dreams

Last week I had a couple bad dreams about Ari. Well, one was a bad dream, the other was the most horrific nightmare I've ever had. Ever. I talked to my mom about it and she said once you have kids, your bad dreams almost always involve them. Figures. I knew that I adore my little boy, but that nightmare made it hit home with me that I love him more than anything, my own life included. Aaahh, motherhood. Incidentally, a day or two after the bad dreams, he got sick. Sean says it was a coincidence, I've decided I'm psychic. Heh. My mom is probably most accurate: my inner mommy picked up on signals or something sub consciously and warned me in my sleep. ;) Anyway, I'm glad my little man is finally feeling better, and I hope I never have such a terrifying nightmare ever again!

Sleep is for sissies!!

I just thought I would throw that out there. In case you hadn't heard, Ari is sick for the first time. Talk about a pathetic looking little boy. Worse part is there's not much you can do for him. After two days of snotty nose and general miserableness followed by a screaming bout at 1 last night we took him to the doctor today. Turns out his problem was multiple fold. He has a cold or something, double ear infections and he cut a new tooth last night. No wonder it was as sleepless as it was. Hopefully his antibiotics will kick in on the ear infections quickly and then we just have a runny nose to deal with. Wish us luck! If anyone is up at strange hours and wants to chat, more than likely Cara or I will be on Facebook.

8 Months

Once again it's time for a little Ari fix! Our little man hit 8 months at the beginning of the week. One day after Cara and I celebrated our two year anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been two years that we have been married already and almost four years that we've been together. I must be doing something right for her to want to stay around, so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. All joking aside, she is more than I was ever hoping for in a wife and much more!

Ari is officially teething and cut his first tooth the day after he hit 8 months and he's been working on the other one the rest of the week. We knew he was teething but now we have some proof to show people. As you can see from Cara's last post, the last few months have been a struggle and last week was especially bad. Normally Cara tries to let me sleep during the week so I'm not totally dead at work but I think I was up five of the seven nights last week at 3 because he had been up so much and she needed some sleep too. Hopefully once his other bottom tooth come through we can get a break for a week or so before the top ones start hurting his gums. It sure would be nice to catch up on a little sleep if we can.

Ari is getting closer and closer to becoming mobile everyday. Last night during quiet time, part of our bedtime routine, he pushed up onto his knees five or six times pretty much right in a row. Although he still fusses if he's on his belly too long. We aren't too worried about that phase as once he starts moving he won't care what part of his body he's on.

We didn't have a doctor's appointment to report on this month. First time in a few months that he didn't have to get poked with a needle. Woo hoo!! Cara is participating in a study for nursing moms at the U of A and they weigh and measure Ari periodically as well. She had an appointment last week and Ari weighed in at 20 lbs 2 oz but the lady could really figure out how to run a tape measure so he only measured 26.25 inches. Which is only slightly longer than a few months ago at the doctor's office. We have never been real impressed with the accuracy of measurements anyway. We can tell he's much longer because a few months ago his feet didn't fill up his footed jammies and now they do. Our next wellness check up is at 9 months and thank goodness there won't be any shots then either. Stay tuned for our next update!!

Yes it actually got cold enough to wear this outfit a few weeks ago so we figured we better take advantage of it because it was probably our last shot before he grows out of it and warm weather returns.
What, you think I can't get over there?
Hey mom, where's my shirt?? I feel naked with out that thing.
Mmmm bananas....
and sweet potatoes!!!

I call mercy...

So little man is still sleeping badly. I have read so many articles and websites... sleep regression, teething, separation anxiety... who knows. It is probably all of the above. I am averaging 3-4 hours of sleep a night, which us just Plain Not Enough. The past few nights he was very obviously in pain from teething and ibuprofen seems to be the only thing that helps... unfortunately when it wears off after 4ish hours he lets me know. He is a miserable teether - my mom said I was the same. He will be 8 months old in a few days, when will teeth come???

We have tried a number of things over the past couple months: zantac, moving him into his own room, new bed time routine w/ an earlier bed time, melatonin, etc etc. The bed time routine has been the most helpful, but everything else, not so much... I have to say, I am tired of hearing the suggestion to let him cry it out though. Not going to happen, people, at least not before he is a year old. Sean and I have numerous valid reasons for this... not to say cry-it-out isn't the right thing for some babies/families, because it is, but it is not right for Ari or us right now. It might never be right for him, personality wise, but we'll see. Sorry for sounding defensive... the lack of sleep has left me more irritable and cranky than usual, for sure. :-p

During the day he is mostly in a good mood although there have been a couple days when it seems the combo of teething and being tired makes him cranky. He is rolling around and pushing back onto his knees. He still doesn't sit up for long without assistance though... it seems like he is always just wanting to be mobile and get things out of his reach, then down he goes. His doc said he should be rolling both ways and sitting totally unassisted by 8 months, but I am trying not to be concerned about it - I remind myself that he was born almost a month early, which his doc seems to forget/ignore, and although he has been fairly on track developmentally, all babies are different and he might need a little extra time for some things.

Ari is eating solids much more regularly and with more desire/interest on his part now. He is loving sweet potatoes and also loves to gum/suck on banana chunks. We will include some photos related to this in our 8 month post... because I am too lazy to get them off the camera right now.

I am adjusting to running this new business combined with being a SAHM... not as easy as it might sound, with a pretty demanding baby and not much sleep. But it is going well. February was busier than March so far, but it is like any other retail business and is busier around holidays. It should pick up for Easter and especially for Mother's Day. :)