Flowers And Time Apart.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. Baby J. and I enjoyed a short trip to the local grocery and then came the long way home. All because the sun was out shining and the sky was so blue you wouldn't believe it.

We had also made a quick stop on the way home to pick some gorgeous little flowers. You know, the ones that you notice growing wild in the grass all over the place. We actually had strangers stopping to stare at us. Guess they never saw a mommy and her little boy having so much fun making a tiny little bouquet out of everyday flowers. Hmm, how fitting everyday flowers for an everyday mommy.

Aren't they beautiful? I love them maybe twice as much because I got to pick them with Baby J.

Today was also very exciting. Even though the weather changed dramatically overnight and we had clouds and wind all day. After several days apart Hubby finally returned from his trip. We missed him so much while he was gone but the excitement and joy that radiated off of little Baby J. at seeing his dad walk in the door will forever be etched in my memory. His smile was so big and the way he reached out his arms to be grabbed up in a hug by Hubby was exceptionally sweet. It brought tears to my eyes.

This was the first time Baby J. and I have had to spend time without Hubby. I thought for sure the little one wouldn't really notice his dad's absence as strongly if I kept to his normal routine and filled the evenings that he usually spends playing with Hubby with other activities. How wrong I was. I couldn't believe it when the first evening rolled by and as soon as it got dark outside Baby J. started crawling towards the front door. Every couple of paces he would shout out "Daddy come! Daddy!" I thought my heart would break in two. 

I did my best to divert his attention and it worked up until bedtime. Every night before he goes to sleep Hubby spends a few minutes kissing and cuddling our son. Then he hands him over to me to be feed his bottle and put to sleep. That first night Baby J. cried up a storm when there were no hugs and kisses from Hubby. I tried cuddling and kissing him but he wouldn't have it. Instead he kept lunging for Hubby's side of the bed and crying out "Daddy Come!". I ended up rocking a crying little boy to sleep and then kissing away his tears while mine rolled down my cheeks.

I never knew my heart could hurt so much. 

The second, third, and even fourth evening were just as bad. There was plenty of crying and shouting for his daddy to come that it made my heart break over and over. Then when he heard the bell ring today I have never seen him army crawl his way to the door that fast. The minute he reached the door he started patting it and shouting "come, mama, come. Daddy come!" It was the fourth time my little boy has said mama. And actually referred to me.

I'm sure by now you have a mental image of just how joyous their reunion was. Then after spending a few minutes kissing, hugging, and patting his Daddy's cheek Baby J. received an extra surprise. He heard a voice that he loves very much and the squeals of delight that accompanied him seeing his Grandpa were such a treat to see. 

In the end we all enjoyed a lovely evening watching Baby J. practice walking back and forth between the two favorite men in his life. Daddy and Grandpa. Oh, did I mention Baby J. has taken his first steps during Hubby's time away? Yep, he sure has. And he's been very diligent about practicing at every chance. Which means I am constantly rushing to his side to keep him from falling on his face. 

But it's worth it. Soon, my little Baby will be walking. 

How fast time flies.

Has your little one ever reacted so strongly to you or your husband being gone for a longer period of time? How did you deal with their reaction?

Bathtime And A Promotion.

Background here. The rest is my own.

Baby J. must have been hoping I'd feel special. 

But I don't.

I feel gross,disgusted, and am still rubbing disinfectant on my hand. Make that hands.

Here's the scope.

Hubby and I decided to have Baby J.'s bath time early today. Our schedule was a little bit overflowing with things we needed to get done. So, Baby J.'s bath time got moved up.

Well, everything was going splendidly. The water was the perfect temperature, Baby J. was happy and enjoying his toys and water time. Yes, everything was truly going wonderfully well.We managed to get him washed and rinsed of all the shampoo with very little fuss and were commenting to each other on how well today's bath time was going.

Hubby then scooped up the little man from the water and quickly handed him to me. My job is to always have the towel ready to wrap around Baby J. as soon as he's out of the warm water so that he won't get cold. There I am holding Baby J. with his back to me (he was facing Hubby), one hand under his towel covered bottom and the other across his chest. 

That's when it happened. 

The my hand holding Baby's towel covered bottom started feeling a peculiar warmth. I looked up at hubby and saw him stare at Baby J., then he started smiling and that's when I realized Baby J. had peed on my hand. Well, in the towel which my hand was touching.

If only he had stopped there. Instead I started hearing the way to familiar sounding grunts that meant Baby J. was attempting to empty his bowels. I'll remember the following moments forever. There he was struggling to poop and then it hit the towel. And started running through the material and filling up my hand. I stared at Hubby in horror and shouted "Oh my goodness! He pooped! IN MY HAND!" 

To which the love of my life responded with a laugh that literally had him doubling over. And he continued to laugh until tears were rolling down his face. Realizing that Hubby would be of no help to me I thought I should probably exchange my dirty hand for the clean hand while also wiping his bottom best I could with the towel and throwing it off to the side. So, I did. Only to feel another bout of liquid burst into my hand all over again. 

This time there was no towel barrier between the poop and my poor, clean hand.

Hubby took one look at the situation and almost died of laughter.

And I, well I couldn't believe it. I had gotten pooped on TWICE!! In a five minute period! I was ready to cry. And laugh at the impossibility of this happening to me twice within five minutes.

Turning back around to the bathtub, I gently lowered Baby J. back in and started the shower head this time with Hubby still trying to catch his breath from laughing so hard in the background. That's when Hubby decided to update me on my current standing in the Everyday Mommy Headquarters.

"Sweetie," he said," you know I think you've been promoted to Poop Handler." 

Wonderful.Absolutely wonderful. Just the promotion I was hoping for. 


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Nightmare At 3 A.M.

Seriously, this week was the week were Baby J. decided to wake up before 5 A.M. more than once. I almost felt like going back in time and telling myself to stop complaining - 5 A.M.? That's a GREAT time to wake up compared with 3 A.M. and even 4 A.M.!

The first time this happened I kid you not my brain could not comprehend why in the world I needed to get out of bed while it was pitch black outside. 
I remember hearing a lot and I do mean A LOT of screaming and trying to figure out if there was a robbery going on or if someone got hurt. Then I realized that the screaming was coming from a very awake and very upset baby. So, you know I shot to my feet and grabbed him into my arms...well, maybe it was more like struggled to sit up,picked him up, and then THEN it hit me.

Why wasn't hubby reacting to Baby J. screaming his lungs out?I mean he was only on the other side of the bed...the screaming couldn't possibly be any quieter over there than on my side.

So, I turn around to see if Hubby was still sleeping only to get a mini scare. There by hubby's side of the bed was this gigantic guy with a cape! Or at least it was a cape until he bent over and grabbed some earplugs of off the nightstand. And revealed his identity to be that of Hubby. 

Next thing, I know is that Hubby is patting me on the shoulder and wishing me a good-night, kissing Baby J. on the cheek, carrying his blanket in one hand, while very casually stuffing the earplugs into his ears with the other. 
I couldn't believe it! He actually went to sleep in the spare room while leaving me to deal with Baby J. on my own!

I mean it's not like he hasn't had to take refugee in the other room, but that was because both I and the baby were sick and we didn't want him to get sick as well and miss work. But this, well this was just an upset baby needing to be calmed no reason to rush out of the room as if your heels were on fire!

Baby J. did end up going back to sleep sometime after 5:15A.M. By then I was totally ready to drop back into bed myself. Sadly, once 6A.M. rolled around Baby J. was ready to start the day. 

You know the early bird gets the worm - type of deal.

After another two days of this we were the happiest people on earth when we woke up today and saw that it was 6A.M.! And not 3 or 4.

Of course, we also got a good laugh out of me thinking hubby was wearing a cape and him rushing out of the room with the earplugs.

We still get a good laugh when we think of how the young boss had the old boss on the run!

Blah, Who Needs Sleep? It's Way Overrated!

Today started off as a wrong-foot forward kind of day. 

Baby J. decided he had enough sleep somewhere around 4A.M. and since he absolutely loves his mommy so SO much he also made sure to wake me up with loads of giggles and kisses. Now, I don't mind the kisses or even the giggles. What I do mind is that this was all happening at 4A.M.!

The world is still sleeping at that time and we should have been as well. Of course, I tried all the mommy tricks that I could think up. 

First, I gently hushed him and tried offering the pacifier. A firm shake of the head and some more giggles let me know that wouldn't work. Next, I sat up took him into my arms and tried rocking back and forth while humming a soft tune. Once again, a few pinches to my cheeks and some giggles at my "OUCH!" pronounced this try a fail. Then, I stood up and paced the length of the room while still humming...another fail. Finally, I headed to the kitchen with a very awake Baby J. grabbed a bottle of milk and headed back to the bedroom. The warm milk did the trick. He immediately started getting drowsy and we got to lay in bed for another 30 minutes while he took his sweet time drinking his bottle. Best 30 minutes EVER!! 

What stunk was the fact that all the above tries took me around 30 minutes so by the time the bottle was empty it was only 5A.M. and Baby J. was still half-asleep and getting to the dangerous point of fully awake. 

Again the rocking and humming was tried and the pacifier was offered and thank goodness he fell asleep.

In my still half-asleep mind frame I decided not to risk the switch from our bed to the crib but to let him sleep with me. It worked well, until Baby#2 decided to practice some kicks and punches and landed some under Baby J.'s hand that was on my belly. I came fully awake when the screaming started. Apparently, it is of topmost importance to start screaming when your yet-to-be-born brother kicks your hand. 

So, 5:15 A.M. welcomed us with open arms. 

Ever since then Baby J. has been having trouble sleeping. His morning nap lasted about 15-20 minutes instead of the regular hour and a half. His afternoon nap also lasted about an hour instead of the usual two hours. 

What is happening to his sleep??? Any ideas?

I can't keep this schedule up, it's been pretty bad sleep wise ever since he hit 3 months old. But we both got used to the wacky schedule and have managed to survive. So, why the sudden change in his sleeping schedule?

 I'm actually praying we'll return to our regular schedule by tonight but I'm not holding my breath.