I'm getting this sneaking suspicion that traveling with Jacob is only going to get harder. We went to Toronto and Buffalo this weekend, and while we had a good time with family, the rest of the trip was on the brink of disaster. Jacob used to sleep the entire trip to Buffalo without a problem. Lately he's been waking up, and waking up cranky at that. This time he woke up long before we got to Buffalo, and we still had the leg up to Toronto to go. I spent most of the trip in the backseat with him, and it still took some doing to get him to take another nap. He needed it, believe me. We finally got up to Toronto to see a lacrosse game (the team that (more or less) used to be the Rattlers), and by the time we got some dinner at a concession stand and sat down, we saw no more than 10 minutes of gametime before it started raining. It kept raining for a good hour or more, and we could only keep Jacob entertained in the concourse for so long. Eventually we gave up and headed back to NT to sleep at my parents'. My master plan of getting him in his PJs and fed was foiled by him falling asleep on the way to the car. I should have just woken him up, but I figured he'd once again wake up after we were on the road for a bit and we could just stop and do it then. Well, he woke up just before customs, so that wasn't happening. He screamed through a long customs wait, and was miserable until we stopped at Mighty Taco for the second half of our dinner and a feeding for him. He still wasn't too happy, and predictably ended up having a restless night of sleep. Short and restless...yuck. Still, we had a pretty good time on Saturday at our nephew Luke's birthday party, and he went down relatively easily that night. He slept well, just waking up once briefly, then a couple times in the morning in the midst of ultimately sleeping in until 8am! Sunday we ended up sticking around in Buffalo for what turned out to be a little too long. We were having fun and hated to leave, but we didn't get home until 10pm, and the whole thing just seemed to throw Jacob off again. He just wouldn't go to sleep once we got home, no matter what we tried. Once he was officially asleep, he woke up about four times before 6am. None were particularly lengthy, but still...they add up. Tonight we got him in bed before 9pm, and he's been sleeping soundly so far. We'll keep our fingers crossed. Long story short, it's becoming more and more apparent that he does so much better on a schedule. If he gets too tired or too thrown off, he's a mess. And with his screechy scream he's become such a pro at, it is so miserable to deal with.
In other news, Jacob has another cold...and consequently, so do I. We tried some new foods in the past few days, or at least, old foods in different forms...like canned peaches and pears, a real sweet potato, maple teething biscuits (so messy!!), and even pretzels. I had to be extra careful with those to make sure he didn't break off a big piece, but he seemed to like the taste! I think we're going to work on grapes this week, and keep trying the sweet potato. I need to perfect my microwave cooking abilities! Interestingly, I think I like them, which I never thought I did! Jacob's really starting to babble a lot. Nothing is really connecting to anything (like, even if he says "dada" it's not really directed at Craig), but it's cute to hear. His teeth are really coming in now, very quickly. So far they look to be quite cute, though I will miss the two bottom teeth look! He's definitely in a cranky phase when it comes to not getting his way, and I know this one will probably last a while. It's so hard when you can't reason with a baby and explain why he can't have something or go somewhere. It's one thing when they can sort of understand you (even if they don't listen), but it's just so hard when you don't even have a shot! Definitely need a lot of patience and good distraction/redirection techniques!
Hard to believe we're less than three weeks away from Jacob's first birthday...so crazy!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Weaning
Now that we're coming up to Jacob's first birthday, I've been thinking a lot about the weaning thing. I mean, way back when it seemed like wishful thinking that we'd make it through three months of nursing, a year seemed impossible. Once I made it to three months, six seemed doable but still a bit intimidating. Once I hit six it seemed like a year would be fine, but all bets were off when teeth started coming in. Still, through all that, here we are at 11+ months, still going strong. Granted, I only have to feed him 2-3 times per day, and some of those tend to be pretty short feedings, but I do pump twice a day at work as well, so this is still an integral part of my existence.
I had targeted a year to start easing off because it seemed like a good stopping point. A year is pretty average, and Jacob would have gotten a ton of benefit from going that long. I figured he'd be getting into more real food by that point so it would be less important, and I really didn't want to worry about wrestling with a growing toddler past that point. As it is now sometimes he seems so big and hard to control...he flails his arms a lot and gives me some pretty good smacks, pinches and scratches. Though I'll admit, sometimes when he's all curled up and sleepy, he seems just like the little baby he was during that first week in the hospital. And really, pinpointing a year seemed like a good way to avoid becoming one of those moms that thinks it's ok to breastfeed a three year old. I'm not a fan of that, but knew that the longer I went the more my judgment would be clouded and the harder it would be to break Jacob of the habit, so I just figured that having a stopping point would be a good way to plan ahead and avoid that completely.
Now that we're getting close (just over three weeks!), I have mixed feelings. I know that I can't stop cold turkey for a number of reasons, so I'm pretty much at the point of saying that at a year we'll start working down. Maybe we'll start with dropping the morning feeding and replacing another day care feeding with formula or cow's milk. Eventually we'll work into shorter night feedings, then bottle-only night feedings. I'll work down to one pumping a day, then none. Apparently you can maintain a supply for just one feeding a day, which would be nice for a little while. I'm not sure what to do about weekends, though I suppose I'll have to start doing bottle/sippy cup feedings more often. In any event, I know that it's best to do it all gradually, not only for Jacob's security, but for my comfort. Breastfeeding is a supply and demand operation, and the less you need it, the less you make. When Jacob started sleeping through the night, I used to wake up terribly uncomfortable because I was so full in the morning. Nowadays I'm fine because my body has adjusted to that long stretch overnight. I used to get uncomfortable after three hours or so during the day, and now I can go about five or six. So, the more gradual the weaning, the more comfortable it'll be for me.
Still, there are pros and cons. I will miss having the extra 500 calories a day in my diet. I will finally have to get back to really watching what I eat for the first time in over a year and a half. I am wondering if I will start getting the pudge back in my butt, hips and thighs (where it has melted away from over the past 11 months, thanks to breastfeeding physiology), and whether my stomach will stay pudgy or if it was really impacting that too. I'll miss the closeness with Jacob. It's been a nice part of our daily routine for so long, and it will be odd once it's gone. As much as I disliked breastfeeding early on, I really do appreciate those 2-3 feedings each day now because Jacob is so sweet and content most of the time. It's a nice, quiet time when he's just my little baby again. And really, when he's totally freaking out, breastfeeding is the only thing that calms him down. That comes in REALLY handy sometimes. There are moments that I'll miss my enhanced chest (cleavage for the first time ever!), but I think that most of the time I'll be happy to have my small chest back...because not only will my clothes fit better, but I just think it fits my body better in general. I'll also miss not having to spend money for that part of Jacob's diet.
However, there's a whole host of things I won't miss. In addition to getting back into a lot of my clothes, I will look forward to getting back to normal bras. I am so tired of rotating through the same batch of nursing bras that don't have good strap placements for a lot of my shirts. I've also been wearing a sleep bra to bed for a little extra support and leak protection, and I will seriously appreciate not having to do that anymore...it's the last thing I want to worry about when I'm sleepy and getting ready for bed. I will be happy to get my hormone levels back to normal and have my chest (and the rest of me, for that matter) not feel quite so utilitarian. I'm sure Craig will appreciate that change as well. I'm excited to not have to worry as much about what I'm putting into my body and how it will impact Jacob, from the milk protein debacle to peanuts to alcoholic beverages. I am especially looking forward to not viewing my body as some sort of ticking time bomb, that I need to nurse or pump every 4-5 hours in order to stay comfortable and keep my supply up. I won't miss worrying that if Jacob needs a bottle while we're out, that I might go over six hours between emptyings. I won't miss pumping at work, because even though the break is sometimes nice, there are days that I'm so busy that another interruption is the last thing I need. I also won't miss lugging that pump around, whether it's to work or on a trip. I feel like a pack mule walking into work every day. I won't miss washing all of my pump parts and bottles every day, or dealing with the frozen bags of milk in the back of the freezer. On the days that Jacob isn't as cooperative, I won't feel as personally responsible for how little he's eating or feel so frustrated when he won't focus on eating enough to stop wiggling, swatting at me, or biting me (though I will say that the bites have been minimal, and nothing more than a momentary pinch...yet...but those top teeth are still coming in!). I won't miss being on call for feedings most of the time. While it's nice to be the one person in the world that can fill that need in that special way, it will be nice to be able to pass him off to Craig if need be, without worrying about having to pump later for the missed feeding. I won't miss having to cover up when trying to feed him around other people. While it's not horrible, it's awkward and always has you wondering how uncomfortable other people are. I've taken the stance that since I'm not visibly whipping the boob out, I don't so much care if other people are bothered. In a situation like that, where they can't even see anything, it's their issue, not mine.
I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but it seems like there are enough cons at this point that it will be a bit of a relief to be done. It's been quite the wild ride these last 11 months, and I am so happy that I did it and it went well. I just hope next time around things will go as smoothly. Still, it will be odd to be done and I will miss the bonding. But I think I've done as much as I can and have earned the right to get my body fully back in my possession! We still have some work to do on Jacob's solid food diet, though we're working on it slowly but surely....adding more and trying to get into finger foods as much as possible. It's taking a lot of figuring out, but hopefully we'll take some big steps soon!
I had targeted a year to start easing off because it seemed like a good stopping point. A year is pretty average, and Jacob would have gotten a ton of benefit from going that long. I figured he'd be getting into more real food by that point so it would be less important, and I really didn't want to worry about wrestling with a growing toddler past that point. As it is now sometimes he seems so big and hard to control...he flails his arms a lot and gives me some pretty good smacks, pinches and scratches. Though I'll admit, sometimes when he's all curled up and sleepy, he seems just like the little baby he was during that first week in the hospital. And really, pinpointing a year seemed like a good way to avoid becoming one of those moms that thinks it's ok to breastfeed a three year old. I'm not a fan of that, but knew that the longer I went the more my judgment would be clouded and the harder it would be to break Jacob of the habit, so I just figured that having a stopping point would be a good way to plan ahead and avoid that completely.
Now that we're getting close (just over three weeks!), I have mixed feelings. I know that I can't stop cold turkey for a number of reasons, so I'm pretty much at the point of saying that at a year we'll start working down. Maybe we'll start with dropping the morning feeding and replacing another day care feeding with formula or cow's milk. Eventually we'll work into shorter night feedings, then bottle-only night feedings. I'll work down to one pumping a day, then none. Apparently you can maintain a supply for just one feeding a day, which would be nice for a little while. I'm not sure what to do about weekends, though I suppose I'll have to start doing bottle/sippy cup feedings more often. In any event, I know that it's best to do it all gradually, not only for Jacob's security, but for my comfort. Breastfeeding is a supply and demand operation, and the less you need it, the less you make. When Jacob started sleeping through the night, I used to wake up terribly uncomfortable because I was so full in the morning. Nowadays I'm fine because my body has adjusted to that long stretch overnight. I used to get uncomfortable after three hours or so during the day, and now I can go about five or six. So, the more gradual the weaning, the more comfortable it'll be for me.
Still, there are pros and cons. I will miss having the extra 500 calories a day in my diet. I will finally have to get back to really watching what I eat for the first time in over a year and a half. I am wondering if I will start getting the pudge back in my butt, hips and thighs (where it has melted away from over the past 11 months, thanks to breastfeeding physiology), and whether my stomach will stay pudgy or if it was really impacting that too. I'll miss the closeness with Jacob. It's been a nice part of our daily routine for so long, and it will be odd once it's gone. As much as I disliked breastfeeding early on, I really do appreciate those 2-3 feedings each day now because Jacob is so sweet and content most of the time. It's a nice, quiet time when he's just my little baby again. And really, when he's totally freaking out, breastfeeding is the only thing that calms him down. That comes in REALLY handy sometimes. There are moments that I'll miss my enhanced chest (cleavage for the first time ever!), but I think that most of the time I'll be happy to have my small chest back...because not only will my clothes fit better, but I just think it fits my body better in general. I'll also miss not having to spend money for that part of Jacob's diet.
However, there's a whole host of things I won't miss. In addition to getting back into a lot of my clothes, I will look forward to getting back to normal bras. I am so tired of rotating through the same batch of nursing bras that don't have good strap placements for a lot of my shirts. I've also been wearing a sleep bra to bed for a little extra support and leak protection, and I will seriously appreciate not having to do that anymore...it's the last thing I want to worry about when I'm sleepy and getting ready for bed. I will be happy to get my hormone levels back to normal and have my chest (and the rest of me, for that matter) not feel quite so utilitarian. I'm sure Craig will appreciate that change as well. I'm excited to not have to worry as much about what I'm putting into my body and how it will impact Jacob, from the milk protein debacle to peanuts to alcoholic beverages. I am especially looking forward to not viewing my body as some sort of ticking time bomb, that I need to nurse or pump every 4-5 hours in order to stay comfortable and keep my supply up. I won't miss worrying that if Jacob needs a bottle while we're out, that I might go over six hours between emptyings. I won't miss pumping at work, because even though the break is sometimes nice, there are days that I'm so busy that another interruption is the last thing I need. I also won't miss lugging that pump around, whether it's to work or on a trip. I feel like a pack mule walking into work every day. I won't miss washing all of my pump parts and bottles every day, or dealing with the frozen bags of milk in the back of the freezer. On the days that Jacob isn't as cooperative, I won't feel as personally responsible for how little he's eating or feel so frustrated when he won't focus on eating enough to stop wiggling, swatting at me, or biting me (though I will say that the bites have been minimal, and nothing more than a momentary pinch...yet...but those top teeth are still coming in!). I won't miss being on call for feedings most of the time. While it's nice to be the one person in the world that can fill that need in that special way, it will be nice to be able to pass him off to Craig if need be, without worrying about having to pump later for the missed feeding. I won't miss having to cover up when trying to feed him around other people. While it's not horrible, it's awkward and always has you wondering how uncomfortable other people are. I've taken the stance that since I'm not visibly whipping the boob out, I don't so much care if other people are bothered. In a situation like that, where they can't even see anything, it's their issue, not mine.
I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but it seems like there are enough cons at this point that it will be a bit of a relief to be done. It's been quite the wild ride these last 11 months, and I am so happy that I did it and it went well. I just hope next time around things will go as smoothly. Still, it will be odd to be done and I will miss the bonding. But I think I've done as much as I can and have earned the right to get my body fully back in my possession! We still have some work to do on Jacob's solid food diet, though we're working on it slowly but surely....adding more and trying to get into finger foods as much as possible. It's taking a lot of figuring out, but hopefully we'll take some big steps soon!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Memorial Day Weekend
Last year I blogged about the awesome Memorial Day weekend we had. It was the perfect mix of productive and relaxing. We got a lot done, especially in light of all the baby prep we had to do, but at the same time we got to see some family, catch a movie, and just hang out. This year, "relaxing" definitely wasn't a word I'd use. Fortunately, "fun" is. It was a busy but generally enjoyable weekend. I just wish I wasn't so wiped out from it all!
Friday we decided to go to the drive-in. Our favorite drive-in (there are two in the area, actually never been to the closer one) is in Perry, an hour drive from here. It's worth the trip, though, and it's a nice little nostalgia thing for me because Geneseo is on the way. Depending on which way we go, you either drive through Geneseo or spend a minute or two on the same road I used to travel from Buffalo to Geneseo. Either way, it's a nice memory :) The drive-in is cool, with some great food options, mini-golf, and an arcade. There's also a spot that backs up to a farm, and the cows just hang out right by the fence for petting and grass feeding. It's $7 a person for the double feature, which is cheaper than the theater. And now with a baby, not having to worry about a baby sitter is a nice perk as well. Craig really wanted to see Night at the Museum 2, and it was playing over the weekend. We got down there just in time to grab some dinner and head back out to the car. I managed to change Jacob's diaper and put his pajamas on while sitting in the front seat of the car, and then nursed him for a bit before eventually getting him to fall asleep. He was a little distracting for the first half of the movie, but I still caught most of it. Once he was asleep, he stayed asleep through the end of the movie and the drive home. We carefully extracted him out of his seat and put him in bed without incident. Awesome. Mission accomplished! It'll definitely be more fun to do when we have more time and Jacob's able to enjoy some of the other activities there, but it was a nice evening for us nonetheless.
Saturday I finally had a chance to get my hair done. At long last I once again have some blonde highlights and a refreshingly short haircut. Ahhhh. I feel much more like myself again. That afternoon we did a marathon shopping trip at Wal-Mart to pick up a myriad of stuff. Just a lot of random items that we kept adding to in the days leading up to it. Some was in preparation for Monday's party. I can't remember what we did Saturday night, but I suppose if there was any relaxing at home this weekend, that was probably it. Sunday we got up, went to church, had some lunch, then headed off to the zoo. It was our second attempt at the zoo this spring, and we were hoping that a less hectic day than last time would help Jacob "get it" a little more. I think he did. Still a lot of banging railings and staring off into space or at other people, but it definitely seemed like animals would catch his eye a little more this time. We saw a lot of cool stuff because it was perfect weather and the animals were active. Maybe too active. Jacob almost got his first education on the birds and the bees courtesy of two tortoises, but Craig kept him away from their habitat...however I got video. I won't post it here, but I do have it on Facebook if you're dying to see it. Here are a couple pictures from the day:
Later on Sunday we took a walk to get some gelato at a place around the corner. Jacob got his first taste, a tiny little drop of mango :) It was a busy but fun day. We also spent some time getting things ready for Monday's party. And Monday was all about the party. BJ's, Wegmans, and home for a lot of prep work. We had a few people over to watch the NCAA Lacrosse championship, but most of us spent most of the day outside in the lovely weather. By the end of the day, we were beat and all of us were sleeping in the living room by about 7:30. Ugh. Not exactly relaxing, to be sure. All in all, Jacob was good during the whole weekend other than his random screaming fits. Those are really frustrating and I'm hoping it's just a phase. We're really trying to figure out a balance between attending to his needs when he's screaming, but not communicating that the scream works to get his way. Really fine line there...and it's so hard to not go to him when he does it, because he'll scream so hard that he'll choke and cough. Lovely. But when he's on the go and appropriately distracted, he's great.
Friday we decided to go to the drive-in. Our favorite drive-in (there are two in the area, actually never been to the closer one) is in Perry, an hour drive from here. It's worth the trip, though, and it's a nice little nostalgia thing for me because Geneseo is on the way. Depending on which way we go, you either drive through Geneseo or spend a minute or two on the same road I used to travel from Buffalo to Geneseo. Either way, it's a nice memory :) The drive-in is cool, with some great food options, mini-golf, and an arcade. There's also a spot that backs up to a farm, and the cows just hang out right by the fence for petting and grass feeding. It's $7 a person for the double feature, which is cheaper than the theater. And now with a baby, not having to worry about a baby sitter is a nice perk as well. Craig really wanted to see Night at the Museum 2, and it was playing over the weekend. We got down there just in time to grab some dinner and head back out to the car. I managed to change Jacob's diaper and put his pajamas on while sitting in the front seat of the car, and then nursed him for a bit before eventually getting him to fall asleep. He was a little distracting for the first half of the movie, but I still caught most of it. Once he was asleep, he stayed asleep through the end of the movie and the drive home. We carefully extracted him out of his seat and put him in bed without incident. Awesome. Mission accomplished! It'll definitely be more fun to do when we have more time and Jacob's able to enjoy some of the other activities there, but it was a nice evening for us nonetheless.
Saturday I finally had a chance to get my hair done. At long last I once again have some blonde highlights and a refreshingly short haircut. Ahhhh. I feel much more like myself again. That afternoon we did a marathon shopping trip at Wal-Mart to pick up a myriad of stuff. Just a lot of random items that we kept adding to in the days leading up to it. Some was in preparation for Monday's party. I can't remember what we did Saturday night, but I suppose if there was any relaxing at home this weekend, that was probably it. Sunday we got up, went to church, had some lunch, then headed off to the zoo. It was our second attempt at the zoo this spring, and we were hoping that a less hectic day than last time would help Jacob "get it" a little more. I think he did. Still a lot of banging railings and staring off into space or at other people, but it definitely seemed like animals would catch his eye a little more this time. We saw a lot of cool stuff because it was perfect weather and the animals were active. Maybe too active. Jacob almost got his first education on the birds and the bees courtesy of two tortoises, but Craig kept him away from their habitat...however I got video. I won't post it here, but I do have it on Facebook if you're dying to see it. Here are a couple pictures from the day:
Later on Sunday we took a walk to get some gelato at a place around the corner. Jacob got his first taste, a tiny little drop of mango :) It was a busy but fun day. We also spent some time getting things ready for Monday's party. And Monday was all about the party. BJ's, Wegmans, and home for a lot of prep work. We had a few people over to watch the NCAA Lacrosse championship, but most of us spent most of the day outside in the lovely weather. By the end of the day, we were beat and all of us were sleeping in the living room by about 7:30. Ugh. Not exactly relaxing, to be sure. All in all, Jacob was good during the whole weekend other than his random screaming fits. Those are really frustrating and I'm hoping it's just a phase. We're really trying to figure out a balance between attending to his needs when he's screaming, but not communicating that the scream works to get his way. Really fine line there...and it's so hard to not go to him when he does it, because he'll scream so hard that he'll choke and cough. Lovely. But when he's on the go and appropriately distracted, he's great.I also took a few minutes on Sunday to get some semi-posed pictures of Jacob. They're not quite as pseudo-pro looking as a few other attempts I've had (Halloween, Christmas), but Jacob's too active to sit still right now, so I had to take what I could get. And even if the dining room chair isn't the best accessory, I still think the pictures are super cute. Enjoy... :)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Pictures & More
It's been a while since I posted pictures so I thought I'd catch up on a few. These are from two weekends ago, when we met up with some family for the Lilac Festival. We did a little pre-festival lunch at my cousin Lori's place, then walked to the festival from there. These two pics were of a happy Jacob in his little portable high (or low) chair. I like his smile in the first and his sweet little face with both teeth visible in the second.
I do feel bad that the poor kid always looks tired. I think it's allergies. I always have bags and dark circles, too. While he's not a great napper, he does seem to get enough sleep because he has some very happy periods during the day and is generally pretty functional.
This picture was during our walk to the festival. Jacob fell asleep (or almost asleep) like this. In his left hand is an empty Mentos gum container. He really liked holding it. My mom put a little stone in it at some point during the walk so Jacob could rattle it around. He actually held on to it for most of the festival, which was pretty amazing. But yeah, quite the sleeping position, isn't it?
I'll give an update on our Memorial Day weekend in my next post, but let's see...what else is new? Jacob tried some new foods over the past few days, including watermelon and yogurt. He also got a tiny taste of mango gelato, just because he was giving me this desperate look with his tongue wagging (seriously). I figure that he'll be getting into full-on dairy in less than a month anyway, so a tiny little droplet of gelato would be ok. Yogurt seems to be going well--he really seems to like it--but it's tough to tell if it's making him gassier than usual. That may account for some random crankiness at a couple points over the weekend...though I also decided to try having cereal and milk for the first time in ages this weekend, too, so that could have done it as well. Again, I figure he's on the road to cow's milk in the next month, so I figured that dairy was worth a try to see if the cow's milk protein sensitivity that I was pretty sure he had when he was first born was still around. It's tough to tell. We'll just have to keep watching...and listening. He was a big fan of the watermelon, though. I just need to keep trying to figure out other things to give him, because I'm feeling some peer pressure based on the fact that another kid at day care (younger than him, no less) has a stack of four containers of finger food each day...no baby food. I can't tell exactly what they are, but I know I could probably be doing a lot better at this. It just takes planning, which I'm not particularly great at. Jacob's still fighting his bottles a lot (less fighting with breastfeedings, I guess now I'm just used to them coming up short), so day care has had to great creative in breaking up the bottles...some with his oatmeal, some in his sippy cup, and the rest for a short bottle feeding. I feel bad that they're bearing the brunt of his eating difficulties. He does seem to be doing a lot better with the sippy cup (much less spillage) but you definitely know when he's done, because it's on the floor.
He didn't do much of his fish-face-kissy-noises over the weekend, but he was sticking his tongue out a lot, which was cute. However, I'm convinced he's half dog because of some of the things he does...between chewing on things, holding them in his mouth, licking me, and I think he even growled once over the weekend. It's still pretty cute, though. However, his blood-curdling screaming is not. He's been doing that quite a bit. I can't tell if there's really something bothering his (like the aforementioned gas) or if he just figured out he could be that forceful and is milking it for all it's worth. He can go from full-blown shriek to a sweet smile in about two seconds flat, so I really have no idea what's up. He can do the same in the opposite direction as well, so that can be a little difficult in public places. He hates his car seat right now, so that's been a sure-fire scream-fest lately. Arg. I'm also trying to figure out how to get him to stop hitting and biting all of the time. I think at this point it's just baby stuff--teething, lack of control compounded by excitement--and not any desire to hurt, but no matter how many times I try to stop him or show him alternate actions, he still doesn't quite get it...and he is getting strong and will have four teeth in a matter of days. Hmmmm.
He definitely has his difficult moments, but so much of the time he's just goofy and sweet so it all evens out. It's tough keeping up with him because he's slowly discovering other parts of the house he hasn't terrorized yet, but so far we're doing ok. His recent fussiness and screaming may just be a sign that he's trying to assert some independence and show us what he likes and doesn't like. He does the same scream when we take something away or steer him away from stuff, so perhaps his crankiness in the car seat or on the changing table is just another symptom of that. We shall see.
I'll try to post Memorial Day weekend pics soon!
I do feel bad that the poor kid always looks tired. I think it's allergies. I always have bags and dark circles, too. While he's not a great napper, he does seem to get enough sleep because he has some very happy periods during the day and is generally pretty functional.
This picture was during our walk to the festival. Jacob fell asleep (or almost asleep) like this. In his left hand is an empty Mentos gum container. He really liked holding it. My mom put a little stone in it at some point during the walk so Jacob could rattle it around. He actually held on to it for most of the festival, which was pretty amazing. But yeah, quite the sleeping position, isn't it?
I'll give an update on our Memorial Day weekend in my next post, but let's see...what else is new? Jacob tried some new foods over the past few days, including watermelon and yogurt. He also got a tiny taste of mango gelato, just because he was giving me this desperate look with his tongue wagging (seriously). I figure that he'll be getting into full-on dairy in less than a month anyway, so a tiny little droplet of gelato would be ok. Yogurt seems to be going well--he really seems to like it--but it's tough to tell if it's making him gassier than usual. That may account for some random crankiness at a couple points over the weekend...though I also decided to try having cereal and milk for the first time in ages this weekend, too, so that could have done it as well. Again, I figure he's on the road to cow's milk in the next month, so I figured that dairy was worth a try to see if the cow's milk protein sensitivity that I was pretty sure he had when he was first born was still around. It's tough to tell. We'll just have to keep watching...and listening. He was a big fan of the watermelon, though. I just need to keep trying to figure out other things to give him, because I'm feeling some peer pressure based on the fact that another kid at day care (younger than him, no less) has a stack of four containers of finger food each day...no baby food. I can't tell exactly what they are, but I know I could probably be doing a lot better at this. It just takes planning, which I'm not particularly great at. Jacob's still fighting his bottles a lot (less fighting with breastfeedings, I guess now I'm just used to them coming up short), so day care has had to great creative in breaking up the bottles...some with his oatmeal, some in his sippy cup, and the rest for a short bottle feeding. I feel bad that they're bearing the brunt of his eating difficulties. He does seem to be doing a lot better with the sippy cup (much less spillage) but you definitely know when he's done, because it's on the floor.
He didn't do much of his fish-face-kissy-noises over the weekend, but he was sticking his tongue out a lot, which was cute. However, I'm convinced he's half dog because of some of the things he does...between chewing on things, holding them in his mouth, licking me, and I think he even growled once over the weekend. It's still pretty cute, though. However, his blood-curdling screaming is not. He's been doing that quite a bit. I can't tell if there's really something bothering his (like the aforementioned gas) or if he just figured out he could be that forceful and is milking it for all it's worth. He can go from full-blown shriek to a sweet smile in about two seconds flat, so I really have no idea what's up. He can do the same in the opposite direction as well, so that can be a little difficult in public places. He hates his car seat right now, so that's been a sure-fire scream-fest lately. Arg. I'm also trying to figure out how to get him to stop hitting and biting all of the time. I think at this point it's just baby stuff--teething, lack of control compounded by excitement--and not any desire to hurt, but no matter how many times I try to stop him or show him alternate actions, he still doesn't quite get it...and he is getting strong and will have four teeth in a matter of days. Hmmmm.
He definitely has his difficult moments, but so much of the time he's just goofy and sweet so it all evens out. It's tough keeping up with him because he's slowly discovering other parts of the house he hasn't terrorized yet, but so far we're doing ok. His recent fussiness and screaming may just be a sign that he's trying to assert some independence and show us what he likes and doesn't like. He does the same scream when we take something away or steer him away from stuff, so perhaps his crankiness in the car seat or on the changing table is just another symptom of that. We shall see.
I'll try to post Memorial Day weekend pics soon!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Baby Teeth....Baby Food....Baby "Wood"?
Strange title, I know. Lots of random-ish stuff today. First, Jacob has a new and unfortunate clumsiness issue. His coordination is still pretty iffy, so every once in a while he still does a face-plant while crawling. Sometimes it's just that he gets distracted, sometimes he just stumbles, and sometimes he overestimates his ability to balance himself. The problem is that he often lands on his chin, and now that he's got his two bottom teeth fully in, and no top teeth to stop them, a chin-plant means that he's driving his bottom teeth up into the roof of his mouth. Twice in the last two days he's bloodied the roof of his mouth, once from crawling and once from flinging himself while in my arms and knocking his chin into my arm. It's obviously very painful for him. I'd never thought about it before, how your top and bottom teeth work together to prevent that from happening as an adult. Funny how that works. But in the meantime, I feel so bad for him.
I am still being a bit tortured by trying to figure out what to feed Jacob. I feel like all of the suggestions out there on the internet for finger foods have all of these caveats. Some things are choking hazards if not done right, some things have an allergy risk, and others are just hard to prepare/store in baby-sized portions. Sure, I'd love to give him little pieces of chicken...but how well can he chew it and how long will cooked chicken breast last? Sure, cheese would be great...if cow-based dairy was ok for babies under 1 (though some people do it anyway). Strawberries would be great, but there's an allergy risk. Baking a potato takes forever, and even then he'll only eat a little bit of it. Is it worth cooking 10 pieces of pasta at a time? I did cut up some watermelon for him yesterday, and he did seem to like it. He's also addicted to Baby Mum-Mum rice rusks...he downs them like crazy. Crunch-crunch-crunch...like a little bunny. So cute! I also have no idea how much he should be eating right now...and that's making me crazy, too. I think a baby his age should be eating more, but it's hard for me to tell. See, I don't see him much when he's at his peak. That kills me. Apparently he eats solids great when he's at day care, but when I try to feed him at dinner in the evenings, he only gets so far before he gets cranky and refuses. As a result, it's hard for me to gauge if he should be getting more than what I'm giving him or telling day care to give him...because for me, he doesn't eat that much. I don't know if he's just tired, or if he's got something against eating at home, or he sucks too much air in when he's using his sippy cup and ends up gassy or thinks he's full. I'm just not sure. I feel like I should find a way to get home earlier. That way he would get dinner earlier when he's happier, get to bed before he gets overtired, but still have a little quality parent-child playtime. However, I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to get myself into bed before 11:45, out of bed earlier than 6:30 and getting in to work before 9. Ugh. I just feel like I need my whole day to shift an hour or two, and all would be right with the world.
Oh, and have I mentioned that Jacob's favorite new toy is the canopy on his car seat? We try to shade him but he inevitably spends a couple minutes each car trip "readjusting" it, up and down and up and down. Usually he ends up squinting because he never gets it back up where it should be. Still, it's funny to watch in the rear view mirror.
Finally...the baby "wood" thing. This may end up being a controversial topic, but I still think it is funnier than heck. Ok, so this has popped up (no pun intended) before, but last night took the cake. Jacob was a little extra cranky during and after dinner, in full meltdown mode, so we knew he was probably a little overtired. It was a little too early for bed and he was cranky enough that I wasn't sure we'd get through bedtime prep without him getting himself too worked up to sleep. So, Craig rocked him to sleep and Jacob napped on him for a while. As it got later, we decided to get him ready for bed with hopefully minimal disruption to his sleepy state. Of course, we did have to change his diaper before bed. He was half asleep when we popped him on the table, and when I took off his diaper, there it was--a little baby erection. As I said, this has happened before--not often but a few times. I'd heard about it in the past, and did confirm via the internet that it's normal. Anyway, it was extra obvious this time, and it was even funnier because when I wiped him, he smiled. I'm sure it's just some weird, natural bodily response, like the random morning occurrence in men. Maybe he was dreaming about something great...who knows? I often wonder what he dreams about...because we can tell sometimes that he is dreaming. But with such limited life experience, what do babies dream about? Good things like food and playing? Bad things like falling and someone else stealing your toys? It must be a wacky little world in their minds, without words to put to anything or the consciousness of knowing the difference between a dream world and real world. So odd. Anyway, it cracked us up. He did wake up amidst all the activity (his regimen of medicines alone would do that to anyone), but he went to bed reasonably well right after and slept great. Whew.
Lots of stuff potentially on the agenda this weekend, from the drive-in tonight to maybe the zoo tomorrow and a party at our house Monday. Probably some errands in between as well. Not to mention that I'm finally getting around to taking care of myself....tomorrow morning at 10am I am off to the salon to get my hair done...cut and highlighted! I haven't had a cut since before Christmas and am dying to have it short again. I haven't had highlights in two years, either, and look forward to kicking things up a notch. I've just felt a little blah lately. Everything about my hair is flat these days--the color, the bounce--and a cut and color should definitely help! Let's hope all goes well and those chemicals are really as safe as they'd have us believe. I just want to get back to feeling like a cool mommy...minus the mom 'do :)
Hopefully I'll have an update or two this weekend, but in the meantime, have a great long weekend!
I am still being a bit tortured by trying to figure out what to feed Jacob. I feel like all of the suggestions out there on the internet for finger foods have all of these caveats. Some things are choking hazards if not done right, some things have an allergy risk, and others are just hard to prepare/store in baby-sized portions. Sure, I'd love to give him little pieces of chicken...but how well can he chew it and how long will cooked chicken breast last? Sure, cheese would be great...if cow-based dairy was ok for babies under 1 (though some people do it anyway). Strawberries would be great, but there's an allergy risk. Baking a potato takes forever, and even then he'll only eat a little bit of it. Is it worth cooking 10 pieces of pasta at a time? I did cut up some watermelon for him yesterday, and he did seem to like it. He's also addicted to Baby Mum-Mum rice rusks...he downs them like crazy. Crunch-crunch-crunch...like a little bunny. So cute! I also have no idea how much he should be eating right now...and that's making me crazy, too. I think a baby his age should be eating more, but it's hard for me to tell. See, I don't see him much when he's at his peak. That kills me. Apparently he eats solids great when he's at day care, but when I try to feed him at dinner in the evenings, he only gets so far before he gets cranky and refuses. As a result, it's hard for me to gauge if he should be getting more than what I'm giving him or telling day care to give him...because for me, he doesn't eat that much. I don't know if he's just tired, or if he's got something against eating at home, or he sucks too much air in when he's using his sippy cup and ends up gassy or thinks he's full. I'm just not sure. I feel like I should find a way to get home earlier. That way he would get dinner earlier when he's happier, get to bed before he gets overtired, but still have a little quality parent-child playtime. However, I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to get myself into bed before 11:45, out of bed earlier than 6:30 and getting in to work before 9. Ugh. I just feel like I need my whole day to shift an hour or two, and all would be right with the world.
Oh, and have I mentioned that Jacob's favorite new toy is the canopy on his car seat? We try to shade him but he inevitably spends a couple minutes each car trip "readjusting" it, up and down and up and down. Usually he ends up squinting because he never gets it back up where it should be. Still, it's funny to watch in the rear view mirror.
Finally...the baby "wood" thing. This may end up being a controversial topic, but I still think it is funnier than heck. Ok, so this has popped up (no pun intended) before, but last night took the cake. Jacob was a little extra cranky during and after dinner, in full meltdown mode, so we knew he was probably a little overtired. It was a little too early for bed and he was cranky enough that I wasn't sure we'd get through bedtime prep without him getting himself too worked up to sleep. So, Craig rocked him to sleep and Jacob napped on him for a while. As it got later, we decided to get him ready for bed with hopefully minimal disruption to his sleepy state. Of course, we did have to change his diaper before bed. He was half asleep when we popped him on the table, and when I took off his diaper, there it was--a little baby erection. As I said, this has happened before--not often but a few times. I'd heard about it in the past, and did confirm via the internet that it's normal. Anyway, it was extra obvious this time, and it was even funnier because when I wiped him, he smiled. I'm sure it's just some weird, natural bodily response, like the random morning occurrence in men. Maybe he was dreaming about something great...who knows? I often wonder what he dreams about...because we can tell sometimes that he is dreaming. But with such limited life experience, what do babies dream about? Good things like food and playing? Bad things like falling and someone else stealing your toys? It must be a wacky little world in their minds, without words to put to anything or the consciousness of knowing the difference between a dream world and real world. So odd. Anyway, it cracked us up. He did wake up amidst all the activity (his regimen of medicines alone would do that to anyone), but he went to bed reasonably well right after and slept great. Whew.
Lots of stuff potentially on the agenda this weekend, from the drive-in tonight to maybe the zoo tomorrow and a party at our house Monday. Probably some errands in between as well. Not to mention that I'm finally getting around to taking care of myself....tomorrow morning at 10am I am off to the salon to get my hair done...cut and highlighted! I haven't had a cut since before Christmas and am dying to have it short again. I haven't had highlights in two years, either, and look forward to kicking things up a notch. I've just felt a little blah lately. Everything about my hair is flat these days--the color, the bounce--and a cut and color should definitely help! Let's hope all goes well and those chemicals are really as safe as they'd have us believe. I just want to get back to feeling like a cool mommy...minus the mom 'do :)
Hopefully I'll have an update or two this weekend, but in the meantime, have a great long weekend!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Eleven Months and 300 Posts!
Hard to believe! We've come such a long way. It's been almost a year and a half since I started this blog, and this marks post #300. Not only has this blog gone through 2/3 of a pregnancy, but now we've almost made it through the first year of Jacob's existence! Time has flown and so much has changed. I can't believe we're just a month away from having a one year old!
Yesterday I stayed home from work and cleaned the house. It really needed it badly and I did some things that I haven't done in ages (or ever!). It felt so good to let Jacob crawl on the kitchen floor last night knowing that it was clean and disinfected! It was sorely needed and I just knew it wasn't something I could tackle over a series of evenings. So, for my own sanity, I just took the day off and got it done (or mostly done--I still have to dust a few rooms, but that's easy). Jacob still went to day care because I knew I'd get nothing done if he was home. It killed me to take a day off of work and not be able to spend at least a little time with him, but it had to be done, and ultimately it was for his benefit. It was a little funny being home alone, and on such a beautiful day...definitely a little reminiscent of the weekends I spent getting ready for Jacob, if not some of the quieter times of my maternity leave (minus the desperation to take a nap!). What struck me, though, is how I felt about all of the baby shows on TLC. I've mentioned a couple other times how my feelings about those shows have morphed over the past year or so. Originally those shows helped me get comfortable with the whole concept of delivery. Unlike some people, they didn't really worry me...I just took in the things I saw and filed them away. Just having seen so many deliveries in process gave me some concept of what to expect, from a technical perspective, anyway.
Once I'd had Jacob, I watched those shows almost non-stop during my maternity leave. I don't know if it was therapeutic, or what. I could relate to the women in labor and the new parents at home with their babies, and considering I didn't have a real support system of new parent friends, I guess that took its place. A few months ago I saw the shows for the first time in a while, and felt some degree of distance...understanding, but distance. I recall thinking it was how I felt about watching "A Wedding Story" after I got married. It was an interesting and fun experience, but I was happy to have survived it and moved on. Yesterday when I saw the shows, so much of that stuff seemed like a lifetime ago. I have a huge appreciation for everything I went through, and even more appreciation for how far we've come. We now have this amazing little boy who crawls and laughs and has his own wacky little personality, and it's such a far cry from those early days where he just sat there and stared, or in his more active moments, ate, slept, pooped (ahhh, projectile poop), and cried. We still get a lot of that, but at least we get some entertainment in between!
I may still not be completely comfortable with parenthood, but little by little some things get easier. I know there are plenty of things that will only get harder from here on out, but like everything else we'll just have to take it as it comes. I've been reading Parents magazine lately, and I keep getting insight into the stages to come. Just reading about it gives me anxiety, and those issues may still be 2, 4, or 6 years away! Still, I am trying to keep things in check and just deal with the issues we have right now...and there are plenty. I ponder my own childhood and wonder how my parents got me to be a relatively intelligent and reasonable child. I mean, I know they did a ton to make me a good kid, and I know I still had my moments. But I swear there were things I was never taught or talked to about, yet when the time came, I did the right thing. I always get so sad when I hear about senseless tragedies like all of the college kids that died this year. What little detail was missing from their brains that told them that whatever they were doing was a bad idea? We've probably all had close calls at one time or another, where we did something we shouldn't have and came out unscathed, and those guys just weren't as lucky. But I just hope and pray that we bring Jacob up to be intelligent and to do the right thing...that he just knows it deep in his heart and sticks to it. I know that times like that are still pretty far away, but right now we're building a foundation and I want it to be a good one. He's the most important thing in our world and I want that smile to be a part of my life each and every day, forever. And only one more month until we finish that first year. Unbelievable.
Oh, and just so you know...we're planning to have Jacob's party on his birthday, a Saturday. It's most likely going to be here in Rochester unless we can think of a good, cheap, neutral site in Buffalo. It would have to be about halfway between the northtowns and southtowns, but I'm stumped so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Otherwise we're going to make everyone schlep here to keep it fair and minimize the amount of travel we have to do with a gifts, a cake, etc. Keep your calendars open :)
Yesterday I stayed home from work and cleaned the house. It really needed it badly and I did some things that I haven't done in ages (or ever!). It felt so good to let Jacob crawl on the kitchen floor last night knowing that it was clean and disinfected! It was sorely needed and I just knew it wasn't something I could tackle over a series of evenings. So, for my own sanity, I just took the day off and got it done (or mostly done--I still have to dust a few rooms, but that's easy). Jacob still went to day care because I knew I'd get nothing done if he was home. It killed me to take a day off of work and not be able to spend at least a little time with him, but it had to be done, and ultimately it was for his benefit. It was a little funny being home alone, and on such a beautiful day...definitely a little reminiscent of the weekends I spent getting ready for Jacob, if not some of the quieter times of my maternity leave (minus the desperation to take a nap!). What struck me, though, is how I felt about all of the baby shows on TLC. I've mentioned a couple other times how my feelings about those shows have morphed over the past year or so. Originally those shows helped me get comfortable with the whole concept of delivery. Unlike some people, they didn't really worry me...I just took in the things I saw and filed them away. Just having seen so many deliveries in process gave me some concept of what to expect, from a technical perspective, anyway.
Once I'd had Jacob, I watched those shows almost non-stop during my maternity leave. I don't know if it was therapeutic, or what. I could relate to the women in labor and the new parents at home with their babies, and considering I didn't have a real support system of new parent friends, I guess that took its place. A few months ago I saw the shows for the first time in a while, and felt some degree of distance...understanding, but distance. I recall thinking it was how I felt about watching "A Wedding Story" after I got married. It was an interesting and fun experience, but I was happy to have survived it and moved on. Yesterday when I saw the shows, so much of that stuff seemed like a lifetime ago. I have a huge appreciation for everything I went through, and even more appreciation for how far we've come. We now have this amazing little boy who crawls and laughs and has his own wacky little personality, and it's such a far cry from those early days where he just sat there and stared, or in his more active moments, ate, slept, pooped (ahhh, projectile poop), and cried. We still get a lot of that, but at least we get some entertainment in between!
I may still not be completely comfortable with parenthood, but little by little some things get easier. I know there are plenty of things that will only get harder from here on out, but like everything else we'll just have to take it as it comes. I've been reading Parents magazine lately, and I keep getting insight into the stages to come. Just reading about it gives me anxiety, and those issues may still be 2, 4, or 6 years away! Still, I am trying to keep things in check and just deal with the issues we have right now...and there are plenty. I ponder my own childhood and wonder how my parents got me to be a relatively intelligent and reasonable child. I mean, I know they did a ton to make me a good kid, and I know I still had my moments. But I swear there were things I was never taught or talked to about, yet when the time came, I did the right thing. I always get so sad when I hear about senseless tragedies like all of the college kids that died this year. What little detail was missing from their brains that told them that whatever they were doing was a bad idea? We've probably all had close calls at one time or another, where we did something we shouldn't have and came out unscathed, and those guys just weren't as lucky. But I just hope and pray that we bring Jacob up to be intelligent and to do the right thing...that he just knows it deep in his heart and sticks to it. I know that times like that are still pretty far away, but right now we're building a foundation and I want it to be a good one. He's the most important thing in our world and I want that smile to be a part of my life each and every day, forever. And only one more month until we finish that first year. Unbelievable.
Oh, and just so you know...we're planning to have Jacob's party on his birthday, a Saturday. It's most likely going to be here in Rochester unless we can think of a good, cheap, neutral site in Buffalo. It would have to be about halfway between the northtowns and southtowns, but I'm stumped so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Otherwise we're going to make everyone schlep here to keep it fair and minimize the amount of travel we have to do with a gifts, a cake, etc. Keep your calendars open :)
Monday, May 18, 2009
Odd weekend...
Jacob's weekend was full of some great highs and some frustrating lows. On Saturday he was really awesome in the midst of a long day. A bunch of family came up from NT, including my parents, and we met up with more family here for a trip to the Lilac Festival. We had a blast and Jacob was so good for the whole thing. He was a lot of fun to play with before and after, and other than some iffy eating he was incredibly good. Yesterday was another busy day, with church, lunch and some shopping. He was also pretty good through all of that. However, at some point over the course of the weekend he picked up this incredible screechy cry. It's loud and definitely gets his point across. We're hoping that the cause of the cry is just teething, and not something more like an ear infection. One of his two top teeth just broke through over the weekend (officially felt it yesterday) and the other one will be quick to follow. I can imagine that the pain is just terrible. He woke up twice overnight from Saturday to Sunday and three times last night, despite pain medication. That has not been fun. It's so odd walking into his room and having him standing up in his crib. It still scares me that he'll figure out how to climb the rail one of these days, fueled by one of his crying fits. After all, he surprised us all with his scaling skills on Saturday when he climbed over my dad who was laying on his side on the floor. He just hiked his one leg up and over he went! We still have one more notch lower for the crib mattress, but since I haven't seen him trying to climb or launch himself over quite yet, I'll just keep my fingers crossed. He's not that coordinated yet, right?
Anyway, he seemed to have these random, brutal crying fits from time to time...and we're definitely hoping it's just the teeth. He did just get over a cold, so there's always a chance that he's got an ear infection, but he isn't showing any other symptoms like a fever or pulling at his ears. Well, he always sort of plays with his ears...he's forever getting the hair behind his ears sticky because he frequently puts his hands in that area in the midst of a meal....whether or not he's got an ear infection. He's been on Tylenol on and off the past few days for the teething, but in between I haven't noticed any sort of fever. His cries have been very intense, though, so it's been tough. Usually he calms down pretty well once he's had some painkillers, thankfully. Too bad it hasn't helped him sleep much better. In any event, hopefully once the other tooth breaks through he'll get back to the good sleeping he's done in the past couple weeks.
The best part of the weekend was probably all of his oral/vocal acrobatics the past couple days. Well, it started Friday night. Jacob does this little shrieky thing (not an annoying shriek, but just this funny little noise) when he gets excited about something...it's like a rapid breath in with noise attached to it. On Friday night he was doing it so much (seemingly about nothing special) that we were nervous he was having some breathing issues. He seemed fine, but he just kept doing it over and over! He's been doing it here and there for a while (so cute!), so I don't know if he just decided he liked it, or just noticed that it got a rise out of us, or what. It was pretty funny, though. Then yesterday he did the funniest thing. He started making a fish face (sucking in his cheeks and puckering his lips) accompanied by kissy noises. He just did it periodically during the day, and then while I was cooking dinner, he did it over and over. So funny!! I guess they've been working on the whole kiss thing at day care (yeah, that sounds weird...but you know, the puckering and the sound), so perhaps he picked it up there and it finally clicked and struck his fancy yesterday. He did it again right when we got there this morning and everyone got quite the kick out of it. Finally, he really seemed to up the babbling this weekend, particularly yesterday. Still nothing discernable, but we seem to be getting closer to "da-da" type sounds. One of these days he'll put two and two together and connect those sounds to us. And, judging by the last couple days, it will be completely out of the blue!
So, at least he's been entertaining in the midst of his sudden crankiness and sleep issues. Hopefully these teeth will hurry up and come in so we can all get back to normal. I'm still fearing the effect it may have on feeding (the tongue covers up the bottom teeth, but there is no protection from the tops) and I'm interested to see how it will change his look (I am so enamored with the two bottom teeth, but I'm sure he will look just as cute and even more little boy-ish with the tops!). Something new every day, I swear!
Anyway, he seemed to have these random, brutal crying fits from time to time...and we're definitely hoping it's just the teeth. He did just get over a cold, so there's always a chance that he's got an ear infection, but he isn't showing any other symptoms like a fever or pulling at his ears. Well, he always sort of plays with his ears...he's forever getting the hair behind his ears sticky because he frequently puts his hands in that area in the midst of a meal....whether or not he's got an ear infection. He's been on Tylenol on and off the past few days for the teething, but in between I haven't noticed any sort of fever. His cries have been very intense, though, so it's been tough. Usually he calms down pretty well once he's had some painkillers, thankfully. Too bad it hasn't helped him sleep much better. In any event, hopefully once the other tooth breaks through he'll get back to the good sleeping he's done in the past couple weeks.
The best part of the weekend was probably all of his oral/vocal acrobatics the past couple days. Well, it started Friday night. Jacob does this little shrieky thing (not an annoying shriek, but just this funny little noise) when he gets excited about something...it's like a rapid breath in with noise attached to it. On Friday night he was doing it so much (seemingly about nothing special) that we were nervous he was having some breathing issues. He seemed fine, but he just kept doing it over and over! He's been doing it here and there for a while (so cute!), so I don't know if he just decided he liked it, or just noticed that it got a rise out of us, or what. It was pretty funny, though. Then yesterday he did the funniest thing. He started making a fish face (sucking in his cheeks and puckering his lips) accompanied by kissy noises. He just did it periodically during the day, and then while I was cooking dinner, he did it over and over. So funny!! I guess they've been working on the whole kiss thing at day care (yeah, that sounds weird...but you know, the puckering and the sound), so perhaps he picked it up there and it finally clicked and struck his fancy yesterday. He did it again right when we got there this morning and everyone got quite the kick out of it. Finally, he really seemed to up the babbling this weekend, particularly yesterday. Still nothing discernable, but we seem to be getting closer to "da-da" type sounds. One of these days he'll put two and two together and connect those sounds to us. And, judging by the last couple days, it will be completely out of the blue!
So, at least he's been entertaining in the midst of his sudden crankiness and sleep issues. Hopefully these teeth will hurry up and come in so we can all get back to normal. I'm still fearing the effect it may have on feeding (the tongue covers up the bottom teeth, but there is no protection from the tops) and I'm interested to see how it will change his look (I am so enamored with the two bottom teeth, but I'm sure he will look just as cute and even more little boy-ish with the tops!). Something new every day, I swear!
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