Packing stinks. And you know how many boxes I've packed? 5! Okay, so doesn't sound like much but it is when you have to go through and fold a bunch of clothes or carry heavy boxes while a toddler is right at your feet. I don't know if it's harder packing when you've got a newborn or a toddler...we've done it at both stages. If I had a dang on Moby wrap when Kayson was a newborn, packing would have gone a lot faster! But I am not about to put my 21 pound kiddo in the Moby now. I am too skinny! I'd break all my poor bones.
True story: I wanted to change up our day a little bit so I decided to dance to Michael Jackson: The Experience on Wii. It was all fun until Kayson wanted to be picked up. So there I was with a toddler on my left hip and the Wii remote in my right hand trying to dance to MJ. I was dancing my heart out and my arms were aching. That machine had the decency to tell me that my moves were "ok" and "good." Do they not know how hard it is to mimic moves while holding a baby? I should have gotten "That's out of this world!" and "Amazing job, woman!" Instead it okays me. Psh, I've got skills.
Back to the moving story. We only planned on living in this apartment that we're in for 9 months. If we could have gotten a shorter lease, we definitely would have taken it! I can't count on both hands the number of times I've seen police cars over here. Add to that, our neighbors smoke "the bad stuff" and the guy has a wacko girlfriend and we are definitely out of here! After looking for a place for since June, we finally found something! It's a 2 bedroom 1 bath condo. It has a full size washer and dryer, fridge/freezer, microwave, stove...it's a pretty nice place. It's only $685 per month and water, sewer, and trash are included. Our landlords seem like AWESOME people. Seriously, I love them. They are such a sweet couple.
Other benefits: Quiet neighborhood, owners said we can paint, it's seriously like 5 minutes away from the doctor's office that KJ goes to, about 10 minutes away from Andrew's work, all major stores (Wal-Mart, Winco, grocery stores, Ross, ToysRUs, etc) are about 10 minutes away from where we live...We haven't even moved in yet, and I love it!
We're all set to sign the lease on next week and then we'll have the keys to our new place. We're planning on being there for at least a year. To be honest, I am so sick of moving! This will be our third move in a little over a year. So who knows, maybe we'll stay longer than a year. Arizona is sorta growing on me...
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Lessons Learned
Sometimes I wonder if KJ is catching on to the things I try to teach him. He continues to surprise me and show me that he's learning a lot!
1. This little guy loves to walk around and eat at the same time. Up until a few weeks ago I had to sweep the carpet if it got all dirty because we didn't have a vacuum. I'm surprised my Incredible Hulk arms with how much sweeping I did. And of course, Kayson would drop more crumbs all over the carpet right after I had swept! Since he started crawling, I've been trying to get him to sit still and eat his snacks. We always went through this:
Me [holding the treat]: Do you want the treat? Sit down.
Kayson [trying to climb up my arm] : Uhh. Uhh.
Me: Sit down, Kayson, and then I'll give you the treat. Sit.
Eventually I would just sit him on his bottom and then give him the treat. This would go on about 2 times each day. Last week I had a treat in my hand and after saying "Sit down" twice, he sat right down. I didn't have to sit him down or anything! He has started realizing that if he sits right away, I'll put the treat in front of him much quicker. I taught him that! And I feel pretty dang on proud about it.
2. Naps had been up and down. He always wanted to nurse in order to go to sleep. But, he would nap. That's all a mom can ask for right. Well...that's all I asked for. Just go to sleep. Sometimes it seemed like my milk was some kind of energy drink. He would crawl all around the living room screeching at the top of his lungs. Seemed like the kiddo would never go to sleep. It was definitely hit and miss with nursing him before naptime or bedtime.
Then a little miracle happened:
Two weeks ago, I took KJ outside to play with the rocks. I did it in the morning time when it was only about 85 degrees instead of waiting til the 110 degree afternoon! We stayed out for about 45 minutes. We even went to the manager's office to bang on the piano they have. When we got back into the apartment, I lay him in his crib, turned on his slumber sound thingamajigger, and then I left the room.
I was expecting him to cry. That's what has happened almost every time I put him in his crib awake. To my surprise, he did not cry. After about five minutes of him not crying, I was wondering what the heck was going on. I was thinking the worse. I peeked into his room and his eyes were closed. After watching for the up/down chest movements, I realized that he had put himself to sleep. Wow! I was doing the happy dance.
Ever since then, I put him to sleep the same way. Lay him in his crib, turn on the music box, turn on his pillow pet night light (if it's night time), and give him two kisses. 98% of the time, he puts himself to sleep. It took a year to get to this point, but boy am I happy we're there! It just took time and patience. I love it!
1. This little guy loves to walk around and eat at the same time. Up until a few weeks ago I had to sweep the carpet if it got all dirty because we didn't have a vacuum. I'm surprised my Incredible Hulk arms with how much sweeping I did. And of course, Kayson would drop more crumbs all over the carpet right after I had swept! Since he started crawling, I've been trying to get him to sit still and eat his snacks. We always went through this:
Me [holding the treat]: Do you want the treat? Sit down.
Kayson [trying to climb up my arm] : Uhh. Uhh.
Me: Sit down, Kayson, and then I'll give you the treat. Sit.
Eventually I would just sit him on his bottom and then give him the treat. This would go on about 2 times each day. Last week I had a treat in my hand and after saying "Sit down" twice, he sat right down. I didn't have to sit him down or anything! He has started realizing that if he sits right away, I'll put the treat in front of him much quicker. I taught him that! And I feel pretty dang on proud about it.
2. Naps had been up and down. He always wanted to nurse in order to go to sleep. But, he would nap. That's all a mom can ask for right. Well...that's all I asked for. Just go to sleep. Sometimes it seemed like my milk was some kind of energy drink. He would crawl all around the living room screeching at the top of his lungs. Seemed like the kiddo would never go to sleep. It was definitely hit and miss with nursing him before naptime or bedtime.
Then a little miracle happened:
Two weeks ago, I took KJ outside to play with the rocks. I did it in the morning time when it was only about 85 degrees instead of waiting til the 110 degree afternoon! We stayed out for about 45 minutes. We even went to the manager's office to bang on the piano they have. When we got back into the apartment, I lay him in his crib, turned on his slumber sound thingamajigger, and then I left the room.
 |
| Slumber sound thingy |
Ever since then, I put him to sleep the same way. Lay him in his crib, turn on the music box, turn on his pillow pet night light (if it's night time), and give him two kisses. 98% of the time, he puts himself to sleep. It took a year to get to this point, but boy am I happy we're there! It just took time and patience. I love it!
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Teething Toddler
For some reason (probably the hot Arizona sun), I was super tired last night. I went into the bedroom at like 9pm and just climbed under the covers. I was too tired to take out my contacts or use the bathroom. I just passed out. I do have a vague memory of Andrew bringing me my contacts case...
It's a good thing I did go to bed so early because Kayson woke up like 57,000 times last night. Okay, so maybe that's a bit of a hyperbole but that's what it felt like. He didn't want chi chi at all. He was just super uncomfortable. I felt like I was sleeping next to a heating pad. He was so warm! We had given him some Infants' Advil before we put him to bed, but it didn't really seem like it was working. He kept waking up every 15-20 minutes. Eventually he did want chi chi, but at that point I had to pee soooo bad. I kept waiting for him to unlatch so that I could go. I'm sure I held it for a good 45 minutes. After he unlatched and rolled over, I took care of business and got him more advil. Apparently that stuff has no effect on my baby. Not only did his fever not go down, but he kept waking up fussy too!
He mainly wanted to be held, so I brought him out to the couch and we went to sleep sitting up. He still woke up often, but this time it was every 20-30 minutes. I'll take what I can get. Needless to say, I'm super nauseated this morning and I've got a sore throat. And I took KJ's temp a while ago and it was 102.8 rectally. But at least he's comfortable in my arms right now. He's been nursing for comfort for the past two hours or so. Hey, I think I can fit into my bra from high school now! That would be a size 32A.
It's a good thing I did go to bed so early because Kayson woke up like 57,000 times last night. Okay, so maybe that's a bit of a hyperbole but that's what it felt like. He didn't want chi chi at all. He was just super uncomfortable. I felt like I was sleeping next to a heating pad. He was so warm! We had given him some Infants' Advil before we put him to bed, but it didn't really seem like it was working. He kept waking up every 15-20 minutes. Eventually he did want chi chi, but at that point I had to pee soooo bad. I kept waiting for him to unlatch so that I could go. I'm sure I held it for a good 45 minutes. After he unlatched and rolled over, I took care of business and got him more advil. Apparently that stuff has no effect on my baby. Not only did his fever not go down, but he kept waking up fussy too!
He mainly wanted to be held, so I brought him out to the couch and we went to sleep sitting up. He still woke up often, but this time it was every 20-30 minutes. I'll take what I can get. Needless to say, I'm super nauseated this morning and I've got a sore throat. And I took KJ's temp a while ago and it was 102.8 rectally. But at least he's comfortable in my arms right now. He's been nursing for comfort for the past two hours or so. Hey, I think I can fit into my bra from high school now! That would be a size 32A.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Crying it Out
Most people know that I'm all for attached parenting. We're a co-sleeping, non-circumcising, breastfeeding past age one, rear-facing in the carseat until age two kind of family. Those same people know that Kayson isn't sleeping through the night. Right now he's going through this super annoying phase of "I need Mommy's boob every 15 minutes or I will scream bloody murder." He usually does this when he's teething. I'm fine with him waking up the first 3 times...after that I'm like,
'Tis no fun. KJ had a doctor's appointment on Saturday and I told the doc about the him not sleeping through the night. Guess what he suggested. Yep, letting Kayson cry it out. He even went so far as to say, "Just put him in his crib. Leave a cup of water in there in case he's thirsty, but just let him cry until the morning." I put on my fake smile. I do not like to hear my baby cry. I can't just leave him in his crib to cry all night. This kiddo is used to being by my side almost all the time. He doesn't like to be alone. Heck, I don't like being alone. Before Kayson was born, I would know right away if Andrew wasn't in the bed with me and I wouldn't be able to sleep well. That's how Kayson is. And he's like his dad in that he wakes up multiple times in the night! (I remember the college days when Andrew would be awake at like 2am on his computer...he STILL does that sometimes.) Yeah, so I can't sleep alone + Andrew waking up all hours of the night = Kayson will probably be in our bed until he's in college!
I have tried cry it out with him once or twice. I did it out of sheer desperation and frustration. It was horrible. He cried for about an hour. I thought that he would wind down, but nope--he always managed to pick up more steam. I've even tried to do cry it out with checking in on him every few minutes. That always made him cry harder, especially when I leave the bedroom. I've tried the whole pickup/put down method. He just loves his mama. And it breaks my heart to hear him bawl his eyes out because I know that he wants me. I can't withhold my love from my baby.
I will admit, I've grown so used to having two bodies next to me in bed. It feels really weird during the first part of the night when Kayson is in his crib. I always wish that he would wake up so that I could cuddle him even though that means less sleep for me. I don't know...maybe I'm crazy or something! But even though he's been sleeping in bed with us, he has started to figure out that he can put himself to sleep without us. It's a slow process, but he developing that independence and self-confidence.
Until he gets to the point that he wants to sleep through the night, I'll just be his "pacifier." Or I'll get together with some engineer and we'll design a boob shaped pacifier. I could be the pacifier mold! How cool would it be to say, "You see that pacifier? Well, that's my boob!" hahaha! I really wonder how the pioneers worked it out. My thought is that they co-slept, and I'm pretty sure they didn't have pacifiers. And what about those in underdeveloped countries? Do they have pacifiers? I don't know, but it would be neat to hear from others' experiences with it.
Cry it out may work for some families, but it doesn't work for every family. With my baby, I can tell that it really hurts him. I would rather than cuddle him because I know time will pass by too quickly and I don't want to have any regrets. I don't want to say, "I shoulda coulda woulda." I want to remember those times that I just lay down and cradled him in my arms. It's such a beautiful sight.
I have tried cry it out with him once or twice. I did it out of sheer desperation and frustration. It was horrible. He cried for about an hour. I thought that he would wind down, but nope--he always managed to pick up more steam. I've even tried to do cry it out with checking in on him every few minutes. That always made him cry harder, especially when I leave the bedroom. I've tried the whole pickup/put down method. He just loves his mama. And it breaks my heart to hear him bawl his eyes out because I know that he wants me. I can't withhold my love from my baby.
I will admit, I've grown so used to having two bodies next to me in bed. It feels really weird during the first part of the night when Kayson is in his crib. I always wish that he would wake up so that I could cuddle him even though that means less sleep for me. I don't know...maybe I'm crazy or something! But even though he's been sleeping in bed with us, he has started to figure out that he can put himself to sleep without us. It's a slow process, but he developing that independence and self-confidence.
Until he gets to the point that he wants to sleep through the night, I'll just be his "pacifier." Or I'll get together with some engineer and we'll design a boob shaped pacifier. I could be the pacifier mold! How cool would it be to say, "You see that pacifier? Well, that's my boob!" hahaha! I really wonder how the pioneers worked it out. My thought is that they co-slept, and I'm pretty sure they didn't have pacifiers. And what about those in underdeveloped countries? Do they have pacifiers? I don't know, but it would be neat to hear from others' experiences with it.
Cry it out may work for some families, but it doesn't work for every family. With my baby, I can tell that it really hurts him. I would rather than cuddle him because I know time will pass by too quickly and I don't want to have any regrets. I don't want to say, "I shoulda coulda woulda." I want to remember those times that I just lay down and cradled him in my arms. It's such a beautiful sight.
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