Our First Vacation

We left for our first vacation with Bradley on Sunday. Our friends, Jason and Beth, came with us so at 8:00 am you could find us trying to fit five of us in the car along with 2 full sets of golf clubs, a full sized stroller, a playpen, four bags of clothes, a play mat, baby toys, and other odds and ends. We stopped halfway to eat and of course the Wendy's that we stopped at didn't have a change table in the restrooms. There didn't seem to be any odors coming from Bradley so we figured we would keep driving instead of changing him in the middle of the restaurant. We finally arrive at the resort and check in without any problems along the way. Bradley was happy the whole 5 hour drive and I didn't get carsick despite being crammed in the backseat along with some of the above mentioned items. We get up to the room and I unpack Bradley from his car seat and set him on the bed only to realize that I somehow got poop on my hand. I slide him onto the bed a little more and smear about 6 inches of baby poo on the bedspread. I call the other side of the bed! It is in the car seat and everything. At least that wiped out fairly easily.

The next morning while Scott and Jason were out golfing, Beth, Bradley, and I all went to the resort restaurant for some breakfast buffet. I loaded up on a bunch of food including fresh fruit. Bradley was eyeing up my food so much that I decided to let him taste the honeydew and the watermelon. I cut a small enough piece that he could try it but big enough that I could keep a hold of it. He was sucking on the honeydew so hard that it was a bit of a challenge to keep a hold on it. He seemed to like the watermelon but not as much as the honeydew.

Feeding Bradley his cereal that night he kept trying to grab the spoon so I handed it to him. He grabbed it and quickly crammed as much of it into his tiny mouth that he almost stabbed himself. I took it away as he might not be ready to handle even the safest of cutlery yet.

On Tuesday, we all went to Blue Mountain to check out the longest suspension bridge in Ontario and see the caves. Scott strapped Bradley into the harness and carried him I don't know how. It was quite the hike and I was winded even without carrying around a 17 pound baby. Mainly, the whole excursion was one big hike and eventually Bradley got tired. Scott held Bradley a little closer and he fell right asleep and missed about half of the caves.

Later in the day we went to Wasaga Beach and let Bradley play in the lake water a little bit. It was nice and warm with a shallow, sandy bottom. We had brought some cans of beer out there but the beach patrol told us we were not allowed to drink on the beach and only didn't give us a ticket because they didn't see any open cans. Spoil sports!

That night we woke up to Bradley screaming. Literally screaming, not crying but more of a high squeal. We picked him up but he had his eyes closed still and wasn't waking up no matter what we did. After what seemed like forever he opened his eyes and gave us the biggest smile ever and started cooing and laughing. We think he must have been having a bad dream. After that ordeal I wanted to hold and comfort him for a little while and he fell right back asleep with his head nestled into my shoulder. He was a dead weight so I know he was sleeping but it sure didn't sound like it! He was laughing and doing his fake coughing thing he does when he is in a good mood. Even me laughing at him didn't wake him up he was so tired. He must have some pretty vivid dreams!

We went for a walk downtown the next day and decided around dinner time to head home. Bradley had just woken up from a long nap and after feeding him we packed the car back up and headed out. He was happy and good for about the first 20 minutes but started fussing after that. Fussing turned into crying and the crying continued for about 2 hours. We stopped at the halfway point to eat and get a break from the crying and car. Luckily, McDonald's had a change table in the bathroom which helped huge. Bradley was really happy and was playing all during our meal but as soon as we got back into the car it was like a switch flipped and he was crying again. It was non-stop for the next hour or so until I had to give him his bottle. That took about 15 minutes and he was quiet then but as soon as he was full it was crying time again. After more time passed we had enough and pulled over to get him out of his car seat for a couple minutes. Again, immediately after picking him up he was perfectly fine. Put him in the car seat and he was screaming again. He finally fell asleep about 30 minutes from home and we got some peace for the remainder of the trip. Once we got home, Scott put him in the Jumperoo and he started bouncing around like nothing happened. At this point, I am pretty sure that the car ride home convinced our friends to hold off on having kids. Seriously though, they were really understanding and nice about it all. I am glad to be home but now we have another 3 hour car trip (one way) to look forward to on Saturday. I hope it goes better!

Church

We had a family outing to Sterling Heights, MI for my good friend Lindsay's engagement party. It was a really good time and it was great to see all of my friends who I haven't seen in forever. I thought it might be weird being around everyone with a baby but it was really cool and Carrie and little Evie were there to keep us company while I nursed Bradley. Life has changed a lot since becoming a mother but all of my friends have been very supportive which has helped out a lot. I am really looking forward to more of the wedding festivities with such a great group of girls.

On Sunday when I went to get Bradley from his crib I about panicked. I know it is totally a crazy person thing to think but when I looked in his crib he was flipped onto his belly and I was worried if he was ok. Now, he was JUST making noises to let me know he was awake so I am not sure why bad thoughts went through my head but instead of being excited for the first time he rolled over I was completely freaked out. Of course he was completely fine but I heard so many things about SIDS that I panicked. I know he is old enough where it isn't as big of an issue but it is like watching a scary movie about some killers in the woods and then going camping. You are likely to have some bad dreams at the least. I know, I am going crazy...


We braved church for the first time since Bradley was born. I was a bit nervous on how he would do having to be quiet for an hour when he is a chatty little guy but he surprised me. We went to the church that Scott grew up in because they are going to do Bradley's baptism on Father's Day and Scott's parents met us up there. We get seats in the back and sit down. Opening prayer and song; so far so good. Getting into the sermon he is still doing good but part way through he is getting restless and trying to gnaw on my shoulder. He is hungry. I really wanted to sit through the whole service so I try to hold him off until the end but have the car keys ready in case of a sudden outburst. He chewed on his teether bee for a while, then on his burp cloth, last resort is the pacifier which did the trick for about 15 minutes. Luckily, standing up for the songs helped and he made it through the whole service with just one little grunt that was heard by nearby church-goers. After the service, most of the congregation came over to meet us since we were new to the church and we were announced as an upcoming baptism. Bradley forgot all about his hunger with all of the fawning ladies and gave them all smiles. We made it back to my in laws house, I fed him, and then we all went out to breakfast. Bradley again was a perfect little angel and slept in his car seat through the entire meal and woke up long enough to say his goodbyes to Grandma and Grandpa before we headed home. I think I underestimate how good he is in public and should give him the benefit of the doubt more. If he can make it through an hour long church service without hardly a peep, he is ready to go more places. I don't know about the movie theatre yet though...

Are We Going Backwards?

Here I thought when Bradley started spinning in circles and propping himself up with straight arms during tummy time that meant crawling would soon follow. Once again, I am proved to be learning how to be a parent just as he is learning to do things. Bradley was using his arms to hold himself up and suddenly moved himself backwards about 6 inches in two scoots. Apparently this means that he is going to start crawling backwards instead of forwards. He did inch forward once but it was such a short distance that his backwards movement trumps that feat.

His favorite things right now are:
Chewing on his hands
When Daddy comes home
The phrase "Momma's gonna get you" followed by me tickling or nibbling on his sides
Fake coughing (both when he does it and when you do it back to him)
Being surprised especially with the word "Boo"

In another couple of weeks we are going to introduce him to some more food including vegetables. Although Gerber makes some convenient pureed veggies, I might try my hand at some homemade baby food. I have a fantastic food processor and a lot of time on my hands some days so this is going to be my newest project. I'm not sure how this is going to go or how soon I am going to decide that it is too much work but for now it sounds like a good idea. The 6 month mark seems to be a big milestone for babies considering all the food he can be introduced to and being able to wear sunscreen and bug spray. This is going to give me so much more freedom and I am really looking forward to it.

One Snuggle Can't Hurt, Right?

Today has been a pretty lazy Sunday. I did get some flowers for my hanging baskets but besides planting those I have not accomplished too much today. I was feeling a bit tired from all of the hard work (wink wink) and since Bradley decided to pass out from his milk coma, I decided it would be nice to relax with him for a couple of minutes. An hour later, I open my eyes and realize that we both had successfully wasted a portion of the day away while Scott was out fishing. I just hope that this doesn't make Bradley resume his crib strike from a couple weeks ago, but it was so worth it. He is a good snuggler.

Crawling

Today I had Bradley down for some tummy time and he is showing some signs of mobility now! He started by shifting his upper body and then his legs until he turned 90 degrees on his play mat! I cant even believe that he is starting to do this since he really hasn't shown any interest in moving around on his belly yet. Instead of being proud of himself though he let me know right away that he was tired of tummy time and wanted to get picked up right away. I guess he had enough working out! Does this mean I need to get a baby gate?

Ahh, the Joys...

I don't know why but it seems like every time I try to pull off the experienced mom by changing a diaper in the middle of the night with minimal lighting, Bradley decides it would be a good time to pee on the both of us. This means that my well thought out plan of getting him into a clean diaper without waking him up too much with a bright light in his eyes backfires and wakes him up more than the light would have. Now, I have to peel him out of his clothes and get him redressed in new ones along with wiping down the change table, wall, floor, my foot, and anything else he might have hit. After that ordeal, I must now go change my own clothes which means that I have to put him down in either his crib or in my bed next to Scott. This will wake him up further because by this time he thinks that I am starving him and will never come back to feed him so he proceeds to get very upset with me. Not much I can do to change that considering I need to get out of my saturated clothes. Oh, will I ever learn to just cover him up while changing him?

After all of that, the first thing he decides to do in the morning is blow threw his diaper and make me have to give him a bath and do some more laundry. Bath time was much easier even when he was days old than it is now. Even with having to support his neck I was able to give him a bath all by myself with no problems and felt like I had this whole bath thing down pat. Now, he decides he doesn't like to stay seated in his bath and wants to do back arches that makes him slide down into the tub until he is laying flat. This means that he gets soap in his ears and everywhere else. There is not much I can do to stop him because he doesn't just do this a couple times. Nope, he is back arching all throughout his entire bath so I cant even wash his foot without him slipping down into the tub. He thinks that it is pretty funny though and I can't help but laugh at him when he looks up at me with a gummy smile and bubbles all over his head.

Success?

Here is a picture of Bradley trying rice cereal for the first time. He wasn't sure at first but now he cant seem to get enough of it as he opens his mouth for the spoon even after the bowl is empty. He makes quite a mess but it is fun!

Over the last several nights we have stuck to a schedule and it seems to be working. Around 7:30, I feed him cereal and then try to tire him out with a lot of stimulation. At 8:30 he takes a "swing nap" for an hour and then I wake him up and feed him one last time upstairs in the quiet. On average, he has slept for about 3-4 hours at a time throughout the night since we started the cereal and routine. I don't know what part of it is working better but I am willing to continue to do what we have been doing just in case. I don't necessarily like having a set bedtime for him in case we are out doing something but at the same time I think it is important for him. I don't like to be ruled by a clock at all but I guess that is part of parenthood to an extent. It sure is nice to get a better nights sleep!

Sleeping Problems

My good little sleeper has reverted back to wanting to sleep with Mommy every night. He was being so good for so long and sleeping anywhere from 3-6 hours at a time which I was not inclined to complain about. When he started getting pain from his teeth coming in, I got up with him during the night and let him sleep with me sometimes too because I felt bad for him. Big mistake! Now he doesn't want to sleep in his crib at night at all. It has recently gotten so bad that one night he would sleep for 15 minutes before waking up and did that all throughout the night. With the long weekend, Scott and I decided to play a little tough love and get him back to sleeping on his own. I researched sleeping methods and found besides all sorts of different opinions, most people were saying to have a bed time and a routine such as bedtime stories or a bath.

Night One:
I fed Bradley at 9:00 and we put him down in his crib at 9:30 while he was pretty awake. By 10:00, he was still crying and fussing. I went into his room and without speaking, picked him up and he stopped crying. I held him for a couple minutes and he went to sleep and I put him back down. Not too long after, he woke back up crying. We left him for some time and after awhile went to comfort him. We were trying to let him comfort himself and understand that every time he cries we will not come running. Finally after the same thing repeatedly, around 12:00 he slept good until around 2:30. I fed him again and put him back down. We battled with him for another hour and a half and he fell back asleep for a couple more hours. The night was much easier with Scott and I taking turns to get up with him but it was no picnic either.

Night Two:
I decided to try an earlier bedtime and put him in his swing for a bit and then when he is good and tired move him to his crib. I put him in his swing at 8:30 and left him in there until 9:30. I woke him up and since it had been three hours since he had eaten I fed him in my room with the lights dimmed. He didn't eat a ton but I felt he did pretty good considering his sleepy state. I put him down in his crib and he slept good until around 12. I fed him again but he didn't want to eat a lot and I couldnt wake him up at all. I put him down in his crib and that woke him up! After a bit, I went in to comfort him and as soon as I picked him up he let out a huge burp. That always makes me feel bad but it is hard to tell if he is crying for a reason or just because he is lonely. Either way, he slept after that. He did really well all night until around 5:00 and then he just wanted to get up for the day. It took a little coaxing but I got him back down for a bit even though he was restless. He finally got me up for good at 7:30 but overall it was an OK night.

We have one more night of the weekend and hopefully he will be back to sleeping good again. I plan on trying the swing again as it seemed to put him to sleep better than going right to the crib wide awake. I will admit it is really hard to do this because I love cuddling with him as much as he loves sleeping with me but I know that it is better for everyone this way. I don't like the "cry it out" method personally, but it seems the most effective for the way that Bradley is. I am pretty sure that he has me all figured out and knows if he is lonely all he has to do is cry and I will show up. He is playing me like a fiddle!

My First Mother's Day

Scott and I up woke up on Mother's Day morning with the sound of our little boy "talking" in his crib. Scott got up and grabbed him, and when he came back Bradley was holding a piece of paper in his little hand. He dropped the paper just before he got to me and on it was his little hands and feet in finger paint! It was the cutest idea for a gift and I love it so much! I had gone out to the store the day before and when I got home Bradley was just getting out of the bath. I was told at the time that it was because of a messy diaper mishap but it really was to wash all of the paint off of him. What a sneaky husband I have! He then made me a nice breakfast and we went for a family walk. What a great way to start the day!

Two Nights in a Row!

On Saturday night, Scott and I were invited to a graduation party for a friend of ours. Of course it was at a bar so no babies allowed unless I wanted to get one of those "you brought your baby to the bar" stares. As I didn't want that to happen, we left Bradley with Uncle Mike and Aunt Jen with a promise to be back in an hour or two. We headed over to our Jason and Beth's house to pick them up so we could all go together to the party. Somehow we ended up being at their house close to an hour and still hadn't made it to the party yet. Once we got to the bar we met up with a lot of friends that we ha vent seen since Bradley was born so it was really nice to catch up with them. They all were asking about our little man and if I had any pictures with me... Um, what kind of mother doesn't carry pictures of her baby with her? I guess I am just used to carrying my baby with me and so I don't need the pictures when I have the real thing. I was having a good time but all the while conscientious of how much time was going by. I knew that Mike and Jen didn't mind watching Bradley but they have a little baby of their own and it is a lot to ask to watch ours for an extended period of time especially when we told them it wouldn't be long. I am chatting away with a couple friends watching my husband order another pitcher of beer and trying to ESP my thoughts to him that we have to go. As that didn't work, I had to tell him it was time to leave. By this time though the food was served and so with one thing and another we didn't leave for another 40 minutes or so. We quickly said our goodbyes and hurried back to Mike and Jens house. Walking in the house I find Bradley sound asleep on Jens shoulder in his most favorite snuggle position and an assurance that he was good while we were away. Not five minutes later, he woke up starving and protested that he couldn't wait another minute to eat. I am so glad that we didn't stay at the party any longer to make Jen have to deal with feeding Bradley a bottle too. I am relieved that he was good while we were gone and happy to see him again. I realize that I was only gone for about 3 hours but two nights in a row make it that much harder.

Bradley is finally starting to hold his own teether to chew on! It is so nice that I don't have to hold it there for him anymore ,however he seems to think that he has let me off the hook too easily because now he is throwing it on the floor. Yesterday, he held his teether in his hand, lifted it up, and dropped it to the floor with a laugh. I picked it up and he opens his mouth and shakes his head back and forth to get a good chomp down on the toy that is still a foot away from his mouth. I swear he is part animal. I handed it back to him and he goes to town chewing away on the toy and dropping it every minute or so. I am pretty sure that he knows just what it takes to keep my attention on him!

His first playing related injury is just about healed now. He gave himself a blister on his baby toe while playing in his Jumperoo. It was quite a fiasco trying to find a band aid small enough for a four month olds baby toe let me tell you but I somehow succeeded. It seemed to bother me more than it did him to have the blister though.

My Night Out

I went out last night for a much needed "Mommy's Night Out" with my sister in law, Jen, and my friend, Melissa. We left the boys in charge of the babies over at Jen's house and took off to go get some dinner and drinks. I had a great time out but we decided to call it a night around 10:00 so we headed home where Scott and Bradley were by that time. I got home and found them both in the living room watching TV. Well, I should say that I found Scott watching TV and Bradley was in his swing sleeping. Of course, Bradley didn't have any pants on. He never does when Scott watches him. I don't know what it is but again I hear the explanation from my husband, "It's boys time, we don't need pants!" I refrained from waking Bradley up even though I really wanted to but questioned Scott about every little thing that happened while I was gone. A little while later, he woke up and needed some Mommy time but really I know it was me that needed the snuggle more. Going out is so fun and I really enjoyed myself but it is sure nice to get home to my family!

Good Morning!

Bradley's method of waking me up in the morning is better than any alarm clock I have ever had. I have been waking up to the sound of him cooing and squeaking. I get up and go into his room to see that he is looking around his room "talking" to his mobile or to the clouds that Auntie Tabitha painted on his walls (by the way, he loves the rocket ship). The moment he sees me is even better because he smiles and squirms around, gives a big stretch, and keeps chatting away. What a happy baby! I scoop him up and he snuggles into my arms and all I want to do is give him big hugs and kisses. He loves playing "Superbaby" where I hold him like he is flying and we whoosh through the house. It must give him a different view on things and he is very nosy right now so he is all about it. We get a little play time in until he realizes that he is starving and cannot wait another minute to eat. That is essentially what our mornings are like together.

I am not sure if he is starting to recognize his name or if he just looks up when I talk to him but when I say "Bradley" he looks up from his toys and smiles at me. What a cutie!

Getting Bigger

Bradley is developing by leaps and bounds this week. He is all of a sudden obsessed with his feet and wants to hang onto them all of the time. During diaper changes, while on his playmat, and sitting in his bumbo chair he either is chomping on his fingers or playing with his feet. He is also putting one foot in front of the other when we work on walking with him. Before, he would just stand there and keep his feet in the same spot. Now, it looks like he understands how walking is supposed to work. It is the most hilarious thing though because he stomps his feet every couple steps.

Mental note to self: Stop eating spicy food while I am still nursing. I made a stir fry last night and used a sauce that was very spicy but I didn't realize it while cooking. Bradley slept for maybe 3 hours all night. Delicious stir fry or sleep. Hmmm... I choose sleep.