I'm a prisoner!

Thankfully Elba is a great sleeper. Often he sleeps through the night now and occasionally wakes for a bottle. No problem...except that he falls asleep for the night at 7pm generally, and no later than 8. Baby-wise this is perfect, on track and desired for optimal sleep training (remember that book I mentioned earlier?)

Personally, this sucks! Let me explain:

So I get off work at 5pm, arriving home after picking up Elba and fighting my way through traffic a little before 6 generally. Hopefully this will improve in January when I'm not going out of way to pick him up. Even still, when I get home I have just enough time to put crap away (milk, diaper bag, etc.), feed and change Elba, give him a bath (which is now almost mandatory after solid foods for his top and bottom!), and start winding down for the bedtime routine. That's great, you say...perfect for getting baby taken care of and then you have the rest of your evening! Oh sure, unless I needed something I forgot to get on my way home from work. You see, sleeping baby at 7pm means no going out. No hanging out after 7, unless I bribe friends who don't want to drive with dinner to come over. No quick 'running out' for anything. I hate to stop after work though too because then when I get home that cuts into the precious time I do have to enjoy my son for whopping hour I get. And honestly, after he is down I don't feel like doing anything productive anyway. How sad is it that sometimes, after a nice hot bath I'm in bed by 8 with a book and absolutely in bliss for that. That's great, but nothing gets done. It's hard to stay motivated after 7, and when the heck am I supposed to be grocery shopping?! I've found a neat website where you can type in the ingredients you have and it will show you what you can make....this is my lifesaver at the moment, that is when I feel like cooking. Otherwise, it is soup out of a can, a bowl of cereal, or...is there anything else? I should buy stock in General Mills...

Today is Sunday. Mitch had to work at 4pm, but I took advantage of my daytime energy today and cleaned house while he watched the boy. I might have even gone shopping, except it has been snowing all day. Literally - I don't think it ever stopped. Guess that means I'll go tomorrow after work and forgo QT with the boy when we get home. Choices, choices. I think I've found somewhat of a solution, but I can't talk about it yet, in the off chance that Mitch actually reads this - it will ruin a Christmas surprise!

Another idea is to talk to my boss about coming in and leaving later. When I was first hired, I was given the option to work a different schedule but chose 9-5 because that worked out best at that time and it was the time frame my boss preferred too. Well, things have changed a lot and now working 7-3 or even 6-2 would be great. Not to mention I would be able to get a lot more work in those few hours before the chaos ensues. I had asked her once before a few months ago about working 8-4 and she wasn't so hot on the idea since those are the hours she was working, but I think I'm gonna try that conversation again soon. I wonder if she reads this?! lol

Must...escape...better...manage...time....send...help!

First Tooth - 20 Weeks

I found his first little chopper poking through! It is on the bottom in front...so cute! They said things would get interesting fast at four months, and boy has it!
We have conquered rice and oatmeal cereal, carrots, pears and we are onto sweet potatoes without a hitch. Elba is rolling all over the place and army crawling/scooting around. He really likes the Einstein jumper and the exersaucer he plays in at daycare.
Today I took off work and Mitch and I went to find a new daycare for him. We really liked the first place we went to so we agreed to just go to lunch and call it good after we checked her references and the first lady told us that she couldn't ask for a better day care provider. Although she has two dogs and one cat, you can't smell any animals when you walk in and her house is very clean. Her interaction with the two kids she had there was great and they both really loved her like a grand mother. She has raised 5 kids of her own and was a teacher in a day care center earlier in her career. She is very personable and talks a mile a minute, which to me says she has a lot of energy and patience for the kids. She doesn't have any other infants at this time and excited to have a baby again. Her thirteen year old daughter has DS so she is familiar and open to using sign as well. She is open to our sometimes flexible schedule and charges an hourly rate (a surprising challenge when you need part time instead of full time). A very sucessful day!

Black Friday

This went better than I thought. I was at Target at 7am, hit Kohls and Walgreens then was home before 9:30! Elba was great! I couldn't justify waking him early so I figured whatever time he woke up we would go. I was hoping he would be up for his 3:30 feeding so I could get to the door busters. Missed those, but got a lot of great deals. I'm sure in other geographic areas it is worse, but I think that for the sale prices BF was totally worth it. I actually don't think it was much worse than a normal busy weekend of shopping. Traffic wasn't bad and people weren't acting crazy. Maybe being there for the door busters would make it worse too, but I'll try that next year maybe. :) Elba kind of nodded off a few times, but otherwise he was quiet, alert and not fussy at all. I think he actually enjoyed the change of scenery. Gosh, it sure is nice having the perfect baby! ;)

We didn't go to Chicago and I don't even want to talk about why, albeit to say that it wasn't what I wanted or planned. I really wanted to see my family. That sucked but maybe it was for the best; there was ice on the streets this morning and I would have been driving home tonight. I'm so scared of getting into an accident with Elba in the car. God help the person that ever hits me with child in tow. Do they grant you any kind of leniency if you lose it on someone when they have endangered the life of your infant?

Mitch and I put up the Christmas tree and decorations today. This is the last year for my miserable tree that has seen a few too many years. I've had the same tree since I was...18, maybe 19? It's time to get rid of some abused nick-knacks too. Really, I have stuff that my mom gave me when I left home. We agreed that after the holiday we are going to go clearance shopping for a new tree and new decorations. Mitch says that my stuff reminds him of chain saw massacre and it is scary. I don't know what he means really, but I'll agree it is old, outdated and desperately in need of replacement.

Big Boy!

I forgot to mention how at my Dad's I fell down the stairs with the baby. Sounds worse than it was. My feet just slipped as I was heading into the basement and I fell backwards, baby in my arms. He was fine, but without the support of my arms, oh man was my back and but sore!
Elba was a champ for his shots. They gave him two shots in the kiester and he sort of whined on the first one and then cried a little for the second, but it was no big deal. I'm fine too! :) Well, he was 26.5 inches, 15 3.5 lbs and 16.75 head circumference. That is in the 75-90th percentile for height. The doctor said he is as tall as a 6 month old! 25-50th percentile for weight and head.
Cereal feeding is going well. He is eating better and the consistency has been thickened to something between a paste and liquid.
Mitch and I heading to Chicago for Thanksgiving. It is crazy that just a year ago when we went I thought I'd miscarried and now this year, here we are in tow with our beautiful baby! I love him so much (both of them!) Mitch has to work Saturday morning so we can only stay for a short trip. I'm thinking about completely being insane and going early morning shopping on BF. There are a few bigger ticket items I'm looking for and Target seems to be my answer. 4am - oh gawd!

4 Months!

My Colorado trip was unlike any other I've taken before. Usually I get to relax the whole time and indulge in guilty pleasures; sleeping in, watching T.V., playing video games and hiking. This time there was no sleeping in, hiking or watching T.V. I played video games while Elba was down for his daytime naps. Otherwise, it was a stay-cation except I didn't have my usual means of entertainment and distraction for the baby and myself. Don't get me wrong; I had a good time. It was just different and I feel gypped! It was great to see Madison and she really enjoyed playing with the baby. I got to do two traditional things I would have otherwise missed this year; I carved a pumpkin (ghost in a window) and went trick or treating. Elba lasted the 4 or 5 houses in my Dad's circle before he puked all down the front of his costume and I took him back. I took the girls out later for a while. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. It is funny how it changes over the years. Trick or treating myself when I was a kid turned into driving down Cuba Rd. as a teenager with my friends, turned into costume clad drinking parties and gone full circle again to trick or treating. I like it! :)
Not much else to report Elba wise; he is rolling consistently from his front to back and occasionally back to front. Our next pediatrician appointment and booster shots are coming in two days. I'm curious to see how much bigger he's gotten. I have to go to the doctor this time. I'm scared I'll cry. I tried a little rice cereal last week but he kept pushing it out with his tongue. I'm gonna try once a week with this. We set up the jumparoo and he can sit in it, but his feet don't reach the bottom yet. I put my CD case underneath his feet, but I don't think he is quite ready for it yet.
Mitch and I have been fighting a lot over the allocation of housework and responsibility lately. I'm feeling like the majority shareholder here without the majority vote. Does that make sense? The thing that is worse is that I think he agrees but just doesn't want to do more. I feel like that is sort of the way it is and no amount of bitching and complaining is doing anything, despite that we are trying to talk about it, work it out and come up with a reasonable solution. I'm ready to threaten him with a chore chart and assigned days off for each of us!

Speaking of which, it is Sunday and Mitch is over at his Mom's picking Elba up (he spent the night with Grandma last night) and I need to hop to it and take advantage of the time to get stuff done quickly without distraction!

First Flying Experience; Colorado

I just arrived at Dad's house today. Elba was great on the flight. I timed everything perfectly (or it just worked out that way)! I woke up at 5am, pumped, got ready finished the last minute packing and woke the baby up at 6:15am. After changing and dressing, we were out the door a little after 6:30. I fed him about 4oz on the 40 minute car ride to the airport (a little traffic). I checked my luggage (first time in a while because I don't agree with the $25 charge, but in this case I was willing to pay and I needed my biggest bag anyway), and headed to security. I was apprehensive about this. Not just the juggling of baby and stuff but I was also carrying 6 bottles of milk with me (more on why later). My stuff got pulled for chemical screening as I knew it would, but this just allowed me some extra time to retrieve my shoes and dress us both before having to rush to get out of the way. They made me take the baby's shoes off as well as both of our zip up light jackets. Elba was alert and watching everything this whole time. I stopped and got coffee and a muffing before boarding. Boarding with a baby is awesome, but I see the necessity now. It took me a while to get settled. As I was making my way to the seat he started to fall asleep. He slept right until take off (maybe 30 minutes) in which I promptly fed him the first bottle so his ears wouldn't hurt. Maybe an hour into the flight we went to bathroom. I feel like if you get 'mile high' status for certain deeds done in the bathroom, changing a diaper should be added to the list! His most upsetting moment was my flushing the toilet. It was loud and scary. We stayed standing for maybe 20 minutes in the isle just to keep things interesting. I was SOOOOO lucky to have the two seats next to me empty. He took a little nap and I was able to lay him across the seats and do the same. As the fasten seat belt sign comes on and we are getting ready to descend I realize he has poops and he is just starting to leak. I quickly changed him on the seats next to me. I felt bad and uncertain about this (what would the people around me say; and I really hoped it wasn't a stinky one). I changed his clothes, gave him bottle two and we landed uneventfully. This traveling experience went much better than the drive to Chicago. It is 7am locally in Colorado and I'm exhausted. I had to wake up at 4am yesterday morning too to be to work by 6 - and then there is the time change!
My dad pulled out two of his baby pictures. OMG - it is Elba 100%!!! I could mistake them for the same baby; I'm not kidding. Makes sense. I look a lot like my mom, but I look more like my dad. I sent the picture to Mitch on my phone and his response was 'holy crap!'
Okay, so I was WAY over producing milk for a while there, and now I've got a freezer full of frozen milk. My milk decreased (I stopped pumping as often, about every 6-8 hours) and I was producing exactly what we needed and only occasionally freezing some extra. Elba's appetite has increased the last week or so and I'm not quite keeping up. Not by a lot, but I am scared to run out of milk here so I packed 6 full bottles just in case. I think it will be okay, but better safe than sorry. I'm ramping up drinking water, pumping more often, taking Fenugreek and drinking Mother's Milk to get the supply back up.

Monday, Nov 1
Yesterday was Halloween and I took Elba to the few houses on the circle that Dad lives on with Madison and four of her friends. He looked cute, but was getting cranky and then puked all over his costume at the last house. After putting him down for what I thought was the night, I took the girls back out until 7:45pm. These girls don't know how to trick or treat! They were skipping houses, dilly dallying; completely inefficient! :) It was fun! I can't wait for him next year to be able to walk up to the doors himself and have a little bit of an understanding that they are giving candy. He will probably only makes a few houses then too. We took a bunch of pictures of him in his costume in Dad's front yard surrounded by other pumpkins; too cute!
Michelle and Dad had friends over earlier in the day and I was sitting at a chair next the table when all of a sudden Elba starts his high pitched pain cry. What a horrible Mom I am; he brushed the side of his finger against the HOT crock pot! It was red for maybe an hour, but then nothing. It could have been a lot worse.
I've been playing Dragon Age while I'm here and I'm going to go home and get it ASAP; it is a super awesome game and I've really not been giving myself enough game playing time since having the baby. It has been nice to do that here.

13 Weeks - Rollover & Grabbing

Elba is starting to grab at things intentionally. He had batted at stuff a few times before, but I think he was shocked when it happened. Now I see him sort of concentrating and moving his hands toward objects. I was holding a teething toy out in front of him while he was laying on the floor and his arms were outstretched, fists clenched. The butterfly touched one of his hands and he opened it and then closed it around the toy. I think that definitely counts. He has noticed his feet too...I've found him staring at them and sort of rubbing them together as he looks at them. It is so neat, I can almost see the process running through his head, although without language I wonder what it sounds like. He certainly doesn't have the internal dialogue we carry around with us yet. His 'internal dialogue' must be more emotion based instead of word based I would guess. It's so interesting watching him develop.

I'm now a member of a club I didn't know existed. Mitch says he has experienced this too. Now strangers approach us, and we talk about our children in the middle of the store or any public area. It generally always starts with "Oh (or Ah),how old is he?" or sometimes, "Is he your first?" but develops into dialogue of exchanging the current moments feelings and most recent activity followed up by well wishes and advice. It's incredible; I didn't know this invisible network existed, only to be identified when one of the members is spotted out with child in tow. I imagine this continues throughout childhood.

I have a Kindle (thank you Dad!) and I'm overwhelmed by the amount of free content I have access to; all the classics and interesting journals of historical figures I would love to read. I wonder if taking a speed reading course or something would be helpful. Too little time, too much information!

I'm going to traveling to Colorado over Halloween to visit Dad, Madison and Michelle. Elba has a pumpkin costume I tried on him today. He is a little freaked out about the green toole at the top, but I'm hoping he gets over it. He looked adorable. I'm posting updated pictures and videos - check 'em out!

He is also rolling over! At first we only had evidence of this happening as he would be face up after napping a few times, but now I've seen him do it. It is so cute. I need to take a video - I'm such a mom!