Friday, April 17, 2015

Happy Baby

If you have ever practiced yoga, you may be familiar with the pose Happy Baby.  It wasn't until I actually had a baby that I realized the reason that pose makes a baby happy is because it makes them fart and maybe even poop.

Our little duder gets happier every day.  He still cries and fusses as any baby does, and grunts in the early morning due to gas and refux, but we feel like we get a few more smiles every day and more time that he is awake and not crying.  I am still working on our napping.  He typically naps anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours (two hours being more rare.)  The Internet can be my frenemy, as I have read so many places that he should be napping 4-5 hours during the day.  Sometimes I get obsessed with tracking numbers and worry that his sleep isn't adding up.  But then I check on him in his bed and he's smiling at the ceiling fan, so he must not be in too bad of shape.

Tomorrow WZD gets his first round of immunizations.  I am also excited about his weigh in, as two weeks ago he was 12 lbs.  He is already an arm workout for me, especially in his car seat, which I carry up and down the stairs quite often.  In a few years I should be able to arm wrestle with the best of them.

Every day we are thankful for our wonderful husband/ baby daddy.  He works hard all day and when he is home he makes sure the animals are all well fed and watered.  He also changes William at 2 or 3am before I feed him, allowing me a few extra minutes of sleep.  I don't know what we would do without him!  (Probably die of thirst and eat a lot of take out.)

One shortcut I try to make sure is ready every day is overnight oats.  This way Jim can throw them in the microwave for a minute (or some people even eat them cold) and not have to mess around.  It's nice for me as William is usually ready for breakfast by 6:30 or so.  I put a half cup of rolled oats (not instant or steel cut) in a glass bowl and sprinkle in flax meal, cinnamon, nuts (we found peanuts get weird and soggy, so I go with almond slices or pecans), frozen fruit, and a half cup of milk (we prefer almond milk.)  I have read that oats, flax, and almonds all boost milk production, which is a nice bonus.  You could also use vanilla, coconut, bananas, or anything else your heart desires.  I make them up sometime during the day and let them set overnight.  You might want to add extra milk in the morning.

We are still dairy free (I think it's been about 3 weeks??) except for one fun night of Culver's.  It has been a good experiment and maybe it's helping William, or maybe not.  (I am also still drinking turmeric tea every day, which also may be helping?)  It is helping us make healthier eating choices all week, which is never a bad thing.  We just use more coconut and almond products.  Here's a pro tip: don't buy soy creamer for your coffee.  It ruined one of my favorite parts of the morning.  Just go black!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Child Rearing

Guess what?  Babies aren't easy!  Who knew?  Luckily they are squishy and cute.

Prince William continues to grow so fast.  Depending on the brand of clothes, he is now in mostly 3-6 month outfits, some of which are even too tight since he is so long!  (This mama was pretty sad to pack away the teeny tiny clothes he fit in when he was brand new.)  William smiles quite a bit and recognizes his mommy and daddy's faces.  He sleeps a 4-5 hour stretch in the night and then another 1-3 hour one.  Our new goal is napping.  Recently, he had been taking long naps in his swing.  I am now trying to get him to nap in the pack and play in our room that he sleeps in at night.  Successful sleep requires a series of steps that may soon end in rubbing sage on his body while we sacrifice a goat.  Or that's what it feels like.  We turn on a box fan, close the blinds, turn on the white noise app, swaddle him, nurse him to sleep, then hold him upright for 20 minutes to help his gas and make sure he is sound asleep.  For today's nap I also turned on the bathroom fan.  And all of that often may not work, so we sometimes have to start that whole process over again.  Today it took me three and a half hours to get him to nap starting from the time he showed any signs of drowsiness.  But he did it and in his pack and play, so I figure that's a win for a 9 week old!  Now I just hope he stays sleeping.  And I want a margarita.