Saturday, June 02, 2007
Just another career option
Henry has been sucking his thumb lately, which is adorable. Hopefully he doesn't keep it up as long as his Uncle Barry did. This morning he was lying in his crib in the "Happy Baby" yoga pose and he stuck his big toe in his mouth and started to suck on it. Maybe he has a future as a contortionist?
Somebody, hold me!
Henry met his first "stranger" babysitter today. The time has come for us to find someone to watch Henry periodically. As much as I would like to stay home with him, I must venture out into the world for social engagements, lest people start talking about me and my mental stability.
We found Anna through a reference from one of our neighbors. She has been a full time nanny for them for 4 years. She came this morning with a book full of her references and credentials. She went to nanny school (who knew there was such a thing) and is a certified baby nurse. She was very good with Henry and he seemed to like her very much. She is coming for one more trial run before we need to leave him alone with her. I was happy he took to her, but frankly makes me so sad to leave my baby!
We found Anna through a reference from one of our neighbors. She has been a full time nanny for them for 4 years. She came this morning with a book full of her references and credentials. She went to nanny school (who knew there was such a thing) and is a certified baby nurse. She was very good with Henry and he seemed to like her very much. She is coming for one more trial run before we need to leave him alone with her. I was happy he took to her, but frankly makes me so sad to leave my baby!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Silly Boy
Henry loves to drink out of a glass or water bottle. As soon as I fill my glass from the water cooler, he is clamoring for a sip. If I give him his sippy cup too early he refuses to eat anymore.
Today I was giving him a bath and had just finished rinsing his hair with the plastic cup that we keep in there. He was staring at it and kind of making motions toward it so I gave it to him to play with. I zoned out for a minute and when I looked down he had filled it with soapy water, his chubby hands wrapped around it perfectly, raised it to his lips and his mouth was wide open ready for a big gulp of it!
Today I was giving him a bath and had just finished rinsing his hair with the plastic cup that we keep in there. He was staring at it and kind of making motions toward it so I gave it to him to play with. I zoned out for a minute and when I looked down he had filled it with soapy water, his chubby hands wrapped around it perfectly, raised it to his lips and his mouth was wide open ready for a big gulp of it!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Operation Baba
I received a phone call from my brother yesterday. I picked up the phone and he hadn't even said hello before he said, "Please tell me that my nephew has practiced drinking from a few bottles this week." Hmm, I guess three-time daddy is a little nervous about watching my little angel on June 9th.
I replied that Adam would not be home from his business trip until that night, but that I had been pumping milk all week like a good little dairy farmer. Joy of all joys.
I had decided that Henry's 11pm bottle would be the best one to start with. He would be sleepy, so drinking from a bottle given by Adam would be significantly different enough to make an imprint on his brain. I prepped his never opened package of Dr. Brown's bottles in anticipation of the big event. I set up some pillows and the boppy for Adam on the bed and tucked myself in to enjoy the big show.
Henry woke like clockwork at 11pm and Adam went in to get him. This was enough to start his Mama cry. Imagine his face when Adam leaned him back on the boppy and tried to get the bottle in his mouth. Not happening. He handed him off to me so that I could take a shot. Henry immediately started rooting and swinging his head back and forth. I caught him looking up and tried to pop it in his mouth. He had his lips pressed shut as tight as Fort Knox. No way no how was he participating in our little game. Finally I got the bottle in his mouth and he started drinking. He looked at me the entire time like I was trying to poison him.
About halfway through, I passed him back to Adam to finish the bottle. He took it no problem, but proceeded to stare at me the entire time like I was the biggest traitor. I felt terrible that he was so confused.
It did solve one mystery. He only drank 4 1/2 ounces, which confirmed for me that he is a little snacker. We will be doing round 2 shortly!
I replied that Adam would not be home from his business trip until that night, but that I had been pumping milk all week like a good little dairy farmer. Joy of all joys.
I had decided that Henry's 11pm bottle would be the best one to start with. He would be sleepy, so drinking from a bottle given by Adam would be significantly different enough to make an imprint on his brain. I prepped his never opened package of Dr. Brown's bottles in anticipation of the big event. I set up some pillows and the boppy for Adam on the bed and tucked myself in to enjoy the big show.
Henry woke like clockwork at 11pm and Adam went in to get him. This was enough to start his Mama cry. Imagine his face when Adam leaned him back on the boppy and tried to get the bottle in his mouth. Not happening. He handed him off to me so that I could take a shot. Henry immediately started rooting and swinging his head back and forth. I caught him looking up and tried to pop it in his mouth. He had his lips pressed shut as tight as Fort Knox. No way no how was he participating in our little game. Finally I got the bottle in his mouth and he started drinking. He looked at me the entire time like I was trying to poison him.
About halfway through, I passed him back to Adam to finish the bottle. He took it no problem, but proceeded to stare at me the entire time like I was the biggest traitor. I felt terrible that he was so confused.
It did solve one mystery. He only drank 4 1/2 ounces, which confirmed for me that he is a little snacker. We will be doing round 2 shortly!
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...
Henry rolled over both ways with ample time to spare in terms of meeting milestones, but he has never been a fan of doing it. He could go weeks without rolling over. Over the past few days, he has embraced it with a renewed vigor. He now likes to roll all day, sometimes quite aggressively. It it thought that when babies learn a new skill it disrupts their sleep because they feel compelled to "practice" whenever they wake.
Henry must have thought that I was getting entirely too much sleep despite his night wakings to eat or spit out his pacifier. Over the past few days, he has been waking up screaming like a stuck pig because he flips himself over in his sleep and gets stuck. I fly into his room, thinking someone is applying a branding iron to his little rear end and find him in the Cobra pose. He is on his belly with his entire torso pushed up in the air on his arms. He now does this two or three times per night. I keep telling myself that this too shall pass!
Henry must have thought that I was getting entirely too much sleep despite his night wakings to eat or spit out his pacifier. Over the past few days, he has been waking up screaming like a stuck pig because he flips himself over in his sleep and gets stuck. I fly into his room, thinking someone is applying a branding iron to his little rear end and find him in the Cobra pose. He is on his belly with his entire torso pushed up in the air on his arms. He now does this two or three times per night. I keep telling myself that this too shall pass!
Life as I see it
Having a baby has made me realize how different men and women really are.
Since having Henry, I only practice the most basic of hygiene. I get a shower in every day without fail, but often go without makeup, shaving or drying my hair. I throw on some wrinkled clothes, brush my teeth and I am out the door. I actually wiped up spit up today with my skirt and then still wore it outside. I am quite the sight.
Adam's routine on the other hand has not changed at all. I laugh that he will say, "Why don't I take a shower and you watch Henry and then we will switch while you get ready." I can take a shower after him, and still have both Henry and I ready before he is done.
When we are going somewhere, I call putting Henry in his stroller "activating the launch sequence." I don't do it until the last possible second, with keys in hand. Especially when he was younger, he was like a ticking time bomb. Adam on the other hand will load him in there way too early and then push him around the apartment. Henry is thrashing around in there and he is wandering around, brushing his teeth, and doing lots of other "non-essential" things. Sometimes Henry and I will be waiting for the elevator and he has to make two more trips inside for his sunglasses or some other crazy thing. I want to say, "forget about that and just run for your life! We have a crazy caged lion in this thing!" But of course I hold back (snicker). Or, he will make some crazy suggestion that we sit down and have lunch somewhere in a restaurant. I look at him and ask, "Have you met your son? Does sitting down somewhere to eat seem like it might be remotely pleasant?"
Henry and I were in the park this week, sitting on a blanket playing. I was watching this lady who can only be described as "Superwoman." She had triplets that were less than a year old, and a friend's baby who looked like he was around two. All of the children had on hats, and were happily ensconced in different activities. She was feeding one of the babies a bottle and at the same time reading very enthusiatically to the two year old. I can't even imagine how she got all of them out of the house. On the other side of the lawn was a man, walking with his young daughter in circles around the grass. No blanket to sit on, no hat, and her onesie was unsnapped and hanging out of her pants. The contrast just gave me a little chuckle.
I will leave you with an interesting study that I read. Although in most cases, women do the majority of the childrearing, when entering a social situation the man always wants to carry the baby inside. Of course leaving his wife behind to drag in all of the packages.
Since having Henry, I only practice the most basic of hygiene. I get a shower in every day without fail, but often go without makeup, shaving or drying my hair. I throw on some wrinkled clothes, brush my teeth and I am out the door. I actually wiped up spit up today with my skirt and then still wore it outside. I am quite the sight.
Adam's routine on the other hand has not changed at all. I laugh that he will say, "Why don't I take a shower and you watch Henry and then we will switch while you get ready." I can take a shower after him, and still have both Henry and I ready before he is done.
When we are going somewhere, I call putting Henry in his stroller "activating the launch sequence." I don't do it until the last possible second, with keys in hand. Especially when he was younger, he was like a ticking time bomb. Adam on the other hand will load him in there way too early and then push him around the apartment. Henry is thrashing around in there and he is wandering around, brushing his teeth, and doing lots of other "non-essential" things. Sometimes Henry and I will be waiting for the elevator and he has to make two more trips inside for his sunglasses or some other crazy thing. I want to say, "forget about that and just run for your life! We have a crazy caged lion in this thing!" But of course I hold back (snicker). Or, he will make some crazy suggestion that we sit down and have lunch somewhere in a restaurant. I look at him and ask, "Have you met your son? Does sitting down somewhere to eat seem like it might be remotely pleasant?"
Henry and I were in the park this week, sitting on a blanket playing. I was watching this lady who can only be described as "Superwoman." She had triplets that were less than a year old, and a friend's baby who looked like he was around two. All of the children had on hats, and were happily ensconced in different activities. She was feeding one of the babies a bottle and at the same time reading very enthusiatically to the two year old. I can't even imagine how she got all of them out of the house. On the other side of the lawn was a man, walking with his young daughter in circles around the grass. No blanket to sit on, no hat, and her onesie was unsnapped and hanging out of her pants. The contrast just gave me a little chuckle.
I will leave you with an interesting study that I read. Although in most cases, women do the majority of the childrearing, when entering a social situation the man always wants to carry the baby inside. Of course leaving his wife behind to drag in all of the packages.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Solids Update
Henry loves eating his solids. For posterity, I will list what he has eaten thus far:
Cereal (Rice, Oatmeal, Barley)
Peas
String beans
Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Butternut Squash
Corn
Peaches
Cherries
Mango
Apples
Pears
Bananas
Yogurt
Cottage Cheese
Mozzerella Cheese
Avocado
Carrots
Cereal (Rice, Oatmeal, Barley)
Peas
String beans
Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Butternut Squash
Corn
Peaches
Cherries
Mango
Apples
Pears
Bananas
Yogurt
Cottage Cheese
Mozzerella Cheese
Avocado
Carrots
Baby Bootcamp, The Countdown
The time is drawing near where Henry has to be left with a babysitter. We have three weddings to attend and I need to finally bite the bullet. I am embarrassed to admit that the longest I have left him thus far is two hours. Once. And that was with Adam. His father. And I just about had heart failure the entire time.
Anyway, confession time over. I would guess it is no surprise that a breastfeeding, cosleeping baby that has never been away from his mama in 7 months is a little bit of a mama-addict. Couple this with normal seven month old separation anxiety and we have a HUGE problem. Poor Grandpa Joe makes the trek in to visit him every week without fail and Henry still cries whenever I leave the room. I have tried my darndest to get him used to other people; I have joined two play groups, gym class, music class, and practically foist him into the neighbors' arms.
We tried a practice babysitting run last night with my brother. Kevin is a great dad of three little girls. He couldn't get Henry to sleep without a lot of screaming. Then, I took one of his girls to get ice cream and Henry woke up while I was gone. Henry was crying his little eyes out and it took me about 15 minutes to get him to breathe normally.
So, I have declared the next 18 days Baby Bootcamp. I have this much time to get Henry ready for his first babysitter (poor Kevin and Julie unless they bail after last night's debacle). We need to break all of our bad habits before then that are contributing to the problem. So, in order to be accountable, I will list them here:
1) Pacifer addiction
2) Napping in our bed sometimes
3) Me laying down with him to get him to sleep sometimes
4) Sleeping in our bed after 11pm each night
5) Adam never putting him to bed or down for naps
6) Henry not knowing how to drink from a bottle
7) Not having a firm nap, bedtime, waking schedule
8) Not sticking to a firm mealtime schedule
Yikes! We are in trouble!
Anyway, confession time over. I would guess it is no surprise that a breastfeeding, cosleeping baby that has never been away from his mama in 7 months is a little bit of a mama-addict. Couple this with normal seven month old separation anxiety and we have a HUGE problem. Poor Grandpa Joe makes the trek in to visit him every week without fail and Henry still cries whenever I leave the room. I have tried my darndest to get him used to other people; I have joined two play groups, gym class, music class, and practically foist him into the neighbors' arms.
We tried a practice babysitting run last night with my brother. Kevin is a great dad of three little girls. He couldn't get Henry to sleep without a lot of screaming. Then, I took one of his girls to get ice cream and Henry woke up while I was gone. Henry was crying his little eyes out and it took me about 15 minutes to get him to breathe normally.
So, I have declared the next 18 days Baby Bootcamp. I have this much time to get Henry ready for his first babysitter (poor Kevin and Julie unless they bail after last night's debacle). We need to break all of our bad habits before then that are contributing to the problem. So, in order to be accountable, I will list them here:
1) Pacifer addiction
2) Napping in our bed sometimes
3) Me laying down with him to get him to sleep sometimes
4) Sleeping in our bed after 11pm each night
5) Adam never putting him to bed or down for naps
6) Henry not knowing how to drink from a bottle
7) Not having a firm nap, bedtime, waking schedule
8) Not sticking to a firm mealtime schedule
Yikes! We are in trouble!
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