Baby's First Christmas -- thoughts or stories?

Ever since I found out I was pregnant with lil' Monkey, I have wondered what his first Christmas would be like. I really like Christmas. Not so much for the gifts and definitely not the shopping for the gifts (I used to like these things but now they're just not that important anymore), but rather for the festive lights, food and seeing people you generally don't see that often. And even though I have tried to dream about what his first Christmas would be like, I am having a hard time thinking of how it's supposed to go.

He loves our tree (shown to the right) in all it's bright blue glory (he's at that age where blue is a big hit)! And for family and friends on our mailing list, you'll be receiving a photo card of him in front of it (might still be in the mail -- as usual I procrastinated). So that's one part of the dream that I expected to come true and it has.

However, he's just a little guy and isn't really at an age where he can open or even appreciate the gifts given to him. But you've got to have the obligatory photo ops, right? Afterall, it's "Baby's First Christmas"!

So I wanted to ask the seasoned parents reading this post, to tell us your suggestions and/or stories about your baby's first Christmas.

Blogs as Journals and Litmus Tests

I used to think blogging was for megalomaniacs who think the world is interested in what they have to say (please, read the rest and save the hate mail), but now I realize that it's a journal for most people and way of creating a community of people with common interests. It can also be a cathartic means of dealing with today's rat race and bouncing your thoughts around as a litmus test for sanity. Or at least it will be for me.

According to Merriam-Webster, journal is defined as:

Main Entry: jour·nal Pronunciation: 'j&r-n&l
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, service book containing the day hours, from Anglo-French jurnal,jurnal, adjective, daily, from Latin diurnalis, from diurnus of the day, from dies day -- more at DEITY
1 a : a record of current transactions; especially : a book of original entry in double-entry bookkeeping b : an account of day-to-day events c : a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use d : a record of transactions kept by a deliberative or legislative body e : LOG 3 f : LOG 4
2 a : a daily newspaper b : a periodical dealing especially with matters of current interest
3 : the part of a rotating shaft, axle, roll, or spindle that turns in a bearing

So although a personal journal is private (see dictionary entry "1c" above), written on paper, perhaps in a book-like format, a blog is none of these. And since this blog will be primarily used to keep family and friends updated on our lil' monkey and mommy's sanity pH levels, we'll say this blog fits definition 2b ("of current interest" to myself and perhaps those wanting to know those little baby details). I hate actually writing with pen and paper now (my handwriting has deteriorated since college into scrawl) and I can attach pictures to this thing to illustrate points (something I can't say I'd do in a written journal). So why keep a traditional journal? This will hopefully be much more fun.

Okay enough self-reflection for the day. Take care everyone.

Reality checks, tidbits and observations

I've come to realize there are just little things that you will not know as a non-parent until you actually have children.  I was sitting in bed this morning at 4:45, trying desperately to go back to sleep and began to make a mental list.  This list is comprised of reality checks, tidbits and general observations.  Some list items people probably didn't want to tell you because you would have thought them crazy.  Some are so interwoven into the minutia of everyday parent life that you probably don't really stop to think about them.  Some are really just a "DUH".  It's sort of a "You know you're a parent if ... " type of list.

• The "schedule" you so methodically planned prior to baby's arrival is sure to fail ("l'll feed him at 6 and be to yoga by 8 and then ... ")


• A little pee in your face, on your shirt or down your pajama pants isn't the end of the world


• Getting a little poop on your hand isn't so gross


• Going to the store with a little spit-up residue on your shoulder is OK


• No doubt that when you start breastfeeding you will suddenly develop an itch where you cannot reach


• Always take off baby's socks prior to feeding him/her baby food (green bean toes!)


• If pretending to feed Mr. Octopus makes the food disappear, then Mr. Octopus gets "fed"


• The trick or game that worked this morning or five minutes ago, might not be the fun-filled activity of the moment


• The song stuck in your head is probably from one of baby's toys now (not from the radio)


• Just because you are a parent, doesn't mean you will automatically bond with other parents, in fact, it might be a point of tension


• Some things are just not so important anymore, like showering everyday


• You have no concept of what the word SACRIFICE means until you are a parent

I know I had more of these earlier this morning.  I will probably update this post again in the future.  But in the meantime, feel free to comment!  I know there's probably a lot more of these tidbits and reality checks that I have yet to experience!

Good night!

T.V. -- how much do you watch?

I thought that once lil' monkey was born that I'd have less time to watch t.v. and in a way I do. But thanks to DVR, I don't necessarily need to be in front of the tube at any particular time. This means I can catch up on "my shows" (no, not soaps) while breastfeeding, folding laundry, etc.

Most of you reading this will be either a friend or family member and while I probably know a good bit of what each of you chooses to watch on television, I thought it might be interesting make a post out of it where everyone can comment. Here are my favorites to watch (in no particular order) with the ones I record designated with an asterisk. As you can see, our DVR is close to being maxed out all of the time.

• The Office *


• Colbert Report *


• Daily Show *


• Dancing with the Stars *


• Heroes *


• Dexter


• Hotel Babylon *


• Dirty Jobs *


• The Wire


• Lost *


• Iron Chef America (and Next Iron Chef while it lasted)


• Good Eats


• Men in Trees

Okay, you're it! Go ahead, list your shows and if you choose, indicate which ones you are so fond of that you actually DVR them!

Worrying too much or not enough?

So as some of you may know, lil' Monkey is already a whopping 15 lbs, 2 ounces.  He's been steadily gaining about half a pound a week.  According to all of the books I read, he's supposed to be gaining about 1 - 1 1/2 pounds. per month at this point.  So this means he's gaining a half pound more than the greater end of those numbers.

Also, as some of you may know, being the daughter of my mother (whom some of you know) , I am inheritly a worry-wart.  I've tried to dampen those impulses as to not cause undue stress on DH, Monkey and myself but it's hard.  Having a child lends itself to this impulse to worry about everything.  "He has a stuffy nose ... is it just the usual baby snottiness or a cold?"  "Okay, he's latched-on, he's eating well ... is he eating too well?"  "He's stopped grunting in his crib ... is he still alive?"  You get the picture.

Now I'm worried about him eating too much.  My cues of when he needs to eat have been messed up lately by the fact that he's started to suck on his fist.  (BTW, his new name is "Slobbers on Fist". )  So during the day, it seems like I'm feeding him everytime he begins to hanker down on his fist like it's best thing since sliced bread. 

Then we started with a routine about a month ago which includes a bottle of half and half.  Half breastmilk and half formula, with the expectation that the formula will help him go the extra mile and let us sleep in a little longer.  And it's worked!  He falls asleep by 9 pm usually and I have until 3 am, maybe if I'm lucky 5 am, to sleep or do work or write in this blog!  We fill the bottle up with 7 ounces and expect him to finish at least 5 of that.  If he doesn't, we're paranoid he'll be up by midnight and we try to feed him some more.

I just read doing that is bad.  It leads to obesity later in life because they're already eating to satiate themselves to that extended point. GREAT.  Now what?  So I've taken to letting him eat as much as he wants, then putting him to bed. Giving him a little time and sometimes he wakes back up ready to eat within a half hour (snacking is the term I believe).  If he doesn't wake up for that second dose of food within a half hour, we wake him up.  I KNOW, I KNOW.  I can hear some of you shrieking in horror at that one.  But now that I'm working from home, I've got to A) get some work done, B) have some ME time to do things like this and C) most importantly, get some rest.

You know what would solve this?  Winning the lottery.  Then neither of us would have to work and Monkey could feed anytime he wanted.  Oh who am I kidding?!  I'd still need a routine to be sane.

Okay, good people!  I've got to pump then hit the hay!

Baby's new routine

We've decided that lil' Monkey needs a routine.  A co-worker of DH's gave us the basic plan and I was hesitant at first (since she has four kids and in general has a stricter, more aggressive view on things because of that).  But we've modified the plan to suit us and be a little more gentle.  I just can't bring myself to turn the monitor off and shut the door but I can say that with each passing night, the volume on the monitor gets lower and lower.

You see, he still does his grunts, especially at night, especially after feeding.  So if I feed him at 2:30 am, he grunts, LOUDLY, until 3:30 sometimes straight through until his next feeding at 4:30 - 5:00.  I can't sleep through that so hence the monitor volume has been turned down a little more each night.

In the mommy group I attended on Wednesday, a member brought in a video by Dr. Harvery Karp (the Happiest Baby on the Block guy).  He has a five "S's" theory.  I can't remember all of the S's (Monkey was fussing through most of the video) -- but the one he kept suggesting was swaddling. 

Now we haven't swaddled lil' Monkey much since he was 3 weeks old.  He would always break out of it and if we tried to use the hardcore velcro kind, he'd pitch a fit until we took him out of it.  However, tonight, he was battling the bedtime and I decided to try again.  The nurse who monitors the mommy group meetings suggested just swaddling from the waist down so his arms were free.  And that's what I did.  So far, it's worked!  I'm completely amazed!

Of course, now my SIDS radar has kicked in and I'm petrified that he'll wiggle out of it and suffocate himself.

Manic Monday

Wow.  So glad today is a new day.  Yesterday was not very good.

It started out well.  Lil' Monkey and I went to Dick's to get a sports bra (since none of mommy's pre-pregnancy sports bras fit her breastfeeding boobs! -- see "Feeling really white" post).  Got the bra and headed home.

About 10 minutes away from home, I hear Monkey in the back in his car seat grunting.  They sounded like his usual "poop grunts" so I thought "he'll need a new diaper when we get home".  WELL, about 5 minutes later he starts screaming and crying.  We're close to home, so I pick up the speed and finally pull into our neighborhood.

When I go to get him out of the car, I realize why he had been screaming.  He pooped OUT THE SIDE OF HIS DIAPER AND ONESIE, ALL OVER THE CAR SEAT.  Not only that but he had put his hand in it and had smeared it all over his face, his body and the straps of the car seat.

Now I was truly surprised by my actions.  I suppose I had slept enough the night before because instead of being upset, I just kept laughing.  Unfortunately, Monkey did not find it so funny.  But he was a happy camper after I gave him a bath and a new clean diaper and clothes.

So Monday nights, as I mentioned in my previous post, are "raid" nights for DH.  So Monkey and I are pretty much on our own except for an hour or so around dinner.  Monkey decided to go into his "cycle" of being upset at about 8:30 (15 minutes into DH's WoW raid).  I had fed Monkey, burped him, and DH had just changed his diaper before the raid.  I checked his diaper again and nothing.  I walked him around for several minutes in the two different ways he likes to be held when he's upset like that. 

NADA, still upset.  So I decided to open a new toy that he received on Sunday. He's screaming in his crib and I'm trying my darnest to get this thing out of it's bullet-proof/child-proof packaging.  And then it happens.  The scissors slipped and I gouged my hand.  At first, I thought, "Okay, it's just a minor cut".  But then when I went into the bathroom, I realized otherwise.  Blood was gushing out really fast and I just started crying.  Partly because it hurt, but partly because I knew this meant I'd have to get DH off the game, we'd have to go to the emergency room with Monkey in tow and that would take forever.  And then I'd have to watch Monkey with sore hand for a week or more.

Honestly, our local hospital hasn't been that bad with the two emergency visits we've had in the past 45 days.  Last night, we were in at 8:45 and out by 10:00.  I got two stitches in my hand. 

It hurts still and I think it would hurt less if it weren't right in the area where you bend your hand to pick up things.  So changing Monkey and doing other minor everyday chores have been really challenging today.

I just hope it's all healed soon.  They said I could have the stitches out in 5-7 days.  So that was our Manic Monday.