Moving the mattress

Ethan this morning greeted me sitting up in his crib, griping the railing, and peering out over the railing. Uh oh, I thought, time to lower the mattress. We moved it down one spot, but I think it needs to go all the way down. No more bumper or mobile for the little Bear. Also I decided to try him in the big bathtub for bathtime tonight. I bathed him in his little tub inside of the bathtub, so he'd get used to the area. Next time I won't use the baby tub.

Ethan is having a lot of problems sleeping at night. He usually sleeps with me, but last night he kept plucking at my face and kicking me. At 3 I put him in his crib, and we let him cry until he fell asleep at 4. Josh talked softly to him and I picked him up a couple of times to calm him. Sleeping is such a problem. I wish I knew which philosophy to follow and which will help Ethan develop healthy sleep habits.

Ethan and I raked today. I wore him on my back in the Ergo. It worked out really well. He looked around, watched me, and dozed off for awhile. It was nice to get a major chore done and baby was happy the whole time. Plus it was in the 60s! Totally had to take advantage of the warm fall day.

Chores suck the fun out of the day

Where does the time go? I have so many chores that I just can't keep up with all of them. There are things that have to be done like preparing meals, feeding the cats. There are chores that can be ignored until you run out of something clean or the smell becomes noticeable like laundry, dishes, or baby. There are chores that if you ignore your neighbors will harbor resentment towards you like leaves. There are chores that if you don't do them things start growing like cleaning the bathroom. I try to prioritize what order I do the chores in, but they always pile up on me and then I start feeling overwhelmed like I should be running around at 100 mph or my carefully stacked house of cards will come tumbling down around me. Chores just aren't any fun no matter how you try to spin it. Listen to music while cleaning. hmph. You are still scrubbing dirt off of the bathtub while on your hands and knees. Music doesn't make it fun. Think of chores as a form of aerobic excersize. Nope that doesn't do it for me either. I just don't like to do them and I especially don't like to feel that my entire day is chores, chores, chores. So that's my rant. I'm off to throw laundry in the washer and clean the kitchen then go grocery shopping, more laundry. You get the picture.

Certified Genetic Counselor

I passed my board exams!!! I'm now a CGC. The sacrifice my family made this summer was worth it. Also my entire Mommy study group passed!

No nursing, no sleeping

Where did my sweet cuddly newborn who slept through the night at 6 weeks go? Ethan has been through alot lately with his Daddy being in the hospital, teeth popping through, a fever of 101.9 for a day, and Mommy gone from the house twice a week for 13 hours. He refuses to sleep through the night. I try to rock him back to sleep but an hour later he is screaming in his crib. Eventually, I just take him back to bed where he snuggles in and tries to nurse all night long. However, he's not really nursing, he is just soothing himself by sucking. Then during the day he refuses to nurse. It might be that he is just too busy, but I'm not sure. He nurses for 30 seconds and tries to situp and cries. I'm wondering if I'm going to get my period soon and my hormones are changing my milk. Whatever is going on I hope it ends soon. I enjoy nursing Ethan and I'm not ready to wean him. Plus he is supposed to nurse for at least one year. I still have 4 months to go! It seems that whatever I do lately results in him screaming at me. Change his diaper -- scream. Play with him -- scream. Feed him -- scream. Exhausted doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. I just wish I knew what to do for the little guy.

New talents

Ethan is just piling on the firsts this week. On Wednesday he clapped for the first time and he is really able to scoot around on his belly. When he is on the kitchen floor he scoots backwards on his belly by pushing with his hands. When he is on carpet he is able to get his knees under him and push forward like an inchworm.

I amazed every day at the addition of a new skill.