so tired.. 1 year, 1 week old

Why has nobody mentioned the 1 year growth spurt? Holy crud! He's eating solids, snacks, fruits, meats, eggs, avocados, and thats usually just during the day! But he's also back to nursing all.the.time... I think I got a stretch of 3-4 hours of sleep straight last night, and I think that was the longest stretch this week..

Right now bedtime looks something like this - bath and pjs, nurse FOREVER, potty, brush the teeth, red  book, lay down in crib... Stand up, walk all over, scream happily, pick up, potty (no pee), back to crib. Repeat. Stand up, cry unhappily, sign "more" and/or "milk". Nurse, potty, back to crib. Repeat... By this point he's just tired, but fussy, so he stands, we pick up up briefly, put him back down, up, down, up, down, and then he usually will finally fall asleep. By this time it's usually about 10, and we're completely exhausted.. Luckily when he wakes at night it isn't as bad, but I'm really just hoping this growth spurt is over soon!

In the meantime, I've been trying to make foods for Cole that are as high in fats, calories, and protein as possible, to try to fill him up.. omelet made with cheese and half&half instead of milk, adding extra butter to his sweet potato, half&half and coconut milk in his oatmeal, and all the while, he can't get enough of blueberries, tomatoes, dried apples, red pepper, yogurt melts, and he'll easily polish off half of an avocado by itself..

Looking forward to our doctor's appointment next Tuesday - I can't wait to see how much he's grown! (and I'm really hoping we'll be back to sleeping normally by then, too!)

365 days ago... 11 months, 4 weeks, 1 day

This time last year, I was at work. I had no idea that it was going to be my last day of "work" for a long time. I was getting ready for my 38 week appointment with the midwife later that afternoon. I still had no idea that my little boy's head was up under my ribs.

Last year on the 19th of July at 5 pm, I became a little frantic, trying to find a chiropractor that could turn Cole right away. I was having a really bad day. At 8:30 that night my waters broke, and our fates were set.

I went in for the c-section, and I'd strongly advise people to see a c-section as the LAST possible option. While some people recover well from them, some don't. It took me months just to stop the random bleeding from my incision, and I doubt I'll ever be able to get rid of this pouch of skin.. But my baby boy was perfect, and that's all that really matters.

At 2:16 am on the 20th, Cole was born, blond hair, blue eyes, 10 fingers, 10 toes, 7 lbs 9 oz, 19 inches of perfect.

The past 365 days of my life have been an absolutely amazing journey, and I'm blessed to have such a happy, sweet, loving child.

baltic amber.. 11 months, 2 days

Cole's been wearing a baltic amber teething necklace for months now, and I'm constantly getting comments on how cute it is! While I agree that it's adorable, that's just an added benefit - the necklace is really for teething pain! Baltic Amber is supposed to relive pain naturally as you wear it because it has succinic acid, which is said to seep into the skin. True or not, I believe that my son is happier while teething than most babies, and certainly seems happier when he's wearing his necklace than when he isn't.

Next comes my own experiment - I finally decided to try an amber necklace for myself, to see how it affects my neck pain! I can't wait until it comes in! And of course while I was shopping at InspiredByFinn.com, I just had to order another necklace for Cole! They say that the lighter and cloudier ambers have more succinic acid, so I got a lighter one to see if it helps even more :)

On another note, Cole turned 11 months old on Monday, and on the same day, took his first steps!!! I can't believe he'll be a year old soon!

things I wish someone told me before - 10 months, 1 week, 5 days

most babies (especially boys!) are only in newborn size clothes for a couple of weeks - and in the summer, they really only need a diaper most of the time, so  all those adorable tiny outfits people buy usually end up never being worn.. and they're only in 0-3 for a month or so after that! Yes, some buck that trend, but my boy has been about average in height and slightly below average in weight mostly, and this is what we've found.. at 10 months, he's now in 18 month clothes.. so don't take tags off of EVERYTHING.. wash the older clothes and put them away, and a few outfits in the smaller sizes, and then leave tags on other things so you can return them and get more in a few sizes up!

swings are huge. all lined up in the store they look small, but you get one home and set it up and wonder why such a tiny human needs so much equipment that takes up so much room! we returned ours and just used a small bouncy seat that I could bring outside, inside, up to the shower, wherever..

they outgrow the huge equipment so quickly! Cole's infant tub, carseat, bouncer, attachments for the Pack-n-Play, etc.. all in the attic. and have been since he was about 6 months old.

wraps, slings, or in our case, the Baby K'tan are AWESOME for the first 6 months or so - easy to go out with and to get things done around the house with. We went thru a few brands before finding the K'tan.. After about 6 months, an Ergo is a must-have, especially if you want to go hiking or just to hike to the beach from wherever you parked.. because strollers + sand isn't always the easiest thing to manage..

"travel systems" are usually bulky and expensive.. but we found a brand that's lighter than most - 9 lbs for the carseat, because who wants to add an extra 15-20 pounds to your baby's weight and carry both around for long?! And the stroller (only 3 pounds!) is simple and folds up really small for easy carrying, the infant carseat clicks right in nicely, but the stroller itself will continue to get more use after the infant carseat is put away..

growing against the curve... 9 months, 2 weeks, 1 day old

At his last appointment, our doctor informed me that Cole's weight had dropped to about the 5th% on the growth chart, so we're going in for another weight check next week..

However, when compared to the WHO growth charts, he has solidly been in about the 20th% since about 4 months. She's been comparing him to the CDC growth charts, which are largely based on formula fed infants, who tend to be larger. When a baby is breastfed, they regulate the amount they eat and get exactly what they need. WHO growth chart for boys from birth to 2 years

Just remember to stick to what you KNOW is best for your bub, I'm glad that my doctor has never mentioned the "f" word to me (you know, formula...), but I'm surprised that she's using the CDC growth charts instead of the world standard charts released by the WHO.

I'll be bringing the chart as well as a copy of the WHO software for growth analysis to my doctor next week, and hope that she'll be able to use it for us and for any other children in her office.

Stay informed, do your own research, and don't just consent to what a doctor tells you without knowing all of the reasons and asking the right questions! After all, Cole probably wouldn't be here if I hadn't done a little research into my miscarriages...

Does this look like an underfed, unhappy little guy?!

sleep! 8 months, 4 weeks, 1 day

Cole's finally getting back to his old sleep habits! He's going into his crib and falling asleep pretty quickly, is napping MUCH better, and isn't getting up nearly as often! Last night we were at a party, left at about his normal bedtime, and he fell asleep in the car. We got home, changed him to his pjs, he nursed, and went to sleep. He woke up at about 11:30 to go to the potty, we tried nursing, but he was pretty sleepy. I'm hoping that as his bladder gets bigger he'll be able to cut this wake up time out, too, we'll see. At about 3:45 he woke, nursed, had some trouble going back to sleep until I realized he needed to go to the potty again, and I got back to sleep at about 4:15. NOT BAD compared to a few weeks ago! And instead of waking up at 5:30, 6:30, etc, he slept from 4:15 until he was up for the day at about 7:15! 11 hours of sleep!!! And he went down for a nap at about 9, and is still asleep at 10:45! I was able to make and have breakfast, do dishes, and I have a 3rd load of laundry in!!

And since it's so nice and sunny out today, instead of waiting until tomorrow or the next day to wash diapers, I decided to wash almost all of them except a few for today! These dipes have been missing the sun the past few months, so happy to get them all nice and white again! Pre-wash rinse is done, time to go turn the dial and add the Rockin' Green!

What a great weekend, and a great start to the week :)

time to SLEEP.. 8 months, 2 weeks, 4 days

Cole seemed to sleep pretty well for a while. He'd nurse, I'd put him down on his back in his crib, he'd get his thumb in his mouth, and he'd fall asleep! He'd wake a few times a night, but if he was dry, he'd follow the same pattern - nurse, lay down, thumb, sleep. Total up time for me of maybe 10-15 min usually! During growth spurts he'd wake up maybe every 3 hours instead of 4-5, but I could deal with that for a few days each month, and he'd still fall back to sleep pretty well.

Fast forward to more recently, the past month or so has been... difficult. It's very likely because of teething, but it also seemed to start around the time that he decided he wanted to sleep curled in a ball on his tummy. I feel like he's a newborn all over again. He falls asleep while nursing, and when I try to put him down, he flips himself to his tummy, and instead of finding his thumb, starts crawling and climbing to be picked back up. We've had a quite a few nights up from about 3:30 - 4:30 lately, and I've ended up bringing him into bed with us some nights just to get some sleep because sometimes he'll fall asleep this way when he won't in his crib.

Today I've finally decided to try the "No Cry Sleep Solution", a plan that is supposed to help to teach baby how to fall asleep, as the title shows, without "crying-it-out".. I don't believe in letting a baby cry it out, I feel that crying is their only communication and if I ignore his cries now, it's teaching him that I won't be there when he truly needs me. I know that it works for lots of people, but I just can't do it. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to post a happy update with improvements!

Our schedule lately has been something like:
8:00-9:30ish - get ready for bed, read a book, nurse, lay down in crib, crying, screaming, rock, lay down, crying, nurse, lay down, crying, nurse, falls asleep

10:30-11:00 - potty, nurse, lay down, falls asleep

1:00 - 1:30 - nurse, falls asleep

3:30-4:30ish - potty, nurse, lay down, cry, rock, lay down, crying, nurse, lay down, crying, nurse, falls asleep or cries more and ends up in our bed to fall asleep....

7:00 - up. potty, nurse sometimes, downstairs to play while Mama makes coffee

I'm hoping to cut the amount of time up between sleep back to the 10-15 min, hoping Cole will be able to soothe himself to sleep when I put him down, and I'm hoping to eventually cut out some of the nighttime wakings... lets all cross our fingers!