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. 

Naptime

Happy 8 weeks! I’ll post more later - just wanted to share Jayden napping with his cuddly giraffe in his beautiful purple onesie (it’s organic and kimono style - love these!)

Smiles!

Happy National Track Suit Day!  AND, more importantly, happy day after Jayden only woke up once last night!  We put him to bed at about 9 pm, Carmen woke him up at 1 am for a feeding and then he slept again until 5 am.  Seriously amazing.  I got five hours STRAIGHT of sleep.  I could get used to this . . . but I won't because I have a feeling it just can't be permanent.

Sadly, I also think it's because Jayden has a bit of a cold - he was congested all night and still is today, although it's better.  Hopefully he keeps getting better and I don't have to freak out and call the pediatrician...