Pee, Poop and Boogers; Oh My!!!

I hope the title did not scare you off. But, I was thinking about all the disgusting things us Moms (and Dads) go through with their children and usually do not bat an eye.

I just got back from vacation and catching up on my friends' blogs. One friend talked about how her daughter is potty training and she missed the potty and peed on the rug. Another talked about how her daughter took off her diaper and played with her poop. (written by my friend's husband) All the "wonderful" things we each experience as parents.

I thought I would add to the experiences above. Did you ever think that you would have to wipe away your kids snot, boogers, etc with your bare hands before he decided to use his own and smear the snot all through his hair? Wonderful picture, isn't it? But, that has been my life for the past week. Wiping away boogers and snot all day and part of the night!

Back to the Grind

It was so nice to have a week off of work. Very refreshing. Unlike most of my coworkers, I did not bring my computer on my vacation. I had a true work-free vacation.

Last night, I decided to see what my Monday would be like back in the office. Before I logged on, I guessed I would have about 100 e-mails, hoping that the number would be a lot less. I could not believe it when I saw the number - 170 e-mails. 170!!!! It will take me all week to catch up with that number. Plus I have this week's work to do.

My refreshing vacation is officially over!

Sweet Kisses

Let me tell you that there is nothing like sweet, wet, open mouth kisses. No, I am not talking about my husband or my dogs but the sweet kisses from my son. Well, I call them sweet but the rest of you might not feel the same.

When Eli wants to kiss me, he opens his mouth as wide as he can and plops it down on my mouth, almost biting me. But, I know it is a sweet kiss and love every time I get one.

You have a baby, you lose a mind

I think there must be some type of silent contract-

a baby for your mind, memory

My memory is gone. Completely. I was talking to an old friend from college. She was telling me she saw the newest pictures of Eli and that he is growing so fast. I said something about how she should meet him before he gets too big. She comes back and says, "Alison, I already met him."

That's right- she did meet him. At my parent's house in Fl. Drove for an hour to come up and see him. Got lost and I gave her directions. But, I did not remember.

Now, that I have my baby- how can I get my mind/memory back?

The NON Three Day Sleep Method - Night 3

Well, the three day sleep method will definitely be more than three days in my case. I put Eli down at 7:15pm and it is almost 9:15pm and he is still awake. The book says most babies will stop crying and fall asleep within an hour. Eli is not most babies.

I have checked and consoled him several times and will continue until he finally falls asleep!

I don't think the book takes into account 1 year olds who have a molar coming in.

The Three Day Sleep Method - Night 2

Night #2 of the sleep method went much better - at first. Eli cried for 35 minutes and then went to sleep. Unfortunately, he woke up at 4:15am. He whined for a little while and then the crying began. As stated in the method, I let him cry for an hour before checking up on him. Then, at 5:15am, I could not take it anymore- my sleep depended on it, I went in, nursed Eli and then went back to bed.

Another night that I did not follow properly but we will see how tonight goes.

The Three Day Sleep Method - the morning after

Well, after Eli finally fell asleep last night (around 8:30pm), he stayed asleep! Slept until 7:15am. I woke up at 6:30am wondering why he did not wake me up yet.

Night #2 of the sleep method went much better. Eli cried for 35 minutes and then went to sleep. Maybe he will sleep through the night. My fingers are crossed!

The Three Day Sleep Method - Night 1

Eli is still not sleeping through the night. He wakes up once at night and I nurse him back to bed. I know, a bad habit. But, now since he is a year old, I need to break him of the habit.

My friend sent me the "Three day sleep solution." Basically, I no longer nurse him to sleep and put him into the crib awake and let him fall asleep (cry) on his own. The book states to let him process (cry) for an hour before you go in and check on him. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, let him process (cry) for an hour before you check on him.

Well, here is how it went for night #1. I read Eli a book and then put him in his crib at 7:15pm. (The book said that 6:30pm is the appropriate bed time for a 1 year old but I felt that was a little early, especially when Eli usually does not go to sleep until 7:30pm.) So anyway, I let Eli process (cry) for the hour. The book said "most" babies will fall asleep before that hour completes. Not Eli, he processed for an hour before I went in his room to check on him.

He was hysterical. I picked him up and he was still upset. So, I nursed him to sleep. It only took him 5 minutes and he was out! So, I guess tomorrow will be Night 1 and we will start this process again.

Baby Book Blues

I always said I would keep up with Eli's baby book. And, I was diligent about it for about 6 months. When Eli was born, I started a journal for him. I wrote in it just about every other day. Every 26th of the month, I printed out pictures from the previous months and updated the baby book.

Oh the Baby Book Blues. Oh the Baby Book Blues.

Then my maternity leave ended when Eli was three months old and I went back to work part time. The journal entries became once a week instead of every other day. But, I still updated the baby book once a month.

Oh the Baby Book Blues. Oh the Baby Book Blues.

Then, I went back to work full time when Eli was about 6 months old. The journal entries became few and far between. And, the baby book got updated as I could get to it.

Oh the Baby Book Blues. Oh the Baby Book Blues.

Now, Eli is over a year old. My baby book is should be complete but it is not even close. I don't even have a picture of our house in it yet. You would think that would be simple enough!

Oh the Baby Book Blues. Oh the Baby Book Blues.

Allace!

Eli babbles more and more each day. I notice that he repeats many of the same sounds. Unfortunately, I have no clue what he is saying.

Tonight, it was very clear. I was getting him ready for bed and Lowell was outside with the dogs, Wallace and Bruce. The easiest way to get Eli dressed is to let him look out the window while I put his pjs on. All of a sudden I hear "Allace". Eli was calling Wallace. My little boy is growing up.

I am now officially OLD!!!

This past weekend, I went into Hollister to buy a gift card for my much younger cousin's birthday. I walked into the store with Lowell and we were blasted by music. The first thing that ran through my head was "Can they turn this crap down?" (Actually not crap, I happen to love the music but it was so loud, it was hard to hear what music was actually on.)

I went to buy the gift card and had to yell to tell the cashier the amount. I wanted to yell out, "You are going to go deaf in here" but instead I yelled "$25 dollars please."

Who knew that at the age of 31- I am officially old!

Thank you Swim Class

My son, Eli, is not much of a sleeper. He only naps once a day and only has been napping once a day since he was a couple months old. The number of times he has slept through the night, I can count on one hand.

A couple of weeks ago, we started a Mommy and Me otherwise known as a Mommy, Daddy, and Me (when my husband comes) swim class at the local YMCA. Last Monday, after class, Eli napped for 3.5 hours long. Even though he was up from 4am – 6am the night before, I could not believe he slept for so long. (Usual nap is 2 hours long) It was wonderful. I work from home and was able to get a good part of my work done for the day.

Today, we have swim class. I am hoping for another long nap. With the lack of sleep Eli gets at night, he needs it. And, with me working from home full time, I need the time.

So, swim class, can you tire out Eli again today? Please? Pretty please?

Just Do It!

I have been talking about creating a blog for months now. What a great way to rant and rave etc... I just have not been able to put the pen to the paper (or should I say "fingers to the keys") .

So, I finally registered with "Blogspot" but when the site asked me to name my blog, I sat there for hours (well, really minutes). I could not and did not come up with a creative name. Does that mean that my blogs are doomed from the start? Can your blogs be interesting to others if you cannot come up with a create name?

Well, even if this post has no interest to you- two thumbs up for me- I started my blog.

By the way, if you can help me come up with a more creative name, I am open to it. (Can names on blogs be changed?)