Since you've been gone

Hi Dada,

It's only been a day and we already miss you!

Playing with my toys isn't as fun as playing with you

Even my new toys

Even the coolest spoon in the world isn't as cool as you

The washing machine is awesome, but not as awesome as you

Me learning to feed myself makes mom VERY happy, but not as happy as you make her

Oh, Ringo misses you too

I almost crawled and Mom was ecstatic! But not as ecstatic as she will be when she see's you Saturday

Goodnight Dada!

We love you!

First Week

Ahaha! Guess who got a mac book pro? I did I did. Okay, so it's 6 years old, and a hand me down from Adam, but I do enjoy having a laptop again. I gave my old one to my nephew and have been purely Windows and desktop ever since. It suited me fine, but I'm looking forward to couch computing again. I DEFINITELY missed it.

I have to admit the new year hasn't been the best. And I kept hearing everyone exclaim how it was going to be the best year ever and it actually made me feel worse. New Year's eve morning I was awakened by a very sick dog at 4 am, it wasn't pretty, and I was awake after that. Then the next morning I was awakened at 4 am again, but this time by a bout of hiccups Adam had for over 24 hours. Then Adam got sick, and it's just been a weird week.

Adam had also been waiting to hear about upcoming work. We both had been so on edge waiting to hear about it. And the industry shuts down during the holidays so we'd been playing the waiting game. Adam had us both convinced it wasn't going to happen. Finally, by the middle of this week he got confirmation on the job he was waiting for and possibly another. That made us a bit more optimistic about this year.

But it's good news, bad news. As is often the case. Good news is there is work, bad news is that it's 6 weeks in San Diego starting Monday. It's close enough to see each other on weekends but it will be quite a change for Hunter not to have daddy at home. And it was so cute. Today, Adam was changing a diaper and said to Hunter "come on, just say Dada for me before I leave" and Hunter looked up and said "Dada."

I'm a little nervous because I don't have much of a support system or family in place here and I feel a bit like a single mother. I have been so lucky to have Adam, primarily, at home since Hunter's birth so there might be some challenges ahead. Definitely some adjustments. Just being able to take a break will be a commodity.

Six weeks is a long time. Especially because Hunter will be almost 10 months by the end of the project and will probably be crawling and possibly walking. And starting to say a word or two. There's just so much development that takes place during these months. Crawling and talking are BIG milestones. But Adam will be able to experience it on weekends, so it's not so bad.

Hunter is still doing great. We still have no teeth but I think this is a lesson in patience for little old me. I get way too wrapped up in the occurrence of milestones and have to constantly remind myself that all babies are different and do things at their own pace. As long as he's in the realm of normal, we're all good. And he is. He doesn't crawl but he steadies himself on the sofa, coffee table or toy box. He's not a huge talker but we've heard the mama, dada, baba and a few other babbley words. A few days ago he said "Mac" and Adam said "fanboy."

Sleeping has improved immensely. We get some now. I don't want to go into details because I believe in the great power of the JINX. And I know it could change tomorrow and it probably will next week. We also dropped a nap and are down to 2. I love the naps because I can get stuff done but Hunter is a very scheduled napper so it really breaks up our day. We are slaves to nap time. So the fact that we only have 2 now is quite an improvement.

I can't wait to see what this year has in store for us. I feel like we've had enough excitement this week to last a whole year. So maybe the rest will be smooth sailing... ;)

Year's End

Seriously, I just sat down to write and realized there's a load of laundry that needs to be folded and another that needs to go in the dryer. But I want to write something because it's New Year's Eve and I feel I've been neglectful of this blog. I need to write. And sum up 2010.

It's all been so crazy with the holidays and the little man. And the traveling! We drove to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving (easy as pie) and to Jerome, AZ for Christmas (a bit challenging, but 8 hours in a car will make anyone stir crazy.) We had lovely holidays and a wonderful 1st Christmas!!! but I so look forward to celebrating in our own home next year.

Hunter continues to amaze me on a daily basis and I can't wait to experience what 2011 has in store for him. He's starting to wiggle around on the floor and when he gets up in the morning I sometimes find him pushing up on his arms which leads me to believe that crawling may be coming soon. He is nearly standing on his own and just this morning he took 3 steps while holding onto the coffee table.

He said mama and mum for the first time a few weeks ago. And last week he started going crazy with baba. He still hasn't said dada but we've heard abba, ada, pa and poo and he's started mixing consonants. Like bagoo and paga and what sounded like el gaupo.

Oh, also, he still has no teeth. At our 4 month appointment the doctor felt his gums and said "Oh yeah, there's some swelling. Looks like teeth are on their way!" That was 4 months ago. And I've been feeling the rough edge of the lower teeth for, like, 3 months now.

And it's awful because Hunter seems so uncomfortable. He's always running a temperature around 99.5, no teether can sate him for longer than a minute, and he just drools like a St. Bernard all the time. But everyone, including the new doctor, says this is normal and some kids don't get their teeth until after a year. Which just seems so mean.

But I'm fairly certain he will have teeth. Just like I'm certain that one day he will have hair... and eyebrows.

So my goals for 2011 are to help my kid grow some teeth and hair. Just kidding, but seriously, dude, throw me a bone, or some teeth.

My goals:

Run 1000 miles- that's less than 3 miles a day so it's doable. Although I'm not starting off very well because I haven't run for 2 weeks. I am using the elliptical so I'm not a complete lazy ass.

Lose 37 pounds- 3 pounds a month, totally doable. I haven't been dieting like crazy or running and have managed to lose 2 pounds since Thanksgiving. Bow down

Run 2 marathons- LA for sure and maybe Las Vegas in the fall

Make art- I'd like to finish at least 1 piece a month and have a representation of my year in art

Sell my art- just one piece is enough. Hello Etsy?

Read 10 good books- I used to be an avid reader, it's always been like dessert to me. I want to feel that again

I am an evil wife! I was so tired yesterday morning after having been woken up twice in the past 2 hours by baby boy that I turned the baby monitor on it's highest volume and hung it over Adam's head. It was quite a rude awakening for my dear husband.

Sorry baby, I owe you!

5 Holiday Gifts for the All Natural Baby

5 Holiday Gifts for the All Natural Baby

So I'm posting this list from The Stir because there are a few products that I love. The Lil Bumpkin quilt has been great for Hunter to play on during the day and wrap up with at nap time. I had Hunter's quilt custom made and Tiffany, the genius behind Lil Bumpkin, chose fabrics to coordinate with Hunter's nursery.

Do you see the squirrels? It's perfect!

I didn't know about Aden & Anais before I had Hunter but I received some swaddling blankets as a gift and they are the best! They are the only ones I use. I love the large size and the soft breathable fabric. I know we'll use them for a long time to come. I also really like the Green Toys Stacker and I think I may purchase this for Hunter for Christmas. He's just getting into stacking stuff, well more like unstacking, but this seems right up his alley. And the price is awesome too. I am loving the Green Toys site. I think I've already found Hunter's birthday gift!

Milk Donation

I've written here before about my breast milk supply issues and how inadequate it has made me feel to not be able to provide milk for my son. I've also worried about Hunter's overall health because breast milk is best for babies and we just couldn't make it work. I mentioned to a friend of mine that had I known more about breast milk exchanges and donations that I may have gone that route. I did know of the existence of exchanges but the idea of it seemed a little weird to me. Like how is the milk or donor screened? Is it costly? Those types of things.

Then the following day I was at my mommy and me class and this woman mentioned she had an abundance of frozen breast milk her son wouldn't eat. And she asked what she could do with it. I piped up that she could donate it to people like me that needed breast milk through donation centers or Le Leche League. And yesterday she came over to my house with a Target bag full of frozen breast milk for Hunter. It almost makes me want to cry it was such a wonderful gesture.

If you or anyone you know has a bunch of breast milk that has gone unused I would say I would love to have it. But the truth is there are mothers and babies that need it way more than Hunter and I do. Infants with failure to thrive, allergies and premies. If you or anyone you know want to look into donation of breast milk I have attached a few links below for donation research.

http://milkshare.birthingforlife.com/

http://milkinmamas.com/?gclid=CIWN9_q0o6UCFRBzgwod5kW1Iw

http://www.milkbanking.net/index.php

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBmilkdonation.html

xoxo,

Lauren

EC Training

We just started EC training a few days ago. For those of you that haven't heard of EC training, you are going to think this is crazy. EC training is Elimination Communication or infant potty training. Dude, I know. I thought the same thing. But hear me out.

There's a lot of fear and frustration that goes into potty training. Some kids are afraid or confused and that makes the parents frustrated. It makes sense that a baby should be familiarized with the potty and flushing at a very young age to make it a normal activity. Then it eliminates fear. And that's only one benefit.

You can imagine the other benefits. Fewer diaper changes means fewere diapers and money saved, less poop exposure :), and earlier and easier potty training. So what do I do?

I'm starting off slowly. Hunter goes on the potty after eating and sleeping. He stays on for a maximum of 5 minutes so as not to get bored or frustrated. I try to make it enjoyable by singing silly potty songs and he gets one special toilet toy to play with only on the potty. If he pees he gets congratulations with a "good pee pee" and then I follow up with the sign for urination. Hopefully he may eventually be able to tell me that he needs to use the toilet.

Also I'm hoping to learn his bathroom cues. I pretty much have the poop one down, but that only happens once, maybe twice a day. His pee one is a bit harder, but he seems to go right when he wakes up, so I just need to pay attention.

He's peed three times on the potty so far and it surprised the hell out of me. He enjoys being up there with me on the floor because we're at eye level. It's actually nice because it has afforded us some extra bonding time free of a lot of distractions. We'll see how it goes. If he starts getting annoyed or crying I will try again in a few months. I've heard good things about this method and because I have the time at home to do it, I figured I should give it a try.

My friend suggested getting a small potty so when Hunter walks he can use it himself and I think I may procure that item this weekend. I was just a bit ambivalent because cleaning out the poop seems icky to me. Funny because I deal with baby poop and dog poop on a daily basis. And I use cloth diapers so hopefully it won't be any worse than that.

I'll keep you updated.

xoxo,

Lauren