Tag Archives: walk

A Hissing Goose and An Ass Woke My Baby

03/28/2014 R.C. Liley 5 Comments

Hello, how is everybody doing? Probably better than other days since you’re reading this on Friday. Right?

Well, Thursday started out pretty similar to other mornings in our house. Kelley woke up to get ready for work and I laid in bed a little longer with our sleeping burrito, better known as Avery in a swaddle.

She was extra squirmy when I brought her to bed early in the morning, and poor Kelley had to deal with her wrath while trying to feed her. Even with her hands stuck to her side, Avery is a mover and shaker!

On the Supreme 90 workout schedule, I had Tabata Inferno to tend to as Avery kept me company. She kept flashing me smiles whenever I’d look at her and stayed happy for the most part. Then, close to the end, I caught her eyes going in and out; time for a nap!

But first, I figured I’d take a shot at getting Avery to roll from her back to her stomach. She did it for the first time with Going Mom on Wednesday night, but I missed it because I was in the kitchen. I can’t get myself out of that place! Anyway, I was determined to capture her rolling on film……..or memory; whatever it’s called now.

Annnnnddd, she did it! After filming her for a total of 30 minutes the day before and only getting a lot of close calls, she rolled both ways in a couple of minutes! Awesome, proud parent alert! Here’s the video:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwF8SvLDeXc?rel=0&w=420&h=315]

After her triumph, she went down for her morning nap with a little more pride and experience under her onesie.

She must’ve been pretty worn out after all of the twisting because she slept good! Once awake, it was time to go on our long walk and enjoy the warmer, although humid, weather. Oh yeah, it was really windy too, so I made good use of the integrated hood on the Onya to keep Avery shielded.

It didn’t take long and she was asleep again. Must be pretty cozy in there! Along our usual route, we ran into two geese on two separate occasions. The first time was a goose we see almost every time we walk, and the entire neighborhood has given him several names.

Henry, Harry, Marvin, and Chris. So I guess we’re going with it being a male! The other goose we ran into was a Canadian goose with a black, snaky neck and a mean hiss to boot. I knew that they can hiss, but it always catches me off guard when I hear it.

Even Abby wasn’t too sure what to make of the goose, so she just pretended to act interested in the grass.

I was relieved the Avery stayed asleep through the hissing goose event and happily carried along with our warm, windy walk. Part of our route brings us by a ranch that houses cows, horses, and one ass (donkey). As we passed, I made eye contact with the donkey…

Several parents bring their children to feed the donkey every now and then, so he’s a harmless ass. But, I guess he thought I had something for him because all of the sudden….

He was in our face! And during his trip toward us, he let out boisterous “hee-haw” sounds just like a donkey would. I had my phone with me so I decided I’d capture him on video.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZuAGdIBiUA?rel=0&w=420&h=315]

It doesn’t sound like a very inviting “pet me” noise, but like I said, he’s harmless. Unfortunately, he did wake up my sleepy baby who wanted to know what all the commotion was about.

At least she didn’t get fussy, just kinda looked around for the rest of the walk. I tried to take a selfie of Avery and me with the donkey behind us, but then the ranch owner turned into the driveway (which I was standing in!) and I promptly waved and carried on my way. Oops! I should’ve told him I just wanted a picture of his ass.

So that was our Thursday highlight; rolling both ways, getting hissed at by a goose, and a loud ass. How do you top that? I don’t know, but I’ll be sure to share with you when that day comes.

Total time in the Onya was an hour and twenty minutes since I took an extended walk. The only real annoyance so far is having the loose straps blow around when it’s windy. Not really an issue, just something to note. Still loving as usual.

Have a great Friday right into the weekend!

Have you ever heard a goose hiss?

Ever hear an ass make noise? No, not that ass!!

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

The 4 Month Checkup and Avery Might be Taller than Us

03/20/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Don’t you just love taking your baby to the doctor knowing full well they’re about to get poked with those monstrous needles? Yeah, me either….

Just so happens that’s what I did with Avery this morning! Her delayed visit became the present and I’m pretty sure she wasn’t happy. I could ramble on and on about her visit, but I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Feeling pretty good today and Daddy is just taking pictures of me in my car seat.

Wait a second……why am I in my car seat?

W-wh-what is this building? There’s no food here!

Noooo! I smell a doctor’s office and Daddy is looking at me with apologetic eyes!! Oh, I just pooped a little.

I’m not going to stop this until Daddy takes me back home now!! No, don’t take me in another room!

Hmm, my hand is pretty good and I’m quite flexible…

Oh, okay, Daddy just took me to hang out in this room while I work on my hand.

What the!?! That was the worst feeling ever! Daddy, you are now my arch nemesis!!

Seriously, where is Mommy? And why am I still crying with my thumb in my mouth? Self-soothing my diaper rash!

I feel a little tired now, maybe I’ll just rest my ey….

And that was our trip to the doctor’s office for Avery’s 4 month checkup. Luckily we are following the alternative vaccine schedule I mentioned before and she only got 2 shots. She’ll get more next month, but at least her body won’t be overwhelmed.

Avery weighed in at 13.9 lbs putting her in the 68th percentile for her age and she was 25 inches in height which is in the 86th percentile. This didn’t seem to be too concerning since she is on a strictly breast fed diet. Our doctor said after the 4 month mark, we should start seeing a boost in weight. So, we’ll see how she’s doing at the next checkup!

After a long 3 hour nap, I took Avery for our first walk in the Onya Baby Outback. I’ve been very anxious to test it out on a long walk and eagerly headed out the door with our dog, Abby in tow.

Heading out for our first of many "Outback" journey — Heading out for our first of many “Outback” journeys

We went our standard route which is a 1.5 mile loop that I do twice. I really like going up the big hill to make it more challenging. Yes, I’m weird like that. Wait until you see what I do with a Fiskars StaySharp Max Reel Mower. I’ll go into detail in future posts.

Avery was fussy for a while, but ended up falling asleep. I was worried she wasn’t into the Onya, but after we got home, we found the culprit of her fussiness was a dirty diaper! Oops, sorry Avery!

Along the route, we ran into the neighborhood goose. He usually around the same area every day we go for a walk.

After we finished our hour of walking, which was close to 4 miles, Going Mom was home and we went for another 30 minute walk. So the total time in our Onya Outback was just over an hour and a half today and about 5.25 miles!

I’m thoroughly satisfied after our first long walk in the Outback and know Avery will enjoy it more when she is bigger. I did use the Baby Booster this time and it helped her temperament over how it was without. One thing I noticed it that I can move my arms to wipe sweat or bugs from my face without worrying about the carrier moving around while she sleeps. In the Baby Bjorn, since the tension is all on my shoulders, any arm movements usually disrupt her slumber.

I am seriously liking the Outback and look forward to another journey tomorrow. Hopefully Avery will be more accepting too!