Week 25

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Dear Child,

Yes, I'm putting your business on the Internet.  You can be mad at me about that one day, but it must be written down in order to provide a good back story.

Love,
Yer Mother

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Soooo...... Monday I took Mayhem to the doctor because he hadn't pooped in an entire week.  I wasn't really worried because I'd read that breastfed babies sometimes don't poop but once a week.  But it had been a week and no poop and although he was happy and playing (maybe a little more pooty) I was scared to keep waiting for something to happen only to be told later that I really should have brought him in sooner!  I have a hard time listening to my gut, especially since my gut says things like, "Feed me all the chocolate in the house!  I need a third piece of cake!"  Clearly, my gut can't be trusted so I try to listen to my head instead.

After trying the take-the-temp-to-make-him-poop trick, the doctor said he needs to eat more fiber and in a month! he should have a new "regular."  Oh, dear.  In addition to his daily oatmeal, he is supposed to eat prunes, apricots, pears, plums, beans, peaches, peas, or spinach.  And drink prune juice cut with water.

Let me just say, spoonfeeding is not something I enjoy.  In fact, I hate it.  It makes me want to smash metal folding chairs like wrestlers ("wrasslers" if you're from the South) do on tv.

Mayhem wants to operate the spoon even though physically he can not, but after a few times of me assuring him I will have to do it for him, he will settle for holding onto the spoon right in front of my fingers and helping guide my hand to his mouth......if he's in the mood to even eat.  Spoonfeeding is so time consuming and boring.  And messy.  Over half the bowl is smeared on his face, up his nose, on the bib, on my hands, on my shirt.

To me, this dinnertime dance is not worth it.  Baby food is expensive.  Especially if you buy the organic, BPA-free products so you're sure (can you be sure?) you're not feeding your baby poison.

After reading, BLW I am sure that is what I want to do to teach him to eat.  He is used to being in charge of his consumption already and I don't like feeling like I'm trying to force feed him.  (The concept behind BLW or baby-led weaning is that the baby "feeds" himself real food from the table and learns how to feed himself by the time he actually needs food for nutrition, not just milk.  No pureed food, no force feeding.)

P.S.  The doctor was right- all the way up his back, to his shoulders!  I gave him to Boots to wash off in the shower while I did damage control elsewhere.  Gross.

Toys may be for kids, but they're really for the parents, right?  Tired of looking at the toys he's been playing with lately I dug in Mayhem's closet and broke out these Melissa and Doug sports balls.  They all make different noises and have little smiley faces on them.  He'll probably really enjoy these when he gets a little older.

Week 24

It's been cloudy today so I thought I would try something new.  Perhaps it wasn't cloudy enough or maybe I should have found some shade because he's pretty squinty in most of the pictures I took.

A little visit from Frank.

No sudden movements!

Boots went with me to take Mayhem to his 6 months doctor's appointment on Friday.  Little boy weighed 15 pounds, 13 ounces and was 25.5 inches long.  What a chunk of lead!  He's gained ten pounds since birth and grown 7.5 inches longer.  He only cried about 30 seconds when the nurse gave him the shots and the doctor said that he's doing great.  (Doctor's appointments appeal to my competitive side and I always feel like a personal accomplishment when they say he's doing good.)  

The doctor said to teach him to drink water out of a sippy cup with a hard spout (that's the only one I have) and he's really taking to it.  He opens his mouth and leans in when I hold the cup up and ask, "Do you want some water?"  He does tend to dribble most of it down his shirt still because apparently swallowing with your mouth shut is quite an art.  

I'm supposed to start brushing his gums with a wash cloth or a baby toothbrush to get him used to brushing his teeth.  So far that hasn't been a problem because he likes chomping on whatever he can get in his mouth right now.  He must be teething.

Week 23

It's cloudy today so I had to use the flash on my camera.  He has this exact expression in the majority of the pictures I took.  He's probably still seeing spots.

This is pretty much how he looks all of the time now.  If it's not his hands in his mouth, it's your hands.  I think we're in full-on teething mode, folks!  (He starts at my thumb and goes down my arm like it's an ear of corn!)

For those of you keeping score (Mama!), yes, I did skip last week.  As it turns out, mamas need mental health days, too, and since I'd posted his five months photos the day before I gave myself a by and didn't take or post anything for Week 22.

P.S.  Aren't Bumbo seats cool?  (I wasn't paid to say that, but I'm not opposed!)

Rollin', Rollin'!

Guess who finally decided to consider rolling over an alternative form of self-locomotion?  Mayhem has rolled over four times today in our bed and his daddy got to see it finally!

5 Months

Another photo-overload.  (I have a hard time limiting myself these days.)

 

Let's see, five months......

-He just started laughing with sound, before it was sort of a silent wide-mouth gasp.  He thinks it's funny to be held over you looking down on you.  Sometimes he laughs when tickled, but zerbitts don't get any reaction still.
-He still isn't rolling over.  I think it's more holding out on us than inability.
-We started feeding him oatmeal a few days ago.  That's going fairly well, it's more entertainment than nutritive still.
-He must be teething because he's constantly shoving his little fat fists, toys, blankets, your fingers, my fingers into his mouth and bearing down like a toothless pitbull.  It's kinda like being gummed to death.
-Toys are starting to become interesting to him.  He'll take them from you if they're held close enough and really enjoys playing under the mat with the toys hanging over him.  Bouncing around in the exersaucer is a new source of fun too.
-He's very "talkative" in the mornings and sometimes says the same "phrase" over and over and over again.  Is this baby "singing" or is he just repeating himself because apparently I don't understand?
-Lights and ceiling fans are still "favorites" and he just stares like something is wrong when he sees a ceiling fan not turning.
-Naps are a serious issue in that they are extremely lacking in length.  I am incredibly frustrated as you can imagine.
-Maybe he'll be an outdoorsman when he grows up.  He likes being outside looking at the trees and sky.
-He likes standing up in your lap looking at you.  He'll hold your fingers and raise himself up when he's horizontal because he doesn't like laying down much.  I wish he was as enthusiastic about rolling over.  I suppose he will be one day though.

No Rest for the Weary

So far, this parenting thing has been better than I had expected.  Sure, I'm physically exhausted and constantly sleep-deprived, but I haven't been through the thissuckssobadwhydidIwantababy pull-my-hair-out-whines yet.  Until this week.

For the past month, Mayhem's naps have gone from good to annoying.  The kid would sleep 1.5-2 hours at a stretch and then it seemed like all of a sudden he started waking up after 45 minutes.  The book I've been reading says that babies tend to wake up after their sleep cycle ends (usually 45 minutes) and can't put themselves back to sleep.

The book describes what to do to help them learn how to go back to sleep on their own (shushing and patting, picking them up when they're crying then laying them back down when they stop) and I've been trying to follow it like she says to, but it is so hard.  I totally understand "accidental parenting"  and how people just let their kids do whatever the kids want to do because it's easier than doing what's right.  Right is hard and wrong is easy, my brain is fried and I feel like giving in.

Today has been the worst day of all of the worst week of all of the worst month of all.  Mayhem's 45 minute naps have gone to 25 and even ten minutes!  Apparently, when you complain about your kid sleeping less than you'd prefer, the little boogers tend to listen and silently formulate plans of revenge inside those tiny minds of theirs.  He's all, "I'll show her!  Heh, heh!" and refuses to take naps at all.  I make jokes and laugh like this is funny, but really, I'm running out of rope here, people.

This afternoon, the little critter slept 20 minutes before he woke up so I quit what I was doing and went in determined to shush-pat him until he went back to sleep.  I've done it before.  It takes about 20 minutes of patting and not quitting because it is awfully boring and I get an awful headache from leaning over in his crib, but it does work.  He was hell-bent on not going back to sleep even though I knew there was no way he was rested.  Shush-pat did not work so I moved onto pick up/put down because at this point he'd started crying.

Ya'll, he screamed and cried and bellered and hollered and snorted and snotted and pushed and bucked all over me for the rest of his nap, 70 minutes!  The front of my t-shirt was soaked with his tears and we were both hot and sweaty even though I had a fan on and the air down low.  I stood in front of his crib shushing and patting the whole time.  He only calmed down after he wore himself out and slept the last seven minutes.  I had the bright idea to wear earplugs this time because his screaming usually works on my nerves.  That was the first time I've done that and the earplugs really helped me keep my cool I think.

I want so bad to just sit and hold him the whole time he might sleep, but I can't do that.  I don't want to spoil him and get him used to something I'm not going to do forever, but man it would be so easy.  This is the hard part I've been afraid of.

Tell me it gets better.  I know it will, but I need some "don't give ups" and "here's what I did that workeds."  At least he's sleeping at night, right?