he was happy about it) made up songs about being punctual to Church according to the melody of "I Will Survive." It was pretty sweet. It went a little bit like this....
(keep in mind I improvised it...)
At first we were late, we never made it on time... Kept taking too much time to find out what we was gonna wear, we shoulda gotten ready sooner, we shoulda picked our clothes before, we shoulda prepped better, coulda made it to Church on time BUT NOW we are! We're on our way! We're gonna make it there before it starts, it feels so good on time! .....
It's what we did at the Ronald McDonald Camp for Good Times all the time, only our stuff rhymed more but hey, Jordan loved it!
Following his 8 AM feeding, I geared up to get him into his Sunday best but as I was getting ready to dress him, we were joined by the loud blast of his poop. His face was priceless - a sort of clench in his jaw which immediately turned into a glorified sigh of relief. I waited a couple of minutes, because he usually has more poop on its way and going too quickly to the diaper changing table spells trouble. As predicted, within mere seconds, a second blast of poop was heard. So I took him to his favorite place these days, the diaper changing pad.
Once on the pad, he looked up at me with excitement, probably because he now recognizes the routine and understands he will feel a lot better down below soon. I prepared by taking out two wipes which were to my right, then opening a new diaper to my left, proceeded to unbutton his onesie, opened his soiled diaper and carefully placed it to my right. He was all smiles and giggles as I changed him and then, his expression immediately changed. I braced myself, already knowing there was a huge possibility this meant more poop and without disappointing me, he started to poop more. Since his poop is not yet solid as he is only drinking milk, imagine a shade lighter than peanut butter (like almond butter) with a consistency of tomato soup - thick but still creamy and liquidy. At this point, my left hand is holding his two feet in the air and my right hand is holding a wipe, his butt is stil covered with poop, the clean diaper is to the left - ugh, too far, the soiled diaper is to the right - ugh, also too far, so I quickly think what else I can do. This is when I decide I will meticulously try to balance the one wipe I'm holding to rest on my palm instead of between my fingers and try my best to balance his watery poop.
Have you ever tried balancing a book on your head and walking down a straight line as you do so? That's how it felt... only my mind was racing with - please don't poop so much that there's no way I can catch this. Please don't kick too hard with your feet, I can do this (wouldn't have been a huge deal if I didn't - just messier and more time consuming to clean), please hurry and finish pooping! And then, just like that he was done. Only now, I had to carefully, with every ounce of balance and precision, move the wipe covered with liquified poop to the soiled diaper and drop it in. I even slowly moved my body with it, so that the jerk from my arm to the hands holding it would be smoother. I got closer... and closer... and then BAM - it was in!
I did it! The third poop was safe and sound in the soiled diaper, and I finished cleaning Jordan up. I dressed Jordan, changed my mind on outfits about five times (it's still hard with most of my stuff too tight!), quickly braided my bangs, put Jordan into the carseat, and off we went! It's as if Jordan knew Daddy was missing and was on extra good behavior getting to Church, through Sacrament and even the second hour of Church. He didn't start to get restless until the third hour, probably missing his Daddy who has been taking him to Elder's Quorum during the third hour for the last two weeks, and then, he just wanted to go outside and lay on the couch and stare at Jesus.
I am still smiling at my clutch save of the diaper that morning. It made my day! On the drive to Church, we even sang (well I sang but he was happy about it) made up songs about being punctual to Church according to the melody of "I Will Survive." It was pretty sweet. It went a little bit like this....
(keep in mind I improvised it...)
At first we were late, we never made it on time... Kept taking too much time to find out what we was gonna wear, we shoulda gotten ready sooner, we shoulda picked our clothes before, we shoulda prepped better, coulda made it to Church on time BUT NOW we are! We're on our way! We're gonna make it there before it starts, it feels so good on time! .....
It's what we did at the Ronald McDonald Camp for Good Times all the time, only our stuff rhymed more but hey, Jordan loved it!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Because Harry Poter Rocks!!!
When I used to stay up almost every night to feed Jordan (since it took him an hour or so to eat and he ate every 2-3 hours so really, why even go to sleep only to wake up in mere minutes?!), I spent a lot more time online playing with social media platforms like facebook and linked in and watching television on hulu and trailers on youtube too!
One beautiful afternoon, with the sunlight peaking in from the outside reminding me of the little time I spent away from the apartment, instead of taking a stroll outside and enjoying nature, I dove deeper into the abyss of my online world and spent a good hour watching summer trailers - one after another. I have no regrets. It was glorious. Don't judge me. Okay, go ahead....
I was, however, slightly disappointed that I'd be missing so many great summer blockbusters -X-Men First Class, Transformers 3, Captain America, Crazy Stupid Love, The Help, Sherlock Holmes 2, Smurfs, Larry Crowne, Monte Carlo.....
But the one I was and am truly sad about... the one that patience has no hold over (Fall seriously seems so far away) and I am dying to think of how we can sneak away to watch....is of course, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.
Harry Potter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Expelliarmus! Luminos! AHHHHHHHH!!!!
My obsession with Harry Potter dates back to 2000, the summer after I graduated from high school and was working at a small CPA Firm on boring bank reconciliations and data entry for my mom's friend. To say the job was boring is an understatement beyond belief. Lunch was my highlight - I would eat the bento box my mom sent me off with at my desk and read Harry Potter (at the time, books 1, 2 and 3 were out). For years before that, I had been making fun of my brother for reading the book with a boy on a broom on the cover. He told me I had no idea how great the books were (he was part of the early fan base from the UK as the gamers introduced it to him) and I scoffed and mocked him only to repent and eat my own words later as I myself became hooked (but only did so after Harry Potter started getting press from everyone about how great they were... yes I'm a follower, not a leader). After reading not even one chapter, I was hooked. Muggle? Wizards? Owls? Fantastic!
Lucky for me, Andy and I shared this common love for Harry Potter and when we were still just friends, we watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the summer of 2009 at Universal Citywalk and later Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One in November 2010 as husband and wife!
So of course we attended the Harry Potter Lego event at the Americana Brand a few months ago. I mean... legos and Harry Potter? Andy was in heaven but he was bummed Jordan was not old enough yet to enjoy the displays and building stations available. And since this event is about as close as we will get to the final movie (unless we can get someone to watch Jordan after he goes to bed at 10 and make a late showing... maybe when we venture out to Florida for Harry Potter world with the fam bam? any takers?), I leave you with these photos this beautiful Friday, July 15th, the day the final installment of the Harry Potter series makes its debut.
Ten years in the making and a little over ten years for me since I started reading 'em. Yay for Harry Potter!!!!!!!!!!!!
Harry Potter and me
Jordan enjoying time in the Bjorn on Daddy instead of the Harry Potter lego stuff everywhere!
Hagrid! He was really HUGE just like in real HP world!
Hogwarts... those are ALL legos!
Close up of the lego action for your viewing pleasure
One beautiful afternoon, with the sunlight peaking in from the outside reminding me of the little time I spent away from the apartment, instead of taking a stroll outside and enjoying nature, I dove deeper into the abyss of my online world and spent a good hour watching summer trailers - one after another. I have no regrets. It was glorious. Don't judge me. Okay, go ahead....
I was, however, slightly disappointed that I'd be missing so many great summer blockbusters -X-Men First Class, Transformers 3, Captain America, Crazy Stupid Love, The Help, Sherlock Holmes 2, Smurfs, Larry Crowne, Monte Carlo.....
But the one I was and am truly sad about... the one that patience has no hold over (Fall seriously seems so far away) and I am dying to think of how we can sneak away to watch....is of course, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.
Harry Potter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Expelliarmus! Luminos! AHHHHHHHH!!!!
My obsession with Harry Potter dates back to 2000, the summer after I graduated from high school and was working at a small CPA Firm on boring bank reconciliations and data entry for my mom's friend. To say the job was boring is an understatement beyond belief. Lunch was my highlight - I would eat the bento box my mom sent me off with at my desk and read Harry Potter (at the time, books 1, 2 and 3 were out). For years before that, I had been making fun of my brother for reading the book with a boy on a broom on the cover. He told me I had no idea how great the books were (he was part of the early fan base from the UK as the gamers introduced it to him) and I scoffed and mocked him only to repent and eat my own words later as I myself became hooked (but only did so after Harry Potter started getting press from everyone about how great they were... yes I'm a follower, not a leader). After reading not even one chapter, I was hooked. Muggle? Wizards? Owls? Fantastic!
Lucky for me, Andy and I shared this common love for Harry Potter and when we were still just friends, we watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the summer of 2009 at Universal Citywalk and later Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One in November 2010 as husband and wife!
So of course we attended the Harry Potter Lego event at the Americana Brand a few months ago. I mean... legos and Harry Potter? Andy was in heaven but he was bummed Jordan was not old enough yet to enjoy the displays and building stations available. And since this event is about as close as we will get to the final movie (unless we can get someone to watch Jordan after he goes to bed at 10 and make a late showing... maybe when we venture out to Florida for Harry Potter world with the fam bam? any takers?), I leave you with these photos this beautiful Friday, July 15th, the day the final installment of the Harry Potter series makes its debut.
Ten years in the making and a little over ten years for me since I started reading 'em. Yay for Harry Potter!!!!!!!!!!!!
Harry Potter and me
Jordan enjoying time in the Bjorn on Daddy instead of the Harry Potter lego stuff everywhere!
Hagrid! He was really HUGE just like in real HP world!
Hogwarts... those are ALL legos!
Close up of the lego action for your viewing pleasureAnd then this morning, with all the Harry Potter hype, I saw some hilarious "Yo Momma" Harry Potter jokes from my G7 buddies, Stames and Chacon. I am still laughing outloud from these so I just had to share 'em. Yo momma jokes feel okay cuz I'm a mom now, sorta like how racist Asian jokes always seem okay coming from me. ..... If you're not into Harry Potter or have never seen the movies or read the books, these might not be as funny.
Yo momma's so fat, her patronus is a cake!
Yo momma's so fat, the sorting hat put her in the house of pancakes!
Yo momma's so ugly, instead of kissing her, the dementor gave her a handshake and promise to call sometime
Yo momma's so fat, she tried to eat Cornelius Fudge
Yo mama's so dumb she thought that she could talk to snakes if she put parsley on her tongue
Yo Mama so nasty, everybody call her “She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Naked”
Yo mama's so stupid, she drowned in a pensieve
Yo mama so fat the core of her wand has a cream filling!
Hope you enjoyed those as much as I did! LOVEEEEEE!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Do You Boolean?
Recently, I learned a new phrase that I would like to share with my internet buddies. If you already know what it means, please do not put me to shame with my ignorance. I will blissfully deny your existence!
"Boolean"
Doesn't that sound hip? Do you boolean? Heck yeah I boolean! I be booleaning all day long. I'm so tired of booleaning, man booleaning got me so busy today! What a boolean! Boolean that! Boolean don't even know what booleaning her. Boolean!
Basically, it's a way of advance searching with key phrases such as AND and OR.
If I want to search for baby advice that contains ("bottle") AND ("baby" OR "toddler"), all results will show either baby and bottle OR toddler and bottle. You learn something new everyday.
Boolean it!
He's a Boob Guy
When people ask me how my newborn son of nine weeks is, I really don't know how to answer. Without having any other children, do I really know good from bad from ugly?
What I do know is, he is pretty happy most of the time. He cries 90% of the time because he is hungry, 5% because he wants to fart or poop and 5% because he thinks he is getting hungry. With that said, 95% of his unhappiness can quickly be soothed with some milk. His bedtime is at 10 PM and he usually wakes up to eat at 3 AM and 6 AM (though this only started two weeks ago) so overall, no real complaints.
Except... well, there is one thing.
You see... my son, well ... errr he's kinda sorta a boob guy. He absolutely loves eating and he loves getting his food - breakfast, lunch, linner, dinner, afternoon snack - all from mommy!
So of course the only real frustration so far has been his refusal to take a bottle (I am constantly amused at this given the lactation Nazi consultants who always instill fear in you about what if you give him the bottle and he refuses the breastmilk? but somehow, nobody ever talks about the what if he won't take the bottle? situation) It almost feels like this situation is taboo and that is why nobody ever warns you about it, just like hemorrhoids after birth (I know, nobody told me either but you push for hours upon hours so it only makes sense...)
We have now been through five different bottles (Avent, Playtex, Playtex flow with the bags, Medela, Tommy Tippy), six different nipples, attempts while he's not so hungry, starving, or somewhere in between, and along the way, I have lost count of all the different ways we have attempted to coax him into taking a bottle. I have researched it in depth (google counts..) and I know they can smell their mommies 20 feet away so I have to be out of the house, I know I can't be the person with the bottle because it'll confuse him and I know I am definitely NOT alone. Countless other women have dealt with the same issue today, yesterday and tomorrow.
Hopeless. Dejected. Rejected. Wanted. Needed. Trapped. Loved.
These are just some of the emotions I go through, and after a while, it's really not so bad. This may be the one time in my life Jordan needs and wants me more than anyone else (take that future wifey of my son!)
Gag. Puke. Grimace. Cry. Stare.
These are the motions Jordan goes through when we give him the bottle. And as of late - biting down on the nipple and staring at us until bottle is removed is his thing. At least he's smart, that much I'll give him credit for. I guess there's no way around it - my baby is definitely a boob guy. Typical male.
Fortunate for us, the power of prayer is really helping me stay calm and I know without a doubt that progress is on its way. In just a mere two days, my sincere prayers feel like they've been answered despite Jordan puking up one day and not taking more than .5 oz the next day. That's how I know prayer works... when there's not much improvement yet I feel good about it, like I can deal with it and it's not going to bring me down. And in a few weeks, I'm hoping that means he will take the bottle and I can be apart from Jordan for more than two hours at a time. Only time will tell.
What I do know is, he is pretty happy most of the time. He cries 90% of the time because he is hungry, 5% because he wants to fart or poop and 5% because he thinks he is getting hungry. With that said, 95% of his unhappiness can quickly be soothed with some milk. His bedtime is at 10 PM and he usually wakes up to eat at 3 AM and 6 AM (though this only started two weeks ago) so overall, no real complaints.
Except... well, there is one thing.
You see... my son, well ... errr he's kinda sorta a boob guy. He absolutely loves eating and he loves getting his food - breakfast, lunch, linner, dinner, afternoon snack - all from mommy!
So of course the only real frustration so far has been his refusal to take a bottle (I am constantly amused at this given the lactation Nazi consultants who always instill fear in you about what if you give him the bottle and he refuses the breastmilk? but somehow, nobody ever talks about the what if he won't take the bottle? situation) It almost feels like this situation is taboo and that is why nobody ever warns you about it, just like hemorrhoids after birth (I know, nobody told me either but you push for hours upon hours so it only makes sense...)
We have now been through five different bottles (Avent, Playtex, Playtex flow with the bags, Medela, Tommy Tippy), six different nipples, attempts while he's not so hungry, starving, or somewhere in between, and along the way, I have lost count of all the different ways we have attempted to coax him into taking a bottle. I have researched it in depth (google counts..) and I know they can smell their mommies 20 feet away so I have to be out of the house, I know I can't be the person with the bottle because it'll confuse him and I know I am definitely NOT alone. Countless other women have dealt with the same issue today, yesterday and tomorrow.
Hopeless. Dejected. Rejected. Wanted. Needed. Trapped. Loved.
These are just some of the emotions I go through, and after a while, it's really not so bad. This may be the one time in my life Jordan needs and wants me more than anyone else (take that future wifey of my son!)
Gag. Puke. Grimace. Cry. Stare.
These are the motions Jordan goes through when we give him the bottle. And as of late - biting down on the nipple and staring at us until bottle is removed is his thing. At least he's smart, that much I'll give him credit for. I guess there's no way around it - my baby is definitely a boob guy. Typical male.
Fortunate for us, the power of prayer is really helping me stay calm and I know without a doubt that progress is on its way. In just a mere two days, my sincere prayers feel like they've been answered despite Jordan puking up one day and not taking more than .5 oz the next day. That's how I know prayer works... when there's not much improvement yet I feel good about it, like I can deal with it and it's not going to bring me down. And in a few weeks, I'm hoping that means he will take the bottle and I can be apart from Jordan for more than two hours at a time. Only time will tell.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
We Are Huge Dorks But We Love It!
Over the weekend, as we drove to the Grove with our friendly neighbors, the Whiteheads, I asked if "hemorrhoids are a pain in the butt" was a pun, only to have the guys scoff at me as Blair kindly offered that she thought it worked (thanks Blair - I know you were just trying to be nice). That led to a slew of other brainstorming of puns, one of which was, "There's a hole in the wall that is worth looking into" which I have made a note of and plan to use often going forward.
This conversation of vernacular fun eventually led us to palindromes (a word that reads the same front to back like racecar) which then led to a game of, how many palindromes we could come up with. It was a very intense competitive brain simulating activity, something definitely worth revisiting with Jordan when he's older. And, it was no surprise that the first words we came up with were poop, tit, boob, and toot along with mum, dad, mom, and pop. How many can you come up with?....
As we progressed and became better at the game, bigger words like redder, radar, madam, noon, level and pull-up joined the litany of palindromes and we thought we were a pretty big deal. Unfortunately, we were put to shame when we got to the restaurant and our friend Danny joined the game effortlessly with Malayalam, which he claimed was an Indian language. Incredulous looks and accusations were shot at him as our fingers simultaneously and very quickly navigated the smart phone research capabilities to see if indeed he was correct ... which I will admit now, he was (at the time, we kept suggesting he had added an entry to Wikipedia before we had a chance to find it...).
Even funnier was the fact that none of us seemed able to fully let go of the game and instead of concentrating on the menu or allowing ourselves to dive into other conversation topics over some food, random inserts of suggested palindromes infused the dinner party throughout the night. It went something like this..."Oh, this paella is not what I expected but-- REVERE! - no, that ends with an E! - oh.... ok... yeah this paella is pretty good. And I don't remember who, but at one point, someone's failed palindrome was pointed out as an onomatopoeia (no, we did not start playing that game too) That's simply grammar-ageous!
Yesterday, as I was using my phone to scripture study while feeding Jordan, I saw a page from when I had searched "palindromes" from the weekend that was neglected when we decided to play a game of palindromes instead of scrolling through the list. I quickly scanned the listing, seeing words like kayak, sagas, civic, and rotator. "Man!" I exclaimed out loud to Andy, "there are some good words we didn't come up with" and as I proceeded to tell Andy of these, he exclaimed, "Oh man!" It was amusing how excited we got about the game of palindromes and it made me realize we find joy in very simple things like palindromes.
It's the small things in life that make it worthwhile, like playing a game of palindromes. Or wearing matching ugly Christmas sweaters that we made ourselves cuz we were too cheap to buy some. Yeah... we are huge dorks... but we do indeed love it.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Where Did My Baby Go?
I know I'm over analyzing, over thinking and over reacting.. (typical girl...)... but my baby is no longer a baby! He's a big baby, he doesn't even fit (comfortably) into his newborn clothes anymore! The baby baby days (yes, I just used the noun as an adjective) are gone and now my cute bundle of joy can coo, smile while awake and in response to our silly faces, try to talk during storytime (he adores There's a Wocket in My Pocket and doesn't care too much for other books though he appreciates the stories we improvise), focus his eyes on inanimate objects or people (he has a thing for older beautiful women) and hold his neck up while on his tummy for long spouts of time!
My baby is already so different from just eight short weeks ago. He was nine weeks on Saturday, and already there are so many notable differences in him. Here are just a few that come to mind.
I've also learned a few tricks from when May was here helping - one of which has made our grocery tab decline and my "what the heck do we eat this week?" conundrums disappear. Food Nanny taught me to plan my grocery list ahead of time, and to always be armed with the knowledge of what we were going to eat for the week. Food Nanny had a great concept but May advised me to check out the sales at the grocery store first - and then think of what I could make for the week (I used to go into the store wanting fish and no matter how much it was, I would get it...). This newfound concept has really made a difference in our weekly grocery tab and though I wouldn't recommend it to any working moms, a stay at home mom has more flexibility to make multiple grocery trips during the week and therefore, can actually accomplish this! In addition, I am still using leftovers to make a new meal (Sloppy Joe leftovers become spaghetti, Cafe Rio salad becomes pulled pork sandwiches) and loving it. Cooking is so much more enjoyable when you have a plan and it's a cheap one and grocery shopping in multiple short trips makes Jordan a lot happier too! Guess my baby is still here just changing everyday, but then again, so am I to adapt to him and our new family - it's oodles of fun!
Already wearing a tie at 9 weeks old!
Sunday afternoon nap with Daddy!
My baby is already so different from just eight short weeks ago. He was nine weeks on Saturday, and already there are so many notable differences in him. Here are just a few that come to mind.
- Baby used to cry every time we changed his diaper, probably because he had no idea what we were doing - we mitigated his fears by buzzing constantly or talking to him and towards the end, he would just stare at us - now, he is relaxed, observes us, sometimes even smiles and just waits to get is diaper changed.
- Baby used to cry every time we changed his clothes, the climax would be when we put the shirt over his head, but even once the shirt was on, his cries would continue and drone out our attempts to calm him down, even getting his hands into the arm holes was a difficult challenge given his already crying and unhappy mood - now he knows it's coming and even during those few instances when I couldn't quite smoothly get the shirt over his head, he just stuck through it, as if he knows it will be over shortly and I am just trying to dress him.
- Baby used to grunt and moan in his sleep as he tried to relieve some gas, something his butt was not yet acquainted with. We often helped him fart by raising his legs for him and gently pushing down as he lay on his back and the farts would escape on their own but now he grunts on his own and it's always followed by some tooting (in his sleep!)
- Baby used to cry when we started to swaddle him and calm down only once he had been wrapped partly, once swaddled he would be content and patiently await transportation to his pack n play for sleep time - now, he never cries when the swaddle begins, just excitedly waits to be swaddled so he can go to bed.
- Baby is sleeping less which means more interaction during the day and more sleep at night! Hooray baby!!!
I've also learned a few tricks from when May was here helping - one of which has made our grocery tab decline and my "what the heck do we eat this week?" conundrums disappear. Food Nanny taught me to plan my grocery list ahead of time, and to always be armed with the knowledge of what we were going to eat for the week. Food Nanny had a great concept but May advised me to check out the sales at the grocery store first - and then think of what I could make for the week (I used to go into the store wanting fish and no matter how much it was, I would get it...). This newfound concept has really made a difference in our weekly grocery tab and though I wouldn't recommend it to any working moms, a stay at home mom has more flexibility to make multiple grocery trips during the week and therefore, can actually accomplish this! In addition, I am still using leftovers to make a new meal (Sloppy Joe leftovers become spaghetti, Cafe Rio salad becomes pulled pork sandwiches) and loving it. Cooking is so much more enjoyable when you have a plan and it's a cheap one and grocery shopping in multiple short trips makes Jordan a lot happier too! Guess my baby is still here just changing everyday, but then again, so am I to adapt to him and our new family - it's oodles of fun!
Already wearing a tie at 9 weeks old!
Sunday afternoon nap with Daddy!
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