A Better Day

Well, today was a better day. Sam was still a little fussy and sleepy, but much better. He also ate real food - I tried to go slow and not give him too much, but he had some banana baby food in the morning, then in the afternoon he had some banana mixed berry, and later on around 8:30 he had some oatmeal with a little yogurt mixed in. He's also back to drinking full strength formula. He didn't throw up at all today either except for a couple of little burpy spit-ups, which is par for the course with him. Did I just use a golf metaphor? YES! So, anyhow... He was in a much better mood, played by himself a little bit (thank goodness) and even laughed a few times! He didn't poop today, and I'm hoping that he's not saving up for the diarrhea phase of this sickness. Would it be too much to hope that maybe he'll skip that altogether? I guess we'll see. But the real great part is that I made it! I made it through five days of sick baby and I am still alive.

Oh, also, this morning he was leaning back and I noticed that he has a FIFTH tooth that I didn't even know what coming in! It's on the top to the right (if you're looking at him) of his 2 front teeth. It's fully broken through the skin and growing in. No wonder he's been so fussy! Geez... having to have shots, full on teething, and be throwing-up sick all at once? I feel so bad for him! I'm so glad he's feeling better.

The other nice thing that happened today was that. That in the picture. A really pretty bouquet that Justin sent me! Happy Valentines Day to me. It also came with chocolates from Seattle Chocolates. At first I thought they would just be okay. They're truffles, the kind that are individually wrapped in little wrappers. There are Raspberry, Espresso, and Mint. Then I ate one of the Espresso ones and it is SO GOOD! Mmmm.... Thanks Justin! The whole house smells like lillies.

Tonight Brooke, Dave, Seamus & Lorelai came over and hung out and we just played and had pizza and they watched Chicken Little. And finally took their DVD home that's been in our DVD player for several months! They just left about a half hour ago and I put Sam to bed. Now I'm going to go take out the garbage and lay on the couch downstairs and watch 'Lost' before I go to bed. Hope everyone had a really wonderful Valentines Day today, and if you didn't, well, it's over now!

A day without barf...

Finally! I ended up taking Sam in to see his doctor this morning since he was throwing up again last night. She checked him out and his lungs and ears are clear, and his stomach/intestines are still making good gurgles. So, basically he probably has gastroenteritis (stomach flu) that's been going around. Unfortunately, there isn't much to be done. I have to keep feeding him the watered down formula & just building up, and start giving him solids again when I think he can handle it. Also, unfortunately for me, she said that he will probably be done throwing up soon, but if it follows the trend of her other patients, he'll probably get diarrhea now. For 7-10 DAYS. Sigh... the life of a parent.

So, today he just ate formula (3/4 strength) and pedialyte, and had 4 saltine crackers. He's in bed now and got through a whole day without throwing up! He's still clingy and really fussy. I don't know if it's because he's sick or also because he could be teething again. I feel so bad because he doesn't feel good and I know he doesn't understand why I can't make him feel better. I'm the one who helps him - I feed him when he's hungry, change his diapers when they're dirty, help him fall asleep when he's tired, play with him when he is lonely. But I can't make this better for him. It's a little heartbreaking. Hopefully he is done with the throwing up and will start really feeling better tomorrow... I am still off and on with my stomach feeling a little sick, so hopefully I'll be done with that soon too.

I just talked to Justin and he told me that he's coming home on the 22nd, which is 6 days longer than originally planned. I'm not sure exactly why they want him to stay longer, but I asked him to find out. I don't think I'm quite cut out for single parenting... so hopefully I'll have my husband back soon!

Sick Baby + Daddy Away on Business + Slightly Sick Mommy = Not A Great Weekend

So, it's Monday night, and Sam just threw up all over me. Now he's in bed with his mobile going, and hopefully he'll fall right asleep.

We had an interesting weekend, to say the least. My Mom came down on Friday after she got off work, and let me tell you, if she hadn't been here this weekend I don't know what I would have done. Sam ate a normal breakfast on Friday, but then took an abnormally long (4 hours!) nap, and then wouldn't eat snack or dinner. Sitting in his high chair after we'd tried to give him dinner, he threw up. No, this was not the spit-up type throwing up of previous days. This was full on little person vomit. And it just kept coming, and coming. I have never seen so much barf come out of someone. I try to figure out how to get Sam out of the puddle he was leaving in the high chair without totally getting it all over me, and finally grab a towel and wrap it around him to carry him into his room. He is also acting lethargic and has a slight fever, which Tylenol brings down. Later that night we try to give him a bottle, and he throws the whole thing up.

The next morning, Sam has a bottle for breakfast and throws it up. At this point my Mom suggests we call the doctor just to check and see what's going on. He did have shots on Thursday, so we thought maybe it was related. I talk to a nurse who says that it's probably not related, and that there's been some kind of stomach virus going around. Give him watered down formula if he can't handle normal, and pedialyte to make sure he doesn't get dehydrated. No solid foods for 24 hours after he stops throwing up. So, I go out that afternoon, but as I'm getting ready and leaving, my stomach starts to hurt. I end up feeling sick and lethargic until Sunday evening. Saturday night, my Mom goes out with a friend and Sam and I go to bed at 8:30 pm, my stomach cramping and turning.

Sunday morning, Sam wakes up at 7:30. I make him a bottle, foolishly thinking that since he hasn't thrown up since Saturday morning he can take formula. He finishes it, then throws the whole thing up all over my bed. Since he was lying down, the barf is in his hair. I take him to the sink, wash his hair with a washcloth, and he falls back asleep. I go back to bed as well, squeezing into the part of my bed that's not soaked with barf. Sam wakes up a few times, but I don't get up and he goes back to sleep. We end up getting up around 11. I give Sam watered down formula with pedialyte, but he is clearly not satisfied. I feel like I am torturing him by not giving him solid foods. I give in and give him a cracker. He seems a little happier. He is still lethargic and napping on and off throughout the day. Later that day, he hasn't thrown up and seems a little better so we give him a little bit of mashed potatoes (from a box). A few hours later, he throws up again. A few times. All over my Mom. Then he seems to be feeling better. At 11:00 pm I am at the end of my rope. My Mom looks at me, sitting in front of the computer with tears in my eyes talking to Justin, who is still in the Philippines, over Instant Message, and asks if I want her to call in sick for work and stay with me. I nod sadly, feeling defeated.

I go to bed. This morning, Mom gets up with Sam, giving me a little extra time to rest. I wake up to him crawling around the house and seeming to be in a better mood. He stays up for almost four hours, then goes down for a 2 hour nap. When he wakes up, Mom is nice enough to give him a bath and let me take a shower before heading back to Bellingham. He's definitely acting more normal, a little happier, but is still fussy and sleepy. We play a little and then he falls asleep again around 5:30. He sleeps in his crib for less than an hour, but then falls asleep for another hour and a bit in my arms while I watch TV. No solid foods today. At 8 or so I make him a bottle, and add a little bit of rice formula to his bottle. He throws up some of it. At 9:45 I make a regular bottle, watered down slightly. I give him a couple ounces, then he doesn't want anymore. A few minutes later I pick him up to put him to bed and he barfs all over me, and himself.

He's asleep now. He's now been throwing up since Friday night. Three full days. It's horrible. I just want to make him better. I was sure that after today he was really getting better, but now I don't know what is up. I guess tomorrow we'll probably be in for a visit to the doctor. Sigh... send 'get healthy' vibes our way if you can spare them!

9 Month Checkup

Sam had his 9 month checkup this morning. He is only 17 pounds, which is still only in the 3rd to 5th percentile for weight. His height is up to 29 inches, and his height and head circumference are both in the 75th percentile. Developmentally, everything is right on track, and he is doing well with already pulling himself up etc. From what I've read and what the doctor said, now is the time when babies start to have stranger anxiety, but I haven't really noticed anything with Sam. He was only down for one shot today (which was a pleasant surprise, since he's had 4 at every other appointment so far!), but we decided to give him a flu shot too. Normally right now is a little late in the year to do it, but since there's been a big flu outbreak here and a 7 year old little girl died, the doctor recommended it. In any case, he only had one leg poked this time. He did SUPER with the shots too, even though I (AGAIN) forgot to give him Tylenol before hand. He cried during the shots, but as soon as I picked him up he started sniffling and turning back to his normal color, then he was fine. So, the whole appointment went pretty well.

I'm having a little bit of a hard day today. Maybe it's because Justin has been gone for a week now. Plus I'm really tired. I have been having trouble falling asleep (partly because I'm sick I think) and Sam woke up at 3 and needed a bottle, then I was awake until 4 and then he woke up crying at 7, but I just let him put himself back to sleep. Then I had to wake up at 8:15 to get ready to go to the doctor. I'm feeling really tired and sort of lonely. One week down, two more to go... luckily my Mom is coming down to help out and stuff this weekend. That will be nice.

Good & Not as Good

Which news do you want first, the good, or the not very good?

The not very good news is that Justin confirmed what I suspected would happen. He is now going to be staying out of the country for three weeks instead of the original 16 days. Sigh... apparently he has to fly to Singapore from the Philippines because there is someone there who can't fly to Manila. Sigh... which means another five days probably of him being gone, and another weekend thrown in there for me. I think I am going to stop thinking about it now before I freak out.

The good news is that Sam and I had a good day! Sam slept through the night last night, and didn't wake up until 9:00 instead of the earlier times he woke up the two days before that. We had a good morning and then I was actually able to take a shower with no hassle! I put him on the floor in our room & shut the door (it's Sam proof), and left the door into our bathroom open. He just played on the floor and didn't even cry or come into the bathroom! Then we went out to lunch w/Brooke and Dave and the kids. Brooke made me really happy while we were out because she was telling me about some song Seamus had been making up at home. Apparently he was making up the words and singing about how he has his mommy and he has his daddy and he has his lorelai and he has this person Rachael and they are his family or something like that. I just love those kids so much, they are really like family to us. After lunch, Sam and I went shopping. When we got home, Sam took a nap and I FINALLY got our bathrooms cleaned! I even got down on my hands and knees and cleaned the floors by hand. It has been WAY too long. I'm proud of myself for doing it even though with Justin gone, it's not the first way I want to spend my time when Sam finally goes down for a nap. We had a pleasant few hours after his nap and then I put him to bed and he went to sleep without crying! Yay!

Tomorrow is the dreaded doctor appointment. Wish me luck.

Five Down, Eleven to Go

Sam just went down for a nap, so I thought I'd take a minute to post a little update. We are doing okay without Justin, although I am sick, which is making me tired. Sick and tired. Ha. I think Sam might have a little bit of a cold too, but he's handling it fine.

Sam went to his Grandma's house last weekend. Friday night I hung out with Brooke, and then I spent all day Saturday by myself. I went to the movies, the mall, and hung out at home and got a few things done, like updating Sam's baby book and finishing a letter that I was writing. It was really nice to spend time by myself, and it definitely left me feeling refreshed before getting Sam back.

Last night Kira came and hung out with us for a while and we ordered pizza. It was great to see her, it's been a while and she was very impressed by Sam's standing up skills! We had plans to go out today with Brooke and Dave but we decided to move it to Thursday, so after Sam's nap I'll probably pack us up and maybe just head over to the mall or something just to get out of the house for a couple of hours.

Sam is doing pretty well. I can't wait to see how tall he is at his doctor appointment on Thursday morning! I'm also not looking forward to having this appointment alone because he's a lot more curious now than he was at the last one. I know he's not just going to sit on the table, and that he's going to want to play with the paper. So, we'll see how it goes! He also has shots, which is never fun.

Yesterday he got up at 7:30 (too early for me!), but then he took a long nap around 11, so that was good. He didn't go to bed until 10:30 last night, and got up at 8:00 this morning! Now it's 1:00 and he's still awake even though I know he's tired. I just put him down in his crib and told him it's nap time, and I thought he'd gone to sleep but I can hear him cooing in there, so I guess he's still awake! Hopefully he'll fall asleep and take a nap for a couple of hours - I think he needs it.

I was SO tired this morning when he woke up, I think mainly because of being sick. I went to bed around midnight last night, so not too late. My nose is really stuffy and I just feel kind of icky - just some kind of cold I guess. This morning we went downstairs and I laid on the floor on a blanket while he played. I actually drifted off a couple of times and got 2 short naps while he played and watched Dora and Blues Clues, and felt a lot better afterwards!

That's about all that's going on here! I can't believe Justin's been gone for less than a week, for some reason it feels like longer. Next weekend Mom is coming down to stay and help out (yay!), so that will be nice, especially since last time she came down she watched Sam, but we didn't spend much time together.

Me time!

Yesterday I dropped Sam off and had dinner with Stormy, Gryphon, Tempest (Sam's Aunt & cousins) and Grandma Deanna. We went to Azteca and Gryphon cut up a bunch of french fries into smaller pieces and put them in a cup, then gave it to Sam. It was really cute. He is going to be five in a couple of weeks!

I sent Sam off with Deanna until Sunday, and while I was driving home Brooke called. She met me at my place at 8 and we had a sleepover! It was totally fun. We wanted to watch The Lord of the Rings movies. We only both have the extended versions, which makes it about 12 hours of movie, so we obviously didn't get through all of it. We got through the entire first one, and about 1/3 or so of the 2nd one. Then it was 2:15 and since we are such old ladies we were falling asleep on the couch we decided to go to bed. It was a nice break for both of us - this morning Brooke said it was weird but sort of nice to not have been woken up by kids climbing into the bed or waking up at 8 in the morning. We slept in until about 10:00 or so, which was great, then just lounged around for another hour. We had a great time.

Today I'm about to head out of the house and maybe go to the movies - I think I'm going to go see Blood Diamond because no one really wants to see it, but I think I will since it was nominated for some Oscars. I might also go see Pan's Labyrinth because I really want to see it and Brooke is probably going to see it with Dave. I might also go to a coffee shop or something and try to read some more of my book club book (I'm not doing so great this month). Then back home for another night of really good sleep before I have to get Sam tomorrow at 2:00.

I know I should probably spend some of my time cleaning the house while Sam's not here - I definitely need to clean the bathrooms and vacuum... but who wants to spend their time doing that stuff? We'll see....

Happy 9 Month Birthday Sam!

I know I said I wouldn't be around for a while, but since it's 5:45 in the morning and I'm up anyway, I thought I'd drop by. It hasn't been a great first night for me and Sam on our own. Everything was okay until about 1:00 AM when he woke up crying. I gave him a bottle and brought him into my bed, but he's been sleeping really restlessly and tossing and turning since then. He woke up soaked through his diaper (also leaving a wonderful large wet spot on my bed) about 20 minutes ago. I changed his diaper and jammies, which he of course did not like, and put him in his crib. He just stopped crying, so hopefully he's back asleep and I can get back to bed soon. Unfortunately it's harder for me to go back to sleep than it is for him. Sigh...

I'm looking forward to the next two nights. This afternoon Sam is going over to his Grandma Deanna's, and he's coming home on Sunday sometime. With Justin gone, this means I will have the house all to myself. I haven't had that since before Sam was born, and a while before that. What will I do with myself? :-) I am planning on going to see at least a couple of movies - I'm still hoping to see a bunch of the Oscar nominations before the awards later this month. I think it will be a really good way to start the next 11-14 days of not having Justin around. I need to relax - I've been somewhat stressed about Justin leaving for a while, and I think that having Sam away for a little bit will let me get all energized back up.

It's funny - Sam stays away with his Grandma periodically, and has stayed with babysitters a bunch of times, and I don't feel guilt or the urge to check up on him constantly. I am not nervous about leaving him with other people since we kind of got him used to it early on, and I am confident he'll be okay. I never really felt that horrible pulling that people seem to always feel when they leave their baby with someone else. I have a theory that it's because I spend 24/7 with him and I am not worried that I'm going to damage him by being away from him. And of course, leaving him with people I totally trust makes it easier.

I had one of those moments leaving Brooke and Dave's house last night. I was carrying Sam out to the car and talking to him, and I had a "I can't believe that I have a baby" moments. Even though Sam is 9 months old today, I still have times where I can't believe that I actually have a child. Does that ever end? Or does it just turn into "I can't believe my kid is 5 - 10 - 20 etc"? I suspect the latter. How am I really raising this little person? It's crazy. But I think I'm doing pretty well so far since he is so happy all the time.

Well, he's definitely back asleep now, so I'm going back to bed. Hopefully I'll get a good three hour block in here... maybe four if I'm lucky, but I'm not counting on it. Cross your fingers for me!

February is here!

Hello from Washington! I can't believe it's February already. January went by so quickly. Sam is going to be nine months old on Friday. I can't believe how big he's getting. I've been noticing this week how much taller he's gotten, and how his limbs don't look like baby limbs anymore. He is turning from a baby to a toddler right before my eyes I think.

He is really getting so big. We had a fun month around here. At the beginning of the month we went down to Olympia to visit Brie and the twins! They are so adorable! They've grown so much since they were born, but they're still so tiny - especially compared to Sam, who in comparison looks pretty huge. We both got to hold Ginny, and Justin even got to give her a bottle since she needed her formula supplement while we were there. After visiting with Brie and the babies for a while we headed out to dinner with the three of them and Kyle. We had a really good time, and it was really nice to see them again! Hopefully it won't be too long before we be able to get back down there again. I am so excited to see the babies grow!

On the 14th we finally got to have our delayed Christmas celebration with Brooke and Dave and Tara and Phil and all the kids. We hung out and had a good time here. Sam and I also got to hang out a lot with Brooke, Seamus, and Lorelai. We went to the playground with them a couple of times - Sam's first trip was fun and he enjoyed riding on the swings! A few days after that we met the Whalen-Robinsons, Courtney and Elena, and Brooke's friend Jill and her little girls at Woodland Park and explored the zoo. Sam is old enough now to crawl around in the little kid area at the Zoomazium, and he had a lot of fun exploring there! It was fun to watch him and all of the little kids interacting with each other. It's so fun for me to go on outings and hang out with friends with kids who are a little older. It just makes me look forward to so many things - when Sam is old enough to climb around on more things, when Sam is old enough to get excited about seeing the animals at the zoo, when he's old enough to play together with other kids for real. I can see in the future how much fun it's going to be with him, and it's so exciting.

Sam is doing amazing. He is eating like crazy, and trying new things all the time. So far, he has not disliked anything that we've given him as far as finger foods go. We are currently integrating different foods into his schedule. Waffles, toast, veggie hot dogs, baby food meat sticks, Morningstar chicken nuggets, french friends, mashed potatoes, broccoli tops, canned peas... it's so fun to let him try new things. I am also happy to be exploring new things because while he likes the baby food, it doesn't tend to have very many calories, so it's good for him to be able to get some nutrition elsewhere. It's also nice for me because when he wakes up in the morning I can give him a cut up waffle or piece of toast, and that keeps him occupied long enough for me to get the rest of his breakfast together and make myself something to eat.

He is crawling like a pro now, and likes to exlore in the basement. It's pretty much babyproofed as long as someone is keeping an eye on him if he gets quiet. The only thing he can get into are a couple of cords that we would have to string up across the wall and haven't figured out yet, but he's not that interested in them being as he's surrounded by toys. His favorite thing to do is to pull himself up. He does it with ease now and will pull up anywhere... the coffee table, the entertainment center, the couch. He's getting better at getting down too, and will look down to see if he's going to fall on top of anything. He also loves taking things out. I stack up his DVDs and the video games for him every day so that he can come down and unstack them onto the floor. He loves to take toys out of baskets or boxes. This week he stood up on his own for a few seconds a couple of times. Justin thinks he is going to start trying to walk soon - he can take a few steps if you're holding him up, but I don't think he has the balance yet, or the understanding. He's still at that stage where if he does get standing on his own for a few seconds, he doesn't really know quite what to do. I think we've still got a while before any walking, but who knows? Justin walked at 9 months and I walked at 15, and who even knows if that means anything?

Justin is leaving for the Philippines tomorrow. I'm a little bit nervous about being here by myself with Sam for two or more weeks, but I know I can handle it. I have lots of help and places to go. Last time Justin went away for this long, it was hard, but Sam was only four months old so he couldn't even walk or roll over or anything yet and I wasn't chasing him. On the other hand, Sam plays by himself a little bit more, so I do get little breaks sometimes when he's awake. I know that Justin is going to miss Sam a lot while he's gone, and I'm going to miss Justin too. It's hard not having another adult around the house, and of course I just miss him when he's gone anyways. He is scheduled to come back on the 16th, but we'll see - he may be gone closer to three weeks and coming back on the 20th. Justin's Mom is taking Sam this weekend so I can have a little bit of time to myself at least. I am looking forward to having the most 'me time' I've had in a while. I'll need it to gear up for the next couple weeks!

Well, that's about it for now. I just posted a bunch of photos from different things in January, so check them out! I am pretty sure I won't be posting anything for the next couple of weeks since by the time I get Sam down for a bed or nap, I'm usually starving and making myself food, or trying to briefly check e-mail and clean up the house! Hopefully I'll have a great update in a few weeks though.