Happy New Year

Since I am sitting down at the computer, it is a sure sign that Max should wake up any minute. Or, the phone will ring. Or, someone will stop over. LOL. Wow, where has my vacation gone? It has been fun and busy. Before Max, I never thought I would say this, but I would love to be a stay at home mom. Yes, still on that kick even though I know it is totally fantasy land.

There were tons of milestones since I last posted.

Max had his 4 month appointment and shots. I was surprised that his reaction to the shots was much worse this time. He fell asleep in my arms around 7:30. When I went to put him in the co-sleeper, he screamed and screamed and screamed. It was like I had put him on a bed of hot coals. It took about 45 minutes before I was able to get him calmed down. Then, I went to put him down and we started round 2. It was a long night that had us both in tears at one point and had me seriously concerned that something major was wrong.

I read two books. Neither one was great literature or even that great of story lines, but it was nice to get back to one of my most treasured (pre-Max) past times. I read most of the first one while rocking Max and cuddling with him after his 4 month shots. I also made it out to the movies one day (saw the new Harry Potter one).

Max slept for 7 hours one night in his crib. I didn’t get much sleep that night since I was worried that the monitor wouldn’t work (hard to test when it is just you) and kept getting up and checking on him. The next night, I put him back in the co-sleeper so “I” could get more sleep. Then, I started him on rice cereal and wanted to make sure he didn’t have a bad reaction. And, he started waking up more frequently again to eat. It culminated last Wednesday night when he woke up every 2 ½ - 3 hours to eat. It was like he was a new born again. Must have been a growth spurt. His eating and sleeping has stabilized again.

Yep, started Max on solids. It was one of the things I talked to the ped about during our 4 month visit. Current plan is get Max on solids, get him sleeping in the crib, then wean. He loved it. At first he looked confused and rolled the cereal around his mouth, then seemed to figure it out. He seemed to eat at least half of it and it wasn’t nearly as messy as I thought it would be. I noticed he developed some red welts on his leg afterwards, but thought it may just be a coincidence. The next day, he ate even better and I think he got most of it down, but he it wasn’t a coincidence and he broke out with welts again and a rash. I talked to the peds office and they recommended I wait a day or two and try again with breast milk mixed with the rice cereal instead of formula. The instructions say you can mix with breast milk, formula, or water. In talking with a friend, the biggest difference is calories. Since Max is so lean I figured I would start with the formula to get him used to the taste and it has the added calories. Apparently, this wasn’t the best decision since it was the equivalent to introducing 2 things at once instead of one thing. When I tried breast milk mixed in (try 3), he didn’t have a reaction like before, but it wasn’t a good test since I don’t think he actually ate any of it. It was quite humorous and ended up all over his face, his arms, his legs, and the bouncy seat. You get the idea, pretty much everyplace other than in his mouth. He was having a good ole time, but didn’t actually eat any of it that I could tell. I tried again tonight and must have had the timing a bit better since he ended up eating more than smearing, although he was a mess from head to toe again. Very funny. He does seem to like it.

Max has rolled over a few times. He didn’t do it on purpose and can’t repeat on command yet. In fact, the last few times I have put him on tummy time he has gotten quite pissed like he knows he has gotten out of this before but can’t figure it out. I’ve tried showing him and he’s happy to be on his back, but can’t figure out how to do it himself again. His expression when he did flip himself was so cute..like..I don’t know how that happened and this is great. Once he does figure it out, there will be no keeping him in tummy time, but by then I figure he will have the muscle development he needs so it won’t matter.

I could write tons more, but think I am going to start to wind down myself and get to bed early since tomorrow it is back to early mornings and work and I have a sore throat (and not feeling that great today) and am hoping I can avoid getting that nasty cold that is going around here. I have been slacking off and getting up later and later the longer I was off work. Sigh. Back to work tomorrow. You would think I hate my job (which I don’t). It was just so nice to have some time for me, some time for Max, some time for friends and family. It was a good balanced time.

One last thought…when Max was born and I had no computer time, I really missed it. I craved it. It was very hard. This time, I thought about it and what I would blog about if I had the time. I actually started a few blogs and got interrupted early in the writing and never got back to them, but I didn’t miss it the way I did after he was born. Since it is my nature to psychoanalyze everything, I find that interesting. The best theory that I can come up with is that I felt less need for the outlet in written form.

Okay, off to bed. Tomorrow is another day. A day I would much rather NOT have to work. Okay, Okay, I’ll stop whining and complaining. It is what it is. I just has such a nice time away. It was a good break.