We FINALLY got to see santa today! After having to keep putting it off, we were able to drive down to the mall today and wait for a good half hour to see Santa. It probably wasn't really worth the wait since we didn't get done until 4:30 and Gunnar had missed his afternoon nap (which is at 3:30) and he very badly needed to nurse. It has been 4 1/2 hours by the time we got home since his last nursing... normally he goes no longer than 3 1/2 hours. Anyways, despite him starting to get cranky by the time we got to the front of the line, he was all smiles for Santa. In between each photo taken (which included all of us clapping and saying "yay gunnar" in order to get him to smile) he would look up at Santa and try to grab his glasses. I was so glad he wasn't scared of him and that we actually got a good picture!
10 months have gone by and crawling was no where in sight. We pretty much gave up any hope of it happening since Gunnar had well moved onto bigger and better things... cruising. It didn't help that the child would immediately roll onto his back once place on his stomach. Every. Single. Time.
Lately, though, he hasn't been so against being on his stomach. After falling onto his bum more times than I can count, he really had no choice but to enjoy being on his belly. Yesterday he started to really get into it and would push him self around in a circle (as he used to do months ago) and would kick his legs fanatically. And then it happened.... to my surprise, this morning, I spotted my child one moment laying on his back next to the couch and the next he is on his stomach in the middle of the living room. How the heck?? I kept an eye on him and watched as he started to low crawl towards a block that was on the floor. I was shocked! What? My child? The one who was supposed to skip the crawling stage and go straight to walking..... actually low crawling! And to think it literally happened over night! I was so happy for him. He needs to work on his upper body strength badly so this will help a ton.
Watch out.
Gunnar is on the move.
And he's goin' fast too!
Yikes! I haven't done a "not me" monday post in a LONG time! Oopsie!
The BWing section is complete (ok sorta... I need to add resources)!
Head on over here and check it out!
*Feel free to leave thoughts/comments/questions on that page.
*Prefolds
**Goodmama Diapers
I've been needing to vent and with this being my blog, what better outlet is there? If you don't feel like reading me venting, then stop here and read a different post or a different blog all together.
*Don't say I didn't warn you
I have about had it with people feeling the need to copy others. I've also had it with people completely ignoring any and all safety laws and putting their loved ones in danger. I am not perfect by any means and I don't go around preaching that I am. I am, however, not only a mother and have worked with children since I was 13 years old, but I'm also educated in early childhood development and I do research on pretty much anything and everything that has to do with my child (whew, that was a long sentence... talk about a run-on). That being said, there have been a couple events that have occurred this week that have pissed me off. Yes, I let them get to me. Should I have? Absolutely not; these people are not worth my time and I realize that.
Safety laws exist for a reason. Child safety laws exist for an even bigger reason. As a parent, my child's safety and well being is my #1 priority as I'm sure it is for most parents. When I notice someone putting their child in danger AND breaking a law, I will say something. Now don't get me wrong, if you know me, you know I'm as far away from wanting confrontation as it gets so I would never talk to someone in an attacking manner. I like to approach things in a more educational manner and "hey, this made me think of you so I thought I'd share it with you." In this particular situation, the latter is exactly what I did. A girl on facebook posted a picture of her son (who was born the same day as Gunnar) in his new convertible car seat. It was forward facing. I decided not to jump to conclusions because she could very well have taken the picture then turned it around. I went ahead and messaged this girl and asked if he was actually forward facing, and to my shock and dismay, I found out he was. This little boy was 7 months old at the time! That is 100% illegal and completely unsafe! Her reasoning was that he was 22 pounds so she could go ahead and turn him around. She obviously didn't know the law on when it's ok to turn a child forward facing because not only does the child have to be 20 pounds, but s/he also has to be one year old. I went ahead and mentioned ERF* to her and in that included the fact that a child has to be 20 lbs and year to be FF*. She couldn't care less and got very pissy at me. I can't say I didn't expect that, as mom's tend to be very touchy when other mom's give them advice or tell them different ways of parenting. However, she went so far as to say that she would never put her child in any kind of danger... yet that is exactly what she was doing. 2 months later and he is still forward facing. I feel so sorry for this poor child and hope to God that she doesn't get into an accident and have something happen to him. These laws exist for a reason.
*extended rear facing
*forward facing
Another issue I have is with (yet another) marine wife and mother. It's not the first time I've gotten upset by her antics and it sure won't be the last. Most of the time, I get upset on another friend's behalf. This person cannot seem to live her own life. She's constantly comparing her child to other children (mainly my friend's and my own child). Not only that, but once my friend's child, who is a month older, does something, this girl's child magically does it too. It's not something that happens every once in a while, but all the freaking time! It's incredibly annoying and I wish it would just stop. For some reason she feels the need to compare her child and make it seem like her's is above the curve. I've realized that she's been concentrating more on my friend's child than on my own and my guess is that Gunnar is slower with his milestones than my friend. In his defense, he is a boy and boys do things slower than girls and he also tends to cluster his milestones together in a week's time or less. Anyways, that's beside the point. It's just frustrating to be so happy for a friend and that friend's baby for a new accomplishment only to turn around and find out that this other person is flaunting that her child can now do the exact same thing. Coincidence? I think not. After about 15 months (or more) of this nonsense.. yes 15 months, pregnancies included, it needs to stop. My patience is growing very thin with this girl and I'm finding myself consciously trying to bite my tongue so I don't say something and come off like a complete bitch. Thankfully, I have some awesome friends to vent to who share my feelings and are more than willing to get mad right along with me.
/scene
I currently have 3 posts in the works to go with my "thankful for" series. Things have been hectic here and I'm still trying to get back into the groove of things after my vacation. And by getting back into the groove of things, I mean doing all that school work that I put off until now.
Tonight.
There WILL be at least 2 posts published by tonight. Hopefully 3, but I'm not holding my breath.
Smart me forgot to actually post this yesterday and instead left it saved in my drafts.
Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away. What are you thankful for? How about your family, friends, the roof over your head, the computer (or phone) you're using to read this post, or maybe the food in your kitchen? There are so many things in my life I am thankful for and I need to remember that. I find myself being negative lately and trying my hardest not to think about the bad things, but they're all around me.
so.
Everyday for the next two weeks, I'll make a post devoted to one thing I'm thankful for. I encourage you do to the same.
what are you thankful for?
3 weeks ago my sweet gummy baby boy cut 3 teeth. He currently has his two top front teeth and his bottom left tooth. He looks so silly since his tooth came in out of order and he's stuck with only one bottom tooth. Yesterday I was taking a look at his gums, wondering if that other bottom one would come in, and lo and behold, I saw a tooth right underneath his gums. It's extremely close to cutting through. I actually expected it to have come through last night since he was drooling like crazy and was extremely cranky and clingy yesterday. However, that didn't happen, so now I'm praying that it cuts through tonight. Gunnar was nothing like this when he cut his first 3 teeth. I didn't eve know he cut them! This time though, he's super cranky and doesn't want me to put him down or even go out of his sight. It's not easy what so ever. When he does cut it he'll finally be proportioned! haha. So here's to hoping the next day or two results in a new tooth!
This technically should go in the breastfeeding section, but it won't. A few months ago I finally started doing something I really wanted to do, nursing in public. I was always a little hesitant on it since Gunnar likes to come off and look around a lot and I didn't want the chance of being exposed, especially since I never use a nursing cover. That's a whole other rant I could go on about, but the gist is that he gets hot and sweaty and has a hard time nursing when he is covered. One day at the mall I decided to just get over my hesitations and just do it.
Why yes.
I did get some stares from people every once in a while, but for the most part, no one knew what I was doing which made me feel very comfortable with doing it. Since that day, I NIP almost every time we go out.
Not sure about how to do it?
You can always find somewhere to sit and nurse like you normally would. That's not for me though. I hate having to stop what I'm doing to sit and nurse when I'm perfectly capable of walking and nursing. And that, is where a sling comes in handy. I have a pouch sling and it makes nursing incredibly easy. I *wish* I had a ring sling though so it would be even easier, but a pouch sling works.
Today, while searching for my film camera in a box in the garage, I came across an item I have been missing so much... the charger for my DSLR!! Oh my gosh you have no idea how ecstatic I was (and still am!). I can finally get back to taking an absurd amount of pictures of Gunnar and can spend time editing which I love to do.
So without further ado, here is a preview of the Halloween photo shoot
