Playing Catch Up

Okay folks, I don't have a lot of time here.  The Babe is down for a nap and has a nasty habit of waking up just as I start to get productive (you know, like when I eat lunch or something).  So let me catch you up on my life since my last post.

You already know that I started back to work and that Nathan doesn't like to be left at Daycare.  Hmm, maybe you don't.  Okay - January 3rd I started back to work.  Nathan cries every single time I leave him at daycare.  Which really sucks because I know that he likes to play with the other kids there.  At first we would distract him and I would sneak away, that worked a few times.  Then he caught on.  Now it's harder and harder to leave him.  I usually end up sitting there with him for 20 - 30 minutes while he settles in.  He still cries when I leave but only for a few minutes.  The one day that I couldn't do that he cried for hours.

So 2 weeks into the new year, and me back at work, Hubby gets laid off.  This came as a total shock to us as he works for a very large and stable company.  Basically they have acquired a couple of new divisions and had some duplication of work and they opted to lay off the people in our city.  It was a small layoff, only a handful of people, but it was still a shock.  He hadn't been there a year yet so there was no severance or anything.  But, on the bright side, I don't have to take Nathan to daycare anymore!

It's no big secret that I don't really like my job.  Well, that's not entirely true, I do like my job, but I'm over it.  I've been there since 2002 and it was time for some new challenges several years ago.  So I suggested to Hubby that we use his layoff as an opportunity to potentially relocate.  We have no family where we live, and Nathan is not in school yet, so now is a good time to move.  He isn't limiting his search to out of province but he has expanded it there.

So you haven't heard from me lately (unless you follow me on Twitter) because I am now 1- working full time, 2 - spending my time at home with Nathan so Hubby gets a break and can search for work, and 3 - I'm more exhausted than ever!  Believe me I'd love to be using this blog as an outlet for what's happening, but I never get computer time at home anymore and my darn morals and ethics won't let me use company time to blog!  I could blog from my phone but I have way too much to say for that tiny keyboard.

I promise to try to do better to keep you updated on what's happening.  Right now we're in hurry up and wait mode.

I will leave you of a recent photo of my beloved progeny, helping me with the laundry.

New Obsession

I know that by now you've all heard of Pinterest. If you haven't, where have you been? The best way that I can describe it is that it's like a virtual bulletin board for you to sort anything from recipes to home decor ideas.

Tonight I decided to try one of my "pins", the one for a "Mug Cake". You can Goggle it and hundreds of pages come up with as many recipes. I'm normally not a fan of chocolate but AF arrived this morning. In light of this I chose a brownie recipe.

Here it is all mixed up and ready for the microwave:

Here it is 1 minute later (I added the marshmallows):





Yum!





Very tasty! I will definitely try this again.

- Posted from my iPhone

Santa Fail - Part Deux!

Better luck next year.

- Posted from my iPhone

Santa Fail!

The photographer who has taken all of our photos this past year brings Santa into his studio each year.  He charges only slightly more than the mall, plus you get a booked appointment time and your photos are taken by a professional.  Yesterday was Santa day.

Our day did not start out well.  Nathan (and hence me) slept horribly the night before.  I tried to get him to nap around 9 am.  He did fall asleep but woke up as soon as I placed him in his crib.  We left the house at 11:20 for our appointment.  The drive took us about 25 minutes - of which Nathan slept 20 minutes.  The studio was very busy with lots of kids in pyjamas waiting for their photo with Santa.

Chris (the photographer) told me to stay in the lobby and get Nathan all ready.  He got himself and Santa ready in the studio.  Then he called my name and said to just walk in, put N on Santa's lap and back away.  All the while Chris was making lots of distracting noises for N.  No dice. My boy will not be fooled!  He started wailing the second that I let him go!

In the interest of full disclosure I was truly not expecting him to be all happy and excited to see Santa.  Let's face it, Santa can be pretty scary to an almost 1 year old!

Since I've known Chris for a number of years, and referred lots of business his way, he told me to hang out in the studio to let Nathan chill out.  And chill out he did.  He even laughed at Chris' antics while he was trying to get the next kid to smile.

So we tried again.  This time I suggested we give him a candy cane to chew on to distract him.  Nathan loved that idea!  So our second try at a photo resulting in him screaming with a candy cane in his mouth!

No worries, I selected the first shot of him wailing on Santa's knee.  I figure that I can use it to embarrass him with when he's older.  Besides, he's still cute!

After that adventure I went across the street to the pottery place and we made our tree ornament for 2011.  Here it is before I add the date.

By the time the ornament is ready, the photos should be too.  I can't wait to see both of the finished products!

Raising A Reader

Both Hubby & I love to read. It's very important to me that Nathan learn to love a book as well. I have great memories of reading books with my dad when I was young.

Nathan is so busy and is always up to something it seems. It's hard to imagine that he ever stops long enough to hear us read to him. But he does. He already has his favourites. I captured these images off the webcam that we have over his crib.

Here he is reading his book when he wakes up from his nap:

Then he looks over and sees his toy:




And he brings his toy over:




And proceeds to read with him:




I love scrolling through these photos on my phone. So cute!


- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Raising a Reader

It's Halloween, Don't be Cheap!

It's Halloween!  And unless you live in the eastern part of North America, it's going to be a pretty nice fall day.  (sorry, Nor'easterners, I don't feel bad for you.  I've trick or treated in -20C weather with snow up to my waist as a child.  It's called building character).

Expect to see photos of Nathan on his first Halloween in a day or two, but that's not what I wanted to write about today.

I've been reading a blog written by a former friend.  While we are no longer friends, I still care about her family.  She's been blogging about how much debt they have and how they are trying to climb out from under it (I debated sharing the link, but I don't think that she knows I've been reading).  I do feel really bad for them.  It's definitely hard to raise kids on a budget and I can't imagine trying to raise 3 kids while having $500K in debt!

So the other day she writes about how they are cutting back.  One way that they are cutting back is by not buying any Halloween candy.  They fully intent to take their 3 kids door to door to collect candy, but they are not going to reciprocate to the other children in the neighbourhood.

I have no problem if you do not want to hand out Halloween candy.  I truly don't.  Turn off your porch light and be done with it.  But I do have a problem with accepting candy from others for your 3 kids, and not handing any out in return.  If you want your kids to have the experience but don't want to take part in it yourself, then take them to the mall to Trick or Treat.

I also have a problem when people say that it's "too expensive".  That's crap.  You don't have to buy expensive candy to give out (like chocolate bars or potato chips), there are other candies out there. Plus, if you wait until a couple of days before Halloween, it's always on sale.

This year I spent a whopping $1 on our Halloween candy!  Last month the grocery store was clearing out their stock of freezies, so I bought a bag.  I've handed them out in the past and the kids love them. Sometimes you just have to be creative!

Have a great (and safe) Halloween!

So, So Tired

If you Google "sleeping baby images" thousands of images of sleeping babies come up.  None of which are our child.  At 10 and a half months, Nathan still does not sleep through the night, nor does he make up for it with naps.

When he was born he was only 5 lbs, 7oz.  When we left the hospital he was only 5 lbs.  The doctors, nurses and the lactation consultant said to wake him to eat every 3 hours - and this is where I think our problems began.  Yes, it was important that he eat, but I still wonder how long he would have slept if we hadn't been waking him up.

As he got older, our family doctor told me outright not to do any "sleep training" with him as he is still very thin and he probably wakes up to eat because he's hungry.  So we're fast approaching his first birthday (much too soon), and he's still skinny, but he's also tall, very active, and meeting his milestones too - but still not sleeping through the night.

A "typical" day for us lately is:

• Nathan wakes up around 7 am (although the past few mornings he's woken up at 6)
• We eat (he often refuses cereal and just wants a portion of a bottle - he's a morning grazer)
• We play - he will watch Baby T.V. while I eat and read e-mail
• He goes for a bath
• And, usually, he will nap about 3 hours after he wakes up.  This gives me 30 minutes to get dressed, make the bed, clean the kitchen, and basically get ready for the rest of the day.  Yes, you read that right - 30 minutes.
• After he gets up we'll either go and run some errands or just hang out until Hubby comes home for lunch.  I try to avoid running errands near "nap time" because I'd rather he sleep in his crib than in the car
• The afternoon usually consists of another nap of approx. 30 minutes and, if we didn't go out in the morning, an outing (errands, walk, etc).
• He's usually due for a nap around 5 pm but this is when he starts to fight it.  By 6:30 he's really pushing it but by now I don't want him to nap because it's close to bedtime.
• By 7:30 - 8pm it is bedtime.  Either Hubby or I will take him up, give him a bottle and put him to bed.

And this is where it gets ugly.  Last night for example:

• 7:30 pm - Nathan goes to bed
• 9:30 pm - Nathan wakes up - I go in to rock him back to sleep
• 10:30 pm - Nathan wakes up - I go in to rock him back to sleep.  As soon as I put him back in the crib, he wakes up.  Repeat the process 4 times.  
• 11:30 pm - Nathan still awake and getting very upset.  Give in, make up a bottle - he sucks back 6 oz of formula like he's starved.  
• 11:45 pm - Nathan dozing.  Continue to rock him in the chair for 15 minutes to make sure he's really asleep.
• 12 (midnight) - put him back in crib.  Nathan wakes up.  Pick him up, rock him.  He proceeds to wake up each time I try to sit.
• 12:30 am - Ensure that he is mostly asleep, bring him into bed with me.  Ensuring that at least I will get some sleep.
• 5:30 am - Nathan starts to stir - Mom gets kicked repeatedly
• 5:30 - 6 am - ignore baby in bed hoping he goes back to sleep
• 6 am - give in.  Go back to Nathan's room.  Change diaper, make up another bottle.  Bottle gives Nathan sudden burst of energy.
• 6:15 am - still in denial.  Hoping if I continue to rock that the motion will put him to sleep.  
• 6:25 am - realize that I have no control.  Look at cat sleeping on my bed longingly as I walk by with the baby to start our day.

And this was a good night.  It's not uncommon for him to wake up at 1 am or 3 am to eat and "play" for a couple of hours.  To recap:  yesterday he napped for a total of 1 hour, 20 minutes, then slept off and on for maybe 7 hours last night.  So in the past 24 hour period, my child has slept through roughly 9 hours of it.  This can't be normal!  Right now I'm blaming teething, but nothing that I seem to do to help him, has helped me.

My only saving grace is that he's a very happy child.  Thank goodness for that!