Do Not Feel Very Good

  My stomach feels upset, I have a headache, am tired and sore.  I just want to go back to bed and sleep for another few hours please. Oh wait, Adam has a vote.  He votes I feed him milk and food, play with him, clean and change his diapers twice in an hour, appease his teething and change his clothes.  It's only 10 AM.  Now time to soothe him into a half hour nap which means only 10 minutes for me to shower, eat and put a load of laundry in.  Ah, the joy of Wednesday.  It is cold out also, by the way.  It is the end of May for crying out loud.  COLD.  Better this than 110 degrees by far though.  Cold I can bundle and cover him up.  Pouring rain is what I wanted to avoid when taking Adam into the office today.  We'll see. Gotta go.  Thunderstorms a brewin'.

Travel

  Oh my.  Travel with a 6 month old on a plane is not something that I would have agreed to after the baby was born.  As this trip was planned prior to birth, I felt I must push through it. Now, in hindsight, I feel the trip was a great idea and we all grew from the trip and are all more wise and seasoned as a family.  Adam turned out to be a great traveler, better than I could have expected, but deep down I knew he could be as I pressed through with plans to visit.  He slept when he should, he ate as much as expected, he played and was happy more than expected and loved us with is spirit and smiles.  What a great boy.  He teaches me lessons and patience every single day.

  Getting to see Taylor graduate really brought me back to how I felt at graduation.  The people I knew, the path I was desiring to take, the family that was not there for me, the roller coaster of emotions I went through.  How different life is than what I envisioned that day.  I could not have told you this would be how it is, but the getting here was so unexpected I would love to try and help my niece along however I can, but she is like me and has to learn the hard way.

  Shopping, swimming, restaurants, taking in the sights and heat are how we spent our vacation.  Catching our breath from when Adam was born really.  Tony got some quality time with him and that alone was worth it.  No projects, home maintenance, nagging, sense of should this and that with time off.  What a great release.  I loved the views and swimming, shopping and hanging out.  That said, I figured out on this trip I could never live in Tucson through the summers ever again.  Too hot!  I knew that when I left AZ, but this trip just solidified it.  Even though it is only in the 50's and 60's here, everything is green, sunny and the outdoors is always open.  I can shop periodically and do not need to very often.

  I left with a sense of sadness and longing.  Arizona is a great place to visit and maybe have a winter home there.  Not a place for summers.  Two 110 degree days, one 109, 99, 86, 82 etc.  The nicest days were right before we left, in May no less.  We came back to fog, rain and 50 degrees.  I'd rather cool than unbearable heat.  I felt I could not take Adam out for more than a few minutes at a time.  What kind of life is that?  At least in the cold we could bundle up.  There is no escape from the heat.

  Overly tired boy from all that travel and overstimulation, poor thing is having a hard time staying asleep. Now it is my turn.  Happy to close my eyes.  Tomorrow, unpacking, bills and hopefully sleep.  Fantastic.

Noise canceling headphones for a flight next to the engines

Tony, Charity, Taylor

Mother's Day

  SO great the support and friendliness of friends and family on Mother's Day.  So warm and thoughtful.  I feel so happy that I am a part of the mommy club.  So fun.  I had an overall good day.  Lilies from Tony, a shirt for hands and feet of Adam and doing the dishes for me were my gifts.  Perfect.  Adam's gift was a full non-leaked diaper for me to change.  What a sweetie.  Good to see Steve in town also.  Gorgeous day to boot.  Adam called me mommy today.  Not mam, mom or mama, mommy.  Sweet.

  Packing did not get done and we have appointments all day tomorrow.  I knew if I didn't pack today I would not get a chance and it will stress me out.  Ugh.  I had so many unplanned things happen today that I knew I should have stuck to my plan instead of going with the flow.

  Adam loves being in a high chair and maybe I can get more done this way.  Laundry is getting done and dishes still need to get done.  Ah, if only.  I am ready to go to bed.  Not looking forward to shots for Adam tomorrow.  He had watery eyes, major sinus drainage and was stuffed up and sneezing all day.  I am thinking allergies, but will find out tomorrow.  If it is a cold, no shots tomorrow.  The 22 pound boy will get weighed and measured.  Great to know how strong my boy is getting.  Big as or bigger than a 1 year old.  Love that he's still hitting his milestones.  I think he's ready for finger foods.  We'll see.

LONG Day

  One of the most boring lectures I have ever had to sit through happened at a seminar I attended today.  Painful, dry as toast presentation from a truly career academic lecturer.  If I had known, we would have skipped it!  The weather was the best it has been and we missed the whole day to be inside being tortured.    Not enough new information and too much monotone drone about information we got back in school.  On to new things.  CE accomplished.

  Fun to see Steph, Kris and little soon-to-be one Elliot.  Fun to see where we'll be all to soon also.  So active and curious.  So fun.  Now I understand all those parents at restaurants just trying to survive.  What a team effort.  At the end of the meal the men were holding the boys and the women were trying to have an actual conversation.  Too funny.  Excellent food and service at Hereford & Hops!  Delectable and always a fav of the boys.  Sad we didn't get a pic of the boys together.  I used to be so on top of the pics.  Now I have tired mommy brain.

  Have to get 6 months pics out in the mail today and then enjoy some sunshine!  I'm exhausted!  Adam did as well as can be expected in a hotel yesterday.  He didn't do too bad and he went to sleep as best he could in a car seat.  Sweetie.  This was a dry run for what we'll need on our plane trip.  Toys for the car seat will be essential and bottles with cleaning gear as well.  Lots of diapers too, we were down to our last one of the way home!  We made it, but barely.  I will need gallons of water to stay hydrated, so I will take an empty bottle with me to fill up as much as possible. On to the weekend!!!

6 months old today

LOVE Adam turned 6 months old today.  He's so big and happy.  He has come so far and is growing up so fast.  I know it is a blink of an eye and he will be one year already.  I cannot wait for summer for him to enjoy! He crawled for the first time today across the bed!  He also was rolling back and forth from tummy to back.  Such a fun day.  He said, "Up" when laying on the couch and asked if he wanted to be picked up.  Fun.

  Going into the office tomorrow.  Yay.  Trying to enjoy every minute and not stress about goal reaching.  This is VERY difficult for me, but I am trying everyday to slow down and smell the roses, or baby in this case.  Look forward to visiting friends and family this week.

Arghh

  Adam rolled onto his belly and stayed asleep for the first time last night.  He did it again a few minutes ago.  I can hear him on the monitor moving around and when I peeked in he was on his belly.  Oh man. I do not want him sleeping on his belly, but this is inevitable.  One more thing that will now be on my mind to try to go to sleep now.  What a growing boy.

Baby Rules

  OK, when visiting public settings I wish I could instill 4 basic rules for my baby.  These, I feel, are simple, reasonable and easy to remember.
1- Do not put your fingers in his mouth ever.
2- Do not kiss the baby on the lips.
3- Do not feed the baby food without my knowledge.
4- No sharing of utensils, cups or plates with others.

These are cavity and illness prevention measures as well as health related.  I want, as he is my first baby, to prolong his lack of exposure as long as possible and prevent problems in the future if I can help it.  It gives me peace of mind and makes me happy.  I'm sure Adam appreciates a happy mom.  Now if I can tell my babysitter and my young cousins this it would be good.  Tough to explain to young ones though.  Ah, trying to keep my boy cavity free will be a challenge.  One I hope to conquer though.

No one is born with the bacteria that causes cavities.  It is acquired in the early months to years in life.  The earlier you acquire the bacteria the more severe and early developed cavities can be.  The later you acquire the bacteria the less severe or more likely that you will not get cavities in your lifetime is possible.  There are different strengths of the bacteria, strong nasty varieties that cause fast and large cavities or the weak variety that the cavities are preventable through good eating habits and hygiene.  The bacteria is acquired like the common cold, through passing from others via transfer through sneezing, sharing utensils, hands to the mouth, sharing drinks, etc.  If you can prevent this, then you can prevent the transfer.  This is a difficult task, but many people get through childhood without this problem.  These days, it is less common, but I hope to guard against it for a couple years at least.  In the least I can hope he gets a weak form of the bacteria and can develop good habits.  He already loves brushing.  I hope that lasts a lifetime.