Joy In The Simple Things

So, sometimes it takes a trip to the playground to put things into perspective.  Maybe I should try finding more joy in the simple things (besides the joy I find every minute I am with Carson).  Maybe I should treat the simple things like the first swing of the spring.  Maybe the simple things should be treated like I forgot how wonderful they were…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/VU-YixyEahg?rel=0

Ok, it kinds ruins the effect when the video won’t embed…but just click on the link.  I promise that you will find joy in the simple things if you do.  (also, I have to remember to turn my iPhone so you can see a full screen…oops!!)

The End Is Here…

I think this is it.  Three days before 16 months, we are done.  I think Carson is weaned.  We have gone from 4 feedings to none in the past month.  It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be, there were minimal tears (from him, I mean!).  I thought it would be harder for me than it has been–but it is still sad.

I love, love, LOVE nursing my son.  It has been one of the most amazing things I have been able to give to him.  He has been sick ONCE in 16 months.  I think it is because of breastfeeding.  The fact that we are done is just another red flag that he is not a baby anymore.  I see evidence of this everyday, but when we had our quiet moments nursing it was easy to forget that he is a big boy now.  Shockingly, in combo with the raging pregnancy hormones, I haven’t cried over this.  I did well up, but no tears were shed.

On a bright note, I get to have my boobs to myself for about 5-6 months before I have to do it all again.  I can only hope Gummy Bear Baby is studying up on breastfeeding in utero like Carson did.  He came out a pro, we had no problems.  I hope I can be so lucky again.

I’m Going Big Time!

No–really, I am!  I have been afforded the great opportunity to bore hundreds or thousands (maybe more!) of readers with my amazing and perfect parenting skills.  I am going to be a blogger for The Day!!  Apparently, I wowed the staff with my witty and fantastic stories about my uterus and boobs.  Who could say no to that?  (for those of you who aren’t local, The Day is the paper for our corner of Connecticut and their website gets FIVE MILLION hits a month!!)

What does that mean for us?  Well, honestly–this blog may take a little bit of a back seat.  I truly hope you will all come over to my new home and stick with me.  Also, when some crazy mom comments that I am a psycho for breastfeeding my 16 month old, I expect ALL OF YOU to defend me.  It will be an interesting ride, because I KNOW there will be people who completely disagree with everything I say and/or do.  Hopefully for each of those people, there will be at least one or two who think I am awesome!

You will notice some changes–because of the potential traffic I could get I don’t plan on using Carson’s name.  I have decided what pseudonym he should get quite yet.  Also, I don’t think it is fair to plaster his face all over the blog, so I will be trying to get a little more creative with my pictures.  On the flip side–I still will probably post on this blog the things I don’t want to share with 5 million people.

I am hoping to embark on this new endeavor by next week…but I can’t start it up until I can think of a name for the blog…and as of right now–I got nothing.  Any ideas?

Hope you guys are as excited as I am and you will make the move with me!  Try to hit me up with some comments in my new home and make me feel loved!!

O-gurrr!

(bonus points to anyone who can guess what that word is in Carson-speak…no reading ahead!!)

So, I should be feeding my kid good, balanced meals, right?  Let’s review the weekend.

Saturday

Breakfast: Appetizer of shared Nutri-grain bar and banana (appetizer because he grazes off mom-EE or da-DA)

Oatmeal (this is probably one of the best things he eats–and I make a good oatmeal.  Seriously–oats, whole milk, handful of raisins.  Microwave 2 minutes…add couple of spoonfuls of unsweetened applesauce and you have oatmeal that tastes better and is better for you that the pre-packaged flavored kind)

Morning snack spurred on by “EEE” which clearly means “Eat”.  Well, clearly when accompanied by the sign for “eat”:   “O-gurrr!!”  Anyone?  Anyone?  Duh, yogurt.  He is ADDICTED to yogurt.  Thank god, because otherwise who the heck knows what else he would eat.  He LOVES Chobani Champions yogurt, which is greek yogurt for kids.

Lunch: Peanut butter rye toast.  Unfortunately my cravings for rye toast don’t carry over to Carson and he crushes the toast into tiny pieces and throws them all on the floor.  Making the mistake of asking him what he wants, he says “o-gurr”.  Of course.  But really–I’m running out of ideas, so…sure…here’s some yogurt.  Since he doesn’t drink milk because it is the most horrible thing that has ever passed his lips (cow’s milk, almond milk AND rice milk), I guess he could use a little extra dairy!  For dessert?  The super nutritious S’mores flavored Goldfish.  I don’t know why I ever bought these for my kid, but I better not think of stopping any time soon.

Afternoon snack: “ohhh”  Cheerios in the snack catcher.  Which means 50% end up on the floor.  And then you step on them.  And crush them into a million tiny pieces.

Dinner: Leftover cheesy pasta (pasta, butter, parmesan shake cheese…you know, super nutritious) from Friday night.  The reason it is left over is because he didn’t eat it on Friday night.  I don’t know why I tried.  In the mouth….out of the mouth.  Ugh, how bout some yogurt?  “O-gurrr!”  mmmK, great.  Yogurt it is.  And how ’bout S’mores Goldfish while we are at it.

Sunday: Well, really…just see Saturday.

Some of you are probably like “feed your kid some vegetables”.  Why don’t you come over and try?  What I didn’t tell you about was the cucumbers we tried on Sunday that he spit out and then threw on the floor.  Because things he doesn’t eat cannot EVER stay on the tray.  That would be crazy.  Anyhow, take out “cucumber” and insert any vegetable and you will get the same response.

So, I just keep feeding my kid o-gurr.  Because otherwise he might starve to death.  Well, I guess he would always have S’mores Goldfish.

Wordless Wednesday…errr…Thursday: Tubby Time

Do My Boobs Taste Funny To You??

For the five of you that I didn’t manage to alienate when I talked about my uterus, I’m going to talk about my boobs today.  That should wipe the rest of you out.

Carson and I are working on weaning.  It’s funny–it’s been 15 months and at no point did I consider it hard, or a chore, or work.  I LOVE nursing my son.  So, this weaning thing is very bittersweet for me.  I would like my boobs back for a little bit before I have a newbie sucking on me alllllllllllll day long.  Other than that, though…the thought of being done is making me sad.  It means no more quiet, one-on-one bonding time.  It means my Little Man is just that–no more baby.  It means Gummy Bear Baby is already pushing Carson out, changing his routine.

Well…anyhow…this weaning thing is supposed to go the way I say.  I am trying to take out one feeding at a time, let Carson get used to that before we work on the next feeding.  It is supposed to gradual and non-traumatic.  We have recently been working on going from four feedings a day to three.  Except something has happened in the past few days, something to my boobs–or more specifically–my milk.  Carson seems to get frustrated lately when he is on the boob.  He comes off sooner than usual, whines about it, he may even grab/squeeze my boob in frustration.  From Friday to Sunday, he wouldn’t nurse on my right side.  I can only assume my supply is decreasing or the taste of my milk is changing because of Gummy Bear Baby.  This is NOT how it is supposed to go.  This is supposed to be a smooth transition for Carson.  Gummy Bear Baby is NOT supposed to be pushing Carson out already.

I’m sad for Carson.  I’m nervous that this is just the first thing in an infinite list of things that Gummy Bear will be “ruining” for Carson.  I’m sad for me, that this part of my relationship with my son is coming to an end.  I’m pretty sure it’s only minutes from now that he will be slamming a door in my face and telling me he hates me.

This is all happening so fast!

Save the Babies!!

So, I am not one for fundraising.  It’s hard work, money is tight and I don’t want to bother you.  Except I’m going to bother you.

Every single day I look at my son and I cannot believe how lucky I am.  Some days I can get stuck in “what if’s”–which seem to always boil down to “What if we weren’t so lucky??”.  That is what motivated me to join The March of Dimes for the March for Babies.  I am actually surprised at how strongly I feel about this cause.  I wish that every family could be as lucky as mine and if raising money for The March of Dimes can give other families a fighting chance, then I am all for it!!

So–expect me to be bothering you a lot about this.  You should donate because you know someone who was born prematurely and you wish you could have helped.  You should donate because you know someone who was born healthy and you are thankful.  You should donate because every family deserves to be healthy and happy!

Please, please consider helping me.  Every little bit will help!  For those really motivated people–consider joining my team, Carson’s Clan!

Gummy Bear Baby IS In There!

Despite my period being late by 63 days (Thanks, iPeriod Free app!) and despite me having an ultrasound with visual and audio proof, I was still kind of doubting that I was, in fact, pregnant.  Yes, I am tired–but is this weird–I remember being MORE tired last time.  You know, the time when I wasn’t chasing around a 15 month old?  I know, that makes NO sense, but that is how I feel.  Maybe because I had more time to pay attention to how tired I was, I don’t know.  But some days I think to myself “This can’t be right, I should be more tired.  This should be harder or something?  I should feel…more…I don’t know…PREGNANT?”

Well, good news, people!  The day I have been waiting for is HERE.  You know when you can actually FEEL the baby inside you?  You know when you feel that little golf-ball size nugget inside your belly?  I’m trying to refrain from using the word “uterus” here so I don’t freak out my non-mommy readers (and I’m sure there are TONS of you…), but you know–when all of a sudden you can actually FEEL your uterus?  I can feel it!  I can feel my uterus, I can feel my uterus!  When I woke up this morning…THERE IT WAS!!  Gummy Bear Baby is in there!  Phew.  Eleven and a half weeks later, I think I might actually believe it!

(someone please tell me you know what I am talking about so I don’t think I am a total whack-a-doo!)

Wordless Wednesday–Christmas Tree Love

Dear Elmo–A Love Letter From Carson

Dear Elmo,

I love you soooo much.  You are the best monster ever.  I like to say your name all the time.  Sometimes my Mama or Dada will be talking to me about something else and I will just shout out, “Ehhlmoh!”.  They look at me like I am crazy.  You make me so happy inside.  I wish my parents would let me watch you all day, I don’t see what the big deal is.  When they don’t let me watch you, I yell like this: “Ehhhlmohh!”  EHHHLLLLmoh!!!”  EEHHHLLLLMOOOOHHHHH!”  and then I just throw myself on the floor and scream and cry, although that doesn’t seem to be working very well and I can’t figure out why.  When we do watch Sesame, if you are not on, I just keep yelling “Ehhlmoh! Ehhhlmoh!  EHHHLMOHHHH!!” until my Mama or Dada pushes some buttons on the remote that make the screen move all fast and then you appear!  The only other part I like to watch is Murray, but he is not as good as you are, Elmo.  I don’t even really like to watch you with other Monsters.  I really only like to watch Elmo’s World and I even make my parents make the TV go fast through Mr. Noodle.  He is so boring and not as red and furry as you are.  You are my favorite.  Well, besides my Stuffy.  Also, I like GloWorm alot, but I don’t think I like him more than you. 

I love you,

Carson