Busy Mommy Excuse?

Okay, so I'm really bad about updating. I guess I kinda always am, even without a little one running around. Well, he's not running yet...but he can crawl like the wind, I tell you. ^_^

Tobin is so much fun. He is just the happiest little boy around. I think the only time he really gets crabby is when he sees you making his bottle and he wants it NOW. So I suppose that's not really crabby - just impatient. I still try to make him "wait" a little. I, obviously, make it in the kitchen, but then I go to the nursery or the living room and make him crawl to me before he can have it. No picking him up nonsense! If he wants it, he can come to me to get it, hehe.

He does really well at restaurants. We went to Old Chicago tonight and it was actually later than his bedtime (it's Friday, so I decided to make an exception). He played with his toys, ate the black beans and tomato pieces I gave him, and stayed quiet for the most part. He was so tired that, for the first time since I've started to carry just him up the stairs (not in his seat), he stayed asleep in my arms/sling and stayed zonked out when I put him in his crib. Pretty crazy.

Speaking of stairs and carrying... I LOVE my sling that I bought from Sleeping Baby Productions. She is a work at home mom and custom makes every single order. I ordered mine on a Sunday night and had it by Thursday. It's amazing. I used to use a wrap when Tobin was small, but now it's a little cumbersome to use...especially in a hurry. I am so excited to wear him at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I won't the WHOLE day, but I know he has a lot of fun seeing things from my height. I honestly believe that he is learning more when he can see everything from my point of view/how I interact with people and gets to hear my voice right next to him.

I think, for those interested, I will get an entry together of all of my favorite sites and information pertaining to babywearing. It could be cool, right? I'm also big into cloth diapering now. :) Huggies isn't getting my money anymore...especially since their rewards program has become VERY laughable.

So back to my little guy... He is indeed a very smiley dude. With the exception of photos. He was so distracted by the camera, the new people, and the weird surroundings that he would just stare. Pretty embarrassing. I'm choosing custom photography for his One Year photos (and family ones, too). I figure he'll be less distracted that way.

Crib craziness!

Today was a big day for Tobin.

We pretty much have the same schedule every weekday. I hear him babbling over the monitor, I go and get him and a bottle, and we have breakfast and "watch" Ellen/Price Is Right until nap time. Sometimes I shower while he's playing in the jumper, others I am a little too lazy and just wait until it's nap time. Either way, nap time (10:15-ish) came and he went down right away...yay! However, after only an hour, he was making noises over the monitor. I peek into the nursery and I see him standing up in the crib! EEK! I had JUST mentioned the day before how we would probably need to drop the mattress down pretty soon because he's getting good at pulling up on things. Apparently this mommy's intuition is right on. Being a dork, I had to take pictures. One might have also made it's way to Dave's phone, too. ;) I was scared and yet so proud of him for hitting that big boy milestone.

So anyway, I finish getting ready while he plays in the nursery on the floor and when I walk in again, he's doing a "real" crawl to go after a toy! Good Lord! I can't believe all of the stuff he just magically starts to do. Now all he wants to do is crawl and stand, crawl and stand. No more cuddling, just "hold out your hands, mommy, because I want to stand here." I guess the couch isn't always good enough.

Needless to say, the crib is once again safe. Dave was nice enough to do it tonight even though he had a crummy day. What a good daddy. :)

Mirena and Cloth Diapers!

The days have been passing too quickly for me. I want time to slow down a little...just for a while so I can catch my breath and really enjoy just being with my little family. Tobin is growing so fast and hitting milestone after milestone, I can hardly keep track anymore; it's hard to know what I should be writing down or remembering.

I called the nurse triage line today to try and get ahold of my OB. I have had some major cramping issues recently and (probably TMI) the strings of my Mirena are considerably shorter than they once were. I had it placed back in January when I was 8 weeks PP. The only thing running through my mind is the devastation I'm going to feel if for some reason it's bad news and my uterus is perforated or messed up in some other manner and I can't have future pregnancies. It seemed like such a good idea to have the Mirena: it worked with breastfeeding, almost no hormones, protection because I knew I wouldn't be getting uninterrupted sleep for FAM. Now I have some regrets seeing as breastfeeding had a sad ending for me anyway and Tobin started sleeping through the night by 14 weeks. We didn't (again, TMI) resume any sort of physical relationship until he was 9 weeks old anyway...so would 5 more weeks of waiting have been so bad? I know, it's not like I could have known when he would be sleeping well. But still. It's a little sad.

I will get up and call the nurse again tomorrow and see what the deal is. Since my deductible is already met for the year, I might just have them remove it anyway... I really can't tolerate all of this annoying cramping, especially if nothing is wrong. I would so much rather be using FAM. I know there are plenty of people out there that don't agree with it and think it's not reliable. Well, that's your opinion. :) I successfully used it for 8 cycles previous to my pregnancy. And to those out there trying, it's the best thing you can do to learn about your body in that kind of detail. It really is amazing.

Anyway... Tobin's new favorite thing is my teeth. At night, when I am rocking and cuddling him before bed, he puts his little fingers in my mouth and just giggles like crazy when he feels my teeth in there. He also keeps tonguing his gums. Maybe he might actually be starting to get teeth? Who knows... I love his toothless smile anyway. :)

I have cloth diapers on their way in the mail. I got 10 one-size-ers with 20 inserts for only $54. Man, I love eBay! I hope they get here soon because I am so pumped to start using them. I will keep some disposables for out-and-about and maybe travel situations but I think I'm really going to like not spending money on diapers anymore. Let's hope they fit until potty-training time! :)

a little late...

So I'm starting this blog a little late into Tobin's first year of life, but it's better late than never, right? He is 7 1/2 months old now and just SO active (at least I think so, haha). I still forget that he can "army crawl" around so fast and will catch him going after the cat food the second my back is turned. He knows where I don't want him to go...and goes there! I really miss the days of quietly nursing in bed and taking naps together. He would never want to sit still long enough for that these days. So here are his achievements thus far: sitting, rolling, army crawling, sitting himself up from laying, babbling like crazy, eating chunks of soft food (banana, avacado, etc.), feeding himself said chunks, sleeping 11 hours at night... I guess the list goes on as long as I want it to.

Needless to say, I'm pretty enthralled by him. He amazes me every day.