Chantale Turgeon ~ Mommy Moments 2006

We went to the Mommy Morning at the CLSC today to weigh him and consult a nutritionist. I enjoy these mornings as my son gets to interact and play with others his age. I also get to check out the other babies and realize that mine seems to be perfectly normal among them (no I didn't doubt it, but it's very neat to see). Obviously as he gets older his social interactions get more advanced, but this morning he had us cracking up as he babbled to everyone he saw, the girls, the boys, the adults...he had a serious case of the verbal diarrhea. One lady just chatted him up so much that they were both in hysterics after the fact as Kyle just listened...and kept on talking. I swear he told them the story of his life so far. :)

We weighed him (17 lbs 5oz) and I admit he's on the large size, the nurses were shocked at him, both in size and that he sits by himself and rolls around. He wears 12month pjs and onesies and it's been a month he's been wearing size 3 diapers. We had to go through his closet pulling out more 'big' clothes and putting away tons more. Thankfully all the gifts he's getting now are size 18months to 24 months. I'm sure he's going to slow down and steady off eventually.

Anyways, I left there with answers and feeling very good about myself, the fact I've been storing milk means that we can keep him on BM for quite a while, the trick is finding a way to have him drink it from a second party :)

Now it's nap time for him and time to make some food for him. On the menu today is beans (yellow and green), acorn squash, zucchini, pears and peaches. Now only if he can stop bitting himself and wailing everytime a spoon gets near him. Poor thing hasn't gotten control of those chompers yet.

hhhhmnn nb v v bbbbbvcv dvv xc

that's kyle punching away at the keyboard. :)

Remember what I wrote about nap...well forget about it, today is the nope, I'm exhausted but I WILL NOT NAP for more than 90 seconds. I'm really wearing down though. Today would be a great day for a car ride to make him snooze, true I couldn't nap with him, but atleast it would make him rest to be in a decent mood.

I'm also out of rice cereal, well the kind he likes, I tried the other kind to try to feed him and only got bubbles and the cereal blown all over myself. Nice touch. Yet he keeps eating his sleeve - duh he's obviously hungry but just too damn picky.

Last night he had oatmeal, sweet potatoes and his first pears - oh the yummy pears! I also put on a onesie that had been accidently dried with a static sheet. This morning ... rash is showing again. So which is is, the oatmeal? The pears? Or the outfit? Or is he teething again? Your guesses are as good as mine.

Tonight is bath night in his new tub/seat. We've searched HIGH and LOW to find something that will make him and us happy. Finally I found a bath that was given to me back when I was pregnant that I stored at my parents house that converts into a sitting position. The trick is that our roman tub has no sides to hook onto, and also has an antislip bottom so any of those sucker things won't do either. We also had bought a toddler tub where he can sit in it, but the problem with it is that he likes to kick and be on his tummy in the tub and this only allows for sitting and hardly any playing. A downfall to having an extremelt active kid. It's also a pain in the arse to wash his hair when he is sitting. The word toddler is also very misleading since you expect to have a baby in there until a year or 2, but really once they hit 20lbs it's too small. Hopefully this will do the trick for our big bouncy boy.

Anyways, thankfully I got more sleep last night, was up only once at 3 to feed, then again at 7 to feed, then at 8am for good. Last night wasn't pretty. I wasn't good. It's bizarre that when I'm stuck in a situation it's very difficult to see that there is a problem. Instead I just kept trying (to no avail) to calm a cranky baby. It wasn't until Mike came home that he realized that our son was as miserable as I was and suggested that he was in pain. Duh I feel like a twit. If tylenol (or even gripe water) could have fixed the problem then my day would have been completely different. In fact I don't think I would have broken down either. I dealt with him kicking, screaming, crying, all day, only by 6pm to get hit in the nose with his head. It was the last straw. Heck I didn't even get a chance to eat yesterday, everytime I went for the fridge (I even served myself food) he'd shriek at the top of his lungs.

Like I said, thankfully I slept more, and it's friday.

Started a new routine today. It was suggested by the CLSC nurse. It involves breakfast. So far Kyle's been sleeping through or just BF for breakfast. She insisted on trying to fit in cereal, then veggies for lunch then cereal for supper. So far he ate a little breakfast 3tbsp at 8:30, napped for an 90 minutes, woke up played, ate 3 cubes of yellow beans for lunch at 12:30 which were a bigger hit than pears a few days back!

Played for another hour alone on his mat, until his back got tired (he only wants to sit now), I cuddled with him for abit, BF again for 10 minutes and he fell asleep again for his afternoon nap. This is good so far. The nicest part, he's in a decent mood, very little yelling and screeching. I know babies need routine, so hopefully this will continue to go well for the evening. I could seriously get used to good days like this. Let's hope that slowly and surely he'll give up that middle of the night feeding and finally sleep right through. I see it slowly improving, last week he only went 4 hours at a stretch, then a few nights back he slept 5 hours in a row, last night he did 6 for a first time. Hopefully in a few weeks things will be normal! :) Whatever normal means.

It seemed to have worked for today! Mommy is very happy and relieved, baby actually asleep much earlier than usual (8:15). He had a huge dinner 4 cubes of beans and about 4-5 tbsp of rice. BF like mad afterwards too. Then he jolly jumped for almost 20 minutes (without any sign of letting up) when we decided that it was enough on his chubby legs. Withing 5 minutes he cuddled into me, had a last cozy nursing session (5 minutes) and his lights went out. :)

What a perfect day. I don't know if the breakfast helped, I don't know if keeping him on a regimented schedule helped, but he was great, his mood was great, his naps were great, his appetite was great. May we be blessed with more days like this.

Let's see what the evening has in store for us...

This morning was interesting an very cozy. Kyle's much more predictable now with his meals and sleeping. 3 naps a day, 3 meals a day, 4-5 BF times a day, bed at 9pm, last snack and cuddle at 10:30 or 11pm, sleeps until 4am, then until morning. Oh and he's up for good at 8am. :) The times he's awake he's in much better moods and loads of fun to play with. With all the sitting he's doing it's given both of us much more freedom, he will sit there for 30-45 minutes and play alone while I do whatever I have to. Once he's tired of the floor, I sit him in his play pen for more time.

It's about time that my son slept 8hours in a row. For him and for our sanity that is. :) He went to bed really early 8pm, and was out until 4am. Ate 25 minutes then slept until 8 where I heard him play until 8:45 when I finally dragged my butt out of bed. Then at 10:30 after breakfast he took a nap (which he's still doing). Days are much better now with this semi routine. :) We probably should have gone to bed early as well...we will never learn. :(

Things are moving along now with the extra fruits and water (thanks Arin) that we are giving him. I should really be trying to give him 2 bottles a day but I find it really hard #1 fighting him #2 pumping for the bottle only to be wasted #3 if I don't pump then I get engorged and I don't want to decrease my milk supply yet. Maybe in a couple of weeks I'll do the milk thing, for now I'll keep the bottle for water.

Yay for us, 8pm (again his bed times are much earlier than previously) until...5am! In fact he woke up at 3 but fell back to sleep without us having to get out of bed. In fact at 5 after his feed he was awake and talking quietly to his mobile and fell asleep again on his own. This is really good. I had to wake him up at 7:15 so we can bring Mike to the train. Had an early breakfast and is now taking his first nap.

How is it that I get more baby food on my face and fingers than Kyle? Rice up on my nose, my ears, my shirt...get the point?

Oh and I've established that bibs are made for mommy more than baby. :) Protects baby from me spilling on him :)

Happy 2nd Birthday to our puppy Casey!

1410 km in 2 days and 22 hours...with a 5 month old and a funeral service in between. I'm glad we're home.

Happy 1/2 birthday to Kyle Ethan! My little boy is 6 months old today. He's the most wonderful and adorable thing in the world. Sure there are things that aren't as they should be, like I'm still up once a night at 2:30 to feed him, he doesn't roll over anymore (he can, we work on it every day) he just doesn't see the need to do it, and he doesn't take a bottle. Those are really the only things that cause somewhat of an argh.

However he does a bunch of other things that I guess compensate for it, like he BF in 20 minutes or less. He falls asleep on his own, he sings and dances with the music I put on, he can jump like a kangaroo for at least 25 minutes in his jolly jumper, he loves being on his tummy in the bath so he can kick and splash around. He's still not a super cuddly baby and I get my loving from him when he falls asleep on me, but on the flip side he's extremely aware and curious. It's been a while that he knows and responds to his names(both Kyle and Ethan), he can entertain himself for a good 30-45 minutes on his own either in his playpen or on his mat.

His teeth are just so adorable, since he's quite the happy baby and usually has a big smile on his face, his teeth just peek through for those toothy grins. :) As for his looks he's got the these intense crystal blue eyes, not hints of any other colour. They have a dark blue rim and go light blue almost white at places. His hair still causes confusion so I named it oak. We've established that it's got the same blond, light brown and rusty shades as oak. He's no longer got bald spots, but this light hair all over that has a tendency to stick up. He's getting bigger every day (probably a reason why rolling over slowed down a bit) he wears 12 and sometimes 18 months clothes, size 3 diapers still, and size 6-12 for pants. Some days I feel like he's a mini Hulk (minus the green) he just seems to burst out of his clothing!

He eats pretty much anything we give him (excluding...commercial baby food). This we discovered this past week. He won't eat store bought fruits or veggies, those little containers are really useless to us, except for storing the ones I make. Imagine the joy on our faces when we discovered this on the road. Anyways his menu includes squash acorn and butternut, sweet potatoes, carrots beans both yellow and green, peas, zucchini, peaches, pears, apples, bananas, and apricots. Barley and rice, not so much the oats yet, but I assume we'll get there soon. As for his routine, it's breakfast, play, nap, lunch, play, nap, supper play and sleep from 7:30pm to 2:30am, then from 2:45am to 7:30am. It's pretty set, God forbid though his morning nap gets messed up, then we have a cranky pants on our hands :)

All and all he's a good boy, looks so grown up already from that little bundle that we took home from the hospital, heck he doubled his birth weight at 4 months so no wonder! His favorite toy seems to be Casey, and vice versa. They play together as much as they can all day long! In fact Casey's routine is wake up and check all the bedrooms to make sure everyone is there, she seems to take attendance, it's quite funny!

Off to swim class now!

I think he slept through the night...uhm. I don't remember getting up, but I may have I just have no recollection of it though. If I didn't get up then he slept through his first night in months. Then again he was exhausted took a 4 hour nap from 4:30 until 8:30 (we thought he may ruin his night) but he turned around ate and fell asleep at 10 until I got up at 6:40. Then again at 8:40.

Kyle hates the water at swimming. Not that he hates swimming or water or playing in the water, the bloody water is freezing.

He did the cutest thing this morning. Melted my heart. I think it's the first time he did something on his own to interact with us, I got him up and at 9 we were hanging in bed, he sat there while I fought to get my headache under control to get up and make breakfast for him. I had the side of my head on the pillow looking up at him, he then tipped himself voluntarily over, put his head on Mike's pillow and looked at me and babbled. So he lay there for a good 3-4 minutes, on his side, head on Daddy's pillow looking into my eyes and talking. Seriously melted my heart. Until he grabbed my eyelashes and drooled on Mike's pillow, but that's okay. He rocks my world.

Kyle got his vaccination last night (thankfully just 1 this time) and why not take a guess as to whom we got as a nurse...that's right...the same damn bitch as the first time. I REALLY did try to give her a chance, she's just lame and insensitive, and where I think there must be people who like her, I just don't. Total personality conflict. So gave him the shot, I took a bandaid from her desk (not as if she offered it to my bleeding son) and we left. Grrr...just don't like her. It's not just me either, Mike isn't too fond of her. Whatever, it's done. He's fine. The bandaid is off, he's once again feeling fine, no fever, no grumpiness. He slept wonderful too. I slept...6, that's right 6 hours in a ROW!!! So much so, that at 5:10 when I came back to bed, I was wide awake for 45 minutes! The sleep though didn't last log as by 7:25 he was crying because he covered his head with a blanket and couldn't get out. Silly guy! Oh..he weighes 18lbs 5oz (totally empty stomach) :) After he eats he gets the biggest cutest belly to the point if he's wearing jeans I have to unbutton them! :)

This weekend we have a baptism (and are missing the swimming class) :( The boy has been to 2 baptisms and a funeral in his 6 months on earth. There's also a wedding next year for him!

We brought Kyle over to his grandparents this afternoon where he was fed lunch, played in the playpen, went for a 90 minute walk and ... didn't cry once for the entire time he was babysat! We left as he took his frist spooful of squash and had ourselves a wonderful meal at the Willows in Hudson. With the wonderful warm weather it was absolutely perfect! We had adult time, no kids around to watch or tend to, a great meal (which will also be our supper considering how much we ate!) and best of all, my son was perfect! His grandparents had a wonderful time with him and insisted that we do this more regularly!! We won't necessarily always go out for lunch, but I know Hudson has some really nice places to visit.

Anyways we are home now, my boys are sleeping and my dog wants to play ball. What a wonderful afternoon!

I've said it before but I really do have to be extra careful now, I can't have anything with onions, or cooked in onions for as long as I continue to BF. Kyle just cannot digest it and gets horrible cramps. He woke up yelling 3-4 times last night because of supper. Poor thing, thankfully gripe water helped.

I can't believe the weekend I was so looking forward has past already! It was quite lovely with many outings and social visits. Kyle was just the hit of the party everywhere we went. It's been about 3-4 days where he's extremely sociable, cute and funny. He started saying no. Actually it's more shaking his head in the 'No' motion. Turns out that means he's tired and wants to sleep. :) When he's super tired his mobile even annoys him and he whines at it until it turns off :) So like I was saying he's just the funniest little guy who talks and babbles ALL day long. No joke, start talking to him and he'll tell you the story of his life...twice :) His new personality and uber-cuteness has resulted in many melted grand parents and family members.

Another random thing, we made a Walmart run and bought Kyle Tigger swimming trunks, they are adorable! Pictures will be taken! Also picked up 2 children CD's with classic nursery rhimes and classical music. In fact we have a 40 disc classical music collection already, it was more for the other songs. You see I know the songs, not the lyrics, so instead of saying "La La La LA LA" I'll have actual words! We kind of needed it since both Mike and I didn't grow up with these songs so we have to learn them too now. :) So we got a Car Ride Songs, and Classic Lullaby one. They start off really fun then slowly move onto the soft classical ones, very well made I must say and for 4.88$ for 17 songs, not a bad buy at all! :) They will accompany us on the next 6 hour car ride that we will take in 7 1/2 days. :) (Mike's counting his Do-Dos)

I think teeth and the pain that causes babies is what is causing my son to be miserable. No miserable doesn't seem to do it justice. He's been yelling (shrieking) ALL day long. So much that my brain feels shaken by the constant piercing yells. My eyes water, my brain feels like it vibrates against the sides of my skull. ALL bloody day long. He managed to fall asleep, woke up yelling with cramps it seems. Don't know why that is. His body seems to be changing and he doesn't seem to like it. His cheeks got red again (they were completely fine yesterday) and the drool machine is working full force. Tempra and Gripe...nothing seems to work. The hardest part is that nursing is extremely painful. Both physically and emotionally. BF really takes a hit with the onset of PMS. Not only does it hurt because I'm sensitive my milk supply goes from something like 8-10oz to 1oz (literally). No matter how often I feed him (which is very often as a result) nothing improves and he's left starving and frustrated whereas I am in pain and frustrated at the sudden lack of milk. Sure I could supplement...if he'd take a fuckin' bottle. So I'm left in a pissy mood, PMSing and unable to provide for my baby with nipples that hurt like hell that the last thing I want to do is have anyone or anything near my boobs. The thought of cold turkey weaning has crossed my mind many a times, but it's just not the way I want to proceed, it would be too harsh on both of us. Granted Mike has tried giving him a bottle he just doesn't seem to stick with it very long, we would need a complete outsider with loads of patience to give it a shot...good luck finding one who wants to fight with a 6 month old.

Kyle seems very resentful of my enforcement of this rule. Sure he got tummy time before but he's been seeming lazy. Not turning over at all in weeks either way and not reaching for things anymore. Granted he sits like an 8 month old and loves to play that way, I was warned that if I don't insist he may try to skip this gross motor skill. He's not liking it. Changing the diaper kind also seems to help, may sound stupid but the Pampers Baby Dry seem much more bulky than the Cruisers and allows him to move much more. the thing is I have 108 Baby Dry diapers that are unopened.

In other news... he sticks out his tongue.

Just a few recent pictures...I've been horrible at keeping my things up to date. I will try harder, he's just awake so much more during the day!

Only my son could loose his voice. That's right, confirmed by the doctor (who he just happened to have an appointment with today). My 6 month old "strained" his voice. How you may ask...read previous posts. So today he sounds like he spent 3 days at a rock concert, it's really painful to listen to.

That aside, he perfectly healthy. Not too big, not too small, between 50-75 for everything. 8.29kg He was really trying to charm the doctor because everytime she said something he didn't like (ie flu shot, systematic ignoring in regards to sleeping through the night) he would shake his head back and forth saying no. It was hilarious...just kept saying no.

He's kind of quiet today (literally and physically) he's snuggled most of the morning while we visited Arin and Liam. They were quite funny to watch, just checking each other out Liam kept wanting to tug at his hair...or toupette I should say :)

Oh...and just to prove me wrong...he's creeping today.

Dear Arin,

Thank you for coming ALL the way to my house to hand deliver my most precious blue doggy. If I could speak I would have thanked you, however you got the next best thing that I know how to do, stick my tongue out at you. I really do love Spunky, and sure I missed him yesterday at the doctors but I still managed to be a good boy without him. Just so you know how much it meant to me, I sucked and chewed on his ears and tail all afternoon long (I had to make up for lost time you see). So thank you again for being my hero today and for understanding his importance to me, only a really good Mommy could understand.

Love & wet kisses,

Kyle Ethan

Dear Kyle:

It was my pleasure to restore Spunky to your loving care. I know that if I left a precious friend like that somewhere, I would want him to come home to me as soon as possible because I would miss him and worry that he would be frightened without me. But I do want you to know that we took very good care of him while he was here, and he told me that he was looking forward to the car ride home to you, and to cuddling with you again.

Love back,

Arin

All day again. I remember this whiny thing happening way back before a tooth came in. It's so typical though, signs of teething, no tooth, more signs of teething, no tooth, and even more definite signs of teething, and still no tooth. Let's just say that Mike came home and within 25 minutes he was fed up. Fair enough, long day at work, it just gives you a sense of the crying and demand this baby is putting on us.

Sure his nights are somewhat better, not that we've had to do any systematic ignoring, but because a last nursing at 10 or 11 is usually enough to make him last through till 5 or 6am. I probably would ignore him if the reason wasn't hunger, but I can't let him yell with an empty tummy.

Oh I also wanted to note that Kyle even despite his pissy mood went to the pool yesterday. We expected the worse given his temperament, but it turned out delightfully well! He didn't bawl or whine. The problem in the past (as we thought) was the pool water was way too darn cold. I'm sure if eh could talk he's complain about major shrinkage. The fixed it and he just had a wonderful time, Mike even dunked him under water! Check the cute trunks he's got, sure they go to his ankles when he stands, but he didn't seem to mind at all!

Tomorrow I have a morning rendez vous with the CLSC for babies and nutrition. Should be interesting. My son eats blueberries, chicken, soy cereal and wheat cereal. I know the 3-4 day rule, my grandmother doesn't seem to stress to much over it and next thing I knew my son was eating a new food a day. :) He survived! He's a growing boy with such a big appetite! He's continually eating and can only seem to go a max of 6 hours without food, thus nights suck. Last night I fed him at midnight, 4am and breakfast at 8. We did try to 'ignore' his 4am cries, after 20 minutes though he was still howling. He's eating 1/2 cup of cereal morning and night with fruits, veggies and meat and nursing 3-4 times a day. Isn't that enough for him not to wake up hungry?!?

What does 'wah' mean?

I have no clue what it means. He's obviously trying to talk to me, but 'Wah' doesn't mean anything!!!

Anybody have clues?

-Wah-

I've been quiet. Yes. To be truthful it's been very difficult these past few weeks. He's a great, funny and just the best little thing...if he's in a good mood. But... Just to let me into my world, Kyle's been waking up 2-3 times a night. The worst times, not that there any good ones, but the really hard ones. He's been waking up between 10:45 and 11:45 every night. This is tough because I can't bring myself to go to bed and anticipate the wake up. So I never feel like I go to bed for the night, just naps. So we've been staying up (with good reason I've finished the 1st season and all the extras of Grey's Anatomy in 2 days). I should say I've seen it twice in 2 days, that's more exact. :) Anyways to bed after midnight every night, waking up at 2 or 3, then again maybe at 4, then he's up for good at 6. It's been terribly difficult. Valentine's day was nice, even through the foggy haze that covered my brain, Mike came home to make me supper every night. I just have not been able to think, let alone prepare for supper. On top of it all he's (the baby that is)been so demanding, so whiny, just yelling and screaming at me. For pete's sake I can hear you, I just don't know what you're trying to say!!! No tears, no whine, just yelling out of frustration.

He's getting really good at propping himself on his hands, he's advancing at his own pace, he just refuses to roll over. Damn, the dog rolls over better than him. It's frustrating and I don't know if I should worry. He's strong enough, just won't do it. He does stand on his own now, he can hold onto the sides of the couch or our hands and just stand around. It's cool. He's the coolest little guy...who yells.

I'm tired now, I want a hot bath, I finished making Kyle chicken, here's something interesting, he doesn't like it smooth, my son likes to chew so I have to leave little pieces for him to masticate when I prepare it for him. Funny little dude! I guess the potatoes I made a while back that were chunky now please him :)

Kyle is 7 months old now and just wonderful. Well sure he's got his moments (don't we all) but overall he's just the cutest little guy! We have bought him a new car seat, it's Cosco Alpha Omega 3-1. We've been pushing it off but the fact his little toes pass the end of his current means we really couldn't wait too much longer. In the store the seat looked so big and I was afraid my son would be lost in such a thing, instead to my surprise Mike put him in is and he sat so well and filled it out nicely. Ack! You know what that means, my mommy vision is all screwed up and my son isn't a baby but is a little boy. Seriously...it's crazy. I'm happy with this purchase since it's good until he's 80lbs and technically a booster seat as well so we won't need to purchase any others. Not for him anyways...

To mark his 7 months his grandparents got him these Brilliant Baby's First Blocks, a heating plate, an outfit with a vest, and an awesome rain suit. I just can't stomach how quickly it all flies by, these outfits are for little boys, in fact when I went shopping the other day I realized that I no longer go to the baby section, but instead to the boy section to pick outfits. Here's another shocker, can't find any onesies...why would hta be, well he's too big and should now be wearing t-shirts. sigh...I'm going to be the sappiest mother.

His teeth are coming in, we are quite aware of this with all the yelling he's been doing. Bad yelling, screaming in pain, it's been hard to deal with and try to calm him down, but we know it's that. Just pierce already! He's had some decent nights too, sleeping much more, excluding last night where he successfully managed to cry enough that we kept him in bed until morning, that and Mike isn't feeling too shit hot, it was SO much FUN! By 8, he woke up, grabbed my face and squealled. Hopefully tonight will be much better, nursing for 90 minutes straight isn't fun...especially at 2 in the morning and then again at 4.

Our friends noticed the other day that his eyes got a much lighter blue, I hadn't realized but it's true, he's got sparkling light blue eyes. His hair is also coming in nicely and I pretty much have to comb it every day and we also started brushing his 2 teeth which he thoroughly enjoys. He goes crazy in his jolly jumper and we might have to stop him from using it anymore as he figured out how to swing side to side and back and forth. Those 2 clamps just aren't strong enough to hold this kid and we are petrified that they will give under his gymnastics. The thing is we don't have another way for him to do such things. I saw an excersaucer for 50$ at Walmart but it's still so expensive for us.

I don't recall if I mentioned his report card on Sunday at his swimming, it's was such a moment, my son getting a report card for his accomplishments, which were basically how well he lies on his back and that he doesn't spend the entire 30 minutes yelling anymore. :) Probably the fact he's gotten more comfortable with his body and the water is warmer. He can stand on his own and pull himself up to that position, it's so adorable when he's there wiggling his little butt and has the biggest and proudest smile on his face. Ah the things they do that make your heart melt.

Some 7 months pictures that are too cute not to post. I've had one heck of a time trying to add more pictures on his website, the journals are done, but it seems that I've just stopped taking as many pictures as before. These are 2 cute ones that show him recently around 7 months old.

Ignore our *clean* clothes and look at our son in the basket. This is multitasking at it's best, this way baby is entertained by our socks and we get to fold!

After a long 6 hour drive the best thing in the world is washing up! The best place is in grandma's sink that he hardly fits in! The next time we were convinced to use the bathtub where he could splash around!

So Kyle's got his first fever. It sucks for baby and parents. He cried all night long, could not sleep more than 45 minutes at a time, the poor little boy just so miserable. Finally at 5am after being up every 45 min all night long we decided to tuck him into our bed, which means snuggled between a pillow and right under my left arm. This puts Mommy in the middle and Daddy squished to one side. He nursed and then finally fell asleep until 8:45 this morning (which is unheard of for him). The other kids were so wonderful because as we woke up the had made us breakfast in bed, Mike got cereal, I got toast and oatmeal with 2 HUGE glasses of orange juice. We are very fortunate to have such great munchkins.

So on the flip side, the little one is not good in his skin but is thankfully drinking lots of water from his cup on top of nursing frequently. I wasn't going to call the pediatrician, but considering it's his first one when I called to ask if I should bother making an appointment or if I should wait it out a couple of days they were really insistent that we go considering his age. Hoky doky. 3pm it is. It's a low grade fever, hovers between 38C and 39.4C and it started last night. I knew he wasn't feeling well (I assumed those nasty teeth were the cause) and at 10:45 it was confirmed when he woke up yelling and hot. Yes right at the end of Grey's Anatomy! Argh! Thank goodness for VCRs! :)

I'm glad Mike is home this week for March break, I just hear Kyle yelling upstairs, I just know how draining it would have been if I were with 3 kids and alone.

Was she supposed to reassure the first time mother by giving a consult for the Children's hospital so her 7th month old son can have a catheter plugged into him to check for a UTI. Was her saying that it could be roseola or even get this an abnormality in his kidneys that was causing the fever. The reason all this came out was because he was really hasn't had other symptoms. Had it been the common cold with teary eyes, runny nose and sneezing then we would be in the clear, but it's not that. So...here I'm sitting (literally it's in my back pocket) on this consult and if he doesn't improve...ie. his constant crying and yelling we have to rush him to the ER.

Why can't it be his teeth or a damn cold. I would be very content with a nasty cold.

So Mommy is coping the best that she can, Daddy is thankfully home so that we can pass him back and forth trying to comfort this little one from the constant crying. I wish my Mommy radar could know what was troubling my little boy.

I just hope he gets better. Soon.

So Kyle' temperature had dropped overnight to 38.2C (with much relief) only to shoot right back up at 9am to 39.4C. He was in a better mood, but now is just gone back to whining and crying. He slept better in 4 hour stretches, but hasn't gotten anywhere. Tempra still, just gave him a lukewarm bath to lots of TLC, but we are lost at what else to do. His gums aren't swollen like everyone suggests they should be if he were teething. sure he's got a mild runny nose (like wipe 4 times a day) but nothing else. We really don't want to go to the hopsital for all those nasty tests. We did agree that if by tomorrow there was no improvement then off we'd go, but I'd rather have my baby better. I always thought the hospital was if something was drastically wrong, non-responsive SUPER high fever and no appetite.

It's funny now, wasn't funny before, but now it's funny. It could be the serious lack of sleep also or the fact we now know what Kyle has. Roseola. What's roseola, a common infantile disease. So common that by the time kindergarden rolls around, most kids have been infected by the virus. It's no fun at all for baby considering it causes irritability. The baby has trouble sleeping (waking up every 15 minutes all night long), is considerably irritable (cranky pants doesn't even get close to describing it), naturally clingy, a fever, swollen eyelids (which he got tonight) and a slight runny nose (like I mentioned in a previous post I think, I had to wipe his nose twice today). Once the fever breaks, then the rash appears. In his case it's a slight rash, and I would have first blamed it on excessive drool, BUT it spread to his waist and back (and my son doesn't drool on his back). The rash is only superficial and doesn't bother the baby at all. Thank goodness for small favors because holding a 20lbs baby for 3 straight days is demanding enough.

So case closed, we can all move on with our lives I can stop annoying all those who read me, but the only thing I can say in my defense, my baby had his first infantile disease, I think I'm entitled to write about it :)

Ah my boy is all spotted this morning. Nice rash on his neck, and trunk (not an elephant trunk but torso!) ;)

Not pretty looking but it could be worse. The thing we are still fighting with is his screwy schedule, lunch and supper times have flown out the window completely it seems and so has going down to sleep all by himself. It will take a couple of regimented days to get back into the swing of things.

Yesterday night about 5 minutes before Mike got home Kyle decided a few things, to crawl and to say Mama. Now he gets around everywhere and grab everything in our non-child proof house and sometimes says 'mama' when he sees me. His inspiration was to get a dog toy about 5 feet away...sigh... he got it.

He also comes out with the occassional 'up' and has his arms stretches out to pick him up. Then in the bath he clued in the splash effect and loved it.

He's a very grabby kid who often whines when he doesn't get his way... the joy ;) He also switches from a fake cough to panting to get our attention.

Now...he's downstairs, crawled off the mats and is on the cold concrete floor. Gotta GO!

SpiderBaby

This kid crawls across the floor like spiderman scales a wall. Sticky hands and sticky toes and off he goes. with this new found skill he goes for EVERYTHING in his sight now. He even spends his time crawling across me or over me. Explain to him I'm his Mommy and not an obstacle course!!

Another beautiful day for a walk!

I sure hope that saying sticks since it's been 2 successful full nights for Kyle. Down at 7:30 or 8 until 5am for a feed then up at 7:15 for good. It's a good schedule. He's always been great with a routine, in fact I think the days where things just melted down was that I didn't follow HIS routine. The difficult part though at this moment (and it's only a slight inconvenience) is that when it's nap time or bed time we need access to his crib. He sleeps there. The only other option that works is a car ride or in his stroller while walking. So it's a little difficult for things like Wednesday for example when I have a hair dressers appointment at 11am. His nap should be okay, but lunch time is not far behind and how the heck am I going to feed him in while my hair is getting done? Things like Friday we marked the 10th anniversary of our congregration where we got married and Kyle got Baptised it was at 8pm (his bedtime) and no crib in sight. Even with stroller in hand, we had a cranky tired baby and thus had to leave. Yes it sucked, but hey, atleast he's a great kid otherwise so I don't mind if our social life suffers for a while.

Swimming was fantastic yesterday and I have some great pictures to upload and show off! He was in the best of moods. Ever since the crawling thing began his frustration level went way down (THANK GOD!) and now he's in a great mood!

This weekend was extremely productive and exhausting as a result but I have stuff to show for it. 1) 4 shirts and 2 pants from Jacob for my birthday 2)a t-shirt, socks and outfit for my guys. 3) an exersaucer from Kyle's grandparents that we all thoroughly enjoy. 4) cleaned the yard of winter dog stuff, and of excess bird seeds before they hit the lawn. 5) spent all of Saturday outside in the fresh air with my son and husband. 6) had some yummilicious french pasteries with coffee. 7) went grocery shopping. 8) cleaned the house from top to bottom. 9) took Kyle swimming and will register him for the next session but this time at Pointe Claire where they have an actual toddler pool. 10) the laundry is all done

I know I did more, but that alone was accomplished in 1 1/2 days. This morning I finished dusting and sweeping and cleaning the floors. It's only 10am and it's great!

So I'm 3/4 done my spring cleaning. I'm also 1/2 done my house proofing...not that I can ever fully be house proofed, nor do I want to, I just had to take away and move some dangerous things, or things that caught his attention (like the gamecube wires).

This little guy keeps me on my toes that's for sure. He's not even walking and those who watch him say he's got a firecraker up his a$$. Not even a week into mobility and he darts around the rooms and is constantly harassing the dog. He spends as much time in her cushy basket as she does...and sometimes it's together. His biggest burst of energy is the morning, I can hardly keep him in his high chair to eat as he's itching to get a move on. We call him 'wiggly worm' as he can't sit still!

So the only things left is wash the floors, and clean the windows. The thing that might slow me down is that I pulled a muscle in my knee today. Bleh.

We went out for a walk today, I'm really looking forward to warmer weather when the neighbours start poking their heads out. Kyle being born in late July didn't give us many occassions to go outside with him, the rare evening on our patio, and even then. Now he's older it's SO much easier to go out. In his snow suit I didn't even strap him in the stroller I just carried him around the block in my arms. There's something so sweet and close to hold your bundled boy in your arms while he discovers the world around him. My backyard neighbour did a double take when he saw him, the last time they got a glimpse of him he was 2 weeks old!

I had a nice weekend, nice supper with friends, productive weekend at home, nice time with kids, and now we are tuesday. Went to the ped yesterday with Kyle who was rubbing his ears this weekend...teething. No infection yay! Mike and I are burnt, the kind of eyes closing while you drive tired. So I guess that falls under exhausted. Kyle has been waking up screaming at night...again. and again. and again. My head is so heavy it threatens to fall right off my shoulders. Ofcourse being in this condition I drove today. Registered for swimming, and Kyle got down right spoiled by his Auntie Sylvie! A bunch of outfits and even a new pair of size 4 shoes! When did he get to size 4?!?! Now the little wiggly pants hasn't napped all afternoon and mommy is wiped. By 9am I had made 3 batches of food for him and last night we made food for 3 hours. I realize that he eats a TON. A small improvement, he took 3 sips of milk from a sippy cup. :)

What I would give to sleep. Anyone want to watch him for awhile?

Going to have a play date on Thursday and again on Saturday. It's good to socialize my little Mama's boy ;)

They're not suade, or entirely blue... but Kyle's first shoes. I haven't really ever forced the shoe or slipper thing on him as I'm a fond believer that babies need to sense things with their toes and learn balance much quicker that way. Since we now have the toddler car seat and snow suit days are coming to an end, the kid needs shoes! :) We've been holding him in our arms at the stores for a while, and even had him sit in the carriage at IGA and all this time I was wondering why he looked missing - it was shoes. :) Duh.

So with his spring jacket&pants courtesy Grandma and Grandpapa he also has shoes and is ready to go out on the town.

Question for all those mommies who have BF, it's been weeks (if not months) that I have a terrible ache in my chest. Not inside like a cold, but more muscular all along my chest plate. It hurts with every breath I take. I've tried massages (thanks hun!) and stretching but it hurts way too much to touch. Anyone encounter this problem? It sometimes radiates right under my arm and all around my rib cage. I haven't said anything in hopes it'll go away, but it's still there. I gets so much worse and I wonder if it has to do with lifting Kyle in his old car seat and fighting to get it in a 2 door. I also wonder if it has to do with posture (or lack of it when I BF) I've tried different positions and chairs but nothing seems to help. I know that I'm looking forward to May when I can go get a professional massage, hopefully that will ease this pain.

Fascinated by Casey's water bowl (the fun of cleaning that up!) wires, air vents, weight lifting set downstairs, DVD boxes, did I mention wires? He's intrigued by boxes, plastic bags, shoes and boots more like the laces he can suck on, our PJ pants draw strings, if it's got a cord, he will get it and suck up.

This morning it was up and at 'em at 6:25 when I took him out of his crib and went straight for the outlet. So I dashed after him all cross eyed and fuzzy brained to save the little fingers from entering plug. This is how my days begin, giving his mother a heartattack first thing in the morning.

Oh God, I just realized that he's 8 months old today. Like right now. Here I am writing about him and it registers that the little critter is 8 months today. Oh how guilty that I haven't written him a letter or put something together for him today. No wonder we celebrate the years too damn hard to remember the months. What A scatterbrain I've become.

My weekend went "somewhat" like this, got together with friends and my men got their hair cut. That's right Kyle got his first hair cut, it was expected with his bangs poking his eyes. So Daddy held him while Mommy caught the hair that Diane our hairdresser cut. Diane gave me my first hair cut too, so it was a nice heartwarming full circle moment wouldn't you say? Kyle got to see many new people all weekend long and behaved fantastically! We were busy all weekend long, but Sunday the busiest with Kyle's last swimming class and all, next weekend is Pointe Claire time. Oh, I think Kyle lost weight...I weighed him fully clothed on our scale and it's down to 18lbs. This worries me. He's SUPER active, and not nursing frequently enough.

I'm done making huge batches of fruit for Kyle, we were down to our last homemade jar of pears. Phew, that was cutting it close! So now he's got cantalope, pears, peaches, apples and a fruit salad mix. Unfortunately I had to dump the nectarines as they wre bad inside (don't you hate it when that happens!) I love the 4oz jars that I keep, I just make whatever and shove it right back into the freezer, no more counting 3 or 4 cubes of food. I didn't mention a situation of last weekend, I was at Maxi doing some groceries when I stopped in the baby section to look at what they had to offer (no much I may add). Now as I was looking at the different jars of food for ideas on what to make Kyle another mom with her (around) 2 ear old son, the little boy says in french "can I some of this too" pointing to the jarred baby food on the shelf, and then I couldn't believe my ears without a word of exageration "no, that food is for babies who's mommies don't love them. I love you so much that I had never bought you food like that." Did I mention I couldn't believe my ears! So there I stood in front of the shelves and the little boy looking at the 1 jar I had finally picked up (lamb, since I don't make it myself) and I felt like pounding the crap out of the woman. Who tells that to her kid, she could have simply said 'no you're a big boy now' or 'no I make your food' without adding the mommies who don't love their babies. I was in shock until Mike came over to ask about my jaw that was on the ground.

Now I can get some time to myself as he's down for another nap. Today is much better, his bottom is still horrible, but his mood is much better. Thanks for asking.

APRIL 4TH -

I mean... nursing strike.

This has to be by far the crappiest mood Kyle's ever been in. On top of that, he's not nursing. Very unlike Kyle. He's been yelling and just visibly upset at something, he's Tempra'd and Ambesol(sp?) but I have not been able to nurse him since yesterday 4pm. I was able to at 4am this morning but endured 18 bites as a result...but he nursed. I basically crawled back to bed extremely irritated by the biting said something along the lines that the little shit bit me. Then I was painfully engorged he refused all morning, afternoon and he still is refusing to feed. Add also that I got a blocked duct so my boob was terribly aching. I give it to him, the poor guy doesn't know what he wants, he lunges for my shirt then pushes me away crying. Needless to say today has sucked beyond belief.

I even called info-sante for advice about milk, they suggested to wait 2 days that he should come around. Nursing strikes are caused by anything for teething to the unknown and she warned me that I may never know what caused it. She was extremely helpful. If he develops a fever or stops eating altogether then to contact the pediatrician. I feel so damn lonely, like I'm the only mom to experience this becuase none of the women I talk to had it happen to them.

I am also severly PMSing on top of it. My house is a mess since I have literally held him all day and I haven't eaten anything since toast this morning. Add also to my miserable irritability that I feel rejected from my son, which is ridiculous I know, but that's how I feel. I never pictured not being able to nurse him and here I am just falling apart because the little guy wants nothing to do with me. ARGH.

So we have tried giving him BM, no go, bought formula, no go, he maybe took 2 oz in all. He is eating solid food, but nowhere the amount he should be...and considering milk is their main diet for the first year, he is lacking. I did have a box of 'add formula cereal' in the pantry, he thankfully ate enough to take 5oz of milk mixed in. Now...he's yelling and crying.

Things are better, but breakfast has been challenging, he's refusing to eat his cereal. What the boy wants is the toast that I eat. In fact anything on a spoon has been pushed away recently and he's only wanting finger foods. This makes life somewhat more complicated. So I gave him some of my vegetables from the soup I was having yesterday and some pear slices that I had. But yogurt, apple sauce, or meat puree seems to be on hold for now.

All in all though our household is happy again. Getting ready for spring is fun (if the weather would improve). I have to start buying a couple of summer outfits for him. Mainly shorts. He's got a ton of t-shirts, but I would love to get a few nicer outfits.

Also on our list of things to get are baby gates. The boy scoots around and I would love to be reassured that the stairs are blocked. It would also be great to keep him limited to one room at times. He's got this thing of going exactly where I'm not. I'll be cooking he'll be crawling to the living to explore, I'll move to the living room and he'll be heading for the kitchen. Can you see how complicated his 'Exploring' can get? Even though with everything that goes on, he's still the most adorable thing. Such a flirt too! Oh I must also say that he's been doing his nights (more or less) and that he's taking anywhere from 2-3 naps a day. This allows me to...write and clean up! :)

One thing that has been getting annoying is the standard question. The 'when are you getting married?' and once your there, 'when are you having children?' and when he's born "when are you going back to work?" and then "when are you having the next baby?" ARGH! So right now it's the going back to work, since he's been a month old that question keeps popping up. I'm sooooo sick of hearing it. When? Who knows, I'm scheduled back in July. That's all I know for now. So please don't ask me and let me enjoy my last 4 months home with my wonderful baby.

Mornings are pretty cool in our house. Kyle and I have our breakfast, I have a coffee, and orange juice and toast, while he has his fruit, and cereal...and whatever I have. He eats almost everything that I do know. It's no longer a race to eat with him and he'll take his sweet time in the morning. We'll eat for almost an hour now. It's longer since he insists on feeding himself everything, including with the spoon. By the time we are done, there's food everywhere and he's quite the mess. I really don't mind, he learns that way!

Kyle has been nursing more because he's teething. His gums are uber swollen and when I got home from work yesterday his proud papa announced to me he has another one! Yay...but wait...Mom can't seem to find that said tooth. In fact Grandpa can't find said tooth, and when Dad checks, it seems to have gone. :)

Baby update: He'll be 9 months this weekend. That special 9 month mark. I love this little guy so much and everything he does (well minus the yelling) :) His favorite new move, pulling himself up on various furniture pieces, or going from his tummy to sitting and vice versa. I think if anything has given him more mobility has been that, not being stuck on his tummy while crawling. The thing he still does not do is roll over though! The kid will walk before doing that! When he's stuck on his back he just cries there, there's only a handful of times that he's actually flipped himself over. It's just so rare. Remember that tooth, well I see the white point on his gums, it just hasn't pierced yet since it doesn't prick yet. It can't be far off though if we see it!

I'm so fed up. I've had to literally hold Kyle all day long and even when I did he still cried. *Slams head on desk repeatedly* I'm patient but up to a certain point. It's not like holding a baby who gets comforted in your arms, it's dealing with a baby who is crawling all over you, standing on you, spitting on you who won't sit still for 5 damn minutes, who is squirming and flapping you with legs and arms and who insists on still yelling as loud as he can and crying in your face. So before I totally lost my cool with him (alright I admit he pushed my last button when he flung the green beans across the room and had his umpteeth tantrum)I put him in his crib where he shall stay until Mike gets home in 15 minutes. I'm going to go outside and try to let some of the steam escape from my head.

Today was ridiculous. I hate days like this with him. Needless to say I'm glad I'm going to work tonight, I rather deal with the awful pain in my back and legs then with Kyle right now. I also know it's normal for Moms to gets so ticked but honestly he knows how to push my buttons and it drives me up the flippin' wall.

I don't hear him wailing so hopefully (cross your fingers) he's taking a nap.

nevermind, he's awake. I'm going outside.

I had a successful IKEA run yesterday! I was glad to have gone with my friend Shera and her son Nicolas, he's just a great baby! The one thing I seem to have trouble with is the last 10 minutes of a store. Like in IKEA I always miss the frames and plant section because I boot it to the cash to pay while Kyle completely breaks down. Same thing in IGA, it just really sucks that he won't fall asleep in his stroller. Well, he will with my parents, but has yet to do it with us. Anyways shopping usually gets stressful at that point and we end up leaving. I should probably go out more often so he gets the hang of it, but I was never a mall mommy. Maybe I would be if I had someone to go with, not counting baby that is :) Now I should probably take advantage of Kyle's nap to sleep myself. But first I have to say that I was priviledged with the most wonderful cuddles and snuggles last night. First my puppy slept all curled up against my chest, and then after we went to bed within minutes Kyle was crying, I had Mike try to comfort him first but after 15 minutes of him singing 'love me tender' and Kyle still bawling I went in to try. But instead of nursing him like I have always done I hugged him and rubbed his back and whispered 'shhh' 'shhh' in his ear when he got into a ball like a newborn tummy against me, my hand under his bum and he fell asleep against my chest. I think he was 2 days old the last time he did that. The difference this time was that he was so much bigger! In fact what got me all choked up was that he turned 9 months and it was almost like I was holding him for the first time. It felt like I waited another 9 months to hold him that way and it was wonderful. Okay got myself all teary again, time to go.

Kyle is in a great mood today! YAY! First time in weeks! We even had a great lunch! YAY first time in months! He ate some cereal, veal stew, cheese and apple/mango sauce! He didn't pull a fit or a tantrum either for the whole thing 'thank god!"

More teeth coming in, they haven't pierced yet, but any day now. That would bring him up to 6 in all with 4 top and those 2 chompers at the bottom that he's had forever now!

Weaning is successful. It's only partial but let us all do a yay! dance that he takes bottles now. I think it's a combination of me being at work and not around, to spending quality time with 'papa' that he's taken to it. Last night before bed I started to nurse (wanted to keep morning and night) but he refused and bit me (with all those sharp teeth) so I gave him a bottle, he downed 2 of them. It was the first time he took a bottle at that time but it was wonderful for him and for me to get to spend the time bonding with him without nursing. This morning I nursed again and I think it will be it, only once a day. My supply went down so I really can't give him what he needs (his weight loss proves it). I hope that he's gained in the last little while.

Kyle had an awesome day with Auntie Sylvie yesterday, they giggled and squeeled ALL afternoon long. Kyle sang to her, showed her how he can go up to his room climbing all the stairs, showed her how he can stand and walk holding her hand. How well he can work the VCR and DVD, how remotes are WAY cool, how he can stand up against the patio door and look outside and wave to the neighbour (and kiss the window is a given). Then we made a Walmart run to get an emergency baby gate for the top of the stairs.

Oh ya, he also loves trying to play in the toilet...that's right splish splash in the clean cold water. We have to do something about that. He was very considerate this morning when he went ahead to dump the water bowl, he saw mommy very upset at having to clean up the floor yesterday, so this morning he dumped it on the carpet so no water got on the floor and he still got to play. What a considerate little man. :) His new favorite toy has to be our stereo. They joy of him turning the volume too loud and scaring himself. The joy of little fingers everywhere they shouldn't be. Sure he understands 'NO' but just doesn't follow through all the time.

Yesterday he had his first barbecue (not ours for the year, had that weeks ago!) but he had BBQ this time and loved it.

Today I invited a bunch of mommies over for a play date, we were invited to one on Saturday, but I was working, so I am having another today instead.

Kyle's tootsies are FILTHY! We did some barefoot grass walking today and the toes are dirrrrty! I've been getting some slack form people whom shall remain nameless for not taking walks with my baby stroller style. I have insisted that I am not a walking mom that any time we do go is as a family. Instead we spend our days playing and crawling around the backyard. I let the 2 of them (baby and dog) go and it's way more fun than walking. Kyle usually helps Mike and I weed by picking the tops off the weeds, but then acts all european and eats the darn things! So we spent the morning in the grass with lots of grass stains and dirty body parts as he scoots around the yard. Did I mention we'll be glad when the fence comes in...TOMORROW! ACK, made a date with a friend tomorrow, maybe we'll keep an eye on the men at work and ensure they aren't screwing anything up.

So tonight when I go to work Kyle is being watched by grandma. That should go well (as long as they don't get on each other's nerves). They seem to really go at it and it makes everyone laugh except them. We ony assume it's this way because they are the same horoscope -traditional and chinese. I personally think it's because they both want it "THEIR" way or no way. Mom tries to impose her way on Kyle and he won't let her. It turns out to be the war of wills.

I got spoiled from my wonderful husband and children. I gots me an MP3 player! Yippee! I've wanted one for sooooo long and they completely surprised me with one! So I've spent my time uploading all the GA songs and anyone who is a fan would love my tunes. :) I also got breakfast in bed, a clay snail that Melyssa made me and a spider plant from James (which was beat up in a boyish type of way- but still alive).

Thankfully Kyle slept through, my boys today were fighting a gastro. My boys were not in good shape at all. The amount of dirty diapers that were changed today, he even managed to stink me out. I was feeling just woozy all day so the diaper duty went to Mike. I've never had to do that before and I think I just had a mild case, whereas my boys were ... crappy. (excuse the pun).

In fact we had a minor scare tonight when Mike was giving him his evening bottle before bed and Kyle threw up all over him...twice. So after a swift bed change, PJ change, clothes change for Mike, Kyle settled down for bed and thankfully has been good since. Hopefully that was the last of the bug. It lasts 24 hours - my sister had it too.

Kyle rocks. I mean we are so close. It's so bittersweet. He had 2 1/2 bottles today. I'm only nursing him in the mornings now. It's an awesome freedom, yet so much more planning and preparing of bottles throughout the day. We only have 3 and I find myself constantly washing and rinsing them. Not only did he take those bottles, he had it in his morning cereal as well.

I can definately tell a difference in his weight again, I see it in the baby belly, I can feel it in my arms. He's going back up (thank god). But as we are all celebrating the healthy baby, the accepting of bottles, the sleeping through the nights, the growing up, I'm missing the breastfeeding. It went so quickly from a million times a day, to 6 times, to 4 times, to 2 times and now only 1 time and I don't think I'll be able to maintain it much longer. I knew it was coming, and it's a good thing, he needed the nourishment and seperation, but I miss it. What exactly I can't even tell you, I have no clue. What is there that I crave to keep. It's almost like a drug, and nursing him gives me my fix of something, it's physical as well as emotional, but what it is... I don't know.

So there you have it, he's almost weaned, he'll be 10 months in a week, he's not even gone yet and I miss him.

That makes 6 in all. 4 in 10 days, go boy! That should be it for awhile, I don't see signs of the others.

He's in this stage now of not wanting to eat his food but rather ours on our plate with our utensils. sigh...this makes for difficult meals since it's a fight to get his stuff in his mouth. Unless it's ofcourse finger foods, which thankfully he's been eating for about a month now. So most of his veggies and fruits he eats on his own while we try to sneak in his food between bites. The other night he indulged in our lasagna, the other night was ice cream cake, yesterday our rice. The mornings he takes my breakfast, croissants, toast, even cereal he tries to dip his fingers in. He also refuses to eat anything that we serve for him, even if it's the same thing I have, example yogurt. It's normal I assume, sometimes really cute, but gone are the days of making him his meal without a fight. Also are gone are the times that he would keep food for himself, he constantly tries to shove things in our mouths, heck even the dog gets the occassional offering of food. The thing is that he holds it out and as you try to take a bite, he pulls it back and laughs. Funny guy. :) Oh and good news on the banana front he can now eat them without any reaction! Yay! Too a few months, but now I give him slices of bananas and he just shoves them in and demands more! :)

They are popping like popcorn!

oh... and another freakin' tooth. Can anyone understand the mood he's in? Bottom right.

7.

When you hear splish splish splish what do you first think? a) dog drinking water b) birds splashing in a puddle or c) baby fingers in toilet bowl

What do you think? Today Kyle is unbearably cute. I mean really. He is talking and found more sounds to make involving ga, la, ba, ma, pa, ra, and any combination of them bala, gama, just babble babble babble. :) He's in an awesome mood, given that he had 3 teeth in 2 days, and 5 teeth in 2 weeks, give the kid a break! A few weeks back he only had 2 bottom ones.

So in all today with Kyle rocks, the kind of awesome that makes me tear up when I have to leave for work tonight. The kind that breaks my heart when I don't get to be around him. He's just adorable, I was folding his clothes and attempting to make room for them when he crawled over to me, and ran right into me to give me a kiss. It then resulted in a tickling match with many kisses and laughs, he would just keep climbing me to kiss me (or bite, since he took a nice chunk in my chin) :) I know there was so much more to say...oh well, for another time!

and another... another what you ask...tooth that is. Kyle's got 8 now. 3 weeks ago today exactly he had 2. 21 days later, 6 more. That's teething for you!

Happy 1st Birthday to Ty, Kyle's friend. We went to the party and cookie monster was there to dance and sing! I only got to show up mid way since I was working. Yes...in the DOWNPOUR. 45 minutes outside and I was wet like I took a shower. Had water dripping off my nose, down my back, my underwear were wet and my hair looked like it was just washed. I was about to walk home (yes in the downpour) but had a friend give me a lift home. Then my dad picked me up and brought me to the party. Kyle seemed to have a fun time, seeing his friends, signing happy birthday and crawling around the gym area. His favorite thing by far was the balloons. He brought one home and is in love with it! :) So much happiness from 1 little thing!

*snooze* So tired. Kyle was up at 4:30 for good. I imagine it's the teeth screwing him all up. He keeps crying. He also wants to nurse...but that factory is pretty much closed. Saturday was the first time I didn't nurse him all day. I didn't wake up the next day engorged either, so that means that the days are ending. The thing is that he just keeps grabbing at me and looking for comfort. Sheesh...Bad timing! His appetite stinks, he hardly eats anything at all anymore. Well not true, he won't eat anything "baby". He'll eat the food off our plate though. We just don't eat properly enough for Kyle to follow our schedule. I don't have veggies lunch and supper. As for meats, it's a challenge getting anything in. Sandwiches doesn't cut it and I don't see myself making 3 hot meals a day. It's pretty frustrating actually when meal time comes knowing full well that he's happy with cheese, a few pears slices and some bread. The cereal and warm meal be it veal stew, chicken caccitore, or cabage rolls just goes to waste everytime. Is it teeth or is it picky? Who knows. And how long will it last?

EDIT: Ofcourse all it took was for me to say he doesnt' eat...to eat. :) I served him the 12month heinz stuff and he gobbled it all up! The entire 7.5oz jar, plus a container of apple-blueberry sauce. Oh, and cheese. While he ate, he fed me cheerios that he didn't want. I asked him if I underestimated him by giving him baby food still and he laughed at me. There you have it, baby food is out!

Oh I also had to feed him with a regular spoon and fork, plastic utensils are out too!

I've been told!

Kyle had his friend Ty over today, the thing is that Kyle usually ends up sleeping through the date. Good for us, kind of anti social for the guests though. :) It's so funny to see the 2 get along and laugh at each other, helps also that the moms are in good company.

Tonight I have a conference for BF mothers. You see I decided to give back and become a godmother myself and hopefully help another mom out. I surely appreciated the guidance and shoulder to talk to when times were tough. So tonight I think it's an information and training session. I'm sure it'll be alright. It's ironic though that I start tonight when I have just fully weaned Kyle. Again 2nd day no nursing and I don't miss it abit. The way I look at it, I gave him 10months in my body and 10 months out. That's over a year and a half. I just want MY body to be MINE! :)

My neighbor just gave birth 2 days ago, saw the little boy, so tiny at 6lbs. I think I might make them some food. They are after all alone here, no family or friends. I would appreciate it in their place.

1st Bruiser

My boy got himself a nice shinner on his upper cheek yesterday. Smacked his cheek into a metal bar of the swing. I'm surprised that's all he's gotten over the past 2 days with all the bumps and falls he's taken. Even this morning he smacked his head so hard I checked for blood. So he looks all beat up. These first steps thing are evil for them. They tumble and cry, fall over, smack into various objects. sigh...

Tough couple of days. Kyle's sick. Had a fever for 36 hours, very clingy baby, which meant that Saturday night was spent holding him. That's right, ALL NIGHT LONG. I took the afternoon to midnight shift, Mike took the midnight to 7am shift. We held him, rocked him, anything. He "had" to lie on us. Tough long night indeed. He was so tired but just so miserable. Day after he was somewhat better with still a fever though. It broke late afternoon but something was still off. He still hadn't slept, no naps nothing. (This makes for very long days). He finally went to bed that night after crying himself to sleep past 9pm. He did only wake up at 8:20 today (a very rare occurance), however, naps were tough, appetite null (except for about a dozen grapes that he had and shared aka.fed about 1/4 of them with Mama and Papa), threw up once at lunch time and has a raspy voice now. He's fighting something I gather, we'll keep an eye on him, see if anything else happens. Hopefully the throwing up and diaper disasters we had today means it's clearing his system.

Here I am, it's midnight, we are lying in the dark, he's been on me for about 8 hours straight now. This was they only way to make it through the night.

BUT here's the hellish part. He rolls over now - very easily I must add, like he's been doing it all his life. Which makes bedtime and diaper time completely different. Instead of staying on him back, he rolls over and crawls away (diaper change) OR stands up in his crib yelling and crying. HOW many times do we have to go back in tuck him back in before he falls asleep? This SUCKS. He was SO SO SO good, and from one day to the next it's past 9pm and he's still wanting to play and refusing to sleep. It's SO draining putting him to bed.

Well in other Kyle related news, he's figured out how to go down a stair or two. Backwards and all. Smart cookie he is! He also occassionaly blows kisses, regularly claps his hands when he dances (and sings) and ALWAYS waves bye bye! Bye Bye to the baby in the mirror, bye bye to the chicken he's about to eat, bye bye to the toothbrush, bye bye to people, heck, it's so frequent we can consider it being "hello!" as well! :) He does it with the left, or the right hand, or when he's really happy BOTH! :)

He will also flush toilets given the chance. Didn't teach him that, but caught on I guess. He got a splinter in his foot the other day from crawling around the deck, thankfully I got it out without too much hassle.

All his life Kyle's slept on his back. Not once has he fallen asleep on his tummy. He never rolled over during the night (or rolled over at all that is), he never liked being put on his tummy either. Last night with all the fussing to bed and standing up and sitting there in his crib playing with his dou-douce he must have crumbled at one point and fallen asleep on his tummy. It was SO adorable. 10 1/2 months old and curled up with his blanket under his arm for the first time. The thing is that about 90 minutes later he flipped over, smacked into the side of the crib and scared himself. Duh.

This morning I just put him down for a nap, down being the operative word, it's more like in the crib. I peeked in and saw him sitting there looking at all the angels in his room. Wondering how the heck will he EVER take a nap without being on his back, I looked in 10 minutes later and sure enough sprawled on his tummy he's asleep!

*snickers*

We kept going in trying to put him on his back only to endure more wailing. My mom told me that I should let him be and he will go down on his own and if I keep going in every time he sits up he'll think of it like a game. Makes sense.

I just have to get used to this new routine.

Breakfast this morning was better, had cereal, yogurt and kiwis. I discovered that he adores peach yogurt more than strawberry, must go get some.