Emo Jack

Please tell me that my son is acting like a lunatic because he has two molars coming in and not because of his age.  ‘Cause seriously, this needs to end soon.  He is like velcro at the moment – abusive, dramatic, cranky velcro.  Everything is such a big deal!

It MUST be teeth because he doesn’t want to eat much of anything, he only wants to drink copious amounts of milk.  He wanted to nurse earlier in the evening yesterday, then decided to shun my breasts for his straw cup of “chocolate” milk (which in our house is code for regular whole cow’s milk).

He didn’t want to build, or color, or play guitar, or read.  He just wanted me to hold him (and ONLY me) and carry him around.  Which would have been okay if he didn’t start hitting me over the head or smacking me in the face.  Also, it was hot yesterday and he weighs a ton, but I would have held him anyway if he would snuggle with me instead of beating me.

He refused to go to bed until after 10pm, and at that point would not even nurse down.  He instead chose to drink more “chocolate” milk, then flopped around the bed for a good 30-45 minutes before falling asleep.  He was up for the day at 6am.  Oy.

This is just a short phase.  This cannot be the terrible twos.  I mean, the part where he flipped out a few nights ago because Joe insisted that he take his socks and diaper off to get into the bath – that was most definitely a symptom of terrible twos.  But this nutty toddler who has been with us for almost a week now is so unlike my smiley Jack and OMG, the thought of a year of Emo Jack is enough to send me into a fit!

Reminder and a quick update

Reminder: Today is the last day to leave a comment on this post to get a chance to win a copy of Rebecca Woolf’s book!  I’ll be announcing the lucky reader’s name tomorrow.  I finished it in 3.5 days and absolutely loved it.  I can’t wait to hear reviews from all of you!

Two of Jack’s 2-year molars came in while I was out of town over the weekend.  He now has 18 teeth!  Only 2 left before this teething business is over (for a few years)!  YAY!  I firmly believe his recent sleep troubles are due to those molars.  He was drooling all over my side of the bed this morning.  Sheesh.

Three weeks from tomorrow we fly to Maryland to see my sister!  Since I was so happy with the service I received from the Traveling Baby Company back in December when Jack and I flew to Seattle, I decided to go through them again to rent a carseat, stroller, and baby monitor for this trip.  Their prices are great and their equipment is exactly what I would buy.  I am so excited for this visit and I can now enjoy the anticipation because I don’t have to worry about how to lug all kinds of gear along.  I can focus on worrying about how to keep Jack entertained on the plane for 5+ hours.

What is Jack doing lately?

When Jack turned one I stopped doing the monthly updates.  I have noticed a similar phenomenon around the internet – as soon as the blogger’s kid becomes a toddler, there is a lack of updates.  I wondered about this for a long time and then it became a reality for me, as well.  Toddlers are BUSY!  They are always moving, and they really demand attention (with words!).  And as soon as I sit down in front of the computer Jack’s little hand reaches up and pounds on the keys.  He loves the computer as much as I do!

So I must apologize to my readers for not sharing more in the way of developmental milestones with Jack.  It’s basically more of the same, but more intense.  The number of new words Jack says every day is astonishing.  I can no longer keep track of what he knows in that department.  He understands even more; when we ask him to get a specific book to read, more times than not he knows what we’re asking.  He is starting to learn his colors, as well.  It seems there are a lot of things he would pick up very quickly if we thought to teach those things to him.  I am starting to understand why some kids start preschool so early.

Our struggles right now are sleep and food.  As always.  Aren’t those two things the bain of every parent’s existence?  Sleep is actually not that bad; it’s just different.  He knows when it’s bed time but he’s still trying to figure out the best way to get to sleep.  Nursing doesn’t work most nights anymore, so bedtime is now a team effort.  This usually means we go through our bedtime routine (nighttime diaper, pjs, toothbrushing, sometimes a book), nurse a bit, and then if he is not falling asleep with me Joe steps in to lay down with him until Jack squirms himself to sleep.  The whole process from start to finish is probably 45 minutes or so.  Not too bad.  Things have been a bit interrupted by some canine’s coming in, but it’s still better than the first year of his life.  Of course, the 18 month sleep regression is around the corner.  Perhaps this chaotic sleep is an indication that it has already started, or perhaps things are about to get much, much worse.

As far as food goes, I have gotten in the habit of offering food often and I don’t get bent out of shape if Jack refuses.  Joe is having more trouble with this, and I am frustrated by that.  Right now the internal struggle is: do I just do it myself (preparing food, writing “instructions”), or do I push Joe to figure it out?  I am unsure how to approach this without causing some hurt feelings.  Changes do have to be made, though, because Jack and I are ready to move away from the breastmilk reliance.

Next week is the last week Jack is at his current daycare.  We decided to wait it out rather than switching Jack for a few short weeks, and it hasn’t been too bad since various life happenings have resulted in only 1-2 days per week there.  There are moments when I really want to throttle the daycare provider (like the day Jack was sent home with damp clothes from a milk spill that she didn’t even notice and he stank of sour milk – she is freaking oblivious!) but with only a few days left until Joe’s seasonal furlough, the end is in sight.  Then we start the process all over again with a new, and hopefully better, situation in February.

I haven’t read a parenting book in quite a while.  I am walking blindly forward and for once I’m not completely freaked out by that (I really like the toddler phase!).  Anyone want to clue me in on what I can look forward to in the coming months?  Or suggest a nice book for toddler rearing?

[Lastly - I am off to Seattle in a few hours for the weekend.  You may not hear from me until next week!]

Toothsome

Jack was hobbling around like a drunken sailor most of yesterday.  The only thing we can attribute this extra clumsiness to is teeth.  He is obviously teething, but I have no idea why this should affect his balance.  He trips over AIR, people!

I was feeling around in his mouth last night, trying to determine if he had something in there that he isn’t supposed to have (turned out to be food he was apparently saving for later) and discovered that two top premolars have broken through the gum.  I thought the bottom teeth would break through first since his gums are swollen and red down there, but I was wrong.  Alright!  That makes 10 teeth in 7 months.  Poor Jack.

What happens next?

Jack has developed stranger anxiety. It’s so strange to see my outgoing little guy shy away from people, even the people he knows but doesn’t see on a daily basis. He buries his face in my shoulder but can’t resist peaking. He will do this several times before deciding everything is fine and then he chatters away. Of course, he makes exceptions for anyone wearing shiny jewelery. He can’t resist bling!

Jack ate fine at daycare yesterday, consuming all of his milk for the day and also some sweet potatoes (his favorite). It’s funny how any time things don’t go as usual, teething is to blame. I never expected teething to be such a pain, and because I don’t want to believe my son’s mouth is hurting him so much, I often don’t recognize the signs. Since he is such a happy baby, he manages to stay in a good mood through most of it, so I guess we are just lucky.

I didn’t get a chance to write and participate in the Crazy/Hip Blog Mamas Carnival yesterday, but I’ve been earnestly contemplating my answer to their question, “What do you wish you were taught growing up?” It’s a toughy, mainly because it’s hard for me to determine what I wasn’t taught. I don’t think of the world in terms of what I know and what I don’t know. I approach life with the question, “What happens next?” I’m all about the doing. I like to be productive, hence, I’m always busy. When I’m not doing something, I’m bored, and there is little I hate more than being bored.

So I suppose I could switch that around and say that I wish I had been taught how to relax and just be. I daydream about laying out on the grass, drinking lemonade, and dozing lightly but the reality is that I am unable to let myself do that because I can’t shut my mind off. My son is teaching me how to do this more and more, so hopefully I’ll get there. Hopefully he will push me to take some time to just be.

Grassy knoll

Joe tried to take Jack out to explore the grass on Friday.  Jack didn’t know what to think!  He kept placing a hand down to crawl and grimacing as he touched the grass.  We couldn’t help but laugh and take a picture of the look on his face, a look that says “I’m surrounded by all of this weird pokey stuff!”:

This morning we got a picture of his two front teeth, which are nearly in all the way now, and the cute outfit his aunt and uncle got for him.  Don’t you just love that double chin (and my husband’s hairy chest)?

For some reason Jack has been really picky about taking a bottle.  Could be further complications from teething, who knows?  He refused most of his bottles with Joe on Friday and only took a morning bottle at daycare today.  We’ve tried giving him a sippy cup in the past but he just chews on the spout.  I couldn’t find a non-spill straw sippy at the store this weekend, so I just bought a smaller regular sippy to try.  I’m open to hearing other ideas, as well.  I am really not sure why neither Joe nor the daycare provider has tried using a regular cup or syringe-thingy to feed him…am I the only one who worries about this stuff?  I mean, I have the boobs and he rarely refuses those, but if I didn’t have them I would be using anything I could find to try to get him to eat after 4 hours have gone by.  Am I in the minority here?

Jack is cruising now.  I can’t believe it!  I had a feeling that once he started going places he wouldn’t stop but it is just all happening so fast.  It occurred to me today that next month I’ll be working on planning his first birthday party.  !!!!  Wow.

Early bird

Jack woke up at 4am this morning. He remained awake despite a diaper change and 30min. nursing session, so we ventured into the living room where he proceeded to destroy some cassette tapes while I surfed the internet. Yes, we still have cassette tapes. No, we don’t have a tape player. Quit asking so many questions, gosh!

An hour and a half later, Jack was shaking his head back and forth – a sure sign that teething was bothering him (and not a seizure, despite how it looks). I dosed him with Motrin and back to bed we went. After a short nursing session, he hopped out of my lap and plopped face-down on the bed where he immediately fell asleep. Poor kid. I was hoping for a break after the first four teeth made their appearance but it is just not happening.

Joe’s grandmother is in the hospital with pneumonia.  She is in good spirits but not eating, so we are worried.  She has lived a long and full life, but I’m hoping she’s not ready to check out just yet.  I’ve got my fingers crossed for a quick recovery!

To end this post on a positive note, here is a picture of Jack enjoying his first bubble experience on Earth Day (click to make it bigger).

Knife in my heart

Jack cried and slept fitfully last night. Joe dosed him with motrin around 2 and then we (meaning Jack & I) got maybe 2 hours of decent sleep. I was pretty dead today. The poor guy had a horrid day, as well.

I don’t expect greatness from tonight. He cried/screamed/bawled/etc. when he woke up for a diaper change about 20 minutes ago. Broke my heart!

This tooth business is excrutiating.

Mostly mommy stuff

Jack has been sleeping better, or perhaps just more because of his teeth. I don’t know, but I am loving it. He’s been in a great mood the last two days, as well. He seems to be settling in at the new daycare, napping there and no longer throwing a fit when the provider puts him in the carseat when she picks up her kids from school. The leaky diaper situation has also been resolved, and my breasts are back to normal. All this in time to leave town!

With all that has been going on, I haven’t had any time to prepare for our trip. Tonight will be a mad dash of laundry, house straightening, car cleaning, and packing. We’ll fit dinner and play time in there somewhere, too.

Speaking of dinner, I bought some little puffy veggie things for Jack to try and he loves them! He got all uppity when I wasn’t handing them over fast enough. At least there is ONE thing he likes. Hopefully this is the gateway to other solid eating. I am hoping he doesn’t take after his dad in the food department. Joe has made great strides in the number of things he eats in recent years, but it’s still not even close to the number of things I eat, and I usually don’t care for the same things Joe likes. I am a pork and beef girl and he is chicken and fish man. I dislike fish immensely, and I find chicken very bland and boring. We eat A LOT of chicken in this house and I am so sick of it. I am hopeful that the future brings more variety to our dinners. Anyway, I am going to keep trying different veggies and fruits and I figure eventually Jack will like them if I keep giving them to him. If y’all have tips, though, I’d love to hear them. We aren’t even close to getting solids in the picture every day and I am starting to get nervous. I don’t plan to wean at a year, but it would be nice to cut back a little! A year of of breastfeeding 8-12 times a day plus pumping is really wearing on me!

Oh, and another thing for you moms out there. Where is a good place to get some cheap kid clothes, preferrably online? I don’t have a lot of time to look through the racks at Recycled Youth and I don’t find much now that Jack is bigger anyway… Jack is in SERIOUS need of clothing – all of the 12m shirts and onesies are suddenly ridiculously tight and he only has a few 18m and 24m things. He still fits in 12m pants nicely, though, and I expect that will be the case for a while. Anyway, we are in need! Would love some tips!

Here’s a cute picture of the boy as a reward for reading all of this mundane stuff…or at least glancing at it.

Recent goings-on

I think I’ve been fighting off a case of mastitis. I have been feeling really awful the last few days – sore throat and no energy, headaches, dizziness, nausea. I have been having plugged duct issues nearly every day, as well. Last night I went to bed at 8 and woke up in the middle of the night with massive soreness and an area of my chest rock-hard. Jack took care of it sometime around 5:30 this morning, and hopefully the extra rest will knock it out completely. Any of my fellow BFing moms know if there are any supplements I can take for this? I have no idea why this is happening. I am pumping and nursing regularly and the plugged area is clear of irritating bra straps and such. It seems really random.

Jack also went to sleep early last night, around 7 I think. He slept fairly well, if I remember correctly. This morning he was in a fantastic mood. I noticed right away when he was smiling that his two top-front teeth are trying to burst through the gum (and will probably succeed by the end of the day). This explains SO MUCH about his recent behavior. I knew he was teething still, but before now had no idea when those teeth would make an appearance.

I don’t have much else to report. We are heading to Chico this weekend with some friends. I am nervous about being the only non-outdoorsy person in the group. Also, I think there was mention of doing an all day excursion to Table Mountain, and I have no idea how baby naps fit into this plan (there is also a two year old in the group). Jack will nap in the carrier if Joe is holding him, though, so maybe it won’t be a problem. We will see. It’ll be nice to see some real sunshine!

So much for that plan

I thought it was a brilliant idea! On Monday I thought, hey! On Wednesday I’ll take Jack to daycare and go back home to sleep, quilt, and get some time to myself. The excitement started to build, but as I was getting ready to leave the apartment yesterday I checked my voicemail whereupon there was a message from the sitter saying that her daughter was puking and she couldn’t watch Jack. DAMN! So Joe stayed home from school and watched Jack while I had a crappy day at work and a board meeting in the afternoon (snore). I thought perhaps I might just get lucky and the sitter’s daughter might be feeling better in time for me to take my day off today. She called last night – no dice.

So here I sit with Jack. On my “day off.” Jack awoke at 6am needing a diaper change. It took 45 minutes to get him to back to sleep (normally I would give up after 20 but I was determined to go back to sleep) and we got another hour and a half in before getting up for the day at 8:15. So much for sleeping in over here.

In other, non-whiney news, we finally got a new microwave installed after waiting over 2 weeks. Also, Jack’s second tooth came in yesterday. Maybe now we’ll get a break from teething.

Grrr, arg!

I am so fucking exhausted. And cranky as hell! Jack slept horribly last night, again. We get a few days of good sleep and then it all falls apart. I probably should have given him motrin before bed, especially after the day we had yesterday (can you say schizo baby?). Administering motrin is a whole other set of problems, though. It seems like the sleep issues happen more on the weekends, so I wonder if there is something we are doing (or not doing) to cause it. I could be wrong that it is only a weekend problem, though. I haven’t been keeping track.

I cooked last night! I made browned chicken breasts with country gravy (okay, the gravy was from a packet), baked yams, and biscuits (oh, and those weren’t from scratch, either). The yams turned out PERFECTLY and the chicken was the best I’ve ever made. I am usually too scared to eat my own chicken in case it wasn’t cooked right. I follow the rules and all that but I still don’t trust that it’s done. Our friends Melissa and Christian taught me a new way to cook chicken that keeps it moist and gets it good and done! Yippee!

If you see a zombie wandering the streets, that’s me. Please shoot.

Oh yeah, we’re a married couple, too

Our post-Valentine dinner was fabulous! We went to a Japanese restaurant named Kyoto in old town Eureka. Every part of the meal was delicious and it was the best Japanese food I’ve ever had! Very surprising considering the area we live in (with almost no asians! or anything other than whiteys). The only downsides were the waiter trying to be funny and the time it took to get our bill. I think we would both consider going back, though, for the awesome food.

So, we held hands and hugged on the sidewalk and chatted about things others than Jack (although we talked a lot about Jack, too). It was wonderful and much needed.

I just wish Jack was feeling better. He gave Jenn a hard time and then proceeded to sleep poorly last night. Those teeth are really doing a number on him.

Take a bite

Jack is no longer toofless! I have been in the habit lately of checking his gums every day to see if his teeth came in and, indeed, yesterday was the day when his first tooth made an appearance. It’s the bottom right central incisor (I swore the left would come first but I was wrong…). That little sucker is sharp, too! Yikes. I bet others are soon to follow.

I went to see the little guy during my lunch and he was sooooooo sweet and giggly. His face lit up when he saw me and he cracked up at everything I did. He is such an awesome kid!

Joe and I are going out for a V-Day dinner tonight. is kindly acting as babysitter. We haven’t been out by ourselves in like 4 months, so this is long overdue. Maybe we’ll even hold hands and kiss.

Our digital camera appears to have died. Not good timing at all! The warranty was only a year, so that won’t help us. Good thing we are getting a tax refund. I guess we should just embrace this as an opportunity to get a new, better camera. Luckily digital cameras are much cheaper than they used to be!

Lucky Number Seven

Jackie turned 7 months old yesterday! He was in pretty good spirits, as well, so I’m guessing he got a small reprieve from teething pain. The teeth have not quite emerged but they are very close!

So what does a 7 month old like to do with his leisurely time? He likes to hang out with his best friend Wicket. He cackles every time that cat comes within his grasp (which is a lot, ’cause Wicket LOVES Jack and no matter how many times we cart him out of the bedroom to let Jack sleep, he will keep going back to snuggle). He will grab a fistful of fur and give Wicket a nice open-mouthed kiss. It’s crazy to think that Wicket puts up with the abuse but he doesn’t even get upset. Observe:

Jack is pretty mobile these days. He is constantly rolling across the living room floor and often ends up under the coffee table. Sometimes he gets under there completely and we can hear him chatting to himself and playing with the Scrabble game we store under there. He will peak out at us from under the slipcover when we call his name:

In addition to the rolling, he decided out of the blue that he could pull himself from sitting to standing. He demonstrated this ability several times while sitting on my lap in the computer chair on Saturday. I was shocked. Then this morning as I was packing things into the car before leaving for work, Jack was hanging out on the floor and grabbed a nearby foot rest, which he used along with his kicking legs to pull himself closer to my sewing machine cover! He is a huge fan of texture, so all he wanted to do was scratch the bumpy cover. In any case, it is apparent that we can no longer leave him unattended at all!

Jack spends Fridays with , and even joins him in class. The two also go on hikes and walks together, armed with matching bucket hats to shade their eyes:

I have started to drag books out to read to the little guy. He doesn’t care for the stories themselves but loves to grab the pages and gnaw on the covers. Recently we both read The Lorax for the first time – Jack started yawning halfway through. Guess he wasn’t impressed with my reading:

We have tried a few solid foods but between the cold he had and a general lack of interest, we haven’t offered a whole lot. He has now tasted pumpkin, avocado, and banana. He didn’t care for avocado at all:

Oh, and he got to chew on an apple at daycare. I will probably offer some pear this weekend because he might just be one of those babies who likes *real* food instead of pureed stuff. In any case, I think we can safely say that we are so far successfully keeping breastmilk as Jack’s main source of nutrition!