Baby Compliments at a Urinal

03/26/2014 R.C. Liley 1 Comment

Well hello and happy hump day! Lets hope it a good one so we can be just as excited about it as this guy….

I’m happy to report I didn’t spend Monday night on the nursery floor and Avery slept pretty well in her crib most of the night! Since I’m writing this before bed on a Tuesday, I’m not sure how she’ll be, but her naps were lacking and hopefully she’ll play catch-up now.

Avery has been staying up longer before going down for her first nap of the day which pushes everything out by an hour. This means more time to entertain her the best I can. By entertain, I mostly mean let her watch me workout.

I usually workout in our garage, but since the stupid cold is still around, that wouldn’t be good to make her sit and shiver. So, I’ve been resorting the Supreme 90 Day workout videos I’ve mentioned before here and here. I fear that since we have the full DVD set and I’ve been following the schedule, I’m not going to be able to stop. I’m weird like that, once I start a program, I DESPISE quitting until it’s done.

Basically, expect to read more about my Supreme 90 Day workouts for a while. Plus, Kelley is following the program so it’s something we can do together….kind of. Of course, I’ll still do more since the weather is getting nicer and I want to be outside.

Since Avery didn’t feel like napping after playing in her jumper, taking a bottle, and me reading “The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear” (one of my favorite childhood books), I subjected her to a Supreme 90 workout.

The Supreme 90 workout of the day was “Ultimate Ball” where, you guessed, use a stability ball for everything! So, Avery intently watch as I worked my core with different ball exercises of 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off for 30 minutes. I told her she had to get down and workout too, but she didn’t seem too eager..

No Dad, I'm good here. — No Dad, I’m good here.

I don’t blame her, the ball workouts are annoying and I just feel like a fish flopping on rock. Avery even looked at me in bewilderment wondering why I didn’t look like the people in the video…

After the video, she finally gave in and napped. Yep, guess I was that exciting to watch! It was time for our weekly store trip, and luckily I only had two as opposed the three stores to go to. Once Avery woke up, we were off to store, one, Central Market!

One day, you'll see more than the top of her head! — One day, you’ll see more than the top of her head!

I don’t get to go to this store very often anymore, and it was a nice trip today. Avery slept most of the time and let me have time to gather bulk herbs, spices, and powders. Even if I know I don’t need anything down an aisle, I make sure to zig zag through every part of the store just out of habit (or maybe OCD) before leaving. An hour later and we off to other, more frequent store, Costco.

Avery was growing impatient at this time, but not unruly. I decided to make it a quick trip anyway since it was getting late. But, before zig zagging the aisles, my morning caffeine had me heading to the men’s room. I walked in with the slightly fussy Avery to see one guy standing in the middle urinal with the other ones empty on either side.

If you know me, you know this annoys me. Just choose the freakin’ left or right side if you have all three open! Reluctantly, I walked to the left one to do my business and leave. But, I couldn’t help but notice the man staring at Avery and me, so I stared back with a straight face. Then he said “Cute baby. Boy or girl?” I quickly told him girl and hoped that would be the end, but he continued on as if we were at a coffeehouse in deep conversation.

I don’t like talking when standing at a urinal ever, but I really don’t like talking about by baby to some guy while standing a urinal. Poor guy, I’m sure he was harmless and meant only to pay a compliment, but I like my space, period.

Once home, I unloaded the groceries and made it out for a quick run with Avery and Abby. We were happy to see Going Mom was home when we returned and spent the rest of the day inside. Avery watched Kelley do a little of her Supreme 90 workout, but then she turned into a ~~night terror~~ whiny baby and I brought her over with me in the kitchen…..where she still whined.

No long walk in the Onya today, but with the two store trips and 10 minutes at home, the total time spent wearing Avery today was an hour and forty minutes. Most of it she slept or at least did not cry a lot.

Talking when using a public restroom, yay or nay?

I’m not a fan of holding any discussions in a public restroom, even with people I know, but it’s not a problem at home.

Parenting

Sleeping on the Nursery Floor and Onya Outback Progress

03/25/2014 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

So, Monday was off to a great start with Avery firing up her vocals nice and early at midnight. For almost an hour, we laid in bed listening to her wavy whimpers and watching her do what looked like reverse crunches on the baby monitor. We decided I would feed her a bottle and let her fall back asleep so I could put her back in her crib. Well, at least it sounded like a good plan…

At first, Avery accepted the bottle, but after only a few minutes she would jerk her head away. This happened a numerous amount of times with crying in between. She was hungry, but not really taking to the bottle. Teething? Maybe. Baby? Yes.

I gave up on the bottle after a while and started trying to rock her to sleep. I used Kelley’s Boppy pillow to lay her across my lap and she was out fast. How Kelley gets the damn pillow from off of her waist to put Avery in the crib, I haven’t a clue. That thing just stuck on my waist like an inner tube!

After gently shaking my butt to get the Boppy off while holding Avery, I crept over to her crib and laid her down. Nope. Instant squirming and crying ensued. WTF!? I could’ve sneezed 5 times while holding her, but even a mouse fart seems to wake her up when not being held!

This same scenario, Boppy and all, occurred another 3 times over the course of an hour before I was ready to reach for some bourbon and ease myself to sleep. But, although I do like bourbon, I’m no alcoholic nor a bad parent, so I just laid on her blanket on the nursery floor.

Boppy's are good for more than just breast feeding! — Boppy’s are good for more than just breast feeding!

As I laid there, listening to our baby go in and out of high and low pitch crying, I felt I’d never get to sleep. Next thing I know, Kelley is waking me up at 5 in the morning and telling me to come to bed. Wow, I guess Avery’s cries were just melodic enough to put me to sleep!

Avery then woke up at 6 and I brought her to our room so Kelley could feed her. Luckily, she fell right back asleep and Kelley was kind enough to let us both sleep past our usual 7 a.m. wake-up time. Good times, but hope to never sleep on the nursery floor again.

Once her morning nap was over, it was time for a long walk in the nice weather. I buckled the Onya Baby Outback on and secured Avery in the front carry position. I used the chest clip again and I’m convinced I like it the most for ease of putting on. Plus, when crossing the straps, I don’t like how they just drag on the floor when unclipped.

Right before heading out and falling asleep

Not 10 minutes had passed with Avery in the Outback and she was out. Hmm, maybe someone didn’t get much sleep last night! It was a refreshing 4+ mile walk around the neighborhood lasting right at an hour and Avery slept the entire time.

And then she's out... — And then she’s out…

That was a first. Yeah, Avery went to sleep in the Baby Bjorn, but would never last long until waking up from my movement or a loud noise. I even wore her again to vacuum the house and she was out at the snap of my fingers. But I didn’t really snap my fingers, if you were wondering.

Total time in the Onya Outback for Monday = 1.5 hours. Avery slept this entire time and didn’t fuss either, so we’re making great progress! I am really loving our Onya and hope our second store trip on Tuesday goes over well!

Have you ever resorted to sleeping on the floor of your baby’s room?

Does or did your baby sleep soundly when being held and instantly wake up when you laid them down?

Parenting

“Catching Fire” with Tabata Inferno

03/24/2014 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

Sunday at our home was pleasantly uneventful this weekend, just how we like it. I only went outside to bring the trash and recycle bins to the curb and pick up dog poo. Yep, good times……

After a fairly restless night because of someone….

Me, he's talking about me... — Me, he’s talking about me…

….we had a slow start to the day which involved cooking a peanut butter protein teff porridge for Kelley and consuming several cups of coffee. Then, being the crazy people we are, we sat at the dining table and stared at our computers while Avery had a morning nap.

She hasn’t been having the best sleep in her new Zippy, and we’re thinking we tried to make the switch too fast. So we’ll do the swaddle again and make a slower transition. Although, it’s hard to not have her in the Zippy because she’s so freakin’ cute!

No, see, I'm wide awake! — No, see, I’m wide awake!

Once Avery woke up, we spent a little time with all three of us laying on the nursery floor. It started with Tummy Time for Avery, but then it ended with Back Time for Mom and Dad while holding Avery. I think she’s a manipulative baby!

As the day progressed, Kelley laid Avery down for another nap and we decided to finally start watching “Catching Fire” that we bought a few weeks ago. Choosing a movie is a huge commitment when you have a baby in the house, so it needs to be a good one!

We enjoyed the first part of this three part series, “The Hunger Games”, and have been looking forward to this second installment. After pausing several times to try and get Avery back to sleep and then just giving up and bringing her out to watch the movie, we finally finished.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give it a “What the Crap?!” strictly because of the ending, or lack thereof. I get that this is a series, but at least giving us a little more would’ve been nice. As I said, this is a huge commitment! Other than the non-ending ending, it really was a good movie and I am ready for the third and final one to come out.

It was getting late and Avery’s bedtime was drawing near, but first we had a workout video to do. Kelley has been loosely following the Supreme 90 Day workout videos, and today was Tabata Inferno.

Tabata has become pretty popular in the fitness world and is a protocol of doing 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds. So, it ends up being 4 minutes total. This video has you doing 7 different tabata routines with a 1 minute break in between. I consider myself to be in good shape, and this video will really make me sweat! Here’s a full list of what you do if you’re interested:

Avery hung out in her jumper next to me during the video and she was good up until the last part. I think was the part with burpees really confuses her; what do you think?

I'd rather do Tummy Time... — I’d rather do Tummy Time…

Immediately after the video, Kelley jumped in the shower while I made a smoothie and prepared dinner. But, before dinner, we had a very tired and fussy baby to bathe and put down for the night. It didn’t take long until Kelley had Avery in her crib and we wound down for the night. What a day!

I didn’t walk with Avery in the Onya on Saturday or Sunday, but I did wear her around the house both days. We went for a run in her stroller on Saturday, so that’s the only reason there was no walk. Total time for both days was about 40 minutes and I used the chest clip front carry each time. I think I’m warming up to the chest clip versus the cross straps for regular activities, and Avery is starting to enjoy it too!

Are you a fan of “The Hunger Games”?

Do you have any favorite workout videos?