Single mom... no thanks!

Well I'm full of new updates since my last post.... so here we go!

This last weekend was my first weekend alone with Dax... meaning no Daniel, all weekend long! I would be a single mom for the weekend...EEK! Daniel had a conference in Houston and I would be alone with Dax... just us... for 3 days and 2 nights. Lets just say I was terrified! I'm not a fan of being at home by myself at night anyways.. and with a baby in the mix that just pushed me over the edge! I was VERY tempted to just put Dax in the bed with me for those two nights but I held it together and resisted the urge... that would have been a two night mistake that would take a week to correct. I must say though that the weekend went great! Dax was sort of a fussy boy Saturday but I handled it like a champ if I do say so myself :)  Things I learned while being alone with Dax for the weekend.....
1. Make bottles and have them prepared in the refrigerator ahead of time.  There is no one to distract a hungry baby while the other one makes a bottle when it's only you at home with the baby. After Dax would go to bed for the night I would make bottles for the next day. I still nurse Dax during the night and first thing in the morning... but the rest of the day is formula so having it ready was a life saver!
2. Go to sleep the second that baby goes to sleep. There aren't two of you to take turns waking up with the baby during the night.... so if you want any sleep at all... you better get to bed when that baby does.
3. Prepare the night before. Dax and I went to church with mom Sunday morning and having everything (clothes, bottles, cereal, diaper bag, etc) all set out and ready for us Saturday night made life much easier come Sunday morning.
4. Daniel is my security blanket.  I don't sleep well AT ALL if Daniel isn't home... and this just jumped to a whole new level with a baby in the house.
5. Being a single mom... no thanks!  While it was very empowering knowing that I did great handling everything on my own... I gained a whole new respect for single moms that I don't think I would EVER want to get familiar with... not that that would ever be an option anyways... have you seen how amazing my husband is??  :)

In my last post I mentioned Dax trying to roll from his back to his tummy.... well he mastered it Sunday night! YAY!  Now he really enjoys rolling back and forth from back to belly, belly to back, etc.  I'm pretty sure he'll be crawling much sooner than I would like to admit :/     He also gets two bowls of cereal a day now and LOVES it. The Dr. recommended cutting back the ounces in each bottle and giving him some cereal to help with his acid reflux so we've been doing this for about a week now and it's working pretty good.  He does so great with cereal and I can't wait to start feeding him food in a month! Speaking of food....

WOOHOO!!! My new pride and joy!  My Beaba was delivered this weekend and I'm SOOOOO pumped to start using it! With it I had delivered some trays for freezing the food, labels to label the food, and a babyfood cookbook! Last night we bought a Butternut Squash to make this weekend and I couldn't be more excited! We also got some glass bowls with lids for babyfood at daycare so it can be thawed in the microwave if necessary. Wouldn't you think they would sell glass bowls for baby food somewhere...  no... only plastic... despite how bad it is to head plastic. We just settled for some small pyrex bowls with lids that should work perfectly. I'm so excited about starting this chapter of ours and Dax's life! I feel so passionately about this and hope that it's something I can stick with!
More VERY exciting news that we got last week... I'm pregnant!! just kidding just kidding. lol  I couldn't resist ;)    The exciting news is that Dax will be starting daycare at the center I work at Monday!  We love where he's been and will miss Lora.... but having him literally right next door to me will be soooo amazing!  I'll be the one getting Dax ready every day now and will be able to take him to work with me and take him home with me when I leave. I'll also be able to peek in on him whenever I want... and probably be able to hear him scream through the wall when he's in a mood :)   We'll be paying more than what we do now but the convenience of it all will greatly outweigh the cost issue. Daniel will be able to spend more time studying for school and boards (he has his first licensing exam in June.. eek!) and will save me an hour and fifteen minutes of driving everyday (45 minutes from my work to his current daycare, and then 30 minutes back home).  It's going to be so perfect. Not to mention I LOVE Dax's new teacher. I'm so excited about this new adventure and all the new doors that will be opening for Dax from it. Now just send prayers our way that the new transition goes smoothly for him!
Life for me and Daniel is going good. He's staying busy with school... starting to gear up for test block (yuck) and I'm staying busy with work. Since starting back I've been reassured that I'm in the right career. This point about a year ago I was unsure. A mixture of pregnancy hormones, stress from school, and absolutely insane class at work made we question whether or not I was really meant for a career in early childhood. Now that life is back to normal for me and I have my own classroom again with wonderful kids that are a year older than what I was previously teaching I know that I love what I'm doing. I get so excited when I see my kids learning (and my how much they are learning!) and actually love going to work everyday!  I have wonderful students and parents in my class, an afternoon teacher that is just wonderful, two wonderful bosses, and did I mention the wonderful kids in my class?? Hugs from the each morning make my day so much brighter and I instantly forget about the lack of sleep I got before or any other stresses in my life. Hearing them ask me about how "baby Dax" is every day melts my heart and hearing these sweet little words, "Mrs. Kandice, will you be here everyday?"  from one special little girl before I leave everyday erases all the worries I have. This week I have been sick and getting hugs and kisses to "make me feel better" and hearing them ask me everyday if my body is feeling better yet, really does make me feel a little better.  If you can't tell... I sort of love my class <3

Off to nap again before Mr. Man gets home from daycare... I've been sick the last few days and in case you didn't know... the job of being a mom doesn't stop when you're sick.... you still have to wake up all night and you still have to have the energy to deal with a 5 month old... it's a whole new learning experience that I'm having the pleasure to experience for the first time. But his little smiles and laughs remind me that it's def. all worth it :)

Have a good day :)

Our Growin Boy!

Dax is now four months and twenty days.... my how the time flies! We had Dax's four month check up and shots today and he did so good! He was quite talkative the entire time... thank goodness! The last two appointments he was not a very happy camper so I'm glad they got to see his happy side. With his first shot he didn't even flinch... and then with the second one there was a delayed cry that didn't last too long. I was such a proud mommy :)   Dax now weighs 15.45lbs, is 26.25 inches, and his head circumference is 16.75 inches. He is up to the 43.37 percentile in head circumference (30.32% at 2 months, 28.41% at 9 days),  40.76 percentile in weight (16.67% at 2 months, 44% at 9 days), and drum roll...... 79.4 percentile in height (up from 27% at 2 months and 56% at 9 days).  He's going to be long and skinny like his daddy :)    I figured he was pretty long for his age since some of his 3-6 month pj's are almost too short.  Yet I can't go up a size b/c they would swallow his tiny little body.... hmmm...
Speaking of clothes Dax has finally grown out of all of his 0-3 month clothes and is now fitting all of his 3-6 month clothes perfectly (except his pants which all tend to be short). His feet are still huge... comfortably wearing 12 month socks and his little fingers are so long that he gags himself anytime they're in his mouth.   So since it was his four month check I'm going to copy my BFF and give a list of things Dax has been up to lately...

* Rolls like a rockstar from his belly to back... and thinks it's a really fun game when he rolls over and mommy puts him back on his belly so he can get some tummy time in.
* He can get onto his side from his back but can't quite figure out what to do with his arms so he can get onto his belly.
* He talks... and talk and talks and talks now. I LOVE it :)  Throughout the night if he wakes up he just talks away... and when you go into the room to get him back to sleep he laughs when he sees you... it's pretty awesome lol.
* He plays in his Bounce Bounce Baby and loves to sit there and look around at all of his toys... I can't wait until he figures out how to jump.
* One of his favorite things to do is have his diaper changed lol. He just talks away the entire time.
* He enjoys eating his hand... entire hand... and will manage to fit his entire fist in his mouth and talk at the same time.
* His little body is like clockwork when he's at home. His daily sleep schedule is like this.... Wake up at about 8:00am, 30 minute nap around 10:30 or 11:00am, two hour nap at about 1:30 or 2:00pm, 30 minute nap at 5:30pm, bed at 8:00pm, nurse at about 5:00am, and back to sleep until 8:00pm. I really like his sleep schedule now and it works out great for all of us. Apparently for whatever reason he doesn't like to nap at daycare but that's what his schedule looks like any time he's at home.
* He loves music and being sung to...especially Bob Marley... it's amazing.
* He loves his bedtime routine and it works wonders.
* He loves to play with toys now. He's really good at switching toys back and forth between hands and taking things to and from his mouth. In fact one of his favorite games is to take his paci in and out of his mouth.
*He is becoming really aware of his surroundings. He's constantly looking around and LOVES to watch and tough the dogs. Also with this comes his ability to spot a bottle from across the room... which means mommy and daddy have to hide them now when its not time to eat :)
* During tummy time he love to put his face down into the blanket and lift his butt entirely up in the air, holding himself up on with his face and toes lol... I don't know how this is fun but apparently it is. He also scoots himself forward by doing this... I think once those little arms get stronger he'll be all over the place!

Oh sweet sleep....

Oh sweet, precious sleep... how I've missed you and oh how glad I am to be reunited with you.  Starting at six weeks Dax would sleep through the night... like sleep at least 7 hours, wake up and eat, and then back to sleep for another few hours.  This wonderful phase of sleeping went on until he was about 3 months old when he got sick.  Starting then he would wake up every few hours... and from that point on it has just gone down hill. For probably the last 2 weeks he was waking up every hour, hour and half at night. UGHHHHH. Not wanting to eat, not wanting to be held... just waking up and fussing. Waking up every hour at night, mixed with waking up at 5am to go to work and teach pre-k for 8 hours, then comeing back home to start the nightly cycle over again was the most exhausting thing I've ever experienced! It was even worse than when he was a newborn.  We had racked our brain trying to figure out what was wrong with him. We thought and tried everything.. .maybe he was too hot, maybe he was too cold, maybe he needed cereal, maybe he needed a better night time routine... and that list could go on and on. Needless to say none of those genius ideas panned out and helped the problem...
Well a few days ago after an evening of Dax fussing and spitting up a lot it occured to me that maybe his acid reflux was acting up again. He had really bad silent reflux when he was little and it had gotten a lot better over the last couple months. Adding this new idea to the ongoing growing list of things that could possibly be waking him up, we decided to give him Colic Calm (which is suppose to help out with acid reflux some) and have him sleep on his wedge again that we used when we was little. WAHLA!!! MIRACLE WORKER..... Dax slept 8 straight hours that night without a sound, woke up and ate, and went back to sleep for another 2 hours. Needless to say we've been doing those same two things every night since and we are now going on night 4 of sleeping all night! I'm not going to lie... I've been waking up several times a night to check our video monitor to see if he's breathing... but hey.. I"ll take that any time over him waking up every hour.

And that's pretty much the highlight of our life this week...  Dax goes for his 4 month shots next week so be preparing yourself for a post on how much my little man has grown coming up soon :)

Questions Questions Questions

In my four months of being a mom I've learned a lot. I've learned that I actually can function on only 4-5 hours of sleep a night; that family members are no longer excited to see me when we get together, instead Dax; that baby socks, particularly Dax's right sock, needs to be glued on; that before having a baby I had WAY too much time on my hands; that I am now ambidextrous (due to circumstances like feeding a baby with right hand and feeding myself with left, etc); and the one that probably came as the biggest surprise... that people are full of questions and opinions...

"Why are you doing this?"  "Why are you not doing that?"  

"Why would you do that?" 

"We did that and we turned out fine." "That's just a silly thing to do/not do."

When I hear all these questions I instantly want to respond back with the quick snap of, "because we want to."  But instead I try to explain our reasoning usually only to get back another smart remark or opinion or a simple nod with the look of "you're absolutely crazy" written across their face. 

Daniel & I are different (as our close friends and family can attest to :). We don't do things just because it's what always been done, or because it's what other people say to do, or because it's the easy way out. We put a lot of thought into the daily choices we make in our life and consider the long term effects of our choices.  Yeah we may do things that the normal everyday person wouldn't do, and yeah we might find things very important that other people blow off, but whatever it is we're doing you can guarantee it wasn't just done by chance.  

* Yes, we are doing sign language with Dax.

* No, we don't let Dax watch TV and won't... not for a LONG time

* Yes, we buy vegetarian and organic food, and plan on doing so with Dax as much as possible.

* Yes, we plan on making homemade baby food for him.

* No, we will not let him cry it out. 

* No, we aren't feeding him food yet. We are waiting until 6 months and will then start with our HOMEMADE, ORGANIC baby food :)

I don't mind answering questions about the choices we make if you are genuinely and sincerely curious about it and willing to look at my response with an open mind... but if you plan on responding with a smart remark or silly look upon your face... just save it for another day :) 

 I highly recommend this book for anyone that has even the slightest thought of signing with your little one. I LOVE it and it will probably be my new gift to all of my expecting friends :)

 One Love <3

Dirty Diaper.... Check!! :)

We'll start this post with a "You know you're a mom when.." joke...

You know you're a mom when you get extremely excited over a poopy diaper...

That is me today! I had a very unhappy, very constipated baby boy the past couple days and today, with the wonderful advice of my BFF, I now have my happy little man back! The absolute best part of having two of my great friends (Sam and Melissa) with little ones pretty much the same age as Dax is that I'm able to run to them with questions and advice and tips for things with Dax.  We started Dax on cereal about a week ago to see if that would help him get back to his regular sleeping at night (he use to go at least 8 hours at night between feedings... well ever since he got sick about a month ago he's been waking up every 3 hours at night to eat :/  ).  Well he did absolutely great with cereal and loved it.... but it resulted in him being constipated which come to find out happens pretty often. So needless to say I think we're going to put a stop to the rice cereal for a little while. I think it was just too much for his young digestive system to handle.  So now we're trying to decide whether to just stop everything until 6 months like recommended by our doctor and other health organizations, or to switch to oats/barley cereal, or to just go straight to a vegetable.  Apparently from what I've been reading the latest trend now is to not do cereal at all.... just start straight up with vegetables... which makes sense to me... I'm just not sure what to do... Any advise???   All of these decisions that being a mom requires is definitely the hardest part for me. I'm possibly one of the most in-decisive people on the face of the planet and that does not mix well with being a mom. Even the simple decision of whether or not to stay home from work today to try to ease the constipation problem or to go to work took me forever to decide today... but I have to say I'm very happy with the decision I made. Work is important and we need the money.... but being there for my little man to help him feel even the slightest bit better is way more important. Luckily I have very wonderful bosses and co-workers that allow me to be with my little man whenever I need to.

Well since my last post the holidays have come and gone and a new year has begun! Dax's first Christmas was absolutely amazing. We are blessed with an amazing family and Dax definitely got way more than he needed... but we are very thankful for it all. We spent Eve Eve with Daniels family, Christmas Eve with my siblings, nieces and nephews, and my parents, and Christmas Day was split between time at home enjoying each others company, seeing Daniel's parents, and the annual Wilson family gathering for the first time at my grandparents new "apartment" (assisted living center). Daniel enjoyed playing Santa... even though Dax could really care less, and we were very excited to open gifts as a family Christmas morning. It was absolutely perfect!

The last month has also brought a lot of reflecting upon our last year as a family too. The day after Christmas was exactly a year since we found out that our family would be getting a new addition, and New Years Eve was a year since we told our families the wonderful news. Having a baby was something that we had wanted so bad. Only a couple people new at the time, but we had tried to get pregnant for five months before succeeding. I know that is absolutely no time at all compared to the struggles that many people have to conceive but to us that five months felt like an eternity. So reflecting on that day when I took the test and woke Daniel up to tell him that we were finally pregnant was such a sweet memory.  Our entire 2010 was spent thinking, talking, and living baby and will be a year that I know I will forever remember and treasure.  I look forward to what 2011 holds for our little family.