We had a great Monday with Kelley (a.k.a Going Mom) being off from work. Avery let us sleep another hour extra and she was in her crib from 9pm to a little past 5pm! Score! She even took a 3 hour nap uninterrupted later in the morning too! What’s with this baby?!
Kelley and I were able to get what we wanted to do out of the way; yard work for Kelley and work out for me. Today I have squats on the agenda so I’m really hoping she has another long nap! Squat day is always the biggest challenge physically and mentally for me. Watching a baby monitor is just an extra challenge too since I need focus. Anyway…
Monday was really pleasant. Avery took the bottle from me for a while which was better than the day before, and she also fed from her mom. Best of both worlds. She was hardly fussy and even went on an hour long walk with us while facing out in the Baby Bjorn without a peep!
Avery ended up falling asleep as we neared the end of the walk, but the instant I stopped moving, her eyes fluttered open and that was that. We tried some tummy time, no good, then just had a little play time as she flashed us her heart warming smiles.
Enjoying Mom on Monday
We tried once again to capture some priceless shots with the video camera and digital camera, but didn’t get much. The smiles eventually turned into cries so I gave her the rest of the bottle from earlier and then mom provided the rest.
One of the better shots I wanted to share.
Another short nap and she was up with us while I made dinner and played with her a little. It wasn’t a very action-packed Monday, but having Kelley here was really nice and I hate that she has to be at work again. But we have to get paid somehow; thanks dear!
So, not much happened most the day, which is very welcome after Sunday’s Fuss Fest! But then, as night time arrived, we were subjected to mostly this until bed time…..
But she did give us a few more smiles in between. We’ll take it. She also hadn’t pooped in 2 days, and we were treating her like ticking time bomb that even Jack Bauer can’t disarm.
Finally, this Tuesday morning, she graced us with her crap. I figure she was waiting until mommy had to get ready for work so daddy could tend to the cleaning. Fine by me! We had another good night of sleeping in the crib too. I fear the day the streak ends because of teething or her first illness. Ugh, I’ll keep my fingers crossed this lasts a while though!
Now that she finally went I have high hopes she’ll go back to being her nonchalant self with a bright future ahead…
Okay, next
Avery, as the title of the post says, you have a very bright future dear, and I am so happy your mom and I are hear to shine the light! We love you!
Do you like “accessorizing” your children and taking pictures? How do they like it?
Our Sunday was off to a great start, Avery slept the longest ever in her crib and then slept a little longer with us. We even slept in an extra hour!
She woke up pretty happy and flashing us smiles, so we were hopeful for a good day ahead. Wrong.
First off, I proceeded to try and feed her a bottle. This is a no-no when mom is home because, being the smart baby she is, knows there’s a much better source of food hanging around. Pun intended, sorry Kelley.
Being one who doesn’t take no easily, I was a little too persistent in trying to feed her the bottle until she just got upset. After trying to hold her in several positions to see if that would help, Kelley finally just gave her the good stuff. We only try to use the bottles since that’s the main food source when Kelley is not here, and we have so many bottles in the fridge that can’t go to waste. We’re backlogged with breast milk!
Once enough time passed, we put Avery down for her morning nap which she didn’t resist too much. She had a couple crying sessions within two hours that Kelley was able to go and soothe her back to sleep. Overall, she had maybe one and half hours of sleep; the most she’d get this day.
After making breakfast for Kelley and myself, we decided to get our shopping out of the way. So, we packed the diaper bag, put Avery in her car seat and we were off.
Instant fussiness and crying followed as we began our trip, but that didn’t stop us from going to Starbucks first. I got a black coffee and Kelley had the same, but decaf. Back on the road with Avery still protesting, our first stop was Babies “R” Us to return some items and look at bouncers. Avery had calmed down, so I just carried her in the car seat.
The whole time inside, she didn’t fuss at all, but once she was back in the car, the crying ensued. Next stop, Costco. But first, another Starbucks run. I have a member card which allows for free refills, so I always go back at least 3 times to help get my money’s worth of the other black gold.
I wore Avery in the Baby Bjorn as usual in Costco, and she was pretty good while inside here too. Maybe a little whine, but then she just chewed on the carrier and stared at the big warehouse lights. She finally fell asleep……as we were going to check out. So, ten minutes later, she was rudely awakened by dad putting her back in the car once more. But, in dad’s defense, it didn’t help that Kelley tried to strap her in the wrong way which made it uncomfortable until we fixed it. Sorry, Avery.
Almost done, we only had one more grocery trip to Sprouts! But, can you guess? Another stop at Starbucks on the way! Poor Kelley sat in the back trying to feed Avery a bottle, but she was not having it. Again, she’s thinking “Why would mom feed me a bottle?” So, she just cried. All the while, several hours had passed and no substantial nap has occurred.
Inside Sprouts with Avery in the Baby Bjorn, she pretty much just cried and kicked her legs as much as possible. I felt pretty cool perusing each aisle as if nothing was wrong while a baby was screaming in my face. Staring, although very, very annoying, was understandable.
Thirty minutes later, Avery still crying, we packed ourselves in the Outback (big Subaru fans here!) and eagerly headed home. Kelley sat in the back and tried once more to offer Avery the bottle. Maybe she was just finally hungry enough, or too tired to fight it, or maybe the sun shining in her eyes didn’t allow her to know who was feeding her, but she took the bottle. Then she fell asleep with it in her mouth on minutes later.
Milk-covered face and asleep in car seat.
This is the down side of living close to most places, the drives are not that long. Yeah, of course we LOVED this before becoming parents, and still love it overall, but when you have a sleeping baby, you want the ride to last a while. Once home, I carried Avery still in the car seat and set her in her nursery hoping to make the nap last. Nope, five minutes later and the eyes were open.
Again, I insisted on feeding her the bottle, which she refused, multiple times. And again, we finally caved and Kelley offered what I can never give. I’m okay with this, by the way; that would be weird.
We decided to go for a little family run together after this. Kelley has been wanting to get back into running, and I wanted to come along while pushing Avery in the B.O.B. stroller. I also wore a 20lb vest since I have a problem of going too much ahead of Kelley. At first, there was no crying, but it wasn’t long and Avery was back at it letting the neighborhood know her lungs are pretty well developed.
I am fairly sure that going faster helps Avery settle down, so I eventually just went ahead and let Kelley enjoy a quiet run. Avery fell asleep within minutes after picking up the pace, so I passed our house and told Kelley to meet me down the road while I went down and back up a hill just torture myself.
We walked together enjoying the peace of a sleeping baby (finally) for maybe 30 minutes before she woke up again. I tried running a little more but she just cried. Then, back at home, I tried giving her a bottle again. When will I learn? Never, I’m just too stubborn.
As you’d expect she fussed and cried until mom gave in and made her peace offering via boob. The rest of the night went on with mostly fussing, but she did give us a lot of “talking” and smiles too. Between taking out the trash, making dinner for Kelley and myself, and bathing Avery, she was whining the majority of the time. Finally, after her bath (and crying), Kelley held her and got her to sleep for the night.
Phew! If you’re still reading, thank you! Basically, just don’t provide your baby any time for a good nap during the day and you’re sure to have one pissed off baby. Add repeated attempts at bottle feeding when mommy is around, and you should watch your back when baby can walk/crawl!
Sure, it wasn’t the most pleasant Sunday, but it was still our little family being together, so that was the silver lining. Plus, Kelley is off work tomorrow so we get another day together! This time, we are not going anywhere and will make sure Avery gets some good naps in. Maybe we’ll take a few with her…
Ever have “one of those days” with your baby?
Any good tips on how to make several store trips and keep baby happy or is it a futile attempt?
We made a trip to Nana and Papa’s (Kelley’s parents) house yesterday to visit, well, Nana and Papa. It was Avery’s official crossing into being a 3 month old and obviously that’s huge! Maybe I’m a little biased as her parent, but isn’t that just a part of being a parent?
It was a pleasant time at Avery’s Nana and Papa’s house and her Nana got to hold her, feed her, and even got her to nap a little. Kelley and I took advantage and went for a nice walk together. The little things are so much bigger now!
Before the trip, we had a photo session with Avery sitting in her nursery chair next to a stuffed animal bear. We did this for her first and second month on earth too, and will probably do it for several more months.
1 Month2 Months3 Months
As Kelley and I sat there waving our hands and making weird noises trying to get a smile out of our “big” girl, I had to ask, “When is this too much?” I know Avery is only a baby, but I feel even she was getting annoyed with our silly cackles and coos used in an effort for a smile. Maybe she’d just like to see mom’s or dad’s face not behind a camera.
After I considered this for a minute, I then continued to make stupid sounding noises and take multiple shots in hopes that one of them will capture a smile. We were able to get several good ones out of our marathon photo session, so in the end, it was worth it to us.
Looking forward, I can only imagine our photo frenzy will become greater as more lifetime events happen. This is great and I hope we are able to capture all of her big experiences via pictures and video to relive them as much as we’d like for years to come. But, I also hope we don’t get so wrapped up into “getting the shot” that we totally miss out on the real life experience.
I don’t want to be “the guy” behind the camera as Avery takes her first steps, I want to be Daddy holding her hand and standing by her side for assistance and encouragement. It might sound easy enough to do this if that’s what I want, but constantly find myself pushing my limits with a camera in Avery’s face. I have to keep myself in check and make sure to just enjoy the moment, sans cameras.
Having said that, I’ll still be taking plenty of pictures, just not getting too pushy about having her smile for everyone and making the session last forever.
One reason why it’s hard to stop taking pictures.
Avery, if you’re reading this one day, I hope you have many wonderful memories of mom and dad being there and enjoying life with you. In the end, memories will always beat what’s on film….or, I guess memory card now.
Any other parents find themselves getting caught up in trying to take a great picture instead of just living in the moment?
An at-home dad on a mission to keep it real when it comes to food, fun, and raising a healthy, happy family.
