my apologies

I must apologize for my lack of posting lately. There are so many fun things going on at home that I keep wanting to share, but...

I can't because my computer (for lack of a better word) SUCKS.

Not only does it freeze on me all the time, it also takes about 10 minutes to start up. The screen stays blue for at least half that time. Paul was trying to work on it last night and told me that now it doesn't even recognize my keyboard or mouse. I hate my computer right now. If I am remembering correctly, the last time I was on my desktop was over a week ago.

My dad has yet to receive his Father's Day present because when I try to print, my computer freezes.

My camera has videos and photos that I'd enjoy sharing, but it wigs out when I try to do that, too.

For now, it seems as imageless blogs are what I will have to deal with until something gets done with my desktop.

so...

Evan is now dancing! Since we've been listening to his music nonstop, he's how begun to sway back and forth as we listen. Its adorable and it just makes me laugh. He's so stinking cute! I'll try to capture it on video and post it.

Here I go back to my sleep concerns (I know...they're neverending):

I am so thankful that he is now getting a solid stretch of sleep. We've been waiting some time now! Soon after, he began waking at 5 am. That turned into 4:45, then 4:30, then 4:15, then 4:00, and now...3:45. We would wait to go get him until at least 5, but lately, he just cries and doesn't go back to sleep. I wondered if he was still hungry, so the past two days I went and gave him a little "snack". The first time, he screamed when I left and slept a little on and off till 6. Today, he cried when I left, stopped quickly after, fell asleep and slept until just before 5:30.

So my question is...why is he waking up earlier and earlier? Should I not feed him? Should I go back to the shuffle, wait in the hall, and shush him until he falls asleep (or not).

I hate to think that he's only sleeping 9 hours at night - he's so tired in the morning. I can't remember the last time he woke up without crying.

off to a good start

I am now two days into my two weeks of meetings and planning before school starts up again. Here's a summary of what I have learned/done:

HR paperwork...lots of it
Learned how to set my proxy for using Foxfire at school
Created a new profile on my laptop
Learned how to navigate and use PowerTeacher
Learned a put our evaluation/observation program TAP
Scheduled my observation pre-conference for Aug. 9
Scheduled my observation for Aug. 16
Pumped in the bathroom
Become aquainted with the 8 new teachers (out of 17)
Learned about Junior Great Books
Participated in a Shared Inquiry with the books mentioned above
Created screen shots on Macs
Learned how to create PDF files of websites
Updated my information on our cluster page
Talked about E to my colleagues
Met our new CEO
Received my tuition reduction form to complete
Missed being with E
Ate a lot of carbs (I.e.- donuts, muffins, cinnamon rolls, banana bread)

Testing my mobile blogging

i don't wanna...

go back to work
and have to pack my lunch
and pump in a closet or bathroom
and think about student engagement strategies or higher order questioning
and be away from my boy
and cutting my time down with him awake from 24 hours to 15
and miss his laugh from me chasing him around the house
and not changing his poopie diapers multiple times a day
and missing eating snacks and lunch together
and having him come to me when he's wanting a hug
and listening to him babble
and kissing him all the time

Oh how I don't wanna go back to work.

3:55

That was our wake-up call this morning from our precious little boy.

I looked at the clock, rolled over, let out a HUGE groan, and said to Paul, "He keeps waking up earlier. Should I go in there?"

Afraid of the crying that would ensue if I were with him or stay in bed, I listened to Paul. Surprisingly, Evan did well. I fussed a bit, called out a couple of times, played, and laid in bed quietly. I was even able to catch a little more sleep. Just before 5:00, he fell asleep without a peep! He did wake 30 minutes later, but at least he slept a little longer.

Before having a baby I never...

Went to the bathroom with the door open
Looked at someone else's poop...no, studied someone's poop
Let my mom see my boobs since being a little kid
Peed myself without laughing
Had someone vomit on me
Thought so much about good nutrition
Made acorn squash
Been so tired
Felt so proud
Known pure joy
Been so in love with someone so small

in my hands

I can carry a...

cow

cup

hammer

lid

Swiffer

blocks

bottle

giraffe

box of photo paper

paper

bag full of toys

Crystal Light container

washcloth

mousepad

stuff

Well, we were doing "so well" with Evan and his sleep, until Monday. He had two naps that were both under 45 minutes. He woke up yesterday at 4:30. Last night he struggled with going to bed and would scream and cry. I went in to make sure he was ok and after I left, he settled and fell asleep. Today, he woke up at 2:15ish, fell asleep at 3:40ish after a lot of screaming, and was up at 4:51. Fun.

Other than that, he's doing well. Right now he's into listening to his children's cds ALL THE TIME. Especially during meal times. He will look at the stereo and grunt. I'm trying to get him to say or sign please, thank you, and more, but he's not doing it yet. He's really good at signing milk, shaking his head no (mostly when we sing along with the songs), and waving his right hand back and forth.

Evan has been able to feed himself with a spoon that we've put food onto for a few months now. I've been trying to get him to get food on the spoon himself for the past week. Yesterday he finally did it! He scooped up some applesauce mixed with cereal. Then for dinner he fed himself spaghetti. This morning he ate oatmeal and applesauce. Of course, he still motions a lot more than gets food on the spoon, but it's a start! He also still prefers to use his hands.



Evan continues to walk around the house talking, shrieking, squealing, and pulling everything out of the cupboards. Still no mama or dada,but he says puh, duh, kuh, ma, ba, aye. He smacks his lips together and blows raspberries a lot in his crib. For example, right now as he's trying to fall asleep I'm hearing "ba bah bah bah ba bah bah bah ba bah bah bah bah bah" and "aye ya aye aye ya ya". It just makes me smile!

On a good note, even though Evan takes everything out of the cupboards, he's quite good at shutting the doors! He's also a great at helping me clean around the house. While I'm sweeping (and there's a lot to sweep), Evan will Swiffer. He decided that his high chair needed a little cleaning and I completely agree!

I'm trying to spice up Evan's meals, but I'm having a tough time. He would rather eat everything plain. For example, I made these yummy panko crusted zucchini coins that I found on Weelicious. He didn't like them. Then I baked some plain zucchini coins...he ate them up! He has had spaghetti, mac and cheese, and turkey sausage and seems to like those. Guess I have another 20 attempts to go. Eggs are still on the "no" list. I'm going to try making a frittata to see if he'll eat that. I can't complain too much because he still is eating all his fruits and vegetables!

Evan is also trying to reach the door handles, wants to put the lids on containers, likes to take apart his giant "lego" type blocks, and he's even starting to stand on his tip toes. He still loves to play peek-a-boo. It's much more fun now that we can hide and he'll find us, or pull off the blanket off my head. Sometimes he even goes around the house in a different direction to get to me from behind!

I've had so much fun with Evan this summer that I'm really not looking forward to going back to work in four days. I started crying this afternoon while I was holding him during a quiet break while we were playing. How am I supposed to leave this???

Yuck

This morning, Evan decided that he wanted to wake up at 4:45 and not go back to sleep.

I made some french toast for breakfast and let Evan taste it, but didn't like it much. Instead he had a some cheerios, yogurt, and strawberries for breakfast.

He was so tired that he fell asleep for his morning nap in about 15 minutes and slept for about an hour and half...a little longer than normal.

He got up, changed his diaper, and we played a little "tickle monster". After picking him up off the changing table, he was cuddly, and laid his head on my shoulders...very rare for him to do. I was thinking at that moment about how I just wanted to savor the moment as long as he was there.

The second he raised his head, it struck. Vomit. Lots of vomit. Continuous vomit. Everywhere.

My face (I had to close my mouth because I could feel it around my lips). It covered my arms and shirt sleeves. It went down my shirt and into my bra. The front of my shirt was drenched. It got in my hair and over my shoulders. It even hit my pants.

Evan's shirt was covered as well and it went down his face and neck.

There were chunks of strawberries on the both of us and the floor. It was his delicious breakfast...everywhere but in his belly.

And the smell...

Poor little guy had a look on his face as though he was wondering what just happened.

I cleaned him off first and the me. I think I got more vomit in my hair when o tool my shirt off. We both had a bath to get cleaned up. Evan then sent the morning on just a diaper and on threw on some raggedy clothes in case he struck again.


In the end, the clothes went into the trash. But not before I took pictures.

WARNING!!
GRAPHIC VOMIT PHOTOS TO FOLLOW!

TSLS: week one completed!

It's been an entire week since we started the Sleep Lady Shuffle and I must say that we've seen quite an improvement. The past two night, Evan has fallen asleep at bedtime almost entirely on his own. He started to cry when I moved into the doorway (my new position) and then settled himself after a minute or two. It's rather sweet and refreshing listening to him talk and soothe himself to sleep.

Naps are still my nemesis. He still will fuss, cry and scream and will sometimes play for a while. Today he screamed and fell asleep after about 15 minutes. It seems as the more I try to calm him, the angrier and more frustrated that he gets. I'm still praying that he falls asleep. I know he's not hurt, hungry, scared, just frustrated and upset that I'm there and not picking him up.

He's also been waking around 4 or 5 am. I'm trying to get him back down, sometimes it works and sometimes, like today, it doesn't.

It is so nice to know that at least now he's getting the more solid sleep that he needs. Even with his "fussing" at naps, he's still the happy smiley boy that we love. He's so happy to run around, play, and of course...poop.

James Logan HS 2002

One of my favorite winterguard shows of all time.

This past week

In all the hoopla of our new sleeping plan, I have failed to mention any real updates of our family.

I'll start with a funny one. Last night, Paul was removing Evan's diaper in the family room so he could put on his swim diaper. As he took it off, something fell to the floor. What was it? Poop. Lots of poop.

As a matter of fact, he pooped while taking his bath last week too. He's just full of poop. Sometimes he goes 3-4 times a day. I'll change his diaper and about 10 minutes later, I have to change it again.

We didn't do too much over the 4th of July weekend, just went to a bbq at a friend's house, another at my mother-in-laws, and hung out at home. I didn't get to see fireworks except for the photo that Paul texted me (I was in Evan's room getting him to bed). There was a fireworks show on the 3rd at the golf course near our home, so Paul was able to see them from our backyard. I was able to hear them popping in Evan's room.

Evan is now running all over our house. He barely plays with any of his toys unless either Paul or I are playing with them. Not that he doesn't like them, but he'd rather run around the house, opening and closing things, pulling out plastic food storage containers, plastic cups, and always having something in his hands while he roams the house.

He's definitely babbling a lot more. I feel as though it really started right around the time the sleep shuffle did.

He still loves to push buttons, like the ones on the dishwasher (although he doesn't turn it on), on his Kawasaki bike that Grandma Hallinan bought him, and on his activity center.

I've been trying to get him to drink whole milk since about the time he turned one. He'd take a few sips, but never really liked it. After speaking to my friend, Andrea, she mentioned to me that her son was the same way. She was told to try soy milk. BINGO! Evan LOVES soy milk. Although it doesn't have the same fat content, so you have to make sure he gets it another way, like cheese, yogurt, and avocados.

I've also gotten Evan to FINALLY drink from a sippy cup. He's been against them from the start and instead he's been drinking from a regular cup. My friend, Valerie, gave me a Arizona Cardinals sippy cup for Evan's birthday. I removed the "no spill" guard from inside and PRESTO! He took it! It's the only one he drinks from so I have to wash it every day.

We've added the soy milk to his diet along with watermelon, quinoa (not a fan of it), potatoes, turkey sausage, and ham. We still try to get him to eat eggs and he is still disgusted by them...even the whites. I made "french toast" for him to see if I could get him to eat eggs that way because he loves bread so much. Turns out, he decided to vomit his breakfast after his morning nap that day.

As for Paul and I, we're doing ok. Paul is still working and sometimes working late. He's so happy in our new home and the area in which we now live. I start school in a week and a half and the more I think about it, the more emotional I become.

In fact, I'm dreading going back. Now that Evan is older and doing so many new things each day, I hate the thought of missing it all when I go back to work and start my masters classes again. The other night Paul said how it's too bad they won't give him a $50,000 raise so that I can stay home. Maybe someday...

TSLS: Night 5 and Day 5

Successes: Evan fell asleep last night after about 30 minutes of talking to himself and a few whiny cries out. I think I may have said "Night, night...sh-sh-sh" about three of four times to him the entire time. He fell asleep rather quietly. :)

He slept from 7:15 until 3:30, fell asleep at 4:30, and finally awoke at 6:20.

Areas of improvement: Naps. These are so draining on me. It takes him forever to fall asleep. Again, I left him in the crib for longer than an hour...10 minutes longer, until he fell asleep. This afternoon I just prayed and prayed that he would fall asleep. He did...45 minutes later.

TSLS: Day 3, Night 4, Day 4

Evan had a good nap in the morning and went down about 40 minutes after putting him down. The afternoon is another story. He didn't sleep within the hour he was in his crib, and didn't get an afternoon nap. Let's just say it made for a fussy afternoon.

The evening was tough. It took him a while to settle because he was overtired. We tried to get him down a little earlier, but it took him almost am hour to fall asleep. He slept from 6:20-3:15, was up for an hour rolling around in his crib, and the slept until 6:05.

Day 4's morning nap was great..almost an hour and a half. The afternoon nap seems to still be a struggle. I left him in his crib for almost 30 minutes longer than I was supposed to. I don't want him to get into the habit of falling asleep in Tue car if he doesn't nap in his bed, but I know what it's like if he doesnt sleep...and he NEEDS his nap. So I chose to let him stay in bed longer. He wasn't happy though. Not one bit, and he let me know it.

shout out

I'd like to give a quick shout out to my friends, Sarah and Ashley.

Sarah, thanks for lending me your books on the Sleep Lady. It's always nice to talk to another mom who knows what it's like for her son to be addicted to the boob.

Ashley, thank you for sharing your sleep hints and tips as well.

TSLS: Night 3

I know it's still early, but...

Evan had his first night of STRAIGHT SLEEP! Yes, he stirred a bit and fussed a few times, but nothing that really woke him. He fell asleep after about 20 minutes (7:23 to be exact) and woke up at 5:40. Still early, but hey, it's not 5:20!

Naps are still challenging and from what I hear, they are going to be. I've started closing his shutters and pulling down the room darkening shades (like we do at night). We've put in our air filtration machine that makes noise to help drown out sounds.

In fact, the landscapers are outside trimming our gigantic palm trees. The prawns are falling to the ground with loud thumps and they are using an electric saw. Evan...well, he's asleep and unaware to what's going on.

Making progress! I'm moving halfway to the door tonight.

The Sleep Lady Shuffle: Night 2, Part 2 and Day 2

Well, HALLELUJAH! My little boy slept from 7:26pm until 2:08am! Now that is a record that we haven't seen since December. He did wake around 9:30, but fell asleep after about a minute.

His two am wake up lasted an hour and a half and the boy was not happy. He fell asleep whimpering. Poor thing. Of course, I was crying too. He then woke again at 5:21 and would not go back to sleep. I waited until a little after 6, walked out of the room (to which he started wailing) and then came in and did the dramatic wake up.

I put Evan down for his first nap at 8:20. After some fussing and whining, he fell asleep at 9:06 and slept for just over an hour. He definitely does not enjoy going down for naps. He had a hard time even when I would nurse him to sleep.

Well, the second nap wasn't so successful. After putting him down at 1:06, he fussed, cried, and played for an hour. Towards the end of the hour it seemed as though he was settling and going to fall asleep, but no. Luckily he was able to take a short nap in the way to his Grandma's house in north Phoenix.

I'm praying that I'm not making this a habit for him.

On to night three...the last night next to the crib.

The Sleep Lady Shuffle: Night 2, Part 1

Well, Evan was in his crib by 6:47 (we were running a little late) and fell asleep by 7:29. There was little crying, more of a fussy cry as though he kept saying "C'Mon! Not again! Just pick me up already!"

The second he was placed in his crib, he started crying and I did too. I thought we were going to be in for a long night of that. But he stopped soon after and decided to start playing. He laid down quite quickly, but was up again. This happened over and over again. You could see him getting close and trying hard to fall asleep, but would wake again and get up.

On a personal note, not nursing or pumping for 12 hours....BAD IDEA. I was so engorged that I now have a plugged duct in my right side. Way to go, Me.

The Sleep Lady Shuffle: Night 1, Part 2 and Day 1

Well, the rest of the night went better and then became MUCH WORSE.

after falling asleep, Evan didn't wake again until 10:59 then settled himself back down by 11:30. He woke again around 1:10. This wake up was TORTURE. Around this tile of night is when he's been waking for hours at a te and I nurse him to see if it helps. almost two and a half hours later of crying (from Evan and myself), he went back to sleep. His final wake up was at 5:20. At around 6:15 am, I walked out of his room, came right back in with a cheery morning smile, a "Good morning!", gave him a big hug and a kiss, opened up the windows to let the morning light in, and let him nurse away! It took him a bit, but after some kisses while nursing, he finally smiled at me.

The first nap of the day wasn't too bad. He fell asleep after 30 minutes. He was sleeping peacefully, until our wonderful and totally well behaved dog (yeah, right) decided to start barking and whimpering when Paul left the house. Awesome. Evan woke up crying and screaming. It took him another 20 minutes to fall back asleep and I'm just glad that he did.

The second nap of the day wasn't so great. Evan decided to do a lot of fussing and playing. After an hour, I took him out and Paul and I went for a ride in the car. Evan slept for an hour and fifteen minutes. Not bad.

Here's hoping night two is a little better.

The Sleep Lady Shuffle: Night 1,Part 1

Here I am, on the floor if Evan's room at 8:17pm ready to camp out for the night. In an attempt to get some sleep for my darling baby bug and his parents, we started the The Sleep Lady Shuffle.

"What is it?" you ask. Basically, you put baby to bed drowsy but awake. Then, you sit by their bed so they know you're there. No pickups, but intermittent soothing is ok. After every three nights, you move further away. Same thing goes for naps.

So far, Evan did really well. As did I. Very little crying came from Evan. It was almost more of a fussy very every now and again. He would play with his crib toy, roll around, walk around his crib, and even tried to engage me in a game as he threw his socks over the crib at me. No success there. I didn't cry at all...yipee!

Evan was place in his crib at 6:33 and fell asleep at 7:41. There was a minor incident in which I had to take him out of the crib. He pooped. (He never poops before bed or during the night!) That was really the only time he cried because of the fact that I had to put him back into his crib.

What I'm most anxious about are the early morning wake ups where I used to feed him. USED to feed him. Yes, I'm trying to night wean him to. But if I cave, I'll make sure to put him down before he falls asleep.

I'll be sure to post how night 1 turns out, as well as day 1 naps.

Good night!