NEW BLOG

I've made the switch to my new blog, Life Between Naptime. Here's the link, if you're interested:

http://lifebetweennaptime.blogspot.com/


I will no longer be posting to this blog.

Thanks for reading!

reprimand

I received this Tweet from my dad on Twitter tonight:
memikeyounot: Ok, its time for a blog update...new pics etc.

Last week I received an email from my mom asking if she had to join Facebook to be informed on my life because I haven't blogged much lately.

I may be 27 years old, but reprimands from my parents still get to me, so, alas, mom & dad, here's a long overdue post for you, my two most loyal readers!!

Mostly, life has been busy. A few things I've been up to whilst not posting here:

1. My friend, Sadie, and I are 'training' for the Days of '47 5K, which takes place next Friday in SLC. I say 'training' because we really only walk together two days a week and have only been doing that for two weeks. I've tried to get out every day, even when I go it alone. We push our kids in the strollers (which, incidentally, we have the exact same stroller/car seat system). Yesterday we walked for a LONG time on a local trail so I went back today to our path and walked/jogged it again with Ben's GPS so I could see the mileage. It was 4.80 miles. I'm feeling like if I can do the 5K next week in under 40 minutes, I'll feel proud.

2. We took a quick trip to Levan last week for the Ute Stampede celebration...rodeo & parade. Ben's grandma was Ute Stampede royalty when she was a teenager and they celebrated 75 years of the Ute Stampede this year, so they had all former royalty members in the parade & rodeo. It was neat. Saturday we spent the day at Yuba Lake and enjoyed boating and playing in the water...until a HUGE storm hit and we were forced to leave. I'll admit I was in a crabby mood most of Saturday so I failed to take any pictures, but here are a few from the day before @ the parade/rodeo:
3. I've made a priority to get some personal reading time in. I can't remember the last time I read something for just pure enjoyment and not for school or for researching purposes. It's been nice to pick up a good book, read during downtime, and finish a few books.

4. Little Man. Need I say more? He takes up the majority of my time, which is totally OK! We've been working on improving naptime, tummy time, and neck stretches. We also introduced his Bumbo chair as well as the Johnny Jump-Up. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves here:The first attempt at the Johnny Jump-Up...well, he had a meltdown and lasted mere seconds. He took a nap, ate, and then we tried again....

Much better!

Look! He's turning his head to the left on his OWN!!! I couldn't be prouder because those stretches are hard!

Tummy time with his head/neck at midline position, a very, very, very good thing!

He's quite the reverent boy, folding his hands to say a prayer...except he keeps his eyes open! HA! Really, this is his curious face (his hands are always doing something like this) as he sits in his Bumbo chair. Each day he gets a little better and even the dog gets in on the fun...
...by licking Erich's feet!

Another new trick: putting his binky in his mouth all by himself, with help from mom, of course. He's done it a few times and gets SO close other times. If he can't get his binky in, he's happy to have a finger or two (or three, or four) in his mouth, too.

And, as always, we end our day in the tubby. You can see that he loves his tubby. It joins two of his favorite things: 1- being a naked baby, and 2. splashing so hard he gives mom a shower. And aren't toothless smiles just the best?

5. Lastly, I have been working on creating another blog. I decided I needed a little change and upgrade from "A Wife's Tale," as I have been blogging here for 5 years!!! I have yet to officially launch my new blog with posts and such, but for your information, my new blog is called "Life Between Naptime. I'll post a link here soon for you to check out.

grad school+baby=distractions

I just finished the first week in my second to last class for my master's degree (did you get all that?). It shouldn't have been such an overwhelming week as the assignment was to create a simple PowerPoint, something I'm quite familiar with. There were parts of the week that made it difficult, though:
1) The 4th of July holiday/weekend was spent with family and I think I logged into my computer a total of 2 times.
2) This go-around, they've switched the weeks from Monday-Sunday (which is quite normal, right?) to Thursday-Wednesday (seriously, who comes up with these ideas?!?!). This kind of threw me off!
3) Little man. Oh, man, my little man--what to do with him?!?! He's been really slacking in the ol' nap department (probably a direct relation from too much playing over the weekend & not enough structure), then there's those darn torticollis stretches (which, by the way, we got more of at the appointment on Monday), then there's just the fact that he seems to prefer crying and/or hollering rather than the cute talking and giggles.

Let's just say that I'd had quite enough of it so yesterday when it was technically time for a nap, I swaddled him up, stuck the binky in his mouth (though I knew this was a moot point because one of his ways of showing rebellion to sleep is spitting the binky out), and shut the door ALL THE WAY and just let him cry. And cry. And freakin' cry! And then I cried, too, because I felt like the worst mom. I think he cried for a full 2 hours until it was time to eat, at which point I fed him, repeated the whole naptime routine and he crashed on his own after about 2 minutes of fake-fussing. The frustrating thing, though, is that he only crashes for 20-30 minutes at a time.

I've put all the sleep books to rest because I realized that only I am the expert on my little man. Though I have taken quite a few suggestions from the books, I think it's time for me to just rely on my instincts and take lead from little man. I'm slowly seeing improvment, though: Erich slept 8 hours last night before waking up at 4:30am to eat.

I must admit, though, that when he's in a good mood, we have lots of fun:

He's getting better at holding toys in his hands, bringing toys up to his mouth, and then...

...pretending he's an alien from another planet.

He's getting better at tummy-time, but when he gets tired he...

...goes down to rest and suck on his hand, which apparently is quite tasty.

red, white, and blue!

We had a lovely 4th of July with family!

sushi picnic

Yesterday Ben was able to have a random day off from work. He probably would prefer to sleep in or get stuff done around the house, but since I prefer to get OUT of the house after being here so much, I drug him out of bed (I let him sleep in until 11!!!!) and demanded that he take me and little man on a picnic to Liberty Park.

I've decided to *attempt* to cut out all fast-food stops in an effort to be more healthy and save money. So, instead of picking up KFC, which would be totally appropriate for a picnic at the park, we stopped at a new drive-through sushi (yes, there is such a thing) joint and picked up a few rolls and some edamame. Then we drove to Liberty Park in hopes that we'd beat the rain/thunder storm that was abrewing.

Erich's nose was chop-sticked by daddy, though he didn't seem to mind.

After being chop-sticked, Erich was content to suck on his fingers, a new favorite.

Little man with the parental units: After we ate, we walked around the water feature at the center of the park called Seven Canyon Fountain. This replicates all of Utah's mountains and the bodies of water the flow from them, as well as the Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake. Ben decided to dip Erich's feet in the water...


...and he didn't care for it too much.
So we packed up and headed home. Little Erich totally crashed in the car!!

on meeting patty duke

Last Saturday I was at my mom's house for a few hours. While I was there I, of course, fed the baby. Usually at home I try to read while I feed him, but I decided to turn on the TV at her house. Now, before I explain any more of this story, let me give a brief background on my mom and technology.

Bless her heart, she has an iPod, digital camera, and a cell phone. All of these devices require my assistance at times to operate. She frequently requests that I come help her do something with one of these devices, such as downloading a podcast, uploading pictures, and adding a new contact. I've been so proud of her and her recent advances in the use of these devices. For one thing, I don't know what I'd do if she didn't have a phone. And for another thing, it's nice that she no longer has to worry about film in a camera.

Despite these latest advances in her technological prowess, however, she's still way far behind in one crucial arena: Television. She's probably one of the last people in her neighborhood to upgrade her old analog TV. But not only that, she still just has the basic channels, ie 5 channels. Seriously.

Ok, so maybe there are more than 5.

Anyway, when the whole DTV conversion was set to happen, we all thought she'd join the rest of the 21st century by not only upgrading her TV (I'm not saying she needs a huge-o flat screen or plasma, just a simple upgrade) but also considering a cable option where she would have more than 5 channels (of ALL sorts of shows she'd love) and the use of amazing DVR technology (another side note: she still RECORDS programs on a VHS tape; I tell her DVR is LOADS easier but she frets she wouldn't be able to figure it out).

And now, back to my real point/story:

While I was watching TV at her house on Saturday, I ran through all the channels in a matter of nanoseconds. I had the option of watching an infomercials about a fancy hair straigtner or a new fangled cleaning product. OR I could watch "The Patty Duke Show."

I didn't know who Patty Duke was nor did I have any clue about the characters. This episode featured Patty (though I think I finally caught on that her name in the show was Cathy?) trying to befriend a homely classmate, Marsha, and helping her become more confident. Along the way, a young boy (Richard, I believe) was caoxed into being Marsha's practice and helping her learn how to act around boys. Somewhere in the show, there was another young female character--could her name also have been Cathy? Cindy? I do not know. And I also met Cathy's squeeky-clean parents.

I don't think I watched the whole show because we ended up leaving before it was over, but I've been thinking about it all week. I was surprised by two things: 1) I found myself very interested in the storyline and actually left wanting more (do you think they have this on DVD from the library?) and 2) A show like that would never survive in today's TV lineup. Not enough sex or violence (though I do remember Marsha saying the word "sexy!!!") and it was all just too perfect.

it's a boy shower

Alas! I've been reuinted with my camera!! I'm more attached to it than I am to my phone and I probably could have handled being separated from the phone longer than the camera!!!!!

Anyway....

Me & Sadie with our mommas!!

Last Saturday, my friend Sadie and her mom gave me and Erich a little shower. We had a fun little luncheon and Erich recieved some very nice gifts. This was especially fun because for all the other showers I had for Erich, no one knew if it was a boy or girl, so this shower was all boy and it was great. Another reason why it was fun, is that a good childhood friend, Tara, was in town from Hong Kong and she came to the shower!!! How fun to have seen her and catch up in real-time, rather than blogs!!!Tara, me & Erich, Sadie

little man update

A little man update for those who care:

I've been doing his neck stretches for a week and a half now and there is clearly some improvement. He's not only screaming less during the ordeal, but he's starting to turn his head both ways. This is a huge accomplishment because now he's doing it on his own, not by me forcing him. While this is great for Erich, it makes feeding him almost like watching a tennis match; one minute he's looking left, the next he's looking right, and his bottle bobs in motion, and thus we're constantly moving with him.
Another big thing is that now he often sleeps on the left side of his head, instead of the right, and there is almost equal amounts of bald spots on his hair on both the left and right side (and, speaking of hair, he's shedding!! I found a ton of little baby Erich hairs on his hat that wore yesterday, so sad....). I'm feeling quite confident that the therapist will be pleased with his improvements and that it will just get better from here.

I've made a concerted effort to limit his "device" time (ie, swing, car seat, floor, etc.) and have more often than not had him on his tummy propped up a little by his Boppy pillow. He still mostly despises this, but since we introduced "Naked Tummy Time, " things have gotten progressively better. We had to introduce naked tummy time because of his awful diaper rash/sores. (Have I mentioned that I caved and took him to the pediatrician on Monday for his 2+ week bout of diarrhea & ouchy diaper rash/sores? This visit led to a switch to rice ceral laden formula, a new butt cream, and a HAPPY baby and mom!!) My little man has the skinniest little bum ever, it's just about the cutest thing ever, but I stopped myself from taking a picture of it in fear that my husband would have a total freak out and my son might one day be embarassed because of it.

We also have been practicing sitting in the "Bebe Pod," a "Bumbo"-like infant seat. He's none too sure about this adventure, either. But doesn't he look so cute sitting up like a big man!!!

We've been working on a bedtime and naptime routine. He's doing SO much better with his sleeping...except for when he takes super short naps, as in, not long enough for me to get even one load of laundry folded!! However, just this afternoon, we had some napping success. I picked him up from my grandma's because she watched him while I went to the temple and lunch with some teacher friends. He had just eaten, was a little drowsy, but didn't fall asleep in the car. When we got home, I swaddled him up, gave him a few loves, popped his binky in, and put him in his crib. He fussed for a few minutes, so I went back to sooth him. He fussed again for a few minutes, but then it was quiet. He fell asleep ON HIS OWN in the crib without being in my arms. It may not go as smoothly next time, but it's the small successes like this that help me realize, "I CAN do this!"

Here he is last week taking a mini-nap on the couch while I read. I couldn't bear to put him in his crib once he fell asleep here, so just sat next to him and stared at him. Don't you just love his hand up by his face?!?

how i spent my summer vacation

Some people may have had an assignment like this one when they were in school:

Teacher: Ok, class. Because I can't think of anything else to do to fill up the time of the first week of school, I'd like you to write an essay about how you spent your summer vacation.

Some essays perhaps sounded something like this:

"This summer was so fun. I played with my friends every day. We went to the park, went swimming, and walked to the gas station for ice cold drinks. I went camping with my family and got a few sunburns. Etc..."

I admit that I've never personally had my students write such an essay because, well, it's kind of cliche and lame (just FYI, 'lame' is my new favorite word'). However, if I were given the chance now as a student of mommyhood, this is what my essay would say:

How I spent my Summer Vacation

This summer has been unlike any others I've ever experienced. No sitting outside for hours in my swimming suit, reading my latest treasure. No sleeping in until 9 or 10, basking in the cool breeze flowing through the bedroom from a too-loud fan. No midnight runs to 7-11 for Slurpee's, Snickers, and Watermelon Laffy Taffy. And no visits to the drive-in movie theater for a double feature, making-out under the stars, and greasy drive-in cuisine. Nope, this summer is way different.
This summer, I spent a good percent of my time worrying/stressing/confused about a certain newborn little boy. Said little boy keeps me up at night, not with crying or late night feedings, but with my mind racing on how to halt a nasty case of diaper rash and 2 week lasting bouts of diarrhea. Said little boy requires naps every other hour, on the dot, or all hell breaks loose. Said little boy loves cuddling and rocking and swaying and bouncing and not anything out of mommy's arms. Said little boy is a stickler when it comes to taking day-time naps.
On the other hand, though, I spent this summer falling head-over-heels in love with a certain newborn little boy whose smile melts my heart and often brings a lump in my throat. Said little boy laughs and crunches up his nose when he's happy and consequentally makes me not worry about laundry, dishes, vacuuming, or cooking. Said little boy is my right-hand man and goes pretty much every where with me. Said little boy has shown me that there's more to life than suntanning, swimming, Slurpee's, Snickers, and drive-in movies.
So, while this summer vacation has been so vastly different than those in the past, it has also been so amazingly better because of a certain newborn little boy. I can hardly remember what life was like without him (though I know it involved way fewer diapers and way less midnight wake-up calls...) and I'm more than pleased that his special arrival has significanly changed all aspects of my life.

And, unlike some students who bluff their way through assignments like this, this essay comes from the deepest part of my heart. And I'd for sure get an A+. Because if I didn't, it'd be lame.


(pictures are on hiatus because I left my camera at the parent's Hubert's. Hopefully I'll be picking it up tomorrow...)