Sick bears

We all got sick.

I had the easiest time of it and Jack I guess had the worst, but Max's is lasting the longest, or at least some of the effects are.

Today is Monday- his first BM that I would call diarrhea happened on Tuesday. His stools aren't liquid-y anymore but they are still extra stinky.

Both Saturday and Sunday mornings, going in to fetch Max from his crib in the early morning Jack and I have been hit by this wall of poo-smell upon entering the nursery. Leakage hasn't been too bad, we've only had to change his sheets once but Max has gone through SO many pairs of pants and jammies this week.

So, presented with a very unhappy, mama-wanting baby covered in poo both mornings I have just stripped us both down and held him in the shower with me for a little while before nursing him skin to skin in my bed. It's actually been really sweet and nice bonding time- he gets very clingy and just wants to hold onto me and lay there in my arms with the water running over him.

I avoided having a repeat of this this morning because I took an extra trip in to his nursery last night to check on him and could smell that he'd dirtied his diaper with still HOURS left of sleep. So, we had to wake him and clean him up- he was not a happy camper. I ended up nursing him back to calm before putting him down, which I don't normally do, but I felt bad because we'd woken him up twice that night (once to bring him home- we hung out with friends late).

In the midst of all this he has really bad diaper rash from the extra acidity that was/is going on and apparently you're not supposed to use wipes, which we didn't remember until it was too late- don't know if I made his rash worse or not. Anywho- there are all kinds of home remedies for diaper rash and I've been trying a few things and also trying to let him have some good naked time too. So far it's still pretty bad. He actually bled just a tiny bit in one spot last night :(

I tried breastmilk on his rash, because that's supposed to be good- so far I've not noticed any change- I only did it twice though. Right now I'm trying egg whites- if I don't get results by his next diaper change I think I need to go and purchase some bigger guns. Part of me feels like putting thick ointment on raw skin isn't a good idea- like it won't be able to "breathe" and heal, but at this point I just want his little butt to feel better.

Also, trying to gear up for his two birthday parties that are coming up. I tried to buy stamps this weekend and was thwarted. Did you know that the powers that be have eradicated all the stamp machines from P.O. lobbies? This sucks. It was Saturday afternoon and I couldn't buy small increment stamps ANYWHERE.

I need a cheap little vacuum, and I wish we had an end table. Blah.

Favorite things

As a pretty sentimental creature, one of my favorite things to do as a mom is to quietly go in once Max is asleep and look at him/check on him. I'm a worrier and there's a niggling little part of me that would never forgive myself if checking on him would have prevented something bad from happening. Maybe I've been watching too much Law & Order SVU.....

But I digress- the point of this entry is to showcase how cute Max is when he sleeps. He cracks us up sometimes- that's right, Jack has joined me now in our nightly little check-up of sleeping Max. It started pretty organically, one of us would have to go in to fix his baby monitor receiver or something and we gradually discovered that he wouldn't wake up or be disturbed. The pre-sleep check on my part began on a bit of a whim, I have to walk past his door to get to my bedroom at night and he goes to sleep at 7 while I generally stay up until 10 or later (usually later). So I miss him a little and just couldn't resist going in to see him one last time before bed. I never intended to do it every night but I do now- I know I won't do it forever. This is just my little way of squeezing every bit of enjoyment out of his oh-so-temporary-smallness.

I assure you dear reader that Max has never woken up from either a night-time visit or having his picture taken. As of yet, he is quite a heavy sleeper, I might have Thor to thank for that.

This was taken back at our old duplex and I think it was actually a nap. Too cute with his little teddy. :)

I was really surprised to find him sound asleep folded in half like this. This was the trial tiny blanket that I tested out to see if he was ready to sleep with blankets. I had gotten the clue from him that he wanted to by him pulling things like towels or t-shirts into his crib if we accidentally left them within reach. Also, I found once that in the car on the way home he had pulled my sweater hoodie up into his carseat and was all snuggled with it.

These were my favorite jammies for a little while, they're so fitted on his cute little chubby body- they were the first sort of thermal style ones that he ever wore.

A variation on the folded-in-half position. I wonder when it is that we stop being so bendable foldable?

I had to call Jack in to see this one- so funny to see his little feet sticking out. Also, pretty solid evidence of how big he'd gotten. It's hard to realize how much they're growing when you see them constantly, but every now and then you gain a little perspective.

The one foot out variation- I just had to pet that sweet soft little foot. It's adorable all on it's own and kind of like a little hamster or something in it's doughy firmness.

He has since graduated to proper blankets and Jack and I will usually go in and cover him up once he's asleep. I have no idea how much he moves in a typical night, so our efforts may be a drop in the bucket, but it makes us feel better to have him "tucked in" before we leave.

He crosses his ankles pretty often, when he's eating, apparently when he's sleeping, etc. It makes me feel like he's my son especially in that little moment because I cross my ankles without realizing it quite a bit (they're crossed right now, actually). This was another night when foot-petting was required.

Sometimes I have to gently ease the blanket out from under his face because I worry that he's not getting enough air, but I realize that it's mostly just to make me feel better. He really does seem to enjoy sleeping with blankets so I'm glad that he can be trusted with them.

Sometimes Jack and I get so tickled by his position that we'll end up snorting and having to leave so we don't wake him.

Life in the Max lane

Okay- so I'm trying to do this more often- I know I've been lax on the blog front- so here goes- new leaf hopefully.

Max is nearly 11 months old and I can't believe how much he's changed and grown. It's amazing to watch. He is a total handful and always gets into everything. For some reason the lid to our guest room trashbin is one of his favorite things of all time- you can imagine his glee at combining it with a shoulder ride from Daddy. I know his glee is not evident in this photograph, but trust me, it's there. :)

Once Daddy gets home it's pretty much super fun happy play time. I typically worry about feeding him, keeping him safe and clean, that sort of thing and Jack is just better at playing than I am. We have our fun, don't get me wrong, but it's nothing compared to Daddy-time. Jack always gets the all-out shrieks of delight.

We're slowly but surely working on the casa. We want it to be a bit further along for Max's first birthday in February when we have the in-laws up since it will be their first time seeing the house. We painted in the kitchen and decided on the paint colors for the exterior and a couple of rooms. Outside: Sycamore, Sweet Maple, Shangri La, and Honey Moth. Here's the Bitter Chocolate that went up in the kitchen (as you can see by our convenient label) to much success.

We also purchased a pot rack recently and I love it- it was sadly from Wal-mart.com but it's a Coq Au Vin style and it's brown iron with a rooster and curlicues all over it- I love it. Max, as I said, is getting into everything. He walks for good little stretches now and cruises along like a pro on whatever is handy. He loves to stack blocks and has gotten them as high as three on his own- I'm pretty excited about his fledgling cognitive skills- they're really fun to watch. He's way more of a rummager/destroyer than Dicey. Here he is eating her toys.

In terms of me and what I'm up to I'm thinking about "extended" breastfeeding. The quotations are because what most women apparently dub extended is much longer than I will go, but technically extended in our country means anything past 12 months. The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding until at least 2 years of age and this also greatly reduces my risk of breast cancer. I've read a lot of women's stories that say that their children self-wean sometime between one and two years of age. This is what I'm hoping for. I am not going to be creepy with my giant son breastfeeding when he really shouldn't but I am going to shoot for 2 years and see what happens. Also, in TMI news, after nearly 22 glorious months, my Aunt Flo has finally returned. *le sigh*

December- so far

Max turned 9 months old! His 9 month appt went great and he was pronounced 29 inches tall and a little over 22 pounds heavy. His percentiles were not particularly high this time around, but Doc said growth happens that way- fast at times, slower at others.

I have been greatly enjoying having a proper house for the holidays, even if I do not have the money to go and buy all the pretty things in stores that I want- I think I am doing pretty well with the free decorations thus far. Here's my mantle with aforementioned (on Flickr) foraged pine cones from a neighbor's yard, candles generously gifted from my sister (selahestelle), homemade snowflakes and Mardi Gras beads from actual New Orleans that a lovely friend brought back for me a few years ago.

One of my missions lately is to bring an edible to my in-laws for the holidays that will truly be appreciated, as in, they would miss it if I were to skip a year. I think I may have found the answer in cut-out cookies. This year I have made sugar, brown sugar and gingerbread and I started last night on frosting some of them. I'm a little worried that I will seem like a show off to the in-laws, but I really enjoy making them and she said I could, seemed happy about it in fact, we shall see what kind of reception they get.

My other mission which I think has resolved itself was/is Max's sleep. He had been waking up at 5 or a little earlier for a long time (maybe a month?) whereas he used to sleep 10+ hours at night he was now sleeping 9+ (way-back-when he USED to sleep 11+, those were the days.....)

This sounds fine, 9 being the minimum, but it was definitely less pleasant, and also cause for concern were his daytime naps.

Max has never been a "napper" per se. His standard nap amount for months and months was about 30 minutes. Not long at all. He would occasionally throw in some longer ones, but more often than not, I had 30 minute chunks of time to do the myriad of things I couldn't do with him in tow.

In the past couple of months he has been mixing it up. For a little while he wasn't taking enough of his 30 minute naps (2 hours naptime being the minimum). Then he was taking one long nap (an hour and a half) either for his first or second nap with the other being about 30 minutes, not an ideal nap schedule, but pretty good. Every now and then he'd take a third little nap too, which was always welcome.

Just recently he's had a few days where he "opted out" of his first nap and wasn't going down until well after noon or even 2:30!!! (the day this photo was taken)

This is pretty serious when he is waking up at 5 am. This was the day he fell asleep in the moby wrap when we were walking back home from a playdate.

So, I was worried that I maybe needed to enforce some kind of scheduling or be tougher on him for naps or something, but he has now turned over a new leaf all on his own.

He's been waking up around 6 or even later, regardless of his bedtime, which is SOOO much nicer. Even though I stay in bed with him for a couple of hours after his early morning wake-up (which is nice, don't get me wrong) it is fitful little uncomfortable bouts of sleep interspersed with baby kickboxing at best.

At worst it is laying there for 2 hours not being able to get in the position you would really like to. But you have a happy warm baby next to you and it is much easier than NOT being in bed. Anywho- starting this whole thing at 6 or later is wonderful.

Also, his naps have gotten better on their own too- he's been getting more than the minimum 2 hours and has been doing great with going down.

Here he is last night- I went in to look at him (something I do every night now) and his little feet were sticking out! I thought it was so cute and funny. :)

In other news, he and I both have bad coughs with chest congestion. I am a little better today, but I think I may be losing my voice. Fun.

There's not much sadder than a baby with a hard cough- oh wait, there is a baby crying with chest congestion who makes a weird goose honk sound when he breathes in between. That's sadder.

Maxo-relaxo

In the interest of being able to leave my son with anyone while he's awake for longer than the unpredictable space between his naps I am experimenting.

I have always used nursing as kind of a sleep trigger for him because it's easy and it works. I doubt anyone presented with a nursing baby who fell asleep (or very nearly) in their arms would be able to resist just putting them down to sleep. It seems natural because it is- I'm positive this is what more primitive societies do and no one hassles them about setting up bad habits or dependencies or anything. Max and I greatly enjoy nursing and it nearly always soothes whatever might be bothering him- I wish we all could be so lucky to have something so dependably calming.

However, the problem arises of girlfriends asking me to join them for things or what have you during the day and not knowing when Max's naps will occur exactly and being pretty certain that I will not be able to be there to put him down. So, I have been attempting to put more time and activity between nursing and being put down in his crib. So far the longest he's gone is maybe 5 or 6 minute- I know that sounds paltry, but in babyland, 5 minutes is a pretty long time.

(Keep in mind this is just for daytime stuff. Nighttime he frequently will play for a little while and/or listen to Jack read before being put in his crib and it works just fine. Daytime naps have always been more challenging and sensitive for my little fellow).

I'm pretty optimistic about how things are going- he seems to be adjusting reasonably quickly and the thought of having someone else be able to put him down to sleep is pretty exciting for me. I know that I'm pretty indulgent when it comes to my son- but I'm not going to stop anytime soon. This is my little pseudo-triumph of the moment, just thought I'd share. :)

On a related note- I now have to be concerned for his little teeth though and that throws another wrench into things. Sometimes I rub his teeth with with some clean fabric or something after he feeds but I don't really know what to do yet for two teeny little teeth. Our 9 month appt is coming up on the 2nd though- hopefully I won't do any damage before then. :)

House, Halloween, Huge little boy

Okay- so we're deliriously happy in our new place and there are so many projects on our list you wouldn't believe. I plan on making a list of all the handyman tasks that Jack accomplishes, but it's going to be a long list- so another post for that one.
This is our new light fixture in our bedroom- we got it at Lowe's and I love it- though I do want to get some etching cream or something and make the glass frosted- I find it distracting that you can see the lightbulbs so clearly.

Halloween went nicely- the babies had a great time- I look forward to next year when I will take Max trick or treating- it just didn't make sense this year- he would be tired and I didn't want any candy. We did find out that Max apparently really enjoys playing/posing with pumpkins. He kept playing with these- it took us forever to carve them- next year we will make a better effort.

We take him to Home Depot all the time- he's getting pretty great about riding around in the basket. Sadly he's really too heavy for me to carry in the moby wrap for very long anymore. I know people carry bigger kids in them- but last time I did it my back was really tired. It makes me sad though- we both really enjoyed it while it lasted. When Jack is loading up the car with whatever purchases we've made I usually nurse and/or play with Max in the car while we're waiting- here he is after Jack joined us- he likes to mess with all the stuff in the front seat.



So, back to Halloween- I felt a teensy bit lame for Max wearing a store bought costume on Halloween- but it just worked out so perfectly and it was easy- plus it wasn't some cheap plasticky crap with a logo on it or anything, just a perfectly respectable and sweet little bear suit (courtesy of Faerie Godmother Kake's industrious thrifting! Thankee!).

Anywho- he was adorable and comfy. However, the idea was to go as the THREE bears- so I did have to work up two adult bear costumes. It ended up being pretty easy- couple of shirts from Goodwill, a pair of overalls, some altered cat and dog noses from the Halloween store- etc. The most complicated part was the ears! You would think that you could purchase bear ears from a costume store- not so my friend! Devil, kitty, antennae- all manner of things EXCEPT bear ears.

So, I bought some discount cat ears from Jo-Ann and some brown fur and figured; I have a glue gun- this will be easy.

In theory it was.


Pair #1: totally covered in fur- try them on to discover that they are far too close and high on my head to look like bear ears- I look like a mouse or something.
*dismantle*


Pair #2: Decided that if I just had the fur covering really low and just barely covering one side of cat ear then extending past said ear on other side that that would work. Nope- still catty-mousey looking.
*dismantle*


Pair #3: Took covered ear-headband and hacked off the cat ears, gluing them back on lower and recovering where they used to be. The position of these is great- they're a little homely, but at that point I had stopped caring.


Pair #4: Went to make Jack's pair (hacking off cat ears is the first step) and decided to remove all the cat ear fur covering from the headband as well. I ended up really pleased with this result, so much so that.....


Pair #5: I decided to dismantle my pair *again* and redo it just like Jack's.

Lucky for me the minimum yardage I could purchase of the brown fur was more than enough to do all of this.

Somewhere around pair #3 I think, I discovered (with some cursing) that my glue gun is INCREDIBLY hot. I burned my hands in about 4 or 5 places- the worst of which blistered really badly:

I hope you can tell how ginormous this blister is- I know you're supposed to leave them alone because they're sterile inside there- but it's a little annoying. It kind of itches now- but I think that means it's healing.


Onto Huge Little Boys: My son has always been in the big percentiles. He is now 8 months old and wearing 12-18 month clothing and size 4 shoes. The last time I got any numbers on him he was over 21 lbs and standing at 28.5 inches. Imagine my dismay when I read on our carseat that it's limits are 22 lbs and 29 inches! So, we went to Babies R Us and got a new one. It goes up to 100 lbs!!!! Yippee!
On a side note- I love my Honda Element- but it is not the easiest car to use a carseat in. The suicide doors make it difficult to access the backseat without actually being back there. It's working out though- and this carseat is much easier to latch than our old one.

So, that's it for now- I'm trying to get into the groove of blogging again- it's not easy with my picture loading difficulties though. It took me probably 30 tries to get that blister picture to load acceptably. *sigh*

Grar!

So, to any of you who do read this and have wondered why no entries it's because there has been so much going on that I really wanted to document it all with the great pictures that I have and everything but my computer is evil and when I have tried to upload pictures it's so frustrating that I just give up. Plus I have a little distraction in the house named Max and he makes it pretty easy to not get back to things that I meant to do.
We're just going to fast forward on this blog and keep as givens that our move was fine and that we're happier than ever in our new home- this is my new starting point, 'kay?