Daytime TV

Staying home with Max does have its perks, even if I spend much of it with him attached at the nipple or rocking in my arms. My favorite perk is daytime TV. I'm addicted to it now.

I spend the first 4 hours of the morning watching the Today Show. Now I'm also trying to fold laundry, feed Max, comfort him, check Facebook, clean, etc. But I'm addicted! My favorite is the 10 to 11 hour with Hoda and Kathie Lee. They're so obnoxious that I just can't stop watching!

Then from 11 to 12 I watch The View. Another delicious addiction. I love the Hot Topics portion of each day. One of today's topics: Could you let your mother come live with you? They were talking about the Obamas and how Michelle's mom was going to move into the White House to help take care of the girls. Many of the women on the panel said they could let their own mother move in but not their mother-in-law. Sherry Jackson was like, "Hell no!" I definitely couldn't let my m-i-l move in, but my own mom is a different story.

Then from 12 to 1 I watch Rachel Ray. Some days she's on mute because I'm trying to get Max to sleep. But I've learned two or three new easy recipes from watching. Sometimes she's annoying, but other times entertaining. One day she did DNA testing on mixed breed dogs. It was kind of fun.

From 1 to 4 I try not to watch too much TV. Or it's just on as background noise. I usually switch to TLC. On days like today, it just pisses me off though. I was watching The Baby Story (one I used to find entertaining in college and then depressing while trying to get pregnant, and then terrifying while pregnant) and it was just pissing me off. They show these women (many first time moms) and they do fine in the first 24 hours after getting home. Then they cut to them 6-10 weeks later. None of them ever say they're having any problems. BULLSH*T. They're all lying for the cameras. I wanted to break the TV today because Max was being a total monster. I just yelled, "Lies! All lies!" That made me feel a little better.

From 4 to 5 I watch Ellen. I LOVE Ellen. I want to go see a taping of the show sometime. Too bad she's in LA. I like her interviews and she plays fun games. Currently she's stalking George Clooney, trying to get him on the show for an interview. Her motto today was "George is mine in '09." LOVE IT! At this point in the day, I need her entertainment.

I may just have to TIVO some of this stuff when I go back to work. At the very least I'll TIVO Hoda & Kathie, The View, and Ellen. Good thing I only have to work 44 days before summer vacation. :)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I feel a little better now.

Growth Spurt- OUCH!

So the last day or so, Max has been going through a growth spurt. While this is great for his sleep cycle (he slept 5 extra daytime hours yesterday) it's not so great for my boobs. He's eating every 2 hours. Yeah..........

I was hoping he was done yesterday. But then this morning he woke up at 8 and was hungry. He had just eaten at 6. *sigh* At least he is sleeping again....hopefully past 10.

So, on another note, we got like 5 inches of snow yesterday. It's all very pretty to look at. And because we pay someone else to plow our drive, even Kendall got to enjoy the beauty. :) We had considered getting a snow blower, but then when we thought about it and did the math, it's more cost effective and convenient for us to just pay someone to bring the truck to the house and shove all the snow out of the way. Think about it...we maybe need a snow blower 4 times a year. It only costs us 25 bucks to have the guy come plow. So if a good snow blower costs around 500 bucks, it would take us 20 heavy snow falls (5 years) to get our money out of the blower. Then we have to store it. And get gas for it. And most importantly, USE IT. So in our minds it's totally worth the 100 bucks we spend a year to pay someone else. Because unlike my brother-in-law, my husband was sleeping at 6am instead of out snow blowing. :)

Rough Day

So yesterday was a really rough day in our house. The day started off okay. Max slept til 10. (That's with several feedings in between.)

After I fed him, he refused to burp. I tried all the tricks, multiple times. This led to several huge spit ups. One all over his pjs. No big deal, just change for the day. The all over his first outfit and the changing pad. Okay, fine, I have more clothes and extra covers for the pad.

Not 15 minutes later, he had a huge blow out in his diaper and it was all over his back, his onesie, his pants...and the changing pad cover. Fine, another wardrobe change, and I still had one last changing pad cover.

I was able to get him to sleep for an hour after his 12pm feeding. This means he was up from 10 to 12:30. He slept for an hour and was pretty much done for the day. He was awake til almost 4 and barely took a half hour nap. He didn't want to be put down. He was fussy unless I held him.

Then from 5 to 10 he was almost inconsolable. You could calm him down for a short period of time but then he would get upset again. We even tried to lay him down from 7:45 to 8:45. We kept going into his room to comfort him. He had HORRIBLE gas. He was crying in pain. We massaged, wiggled his legs, gave him his gas drops. He kept passing gas and crying. He'd conk out for about 10 minutes and then wake up screaming again. After an hour of this, we decided to take him out of his crib and just comfort him to sleep. Again, he wouldn't sleep for more than 10 minutes if you weren't holding him.

I got to the point where I started crying and couldn't stop. Kendall let me go upstairs for a while, but even up there I couldn't stop. Finally at 10:30 I fed him for the night and he passed out. He slept til 3. Then again til 7. Then til 9:30. He's now sleeping on me again because I know he needs the sleep and I'd rather it be on me than not sleeping.

The bottom line, a baby is considered colicky if they have at least 3 consecutive hours of fussiness or crying at least three days a week. It typically demonstrates itself between the hours of 5 and 10 each night. And it hits its peak at 6 weeks of age. I have a horrible feeling that Max has colic. Which means we could be dealing with this for the next 4 to 6 weeks. And it could get worse. *sigh* At the very least he has severe gas issues. And I don't know how to make him feel better. :( We've tried just about everything.

On another note, I've pretty much decided I'm not going back to work til April 13th. I have to petition the Superintendent for the last 4 weeks, but the guy I talked to from the district is pretty sure she'll let me have the time off. I also take a pay cut, but I just can't go back if this really is colic. That would mean that it ended just as I was heading back in March. I just can't stand the idea that I'd be heading back to work just as the bad run is ending. I want to go back when I have a happy baby. And going back that late means I only have to work 44 days before summer vacation. That sounds doable.

Spoiled?

Growing up, I'll admit it, I was spoiled rotten. My dad bought us some great stuff. So when I saw this onesie, I had to buy it for my kid. I wonder if grandpa will really buy him one...

My Kid's New Name

Just call him "The Cranky Afternoon Baby". My son has been a little difficult the last several days. He just won't sleep in the afternoon. He's too excited about the world. The problem is, he's tired. He NEEDS the sleep. He's also at his gassiest. *sigh*

I've spent the last two days getting very little accomplished after 1pm. He eats just fine. And then he won't go down to sleep. He gets that sleepy look. He yawns. I try rocking him. Swaddling him. Putting him in his swing. His bouncy seat that vibrates. Giving him a pacifier. Nothing works for more than 5 minutes of light sleeping. Then he's up and crying again. I give him the gas drops every two hours like the bottle says. He still has gas. I'm PRAYING this isn't colic.

At least he's quiet during feedings. After his 5 pm feeding frenzy it took me 30 minutes to get him to fall asleep this time. He started screaming as soon as he finished eating. He even took himself off the "tap" because he was sleeping. As soon as he fell off, screaming. He's finally asleep on my chest right now. I'm afraid to move. To make noise. To breathe!

As many of you know, it's hard being the stay at home parent during this age. You are the one feeding, changing, burping, and consoling them throughout much of the day. Then daddy comes home and it's almost like you want to throw the kid at him and say, "Your turn!"

And then there's the guilt. I feel bad because dinner isn't ready. I feel bad telling the dogs they can't bark when Kendall comes home. I feel bad if Max wakes up because I moved the wrong way. *sigh* As I told a coworker earlier today, I think that a mother's guilt magically appears with their baby's first breath. Growing up Catholic, I should be familiar with guilt. But this guilt is like no other.

I was explaining to this coworker how guilty I feel when Kendall has to get up in the middle of the night to help with Max. Their response made me feel a little better. "Yes, but even if he's tired, he still gets to leave the house and get a mental break." Oh how true that is!

10 Things I've Learned About Max

In the one month that I've spent with my son outside of the womb, I've learned many things about him. Here are just 10 of them...

1. Before a really good cry, he coughs. So you get ample warning that he's going to throw a big fit.
2. When having one of these crying fits, there are several things that will pacify him, including the Bonanza theme song. It's probably his favorite song right now. It usually makes him stop crying within 10 seconds.
3. He's a snuggler. He will squish up his body and nestle in the crook of your arm or even lay on the flat on your chest. Even if he's not sleepy. He'll just lay there with his feet tucked up and look around.
4. He gets the hiccups just as much now as he did when he was still in utero. I think he likes them. They never make him mad. He actually seems fascinated by them. His eyes get really wide and he looks around a lot while he has them.
5. When he eats, his stomach growls audibly- every time.
6. He does not like pacifiers. He will take one for a short period of time and then spit it out.
7. He has "man gas". And by that I mean you actually have to question who farted when it happens. You're not sure if it was Max or another adult in the room. They're that loud and powerful.
8. Needless to say, #7 means that we use a lot of gas drops to help his tummy- he likes the taste of the drops so much that he smacks his lips multiple times after we give it to him. I need to get this on video. It's cute.
9. When napping on his stomach (only on people) he sleeps on his hand and arm just like Kendall does. It's almost bizarre how many of Kendall's mannerisms he has. He will also wrap his right arm around your arm when napping like this.
10. He smiles before he poops. :)