MIA

After reading my last post, I realize that it’s been a good four months since I’ve blogged. As usual, life has been busy…however, last summer I was able to blog almost every day. This year my excuse is that two year olds are harder to keep up with than one year olds.

Anyhow, since my last post, lots has happened. My sweet, darling baby boy turned 2 in April. Shortly before his birthday, we began looking for a new place. After all, a two year old should not be in his mommy and daddy’s bedroom anymore. He’s a big boy now, after all! We found a wonderful condo near the Arlington and Van Buren area of Riverside. It has everything we wanted–tile floors, two bedrooms, a courtyard for JJ to play in, central air (this was a big one!), a swimming pool, carport, garage (time to empty out dad’s and Linda’s–sorry it’s taking so long!), and new appliances. Everything in here had just been redone and all the appliances are brand spanking new. We even have a convection stovetop!

JJ began sleeping in his own room shortly after his birthday and he has done so well with it. A couple times in the beginning, he woke up with night terrors, but after he got used to it, those stopped and he really enjoys having his own stuff in his own room.

School let out on June 10th and I began looking for work…again. This time I was expanding my search to non-teaching positions as well because things are continuing to look bleak for education for at least a couple years to come. I applied mostly for jobs related to being an ABA therapist. I also applied for the few teaching positions that I was able to find. In all, I probably applied to about 20 jobs. I find that I am either under qualified or over qualified. At least, that’s the reasoning I have after not even receiving acknowledgement of my application from about 90% of those. It’s gotten me kind of down at points throughout this summer, wondering if I’m destined to substitute teach and be in debt forever…I guess I’ll take what I can get and try my best to be thankful and optimistic.

Healthwise, this summer has been difficult for friends and family. My stepdad was hospitalized for chest pains, a good friend of ours spent almost 2 months in the hospital, my stepdad’s father passed away, as did the father of one of my childhood friends. Top that off with one of our friend’s homes burning down with her animals in it.

JJ and I spent lots of time together this summer. We signed up for the summer reading program at the library and tried to go to story time at least once a week. We mostly went to the Arlington library since it is closer, but really enjoy the La Sierra storytime the most. JJ has earned all sorts of prizes, such as stickers, books, free ice cream, and a Castle Park ride pass! We didn’t get to Gymboree as often as we would have liked this summer, because it was so eventful, but we look forward to going when they start back up in Corona. He will be in a music class with kids 28 months to 5 years….should be interesting. He loves big kids!

JJ had his second surgery this summer. The surgery itself went well. The testicle was alive and was able to be brought down where it goes. However, he had to be admitted to the hospital because of some spots on his bowels and some tummy distension. Poor little guy had to have a barium enema after just waking up from surgery. We were discharged the next day and things have been pretty good since then.

We had some car issues (overheating, AGAIN!) on the way to the surgery and thought we weren’t going to make it. Our car seriously overheated in LA traffic–3 times in a 6 mile span. John burned his hand pretty good. Thankfully, my uncle had the 200 mile free tow from AAA and was generous enough to come out to LA to get us and have our car towed back. Ended up being another $300 for a broken fan switch, I believe. The cooling system on this car absolutely sucks…first, a radiator leakage, then a blown head gasket, now this….I’m about through with vehicle issues. I guess when your car has over 100,000 miles, this is to be expected…but I really would like a few months without a car payment.

Toward the end of the summer, John planned a surprise vacation for me. JJ got to stay with his nana and grandma for 5 days while we drove up and down the CA coast. At times, it was scary…nothing like looking over and seeing water a 1000 feet down…well that’s how far it seemed like anyways, especially when we were crossing bridges and such. We went to the Gilroy Garlic festival and got to sample garlic ice cream (just like vanilla, but with a hint of garlic, pretty good), went to Monterrey and saw the aquarium, went to the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk, went through Solvang and won some money in a casino near there. We also went on the 17 mile drive in Pebble beach near Carmel. It was beautiful! All the while, we let our GPS navigate us on mostly barely used roads, which ended up being very scenic. We also made sure that we didn’t eat at any chain restaurants during our trip–we at exclusively at little mom and pop joints and the food was delicious everywhere we went. Thanks, Hun!

Our last big adventure of the summer has been potty training. We did the 3 day potty training technique. After day 2 (and 20 accidents), I was ready to give up! However, I kept going and persevered and I am happy to say that my little man is about 95% potty trained during the daytime. It’s technically day 11 and we are on our second day of no accidents. The previous 5 days, we had about 2 accidents each day. He’s also pooped trained as well…only one poopy accident in the past 5 days. He’s getting much better about telling me when he has to go…today he’s told me every time. He does really well going out and tells me all the time when he has to go and we’re not at home. We’re working on getting him to tell other people as well. His only accident outside the house was at church in Sunday school…that was the first time I hadn’t been near him since potty training started. We’re also working on night training. JJ is not afraid to go potty in public potties either. He’s been a champ. We’re not using any diapers or Pull-Ups. It’s been exclusively underwear since day one of training and I’m so proud of my little champ….although lately he’s been pulling the “Potty” excuse a few too many times right before nap and bedtime….

The four stages of weaning…

So I’ve determined due to my lack of nighttime rest, that there are four stages to nighttime weaning. The first stage is going from two nursings a night to one. The second is (and this was a problem caused by me falling asleep during nursings) weaning him to feel comfortable in his crib instead of our bed. The third is going from one nursing a night to none and the last is being able to put himself to sleep.

I’ve determined that this is going to be a long and hard process. We’re working on simultaneously doing the first two stages. It’s going ok…just ok. It’s been about a week now and I only feed him the first time he wakes up. The next however many times it happens, John or I will put him back to sleep. He always sleeps better and wakes up fewer times when he’s in our bed. It’s like he can’t get comfortable in his own. But I’m trying to be diligent with getting him back in the crib every time. I’m hoping to have completely night weaned within the next month. Well, when I first started writing this post, I was much more motivated. Now I’m completely tired because I’ve been up so long and have been out of the house much of the day…sorry for the abrupt ending!

What has my baby eaten?

Okay, so this may not be a very interesting topic to most people, but I haven’t posted in a while and it’s the first thing that came to my mind. I’m going to list the stuff that our baby has eaten in the 3 months he’s enjoyed eating “normal” foods. Keep in mind, these are in no particular order.

Proteins: Turkey, chicken, egg yolks, ham

Grains: Puffs, rice cereal, oatmeal, mixed cereal, barley, pieces of pasta and pieces of rice, plain saltine crackers

Vegetables: Sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, butternut squash, white potatoes

Fruit: Apples, pears, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, bananas, prunes, grape juice

Some of the things he hasn’t particularly enjoyed are peas, green beans, white potatoes, plain turkey or chicken, plain pasta. Some of the things he has really enjoyed have been: all of his fruits, sweet potatoes, carrots, and egg yolks.

He loves to feed himself, especially with crackers, egg yolks, and puffs. He’s definitely starting to get a little appetite on him. The only thing he’s eaten that has given him any sort of reaction is blueberries. He got a rash when he ate those straight, but is fine when he eats the blueberry puffs because they’re in such small quantities.

Triangle Complex Fire - Southern California Fires

Southern California is on fire again and this time it sure hits close to home. The fire known as the Triangle Complex Fire started at the Green River area along the 91 Freeway heading towards Anaheim. It quickly made it’s way to darn near where my husband works so needless to say this fire is very important for us to be watching.

It doesn’t look like the fire is going to let up any time soon but it has also all but skipped completely over my husbands office. He decided to take a drive out to his work today since the freeway was open again. He took several pictures around the area he works and has since posted them on a marketing blog he writes on every now and then.

Photos of the Triangle Complex Fire

Last night we were helping some friends move and just watching the fire from a distance at night is rather impressive. According to the Orange County Fire Authority website at the time I am writing this there is a zero percent containment on this fire after burning now for roughly 29 hours.

Our prayers and thoughts go out to anyone who may be in the path of this fire or have already been devastated.

To my husband

So this post doesn’t really have much to do with the baby, but I thought I’d write it anyways. Sometimes it can be difficult being a new parent because everything changes–money goes into things it’s never gone into before and most of the attention is given to the little tiny being that is brand new to the world. Sometimes it can be easy to feel neglected or under appreciated, so I just wanted to let John know that I do appreciate him going to work each day and supporting our family. I know the baby takes up most of my time these days, but I am thinking of you lots when you’re away and I am thankful for the things you do for us. I love you baby and we sure did good with the beautiful little one we made together.

Date Night with Daddy

So Mommy and Daddy had their first real date since I was born. Well, meaning they went out and did something fun without me. Grandma got to babysit me until late at night while mommy and daddy went to watch the Pirates dinner show out in Buena Park near Mideval Times. For some reason I wasn’t in a good mood when I was at grandma’s that night and I cried for about 2 hours after eating, resting and playing a bit earlier in the evening. I must’ve worn out myself with all that crying because I slept the whole night through which mommy and daddy thoroughly appreciated.

The Pirates dinner show had some great hors d’oeurves. Mommy and daddy got to munch on spinach and cheese ravioli, pasta salad, veggie sticks, shrimp, and fruit. Well, they didn’t get all of them because they didn’t get there early enough and some of the stations were closing, but they got a lot of them and they sure were yummy. Then they got to go into the show. The green pirate was theirs and he ended up with the wench. The show was kinda funny, but the meal wasn’t all that great. The chicken was kind of dry and daddy’s seafood was too soft. The desert was yummy though.

(Now it’s mommy talking.) It was fun to have a night out without the baby. I think it’s something every couple should do once in a while. It was a nice surprise by my husband who thought we needed to get out and do something fun.

More Recent Pics

These pictures are all pretty recent and show baby JJ doing some of his most favorite activities–eating, sleeping, playing, and hanging out!

Does he know I’m going back to work?

I think my little guy knows I’m going back to work soon. It seems like he’s been acting extra fussy lately. I hope he doesn’t do that with his babysitters. I think he’s going to be one of those babies who doesn’t eat much at the sitters and saves all his eating for when mommy is home with him. I say this because this morning I fed him at 8:45 am and then he went to grandma’s work when I was at the doctor’s. I gave her a bottle because I figured he’d get hungry. Well, I didn’t pick him up until 12:30 pm and he had only eaten a whopping 1 oz. This situation might be a good thing though because I anticipate it being difficult to pump during the work day being a substitute teacher and I might not be getting a lot of milk to give him at the babysitter. Him not eating much during the day might allow me to continue breastfeeding longer and not having to use formula. However, the downside to that is that he might start waking up more during the night to eat. Hmmm….Guess we’ll have to see. Next week school officially starts back, so I’ll be working again! I’m excited to get out there, but will definitely miss all the times I get to spend with my little guy during the day.

Is it an allergy…or something else?

So, food allergies don’t run in my family or in my husband’s family that I know of. Less than 1/2% of breastfed babies are allergic to milk. However, I have some suspicions that JJ might be allergic to dairy. It is one of my weaknesses and he undoubtedly receives a lot of it in my milk. If he is allergic, he doesn’t have severe reactions. He has only one symptom that is bothersome to me and that is that his stools are always very mucousy. This has been happening probably since about we came out of the hospital or roughly a month ago. Lately they have also been green which is characteristic of some sort of virus. Anyhow, someof his other symptoms are red, itchy eyes, coughing and sneezing, chronic congestion, and dry skin behind the ears and on his legs which doesn’t get better with lotion. Whatever it is hasn’t caused him to not lose weight at least I don’t think so although his symptoms started about the same time he didn’t gain anything for three weeks. Since then he has gained weight. I just feel bad for his poor tummy. It always makes all these little gurgling noises and he’s been extra fussy lately. I hope I can figure out what’s going on. Hopefully he’s not allergic to anything because otherwise I’ll have to toss all the milk I’ve worked so hard to store for him. Well, I’ll ask the doctor at his next checkup which is a week and a half away.

Another Milestone

Well, last night my little guy hit another milestone. He was laying in his crib fussing up a storm because he didn’t want to go to sleep. He was moving all around and before I knew it (before he knew it, for that matter) he had flipped from his back to his tummy. He had his arm stuck for a while underneath him which irritated him some more, but eventually he got it out. This was the first time he did this, although he’s been flipping from tummy to back for quite some time now. I think it’ll be a while before he is doing this on a regular basis, but it was cute to see.

I think I’m going to have to put the bumpers on the crib soon because he moves so much when he’s sleeping and half the time he ends up with his head up against the rails or his legs sticking out the rails. The other morning, he had his legs all the way up to his thighs out the rails. Now that he can roll, I’m not concerned about SIDS anymore so putting the bumper in there should help him stay more comfortable.