11 Months!

This month's photo shoot went a lot smoother than last month's! I was uber prepared this time with toys and distractions (though I still found myself coming up with last minute ideas, like putting a colorful bucket on my head and hitting it to make funny noises- oh the things you do for a good picture!), and Drew was just in a better mood overall. We did have a little temper tantrum moment when I tried to take my necklace away from him (I have a scratch to prove it), but I'm pleased with some of the cute shots I got. I feel like you can see some of his personality. :)

The necklace- his "precious"

Wow!

And one of the best ones....

I caught him standing on his own!
Well, sort of... A few seconds earlier and he would have been...
here he's just trying to sit down

My cute little boy is standing on his own a little more frequently now. He's taken a few tentative steps solo. It won't be long before he's walking! He's very cautious though, I think he gets that from mom (I never learned to do cartwheels because I was always too scared of getting hurt). He walks while holding our hands, but as soon as you start to wiggle a finger free, he sits down. Most of the time when he's walking he's barely using us for support so I know he has the muscles and coordination. But it's okay, he can take his time because once he's walking he's not really my "baby" anymore, but a "toddler"!!

My favorite thing this month is that he copies EVERYTHING we do. Some of my favorite copy-cats:

Sticking our tongues out

Shaking our heads side to side

Scrunching our noses to make the huffy puffy face

Putting our hands up and going "yay!"

He's also getting better at understanding what we're saying:

When you say "headbutt" he rubs his forehead on yours (it's mostly a cute father-son thing, but Drew will do it with other people too)

He's learning to tilt his forehead towards you when you say "can I have a kiss?"

When you say "peek a boo" he'll pull his blanket over his head then quickly pull it down. Or, if he doesn't have a blanket, he'll go find one.

A few other cute things he's doing:

When he drops his sippy cup on the floor repeatedly, which I've "reprimanded" him for, he looks at me and says "ow" (no?) and shakes his head (see the picture labeled "wow" above- that's pretty much the exact face)

He likes to hand you things- whether it be toys or food. The other day he grabbed my hand and turned it over, then placed his peas in it, only to take them out again to eat them!

It's funny how I miss my tiny baby so much, and yet I love him more and more every day as he grows more interactive and makes me smile with all the silly things he does. Happy 11 months Drew!

Wordless Wednesday: The day my mother went crazy

Does it count?

Drew has had a lot of "firsts" lately... but do they count?

His accomplishment: Drew said his first word!
The real story: Drew fell down and said "ow". The "ow" sound is one of his favorites right now- he says "ow", "how", and "wow" all the time, but not as words, just as sounds (as far as I can tell- though he often makes the "how" sound towards Rico and I wonder if he's trying to "meow")
Does it count? Was "ow" really one of his first words (Lord help us!) or was it just coincidence that he said it when he fell?

His accomplishment: Drew said "mama".
The real story: I put him down on the floor to make him a bottle and he did NOT want to be put down. He wailed then screamed "mama!" while reaching for me.
Does it count? He hasn't said "mama" or even "mmmmm" since.

His accomplishment: Drew stood on his own for 5 solid seconds.
The real story: I set him down to make a bottle and he did NOT want to be set down (common theme?). He crawled to my leg and pulled himself up, then started grasping up at me while crying hysterically. I stepped to the side slightly to grab something and left him standing there, quite literally, screaming at me.
Does it count? He didn't even know he was doing it. He was in the middle of an "I'm screaming so hard I can't breathe" moment. And he hasn't really done it since.

His accomplishment: Drew took his first steps!
The real story: Drew was playing with Daddy while I made a bottle (seriously!). I sat down in the living room with the bottle and when Drew saw it, he WANTED it. Jason took his hands and they "walked" towards me, Drew screaming the whole time. Jason let go and Drew flung himself towards me, falling into my arms, but managing a few steps along the way.
Does it count? Did he actually walk or did he really just "fall" into my arms?

Drew's baby book has spots to write the dates of his "firsts" but it is so hard to tell when that actual "first" time is. With sitting, rolling, and crawling it all happened so gradually... one day it was like "I guess he really can crawl now, huh?". What counts as the "first"?

First time.... oh, who am I kidding?
This isn't a first, it's just cute and I wanted
to add it!

Great Strides 2011

*UPDATE- Cute baby photo added!*

SOOOO many of you who read this blog donated to either my half marathon fundraising page or my Great Strides page. I am so thankful for that! Each and every donation makes me feel so supported and loved!

We had a fabulous day for our walk today. Actually, maybe a little too fabulous... the high in Atlanta was in the low 90s. Too hot for May, in my opinion!

We had 8 wonderful walkers striding with the Simpsons' Striders this year, all decked out in yellow and red! And Homer made it to the walk again this year! You may remember that he made an escape for feedom last year. But thankfully I had bought 2 balloons initially. He's really just too perfect for our team. A lot of teams carry balloons as a way for teammates to find them. And obviously for "The Simpsons' Striders" Homer makes sense, but on top of that he has the bouquet of roses (65 roses= cystic fibrosis). The problem was my other Homer had a hole and I wasn't sure if he was mendable (blogger says that isn't a word, but I say it is). Thankfully a little bit of duct tape did the trick!

Amazing how things change in one year. Here's me and Drew at the walk last year acting like our team balloon:

And me and Drew this year:

A few more shots of our wonderful day and our super striders:

Drew strided too!

Drew and a future girlfriend? ;) Loved meeting Gwen!!

And now, perhaps what you've been waiting for... our total!  Drum roll please.....

We raised $8600 as of today!  If you count the money that Stacey and I raised for our half marathon (and I think we should since many people donated to one or the other) then we  raised $9,342! Not too shabby and only $658 away from $10,000. I have a feeling we'll hit that by the end of the year. Which reminds me, it's not too late to donate!! You can still help us out! Please head over here if you would like to let us know just how fabulous you think we are! ;)

Wordless Wednesday: Happy birthday to me!

 

The End

All good things must come to an end, right? Drew and I have done it... we've said "good bye" to nursing. I am still torn about the decision, which is why I came here, to take a breath and sort out my thoughts.

From the beginning, I planned to breastfeed for "as long as I could", with the thought that "as long as I could" may not be very long- my CF doctors were concerned about me losing too much weight, and warned that I may have to quit if maintaining an ideal weight became too difficult. I did lose a good bit of weight, but I remained in their "green zone" so I was allowed to continue.

So months went on and we kept going. Then I thought, "I don't want to breastfeed when he has teeth!" Well, tooth 1 and 2, and eventually 3, 4, and 5 arrived, and, aside from a frustrated "I want it now!" nip or two, I didn't even notice the teeth.

Then I started work and I wasn't sure just how long I could "keep up" while pumping more than half of his feedings. I also wasn't sure if my schedule would truly allow me to hide away for 20 minutes, twice a day. But not only did my schedule allow it, but I work at an International Center where the view on breastfeeding isn't as "American." Most of the women I work with applauded me for continuing and told me how they were breastfed until they were 2, or how they breastfed their own children until they were 3 or 4.

And that's when I went "eek!" I know it's the "American" in me, but I knew I didn't want to be that mom. I didn't want to be the one who has the toddler run up and lift her shirt. Or the one with a 3 year old who wakes up and asks for "Mama milk". I didn't want to be the mom who takes her 5 year old to kindergarten registration, child in lap getting a quick drink. I started to worry that I was just going to "keep going and going", as I had been doing all along, because it was comfortable.

I planned to continue until 12 months. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breast milk until 2 years! But I knew at least 1 year was a good start. But... well... I don't really know, and I guess that's what I feel guilty about... and I suppose I don't have to explain myself. But as I fight with formula clumps in bottles, having to pack bottles for outings, having to clean bottles, and as I pine for those moments of bonding, I wonder if I made the right decision.

The thing is, I don't have to have an excuse. I know that the timing was right for both Drew and for me. I  know that he got the "best" for a full 10 months, but I also know that formula isn't the "worst". In fact he's dropped percentiles in his weight the last couple of doctor's visits, so perhaps it was time to provide something a little more consistent.

I saw a post on Facebook asking moms how they would rate their breastfeeding experience, from 0 being very easy to 10 being very difficult. I tried to write a response. My initial thoughts were "a zero! It was way easy!" but as I thought about it I kept remembering "well, there was that first week.... and those couple weeks when he was teething.... and the period where my let-down was slow... and all those times I worried he wasn't getting enough... and all that work pumping..." The truth is, I would do it again and again and again, but it isn't easy. It's a commitment, especially if you have to return to work. I'm glad I did it, I miss it tremendously, but parts of me are glad it's done.

What I don't miss? I don't miss worrying if he ate enough. I don't miss worrying if I'm producing enough. I don't miss pumping more times than he actually ate so I could ensure I was keeping up. I don't miss the dang pump and cleaning the breast shields time and time again. I don't miss Drew's frustration of trying to "get things going", then my frustration when he did get it going only to pop off because he was "over it" (as I scrambled to find a cloth). I don't miss having to find places to "hide" to feed him.

And so... that's where we are. I feel guilty but relieved.  I'm happy but sad. And that's the end.

Wordless Wednesday: Please mom, can I have some more?

My First Mother's Day

I had a fabulous first Mother's Day! It was very low key and simple, but that's what I like.

I started the day off with a simple but delicious breakfast. Nope, not breakfast in bed. Prepared by me (thus the "simple"). Jason unfortunately had to work today, but it was either 6am-12pm or 2pm to 9pm. I opted for the opening shift so we could have the afternoon together as a family.

Drew and I then ventured solo to church, where he made me my first hand made Mother's Day card! (With thanks to Ms. Terry! Seriously, I don't know if she knows how much this made my day!)

Love his "signature"

We spent the afternoon being lazy and napping while Drew napped, then headed out to the park for some outdoor fun. I had thought it might be fun to climb Stone Mountain, but perhaps you read about my toe?

Names and photos blacked for the sake of privacy

Yeah, I sat on my toe. Not just sat on it, but placed the chair leg on it, then flopped into my chair. OW! Not quite sure how one manages to do that.... but it's purple and blue today and it hurts to walk. I'm hoping it's just bruised and not broken, but I'm heading to the doc tomorrow to be sure.  Anyways, no mountain climbing for me, so we just hit up our local (packed!) park and had some fun on the play ground.

Just love Jason in the background of this one.

We finished off the evening with a not-so-simple dinner of grilled steaks, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, grilled sweet peppers, and red wine! Fab-u-lous! Oh, and I can't forget the molten chocolate lava cakes (don't give Jason TOO much credit, that was my doing- I couldn't resist!)

My mother's day gift? Well... I'm not going to share Jason's gift to me, but it was very sweet. Drew's gift to me is *hopefully* a DSLR, but that's a combined Mother's Day and birthday gift! (Only 10 days until I turn 27! Eek!)