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Posts Tagged ‘Bubbs’

Cute things my kid is doing, edition who knows which.

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

-He LOVES the Fresh Beat Band.  (Yes, he watches TV sometimes.)  I’ve started DVRing the things he really responds to (dancing, jumping, crawling around like crazy) and Blues Clues is one thing, the Fresh Beat Band is another. The first time he saw this little lady:

meet-the-fresh-beats-kiki-thumb

He shook his head back and forth, shuddered, and then looked at me with a shy smile.

I think it’s the headband.

Anyway.  Moving on.

-He hides things behind Poppop’s chair.  If something’s really special to him, he’ll drag it back there and leave it there for safe keeping.  I caught him sitting back there trying on one of Poppop’s hats yesterday.  I also find his cups back there.

-He crawls to the entertainment systems, says, “Uf!” and stands up.  I then have to tell him no.  And sometimes put him in time out.  But the “uf!” is cute.

-He eats lint off my pants.  And I gotta tell you, I’m not reaching in there to get it out again.  Have you been bitten by those teeth lately?

-He’ll be playing and hear a song he likes, and then just sit still for a minute, slowing starting to bounce his upper body with the beat, staring at the wall like he’s in a trance.  Then he’ll shake his head and keep playing.

-He makes a gurgly/burrrrrr sounds while he drives his trucks around.

-He wants to climb up the stairs, ALL THE TIME.  Halfway up he’ll look back, see how far he’s gone, and smile.

-He’ll do a pseudo downward dog , find you and give you an upside-down smile.

-He just started to get bed head.  Ok, maybe that’s not something he’s DOING, but I’m still impressed.  That took a long time!!

More to come…

Swim Bubbs, Swim!

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

So I was tooling around the internet the other day and I found this:

I couldn’t believe my eyes!  For shiz, that baby SAVED HIS OWN LIFE.  And all of a sudden my desire for Camper to swim went up like a million kajillion degrees.  Obviously, he’s only  months old, but it doesn’t hurt to try, right?

Cut to YMCA pool, day one.  I jumped into the pool and La La handed me my darling child, who commenced screaming.  It was as if I had just told him that we’ve gone broke and sold the bathtub, and this is where we are doing tubby time now.  Sigh.  I let him sit on the side with his La La for a bit while I tried to swim around and show him how fun it was.  We DID get him into the water, but it took 30 minutes and he was pretty clingy the entire time.

Cut to YMCA pool, day two.  As soon as I walked into the pool area, he started leaning and bouncing and effectively trying to fling himself into the pool.  He went underwater twice with no tears, kicked around and “swam” around with Pop pop and Mommy.  Good times.

So we’re working on basic skills, like blowing bubbles and kicking our feet.  It’s a good time, although a little tiring.  But really, if I can help my baby love the water and make sure he knows what he’s doing…however long it takes it’s worth it.

Mommy, Meet Food Finickyness…Food Finickyness, This is my Mom

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Oh my goodness.  Seriously, I didn’t know it started this early, did you?  One day Camper was happy as pie to open his mouth for whatever was on the spoon and all of a sudden he’s playing games.  And it’s not with the food I’d expect!  Peas?  Shovel ‘em in!  Green beans?  Keep those suckers coming.  No, he has started to reject breakfast, more than anything else: usually yogurt, fruit and oatmeal.  I bring it out and move his Cheerios to the side.  He gives me a look like, “WHAT? WHAT IS HAPPENING? WHERE ARE MY CHEERIOS GOING???”  I offer him the spoon and he purses his lips, moves his head to the side, looks down, and shakes it emphatically.  Sometimes if I’m lucky (this morning) he’ll put him arms up in the air and tilt his head to one side as if to say, “STOP, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, JUST STOP NOW.”  If he is really, really serious about breaking my heart he will put out the final stop: let his head flop forward onto his tray and cry.  It’s a really pitiful cry, as if I’ve broken him for the final time.  Yeah…you would never know this is my son, right?

I’ve won the game once.  I gave him his cereal back, then sat pretending to eat his breakfast myself with no regard for him sitting there, munching away.  After a long, tiresome minute of this, he finally extended his little hands and offered a reticent, “Eh, eh eh eh!” which usually means, “Can I eat that?”  And then he ate.  This morning I kind of won…kind of not…he ate about half and then munched the Cheerios and banana that I cut up for him.  I’ve noticed he doesn’t usually reject finger foods.  Sigh.  He wants his independence already?

So in honor of my “getting older” boy, I’ve figured out a few new things he can eat.  It’s so hard, because he’ll feed himself an entire meal, as long as it has nothing to do with the spoon!  His finger-friendly menu includes scrambled egg yolks made with some formula instead of milk (looks gross, he loved it!), carrots, potatoes, cheese pieces, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta (spirals work really well, I pinch them in half), banana chunks, chicken or turkey (VERY moist and picked apart).  We’ve also tried plums, which he liked, blueberries, which he liked until he choked (save those for later…) and strawberries, which he rejected on account of the blueberries.  That’s about it so far…there are always Cheerios, which he seems to be willing to eat sick or well.  There are the prepackaged varieties, like yogurt poofs and fruit poofs and every other poof that Gerber puts out…but I try to stay away from those when I can.  There’s something about them that makes me feel like they’re not as nutritious as they let on.  I’ll never forget the day my brother ate a million pieces of dried fruit, then drank a bunch of water.  All that stuff expanded in his stomach and he barfed.  Not surprising since he ate the equivalent of 80 apples or peaches or whatever they were.  For some reason I think these poofs do the same thing.  I think I’m going to look into other veggies that he can feed himself, but like I said, the only thing it seems he’ll eat from a spoon are his green veggies or sweet potatoes.  MAYBE fruit, but not consistently.

The other night I made him some rice cereal and he actually gagged before I even got it into his mouth.  Seriously?  Is this a phase?

How I Slept in TWICE, and Why I Love John

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Apparently Camper woke up at 4:30 this morning.  I say apparently because I was completely asleep, and my wonderful husband not only got up and played with him, fed him, and changed him…but also seemed pretty happy about it.  I woke up right before six, at which time I took the Bubbs downstairs to get him fed and make John’s lunch for the day.  Bubbs would NOT EAT the yogurt/peaches/oatmeal concoction I made, although he’s been eating something similar every morning for about a week.  He ended up eating a little bit of sweet potato, Cheerios, and banana pieces.  Methinks he wanted to feed himself.  Sigh.  He was also very sad to see John go to work, which although pathetic, is also nice to see. I love it when he wants to be near his Daddy.

The second gift my lovely husband gave me today was Bubby’s early nap.  Because he was up at 4:30am, he went down at 7am, and slept until 9:30.  It was early enough in the day that I went right back to bed.  Thus,  slept in TWO TIMES.  The rainy weather and Bubby’s long nap have left me feeling relaxed about the day, which is not usually how I feel about days in general.  I’m the “get it done and get it done now!” kind of person.  But today we’re just relaxing, doing some chores, cuddling (Camper is breaking the second top tooth I think, which means he’s uber clingy) and some reading.  This afternoon I am teaching a new piano student her first lesson, which is always fun.  So yes.  I think it will be a good day.

And in honor of this good day, I think I’m going to tell the interweb some things I love about John.  Because he is very lovable.

1) He calls me by my name.  I know that might sound weird, but I very rarely hear him say (or write) “my wife,” and that makes me feel like he really thinks of my as an individual.  I’ve always loved that about him.

2) I think if I were to get into Harvard Divinity, he’d be more excited that I would be.  And I’d be REALLY excited.  He very sincerely supportive of my happiness.

3) He brings me treats sometimes.

4) He really listens when I talk.  If I say, “I talked to friend x today,” he’ll say, “Oh, the one that went to (insert school here) that you met (insert location here).” He remembers pretty much everything I tell him, to the point that if he’s not on top of something I told him I know he’s sick.

5) He would probably be happy being a cuddly sleeper, but he always gives me space in bed.  I can’t sleep with anyone touching me/breathing on me/looking at me.  He lets me hog the bed and the covers.

6) Every since we very first brought Camper home (and even before) he’s been very concerned about the sleep I get.  He will often go without himself just so that I can have a little extra.  I told him once, “The only uninterrupted sleep is the sleep you give me,” and I mean it.  The best sleep I have is when I know that my husband is looking after our son.  Apparently, even if I don’t know.  I slept pretty well this morning!

7) He is NOT a petty person.  If I get something new for myself, or have a fun day out, he’s not the type to feel like I owe him.  He’s just happy I had a good time.  (Usually I’m the one who then encourages him to get something new or go somewhere fun, just to “even it out.” But he’s taught me that marriage isn’t about getting all the same things, it’s about getting what you need, a little of what you want, which is different for different people.)

8  )He sings to Bubbs.  All the time.

9)  He will do what he has to do to provide for his family, even working jobs he rather not take.  That makes me feel very secure, and very loved.

10) He’s serious about his master’s program.  He’s finally found the path that will help him work toward his goals, and he’s going for it.  I think it’s awesome, and it reminds me of how we were when we first met each other, before marriage and babies entered into the picture.  Reclaiming your path while being a husband and a father is a challenging thing to do, and I’m so glad he’s up for it.

Ok, the Bubbs is making weird raptor noises and looking at me like, “Hey! Hold me!” so I think ten will suffice for now.

I love you John.

The Things I Sing

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Every night Bubby gets PJ’s on, a bottle, his little teeth brushed, and then we sing…pray…sing again, and then he’s done for the night.  Tonight’s playlist was especially awesome, if you ask me.

We did:

I’ll Be Edwin McCain

I Would Do Anything For Love Meatloaf (this one got a smile)(a personal favorite of mine)

Then we prayed.  And I felt a little weird about praying to God directly after singing about hosing someone down with Holy Water.  Cause you know she wasn’t talking about spiritual conversion.

Then we sang:

Barges by…people around campfires??? I don’t know

and

I Love to See the Temple by someone who writes songs for Mormon children.

He LOVES Barges too.  Before I laid him in his crib he flashed me all four teeth (three on the bottom, one on top…not at ALL symetrical) hugged me closer, and then leaned into his crib.  YES PEOPLE.  HE LEANED.  Then he laid down with no crying at all.

Must be the Meatloaf.

On the Job

Monday, June 1st, 2009

I remember when I was working (it didn’t matter which job, this was pretty universal) that there would be days when I would wake up and want nothing to do with my “usual day.”  I felt willing to pay any amount of money just to switch my life with someone else’s for the day.  I hadn’t felt that way in motherhood until this morning.  (Just as a note, I did not want to switch my child with someone else’s, I just wanted SLEEP).  When you have a newborn, you’re almost too sleep deprived to know that you’re sleep deprived, just cracked out enough that you don’t know how bad it hurts.  As Camper gets older, when he doesn’t sleep, it hurts.  Yesterday was a big long cry it out day- which rolled into a big long cry it out night.  He’s getting quite the attitude, and I think I’m learning when he’s being ‘tudy and not just needy.  And last night he was full of ‘tude.

I ended up falling asleep and waking up again at some point, John was getting ready for work, and Camper started crying AGAIN.  Seriously, kid!  What’s the issue?  I feel bad to say that he didn’t get a lot of cuddles from me this morning.  He did get a diaper change, and he did get a big warm bottle, and he did get to lay propped on a pillow next to while I turned the other way and closed my eyes again.  He ate his breakfast, and we went downstairs to make John’s lunch.  At that point I remembered those mornings when I really didn’t want my job anymore.  Realizing that this is a job I don’t actually want to give up, even if I could, I decided to just be busy instead.  I spent some time looking out of Camper’s bedroom window.  We like to watch the trees wave in the wind and see what kind of day it is, and he likes to chew on the back of the chair while we look.  Then he played on the floor with some toys while I organized his clothes and changed his bedsheets.  Then I cleaned my room up while he played on the bed and watched channel 2.  When he napped I napped, which kind of helped with the less than fabulous sleep I got last night.  After that we went out with Lala to get groceries (he loves the cart) and to return the bathing suit from Hades that I ordered with my Lands End giftcard.  Free stuff gone awry, I tell you.

After that I had some alone time while I ran out to get John some “business casual” attire for his new job.  We don’t want him to wear his good suit pants out at a job when he can wear Dockers.  Then it was home again for some Strawberry Spinach Salad (thanks, Mom) and some cuddles from the Bubbs, who apparently still loves me.  I’m currently listening to him yell, something about not wanting to nap…but seriously.  He NEEDS it.  Hopefully he’ll sleep better tonight.  But if not, there’s always naptime.

First Night of Resignation

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

So John resigned from the job, because he has a NEW job, starting tomorrow!  That means my husband will be home at night.  All night, no more sleeping by myself!  We changed the sheets on the bed yesterday, and he went and got his favorite pillow from the office, and I got all bleary-eyed.  He will be HOME.  So how did we spend our first evening of his resignation?

8pm Put Camper to bed, watch Chuck.

10:30pm Camper wakes up for his last minute feeding, eats two ounces, passes out.  SCORE. Back to Chuck.

11:00pm Camper makes a funny noise, we interrupt Chuck to go see what is up.  As I pick him up, he pukes down my front, and I smell the unmistakable smell of poo.  Sick poo, which is different than well poo.  I start to change him when John discovers that he’s pooed out his diaper into his crib.

11:15pm Laundry

11:30pm Watching mindless TV with a child, suddenly hyper, chewing on our fresh sheets between us.

12:00am Camper starts with the scratching.  When he’s falling asleep, he scratches the sheets, my neck, my shirt, whatever he can get his hands on.

12:30am After a million Mommy kisses, Camper falls asleep and I relocate him to his crib.  He then starts to scream.

12:32am He ceases crying, and begins banging his pacifier along the slats of his crib, prison style.

12:33am John goes in to cuddle Camper to sleep.

1am John comes back to bed, falls asleep, and promptly begins to snore/cough.

1:30am I instruct him to face the other way in bed.

2am I fall asleep.

4:30am Camper wakes up, comes into bed with me.  John has mysteriously disappeared into the office bed, where he slept because his cold was making him restless, and keeping me up.

5am-7:30am In and out of sleep with Camper scratching me, and me replacing his pacifier every 15 minutes.

7:35am Up so that we can get to a doctor’s appointment for the baby.

So yeah, hopefully we get in the swing of NIGHTTIME again soon.  Oh my.  But yes, we ended up bringing Camper into the doctor this morning.  He’s has a runny nose since May 10th (I know, dorky me, keeping track) and had a rash from about May 12-19.  The last three days he won’t really eat, but he’s been pooing non-stop.  When I called the doctor to ask if we should be concerned, they said probably not, but to bring him in anyway.  He hasn’t had a significant fever, and the nurse practicioner we saw this morning did not think that he had Fifth Disease, based on the type of rash.  More likely, our recent travels have done a doosy on his skin, he has allergies and may a slight cold, and is teething.  All at the same time.  She said that he’s not dehydrated, and that hopefully the nose will clear up when the pollen changes.  Apparently if it IS allergies, there’s nothing they can do until he’s two.  Poor kiddo.  The snot is making it hard for him to eat, and messing up his poo.  So there ya go.  I guess you couldn’t expect anything different from a child made out of a combination of our genetic material.  He never had a chance.

So tomorrow is John’s first day of DAYTIME work.  Which means that he’ll get up super early, commute to New York, and be gone all day long.  But hey, I get to see him all night, as long as he doesn’t snore, right?

PS Robin, if you are reading this, I keep dreaming (as in twice now) that you got a new washing machine.   A huge one with a red lid, and that you won’t let anyone but me see it.  And when I say HUGE, I mean HUGE, as in filling up the whole basement.  I wonder what that means…

Pacifier Hunt

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

As I got Bubbs ready for bed tonight, I realized I only knew the whereabouts of two pacifiers, and I had left them both in the car.  I asked John to go on a hunt (every two days, people) and he looked all over the house with no luck.  Finally, he pulled the crib out from the wall.  And this is what he found.

pacifiers-0041

Do you think the child is doing this on purpose?  Funny kid.

And for the record, tonight I put him in his nighttime diaper, brushed his teeth, sang his song, said a prayer, kissed him and laid him in his bed…and he rolled over and went to sleep.  No crying whatsoever.  None.  Wow.

The Life

Friday, April 24th, 2009

066

Rainy Day

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

So the brother is headed west.  It makes me sad and happy.  I’m happy that he’s found a place he wants to be, somewhere where he has a job he likes and people he likes to be around.  Sad because I just like having him around.  He’s lived down the street (to some degree) for a while now, and even though he gives me headaches and causes me to worry…he is a good brother.  He has ALWAYS treated me well.  He is always there to step in and help when I need it, and fits in well with my little family.  And even though he and John like to make fun of each other, I think they like each other more than they let on.  And we know the Bubbs loves him.  Maybe that’s what makes me the saddest, I won’t get to see Bubb’s Uncle Jonathan smile for a little while.  At least I’ll be able to see him again in a few weeks.

Today I went to my WW meeting (-2 this week, yay!) and then came home and said goodbye to Jonathan, goodnight to John, and then Bubbs and I played on the floor for a bit.  I think today are just going to hang around the house.  It seems like I’ve been running around for days on end now, and if I don’t make the conscious choice to just CHILL, I won’t ever do it.  I also think my baby is exhausted, as evidenced by him falling asleep last night around 5:30pm, and not stirring until I woke him at 1am.  I’m neurotic.  If he’s not sleeping I’m all, “Oh no!  Woe is me!  No sleep!” and then he finally sleeps soundly for hours on end and I keep checking him, as if something’s wrong.  I managed to hold off til 1am, when I just HAD to make sure he didn’t have a stroke in his sleep that was keeping him from being able to wake up/cry on his own.  I changed his diaper, fed him a bottle (he barely opened his eyes) and laid him back down.  He stretched and looked at me with wide eyes, then rolled over and went back to sleep.  He was so “whatever” about the whole thing…I actually tried to tickle him to see if he would laugh.  In my sick mind, if he laughed once I’d know he didn’t have a baby stroke that was causing him to sleep through the night.  He went back to sleep, then woke up again at 5:15ish, ate, and then sleep for another hour or so.  Seriously.  Lots of sleep.  For him.  And not for me, because I’m crazy.

He wasn’t a big eater yesterday, but at least he’s picked up today.  5 oz. every time, plus all his normal food in between.  Maybe I’ve been wearing him out, maybe he’s growing, I don’t know…but I’m going to make every effort to stick around the house today, cater to his napping needs, and just CHILL.

In other news…Bubbs has entered the dangerous to self phase.  It seems like every time I turn around, he’s scratching himself, bonking himself on the head with a toy, falling on his head (from a sitting position), and his latest: nosedive on the changing table.  He didn’t fall OFF, just bumped his mouth on the side.  But it’s driving me crazy.  He hasn’t done anything too serious, and I’m resisting the temptation to bumper pad everything.  I know that he needs to learn how not to hurt himself, and that the best way is to let him figure out that throwing himself over backwards hurts.  So I’m just trying to not freak about it.  Right?  Yeah.  That’s all I can do.

Back to chillin’ folks.