Birthday Boy!

I am posting this a couple of days late, and my only excuse is to say that this is the first moment I've had to just sit down quietly. E is sound asleep, exhausted from a morning of "swimming" with his cousins, and the hubby is snoozing away next to me as I type this. E's birthday was actually two days ago. I cannot believe he is a year old already. I don't know where the time has gone. He seemed to want to celebrate by becoming a pro at walking. He went from taking a few steps here and there to walking nearly everywhere he went. He is such a big boy, and it's hard not to feel proud of him, though I'm sure, as my mother warned me this morning, my own method of "getting around" is about to change from walking to running. Already this morning he gave me a few grey hairs by diving into the shower with his father and then later attempting to climb into the tub again on his own.

I think that the big birthday bash was a success. I didn't get all of the cool crafty stuff I wanted done, but in the end it didn't really matter. Here are the highlights:

He opened his gifts from hubby and I in the morning, since we figured he'd have plenty to open at his party. He loved the Fisher Price Zoo!

Mmmm....Birthday Dinner!

He wasn't as interested in presents as he was in showing off his new walking skills, but we did get him to help us out with a few of them. He LOVED his new police car!

He really loved in when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

His cake was seriously, the cutest. ever. Really. Take a look. He thought so too, I'm sure, since he wasn't terribly eager to smash it, and only made a small mess. He did seems quite content to gnaw on the dino's head.

 Overall, not a bad day! Happy birthday to my little man, and I hope this next year is full of fun and discovery for you!

Feeling Down

I found this beautiful quote on Pinterest, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Unfortunately, though I try my best to be a good mother, there are times when I feel like absolute crap about the job that I'm doing. Today (and even yesterday) is absolutely one of those days.

I can get frustrated pretty quickly these days and sometimes I yell (not really a normal part of my life, but definitely more common now that I don't get a lot of sleep). Now, I realize that most parents yell at their children from time to time. I am afraid of becoming one of "those" moms - you know, the ones that seem to yell or snap at their children constantly?

Seriously, I spent more than five minutes trying to open a jam jar yesterday, and to tell the honest truth, by the time I was done I wanted to throw that stupid jar across the room. Sure it'd break, but at least then I'd have access to the jam, right? Instead I growled/yelled in frustration (yes, I realize that jam isn't that important) and "dropped" (more like spiked) the cloth I was using to help onto the counter.

At that point I looked over and saw E watching me from his high chair, a look of interest on his face. And then my heart sunk. What kind of example am I setting for my son, to get so frustrated over a stupid jar of jam? Then I watched him today, his nearly one-year-old self having a complete meltdown because a toy wasn't behaving exactly as he wanted it too. And then another one because he couldn't reach one toy unless he let go of the other he was holding on to. And then another because I pulled him off of the bookshelf. And yet another for I-don't-know-what reason.

I realize that infants and toddlers (E is currently somewhere in between the two states) have limited ways to express themselves and that tantrums are a fairly normal occurrence. But isn't it my job to be teaching him to express his feelings in a healthier way? And shouldn't I be setting a better example right from the get-go? Take away some of my good mommy points.

So my not-so-New-Years (middle of the year?) resolution is to start managing my own frustration better, so that I can be a better example for my child. In the meantime, I'm trying to remind myself that E is a happy (usually very happy - bad day today I guess), growing child. And he's learning new things every day. That must mean that I'm doing something right. I'm not a perfect-parent - we've all heard it said that there is no such thing - but I'd sure like to get as close to it as I can. I just keep doing the best I can and hopefully I'll learn from my mistakes. And I hope that E will be patient with me too, because when it comes to life I have just as much to learn as he does.

Bring on the Birthday Bash

Okay, so E's first birthday party is not for another two weeks, which makes me happy because I have so much to do. (Besides, I really can't believe he's almost a year old.) I'm super excited for our dinosaur theme, though it seems his birthday outfit doesn't fit and the sign I ordered wasn't printed right. Oh well. I thought I'd make up for that with a little DIY project that doesn't seem to have turned out too badly.

I made a high chair banner to go around his high chair at the party. It was pretty simple - some scrapbooking paper, cardstock, a plastic cup (for the circles), ribbon, scissors, and a glue stick. I didn't have the presence of mind to take pictures throughout the process, but here is the finished product:

I actually quite like the way it turned out. Who needs a yard sign when you have a high chair banner?

I also want to do a time capsule at his party. I plan to put 3x5 cards together with binder rings and have guests write notes to Emmett as they arrive. The book will go into his time capsule, along with some pictures and a few other keepsakes from his first year. I haven't yet decided when I'll let him open this time capsule. Perhaps when he goes on his mission, gets married, or has a child of his own.

Dear Son, Please Just Go to Sleep

Sleep training is a nightmare, and I don’t mean that in a pun-y way. Our original attempt at sleep training was at the suggestion of our pediatrician, and was a few months ago now. Enter the nightmare. You see, I am one of those mothers that can’t bear to hear my child scream, so “Cry-It-Out” often ended in tears for me too. We made it through the recommended week, and sure enough, little E started sleeping like a champ. Most of the time. Well, sometimes anyway. We got through a few nights without waking up, and when he did wake up it was usually for shorter periods and fewer times a night.

And then came the teeth. Yes, teething is another parental nightmare, especially as it relates to sleep. Suddenly we found ourselves not only back at square one, but so far beyond it that we might as well have never done the sleep training to begin with. E slept better as a newborn than he did after that first round of teething, and there were literally times I watched the sun rise before crawling into bed.

This problem has been growing worse and worse, with E starting to sleep no more than 10 minutes at a time. These “mini naps” were killing us, and my husband and I found ourselves arguing the nights away. With E’s first birthday approaching, we knew we had to do something. So I asked my trusty mommy group for recommendations, and was pointed toward something known as the Ferber Method.

Now, before there is any confusion, let me point out that the Ferber Method still involves letting your child cry-it-out. Rather than letting him scream however, one parent goes in to comfort him in slowly increasing intervals of time, as shown here:

Night 1: 3, 5, 10...10

Night 2: 5, 10, 12 ...12

Night 3: 10, 12, 15....15

Night 4: 12, 15, 17 ...17

Night 5: 15, 17, 20...20

Night 6: 17, 20, 25...25

Night 7: 20, 25, 30....30

Once you reach the longest interval that night, you wait that amount of time each additional time you have to go in to comfort your child. Don’t pick him up, and assign one parent to be “on duty” for the night so that he doesn’t get the idea that he can get something different from the other parent. When you go in, whisper comforting words and, once he’s calmed down, leave him again. Be sure to put him down drowsy. It’s best if he learns to fall asleep without you in the room, so that he doesn’t freak out when he wakes up and his environment is changed. We're having to do this a bit slowly and occasionally stay in the room, but make him stay in his crib, since he's used to falling asleep in our arms.

This is a super-super condensed version of the Ferber Method, mostly courtesy of on of the moms from my mommy group. Dr. Ferber’s Book, “Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems” can tell you much much more. I haven't read it all myself, since we started this as soon as I learned about it. All I have to say is this. So far I am a fan. Since the very first night we tried this, E has slept through the night, his longest streak ever. Tonight will be night seven. The best thing? We have never had to use the intervals past day two. After that first night, he now always goes to sleep within ten minutes. Pretty cool, huh? It’s still a work in progress, but I promise you that I am loving the sleep. We’ll be consistent with it, since we’ve had such success, and since it puts much less stress on everyone involved. I just hope that this sleep training can outlast the next round of teething…*cue ominous music*…

Introduction

Meet "E," the light of my life. I know that sounds cliche but it is so true. Since he was born almost one year ago I have been amazed at the love that has grown and expanded within me, becoming stronger and more tangible every single day. 

E was born on July 26, 2011, after about 21 hours of labor and an hour and a half of pushing. He came a week and a half before his due date and weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 inches long. Now almost a year, he easily weighs 20 or more pounds and and has got legs a mile long. He's an expert crawler and "busy body" and is well on his way to walking.

That polar bear he's posing with is his best buddy (next to the dogs, Toby and Shena.) Just the sight of it brings that contagious smile to his face and he giggles and hugs it as if he hasn't seen it in years. As I mentioned, he loves the dogs too and thinks that everything they do is worth a laugh or two. Now that he's eating "grown-up food" instead of baby food, he enjoys his mealtimes thoroughly (and so do the dogs). E has yet to meet a food he doesn't like.

E is rarely grumpy and always has a smile for everyone he sees. And who can resist that smile? Not mom, for sure. I am certain I smile now more than ever before, and it's all thanks to the joy that he brings into our home. He has been a blessing. My own little angel sent from Heaven. Yep. I'm being sappy. It comes with the territory of being a mom. Get used to it. There's so much more I could share about my little man, but I would probably sit here all day and that would be a very long post. Suffice it to say that he loves exploring his world, and I love helping him do it. I am certain I will learn far more from him than he ever will from me. That is one of the great things about the parent-child relationship. Each learns and grows as they try to figure out life on Earth together.

I suppose I should introduce you to the rest of my family as well.

My husband: an amazing man and even more amazing father. (And yes that's me too.)

And the dogs, Toby and Shena, the furry editions to our family. (Toby is the German Shepherd/Husky mix and Shena is the border collie).

And that's all of us (for now)!