Weekend Review

Well, it was a bit of a mixed weekend for us this weekend. Saturday was perfect, Sunday was far from it. Friday night was good, with a visit from Lori during which Jacob fell asleep in my arms by about 8:30. His sleeping has been pretty inconsistent these days, with one good night interspersed among a few bad ones. I think it's teething still, but it's driving us nuts. Sometimes he'll go down fine, sometimes not. Sometimes he sleeps soundly until the middle of the night and then wakes up periodically for a few hours, or maybe he'll wake up crying before we're even in bed and then sleep through after that. It's been tough, and I think it's got us all a little tired...hence his early drop off on Friday. I think he might have had one episode that night before I was in bed, but mercifully he let me sleep for most of the night because Craig was out of town and I would have been on my own. Saturday we slept in a bit and then quickly got ready and headed off to the airport to pick up Craig from his lacrosse roadtrip. Jacob was a little cranky on the drive there and back, but from then on he was awesome all day. Craig stopped at home for a short time and then was back off to work, so it was just Jacob and me all day. He napped relatively early and I had to wake him up in time to get out of our house for a 1:30 showing. We went out to McDonald's for lunch and I greatly enjoyed feeding him a burger. He really liked it and was so cute while he ate it. I know that's a bad habit to get him into, but we won't do it that often and I think the taste of a McDonald's burger is one of the most memorable tastes of my own childhood. I got into many more exotic things at McDonald's in recent years, and just in the last year or so rediscovered the plain ol' hamburger. It totally takes me back to the days of my youth when I would beg for a Happy Meal. So, yeah, it was cute seeing Jacob enjoy his burger so much! After that we went out for a quick shopping trip to Kohl's. We had to take back a Christmas gift for Craig, and I browsed the clearance racks a bit. I found a 3T shirt for Jacob for $4.20 that will fit him down the road, but that was about it. I did pick up a little Toy Story-themed Doodle Pro for him (the Fisher-Price version of the MagnaDoodle). I'd been wanting to get him one since Christmas and just hadn't gotten around to it, and they were on sale cheap. He definitely likes it, even though he doesn't entirely get it yet--which came back to bite me a bit on Sunday. More on that later. But anyway...I gave it to him on the way home and I enjoyed looking back at him randomly drawing away. After we got home and played a bit, I noticed he seemed to be getting tired. Since he'd already had a good hour and a half nap earlier (prior to our house showing), I figured I'd take the opportunity to snuggle him a bit. And sure enough, he snuggled right in with me on the couch. He napped for another hour and a half while I caught up on a long-awaited, DVR'ed Biggest Loser episode. Once he woke up, I made him a can't-miss dinner of hot dogs, cheese, and fruit, and then we were off to the Knighthawks game. Jacob says "Knighthawks" about 100 times a day ("Ai-awks"), so I figured he'd have fun. And indeed he did. Of course, he did start getting tired once it was way past his bedtime, and he actually managed to fall asleep for part of the 4th quarter, despite the crazy amount of noise around us. That was a first. Ironically, there was a six-week old baby down the row from us who was awake and fighting sleep like crazy. And yes, six weeks seems young to have a baby at a lacrosse game. She was so tiny and it was so loud! I guess I can't throw stones too much because I did have Jacob at a lacrosse game on his six-week birthday, but it was an outdoor game with fresh air and more muted noise, so I tend to think that was a little better than the Knighthawks game, which is sometimes loud for even me. Yikes. Jacob woke up near the end of the game and stayed awake for the ride home, but he went down pretty easily that night and only woke up a couple times, each time for a mere couple minutes. Easy.

So...Sunday morning. He slept in until about 9:30, which I was hoping would mean he'd be all caught up on his sleep. But I knew better and figured it might be the start of a long day off his schedule. The two of us went to church (Craig was working again) and I decided to sit in church this time since Jacob had been doing it so much lately, through the holidays and then the past two weekends at my parents' church. Might as well strike while the iron's hot! He did pretty good through most of the service, though he was a little chatty. But at least it was mostly happy chatter. He doesn't quite get the "Shhhhh..." thing yet so that was a little tough. He did want to try to use the pew pens to write on his Doodle Pro, and he did get a little antsy, but for the most part he was good. But at some point right near a quiet moment at the end of the service, he decided to get frustrated that (I think) his Doodle Pro pen wouldn't come off the string that connected it to the drawing board. Ugh. He flipped and I quickly threw all of our stuff in the diaper bag, grabbed the coats and headed out. He was still cranky in the narthex while I tried to put on his coat, and thus began a cranky day. No matter what we did, Jacob had a (negative) opinion about it. He was cranky though lunch and about going down for a nap, and only napped for an hour. In the late afternoon we headed out to do some quick shopping, and then went to the Amerks game (a much earlier one this time). Jacob fought me when I tried to feed him dinner there, but for the most part he was pretty good at the game. He did try to escape a little more often than usual. I was impressed, however, that he managed to hold on to one of his mini-hockey sticks the entire time we were there. It took him half an intermission and an entire period to eat 2/3 of a hot dog, but at least he was fairly content while doing it. He fell asleep before we were even on the highway to go home, so I know he was tired. But once we were home he fought sleep for a good hour or more. And then at 1am he proceeded to wake up miserable and screaming, and despite lots of rocking, rubbing and a dose of Tylenol, nothing worked. Finally I had the brainstorm to go grab a teething ring, and like magic, he calmed down and drifted off. Why didn't I think of that an hour earlier?!

Last night was more of the same, with Jacob waking up pretty much every hour starting around 1am, miserable. I think at least one tooth is finally breaking through, but we still have a long way to go. He was hysterical for a long time last night, and wouldn't even take the teething ring this time. Craig took the brunt of the getting up last night as I seem to be low on patience these days. He spent most of yesterday afternoon napping after his busy weekend, so I figured he had a little more in the reserves than I did. It's just so frustrating when nothing--Tylenol, rocking, teething rings, etc.--works. What can you do when you need sleep? All of us need sleep, Jacob included. Hopefully this will pass soon and we'll all get back to some sort of normalcy.

Oh, and as if teething wasn't enough, Jacob's got horrible diaper rash, drooling rash on his face, and a horribly itchy, scaly ear--presumably eczema that we're trying to treat with hydrocortisone and Cetaphil. Poor kid is not having a good couple weeks. And neither are his parents, for that matter. Add in house stress, and it's a lot to handle. We've got ours sold (for the second time, now to a more stable buyer), though it's still a pretty crappy deal for us, but at least it allows us to get a house we love. I'll keep you posted on that, too. Hope everyone has a better week, and pray for all of us to get some sleep!

Snow....and another video...

Over the weekend my parents introduced Jacob to playing in the snow. Well, that's not entirely true. He has played with snow at daycare. They brought it in to the infant rooms and put on their mittens and let them go to town, but they never took the little kids out into the snow. As much as I've wanted to take Jacob out to play in the snow at home, there just never seemed to be a good time to do it. We do have a like-new hand-me-down snowsuit, but I was going back and forth on buying him boots, since he'd only use them for a short time (and pretty much only when we were home on weekends at that, since daycare wasn't doing it either). I figured that he'd get more out of it next year anyway, so if we didn't have to spend that $25 this year, why bother? Oh, and $25 is about as cheap as I could find boots in his size. Crazy.

Once he switched daycares, though, he was officially with toddlers and they do go outside in the snow...though I don't think they have yet. So, off I went to Payless to buy some boots. He hated them at first but seemed to warm up to them once he saw them on his feet in the mirror. However, walking was a challenge because he's not used to having such stiffness at the ankles! Of course, since I bought them the snow has melted and he hasn't been able to use them. I keep hoping, though...even if it means we'll have more snow this winter. I really liked the 50 degree temps the other day...but oh, well.

Anyway, this weekend the weather was moderate enough to play outside a bit and Jacob was lucky enough to be staying with my parents while we were in Toronto. As such, he was treated to a long-awaited wagon ride and he got his first experience with snowballs. And for a kid who loves balls as much as Jacob does, does it get any better than that? Here's a little sampling of the fun...



Classic stuff. And one of these days hopefully his boots will get some use! We have a sled just waiting for him!

Success!

Woohoo! Our night away went well! Very well, in fact. Jacob had fun, Grandma and Grandpa had fun, and Mommy and Daddy had fun. It was a win-win-win for everyone! We got quality time alone, my parents got to do the grandparent thing, and Jacob came out of it unscathed. He even slept pretty well last night and was pretty good this morning at daycare when I dropped him off. He was a little more hesitant than usual at first, but once his eye caught something that interested him, he was off...and one of the teachers actually brought him back over to me to say an official good-bye. He had been in a great mood all morning, actually, so that was nice as well. Of course, last night's dinner once we were home was a bit of a battle for some reason, but it was nice to be home again with him, regardless.

The rest of the Toronto trip was nice. We had a pretty low key night out after the lacrosse game. We had planned to make a couple stops, but by 10:30 or so we were tired and unwilling to pay for a cab, not to mention that at least one of the people we were meeting up with was so disgusted by the game that he didn't even go out. So we ended up just walking around the corner to a sports bar and ordering up a banana split, believe it or not. And it was really, really good. It hit the spot perfectly. We got a great, uninterrupted night's sleep on a very luxurious bed (king size, fluffy duvets and pillows...ahhhh) and then headed off to IKEA. Most of what I was looking for was for Jacob, though we were keeping an eye out for any cool things that might work in our new house (oh, to have $179 to blow on this...but we know better). In the end we got out pretty cheap, with just a couple sets of silverware for Jacob and a roll of paper. I'd been on a hunt for new silverware for Jacob recently. We have a ton of baby spoons, obviously, but we only have three forks. Two are plastic take-and-toss ones that aren't sharp enough to really spear most foods. The other is a good Gerber one with a fat, non-slip grip. That one works better, but the rounded tines on the end sometimes do more blocking than spearing. One of the sets I bought yesterday was cheaper and had pretty good tines and colorful plastic handles. The other set cost a little more (ummm...still only $5, cheaper than anything comparable that I've found) and is all metal. I'd been on the hunt for a set like this because Jacob is sort of obsessed with our silverware. He'd much rather eat off our forks than his own. However, my parents have a couple all-metal sets of kid cutlery at their house, and Jacob loves them. The only comparable set I'd seen was $20 in a catalog we get. Everything at the baby stores is at least partly plastic and more expensive than either set from IKEA. And while he'll probably love a set with his favorite characters on it some day, right now I need every trick in the book to get him to eat. So, since both sets were cheaper than anything I was finding at home, I figured I'd give them both a shot. As for the roll of paper, it was a $5 roll of paper that's generally meant to be used with IKEA's kids easel or a tabletop roll holder, but I figure that at this point I'm content to roll it out on the floor or rip off a piece and let Jacob go to town. Someday I may go back and get the easel, but at least not until we're in the new house and have a good spot for it.

We got back to my parents mid-afternoon, and Jacob got a big smile on his face when he saw us. He was hesitant to leave, however, but did do pretty well on the drive home considering he was already too well rested to nap. As I said, dinner was a little on the frustrating side and my tiredness probably wasn't helping my patience either. Around 8pm Jacob started getting a little cranky and I decided it was time for bed. I was practically falling asleep watching him play, so I figured I better get him in bed before he took over the house around his sleeping mother. But apparently that was just in time, because by the time I got him in his PJs and read him his stories, he was starting to zone out, and by the time I rocked him for a minute or two and put him in his crib, he was out. Apparently the busy weekend tired him out too! I myself had just enough energy to unpack, do Jacob's laundry, and read the weekend's papers while watching the end of the Saints-Vikings game before I was off to bed myself. And yes, morning came all too soon! But fortunately Jacob only woke up once briefly this morning, right about when my alarm was going to go off. Luckily Craig got up and calmed him down, but it was still tough getting out of bed and going back off to work!

As I mentioned in my last post, I finally got a couple new pictures of Jacob. We were playing a bit on Friday night and he was in a good mood so I grabbed the camera to see what I could get. So here he is playing with his constant companion, his mini hockey stick...

And here's just a cute profile shot that I liked...

And finally, here's a video of Jacob courtesy of my parents showing Jacob playing hockey in their kitchen. In case you're wondering, his "puck" is the bottom of a can koozie. The one cabinet he's allowed to play in there has the can koozies in it, and he likes taking them out and stacking them. Apparently the bottom came out of one and of course it became a puck!

I'll hopefully have another video tomorrow of another fun activity during his weekend with the grandparents...but this is enough fun for one day!

A day away...

Today Craig and I are in Toronto, sans Jacob. We're back in a familiar spot, the Air Canada Centre press box, which I have blogged about before. I was here when I was pregnant and Jacob got to listen to Craig in utero when I put headphones on my belly. I visited again back in March, when I was pumping in the press box. Have I mentioned how much I don't miss that? It was good in many ways but I don't miss lugging that pump around! We're staying overnight tonight, which means that Jacob is without us for the night. We haven't done this in a while, since the summer, and I think it's good for all of us. It's always nice to get a little child-free time for Craig and me, and it never hurts to give Jacob a little practice being apart from us. Grandma and Grandpa are keeping him busy, and as of this afternoon he was doing well. I always feel a little guilty when I'm not with him on the weekend, since we normally wait all week to be together for two whole days. I know Jacob loves his time with us so it's always a tough call to forego it for any reason. Hence the reason I sort of shrugged my shoulders when the doctor mentioned this week that I should probably work out more than once a week. I want to be in shape, but really, time with Jacob is just so much more important right now. I feel bad enough about the one night a week I'm not home until 7pm and rush through dinner only to have about 15 minutes with him before we start moving toward bedtime. But having time alone with Craig is always nice, particularly when it's something that we used to do a lot pre-kids. It brings back fond memories and gives us a chance to just focus on each other for a change...minus the pressures of home life, no less. We can eat meals without worrying about what Jacob will eat, sleep as late as we want, and even enjoy an adult beverage or two if we so desire. And all along it's good to know Jacob is getting in some quality time with his grandparents, who are no doubt enjoying him a lot. Of course, the joy of being grandparents is that they can give him back just when they're starting to tire of his constant stair climbing and repeated "ball" references. Oh, and let's not forget that they can get a good night's sleep on Sunday if tonight is a disaster. Oh, and by the way, Jacob does not have another ear infection. The doctor said his ears were fine, so his wake-ups lately are probably just teething related. I think his top two incisors are on their way. Last night was a disaster as we drove to NT late at night. Jacob went to bed around 8:30 and woke up when we tried to get him in the car at 11:30. He whined until we hit Batavia about an hour later, then slept until we made it to my parents' house at 1am. He woke up again, this time wide awake, and wouldn't settle down at all. He wouldn't snuggle with us in bed, he wouldn't lay in his crib, and we were just about at our wits' end by 2am when he finally settled down. He only slept until about 7:45 this morning, but at least we got a few good hours before hitting the road to Toronto. We left Jacob happily pushing my old baby doll buggy around my parents' house, and here we are. The Knighthawks stunk it up tonight in one of their worst losses ever (and they scored an all-time low of three goals), so that wasn't very fun. But we should have a pleasant night out and hopefully a low cost but fun stop at IKEA tomorrow on the way back. I have a couple Jacob-related purchases in mind, but we'll see. Still, I can't wait to see Jacob tomorrow and give him a big hug...I miss his little smiling face! Oh, and good news...I got some cute pics of Jacob last night so hopefully I'll post those soon! Happy weekend!

Finally...

For the first time since the big switch, Jacob didn't cry this morning when I dropped him off at daycare. That was a nice change! I'm not sure what did it, but I hope it continues. On the way in this morning I let him help me sign him in. It's a touch-screen system, and Craig mentioned that he lets Jacob help him sign out. So, I figured I'd try it out. Then when we got in the room, there was a floor full of hats and bags and scarves, which is something Jacob always liked at his old daycare. Of course, he had to eat breakfast first, which was still fine with him because the word "milk" is like a Pavlov's dog thing for him. He loves it! But once one of the teachers scooped him up with the promise of milk, he was all set! I gave him a kiss and said goodbye without so much as a pouty lip! It's so funny in the mornings now because when he gets there the two toddler rooms are combined. There are older kids who are talking and quite a bit bigger than him, and inevitably one of the kids will come up to him when we get there and say "Hi, Jacob!" Of course, until today, usually their greeting was met with some sort of scream or cry. Poor kids were probably always wondering why Jacob was so sad!

Of course, it IS Friday and he's had a pretty good week as a whole. He's napped better, ate great, and continued to bring home lovely artwork. Now I just wonder how he'll do on Monday. Although, this isn't going to be a normal weekend so who knows what that will do to him. He's going to be spending Saturday all day and overnight alone with Grandma and Grandpa while Craig and I head off to Toronto for the Knighthawks game and a little alone time. We haven't done a night away since our summer trip to Niagara Falls, so I think it's about time to do it again. I'm a little worried that Jacob will freak out if we're not around (he's been doing a lot of "Mama, Mama, Mama" crying lately), but hopefully he'll have so much fun that it won't even phase him. Still, I'm a little worried that he's going to relate being left behind this weekend to being left behind at daycare, and we'll be back to square one on Monday. Hmmm.

Other than that, not much to report. We've had a rough couple nights in a row with Jacob waking up multiple times. We're wondering if his ear infection didn't go away, or if he got another one. He hasn't been as cranky as before, so it could just be teething, but he's been randomly miserable and a little extra tired lately despite napping better, so who knows. Just to be safe, we're off to the doctor again tonight. Ugh. Thank God for $0 copays!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Nineteen Months...

Well, Jacob turns 19 months today. Wow. He has been a part of our lives in some form for over two years now, if you count time from the moment we found out I was pregnant. Even if you just count from the first time we saw him on the ultrasound at 10 weeks or so, we're still looking at a good 25 months. It's really starting to be a long time now. When I thought about the 19 month thing, it hit me that we're officially closer to Jacob's second birthday than his first. That is just insane. And yet everyday I see this little boy wandering around our house, usually on a mission, and I'm wondering what happened to the helpless little baby we brought home. He's now an increasingly independent little boy. Of course, then he has a total meltdown and I remember that that baby is sitting right in front of me after all.

So who is he these days? Well, let's see...He's silly and sweet with a stubborn streak and a nasty temper. We're working on that. He's getting to be a better eater, and he's a decent sleeper most of the time...but don't ask him to nap much longer than an hour and a half because that's never been his style. He tends to be very loving and nurturing when he's in a good mood, giving strong hugs and little kisses to people and stuffed animals alike. He will share his sippy cup with his stuffed animals, too, and loves to feed Mommy and Daddy his food. He says "hi" to seemingly everyone and everything when we're out and about, whether it's a stranger or some inanimate object.

He's still probably more of a Mama's boy than a Daddy's boy, but he has his moments where Daddy is the center of the universe. And most of those have something to do with sports or naps, depending on the day. He can be a great snuggler when he's in the mood. But most of his world these days revolves around sports. It's pretty rare that he's walking around the house without a ball, bat, or hockey stick in his hands. Sometime he's got all three. He says "ball", "touchdown", and "score" more than probably almost any other word, except for maybe "Mama" and "Dada". And even then it's probably a closer race than I think, since he's got about nine Mama- and Dada-free hours each day (sad, I know) and balls are probably closer to his consciousness than we are. Watching a sporting event (live or on TV) is one of the few things that will get him to willingly sit still for any reasonable amount of time. He takes great pride in showing off his baseball swing, and he hit an actual "pitched" ball for the first time the other night!

His smile and laugh are two of my favorite things in the world. His dimple is a hit wherever we go. I'm sure people tell other people that their kids are cute all the time, but we hear it a LOT. And that's before people even get to see his personality! I know that the folks at his old daycare appreciated him, and I think at least some of the folks at the new one are starting to get it too, now that he doesn't spend half the day crying.

He's definietly an observer and can pick out the tiniest detail. I think that's part of the reason "eyeball" was among his first real words--after constantly pointing to the eyeballs on the little animals on the wall next to his changing table. We can walk through the Wegmans bulk foods department and he will point out the one tiny candy dispenser that has a sports ball on it, and from six feet away, no less. I think it's also the reason he becomes almost catatonic when we first get to a hockey or lacrosse game. He's just so intent on taking it all in that he doesn't want to expend his energy talking or clapping.

He's pretty fearless most of the time and seems to have a bit of a daredevil streak in him. He doesn't really understand danger yet, but we try to prevent problems by teaching him to go down steps and off furniture backwards, feet first. He loves being propped up in the air on my feet, being on shoulders, and any other thing that gets him off the ground. I have a feeling I may have a thrill ride buddy down the line, as long as he didn't get Daddy's low tolerance of spinning and sudden drops. As much as the spirit may be willing, it doesn't do much good if the body is weak!

Although the tough times are hard to deal with sometimes, we couldn't be happier with the awesome little boy that's taken over our lives. We enjoy him every day and look forward to watching him grow up more and more!

The Doctor...Mine This Time...

This morning I had my annual visit to the OB/GYN. It was funny not having been there in a long time. Ever since my pregnancy ended, any visits there have felt that way. After going there once a month, then every couple weeks, then every week, it has felt odd to stay away for so long. I think I was there for a six week followup, and then maybe once for a post-pregnancy issue, and then once more for last year's annual visit, and that's been about it. That place was practically a second home during my pregnancy, and although I usually had different doctors each visit (they want you to meet them all so you're good with whoever is on call for your delivery), I got to know the nurses and just feel a heck of a lot more comfortable than I ever thought I would at that kind of a doctor.

Going back there generally brings up favorable associations and memories. While I was pregnant I always went there with anticipation. I could hear the baby's heartbeat, or better yet, see an ultrasound, and just generally make sure that I was progressing normally. The uncomfortable appointments didn't come until the end, and even then, I was always eager to check in and see if I was progressing. Sitting in the waiting room today there were a couple pregnant women. One was with her "baby daddy" and the other was this cute pregnant woman wearing a classic but decidedly non-maternity coat over a bulging belly. I couldn't help but smile looking at both of them, knowing I'd been there before and am now on the other side. Still, I couldn't help but be a little jealous, knowing that they were there for a much more "fun" reason than I was. In fact, today's visit was a bit of a downer because all of a sudden they're making me be more proactive about my health in general. I need to go get a cholesterol test (just to check) and I'm supposed to start taking a calcium supplement. Oh, and I should probably work out more than once a week. So, what...now that I'm 31 I've reached the point where my body will start falling apart without careful maintenance? Yikes. Good to know, but when did I get old?

Once I was in to see the nurse practioner (my doctor is hard to get an appointment with...one of these days perhaps I'll change to another one in the same practice), she asked when I thought we'd be trying again. I gave her our desired timeline but then lamented the fact that we weren't sure it would be possible because we're just not sure how we'd afford two kids in daycare. I suppose in the midst of all of this house stuff, the question would be, can you really afford to move? Well, the increase in our mortgage is a drop in the bucket compared to another round of daycare, and even if we stayed in our house we'd have to do quite a bit of work in the next few years anyway. So if we're going to spend that money one way or another, it might as well be on a nicer house that will fit us for years to come. But another round of daycare is like a third mortgage, and I'm just not sure where that money would come from unless one or both of us get a substantial raise. And the fact that that's the biggest barrier to having another baby is such a sad thing. Back in the days of my Amerks' career with my terribly low salary, I knew that having kids would pretty much mean that I'd be just as well off staying home with kids, because I'd pretty much be working to pay for daycare. While two kids would get me much closer to that scenario in my current job, we'd still be down a significant amount if I stopped working...an amount too large to be made up simply by curbing spending, using more coupons, not eating out, etc. But another round of daycare would put us in the red as well. I never wanted money to be the reason we didn't have a baby, but shaky finances are a scary prospect. Timing is tough, as well, between not wanting to feel too old by baby #2 or being so past the baby phase that we're too spoiled to go back to that. I always said that if we had one we'd have two, because I didn't want an only child. And now that we have Jacob he's amazing and keeps us occupied on his own, but I still don't think I would consider our family "complete" without a sibling. I look forward to seeing him react to and interact with a sibling. Seeing him around other babies has definitely reinforced that desire, and as he gets older I think that feeling will continue to strengthen.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things go...with work, with the house, with Jacob. Going to the doctor today certainly intensified the itch, if only momentarily. I remember all too well many of the negatives that went with pregnancy and early parenthood, and am constantly reminded how hard it all is each day with Jacob. But I also get the smiles and laughs from him that tell me that I do want to do it again at some point. All in God's perfect timing, I guess. So now we just have to wait and see.