Bagel time

It's so much easier to make dinner for myself now that I can put Isaac in the high chair and give him a bagel to chew on. He's so serious about it, too!

GO BEARS!!!

Last Friday, Lisa, Isaac and I went to Babies R Us to get glow in the dark binkies. Peter and I were tired of not being able to find them when Isaac lost them in the middle of the night. Lisa had the stroller near the Kiddie Kandids studio and the photographer came out and was talking to Isaac. He kept smiling at her so she asked if she could take his picture and she'd give me a free 5x7 portrait. I was skeptical because nothing is ever free but she told me that if it wasn't, she would pay for it. I thought, what the heck, it might be fun. So we put Isaac on the carpet on his tummy first and he smiled for the camera and it was really cute. Then we sat him up. I sat next to him so that he wouldn't fall over. He only fell over once though! I was so proud. Here he is sitting up all by himself! He sat like that for a long time--2 or 3 minutes! AND we got this really cute picture out of it! It really was free and the photographer emailed to pictures to me so I have them on my computer!

Exhaustion setting in

Poor baby Isaac is teething. Every couple of nights, he wakes up and fusses. He can't sleep unless I'm holding him. He rolls to his stomach and then isn't comfortable so he wakes up and cries. Last night, at about midnight, Isaac woke up and fussed. He was on his stomach but still sort of asleep, so I rolled him to his back, gave him the binky and left his room. About 5-10 minutes later, he had rolled to his tummy again and was fussing. So I went in, held him for a couple minutes and tried again. It seemed like I had just fallen asleep when he woke up again. Poor guy just couldn't stay asleep. This went on until about 1:30 in the morning. I finally put some baby oragel on his gums and he slept for 4 hours. He got up at about 4:30 for a bottle and went right back to sleep. This morning, he looked like this:

So big

Isaac and I were with Grandma Kupfer at Applebees tonight. Daddy met us there and ate dinner with us. Isaac got a little cranky so I stood up and held him and he was okay. Sometimes he will fall asleep if I hold him in this position so that is what I was trying to do here. I looked at this picture tonight and was amazed at how old he looks. He's not even 5 months yet. He's just so big!

Isaac's most recent Big Moment

Some of you probably already know this but today, Isaac rolled over to his belly. He was in his bed and he had been rolling to his side to sleep. Well, I put him in there today and he was a little fussy. I think he was trying to roll to his side but he went all the way over and got stuck. He was up against the side of the crib. I rolled him over and turned on the mobile. He fell asleep. Then he did it again! This time he just rolled over and was fussing while he looked around!

Friday used to be so good

I am sitting here working on my plans for next week and it occurs to me that a year ago at this time, I would have been dancing the night away at Sundance Saloon. It makes me a little sad that right this second, I would give anything to be done with my planning and other random work so that I could just go to bed. I suppose it is all part of growing up.

Yes, yes, I know. I have a child. I still don't feel like I thought I would at this stage of my life. I feel young. Tired, but young. It is a little surreal that I have a child and that it feels totally natural to meet all of his needs before mine or anyone else's. I normally would have stayed after school until 5 or 6pm to finish my plans for the next week. I would never have left school on a Friday with absolutely nothing planned for the next week. I was technically supposed to turn in my plans today and didn't. I will turn them in on Monday and no one will really care, but it is just another indication of how much my life has changed.

I was talking to Jenny Glinka today. We were discussing how long it took for Peter and I to figure out how to tell when Isaac was tired. I am looking forward to the day when Isaac does not have a cold, because today when I picked him up, Ann told me that he was probably sleepy and would most likely sleep for me when I got home. So, seeing that he was rubbing his eyes, I was a little surprised that he didn't fall asleep in the car. Anyway, I put him in his bed as soon as we got home. He talked and fussed until I thought it was hopeless. So I went in and gave him his pacifier and then shook him gently to rock him to sleep. He went right to sleep. He stayed asleep for about 15 minutes when a coughing fit woke him up. But this does let me know that there is hope for him at nap times.

Well, I am feeling extremely tired and think that I should stop what I am doing, done or not, and pick up where I left off tomorrow. I'm going to leave my plans unfinished (even though I'm going in tomorrow to make copies and prepare my classroom for Monday) and go to bed.

Just to make sure that you all know that I'm not entering a depression or even feeling down, as sad as I am that I don't get to go to Sundance every Friday, I am extremely happy with where my life is right now and where it is headed for the future. I am so blessed with my little family, friends that are always around whether you need them or not, a wonderful support system with my parents and other extended families, and a really good team of teachers to work with. I am what I would call content. Sure, there are some things that could be better, but so much is just so good. Okay, now I'm getting all sentimental and making myself gag. I better get some sleep!

Poor Baby

Poor Isaac has a cold. He is very stuffy and a little cranky. I feel so bad for him. He can't lie flat or he can't breath. Then he coughs. He doesn't want to eat, although, he did eat half a container of baby applesauce today. I figured he could use the Vitamin C.

Last night, he woke up at 1am and drank a bottle. He fell right back to sleep. Then he woke up again at 3am. I didn't think he really needed a bottle since he normally only gets up once so I rocked him back to sleep and tried to put him back in bed. He woke up and cried. I gave him some Tylenol and brought him into my bed. He slept in my arms until 5:40 when Peter fed him another bottle. Then he slept in his bed until about 6:30. I feel like I didn't really sleep at all.

Tonight, I set up his humidifier, rubbed on the Vick's Baby Rub under his nose and propped up the head of his mattress. Hopefully, he'll sleep better tonight.

Back to School Blues

It is the end of my weekend and my two days with Isaac. We were very busy the weekend and did all kinds of stuff. One of the best things was taking Isaac to get his picture taken. You can view a picture of Isaac having his picture taken on Peter's facebook under mobile uploads. He was hilarious. He loved the photographer! Every time she looked at him or touched him he would laugh out loud. It was so cute. The pictures won't be in until 2 weeks from now. It was very exciting though. We bought $45 worth of pictures to keep and to pass out to family and friends. CRAZY!! I can't wait to get the pictures from Olan Mills. We did our first family portrait as well!

This morning, Isaac was modeling for me. He was in his diaper. I have been watching How to Look Good Naked and Isaac had a towel over him as he was waiting to take a bath. It made me thing of the "tastefully nude" photo shoots that they do on the show. I mean, how cute is this kid!?

By the way: the mixed grain cereal did not agree with him. It made him VERY gassy so I stopped giving it to him and went back to the oatmeal. He still had a little reflux problem today but after he ate his dinner, he seemed to be doing a little better. I'm going to call the doctor and find out if that means that he has an intolerance to the grains or if it just means that we have to try that kind again in a couple of weeks. I just don't know if it means that I should hold off on veggies and fruits for a while. I hate to be one of those moms who calls the doctor about every little thing but Isaac is my first and I don't know the answers to my questions. If anyone out there has any idea please let me know. I will probably still call the doctor but I do like to get multiple opinions from people who have been there.

Cereal News

Tonight, I gave Isaac a bottle and then sat him down in his chair. I only made one tablespoon of cereal mixed with one and a half tablespoons of formula. He was happy when I sat him down and was talking and smiling at me. I put some cereal in his mouth and waited. He kept smiling, then he moved his tongue around and swallowed the cereal. When I put more on the spoon, he opened his mouth and let me put in more cereal. He ate the full amount of cereal and was happy the whole time! I know it may not seem like such a big deal but I'm telling you, I cried. I'm so proud of him and happy that he succeeded but also sad that he is growing so fast.

I'm going to get a little depressing now for a minute. I am not excited about going back to school on Monday. I love Ann and I'm so happy that she is able to care for Isaac when I can't be there but I am so sad that I won't get to be with Isaac all day, every day, anymore. I feel like I will be missing out on so much of his life. I guess this is just something that I have to accept. I have to work so that our little family can survive in this expensive world. One positive . . . I will cherish the times that I am with Isaac and never take a single moment for granted.

Another try

MORNING
Well, we tried cereal again this morning. I put the cereal in his mouth, and he has no idea what to do with it. He'll figure it out eventually. I'm going to keep going for a few more days and see if it gets better. If he's still clueless and crying, I'm going to call the doctor and ask if giving him a break for a few weeks would help. We'll see.

He also had a fever this morning. I gave him some Tylenol and he was better after a little while. I really think that he'll have a more positive reaction to the food when he's not so tired and sore.

EVENING
I gave Isaac more cereal this evening. He started out really well. He didn't cry and even closed his mouth and swallowed some of it. We went really slow. I just gave him a very little bit at a time and he didn't seem to mind. After a little while though, he started getting frustrated and cried. We took a break and I changed his diaper. Then we went back for some more cereal. He took a couple of bites very well and then cried again. It gives me hope that he did so well to start with. Maybe after a couple of days of doing this, he will get the hang of it and like eating solid foods.

Isaac's First Taste of Cereal

Isaac had his 4 month checkup today and the Dr. said that he was big enough to start eating solid foods. I went to Jewel and got a box of each kind of cereal since we have to use each kind for 3 days each before moving on to other foods. We started with the rice cereal and mixed it up with some formula.

As you can see, Isaac was not totally into the spoon thing. He didn't really "get" that it was food and that I wasn't really trying to torture the poor kid. He would fuss and cry and his eyes would get really wide when I put the cereal in his mouth. Most of what went in came out again, but I'm told that is pretty normal. He was also a little crabby from getting 4 shots earlier today as well. We get to try it all again tomorrow!

My first blog

All of you bloggers talking about posting on your blogs have finally convinced me to start my own blog. I don't know if I will post very often but maybe. I will try not to repeat the information that Peter puts on his blog. I will also try not to repeat the same pictures of Isaac. I'm sure that there will be a wealth of Isaac information on here. So, sorry in advance but that is my life!