Noah woke up in the wee hours of Monday morning with his first stomach bug. (First one to cause the vomit comet at least.) I know that we are lucky to have made it this far without him catching one. And if you know me very well, you know of my very great fear of stomach viruses. And it was pretty mild, as far as these things go. He threw up a few times and then it was like nothing ever happened. How do little ones do that? He was smiling and attempting to play in between dry heaves, like he didn't feel bad at all.
Then I woke up with it very early Wednesday morning. Jeremy couldn't stay home, so fortunately Noah was able to go to the baby-sitter's house and give me a break. Top the bug with allergies and a little chest congestion, and I was barely able to drag myself to the living room to watch TV, much less chase after the busy, up-to-no-good Noah all day.
Noah has been going to bed by 7:00 almost every night since we got back from the beach. It's the only way he can actually get a good night's sleep, however inconvenient it may be. He still wakes up around 6:00am and takes short naps, or no naps at all, if he's somewhere other than his bed at home. But he does that no matter what time he went to bed the night before. My hope is that once he gets over being "overtired" I'll be able to readjust bedtime and he'll sleep later and nap longer. Right. Also considering hiring a sleep consultant, or just going to Wal-Mart to pick up some more pacifiers. We have some plans this summer that I'd like him to be able to handle without going to bed immediately after dinner, but we'll see.
So excited for this weekend! Jeremy's parents are coming in for the holiday weekend and one of the nights, Jeremy and I are planning to celebrate our upcoming anniversary with an overnight date in downtown Austin. We still haven't really experienced much of that area of the city. I'm excited for the break and for all of us to be germ-free , well-rested, and feelin good for a while!
Happy Memorial Day!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Life's a Beach
Warning: please be prepared for lots of pictures! This past weekend we took Noah to Rockport, Texas for his first trip to the beach! It was about a 3.5 hour drive for us, which was not bad at all. We rented a little 1 bedroom cottage near the beach and had a nice little family getaway.
First introduction to the beach on Friday evening. I think he's a fan. Maybe even as in love with it as his mommy. What is it that draws us to the water, like mosquitos to a bug zapper?
This beach would be just about perfect for Noah. The water is only 1 to 6 inches deep, going out at least a couple hundred yards. Ideal for toddlers. When we arrived that evening, the water was warm and "high tide" was in, filling the bay with baby jellyfish. Loads of them. Dead, but still nervewracking to try to keep Noah out of them.
On Saturday morning, Noah decided to wake at 5:45 (yes, that's AM), and despite our best coaxing, would not go back to sleep. We ended up at the beach by 8:00. The beach was deserted, probably because the locals are aware of the cool, early morning temps and the problems that are presented on the baech at this time of day. :)
First, Jeremy and I were attacked by wicked mosquitos, which ate my arms alive. They were reproducing in the parking lot, I guess, and chased us almost all the way to the water, sparing Noah, thankfully. Then we realized that the water was ice cold instead of the pleasant bathtub feeling we got the night before. And then we saw the jellyfish. Yes, there were more of them. And big ones too. We had to be really careful. This series of small disasters had to make me roll my eyes at least. Or look for the humor in the situation. We didn't stay long but agreed to come back later and give it one more shot.
Now, I don't know much about hunting, but if you want to catch something, it's probably best not to yell "GITCHU!" (get you) at your prey, while running towards it.
Needless to say, we were all totally exhausted Sunday but made it home fine. Still a lot of catching up to do! This was a nice weekend getaway and now I am craving a "real" beach experience. Something a little less lake-like, where the water actually smells like ocean. And hopefully is jellyfish-free.
First introduction to the beach on Friday evening. I think he's a fan. Maybe even as in love with it as his mommy. What is it that draws us to the water, like mosquitos to a bug zapper?
This beach would be just about perfect for Noah. The water is only 1 to 6 inches deep, going out at least a couple hundred yards. Ideal for toddlers. When we arrived that evening, the water was warm and "high tide" was in, filling the bay with baby jellyfish. Loads of them. Dead, but still nervewracking to try to keep Noah out of them.
On Saturday morning, Noah decided to wake at 5:45 (yes, that's AM), and despite our best coaxing, would not go back to sleep. We ended up at the beach by 8:00. The beach was deserted, probably because the locals are aware of the cool, early morning temps and the problems that are presented on the baech at this time of day. :)First, Jeremy and I were attacked by wicked mosquitos, which ate my arms alive. They were reproducing in the parking lot, I guess, and chased us almost all the way to the water, sparing Noah, thankfully. Then we realized that the water was ice cold instead of the pleasant bathtub feeling we got the night before. And then we saw the jellyfish. Yes, there were more of them. And big ones too. We had to be really careful. This series of small disasters had to make me roll my eyes at least. Or look for the humor in the situation. We didn't stay long but agreed to come back later and give it one more shot.
Noah didn't care too much about playing in the sand, so I built the obligatory sand castle for him.
One of the icky jellyfish.
Luckily, the afternoon experience was much better! The sun warmed the shallow water right up and the jellyfish disappeared.
This was about how long he was willing to leave the shades and hat on. Just long enough so we could take pics for the Nutts.
Hermit crabs were everywhere! Remember when people used to wear them on a chain around their necks?? Heehee. We put some babies on Jeremy's leg.
No dunce jokes please.
"Now where did I leave that sand pail?"
Noah is chasing the ladies already. He was mesmerized by this little girl, who was very pretty, and charming with her sweet smile.
We happened to be in town for the annual "Babes on the Bay" all-women fishing tournament. All women, all fishing, over 1000 of them. Interesting ladies.
Jeremy took a patriotic photo.
There were some cute shops we peeked in down by the pier. Well, I peeked while Jeremy entertained Noah.
We had dinner at Charlotte Plummer's, a local seafood place on the water. Can you see the exhaustion in these eyes? This was because the child who got up at 5:45am, refused to nap, and was tuckered out in time for our 5:30 dinner.
We made another early morning beach run on Sunday (yes, we were able to sleep in until 5:50 this morning), with plans to feed the seagulls instead of swimming this time. These birds weren't flying at us, more like hovering in the air right in front of our faces. If you enlarge this pic, you kind of get the eerieness of it. :)
Noah loved it. He was a little scared of them hovering (but who's kidding, so was I) but was thrilled with chasing them on the ground.
Now, I don't know much about hunting, but if you want to catch something, it's probably best not to yell "GITCHU!" (get you) at your prey, while running towards it.
Needless to say, we were all totally exhausted Sunday but made it home fine. Still a lot of catching up to do! This was a nice weekend getaway and now I am craving a "real" beach experience. Something a little less lake-like, where the water actually smells like ocean. And hopefully is jellyfish-free.Night-night! This mommy needs some rest!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Let's Hear It For the Moms!
After church on Mother's Day, we stopped by the Zilker Botanical Gardens on our way home. It was awfully humid but we managed to snag a few pictures anyway.
Sorry my blogging has been cut short lately. This is due to my stunted amount of free time, tiredness, and my own general crankiness. We have had some small improvements (no more screaming, for the most part, or 3 am wake-up calls) but after 3.5 weeks, Noah is still not getting enough sleep to satisfy either of us. We started his speech therapy this week, and while I like the therapist a lot, it was really kind of a downer for me.
Sorry my blogging has been cut short lately. This is due to my stunted amount of free time, tiredness, and my own general crankiness. We have had some small improvements (no more screaming, for the most part, or 3 am wake-up calls) but after 3.5 weeks, Noah is still not getting enough sleep to satisfy either of us. We started his speech therapy this week, and while I like the therapist a lot, it was really kind of a downer for me.
I'm thinking of running away to a spa in California where someone will serve me drinks by the water and feed me grapes. Or...maybe we will just get to planning our trip to Rockport Beach this weekend! I'm excited; Noah absolutely loves bodies of water and I can't wait to show him this one. Let's pray for good health, Jeremy is feeling a little under the weather today.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Progress Report
Noah has decided that he does not want a sibling. More realistically, I think I decided that early one morning last week. :)
We are 2 weeks and 1 day into giving up the paci and I have to say that things are not better. What, at 2 years old, does it take 28 days to break an addiction? Because I think that is all I am going to be able to give to this project before I break down and buy another paci. Then he can sleep with it till he's 20 for all I will care! that particular morning, he woke up at 3:00am, and after over an hour, we could not find anything wrong with him, so we just left him in bed and he screamed until 6:00, when I had to get up for work. Yes, we turned off the monitor and closed all the doors, and I could still hear him across the house.
We got past nearly 2 weeks of diarrhea, and a couple of days of fever. Since then, I have spent the week basically starting all over with sleep training like we did at around 9 months, except that it isn't taking quite effectively this time. There is only so much screaming a person can take. I am feeling irrationally angry and frustrated half the time, and so is Noah, as evidenced by his foul moods, whining, and shreiking when he's not in bed. Most days, he is waking up early every morning, taking a short or no nap, and taking his time falling asleep at night. He is sleeping around 2-3 hours less now some days, which makes for a very grumpy boy who is not fun to be around.
I guess you should either take away the paci by the first birthday so they will forget more quickly or just wait until they are closer to 4 and more able to rationalize the loss.
Hopefully, things are going to get back to normal one day soon. Until then, Mommy needs a child-free vacation! Oh wait, nobody else will volunteer to listen to him scream either. ;)
We are 2 weeks and 1 day into giving up the paci and I have to say that things are not better. What, at 2 years old, does it take 28 days to break an addiction? Because I think that is all I am going to be able to give to this project before I break down and buy another paci. Then he can sleep with it till he's 20 for all I will care! that particular morning, he woke up at 3:00am, and after over an hour, we could not find anything wrong with him, so we just left him in bed and he screamed until 6:00, when I had to get up for work. Yes, we turned off the monitor and closed all the doors, and I could still hear him across the house.
We got past nearly 2 weeks of diarrhea, and a couple of days of fever. Since then, I have spent the week basically starting all over with sleep training like we did at around 9 months, except that it isn't taking quite effectively this time. There is only so much screaming a person can take. I am feeling irrationally angry and frustrated half the time, and so is Noah, as evidenced by his foul moods, whining, and shreiking when he's not in bed. Most days, he is waking up early every morning, taking a short or no nap, and taking his time falling asleep at night. He is sleeping around 2-3 hours less now some days, which makes for a very grumpy boy who is not fun to be around.
I guess you should either take away the paci by the first birthday so they will forget more quickly or just wait until they are closer to 4 and more able to rationalize the loss.
Hopefully, things are going to get back to normal one day soon. Until then, Mommy needs a child-free vacation! Oh wait, nobody else will volunteer to listen to him scream either. ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)