amybugsss

Whew, I can’t believe the holidays are over already. What a blur. Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous night with your little angels. 

Ours was a decidedly quiet ringing-in of 2008…that makes two years in a row! But I don’t mind, we had a fun, special day, just our family. We took Codey for a walk in the morning, then came back and made a huge breakfast and spent the rest of the morning just kind of lounging around and trying to relax after the chaos that was the last month. We did a little mini-celebration any time we noticed a different time zone around the world hit midnight…kisses all around. That night Kevin and I made a big dinner of all our favorite foods, put Codey to bed, and then tried to keep each other awake until midnight. Not so easy! We were both dozing in front of the TV and later crawled into bed. Boring, I know. But we had a lovely night. 2007 was such a special year for Kevin and me - I can’t believe Codey turns one year old in less than a month! - and we both have so much to be thankful for. And this year will, I’m sure, be no less eventful: Codey will start really talking and walking and then running…he’ll be a little boy before I know it!

Christmas was fun, relatively speaking.  Codey was truly bored with the whole production. He couldn’t have cared less about all his presents and just wanted to play with the shiny bows and eat the paper. Oh well, next year maybe he’ll be more enthused!

Do you ladies make New Year’s resolutions? I try to make them throughout the year so I don’t wait around until the end of the year to make positive changes… I hope you all have a healthy and happy 2008 and your families continue to thrive!

Who knew Christmas could be so much fun with a baby? Okay, maybe a few million parents, grandparents, and extended family out there, but I didn’t! Everything is so new and exciting for Codey and although he doesn’t have a clue what’s going on, he loves everything about it. He loves the flashing Christmas lights, went crazy for the ornaments - especially if they jingled or had tassels - and has crammed a couple of clandestine handful of pine needles in his mouth (tons of fun to try to get those out, let me tell you!). I’m pretty sure Christmas trees are not part of a well baby-proofed house.

As much as I am impatient for Codey to be old enough to really appreciate Christmas and get more out of it, I must admit that his oblivion to the holiday does make shopping for him much easier. I take him into the store with me and do a sort of test-drive with the toys I’m thinking of buying for him. If he seems to like it, I know I’ve got a winner. No sneaking around for me … yet.

Codey has really gotten the hang of crawling in the last couple of weeks. He was a little sketchy on getting all the components working in tandem and has been kind of shuffling and scooting for a while, but it seems like all of a sudden one day, it just clicked and he was off! He’s crawling all over the place now and is getting into everything. We thought we’d baby-proofed the house pretty well…but leave it to Codey to find the one thing we forgot to secure or put out of reach! It’s like he’s got radar for that stuff. But it’s so exciting to see him crawling, and he’s pretty pleased with himself too!

The downside of this increasing mobility is that he’s starting to hate his car seat. What happened to the little car sleeper I so adored? A drive in the car was our sure-fire way to calm him down if he was fussy - now he’s fine until we put him in his seat and then starts to fuss.

He’s so curious about everything around him and wants to check it all out and the car seat is obviously not conducive to any sort of exploration. Is this just a phase, or will it only get worse once he starts walking?

He’s also getting the hang of standing while holding on to furniture. He can’t quite pull himself up, but if we get him up, he’ll stand there for a few moments and bounce up and down on his legs before losing his balance and starting to wobble. He gets so excited - he thinks standing is the greatest thing since the binky!

Codey’s like the Energizer Bunny - if we stop walking him around for a minute he throws a fit, so off we go again. And he’s off to everywhere and then back again - over to her favorite toy, back to the couch, over to the window, cruise by Scooter and try to pet him before he darts out of reach, back to his toy. 

Have any of you gone back on parenting vows you made before you had kids - now that reality has hit and it’s useless to keep up the charade of being the perfect mom? For instance, I always vowed that I’d never let the TV babysit my kids. But I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve actually started using a Baby Einstein DVD and Baby ABC as a babysitter while I grab a quick shower or do the dishes or cook dinner. I just strap Codey in his car seat and he’s entertained for at least a little while and it gives me some freedom. A friend of mine had a Baby Einstein DVD and I was really impressed when I watched it at his house. I figure, at least it’s educational and Codey loves it - he’s completely enthralled when it’s on.

I’m losing my mind. I swear, I’m going over the edge. The good news: Codey is cutting his first tooth and we’re so excited that he’s getting to be such a big boy. The bad news: he’s having a bad time of it and we’re all suffering along with him. The poor thing is cranky and obviously in pain, which I kind of expected with teething; but I didn’t realize it would keep him up at night and put him on a feeding strike. He’s already fussy when he’s hungry, but now, it’s painful for him to eat anything, so he stops eating and is hungry as well as in pain and is just miserable. He’s also been up several times a night in the last week…so, of course, so have we. We’re exhausted and I’m just so glad that it’s Friday. Hopefully, he’ll get over this tooth quickly so we can get a break! Are babies so uncomfortable with every tooth, or is it just the first one? If we go through this with all 20 baby teeth…I don’t even want to think about it!

He’s been such a calm, happy baby in the last couple of months - all smiles and giggles - we made the mistake of bragging to our friends about what a good baby he is.

It looks like it’s one of his front teeth on the bottom that’s coming in - his gums are swollen and red right there. I feel so bad for him, but I don’t know how to help him. I’ve given him a frozen teething ring to gnaw on, but I don’t know what else to do.

Codey is now four months old and I’ve got to get myself back into shape. Personally, I don’t agree with all the celebs who starve themselves and work out twice a day as soon as they’re discharged from the maternity ward just to get back into their size M jeans. I’m all for giving ourselves a break to ease back into it and get settled into the routine of being a mom (especially with the first baby!)…but it’s officially time for me to turn the baby flab back into fab! The belly’s got to go! Kevin still swears he loves the new (or not-so-new anymore) curves, but I kind of liked my old body and I miss the endorphin high I got from my regular workouts. And not least of all, my wardrobe is not accommodating my new size very well. My maternity clothes are obviously too big, but I still can’t fit into some of my pre-pregnancy pants and skirts, so I’m stuck in a fashion no-man’s land. Since Codey was born, my workouts have consisted mostly of walking for an hour here and there… It’s so hard to make time and find the energy!  There’s got to be some way to fit it all in!

I can’t believe how big Codey seems to be getting all of a sudden! I swear he does something new every other day. He’s been rolling over tummy to back for a few weeks and seems to be close to rolling over from his back to his tummy, but hasn’t quite got all the way over. And he laughed for the first time last week! He absolutely loves baths and has discovered the fun he can have splashing and kicking in the water (I swear he loves it even more when Mommy gets soaking wet!) and he just let out a little laugh/gurgle, but it was distinctly different from the gurgles and coos he’s been making lately - definitely more of a laugh.

Kevin and I had a bit of a rough weekend, though. I had a date with my girlfriends for a much-needed brunch and afternoon of shopping and had planned to leave Codey with Kevin so I could have a few hours to myself. I had told Kevin of my plans ages ago, but of course, he claims I never mentioned it. Ha! The end result being he had also made plans with his buddies (needless to say, baby-less). We started arguing, both of us contending that we deserved the day "off" more than the other. Kevin kept insisting that I could more easily take Codey with me since we were just going to be sitting around talking and eating anyway. But ultimately he couldn’t argue with the fact that I’d carried, given birth to, and had his attached to my boobs for the last four and a half months, so I won my day to "sit around and gossip." Yay! It was great fun to be out and about for a few hours and catch up with the girls, but then I did start to miss my beautiful little baby and was really glad when I finally headed home. It’s amazing how odd I now feel when he’s not with me; he’s become such an integral part of me. I think it was really good for Kevin to be home alone with Codey for the day - after all, it doesn’t happen all that often and he’s rarely had to take care of him all on his own. I’m usually there to whisk him away from him if he gets hungry or if he’s fussy and he can’t calm him down after a bit. He’s never really alone with him when he has to figure out what’s wrong all by himself and can’t ask someone else or hand him off. I swear, sometimes I think he believes that I was born with this innate sense of how to calm a crying baby, when in fact it’s an ongoing learning process and I had to (still have to) struggle through many a day alone with him when I couldn’t figure out how to stop her crying and was at my wit’s end.

Do you ladies get a "day off" every once in a while? Does your partner take care of the baby to give you time to do whatever you want?

I can’t believe how quickly the times have flown! I fully intended to continue writing this blog every week after Codey arrived, but, well, here we are…It’s been a handful getting used to this helpless little being that’s now constantly attached to me - exhausting, exhilarating, scary, and wonderful all at the same time. I’m amazed at how he’s put everything in perspective. I’d been told that would happen once he was born, but I guess I underestimated the extent to which he would change everything - and for the better. The insignificant things, like clean dishes or a tidy house, just don’t matter anymore.

The first few weeks with Codey are still a blur, but I know I just kept thinking how natural and right it felt to have a baby; my mothering instincts definitely kicked in, thank God! We didn’t have any problems getting the hang of breastfeeding, fortunately. It’s hysterical to watch Codey - anytime he is placed on his back in the crook of someone’s arm he thinks he’s going to be fed and starts rooting around for a breast.

I’ve just gone back to work, and it’s KILLING me. I cried when I had to leave Codey at daycare the first day. Oh, who am I kidding, it’s been three weeks and I’m still having a hard time driving away in the morning and dashing out of the office as early as possible to bring his home. Thank God I can work from home a couple of days a week and spend more time with him. Granted, it’s impossible to get anything done when Codey’s around, even with our babysitter. I can hear his gurgles and cries and it’s just too tempting to run out and see what he’s doing. I don’t know how well or how long this arrangement will work, but I think it’s the best option for the moment.

Codey is at a really fun, interactive stage right now - gurgling, smiling and kicking his legs when he’s happy. Kevin is so cute - he’ll do just about anything just to get a big smile out of him. He’s learned very quickly how to wrap him around his little finger (that’s my boy!!) and he’s totally content to remain there indefinitely.

Speaking of Kevin, we are doing pretty well as a couple. It’s kind of weird, having a child with him made me feel so much closer to him; yet at the same time, I was so exhausted and focused on Codey for the first couple of months that I feel like we barely interacted. I almost feel like he’s become a stranger of sorts. We haven’t had very much time or energy for meaningful conversations, and forget about sex. I was too sore at first, and have been too tired since. We’ve only had sex a few times, and I have to admit it’s more for his benefit than mine. The first time it was like the poor guy had been lost in the desert and finally spied an oasis! But I just don’t get into it; I still feel disconnected from my body, sexually speaking.

  He’s here! Little Codey made his grand entrance on December 16th, 2006.

Everything’s kind of a blur and I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I’m this little person’s mother and he’s completely dependent on me for everything, but other than that we’re healthy and happy, if not extremely tired. He’s so tiny! Of course, during the last three weeks of my pregnancy and delivery he certainly didn’t feel so small! We’re still trying to get the hang of feeding - it’s been a little rocky so far..

I really didn’t think he was going to come any time soon - thought for sure he was cozy in there and I would go past my due date (the 30th). The day before the delivery i was tidy up a bit and make sure that my co-workers who are covering for me during maternity leave were clear on everything. And finally, I lost my mucus plug on 15th, 3am, and then I felt a little weird when I got up, I went to the bathroom, I thought I was peeing myself again, but then I couldn’t stop the stream and it just kept coming and coming. It finally dawned on me that my water had broken! Thank God I was already in the bathroom!

By the time we got checked in my contractions were still not really strong, and was dilated to 4. I really wanted to give as naturally as possible and I felt that if the baby wasn’t ready to come out, then we shouldn’t rush him.  Kevin was really great through the whole process; definitely a little freaked out when things got intense, but then I was pretty freaked out myself. And I made it through without any drugs but a deep cut on my abdomen.

He was born at 6.17 a.m., measuring 48 cms, 2.7 kgs.  He was such a strong little boy and cried like a champ.

I’m finally starting to put on my baby fat!!