January 27, 2005
I have been thinking about it and although I am going on and on about how I am trying to get Ethan on a schedule, we are doing pretty well. We wake up in the morning at 7. He eats, we go on a walk and then come home for his first nap. I shower and clean up and make the bed. All of this is done before 9 in the morning. Every day. I read my bible, I have time to pray. I didn't even get that much accomplished prior to life with a baby. Everyone keeps telling me I am lucky if I get a shower in the morning. Well, I even have time to put on makeup and do my hair, so I can't complain. Things are going really well and I love having him around. I am enjoying being a mommy and he is such a good little boy. I love him to pieces.
January 26, 2005
Twenty four hours later and he is still fighting his naps. He will fall asleep, but wakes up frequently and cries out to let me know he is still here and he isn't liking this nap thing. I know he will eventually get it and that it is for his own good.
On another note, my two month old is now wearing 3-6 month size clothes. We are guessing he weighs about 14 pounds right now. He's a big boy.
January 25, 2005
Ethan is screaming his head off right now and it is hard for me to sit here and listen to it. I am trying to get him to take naps in his crib. Up to this point, his naps were very irregular. I am sure he wasn't taking as many as he should have been either. So, yesterday I decided to let him cry. And he does cry. For about 25 minutes. Then he sleeps for about 25 minutes. Then he wakes up and cries some more until he has been in there for about an hour and a half. It has to get better. Sooner or later, he'll get it and he will sleep. But this part is no fun at all. Poor little guy.
January 24, 2005
Last Saturday was Shane's birthday. Around lunch time, I asked him what he wanted to eat and he said pizza from this little pizza place down the road. We had never ordered from there before so I got out the phone book and ordered a pizza. They had 2 locations listed, one in our town and one in the next town over. I was told it would be ready in 15 minutes, so in 15 minutes I left to pick up the pizza. The place is literally a minute from our house. I get there and there are no customers there.
"I am here to pick up an order for Erika," I said.
"We don't have an order for Erika," they replied.
Strange. They have three locations, they said. Maybe you called the one just up the road, they suggested.
So, I got in the car and drove to the other location. No pizza for Erika. I am frustrated. I feel so stupid. I don't have my cell phone on me and I left Ethan at home, crying with Shane. I was only supposed to be gone a few minutes and I am thinking he will be worried. I also don't want to have to drive all the way across town to get a stupid pizza when I can drive a minute and get one. I didn't even plan on eating the pizza. So, I head home empty handed. They had taken my name when I ordered, but not my phone number and, as awful as it is, I didn't go get the pizza. A pepperoni and olive pizza went to waste and I ruined Shane's birthday.
So, last night. We decide to order pizza. I have a flyer this time with the right phone number. I call and place my order. The girl asks me my name and my phone number this time. After telling her my name, she says "You know we are located on East Vista Way, right?"
I am so embarrassed. I am thinking they have this sign next to the register with my name on it and that I am a crank orderer or something and she knows it's me and is not going to let me get away with it again. Who knows if she did or if it was just a coincidence, but I was so ashamed that I stood up that pizza. How would she know I was that Erika? I immediately wished I had made up a fake name or something. I then had to walk into the place to pick up the pizza. By that time, I had had a half an hour to compose myself. They didn't shoot me or confront me about it. I couldn't see a note by the register with my name on it. I don't think they spit on our pizza. It all worked out okay and I learned my lesson, I guess. Pay more attention when using the phonebook. Read the actual addresses. Or, make Shane order his own pizza, even if it is his birthday.
January 21, 2005
I spent this last week fighting a cold and I think the cold won. We all had a touch of it, although I think it is finally on it's way out. I never get sick. I don't know if it is because I have a super immune system due to my job or if it's just luck, but I can't remember the last time I was sick. This week it hit me. I had it the worst of the three of us. It wiped me out on Wednesday when I found myself with serious chills in the middle of the day and it was 85 degrees outside. I covered up on the couch and after a while decided to check my temperature. 102.1. What!? It got worse. I felt achy and woozy and spent the rest of the day in bed. I felt a little better the next day, but I still can't get over how crappy I felt. I am glad it didn't last long and now I have a stuffed up nose, but that's about it. Thankfully, Ethan has made it through with just a bit of a stuffy nose. I am dreading the first time he is sick and hoping it won't happen for a while. Or ever.
January 17, 2005
Ethan is getting so big. We took him to the doctor a week ago and he weighed 12 pounds. He is almost 7 weeks old and he is starting to interact a little bit more. He has been smiling since the day he was born, but now he will smile with purpose at times. He coos all the time. We were at church yesterday and he talked through the whole service. It sounds so very cute. His favorite thing to talk to and smile at is his mobile in his crib. It's got two bears dressed up like cowboys, a horse, and a cow. His favorite is the horse and he will track it as it spins around. He will smile in anticipation of the mobile being turned on and he will lay there watching it go round and round while he talks away. It is adorable. He is adorable.
Shane fed Ethan his first bottle last night. We are going to try to get him used to it in anticipation of my return to work. He did pretty well with it and I think Shane enjoyed it. My six weeks of maternity leave ended last Friday. I am taking six additional weeks of baby bonding time, so it looks like March 9th will be my last day off. I am so thankful to be able to take this time off and to stay home. I am not sure how I feel about going back. Part of me is dreading it and part of me thinks it might be nice to get out and have a break. I just keep thinking about all the things I have to do to get ready for work and to get Ethan ready when I have to go and the long days. And I am stressed out because I have a million different passwords and I am not sure I remember them. For some reason, that is what is stressing me out the most right now. Remembering my passwords.
Got to go. Baby crying.
January 3, 2005
Ethan is asleep right now. In his crib. I caved in last night and decided we would try the pacifier. He was just so unhappy last night and could not be soothed. After several minutes of encouraging him to suck on his thumb (he does suck his thumb when he can find it), we decided why not just try the pacifier. Could it be any worse than encouraging him to be a thumb sucker? So, he is asleep. He has a hard time keeping the thing in his mouth, but when he gets the sucking rhythm going, he is content and falls asleep. I had originally wanted to skip the pacifier and I know we might just be creating another problem we will have to deal with later, but for now, it is good. We will deal with it later. I don't know what to do with myself. I have both hands free. I can eat my lunch like a normal person. I can sweep with both hands. I can type with both hands. He can sleep peacefully. In his crib. And he looks pretty cute with the little thing in his mouth.
January 1, 2005
I haven't had much time to write lately. Ethan is one month old today. It is hard for me to believe it has been a month, but it also seems like he has always been here. I can't remember life before Ethan. He pretty much runs the show, although we are trying to fool him into believing that it is his mommy and daddy that are in control. He is a good kid. He is so very sweet and he sleeps really well at night in his bassinet. The problem I am currently facing is that he wants to cuddle all of the time. I told you he was sweet. He doesn't like to be put down. He will fall asleep while being held. He will be so deep in sleep, but within ten to twenty minutes of being put down in any number of places he has to sleep, he wakes up and is very unhappy. This only happens during the day, which makes it almost impossible to get anything done unless I let him scream for a while. I have decided that I am going to try to let him cry it out, placing him in his crib awake for his naps and try to get him used to sleeping in the crib and to taking naps without being held. It has only been a day and I have tried this twice so far. The first time he cried and cried and I eventually picked him up, thinking I had let him cry long enough. The second time, he did go to sleep and slept for about a half an hour, which was a start. I really want to get his naps under control before it's too late and I want him to get used to his crib so he will sleep there throughout the night when the time comes. He is close to outgrowing his bassinet already.
Anyway, all my time and thoughts are about baby. He is waking up right now and it is about time to feed the little guy.
Happy one month birthday, Ethan!
Oh, and Happy New Year!
