Holy crap!

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking right now. I just signed up for Naperville's Sprint Triathlon on August 5th. No, I'm not doing a 6 week training schedule or 4 week training schedule for that matter. I'm not going to just show up the day of the race without any training. Well...I probably will show up the day of the race having not prepared for the 400m swim but I'm not worried about the swimming. That's the easiest part for me. I've been running a lot more the past few weeks. The biking portion is 22k, which is about 13 miles. This will be a little challenging since we haven't touched our bikes since we got engaged...yeah, 2009! It's biking though so no worries there either :) Anyone who knows me, knows I hate running so the 5k run is going to be my biggest challenge. I think it will be even more challenging since I'll have swam and biked right before running. I really just want to be able to run the whole thing, whether it's a 9 minute pace or an 11 minute pace. My only goal is to finish. I feel like it will be such an accomplishment. So empowering. I got a great tip from a fellow tri'er (is that a word). He told me to train by biking for 10 minutes then running for 1 mile and repeat this 3 times. It prepares your body to know what the feeling is like to switch from biking to running. So smart!!!

I'll keep you updated as I train as much as possible for the next 2 1/2 weeks! Oh...and we'll be on vacation for 10 of those days!! Eek!!!

14 months

Age: 14 Months

Stats:  We have his 15 month appt at the beginning of August so this is all just a guess. I'm thinking my peanut is only 22 pounds and maybe 31 inches tall? He's on the go all the time so his metabolism must be pretty high.

Size (diapers, clothes, etc.):  He's still in size 3 diapers.  We'll probably stay in them for a few more months.  I just ordered some over night diapers because he has been leaking out of his diapers almost every morning.  He's in 12-18 month clothing and they're still huge on him.  All the 12 month stuff seems to fit him pretty well.  His shoe size is 4 1/2.

Sleeping: Weeknights he goes to bed between 7-7:30 (moreso around 7) and wakes up between 6-6:30.  Weekends run around the same time unless he gets to bed later than 7:30, then he'll sleep until maybe 7.  He still takes two naps.  When he's at daycare he naps from 9:30-10:30 and 1:30-3.  He'll be shifting to the toddler room probably by the end of the summer and he'll switch to just one nap a day at 12:30.  When he's at home, his morning nap can be closer to 1.5-2 hours and his afternoon nap can be just as long, if not longer.  At home he sleeps in his crib uniterupted.  At daycare he sleeps on a cot that's on the floor so i think the second he wakes up at school, he's up.

Eating: This kid can eat!  There is not a single thing he doesn't like.  I know I say this at every monthly update, but it's true!  The newest thing we've tried is grapes.  I cut them up into quarters and he gobbles them down!  He LOVES milk!  This kid can drink an entire cup of milk just sitting there!  I'm pretty sure his favorite things are spaghetti, chicken, strawberries, blueberries, pancakes and grapes.  He's kind of been protesting veggies lately so I try and feed them to him off a fork and he'll do pretty well.

Milestones: Speaking of forks...he can eat his food off of a fork!  Most of the time he just plays but then there are times where he'll do really well!  He cut his first molar (top left) about 2 weeks ago.  He's got two others that are just bulking up and about to pop through.  He's become such a chatter box.  He says: mamma, dadda, dog, Parker (garker), cat, yes, all done, stairs (heard that for the first time today), ball, and i'm sure i'm missing more. 

New adventures:  We bought a pontoon boat a few weeks ago and every weekend since we've been out on the water and Dylan LOVES it!  He does really well with wearing the lifejacket the entire time we're on the water.  I feel bad for him because his nap and eating schedules get so screwed up when we're out!  He's a trooper though.  Getting to bed on those nights is a complete disaster and not fun but it's worth the experience that he's getting out on the boat and in the water.

Favorite toys and activities:  He loves the Car themed car that my mom got him for his birthday.  He presses the horn about a million times a day and dances to the music.  It's the cutest thing ever!  I really need to get a video of it and put it on facebook!  At school they have water wednesdays and when I pick him up at the end of the day, the teacher always talks about how much fun Dylan had!

 

What I'm looking forward to: I'm so excited to just watch him grow and learn.  His mind is a sponge right now and it just melts my heart when he learns/does something new.  I'm looking forward to this summer and spending time out on the water on the boat.  We never had a boat as a kid so I'm excited to start a new tradition that Dylan's going to remember for the rest of his life!

 

Dylan, I am truly blessed to be your Mother.  I love you so much my heart hurts.  There is not a single thing I would not do for you.  Know that I am always here for you.  I'm here to wipe away tears, to laugh with you, to teach you right from wrong and most importantly, I am here to love you for who you are!

 

PS...I promise to try and get some pictures going on these posts!!!

Wordless Wednesday

13 months

Dylan,

My sweet baby boy. You're not a little baby anymore but a "toddler".  I use toddler loosley because you will always be my baby (and I'm in complete denial that you're 13 months old).  This past month has been a complete whirlwind!  We had your birthday party on April 28th, which should be a post in and of itself, your 12 month well-check, swimming and camping.  You really do get to do a bunch of fun things because your parents are pretty cool ;)

I'll just get right to all your likes and dislikes...
You will eat just about anything we put in front of you.  The only thing you won't touch is a raw banana (although you ate some at daycare the other day).  You LOVE black beans, chicken, steak, strawberries, blueberries, pancakes, and much much more.  You are obsessed with Parker.  You love to just lay up against him or slide over him on your tummy.  He just lays there and occassionally will lick you in the face but he tolerates you :)  Secretly he love you soooo much!  It's cute when we go on walks and you hold the leash in the stroller because Parker stays right by your side.  You guys are going to be inseperable when you're older!  Rachel is coming around more and tolerating you "petting" her tail.  Callie stays at a distance and I don't think that will change.  She's just a big scaredy cat!  You're completely off of bottles as of 2 weeks ago! I thought we were going to have a major battle but you sure showed me!  We haven't given you a paci in well over a week.  I'm pretty sure those are gone as well. You still suck your thumb so I think it's safe to say you won't actually need the paci anymore.  You're still in size 3 diapers.  You're in most 12-18 month clothing.  You wear a size 4 shoe.  BTW...you get compliments on a weekly basis at school for being in the cutest outfits :)  You dress better than your mommy and daddy!  You've got 7 teeth (4 on top, 3 on bottom) and you've got some molars that are trying to come through.  Your poor little gums are SO swollen.  You still sleep from 7:30-6:30 (although today you slept in until 7:15).  You are crazy about saying "mamma" now and it just melts my heart every.single.time! I'll run upstairs and you'll stand at the bottom of the stairs and cry out "mamma" and I get all teary eyed!  You say dadda, dog, ball, all done, cat, night night, and your newest is 'gaga'.  You surely do know how to listen!  We'll ask you to throw something away and you'll actually throw it in the trash.  You love to go get Parker's food dish and wait for me to notice you with it.  I'll tell you to put it back and you'll waddle on over and put it back immediately.  You're SOOOO fun and I'm sure it's just the beginning.  We'll ask for hugs and you'll come running up to us and put your arms around us!  Thank you for spoiling us by being the most well-behaved 13 month old little man.  I'm sure your terrible 2's are going to be just that but we'll get there when we get there.  For now, I'll take your snuggles, open mouth kisses and big hugs every day!! 

Love you baby boy!

One year, 12 months, 366 days?????

Has it really been an entire year since I gave birth to the most precious little boy?! These 12 months have gone by in a blink of an eye and I can't help but wonder "did I take enough pictures", "did I read enough books", "am I feeding him the right foods", "am I being the best mom that I can be"?? The first year is really crazy and a lot of questionable things come up. You can only hope that you've done enough research or are listening to the right people but in the end, it's our decisions as parents and hope we make the right choices. He's obviously still alive and thriving so we must be doing something right! (que the pat on the back)

There has been so much emotion coming from inside me these past few weeks. I can't help but be amazed by the fact that Dylan has only been in our lives for a year but it seems like a lifetime. He brings so many smiles and giggles to our lives. It's amazing how therapeutic it is to just see my son at the end of the day. He's mine. He's not anyone else's. I get to go home and play with him, bathe him, cuddle with him (ha, yeah right, he hates cuddling with me!). He is my everything (sorry Jason)!!!

He is walking everywhere. By everywhere, I mean, there is no more crawling. The week after Easter (April 8) he just decided he didn't want to crawl so he just started walking. He 'a been like that ever since. He's got 4 top teeth and still just the 2 bottom ones. He eats anything and everything you put in front of him. We're trying to wean him from breastmilk and to drink whole milk. He actually hates it. I think it's because it's cold and he's used to having warm BM. I've only got about 10 bottles worth of BM left he better start liking the milk soon! There are obviously other ways he can get his calcium so I'm not too worried though. He says "ball", "dog", "cat", "dada", "mama", "nigh night". It's soo cool to watch him interact and say words because that means he's learning :)

He's one special guy and I am so proud and honored that I am his mother and that Jason is his father. He brings an unexplainable calmness over me. I am so excited for what the next few years are going to bring.

Dylan, thank you for being such a special little guy. Know that whatever mommy and daddy do in life, it's for and because of you. You are our life, our world, and we wouldn't have it any other way. We look forward to the many years that are ahead of us. Please don't ever change. We love you!!!

Happy birthday, Dylan!!!!

A year...one whole year

I know I'm jumping the gun by 13 days but I'm pretty sure I will make it to the finish line. That finish line is one year of breastfeeding. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would breastfeed for an entire year. It started a little rocky with my milk not coming in right away and Dylan losing more than 10% of his body weight while in the hospital. I think we might have given him a total of 4-6 ounces of formula between being at the hospital and the first few days at home. Once my milk came in, there was no more supplementing. I will say that there is no book, class or mother that can help you prepare for actual nursing. They can guide you in what to do but until you put an actual baby to your breast, you really have no idea what to expect. Those first few weeks were very trying. There were quite a few tears and toe curling cries. I can't even being to explain the kind of pain I endured to provide my little guy with the best. Once we got past those first 6 weeks it was smooth sailing. We were in a routine. I always had enough milk for him. Once he started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks, I continued to wake up and pump in the middle of the night to start building my freezer stash. I am so happy that I did because without that stash, there is no way I'd make it to a year! My period didn't come back until Dylan was 10 months old. My supply tanked! I went from pumping 15-17 ounces at work to pumping 10-12 ounces at work. I am now barely pumping 5 ounces while I work. Dylan is only taking two 5 ounce bottles while at daycare so he gets one bottle of freshly pumped milk and one frozen milk. It just amazes me that I have supplied him with the nutrients that he's needed for the past year!! I feel very fortunate that it has been easy for me to provide him enough milk each day. I knew I wanted to make it to a year and if we make it longer, then I'm okay with that. I'm thinking we probably won't go past year because I'm pretty sure Dylan is self weaning. He's refused to nurse the past few mornings and refused the past two night nursing sessions. I can still pump, so I'm okay with it but I always thought that we'd make it to a year and then I'd continue to nurse him in the morning and night until 18 months, maybe two years. I was going to let him be the judge but I guess he's deciding now. I have built an incredible bond with my child and am so thankful for the support and encouragement Jason has given me. Thank you Jason. I would not have made it without you!!

This has been an incredibly fast year and I will have many memories to carry on in years to come!!

I will say that I will NOT miss my damn pump and cannot wait until the day I can go to work with a PURSE and not some nasty black "bag" that I'm sure every single person knows is a boob milker!

Until the next child, I can enjoy having my body back. I can enjoy a glass of wine, eating onions and broccoli. We can go places and not have to worry about me having to nurse Dylan somewhere or make sure we have a bottle and enough milk if we leave him with someone.

BUT I would not have changed one single moment!!!

11 months old!

Dear sweet Dylan -

I am so sorry that I missed your 10 month blog. Things have just been so crazy around here! By the time I was going to get around to it, you were already 3 weeks into 10 months! There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for how lucky I am to have you as my son. You are perfect in so many ways. As I sit here and watch you nurse, it brings tears to my eyes to think that our bonding time is almost up. We have almost reached a year of this amazing experience and I am overjoyed that we worked through this together and have made it this close to the finish line! I will never get this time back with you but the memory will stay with me forever. Thank you for being perfect and so well natured. You make me look like a pro :)

Age: 11 months old (what?!)
Size: 12 month pjs. I can get away with a few 9 months but they're getting pretty tight. It's been super freaking hot this past week so I busted out your 12-18 month summer clothes and they somewhat fit. You definitely have room to grow but you can get away with wearing them to school. You're still in size 3.5 shoe. Probably will move up I the next month. Still size 3 diapers. I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Food: you've come so far in the past two months! You're pretty much on all table food with the exception to 1/2 jar of food at lunch and 1/2 a jar of food at dinner. At school for breakfast you have a mixture or Cheerios, french toast sticks, waffles and pancakes with some kind of fruit and a whole container of yogurt. Then you have some type of snack, graham cracker, animal crackers, ritz crackers, or puffs. For lunch you have so many different foods: tortellini, beef tacos, hamburgers, English muffins with cheese, chicken quesadillas, chicken salad sandwiches, and many other things. You also get a fruit and veggie for lunch which lately you've been having 2 servings of!! When you're at home you usually get: peas, carrots, blueberries, corn, chicken, cheese or meatballs. You're still nursing in the morning and nights and all weekend. You take 3 bottles of BM at daycare. I still have a full freezer of milk so we will definitely hit our one year goal of breastfeeding! (doing the happy dance)
Milestones: you took your first steps on Sunday, march 18th!!! We were out I the grass and you were freaked out by it touching your feet so you took like 3 steps and then fell into me! Then, tonight (march 23rd) we were upstairs and you were hanging onto the ottoman, let go and took 4 steps all by yourself!!! Daddy and I were both there to watch it!! You seriously amaze us every single day!! You love saying "ugh-oh" and "wow". Dada is still your go to word while momma slips out every once in a while. You've started to finally get some more teeth! You've got two on the bottom and one on the top (right eye tooth). Your front left has broken skin and your right front and left eye tooth are about to break the skin! So crazy that you're not going to be my gummy kid anymore!!
Sleep: you are back to sleeping through the night but if you do wake up, you fall back asleep within minutes of being awake. Your bedtime routine starts around 7-7:15 and you're completely out by 8pm. You sleep until 5:50-6:15am. It usually varies but for the most part it's 6:15. You're the happiest baby when you wake up too. It amazes me :) your teachers at school always comment about how happy you are when you come in in the mornings.

You and Parker are becoming best friends. It's so cute how he comes trotting over to you and gives you a big kiss. You sometimes will crawl over to him and pull up in him. It's so cute!!

I can't believe my next monthly update is going to be for your 1 year birthday!!! You are growing up way too fast :(

We love you, Dylan!!

Pic is from this morning while he was watching little Einsteins :)