On The Move

Yesterday Noah started Crawling...real crawling.

Weight Loss

Ugh. The dreaded 2 words.  Before I got pregnant, I got a gym membership. Ok, so maybe I got the gym membership like a year before I got pregnant and then really only started going about 4 months before I got pregnant.  I wasn't really that determined to lose a lot of weight I guess. I would go to the gym often after work, but I still ate whatever I wanted.

Then, I got pregnant. The first 4 months I was sick, sick, sick.  I did go to the gym and walked, but that was about it. Then we moved...no more gym. So, I walked in the neighborhood.  Then I got huge...

and it was harder and harder to walk.

I gained 40 pounds when I was pregnant. Wow...scary. And here is the dreaded after birth picture.

I was very swollen...that is bad. 

The weight loss started pretty soon after I had Noah.  It took about 2 weeks for the swelling to go down. Then, for 2 months I couldn't hold anything down. I was pumped full of so many antibiotics that it threw my system off.  After I healed from the surgery I got serious about weight loss (come on Christie...you have a wedding in less than a year!).

I started off slow on the treadmill.  Noah would sit in his bouncy seat and sleep and I would walk. Then I started Couch to 5K. Then the holidays came and I struggled, but starting in January I started up the weight loss again. 

I didn't do a fad diet. I cut my calories to between 1200 and 1400 a day.  I exercised every day...many days 2 times a day (once on the treadmill, once walking with Noah). 

And currently, I am on serious weight loss mode. I have a wedding in less than 2 months and a beautiful dress to wear.  So here is the current plan...

I work out at least 250 minutes every week. That looks like getting on the treadmill or walking the HUGE hills in the neighborhood.  

We exercise together.  He loves this thing.  I usually do the treadmill for about 45-50 minutes and lift weights for about 15 minutes.  

My daily diet consists of:

-breakfast: a small bowl of fiber rich cereal

-snack: a small glass of Kefir

-lunch: a small packet of tuna with mustard and relish, greek yogurt, almonds, and a 50 calorie cheese snack

-snack: fiber one bar

-dinner: protein shake with protein powder, flax seed, plain greek yogurt, almond milk, frozen fruit and spinach (it actually is not bad)

I also cheat...but not too often :) 

And...since the day I gave birth I have lost 85 pounds.  I would like to go down about 15 more pounds for now.  It is hard work! 

The day after my wedding I am going to cheat the entire day.  Yup. 

This is not a good picture at all...but it is the basic idea.  

My goal is to be healthy...not super skinny. 

New Things for Summer

We have done tons of new things so far this summer (even though I guess it really isn't summer yet...it sure does feel like it).

We got a new umbrellaish stroller. Then we had to get another one because I am giantly tall and this one was too short. So now we have more strollers than we know what to do with.

We went to a music festival and it was so blazing hot and Noah was a tad grouchy so I thought why not share an ice cream cone. I told the ice cream food vendor to put just a tiny bit in the cone. $3.50 later Noah and I had our cool treat.  Noah was not a fan. He does not like cold things...never has.  He had a few bites and that was all.  I had a few bites, and the rest went in the trash. Yum.

We put on our swim suit and...

went swimming. Our neighborhood has a pool and we go there at least 4 times a week.  Noah LOVES the water.  We also got him a little kiddie pool for the yard which he also enjoys.  Oh ya, Mama got a new swimsuit for $10 at Old Navy (what a deal!).  Pictures of that might come 10-15 pounds from now.  

Noah also learned how to get out of his Bebe Pod seat (those cords were moved shortly after the taking of this picture).  Ya, so I had to come up with a different plan for showering.  I really do not like putting him in the Pack N Play unless he is sleeping...but there is no other option for showering right now.  

Noah is also able to sit up from the laying down position.  He learned this last Saturday (6/4/11) and now any time I lay him down he sits up.  During nap time he thinks it is hilarious to sit up so when I go in to check on him he is sitting and playing rather than sleeping. Silly boy! 

He is also trying very hard to pull up.  He has a lot of weight to pull up.  He can move all over the place whether it is by sliding on his butt or doing an army like crawl. He still isn't crawling on all fours.  I am not in a hurry for this...he will do it when he is ready. 

We also got a Spanish book that his Uncle Paul read to him.  This is Paul trying to wrestle Noah down to actually read the book. Noah wanted to play.   Noah and I signed up for a library card and Noah thinks the library is tons of fun.  He loves picking out new books and holds his books in the stroller with him until we check out like a very proud little reader.  

And soon....in 2 weeks the newest thing we will be doing is packing up the car and traveling 20 hours to Texas. Noah's first road trip. My grandma still lives in Texas (I grew up in Texas) and this might be the only chance she has to meet Noah. Yay for car trips with a 9 month old very active boy.  

Breastfeeding

Oh, the dreaded post.  The one where I admit failure (well at least in my mind it is a personal failure).  So, from the beginning.  I always knew I would breastfeed. My entire pregnancy people would always ask "are you going to breastfeed?" I would always so yes! very enthusiastically.  I was so excited about breastfeeding. Rich bought me a nice pump, and I bought lots of nursing gear.  Boy were those dreams shot down fast.

In reality, I was not able to breastfeed. In my mind, I have to justify it by saying it is because of the traumatic labor/delivery.  After 16 hours of labor,  3 hours of pushing (and making 0 progress), an emergency C-Section,  emergency surgery for a ripped bladder and torn large artery in my leg, having a catheter for 10 days (TMI I know), breastfeeding was not in the stars for Noah.   During my 5 day hospital stay (for me, Noah was just perfect), I think I had every nurse,  every lactation consultant and my mom try to get Noah to latch on. He would not. He refused.  See, right after he was born I was in surgery for about another 3 hours.  He was given formula and took to the bottle nipple.  After that, he refused to nurse. REFUSED! He would get pissed, I would get upset, it was a disaster. We tried everything and nothing worked (and to this day he is very nipple picky...he won't even take a pacifier because it isn't shaped like his bottle nipple).

So, I did the best I could. I pumped for 2 weeks before my milk supply ran out.  I cried, I was upset, I hated it. But, he was well fed with formula, he got 2 weeks worth of my milk, and believe me he is not hurting in size.  He also has not been sick with a fever in 8 months.  I found that I can bond with him feeding him a bottle, snuggling with him, singing to him, reading to him, kissing him, loving on him, responding when he cries, ect.  I will confess that I delayed teaching him how to hold his bottle because I wanted that time with him.  Since I wasn't able to breastfeed, bottle feeding was that special time.

I still grieve not being able to breastfeed, but I know that we did the best we could. This is a reminder that not everything goes as planned.  I have quickly learned that planning does not go well with having a baby.  Going with the flow is a much better thing to do.

8 Months

Holy 8 months!! Noah, I can't believe that you are going to be 8 months tomorrow. Time has gone by WAY too fast.  You are getting so big and you are learning so much. You are more like a little person rather than a teeny tiny baby.  I would say you probably weigh about 21-22 pounds and you are very solid and long.  You wear size 3 diapers and range in clothes from 9 months to 24 months depending on what it is.  We have tons of fun during the day and I love watching everything you do. Ok, so what are you doing Mr. 8 months.

Lets talk about sleeping first. I do not have any pictures of you sleeping in your crib in your room because the floor creeks and if I go in there to take a picture you are sure to wake up.  Since the night of May 8th, 2011 you have been sleeping in your big boy bed all night long.  Prior to that, starting at about 6.5 months, you were sleeping in your bed until about 4 AM and then you would come and snuggle with momma. Then, all of a sudden the night before Mother's Day you slept in your crib 9 straight hours without waking up! Since then, you really haven't been on a consistent schedule.  Most days, you take 2 naps at about 1.5 hours each. That is if we are home. Then you go to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 and some nights you sleep until 7 AM, some nights you wake up every 2 hours, some mornings you wake up at 5:30, some mornings you wake up at 7. I guess it just depends on the mood you are in.  Most of the time when you wake up during the night you are able to go back to sleep within about a minute.

Noah-7.5 Months

You are a big eater! You eat mostly anything I give to you. You love fruits, chicken/apples, sweet potatoes and turkey, yogurt, oatmeal.  You usually have to have prunes in the morning.  Also, I let you try small bites of table food.  When you try something new you make a face at me, but after one or two bites you tend to love it.  You eat 3 meals a day (2 containers of food each meal) and you have about 24-28 oz of formula a day.  I do not make your baby food anymore because it got very complicated and I couldn't keep up.  But, I try to mostly buy the organic or fortified baby foods (ie with DHA). Oh, and you always have to have something to play with when you eat and you make a HUGE mess. We also started you on a mesh feeder this month and you get so excited when you see it. 

Noah, May 19, 2011

Noah, May 26, 2011

You are sitting up very well. You sometimes fall over when you get tired, but you can sit for long periods.  You are also rolling everywhere and you can get up on all 4's and rock back and forth. You haven't mastered going forward yet, but you can go backwards.  You have a lot to move! 

May 27, 2011

You are getting very good at playing with your toys. You have learned to press the buttons on all of the toys that make sound (like the book above). One of your favorite things to do is sit and pull all of your toys out of a basket.  You love to read your books and you can lift up flaps and turn the pages.  You can also get all the pieces out of a puzzle and pull them out by the knob.  You are very good with your hands.  You are working very hard on talking.  You can make a "s" sound, and when you get upset you say "maaaaaa" You grunt a lot, blow bubbles, and are practicing very hard on your sounds. We have heard you make a "ga" "ha" sound.  You have also learned about screeching and screaming for fun.  And, when you are excited you like to make short, fast breaths and wave your hands in the air.  

You love to watch your singing movies, and you still love when anyone sings to you.  You are able to bounce or dance when asked, and love to play with ANYTHING electronic (I think this is because you know you aren't supposed to have them).  When you see something you want you will stop at nothing to try and get it.  

Also, you learned about peek a boo and can find any toy/object when it is covered.  You like for me to cover your face with a towel and then you take it right off and laugh.  

May 21, 2011

You love to be outside and to go bye bye. We are working on waving bye bye and you have put your hand up to wave a few times.   When you want something you grunt a lot to get it.  You love bath time and splash, splash, splash in the water.  You do SO well in your car seat and hardly every cry when we go places.  You also love to ride in your stroller and go on walks.  You like to lean over your stroller and try to grab the grass.  Sitting in the grass and trying to pull it out is one of your new favorite things.  You also love to watch other kids and try to talk to them.  When we pick up your Uncle Paul from school you get so very excited.  

Co-Sleeping

Yes, we have been co-sleeping. I know, gasp, right?! The thought of it! Ok, so lets start from the beginning.  When I was pregnant, I said I would NEVER co-sleep. Working in the field I did, I saw a lot of co-sleeping situations that turned out horrible. I was dead set against it.  I was also GOING to breastfeed (a post about that later) and said I would never consider cloth diapering (which I am now considering).  Clearly, a lot changes when you go from pre-pregnancy, or pre-baby.

So yes, I have been co-sleeping since Noah was about 1 month old.  He has always slept in the room with Rich and me, but now he is in the bed.  I am no expert on co-sleeping (or bed sharing in my case), and therefore I do not recommend it for everyone. In my case it works. I have not had one drop of alcohol since I had Noah. I refuse to drink alcohol when he is sleeping in the bed with me.  I also do not take any medicine other than tylenol or advil for a headache.  The bed is against the wall and he sleeps in between the wall and me.  I sleep as far to the side of the bed that I can-but he loves to snuggle and always ends up right next to me.  I am very aware of him and therefore have not gotten a good nights sleep in 7 months (but that is ok).

But now, we are trying to make the transition for him to sleep in his own room in his crib. He is big, healthy, and I think it is safe for him to sleep in there.  We tried having him sleep in a pack n play in our bedroom, but he just thought that was fun and did not really associate with sleep.  So now, he goes to sleep in his crib and when he wakes up he gets in the bed with me.  I love to snuggle with him. It is the best part of the day. And boy does he know how to snuggle.  Hopefully in the next few months he will fully be sleeping in his bed. It is time.

So, clearly what I have learned is that you really don't know what is going to happen until the baby gets here.  I will never have my mind set on doing something one way.  I have to be flexible.

7 Months

Noah is 7 months. That means he has been here for more than half a year.  I can't believe how fast time has gone by. I find myself getting excited for new milestones while also being sad that he is growing up so fast! Yesterday, I looked through pictures from when he was born to 1 month. Ah, he has changed so much!

1 Day Old (September 29, 2010)

ALMOST 7 months (April 17, 2011)

Ok, so here are some of the fun things he is learning and his 7 month milestones:

-Sitting unassisted for long periods of time

-Launching forward from a sitting position to being on his belly

-Catching himself whit his hands when he starts to topple over (I am still nervous about him sitting so someone is ALWAYS there with him)

-Starting to sit in a high chair at a restaurant. Easter brunch was the first time he did this without fussing within 5 minutes. 

-Sitting in the cart at the store (picture above)

-He is starting the "pincher" grasp.  For example, see the green ball he is holding in the picture? He can grab the fun little things with his thumb and pointer finger

-Oh, and I shouldn't forget to mention that with his big ball like the green one above he grabs the little things with his teeth, pulls the ball away from his mouth, and lets them pop. He thinks that is funny

-Noah eats anything I give him. He eats 3 "solid" food meals a day, and at least 30 oz of formula a day

-He has started to have a FEW "table food" items. When I give him something off of my plate he thinks it is funny and laughs

-If I have him in my lap at meal times, he ALWAYS grabs my plate and food

-He makes a lot of sounds, and is very vocal...but has not yet put syllables together. When he sees something he wants, he grunts or screeches, or makes funny noises

-He knows the answers to "where is..." to things he knows ex: puppy dogs, daddy, mommy, grandma, poppi (my dad), Uncle Josh and Uncle Paul

-He is not yet crawling, but he can get most places he wants to go by rolling or schooching

-Sleeping is our BIGGEST struggle. He is doing VERY well with nap times, but bedtime is a whole beast of its own. Of course, we have been co-sleeping (FYI-before I had Noah I was dead set against co-sleeping, but now I realize that it has many positives) but he needs to start sleeping in his own bed. We are working on it...slowly but surely. (oh, and by own bed I mean a pack and play that is right next to our bed.

-Oh, and he has the biggest personality. And by personality, I mean he knows what he wants and doesn't stop until he gets it. Yes, we have had tantrums...but I love that he is developing into his own person. 

Ok, I am sure I am missing something but that is enough for now.  And here is a picture until next time: 

April 17, 2011