Ahh the joys of motherhood.

Tuesday I tried to buy new glasses. I am pretty sure I tried on 94% of the glasses Lens Crafters had to offer. Many of them more than once forgetting that I had already tried them on. It took some time. But, I got them all picked out and after talking in circles with the sales guy we decide to put the glasses on hold while we wait for Target to fax over my prescription. Wednesday I find out my prescription has expired...in October. Of course it has. So I quickly get an appointment for 5:20pm. I talk to Trav, he is going to pick up the beast. Good plan right? Guess what? Plans change!

Travis had to work late...again. So I went and picked up the boy and off to the mall we went. Without a stroller. Awesome. Because who doesn't like lugging around a 12lb car seat with a 15lb 15oz baby snuggled inside? I know I do! And, as I have never taken a baby to an eye exam, I wasn't sure how this was going to work out, but whatcha gonna do?

So I get there right on time, go to check in, and learn that the boy that made my appointment apparently didn't save it, so someone else got it. I say "boy" because there is no way that kid was over 14. Perhaps I am just that old. Moving on. So they tell me they can probably squeeze me in...if I can wait a little bit. I look down at my feet and see my boy smiling at me with a stuffed frog hanging out of his mouth by one of its feet and I figure sure! Why not? He'll be fine! And he totally was. He was smiling at everyone and was only fussy for a little bit near the end of the exam when it was very clear the entertainment value of the frog was rapidly diminishing.

So we get through the exam, argue a bit when they tried to overcharge me for it, and go to buy the glasses. I am now holding Alex as there is no way he is going to be happy staying in his car seat any longer. All the employees keep stopping and chatting with him. Everything went very smoothly.

Until....until she was going through the different lens options with me. Thank goodness that card that has all the lens options is heavily laminated. He hadn't eaten for two hours. And it happened anyway. He barfed on the counter. Not a lot by any means, but any amount of barf on a counter in a Lens Crafters is a lot. I am super excited to go back and pick up my glasses. I think I will leave Alex at home.

Shots for Alex...and some others for me

The past week has been insane-o. And the holidays aren't over yet. Not by a long shot. We have New Year's to deal with and then off to Minnesota for the Julius Family Christmas. This is all following Christmas Eve and Christmas at my parents' house, my birthday, Alex's half birthday and a six month doctor's appointment from hell.

As I am now officially 32, I am hoping I will learn one of these days that it really really sucks the next day when you stay up late drinking wine and shaking your booty to your new Wii game with your lady friends. Today is not proving to be my best performance. I got a message from daycare that I forgot a blanket for Alex...being that he is one of very few boys there...he is currently swaddled all in pink for his nap. They sent a picture.

I went ahead and decided my birthday present to myself was going to be taking Alex to his six month check-up. Happy Birthday to me! Not so much. All was going swimmingly until I was informed he was once again getting shots. FIVE OF THEM. He already was more than a bit whimpery because of that stinkin' second tooth that just will not get through already! And he was about a 1/2 hour overdue for a feed-fest. And then they stabbed his chubby little thighs FIVE TIMES. He was so sad and mad and hurty. It sucked. I was within a caterpillar's eyelash of crying right along with him.

But all was healed with a birthday lunch at Laredo's with my mom, sister and her kids. Mmmmm...burritos. And then healed even further at Kari's house. Appetizer Extravaganza! I have said it before, but it warrants saying again: These people make some kick-ass food. The Extravaganza was deliciously fabulous. And it was complete with Lemon Drop shots. And a ridiculous amount of wine. Hence the booty shaking and blanket forgetting.

Dear Boppy & Vick's, I LOVE YOU

As mentioned before, this cold is wreaking havoc on Alex's sleeping. During the day, he has been taking naps in a Boppy to keep him propped up to hopefully help with congestion. Last night we teamed the Boppy up with some Vick's Vapor Baby Rub. Winner winner chicken dinner. He fell asleep at 7:30, stirred for half a minute at 11:15, and then slept until 5:45 this morning. I only woke up a couple times out of habit. But the monitor in his room is hyper-sensitive and the humidifier provides some awesome white noise, so I quickly fell back asleep each time. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the sheer exhaustion...

Be Gone Cold Demons!

The cold has moved. It is now not quite so much in his nose...now it's more in his chest. Which means he is coughing and has a very gravel-y Demi Moore-like voice. There is also a new sound accompanying this cold/teething mess. It's one note deeper than a dog whistle and varies in volume depending on how irritated he is. It either comes out as a whine or a scream. But it's the pitch that is killin' me. This sound isn't audible the whole time. That's how high it is. It goes in and out of human hearing range. The dog is not a big fan of this development. The second he starts punching us in the ear drums with it, she runs for the door. She stands there with a look on her face like, "I didn't sign up for this shit. I'm outta here."

I feel really bad for him. And it sucks because aside from a humidifier and some Vick's there is really not much we can do for him. Travis is having a seriously hard time with it. It is just about killing him that he can't fix it. He just sits there holding him with this sad, helpless look. It tears him up. I think that might be a big part of the definition of a loving father. Good sweet Lord. Travis is a father. This whole being parents thing is still so freaking weird.

6 Months

Here are some of the pictures Gramma took on Sunday. Please pretend you can't see the barf on his shirt.

It's a shame his eyes aren't very blue isn't it?

Ponce de Le'on he is not

I have heard of the fountain of youth. Alex is the fountain of barf. He spits up all the time. There is no amount of digestion time that will ensure you will not get splattered with spit up. And if he doesn't have any formula in his belly, no matter! He will just spit up something pretty much clear if he is excited enough. You know it's something of note when his Grandma compares him to a puppy that pees on the floor when it is excited.

The thing that kills me is that it isn't anywhere near predictable. Sometimes if you bounce him around he barfs, sometimes not. And then there are those special times when he is just sitting there and a geyser of formula comes out for no apparent reason whatsoever. That last one would be what happened mid-photo shoot on Sunday at Grandpa and Grandma's. In some he has on a bib...which has entered his wardrobe as a necessary accessory. But, being the wise mother I am, I decided to take the bib off for the pictures. One picture later...barf. Which is why in every picture beyond #4 there are two noticeable barf streaks down the front of his shirt. (The link to the pictures is being a jerk so I will post the pictures a bit later.)

I've said it before...it's a good thing he's cute.

Per yesterday's prediction

It's like I can tell the future. The boy woke up, was stuffy, and cried when I layed him back down...EACH TIME. I ended up in the recliner for 2&1/2 hours during the hours I am supposed to be in my comfy bed. I am tired and my back hurts. How long can an infant remain congested? I mean really. This has gone on long enough. He needs sleep, I need sleep, he needs to be able to breathe through his nose. Make it happen.

K, I think I am done whining...for now.

Oh Pillow, How I Missed Thee

10 hours. The boy slept for 10 hours last night. I slept for 8. 8! It was delicious. There was a mild fussy moment around 3 this morning when I thought all my hopes and dreams were once again being bulldozed beyond recognition. But the fussiness only lasted about 2 minutes, never got above a low roar, and back to dreamland he went. Until 5:30 this morning. I am relishing in the moment as long as possible. Keeping the rested feeling fresh in my mind so tonight when he wakes up 16 times filled with the rage of Medusa, and I end up sleeping in the recliner, I can dream of last night and the comforts of my bed.

In other news, fruits and veggies are going great! I managed to not screw up green beans the second time around and turns out he loves them. This little contraption has made the whole ordeal infinitely easier. My big food processor is ear piercingly loud and wasn't really getting things to the puree level it claims to be able to produce. Anyway, about 10 minutes of steaming and then 45 seconds in that little food processor and WHAMO! food for he with the squishy cheeks. I may have gotten a bit carried away with the carrots last night. Who knew that half of one of the big bags of baby carrots would make that much carrot puree? I filled an entire ice cube tray and still had enough left over for him to eat for next three days. It is really gonna suck if he doesn't like carrots.

Well.....

So he didn't wake up to eat at all last night. Yay! Right? Kinda. The night started off good enough. He fell asleep without fuss at about 7. I suppose it is easy to fall asleep without fuss when you fall asleep eating. I have to admit I am totally jealous. I love eating. And I really like sleeping. Combine the two? Pure magic.

Anywho, the beast stayed asleep until about 11pm. And then all hell broke loose. He woke up. And he was really stuffy. And really pissed that he was really stuffy. I mean really pissed. At first there were just some little whimpers coming from his crib. But those little whimpers rapidly increased to angry donkey screaming. So we tried rocking. No dice. Downstairs we go to sit in front of the humidifier and rock. Slightly better. We are now down to a moderately annoyed donkey. Add some Tylenol. Ahhhh....there we have it. So I figure I will put him back to bed. Instant angry donkey. So back upstairs we go and plop back into the rocking chair. This time I am armed with a blanket and a pillow for my back. I am in it for the long haul. And there we slept until about 1am. At that point, I had to try to put him down again. Success! Not only did he stay asleep, but he stayed asleep until 5:30am.

This morning was a great morning. Which I was a tad surprise about given last night's happenings. He was in a super good mood. While we were playing, he shocked the pants right off me. HE played peek-a-boo with ME. He initiated the game and kept it going. He had a burp cloth in his hands and he held it up in front of his face until I would ask where the baby went. And then he would pull it down really fast and giggle at me with the biggest slobberiest smile a baby can make. His little chubby arms outstretched and holding that burp cloth up in front of his face...oh my cute. I cannot get over the fact that he totally gets peek-a-boo. Like not just gets it that it is fun when someone pops out from hiding, but gets it enough to be the hider. And this on the heels of rolling from his back to his stomach last night. Add those to the haircut and the tooth. He'll be driving soon. I'm sure of it.

You are getting very sleepy

Since Alex got my cold, his version of sleeping through the night has abruptly ended. So we are back to trying to figure out how to get this accomplished again. As it stands now, he goes to bed around 7, but then wakes up around 2am or so to eat. Based on how much he eats before he goes to bed, I have a very hard time believing he is actually hungry. He has at least 6oz of formula and about three tablespoons of whatever fruit or veggie we are currently smearing on his face. I am thinking it is more out of habit than hunger that he is waking up.

One remedy for this is the Cry It Out method. I am willing to try this, but I really would like a different approach if possible. Not because I think crying it out is bad for him, but because I will not be getting any sleep during that time and that seems awfully counterproductive. So I asked one of the daycare teachers what she did with her three kids. With all three she decreased the amount of the bottle each night. And then when she got down to just a 1oz bottle, she put water in it so it wasn't as yummy. She after that all three of her kids stopped waking up to eat. Interesting. Interesting enough that we are giving it a shot. Tonight, Alex will be down to 4oz.

I was really excited Saturday night when he didn't wake up to eat at all. He slept from 7:30 to 5am. It was glorious. My hopes were sky high. And then at 2am this morning, he took a sledgehammer to the pedestal on which my precious hopes and dreams of a full night's sleep were so delicately placed. 2am, awake and wanting to eat. Oh he got his bottle. Only 4&1/2oz though. I think he got the message.

Brrrrrrrrrrr!

It is insanely cold right now. This morning my truck was reading -5 degrees outside. Negative 5. It's not right. I am not a big fan of winter to begin with, but when you add in temperatures like this, it straight up sucks. The dog won't even stay outside for longer than is necessary. She runs out, gets things done and immediately is at the door to come back in...after almost wiping out on the ice on the steps...every single time. She is not a quick study.

Now that the boy has no hair to protect his delicate little head, frostbite protection has moved to the forefront. No, I am not over the haircut yet. He doesn't spend much time outside right now, but since my boogers freeze upon stepping out of the door, heat retention is obviously important. However, I cannot imagine trying to get a winter coat on an infant, much less being able to buckle a car seat strap around an infant wearing temperature appropriate gear. Enter the Bundle Me. This thing rules! It is super snuggly, zips up the sides, and keeps the little monster warm. Now if I could just figure out how to stop him from flipping the top back down after I put it over his head for protection, we would be all set.

From Rockstar to Recruit

For the last couple of weeks, Travis has been on my case about getting Alex's hair cut. I am not a big proponent of this idea. I love his hair. It is out of control. It stands up where it wants to, it lays down where it wants to. It cracks me up. Travis has thought for some time that his hair is not alright. He thinks our sweet little furry baby looks ridiculous. I think he looks like a punk rocker, but baby-size.

Yesterday, Travis's mistaken opinion was seconded by Kari. Loudly seconded. Repeatedly seconded.

We had a snow day. I was working from home, she was sitting on my couch. I casually made a comment about the fact that Travis wants to cut his hair. She was all, YES! Let's do it! Get the clippers! And I was all, Whoa whoa whoa missy. Have you not seen how freaking adorable this kid's hair is? It rules. So I sent Travis a message saying he needed to get home or Kari was going to go in with the clippers humming. He was absolutely no help. His message back? "Ok, just make sure to video it!" Umm..what? No. No no no. He was supposed to come back with something about how Alex is so little, so young, so not needing a hair cut! But he didn't. And with that message, Kari was unstoppable.

So into the kitchen/hair salon we went. We turned the clippers on and off a couple times while I was holding him to get him used to the noise of it so it didn't freak him out. Then into the Bumbo chair he went. Kari was armed with a clippers. I was armed with a video camera. And it began. And I freaked out.

Clicking this link will take you to the horror. I promise Alex is only upset for about the first 15 seconds or so. He actually liked the clippers on his head.

I will readily admit, I think it looks cute. But good gravy does he look old. He's not my furry little baby anymore. He looks like a little boy. Travis loves it. He says he looks tough. I say HE IS FIVE MONTHS OLD! He shouldn't look tough! He should be squishy and furry and slobbery. But, I guess two out of three ain't bad.

Sweet Potato Pie

The applesauce experience didn't have me, or Alex for that matter, very excited about the solid food thing. He didn't really seem that interested and it was very apparent that he was on the fence about apples.

So yesterday I tried to make some different food for him. The jury is out on whether you should start with fruits or veggies. Some doctors say if you start with fruits, you will end up with a kid that will only eat fruit. Some say that is totally bunk and as long as you have the kid try different stuff you are fine. So I figured we will go every other during the introduction phase. First a fruit, then a veggie, then a fruit, so on and so forth. So we started with applesauce. I was going to do green beans next to really throw the kid a curve ball, but it turns out I suck at making green beans into a baby-approved form. You want them as a side dish to a great steak? That I can do. Making them into a paste? Epic fail. I'm thinking the fat frozen ones will provide the results I am looking for better than the skinny fresh ones...we shall see.

Not to be defeated, I tried my hand at sweet potatoes. Success! And not that much effort. I will say, a day later, I am still impressed with how much puree comes from one sweet potato. It was amazing. I thought we were going to have sweet potatoes until he is 43. But then I fed it to him. We will not have enough to last through tomorrow at the pace that kid was eating it last night. He was a maniac! The scene between bites was startling. Mouth open immediately after swallowing. Arms flailing. Legs kicking. Eyes wide open and focused on the spoon that isn't getting to his mouth fast enough...Mom, the spoon. Get some of that stuff on it and in my mouth. The spoon! Why isn't it here yet?!?! MOM!!! He looked like a starving baby bird. I swear he was noticeably heavier after eating. No joke. That kid pounded some sweet potato.

I realize that sweet potato has got to be the sweetest of all veggies, but whatever, it doesn't count as a fruit. Maybe we will try green beans (again) next to make sure we aren't cheating the veggies.

Go Away Boogers!

It's official. Alex has my cold. I feel so bad. He is super congested. Which means he doesn't sleep hardly at all and has a hard time eating. Needless to say, it has not been pleasant in our house. Not because Alex is cranky. He is taking this cold in stride. It is not pleasant because of me pretty much. I still don't feel up to par and I am exhausted, which in turn lowers the feeling good level. Catch 22's are fun!

Travis isn't sick. Thank goodness. He didn't have to work a full day today, so he helped out with the nighttime madness last night. I spent a majority of the night in the recliner with Alex so he could sleep almost sitting up. I'd put him in his crib after he had been asleep for a while and he would last for a bit, but then get too stuffed up again and wake up. Trav got up to soothe him a couple times and then got up with him when he needed to eat, and then stay awake for almost two hours AT 4:00AM. He brought the snot filled beast to me at 5:45 so he could shower and get ready for work. I was able to get Alex to fall asleep after about 15 minutes of rocking. We both walked around getting ready this morning like zombies.

Next time I get sick I think I am going to wear some sort of antibacterial suit complete with gas mask. I will keep my germs to myself thank you very much.

Sleepy Sniffles

Last night was so much better than Tuesday night. He slept for a total of 10 hours with one little break for a quick bottle at 10pm. I can totally handle that. And we got to sneek in a nap this morning before we had to leave. I feel like an entirely different person today. I still have the cold, and a cough has been added to the yucky repertoire, but it is not totally kicking my ass today. Yesterday, my ass was kicked. Up and down and all around.

I feel terrible though...I am pretty sure Alex got my cold. He is still all stuffy, but now there is sneezing and a little cough involved. I really tried to not give it to him. Lots o' hand sanitizer and diverted breathing. Apparently that wasn't enough. Poor little guy has a cold. I must reiterate how fricking cute baby sneezes are though. So cute. Second only to baby snorts.

We have also moved on from rice cereal. Rice cereal is so last week. Apples are where it's at. The first attempt at apples produced absolutely awesome expressions. It was very hard to tell if he liked it or hated it or was just plain confused. But he kept eating so we figured he couldn't have hated it too much. Try two was much more successful. It ought to be interesting to see how he reacts to each new food. In a couple days I think we may try some sweet potatoes. Or some green beans. The anticipation is almost palatable!

Just getting started

We are officially one night into this glorious teeth cutting process. I quit. A teething baby is NOT a sleeping baby. Holy shit. Last night was horrendous. It went a little something like this:
7:30pm: went to sleep after a half hour fight and a dose of Tylenol
1:00am: woke up to eat, taking forever because of teething induced stuffiness
3:00am: woke up, got re-nuk'd and fell back asleep
3:30am: see 3:00am
4:00am: see 3:30am
4:30am: ate again, took forever again
5:00am: after being down for 0.2 seconds, woke up, re-nuk-ing not an option, only would sleep while sitting in the rocking chair with me.
5:30am: woke up and went downstairs with Travis
6:10am: took a short nap in his bouncy seat
6:27am: up for the morning

Oh. My. God. Are you kidding me? I mean really...ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

The level of tired I am today is reminiscent of about 3 months ago...but add a head cold that is seeming to get worse with each passing millisecond.

Take the hint

From here on out, I will pay attention to the symptoms. The teething symptoms that is. A tooth popped through today. I guess while he was having a bottle at daycare, he was fussy. His teacher looked down and sure enough there was the tip of a tooth! He is teething!

I can't wait to see it. I am excited, but a little sad. I love his gummy smile. I don't know if I am ready to see him with teeth. I realize his teeth don't care if I am ready or not and they will be showing up on their own schedule thank you very much. But we all know how well I deal with change. I was just thinking last night that he could stay this size and age for a couple years and I would be happy. Probably not healthy for me to ignore the plain and simple fact that he is going to grow up. Whatever. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it...slowly and with shaky change-fearing legs.

Eat dammit!

The last two nights Alex has not eaten nearly as much rice cereal as he has been. You wouldn't think that was that big of a deal right? WRONG. So so wrong. He immediately went back to his old nighttime eating schedule. The one where he eats every four hours. Yeah, that one. Awesome. Combine that with the stuffy nose pace of eating, and you get one tired mommy.

It's not shocking how quickly I became used to sleeping at night, but wow was I enjoying it. You know how they say you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone? Joni Mitchell has never sung truer words. I knew it was good, but I didn't realize how good. I admit, I was a little annoyed that he was waking up at 4:30am after sleeping all night. I would give cactus a deep tissue massage to get that wake up time back. And it's only been two nights without it!

Perhaps a bigger issue with this is that I am getting a cold. I am so tired without getting out of bed every four hours, that I just about cried at 3:00 this morning right along with Alex while I was making a bottle for him. But what do you? You get up make the bottle, feed the kid, and hope for some sympathy somewhere along the way. But then you realize you got yourself into this mess, so ya suck it up and get up in four hours.