GV is Two!

How is it that it was two years ago that I gave birth to the most amazing sweet little boy? Somedays it seems like it was just yesterday and other days I'm worried that I don't remember EVERYTHING anymore.  But then I look back at the blog and I'm reminded.

• GV is doing so well. He's tall (36 1/2") but still skinny (27 lbs).
• He's talking all the time now. Mostly at home. He's still a shy thing when we're out with other people he doesn't completely know. He doesn't combine words to make sentences yet. When he talks to me he say "Daddy" and then say "car" but he doesn't say "Daddy is in the car" and he'll always wait till I acknowledge the first word. I don't know if it's because of the way I respond to him or if it's just the stage he's at right now.
• He and Dave get along really well now. He likes to give her hugs and brush her. And he's gotten really good about stepping around her when she's in his way (she's the type of dog that lies down at your feet). Occasionally she gets annoyed at him and will snap at him. For which she gets put in her cage. But I'm also really careful that I don't leave them in the same room together. Which isn't that hard because if I leave a room Dave will follow me.
• Les is another story. She spends most of her time in the bedroom (which isn't that much of a change from pre-GV). However when she comes out he will chase her around the house. She usually ends up under the coffee table. Then he tries to reach below to touch her and she gets annoyed (growls). I try to keep him from chasing her but it's hard sometimes because they are both so fast. Occasionally she'll be nice and will stand near (3 ft away) him but most times Les avoids GV at all costs (even a missed dinner or treat).
• GV got a set of pots and pans for his birthday and they are by far his favorite. Before he got them he would take paper plates and cutlery from where we kept them stored and create a picnic with everyone having a specific setting. It's so cute. Sometimes he'll even dish out his blueberries or grapes so that everyone has some. If he becomes a cook I'll have it made then! Kevin cleans and GV cooks.
• GV knows there's a baby inside Mommy's tummy.  He'll often see a baby and say "Baby!" and then point to my belly. I'm not showing that much of course but we've let him know that someone is coming.
• GV is obsessed with two things right now. Bandaids and money. Both words he learned in a flash and he always remembers. If he hasn't got a bandaid on he'll run into my bathroom and pull out the box and then bring it to wherever Kevin and I are and ask us to open one. He will even volunteer to say please. He also likes having quarters.  He will carry them in his pocket and walk around and invent new ways to play with them (today he put them in our Bos.ton Marke.t take out bowls and then put the covers on to make noisemakers). I can usually get him to put them on his dresser before bed but I never leave them in the room overnight with him. He always remembers the next morning about them.
• For the past three weeks I've been watching Chicklet (Chicken's daughter) three mornings a week. Since Chicken works from home Chicklet usually spends a few days a week with her Grandpa. But Grandpa went on vacation for a month so that left Chicken w/o child care. I was a bit worried about GV not liking having to share me but he's been fine. I think he's enjoyed having Chicklet around. Hopefully it's a good lead in to the arrival of Pineapple.

Black Friday

is my official due date. So I must have caught this pregnancy very very early. Like in the 3rd week.  We went to the doctor on March 23rd and they confirmed that there was something in the uterus but it was only measuring about 4 weeks so no heartbeat yet.

Then we went on vacation, well sort of.  We went to visit Kevin's parents. SIL came up the whole time we were there and her boyfriend even came for a couple of days.  Everytime a new person was introduced to the mix GV would get shy but he ended up being friends with all by the end of our time there.

After two weeks we were back but my computer went on the fritz (I finally got it back today!!). Our 8 week appt was this past Wednesday and Pineapple was measuring 8w5d so that puts my due date as November 23rd. Black Friday.

Kevin's family already knows about Pineapple. We had a hard time explaining away my constant peeing, drinking tea only when Kevin made it (so he could sneak in a decaf tea), not taking medicine even though I had a cough and then microwaving sandwich meat.  So we told them but said that we didn't have a heartbeat yet. But now we do! Now we have to figure out how to tell my parents (and sister).

I'm excited for this new baby. Also the symptoms are in full force.  I'm hungry all the time but can't eat too much in one sitting. Also the nausea. It was too much to hope for another morning-sickness free pregnancy. Although it's just been nausea not puking. It's still not nice. Also the fatigue has really hit me. I remember going to bed early some nights with GV but it's every night with Pineapple and most days I need a nap. Maybe it's because I was working last time and couldn't nap.

I've been telling GV about the baby. He knows how to sign baby but I don't think he gets it yet.  Probably when I'm showing more he'll sense something. He'll be almost 2 1/2 when Pineapple comes so I think he'll be old enough to get it.

It's not secondary...

Apparently I don't know my body or my cycles or anything at all.

Monday the 5th
After waiting for two additional weeks past when AF was suppose to happen I finally had my Provera & Clomid prescriptions filled. I woke up and POAS'd and it was negative. So I finally gave in and decided to take the Provera.

Wednesday the 7th
I take the first provera pill.

Sunday the 11th
I take the last provera pill. And then when dicussing with Kevin the time line I realize that I'm suppose to be ovulating on the 29th which is right when we'll be traveling to Kev's parents house. Not great timing and Kevin is a bit upset. So we decide that we're not going to use the clomid and just skip this round. It messes up our plans at Christmas (this is an English year) but what else can we do?

Tuesday the 13th
AF was suppose to show up today but hasn't. I'm not that concerned because I know it can take up to 10 days but it never has before. It's always shown up two days after the last provera.

Wednesday the 14th
GV is actually sleeping in this morning so when I woke up I had the sudden urge to test. I see the yogurt cup that I used for last week's test still next to the sink so I grab it and move to the toilet. Kevin walks in and gives me a look for testing again. I do the needful and then test it. I see the control line quickly but nothing on the test line so I dump the pee and start cleaning up. I'm reaching for the test to throw it away when I realize that I'm looking at two lines!

I call to Kevin and make him come back into the room to confirm that I am seeing two lines and not one. Kevin and I are both amazed and kind of in shock. We talk about this one in abstract. I call new-Dr.-G's office and set up an appointment with the NP on the 20th. They won't do a blood check till then. It's not till I hang up that I realize that it's right during GV's nap. That means Kevin wouldn't be able to go with me. So I call back and all they have is Friday at 10:30. I check Kevin's calendar and he's free. Kevin decides that we need to take one more test tomorrow just to be sure. You never know...

Thursday the 15th
Yesterday Kevin brought me home a new collection cup just in case the cup somehow is what caused the BFP. Test #2 is positive. The line is even darker this time.

--
Now this baby is real. So going off the fact that I got a BFN last week and a BFP this week does that mean I'm only 4 weeks along? Or do I still go from my LMP start date which means that I'm 9 weeks? Also what should I expect with having taken Provera? I'm not sure what to think but I'm happy. I haven't had morning sickness. I've been hungrier but chalked that up to my new exercise workout routine once I got that first BFN. My boops were sore earlier this week but thought it was because I slept wrong (yes I still sleep on my stomach). No nausea or food aversions.

I have so many questions for my doctor and it's killing me that I have to wait till next Friday to get them answered. I need Dr. Grrrr back!

It might be secondary...

We ended up having to turn GV's crib into a toddler bed because he was getting worse and started to climb on top of the rail. That opened up a whole 'nother can of worms because then we had to start locking him in his room. It's so hard to go from a kid who went down for naps and bedtime so easily to having to lock him in his room. But he's getting better.
The past three days if I leave his door open for nap he'll go to sleep with minimal fuss (if any). Tonight at bedtime he protested at us closing the door but didn't start screaming. We heard him test the door knob a couple of times about 10 minutes later but he didn't start crying when he learned he was still locked in.
I don't know if he's sleeping on the bed though. One time when I went in to turn off his fan he was asleep on the floor next to his books. I'm okay if he wants to play/read a bit as long as he stays in his room.
GV has also started being able to turn regular door knobs. He's been able to open most of the doors in the house because they're the French style door knobs but the front door and the garage door are normal ones. I went to Ta.rget today to get the plastic caps for those and some more plug covers. For an old house we sure do have a lot of outlets!
I also got an air freshener for his room because his room stinks. If I walk into his room after the door's been closed for a while it really hits me. It's like it's a teenage boy's room not a baby boy. Kevin says he can't smell it but I can!
This weekend the first of GV's friends turns two! I can't believe it! That means it will be GV's second birthday before I know it. He won't be a baby anymore. Truthfully I'm looking forward to it because I love kids between the ages of 3-11.
GV is still not talking much. I've been working on the letters A-H, colors and shapes with him and if I ask him to pick it out he almost always gets it right but he won't say the words.

--

After three cycles of actually working my body has quit on the fourth. My current cycle started on Jan 12th and it seems I never ovulated. I thought I had because of an ovulation test (on Feb 1st) but I read it wrong. Of course I didn't realize this till after AF never showed up. It was so exciting when that 2ww was 1 day over and then 2 and then 3. I tested on the 3rd day (feb 18th) and was so shocked when it was a BFN. So I waited a couple of days and AF didn't show up. I retested on the 21st and it was still a BFN. So I called New-Dr.-G and got a prescription for Provera. And it sat at the pharmacy because I kept convincing myself that I had just ovulated and so I couldn't ethically take it. But then I tested again this past Monday (CD54) and after yet another BFN I made myself call and fill the prescription. Today is day 2 of 5. The good news is that I'll have Clomid this time around.

Sleeping Phase

I'm going to try posting with my phone but usually it just turns into a hot mess and I abandon before I post. Right now I'm lying down on my guest bed with a sleeping GV next to me. This is the only way lately that we can get him to sleep. One of us has to be sleeping next to him. And usually I can move him to his own bed but tonight I have tried twice and failed. Third time's the charm right? It started last week when I noticed that GV was eating pretty much everything that I was putting in front of him. I was so excited about that that I didn't notice that he was pushing his bed time to later and later asking for more books or one more hug or turning off the light one more time. Instead of being out of his room by 8 it was more like 9 and he was still fussing. Well one night it just didn't end. For an entire hour he was alternating between crying, shouting and calling us. We tried CIO but it just wasn't working. Finally Kevin just went in and slept on the floor next to him and he fell back asleep. Now he doesn't want to nap either. But he falls asleep later in the day so I know he still needs that nap. I'm not sure if this is a phase or a growth spurt or what brought it on. Kevin and I are running out of ideas as to how to fix it.

eating

I've mentioned this before but I didn't really expand on it. We are REALLY struggling to get GV to eat. Anything. It's not like we can't get him to eat his vegetables, it's that we can't get him to eat. At 6 months GV was in the 90th percentile for weight. At his 9 month he was 75%, 1 year was somewhere around 50%, 15 month was 20% and this past appt he was 17%. To put it another way at 6 months he weighed 19lbs and today he weighs 23lbs. He's still getting taller and is still in the 90th percentile for height so it's just weight. We have to go back to the doctor next month for a weight check.

GV is smart, he's active and he's social. We filled out a development survey for his age at his 18 month appt and the only two places he scored low were talking and stacking toys. But I'm not worried because he scored near perfect in fine motor, problem solving and gross motor.

He just doesn't eat.

And I've tried those high calorie foods but he's not fan of peanut butter and he won't eat meat so most things he eats are only about 35-60 calories per serving. I've googled recipes and I throw out so much food because he won't even try them.

I looked up on the internets how much he should be eating. One site said toddlers should eat around 40 calories per inch of height. GV is 33.75" tall so thats 1350 calories. Per day. Then you add in the fact that we're also trying to get him to gain weight so he should be eating over 1350. I've been tracking what he's been eating for the past week and if I can get him to eat more than 1000 calories, that's a good day. And usually I only hit that number because he's drank a pediasu.re before bed. 

I don't know what to do and what's more is that I think Kevin blames me for his poor eating habits. And part of me blames me too. I'm lucky enough to be at home with him and I can't even do this mom duty. I'm constantly offering him snacks and so when meals come around he'll eat some of his food but not all.

I guess I'll just keep trying, keep keeping track of everything he eats. Who knows maybe I'll start keeping track of my calories and I can lose some weight. Seriously.

New Blog

Happy New Year everyone! 2011 just flew by for me. Since having GV I've never really thought that time was flying but I was completely taken aback by the fact that it was the end of the year. Wow.

I've started a new blog with my cousin RR. It's at romyandthewife.blogspot.com. I didn't tell her about this blog and I took it off of my profile. I'm not sure what I'll do with this blog. That blog might just be a TTC blog and this will be a parenting/living after infertility. Maybe. I'm not sure yet.

18 months

GV has been 18 months old since last Thursday. For 5 whole days I've had to correct myself when asked his age. Part of me can't believe that he's finally this age and the other part of me can't wait for the next milestone. Some highlights:

• GV doesn't talk yet. Well not really. He says "Ma" but he calls both Kevin and I "Ma." The other day I told him to say bye-bye to someone and instead of waving he said "ba."
• GV does sign though! He knows over 30 signs including eat, milk, more, car, horse, thank you, please, cat, dog, where... We got these DVDs and it's amazing how fast he picked it up. We started around 9 months old.
• GV has two best friends, P & T. Probably because I like hanging out with their moms. P is two years old and T is 20 months old. They all seem to like the same toys at the same time so they have some interesting "discussions" sometimes. GV is smaller than P but bigger than T but he'll pick a fight with either of them.
• GV has started to be clingy. He got sick around the same time I tried to get a Santa-at-the-mall picture and suddenly he was clingy. At first it was just while we were out. Now it's happening even at home or myParents house. The other day he wouldn't even go with Wiki (his 2nd favorite person behind Kevin) or  myDad. It's going to take some getting use to because he's been so independent and non-fussy till now.
• GV can jump! He only gets about a centimeter of air (if that) but he loves doing it and says "Woah!" when he does it. It's so cute!
• He's become fascinated with buckles and will want to sit in the stroller or car seat w/o being strapped in. He just wants to play with the straps. Sometimes he'll argue with you if you insist on buckling him in.
• Last month Mum & Dad visited. GV was apprehensive at first but warmed up quickly. Having them stay with us helped too. He really liked Dad and when Dad would walk away for his smoking breaks (Arg!) GV would go look for him.
• GV goes down easily for naps and bedtimes. However we've had a bit of a setback with MOTN wakings. Since the in-laws were here Kevin and I would just bring him in the room with us and he would fall back asleep as soon as his head hit my pillow. We did CIO after they left and it worked until he got sick. I don't do CIO when he's sick so he was back in the bed with us. This weekend we are going away for Christmas so it seems silly to do CIO when he's going to be in the same room with us shortly. New Year = new sleep habits!
• We are still struggling to get GV to eat. Today he had milk, a clementine, and 1/4 a waffle for breakfast. Lunch was cheddar bunnies & a broccoli & apple pouch. Snack was milk and another clementine and two pieces of watermelon. Dinner was another clementine, corn, string cheese & veggie straws. He ignored the green beans which he use to love and now won't even allow on his plate. We put a multivitamin in his morning milk but still. He doesn't like meat of any kind and yes loves his clementines. He sees them as soon as I open the refrigerator door and will have a meltdown if you don't let him get one out.
• The only show GV likes to watch is Ell.en. I think it's all the clapping. He will eat his fruit and clap along. The 12 days of giveaw.ays were just heaven to him because of all the clapping.

Cooking Club

Every month the moms group I belong to does a Cooking Club playdate. Second Tuesday of every month and somehow I'm never prepared. I'm either buying things the night before (if I'm lucky) but normally the day of. And then I fail. Like today when I dropped most of the cornbread I made on the floor. Six pieces survived. I signed up to bring a craft project for our monthly social on Friday. Still don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know why I volunteer to do these things, I've got to stop.

Today is CD15. I was starting to get worried cause I wasn't seeing any signs of ovulation but it's starting. Dare I believe that my body is going to be regular? Even if a couple of days late? We want to wait till GV is 18 months before TTC but what if I'm shooting myself in the foot? If it's clearly happening then should we be taking advantage of it? Are we dooming ourselves by choosing to wait? Right after we got married I had three perfect cycles and the whole time we were preventing and then when we chose to go ahead and TTC my cycles stopped. I don't want that to happen again.

A couple of friends who have boys GV's age have told me that they're getting ready to try again (waiting for the new year). One got pregnant easily while it took the other 8 months because her cycle count was off. The first month she adjusted for a longer cycle it worked. I almost feel like I have to try now because if I don't then I'll get upset when they get pregnant and I don't. And then I remember that I have GV and can I really feel lousy that I can't have a second child?

Also one of my BFFs from college called me to tell me she's pregnant. She's due in April. She told me before she even told her mom. She was one of the people we asked to write a recommendation for us for our homestudy. Then the Christmas I was pregnant with GV I told her all about my problems with getting pregnant.  That day she had just taken her first pregnancy test but she was pretty sure that she was going to have the same problems as me.  After over a year of not getting pregnant she just assumed that she was going to be one of those women that never got pregnant and stopped actively TTC. And now she's pregnant. I'm so excited for her. How is it that when an IFer tells you they're pregnant it's so much better?

Working again...

Today is CD1. My first AF since September 2009. My first naturally occurring AF since November 2007.  I knew this was coming. Last night I was even thinking that it had been about two weeks since I thought I had ovulated. Of course I wasn't sure because it has been years since I actually ovulated on my own. But I was pretty sure I had read all the signs correctly.

There was a little sadness this morning when I found out but mostly I was relieved. Kevin and I have decided to TTC#2 in the new year. I had it in the back of my mind to wait until GV was 18 months. I knew I wasn't going to be one of those women who ovulated while BF'ing so I weaned GV by his 15-month birthday, Sept 15. I was hoping that during this three month stretch I would ovulate on my own. I would view any cycles during this time as bonus. So now I've got a baseline. Hopefully next month things will work like clockwork and then come the end of December we'll be good to go.

Tuesday in the Life

I know that I don't get enough done during the day. My to do list which should be accomplished in a day takes me weeks and I know Kevin isn't too impressed with my position as a stay at home mom/wife. He once told me how he had to create a log of his day and to the minute account for what project he was working on. This way his bosses knew which projects needed help and which ones weren't as important. I've been seeing this type of post floating around (here, here and here) and I realized that this could help me. So in an effort to account for where my day is going I'm starting Tuesday in the Life. This is my first attempt and if you're feeling so inclined feel free to join in. This week I happened to do today but it can be any day of the week just post it on Tuesday if you can. If I can do it pretty regularly then I'll make a little graphic and link backs. But for now just leave me a comment (please) if you decide to participate. At this point any help on getting more organized would be great!

7:05am - I hear GV start to move around while I'm still in bed (I usually get up at 7:30). He's usually not up till 8am so I'm hoping that he'll go back to sleep. Especially since today I've got a dentist appt at 9 and I need time to get ready before he's up.

7:15am - No luck. Kevin just came in to tell me that he's awake. I roll out of bed and head over to his room.

7:30am - Na.ked time. For GV not us. Kevin came in to help with the diaper change since GV has really bad diaper rash and then a really really DRY backside. I've been putting BUT.TPASTE on it but I think it's making things worse so we switched to Euceri.n. Also I read that we should aim for two 30 minutes sessions of na.ked time a day to help with the diaper rash.

7:50am - Start making GV's breakfast. Today it's banana pancakes since we've got really ripe bananas that neither Kevin or I are willing to eat.

8:00am - Diaper GV and then put him in his highchair with his pancake. He's sitting in front of Kevin who is on the computer. I asked him to take the morning off to watch GV because of my appt but he had a conference call from 8am-10am so he's working from home instead. Yeah, good luck with that.

8:07am - Quick shower. Made even quicker by the fact that we are practically out of body soap. Thanks Kev. I realize that I didn't put my wedding ring on last night after prepping the roast chicken we had for dinner last night so I need to put it on before I leave.

8:18am - Out of the shower and I can hear GV demanding something from Kevin and Kevin telling GV no. I head out there and lower GV from his high chair while Kevin is rifling through GV's toy tote looking for the play cell phone. He finds it and gives it to GV and GV walks around the house pressing buttons and talking to Buz.z Lig.htyear. I'm getting ready to leave.

8:30am - Yes! I'm out of the house on time. I realize as I drive away that I didn't eat breakfast. I get a text from JL, a mom in our Under 2 playgroup, about our playdate today. Except that we don't have one today - it's next week. Then it starts to rain. And by rain I mean pour. The dentist is 3 miles from my house and it wasn't raining at my house. That's FL for you.

8:40am - Find the right building and SCORE - it has a parking garage. Mama's not going to get soaked today!

8:45am - Sign in and start filling out paperwork. First time at this dentist.

9:00am - Finally done! Waiting in the lobby.

9:20am - Called in. After some x-rays I sit in the chair and there's a TV in front of me playing the last half hour of Ava.tar. I haven't seen this movie but the tech tells me it's really good. My phone is dying so I borrow a pen and write out the shopping list Kevin had emailed to me incase my phone dies while I'm here.

11:05am - Finally done and call Kevin. He's just put GV down for a nap so it's okay for me to go to Sa.m's Club.

11:25am - Walk in and immediately buy a hotdog. I am STARVING. As I start walking around I realize I don't have my phone. I must have left it in the car. Good thing I wrote out my list!

12:05pm - After a loooooong checkout line I walk out $92 poorer. Lots of staples on today's list. I arrive at the car and load everything in. I put the cart away and then get in. My phone's not on the seat, or the cup holders or under the seat. Crap! I must have left it on the Cafe counter or the condiment stand. I walk back and scan both areas and don't see it. Then I ask the cafe lady and she says she hasn't seen it and no one has turned in a phone but to ask the floor manager. Nothing from her and nothing from the member services desk. I walk out seriously annoyed with myself.

12:20pm - Rush back home so I can do my "Find My Phone" app and lock it up before someone calls China. Not sure what to tell Kevin since I know he's going to be super mad. So far this summer I have lost our new camera, my credit card (which someone actually turned in!), our old camera (which I found again), my keys (I know I saw them somewhere!) and the battery door to GV's toy car. I've lost other small things as well but these are the big ticket items. I don't know what's happening to me!

12:35pm - I arrive home and after checking the car thoroughly one last time I start to unload. Kevin comes out to help and when I'm walking back to car I remember that I put my phone in my bra when I got to Sam's. I check and sure enough it's there! I'm an idiot. Kevin puts away the perishables while I go to pee.

12:45pm - Kevin and I talk about his morning. He's managed get GV to eat his breakfast, dressed and has changed a poopy diaper (usually a two man detail since the diaper rash really kicked in). He also started our laundry, vacuumed the living room rug and been on three conference calls while watching GV. Some might call that boasting, you know. I call to reschedule Les's vet appt that I forgot about last Thursday. Kevin decides not to go in to work today and just work from home. I check Faceb.ook and blogs.

1:20pm - Goog.le Voi.ce finally has local (to me) numbers so I sign up for it! I get really bad reception here at the house so it'll be nice to get my phone calls on my computer and through WiFi.

1:40pm - GV wakes up. Kevin and I go in to tackle the diaper change. Kevin always complains that he can't really work from home because GV always bugs him (he does, it's so cute!) but instead of working in his office with his door closed and curtain drawn (his office has a sliding glass door to the FL room) he chooses to work from the living room, dining room or FL room (GV's current favorite room). I use the time to clean up the kitchen (I left the pancake stuff out), empty the dishwasher and put away the rest of the shopping. GV wants another banana pancake so I heat that up along with the two I made for myself. As I'm about to leave the kitchen I see the innards from last night's chicken that we boil for the dogs. I cut them up and bottle the broth.

2:20pm - Sit down to eat breakfast while watching Gle.e. I fast forward to the song and dance numbers. These are the bits GV and I like best.

2:45pm - Check Faceb.ook and my news sites. Really upset about what happened in Neva.da. Also read this interesting article about sper.m donors.

3:00pm - Give GV cheese and watermelon. Then we play and I try to keep him away from Kevin. It doesn't really work.

3:40pm - Get back on the computer checking websites again - Facebo.ok, blogs, evit.e (for our playgroups) and then Faceboo.k again.

4:20pm - Straighten up living room and clear off the kitchen counters again.

4:35pm - Check gmai.l, look up tonight's recipe, Fac.ebook, TOT.

4:50pm - Email back TC(they actually want to hang out with us again!) about going to the aquarium this weekend and then look up how much zoo passes are.

4:55pm - Diaper change and na.ked time again. Sweep the house but GV hides the dust pan so I leave the piles of dog hair & dirt till I can find it.

5:30pm - Diaper on! Wiki calls me on goo.gle voice. She's amazed that I answer. I then start the prep for dinner. We're having this for dinner. I love drunken risotto.

6:00pm - Let's get cooking. Kevin finds the dust pan and finishes. Reheat the veg from last night and then Kevin makes GV some cream cheese toast.

6:25pm - Let's eat! We eat together like a family. But we sit at the coffee table. Watching the news. GV won't sit for more that 5 minutes in his high chair but he'll sit in his chair in the living room and actually eat. Right now him eating is more important so we don't fight him on where he sits to eat.

7:05pm - Back on the computer while GV plays. Word.s w/ Frie.nds on FB. I should be cleaning the kitchen but I'm not.

7:15pm - Kevin gives GV a bath. I'm still on the computer.

7:30pm - I join Kevin and GV for story time.

7:55pm - Nurse GV. He's down to 10 minutes a night. He decides he wants to nurse while holding his book. After 10 minutes let's go of the book and I put it on the table next to us. A couple of minutes later he wants it back and so I put him in bed. Kevin has lightly cleaned up the kitchen (put away dinner, stack the dishes).

8:10pm - Help Kevin fold clothes. I then pick up GV's toys and separate the dog's stuff from his. I glance in the kitchen and decide to wash dishes tomorrow.

8:20pm - Kevin goes for a run and I get on the computer. Blogs, Fac.ebook and more blogs. I start to write this post.

9:00pm - Kevin comes back and after stretching reads his course book (he's taking a work class on Wed evenings) while I'm on the computer.

10:55pm - Kevin goes to bed

11:00pm - I finish this post, publish and go to bed too. After I Les-proof the couches of course (yes, Kevin had to remind me again).

So yes Kevin does a lot but he was also home today. GV ignores me for the most part when Kevin is here so I got in a lot of computer time. But truthfully I usually do get in more TV/computer time than I should.

Les Updates

• Les is still not a fan of GV. She mostly stays away from him and when occasionally surprised by him she high-tails it for under the bed.
• Les turned 6 years old on the 13th. I guess she's not my puppy anymore. We didn't get a cake because she and Dave had just finished the cake from Dave's birthday (in May).
• Since she's white she hides her age better (Dave's muzzle had turned grey by this point). However she got herself sick again (blocked bum gland) and so she's been going to the vet twice a week for laser treatment. She should only have to go one more time. Should.
• When you're trialing as an agility dog you earn ribbons for competing. And when you have a near perfect run in the time allowed you Qualify and usually get a rosette ribbon that you can clip onto your collar. But then you get home and all these ribbons go in a drawer somewhere getting dusty and folded and crimped. Recently a fellow agility friend showed us this really cool ribbon holder and we decided to get one for Les. After a lot of delays we finally got it and it's FAB-U-LUS! Fabulous!
  
  
  It's hanging up in Kevin's office.  We were going to put it in the Florida room but then he decided that he wanted it in his office instead. And by the way this thing is as tall as I am. Probably taller since I'm only 5'4".
• Whenever we go out we always have to "Les-proof" the couches. Also when we go to bed (although I usually forget). Les isn't too thrilled with this but now that we have guests (myFamily) who visit often we figure they aren't too impressed with getting Les hair all over their clothes. We usually "Les-proof" with GV's toys so that might be adding to her resentment of the boy.
• Yesterday Les started limping. I think she's favoring her front left foot but Kevin thinks it's her front right foot. This dog is falling apart!

My son is a thug...

That's right a THUG. *sigh*

Saturday night we had dinner with a family that we met at my parent's church. We went to Longh.orn Steakho.use (which btw includes a slice of watermelon with their kid's plate which GV thought was AWESOME) and let AC(their 11mo daughter) sit next to GV. Well GV saw a plastic toy that was strapped to AC's highchair that he wanted. He kept pulling and pulling at it but since it was strapped into the other side of the chair it was not going to stretch to his side.  I then saw him lean into AC and then AC started bawling! GV bit her! I was so shocked! TC (A's mom) says she didn't see any bite marks and she thought AC was just tired but I was so mortified. GV has never bit anyone before. Earlier that day he was playing with Jez (myParent's new puppy) and when he got mad at her he bent over with his mouth open and I'm pretty sure he bit her. I don't know what's up with him but I hope he doesn't start doing this every time he gets mad.  I don't want the child that bites! Tomorrow is our toddler book club so we'll see what happens. *sigh*

14 Months

GV is 14 months today! I use to be one of those women who didn't get the whole counting your child's age in months instead of years but now I totally get it.  Fourteen months is so different than 13 months. And 16 months  is probably going to be so different from now.

GV has finally started crawling. Of course he didn't start crawling till he was already walking. That's right, my kid walks! It's so fun seeing him get around and not be frustrated by not being able to get something or be able to explore.  He started walking two weeks after his first birthday.  For a while he had been walking along furniture and walls but then one evening Kevin was loading the dishwasher and GV loves the dishwasher so he let go of the wall and took two steps towards it. I was so shocked that I couldn't even get the words out to tell Kevin to look around the island so he could see him.  By the time I did get the words out GV had fallen.  But later that evening he did it again walking away from Kevin. The timing worked out perfectly because GV and I were going out of town with Wiki for a week and a half and I was so afraid that we would be gone when GV started walking. When we came back he was already pretty steady on his feet so he was taking 5 or 6 steps. I think because he never was good at crawling he mastered walking faster. By 13 months he looked like he had been walking for 2-3 months rather than just one.

GV doesn't like eating. Or doesn't like sitting and eating.  Usually the only way I can get him to eat is by feeding him while he's walking around or playing.  And we've been suffering in the vegetables department.  He was such a great eater and then right after his birthday he started not liking certain veg and then not liking any.  Right now I've got him back on carrots and usually sweet potato. It's like introducing it all again but this time to a child that can spit it out instead of just eating it and making the disgusted face.  We were up to 5-6 tbsp of baby cereal in the mornings and now if I can get him to eat 3 tbsp I'm lucky. Most times it's just 2.  I've resorted to giving him a daily multivitamin. And mac and cheese. Anything just to get something in him.

I'm still BFing GV in the morning and at night. During the day he drinks whole milk. But we've decided to wean him this month so that by 15 months he's done. And then at 16 months we're going to start TTC#2. After a horrible start to BFing both GV and I adjusted really well. I'm really loathe to give it up.  It's such a special time and he's still my baby while we do it. Once we stop it's like he'll fully be a toddler. An exciting time but also the baby time is gone. I'm not sure how long it will take to have another baby but I would like GV to have a sibling so knowing my body we'll need to start sooner rather than later.

I'm going to try to update more often. I hope. Time's not the issue mostly it's just lack of things to say that aren't GV related. And I'm sure that's not all that you want to read about. If I have any readers left...

Friday Night Leftovers

Lately I've been reading a few blogs that do this so I decided to play along.

• The in-law's trip here went well. GV did work his magic with them but not with Kevin. He was flying off the handle with every slightest thing. But to be fair, they do make the same comments/ask the same questions about everything that is different about here from over there. It can get old and for Kevin it has done.
• GV is still doing the stupid army crawl. He won't use his knees and lift his tummy off the ground. Reminds me daily how I don't swiffer enough when at the end of the day his shirt is dirt-dirty and FULL of dog hair. Arg! However he is cruising a lot now! From coffee table to couch to chair then he'll "crawl" into the kitchen and use the cabinet door handles to cruise around our kitchen. 
• myParents bought a 2-person kayak to go with Wiki's single kayak. Wiki's single kayak that she bought shortly after she moved back early last year and didn't use until a couple of weeks ago when we took the in-laws kayaking. Good grief!
• GV is 11 months old on Sunday! Holy Heck! I gotta start planning what to do for his birthday. Should I have a party here at the house or out on the beach (like everyone else does). Should I invite just family or friends or family friends? Because of the moms group I'm in we know kids his age but they aren't really friends are they? When do babies start having friends?
• I was asked to be a VP for the moms group. I declined but decided to do treasurer. Kevin laughed when I told him because he doubts my monetary ability. Hello! Who was in charge of a huge college yearbook budget & ran her own business?!? This person right here!
• The in-laws think they might want to come over for Christmas. Which I'm totally okay with. But I've warned Kevin that he should warn them that it's Christmas with myFamily not Christmas in the USA. As in we will be hanging out with myFamily a lot — Mum commented to us over Christmas last year that when they visit us (now that we live 35 minutes away from myParents & Wiki) they don't want to have to share us with myFamily all the time while they are visiting. Occasionally is nice but not everyday.

Preparing

We're in super organizing, cleaning mode right now. Kevin's parents and sister (& her boyfriend) are visiting for the next two weeks. They get here Tuesday. We spent Christmas in England staying at Mum & Dad's and while I was ready for our usual rocky visit it actually went really really smooth. I guess GV was the missing piece. He made everyone get along. Hopefully he'll do the same for this visit. Last time SIL came (for our wedding) it got really bad and we actually had to separate Kevin and SIL.

GV is 10 months old! Holy Heck! He's still creeping not crawling. I don't know if he'll ever get on all fours. He can move around the house though! The other day the sprinklers went off in the middle of the day and so I went into the garage to figure out what was up with the timer. Suddenly the dogs leashes started rattling and I turn around and GV is in the garage playing with the dog leashes! I had left him in the living room! Les came running out of the bedroom convinced she was going for a walk. When she saw that it was just GV she sulked all the way back to the bedroom.

At his 9 month appt he was 30 inches, 20 something pounds. Only one pound heavier since his 6 month appt. His ped said she'd be concerned if he hasn't gain more weight by his year appt. I was shocked that he had only gained a pound (he feels so heavy sometimes!) and that his next appt was going to be at 1 year old! That's only two months away now! Anyways since then I've been more consistent about offering food after every nursing session. Before I just did it if we had time or a lull in our playing.

Great news! GV is sleeping through the night! It took a while and quite a few bad nights. I'll write more about it later. But he is sleeping from 7-7:30pm to 7:30-8:00am. Yay!

Okay I'll update more soon...I hope.

Rolling

At 12 days GV rolled from his tummy to his back. We even managed to catch it in photos as it was happening.  At 5 weeks he could do it over and over again.  Then he would do it off and on but around 3 months he stopped. It wasn't like he would try and try and never get it, he just wouldn't try. About 5 months he could roll from back to tummy. A few weeks ago he started rolling to his tummy when he didn't want to go to sleep and then he'd do it in his sleep and wake himself up. Or he'd roll to his tummy to get to a toy.

But he hasn't been crawling. It's not that I want to push him to crawl (I'm not sure I'm READY for a mobile baby) but most of his friends at playgroup are crawling now and he looks so sad when they all crawl away and he's left sitting there with his toys - or worse they crawl away with his toys. So I've been working to get more tummy time in each day. He's still no closer to crawling but today he was a rolling fool!

We were playing on the bed and suddenly he rolled away from me.  A complete roll - front to back to front. He smiled at me and then did it again. I had to hurry up and get up and stop him from banging his head into the footboard. I picked him up and put him by the pillows again and he rolled all the way to the footboard again. He did this for about 10 minutes, he was just having a ball.  I tried putting him on his play mat and he just laid there.  Maybe a couple more days on the bed and he'll be ready for his play mat.

Sleep Update: He slept from 7pm to 4:15am last night. He made a fuss around 11pm but when I was finally ready to go in he fell back asleep. After a quick feed at 4:15, he slept in until 7:50.  And while 9 hours is great hopefully he'll continue to stretch it out to 7 or 8am.

Baby Foodie

Today GV got to have acorn squash for the first time today. He loved it! For the first time as soon as he was done he had his mouth wide open ready for the next mouthful. Normally I have to seize mouth openings to get food into him.

So far he's tried avocado, sweet potato, brown rice cereal, oatmeal, green beans, carrots, pears, bananas and apples. Avocado was his first food. It was during Thanksgiving. He was ambivalent about it but would eat it. Then sweet potatoes (that were really white!) over Christmas. He wasn't too fond of them and his guts went off so we stopped. Then when we got home we tried normal colored sweet potatoes again and he liked it more than avocado. Then brown rice cereal and I couldn't get more than the first spoonful in. Then oatmeal and that was better.

I tried banana but he hated the mashed up texture. He loved helping me eat my banana so I bought these and while they worked in theory, he'd get banana all over himself, then the banana would disappear in the holder bit and cleaning it was a pain in the a$$ because the mesh doesn't come clean. So now that he's 8 months I smash it between my fingers before giving it to him and he eagerly eats it now. Pears and apples he didn't seem too fond of but I mix them with oatmeal and he'll usually eat them all up.

Green beans were a horrible fail. Carrots were by far his favorite though. If I mix carrots with something I can get him to eat anything (like green beans). A mixture of green beans, carrots and sweet potatoes were his favorite though. BTW in case you can't tell I make all of his food (besides the rice cereal and oatmeal) using this machine. I love it! I got it for my birthday and it rocks! I got these from IKE.A (the pink ones) and they are the perfect size and shape for freezing food.

So today was acorn squash. Personally I hate squash so I was fully prepared for him to hate it too but he didn't. I did mix it with a bit of carrot though so I'll have to see if tomorrow he'll eat it when it's just squash. Next up is yogurt and then I'm hoping to find some peaches. I've been trying to buy organic. The popular grocery store here has a horrible organic section but Swee.tbay rocks. I've found nearly everything there. According to WholesomeBabyFoods.com other fruits we should be trying are apricots, mango, nectarines, papaya, plums/prunes and pumpkin. We'll see though. I do want to try these though as food seems to be the only thing he doesn't instinctively put in his mouth right now.

Sleep training update: GV woke up at 3am the other night and needed a 10 minute feed to go back to bed. He then woke early at 6:30am (he's normally up at 8am) but since I had a dinner last night at 7pm I just adjusted his schedule.  He was in bed for the night by 6:50pm (feeding started 30 minutes early) then woke up at 9 and Kevin had to give him a 4oz bottle to get him back to sleep. He slept till 1 and then another 10 minute feed but then he slept till 7:40am. Tonight he went to bed at 7pm and other than a few fusses has been sleeping quietly. Also his naps are now tummy naps. He finally likes them.

Sleep Training

So my parenting style would not ever be called AP. Some people might think it is. I cloth diaper, I babywear and I even slipped up and co-slept. But still if you consider AP to be on one side and Ba.bywise to be on the other I will admit that I'm closer to the Babyw.ise side of the scale.

To me cloth (and hybrid) diapers make sense. You're doing laundry anyways so why not diapers. Plus Kevin was on board with the whole thing from the beginning so it made it so much easier. That's not to say that GV hasn't ever been in disposables. He has. But only because of extenuating circumstance.

I have a Babyh.awk Mei Tai that I love using with GV. Well when he likes it. Again, it just made sense. Sometimes GV would not be put down and I had stuff that needed to get done (like his laundry) and it was so much easier when I could "wear" him. It was like being pregnant again. Everything was a little more awkward but I could get around and get stuff done.

I guess where I really differ from AP is sleeping. At one of the first ped appts for GV Dr. G (the ped not the RE) told us not to let GV go longer than 3 hours w/o feeding. If he was asleep then to wake him up and feed. Even at night. Then it was no longer than 4 hours at night, then 5, then 6. And so we kind of stumbled into sleep training. I read Babywi.se and this blog and the whole eat-play-sleep cycle made sense to me so we implemented it. Tried to do that whole dreamfeed thing (which didn't really work for us, I couldn't really ever wake him up enough for it and disrupted his night time sleep even more). At 10 weeks I stopped trying to do a dreamfeed and GV started sleeping from 8pm to 7am. We didn't because we'd become use to waking twice a night, but he was "sleeping like a baby". Sometimes he would wake but would settle himself back to sleep.

Then we went to England for Christmas. And stayed with the in-laws. In the same room as GV, across the hall from Mum & Dad and SIL and her boyfriend. Maybe we could tune-out GV fussing but we didn't think they could (they are seriously the lightest sleepers in the world!!) so anytime GV woke up I nursed him back to sleep. We even co-slept most nights because it was the quickest way to get him quiet again. I'm not a fan of co-sleeping because I am a deep sleeper. I was always worried that I would roll over him. Once after nursing he actually rolled forward into me (he was asleep and I had fallen asleep and then woke up with a start and then panic). So anyways our nights started with GV going to bed around 7pm, then being woken up by Kevin and I going to bed at 11 and being nursed back to sleep and then he'd wake up again around 3 or 4 to fuss (like he normally does) but I'd nurse him back to sleep.

And once we got back from England GV wanted to continue with the nursing twice a night again. Kevin and I tried everything I could think of. I'm not a fan of CIO but I was seriously at wits end (I should mention that me minus sleep is a horrible horrible version of me). So we tried once. We let him CIO for five minutes before we went in. And then it took us an hour to calm him down. Then I fed him and he went back to sleep within a couple of minutes. So that went out the window. Then GV got really good at rolling onto his tummy. Which he didn't want to sleep on. And he discovered sleeping on his side. Which he loves. But he hasn't mastered that perfect balance yet so the crying bouts were getting worse and more frequent. Then naps started to slip and finally bedtime became nonexistent. And then nursing was only lasting for a couple of minutes before he fell asleep. But he would wake up as soon as I put him in his bed. And I became desperate. Kevin and I would reach different breaking points. When he was ready to re-try CIO I would go in and feed GV and when I was ready for CIO he would go play with GV.

But then last night GV woke up at 9:30. And after reading a few sleep training blog entries I decided this was it. So I went and patted him on the chest and gave him a couple of kisses and then I walked back out. And sat in the kitchen for 7 minutes listening to him cry. When time was up I went back in and flipped him back onto his back and walked out again. I folded his clothes for 9 minutes listening to him cry. Then I went in and flipped him back onto his back, fixed his blanket and walked out. Eleven minutes later Kevin went into his room, flipped him back over and walked out. For the next 13 minutes we sat in the living room listening to his crying turn to fussing and sometimes 30-45 seconds of silence. Then we both went in and I fed him. Two minutes later he was asleep again. And he slept until 8:15 this morning. I woke up twice to go check on him and he was sleeping on his tummy (shocking!).

Tonight GV went to bed at 7 and then woke up at 9pm. Kevin and I went in right away and I was able to get him to quiet down rather quickly and so I tried putting him back in his crib (the normal point he starts to cry) and he fussed a bit but then once he had his blanket he went back to sleep. This is the first time in a long while he's gone back to sleep w/o nursing. Hopefully tomorrow morning I'll be posting that he slept through the night again.

One Year

I realized this morning when I was in mass that it was a year ago this weekend that I got my BFP. Well I got three BFPs because I tested on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was such a surreal experience that weekend.  Remembering at mass was perfect time and place to thank God for the miracle that is my son. Sometimes I forget to take time in my day to thank Him. But I never fail to cry a happy tear that I have GV.  But especially at these times I remember all of you that are still waiting for your BFP. Please know that I'm still praying for you and wishing that you'll get your BFP.

Today GV giggled for the first time.  We were eating lunch at myParent's house and GV woke up from his nap. Wiki was holding him across the table from Kevin and I. We both started talking and smiling at him and while he was looking at Kevin he made a giggling noise.  We all started laughing but then something upset GV so we had to stop. I'll be waiting for next time.