Writer's Block

I haven't been posting nearly as much as I'd like lately. My initial intention was to write about our married life - I mean, that's what this blog is called, right? Duh. OK, so things happened - all part of our married life, so they're fitting, I guess. I just feel like the last 4.5 months have been so wrapped up in all things baby, that I forget about all the other things that are going on. Like the awesome night Mike and I had at The Black Cat for his birthday. We took our time. We lingered at the bar before out table was ready, ate multiple courses, had that extra glass of wine - Mike even drank a martini! It was his birthday, after all. I guess that having time to myself these days is such a rarity that I don't know what to do next when it happens. I mean, I get a new magazine in the mail and think, really, it's been a month already? I've barely cracked the spine on last month's issue. (Thank goodness Real Simple comes with a bookmark, 'cuz you know, someday I'll make it through that whole pile of unfinished reading, right?) 

Tonight, Mike is working, and the baby went down at 7:15. I actually found myself thinking, should I do this, or that, or take a shower... or can a shower wait until morning? As you can see, so far I've chosen this or that and not the shower. My house is a mess. My laundry is sitting in front of me here on the table. I have work to do. But a glass of wine and watching Janis Joplin and Neil Young on vh1 classic got top billing tonight. 

Milestones: Back to Belly

Joey finally rolled from his back to his belly! Something I thought would be far down the road, considering a good mood is short lived whenever we put him on his tummy. I was in the kitchen, and Mike had just walked in the front door. He said, "Wow, he's on his belly, and he's not screaming!" I said, "What?! He's on his belly? I left him on his back! HE ROLLED OVER!!"

Way to go, little man!

Four Months

Dear Joey,

On Wednesday, you turned four months old. You had another well baby check-up with Dr. M, and you weighed in at 15 lbs, 4 ozs, and you are 25.3" long. Dr. M said you definitely did not forget how to grow! I think you have changed more this month than you have in the previous three combined. You are grabbing everything within your reach like your toys and blankies (good) and handfuls mom's hair (not so good). One of daddy's co-workers let us borrow their Excersaucer, and you are really enjoying it. You are very curious about all the toys that are attached to it, but you do get kind of frustrated that they do not come off. You pull on and yell at one particular little turtle that spins around - it is pretty cute to watch. 

A few weeks ago, you figured out how to roll over from your belly to your back (and a few days after decided that you no longer wanted to do that), and on the same day you figured out that you could make "raspberries" at will. You have also discovered your feet, and you enjoy playing with them, kicking your legs, and occasionally sticking them in your mouth. You went swimming for the first time in Grandma and Grandpa's pool, and you seemed to really like it! One of your other new "tricks" is to give kisses. Or at least we think that's what you are trying to do! You grab our faces and come at our cheeks, chins and noses with an open mouth. I love your kisses, even if I end up with a nose full of drool. I know someday you will not think it is cool to give your mom hugs and kisses, so I cherish each and every one. 

You were doing pretty well with sleeping - going down at about 8:00 every night without a fuss - but right around the 4th of July, your sleep patterns began to take a turn for the worse. It was like we had a newborn again! I had to rock you and sing to you, and wait until you were totally asleep before I even attempted to move you into your crib. I knew it was not a good habit to get into, but it was the only way I could get you into your crib at night. If I even attempted to set you in there before you were completely asleep, you would act like I set you on a pin - screaming the second you hit the mattress. I spent some more nights on the couch (something I hadn't done for a couple of months) so that I could be close to your room, as you were waking up about every two hours. I started to keep a log of your naps and feedings during the day, and your wake times at night. I planned to take it with me to your well-baby exam to show Dr. M. I don't know what I thought he was going to do with it - I guess in the back of my mind I thought he would look at it and say, "Oh yes! I know exactly what is wrong, and here is what you do!" But, alas, he laughed when I pulled it out of my folder, told me how organized I was, and said I should frame it just in case we ever decided to have more kids. After all, you are just doing what 99% of infants do when they are learning to sleep through the night. And then, about a week and a half ago (and right before your doctor's appointment), your bottom two teeth broke through. And you started to sleep much better. I'm hoping your next set of teeth do not come with weeks of sleepless nights again!

You are becoming so much more aware of the things that are going on around you. Now, when you hear a loud noise, you get startled and you try to find where it came from. Usually, this is accompanied by "the lip." Things that you would previously sleep through, like the vacuum cleaner and blender, now surely wake you up. Daddy has graciously given up having smoothies in the morning when he is on day shift just so you will sleep as long as possible in the morning, and I can, too. 

When you see something you want to explore, you reach out and grab it, and it immediately ends up in your mouth. When we are out at a restaurant (yes, daddy let us take you out to dinner with us, and even lunch and breakfast!) we have to push our plates, glasses and silverware out of your reach, and make sure there are no paper napkins near you. When you are at work with me, you reach for my mouse, and pull papers off of my well organized (yeah right) stacks of work orders. You are so active, and you want to be able to move around so bad that you get frustrated and scoot yourself around in circles when we lay you on the floor to play. Dr. M thinks you will be crawling by the time you are six months old. It scares me a little to think that he is probably right! 

You took a trip to the Valley to meet our friends, Aaron and Crystal. Daddy has known Aaron and Crystal since he was in high school, and they are really more like family to us. It was the longest car trip you had ever taken, and you did great. I made sure you had a full tummy when we left the house, and you slept the whole way there. It was very hot, so we spent most of the day inside the house, and you played happily on the floor most of the day. On our way home, you woke up a couple of times, but went back to sleep quickly after. All in all, you did great for your first "vacation" day! 

As you continue to grow and learn, I do to. I am learning to be your mom, and each day brings a new lesson and a new challenge. I have begun to relax a little bit more, and go with the flow - I now understand how much our lives have changed. Daddy can't help but laugh at me - that it took me this long to realize this fact. Perhaps I had already realized it. Now, I have accepted it.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

Love,

Mom

Someday

Someday, I will get a full night's sleep and look well-rested. I will leave the house on time. I will be wearing eyeliner, my legs and underarms will be shaved, and I will remember to put lotion on my knees and elbows. My hair will be styled. I will not be wearing flip-flops, and my clothes will look nice, fit well, and there will be no visible sign or offensive odor of spit-up or baby poo on them. I will not have to run back into the house three times for things I have forgotten before I pull out of the driveway. I will go to a restaurant and eat my meal at a normal pace and maybe even have a second glass of wine. I will take an extra hour to shop, and make one more stop on my way home just because I feel like it. I will crank up the car stereo, and sing at the top of my lungs. When I get home, I will grab a good book, and an icy margarita. I will fall asleep in a lounge chair, and get a little sunburned, but I won't mind.

Until then, please excuse my tardiness, excess body hair, love handles, baggy-butt jeans, hastily gathered ponytail and made-up face, wine glasses left half-full, and eating habits that Emily Post would surely frown upon, as I have a four-month old child, and he is teething. Thank you. (Oh, and I'll just keep dreaming about the extra shopping, lounge chair, and "normal" outing to a restaurant until he is in preschool).

Milestones

Joey finally rolled over from his tummy to his back today! We haven't been putting him on his tummy quite as much as we should - mainly because it really upsets him, and it's not the crying we can't stand, it's the bad mood that follows!

Go Joey, go!

Blog Makeover

So, I was checking out my own blog, and with the template I was using, I realized that reading it SUCKS! The text was really small, and the blue background with the white type made it really hard to read. So, since I don't have enough to do already, I'm going to work on sprucing up this simple template. Keep an eye out for a new look in the next couple weeks. Oh, who am I kidding? Maybe you'll see it next month. lol

Three Months

Dear Joey,

On Monday, you turned three months old. You have changed so much over the past month, I really don't even know where to start, so bear with me! You are growing and learning so much, and I am anxious to see what new things you will do every day. You didn't have to go to the doctor this month, but when I got on on our scale with you, it said you weighed about 14 and a half pounds... I won't tell you how much it said mommy weighs.

You have finally figured out how to suck your thumb (before, you had been sucking on your whole fist) and it usually ends up in your mouth when you are getting tired, or just lounging around with dad.


When your toys are near you, you can reach for them to play with, and you can even keep yourself entertained for quite a while. Your favorite things are a set of colored rings that link together, and a small stuffed lion. You shake the rings and chew on them, and you give the lion big hugs!


You have discovered your voice, and you definitely enjoy hearing it. You make all sorts of noises now, and when I am feeding you, you often stop eating to have a "conversation" with me. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen. You have also discovered that you can scream very loudly, and you do it a lot when you are happy. The other day, I was reading you a book about baby farm animals, and you would let out a loud squeal after I finished reading each page. And, on Father's Day, you started to laugh. You don't do it too often, but it is definitely a laugh. Of course I try everything I can to make you do it, but it's not always that easy!

You have become so much more aware of your surroundings. You recognize people that you see often, and you greet them with a big smile - much to their delight. Things that you were totally unaware of just weeks ago, you now have quite an opinion about. Like when Ruby dog came to visit and she licked your forehead - you were not too happy about that! If you hear a loud noise, you jump a little bit, and look around to see where it came from. We have been putting you on your tummy like Dr. M told us to, and you don't really like it too much, but you are trying really hard to roll over each time we do it. You are very strong, and one of your favorite things to do is stand up when you are sitting on someones lap. You seem very proud of yourself when you do this, and it makes you very happy to be up looking around. You are very alert, and you hate to miss anything that is going on around you!


This month, you went to 4 parties! At the beginning of the month, daddy and I took you to Luis's son's baptism party with Meghan, Geoff and Phoebe. We were all surprised when you fell asleep while the Mexican banda was playing (it was incredibly loud). You went with me to our friend Andrew's annual Bocce Ball tournament in San Luis Obispo, and then to Santa Maria for Maddox's 2nd birthday party. Two parties in one day! You also got all dressed up and went to Phoebe's first birthday party in Shell Beach. Again, you slept through most of it, and everyone was very surprised that you were able to do that with all the people around!



One of the things we've been working on has been getting you on a bedtime routine, and trying to get you to sleep through the night. You are doing pretty well so far. The longest you have slept so far is 7 hours. It has been very difficult for me, but I am finally able to let you cry and fuss when you first go down at night until you go to sleep (of course, there are still times that I come in your room to check on you and rub your tummy if it's taking a little too long for you to fall asleep - usually that little bit of reassurance is all you need, and you go right to sleep). This week, I am trying to let you cry yourself back to sleep when you wake up at night, but this has not been too easy. I always get up to check on you at least once, and when you are crying in your crib, I lay awake in bed sweating. It is so hard to hear you cry, but daddy says it's for the best, and I know he is right - you need your sleep, and so do we!

Oh, and how could I forget! You experienced your first earthquake this month. You were asleep in my arms, and I think you were more upset that I flew out of the chair and woke you up than anything else.This will probably not be the only earthquake you experience, but I hope you handle all the rest just as well as you handled this one!

We look forward to seeing what this next month holds for you!


Love,
Mom