I am out of Shape

Today was my first day of the Mommy and Baby workout class that I decided to join. My neighbor/friend, Melissa, took the classes the last time they were offered and encouraged me to join them. As I need to get out of the house more often, I decided to try them out.

I woke up this morning and realized that Scott took the Vue which is a problem because that is the car we have the car seat base in. I promptly call him at work to chew him out and have him help me try to install our secondary car seat that we bought at a neighbors garage sale. Luckily, it came with the manual but unluckily I didn't trust that hunk of junk once I installed it. It didn't budge from side to side but I could tilt it up end over end practically. I did not trust this thing enough to use it at this point. I called Melissa to tell her I would have to miss today but she reminded me I could use my normal car seat without the base and came over to help me install it. Now we were on our way.

I pulled in the parking lot and see that everyone has strollers and of course I didn't think to bring mine. I get to the right class and the instructor informs me that she believes the class is full and it will be hard without my stroller. Great. I proceed to the front desk to check the registration (luckily there were a couple spots still available). Class started and I instantly regretted not working out more often in the last several months. I was surprised at how hard the class was considering they incorporate the babies. Once the lunges, jogging, glut stretches, and backwards lunges were done we could unpack our babies and get our weights and mats out. We did some weightlifting for a bit and then did ab workouts holding our babies. I actually think that it is much easier to do the workout without Bradley because I had to balance him AND do my crunches. By the time we were done I was sweaty and my legs felt like Jello but we got to go to open swim so all was forgiven. I get Bradley in the pool not knowing what he was going to do in the water but he seemed to really enjoy it. He was just looking around and blowing bubbles as usual. All of us moms were just standing around in the water holding our babies and letting them splash around or trying to dunk them for the first time. I was not brave enough for that considering all you do is blow in their face and as they suck air in, you pull them under. I was bouncing Bradley and holding him in the swimming position when he face planted himself into the water dunking his own face! He just jerked his head back above water looking surprised but didn't cry or anything. He was so good!

So now I feel good about my workout but still feel like I have jelly legs when I go up and down the stairs. Melissa tells me that this class was actually easier than normal because it was the first one but they get much harder. Great...

My Baby is a Magician

Last night I put Bradley in his crib and wrapped him up in his sleep sack (the one with the Velcro to hold him swaddled). When I went in there at 11:30 to feed him, his feet somehow escaped from the blanket. I am not sure how he could have managed to get out of the Velcro and then proceed to kick his legs out of the sack but he did. After feeding him I put him back to bed and wrapped him up tight again. He woke me up at 3:45 to eat again and when I went in there his right arm was out and waving all over the place. Again, I am not sure how he managed to do this because I position his arms at his sides when I wrap him up. I lay him back down and this time I double check the Velcro to make sure that he is tight in there and cant escape. I do this because he wakes himself up if his arms are not swaddled, not because I enjoy tying my child up. When I woke up at 8:00 I went in to check on him and he was awake and just looking around his room with his left arm out. At this point I am convinced that he is the next big thing in magic because I don't have any other explanation. I think I might try to leave his arms out of the swaddle during his naps today to see if he would prefer that. Some babies grow out of swaddling quicker than others and he may be one of those babies.

One of Bradley's newest discoveries is my face. He loves to grab my nose and mouth when I am close enough. He also likes my hair but it seems like he is batting at it more than grabbing it, luckily. I hope he doesn't start to pull on my hair. He has a couple of times and it makes me realize why a lot of moms have short hair. Here I always thought it was because it is easier to manage. Nope, they just don't want it to all get pulled out by their exploring children! I'm not quite there though, I still have ponytails if it gets too bad. I don't think I can pull off short hair.

3 Month Review

Bradley is 3 months old now. It seems strange to think back on being pregnant and not knowing him yet; like that was never the case. I cant imagine life without him anymore. With all the frustrations a newborn can bring, Scott and I have been extremely lucky in Bradley. He is a really good baby. His biggest "problem" is that he wants to be held a lot. Um, no problem there for me! I love that little guy and could hold him all of the time. When he was in his first month, he didn't want to sleep on his own, ever. He wanted to be held and be close to us. This meant that we had to co-sleep in order to get any shut eye. I don't necessarily agree with this method as it can be dangerous to the baby because of SIDS but I tried to be careful and break him of this habit during the day when I had the time and patience. I put him in his crib for naps and gradually he started taking naps on his own without being held for short periods of time. I never wanted to rock him to sleep as he would get used to it and wouldn't be able to fall asleep on his own, but I will hold him while he gets more and more sleepy before I put him down. Now, he is a champ and will fall asleep on his own. He sleeps 100% in his crib with the occasional nap in his swing. I knew that we would get to this point but it was hard to imagine at the time he was sleeping with me nightly. Now, we just need him to sleep for longer periods of time because he isn't sleeping through the night yet. He gives me about 3 hours of solid sleep on average with the occasional 5-6 straight hours every couple weeks. I am not complaining though as he is at least on his own at night.

It is also hard to imagine the little body that needed so much support when right now he is next to me playing in his stand up jumparoo holding his head up and grabbing at toys. I hate to be cliche but he is growing up so fast. He was rolling over onto his back at 6 weeks and has been trying to stand up (with assistance of course) for about a month now. I wonder though if he was just proving to me that he could roll over because he did it early on and then stopped completely. Now when I put him on his belly he will hold his head up and look around for a couple of minutes and then lay his head down on his hands and suck his fingers contently. I keep putting him on his belly in hopes that he remembers that he is supposed to roll over but I think he just doesn't mind laying on his stomach. Maybe he will be a stomach sleeper like both Scott and myself...

All of the things that an expectant mother wonders about their unborn baby seem to melt away once he/she is born. He has my mouth, Scott's eyes, and is bald like I was; but what about eye color? Babies are born with blue eyes and they will change over the next couple of years into their true color. I had always expected a brown hair, brown eyed baby because both Scott and I are dark but Bradley's eyes are a really pretty shade of blue right now with just one stripe of brown that has been there almost from the first. When the brown stripe appeared I figured it would keep getting bigger and bigger until he had brown eyes but it hasn't changed in the last 2 1/2 months. I am still pretty sure he will have brown eyes but it is hard to imagine him any different than he is right now. I am just enjoying snapping photos of his blues eyes and brown stripe for the time being.

I have a great son and I couldn't imagine him any different. He is perfect to me and I love being a mom. It is certainly easy to love him. Now, without further ado I present the video I made for his 3 month birthday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jafMJEm4Tgo&feature=channel_page

Not for the Squeamish

On Tuesday I had to go over the border to work so they could officially lay me off. I had been dreading this day for some time because of seeing some people that I would just rather not see. Scott took a half day from work so he could watch Bradley while I took care of business. It was easier to leave them this time because I had to do it the previous week for several hours. I was surprised when I got to work that they actually let me back in the offices to clean out my own desk because the other 30 some people were not allowed to do that. It was actually nice to see some of my old friends and show them pictures of my little bundle of joy. I brought lots. One of my old coworkers told me that she has heard of babies eye color changing in sections like Bradley's seems to be doing. The only difference with him is that his brown stripe has been there for months now and hasn't gotten any bigger. I guess time will tell what will happen with that. After all my unemployment business was taken care of I headed home. Scott and Bradley seemed happy to see me and I got a great compliment from my husband. I never imagined I would be a stay-at-home mom and now that I am it is a little hard on my ego not to be bringing any money in or to have my work stories at the end of each day. Scott made me feel so much better by telling me he doesn't know how I do it everyday because of how much work it really is and said that I am a great mom. My first quarterly review and I got high marks! ha ha

My brother-in-law, Mike, has been waiting for someone to join his club. As nasty as it is, babies sometimes don't wait for you to put a diaper on them to poop and he experienced that with little Mackenzie. I was changing Bradley's diaper yesterday and as I was reaching for a new, clean diaper I heard an explosion. Look down and see that he messed himself all over the change table. I move the blanket that I use to cover the change pad down and out of the way of flailing legs, wipe him up, and he does it again! Repeat the clean up process once more for him to give me a third bomb. This time I half jumped back to keep out of the way as he got some distance on this one. I am not sure if that counts as joining Mike's club as I didn't get any on me but I figure it is close enough.

Bradley has been really sturdy lately with his legs and wants to stand up all of the time with someone holding him. He locks his knees and doesn't even bend when you are trying to make him sit down. but he is super off balance so it tends to look like he is either surfing or hula hooping. Because of this, I have been putting him in his Jumparoo (a toy where he can stand up and build up his leg muscles.) He has been having a blast in this thing. He bounces, kicks, grabs at his toys, and spins around in his seat. The other day he was kicking his legs so much it looked like he was river dancing so I had to catch that on video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_3RjvuLYIQ&feature=channel_page

I am really enjoying Bradley getting older and more interactive. He is smiling at me more and laughing when I making chomping sounds and pretend to eat his belly. I am looking forward to the summer when he can swim in his grandparents pool and start crawling around but I am enjoying him being small enough where I can still find him where I left him and not having baby gates all over the house yet.

Rough Day

We went to my in laws yesterday to celebrate Grandmas birthday. Last time we went for a visit Bradley wouldnt nap all day because he is too nosy to relax around all of the people there so this time I came prepared. I brought his snuggle bag and his reclining chair to help him sleep in addition to all of his usual items that we travel with. When we got there Scott and I decided to take Rufus, our dog, for a walk so we could spend some time with him because he now lives at "The Resort" (that is what we call Scott's parents house because it has always been Rufus' 2nd home) full time. Scott wanted to go to a large wooded area that he used to play in as a child so we head off in that direction. It is a bit muddy in there with little muddy streams that we had to cross to continue on the path. I had not expected this type of walk so I was wearing my backless tennis shoes. I was crossing one little mud stream and put one foot on a small fallen branch and the other foot on another. Well, the one branch turned and I flung my left foot out to balance myself but by doing that the other branch turned as well. I had to put my foot down to regain my balance but it ended up in the mud. My foot sunk so far into the mud that I lost balance with that foot too and my foot fell out of my shoe and I stepped right into the mud with my socked foot. Backless shoes plus natural clumsiness equals disaster. So now I have to finish my walk with a muddy, slimy sock.

We finally get back to the house and Bradley was starting to get fussy for food. He had only slept on the car ride over which is a lot less sleep than he is used to on a normal day so instead of feeling better after taking his bottle he grew more cranky. I knew he was tired so I walked around the darkened den to try to get him to sleep. He finally fell asleep and I put him down in his reclining chair swaddled for a nap. He didnt sleep for very long with all of the noise in the house so I could tell he wasnt his usual cheery self. He managed one more nap while we were there but again it was short so not nearly what he is used to. We left for home with me knowing that I might have a sleepless night ahead of me. I underestimated how bad it would be...

When we got home Bradley was fine so he played for a bit in his Jumparoo before we decided to get him ready for bed. Around 9:00 he started getting fussy and I could tell he was tired again so I tried to put him down for bed but he didn't want to get put down so I held him. He didn't want to be held. He wanted to eat but was too tired to eat but too hungry to sleep. I tried letting him sleep on me but he only could sleep for a couple minutes before he would wake up crying again. Finally, around 12:00 I brought him out into the kitchen and took his temperature because he felt warm but it was a normal level so I tried to feed him a bottle thinking that he would stay awake for a bottle more than he would nursing. He just took a couple swallows and started crying some more. I picked him back up and cradled him while bouncing and swaying a bit and then he closed his eyes and fell asleep. I waited a couple minutes more before I put him in his crib and when I did lay him down he actually stayed asleep. Wa-hoo! He ended up sleeping until 5:30 which is actually longer than he usually sleeps. It was a rough few hours but I made it through and was rewarded with some good sleep, thank goodness! I am hoping that he is now back on schedule and will sleep better tonight!

March 18th

It seems like in the last week Bradley has become a lot more interactive. He is starting to grab at his toys, stare at his hands, laugh and coo more often. Today I was letting him play on his play mat and he was grabbing at his toys and actually holding onto them for a little while. I went for the video camera but again I was too late! It is always when I get the camera that he stops whatever he was doing. He still keeps his hands closed into fists right now so instead of grabbing at toys he usually punches them. He hits them with his fist, then open his hand slowly to grab the toy. It is pretty interesting to see him problem solve. It makes me realize how much of a little person he really is.

Later, while I had him on his change table I was making chomping noises on his cheeks and neck and then would pull away to see his expression. He actually laughed at me. Normally he just gets all wide eyed and looks at me like I am crazy, so I think he is starting to like it. He is getting a bit shy I think though. He will look at himself in the mirror and smile but then turn his head into my neck to hide. It is amazing to go from not being much of a baby person to loving one more than what is describable. Who would have thought?

The Mirror

I have been holding Bradley in front of the mirror lately to see if he will look at himself. Today when I held him up his face was right next to mine but he looked right at himself and smiled huge. The kind of smile that makes him wiggle with happiness. He turned his head to hide his face in my shoulder and then looked back into the mirror for another peak and smiled again. He glanced at my reflection and smiled at me too but seemed much more excited to see himself. For times like that I wish I would have had my video camera ready.

First Shots

Bradley had round one of his vaccinations today. I have been nervous about it for days and couldn't stop thinking about it. The great thing about babies is that they don't know how to feel nervous or scared so he was better off than I was. I opened his baby Tylenol right before we left the house to give it to him (it reduces the pain and fever of the shots) and gave him the proper amount (after 2 phone calls due to the dropper not having the proper measurement on it). We get to the doctors and sit in the waiting room and later the examination room for awhile while I am impatiently awaiting the doctor hoping the effects of the Tylenol don't wear off before they are needed. The doctor finally arrived and did all of the usual check ups before passing Bradley off to a nurse for his shots. (The doctor said he didn't want Bradley to associate his face with pain!) She gives the first shot in one thigh and it takes a minute but sure enough Bradley starts crying a little. He starts to calm down on his own and she gives him the second one in the other leg with the disclosure that this one is going to sting even more. Sure enough, he starts crying harder but I swear I felt it more. The nurse is done so she lets me comfort him which really comforted me at the same time. It wasn't so bad after all. He calmed down almost right away and the other nurses all made their way into the room to fawn over my son. That at least made me feel happy whereas Bradley still needed a little convincing. The worst is over though. I just need to repeat this whole day every 2 months for the remainder of his doses. He is sleeping it off now and overall seems to be doing just fine. What a trooper!

I know, I am pathetic

I had to get a post pregnancy ultrasound today and realized that the office might have a problem with me bringing my 2 month old into the room with me so I had to ask Jen, my sister in law, to watch Bradley. I never thought I would be that mom that has a hard time being away from my children especially for a couple hours at a time but here I am over packing his diaper bag and bringing all of his favorite toys over to Jens house. I get to her house and start giving her all the instructions that I know she doesn't need considering she has a baby that is just 2 weeks older than Bradley. I silently thanked her for letting me ramble all of the things that he likes to do and where I have his blankets and wipes in his bag just because it makes me feel better for telling her. Again, stupid of me because the bag is really not that big where she wouldn't be able to find anything. I look at the clock and realize I should have left 10 minutes ago so I have to rush out of the house with just a quick kiss on Bradley's cheek. I made it back within an hour and grab him as soon as I walk in the door. I missed him! The worst is over though. I had someone babysit my little man and I survived. Next time I hope I behave better!

Dirty Day

My day started out pretty normal. Wake up, feed Bradley, and get myself some cereal. I was facebooking when I heard the sound of my innocent child filling his diaper. Normally when I change him right away he thanks me by making another diaper almost immediately so I waited a little while. I go to pick him up out of his rocking chair and he is completely wet from his upper back down. Now, I dont know how it could get all the way up his back when he is sitting upright but what can I say, he is a talented baby. So, I proceeded to take off his layers of clothes without dragging the muck through his hair and get him ready for his bath. I get him in his tub and no sooner did I start washing his face he started peeing! This is a normal occurrence for him and at least he does it right. He gets so much distance with his stream that most of it actually makes it over the edge of his tub which is nice so he isn't sitting in his own pee.

The bath completely tired him out so I decided to take some much needed "me" time and go sit in the hot tub and soak up some sun. I have his rain forest mobile on in his crib so as I am relaxing I get to hear the crickets too! Through the monitor I hear the doorbell going crazy. Whoever is at the door is ringing over and over repeatedly. Now, the bell is actually located almost directly outside of Bradley's door to his room. I am at this point sitting there not knowing what to do because, A. I don't want to go to the door in my swimsuit, and B. Bradley is most likely going to wake up and I need to shower before he does. Surprising enough, he doesn't wake up and the visitor eventually gives up and leaves. I go to the door where there is a sticky delivery notice that ends up stuck to my glass instead of coming off like it should. (A clean up for another day I decide.) I have such a good baby, I was able to get my shower in and as I am drying off he wakes up. Good timing Bradley!

The weather was so nice that I decided to take Bradley for a walk to the grocery store instead of driving. It is a good distance that gets me a lot of exercise but isn't too far. That was quite a fiasco. I didn't realize how hard it is to have a hand basket full of groceries and push a stroller through the store or how much room there isn't in my stroller to hold the groceries. Nice one.

March 3rd, 2009

I had the best sleep since I have become a mother; a full 6 hours consecutive and another 4 after that! It was amazing. I had to get up at one point to check on Bradley to make sure he was ok in his crib. Somehow, he managed to squirm his way down to the foot of his crib. He must be Hoodini because he sleeps in a snuggle bag which is a blanket that looks like a straight-jacket due to the velcro that is used to keep him swaddled.

We had a pretty normal morning. After I fed him, I cleaned up the kitchen which was no easy task. We had roasted a chicken the night before and the roasting pan was left all night with chicken fat and grease in it. It took me about 30 minutes to get close enough and stop choking when I went near it to clean it up. I put Bradley down for some tummy time on his playmat in our front room where he proceeded to attempt a roll over. He got stuck halfway and 5 minutes later was still on his side flinging his leg in his attempt to get onto his back. I left the room to grab my camera but he had succeeded in his mission by the time I made it back. Most of the time recently, he has gotten lazy with tummy time and will lay his head down and suck on his fingers instead of either rolling over or holding his head up. We have to show him him stuffed animal, "Robin" to make him keep his head up and turn it from side to side. (I have been told that the name "Robin" is a poor choice for the toy as it is actually a cardinal. It is too late now, he is "Robin".)

Once Scott got home I got some "me" time and relaxed in the hot tub before starting dinner. As usual, around the time I sit down to eat is when Bradley decides he is ravenous and cannot go another minute without food. As I am getting my nursing pillow out Bradley lets out this sound that I can only describe as a growl as he turns his head in a root and chomps his gums together! All I can say is that I am pretty glad that he doesn't have teeth yet...