Happy Dance!

I just finished my final final. I turned in my final project. I have nothing more to do at WWU. Except I'm still here. In one of their computer labs. Not at home with my lovely family. Why? Because I get 500 pages to print each quarter, and this is the last time I get to use it. My mom wants her iPod manual printed out (72 pages) and I have some half sheet mailers to put in packages when I sell diapers. Instead of PAYING to print them at Kinkos or the expensive ink for my home inkjet printer, I'm taking advantage of what's already included in my college tuition. I'm being thrifty!

I'm so glad to be done though. Once I get home I might relax for a little bit, but my house is a disaster. The last couple weeks have been whirlwind, so laundry and vacuuming have suffered. I did clean the bathroom this morning, but I think all my floors are due for a good scrubbing. I don't think a mop will cut it.

Of course, then I need to get going on opening my business! I now own www.DilleyDally.com (it doesn't go anywhere yet) and I set up my new official business email address too. I think I need to purchase some good accounting software, just because I did just get a degree in business, and it would be hypocritical if I just did this without any forethought for the future. I have fabric on order, but I really need to sew some diapers too.

When Gary is here next week I'm going to have him help me do the site design for my shopping cart online. He is a graphic designer, and Baxter does nap, so he's obligated to help me, right? :) I think he wants to help me, but it's more fun to say he has to!

It takes a long time to print this much... But I can't imagine doing this at home. I'll probably have to do the paper cutting at home, but that's manageable. I can't believe how much it costs to set up a business! And I'm still attempting to save toward a new camera too. I can't even tell you how much I want it like 5 days ago. I've got the photography bug, and I just can't scratch it! I've even found myself reluctant to take pictures with my current camera in favor of waiting. I might be waiting for a while though, and I know you all still want pictures, so I suppose I'll have to continue to take them anyway!

We have a playdate with a friend tomorrow morning, then a second flu shot for Baxter (babies get it in two doses). Fun stuff. Ok, well I'm done printing now, so I suppose I better go home!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

On this week's installment of


I was not sick almost all week, but never allowed myself to actually feel sick. This did not make me crazy tired to the point of falling asleep on the toilet. I did not awaken to find myself finished, and freak out because I didn't remember starting to go...

We did not take Baxter to Little Cheerful as our first time taking him to a restaurant by ourselves. And he did not live up to the restaurant's name, charming all the patrons, our waitress, and the manager who Jason knows. He also was not enamored by the hair of the man sitting behind him, and I did not have to pull out bits of rice husk out of his ponytail after Baxter had gotten his hands on him yet again.

After breakfast, we did not go spend our hard earned money on a contraption to hold our baby. And that carrier was not a miracle, and carrying Baxter is not a million times easier.

Baxter is not obsessed with trying to pull my hair, and I am not seriously contemplating cutting it off super short.

And it does not freak me out to walk into Baxter's room at night to find him standing in his crib.

Most of all, I am not graduating with my BA in Management and a minor in Psychology this week!

fun times

Now that Baxter is down to two naps a day, I had to start nursing him once in the afternoon that doesn't trigger a nap. I don't nurse him to sleep, but I usually nurse him and he gets sleepy, so in the crib he goes. Well afternoon snack is super fun mommy time.

Baxter smiles and giggles and pets my face while he nurses. He plays with me while he eats and it's just sweet bonding time. Yesterday he figured out that if he pinches me he gets sqirted. Giggles ensue. Well today I was making him laugh while he nursed, and milk came out his nose. He didn't think that was nearly as funny as being squirted. He quickly calmed down and was back to his smiling self.

Oh, and Jason's birthday breakfast was amazing. Dinner smells great. I'm off to go serve it up!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Happy Day!

Sit down and buckle your seatbelt, it's a long post today!

Happy Pi Day everyone! March 14th is Pi day in the US. Pi is a mathematical symbol used to represent the non-repeating decimal 3.1415.... And since the number is 3.14 March 14th is the day it's celebrated.

Now how appropriate is it that Jason, my math teacher of a husband, was BORN on Pi day? That's right, Jason turns 27 today! I made him a cake. It was vanilla with lemon curd filling and a lemon cream cheese and buttercream frosting, with fresh strawberry accents. It was amazing.


Today we're going to celebrate by going out to breakfast at Little Cheerful downtown, and then do some errands. I'm also making him corned beef and cabbage, his favorite meal, that's only really available around St. Patrick's day. It all works out!

Baxter has been pulling to standing more and more every day. He can do it on virtually anything now, including my guitar. We were having a photo session and he really wanted to play with it. There's more pics on Flickr, but this one cracks me up:


He's pretty good at getting around with it too. He pulled up on the baby gate, used the wall, the couch, and the buffet and made it all the way to the TV. He figured out how to open the cabinet doors, and likes to push buttons. Guess what's getting childproofed this weekend?

The funnies thing this week though? Our high chair is on casters. Sometimes I put Baxter in the chair, wheel him into the kitchen and let him eat while I clean. Works great. Also means I rarely lock the wheels on the highchair. Well, Baxter figured out how to pull up on it, then use it as a walker... Jason was quite surprised to see the highchair rolling around the dining room seemingly on it's own.

Going back to childproofing, I ordered a babygate for the top of the stairs. I had to have it shipped. Now it just needs to be installed. I also made sure to be a good mommy and put outlet plugs in all the exposed outlets a while ago. Well guess what Baxter figured out?

CHILD SAFETY FAIL

At least he's more interested in taking them out then putting anything IN.

I'll try to write more this week, but it's going to be pretty busy. I have my final day of anything school related on Monday, and then I have to clean and do various housework the rest of the week. We're going to Seattle next weekend, and then my dad will be here for a few days right after that!

So I'll leave you with some adorable and funny pictures of Baxter.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week I did not take Baxter out to run errands simply because I didn't feel like sitting on the ground to help him stand for three hours. We did not go to five different places at two different times during the same day just so that he would be happy being held or in a cart... 

And I certainly did not get excited that daylight savings time was beginning, meaning that Baxter's natural time to wake up would be pushed back an hour from between 5-6am to between 6-7am. 

Last Monday on my way to school I did not stop at Avenue Bread because my first class was cancelled and I was using the time for homework and I needed one of their amazing mochas and a freshly baked pastry. No, I was trying to save money and be a good little thrifty girl. 

There were not several nights that I was supposed to be doing homework that I was instead browsing ebay doing "research" on how much a used version of my camera and lens cost, so that when I had enough money saved I would know what was a good deal or not. And I did not just tell myself that because I didn't want to admit I was procrastinating. 

I certainly did not start a separate blog just for showing off my creations, but haven't told anyone where to find it because I want to make it pretty and put a nice layout on it first. 

Bad Mommy?

I let Baxter play with things he shouldn't.

Like bottles of lotion and air pump nozzles.

Usually when it's what he wants and it will make him hold still long enough to do thing like, oh, change a poopy diaper. Or any diaper. Or put clothes on him. The boy is an escape artist. He can turn over and half crawl away while you're holding his feet in front of his face and have your legs blocking him in in two sides. True story, this is how poop gets on the carpet.

Baxter is also now a fan of pears. Not pureed of course, but small chunks of the fresh ones. I can't wait intill the fresh fruit and veggie market is open next month. Feeding him will get cheaper.

Oh, and Baxter knows his first sign! He signs "num nums" now when he's nursing. He doesn't understand how to ask for it yet, but he's starting to get the whole sign language thing. Except sometimes he cries when I sign asking if he wants num nums though, because he thinks it's also nap time!

I love that boy so much.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

He thinks he can, but he can't

Baxter thinks he can stand up on his own and walk around. But he can't so it makes him mad. Seriously mad. He can pull up on a few things, and can "walk" while holding hands. He's so enamored with it he's hardly crawling at the moment. He wants to spend every moment practicing. 

He's also teething really bad, and super clingy. And not great naps. And bad timed naps. He also is pinching while nursing, so I just ordered nursing necklaces for him to grab instead of me. We'll see how it goes. Still have quite a bit of stuff left to do, but most of it is reading now. Fun stuff. Oh, and I posted a bunch of textbooks for sale on half.com. Lets hope they sell!!!

Sleep, or lack thereof

I think Baxter knows when I have something to do. On nights when I have school the next day, he sleeps badly at night. On days that I have a ton of homework to do, he either naps terribly or is super clingy. I suppose I should be happy that I'm so close to graduation. But in the mean time I have a LOT to get done, and I could use some cooperation from the Goomba!

PFFFFFFTTTTTTT

That's what I woke up to this morning. Last night Baxter figured out how to blow raspberries. So this morning instead of his usual babbling he blew raspberries over and over. So cute! He LOVES to stand. He can't pull himself up, but if you set him up he will stand for 20 minutes or more. The can travel a little bit, but not much. I think he just likes the balance practice.

Right now he's chewing on a teething biscuit, because that darn tooth hasn't popped through and it's bugging him. Luckily teething biscuits make him happy. He doesn't like purees, but give him table food and he's all over it.

I took his seven month pictures today. I put a few more up on Flickr, but here's my favorite of the batch. I actually took it for my online forum's picture of the week contest. The theme was blanket, and this was the blanket I knit for him before he was born. It turned out so sweet though that I like it anyway!



I also finished a new wool interlock cover for him. I dyed the wool and then had Grandma Annette (Jason's mom) embroider it. I loved his original cover with a monster on the bum, and I found out that monster's name was Milo. I found the embroidery patterns online, and I was super excited. Can you guess what this monster's name is?



It's Baxter! So I just HAD to make it for him. You understand, right?

Yarn

Since some of you asked, here's some of the yarn I dyed this weekend. It's some Blackberry Ridge Merino that my friend Beth sent me (heart!). I kettle dyed it using professional acid dyes in red and brown. Some bits are a little too pink for Baxter, so I may have to make something for myself with it. I love kettle dying because there are no striping or pooling issues with the colors when it's knit up.



I also dyed some Cestari wool in browns, yellow and greens. But I'm not 100% sure I like it, so I may dye over some of the bits. The more I see it the more it grows on me though. So I'll share pictures once I decide :)

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.



This week I did not put Baxter down so I could clean up the cat barf, only to turn around and find it IN HIS MOUTH.

I also did not put him in the high chair and let him go to town on a teething biscuit so that I could get some dishes done and make myself some lunch.

I certainly did not put Baxter in a laundry basket to hang out for half an hour because it makes him happy. And I didn't use that time to do something completely selfish and senseless like play Animal Crossing.

And finally, I did not spend several hours last night dying yarn instead of homework simply because my brain was full.

Seven

Baxter is seven months old today. Jason and I will have been married for seven years at the end of this month. Amazing! Time has flown by. I think being in school has kept me pretty busy, and I can't wait to graduate (done in 16 days!!!). Of course, then I will be busy sewing diapers, but I will at least get to somewhat make my own schedule then. 

I got labels for my diapers made, and they look fantastic. I should probably start a second blog about my diapers so that in case you don't care about diapers as much as I do you don't have to read about them all the time. But for now it's here. 

Baxter is getting a top tooth, you can see and feel it through the gums. He hasn't been too fussy, but we shall see. He's also really close to pulling up to stand. And he started making a funny scrunched face where he wrinkles his nose. Too cute!

But that's all my update is today, since I have two papers to write, a case study to do, three chapters of reading, and an exam to study for. The last 16 days are pretty packed. 

Fun with Words

Baxter isn't really vocal yet. He has a range of sounds he can do:

ga

guh

mmm

da

huhhh

tch (think blowing out through closed mouth with tongue against back of teeth)

high pitched screaching

He's said mama a few times, but not consistently. Today he started saying dada. But not talking about Jason, talking about the tv remote control. He then went and played with a few other toys, and then came back to it, and again called it dada. It was rather cute.

The other day I laughed at him, and he laughed back and then rolled onto his back and belly laughed, looked up to see if I was still laughing, rolled over onto his tummy, checked me, then rolled the other way onto his back, and was just putting on a show. Like he knew he was being funny, and was doing it on purpose. It was great.

And sometimes now he scrunches his nose. Too cute!

I love that boy so much. 

It's True

In case you didn't quite understand, or just missed it from my post last night, it's true.

Jason and I are DEBT FREE! (besides student loans)

I'm so excited! And I'm done with classes in just under three weeks. I'll be able to start my "real life" whatever that means.

Bax has napped terribly today. So he went down at 4pm for a third nap, and he's still asleep. His bed time is in 10 minutes. I guess when he wakes up I'll just put a night time diaper on him and put him back down. No bath tonight!

not me Monday, condensed

I certainly did not forget to write this earlier, so im not doing it while nursing Baxter. I did not buy a cookie with my coffee today because I wanted something sweet. I didn't have terrible gas from the massive amounts of garlic I consumed either.

And I most certainly DID NOT pay off all our debt besides student loans!!!!

And of course, I'm not going to bed now either.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Chasing Shadows

The other day I was putting away Baxter's laundry while he played on the floor. He's been working on the pincher grasp, where he picks something up with his thumb and index finger. In the past this is only been used on me (i.e. nursing, pull off, look pointy thing! pinch, OUCH! resume nursing). Well he saw my dancing shadow in the rays of sun and was trying to pick them up! It was super cute, so I took a picture:


I also picked up some teething biscuits for him, since he seems to like table food more then purees. He loved it. He smelled of teething biscuits all day. He also made a big mess!



Shortly after this photo there was actually remnants on his forehead as well. I gave him half of one later, but planned it so he went straight into the bathtub afterwards.

He's also been laughing and ticklish a lot more. He especially loves mirrors. There are handprints on ALL of them in the house now. So next time I get them cleaned I'll try to video him playing with mirrors again. But in the mean time here are some fun videos of Baxter playing with Mommy and Daddy.





On other notes, I finished and shipped my diaper order! Now I have papers to write, but what else is new? Baxter can also scoot quite far now :)

applesauce no, paper yes

Well Baxter still isn't very into solid foods, unless it's what we are eating. I had my friend and her daughter over last week, and Baxter kept stealing her apple to suck on. So I tried giving him applsauce. First thing he's actually spit out. But later I found him eating paper, which I had to fish out of his mouth. He is fond of puffs though, which are like sweet melting cheerios.

Today he got up early again, so I'm laying on the futon in his room while watching him explore the floor. He's not quite army crawling, he's more pulling himself around with his arms, but he's pretty good at it. He can almost get into a sitting possition by himself too. He's so amazing. Someties when I put him down for naps he has to talk to himself for a while first. Yesterday it sounded like "da da da geez oh right da da (thump head on mattress twice) da da" on repeat. I was trying not to laugh and wake him up!

Ok, he's starting to want my attention. Excuse any errors, since I wrote this post on my phone. I do have a video to upload, and maybe a picture/story too. I'll try to get to that later.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Stand by me

So Baxter really likes standing. A lot. His new favorite toy is the laundry basket because he can hold both sides and stand on his own. See Exhibit A:

The only problem with this is that laundry baskets are prone to tipping, so we hold both sides. The picture is blurry because it's from my phone as I'm gripping the basket with my ankles.

He's getting better at crawling. He does this funny arm pulling thing, and still tries to get up on his tip toes. It's not really coordinated yet, and he still rolls over to get there faster some times. I'm not sure I would call it an army crawl yet. But it still gets him where he wants to go.

He has discovered the cat food and water. He hasn't tried to eat it yet, but he has pulled the water onto his head. Jason and I can't figure out where to move it to so that he can't get it anymore.

I've made a lot of progress with my diaper order. I'm learning silly things like remove the lint from my machine every night and it doesn't break as often. I'm also getting significantly faster. But Jason was laughing at my inventory skills. I ran out of elastic yesterday so I went to get more. But JoAnn's was having a huge President's Day sale, so I came home with a bunch of thread too, you know, for inventory. This weekend I also realized that I had ordered snaps from China forgetting about the Chinese New Year, so I wasn't going to have them in time. But then I recalculated and realized that I had ordered enough for this order but would still be short in the future, so I ordered a bunch more locally. Luckily it's only a tad bit more expensive, but the shipping is a lot faster.

This morning Baxter woke up with a bit of a cold, at 5am. He wants to be upright (so his nose drains?) and I'm too tired, therefore he is in the jumperoo. But he's starting to make whiney noises, so it might be close to naptime.

The last few days he's been trying to eliminate his third nap of the day. Which would be fine if his second nap of the day didn't start between 10 and noon, and only last an hour or two. Being up from 11 to 6pm is REALLY hard on him, but he fights that last nap. It might be because he was starting to get sick though. So today I'm going to try to push the middle nap back in case he fights number three again. Oh, and I'm going to use Tylenol.

Ok, there was yawn #3 in the jumperoo. It's still a bit on the early side for his first nap, but now he might need more mommy time. Off to my full time job!

Not me Monday

As I recently mentioned, I follow MckMama's blog My Charming Kids. Every monday she does a post about things she did NOT do the week before. It's a way to pretend to be perfect while admitting our faults. I love reading hers every week, so I thought I would try it out!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week I most certainly did not decide to stop shaving my armpits after finding a one inch long ingrown hair. And I most certainly did not vow to epilate instead, even though I constantly forget and end up shaving at the last minute.

I also did not put Baxter on a chair at the Public Heath department and sit in front of him while I got a flu shot, just so he wouldn't roll off! And I most certainly did not pretend to ignore him chewing on the armrests of said chair.

Of course I would never bake a batch of cupcakes JUST for me and Jason. Never! Not me! And we didn't eat over half of them in just a few days! Never!

And I am not going to try to do this post every week, simply because I enjoy reading other people's....

Photo Ambitions

As Baxter becomes more mobile, he becomes harder to catch on film. My camera will do an okay job on action shots, but it starts getting what is called noise. Like where there is supposed to be black it starts looking like a disco ball. As some of you may know, I loved photography in high school, and seriously thought about becoming a professional photographer. I had a nice Nikon SLR, and worked at a Photographic Supply store. After working in the industry for almost five years I realized that I didn't want to be a photographer, I just love great photography. Sometimes I can do it, but not always when prompted to perform. So instead it turned into a hobby. But I had a film camera, and the hobby eventually went dormant. A few years ago I bought a nice point and shoot to take with us on our three week road trip. Don't get me wrong, I love that camera. It's perfect for slipping into my pocket or purse, and it's great for toting around to various places. But if you have visited my flickr site, you know that I try to take good every day photos, the kind that would be amazing with a digital SLR.

I suppose reading My Charming Kids doesn't help. She has the most amazing story (it will take forever to read, and it WILL make you cry) and she takes beautiful pictures of her kids. I'm not nearly as good of a writer, but her blog is what I aspire to be someday. With graduation about a month away, I thinking about all the time I'm going to have during the day with just Baxter, and I'm pondering all the photographic opportunities. And then it will be spring, and I can take him to explore parks!

My photography bug has bitten again.

Of course, the camera I want is SUPER expensive. But I'm going to be a responsible adult type person and start saving my money towards it. We have a savings account that's linked to our checking account that we currently use for budgeting our childcare money. After I graduate that becomes the camera fund. We're going to make a monthly budget, and whatever extra I save outside of the budget gets to go to my camera fund. And my graduation present and anniversary gift are $100 toward my camera. We also have a Best Buy gift card from our credit card points that will be all the extras (memory card, extra battery, etc) so I just have to worry about the camera part.

Ready for the big number? I've done my research (I know, I'm very researchy when it comes to this much money and getting what I really want) and decided I want the Nikon D80. I've always been a Nikon girl, and this camera will last for a very long time. I could spend $200 less, but it would limit me in the future, and has a few things missing.

$800

Ok, now pick up your jaw and close your mouth. And start giving me good tips on how to save money. I want this thing bought before Baxter's first birthday! Or maybe a lot sooner... Of course, if you're wondering what to get me as a graduation present, this may also be a strong hint. I promise you would get to see benefits!

Out of Curiosity

For those of you who have been reading my blog since the Babysite days, do you like the blogger version any better? I'm debating it it was a good change or not. It's certainly easier to access so I've been posting more, and I like that I can embed photos and videos. Just curious!

I know there's no longer a guest book, but you can leave comments on individual posts. If there's something missing that you liked from before, let me know and I may be able to add something similar.

I would love to hear your comments!

It has started

Yesterday Baxter was moving a tiny bit, but today he was moving several feet in kind of a half army crawl half scoot. He wore himself out! He has also slept awesome the past few nights, which means it will be terrible tonight. Ok, since he's now sleeping, it's shower time!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

I think my education is working

I have an exam tomorrow in my Management 495: Strategic Management class. I have been completely unworried about it. Today I spent Baxter's naps (minus my shower, about an hour and a half) filling in the study guide. This class is considered a "capstone" class, to make sure we understand what we've been taking classes about. It just hit me that I already know everything this exam is going to be on, hence why I've been unconcerned. That or senioritis is really kicking in. So instead I will leave you with a cute little video of foxes figuring out what a trampoline does, and then I'll go off to read through this study guide once more before doing something else with my evening.

I am so not ready for this

Starting last friday, Baxter started getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth, getting ready to crawl. He continued to do this all weekend. Sometimes he gets up on his hands and tip-toes, like a funny push up. And this morning he army crawled about two inches. I keep telling him to wait another month!


Last weekend we went to Seattle. We stayed with Jason's parents, which was nice. Baxter couldn't figure out if he liked the dog or if it scared him witless. It was a lot of fun! I got to meet someone from my online forum. I'm part of the July Firecrackers playgroup, even though Baxter was born in August. They're a great bunch of ladies. Kyliee and I met and walked around the Commons at Federal Way with her daughter Natalie and Baxter. It was a lot of fun.



After that Baxter and I went to a baby shower for April, my step-sister. She's due on March 16th, the same day as my last class! Baxter was a huge hit, and the party was fun too.

While Baxter and I were out and about, Jason went with his sister Jessica to an orienteering meet. Orienteering is something that Jason did in High School and loved. It's kind of like a race, but you have to use a map to find different check in points before you can finish it. He wasn't going to run it because he is out of shape, but at the last minute he decided it would be fun. He was sore for three days.

Jason will find out on May 11th if he has a job or not. The irritating thing is that the job fair is on April 16th, so he's not sure if he's going to go to that or not. He might just for information gathering. We're somewhat preparing for the worst, which most likely means a move to Seattle. If we moved to Seattle I would have to find a job, which would be difficult with bottle-refusing Baxter. But with what we could afford rent-wise, I wouldn't have space to sew my diapers. So pray that Jason gets to keep his job!!!

I have a debate on Wednesday for my leadership practicum class, and a mid-term too. So not fun. On Friday we have a recertification appointment at WIC, and then we might go see Great-Grandpa and Grandma for a late lunch/early dinner. And I'm busy making diapers in my free time! Good thing I enjoy sewing them :)

wow

Blogging has come a long way when you can start blogging from your phone.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Public Service Announcement

Babies are slippery when wet. Proceed with caution.

I heard it!

I heard Baxter call my name! Please note the time of my post. Yes, it is just after 2am. I was woken from my slumber by my should be sleeping son calling "mamama" piteously over and over. Of course I went to him, and gently soothed him back to sleep. And I'm so excited that I heard it, I just wish that I could more coherently remember it. The memory is already starting to fade, hence my blogging about it at 2am. Chances are I will forget about this post by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, and read it the next time I go to post, and be excited / disappointed all over again. So you, Blogger, are serving as my means of remembering. You don't require finding pen and paper. Although my eyes hurt from looking at a bright screen. I'm off to find my bed again.

Double

Baxter is now double his birth weight. At his 6 month appointment today he weighed in at 19lbs, 12oz. That's 6 whole ounces more than double his birthweight. And I think that means his growth has finally started to plateau! That mean it will be much easier to clothe the boy. He's almost grown out of his 6 month sleepers. I recently had to explain this to my father, so I'll explain it again. Baby clothes are stupidly sized. There is NOT consistent sizing between brands. Carter's is much more generously sized than other brands. In Carter's Bax can squeeze into some 6 month stuff, but he's generally too long. 9 month fits well, and 12 month works, but is really wide. In Old Navy, he's in a 12-18 month onesie (that's the only thing he has from there). In American Apparel he's in 12-18 month t-shirts, and they're slightly on the large size. He got some 6-9 month stuff for Christmas that's just too short, and some others that will be fine this summer if I turn them into t-shirts. I pretty much never put him in onesies, it's mostly t-shirts. And he usually wears the wool pants I knit him. I think he's set on clothes for a while!

My long week of school is over, but next week I have two short papers, one long paper and a mid-term. This sounds worse than it is, since the long paper is already written. And the two short papers are reflections on other people's papers. The mid-term I am slightly concerned about, but I'm not going to stress out about it.

We're going to Seattle for the weekend! I love seeing family. We're staying at Jason's parents this time. On Saturday I'm meeting up with a friend, and that afternoon Baxter and I are going to my step-sister April's baby shower. Fun times! When we get home, I have a TON of diapers to make!

See, I just knew that I had to write this and wait for bed. Baxter woke up. I'll put him back down and then put myself to sleep. Good night!

Sunrise, coffee, and alternate forms of fiber

There's one thing they never tell you about being a parent. "Sleeping in" means you got to sleep until 8am. Most mornings you are up between 5 and 6am, and if you're LUCKY it's 7. Jason and I take turns "sleeping in" on the weekend. He gets Saturdays, I get Sundays. But there are benefits to waking up early! Yes, that's right, benefits! For instance, I get to see the beautiful shades of pink and coral in the sunrise every morning. True that it's through the slats on his blinds, filtered through the bare branches of the maple trees outside, but it's still sunrise. And I see it six days a week.

Regardless of whether or not I get to sleep in, I need my morning coffee. I stopped drinking coffee while pregnant with Baxter, but now I drink it again. However, my coffee habits have changed. I now drink decaf, which still wakes me up. I think I'm just conditioned that coffee in the morning wakes me up. The other thing that I'm doing, is contributing my part to save third world countries. I now buy fair trade coffee, and it tastes great. Especially freshly ground in the morning. I swear, I wasn't a coffee snob until I visited the east coast and had to drink their "coffee" for a few days. But if we go back to the sunrise paragraph above, sometimes I don't feel like grinding my coffee in the morning. So today I had a brilliant idea. Why not have some of the coffee pre-ground, and some of it whole bean?!? Fantastic! But where do I PUT the ground coffee? Since Baxter refuses to take a bottle, I have some large bottles sitting around doing nothing. I think to myself "Hey, these bottles are airtight containers! And I paid good money for these!" Hence my new solution:

Enough about my rambling solutions. You want to hear about Baxter. The man child is doing fine, and he's more and more mobile every day. He seems determined to roll where ever he pleases. In fact, when he sees my shoes he gets excited, and makes his way over to them as fast as he can. He then promptly sticks them in his mouth. We did start him on solids (so far he's had carrots, banana, and avacado. Sweet potatoes or oatmeal are next) but by far his favorite food is wood. You know, door frames, chairs, the doors themselves. Seriously, the boy cannot get enough of them! I keep telling him that wood is not an appropriate source of fiber for a six month old.

On my end, things have been going. I'm not sure if they have been going good, or going bad, they're just going. I had a super busy week at school last week, including writing 5 papers. Pretty insane. I actually think my busiest week of the whole quarter ends tomorrow. Then I have a mid-term next week, but overall it calms down for a while. I also got some really great news on saturday. The CPSIA legislation that was passed last August that would virtually end business for small crafters of children's items was put on hold for another year. That means that I can officially start selling diapers in march when I graduate! I'm working on my first large order right now, and this morning I ordered labels! I can't even tell you how excited I was to order labels for Dilley Dally diapers. And on Sunday night I had a "mamas night out" with some of my good friends. It was amazing, and I just need that once a month.

Jason just finished up his first semester and is gearing up for the next set of lessons. He's been great, like always. I really have nothing to complain about with him. Oh wait, there is one MINOR thing. And it's not entirely his fault. He works at a public school, therefore he's ALWAYS SICK. Or bringing home germs. That part I could live without!

Liars and Frogs, 2.0

Welcome to those of you who came from my old Babysite! I decided to move to blogger so that I can include pictures, videos and links into my blog posts, and also have a more customizable format. I hope it's not too confusing for you, but it's certainly easier for me! I'm working on archiving and updating all my previous posts, so bear with me a bit as I work on that.

Classes have been crazy busy for me the last few weeks. This quarter I have two "writing intensive" courses, which means a lot for me to do. Oh, and the CPSIA gave us a one year reprieve on testing requirements, so that officially means that after I graduate I will be opening up Dilley Dally Diapers!

And a quick Baxter update, since he just woke up from his nap:

Last night I had a girls night out with some of my friends. When I'm home I put Bax to bed, and Jason does it on Mondays and Wednesdays when I have class. So last night he was distressed that I nursed him and then handed him off to Daddy to go to sleep, because he KNEW I was there! I went into the other room to finish getting dressed. When I left his room, he started crying, and called for "mama!" So I was his first word, but I MISSED it! Sad! I hope I get to hear it soon :D

sleep training is not for the weak

Baxter used to sleep great at night. Then it got worse, and it never got better. So I read the No Cry Sleep Solution. It had some great tips that started to work and then never completely did the trick. Then Kimmie sent me Sleep Sense, and it was very similar to the No Cry Sleep Solution, it just acknowledged that Babies cry when they don't get what they want. For Baxter, that's nursing to sleep. Well, we don't let him cry it out, but he does fuss.

Overall it's been a huge success so far. Naps are awesome now. He's cut down to 3 naps a day, and sometimes he tries to get it to two. But putting him down for naps is super easy, as long as it follows the routine. Change diaper, nurse, put in crib with lovey on chest, turn off light, turn on music. He'll talk to himself for a moment or two, find a comfortable position, and pass out. He has always slept on his back, but now that he can choose sometimes it's on his side (in a funny fighter pose!) or on his tummy.

Nights have had mixed success. He doesn't like going to bed. Sometimes it's easy like naps, other times it takes over an hour. But last night he slept from 7pm until 4am, then nursed and was backed in bed by 4:05 and woke up for the day at 6am. Not too bad! *I* was in pain, but only because I'm not used to him sleeping that much. In the last 5 days he has only woken up once or twice a night. Much better than four or more!

I'm crazy overloaded with school at the moment. I should probably be working on a paper right now, but I need a few minutes to myself. Baxter is down for his first nap of the day, but will most likely be awake soon. My diapers have taken off quite a bit as well. Which is exciting in some sense, but I'm not prepared yet! I just want to finish school!

Jason still doesn't know if he will have a job next year or not. He's in a really tough situation. The job fair is in the beginning of April, and he won't really know by then. So he has to decide whether or not he wants to attend and look to see what's available. It's just all up in the air. I really don't want to move in June though, since we would have to be out of here by the end of the month, and the end of school got pushed back. I would end up doing almost everything myself to pack up, while watching Baxter at the same time. I know I could do it, but I don't want to. Sigh.

Ok, off to work while the man child still sleeps!

no kisses for daddy

Baxter's newest thing is giving kisses. He kissed Grandma Deanna at Christmas (his first kiss ever, I'm so jealous!) then he started kissing me. He also kisses our babysitter Jen. But not Jason.

Jason came upstairs with Baxter tonight and told me he had it figured out. Baxter STARTED to kiss him, but his kisses are rather open mouthed. He got his tongue to Jason's cheek and then pulled back in horror, with a "that tastes disgusting!" look on his face. I guess daddy needs new aftershave!

Rollin rollin rollin

Baxter has been ABLE to roll for quite a long time. On Monday it finally clicked, he can GET somewhere by rolling. Now we can't stop him from rolling. Oh, my diaper is off! Lets roll over so Mom can't put a new one on! Oh, I"m doing naked tummy time, lets roll over so I can grab myself! (Which he's gotten much more violent about, I have to keep his nails cut short, he keeps giving himself wounds)

Right now we're struggling with naps. At this point in time he should be working on going from three naps a day down to two. Instead we're dealing with 4-5 20 minute naps. And when he wakes up he just wakes up happy and plays, so I can't get him back down. He will nap well over an hour if held or if REALLY tired, often his last nap of the day at 4pm. His bedtime is at 6:30, which makes this difficult. He also wakes up at 6:30 in the morning for morning play, then goes back down by 7:30 usually for an hour. I can't tell whether or not to count this as a nap half the time!

They say that sometimes babies don't sleep well while they're going through developmental milestones. So maybe when he starts crawling his sleep will get better? I've been using the "No Cry Sleep Solution" but it's not really working very well. Or really at all. But I can't tell if that's because of the developmental stuff or not :( This is a three day weekend though, so I'll recruit more help. During the week I always wake up when he crys at night because I'm the mom, it's instinct. And since I"m already awake I usually take care of him. Jason is more then willing to help, but since he teaches during the week I usually just let him sleep. Not this weekend! Mommy is exhausted!!! Even with Jason helping at night I'll still have to nurse him a few times.

I've been working hard sewing diapers. I got some small babies and newborns as testers, since they were the last ones I needed to try it on. I'm in the middle of sewing the last of the testers, and then I'll make a few more for Baxter. He has some diapers that I bought that I think I'm going to sell, because mine fit him so much better. You learn so much as time goes by! So far I've gotten really positive feedback from the people who have used the "Dilley Dally" diapers. I'm thinking I will be able to sell after the CPSIA law that goes into effect on February 10th, because my diapers are one of a kind since they're handmade. It's still sketcy, but it looks like one of a kind (OOAK) items are exempt. Probably because the testing destroys the item! I'm not concerned, my diapers don't contain lead, and I have certificates on everything that goes into them. I'm now probably talking about something that most of you know nothing about, but that's ok. If you're curious, just email me and I can tell you more. If you want to see more pictures of the diapers I make you can see them at www.flickr.com/photos/dilleydally

Other than that, the last thing I have to tell you is that I hate baby socks. Baxter is between the 0-6 month and 6-12 month size, so neither stay on. His poor cold little feet!

Mr. Everywhere

Baxter wants to grab anything and everything. He'll launch himself at the cat, or the remote, or your cup if you're holding him. He wants to see and touch everything. It's cute but also rather irritating!

The other day he wanted out of the jumperoo and he raised his hands expecting to be lifted up. It was the first and only time he's done it but it was soooo cute.

This morning when I went to change his diaper he was waving at himself over and over and over again. It was nice, it kept him distracted while I changed him!

The other night he was working really hard to get his knees up under him, and he actually bridged a few times. He then fell right back down, but it's another step towards crawling!

This was just a quick update of milestones :D

I'm thankful

I know most of the posts on this blog are about my beautiful baby boy Baxter. But Baxter wouldn't be here without his oh so wonderful father. And I just wanted to tell everyone how great of a father he is.

Since having Baxter, Jason has become the best father I've ever seen. It's made me fall in love with him all over again, in a completely different way. He's always willing to do something for me or Baxter when we're in need. He will willingly play with Baxter for hours so I can get things done. Sometimes he insists on it, just because he wants to play with his son. He makes up silly games, and silly songs. He figures out what Baxter likes, and then does it over and over and over again. If he's downstairs with the monitor, and I'm upstairs where I can hear, and Baxter makes a noise, he runs so fast to check on him he's at the top of the stairs before I can put down my project. He will rock Baxter to sleep for hours. He will get up in the middle of the night when Baxter decides he wants to play. He will get up at 6am to be with him so that I can "sleep in" until Baxter's first nap, when he will change his diaper then bring him to me to nurse. He will willingly change diapers, even poopy ones. He's glad that we're cloth diapering!

Simply put, he's amazing. I can't imagine a better father for my children. I'm proud to be experiencing parenthood with him.

A funny story from Jason

So, i get home from work today and Merrilee is still at school. That means Jen is watching Baxter at our apartment with her 2 girls. Apparently, the girls had a colander full of grapes. Afterwards, the colander made it's way to a random place on the floor which means that Baxter got ahold of it. But that's not the funny part...

The funny part is that Jen was allowing Baxter some naked tummy time. So, I get home and I'm talking to Jen about my day when i turn around to see naked Baxter, rolling on the floor, crying, with a colander on top of his head, covering his face.

If only I had a camera...

A new year...

I'm told an update is in order. Most likely true, as I've gotten behind!

Right after the last time I posted, the weather got really cold. Like REALLY cold. We had no snow, but our HOT water in our kitchen froze. That cold. When the maintenance man came out to take a look at it, he took out the drywall and insulation to re-do what was previously around the pipe. When he did that the base wall crumbled away and he could see daylight through the gaps in the siding. This summer when they pained the buildings, all the gaps were supposed to be sealed before they painted. Yeah, never happened. So the entire exposed long side of our townhouse is covered in little gaps, and water gets into the insulation. When it freezes, the soggy, sponge like insulation turns into a giant ice cube, turning our home into a literal refrigerator. Jason put plastic up over the windows to help stave off the chill to no effect. We had the heat up to 90 in our bedroom, and it was still so cold Baxter had to be in bed with us or he was too cold to sleep. I'm sure our heating bill will be outrageous, so Jason's looking into seeing if we can get management to reimburse part of it. Oh, and did I mention this happened on my birthday? The same day that teething decided to pain Mr. Baxter.

Luckily (or maybe not so luckily?) it snowed later that week, blanketing the city in a layer of white calm. Jason had to work on Monday and Tuesday was a delayed start. Then they called off school for Wednesday through Friday. The great thing about being a teacher is that you work when the kids are in school, so snow days for them = snow days for teachers! This was fantastic for me, since Baxter was super needy that week. As in for 5 days, he only wanted to be held, and would only sleep when being held. So we watched movies and took turns holding a sleeping baby.

On Saturday the 20th we decided to head to Seattle before it snowed again. Our original plan was to go for a few days, come home to catch up on sleep, then go back for Christmas. The weather had other ideas! We ended up staying for a full week. By the end Jason and I were sorely in need of a nap, but overall we had a great holiday. It was so nice to spend time with family. We spent the first half of the time at my Mom's house, and the second half at Jason's parents. Jason's dad also had surgery on the 23rd, and had to shave his beard. Beardless he wasn't nearly as scary to Baxter, so they had some great bonding time. They also gave us a jumperoo for Christmas. Well, they gave it to Baxter, but it's just as much a present for us, because he loves it soooooo much! That boy is a bouncing fool! He also got some very cute clothes and toys, and a very special new pet from Great-Grandma and Grandpa Spears. He decided to rename his new puppy Deeohgee again. When we finally made our way home, we were very glad to be here.

Now's the point in the story where I get to say Congrats to Steve and Krystal Bishop, who welcomed baby Bruce on the 28th! We're so happy for them, and can't wait until they post a multitude of photos :D

Sadly, when we got home, Baxter's sleep didn't improve much. He's been sleeping in our bedroom, in a co-sleeper that side-car's our bed. Well, he's pretty much outgrown that, and we started noticing that he doesn't sleep as well when we make noise in the night. It's not like we try to wake him up, but even repositioning in bed causes him to stir. So we took the plunge. Bedroom #2 is now Baxter's bedroom. This is night three. He slept TERRIBLY the first night, and marginally better last night. For those of you who know us, know that this is how tired I was: I slept though a 20 minute cry last night, but Jason woke up and took care of Baxter. Yeah. But his room is super cute! Hopefully tonight he'll do better.

Also new this week, Jason decided to learn how to cook/bake. We had bananas that needed to be used up, and I commented that I should make Banana bread, but I had too much to do. So Jason did it. He found the recipe, and he made it all by himself, without asking any questions! And it came out GREAT. I'm so proud of him. I love him so much, he's such an amazing father and spouse. I do not think I could have done any better. We've been together nine and a half years! I don't know what I would do without him.

Today we spent the day at our friends Kit and Christine, and their two little boys. Josiah is almost two, and Joel is 2.5 months older than Baxter. The babies loved each other. They kept trying to touch each other's faces, it was so sweet! I just know that they'll grow up to be great friends :D

Ok, that's all for now. I'm busily sewing diapers for a friend, and taking orders for testers.... :D

All I want for Christmas

is my two front teeth!

Well, I had no idea Baxter was teething, but I guess he was. Yesterday he got his first tooth. Then today he was super cranky, so I wondered if he was still teething, since teeth come in pairs. He got his second tooth today.

How is he growing up so fast! Teeth at 4 months, 1.5 weeks. Yikes!

He can do What?!?

So it's been a while since I posted, so I figure I should do something about that! Thanksgiving was good, but Baxter doesn't do well when away from home too long. So we're most likely going to go to Seattle twice for Christmas, and go home for a few days in the middle so Jason and I can recover!

He had his 4 month (can you believe he's that old!!!) appointment today, and he's 18 pounds even. Huge, I swear. I've bought him a few new things to wear, and he's in 6-9 month in everything. He's almost outgrown his 6 month sleepers already! He has a few 3 month shirts that I can still put on him, but they're starting to show his belly button off. So for christmas he's getting a few 12-18 month t-shirts from us. I put one on him today, and it's a little baggy but overall it just looks long. Good. He can wear it for a while then. I'm hoping until at least short sleeve season, but I might be setting my hopes too high. Hopefully his growth will plateau and he won't gain as fast anymore. I'm thinking that will happen at 22lbs. Random guess, but we'll see! So if you're buying him clothes for Christmas, lets hope they fit!

He's working really hard at rolling over still. He CAN do it, but sometimes he's too tired and I'm not entirely sure he always remembers how. Today he rolled from his back to his belly twice, which is a new record for him. I kind of want him to get the hang of it soon, but at the same time it's so easy with him not being mobile yet. I'm NOT ready for him to start crawling yet! I would in fact be happy with a late crawler, so I can be more done with school! If he waited until 6-7 months, I'd be fine with that. He'll be 7.5 months when I graduate. Crazy!

On another front, he's starting to sit pretty well. He still tripods most of the time, but he's starting to self correct too! When you put him down you have to settle him into a sitting position, but then he can hold it pretty decently. I timed him the other day, and he was sitting for 2.5 minutes before he fell over. Again, some of that was using his hands in front of him to balance, but that's still pretty good!

Jason is done teaching on the 19th, and he's ready for a break. I finished up on Monday, and have been running errands, and making Christmas presents. I thought I would go cheap and make a bunch of presents this year, but it's super time consuming! I also have a lot of cleaning and sewing to do, but I've been delaying those... although I did get some laundry done. I'm not sure how much I'll get done tomorrow either, because Bax had his 4 month shots today, so tomorrow he'll be cranky and cuddly. I have a friend coming over in the afternoon for a little bit, and then I need to go back to Kohls. I went today, and found out the sales are better tomorrow... :D There's nice things about still knowing a lot of the people who work there! And they coo over Bax every time. I went today thinking he might nap in the stroller, but instead he was happy, and GIGGLED the whole time! At nothing! I didn't have to make crazy noises or faces, he just laughed at the people around me!

Ok, I'm off to go work on more Christmas presents. I'm hoping to get the last of them finished off tonight so I can start wrapping soon. I need to take pictures of Baxter under the tree, but I want there to be other presents there too..

He's a Boy...

And he knows it. He "helps" during diaper changes now, and raises his legs when the diaper comes off. The then usually grabs himself. Then once his had has been disengaged and the diaper around him, he pumps his legs up and down, thinking this will help to fasten the diaper...


I've also started calling him "Goomba" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goomba#Goomba because how how chubby his cheeks are. First Jason thought it was stupid, but he likes it now :D


We're excited for the holiday! We'll be in Seattle all weekend, so Grandpas and Grandmas and Aunts and Uncles can get their Baxter fix!

Independence?

For the last two days Baxter has not let me nurse him to sleep. Instead he wants to be nursed, then walked and rocked for about 5 minutes, then laid down with the pacifier (still awake) where he will then put himself to sleep. While this is a welcome development, it's sad to think that one of my favorite portions of the day has come to an end. I'm hoping he still lets me nurse him to sleep sometime. There's nothing like having a sleeping baby on your lap, even if his foot now creeps up to rest on your chin...

Peek-a-Boo!

Baxter now understands peek-a-boo and giggles or smiles. It's great. And sometimes he's ticklish under his arms! He's smiling soooo much more. He's finally sleeping through the night (mostly) again. He keeps getting sick (thanks public school system!) so we keep having him sleep in his chair in his crib. He's almost outgrown the co-sleeper! I have no idea what we'll do when that happens. I don't do super well when he co-sleeps, because I barely sleep or wake up with sore hips. So we might put the bed on the floor with our toddler mattress next to us. But that means buying toddler sheets and a bed-rail so he doesn't roll off. Not that he would anyway, because the boy still sleeps swaddled! We've tried to wean him off of it, but it results in more of a headache for us because he constantly wakes himself up. I try to do unswaddled naps during the day, but the longest he goes is 40 minutes. His swaddled naps are 1.25 to 2.5 hours long... He's also started putting himself to sleep better. We changed pacifiers, and he the new ones put him to sleep. He doesn't like them unless he's sleepy though, which is nice.


School is... stressful. The quarter is almost over, and there's only one more from here. Jason is sick yet again, but his classes are going well. I can't think of what else to post. I'm putting more pictures up on flickr, and a video of peek-a-boo up on youtube.

Ungrateful

I realized how ungrateful I had been when Baxter was sleeping though the night. If he starts again (which I know he will eventually, but I want it to happen now) I will be ever so thankful. I was so used to it, and now I'm sleep deprived! He's gotten a little better, but still not great. He was up 3 times last night, but one of them was for over an hour and a half. Last Thursday he woke up at 2am, and we tried for an hour to get him back down, but Jason ended up holding him and watching a movie until 5am because he would not sleep. He had to be held, not just cuddled in bed. But since then we got the teething necklace, and at night I wrap it around his ankle under his PJ's. It did reduce the number of wake-ups from 5 down to 3. And he's not nearly as fussy during the day and naps are a snap to put him down. Except for today, because I had meetings on campus that conflicted with his naps, and he was NOT happy. He's currently napping on Jason, even though bed time is less than an hour away.

I better go check on the boys, Jason lost the remote so he's probably irritated with what he's watching and unable to change it and unable to yell for me to go change it, hehe.

reaching...

I forgot to add yesterday that he's been starting to reach for toys. He's pretty good at getting them into his mouth to chew on too. But mostly he prefers my finger... He'll gnaw for ages on my knuckle. Last night he woke up 5 times. Not necessarily to nurse, but because his mouth hurt. He only nursed once out of all of that. He just wanted to know I was there, and to gnaw on my finger for a few minutes before falling back asleep. Did not make for a good exam this morning. It wasn't terrible, but it could have gone a lot better.

Tonight Jason has parent teacher conferences, and won't be home until about 9pm. So I have to put Baxter to bed by myself. I'm hoping to get my prep done for tomorrow, and just go to bed with him. Tomorrow night I'm volunteering at the Mother Baby Center auction (www.motherbabycenter.org). I highly recommend supporting them, they were a great support to me, and they're a fantastic addition to the Whatcom County community. But Jason gets to return the favor, and he gets to put Baxter to bed by himself tomorrow. We'll see how that goes, Baxter has never done that before, he's always had me to nurse him, then Daddy walks with him. It's a two part, two parent process. I'm glad he wants both of us though!

growing!

Baxter has such a steady growth rate, I'm ready for it to plateau. I'm breaking out the holiday themed clothes I got for him on clearance last year, in 6-9 month sizes! I wasn't quite ready to have him in clothes covered in snowflakes and snowmen, but it's snowing somewhere, right? He had a WIC appointment today, and I updated his growth chart, but here are the percentiles according to them:

Weight: 15 pounds 12 ounces (90-95th percentile)
Height: 24 3/8 inches (50-75th percentile)
Head circumference: 16 3/4 (50-75th percentile)

In other words, he's stayed the same length, but his head has gotten bigger, and his weight has gone up. Does that mean he has a fat head? Well, he's a pretty proportionate little guy, except for his HUGE THIGHS!

Happy Halloween!

Baxter was a gnome for Halloween this year. Which mostly meant he was subjected to a photo session while wearing a beard/hat combo that he wasn't particularly thrilled about. But it was still super cute. Next year we'll take him trick or treating. We only had ONE knock tonight! Two little girls in witch's outfits, and really bad face makeup. We have a ton of leftover candy. I guess "the thing" to do now is take the kids downtown. I hear Fairhaven is the place to go.

Baxter is just the cutest baby ever. I'm sure every mom thinks that, but he really is great. We need to get back down to Seattle so family can see how great he's getting. I'm not sure that's going to happen before Thanksgiving though. Travel is expensive, and we have a lot going on with school and work.

He's getting soooo much more social. Grandpa Gary was visiting from New York last week, and Baxter was great with talking and smiling. We went and spent the day with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Spears on Monday, and he could not get enough of them. He was telling them all sorts of stories and grinning up a storm. I know they're already in love with him, but he could have charmed a complete stranger that day! He's really developing a personality. We're trying to not let him watch TV, but it happens (in moderation). But Baxter, who was so huge at birth that we called him "Daddy's little linebacker," has decided he LOVES football. And sometimes baseball. Seriously, if football is on TV, he's glued to it. If you turn him around, he'll twist back to it. If you change the channel he'll whimper until you turn it back. It's actually pretty cute.

And he has the most adorable sad face! I know, I try not to let him get too sad, but he sticks his lower lip wayyyy out and gives a tiny whimper. If he hears another baby crying he'll do this in sympathy. To cute! And he continues to be amazing in all things physical. He holds a rattle pretty well now, and sometimes sucks on it. And he rolled over. He's been rolling over from front to back since mid-September, but he doesn't do it often. He likes his tummy time too much. But on Wednesday (at 12.5 weeks) he rolled over from back to belly! On the bed too, where it's supposed to be more difficult! He's taken to laying on his side when playing with toys though, it's so funny.

Lets see, I think he's starting to teeth. I just bought him an amber teething necklace to see if it helps with his fussiness at all. Although I shouldn't complain, he really is an easy baby. But he just doesn't want to be put down at all when he's fussy, which means I don't get things like laundry or homework done. And he doesn't nap well, so I don't have that time either. If you're curious about teething necklaces, more information on them can be found here: http://hyenacart.com/inspiredbyfinn/index.php?c=64&p=14913. I actually got two for Baxter, and one for Jason and I too. I had a discount code :D

As far as not quite so Baxter related, I'm still doing OK in school. I have an exam next Thursday, and I have 180 terms to work through, as well as 250 pages of reading that I haven't been able to do with Baxter around. The plan is to skim it this weekend, and hopefully get most of that done. Of course we're taking pictures tomorrow, and have errands to run, but I have high hopes! I tend to get more done when Jason is home. Weekends are their time together. That and bathtime. Baxter loves baththime.

Laundry is one of the hardest things to keep up with now. I always wash diapers and Baxter's clothes first priority, and those are generally fine. But the adult clothes and the towels get postponed, so this weekend was a major laundry day. Things are much better on that front now.

I'm still really enjoying making diapers. I don't have nearly enough time to do it right now though. I'm working on developing my own pattern. I've run into a fit issue with some of our diapers, and I'm debating selling them. Of course, I could only get less than $10/diaper for them, and the ones I want to replace them with are $35 each... I've found a new diapering love. I really like fitted diapers, and for me I'd need two sets for each child. Newborn (birth to 12 lbs) and then Onesize (usually 10lbs +). We recently tried Goodmama onesize diapers, and they're so great. None of the fit issues I was having with my other diapers. Containing the poo is worth it, right?

I also started thinking about Christmas. Even though Jason is working full time, I am not working, and we have another member in the house. So presents are mostly going to be homemade this year. Lots of knitting.... So I've started working on many of those projects. I think I'm going to make a gift registry/wish list for Baxter though, with maybe a few ideas for Jason and I on there. He doesn't need a whole lot, and he's growing so fast. He's almost completely in 6 month clothing now, with a few 3 month shirts that still fit. Clothing is hard, because he changes so quick! But I'd love him to have some wooden blocks, a wooden train set, wood cars, lots of books, and some balls to play with. Toys for him don't have to be "organic" we're just trying to stay away from plastic or overstimulating (noisy) toys. He already has a ton of stuffed animals too. But one of the goodmama diapers wouldn't go amiss either... :D But that's a project for another day.

This ended up being another long post, didn't it? Ok, it's way past my bedtime, and the dryer just finished. So I can fold this last load, put the diapers in the dryer (we put them in and get the dryer started once before bed, so in the morning we can do one more dryer cycle and they're ready to go for the day) then go to bed!

I think I broke it

I think I broke my toe... but now that that's out of the way, I'll update you on the important things. Mostly Baxter. But I'll start with some funny Jason stories (I know, I know, but if I write about Baxter first you won't read about the parents!).

Jason is having a great time teaching. One of his students asked him about his contract with the school. When Jason told her that he had a "continuing" contract, and that unless he was dismissed during his probation period (which he won't be) he'll be there until he chooses to leave. She told him that he had to stay for a few more years so that he could be her teacher for the rest of her education, because she'd never had a better math teacher. The kids seem to like him and respond well! And he had a review with the principal, who only had good things to say. He also went to a math conference and got to know some of the other math teachers better. All good things there!

While at the conference he heard a funny story. At Sedro Woolley kids are allowed to choose teachers for subjects. The first week several kids transfered out of his classes. He heard that one girl transfered out because he was "a creepy coin collector". Jason was pondering this, and the only thing he had told the kids was that he went to the Penny Arcade Expo, a video game conference. She must not have been paying much attention, but funny nonetheless!

We went to Sedro Woolley's homecoming football game last night. We had to leave at halftime, because Baxter was not enjoying himself, and we felt bad for him. It's a totally different culture down there. They had a parade, and the stands were full. They played Ferndale, and the Ferndale stands were packed too. I guess Ferndale is pretty good. I don't know the final score, but I'm pretty sure Ferndale won...

Ok, now to Baxter. He's so great. He smiles more and more and more. He's the most adorable baby in the world. He's getting better at rolling over. He's enjoying playing on his floor mat too. I bought him a mat that has two soft bars that curve up and hold toys. I put him on it wonky, so his feet can touch one of the bars. He quickly learned that if he kicks his feet, his toys move. He'll happily kick away for up to 45 minutes! I'm getting better at keeping the kitchen clean as long as he feels like playing.

I'm doing fine at school, and when I get home on Tuesdays and Thursday's Baxter is a Mama's boy. He wants to be held the rest of the afternoon. I guess he misses me! Breast-feed babies usually eat about an ounce an hour. For the first few weeks Bax was a chow hound, and was taking 14-16 ounces in six hours! But now he's slowed down and for the last week he went on a bottle strike and only took 2-4 ounces in six hours. And then attached him self to me for the rest of the night. I'm sure it will even out eventually. I just don't want him to starve while I'm gone.

I also decided it was time to buy a stroller. I have to take him with me to meetings on campus sometimes. Last monday I walked across campus with Bax in the sling while I carried my backpack and the diaperbag. On the way back it was raining and much colder. So I had him wrapped in a blanket under the sling, which makes it less secure so I had to keep a hand on him. And I tried to put the blanket over his head because he didn't like the rain, but then he screamed. So I stopped at the bookstore and bought an umbrella. So I had two bags, Bax and the umbrella, and had to walk all the way across campus to the car in the rain. It was about 3/4 mile, and I don't want to do that again. So the stroller will be here on Wednesday. Too bad I have to do it again on Monday, but now with a broken toe. I think I'm going to pay for parking and hope for a quick meeting. $2.00/hour is pretty steep, but I don't think I can make that trek again.

I've been reading a book called the "no-cry sleep solution" and it's great! Bax has been sleeping through the night for a while now, but he doesn't nap well. There are some great solutions in there, and tonight we started doing a bedtime routine. He doesn't need it now, but he will later, and if we establish it now it will be even easier. So he went to bed at 7pm, and now after 10 we haven't heard a peep. And I didn't even need to nurse him down! He's such an easy baby (we truly are blessed) but it's nice to make it even easier. I don't think I can find one thing to complain about with Bax. I think the only thing Jason would say is the smell of his poop makes him gag, but I manage just fine :D

Wow, that was a really long update! I've been so busy with school I don't write as much as I mean to. My dad (Grandpa Gary) is coming to visit from New York next week, so that will be fun. I'm sure I'll have more to write about soon. Bax is growing up so fast! He's already outgrown all his newborn clothes, and the length of his 3 month clothes. So he has t-shirts from cut off onesies. And I had to buy more PJ's in 6 months so his shoulders don't pop out the top. Ok, it's really hard to stop writing... I'll close the floodgates now!

Pain and Peeing

Yesterday Baxter was doing some naked tummy time and started to get fussy. When I picked him up he had his finger stuck in his mouth and it hurt him so he started crying. I laid him down naked on the bed and was about to put a diaper on screaming baby and he started to pee all over me. He hasn't peed outside of a diaper for at least 5 weeks, so I wasn't expecting he. He thought it was hilarious. As soon as he peed on me he was all smiles and giggles. Stinker.

And after a week of terrible evening naps, he slept from 5:30 to 9:15 last night. He woke up happy, so we changed him, fed him, and he was back to sleep by 10:00. He then slept from 10pm to 6am. It was amazing! And he didn't cry when he woke up this morning either. I picked him up and it was grins for mommy. His smile is such a heartbreaker, it makes all the little things worth while.

Big and Tall... with a small head

Baxter did great at his two month appointment yesterday. He cried when he had his immunizations (and was cranky last night) but he didn't pee on anyone! He's actually pretty good now and doesn't pee into the air anymore. He's grown a ton though! He's now 24.5 inches long (up 3 inches since birth) and 13 lbs 9 oz. That means he's in the 95% for both height and weight. But his head circumference is only 15.25 inches, which is in the 25th percentile. So he's really tall and weighs a lot for his age, but he has a tiny head. The funny thing is it makes him look more normal, because most babies look like they have oversized heads.

We also had pictures taken at Sears again yesterday. They were really impressed with how well he handled his head (maybe because it's so small?) and that he could actually lift it up so well. We got some great photos.

And on Sunday night he rolled over FOUR times in a row! The fourth one I got on video, but he's naked so I'm not going to post it on youtube. Every time he rolled over he had the most surprised look on his face like he couldn't figure out what just happened. It was hilarious!

Ok, enough doting mother, class is starting now :D

I love my husband

He's so incredibly supportive. He appreciates that I breastfeed, and understands how important it is. He feels bad for babies who don't get held as much as ours does. He thinks that cloth diapering was the right decision, that it's better for Baxter, the environment, and our bank account. What did I do to deserve him?

He took a bath with Baxter tonight. We have discovered that Bax LOVES to take baths with a parent. Having freedom in the water, and being able to play, and be warm and wet, he grins almost the whole time. It calmed both him and his dad down. Jason is grading tests tonight, which is not always fun.

I started classes again this week, and I have no idea how I will finish all my school work. Luckily I have one professor twice, and he's super supportive. He's been a supporter of the mother baby center for a long time and he told me that if I ever needed to bring Baxter to class I was more than welcome to! That's one stress gone, but that doesn't help me get the required reading done...

there's a first time for everything

Baxter poops made Jason gag tonight. I couldn't stop laughing. But at least we all made it though my first day of classes! I just hope Baxter likes it when I read, because there's going to be a lot of that this quarter.

They don't tell you...

That leaving your child for the first time is harder than labor itself....

I had to leave Baxter with Miranda (our babysitter) this morning. I cried, and didn't stop until I got to school. I can't wait to go pick him up, and classes haven't even started yet.

Eep!

Baxter rolled over! He did it on friday, but I thought it was a fluke, but he definitely did it today! He's so strong!

Big Boy!

This boy just keeps getting bigger and bigger! Baxter is now up to 12lbs 9oz. He looks a lot bigger too.

My mom got married last weekend, and Baxter was great. He slept through the whole ceremony, and was quite the attraction at the reception. The wedding was beautiful too.

But now he's going through a phase where his digestive system is maturing and he's pretty fussy. So I get to hold him. A lot. And my snap press came in so I've been wanting to finish diapers, but that's not in the cards at the moment!

My son is amazing

Baxter is almost completely bald now, but he's still super super cute! He's had a bit of a cold this week, so he's gotten lots of cuddles, and he's pulling through it just fine. His smiles are becoming more and more social. The other day I was nursing him, and Jason walked over, and Baxter GRINNED at him, spilling milk all over his face and me, but it was just toooooo cute! And he loves the chair Grandpa and Grandma Dilley bought him. He'll sit in it for quite a while, just happy. Then if I walk over and get close to his face so he can see me he breaks out in smiles.

I love baby smiles.

I've taken more pictures, but I've slowed down some. I need to get them uploaded, but with Baxter being sick and clingy, I'm behind this week. And I'm working really hard on getting more diapers made before my snap press comes in, because since he's outgrown his newborn diapers we're running a bit low.

Also we have discovered that Baxter hates tummy time. But he loves being naked. Our solution? Naked tummy time. This has been great, and he enjoys it the whole time. The purpose of tummy time is to get them to exercise their head and neck, and pushing up with their arms. His neck is already pretty strong, but he loves exercising his legs when we're playing with him. He pushes up and stands with us supporting him.

Last night I put Baxter down for some naked tummy time, and briefly left the room to wet down a wipe. When I came back Baxter had MOVED! He sits there and gets a grip with his lower legs and torpedos himself forward. He starts with his hands under his chin, pushes off, drags his head, and ends up with his hands around his belly, and hasn't figured out much more then that. And he's gotten very close to rolling himself over too. That boy has some strong legs!

One more cute story - Last night Jason was playing with Baxter and had him leaning up against his knees while reclining in bed. He was holding Bax's hands and raising them above his head and telling him to roar. And Baxter did! I couldn't get the camera in time, but it was so amazingly adorable.

I think that was a good enough update for now, right? Mom (Grandma Deanna) is getting married this weekend, so I'm going to be busy the rest of the week. I'll try to update next week. Can you believe he's almost 6 weeks old?!?

Mama makes whole milk!

I took Baxter into WIC today to get him registered (yay government cheese!) and all that fun stuff. They also weighed him and measured him. The man child is huge!!! Baxter now weighs 11lbs 10oz, and is 22.5 inches long.

His weight is in the 90th percentile, and his height is in the 75th. Proportionately he's perfect though, so that's nice!

I did get a free breast-pump from them, but it's a super irritating one. They will give me a good one when I hit 8 weeks. They don't give out the good ones early because the good ones are single user, so if I stopped BFing, they wasted money on giving me a pump. This one can have multiple users, so they just pay for a kit of parts that are single user. Makes sense, but it also means that I will have a hard time pumping my first week of classes because he won't be 8 weeks until the end of it. But once he hits 8 weeks I can go trade out pumps, so that's a plus!

So anyway, that's about all I have to say for now. I just write snippets when I have a moment now. Oh, I guess there is one more thing, I uploaded a super cute video of Baxter to YouTube. So check it out :D

Baby Pattern Baldness

Baxter is losing his hair. At least some of it. He has a receding hairline. He kind of looks like uncle Brent. Right before we're scheduled to be taking family photos, and Mom's wedding... I hope it still grows back red. I love the red :D

Acne and Smiles

Well, baby acne set in shortly after my last post. But the smiles began! Baxter has even giggled in his sleep a few times. He's the bestest. We went to Seattle this weekend to visit family and had a great time. But now his schedule is a little off, so we're experiencing some fussiness. Sigh. Jason's week went great last week, but tomorrow he starts with kids, wish him luck! Ok, Baxter is crying, must go, but I"ll update more later!

Last Day...

Today is our last day before Jason starts work. The babymoon is ending! Tomorrow I have to take care of Baxter all by myself. It's a little scary, but I think I can do it. What I'm concerned most about is feeding myself. He knows every time I want to eat, so it makes making myself food nearly impossible. I've tried.

Baxter is already three weeks old! Time has flown by. He's doing really well with his neck now. I wouldn't call it stable, but it's certainly a lot stronger. And he has such great facial expressions. And his smile is fantastic! Still have yet to capture it in a picture, but believe me that it's a heartstopper.

Jason is up changing a diaper, so I only get a few more moments before I'm needed again. We had a BBQ yesterday for some of our friends to meet Baxter, and it was a lot of fun! We got a chance to reconnect with some old friends, so that was really special. We're going to Seattle this weekend to visit family and Baxter gets to meet the Dilley Clan. So it will be an interesting week!

So Big!

I can't believe that Baxter is over 2 weeks old already. He's grown up so much! If you haven't been watching, I've been posting a LOT of photos on flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/liarsandfrogs) and rarely a day goes by that I don't take a few more. His hair is turning redder and redder, even his doctor noticed at his 2 week check up. Baxter looks so much like Jason when they're asleep. It's really the sweetest thing.

So far he really enjoys tummy time on Daddy's chest. He's getting really good at holding his head up, but his neck is still pretty unstable. He also regained his birthweight by yesterday, which is incredible. On wednesday he was 9lbs 7oz, and babies usually gain between 1/2 and ounce and an ounce a day, so I didn't expect him to gain 4 ounces in 2 days. But he did! No wonder he wouldn't leave me alone the last few days, the boy is growing like a weed!

Life is going well, we're adjusting to having him around. It really helps that neither of us is working right now. There's random things that come up that we never thought about before and we can take care of them right away since we don't have other things going on.

We went down to SedroWooley the other day and got to check out Jason's classroom for next year. That was a lot of fun. Although I'm not sure Baxter really enjoyed the afternoon out. He doesn't like being warm, and it was rather warm there. Overall it went well though.

Cloth diapering is going well. No leaks (besides one minor poo blowout) so far! he's such a heavy wetter that I'm sure we would be having more problems with disposables. And the cloth is just so cute! Jason's getting really good at changing diapers. And we're both getting better at catching pee before it goes everywhere.... So far the worst it's gotten us is a tiny bit on my pants and a rather large patch on Jason's shirt. Our bedding gets washed a lot more frequently now too.

And Baxter makes the cutest noises ever. He squeeks and grunts all the time. And he GRINS in his sleep! They are oh so elusive though, and I have yet to get a picture, but man, when this kid is able to smile in response to people he's going to be a heartbreaker.

Ok, enough typing today. Jason's changing a diaper now which means I'll be needed after it's done. That and it's lunchtime soon, and Baxter has this crazy sixth sense that means he wakes up as soon as I want to eat, even if he just went down for a nap. I'm getting good at eating one handed!

A Jason Story

Last night I was up for a feeding (or an attempted feeding) and Jason partially woke up and grabbed the pillow that he had between his knees. He then clearly stated "This is not a valuable object, it is just a pillow" then put it back and laid back down. I asked him what he was talking about, and he said he was dreaming that he had a valuable object between his knees. Ok....

Red?

Baxter is turning into a redhead. I'll try to get good pictures soon, but it's going red. Who knows if it will stay or not. My great-grandma Eva (his great-great-grandma) was a natural redhead. When Jason grows his beard there's a lot of red in it. So it would be possible.

And man, this boy can POOP! He's now pooped three times today. I guess I shouldn't pray for that much poop. Maybe I should pray for normal newborn poops instead of these blowouts he's been having. He's also gaining weight, but not quite enough. So my job this week is to feed this boy as much as possible. Which I would be doing if I could wake him up! He's such a heavy sleeper. It's amazing. I wish I could sleep like that.

He's been sleeping really well at night too. He'll go for 3.5-4 hour stretches. Nice for mommy. Sometimes he falls asleep in the middle of a feeding, so we have to change his diapers to wake him back up so he finishes nursing. So far diaper changes are the only thing that will wake him up, but those don't always wake him up either! He sleeps like Jason.

I don't think I told you all this story, but the day he was born they were moving us to the recovery room. The recovery room had nicer beds (that didn't convert for labor) and less extraneous medical equipment. Anyway, they rolled me there in a wheelchair. By that time I'd spent close to 7 hours sitting in a bed and my tailbone and back were hurting, and the wheelchair felt really nice to sit in. So I asked the nurse if I could stay in it for a little while and I would call when I wanted to get into the bed. She said sure, and showed me where the call button was (on the other side of the room). After she left Jason asked if he could lay down for a while, and I said sure. I was having a nice time holding Baxter and resting my rear. Well, Jason fell asleep. Hard asleep. I was shouting (as loud as I dared) to wake him up, and he wouldn't even flinch. I tried for an hour to wake him up. Since I was holding Baxter, and was attached to an IV, and my right hand was useless to try to wheel myself (from the IV line) and the brakes were on the wheelchair, I was completely stranded. For an hour and a half. Until a nurse wandered in to check to see if I wanted to move yet. Honestly, after labor and everything, that was the closest I was to wanting to cry the whole day! And then that night I couldn't wake him up to help me to the bathroom, or to get Baxter when he cried. I had to call in the nurse instead.

But it's fun to tease him, he's actually been more than wonderful. I feel sooooo blessed with how well he has been treating me, and how much he loves his son. He will (usually) change diapers in the middle of the night without complaining. Bring me icepacks and water, make all the food, and he's even talked about baking cookies.

I love my family :D

Grumbler, Squeeker, or Growler?

Baxter makes the cutest noises. Sometimes he grumbles, sometimes he squeeks, and sometimes he makes growling noises. So he'll end up with a nickname, I'm sure, but I'm just not sure which one yet!

Oh, and HE POOPED! After a day of super fussing, he's now feeling much better and napping peacefully. He's also a master nurser now. After a visit from the mother baby center yesterday I learned some new tips and tricks. He's also a supersoaker. It's amazing how much you can learn in one week.

ONE WEEK! He's a week old already! I can't believe it. I'm falling more and more in love with him each day. The chub in his cheeks is starting to come back. He lost weight to just about 8lbs 14oz. Perfectly normal, and now he's back to 9lbs 1oz. He's just great.

His umbilical cord stump is just about to fall off. I can't wait for it to be gone. It kind of looks like a dirty raisin with a corn flake attached to the top. Yuck. Hopefully it will be gone soon.

Praying for Poop?

That's right. Baxter is backed up. The poor little guy hasn't gone in two days, which is pretty long for a new guy. So that's probably why he's so fussy while eating, because he doesn't have that much room in there.

On the positive side, I'm producing plenty of milk, and I'm healing just fine. I'm still sore, and if I over-do it I get swollen. And I'm below my pre-pregnancy weight! Just for a kick I tried on my old jeans, and the fit too! So overall things are going well over at the Dilley House. As long as there is explosive (which I'm told at this point it will be) poop in Baxter's near future.

A whole new life!

We came home from the hospital on Saturday afternoon. Great Grandpa and Grandma Spears came to visit us at the hospital before we left, and it was so neat! After we got home, Jason's parents and his younger sister came to visit. I was a long day, but so neat to see everyone.

Life is definitely different now that Baxter is home with us. He's such a blessing. He's really strong for a newborn, and the nurse that came to visit says he's about as active and social as a 6 week old! He takes really long naps, and he's nursing really well. He had his days and nights mixed up a little bit, but last night he slept from 2:30am to almost 8am! It was soooo nice.

Since he's a big baby he needs to suck a lot, even though he's not hungry the whole time. We haven't used a pacifier yet because I really want to make sure that breast-feeding is established so we don't confuse him. In the mean time my fingers almost look like permanent prunes!

Jason is doing a bit of tutoring this morning, so I've been cuddling and taking LOTS of pictures of Baxter this morning. They're not there yet, but expect Flickr to be filling up with photos... :D

Official Story!

On July 31st, I started having contractions at about 8pm. They were pretty strong, but not at all regular. They were happening often enough that I couldn't sleep, and about midnight Jason went to bed and I realized I should be timing them. By 1am, I woke up Jason because the contractions were 3.5 minutes apart and 1.5 minutes long. By 2 we were at the hospital. Overall it wasn't too bad. By the time we got there I was just about 5cm.

Mostly I was excited because I didn't have to be induced. My nurse was great, and Jason was fantastic. I had wanted to go as natural as possible, and so I made it by thinking "if I can hold out a little longer it will be too late for drugs" over and over. And it worked! My water broke naturally at about 3:30, and I got to 8cm by about 6am, and then stayed there in Transition for about an hour and a half. That was the worst. At that point in time they were having a hard time finding his heart beat on the monitor and were starting to get concerned.

Now is when they called in the OB thinking I would need to have a c-section. They put in an IV but didn't have a chance to really start it, because I started pushing. I had just barely gotten to 10cm, and they wanted to prep me for surgery, so I surprised them all (and myself) by pushing him out in 27 minutes! At that point they did start the IV with pitocin because I was bleeding pretty badly. I had some pretty severe tearing that had to be fixed, but Baxter came out perfect.

He scored a 7.5 on his first APGAR because he was a little distressed by labor, but scored a 9 on the next one. He's huge! 21.5 inches long, and 9lbs 11 oz. But he's so sweet and perfect. He sleeps great, and eats great too. We're still in the hospital, but I think we'll try to make it home today. I really don't mind being here, but I miss it there too.

I posted a few photos on here, but there are a TON on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/liarsandfrogs/
Enjoy!

Baby Update 8/1/08

Let me try this again...my last update was baleted.

Jason updating right now as that our mother is currently a little busy. Merrilee was having strong contractions all night and around midnight she started measuring them closer. At around 1am she woke me up and we arrived at the hospital at 2am.

So we're just waiting now. Doctors and nurses have said she is doing well and our lab results from the blood all came back normal. Looks like he is on his way and will hopefully be arriving later today.

::edit::

It's official! The Dilley's are parents! At 8:10am pst, Baxter Bennett Dilley was born at 9lb 11oz. He is healthy, happy, and a has a strong set of lungs.

I will update with pictures later tonight.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support :-).

We'll keep everyone updated!

Jason