Week 26

Can you believe Hayden will be 6 months old on Tuesday?! Time is FLYING by. We have Hayden's 6-month Well Baby doctor visit on Monday so I will report his stats next week. I think he'll be close to 22 lbs. and 29 inches tall. Time to upgrade to our new car seat! We bought the Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite from Costco about a month ago. I had hoped Hayden would be able to sit up on his own before we started using it, since it's pretty convenient how the infant seat we have can be carried in and out of the car. But I think he's just too big for that seat. It's not safe if he's too big, plus, it's actually hurting my wrist to carry him in it anyway. Since he rarely falls asleep in the car anymore, it's not a big deal to take him in and out of the seat. He can sit up for about 30 seconds on his own, but if he gets distracted he'll topple over. So when I go grocery shopping I'll have to put him in the Moby until he can sit up better.

He's not quite crawling yet, but does a really cute froggy kick that looks like he's swimming the breaststroke. He can slowly move around the floor by a combination of rolling, scooting, and pivoting if he's motivated enough, but usually he just starts fussing and Mommy will give in and hand him the toy he wants or pick him up... what can I say? I'm a softie.

Sleep continues to be an experiment. Sometimes he wakes up 3-4 times and other times it's only once to feed around 3am. He has yet to sleep a complete 7pm - 7am stretch. Usually when he wakes up, all it takes is popping in his pacifier, a little "shhhh" and pat on the chest and he's back to sleep in less than a minute. I only nurse him once a night now. One time around midnight, we tried to not go to him to do the pacifier routine and he got so worked up and cried for 40 minutes I just couldn't take it anymore. I don't know how to break this night waking habit without letting him cry. And since he still has a bit of a lingering cough and stuffy nose from his cold last week, I hate to let him cry at all.

If we get the green light from the pediatrician, we are planning on giving Hayden his first taste of rice cereal on Thanksgiving Day. We thought it would be fitting for him to get his first solid foods on the Day of Eating. I'm sure we'll have some photos of cereal all over his face coming shortly!

In the meantime, here are some other adorable photos that I took to submit to the Costco Baby Model casting call:

Week 25

Poor little guy. Hayden's had a yucky cold all week. It has been hard for him to eat with such a stuffy nose and hard to sleep since his cough would wake him up and expel his pacifier. We've been taking it easy, doing the saline nose drops, bulb syringe thing (which he HATES!) and a humidifier in his room. He seems to be a bit better today so I think the worst is over.

We even got to the park a few days ago to see if the fresh air would help. Hayden really loves the swing!


And here is another cute photo where you can really see his 2 bottom teeth!


On Friday and Saturday my mom, Step-Dad, and little sister were in town from Michigan for a quick visit. My step-dad had never met Hayden, my mom hadn't seen him since the day after he was born, and my little sister came out in June, so Hayden has certainly changed a lot since then! Despite still being a little under the weather, Hayden was an adorable little angel and my mom kept commenting on what a good baby he is. While we would be eating, Hayden would just sit quietly in his infant seat (which he has almost outgrown!). He was soaking up all the attention and especially loved all the activity and stimulation at Red Robin! Everyone enjoyed taking turns holding him. Well, my mom wasn't so good at sharing—every time Hayden would make a little noise, she would say "Hayden just said he wanted his Grandma Judi." :)

Grandma Judi

Aunt Ali

Grandpa Mark

My freelance design jobs are really picking up. I have 3 big projects going on right now so I am trying to wrap up a couple. First, I was worried about not having enough work. Now, it's too much! It's so hard to balance! The extra income is definitely coming at a good time, though, with the holidays coming up, so I can't complain.

My dad babysat Hayden on Thursday night so we could go to my older sister's "Happy Hour" birthday celebration. It was the first time we had someone other than us put Hayden to bed at night. I wrote out detailed, bullet point instructions for Hayden's bedtime routine, and my dad said Hayden was super easy. We were home by 8pm and Hayden was already asleep in his crib. Yay! This means Phil and I can actually enjoy a date once in a while! I'm so glad Hayden did well for my dad. My dad is so good with babies and kids, though, I am not surprised. And I think he really enjoyed the bonding time with his grandson.

Week 24

Hayden was a Supercute Superbaby for Halloween! We had fun surprising Grandpa Doug and Grandma Augusta for a "Trick or Treat" and also made the rounds over to Phil's parent's house. Daddy ate Hayden's candy for him, wasn't that nice of him?! Though no Butterfinger for me :( -- No milk chocolate candy of any kind! This non-dairy diet is brutal! I guess on the bright side, because I haven't been able to eat ice cream, brownies, cookies, cake, and milk chocolate, I'm down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I guess I have nursing a chunkasaurus to thank for that too. ;)

Even though our PEPS group officially "ended" on the 24th, we decided to continue meeting, and also get together for more Mommy's Night Outs and other fun events (that sometimes will also include the Daddies). I never could have imagined how wonderful it is to have this group to share the joys and challenges of parenting with, who are going through often EXACTLY the same things. They are incredible women and we have all bonded so well. We are also figuring out the possibility of a babysitting co-op so I'm looking forward to that too! Phil and I are continuing to host a couples' "Newlyparents Group" at our home every-other Saturday so with that, along with the moms I keep in touch with from my "You and Your New Baby" class, the moms from our KinderMusik class, and in our own family, I am surrounded by a support-network of other parents!

I never thought I'd say this, but I have insomnia. Before Hayden, my head would hit the pillow and I'd be asleep almost instantly. Now, I lay in bed for 1-2 hours every night trying to fall asleep. It seems like just when I finally start to drift off, Phil will start snoring, or Hayden will wake up, or a thought of something I need to remember to do will pop into my head and I'm wide awake all over again. The hardest part is that Hayden is actually sleeping pretty well now, so he's not even to blame! He'll go to sleep around 7:30pm, wake up at 2:30am or so for a feeding and fall right back to sleep, and then wake up at 6:30am. Then I bring him in bed with me and we snooze together until about 7:45am. The problem is, I go to bed around 10:30pm, it takes me until about midnight to actually fall asleep, so that 2:30 feeding wakes me up again, I'm awake until around 3:30 and it never feels like I got any sleep. I've recently received some good suggestions from friends and even my doctor, so we'll see if I can snap out of this insomnia!

Another challenge I am facing is this career as a Part-Time Freelance Designer. I thought the freelance opportunities would be plentiful and I could pick and choose what I'd want to take on. Turns out, it's been harder than I thought to have a steady flow of work, and then it seems a bunch come in all at once and I feel overwhelmed. I feel like being a full-time mom AND a part-time designer means I never get a break. Plus, I barely ever see Phil. When he gets home from work, I make dinner while he plays with Hayden a bit, then we eat dinner, do Hayden's bath and then I head down to my office to work the rest of the evening while Phil finishes Hayden's bedtime routine and then does his own thing. I need to figure out a way to schedule when I will work and when I will not. When you work from home, it's always there. Always something to do (even when I didn't have freelance work, I was finishing my online portfolio and resume). I've heard from other Work-at-Home moms that you have to schedule the time to work and schedule the "Family Time" so I will try that... I have to figure something out!

Week 23

What a fun week!

Earlier this week, we had some great sunny weather so Hayden and I went to the park with some of our PEPS friends and Hayden took his first ride in the baby swing. He loved it! I have video of him giggling.


Then Hayden began celebrating his first Halloween at a costume party with our PEPS group. Hayden wore a dinosaur/dragon costume. When he was tiny, he had a little onesie that said, "Gigglesaurus" on it, and ever since then, we call him everything from "Sleepysaurus" to "Stinkysaurus" to "Grouchasaurus"... and he has the high-pitched dinosaur shreik to go with it!



We also attended the neighborhood "Green Halloween" festival and met up with our friends Annie and her 9-month old Lucy!


Then Phil and I went to the Pumpkin Patch and got some fun photos and picked out a pumpkin for Hayden.



I finished off the week last night with a much-needed Mommies Night Out. Eight out of the 11 PEPS moms could make it and we had a fabulous time at Coho Cafe for 3 hours, eating a peaceful meal out, drinking wine, chatting about life and, of course, our babies. :)


P.S. I'm adding some cute photos of Hayden reading to my post from last week.

Week 22

Here is a photo of Hayden's two bottom teeth!


He is now 20 lbs. Can you believe it!?! He just turned 5 months old! Some of the 9-month old babies in our music class weigh 20 lbs. My nephew Jude weighed 20 lbs when he was 1.

In addition to being a big boy, he is developing really well. He is starting to sit with just light assistance. Sometimes I can even let go and he'll balance for a few seconds before toppling over. When he's on his tummy, he is already doing some crawling motions with his knees and can sometimes get his back end off the ground, but doesn't quite have the coordination yet to push himself up with his arms at the same time. He is getting really frustrated on his tummy because for some reason he forgot how to roll over from tummy to back. He squeals and grunts and snorts until mommy decides to rescue him!

Since he's been loving his Jumparoo, he is getting really strong legs. He can support his own weight for a few minutes while standing, and his balance standing is getting better too.

We love, love, love reading books! Hayden likes to even hold the book and "help" mommy turn the page. He looks at where I point on the page and almost never tires of looking at each page. His favorite books so far are: "Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs" By Sandra Boynton, "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss, and "Everywhere Babies" by Susan Meyers. He smiles when he sees the covers!




In honor of Phil's 30th Birthday that was on the 16th last week, here are some recent photos of Hayden and his Daddy:

Week 21

One of the most exciting things about Hayden's development is the way he gazes at me with his eyes in a way that makes me think he truly understands that I am his Mommy. It's as if he is saying "I love you, Mommy" with his eyes, especially when I am nursing him or go get him when he wakes up from his naps. So precious.

As I am now packing away his 3-6 month sizes and have to move him into the 6-12 month sized clothes, my heart is breaking at how quickly time is passing. As much as I am loving this new stage he is in, his "newborn" stage is officially history. Especially the days when he napped on my chest on the couch or in his car seat or stroller when we were out and about. He is only napping in his dark, quiet room in his own crib. Thankfully, his naps are getting longer and more regular, so that is helping, and he is only waking up once or twice to nurse at night lately. (Knock on wood! Now that I said that, he'll probably wake up 6 times tonight!)

Hayden continues to love his toes. How cute is this?


He is also constantly sucking his hands and fingers and occasionally gets just his thumb and realizes that's a pretty good one to suck! I'm torn with whether or not that's a good thing. In a way, it's good because he can pacify himself, but a thumbsucking habit can be harder than a pacifier to break...

I've also been giving him little sips of plain cold water out of a glass. He likes the feeling of the cold glass on his mouth more than anything. He is really good at grabbing and wanting to hold the glass!


Today we went to my nephew Jude's 5th birthday party. My sister-in-law pulled out Jude's old Halloween costume from when he was 1 and it fit Hayden!



We also started a Kindermusic class this week. It meets every Thursday for 15 weeks at a place in downtown Issaquah called The Musik Nest. Hayden absolutely LOVED it! The instructor is super enthusiastic and cognizant of infant learning and brain development. She explains why things are stimulating and how brain synapses are being connected by these motions and sounds. It’s not just about singing silly songs! We started out with some basic infant massage (which stimulates their circulation and digestive system), then learned some songs, playing with bells, drums, balls, and dancing. Hayden was REALLY mesmerized by the whole experience, especially the drums – he loved putting a hand on the drum to feel the vibration while I beat it to the music. And he’s JUST on the verge of clapping! He puts his fists together when everyone else was clapping. So smart! There are about 12 infants in the class. Some are as old as 9 months so it’s fun to see what we have to look forward to!

Week 20

TWO TEETH!

Hayden's 2 front bottom teeth have popped through the gums! Boy are they SHARP! I can't let him chew on my fingers anymore. After over a week of the most sleepless nights we've EVER experienced, I'm hoping that was the cause. I read that the teething pain is most intense just before the teeth break through. Unfortunately, other than Friday night (when he slept from 7:30pm to 7:30am and only woke up at 3:30am to feed!) he is still waking up 4-5 times at night. Funny thing is, his naps are getting better. Maybe it's because he's not getting good sleep at night, but all the books say that good naps yield good sleep and vice versa... So I don't know what's going on!

Hayden is hilarious in his Jumparoo. We put him in it in the kitchen while we're eating dinner and he'll jump around and entertain us during our entire meal. He loves music and dancing, clapping and motion songs like "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "The Wheels on the Bus". He even sometimes will try to clap his hands too (closed-fisted, usually!).



I am having so much fun with him. He has a great personality and is rarely fussy. His giggle is the most adorable sound I've ever heard. It's so fun to discover new things that make him laugh. Phil and I make complete fools of ourselves getting him to laugh, but it's totally worth it!

The dairy-free diet seems to be working. No bloody diapers for 2 weeks. I'm surviving without ice cream, cheese, and milk. Cheese has actually been the hardest to give up (I thought it would be ice cream!). Another thing that's changed is that he used to have 4-5 poopy diapers a day, but now is down to 1-2. We started giving him a "Poly-vi-sol with Iron" vitamin supplement (our pediatrician recommends all 4 month-olds start taking iron and vitamin D supplements) so I wonder if the iron is causing things to slow down. Unfortunately, with fewer poops, comes bigger blowouts! My washing machine is getting a good workout!