May 26, 2015 by Stephanie

George-9 Months

9 months of this guy. How is this possible?

Weight: 18 lbs and 3 oz. Not sure of his height or head measurement. I feel like he really grew a lot this past month. I can definitely feel it when I pick him up. (all those carbs…)

Health: Earlier this month, he had a really bad cough. He sounded like a rattle can when he was breathing. I took him to the doctor because I was afraid of stuff settling in his lungs. She said it was a good thing that we did because he had a really bad ear infection. George however was not showing any of the typical signs of being bothered by an ear infection. On the plus side there was no mucus in his lungs. He actually liked the antibiotics this time around.

Diet: We are no longer feeding him purees at home. He still does purees at the babysitter’s purely because we have so many left over from people giving us food. I know it is easier for her to do purees to while we get him a little more used to real food at home. We are down to 5 bottles a day. Most are 4 oz, except the last bottle of the day is 6 oz. He is really good with feeding himself, so we just put something on his tray and let him have at it. He has pretty much mastered putting food into his mouth on his own. Although, he forgets when he has things in his right hand. He predominantly eats with his left hand. This month he has tried a lot of carbs: bagel, pancakes, beef, fish, peppers, watermelon, toast, angelfood cake, icing, corn on the cob, nectarine, ravioli, baked beans, banana bread, and alfredo. He pitches a full out fit after every meal is over. It is the worst when pasta is involved. (Which makes sense because Tom and I are both pasta lovers, so he got that 100%.) If you follow me on Instagram, I post some of the after-meal aftermaths.

Clothes: I just put away all the 3-6 month clothes this weekend. He still is ok in the 6 month stuff, but I did get out the 6-9 month stuff. He is filling those out nicely. He is in size 3 diapers.

Sleeping: I wrote the other day that he is a through the night sleeper! He will start out on his back, but within a half hour of being put down he moves to his stomach. He stays face down most of the night. This is terrifying for me because he likes to smash his face straight down. Fortunately though, he has gotten my sleeping traits for this month, and I can go in and move him so he isn’t breathing in mattress. He does not like to be rocked much anymore. It was a little sad to part with that routine, but we are getting snuggles elsewhere. Also I love to take pictures of him sleeping.

Likes: Food. Phones. Dancing; he loves to watch us dance goofy. He also loves to dance with you. We are already practicing our mother/son dance. He is enamored by straws, which is awesome at restaurants. He would rather play with the tags on toys than the actual toy. If you are wearing a watch, George will be your new best friend. He loves to be tipped upside down. He thinks it is the greatest game. Another great game is Peek-A-Boo. So much fun. Food.

Dislikes: Meal time ending. You eating food in front of him that he is not getting. Sleeping in on weekends. Not having the controller that you are holding. That above is his displeased face.

Milestones: We got a new carseat, and he is sitting in the front of the stroller now. No more infant seat! He started reaching for us to hold him. Best feeling ever to date. He did have a few big milestones this month. He got up on all fours! He just rocks back and forth, and when he tries to move his legs or arms forward he falls down. I still am convinced we may have a walker before we have a crawler. He stood on his own a little bit this weekend, and he does really well standing when he has something to hold on to like a bench or couch. He also officially has teeth! Two sprouted up right after turning 8 months. It looks like he may get ear infections along with the teeth, but honestly he has been super mellow considering all the teething horrors we have heard.

Quirks: He is ticklish! I just love his tickle giggles. He makes all sorts of noises and squeals. I feel like there is a new one each day. We are his jungle gym. He likes to crawl all over and pull up on us. He definitely remembers people now, and you get some pretty good smiles when you come back in a room. But he also gets sad if you are out of his eye-sight for too long. He also loves to twist around and belly up when his diaper is being changed or putting on his pajamas. It’s like a wrestling match trying to get his butt covered.

We parents are: doing pretty good. We have had a lot going on this month so this last weekend was pretty nice to both have some extra time off at the same time. We have been getting more serious about house hunting, so keep good thoughts for us. That whole process is nerve wracking.

The dogs are: still being a pain in the butt. Grace has stopped going potty outside. I will have just let them out or walked them, and then she will come back in and crap under the dining room table. We created a new schedule for them to hopefully help her out. God bless her. Tom also thinks a lot of it is because we have carpet and she has made certain spots “her” spot. George loves them though. He pets them and grabs for them. When he sits with Grace, he uses her ears as a chew toy. It’s adorable. She sits and takes it because she knows that he will eventually have something she can lick up. He also likes playing with Crosby’s paws and his toenails. It looks like they are holding hands all the time.

I just love him. He is such a happy boy, and he is definitely blossoming as he continues learning new things every day.

May 25, 2015 by Stephanie

Going to Kansas City

This past Friday, I was able to go to a Royals game. Jump out of my seat excited!

If you have been here anytime at all, you know how I feel about my beloved hometown team.

I haven’t been to a game in exactly two years. It was the first time in all the years that I can remember that I missed a season and had to watch all from home. I just cannot even begin to describe how awesome it was to be back at Kauffman Stadium.

A place I have spent many summer afternoons and nights.

A place I have consumed hundreds of pretzels and cups of soda.

A place I have hung out with friends from every stage of my life.

A place I have watched the greats and lows of baseball.

A place that will always be home to me. (I did learn how to ride my bike in this parking lot.)

This weekend was the I-70 showdown. For those of you not from the great state of Missouri, this is the game series between the Royals and Cardinals. I now live right in the middle of St. Louis and Kansas City, so I am surrounded by many more Cardinals fans than I have ever been before (unfortunately).

My sister-in-law happens to be one of those fans.

Now since I live here, we are going to try to go to one game in each city as a sister date. And of course we are going to have matching outfits.

This year the Kansas City game also happened to have an alumni event from our Alma Mater. So we were able to support the Mules and our favorite baseball team.

Friday’s game was so much fun to watch. To see the magic of this team in person is just so wonderful.

We both got to enjoy some KC food magic in the form of popcorn. This cheese popcorn is the bomb!

And of course it was much sweeter that we (my Royals) won, and also won the series.

They have done some great things to make the park even more beautiful. I am so happy to be back so I can make it to more games. You really should check out a game here if you ever come to KC.

I can’t wait to take George later this summer!

As Tom stated this weekend, “My family is so into the Royals that all of our eyes are blue.” (True statement.)

Did you watch some baseball this weekend? Have you ever had cheesy popcorn?

May 22, 2015 by Stephanie

Movie Review: Pitch Perfect 2

Last weekend my sister-in-law and I made a day date and went to see Pitch Perfect 2. We both loved the first one, and we love most things singing related so it had to be worth our time.

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My initial reaction was that it was good, but not as great as the first movie. I think it is one of those things that you built the first one up so high, that it is always hard for a sequel to attain that same magic.

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed my time in the theater with my large ICEE. It had some funny moments, and some great music.

I enjoyed the sentiment of closing the college chapter. I think a lot of us have been there that this is a hard transition. You have found a place you love and that you belong, and it can be hard to say goodbye to that and all the friends you made. And we all may do it differently. Hopefully we aren’t like Chloe and just avoiding it though.

I did enjoy all the cameos. I won’t spoil it for you, but some of them were pretty hilarious.

I loved that Beca and Jesse were still together. Too cute for words.

Fat Amy didn’t disappoint.

I also loved the “original” song idea, but it almost seemed very Glee-like.

I will say that I thought they could have done better on some of the other song choices. I wasn’t as awestruck as I was with the first. I think they did an awful job highlighting the Trebles-I didn’t like a single one of their numbers.

And where were Benji’s magic tricks? I can only remember him doing one! I missed his awkwardness from the first film. I understand it was a flash-forward to their senior year, and that people change, but that was honestly my favorite part of the first movie.

I also was really uncomfortable with all the “woman” hater comments from John the announcer guy. It seemed a little over the top to me.

Ok so it sounds like I am really critical of the movie.

It was funny, and it had good singing. So with a movie like this it’s about all you can ask for. I was entertained!

I may not watch this one on repeat like I did the first one though.

Just saying.

Have you seen Pitch Perfect 2? What were your thoughts?

May 21, 2015 by Stephanie

How To (Sleep) Train Your Dragon (Baby)

We did it.

We finally have a through-the-night sleeper.

Happy Restful Dance!

Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

George is almost 9 months old (seriously can we pause time), so it has obviously taken us a long time to get here.

George started sleeping in his crib every night a little before 4 months old. Because of our move and his spit up situation, before then was not possible.

Our nightly routine was putting him down at 7:30, then waking him up for another bottle at 10pm, and then hoping he would stay asleep until I got up at 5:30. It was about 50/50 whether he would make it through that 10 to 5 stretch.

I was also noticing that he was having a hard time finishing that bottle at 10pm, and he would barf most of it up anyway.

So I got to wondering if he got restless more because I disturbed his deep sleep at 10pm, and obviously that bottle wasn’t helping him stay full.

This past month Tom was on evening shift meaning he would get home around 2 or 3 in the morning. So I felt like this would be an opportune time to cut out that 10pm feeding and see how he would do. My thinking was that if he got fussy it would be around the time Tom got home, and he would be able to tend to George’s needs so I could stay asleep. Selfish thinking maybe, but Tom wasn’t ready to go to bed anyway, so I think it’s more like using an opportunity and resources!

So how did the training go?

Well, I obviously already gave it away that he is now sleeping through the night.

So it is safe to say it has gone pretty well.

There have been some nights he has woken up between his 7:30pm bottle and my 5:30am alarm. I am chalking a lot of it up to his ear infection he is just getting over. Usually once I cuddled him up, he would fall right back to sleep.

He also is now sleeping on his stomach a lot more. Throughout the night he inches himself into the end of the bed, and he has woken himself up by banging into the crib rails. He hasn’t quite figured out reverse. It’s a sad funny when he wedges himself in the corner because he tried rolling out of his predicament…So we just have to scoot him down, and he is fine again.

I also noticed a huge difference now that I lay him down awake instead of completely rocking him to sleep like I have before. He is getting much better at soothing himself to sleep instead of us having to rock him. Usually, he will play with his elephant for about 5 minutes before he falls asleep.

I know that a lot of people may not have the schedule that we had this past month to take advantage of, but honestly that was a huge help. It made me a whole lot less nervous because I knew that a fully awake Tom would be checking on him in the middle of the night to make sure he was golden. (Which is a lot better than fully asleep Stephanie that needs the noise of a freight train to wake up.)

I also picked up on cues from George that that last bottle wasn’t really helping him sleep through the night. Him waking up had nothing to do with being hungry. He just wanted to be comforted.

So we found other ways to make sure he could be comforted on his own. He has his pacy and his elephant. He now knows how to reach and grab for things and knows his pacy is around even if it is not right in his face. So that has definitely helped that we don’t have to come every time it falls out. The elephant is also a great blessing. If you pull it’s tail it sings a lullaby, but it is still very plush that it is great for him to cuddle with. He also can chew on the tail ring or string “hairs,” which I have watched him do many nights to help those teeth pop up. He also uses it as a face mask…

Sidenote-We did not put the elephant in there until he was more mobile and knew he could move around it or push it off. So just note that when you add other things to the crib so they aren’t suffocating hazards. I still won’t put a blanket in there because it scares me. It’s a judgement call really. We tried the elephant a few times during day naps before we left it in there over night. Naps are a really good opportunity to try sleep routines to get them to sleep in the first place.

A routine is generally a good rule of thumb for everything. We have a pretty solid one down now for bedtime: Dinner, bath, bottle, story, songs, then sleep. He usually goes in the crib around 7:30pm.

It may not seem like it, but he was fast asleep in this picture. As you can tell he does not have one solid sleeping position…

I also do think that breastfeeding babies have a harder time completely sleeping through the night. There are rarely any breastfeeding babies (under 1) I have heard that don’t wake up at least once through the night, compared to my formula feeding friends. So I think that has also helped George feel better through the night now that we have completely transitioned over to formula and he is used to not nursing. (This is obviously not based on research, just my observation from my mom friends. Sometimes breast isn’t best, in my opinion.)

His sleep is not perfect by any means. There was a night last week where I slept in the rocking chair with him on my chest because he just wasn’t having a night alone in the crib. There are also a few mornings here and there (like this morning) where we co-sleep for that last hour before my alarm goes off. However, the majority of our nights are unbroken. Which is great because, Tom is now on a new shift where helping out in the middle of the night is not as much of an option. If we get through 5 days a week without having him wake us up, I call this a win as far as sleep training goes.

Sleep training is not easy. What has worked for my baby, might not necessarily work for yours. There have been tons of tips that people have given us that George has basically laughed at (or screamed at). So I think you just have to be willing to experiment.

And have a lot of patience.

And prayers for said patience.

I am also lucky that Tom has been such a great comfort to George in the wee hours of the morning. So that teamwork was clutch for us.

We have made such a turn around in the past couple months. Going from the days where he refused to take naps and having to rock him for at least a half hour at night, now to this…

We have taken nuggets of wisdom from other families, but we also listened to what George was telling us along the way.

Here are my fast tips:

1. Have a nightly routine (I don’t think there is one way to do a routine, but I would just be as consistent as possible with your baby.)

2. Help your child learn to comfort themselves

3. Listen to your parent gut and what your kid is telling you (what works for others, may not work for you)

4. Have a good baby monitor (This keeps me from hovering over his crib too much. Because even if he is dead asleep, his baby senses tell him I am in the room watching and he will wake up.)

5. Be patient (This is not a one night fixed problem, unfortunately. At times, it is really hard. You will get there though!)

Sleep training is not an easy game, so if you are a sleep-deprived mama or papa, I tip my hat to you. Also I am here for morale support. While I can talk endlessly about what has and hasn’t worked for George, I would not claim to be a sleep training expert, nor do I have a wealth of knowledge on the subject. I’m just a George expert.

But sometimes I know all a parent needs to know is that they aren’t in the struggle alone.

Because sometimes at 2am, our kids can seem like a dragon that is hard to tame. But they are pretty cute little dragons that I don’t mind cuddling a little extra as long as they can keep that fire breathing to a minimum.

What are your sleep training tips? Isn’t a sleeping baby just the cutest thing? (Yes, yes it is.)

May 20, 2015 by Stephanie

Fit for Me 20/52

What I did last week:

Wednesday-I walked the dogs with George for a mile. I need Tom’s schedule to even out!

Thursday-I did a leg workout at home after George went to bed. I also started my plank and push-up challenge.

Sunday-I walked the dogs and George for almost 1.5 miles. I keep pushing the limit! Our Tula got here, so I got to test it out for the first time on a walk here. George loves being carried period, and he falls asleep almost immediately. I feel like he stayed put a lot better than our cloth carrier on the walk.

Monday-20 minute ab workout as I was watching the awkwardness that is the Bachelorette.

Tuesday-So we go a little bit further each time we venture out as a pack. George and I walked the dogs close to 2 miles last night. What?!? We are getting pretty good at this.

Impressed by:

I am impressed that I am able walk the troupe without several injuring any of them or myself. I get a little more confident each time we go out together. (But I am hoping that now that Tom’s schedule has switched, he can take over dog duties.)

Struggled with:

Granted I didn’t do my planks and push-ups everyday, but I really don’t feel that I struggled with anything this week.

Did I meet my goal from last week?

My goal was to start the push-up and plank month challenge. Well I did start it, three different nights. I would remember one night and then forget the next. So Monday and Tuesday was the first time I did it two days in a row. Hoping to hit day three tonight.

What is my goal for next week?

I want to do a workout at the gym. I hate paying for the gym membership and not using it. Unfortunately our schedule hasn’t allowed me to get to a gym class as easily with George and dog responsibilities. But this next week it is going to happen!

Fitness Thoughts:

I got cat-called twice last night on our walk. I have a few things that run through my mind as early twenty year olds hang out their car windows hollering and whistling at me. First my mother side says “Do you not see that I am unavailable to you…there is a child strapped to my chest.” Then my feminine side says “That is disgusting, and really do you think that is appropriate to act like we are in the wild trying to mate?.” Then my basic woman and human side (and maybe the mom side again) says, “Yessssss, I still got it.” Let’s talk truth…it was flattering at the same time it was disgusting.

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