Wordless Wednesday: Moving!

It's a Glamorous Life...

(Beware...the following post contains descriptions of pretty much every bodily function there is. It is not pretty. Read at your own risk). I included the cute picture to the left so that maybe when this is done you'll remember that and not allow the visual images I'm about to draw for you to ruin your evening...

Being a parent is really pretty glamorous business. For the uninitiated, sometimes babies won't poo for days. It's completely normal, but just makes future poos that much more fantastic. So Sebastian hadn't had a good poo in like a week, and then had a big one this morning. Again for the uninitiated, as babies get older and start eating solid foods in addition to breastmilk, poo gets progressively grosser. Solid food poo is absolutely disgusting. I am not a fan. It is smelly, sticky, and impossible to clean up. Just all around foul.

Anyway, so I figured since he'd pooped this morning (Ken got to clean that one up! Woo!), I'd be good for the rest of the day at least. But then around 3, he's grunting and farting like a madman. I thought SURELY he can't be pooping again. I check, and he did. And it's enormous. WTF?

Go to clean it up, and it's nasty. Smelly, sticky, and everywhere. The disposable liners we use in our cloth dipes (so we can pick it up and flush it) only partially got it. I had to use two more just to get it off his bum. I used a billion (cloth) wipes and tons of foaming wipe solution to clean him up, and he was squirming all over the place, flailing with arms and legs.

He stuck his foot in it twice. Then he stuck his other foot in it once. He got his hands in it. Then he wiped his hand on his shirt. THEN he peed all over himself and the changing table. While I'm cleaning THAT up, he's wailing because all the pooping gave him a bit of a rash and it can't feel good me constantly wiping there. Getting the shirt off his big head while trying not to get poo and pee all over him was like herding cats.

Ok, so baby is mostly clean and re-dressed, diapers/wipes/changing table pad are in the washer getting clean, and what does Sebastian do? Why, spits all over himself and me, of course. I just sighed and said, "Seriously, kid, can you just please go 30 seconds without doing something disgusting?" He just grinned at me. Grinned all the way to the bathtub, cause you KNOW he needed a good scrubbing after all that. Ick.

Yep, it's been that kind of day.

My Kid Loves Prunes. What a Weirdo!

We've tried quite a few foods with Sebastian so far: oatmeal, rice cereal, bananas, apples, squash, carrots, and, most recently, prunes. He was pretty much ok with everything except for the squash...that was not a hit. He made awful faces, spit more out than he actually ate, and was only smiley and happy when we said/signed "all done." HA!

But the prunes? He friggin' LOVES them. He gets all excited and opens wide for more! Now, it could just be that now it's been a couple weeks and he's getting the hang of the solids thing in general. Or he like the smoother texture (the other stuff he's gotten has been homemade, so a bit grittier, I guess, than the store-bought stuff). Or he likes the extra mess quotient (nothing else he's eaten has been NEARLY as fantastically-colored!). Or he really wants to poop (that's the real reason we went with prunes...hehehe the poor kid hasn't pooped in several days, and we wanted to help things along a bit). OR it could be yet another testament to his true Finnish-ness...one of the more famous Finnish Christmas pastries IS made with prunes, after all! Ken says it just means he like Klingons...Worf did have a thing for prune juice!

Who knows...but he really seems to dig them. I can't wait to try the next thing! Maybe we'll do potatoes or broccoli (two of my favorite vegetables). Peaches or pears sound good for fruit...you should have seen the face he made with the sourness of apples! It was hilarious, though he seemed to like them, even if he did shudder and stick his tongue out now and again! Solids are FUN!

Wordless Wednesday: Shopping-Cart-Worthy At Last!

Nazgul Baby Strikes Again!

Sebastian has learned a new sound. Now, you all know that Ken and I are huge Lord of the Rings nerds (Gandalf the Husky agrees). Well, apparently Sebastian is trying out for a part as one of the Nine. You know that awful, high-pitched piercing shriek the Nazgul make? Yeah, in the past several days, that sound has been a nearly constant companion here at the Harman household.

It's easy for Gandalf (the wizard, not the dog) to say, "Do not give in to fear!" Every time Sebastian shrieks, I think he's having his leg torn off or something. But no, it's just teething. Again. (Yep, he is apparently getting the second bottom middle tooth...and just when we thought we were done with teething for a day or two!)

I feel bad for the little guy...he's having a really hard time, and has NO patience for anything. When he's wet he wants to be changed yesterday. When he's hungry, he won't even wait for me to whip out the boob before he starts lunging at me with an open mouth like a little baby bird. When he's tired...well, read the last blog entry and you'll see what a fun time THAT is.

So tylenol, hyland's teething tablets, and his amber teething necklace have been our friends. Still, our sweet boy has once again morphed into Sir Pissy Von Crankenhaven. Also known as Nazgul Baby. Sigh...any time now, tooth.

On the trail of the elusive nap...

Sebastian has never napped much. Or well. But this is getting ridiculous. I keep hearing about people whose babies take 2- and 3-hour naps, a few times a day. What does my kid do? He'll get in maybe 20 or 30 minutes, if I'm lucky, every 3 or 4 hours. Once in a while he'll do a marathon hour nap, but that just started recently, and there's no kind of regularity to it.

Now, it would be one thing if he didn't need the sleep. But since he started teething, he definitely needs it or it's Cranky McWhinypants all day long. He's so much happier after he actually sleeps. But man does he fight actually going to sleep. Let's say 90% of the time, getting any nap at all is a major battle...he fights it and fights it until either sleep wins out or I give up and just let him stay awake. There's only so much whining one person can take.

I've gotten to where I pretty much have to force him to go to sleep every 2 hours, or all hell breaks loose. How does one "force" a baby to sleep, you ask? Well, it's not easy, let me tell you! Generally, it takes me longer to get him to sleep than he actually sleeps. Yeah, that's fun. The naptime routine right now consists of the swing, his froggy friend pacifier, and his blankie snuggled up next to his head. Rarely, once I get those three things going, he automatically gets "shifty" (our name for when his eyes are half-closed and he's almost asleep) and goes to sleep soon thereafter. See exhibit A, above.

But usually, he fights it. He pulls his paci out of his mouth and then whines that it's gone. He pulls the blanket over his head and then whines that he can't see. He squirms and then whines that he's uncomfortable. You get the picture. All the while, he's rubbing his eyes and yawning and just looking completely exhausted.

The "overtired" thing confounds Ken. He doesn't get how being TOO tired can lead to anything but sleep. But apparently, for many children, and definitely for ours, it leads to increased crankiness, lots of whining, PBS (pissy baby syndrome), etc. Rarely does it lead to actual sleep. Thus the every-two-hours-nap-enforcement. Or at least the attempt. When it works, it's fantastic. I end up with a happier, smilier baby, who has plenty of energy to play and check out the world. When it doesn't, I end up with a whiny, irritated baby, and Sebastian ends up with a very overwhelmed, exhausted, and frustrated mommy.

It's especially awful on days that I work. Sebastian spends the three days a week I'm at work with Mummo and Pappa (my parents). He generally loves it, and I'm so grateful to them for watching him. But, if it's possible, Sebastian sleeps even LESS over there. It's not my parents' fault, of course...I think there's just more new stuff to look at there, and he doesn't want to sleep through anything. Also, they don't have the magic of the swing to help keep the kiddo asleep (often he'll wake up half-way through a nap, but sometimes the swing will lull him back to sleep). Unfortunately, what that usually means for me, though, is that after I pick him up (after a full, long, often stressful day at work), he's MAJORLY cranky and overtired for the 3+ hours before Ken gets home. I am not a fan.

I really would like him to start taking longer naps. In his crib. In his room. But I really have no idea how to go about getting that to happen. I'm struggling just to get him to sleep at all during the day, I don't want to mess with what's "working," ya know? Cry-it-out isn't for us, but I don't know what else to do. Guess it's time to do some research.

In any case, we're going to hold off on making any changes to his routines for now, especially with the move coming in the next two weeks. There will be enough changes. But I'm really hoping that once we're in the new house and settled, we can tackle Sebastians aversion to naps. Because really, I need to be able to do something else during the day. And the way it is now, I spend all my time playing with the kiddo (fun!), feeding the kiddo (also fun), trying to get the kiddo to sleep (not fun), and waiting with bated breath while the kiddo sleeps hoping he doesn't wake up (not so fun either). My only saving grace is that Sebastian continues to sleep fairly well at night, going 10-12 hours and only waking a few times, and the paci always puts him right back to sleep.

Currently he's been sleeping for the 20 minutes it's taken me to write this. He might sleep for another minute, he might sleep for 20 more. Who knows. Oh, and in the minute it took me to write that, he's awake. No time even to proofread, blah. Hopefully there aren't too many typos! Anyhoo, thanks for reading the rambling thoughts of a desperate woman. If you have any ideas, please share!

Wordless Wednesday: Growing Up So Fast

Sebastian And His New Girlfriend...

So last Friday, a friend who has a daughter just a few weeks younger than Sebastian (we met on an online baby forum) and I were both going absolutely batty with cranky teething babies at home. We decided on the spur of the moment to go to the mall with the babies and hang out. We live about an hour from each other, and met in the (sort of) middle, and had lunch and coffee. The kids played, we bitched, we window-shopped, all was well with the world again.

Here are some pics from Sebastian and Emilia's play date. I have transcribed the conversation Sebastian told me was going on during playtime.

Emilia: Hey look, there's another baby on the floor over there!
Sebastian: Ooh, something shiny!

Sebastian: OOH look, a baby!
Emilia: *sigh* Men!

Emilia: I like my new friend!
Sebastian: Whee!

Emilia: Look at those cheeks!
Sebastian: My, what dainty little feet you have...

Emilia: Want to see my feet up close? Here, let me put them in your face.
Sebastian: I'd rather gaze longingly into your eyes...

Sebastian: Ok, NOW let me at those feet!
Emilia: But they are MY feet!

Sebastian: Then again, your face DOES look more interesting...
Emilia: Now I will gaze longingly into YOUR eyes!

Emilia: Now it's my turn to maul you! Hold still!
Sebastian: Ok!

Emilia: Just a liiiiiittle closer!
Sebastian: I'm trying, but I only go side to side! Oh noes!

Sebastian: Mmmm, you look delicious! (note his wide-open mouth here....lolz)
Emilia: Now I will play hard to get.

Sebastian: Don't mind me as I feel you up...you're SO cute!
Emilia: I know!

...there are no more pictures, because right after the last one, Sebastian decided to maul Emilia's face, and she started crying. :( That's my boy, picking on the girls already. We had a little talk, and he said he'd be nicer next time. We also had a talk about getting to second base with girls before at least buying them dinner. Sebastian assures Emilia that on their next date, he will be more of a gentleman.

It's about time...a tooth!

Well, Sebastian FINALLY has had a tooth break through...after like two months of "teething!" Cranky McWhinesalot opened a drool factory that never closes and gnawed on everything in sight! I'm really hoping that now that the little sucker has popped through the gum, that Sebastian will be a bit happier.

But then I remember that there are still quite a few other toofers in there, just hangin' out right below the gumline, waiting to make our lives that much more interesting. /sigh

Here's an extreme close-up where I've pointed out the tooth (it can be hard to identify if you don't know what you're looking for or where you're looking) with my mad photoshop skillz. I'm not sure why he looks so HAPPY my fingers in his mouth...he was giggling madly while I poked around in there, waving the camera in my other hand.

So there it is. Sebsastian's first tooth. It's the bottom left central incisor, for the dentally-inclined. It actually poked its way through on Friday (two days after he turned six months old), when I finally felt a sharp little point in there. The past two or three weeks I've been waiting, because there were definite bumps on his lower gumline...I don't think it'll be long before the right bottom one pops through too.

My boobies are kind of scared, but the rest of me is excited. And quite amazed, honestly, at how quickly my tiny baby is turning into a little boy. Time really does fly, I guess. Next step: crawling (/shudder).

Wordless Wednesday: Six Months Old!

Not sure who came up with this idea, but I thought it was cool. Every Wednesday I'll do a post with no words. After this week, anyway. ;)

Fun with the Exersaucer

About a month ago, my mom and I came across a used Exersaucer in great condition at Small Change, a children's consignment shop nearby. We got it for only $14! :) It's in great condition, has all the parts, and just happens to be ocean-themed, just like his room! Sebastian LOVES it.

And cause I take picture of EVERYTHING, here's a little visual journey of Sebastian's first exersaucer experience. Don't mind the disaster area that is our basement in the background.

"Hmm, this is pretty cool. But there is a dolphin here. He is staring at me. So I must stare him down."
"Ok, I guess we can be friends." (Gandalf the husky, meanwhile, looks like he is trying to figure out how best to go about eating the exersaucer.)

"Hello, Mr. Whale. I see that you are squirting some water. Well, check it out! I can blow bubbles!" (Gandalf decides to abandon plastic-eating and have some delicious baby instead...)

"Now I must maul you!"

"Ooh, more cool stuff to grab!"

"Let me count your legs, octopus!"

Pause for adorable grinning at the camera:

"Now, back to you, Dolphin. You look delicious! Mmmmmm Dooooolphin."

"Oh noes! I seem to be having an Attack Baby malfunction! I am eating myself! Gah!"

"Dolphin, I bet YOU are behind this! I have my eye on you!"
"Well, we have to peacefully coexist somehow, Dolphin. How about a truce?"

All's well that ends well.

The End.