Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's been an exciting past week or so.  We managed to make it up to Seattle and back in one piece, and without upsetting really anyone on either flight.  I spent the majority of the first flight standing up in the back of the plane with Jayden - we did not bring the baby bjorn on the plane, so by the time we got to Seattle my arms were dead tired.  Luckily the flight attendants were very friendly, and just about everyone was smitten with Jayden, so we were treated very nicely.  And the bottle/pacifier combination for take-off and landing seemed to work just fine; no ear pressure trouble as far as we could tell. 

In Daddy's arms on his first airplane.

The visit in Seattle was wonderful - and surprisingly involved very little rain! We mostly hung around the house on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday we ventured into downtown Seattle (and took advantage of the comfortable Nordstrom Women's Lounge for a couple of feedings and diaper changes). And Tuesday we were back home again. Between my mom, my sister and myself I have about eighteen gazillion pictures, so I'm just going to put up a couple from each day.

For any Duke fans - Jayden finally got appropriate Duke gear, and is SO happy about it! (Christmas eve)

Barb, Leigh, Ellen and Jayden went for a walk in the Grand Forest on Bainbridge on Christmas Eve.  Who knew Jayden loved the outdoors so much - he was smiling the whole time, until he fell completely asleep.  Thanks Nana Becky for the awesome (and really warm) outfit!



Some quality tummy time with Grandpa Allan on Christmas Eve.

Having a "moment" with Auntie Ellen on Christmas morning, in his cute Christmas onesie.  Soon after this there was a diaper situation and the onesie had to be retired.  Oh well. 



This was rotated properly, but when I uploaded it, it rotated back . . . I don't know what happened.  Anyway, this is Jayden with Nana Becky on Christmas night.

Family photo - Christmas dinner.  In the background - yay for the NBA season starting!

Another rotation problem.  Rockin' the super warm hat Jayden got from Mama and Daddy for Christmas (and really just for Seattle).  In the car on the way into downtown Seattle on 12/26/2011.

Meeting Auntie Maya on the day after Christmas - she was so cuddly and comfortable that Jayden fell right asleep.

Happily hanging out on a Nordstrom couch with Grandma Barb.  He truly is his parents' child.  12/26/2011

With Grandma Barb and Grandpa Allan on the ferry boat from Bainbridge to Seattle.  He is officially a Bainbridge boy with his Bay Hay & Feed t-shirt.  12/27/2011

Jayden has his track suit on, ready for his morning run with Mama.  (thanks Auntie Ellen)  You can guess who got more of a workout...  12/29/2011.

Last time Jayden met Aunt Stacy he was way smaller.  But now Jayden gets to grab her hair, which is super fun for everyone involved.  12/29/2011.



Jayden and Daddy in more Duke gear, while the Blue Devils destroy Western Michigan.  12/30/2011.

We were nervous about the trip home, because I'd somehow managed to book us on a 6:30 pm flight.  We thought it had the potential to be a disaster, since bedtime is usually around 7 or 7:30 pm.  Turns out it was ideal.  Jayden was fussy (because he was tired) for the first 15 minutes or so.  Then he passed out and slept in my arms until we were landing, when he gulped down a bottle.  He was then fine until we got home and put him right back to bed.  Perfect! 

It's been a good, but busy, week.  Carmen is out of town again, probably until Monday or Tuesday.  We're hoping for Monday so that I don't have to do my first day of work by myself, but we'll see what happens.  And yes, that's right, I did say my first day of work.  I go back Tuesday.  I can't believe it's here already.  I got more time than a lot of people, but it still didn't feel like enough.  If any of you happen to think of it, think positive thoughts on Tuesday and just keep telling me it's going to be okay and it will all work out.  Because I'm just not totally sure at this point.  As excited as I am to go back, Jayden just seems so small and it seems so wrong to leave him!  But it will be good for me, and for Jayden and you guys can just keep reminding me of that (please).  :)

A whirlwind of a holiday, but fun and so good to see friends and family.  For those of you we didn't get to see, hopefully we'll catch up soon, either in SoCal, or wherever you are located. 

Also, Jayden also got to meet Aunt Kelly and Uncle Mike on the 22nd, but I completely forgot to get a picture!  I guess they'll just have to come back another time...  

Duke baby

"Watching" the Duke game with Mama and Daddy in his Duke gear.

News flash

I know, I know, I said I probably wouldn't post until after we got back from our trip.  But Oh. My. Gosh. The reason I have time to do this before we go to the airport today is that our amazing little baby slept through the night last night!  Like really and truly slept through the night.  We put him down around eight, and then soothed him around 8:15 pm.  Then, at 5 am, Carmen wakes up and asks me "he didn't wake me up . . . did he wake you up?" And turns out he didn't wake me up.  Seriously amazing.  He woke up, on his own, around 6:00 am!  So he slept for about 10 hours.  What baby goes from waking up twice a night to not waking up at all, just like that?!?  Apparently our baby. 
We had gone to bed a little late, due to packing and preparing, resigning ourselves to the fact that we just weren't going to sleep much.  Turns out we (or at least I) got the most consecutive hours of sleep I've ever gotten P.J. (post-Jayden) - about 5-1/2 hours! 
He wasn't grinning when he woke up, but once he was fed he was pretty happy.  Not that he'll smile for the camera, though...

I'm ready for the airplane!  For a hilarious dialogue of babies on a plane, check out http://www.npr.org/2011/12/22/144123663/have-pacifier-will-travel-babies-on-board

We're not counting on this being repeated, but he picked a great night to at least try it out.  And when it does happen again, we'll be just as thankful.  Merry Christmas to us!  Best early Christmas gift ever.

First Christmas!

Since Carmen and I won't be in SoCal for actual Christmas day, we had our own Christmas celebration last night with Jayden.  It was short and sweet, since it was just about Jayden's bedtime.  We danced to some Christmas music and opened the two (tiny) gifts that Carmen and I got Jayden.  Since he's so young and since he has so many other people buying him things, Carmen and I decided it wasn't necessary for us to do much for him this year.  In the future, when he's more aware, we'll get him more things - but even then, we'll probably try to hold back so that he doesn't get completely spoiled! 
Jayden also had a few gifts from friends, in particular a very cool book from his friend-to-be (when Jayden's older and their 1 year age difference doesn't matter so much) Kian Vakili:

As with most things these days, the book went straight into his mouth, but we're pretty sure that means he loved it! 

Mommy and Daddy got him some cold weather gear and some warm weather gear - a hat and jacket for cold weather and the coolest baby sunglasses for our walks with Jasmine!

Jayden also went with Mommy to meet her friend Shilpa and her daughter - who is two weeks younger than Jayden but looks about half his size.  She weighed two pounds less than Jayden at birth and you can totally tell!  After that, Jayden and Mommy went to PLC's holiday party.  It was pretty loud in there and that wasn't so fun for Jayden, but he got all kinds of love and eventually fell asleep so Mommy could scarf down her lunch.  It was nice to be part of the office again, but scary to think that I'll be back there in less than two weeks, and not with Jayden this time!

Tomorrow we leave for Seattle; I'm not sure how we're going to get all of us and our luggage (suitcases, stroller, carseat, carry-ons, etc.) on the airplane, but we'll do our best.  At least we don't have to buy a ticket for Jayden yet, so that's one less expense.  It'll be a short trip to Seattle, but good to see family and friends.  I may not be able to post again until we get back on the 27th, so we hope everyone has a very happy holiday!

Time flies!

It's been a week and no post!  I'm so sorry - something about the holidays has been keeping me busy, I guess.  Sadly, I don't have many pictures to update either - I'll have to be better about that too.  The only one I really have is this:

Which is just a funny one of Jayden napping last week (he could breathe - don't worry, I checked).

So, what happened this past week . . . well, Carmen was out of town for 3-1/2 of the 7 nights.  We actually did okay for most of them.  The hardest part, as I've said before, is just the isolation - the not having any other grown-ups to interact with on a daily basis.  But we survived and for the next few weeks Carmen's travel schedule should be a little better.  We'll see. 
I ran a bunch of errands, getting ready for the holidays and trying to get us ready for the big first airplane trip - so scary!  I've made my list - those who know me well know I hardly ever go on a trip without making a list of what I'm taking first - but I'm totally afraid I'm going to forget something.  I guess worst case we have to buy a duplicate of whatever it is on the way home from the airport.  So long as we remember to bring Jayden, we should be good!

Thursday was a big night - Carmen and I actually went out by ourselves and left Jayden with a babysitter!  So crazy.  We even had the babysitter put him to bed.  It was the Athletes First holiday party - we had some excellent Mexican food and then saw Jay Mohr at the Irvine Improv.  Even though this blog is all about Jayden, since it's Jayden's world through Mama's eyes, I get to include one picture of just me and Carmen:

Last night we finally were able to decorate our tree!  I had put lights on, but no ornaments.  So Carmen and I filled our tree with ornaments.  I'm so happy Carmen and I agree that trees don't need to be perfect and color-coordinated.  I much prefer hanging the same ornaments I've hung since I was 5 years old and remembering who gave me which ornament and why, etc.  And I plan to do the same with Jayden; starting this year, there will be a box of "Jayden's ornaments," even though there may only be one or two in it this year!

Jayden hung out in his first Christmas present from Mom and Dad - a swing!  (we're not totally convinced this is the best swing we could have got - but we're going to see if it does what we need it to do; it just doesn't entertain him much).  Here are some pictures from the evening:

Carmen adding some ornaments and singing to Christmas songs while Jayden looks on - and tries to sing along!  He'd thrown in a "ooh" or two every once in a while!

Jayden getting a peek at the tv (and being mesmerized by it) while Mommy takes a picture of him with the decorated tree in the background...

Jayden being entertained by Mommy.

 We've got a calm week ahead of us - until the airplane on Friday.  I will do my best to snap a few more pictures and post more frequently. 

I forgot...

to tell you the following:
We weighed and measured Jayden too, mostly for fun.  He now measures about 26-1/4" long - which according to babycenter.com is above the 95th percentile (as if we didn't expect that), and weighs about 14 pounds, 4ish ounces, which is between the 50th and 75th percentile.  Basically, he's staying consistent with what he was at 2 months.  We'll see what the doctor says at 4 months (that's the next time we see the doctor), but it seems to us like he's progressing well. 

Also, as far as a sleep update - something about Carmen being in the house . . . last night he went to bed around 8 pm, slept until 1:30 am (when Carmen fed him) and then slept again until 5:30 am.  He then slept for about an hour or so until 7:30 am, when a dirty diaper woke him up.  He napped really well yesterday, and I have read that good naps make for good nighttime sleepers.  So, I tried to make sure that he got sufficient naps in today.  We'll see how tonight goes . . . here's hoping for the best.

Three, seriously, THREE, months!

Today is the three month anniversary of Jayden's birth.  Seriously amazing.  Every day I wonder if we're going to make it another day . . . and then we do. 
I tried to take a three month picture, but he was not having it.  So I got these two instead:

 Not terrible, but one day I'd love to get one of him smiling...


Carmen came home for about 42 hours - from late Saturday night until this afternoon.  We took advantage of all being together and went to get our Christmas tree!

A nice lady offered to take our picture for us!

I've put up our Christmas decorations and there's even one present under the tree - for Jayden of course.  :)  We'll wait until Carmen gets home (which will be Wednesday) to put the ornaments on the tree. 
Because of, well, everything (Carmen's travel schedule, having a 3 month old, etc.), Carmen and I may not get our gifts out on time.  We'll do our best, but we're just not making any promises.  However, Jayden's gifts will be in the mail later this week!

An update: we did finally pick a daycare.  It's a mixture of the ones we looked at; an in-home environment (run by a grandma - her grandson is one of the children she takes care of) with a structured preschool curriculum for when he is older.  It still wasn't an easy decision, but that has to do more with the decision of sending him somewhere at all, not with the decision of sending him to this particular place. 

We are having "winter" weather here in Southern California - rain all day.  Of course I found it to be beautiful and was telling Jayden how awesome rain is and how much he should enjoy it.  Somehow I think he's going to grow up a spoiled Southern California boy...

So cool...

To watch Jayden learn and progress. He's started bringing his hands together, grabbing at toys, and generally being more interactive.
Also, Grandma Barb totally wins: I think part of the reason Jayden wouldn't go back to sleep in his crib the past few nights was because he was cold. Last night the heater was on, and he went back to sleep no problem. He still wanted to eat every 2-1/2 to 3 hours after the 1 am feeding, which is not okay, but at least he slept in his own room...

Amazing!

Jayden rolled over today!  He only did it once - I put him on his stomach and reached for my soda.  As I was turning back, he had flipped over from his stomach to his back!  So cool!  I of course then put him back on his stomach, waiting for him to do it again, but no such luck.  He tried really hard and he definitely knows how to do it again - I think he was just worn out.  Here's the video of the attempts to roll over after he did it:

He got on to his side, but not fully over to his back.  I'll try again over the next few days to get a full roll over on video.  Five days short of three months - and he's rolling over. As I said to Carmen, we are now officially screwed and have to be even more super careful about where we put him now.  At least he's not yet rolling from his back to his stomach...

(by the way, yes we know his hair is crazy . . . there's nothing we can do about it right now...)

Need. More. Sleep.

This has been a mixed week - some good things, some frustrating things - some progress, some regression.  As of last week, Jayden was finally working on a more regular sleep schedule - to bed around 7 or 8 pm, waking up for a feeding between 2 and 3 am usually and then waking up for good between 6 and 7 am.  A schedule all of us could handle and almost got used to!  We thought maybe we had a breakthrough and maybe he'd soon start sleeping 7 to 5 or 7 to 6. 
And then...the last three nights happened.  I don't know if it's because Carmen is out of town and not doing the middle of the night feeding or what, but it's caused me all kinds of problems...  I put him down at the same time, around 7 or 8 pm.  He sleeps three to four hours, waking up around midnight-ish, then again at 3 am, then again at 6 or 7 am.  That's not terrible, but what is frustrating is that after the midnight feeding, he won't go back to sleep in his crib.  No matter what I do, or how asleep he is when I hold him, as soon as I put him in the crib he wakes up and is soon upset and crying.  Basically, Jayden ends up sleeping with me from midnight to six (and I end up in tears at some point), with one wake-up for feeding.  I don't know where this is coming from, but I keep waiting for it to blow over . . . and without Carmen home I can't really go to bed any earlier since Jasmine needs to be walked.  So, ultimately, it leads to me sleeping even less than normal (like 4-1/2 to 5 hours a night, in three 1-2 hour increments). 

Now some good news:  Jayden is still incredibly cute and is learning more and more every day.  This past weekend he "discovered" himself in the mirror for the first time:

He stared at himself and made noises at himself for a minute or two before the giraffe and monkey hanging over his head distracted him again!

Since Carmen was out of town (and Grandpa Allan was in Florida), Grandma Barb came to visit this weekend.  It was incredibly helpful - she helped me not feel bad about getting eating out for every meal (and she treated - woohoo!) and she took care of Jayden so I could go to yoga and get a pedicure (long overdue).  Plus, she gave me the opportunity to have grown-up conversation, which is so important to my sanity.  Here are a couple of pictures:

Yes, Grandma took a picture as Jayden was about to cry - he does make a good sad face.  And look at those eyes in the picture with me - so intense!

We also saw Santa this week:

Finally, last but not least, a day care update.  We have visited six different day care providers and I have discovered that what I thought I wanted is not actually what I feel most comfortable with.  I thought I wanted a small daycare, with one or two other children and one person.  Turns out I prefer a daycare with more kids (8-12, usually) and more grown-ups (2-3).  I have two finalists.  I am calling references for one and we will hopefully visit them again next Monday with Carmen and make a decision after that.  It's still a terribly difficult decision to make, but I am feeling better about the whole process since I have found two places where Jayden would be happy, safe and cared for. 

Thanksgiving week

It has been a really busy week for us.  We went a lot of different places and saw a lot of different people.  On Tuesday, we went to PLC for a farewell luncheon for one of my co-workers.  Jayden did pretty well and got passed around a little bit!  Next, we saw Tucker (Carmen's friend from high school) and her family who were visiting from Oregon.  On Thanksgiving, we went to Bard and Jody's house just north of San Diego and Jayden and Kian met for the second time.  Not terribly eventful - Kian didn't really know what to do with Jayden and Jayden just sat there, but the parents enjoyed each others' company.  :)  We braved a mall on Friday for a little bit and ran into Carmen's friend Troy while we were there.  Saturday we went back to San Diego to visit with Von Miller and his family for a few minutes.  Finally, today (Sunday), we stayed home and just relaxed. 
Here are some pictures from the week:

Tucker's daughter Odile holding Jayden

Jayden, meet Kian.  Kian, meet Jayden.

 

Mommy bought me leg warmers and I'm not entirely sure what to do about it...



Chilling at the Mexican restaurant in San Diego with Daddy



This week, my primary job is to find child care for when I go back to work.  I am scared to death to do it, but I am more scared to not have something in place in a month.  I am going to find a few caretakers to interview and then set up times for Carmen and I to meet with them and talk to them about possibly caring for Jayden.  There are a lot of things that are important to me - I don't want them to just stick a pacifier in his mouth any time he's upset because that isn't really responding to him, it's just making it easier on the caretaker; I don't want them to let him "cry it out" when they want him to go to sleep; I want them to work with me with the breastfeeding (so I can hopefully feed him right when I pick him up) and the non-disposable diapers; I want them to make sure he has "tummy time"; and ideally they'd have backup - someone who can help when/if they get exasperated, etc.  There's more, but those are at least a few of my thoughts.  I am sure I'll feel like noone is right, but I have to remember that this is happening no matter what, and that more than anything we need someone we feel comfortable with, so that we can have open conversations about what is working and what isn't.  In any case, it's going to be a challenge and I just hope I get something together in the next week or so. 

Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,
My mommy and daddy said I should make a list of all the things I want for Christmas.  I'm still really little, so I don't need much.  Most of the time, I have the most fun when daddy makes faces and sings to me and when mommy and I smile at each other and make faces.   But, I am getting bigger and will need more to be entertained soon - plus Mommy says lots of people want to get me things so it's my job to give them ideas.  So here goes:
Clothes: I have a LOT of clothing.  I am transitioning into 3-6 month clothes right now, and I have over 25 onesies, over 10 one-piece outfits, about 10 pairs of pants, over 10 shirts/sweatshirts and at least 4 pajamas.  For the next size up, 6-9 months, I have over 20 onesies, about 5 one-piece outfits, about 10 pairs of pants, about 10 shirts/sweatshirts and a couple pajamas.  I barely can wear everything I have now and I definitely don't have enough room to store everything that I have.  I have stuff for 9-12 months and 12-18 months too, but I have less stuff for when I get that big.  So, if you're going to buy clothing, I guess 12-month clothing is probably the best bet. (even then, I've got 10 12-month onesies, 5 shirt/pant outfits for 9 months and for 12 months - so I really don't need too much clothing). 
Books: I have at least 50 books already, and I haven't even hardly started "reading" them.  I probably don't need many books at this point; plus, Mommy says I have no place in my room to store them either until she and Daddy buy more storage for me. 
Toys: I have a lot of toys too, especially things that I can grab onto, things that rattle, squeak, crinkle, etc.  However, I found a few things that I don't have that I will probably want to use in the next few months.  These are just ideas; in general toys for a six-month old or so are probably the best bet at this point:

One of my friends who is a couple months older than me has an aquarium for her crib and I'm a little jealous.  It looks kind of like this:

There are a couple of other things that I might enjoy too, like a drum (I really like to move my arms in a sort of pounding motion - right now I just hit myself or my parents or toys that are there, but things that I can pound might be really cool for me), floating blocks (I really like bathtime and splashing around now - so eventually I'll want to play in the bath), play telephones and maybe some teething toys (although I have a couple of these already). 

My mommy and daddy say I'm already spoiled so I shouldn't ask for too much.  And the thing is, I'm so little I barely know what to ask for.  To be honest, Mommy and Daddy had to help me come up with some of these ideas.  I also think that my favorite thing this Christmas might be boxes and wrapping paper, so it may not matter too much what comes inside! 

Santa, I can't wait to meet you one day.  From what Daddy and Mommy have said, you live in a really cool place with this stuff called snow?  I can't understand what they're talking about, but Mommy and Daddy say I'll probably really like it when I'm older - but that I won't get to see it too often because we live in the wrong place.  Thanks for reading my letter Santa; Mommy says I have to tell you I've been really, really good!

Love,

Jayden

Overdue update

So, it's been a while since I put up a real post.  Things have been busy, and it's just not easy to get your computer open, on and then type on it with a two month old.  I am grateful that he is two months and can now interact and "play" kind of.  It means he sleeps less during the day, which can be challenging, but it's all about learning to do things with him.  For instance: yesterday, I made a pumpkin pie.  I strapped Jayden in the Baby Bjorn and cut the crisco into the flour and salt (with my fingertips!) with him on my stomach.  It's not easy - if I have to go near the oven I have to put him down, even if it means screaming - and my shoulders and back are sore today, but you do what you gotta do! 
We have been having beautiful weather here, in my opinion.  A little gray and chilly, usually clearing up to sunny, blue skies and a nice breeze.  Yesterday we opened the door to the porch and enjoyed the weather a little:

I've decided that having a child is entirely a roller coaster ride.  There are good days and bad days for the child and good days and bad days for the parents.  I've been trying to keep myself busy - I had a friend over for dinner last Thursday when Carmen was out of town, I took Jayden with me to happy hour (at a restaurant, not a bar!) on Friday with some co-workers, I've been going to yoga regularly and trying to run at least a few times a week - but there are still times when the whole idea is just overwhelming.  That and - the last time I slept more than 3-1/2 hours at one time was September 10th, and the longest I've been away from Jayden is about 1 hour and 45 minutes.  It's a lot to take on. 
As for the baby's roller coaster....last night was actually a good night.  Jayden was super tired at night, so it took a little longer to get him to settle down.  I finally got him quiet and asleep at about 9:15.  He slept until 1:30 am, when Carmen fed him.  Then (and this is where the progress starts), he slept until 5:05, when I fed him.  Then he slept from about 6:00 am until 9:15 am.  He has never done that before.  But, when he did finally wake up (which I kind of helped along, but subtley), he was so happy!

Finally, I have decided I love putting him in outfits (thanks to Ellen's friend Jackie).  Yes, they make it more difficult to do diaper changes and all that, but seriously, how cute is he?!?

 

We're excited for Thanksgiving; we'll be going to Bard and Jody's house for dinner.  Nice for me, because I have very limited responsibility for cooking - all I'm doing is making a pie.  Jody is superwoman: she has a 15 month old, she's 4 or 5 months pregnant and she's cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 10 of us.  Amazing.  It'll be interesting to see how Jayden does in the hour long car ride - we're going to try to plan it so it will be his naptime, but you just never know.

Also, kind of amazing, yesterday was 10 weeks!  Time flies...

Mostly for the Grandmas

So, I tried to upload a video, but couldn't get the video from my phone to the blog, so you'll have to just see the still photo for now.  In the future I'll use my camera for video so I can upload it here.  In any case, Jayden is able to focus on things and actually enjoys watching mobiles, his toys, etc.  Not for very long - maybe only a few minutes sometimes, but it's so cool to watch him entertained by these things!

But Mommy, I don't want to wake up...

It's Official: Jayden is BIG!

Saturday was Jayden's two-month birthday - so crazy that he's been in our lives for that long already.  Time really does fly, and so many things change.  Jayden has started following us (and our voices) as we move around the room, he smiles at us and at toys and he is more interactive.  He has also discovered his tongue and tends to drool on a regular basis, which means I finally get to use the 46 bibs that we have!

We went to the doctor today for Jayden's two month checkup.  All good news - he is 25" long (in the 97th percentile), 13 lbs, 3 ozs (80th percentile) and his head is 41 cm in circumference (75th percentile).  Our pediatrician said he is very proportional - if anything just a little skinny, but not in a bad way.  He's clearly gaining weight fine and eating fine.  The pediatrician said he is thriving and doing great - so we just need to keep doing what we're doing.  He said Jayden could roll over at any time (although I think that was more to scare us away from leaving him on any elevated surface unattended - which we don't do, so it's okay), and that he may start going longer between feedings, maybe 6 or 7 hours at a time, instead of the 4 or 4-1/2 or so that we're getting now.  We'll see if that's really true, but I would not be upset if it did happen.  Right now he still wakes up twice every night, between midnight and one and between 3 and 4 am.  I would love more consecutive hours of sleep, but it's not unmanageable right now. 

The sad part about the two month appointment is the shots!  We had to get two shots (one in each thigh) and one oral vaccine.  We'll have to watch him for side effects; so far it seems like he might just be a little more tired than usual (check out the green Snoopy bandaid - this identifies the injection spot that could get red and swollen so that I remember and don't freak out!):

Although, he usually does nap around this time, so we'll see if he stays tired all day or if he wakes up later on.

I know this is a Jayden blog, but just a quick note about our other child: I think Jayden is totally teaching Jasmine how to behave around small children!  Jody and Bard came over on Sunday morning with Kian (their 15-month-old son).  Jasmine growled at him at first - luckily they have a dog too, so it didn't throw Kian off too much - but then she figured out that she needed to be gentle with him and would be careful when walking around him.  She did give him a good slobber bath, but again, luckily Bard, Jody and Kian are used to Kian being slobbered on by a dog, so nobody freaked out.  A good day for everyone, and we were so proud of Jasmine for being such a good dog.  As a side note, it was so good to see Jody and Bard - we only wish we lived nearer to each other...  

Playtime!

Jasmine guarding her baby brother while he explores his play mat!

Failure (for now...)

So, I was really excited because my mommy friends had talked about their play mats and how their babies loved to lay on them and play and how it helped with tummy time, etc.  So I did my research and picked the one I thought Jayden would like the most, and it arrived today!  I was so excited for him to try it out, so I fed him and made sure he was calm - in his quiet alert stage - and then placed him on his stomach on the mat - in front of the mirror so he could look at himself.  Well, that was a complete failure.  He started crying almost immediately and (in his words) demanded to be picked up immediately.

We'll try again tomorrow, on our back and on our stomach - hopefully he'll learn to love it and be entertained by it.  I  think it's great, but it turns out it doesn't matter what I think anymore.  Oh well.

Week 8ish - a little behind

Sooo, I may not always get this written exactly when I plan to.  The whole Sunday/Monday thing may not always work.  I'll try to post at least once a week, though, to keep everyone updated.

The past week has been decent - we're still on a pretty good routine of bedtime and sleeping.  Jayden's room is arranged (pictures to come when it's completed - one more thing to take care of), and he's been sleeping great in his crib, for the most part.  Jayden goes to bed between 8 pm and 9 pm.  Carmen feeds him around midnight.  I feed him between 3 and 4 am, and then he gets up sometime between 6 and 7 am.  Not great, but not terrible.  And since I'm breastfeeding, it's likely that he will continue to feed once or twice during the night for a little longer than if he were formula-fed.  So I don't mind a little less sleep, I guess.

Last Friday Jayden came down with a cold, which was miserable for both of us - I swore he couldn't breathe.  But, I fed him more frequently, sucked the congestion out of him and on Saturday (Sunday? I think it was actually Sunday) we got him a humidifier for his room.  He's better now, but still not fully clear.  We go to the doctor on Monday, so I figure I'll have our pediatrician check him out then. 

After the Michael Jordan outfit, we got a lot of comments about not putting him in a Duke outfit, so here's the beginning.  We're working on building our supply!

This week has been busy: Tuesday we went to a friend's house to hang out and yesterday Jayden and I went to see a movie!  A local movie theater has Parent Movie Mornings, where the movies are "baby friendly" - supposedly quieter, they have a changing station and it's supposedly filled with other mommies, so nobody cares if there's crying, fussiness, etc.  Well, turns out no other moms showed up (including the mom I was going there to meet), so I sat by myself, in a theater with probably six other people who were not moms and nursed Jayden.  Oh well.  I may or may not go back, depending on what movie is playing.  After being fed, Jayden slept through the whole thing, which was good, because I thought the movie was a little loud for him.