Yes, I've been remiss at keeping this blog up to date. Guilty as charged. I am a bad blogger. Fret ye not, however. I've been doing my best to be a good mother and that should count for something.
Jaggar and I have been having a great time for the last five months which has gone decidedly easier than the first five months and what a relief that is!
First off, we started sleep training using the Sleep Easy Solution back on May 5th. Within 2-3 nights he was sleeping like a champ including naps. I seriously can't recommend that system highly enough. It involved minimal crying (I cannot bear to hear my baby cry all by himself in bed) and maximized things like routines which Jaggar responds really well to. Granted, there is the occasional night when, for whatever reason, he wakes up, and we have to go in and rock him back to sleep. But thankfully, the vast majority of nights, he sleeps for 11-12 hours without a peep. It's so awesome I wish I could have comforted myself back at the 3 month mark with the knowledge that only a couple of months later this would be my future. I would have had a glass of wine and quit my bitching on the spot!
Jaggar is doing excellent health-wise. He's at about 21-22 lbs and almost 30 inches long with a very large head. He's in the 75-95% for height and weight and 95% for head. A very big boy! We have no idea if this is any indicator of future weight or height/stature but for now, he's at the head of his class. :)
I was glad that he was scoring so highly in the growth department considering that my breast milk essentially gave up the ghost the first week of August. I just was never that great of a milk producer but as my body's hormones returned to their more normal state, the breastmilk supply went from paultry to nil. Thank heavens we've always had formula at the ready. He transitioned to full formula feeding so seamlessly you'd have never thought he ever breast-fed at all. I was a little sad not to be missed! I spent a couple days feeling like a breast feeding failure after that. It's funny how your mind changes about things once you're in the thick of them. At the beginning I thought I'd barely hang in there six months. By six months I was totally ready to go to one year and even beyond. But fate had other plans. Now, I'm just grateful I made it to nine months. It was the very best I could do with a frustratingly low milk supply so I hung in there as long as I possibly could.
In addition to being an all-formula kiddo now, Jaggar also eats solid food like it's going out of style and many people (whose babies must not each much!) have commented on his generous appettite. Hey, what can I say? The kid can put away food. He eats everything we put in front of him and adds new foods to his repertoire almost daily. His favorites right now are little cubes of cheese, bananas, peaches, peas, corn and little nibbles of bread. He's almost completely "over" being fed by a spoon (he routinely slaps the spoon out of my hand which is just as maddening as you'd think it would be) though, so nearly gone are the days of baby cereal and pureed meals. I have about a week's worth of pureed meat, veggies and fruit left in the freezer so as soon as we're done feeding him those, he'll essentially be on his own to hand-deliver his own food to his mouth. He prefers it that way, though. He's having a grand time with his finger foods.
Back at the end of May he learned to sit up. That was around the time he also started spontaneously clapping. Totally cute. I used to reinforce this behavior with the phrase "Good job!" so now I think he thinks that's his cue to clap since whenever I say it now, like when he finishes a meal, he claps. Hilarious. He's a champion log-roller as well and just figured out two days ago how to get from the laying to the sitting up position. Considering his other strides in the milestone department, that's sort of been a delayed one. I've noticed that he tends to jump around a bit in his development and doesn't necessarily do things in order. But he develops nonetheless and seems to be very creative in bridging the gaps between where he is and where he wants to go. He definitely gets that from his Papa! :)
Anyway, he cut his first tooth - well, both bottom teeth - on June 6th while we were visiting my parents in California. He started doing a sort of "army crawl" tummy crawl early in August which was quickly followed by the sit-up crawl that he does now where one leg is behind and one leg is stuck in front and he pulls himself along with his hands/arms. It's odd-looking but I'm amazed at how quickly he can get around that way. When he hears music now he often rocks back and forth (and sometimes claps, too) which is so adorable I almost can't deal. So sweet. He babbles up a storm now, too. His "words" so far are "ba ba", "ga ga", "goo goo", "da da" and "wa wa". He was calling us both "ga ga" a few days ago, especially when we'd be gone for a period of time and come back into the room. But maybe that's just more of a "word of the day" thing since yesterday it was all "goo goo" and this morning he's been on a "da da" kick. Regardless, it's fun and we have a good time with our little chatterbox. Can't wait until he starts saying things that really mean something (like "Mama" :P).
He first pulled himself up to standing while holding onto the coffee table about two weeks ago. Now, he's officially a "cruiser", pulling up to standing while holding onto something and then working his way "walking" around the room. It's his new favorite thing. Also his new favorite thing is to find the cat and grab his tail which is especially fun when the cat is stationary, such as when he's eating. Then when the cat is finished eating I have to swoop in and grab Jaggar to keep him from getting his little mitts in the cat food bowl. Ick!
Needless to say, this weekend is now the official hard-core baby proofing weekend. We'd done some preliminary baby proofing a while back (padding the coffee table and whatnot) but this weekend we're acquiring baby gates and latches for all the cabinets. If I didn't spend all day every day on him like a duck on a June bug we'd have likely had to get these things sooner but now that he's completely mobile, even I can't keep ahead of him anymore.
And woe to the cat. It's not that Merlyn doesn't like him. He's actually quite tolerant of him touching his fur which is sort of amazing for a cranky, 15 year-old feline who was unseated as the "baby" a year ago. But Jaggar just really loves his tail and that's any cat's holiest of holies. So, more than one strained "meeeeeooooowww" has been omitted when Jag's gotten hold of the tail-end. Thus the handwriting's on the wall and just like when the little guy's fallen a bit hard on his butt because he lost his grip standing, pain will likely have to ensue before he learns not to tangle with kitty, too. Hopefully they will come to some sort of understanding without a lot of bloodshed. Otherwise it's going to look a bit like trench warfare around here keeping them on opposite sides of the baby gates!
As for Johann and I, we've continued to hang in there. Heaven knows life hasn't been easy, with baby, of course, and with things like my painful ovarian cysts making an unwelcome comeback. (Ugh!) There have been plenty of days when I've been a grouch-a-saurus for sure and it's just my exceptionally good luck that I'm married to a very patient man.
As for life with baby, we continue, as always, to try to roll with the punches. We do our best to appreciate the magic milestone moments. We catch the adorable moments on camera - like baby's first dip in his kiddie pool - and laugh off the crazy moments, like the night poop leaked out of Jag's diaper and he kicked it all over the bottom of his exersaucer. (What a stink that was!)
Meanwhile, I've continually been in the process of eliminating things and situations from my life that have been sapping my time and energy. It's been challenging for really the first time to say "no" to people and absolutely mean it. I've received some flack and pushback and certainly a bit of guilt-tripping. But life is what it is and priorities shift and I'm learning that saying "no" is actually not the end of the world. It is, in fact, the beginning of a whole new life. Everyone asks me if I'm going back to work and gradually, I'm figuring out a plan to get back to writing, yes. When I quit my job last year that was the end of my working outside the home, though. I guess that's strange in this day and age that a woman isn't headed back to work after a baby, especially a woman like me. Honestly, though, the two most fulfilling careers I've ever had are my writing and being a mother and both of them can best be accomplished at home. So, as long as my kiddo wants me around, I wouldn't be anywhere else except right here with him. :)
This is not to say that I haven't been going a little stir crazy jonesing to travel again becuase I totally have. Johann and I have been kicking the idea around of going on vacation with the small fry. Yes, most people think we're mad but I'm determined that this can work. We're not the only people to ever take a one year old on an airplane and live so I think this is do-able if we can just figure out the logistics. (Like keeping copious amounts of snacks on hand and letting him walk around the plane when possible.) Family-friendly trips are a bit limited in terms of location, however, and I'm loathe to go anywhere with "Disney" in the title. (Though someday soon we will get to Disneyland with Jag's CA grandparents and that will be awesome.) This was when I came up with Hawaii. I've been a couple of times and I love it there. It's as kick-back as it can be so it's perfect for a family trip. For once Johann didn't give me the "There's no way you're getting me to go somewhere hot and tropical" look and, in fact, gave me the "green-light" to present him with pricing and options. Woohoo! So, we're tentatively looking at November. It's cheaper than Europe so already Johann's liking the idea AND the place is rife with photo ops so his camera will certainly get a healthy workout. Score and score!
And finally, we're knee-deep in the planning stages of Jaggar's first birthday bash. Yes, we are THOSE people who are going all-out for our kid's first birthday even though he'll not only not have any appreciation for what's going on but he'll also never remember any of it. Whatever! We're still going to have a blast and it's really the first, last and only birthday he'll have where the adults can drink cocktails, right? After this it's those infernal/insane all-kid parties that give you the kind of headache that even a fistfull of Tylenol 3's chased with 43 proof gin couldn't cut. Holy hell! So, we're living it up for this one and inviting all our favorite people. My parents are even flying up for the occasion. It's going to be fab!
So, that's our last five months in a nutshell. Every day hasn't been nirvana, I'm sorry to say. There are times when I still think life would be SO much easier if I didn't have a little "mini-me" in tow. But whatever. Life is a lot more interesting this way. Sure, people give us those looks of fear and horror when we get on airplanes with the kiddo now and he likes to get halfway through any grocery shopping trip and have a mini-meltdown in the pasta aisle but c'est la vie. He's adorable and he's charming (he gets it from moi) and we're stuck with him now anyway so it's a good thing we really like him. Ha! But seriously, he's my sidekick...my poopy, drooly, messy-haired sidekick and I love him to pieces. Best. Kid. Ever.
J.
He first pulled himself up to standing while holding onto the coffee table about two weeks ago. Now, he's officially a "cruiser", pulling up to standing while holding onto something and then working his way "walking" around the room. It's his new favorite thing. Also his new favorite thing is to find the cat and grab his tail which is especially fun when the cat is stationary, such as when he's eating. Then when the cat is finished eating I have to swoop in and grab Jaggar to keep him from getting his little mitts in the cat food bowl. Ick!
Needless to say, this weekend is now the official hard-core baby proofing weekend. We'd done some preliminary baby proofing a while back (padding the coffee table and whatnot) but this weekend we're acquiring baby gates and latches for all the cabinets. If I didn't spend all day every day on him like a duck on a June bug we'd have likely had to get these things sooner but now that he's completely mobile, even I can't keep ahead of him anymore.
And woe to the cat. It's not that Merlyn doesn't like him. He's actually quite tolerant of him touching his fur which is sort of amazing for a cranky, 15 year-old feline who was unseated as the "baby" a year ago. But Jaggar just really loves his tail and that's any cat's holiest of holies. So, more than one strained "meeeeeooooowww" has been omitted when Jag's gotten hold of the tail-end. Thus the handwriting's on the wall and just like when the little guy's fallen a bit hard on his butt because he lost his grip standing, pain will likely have to ensue before he learns not to tangle with kitty, too. Hopefully they will come to some sort of understanding without a lot of bloodshed. Otherwise it's going to look a bit like trench warfare around here keeping them on opposite sides of the baby gates!
As for Johann and I, we've continued to hang in there. Heaven knows life hasn't been easy, with baby, of course, and with things like my painful ovarian cysts making an unwelcome comeback. (Ugh!) There have been plenty of days when I've been a grouch-a-saurus for sure and it's just my exceptionally good luck that I'm married to a very patient man.
As for life with baby, we continue, as always, to try to roll with the punches. We do our best to appreciate the magic milestone moments. We catch the adorable moments on camera - like baby's first dip in his kiddie pool - and laugh off the crazy moments, like the night poop leaked out of Jag's diaper and he kicked it all over the bottom of his exersaucer. (What a stink that was!)
Meanwhile, I've continually been in the process of eliminating things and situations from my life that have been sapping my time and energy. It's been challenging for really the first time to say "no" to people and absolutely mean it. I've received some flack and pushback and certainly a bit of guilt-tripping. But life is what it is and priorities shift and I'm learning that saying "no" is actually not the end of the world. It is, in fact, the beginning of a whole new life. Everyone asks me if I'm going back to work and gradually, I'm figuring out a plan to get back to writing, yes. When I quit my job last year that was the end of my working outside the home, though. I guess that's strange in this day and age that a woman isn't headed back to work after a baby, especially a woman like me. Honestly, though, the two most fulfilling careers I've ever had are my writing and being a mother and both of them can best be accomplished at home. So, as long as my kiddo wants me around, I wouldn't be anywhere else except right here with him. :)
This is not to say that I haven't been going a little stir crazy jonesing to travel again becuase I totally have. Johann and I have been kicking the idea around of going on vacation with the small fry. Yes, most people think we're mad but I'm determined that this can work. We're not the only people to ever take a one year old on an airplane and live so I think this is do-able if we can just figure out the logistics. (Like keeping copious amounts of snacks on hand and letting him walk around the plane when possible.) Family-friendly trips are a bit limited in terms of location, however, and I'm loathe to go anywhere with "Disney" in the title. (Though someday soon we will get to Disneyland with Jag's CA grandparents and that will be awesome.) This was when I came up with Hawaii. I've been a couple of times and I love it there. It's as kick-back as it can be so it's perfect for a family trip. For once Johann didn't give me the "There's no way you're getting me to go somewhere hot and tropical" look and, in fact, gave me the "green-light" to present him with pricing and options. Woohoo! So, we're tentatively looking at November. It's cheaper than Europe so already Johann's liking the idea AND the place is rife with photo ops so his camera will certainly get a healthy workout. Score and score!
And finally, we're knee-deep in the planning stages of Jaggar's first birthday bash. Yes, we are THOSE people who are going all-out for our kid's first birthday even though he'll not only not have any appreciation for what's going on but he'll also never remember any of it. Whatever! We're still going to have a blast and it's really the first, last and only birthday he'll have where the adults can drink cocktails, right? After this it's those infernal/insane all-kid parties that give you the kind of headache that even a fistfull of Tylenol 3's chased with 43 proof gin couldn't cut. Holy hell! So, we're living it up for this one and inviting all our favorite people. My parents are even flying up for the occasion. It's going to be fab!
So, that's our last five months in a nutshell. Every day hasn't been nirvana, I'm sorry to say. There are times when I still think life would be SO much easier if I didn't have a little "mini-me" in tow. But whatever. Life is a lot more interesting this way. Sure, people give us those looks of fear and horror when we get on airplanes with the kiddo now and he likes to get halfway through any grocery shopping trip and have a mini-meltdown in the pasta aisle but c'est la vie. He's adorable and he's charming (he gets it from moi) and we're stuck with him now anyway so it's a good thing we really like him. Ha! But seriously, he's my sidekick...my poopy, drooly, messy-haired sidekick and I love him to pieces. Best. Kid. Ever.
J.
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