Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Favorite Children's Books

Some of my favorite memories from being a child are of my mom reading to us every night. It's a tradition that I hope to pass down to Jackson. Reading is such a huge part of my life and I can't imagine not reading something every day be it a book, magazine, or newspaper. I grew up surrounded by avid readers (both my mom and dad read all the time) and I would love for Jackson to enjoy books as much as I do. He already has a huge library of books thanks to the dissolving of my first grade classroom and literally has hundreds to choose from. Some of my own favorites that I've begun reading to him include the following:

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
"Once upon a time there was a Little House way out in the country. She was a pretty Little House and she was strong and well built." So begins Virginia Lee Burton's classic The Little House, winner of the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1942. The rosy-pink Little House, on a hill surrounded by apple trees, watches the days go by, from the first apple blossoms in the spring through the winter snows. Always faintly aware of the city's distant lights, she starts to notice the city encroaching on her bucolic existence. First a road appears, which brings horseless carriages and then trucks and steamrollers. Before long, more roads, bigger homes, apartment buildings, stores, and garages surround the Little House. Her family moves out and she finds herself alone in the middle of the city, where the artificial lights are so bright that the Little House can no longer see the sun or the moon. She often dreams of "the field of daisies and the apple trees dancing in the moonlight." Finally a woman recognizes her and whisks the Little House back to the country where she belongs, they will rejoice. For generations, young readers have been delighted by the whimsical, detailed drawings and happy ending.



Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
Mr. Willowby, the unwitting hero of this Christmas classic, looks quite a bit like the little mustachioed mascot from Monopoly. But as befits a Yuletide tale, this diminutive millionaire turns out to be a good bit more generous.


The Christmas tree in question shows up at Mr. Willowby's home by special order, aboard a big pink truck: "Full and fresh and glistening green--The biggest tree he had ever seen." But it's just a little too big, so he asks his butler, Baxter, to trim off the top few feet that brush up against the parlor ceiling. Baxter realizes that this snipped-off top would make a perfect little tree for "Miss Adelaide, Mr. Willowby's upstairs maid." But she, too, must clip off the top of her tree... which then ends up with Timm, the gardener. Timm's trimming goes on to Barnaby Bear, the tippy-top of Barnaby's tree ends up with Frisky Fox and family, and then Benjamin Rabbit finds the top few inches that Mrs. Fox snipped off. And so it goes, until soon the whole countryside learns that it's simply "grand to have a tree--Exactly like Mr. Willowby."

There's many a lesson to be taken from this tale, about recycling and supply-side economics just for starters. But the cheerful illustrations of Robert Barry ensure that you'll have fun just watching as the ever-tinier tree gets passed on to ever-tinier families



Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel Mary Anne make quite a team. The inseparable duo digs the great canals for the big boats to travel through, cuts through the large mountains so trains can pass, and hollows out the deep cellars for the great skyscrapers in the city. But the introduction of gasoline, electric, and diesel shovels means big trouble for Mike and Mary Anne. No one wants an old-fashioned steam shovel like Mary Anne when a modern shovel can do the digging in half the time! Forced to travel far out of the city to look for work, Mike and Mary Anne find themselves in the little town of Popperville. Mike and Mary Anne make a bid to dig the cellar for the new town hall, promising the town that if they can't dig the cellar in just one day they'll accept no payment for the job. Will Mike and Mary Anne be able to complete the job? The whole town of Popperville turns out to watch. Virginia Lee Burton, author of such classic children's books as The Little House and Katy and the Big Snow, offers a touching portrait of love and dedication while commenting on the modernization that continuously shapes our lives. Hamilton's wonderful crayon drawings bring Mike and the indomitable Mary Anne to life.

Something Queer is Going On (a Mystery) by Elizabeth Levy
The mysterious kidnapping of Fletcher, the inert Bassett hound, leads Jill and Gwen on a frantic search that ends up in front of a TV camera shooting a dog food commercial.

Be Nice to Spiders by Margaret Bloy Graham
When Billy left his pet spider, Helen, at the Zoo, the animals suddenly became happy and contented. The lions snoozed all day long, the elephants enjoyed their baths, and the zebras ate their hay in peace -- all because Helen was spinning webs and catching flies. But one day Helen's webs were swept away. The Keeper had the cages cleaned for the Mayor's inspection tour. Soon the flies were back again and the animals were miserable once more. But not for long...



These were all books that were read to my mom as a child, who then read them to us. I love the tradition of passing down well-loved books and I hope that Jackson loves them too!

Wordless Wednesday

Disappointed

It's hot and ugly right now in Arizona and I want out, like yesterday. Unfortunately that's not going to happen and I'm so disappointed. Every year we take an annual trip to Coronado Island off of San Diego in an effort to escape the heat and enjoy all of the 4th of July festivities. We've been going since I was a little girl, but not this year. The combination of Jackson not being thrilled with being stuck in his carseat for more than an hour and needing so much stuff for a baby is holding us back. Logically I know it will be very stressful trying to drive for 6 hours with a five month old, but the selfish part of me wants to go so bad. Oh well. Instead I'm trying to brainstorn some fun things to do in hot-as-Hades AZ since we chose to stay. We might have a yummy lunch at Queen Creek Olive Mill (their Manzi sandwich is the best!) and have a little 4th of July celebration for just us (since everyone in their right mind leaves town for the 4th) and watch the fireworks from our backyard. I'll leave you with some pictures from last year's 4th when I was only 13 weeks pregnant!
On my Mom's boat. I'm trying to hide my little belly because at this point we had only told family that I was pregnant!
Camouflaging the belly with a scarf.
Watching the annual 4th of July parade on Orange Avenue.
The Hotel Del Coronado- our favorite hotel to stay in on the island! (see my little belly? It was so cute and I thought it was so big at the time! If I had only known how big it would get!!)

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I Want to Be. . . .

Kellee Hampton. Don't get my wrong- I love my life. But there is just something so magical about hers. The ability to take the mundane and turn it into something amazing. Oh, and the pictures she takes. So beautiful. Even Ryan knows who Kelle, Lainey, and Nella are since I talk about what they're doing all  the time. As if I know them. I want to be the kind of person who finds the joy in "the small things" instead of just muddling through life trying to hold the ends together. It seems like such a luxury sometimes to just slow down and notice my happiness. Not being as tired anymore definitely helps. So does the support of family and friends. Kelle is definitely someone I aspire to be and until then I'll just have to live vicariously through her. If you haven't had the opportunity to check out Kelle's amazing blog please head over to http://www.kellehampton.com/.

Constipation Woes

Yuck! Jackson is constipated! This is definitely my first taste of an "illness" (which it's really not, but it sort of feels like one). The poor little booger just keeps straining and straining in hopes of getting something less-than-harder-than-a-rock out. His face turns red, the eyes squinch up (is that even a word?), and he grunts for dear life. So today we took any and all advice we could find on the subject and stuffed Jackson full of juice (his first!) and prunes (ick!). Luckily we have an extremely good eater on our hands who gobbles down everything we bring to the table, including prunes. Not it's just a waiting game to see if things get better. Oh the joys that eating solid foods brings!

BabyLegs Sale!

I LOVE BabyLegs and I love 'em even more when they're on sale! Babylegs just announced a big 4th of July sale and there are some super-duper cute ones for only $4-6 each! I snapped up five pairs lickety split! Here's what I bought:

Yellow Sport
USA Flag

Union Jack

Supersoft Flames

Green Plaid

All five pairs came to $20 and I got free shipping too! If you want some for yourself head over to http://www.babylegs.com/ quick!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Naps

So now that we have the sleeping-at-night thing down we're moving on to getting the naps under control. Right now Jackson must sleep in my arms during the day to get any sort of nap. I know, shoot me. But I love the snuggling and feel like it will only be a short while before he's too big to cuddle with me (or just doesn't want to anymore). I'm also going back to work on July 19th, which means no more napping in mommy's arms. He'll be with Ryan for 2 1/2 weeks until school starts and then with Grandma part-time and our friend Haley the other part. I'm pretty sure that they don't have the time/desire to sit while Jackson naps for an hour-and-a-half three times per day. Which leads me to our current situation. Jackson likes to nap and he naps frequently. My problem is getting him to stay asleep when I put him down in his crib. Right now I'll have him nap for an hour with me and then put him in his crib for the rest of the time. Problem is he wakes up after 15 minutes of being in the crib. Every time. I know he needs sleep so I usually end up giving in and returning him to my arms. I'm worried about what's going to happen when I go back to work though. Will he sleep at all? Any suggestions for getting him to sleep in his crib?

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Sleep Success! (well for now at least)

Success! Jackson has now slept 7 1/2 hours straight for almost a week now!! (picture me jumping for joy) I don't know what changed but I have a feeling it had something to do with him getting older as well as my ability to establish a consistent routine now that I'm home full-time. Here's the routine we currently have established:

  • He eats a small dinner of cereal and a veggie around 5pm.
  • Next comes a warm bath using Burt's Bees and Johnson&Johnson's nighttime products. We let him splash around to his heart's content- he absolutely loves his baths!
  • Then we give him a nice massage with Johnson&Johnson nighttime lotion and dress him in pj's.
  • We play, snuggle, and read books until his first signs of sleepiness (fussing, rubbing eyes), usually around 6-6:30pm.
  • Finally, he gets swaddled up in his Woombie (LOVE this swaddle) and I rock him to sleep while singing "Hush Little Baby."
  • He usually sleeps soundly until I wake him up for his "dream feed" at 11pm. If he does by chance wake up and can't fall back asleep I turn on his Sleep Sheep to ocean sounds and he's out like a light.
  • He now sleeps from 11pm to 6:30am without an extra feeding! Yeah!!
Like I said, this is our current routine. I'm always making minor adjustments based on his mood and needs that day. Things I've found that have really helped are:
  • putting him to bed early. Many people think keeping a baby up late will make them sleep longer. Actually they get more wired and have a lot more difficulty getting down to sleep. Putting Jacksonto bed as soon as he starts showing signs of tiredness has made all the difference! He now goes to bed without a fight and sleeps much, much longer.
  • establish a bedtime routine early on and stick to it! Jackson uses this routine as a cue that bedtime has come and it's time to go to sleep.
  • Use white noise all night to help your  baby fall back to sleep on their own. White noise reminds babies of  being in the womb and it comforts them. We have a Conair one that plays multiple sounds and connects to our Ipod.
  • I feed Jackson again right before I go to bed to help keep him asleep longer. He basically nurses in his sleep and I slip him right back into bed. This didn't work for a long time for us so keep at it for a little while before giving up!
  • Finally, the number one thing I had to do was move Jackson into his crib. He co-slept with me for 4 1/2 months ad during that time he was up every 1-2 hours to eat, simply because it was there and available. It was much easier to nurse him in bed, but not easier to be up all night! Moving him into his crib was the best thing I did and finally got him to sleep longer at night. To get my cuddling/co-sleeping fix I now take an afternoon nap with him. :)
What worked for you when you were trying to help your baby sleep through the night? What advice would you give to a mama who is having difficulty with this? I love hearing other people's tips and tricks so feel free to comment!

Eating Solids- Advice Needed!

So Jackson has now been eating solids for about a month now and things are going SO well! He absolutely loves all of the food we've made him so far and gobbles them up every night for dinner. He currently eats 2 tablespoons of cereal (organic Earth's Best oatmeal or Happy Baby Organic Brown Rice) with a couple tablespoons of a fruit or veggie. So far he's eaten bananas, apples, and pears for fruits and peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, and zucchini for veggies. So my question is when do we start adding in another meal? We are still exclusively breastfeeding (aside from his dinner at night) and I want him to be nursing as his primary source of nutrients until he's a year old. He does seem ready for more food though and I'd like to start giving him breakfast in the morning. Any ideas or suggestions? The next foods we're going to be trying are avacados and peaches. Any other suggestions for good "second stage" foods to try? He's been sitting independently for a month now and is scooting all over the house, so I think he's about ready to move on to slightly chunkier purees. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Friday, June 25, 2010

First Tooth

Jackson is getting his first tooth! Not just any tooth- a MOLAR! Seriously?! I would attempt to take a picture, but it's quite far back in his mouth and getting my fingers into my squirmy little baby's mouth isn't so easy these days. Rest assured that it is a tooth, as I've had it verified by various medical professionals (namely my mother and lactation consultant). It's poking about a quarter of the way out so far and is a nice pearly white. We only happened upon the tooth by chance, as I was looking for two bottom teeth to erupt first. It was quite the day of fussing and sleeping as Jackson tried to deal with this unexpected pain in his mouth. Once it started to poke out though he returned to his normal happy, smiling self. Now I wonder which tooth will come in next?

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

A Tiny Favor

Could you pretty please click on the Top Baby Blogs button on the right and vote for our blog? Voting was reset yesterday and we fell pretty far in the rankings. Please help our little blog out!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Baby Must-Have: Sleep Sheep

I was lucky enough to pick up a Sleep Sheep on a recent shopping trip at Last Chance. This baby works absolute miracles, as in Jackson-put-himself-to-sleep-for-a-nap-today miracles. All I can say is, wow. We actually got the one that is travel-sized and straps on to the stroller or car seat handle which I prefer because Jackson often sleeps while we're out an about. It's a fluffy little stuffed sheep with a nice little soundbox in it that plays stream, rain, ocean, and whale sounds. Right now Jackson prefers the rain and ocean sounds and is in fact fast asleep in his crib with the ocean sounds playing while I listen to it through the monitor. He woke up shortly after I laid him down to sleep and all I had to do was turn the Sleep Sheep on and he was out like a light. We bought ours for $2.97, but you can also buy it on Amazon for $16.95.

Frugalista Shopping Find: Diapers

One of my absolute favorite things to do is spend save money. It's definitely a huge thrill to get all the stuff you want for a fraction of the price. I've learned to shop frugally partially out of necessity and partly because it's just good, clean fun. I have to credit my mom for teaching me the tricks of the trade. From the time we were walking my sisters and Iwere taught the ways to get the most bang for your buck. Garage sales, thrift shops, consignment stores, and the holy grail of all frugalista-dom, Last Chance. Oh Last Chance, how I love you. Anyways, back to what I was saying. I love to save money as much as I like to spend it. Now that Jackson has arrived my new favorite thing is saving money on the stuff he needs most- namely diapers, and lots of 'em. So I learned a new trick for paying as little as possible for them. I LOVE Target to the exclusion of almost every other store, so pretty much everything I buy is from there. Well they have some nifty little "web" coupons on their website (go to http://coupons.target.com/ ) that you can "stack" with a manufacturer's coupon to basically save double. So today I used a $2.00 of Pampers coupon for diapers, combined with a $2.00 off Target coupon if you bought Pampers and wipes. I also used a $1 off manufacturers coupon for the wipes and voila, the diapers were down to $6 and the wipes were $0.37! Man I love a good deal! I also stacked a $1 off manufacturer's coupon for any Johnson and Johnson baby product with a Target coupon for $0.75 off any Johnson and Johnson to save a total of $1.75. I find most of my manufacturer's coupons in the Sunday newspaper and sometimes off of http://www.coupons.com/. I either print my Target coupons directly from their website or get them in the mail (they come to people who register with them). Also, CVS is having a  great deal on the big boxes of Huggies diapers this week. Each box is $19.99, plus you get 10 Extra Care Bucks (basically a gift card). You can use a $3 off Huggies coupon from http://www.coupons.com/ to get the big box down to $6 total! And if you're really lucky you might get an additional $3 off if you swipe your CVS card at their coupon printer in stores, which would bring them down to $3 a box! Don't you just love great deals?!

To Do List

Things to get done before I go back to work:
1. Clean out craft room.
2. Catch up on Jackson's scrapbook.
3. Have a garage sale.
4. Sell some stuff on eBay.
5. Change den into playroom.
6. Get rid of fish tank.
7. Find pictures and rug for playroom.
8. Make some new crafts (baby spoon and blankie).
9. Plan baby shower fo Ryan's sister.
10. Take Jackson to the zoo.

Whew! I better get started!!

Friday, June 18, 2010

What Jackson Wore


What: Blue Quicksilver t-shirt (bought at Last Chance for $2.97) with black plaid Quicksilver shorts (Last Chance for $2.97)
Where: San Tan Mall splash pad

Dinner Time

This is what dinner time looks like when Daddy tries to feed me!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Look Who Wants to Crawl


Jackson has now decided that he is a "big boy" and is pushing up on his knees and scooting around the house (mostly backwards). Let the childproofing begin!

Thankful Thursday

Things I am thankful for:

1. Jackson is now only waking up once per night.
2. Having the time to do chores like bathrooms, laundry, and emptying the dishwasher. Believe it or not, doing mindless repetitive things actually soothe me and I love having a clean house!
3. Ryan's sister Jamie is now stable and Tate is still cooking inside her. :)
4. Having money in my bank account (how did that happen?!).
5. Quitting my master's degree (such a relief!!)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Wish List Wednesday


Canon Rebel camera and photography lessons. I'll be saving my pennies for this one!

Growing Up Jackson

Three Days From Delivery



Just Born

9 Days Old

One Month Old

Two Months Old

Three Months Old

Four Months Old

Five Months Old

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Standing!

Jackson is now standing! Let the craziness begin!

My New High Chair

Doesn't Jackson look adorable in his new high chair? It was such a great deal- I found it on Craigslist for only $65!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Thankful Thursday

Things I am thankful for right now:

  1. A happy, healthy baby boy.
  2. A wonderful, supportive husband.
  3. Having the summer to spend time with my family.
  4. The three gift cards I have for massages just waiting to be used.
  5. Last, but not least, my new job!!!!!

Answer to My Prayers

Ever since I had Jackson I've struggled with having to return to work. When I was a little girl growing up I always assumed I'd get to stay home with my kids until I was ready to go back to work. Unfortunately things didn't work out exactly that way. I was blessed to have three months off for maternity leave, but when it came time to return to work I struggled. Mightily. The guilt was overwhelming and I felt like I was missing out on so much. At times I wondered why I had brought a child into this world when I never got to spend any time with him. While I was on leave I decided to pursue a job lead that a friend had mentioned to me. The job sounded almost to good to be true. I would get to work from home while still getting full benefits. Plus I would get a $6,000 raise. I didn't hear back right away so I sort if shelved the idea and resigned myself to teaching another year (but still counting myself lucky to have a job. Well lo and behold, I received a phone call inviting me for an interview on the last day of school. Three interviews later and the job offer arrived this morning. I truly believe this a miracle and the answer to so many prayers. It's such a happy medium between staying home and working. I'll still get to support our household while getting to spend ample time with Jackson. I couldn't ask for anything better and I feel so blessed!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Look What I Made!

More time on my hands (sorta)= More Time to Make Stuff! I always feel better when I'm doing things with my hands and I've had a few projects lined up for awhile that I haven't been able to start until now. First up is Jackson's new outfit! I recently went to Joann's and they were clearancing out a bunch of iron-ons for only 97 cents, which I scooped up immediately. Here's Jackson modeling his newest one:
Notice the adorable Baby Legs? These suckers cost $12 each and since I've become a hardcore bargain shopper I decided to try making my own. I bought several pairs of clearanced socks at Target ($1.98 for two sets) and cut off the toe. Ta da! Cute baby leg warmers which are perfect for the Arizona heat/freezing cold air-conditioning. I made him four pairs for $4!

I also embroidered him this bib, which was super easy and something relaxing to do at night. (I know- I'm such an old lady.)


More to come!

Wordless Wednesday

Sleep Update

Things have gotten better. Not perfect, but better. I've given up on the formula, the crying-it-out, and the multitudes of other tricks each sleep book I've read has suggested. I'm doing what works for us right now and so far it's working. He's still being swaddled and yes, I am aware that eventually he'll have to sleep without one. We've upgraded to the "Woombie," which is basically a straight-jacket for babies (although it's more comfortable than that). He was breaking out of his velcro swaddles throughou the night which was causing him to wake up constantly. His first time in the Woombie was last night and he didn't break out once. Success! Basically our night looks like this- down for bed between 6:30-7:00pm, dream feed at 9:30pm, up at 3:00am to eat, and up for the day at 6:00am. Like I said, not perfect but very doable. The one take away I've learned from this is that I need to accept Jackson for who he is and not who I want him to be. Yes, I want 8 hours of continuous sleep at night, but he's just not ready for that yet. I'm tired of comparing him to other babies who are sleeping and feeling like a failure as a mother because he's not. Guess what? Someday he will sleep through the night and all of this will be a distant memory. Until then I'll drink my three cups of coffee every morning and enjoy Jackson for the individual he is.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Sleep. . . Continued

So we are working on the sleeping issues and for a little while things started to get better, but then we took two steps back last night. I'm reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and The No-Cry Nap Solution to try and get things under control. The first night Jackson slept from 6:30pm to 6:30am with only one wake-up and all I did was pop the paci back in his mouth and he fell back asleep. (I do "dream feed" him around 9:30pm to fill his tummy though) Success! Or so I thought. The second night he slept from 6:30pm to 2:00am and I popped the paci back in but he woke up crying again at 3:00am. This time I just went ahead and nursed him for a 1/2 hour. And he STILL wokeup at 4am. I was done with getting out of bed so I just took him into our bed, where he proceeded to kick and claw me for the next two hours in his sleep. Fabulous. So after an extremely cranky day, he was off to bed at 5:30pm. Went to sleep with no issues and is still asleep at 7:30pm. I'm going to take the advice of my friend Sara and try giving him a bottle of formula for his dream feed tonight and see if it will hold him longer.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

What's in My Purse




Katie over at Cleared for Takeoff (http://www.takeoffwithkatie.com/- SUCH a cute blog!!) did a post on what's in her purse and I loved it! We all have a little voyeur in us don't we? Anyways, here's what's in mine and please don't laugh. I obviously am a beauty product junkie and can't part with any of it!

Marc Jacobs purse bought at Last Chance for $49.97 (I'm such a bargain shopper!)

Juicy sunglasses, wallet, Burts Bees hand sanitizer, Bath and Body Works lotion in Lemon Vanillas, Tylenol, brush, keys, tickets to the zoo, cell, Ipod Touch, and notebook to make lists of things to do.

Juicy makeup bag, Purell handwipes, MAC lipstick in Plink, MAC lipgloss in Pretty Plush, NARS gloss in Pillow Talk, Smashbox Gloss in Beauty, Smashbox Gloss in Red Rock, Smashbox Gloss in Fame, Philosophy lip shine in Raspberry Sorbet, NARS lip pencil in Sex Machine (really?!), Stila lip glaze stick in Blackberry, Stila lip glaze stick in Fruit Punch, Stila glaze liner in Red, MAC lip pencil in Subculture, Trish McEvoy Flawless Lip Sheer lip liner in Rouge, hair bands, bobby pins, MAC Blot powder, and Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream (I can't live without this stuff!).

Ok, so now you know my weakness. Makeup. Lots and lots of makeup. Especially stuff I can smear on without looking in a mirror, which can sometimes be hard to do while juggling a baby. I can't believe all of this stuff fits in my bag!
 

What Jackson Wore

Date: May 13, 2010

What: Monsters Republic tee (bought off eBay), Amy Coe jeans (Babies r' Us), and Vans slip-ons (another eBay find)

Where: 4-month pictures

Friday, June 4, 2010

Looky What I Bought!

If you read my blog, you know that I've been salivating over a pair of True Religion jeans for Jackson. Ridiculous, I know. $120 jeans for infants just shouldn't be allowed, but of course I want them. Well, today I made a trip to Last Chance, a clearinghouse for all things returned to Nordstrom. And who should be so lucky to find a pair of True Religion jeans in size 12-18 month just laying on a rack? Yours truly!! Yahoo! I started jumping up and down right in the middle of the store! And they were ONLY $9.97!!!!! Seriously, how lucky can a girl get? So now my little man will be seriously styling this fall! I also picked him up two Mini-Fine shirts, two Quicksilver tees, and an Ed Hardy onsie for $2.97 each and a Little Penguin jacket for only $5.97! Why pass up a good deal?

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

SOOO Tired

I'm exhausted and it's not getting any better. I've read (or am reading) just about every baby sleep book there is on the market and now I'm more confused than ever. And extremely jealous of those mamas whose babies sleep peacefully through the night. Somehow the thought never crossed my mind that Jackson wouldn't be sleeping through the night by now. Or at least more than a two hour stretch. Things were so good while I was on maternity leave that I kind of figured it would only get better (i.e. he would go from 5 hours at a stretch to 6-7). Nope, not this baby. We're still up every 45 minutes to 2 hours around the clock. He naps for an hour max at a time during the day and is up constantly during the night. Unfortunately all of the books I'm reading offer a different explanation for why he won't sleep. What am I supposed to do? Does a four month old still need to eat at night? Will I cause him psychological harm if I let him cry it out (as one Harvard study states)? All I know is that I need some sleep. Pronto.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Things to Do This Summer

I'm brainstorming a list of things to do with Jackson this summer, trying to take full-advantage of my stay-at-mom status while it lasts. What I've found is that there's not a whole lot (of cheap) things to do with a baby under 6 months. Here's what we have in store so far:

1. Go to the Phoenix Zoo (got free passes from a friend!)
2. Take a trip to the dog park (Jackson LOVES dogs)
3. Head to San Tan Mall and play at their splash pad and then tour the puppy store
4. Take a free class at Little Gym (they have classes for babies as young as 4 months!)
5. Attend our breastfeeding support class that we went to every Friday during maternity leave
6. Go to the neighborhood park when it's not too hot in the evenings
7. Feed the ducks at Freestone Park

We haven't decided if we're also going to take our annual 4th of July trip to Coronado Island yet. Jackson is still not a fan of his car seat and I don't know if I'm brave enough to subject him to a 6 hour trek in the car! It would be so sad to miss it though so we're kind of leaving it open and hoping things get better!