I feel hungover

It's decided. On march 7th after we get the clear from his doctor...sleep training begins.

I will post how it goes. ::deep breaths::

Cry it out..........

With an extremely heavy heart, and a very sleepy brain (it's 3:40 and I've been up all night) I've decided it's time to let the boy.....cry.it.out.  :-( 

Squishy is getting worse every night. I am now a zombie at any given time day or night. I read that sometimes the reason a baby who used to sleep so well is now regressing is because of all the development right now. He is learning so much and is excited and basically wants to practice. Totally get that... but mommy is not doing so hot. I'm not expecting 8 hours straight, just maybe a little longer than an hour at a time? Please? 

This is going to be super hard.  He's not a big crier and I usually don't let him get too far... But I'll have to, I found this info on the babycenter website (link below):

First, wait until your baby is physically and emotionally ready to sleep through the night, usually between 4 and 6 months of age. Ferber doesn't designate a precise age at which to begin his technique, since it can vary so much depending on the child.

If you're not sure whether your baby's ready, you can always give it a try. If you encounter too much resistance, wait a few weeks and try again.

Step 1
Put your baby in his crib when he's sleepy but still awake.

Step 2
Say goodnight to your child and leave the room. If he cries when you leave, let him cry for a predetermined amount of time. (See "How long should I leave my child alone?" below.)

Step 3
Go back into the room for no more than a minute or two to pat and reassure your baby. Leave the light off and keep your voice quiet and soothing. Don't pick him up. Leave again while he's still awake, even if he's crying.

Step 4
Stay out of the room for a little bit longer than the first time and follow the same routine, staying out of the room for gradually longer intervals, each time returning for only a minute or two to pat and reassure him, and leaving while he's still awake.

Step 5
Follow this routine until your child falls asleep when you're out of the room.

Step 6
If your child wakes up again later, follow the same routine, beginning with the minimum waiting time for that night and gradually increasing the intervals between visits until you reach the maximum for that night.

Step 7
Increase the amount of time between visits to the nursery each night. In most cases, according to Ferber, your baby will be going to sleep on his own by the third or fourth night — a week at the most. If your child is very resistant after several nights of trying, wait a few weeks and then try again.

How long should I leave my child alone?
In his book, Ferber suggests these intervals:

• First night: Leave for three minutes the first time, five minutes the second time, and ten minutes for the third and all subsequent waiting periods.
• Second night: Leave for five minutes, then ten minutes, then 12 minutes.
• Make the intervals longer on each subsequent night.

Keep in mind that there's nothing magical about these waiting periods. You can choose any length of time you feel comfortable with.

 

Baby sleep training: Cry it out methods

http://www.babycenter.com/0_baby-sleep-training-cry-it-out-methods_1497112.bc
(If clicking doesn't work, simply cut and paste the link into your Web browser.)

BabyCenter is the leading destination on the Internet for new and expectant parents. To receive our free personalized e-mails written especially for your stage of pregnancy or your child's age, take a minute to join BabyCenter. It's free!

Find out more about BabyCenter membership:
http://www.babycenter.com/

Wish us luck... It's going to be rough :(

Dr. Seuss day

Today at target they had a story time and some sort of Dr. Seuss event. Santos was too little to really enjoy it of course, but I had to go anyway so we stopped by. Look at him in the cart (first time!) So cute!


He watched the story time for a little bit...



And then we did a little shopping and went home. He's such a good boy! :-)

Mmm bananas

The thing he's chomping on is a mesh thing you can stick foods in for a safe way for him to munch...














He didn't love the jarred bananas but like fresh ones. I don't blame him. The jarred stuff was way too sweet, even for mama (who has a giant sweet tooth!)

The bed

Santos is the ruler of our bed in so many ways. When we get to sleep and when we can't. Where we are allowed to lay. When to clean the sheets (almost daily because he gets something on them...) and apparently he doesn't want a brother or sister yet. I'll leave it at that. Lol




There he is. A two and a half foot munchkin taking up a king-sized bed. Haha!! He's lucky he's so damn cute and that I love him to the moon and back ;-)

Life is good

I feel really blessed and lucky. We have an amazing little family :-) nothing special happened tonight. We went to eat at our favorite restaurant, paddy mac's (it's nice to walk there and sit outside with the munchkin) and strolled home and chit chatted about random things and I just realized how incredibly lucky I am.

Happy baby :-)

Constipation cocktail

Prune juice for my little man's little bathroom problem. He hasn't gone since Saturday morning. It's definitely bothering him now. :( poor little monkey.


He hates the taste and won't drink it. Lol just chewing on the bottle. I hope he "accidentally" ingests some.

Incidentally, we took a nice walk down to publix to get the prune juice. It's absolutely lovely outside :)

Routine

We have started a really great routine with the baby and we've been doing it for a few weeks now and I'm really liking it and I think he is too. :-)

We have had our own little routine during the day for a while now but now we have this new-ish nighttime one.

Starting when daddy gets home, he does what he needs to (change and unwind etc) then he takes the baby and I go make dinner for us. We sit all together at the table (before we sold the set, a new one- sans glass- will be here soon) with baby in his highchair right next to us at the table and we eat. With no tv. :-)

then when we're done, we feed the munchkin his big boy food. He gobbles it up. And then we take a bath.

After his bath he gets his lotions and story time and then it's time to nurse once more and then sleepy time.


He's still waking up at 2 and 5. Sometimes its his teeth and sometimes it's just for a snack. I'm getting used to it so I'm back to sleeping no more than 4 hours at a time. Eh... It is what it is. As long as I have a happy baby and husband, I'm happy.




This is random but too cute... We went shopping for some warm clothes for the baby for our upcoming trip to ireland, he was swimming in this jacket. Too adorable. He's getting pretty awesome at going out and about. The past two weekends have been pretty busy. Last weekend we went furniture shopping and out to eat for valentines and this weekend was artigras and more shopping today. He's so content just looking around at all the new things. Such a good little monkey! :)

New stage

We're transitioning into way passed newborn stage


Our latest shipment from amazon.com was not the usual diapers, wipes, teethers, or toys. Nope, we're getting into the big boy stage. We got baby proofing gear: soft edge corners and foam liners for our tv stand to make it all squishy so he can't hurt himself. Also some plug protectors (just because they were on sale). We also got a few things to help with solid foods! A tray to portion out and freeze the food I'll make, and a cookbook to make food that we can all eat. So I'll be able to cook dinner and then purée something from it for baby boy!



Tonight, I made him sweet potatoes!

He loved them! So did we :-)

Mr. Whitey

There's a story to Mr. Whitey. The short version is that my dad gave it to Santos a couple of weeks after he was born so that he could have a stuffed animal similar to the one he carried with him everywhere when he was a little boy (named Mr. Whitey). very cute.

iPhone rattle

Check out this post: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/02/fisher-price-laugh-learn-baby-ican-play-case/

I so want this!! I'll definitely be purchasing this in July when it's released.

Happy valentines day!

Daddy surprised me by taking the day off so I could get a little rest. Much needed rest. Amazing what an extra hour or two can do. I got a few errands done that we needed including grocery shopping and our taxes. Phew!

Later, we Skyped with Jess and Ella :)

So cute!!!

Then baby boy went to sleep and daddy and I had some sushi and sangria. I'm slightly obsessed with sangria lately...



Really nice day! :)

My valentines

We had a nice night out with the munchkin. We went to eat at carabbas... Yum! It was a nice valentines dinner with my 2 men (and an amazing glass of sangria!!) more than made up for a night without a single full hour of sleep... Here's to hoping tonight goes better!

New mom secret #2

Exhaustion has replaced really important things...

This is worse than when he was first born... and Gabe is clueless. :(

New video test

Location:21st Ln,Palm Beach Gardens,United States

5 months

Yesterday my "little" man turned 5 months old! 5 whole months since we officially met, but I feel like I've known him my whole life. I feel like this month more than last he has turned into this little person with a big personality. He communicates so well now it's absolutely amazing.

At 5 Months old, Santos:

-sleeps ok. Not well like he used to. Now, he wakes up with pain from teething. I'm sure once we get passed this rough patch and his teeth break through, he'll be back to sleeping... like a baby?? who on EARTH was the first person to say that. They should be shot. Babies don't sleep.

- is sitting on his own (almost) he sits up and wobbles for a little. He's getting stronger and stronger every day and almost needs no assistance now!

-loves to stand. You hold his hands and he'll pull himself all the way up. AND keep himself up for quite a while. Strong legs!



-ate all of his cereal for first time. The whole bowl!

-rolled over twice but hates tummy time. He has a STRONG cobra pose.

- grabs everything and tries to put in his mouth. Including feet...
which was a success tonight. He got that big toe in his mouth. Yuck. Good thing he had his bath!

-loves tubby time and mommy and daddy have joined in...

-still nursing and tonight we started solids!! First food ever was roasted butternut squash! SO CUTE. he made the yuck face the whole time but ate it. haha!

-loves to babble and try to talk. even a few squeaks. Over the weekend he started the M sound. Mama here we come!!

-discovered the cats and is fascinated by them every time they go by. He pets little man, and little man nuzzles him. It's really sweet.

-drools like a faucet and teething bad......

-weight: not exactly sure but I'm guessing about 22 pounds now. I'll try and get him on the scale.

-diaper size: 3 but from the looks of it....I think we're ready for the 4. haha! his little booty crack. He needs taller diapers.

-still loves his swaddle and sucks on his soother (not a lot though seems like lately he'd rather chew the sides of it.)

-favorite thing to do is throw toys. He makes me play fetch. He picks it up, throws it on the floor, and then looks at it then me to pick it back up.

-Loves to be out and around people. He will fight sleep like crazy just so he wont miss anything.

-officially uses his new big boy car seat



-lost most of his hair and it's now growing in quite nicely!

-Attended his very first superbowl party






Me:
On weight watchers and lost about 11 pounds. Not too shabby...
Still struggling with managing my time. Dishes stay in the sink so much longer than I'd like and the floor desperately needs to be vacuumed but nothing I can do about it. I'm learning to let go.
Daddy and I aren't seeing eye to eye for the first time about parenting. It's not huge issues, but I want to stop swaddling mijo and stop using the soother, and he wants to keep them until he's one... he read online that it was ok so he thinks we should leave it alone. I'm just nervous that it'll be harder the longer he gets used to it. So far... Daddy is winning on that one... I also want him to stop getting used to being walked around to go to sleep. I've managed to stop ok and baby understands during the day to go to sleep without it, but when daddy is home he knows if he cries daddy will walk him....

other than that I'm doing well. My boob thing is healing nicely. I'll spare the yucky details but I didn't end up having to take the oral antibiotic. Thank God. But still had to pump for a little from that side so he didn't touch it.




Daddy:

"Proud papa" - that's all he wishes to say. LOL

Just thought about it...

Technically I could pump and dump if I have to. That way I could nurse after I'm done with the antibiotics.

10 days is a long time to not nurse though :-( just makes me sad...

To be continued.

What the doctor said..

So I called my doctor this morning, big surprise, she's too busy to see me and recommended that I go to a walk in clinic.


They examined me and said it was still small and hopefully I could use just a topical ointment to clear it up but if not, I'll have to take an antibiotic and probably won't be able to feed the munchkin if that happens.

Just the thought of that freaked me out. I don't want to not be able to feed him. Then it got me thinking about when it's time to stop... I'll be so sad. I didn't expect that. I thought I'd be glad! Ready to be free to leave the house and not rush to be home before his next feeding. Nope. I'm going to miss bonding with him and having that special time together that no one else will or could ever have.

Not that there's anything wrong with feeding your baby formula. I would never say which is better because it really is all about whats best for you and your family. That said, I'll be really pissed off if I have to give him formula. I worked so hard to breastfeed. The beginning was so rough and I pushed through because I felt that it was what was best for my baby. Now, to have to stop and risk losing my milk supply all over this stupid infection... It would kill me. :(

I went to get the prescriptions filled and I asked the pharmacist there what she thought about taking it while nursing. She said that it would pass through the milk and not to take it unless I really needed to.

Frustrated, i went home, and Gabe called his pharmacist friend, steve, to get his opinion about the drugs that were prescribed. He said that both the topical and oral antibiotics that they prescribed were bubkiss and wouldn't really help. It was likely staph and if so it would need a stronger medicine than what they gave me. In fact, he said it would be ok to take while still nursing, but again... Might not do anything at all. In the end, it sounded like the best bet would be to go to a regular doctor and have this thing lanced.

I decided that since I wouldn't have to take the pills until Monday anyway, I'll try the cream and if need be, I'll get it lanced. I would rather do that if possible and save my milk supply.

We shall see....

Shorts by nani

Nani sewed Santos these shorts


Little corduroy shorts!! So cute! :)








So serious! His model pose. Haha!

Warning: TMI

I have a boil on my right breast. I freaked out because I didn't know what it was or if I could pass it on to my little man but we googled it and realized it was indeed a boil and actually pretty common for lactating women. Another thing people don't tell you about childbirth.....

I'm going to call my doctor tomorrow morning right away because it turns out if it isn't treated right away, my milk supply could be infected and i could get mastitis... AGAIN. Definitely don't want that.

I guess what happened was... Well... My little guy likes to hold his food. Lol! And he scratched me and it got infected and plugged a duct and bingo I have a boil.

Ahh, the joys of breastfeeding. Lol :)

Don't worry, I'll spare you the photo!

New mom secret #1

I don't have the energy to care right now that I just handed him the baby and he's letting him watch tv. Mom needs a break... So be it.

I love him

I didn't post on iheartfaces this week. The theme was your choice. I liked this one but it was taken with my phone so I didn't want to submit it.

Is he not the cutest thing ever? :)