Thursday, January 28, 2010

Need More time...

I usually try to head from work around 4:45 (and 5pm is my ABSOLUTE LATEST that I will stay - I will NOT let my baby be the last one picked up). And from then on, I feel like I am racing against the clock.

-I try my best to beat traffic if possible.
-Get Carson home and fed (bottle or solids whichever its time for)
-Get some play time and reading time in with him b/c I know he doesn't get special attention at daycare.
-Cory or I give him a bath, another bottle if needed and get him to bed.
-We assess the dinner situation for us in between all of this.
-Then we get him to sleep - then more work...wash bottles, dishes and laundry, and I MUST pick up the house before I go to bed (I never stopped nesting)

And somehow I am still suppose to be responsive to my blackberry during all of this (which is so hard b/c all I think about is Carson from the time I wake until...well it doesn't end, so when I am with him, work is far from my thoughts- Sorry Boss)

However, I wish there could be a way for me to have an adjusted schedule where I could leave at around 4pm to at least beat some traffic so I wouldn't be in such a rush when I got home everyday. I could get home at 5 instead of 6 and that would be wonderful since Carson gets sleepy and goes to bed around 7:30.

My boss has already done so much for me - I just can't work up the courage to ask. I would love to work part-time, but we need my Dental insurance. I don't think I would ever stop working altogether, I want my resume to be continuous, and I don't have the patience to be a SAHM (that was hard work for 3 months!), I am not creative, green, or money-saving-savy...so I need the extra dough. :) Its all about the convenience w/ us!

So for now, another goal of mine is to work up the guts to ask the boss if I can work 8-4 instead of 9-5.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A few goals...

I find my blog very boring (except for when I talk about Cory and Carson of course).

My goals are to:
-get a permanent design (reader friendly, I loathe those blogs that hurt my eyes!)
-find more blogs with babies that are close to Carson's age
-and to start labeling things so it will be more organized (I always forget)

Let's see if I can actually follow through :)

For now here is another cute food pic; he liked his peas (he was ready to get out of that chair though):



Monday, January 25, 2010

Date Night

Date night was great! Dinner was very bittersweet b/c the food, wine and conversation were amazing, but we both missed Carson :(

The movie was OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!!! We both LOVED it, and will be purchasing it when it comes out on DVD! If you have not seen Avatar (in 3d is a must), go RIGHT NOW!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Setback

I feel a setback coming on in the sleep training. :(

He started to get really congested last night and couldn't sleep. We are now afraid to incline his mattress b/c he moves and rolls SO much, we just don't want him to get stuck in a bad position. So we put him in bed with us and just put a pillow under him and he slept great, OF COURSE!

I started him back on the nebulizer, suction and saline last night in an attempt to prevent ear infections or RSV, etc...Hopefully this is just a cold.

Happy Wednesday everyone, can't wait for Friday, mom is gonna watch Carson so Cory and I can go on a DATE - its been a WHILE!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Just a few little updates

We are all doing well. I am very excited for Mom to come visit and help me out with Carson while Cory is out of town. I am SUPER excited about the 2 full nights of sleep I am going to get :) I am letting Mom handle Carson at night and he will still go to daycare during the day to give her a little break then she can go pick him up in the afternoon when she is rested.

Speaking of sleep, the training is going as well as to be expected. We spent the night at Becca and Zach's Saturday night, so Carson was in a different place at bedtime, and we didn't get to do his nightly routine, plus he slept next to Cory all night, so you can imagine how many times we had to go in and soothe him Sunday night. Last night was about the same. I also think he is teething, so he will be waking up more at night and we just have to accept that. I am going to try giving him some tylenol tonight to see if that helps the teething discomfort.

He rolls over constantly now! Everytime we go in to soothe him at night he is on his belly.

He is doing really well on baby food. He has cereal in the mornings at daycare and right now sweet potatoes in the evening. I will be trying one food per week to make sure he doesn't develop any allergies. I can't wait for him to try some of the sweeter ones, I think he will really like them. I love buying those tiny jars of baby food, they are SO cute!

He loves his baths now, and boy does he splash! I am ready for him to sit up on his own so I can bathe him in the kitchen; bathing him leaning over the bath tub is hard on our backs.

Cory: I am so excited for the plans I made for Cory's 30th Birthday! Although it will be hard leaving Carson for a night for the 1st time, we are in desperate need of some R&R and some time alone.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Getting Better

He did pretty good last night as well, not as good as the night before, but still good compared to prior weeks. He went to bed at about 7:40 and I did a passy run at 8:30, Cory did one at 11, then he had a bottle at 2:30 (exactly at the 8-hour mark from his last pm bottle). Then at around 4 he cried for 2 seconds but must have either been dreaming or is starting to self soothe b/c by the time I got to his room, he was asleep.

He woke for good around 6 and talked to the pictures of farm animals on his crib bumper for about 45 minutes. Then when he was bored of that I went and got him and let him watch cartoons in my bed.

All in all, I feel we are making progress. I really don't mind at all going in his room 3 times per night; but the previous nights having to go in every hour or 2 was very frustrating. Constistency really is key, for about a week now we have consistently made him sleep in his crib from bedtime to 6AM, and I hope this sticks!

Honestly I really think the pillow cases helped, I am anxious to see if it worked for my new sleep training buddy Courtney. I really enjoy reading her blog, and her son Henry is about the same age as Carson. It is so nice to have another mother to compare notes with :) Hope your training is going well Courtney!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Night #2

So last night, we did our 3 B's (bath, bottle, book) and rocking and we we were prepared to go in Carson's room 100 times after we put him to bed, we set up camp in the guest BR. Since its only a few steps away; which helps a lot in the middle of the night. However, to our surprise Carson slept from 8:30PM to 6AM. I went in for 2 passy inserts (1:30 and 4:40) and one breathing check b/c this was so unlike him (@ 5:30), I got really worried.

Ironically Cory and I slept like crap b/c we are getting old and only sleep well in our own bed, GO FIGURE! So tonight we will back in our bed and see if this was a fluke, which I am positive it was. Also I am not sure what made him sleep like this but for anyone who is willing to try anything: we put our used pillowcases under his fitted sheet so maybe our smells would soothe him. He was fussy yesterday b/c we didn't pick him up every time he wimpered, so he may have been more tired due to crying from not being spoiled. Thanks for the helpful comments, I will give some of those a try and report back.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Sleep Training

We are starting some sleep training with Carson. Like all babies, he is ever-changing. After 3 mo of age when we discovered he had reflux and got that under control, it was like a switch flipped and he slept great; he would sleep anywhere from 4-6 hours, then feed then sleep for 3-4 more hours. Then came the bronchiolitis and ear infections at 3.5 months where he needed constant comfort and could not be put down, so he slept in our bed for a couple of weeks. Then came the holidays where there were spiders in pack-n-plays and I thought my husband was going to die, so we all slept together to be close to each other and didn't care about sleep training at the time.

So with all the drama behind us for now (knock on wood) we are trying to get our bed back. For about 4 nights now we have been very firm with him sleeping in his bed from bedtime (7:30 to 8:30 ish) until 5am. We still give him a bottle in the middle of the night (I have read that he can go 8 hrs, but we only make him go 6 or 7 hrs between the last p.m. feeding and the wee hour a.m. feeding). We have gotten so frustrated and exhausted from the MANY wakings at night that we have considered using a cry-it-out method. But I can't do it, it breaks my heart.

I have done the research on different methods and what I read is that it doesn't matter what method you use, you just need to be consistent with it. HERE is the problem: 2 working parents, with commutes, nightly daycare prep, cooking and cleaning = exhaustion and an attitude of "just get it done." So when I saw the word consistent, I knew that the Ferber method was not for me- I knew I would break down and go in to comfort him ALL the time. Instead we have chosen a "no-tears method" which simply enough is doing what we were already doing: going in his room and comforting him by giving him his passy, rocking him, feeding or holding him until he calms down and then leaving him in his crib; also this method involves the "bed-time routine (another thing we have yet to establish due to exhaustion: ours will be bath, bottle, book and rocking). This method takes more time but I am fine with that. There is a little amount of time I get to spend with Carson at night and I don't want it spent hearing him cry.

So... we have been doing this for a few days now and have noticed a little progress - I am going to attempt to write down the number of times we have to go in there to soothe him and see if it actually works over time. I read that one person had to go in 126 times the 1st night, hopefully it won't be that bad.

Any moms out there with babies 5+ months old with any advice (other than CIO or putting baby in bed with us) I would love to hear it. Seriously...I would love some comments on this, I have been hearing crickets on my postings :)

Saturday, January 2, 2010

5 Months

My baby is 5 months old today! He has changed so much this month.
-He is very active and wants to be independent :(
-Likes to sit in the corner of the couch and play
-He loves the bumbo, high chair, and and MAINLY the Jumperoo
-Does not like the swing and bouncy seat anymore
-He eats banana cereal from a spoon and still is a little unsure about it
-Takes 7 oz every 3 hours
-Sleeps 1/2 the night in his crib and the other 1/2 with mama and daddy
-He is very ticklish all over and laughs a lot
-Still loves the TV
-He talks a lot, his favorite word is Ahhhhhh, he now says the ba sound and I heard a da as well
-Loves to hold toys and put them in his mouth
-Still has a lot of blonde hair (its almost time for a CUT)
-Still has blue eyes
-Weighs about 14 lbs and is 25.5 inches long
-He has rolled over a few times but we still haven't witnessed it
-He is now aware of Chase and Charlie and watches them play
-Fits into size 2 diapers and 6 month clothing (can still squeeze into 3-6 mo)
This is his hair after a bath before we comb it

Sitting in the bumbo playing

First time in the high chair

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy 2010!

Happy New Year! This is us at the 2010 ring in. Carson woke up right after the ball dropped!