Lil Wayne

Presenting... Lil Wayne!

 Happy Halloween!
(Disregard the pearls at the bottom of Lil Wayne's necklace!)

Feeling Ducky...?

As a new mom, I definitely feel the pressure.  You want what's best for your kid... and that includes a rockin' cute Halloween costume.  But it's the day before Halloween, and all I have are a few half-baked ideas and a duck costume.  

The duck costume, which we borrowed from one of Wayne's coworkers, is actually very cute, but I was trying to come up with something clever.  Something original.  Something outside the box a little that will cause others say, "What a GREAT costume!"  I'm inspired by one mom friend who dressed her newborn as a piece of nigiri sushi, complete with a ribbon wasabi dollop on her head.  Or the photo I saw of a baby chippendale who was donned in nothing but a bow tie and diaper with dollar bills tucked in.  See, that made you chuckle, didn't it?  Super cute and clever!  

I'm sure we'll all ooh and aww no matter what, because the great thing about babies is that they look cute in everything, but I have a little bit more time.  Let's see what I can and have the energy to actually crank out! ... Though that duck costume is looking mighty adorable... and quick and easy right about now.

duck...

duck...

Goose!

(our nickname for our Lucy Goosey)

A Solid Start.

We did it!  Caedmon had his first taste of solids today, and really, it was just a taste, as barely any of it was actually swallowed.  But I know the purpose of these first few feedings is to get him acclimated to this new way of eating, and soon enough, he'll be a happy little muncher. 

I've been reading this book (of course) called Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron, which is an excellent resource on all things related to feeding your baby, including how to make your own baby food, and I can't wait to start!  ... Wow... we've started solids.  Has it really been six months already?  He truly is growing up so fast!

Here are pictures from this first feeding:

 

Uh, Mom... What am I doing up on this chair? 

 

What is this??? 

 

Maybe this isn't so bad... 

 

I did it! 

 

Stop freaking out, Mom.  I can do it myself!

Ready for Solids?

Caedmon has been waking the last few nights for food, which he normally doesn't do.  He's also been grabbing at my drinking glass and the other day snagged a chunk of Wayne's peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and before Wayne could do anything, stuffed it in his mouth!  We think he's ready for solids.  He'll be six months on Tuesday, so it's about time... and we're starting today!

Caedmon may be ready for solids, but the question is, am I???  He will be waking up from his morning nap in a few minutes, and I'm running through how this first feeding will go... do I have the brown rice cereal ready?  How many teaspoons of cereal to milk ratio?  Where should we have him eat regularly?  What about today?  Where is the lighting best for photos and video of this milestone?  Do I have all the spoons and bowls washed?  Okay... check the book one more time, what order do I feed him breast milk and solids?  Let's review last minute tips... okay, no laughing if he spits out food, even if it's cute, so I do not reinforce this behavior... be patient even if he doesn't seem to take to solids right away... one new food every 3 to 4 days...

I feel like I'm cramming for a test.

He's waking... okay, here goes!

 

All set... just insert Baby here.

Glider Makeover

We were lucky enough to inherit a very nice glider and a comfy gliding ottoman, separately, so that the two didn't match.  The glider was a light denim--a tad frumpy, but liveable... and the ottoman was beige in a fuzzy velour-type fabric.  Nothing screams hip, young mom like light denim and fuzzy velour.

Before

 

I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of the ottoman.  It bugged me so much that it mismatched that I purposely left it out of all my pictures and then forgot to take a formal "before" picture. oops... but it was fuzzy and beige... a little dingy... had a Dora band-aid on it from its previous owner.  You get the idea.

Well, hip, young mom is still questionable, but one thing is for sure, I have a VERY cool new glider and matching ottoman!  This project had been on my to-do list for over five months, and I finally tackled it this weekend while visiting my parents!  (nothing to do + doting grandma to free up hands = productivity)

After

 There are pockets on both sides... for, you know, all your glider essentials.

  

Caedmon seems to like it, too! ... though he hasn't been scratching at this glider arm.  :(

 

I think it fits in nicely with the rest of the nursery, wouldn't you say?

Lucky in Love: 5 Month Update

Today was one of those days that I just felt so lucky to be Caedmon's mom... and so incredibly blessed that I get to stay home with him this year and watch this fantastic little boy grow.  Nothing special happened today. We didn't even go anywhere during the day, which is usually a recipe for major cabin fever and stir-craziness.  No, we just stayed home, and played... read books, engaged in an all-out tummy tickling and giggle fest, danced to corny children's music, and scratched at different fabrics and surfaces around the house (one of Caedmon's favorite games). 

I never thought I'd enjoy staying at home as much as I do... doing so much of nothing, haha.  But I get to nurture and care for my baby who is growing up before my eyes!  And that's far from nothing... it's everything! 

Caedmon turned five months on Sunday.  Some milestones he reached this past month... he's rolling both ways, all over the place, sleeping through the night (from 7 to 7!), and recently started sitting on his own.  Some non-milestones that I never want to forget... Caedmon LOVES being naked.  Whenever we strip him of his diaper for bath time, he squeals and laughs and has the biggest smile on his face.  He also loves the arm of the glider.  It's one of his favorite "toys"... not his stuffed hippo, nor colorful teething ring, or even the ever popular Sophie Giraffe.  Nope, it's the arm of the glider that has really caught his fancy, scratching it and mouthing it to his heart's delight.  Go figure.  And just yesterday, he stuck his foot in his mouth.

Yeah, I'm just a little bit head over heels for this little boy...  Just as a mama should be.

 

 

 5 Months!  Not the kind of solids I envisioned starting on, though...

 

Me and my little man!

 

He loves that upholstered arm...

It's Naked Baby!

 

Sitting like a big boy!

Garage Sale Success

Today was our neighborhood's annual community yard sale, and we scored these two fun toys for Caedmon!  He may be a little young right now, but I'm excited to teach him how to write letters for the mailbox and leave little surprises in there for him.  The lawn mower is also a bubble blower.  I considered it brand new at Target for $20, but we got it today for just $1!  STEAL!  Considering what we paid for the lawnmower, though, the mailbox was a rip-off at $5... It was early on in our garage sale hunting, and I was just a bit of an eager-beaver.  (Oooh!!!  I love this mailbox!!!! And it's only $5!!!)  Didn't try to bargain.  Don't even know if I could have, given how overtly excited I was.  Still, two fun items for $6 is not bad!

P.S. We were able to fit these two items in the bottom of our stroller!  Yay, for the Uppababy Vista!

Boy Cookies

I have a term for cookies that guys make.  I call them "boy cookies", because, well, they taste like a boy made them.  Not that that's necessarily a horrible thing, but they really do taste... different.  You know what I'm talking about.  They're a little to a lot drier.  A little to a lot denser.  They're a little to a lot just not as good.

I've been bugging Wayne to try his hand at boy cookies for some time now, you know, just for kicks.  I wanted to see what makes boy cookies boy cookies, if it's the same recipe used by everyone else.  (Wayne says it's so I can watch and laugh at him, which is also partially true).  Up until this point, Wayne just hasn't had the desire to help me figure out the nuances of the boy cookie (or to be laughed at mockingly by me), but one fateful day, I made a bet with Wayne, which he lost, and guess what?  It's boy cookie time!

So we manned our respective stations--Wayne behind the mixer, and me, perched at the kitchen counter, kicking my legs in eager anticipation for the show ahead of me.  I giggled when Wayne clumsily cracked the eggs and proceeded to SHAKE out the egg whites, as one shakes out the last bits of cereal from its box.  I literally guffawed when Wayne separated the egg yolk and then didn't know where to put it, and so set it gingerly back in its shell, tried to balance it on the counter, then resorted to a plate (a little prep bowl, perhaps?).  And then I snickered when Wayne proceeded to sprinkle in each ingredient, instead of just dumping it in to the mixing bowl... With the Olympics on in the background, I cheered on the US Men's 4x100m swimming relay... I watched Grevers explode to the front with his backstroke and then Japan creep into the lead after the breaststroke leg... looked over, and Wayne was sprinkling.... Phelps caught up!  Adrian stretches the lead!, still sprinkling... US wins gold!, sprinkling... post-race interview, Phelps earns his 18th career gold medal!, sprinkling.  And sprinkling... and sprinkling. 

But at the end of the night, Wayne was the one who had the last laugh, because his cookies were AMAZING!  They were crispy on the outside and chewy throughout, and they were humongous!  "Man cookies", Wayne calls them.  And I have to admit that these boy--er, man cookies were better than many girl cookies I've had.  So I happily eat my words, along with a mouthful of cookie goodness. 

Good job, Sweetheart!  So proud of you!

 

Wayne studies the recipe before proceeding.

 

Wayne's meticulously shaken-out egg white and creatively, if oddly, placed egg yolk.

 

still sprinkling...

 

Man Cookies!

 

And man, they're delicious!

Sleep Train...

... a ticket to a better night's sleep.

We started sleep training last night.  For us, we decided to use the cry-it-out (CIO) method, aka rip-my-heart-out.  Though highly controversial in the parenting world, CIO is effective, and after reading my many books and speaking with other moms who say CIO changed their lives, we chose to have Caedmon cry it out, as well.  It is what it sounds like--we let Caedmon cry it out when we put him down for naps and bed, in order to teach him how to fall asleep on his own, even if it means letting him cry for hours (though each family sets their own limit--ours is two hours for night sleep).  CIO gets a bad rap because it's hard, but hard doesn't mean wrong, and I'm eager to be teaching Caedmon this very important skill.

We knew Caedmon was ready for CIO when he started falling asleep more independently.  Though we were still rocking him a lot (so much so that my knees were starting to hurt), we would put him down increasingly more awake, and often he would let out one cry of protest, then turn his head to the left, suck his fingers, and fall asleep. We knew he could do it.

So we started last night, and actually, Caedmon is doing really well.  Last night, he cried for 24 minutes before falling asleep, and tonight, only 13.  For his naps, he took less than 10 minutes each time, and for one nap, he didn't cry at all!  I knew falling asleep wouldn't be Caedmon's struggle, though.  It would be falling BACK asleep after waking prematurely, and that has definitely proven to be true thus far.  This morning, he cried for nearly an hour, but just as I was about to get him, all was quiet and he was off in dreamland!  He's learning, our little chipmunk! 

Ask any mom who has done CIO, though, and she will tell you how heart-wrenching this is.  It takes all my will not to rush in there and "rescue" my baby, but I know that in doing so, I would be acting on my own emotions and robbing him of the chance to learn how to sleep.  I actually got choked up a little even BEFORE I put Caedmon down for bed last night, as I was giving him a small pep talk that was as much for me as it was for him.  But what strengthens my resolve is seeing Caedmon's fast progress and knowing that after this, my baby will own an important skill, and we'll all get better rest.  Caedmon still greets me with a big smile when I get him from his crib, so I also know he's doing just fine.

Just like mastering any new skill, though, there will naturally be some regression along with the progress, as we spiral towards the end goal.  These moments will be rough, so wish us the best this week as we continue to cry it out.  Hopefully, I'll have positive results to share soon!

[cue jingle]

Earlier this week, Caedmon fell asleep while playing on his playmat.  That's when we knew he was definitely ready to learn how to fall asleep independently.

Armed with video monitor, notebook, and graph, I am ready to log everything Caedmon.  It's not nutty; it helps me figure out what works best for him, his patterns, and track his progress!

Not Just a Blob Anymore: 3 Month Update

Caedmon turned three months old on Monday, and I'm amazed at how much he's growing and developing.  In just a month, he has gained much control of his neck so that he is able to sit in the bebePod unassisted.  He rolls over from tummy to back on both sides, and looks as if he'll be rolling from back to tummy very soon.  His favorite toy is his hands and fingers, often sucking on them so voraciously that he gags himself.  And he is "talking" so much; I love his "ah-goo"s and other baby babble.  Recently, he discovered how to increase the volume of his voice, so now he also enjoys yelling across the room.  And today, he laughed out loud for the first time!  That is probably the most beautiful sound to a mother's ears. 

My favorite development, though, is how attentive and responsive Caedmon has become.  He watches me when I enter and leave the room, and he is clearly happy when he sees me and Wayne.  He not only loves to smile, I've noticed that he loves to make US smile.  Caedmon has this special smirk, like he's flirting with us, and he pulls this out especially when we're trying to put him down for a nap.  He will be really sleepy as I lay him down in his crib, but as soon as his head hits the mattress, his eyes will spring open and he will coo and smile, inviting me to play.  I feel rude in ignoring him, so I've been keeping my eyes closed while I soothe him to sleep, so as not to make eye contact.  Wayne also came up with the idea of acting sleepy, so that Caedmon will pick up on our cues and become drowsy himself.  As I rock Caedmon, I have my eyes closed and Wayne will sometimes stand next to us, eyes closed, head down, breathing heavily, and yawning.  It's a pretty funny sight, I'm sure.  It seems to work, but for all I know, Caedmon is just laughing at how goofy his parents look.

Caedmon is also responding to our emotional cues.  As I shared in my last post, I have been trying SO hard to get him to nap longer and better.  The other day, I burst into tears after Caedmon woke early from his morning nap.  This has been the one nap I've been able to count on (two to three hours!), and has become my new found freedom, allowing me time to work on my scrapbook, journal, eat breakfast leisurely... It's when all is right in the world, because he is actually sleeping well.  So when he woke early, it was like the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, and I burst into tears.  When Caedmon, who had been happily perched in Wayne's arms, saw me, a look of alarm came over his face and he immediately burst into tears too!  And after I quickly regained my composure to smile at him, Caedmon, sensing that all harm was gone, beamed back at me, as well.  It really took me by surprise that he was so in tune with us emotionally.  And it amazes me that he's learning what emotions look like and mean.

Our little baby is growing so much and so fast!   And how special it is that we get to witness all these developments!  Caedmon is truly no longer a blob anymore, but a tiny person.  I look forward to watching and helping this tiny person get bigger, grow stronger, and gain in maturity.  How wonderful it is to be a mom.