Things I love...

Although it's not Valentine's Day, nor is it even February, I wanted to write down some things that I love.

Things I love about my life:
- I'm married to an incredibly understanding, compassionate, loving, and patient husband
- I am not allergic to sugar, chocolate, or peanut butter
- I'm surrounded by a huge support system of family and friends
- Being a mommy
- My son, Evan, who makes me smile and laugh and stress
- ice cream
- I have my health
- I have shelter and a career

Things I love about my husband:
- reheats dinner
- cracks my toes
- scratches my back
- loves me even though I leave piles around the house
- edits my papers for school
- works late and on weekends in order to support our family even though he hates it
- plays with Evan
- takes care of Evan early in the morning and lets me sleep
- keeps me warm at night
- loves me
- everything else I didn't mention!

Things I love about Evan:
- he makes loud "ohhhhh" and "ehhhh" sounds when he's soothing himself just before he falls asleep
- flaps his arm violently when he nurses and wants to go to sleep
- when he blows bubbles
- crawling backwards
- the disgusted face he makes when eating his first spoonful of food, every time
- his smile
- that he thinks our dog and the ceiling fan are hysterical
- when he screams his head off because we take away his spoon to put more food on it
- how he looks so intensely at new people
- the fact that he's content just sitting and watching my toes move around
- and everything else I didn't mention!

Seven months

Evan is now 7 months old! This past month has been quite a developmental one.

- Evan has enjoyed sweet potatoes, green beans (which he REALLY can't stand), bananas, and avocado. He's also had momsicles and loves them! Once Evan is done with a spoonful of food, we'll try to take it back to give him more. But he gets so upset that he'll close his eyes tightly and start wailing/screaming. I have show him and tell him to keep his eyes on the spoon so he can see that he's going to get more.

- I suspect that crawling will soon be coming! He gets on all fours and starts rocking back and forth. Evan is able to move backwards because he pushes himself onto his feet with his butt in the air, then flops down. He can also lift himself onto his side, so I think sitting up on his own will be near as well. Evan now sits up very straight rather than slouchy when he's unsupported.

- Rolling around is now an "easier" task for Evan. Even though he can do it much quicker in his crib, he's getting the hang of it on the carpet. He doesn't really roll to get him places, but he's quick to roller over from tummy to back (and back to tummy).

- Teeth. Although they haven't completely erupted yet, I can feel one of his incisors when I rub my finger on his gums. Evan loves to take mommy or daddy's fingers, shove them into his mouth, and chomp away.

- Like I mentioned before about when the spoon gets taken away from Evan, he's learned to scream when he's upset about something. At times we think that it's just because he likes the sound. But we've pretty much figured out that he's just screaming to fuss about something.

- Sleep is still one area that we continue to work on. There were two nights when Evan went to bed at 6:30 pm, one night he woke at 3:30 and the next night he woke at 4:15, then slept again until 5:30/5:45 am. If you ask me, that's a good night's sleep!! For the most part, Evan is still getting up once or twice a night but sleeping for about 10 hours. He's taking two, sometimes three naps during the day.

In Evan's room there is a frame that has a spot for a photo of him at birth and then each month after up to a year. It amazes me that it will be full soon. Only four more spots left!


Before I show his current photo...

I get a weekly update from The Bump as to what to expect with Evan's development. This week I received an email that said "Your baby: Week 30". That means 30 weeks ago, I looked like this...


And when I was 30 weeks pregnant, I looked like this...

Now, I have this...

What a start

It's hard to believe that we are already in the year 2010. Here's a quick recap of the past 8 days in the new year.

- Paul and I celebrated New Years Eve with a quiet evening at home. Evan was in bed by 7:00 and we had a nice romantic dinner by ourselves. We made homemade bruschetta with mozzerella, spaghetti, salad, and enjoyed a bottle of wine. By the time midnight drew near, Paul opened a bottle of Gloria Ferrer champagne (from our Napa/Sonoma anniversary trip in 2008) and I was searching for a local channel to watch the countdown. However, nothing local was being televised! (If it was, we couldn't find it.) As we were scanning channels, the time on the clock near our t.v. read 11:59 and Paul wanted me to pick something quickly. We settled on watching Carson Daly and when we reached the channel all we saw were people cheering, kissing, and confetti falling. Paul and I missed the countdown. Figures. The champagne was still good. Then again, I had to pump and dump that night.


- We tried the Ferber Method with Evan again for the second time.

- We stopped using the Ferber Method with Evan for the second time. Now we still let him fall asleep on his own, but if he cries we'll go comfort him. It works so much better that way.

- I'm back to work. It's the downhill slide until the end of school. Only about 17 weeks to go!

- I started up with my masters classes again. I've complete 21 hours of a 36 hour program. After having Evan, I decided to take a semester off and just focus on trying to figure out the mom thing. I'm so glad I did! The course I'm in currently is the last one I need in order to receive my reading endorsement. Only four more after this and then hopefully I'll be graduating in December.


- Evan scratched my face.


- I experience my first ever soaked shirt from milk leakage. That was fun.