Life...: We've got a teething monster...

Okay really he's not so bad that he's anything close to a monster, but I'm convinced he is teething. He's had more dirty diapers than normal (and looser than normal), the buckets of drool, the constant chewing (especially my fingers), what looks like little bumps where his teeth are, and restless nights. I wanted to get a picture of his gums and potential teeth but Nic got home too late and I definitely need more than one hand to hold our squirmy little guy.

The last week most nights have been pretty rough. He's been going to bed at his usual time of around 8pm, then he's been waking up at 11pm, then 2:30am then 3:30am then 5am. I'm exhausted for sure! Fortunately he has not been real cranky.

Sorry about my squished eye!

Currently I have a couple decisions that I have been going back and forth with. Actually when I think about it, almost every decision I have made when it concerns Bryce I have gone back and forth.

First is when to stop breastfeeding. The goal we decided on since we spent 2 evenings last September in a breastfeeding class was 6 months...which is fast approaching. I'm very proud that as a fulltime working mom that I have been able to continue this long (via my Medela Freestyle pump). I have no indications that I will lose my supply anytime soon, and because of that I feel guilty about choosing to stop. My guilt is based a lot on the fact that I'm very fortunate to have had no problems whatsoever breastfeeding and there are many mothers that would like to, but cannot for whatever reasons. It's also a nice perk to not have to buy formula!

So at this point I've decided that sometime next month I will reduce my pumping sessions to 3 times a day from the current 4. I also have been maintaining/rotating about 400 oz of frozen breastmilk in the freezer. So it looks like I will continue past 6 months but at that point he will be starting solids...if not sooner...which leads to my next internal debate: when to start solids.

My pediatrician recommends that we wait until he's 6 months old. Studies show that waiting can help prevent food allergies, along with some other benefits. However since Bryce seems to have gone backwards on the whole nighttime sleep situation, I'm starting to wonder if it's not only teething that is preventing him to sleep as well. I know it's not true that cereal helps babies sleep better, but you can't help but wonder if it would. However, he doesn't seem hungry after his bottle and he usually leaves about a 1/2 of an ounce. But he does drink a 6.5-7 oz bottle about every 3 hours, and at bedtime he'll take down 8-9 oz. I'll note that he weighs about 15 lbs, so he's not a big baby. I really would prefer to wait til 6 months and start with something like avocado that will provide more nutritional value than rice cereal. And yes, I do plan on making most of our own baby food. Right now I'm going to weight another week, when he'll be 5 months and reevaluate.

So on to things that are more fun...

My vegetable garden! About a month ago I planted the onions, some red onions, but mostly yellow onions. I cook with A LOT of onions so I love it when summertime rolls around and I always have an onion if I need it. There's a little bit of grass in there that I need to pull, however Nic has been so busy that he hasn't been home much to help me keep Bryce entertained while I go work outside.

So I have waited patiently for April (and the reduced risk of a freeze) to roll around so I can plant my tomato plants. Last Thursday I quickly planted 6 Goliaths and 6 Jet Stars, while Bryce sat in the stroller watching me. This year I decided against Cherry tomatoes as they completely were out of hand last year.

I usually have pretty good luck with my tomatoes and have plenty to share. So let's hope this year will be no different. Below is a picture of one of my Goliath plants.

Here's the overview of my garden. Onions on the left and tomatoes in the middle. I have reserved the area on the far right to plant squash...I just have to find time to go get the seeds. That's all I'm going to plan this year. I'll mention that my garden is round because we previously had a pool there, which was taken out because we never used it since we spend so much time at the lake.

Friday evening we headed down to the lake hopeful for a relaxing weekend. After using our hand-me-down pack and play the previous weekend, and realizing how much room it takes up in the travel trailer and the fact that the bottom will not lock, we decided we had to figure something else out.

So with one of my many 20% coupons from Babies R Us we decided to go buy the Graco Travel Lite Crib. It's 20% smaller than the normal pack & plays, and this particular 'crib' has 2 levels for the bassinet. It's also easier in my opinion to put together. The size does make a lot of difference in the travel trailer and I think we'll at least be able to use it through the end of the summer, if not some next summer. Here's Bryce laying in it while I was frying some potatoes.

Saturday we planned on doing a little crappie fishing and taking a cruise on the pontoon. I even went ahead and bought a 5 year fishing license on Friday. It cost $88 compared to the $25 it has cost me for the past several years. Unfortunately I did not quite need my fishing license this weekend, as Bryce decided he would take over a 3 hour nap for me, something he has NEVER done for me (but is common for my Mom). Oh well, that's one thing I have learned is that he's the boss and makes the final decision on our plans. Nic did go ahead and fish a little without us, but he didn't have any luck. Therefore I wasn't too upset about it.

So after Bryce woke up from his nap, we enjoyed a little time outside in the shade. I put on some new Old Navy flip flops I bought him last week, but they didn't stay on because they are still a little big.

Here's Nic and Fara

Here's a zoomed view from our travel trailer.

Sunday morning Nic had another guy that owed him a couple hours work for him so we could stay the night Sunday night. However, he had to leave the lake by 8 so that left Bryce and I alone to clean and get packed up before we headed back home for the week.

Here's Bryce looking out the screen door while I was getting things ready. He really is enjoying his walker so I bought an extra one so we could leave one at the lake. The less I have to take back and forth makes it much easier on me.

We made it home Sunday around 11am to find my a couple of my Tree Peonies in full bloom!

Last year I think this one had maybe 3 blooms, but this year it's probably got a dozen.

Here's the other one that was blooming. Sorry about the mess surrounding this one. I'm in the process of cleaning and trimming my flower beds. Several years ago my mom gave me a start to Campanulas. Unfortunately they have gone crazy and instead of pretty plants with purple flowers, they look like weeds! So I'm constantly battling them.