Monday, October 31, 2011
Happy Halloween!
Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for . . . Jacob's Halloween costume. :-) Yesterday we went had a picnic with a bunch of other families with babies Jacob's age and we dressed the kids up for Halloween. It was a beautiful day and I'm glad we took a few pictures of him in costume then because today is rainy and chilly. I'll try to snap a few more good ones today if the weather clears up, but in the meantime here's Jacob as . . . . our little froggy! Didn't my Mom do a great job with the costume?
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Our Little Pumpkin
Today was the big day . . . we bought a big pumpkin at the beginning of October in hopes of putting Jacob in it to take pictures and today we finally did it. He was slightly unhappy with us initially (that's an understatement), but ended up smiling at us for most of the 5 minute photo shoot. Here are a few of our favorites.
Beautiful Weather, Good Friends, and a Corn Maze
Last weekend we went to a Fall festival at a local farm with some friends. Many of the festivities were kid oriented(and Jacob is still a bit young), but we were still able to find plenty of ways to have fun! We looked at the animals, rode the "cow train", walked almost 2 miles in the corn maze, and went on a hayride. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time! Here are a few pictures from the day.
Jacob on a 500lb pumpkin.
Taking a ride in the cow train.
Family picture on the hayride.
The never-ending corn maze.
Resting in the shade.
Checking out the animals.
"Lost" in the corn maze.
Jacob on a 500lb pumpkin.
Taking a ride in the cow train.
Family picture on the hayride.
The never-ending corn maze.
Resting in the shade.
Checking out the animals.
"Lost" in the corn maze.Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Awake Training for Parents: A Class for Babies
One of my friends sent me this and her timing couldn't have been better! Jacob is going though his 12 week growth spurt and we've gone from waking up 1-2 times a night to waking up at least 4 times a night and eating all the time! Today is day 3, hopefully it's almost over. Needless to say, Mommy is very tired!
* I found it quite ironic that it's signed Baby J at the end, I know my friend didn't change it to that before she sent it. Maybe Jacob's up to something :-)
******************************************************************************************
Awake Training for Parents:
Dear Fellow Babies,
OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 5 months. The first few months were great – I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, around the clock. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse.
I've talked to other babies, and it seems like its pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 5-6 months. Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep – they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.
It goes like this:
Night 1 – cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.
Night 2 – cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3 – every hour.
Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I know it's hard! But she really does not need the sleep; she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.
The other night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with:
-My sleep sack tickled my foot.
-I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.
-My mobile made a shadow on the wall.
-I burped, and it tasted like rice cereal. I hadn't eaten rice cereal since breakfast, what's up with that?
-The dog said "ruff". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.
-Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.
-Too hot, too cold, just right – doesn't matter! Keep crying!!
-I had drooled so much my sheets were damp and I didn't like it touching me.
-I decided I was sick of all the pink in my room so I cried.
It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.
Sometimes my Mommy will call for reinforcements by sending in Daddy. Don't worry Daddies are not set up for not needing sleep the way Mommies are. They can only handle a few pats and shhing before they declare defeat and send in the Mommy.
Also, be wary of the sleep sheep with rain noises. I like to give Mommy false hope that listening to the rain puts me to sleep sometimes I pretend to close my eyes and be asleep and then wait until I know
Mommy is settling back to sleep to spring a surprise cry attack. If she doesn't get to me fast enough I follow up with my fake cough and gag noise that always has her running to the crib. At some point I am positive she will start to realize that she really doesn't really need sleep.
P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out.
Trust me.
Sincerely,
Baby J
* I found it quite ironic that it's signed Baby J at the end, I know my friend didn't change it to that before she sent it. Maybe Jacob's up to something :-)
******************************************************************************************
Awake Training for Parents:
Dear Fellow Babies,
OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 5 months. The first few months were great – I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, around the clock. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse.
I've talked to other babies, and it seems like its pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 5-6 months. Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep – they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.
It goes like this:
Night 1 – cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.
Night 2 – cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3 – every hour.
Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I know it's hard! But she really does not need the sleep; she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.
The other night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with:
-My sleep sack tickled my foot.
-I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.
-My mobile made a shadow on the wall.
-I burped, and it tasted like rice cereal. I hadn't eaten rice cereal since breakfast, what's up with that?
-The dog said "ruff". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.
-Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.
-Too hot, too cold, just right – doesn't matter! Keep crying!!
-I had drooled so much my sheets were damp and I didn't like it touching me.
-I decided I was sick of all the pink in my room so I cried.
It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.
Sometimes my Mommy will call for reinforcements by sending in Daddy. Don't worry Daddies are not set up for not needing sleep the way Mommies are. They can only handle a few pats and shhing before they declare defeat and send in the Mommy.
Also, be wary of the sleep sheep with rain noises. I like to give Mommy false hope that listening to the rain puts me to sleep sometimes I pretend to close my eyes and be asleep and then wait until I know
Mommy is settling back to sleep to spring a surprise cry attack. If she doesn't get to me fast enough I follow up with my fake cough and gag noise that always has her running to the crib. At some point I am positive she will start to realize that she really doesn't really need sleep.
P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out.
Trust me.
Sincerely,
Baby J
Monday, October 24, 2011
12 Weeks Old
Today Jacob is 12 weeks old, so hard for me to believe! He's the sweetest, most cuddly little boy with some of the best smiles in the world! We didn't have too much on our agenda last week. Our weekly luncheon at the hospital on Tuesday, the yard sale I already posted about and lunch with a friend on Thursday, and then I worked Friday from 2-8pm so Jacob and Daddy had some more bonding time. Saturday was a busy day; we went to the book sale in the morning (also in previous post) and then spent the afternoon with friends at a local farm enjoying lots of Fall festivities. (Future post with more pictures about this adventure.) Saturday evening we took the first of a bunch of Fall pictures we have planned for Jacob. Stay tuned over the next week or so to find out what the rest will be. Here are some pictures of our cute little fella during the past week.
Bailey, ready to help out.
Relaxing in my wagon.
He loves being outside. Looking up at the trees and sky.
Hello Mr. Train Conductor. Always kicking those feet!This week Mark celebrates his first birthday as a Dad (Saturday the 29th), and on Sunday we have a picnic at the park planned with some other families with babies Jacob's age. As long as the weather continues to be beautiful we should have another great weekend.
That's a Good Deal!
Last week was the week of bargains for mwaw!
The day care that we hope Jacob gets into (he's currently #8 on the waiting list) just relocated one of their centers and had a yard sale last Thursday.
I spent $6 and got:
- An outdoor table for Jacob (yes, it's a little premature but he'll use it before we know it) for $2. Similar to this one, except ours is yellow, green and purple.
- A glue gun (for future craft projects) for $1.
- A huge tupperware box full of toys. $3 He now has two new activity mats, another mirror, and LOTS of fun baby toys.
Then, on Saturday, the Fall Friends of the Library Book Sale began. This sale is held for 5 days, twice a year in Gainesville and has over 500,000 used books. This year we spent $52. That probably doesn't sound like much of a deal but we got 34 books! Mark got 6 hardcover James Patterson books, I got a baby sleep book I've been looking for, and we got Jacob 27 gently used great books! I might have to go back and see if I can find any other steals on Wednesday (it's 10 cent day). The original price of all the books was $346.10+ (I couldn't find the original price for 3 of them.)
So, as one of our favorite baggers at Publix says, "That's a good deal"!
The day care that we hope Jacob gets into (he's currently #8 on the waiting list) just relocated one of their centers and had a yard sale last Thursday.
I spent $6 and got:
- An outdoor table for Jacob (yes, it's a little premature but he'll use it before we know it) for $2. Similar to this one, except ours is yellow, green and purple.
- A glue gun (for future craft projects) for $1.
- A huge tupperware box full of toys. $3 He now has two new activity mats, another mirror, and LOTS of fun baby toys.
Then, on Saturday, the Fall Friends of the Library Book Sale began. This sale is held for 5 days, twice a year in Gainesville and has over 500,000 used books. This year we spent $52. That probably doesn't sound like much of a deal but we got 34 books! Mark got 6 hardcover James Patterson books, I got a baby sleep book I've been looking for, and we got Jacob 27 gently used great books! I might have to go back and see if I can find any other steals on Wednesday (it's 10 cent day). The original price of all the books was $346.10+ (I couldn't find the original price for 3 of them.)
So, as one of our favorite baggers at Publix says, "That's a good deal"!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Mom's Visit
A few weeks ago Mom came to visit and we had a wonderful time. She watched Jacob while I went to work for a few hours one day, she cleaned, cooked us delicious means, and made Jacob a very fun mobile and super cute Halloween costume. She brought the Fall weather with her from Virginia and we were able to open the windows and go on many walks to enjoy the fresh air. We went to get our hair cut (switching places so one of us was with Jacob all the time), went out to a yummy local restaurant for lunch, and she even snapped a few pictures of Jacob and me (I'm starting to realize I don't have too many of those because I'm always the one with the camera in my hand). As for the Halloween costume, you'll have to wait a couple more weeks to see the outcome of that wonderful creation :-). It's not often that Mom and I get to spend so much time together but I think we both agree it was a great visit! Thanks for coming Mom!
Jacob supervising the mobile making.
The final product. . . my pictures don't do it justice.
Above is the mobile, inspired by one I saw on Land of Nod but it only cost $2 as opposed to $100+. Jacob loves it!
Jacob and Mommy
He loves the sling!
Bathtime
Jacob loves bathtime . . . with one exception, washing his hair! Even if he's tired and fussy, he is a happy little guy as soon as we put him in his bathtub. He stays happy until we start to wash his hair and then life gets pretty miserable. Mark and I have tried so many different things to make him happy during the two minutes his hair is being washed. We sing, we dance, we make faces, we wash it first, we wash it last . . . nothing works. Below is a photo progression of Jacob's bath time.
Ready for his bath
Watching Daddy put soap on the washcloth
Having a little chat with Dad
Clean feet
Oh no, here we go . . . DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR!
That was horrible, why do you guys have to do that to me!?!
Ready for his bath
Watching Daddy put soap on the washcloth
Having a little chat with Dad
Clean feet
Oh no, here we go . . . DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR!
That was horrible, why do you guys have to do that to me!?!Tonight, I am proud to say we made it though an entire bath without crying. I'm not sure what changed, but we even got a video of the little man laughing while Daddy was washing his hair and he appeared to be having a good time. Let's hope it wasn't a one time thing.
He did it . . . and Mommy missed it!
While I was at work on Saturday, Jacob sucked his thumb for the first time. He's been trying so hard for the past couple of weeks and he finally figured it out. Daddy got a cute video (thank goodness) because it hasn't happened again yet for Mommy to see. Here's a video of Jacob, in the Baby Bjorn with Daddy, sucking his thumb for the first time.
11 weeks old
Jacob is 11 weeks old today and he gets more fun everyday! This weekend I worked Friday afternoon and Saturday so Jacob and Daddy had some father/son bonding time. They had a good time together and kept busy going on walks, baking bread, and working in the yard.
Sunday the three of us went to the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. They had free admission this weekend for their Fall plant sale and Orchid Show. It was a beautiful day to spend outside and we all enjoyed walking around the gardens.
Here's a link to another morning conversation with Jacob. This morning he was laying in his crib talking up a storm. Of course when I took the camera in it distracted him, but he still managed to tell me a few things :-).
Sunday the three of us went to the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. They had free admission this weekend for their Fall plant sale and Orchid Show. It was a beautiful day to spend outside and we all enjoyed walking around the gardens.
Here's a link to another morning conversation with Jacob. This morning he was laying in his crib talking up a storm. Of course when I took the camera in it distracted him, but he still managed to tell me a few things :-).
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