Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Incredibly Thankful

These past few weeks I have become more and more incredibly thankful for my perfect little boy (no matter what he does to drive me nuts) and everything God has given me. Jordon and I have been having a time with Tyler and his sleeping habits. Like I mentioned in my last few posts, Tyler has NOT been a good sleeper recently. Out stint with the Ferber method was great, but after the crazy-ness of the holidays, Tyler was not sleeping well. In fact, some nights he'll wake up 4+ times a night. Yes, I am a tired momma. I'm pretty convinced he's waking so much because his mouth hurts, but regardless of the reason, I'd like for him to sleep better haha. And because he is such a smart little baby, the Ferber method aint cutting it this time. He will just cry for an hour (if I'd let him... I've made it to 20 some minutes then normally give in). Plus, Tyler KNOWS how to get his tears to puddle up in his eyes and the right cry to sound pitiful so I have to pick him up.

So my little one isn't sleeping well at all, but I am still thankful. In fact, Jordon and I have started to laugh at our situation and look at it with some perspective. Sure, Tyler insists on sleeping in bed with us some nights, but how am I supposed to be upset with that when I wake up to him cooing at me and touching my face? It's by far the best thing ever. Or when he insists on being rocked to sleep rather than just soothing himself to sleep... When he is a squirmy 2 year old and won't let me rock him for anything, I sure will be missing these days. So for now I'll take the sleep deprivation and enjoy the time I get to spend with my little one.

Plus, I'm hoping these restless nights will soon come to an end because Tyler has a TOOTH! Yes, finally, alright! I had been getting quite impatient because our pediatrician said he thought those pearly whites would come in soon back in December (maybe even before Christmas) and I had a fussy, drool-y baby on my hands. Yesterday Tyler chomped down on my finger (per usual) and I felt something sharpy and bumpy! He wouldn't let me look in his mouth, probably because his mouth was sore, but this morning I was able to get a peek and you can see a nice hole in his gums where the tooth is growing in. I'm excited for it to come in all the way and from him to have a cute little baby tooth :-) As long as he doesn't take up biting me while nursing haha. But this experience reminds me of when I was pregnant and the midwife told me I could go into labor anytime when I was 36 weeks (only to have to wait 3 more to finally have my baby!)... I won't believe anything doctors tell me to expect until I see it! Needless to say, I am thankful for his tooth finally getting here!

As of Monday, Tyler will SIX MONTHS OLD. Wow, where has time gone?! My little newborn is no longer a newborn, but half a year old. I've had to put so many clothes away in the "too-small bin" that it is now full and Jordon and I must invest in another (where we are going to put it is beyond me!). And the box of clothes for Tyler to grow into is now nearly empty! hint hint grandmas ;-) He has been developing right on track as well... he has been sitting up all by himself for a few weeks now, and it really mastering it these days. He can sit up for 10+ seconds by himself now before tipping over to one side or the other.

Tyler has been eating very well, and has tried sweet potato, banana, apple, avocado, brown rice cereal and oatmeal so far. And he likes them all! I've had no problem at all making my own baby food... in fact I love it! We've been trying to figure out what we should try next... Jordon is voting for meat (go figure) but I'm thinking probably squash. I've thought about peas but every baby I know hasn't like peas haha, so we'll see about that. He's also been nursing much more efficiently these days which makes my life much easier! And as of Monday we'll reach the 6 month mark of breastfeeding! Six months was my initial long-term goal, so I'm very proud of myself (especially because he's probably taken less than 10 bottles of milk his whole life, so it's been 6 months of hard work for me). And despite all the work, I've loved every minute of it! We actually got Tyler to take some of a bottle the other day fairly easily, but overall he is still pretty much exclusively nursing. So I'm not really sure if we're going to wean anytime soon... I want him to have breastmilk for at least his first year, so I guess we may have to wait until he masters the cup! Anyways, I am so thankful for how big and healthy he has grown (even if it has gone by way too fast).

Last Monday I started my first day of WORK. I am technically no longer a stay-at-home-mom, but now adjunct faculty at Ferrum College. In all honesty, I'm only teaching 2 eight week classes, so I'm still a full-time mom, but it feels nice to get out of the house two mornings a week. I'm teaching a cardiorespiratory activities class, so basically I'm getting paid to workout with college kids twice a week. But I love it! I've done plyometric and yoga workouts with them so far, and both have kicked their butts ;-) I'm a mom, but I've still got it! I absolutely love teaching the class and hope I can teach some more next semester. It's definitely made me re-think my plans of going back to school... If I could work part time exercising and still get to raise my babies, I think I'd be the luckiest in the world. But who know... we'll have to see! Overall though, I am very thankful for this opportunity to work and very thankful that Jordon's grandma watches Tyler for me so I can do it!

So much to be thankful for these days! I love my little boy and wonderful husband.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

My Little Sweet Potato


Ah, the time has finally come for my little sweet potato to eat his sweet potatoes! That's right, we have started solid food! Well, not quite solid (more like mashed haha), but he is sure growing up! As you've read before, we started rice cereal about a month ago, and Tyler liked it as first, but then he sort of went on strike and didn't want it much. About two weeks ago we tried reintroducing it and he starting eating it a lot better. He opened his mouth wide up like he was a pro at it! So a couple days ago we decided that at about 5 1/2 months old, we could go ahead and try to introduce some other foods. Being a fan myself, I decided we should start with sweet potatoes. He loved them! Ate like a champ. Now I have to mix it in with his cereal though because I think he thinks the taste of cereal is bland compared to the amazing taste of sweet potatoes! haha.


And I have decided to make my own baby food! Yes, I am super-mom :-) I got the Baby Brezza baby food maker for Christmas, and broke it out the other night to use for the first time. After reading the directions through and back a few times I finally got the hang out it, and whipped up some sweet potato, avocado, apple and banana baby food! I even tried everything I made, and it isn't half bad (although I prefer my food un-mashed personally). I'm still trying to decide which I am going to introduce after the sweet potatoes though! I wish I could just give him a taste of everything all in one day because I am so excited, but you are supposed to wait 3-5 days between introducing foods to make sure they don't have an allergic reaction (and if they do, you'll know exactly what food caused it!).

I have been doing all sorts of researching on introducing solid foods, and have found there is just SO MUCH to learn! There are certain foods they shouldn't eat before 1 year (like honey), and there are some foods like some people say are okay before 1 year and some say shouldn't be given (like peanut butter, chocolate and egg whites). I learned you need to cook all fruit before giving it to a baby younger than 8 months, except banana and avocado, because they can have issues digesting it. And there is just so much more. Yikes, so much to know! I guess I'll just have to keep studying up!

I'll keep you updated on our new adventures with solid foods!