Jun 29, 2010

Day 3 at the Babysitter’s House

I am so thankful that we found a babysitter for Aedan that is willing to be flexible with my work schedule. I think I have mentioned before that she has been watching my nephew for the last 4 years so I felt pretty comfortable sending Aedan to her house. Turns out she is also in charge of the special needs program at the same church where one of my client’s family goes. She has been my little girl’s (I call her my little girl because I did therapy with her 3-5 days a week from the time she was 4 until I went on maternity leave when she was 8) helper at church for 4 years.

Aedan has been to her house 3 times this month. The first time probably went something like this…I drop Aedan off, he cries because he is in his carseat, then he cries because he is tired (he was not taking good naps at the time, more on that later), then he cries some more because he is hungry. She tries to give him a bottle which he refuses and cries more…cycle repeats until I come and pick him up 3 hours later. Okay I don’t think he cried the whole time, I think he slept a little. The second time probably went about the same way with a little more sleeping and still refusing the bottle. She is so nice and just tells me its fine and that he will get more used to being there. I seriously don’t know how she does it. She is super affordable. Like really affordable. I feel like I need to pay her extra for dealing with Aedan. He is super happy when he is fed and had a good nap, but if not he is not a happy person and neither is anyone around him.

Today was day three at her house. This time I feed him at her house (the bottle is still an uphill battle) and as I was leaving he was sitting in her lap smiling and laughing. Sigh of relief. Of course when I came back to pick him up I could hear him crying inside as I knocked on the door. Sigh. She did say he did better today. He played for awhile, and then went down for a 1.5 hour nap easily (yup it looks like we are over the 45 minute nap intruder over here, happy dance!) and woke up happy. He had just gotten mad when she changed his diaper. Okay, I guess that’s better. I just feel so bad, she is taking care of a few other little ones and they always seem happy when I pick-up/drop-off and Aedan is usually crying. He is the youngest one there and he definitely takes a while to warm up to new places and new people (see earlier post on touchy babies). I just hope it continues to get better and we don’t get kicked out of daycare at 3 months old.

-Lauren-

Jun 27, 2010

Baby Personality Quiz

I read the Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems a few weeks ago and really liked it. I’m not sure about solving all my problems, but I did learn a lot about sleep and eating issues at all different ages. In fact now that we are getting close to starting solids with Aedan I have put the book on hold at the library (I love that I can log in and request a book and even if it’s not at the closest branch they will have it there for me in a couple of days). One thing Tracy Hogg (the author) talks about is baby personalities. I found this quiz online that is from her book. I have italicized the statements that best fit Aedan.

1. My baby
A. rarely cries
B. cries only when he’s hungry, tired, or overstimulated (Aedan gets overstimulated a lot though).
C. cries for no apparent reason.
D. cries very loudly, and if I don’t attend to it, he quickly gets into a rage cry.
E. cries a lot of the time.

2. When it’s time for him to go to sleep, my baby
A. lies peacefully in his crib and drifts off to sleep.
B. generally falls asleep easily within twenty minutes.
C. fusses a bit and seems to be drifting off, but then he keeps waking up.
D. is very restless and often needs to be swaddled or held.
E. cries a lot and seems to resent being put down.

3. When he wakes up in the morning, my baby
A. rarely cries – he plays in him crib until I come in.
B. coos and looks around.
C. needs immediate attention or he starts crying.
D. screams.
E. whimpers.

4. My baby smiles
A. at everything and everybody.
B. when prompted.
C. when prompted but sometimes starts to cry within minutes of smiling.
D. a lot and is also very vocal, tending to make very loud baby noises.
E. only under the right circumstances.

5. When I take my baby on any kind of outing, he
A. is extremely portable.
B. is okay as long as where I take him isn’t too busy or unfamiliar.
C. fusses a great deal.
D. is very demanding of my attention.
E. doesn’t like to be handled a lot.

6. When confronted by a friendly stranger cooing at him, my baby
A. immediately smiles.
B. takes a moment and then usually smiles fairly quickly.
C. is likely to cry at first, unless the stranger can win him over.
D. gets very excited.
E. hardly ever smiles.

7. When there’s a loud noise, like a dog barking or a slamming door, my baby
A. is never rattled.
B. notices it but isn’t bothered.
C. flinches visibly and often starts to cry.
D. gets loud himself.
E. starts to cry.

8. When I first gave my baby a bath
A. he took to the water like a duck.
B. he was a little surprised at the sensation, but liked it almost immediately.
C. he was very sensitive – he shook a little and seemed afraid.
D. he was wild – flailing about and splashing.
E. he hated it and cried.

9. My baby’s body language is typically
A. relaxed and alert almost always.
B. relaxed most of the time.
C. tense and very reactive to external stimuli.
D. jerky – his arms and legs are often flailing all over the place.
E. rigid – arms and legs are often fairly stiff.

10. My baby makes loud, aggressive noises
A. once in a while.
B. only when he’s playing and is highly stimulated.
C. hardly ever.
D. often.
E. when he’s angry.

11. When I change my baby’s diaper, bathe him, or dress him
A. he always takes it in stride.
B. he is okay if I do it slowly and let him know what I’m doing.
C. is often cranky, as if he can’t stand being naked.
D. wriggles a lot and tries to pull everything off the changing table.
E. he hates it – dressing is always a battle.

12. If I suddenly bring my baby into a bright light, like sunlight or fluorescent light, he
A. takes it in stride.
B. can sometimes act startled.
C. blinks excessively or tries to turn his head away from the light.
D. becomes overstimulated.
E. acts annoyed.

13a. If you bottle-feed: When I feed my baby, he
A. Always sucks properly, pay attention, and usually eats within twenty minutes.
B. is a little erratic during growth spurts but generally a good eater.
C. is very squirmy and takes a long time to finish the bottle. (when he actually decides to take a bottle, which is rare)
D. grabs at the bottle aggressively and tends to overeat.
E. is often cranky and feedings take a long time.

13b. If you breastfeed: When I feed my baby, he
A. latches on immediately – it was a snap right from day one.
B. took a day or two to latch on properly, but now we do fine.
C. always wants to suckle but goes on and off the breast, as if he’s forgotten how to nurse.
D. eats well as long as I hold him the way he wants me to.
E. gets very annoyed and restless, as if I don’t have enough milk for him.

14. The comment that best describes the communication between my baby and me is
A. he always lets me know exactly what he needs.
B. most of the time his cues are easy to read.
C. he confuses me; sometimes he even cries at me.
D. he asserts his likes and dislikes very clearly and often loudly.
E. he usually gets my attention with loud, angry crying.

15. When we go to a family gather and lots of people want to hold him, my baby
A. is very adaptable.
B. is somewhat selective about whom he’ll go to.
C. cries easily if too many people hold him.
D. might cry or even try to lurch out of someone’s arms if he doesn’t feel comfortable.
E. refuses anyone’s arms except Mummy’s or Daddy’s.

16. When we come home from any kind of outing, my baby
A. settles in easily and immediately.
B. takes a few minutes to get acclimated.
C. tends to be very fussy.
D. is often overstimulated and hard to calm down.
E. acts angry and miserable.

17. My baby
A. can amuse himself for long periods by staring at anything, even the slats in the crib.
B. can play on him own for around fifteen minutes.
C. finds it hard to be amused in unfamiliar surroundings.
D. needs a lot of stimulation to be amused.
E. is not easily amused by anything.

18. The most noticeable thing about my baby is how
A. incredibly well-behaved and easy he is.
B. much he is developing precisely on schedule – just like the books said he would.
C. sensitive he is to everything.
D. aggressive he is.
E. grouchy he can be.

19. My baby seems to
A. feel utterly safe in his own bed (crib).
B. prefer his bed most of the time.
C. feel insecure in his bed.
D. act feisty, like his bed is a prison.
E. resent being put down into his bed.

20. A comment that best describes my baby is that
A. you hardly know there’s a baby in the house – he’s good as gold.
B. he’s easy to handle, easy to predict.
C. he’s a very delicate little thing.
D. I fear when he begins crawling, he’s going to get into everything.
E. he’s an “old soul” – he acts like he’s been here before.

To score the self-test above, write A, B, C, D, and E on a piece of paper and next to each one, count how many times you’ve used each letter, which denotes a corresponding type.
A’s = Angel baby
B’s = Textbook baby
C’s = Touchy baby
D’s = Spirited baby
E’s = Grumpy baby

Here is what Aedan got: A=1, B=7, C=7, D=4, and E=1. So Aedan is a textbook, touchy baby with a few spirited characteristics mixed in. After reading the descriptions I think they are pretty accurate.

Here is a little description of all the personality types…

Angel babies are good as gold. They are mellow, eternally smiling, and consistently undemanding. Their cues are easy to read. They are not bothered by new surroundings and they are extremely portable. They feed, play, and sleep easily, and usually don’t cry when they wake up. They easily amuse themselves when they wake up in the morning. They can often calm themselves down. Even when they get overtired, it is easy to settle them down again.

Textbook babies are predictable and fairly easy to handle. They do everything on cue so there are usually few surprises with them. They reach all the milestones right on schedule – sleep through the night by three months, roll over by five, sit up by six. They’ll have growth spurts like clockwork. They can play on their own for short periods (about 15 minutes) as early as one week old. They’ll coo a lot and look around. They smile when someone smiles at them. Though they have normal cranky periods, they are easy to calm and it isn’t hard to get them to sleep either.

Touchy babies are ultra-sensitive. To them, the world is an endless array of sensory challenges. They flinch at the sound of a motorcycle revving outside their window, the TV blaring, a dog barking in the house next door. They blink or turn their heads away from bright lights. They sometimes cry for no apparent reason, even at their mothers. They often get fussy after a number of people have held them, or after outings. They’ll play on their own for a few minutes, but needs the reassurance that someone they know well is close by. They like to suck a lot and this cue may easily be misread for hunger. They nurse erratically, sometimes acting as though they have forgotten how. They have difficulty falling asleep during nap times or at night. They easily get off schedule – an extra-long nap, a skipped meal, an unexpected visitor, a trip, a change in formula, etc. can throw them out of the loop. To calm them, you have to recreate the womb – swaddle, snuggle them to your shoulder, whisper a rhythmic shushing sound close to their ear, and pat their back gently. The quicker you learn their cues and their cries, the simpler life is. They love structure and predictability.

Spirited babies emerge from the womb knowing what they like and don’t like and they never hesitate to let you know it. They are very vocal and even seem aggressive at times. They scream for Mum or Dad when they wake in the morning. They hate lying in their own pee or poop and will vocalize their discomfort. They babble a lot and loudly. Their body language tends to be a bit jerky. They often need swaddling to get to sleep because their flailing arms and legs keep them up and overstimulated. If they start crying and the cycle is not interrupted, they reach the point of no return. Their crying will lead to more crying until they reach a fever pitch of rage. They’ll also notice other babies before those babies notice them. They’ll grab at their bottle at an early age and as soon as they’re old enough to develop a good, firm grasp, they’ll grab other babies’ toys as well.

Grumpy babies act like they’ve been here before and they are not at all happy to be back. They’re mad at the world and they let you know it. They whimper every morning, don’t smile much during the day and fuss their way to sleep every night. Their mothers have a lot of trouble keeping baby-sitters. They hate baths at first and every time someone tries to change or dress them, they get fidgety and irritable. Feeding is difficult because of their cranky disposition. Calming grumpy babies takes a patient Mum or Dad because they get very angry and their cries are particularly loud and long. If they reach a major meltdown, gently sway them front to back.

Those of you with babies, what type of personality do they have?

-Lauren-

Jun 24, 2010

What We’ve Been Up To This Week

This week has flown by.

Last weekend Jon had to travel for work, so he missed his first Father’s Day. :( He came home late Sunday night and found a card and some dark chocolate from Aedan and Hiro. Since Jon was gone most of Saturday and Sunday, I spend the weekend cleaning and doing laundry. Although as I look around I am realizing that I need to clean and do laundry again already. Sigh, it never ends…

Over the weekend I also did the grocery shopping. Usually if I have Aedan with me, I use our Baby Bjorn carrier since he doesn’t like to be in his carseat unless he is in the car. Plus it is so heavy I always feel like the grocery cart is going to fall over with his seat on top.

The Baby Bjorn was working out great and Aedan loves it. I used it this last weekend at the grocery store and even though my trip was pretty short, carrying my 16 lb 3 month old made my shoulders and back ache by the time we were done. I decided that I needed to look around for some other options. I wanted something that would allow me to carry him on my hip and something that was going to last for awhile since he is only going to get bigger. I found the Baby K’Tan and after reading lots of reviews I thought it might work out. On Monday I made a trip to a little shop in town that carries the Baby K’Tan. The lady there was super helpful when it came to sizing and such. Since they don’t allow returns for carriers I decided to rent one for a week (a $5 investment that will go toward my purchase made much more sense than a $70 investment that may not even work out). Well I have been using it all week and I love it! It’s easy to put on and can fold up to fit in a bag when I don’t need it. I can wear it a bunch of different ways and its comfortable for both Aedan and me. Tomorrow I am going to be taking the rented carrier back and picking up a new one for us to keep.

We have been having some bottle issues lately. We gave Aedan his first bottle when he was about 2 weeks old and he did great going back and forth between nursing and bottles until about 8 or 9 weeks old. Then he decided that he no longer wanted anything to do with bottles. Usually either Jon or I could get him to take one if we worked at it long enough but it was definitely and up hill battle. When Aedan started to go the sitter’s house a couple of weeks ago she had no luck giving him a bottle. He just won’t have it and since she has other kids to look after it’s not like she could just try forever. He would even skip an entire feeding time and then wake up around 5am starving since he didn’t eat enough during the day. We have tried different bottles, different nipples, different flow levels, different temperatures and just about anything else we could think of. Finally I went out and bought one of those cheap Playtex drop-in bottles with a tan latex nipple. I’m pretty sure these bottles have been around forever. I think my mom probably used them with my sister and I. I am happy to say it looks like we may have found the right bottle. Finally! He still does not love it, but he will drink from a Playtex drop-in bottle with a fast flow latex nipple. We are going to keep up bottle boot-camp for the next couple of days and hopefully by next Tuesday (when he goes to the sitter’s house again) he will be taking a bottle like a pro.

We have also been watching lots of soccer this last week with the World Cup being on. Jon will sit Aedan his bouncy seat on the couch and the two of them watch the games together. It is too funny to see them both staring at the TV (don’t worry we don’t let Aedan stare at the TV for very long).

I guess I should get finished with work so I can get cleaning. Hopefully I get get everything done today and not have to worry about work or house work tomorrow. I love how flexible my job is!!

-Lauren-

Next post will have pictures, I promise. I have been so lazy when it comes to transferring pictures from my camera to the computer.

Jun 19, 2010

Videos of Aedan

A couple of little videos of Aedan for the grandparents. :)

Have a great weekend!

-Lauren-

Jun 16, 2010

Three Months

Look who is 3 months old!

IMG_2705

Aedan here is what you’re up to:

  • We haven’t weighed you since your 2 month check up, but we think you are in the 16-18lb range!
  • You are wearing size 3 in diapers! You wear mostly size 3-6m clothes and even some 6m clothes! You have a couple of sleepers that are 0-3m that fit you well, but I am convinced they are mislabeled. You are one big guy.
  • You LOVE your bouncy seat, especially when we put it on the ottoman so you are eye level with us. You kick your legs and wave your arms just about constantly while your sitting in it. I’m pretty sure once you start moving you are never going to stop!
  • You are still pretty touchy and are easily over stimulated or overwhelmed, but you have been smiling and laugh so much this month. You smile when someone you know talks to you or just smiles at you, but it takes you awhile to warm up to strangers.
  • You are sleeping great at night, usually from 8pm-6/6:30am. We stopped swaddling you a few weeks ago so now you sleep in a sleep sack during naps and just a sleeper at night (you take after your mom and are a little heater). Naps are still a struggle. You go down within 5 minutes but you usually only sleep for 45 min, although the last couple of days you have slept longer stretches. If we move you to your swing you usually fall right back to sleep and finish your nap.
  • You have decided that you don’t like bottles anymore. It takes lots of patience to get you to finish one. We are hoping that gets better soon since you are going to the sitter’s house twice a week.
  • Speaking of which, you started going to the sitter’s house this week. You were pretty fussy your first day, but I think you will warm up quickly.
  • Daddy gives you a bath every night and you are finally starting to like them. You don’t cry anymore and you are even starting to smile when he washes you.
  • You have been trying really hard to put your hands and rings in your month. You get them to you month and then you stick your tongue out and make a face like its doesn’t taste as good as you thought it would.
  • This month you went to the pool for the first time, and you didn’t hate it. You also went to Plano twice. You did great the second time we went. You love sitting with your Nonnie on the swing in her backyard.
  • You started rolling over (tummy to back). You did it one morning about 10 times in a row, but since then we have only seen it a time or two.
  • You have grown so much this month. We love seeing your smile and hearing your goofy laugh. We can’t wait to see what you will do next month!

-Lauren-

And just to see how big he has gotten here are his month pictures side by side.

Aedan (3rd month)

Jun 14, 2010

Our Weekend

On Friday Jon had a quick job in San Antonio (it took him longer to get there and back than it did for him to do the job). He headed home around dinner time so he stopped and picked up Chili's To Go, yum! After Aedan went to bed we enjoyed dinner and a few 24 episodes. We are on season 6 in our marathon watching.

Saturday morning we got up early, well actually Aedan’s normal time of 6:00am, and started watching a soccer game. shoes_ia72457Later that morning I went out and did some shopping. I picked up these cute shoes 30% off. They are super comfortable and I think they will look great with jeans and capris. I also got some pants and a shirt for work. After shopping I headed over to meet Jon and Aedan at our friend’s house. I hung out long enough to feed Aedan and eat some delicious fajitas. Then Aedan and I headed home so the boys could watch the USA vs England game. Saturday night Jon and I just relaxed at home and watched even more 24. :)

 

 

 

 

On Sunday Jon got up early and headed to an 8am soccer game. Aedan and I had a lazy morning. He woke up at 6 and was ready for a nap by 6:45. He slept until almost 9. Unfortunately since he took such a good nap early in the morning he did not want to go down for his second nap. It wouldn’t have been a big deal except I had to go to a brunch with some of the girls I work with and I knew he would not make it from 9am until we got home from brunch around 1:30 without a nap. Brunch was pretty rough. The restaurant was loud and I think he was overtired and over stimulated. He was pretty unhappy the whole time. By the time I got home I decided we are not going to indoor restaurants with him for awhile! The rest of his day was just off. He had a hard time going down for his afternoon nap and he was just plain fussy all afternoon. Luckily Jon was able to get him down for a short nap early in the evening. His bedtime routine went smoothly as normal and he was out by 8pm.

Today is Aedan’s first day at the sitter’s house. He is only going to be there for about 3 hours and I am still nervous. I am so thankful that I have such a flexible job that will let me spend a lot of time with him at home and work at the same time, but there is a part of me that just wants to be just a stay-at-home-mom. Maybe someday.

-Lauren-

Next post: Aedan’s 3 month update, how can he be that old already! 

Jun 11, 2010

Things We Love Part 3

Can you believe this is already the third part of things we love? I know I can’t! But here I am with a few things that we have loved during Aedan’s 3rd month. I had a harder time coming up with a list this time because we are still loving everything from last month (check out part 1 and part 2). However, I managed to come up with a few new things.

Aedan has not been a fan of his carseat ever since he was old enough to realize he was strapped in it. This made using our BOB stroller with the carseat on top difficult for walks. imagesI knew he was far to small and young to ride in the regular seat part of the stroller…or so I thought. After some online researching I found out that a lot of people use a Kiddapotamus Snuzzler in their jogging strollers. It is made to use in carseats with newborns, but it is great in the stroller! photoAedan is able to sit in the regular seat with his neck supported and his body snug and secure. It makes going for walks a much more enjoyable for all of us now. In fact as part of our evening routine we typically take a short walk through the neighborhood before bath time. Sometimes Aedan just zones out and enjoys the ride and other times he takes a little catnap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my old car Aedan’s carseat had to go behind the passenger seat. The front seat would have to be moved almost all the way forward. Whenauto seat protector_hero_lg we got the Forester we gained tons room and we are now able to fit the carseat behind the drivers seat with room to spare. We wanted to protect our brand new leather seats so I picked up this seat cover. It’s great because it has little pockets in the front that make keeping things from an extra outfit to my nursing cover organized and in the car at all times. 20046_A_largeI also picked up this little mirror. I love it! I haven’t really notice Aedan looking at himself (which he does all the time on his playmat) but I love being able to glance in the rearview mirror and see his sweet little face.

 

 

 

 

I recently downloaded the Google reader app for my iphone and I wish I had found it months ago! Aedan nurses 7 times a day for about 30 minutes at a time, that’s 3.5 hours a day at least). Most of the time I nurse him in the living room while I watch TV but early in the morning and at night I usually nurse him in his room and this little app lets me easily check up on all the blogs I follow from the rocking chair.

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 I got this night light at one of my showers and I thought it was so cute. The turtle shell has little star cut outs on it so when the light is on, the ceiling is covered with stars. I love it because it is easy to tap on and it has a timer so it goes off by itself. I also love that it runs on batteries so it  is easy to move around. I used it a lot during the first few months of night feedings. Aedan hadn’t really noticed it until recently. He has been sleeping from 8/8:30pm to 6/6:30am every night since he was about 7 or 8 weeks old. Last week he went through a growth spurt and he was eating more frequently during the day. He also woke up once a night for about 3 nights. I would go into his bedroom and tap on the turtle night light. I would look over at him in the crib and he would have a huge smile on his face as he looked up at all the stars on the ceiling. It was too cute (although it probably would have been even more cute if it wasn’t 3:30am). Luckily he has gone back to sleeping through the night.

 

 

pG01-3724334reg

Aedan has really started to notice the toys on his playmat. I hung some of these rings from a few of the toys. Aedan grabs them and pulls on them all the time. When he is sitting in his bouncy seat we put a couple of rings in his hand. He used to just wave them around but now he tries to get them in his mouth. Most of the time he gets it to his nose, forehead or cheek and the few times he gets it to his mouth he makes a face like he is thinking “um this doesn’t taste as good as I thought it would”.

 

 

 

 

wc2010logo I hope you all have a great weekend! Jon is having soccer watching marathon on Saturday since the World Cup is starting up. I think I am going to try to do a little shopping for some new work clothes.

 

 

-Lauren-

Jun 9, 2010

It’s Good to Be Home

We got back from Plano Monday night around 10:30pm. My Dad and I decided to leave after dinner to see if Aedan would do better in the car (he does not love his carseat). I think leaving at night was a much better way to go. I tried to move his last feeding up so that he wouldn’t be hungry on the drive back, but it didn’t work so well. He just wasn’t hungry before we left so he got hungry about half way home. Next time I think we will just leave after his normal last feeding time. It ended up working out pretty well though. Jon was able to leave last night from his job in Arlington. He called to tell me he was headed home and I asked where he was. He told me he had just passed mile marker 397. I looked up and my Dad and I were just passing mile marker 396. Ha! Without even knowing it, we were only a mile apart. We ended up meeting in Waco so that my Dad could drive straight to my grandparent’s house and we could go straight home. I feed Aedan and he was out until we got home then went right to sleep when we got home. It was definitely a smoother trip than our trip to Plano Friday afternoon.

Yesterday we were pretty lazy in the morning. I went back to bed as soon as I put Aedan down for his first nap and Jon got up with him when he woke up. Once we had both had breakfast and Aedan was down for he second nap Jon and I got to work. We cleaned the whole house and did lots of laundry. I planned out meals for the week and did the grocery shopping. It feels great to have the house clean, clothes washed and put away and the grocery shopping done, especially since today is my first official day back to work.

00:01:30 - 0040910F1Last night I made one of my new favorite pasta dishes, Pasta Pomodorini. It is so good and super easy so I thought I’d share it. I got it on the Food Network site. I know I will be making it frequently this summer.

 

 

 

We had a great weekend in Plano, but it feels good to be back home. As far as work today, I just have a meeting for a few hours this morning and lucky for me my little guy gets to spend the morning with is Daddy and grandmother. I get to put off his first day at the sitter until next week. :)

-Lauren-

Jun 7, 2010

Our Weekend

Jon had a job on Saturday just minutes from my parent’s house so we decided to make a weekend of it. We headed to Plano on Friday and hit tons of traffic in Dallas. It made for a very long hour of a screaming baby and bumper to bumper traffic. Aedan was kind of off Friday night, I think being in the car for so long really takes a toll on his routine. Friday night was pretty uneventful and Jon and I went to bed early.

On Saturday I took Aedan up to the pool where I used to work. My sister still lifeguards there so we got in for free. They have a great baby pool area. IMG_3609It has beach type entry so it is perfect for laying out. One of the benefits of knowing everyone at the pool is that we got to go early and have it all to ourselves. 31514_574443424055_44406677_33137299_495846_nAedan passed out and took a long nap in the shade while my sister and I got some sun a few feet away in the water. When he woke up we sat with him in the shade and stuck his feet in the water. He was not super happy but didn’t hate it. I am hoping he warms up to the water. I LOVED the water as a baby and a as a little kid. I grew up taking swimming lessons and being on swim teams all the way through high school. I have to have a child that likes to swim too, right?

 

 

By the time we were done at the pool Jon was done working for the day. We spent the afternoon relaxing at my parent’s house. My best friend Amanda came over to see Aedan. The last time we were in town she came over after he was already asleep. Unfortunately he was pretty worn out from the morning and went down for a super long afternoon nap a few minutes after she came over. She and I had a nice long visit out in my parent’s backyard. The have a little swing area under a huge shade tree, it is such a great place to relax.

Saturday night after Aedan went to sleep, Jon and I went out to dessert at BJ’s Brewery. 58e734546d0d59fc_mWe were both pretty tired but we felt like we should take advantage of the free babysitting. It was nice to spend some quality time together and who can resist a pizookie!  We had also gone for a run earlier in the afternoon (I’m on week 3 of my couch to 5k workout and still loving it), so I felt like the cookie and ice cream was well deserved. :)

 

 

 

On Sunday Jon, Aedan, my sister and I headed back up the the pool in the morning. 31079_817273854577_9634942_44333478_6428596_nThis time Aedan sat in the water. He still didn’t love it, but progress is progress. Right?  And how cute is Aedan in his little swim trunks? My sister-in-law bought him some cute swim trunks before he was born, but they are already too small so we had to get a new pair. This is him sitting with my little sister. He LOVES her. Every time she comes over to him he starts smiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon has another job today in Arlington and since he had to be there at 8am, he went ahead and drove there last night. My dad is making a trip down to Austin to see my grandparents so he is driving Aedan, Hiro and me back with him today. Hopefully Jon will finish up his job today and meet us home tonight. We had a great week and Aedan did really well, but I think we are going to enjoy being at home for awhile…traveling with a baby is hard work! haha!

-Lauren-

Jun 4, 2010

An Evening Out with Friends

Yesterday our good friends, Steven and Alison and their son Jackson, stopped in Austin on their way down to San Antonio.

I was a little worried about how Aedan would act while we were out with them but he did great. I think he had a growth spurt this week. He has woken up hungry a couple of nights this week and most of the day yesterday he was eating every two hours. Jon laid him down for a nap around 2:30 yesterday afternoon and I was sure he was going to be up in exactly 45 minutes (he has not taken a nap longer than 45 minutes in over 2 weeks). Well 3:15 rolled around and he was still sound asleep. 3:30 came, 3:45 then 4:00 and he was still sleeping! I finally had to wake him up at 4:30 to eat so we could get going. I am hoping it means the growth spurt is over and we can get back into our normal routine.

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We all hung out at the house for awhile before heading to dinner. Jackson was so cute with Aedan. I just know they are going to be good friends in a few years. Oh and check out my not quite 3 month old in a 6 month size t-shirt and shorts. I just bought him a few t-shirts in 6m thinking he could wear them for awhile, clearly I was wrong!

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After hanging out for awhile we headed out to South Congress for dinner. We grabbed cones at Mighty Cone and of course we had to get dessert at Hey Cupcake. Aedan and Jackson both did so well at dinner.

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It was great to spend time with such good friends. And how cute are these onesies Alison made for Aedan. I love them!! He will definitely be wearing these this weekend.

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-Lauren-

Jun 2, 2010

Couch to 5k App.

I downloaded this nifty little app a couple of weeks ago on my iphone.

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I have never been much of a runner. I used to swim through high school and college but when I moved to Austin I kind of let that go. I have tried to pick up running every now and then. Last summer when Jon and I went to South Padre we enjoyed a few hot runs on the beach.

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In fact I was on a roll last year about this time, but then I found out I was pregnant with this little guy.

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Since we were being seen at a fertility clinic at the time they were  a little on the cautious side and told me not to do any running for awhile. Then I had morning all day sickness from week 6 through week 22 (14 weeks of throwing up multiple times a day sucks!). By the time I was feeling better I felt to big to run.

So here I am, Aedan is just about 3 months old and while I have lost pretty much all the weight I put on while pregnant and can fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes again, I still feel like its time to get back into a regular workout routine. Running seems like a good choice because it’s something I can do with Aedan (in a stroller), Hiro and Jon.

I have been trying to run every other day during the week and so far its going pretty well. My goal is to be able to jog a solid 30 minutes without stopping by the end of the summer. Hopefully I can keep it up. :)

-Lauren-