The end of another week. It's finally Friday, and this week has been a good one. I can say that for once in my life, I have indeed been productive this week. I was highly motivated by the fact that it was my turn to host our play group on Thursday, so I spent a lot of the week cleaning and trying to make the house look presentable. Tiny Man actually took some decent naps this week, too, which helped! I have been putting him down more, too, which I think helps both of us... he gets alone time and is not completely overstimulated, and I actually get things done. :)
On Tuesday, Keaton reached a new milestone... he finally figured out how to put his binky in his mouth the correct way and not pull it out again! This was especially great because he did it while I was driving. He did his normal pseudo-meltdown when he gets tired and bored, and I figured I would have to pull the car over as I've done before because I can't hear myself think while he's wailing. This time, however, I watched as he picked up the binky, put it in his mouth, and then fell asleep. I was kind of shocked! He has done it regularly the rest of the week, so anytime I see it I try to say, "Good job, buddy!" to encourage him to keep it up. So far so good!
Yesterday he sat up by himself while we sat outside and enjoyed the cooler weather with the neighbors. He sat for almost 30 minutes without much support! He's not doing as well today, but he's not having the best day in general. I think he needs to go #2 and it's just not happening... he's on day 3 now without going. Sorry if that's TMI... but that's why he gets yet another nickname, the Poop Nazi. :) "No poop for you!" (A little Seinfeld reference for those of you who don't watch as much TV as I do...)
Keaton has also been 'talking' a lot more this week. He squeals like Mariah Carey when he gets really excited, which is pretty hilarious! He will talk to his toys and will jabber to himself when he wakes up in the morning, which is a great switch from when he used to cry when he woke up. I think doing Cry It Out for bedtime taught him that he won't always get attention right away when he cries... but I tend to come in quickly when I hear him awake because I always like seeing his smiles first thing in the morning. :-D (Okay, to clarify, I DO check on him when he cries, too... didn't want anyone thinking I was neglectful of my kid!)
Yet another milestone was reached today while he was playing on his play mat... he rolled from back to front, which is not as new... then I watched him roll from tummy to back! Of course I'm not as skilled as Casey is about getting such things on video, but I at least texted him to let him know it happened. :)
Other events this week included a visit to the OB floor where Keaton was born (I had to return the breast pump) and our normal visit to Cradle Talk Wednesday morning. Thursday we hosted a play group and then went to get my hair cut. Tomorrow we're having a South Carolina reunion for all the former USC grad students and their families who live in IL now. Should be fun! Keaton and I went grocery shopping today to get ready for it. Finally on Sunday, the Hetrick Great Grandparents are coming to visit in the afternoon. That will start off a very busy month- we are expecting a decent amount of company in August- just about every weekend is already full and the month hasn't started yet! Then we'll head home at the end of September for my 10 year high school reunion. Busy times ahead!
Keaton's fussy (as usual today) so I'll close for now and attempt to blog more frequently in August!
-Ash
Casey, Ashley, Keaton, Nikolaus, & Rowan take on Chicagoland...
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Livin' on the edge
I am being totally horrible and blogging while at work, which is a terrible, horrible thing to do. That said, I am going to keep doing it. :) Feeling rebellious today, I guess.
Keaton finally rolled over for me last night! It was super quick, and from back to tummy, but it happened so fast that it took me a few seconds to actually comprehend what I had seen. He's getting so much stronger these days. He's still not where I think he 'should' be on tummy time yet, but we're working on it. At the Mother/Baby class I go to on Wednesdays, a woman that works in the maternity ward told us that kids are supposed to get 80 minutes of tummy time EACH DAY. Who is doing that??? No one I know. I'm sure that would be terrific but Keaton wouldn't tolerate it at all... I am lucky if we get 20 minutes a day... but I'm letting him go longer even if he gets upset. I'm getting used to his cries now and realize that it is okay for him to cry once in awhile. I would normally try to soothe him so quickly that he hasn't learned to do it on his own yet, which will bite us in the butt when someone tries to babysit him and he's screaming because Casey and I aren't around to soothe him. Sooo... I'm learning a lot of lessons that I should have started awhile ago... but we're getting somewhere.
With the exception of the last 2 evenings, Keaton has slept pretty well through the night. I am pretty sure he had an upset stomach most of yesterday because he was moaning and groaning quite a bit, especially during the night. I got up with him from about 11:45 pm on and off until around 1:00 a.m. or so when I gave up and asked Casey to help out since I had work in the morning. The boys slept on the couch and I was able to get about 5 straight hours of sleep before Keaton woke up to eat. It's amazing how much better my brain works when I actually get sleep... last time I worked (two weeks ago) I got such little sleep, I couldn't even remember how to answer the phone. Did I mention I'm a receptionist?? Yeah, that sucked. LOL...
So things are going pretty well in Hetrickland, especially with the additional sleep. Things on the Charley front are going better, too. I miss him a ton, and think of him several times a day, but I haven't gotten quite as sad lately. I like to think about him and how he'd react to certain situations, like Keaton eating solid foods, etc. Yesterday marked the one month anniversary without him. Casey and I still look for him all the time. The other night, I was walking with Keaton out to the living room and saw Keaton's car seat, and for a split second I thought it was Charley... which led instantly to disappointment when I realized that couldn't be possible. Case and I always think of him when anything falls on the ground, especially food. He had us trained pretty well. I still freak out for a second if I have something chocolate that falls down because I think, "That'll make Charley sick!" but then I realize I don't need to panic the way I used to. Yesterday we finally shampooed the carpets and got the house cleaned up pretty well... we've wanted to do that since Charley passed but the last month has been a bit crazy. It looks a lot better now, but there are still places on the carpet that are probably a lost cause, unfortunately. Hopefully we won't have to totally recarpet the place when we have to sell the house eventually.
As far as Mr. K goes, he's becoming so much more alert now... he's also blowing raspberries everywhere and doing this slightly strange growling thing now that he realizes he has a voice. He will squeal at the top of his lungs while he's playing on his play mat, or when he sees you and gets excited. Funny little (big) guy. I have no idea how much he weighs now, but I'm guessing it's close to 20 lbs. We have a doctor's appointment next month so we'll get his 6 months stats... I hope he slows down a little bit!!
I guess that's about it. I'm waiting for Casey and Keaton to bring me some lunch and so I can take a break... which I guess is technically what I'm doing right now, but it's slow today. Looking forward to being home tonight and hanging out with my boys. That's all for now!
-Ash
Keaton finally rolled over for me last night! It was super quick, and from back to tummy, but it happened so fast that it took me a few seconds to actually comprehend what I had seen. He's getting so much stronger these days. He's still not where I think he 'should' be on tummy time yet, but we're working on it. At the Mother/Baby class I go to on Wednesdays, a woman that works in the maternity ward told us that kids are supposed to get 80 minutes of tummy time EACH DAY. Who is doing that??? No one I know. I'm sure that would be terrific but Keaton wouldn't tolerate it at all... I am lucky if we get 20 minutes a day... but I'm letting him go longer even if he gets upset. I'm getting used to his cries now and realize that it is okay for him to cry once in awhile. I would normally try to soothe him so quickly that he hasn't learned to do it on his own yet, which will bite us in the butt when someone tries to babysit him and he's screaming because Casey and I aren't around to soothe him. Sooo... I'm learning a lot of lessons that I should have started awhile ago... but we're getting somewhere.
With the exception of the last 2 evenings, Keaton has slept pretty well through the night. I am pretty sure he had an upset stomach most of yesterday because he was moaning and groaning quite a bit, especially during the night. I got up with him from about 11:45 pm on and off until around 1:00 a.m. or so when I gave up and asked Casey to help out since I had work in the morning. The boys slept on the couch and I was able to get about 5 straight hours of sleep before Keaton woke up to eat. It's amazing how much better my brain works when I actually get sleep... last time I worked (two weeks ago) I got such little sleep, I couldn't even remember how to answer the phone. Did I mention I'm a receptionist?? Yeah, that sucked. LOL...
So things are going pretty well in Hetrickland, especially with the additional sleep. Things on the Charley front are going better, too. I miss him a ton, and think of him several times a day, but I haven't gotten quite as sad lately. I like to think about him and how he'd react to certain situations, like Keaton eating solid foods, etc. Yesterday marked the one month anniversary without him. Casey and I still look for him all the time. The other night, I was walking with Keaton out to the living room and saw Keaton's car seat, and for a split second I thought it was Charley... which led instantly to disappointment when I realized that couldn't be possible. Case and I always think of him when anything falls on the ground, especially food. He had us trained pretty well. I still freak out for a second if I have something chocolate that falls down because I think, "That'll make Charley sick!" but then I realize I don't need to panic the way I used to. Yesterday we finally shampooed the carpets and got the house cleaned up pretty well... we've wanted to do that since Charley passed but the last month has been a bit crazy. It looks a lot better now, but there are still places on the carpet that are probably a lost cause, unfortunately. Hopefully we won't have to totally recarpet the place when we have to sell the house eventually.
As far as Mr. K goes, he's becoming so much more alert now... he's also blowing raspberries everywhere and doing this slightly strange growling thing now that he realizes he has a voice. He will squeal at the top of his lungs while he's playing on his play mat, or when he sees you and gets excited. Funny little (big) guy. I have no idea how much he weighs now, but I'm guessing it's close to 20 lbs. We have a doctor's appointment next month so we'll get his 6 months stats... I hope he slows down a little bit!!
I guess that's about it. I'm waiting for Casey and Keaton to bring me some lunch and so I can take a break... which I guess is technically what I'm doing right now, but it's slow today. Looking forward to being home tonight and hanging out with my boys. That's all for now!
-Ash
Monday, July 19, 2010
Baby Steps
It is now Day 3 of Keaton actually sleeping through the night... in fact, he's averaging 10 hours now! On Thursday night I was up from 12:30 am off and on (mostly on) until 4 am when Casey woke up because Keaton would wake up every time I put him in his crib, no matter how dead asleep he may have been previously. I couldn't take it anymore. At that point I was so exhausted and weary that I couldn't form coherent sentences. Keaton would wake up and want to play or be entertained, and Casey proved (after a few 'experiments') that he was just bored. Nothing was actually wrong with him- he had been fed and his diaper was dry. He wasn't in pain and didn't have a temperature. So at that point we decided to try Cry It Out. It was torture. I swear the minutes dragged on and on. Almost 30 minutes later (after going into Keaton's room a few times to make sure he was actually okay and to try and calm him down without picking him up), he finally went to sleep. And slept well. So Friday night, Case and I tried it again. We started a new routine, too- I feed Keaton solids around 7:30, then we play for a bit, then I read him a book and put him to bed. No more rocking him to sleep. He cried for about 45 minutes that time (of course I went in to check on him often, and realized that the only time he'd cry was when his binky would fall out)... Case and I got some adult beverages and took the baby monitor outside so we could detach ourselves a bit. But all of that paid off. He slept from 9:30 pm to 7 am without waking up once! I woke up a ton, and didn't sleep well at all because I kept going in to check on him to make sure he hadn't rolled over and make sure he was breathing, etc. But it worked again.
We went on a road trip to see our SC friends Jenny & Olivier that live in Mahomet, IL Saturday, and had a play date with their son Lucas. The boys had a fun day and we took a bunch of pictures of the two of them together. They splashed in the baby pool and enjoyed playing together. At one point we put both of them in the same crib because Keaton was sleepy, but Lucas started crying and it grabbed Keaton's attention. Keaton started to laugh at Lucas. Keaton's laughing distracted Lucas, and then all of a sudden they traded places and Keaton started crying while Lucas stared at him. Jenny and I could not help but laugh at them, which freaked out Casey and Olivier who heard the whole thing in the baby monitor. They came in to see what the heck we were laughing about while the babies were crying. I'm pretty sure they think we're nuts, but that's okay... maybe we are. :) We enjoyed hanging out with our friends and made the 2 hour trip back home so we could get Keaton in bed at a decent time. He slept from about 9:15 pm to 4 am, woke up to eat, and slept until 7:30 am. Good times. :)
I almost forgot- Saturday night, Keaton tried carrots for the first time and loved them. :) Yesterday I fed him the rest of the jar, and made him some more rice cereal. I thought I had made too much but he inhaled all of it. He is such a little bird- he sees the spoon coming at him and opens his mouth really wide. He will also make noises at me if I'm going too slow. :) So he ate all that food and then had about 2 oz of milk and was satisfied. Then we played, read a book, and I put him down- a little earlier this time. He was asleep by 9, and slept until 2:45 this morning when he woke up to eat. He slept again until about 6:30 and woke up briefly, then slept until about 8. I guess I can officially say that this routine is working. He's still crying when he goes to bed, but I can calm him down after a bit and he sleeps better than he ever has. I know not everyone believes in Cry It Out, and as much as I absolutely hate hearing my kid cry, it has really worked for us. And I honestly don't believe he trusts me less, because I always go back in and let him know I'm there but am not going to pick him up. The only thing that's changed about him is that he has more energy and is less fussy during the day because he's slept better. In fact, he seems to take more naps during the day now, too! Maybe he realizes that sleep is a good thing! I am very thankful that things are working. I know it won't always be like this, especially when he's going through a growth spurt or something, but for now my wishes of getting decent sleep have been granted after 2 long weeks of struggle. Woo hoo!
I guess that's about all for now. We're finally making progress!
-Ash
We went on a road trip to see our SC friends Jenny & Olivier that live in Mahomet, IL Saturday, and had a play date with their son Lucas. The boys had a fun day and we took a bunch of pictures of the two of them together. They splashed in the baby pool and enjoyed playing together. At one point we put both of them in the same crib because Keaton was sleepy, but Lucas started crying and it grabbed Keaton's attention. Keaton started to laugh at Lucas. Keaton's laughing distracted Lucas, and then all of a sudden they traded places and Keaton started crying while Lucas stared at him. Jenny and I could not help but laugh at them, which freaked out Casey and Olivier who heard the whole thing in the baby monitor. They came in to see what the heck we were laughing about while the babies were crying. I'm pretty sure they think we're nuts, but that's okay... maybe we are. :) We enjoyed hanging out with our friends and made the 2 hour trip back home so we could get Keaton in bed at a decent time. He slept from about 9:15 pm to 4 am, woke up to eat, and slept until 7:30 am. Good times. :)
I almost forgot- Saturday night, Keaton tried carrots for the first time and loved them. :) Yesterday I fed him the rest of the jar, and made him some more rice cereal. I thought I had made too much but he inhaled all of it. He is such a little bird- he sees the spoon coming at him and opens his mouth really wide. He will also make noises at me if I'm going too slow. :) So he ate all that food and then had about 2 oz of milk and was satisfied. Then we played, read a book, and I put him down- a little earlier this time. He was asleep by 9, and slept until 2:45 this morning when he woke up to eat. He slept again until about 6:30 and woke up briefly, then slept until about 8. I guess I can officially say that this routine is working. He's still crying when he goes to bed, but I can calm him down after a bit and he sleeps better than he ever has. I know not everyone believes in Cry It Out, and as much as I absolutely hate hearing my kid cry, it has really worked for us. And I honestly don't believe he trusts me less, because I always go back in and let him know I'm there but am not going to pick him up. The only thing that's changed about him is that he has more energy and is less fussy during the day because he's slept better. In fact, he seems to take more naps during the day now, too! Maybe he realizes that sleep is a good thing! I am very thankful that things are working. I know it won't always be like this, especially when he's going through a growth spurt or something, but for now my wishes of getting decent sleep have been granted after 2 long weeks of struggle. Woo hoo!
I guess that's about all for now. We're finally making progress!
-Ash
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Update
Things are improving. I feel generally better this week, despite the fact that Little Man is not sleeping well (still) and Casey's had a super stressful week with work. I do think the counselor is helping... it's nice to just get out and talk to a non-biased person about things going on in life, just to have a sounding board. So far so good.
I still struggle with second-guessing myself all the time when it comes to Keaton, though. Today at our mother/baby class, I felt like all the kids around us were doing things that Keaton "should" be doing at this point. One 3.5 month old is already supporting most of his weight and is practically sitting up on his own. Others are 4 months and rolling around like it's nothing. And others are sleeping through the night... even if that means for 6 hour stretches. One of the nurses that runs the class said that as each new milestone is reached, they will digress a bit in something they've already learned. While I honestly don't think anything is wrong with Keaton, I still have those little doubts in the back of my mind about what he "should" be doing at this point. It's actually kind of annoying. He's a healthy, happy kid, and besides the fact that he's not getting enough sleep right now (I assume because of teething) and that he's addicted to the binky, I think things are just fine. He's very engaged in things- especially people- and laughs and smiles quite a bit now. I think it will be good for me to continue to go to class (and better if I try not to compare my kid to others) but he always seems to do better when he's around other people. Sooo... that's the plan.
My poor husband is so stressed out with multiple things going on at work right now that with the exception of Saturday when we went to a neighbor's pool party, I really haven't seen him much as he's been glued to the computer working on various projects. I'm not sure if I've ever met anyone as hard working as Casey. Sure, I know plenty of people that are busy, but it's hard to find people that are as driven and dedicated as he is. We are really lucky that he's so capable and is providing so much for us. I am really thankful that I get to stay home with Keaton (and sometimes thankful for working 2 days a month and getting a little break, and a little paycheck). ;) It's also great for Keaton to get to spend a whole day with Daddy at least 2 days a month, too. They both seem to really enjoy it!
I still miss Charley and think about him multiple times a day, but now the thoughts seem happier, more like good memories as opposed to sad thoughts about him being gone. I can't believe it's almost been a month, though. I talk to Keaton about him and show him pictures of his puppy every now and then. I'm really thankful that we have video of them together. I look forward to showing Keaton the videos some day... heck, I want to watch a few of them now so I can see how much Keaton has changed, and see good old CB again. Time is really flying. Keaton is 5 months old as of this past Monday. I wonder what this month has in store for us? Hopefully better sleep!!!!
That's all for now... I need to put Keaton down for a nap (haha!) and eat some lunch. And stay out of this crazy hot summer weather! Grey's Anatomy reruns, here I come!
-Ashley
I still struggle with second-guessing myself all the time when it comes to Keaton, though. Today at our mother/baby class, I felt like all the kids around us were doing things that Keaton "should" be doing at this point. One 3.5 month old is already supporting most of his weight and is practically sitting up on his own. Others are 4 months and rolling around like it's nothing. And others are sleeping through the night... even if that means for 6 hour stretches. One of the nurses that runs the class said that as each new milestone is reached, they will digress a bit in something they've already learned. While I honestly don't think anything is wrong with Keaton, I still have those little doubts in the back of my mind about what he "should" be doing at this point. It's actually kind of annoying. He's a healthy, happy kid, and besides the fact that he's not getting enough sleep right now (I assume because of teething) and that he's addicted to the binky, I think things are just fine. He's very engaged in things- especially people- and laughs and smiles quite a bit now. I think it will be good for me to continue to go to class (and better if I try not to compare my kid to others) but he always seems to do better when he's around other people. Sooo... that's the plan.
My poor husband is so stressed out with multiple things going on at work right now that with the exception of Saturday when we went to a neighbor's pool party, I really haven't seen him much as he's been glued to the computer working on various projects. I'm not sure if I've ever met anyone as hard working as Casey. Sure, I know plenty of people that are busy, but it's hard to find people that are as driven and dedicated as he is. We are really lucky that he's so capable and is providing so much for us. I am really thankful that I get to stay home with Keaton (and sometimes thankful for working 2 days a month and getting a little break, and a little paycheck). ;) It's also great for Keaton to get to spend a whole day with Daddy at least 2 days a month, too. They both seem to really enjoy it!
I still miss Charley and think about him multiple times a day, but now the thoughts seem happier, more like good memories as opposed to sad thoughts about him being gone. I can't believe it's almost been a month, though. I talk to Keaton about him and show him pictures of his puppy every now and then. I'm really thankful that we have video of them together. I look forward to showing Keaton the videos some day... heck, I want to watch a few of them now so I can see how much Keaton has changed, and see good old CB again. Time is really flying. Keaton is 5 months old as of this past Monday. I wonder what this month has in store for us? Hopefully better sleep!!!!
That's all for now... I need to put Keaton down for a nap (haha!) and eat some lunch. And stay out of this crazy hot summer weather! Grey's Anatomy reruns, here I come!
-Ashley
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Unplugged
I have been MIA lately. In many ways, it seems. But things are getting better... I just spent 10 glorious days in Kansas with my family while Casey was at a conference for work. Originally, my father-in-law was supposed to fly Keaton, Charley Brown and I back home. Everyone wanted to spend time with Charley again one last time, but unfortunately it didn't work out that way. I guess it may be fortunate for him that it didn't, actually, because I'm not really sure how he would have handled the ride. It was nice to be distracted for the week. Keaton got spoiled rotten, and I got to actually relax a bit. We really enjoyed our trip and it went way too fast. I obviously didn't get on the computer much while I was gone, which is why it's been 2 weeks since my last post. What a quick 2 weeks it's been.
I got to see quite a few people I wanted to see in Kansas... there are a few I could have seen more and a few I didn't get to see at all, but compared to most trips home, it was a lot less chaotic. That said, I am still exhausted. Keaton hasn't been sleeping well and did not sleep well in Kansas either, so that's been tough. We tried to let him 'Cry It Out' last night, but after almost 15 minutes of crying, he practically made himself sick. I rocked him to sleep, which worked until I laid him in the crib, then he was crying again. Now he's pulling the binky out of his mouth and getting ticked off about it... so I'm not sure what to do with the kid because he's doing it on his own. Nothing I can do will keep the binky in. All the moms on my street tell me he needs to get rid of the binky ASAP so it doesn't effect his teeth. So... not sure what to do in this situation.
I had my second meeting with my counselor on Tuesday night, the day after we got back from KS, which was great timing with all of the Charley events since I went last (the Tuesday before Charley passed away). I am really sad. I think about him all the time. Everything reminds me of him... little things like dropping food on the ground or seeing his toys in the back yard. Ugh. It is nice to have someone to talk to about it, because with the exception of the Friday before I went to Kansas, this has been the first time I've been home and actually dealing with the loss of Charley. Talking with the counselor did seem to help... it's just going to be a long process.
I guess that's about it for now. I am going to work on uploading pictures from our trip home and hope to include them soon. Keaton's growing like a weed, and I think he's pretty bored now that he doesn't have grandparents and aunts fawning over him anymore. :) So glad tomorrow's Friday and Casey will be home with us this weekend!
-Ash
I got to see quite a few people I wanted to see in Kansas... there are a few I could have seen more and a few I didn't get to see at all, but compared to most trips home, it was a lot less chaotic. That said, I am still exhausted. Keaton hasn't been sleeping well and did not sleep well in Kansas either, so that's been tough. We tried to let him 'Cry It Out' last night, but after almost 15 minutes of crying, he practically made himself sick. I rocked him to sleep, which worked until I laid him in the crib, then he was crying again. Now he's pulling the binky out of his mouth and getting ticked off about it... so I'm not sure what to do with the kid because he's doing it on his own. Nothing I can do will keep the binky in. All the moms on my street tell me he needs to get rid of the binky ASAP so it doesn't effect his teeth. So... not sure what to do in this situation.
I had my second meeting with my counselor on Tuesday night, the day after we got back from KS, which was great timing with all of the Charley events since I went last (the Tuesday before Charley passed away). I am really sad. I think about him all the time. Everything reminds me of him... little things like dropping food on the ground or seeing his toys in the back yard. Ugh. It is nice to have someone to talk to about it, because with the exception of the Friday before I went to Kansas, this has been the first time I've been home and actually dealing with the loss of Charley. Talking with the counselor did seem to help... it's just going to be a long process.
I guess that's about it for now. I am going to work on uploading pictures from our trip home and hope to include them soon. Keaton's growing like a weed, and I think he's pretty bored now that he doesn't have grandparents and aunts fawning over him anymore. :) So glad tomorrow's Friday and Casey will be home with us this weekend!
-Ash
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