Roll Call

I clicked on my profile the other day and noticed that over 60 people have viewed it. Holy crap. Unless every member of my family have each looked at it 15 times, there are people reading this silly blog that I don't know about. If you're reading this, please leave me a comment, just so I know that you stopped by. To leave a comment, click on the "# comments" link at the bottom of the post, then type away. If you don't have a Google account, click the option that says "Name/URL" and type in your name so that I know who you are. Also, you'll have to type in some random letters for verification before it will let you save. I know, it's complicated.

My Sweet Boys

I have the best husband ever. I'd been (not so casually) mentioning that I'd really like to get the new Stephenie Meyer book, "The Host." We've been to Barnes and Noble twice in the last two days (don't ask) and I keep longing for it but I refuse to spend money on books for myself. While I was getting Little Man in his jammies tonight, James said he had to run to go get some quarters for laundry. I thought it was weird, because he went and got laundry money this morning, but I thought maybe he didn't get enough to do as many loads as he needed to or something. Then, when he got home, he presented me with my book. He'd gone back to B&N and bought it for me. I thought it was so thoughtful of him. He does nice stuff like this for me every once in awhile, but not very often is it "just because." He sure is a sweetie. I think I'll keep him.

In other news, Little Man was a complete stinker today. It wasn't all his fault; we were out and about today, and his napping schedule got all messed up. I don't know if I've ever heard him scream as much as he did today, though. He hardly ever cries, and when he does, it's more like fussing than real crying. He was doing the ugly cry today, though. Tears and snot and everything. Poor baby. He settled down and is now sleeping peacefully, hopefully until morning.

Little Man Laughs

Little Man is now good enough at laughing that he'll laugh when is just super happy, rather than when we act super silly. We were able to get some of these giggles on film yesterday. Enjoy.

Little Man The Acrobat

Take a look at this picture...


This is how I found Little Man yesterday morning. Now, it might not look too extraordinary to the casual observer. But let me point out a couple of things. First of all, when I put him to bed the night before, his head was at the other end of the crib. Secondly, notice that he is sucking his thumb. I've mentioned before that he sucks his thumb from time to time, but never for more than a few seconds. I've had the suspicion, though, that he sucks it pretty frequently in the night and I just don't know about it. He's gotten better and better at popping it in his mouth; you can tell he's been practicing. Here is my proof. He'd been fussing, but in the few seconds it took me to get to him, he'd popped that thumb in and had gone back to sleep.

Later, when he was supposed to be taking a nap, I snapped this picture.


He refuses to just lay there anymore. He's always got those monkey toes on the bars of his crib. During one nap yesterday, I laid him in his crib, then when I went to go check if he was sleeping (he wasn't), he'd flipped himself around again. I put the binky back in his mouth and left him. When I went back in a few minutes later, he had flipped around again, so that he was laying the direction I had put him originally. Crazy baby.

The Showdown (or, Why I Love Breastfeeding)

Ok, this might be too much info for some of you. I'm turning into one of those La Leche League women. You know the type: lifting up their shirts in public to nurse, and continuing to do so until their baby is not a baby anymore. Oh, and they probably think they're better than you for it. I used to think these ladies were super crazy. I decided to breastfeed my little one for lots of reasons (we'll get into those in a minute) but I totally understood why someone would choose not to. Over the last few months with Little Man, however, I've decided that breastfeeding is far superior to formula and bottles. Last night, I gave Little Man a bottle (of expressed breast milk, of course) before bed. My midwife warned me to make sure to keep him in the habit of taking a bottle over the summer; otherwise, he might not take one again when we go back to school. He starting eating from it, but then he started acting strangely. He was wiggling, and turning his head, and pushing me away with his hands. (Now that he can grab things, he can also push things away.) Figuring that this was a response to the bottle, I decided I had to stand my ground. He was not going to nurse, even if it meant he went to bed without a full belly and woke me up in the middle of the night. The stage was set for a showdown. And sure enough, Little Man woke me up at 2:45, just as I'd predicted. I tried the bottle again, and he took about an ounce, then started refusing it again. Acting on a hunch, I got another, fresher bottle (the one I'd been trying was out of the freezer). He sucked it down with no complaining whatsoever. So much for my showdown, huh?

While I was feeding Little Man this bottle last night, my love of breastfeeding was cemented even further. Bottles are such a pain! While my baby was crying, instead of just unsnapping my bra and snuggling him up to me, I had to 1) fill up a mug with water and put it into the microwave to heat, 2) put bottle in said hot water to warm the bottle (this take several minutes)and then, 3) hold my baby in an upright position with only one hand, since the other is holding the bottle. Very uncomfortable. Last night was especially bad, because I had to do the whole thing twice.

So now that I've told you all about why I hate bottle feeding, let me expound a little further on why I love breastfeeding so much. Some of these reasons I knew about before Little Man was born and some of them I discovered later.
1. It's free! Do you know how much formula costs?? I think its, like, a bazillion dollars or something.
2. It's super convenient. Just lift and unsnap. And you never run out of it, its always the perfect temperature, there are no bottles and nipples to sterilize. Can you imagine going through that ordeal that I described above 6-8 times a day? True, no one else can breastfeed for you. And sometimes you have to banish yourself to a mother's room or dressing room somewhere. These are small details to me now.
3. The bonding that you hear people talk about really is wonderful. While I'm nursing Little Man, there is a real connection that we have. Its a truly beautiful thing.
4. Its super good for the baby. It's the perfect nutrition, plus it gets them used to different flavors so they will (supposedly) be less picky when they get older.
5. It's super good for mom. Did you know that women that breastfeed have a lower incidence of breast cancer? It makes perfect sense, but somehow this information isn't really "out there." I think its a cover-up, master minded by the formula companies.
6. It really does help mom lose the baby weight faster. I'm fitting into things I haven't fit into in over a year. Of course, the instant I found out I was pregnant, my butt got huge, so there are lots of things I haven't fit into in a long time.

So do you think the La Leche League will accept my application?

Little Man's New Groove

Can I just say that I love being home? How did I ever have time to work? One day, I hope this turns into a permanent situation.

We've had a very fun week around here. I feel like I'm doing a good job of getting out of the house and doing something everyday. I get a little stir crazy if I don't get out of the house. We've been going to the park, and the library (I've recently discovered how awesome the children's floor of the downtown library is. I love all of the secret rooms; the Crystal Cave is my very favorite, so far. Also, I really appreciate that they have a mother's room, although I haven't had to use it yet.), and visiting our families. And Little Man is getting on a very predictable schedule. Have I mentioned that he's sleeping through the night now? He goes down at 9 and doesn't get up until 6. He's usually back in bed by 6:30 and sleeps until 8:30 or 9 again. How did I ever function getting up several times a night? Oh, yeah; I didn't.

James started his new job Thursday. He'd been training for a couple of days before that, but Thursday was his first day on his own. He didn't have a very good day. He was supposed to done at 6 and when my phone finally rang at a quarter to 8, I knew it had been a very bad day. He hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day, was coming down with a cold, and on top of everything, was supposed to be at band practice at 6:30. He's hanging in there, but hopefully things start going better for him.

Little Man has also had an exciting week. He has decided that he's way too big to lay down anymore and insists on being held upright or being propped up at all times. If things aren't going his way, he starts yelling. Not crying, but real yelling. He's also started reaching for things. We bought him some toys earlier this week and we've been practicing with him. The first day or so, we'd dangle a toy above him and he's get super focused on it. His hands would move, but they'd usually go straight into his mouth. If they did go the right direction, he'd still totally miss. That hand-eye coordination is a tricky skill. But he's getting better and better at it and most the time now he can get it on the first try.



We had a wonderful Father's Day. (Well, I thought it was nice. I hope James did, too.) We gave James his presents and his card (that Little Man helped write) and had a nice breakfast. Little Man even got to join us at the table for the first time. I've been thinking that I wished there was a way he could sit with us at the table, and then thought "Oh, duh. The highchair!" So we took it out of the box and set it up for him. It was nice have the whole family around the table. After that, we lounged around for awhile, then we went up to Logan to spend the day with my family. We had some really good hamburgers (I'm still thinking about them, Mom) and played some games. I really enjoyed myself. Little Man was pretty good. Nobody else probably thought he was being a stinker, but James and I both thought he was being grumpy compared to how he normally is. Don't you wish babies could tell you why they're being grumpy? I don't know if he wasn't feeling well, or was tired, or was just feeling out of sorts because he was in a new place. He was his normal smiley self this morning though.

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears....

We sure are having a fun summer. Today, our good friends Matt and Mary called us and asked if we'd like to go to the zoo with them. It was a blast! I know Little Man didn't know what was going on, but James and I had fun, and we took some cute pictures.

School's Out!

Wa-hoo! School's out! I am loving my summer break so far. James, on the other hand, is probably ready for me to go back already. I've kept him very busy that last few days. On Thursday, I was finally able to dig in and really clean the bathroom and the hall closet. It's been bugging me for months, but I just haven't had the time or energy to tackle it. Once that was done, we went to Ikea and got a new wardrobe so we'll have some extra closet space around here. Friday James worked in the yard all morning then I made him put together the wardrobe all afternoon. Saturday was spent doing the grocery shopping and getting my lesson ready for church. Today has been nice and relaxing. I didn't even make dinner. We did the the chance to go downtown and walk around Temple Square for a little while. There was some sort of meeting happening in the Tabernacle (anyone know what it was?) so it was extra busy. I always love to see the sister missionaries working. There were protesters standing around at the entrance tonight, but as soon as you enter the grounds, there is a sister there, smiling, waiting to greet you. I love it.

Little Man has also had a busy week. He spent the first part of the week with Lexi's mom, and she just raved about what a good baby he was. She had her hands full with two little ones, but I didn't worry too much, because I know just how easy Little Man is to take care of. The last couple of days he's turned into a real chatter box. He's always squawking and squealing and cooing and gurgling. My favorite is when he looks into your eyes and quietly coos at you. I like to think he's telling me that he loves me. No matter what he's trying to say, it sure melts my heart.
Most of the week as been pretty nice, but this morning was a little rough. We were running late for church and Little Man was napping anyway, so we ended up skipping the first meeting. Little Man was due to eat at the exact same time I was supposed to be teaching, so I pumped a bottle for James to feed him. James dropped me off at the front door and I ran to class. Class went well, until half way through, the only 3 kids that were helping to read and discuss left. I was left with one girl who is mentally handicapped and 4 Burmese refugees that don't speak English. That was rough. Anyway, I kept waiting for James to come up with the baby, but by the time class was over, he still wasn't there. I found him in the foyer and Little Man was wearing a different outfit than what we left home in. Apparently, I hadn't put the lid to the bottle on tight and most of it ended up down the front Little Man. James, not realizing that I had a clean outfit in the diaper bag, went all the way home to change him. Just as I found them, Little Man was working on filling his diaper. I whisked him off to the rest room to change him. By the time we got there, the poop had soaked all the was through his onsie and his shirt, but it wasn't up the back (like usually happens at least once a day) it was up the front!! How in the world does that happen?? Right then and there I made an executive decision that we're switching him to bigger diapers. He's kind of between sizes right now, but since the smaller ones are cheaper, I've been holding off moving up. Not anymore. Hopefully we'll have less poopy laundry. So to sum up the church-going experience, we missed the first hour, I taught my lesson to five kids that didn't understand a word that came out of my mouth, and Little Man went through two different outfits. Luckily, Sacrament Meeting was uneventful.

We caught Little Man sucking his thumb again today. He's getting better and better at finding it. I probably shouldn't think its cute, but I just marvel at how much control he's getting over his little hands.


On Thursday while I was busy cleaning, Little Man wanted to be cuddled. I rigged James up with the carrier and he packed the baby around for awhile.

We bought Little Man a book the other night. Here we are having our first bedtime story. There are no words to the book, just simple black/white and red/white pictures of animals. He seems to love it. He stares at the pictures and tonight he seemed like he was talking to the picture of the bird.

Ho-hum

I'm racking my brain to try to think of something to blog about, but its been a pretty ho-hum week around here. Nothing too exciting. James started his new job on Wednesday, delivering for Fed-Ex. I'm just about done with school; Friday was essentially the last day, but we're not officially done until Wednesday. The last day of daycare was on Friday, however. I don't know what they think I'm supposed to do with my baby for three days. My friend Lexi from work is having her mom come into to town to watch her little one, and her mom volunteered to watch Little Man, too. I'm a little nervous, only because I've never been away from him for that long. He's always been in the daycare down the hall. For the next three days, I'll be away from him for 8+ hours. It will be very strange.

The only other thing to talk about is just how big Little Man is getting. It seems like he's grown by leaps and bounds this week. He's gotten so good at holding up his head this week. I don't have to cradle him in my arms anymore; I can carry him on my hip now. He's also gotten very good at turning his head to find you when you talk to him. I've also noticed that he really does know who I am and gets excited to see me. Today, while I was teaching my Sunday School class, James was rocking him to sleep. He said he was just fine whenever anyone else was talking, but as soon as I would talk, Little Man would jerk awake. Also at church today, I was rocking him during Sacrament meeting. I had him cradled in my arms, and he turned his head to look at me. I'd smile at him, then he'd give me one of his big cheesy grins and bury his face in my arm. Then he'd to it all over again. It was really cute. Oh, one more cute thing he did today. He sucked his thumb for the first time. He's always got his fist or his fingers in his mouth these days, but he's never figured out how to get just his thumb in his mouth before. Super cute. Oh, and another thing. Little Man slept a full eight hours last night. He went down at 9 and didn't even stir until 5. And when he did wake up, he didn't even cry. He just started talking to himself. He ate, then went right back to bed and slept until 8:30. Now if he'd just sleep like that on a school night, when its really important that I get a good night sleep.

I've recently figured out how to take video with our camera. Here's a video from last week of Little Man talking to his animals that dangle above him in the bouncer.



Here's a picture from tummy time the other night. Look at him hold that head up!

Here he is before church this morning. It won't be long before he's sitting up all by himself!