Hubs, the boys and I are heading up to Eugene, Oregon tomorrow to visit my sister/brother-in-law/3 kids.

We are looking forward to the 8 hour drive with a chatty 3 1/2 year old and a MO ‘FO teething 6 month old. (major eye roll.) Hubs and I have had much interrupted sleep since we returned from NYC. The worst of it came last night. Yes, Motrin did help, initially, but for some reason we decided not to give him anymore in the middle of the night and we paid the price. He’s been awake, for the most part, since 5:15am BESIDE HIMSELF with pain. I did whip out the orajel and it did calm him down enough to fall asleep, but being this overtired won’t keep him asleep. (shoot me now.)

That’s the problem with teething. You don’t really know if you are truly up against it. It only dawns on you after the fact, once the tooth/teeth pop through, but the pain happens days/weeks before. My cousin-in-law, who is a dental hygienist, said that the teeth have to cut through bone before they emerge from the gums. CAN YOU IMAGINE? My bro-in-law, a doctor, said if we teethed as adults, we would be in the hospital, it’s that painful.

Most of Hola’s symptoms do ring true. He’s so happy while he is awake/distracted, but the moment you go back to his room for some quiet time, he starts wailing again. His hands are in the mouth, the paci is not. It’s been so rough, I have almost forgotten that we are successfully unswaddled!!!

Hubs and I are trying very hard to have major sympathy for him. It truly must be awful, but, come on, this is just HORRIBLE. He’s so loud and inconsolable most of the time he’s awake in the night. There is no escaping it. There is no room far enough away in my house to not hear him. (Maybe the car in the garage? Might have to try that one.)

And, it will only get worse once we are in someone else’s house hoping not to wake EVERYONE. The anxiety, the beads of sweat beginning to drip down the back of the neck. Ugh. I can’t wait

We are looking forward to the trip, we just wish and hope some random tooth shows up between now and tomorrow. (ya, right.) And if not, that the motrin or the teething tablets or the baby orajel will provide some sort of miracle. For THREE nights.

e

So, I’ve been a bit busy with life since our return from New York City. (Clearly, NOT updating photos and posting them. Just surviving with two kids who have been cared for by other people for 6 days. It DOES make a difference.)

My latest effort is balancing my checkbook. My last balance was from 9/29. Ya, I was in dire need of some updating. Hubs is watching Heroes, so it’s a perfect opportunity for me to zone out and “play” on the computer while spending some downtime on the couch. Too bad my brain hurts from all the math.

In other news, Hola has been out of the upper swaddle since Saturday night. It was mostly by accident to start two days early. He woke an hour or so after being put down with his little hands making their way towards the top of his wrap. I decided to place him on the floor and wrap him tightly, AGAIN, to get him through the night. While undoing the wrap, both of his arms made their way above his head and stayed there while he passed out from sheer exhaustion.

So, the decision was made. Leave the arms there, and swaddle the rest of the bod.

Night one.

Rather decent. He slept straight through till 4am. It took me an hour to try to get him back to sleep, which included a feed. (Hell, I wasn’t used to getting an “armed” child back to sleep, so I thought a full tummy might help my odds.) He woke again around 7 something. Total Score.

Night two.

Not so good. Lots of little wakings and one big doozy that almost sent hubs to the moon. Basically, neither one of us got much sleep as I heard every “Beside myself” cry coming from the nursery.

He’s been a little charmer and agitated at the same time all day. I am assuming we are dealing with a little teething on top of “project de-swaddle.” There’s always something.

So, just to see if my theory is correct. I broke out the infant motrin for the first time. If he sleeps better, then he is in definite pain. If nothing changing and the night blows chunks, then I am yet at another loss. (Fabulous.)

Ok, just realized it’s close to 10p.m. and I need to be in bed.

I am on duty tonight and I need all the extra minutes of sleep I can get.

Here goes.

e

UPDATE: YES! The motrin did work THAT night. Read new post for latest in the life of a teething baby.

So, Hola turned 6 months last week. I am not sure how in the hell we got here, but it went by way too fast. Remember when I was bitching and moaning around the 5 week mark saying 3 months, 4 months, SIX months seemed so far away? Well, they were at the time, but then something occurred.

Life kept on happening.

And, now we are here. 6 months later. Crazy.

Hola has finally cut the two teeth that were making their presence 2 months ago. He is army crawling spastically across the room. At a slow pace, but he is gaining ground quickly. He came back to us after our NYC trip “this close” to sitting up unassisted. He is sitting up, but if you go away for a bit, he will face-plant or fall flat on his back due to his need of never sitting still.

Every time I ask him if he wants a “Ba-Ba”, his face lightens up with a huge smile. Every time a spoon comes near his mouth, he opens wide. Dude, he even takes straight peas without a flinch. He is still swaddled, (can we ever have a break from all this congestion?? Preschool, damn you!) but we do plan to hit the “cold-turkey” approach come Monday. (Somehow, Monday sounded like a good day. Help!)

He is becoming a threat to his brother, but brother is taking it in stride. He just plays with Hola’s toys too and keeps his precious few on higher ground. Hey, it works for now. People have told me he is a happy little dude. He’s all smiles at the gym and entertains the staff with his rolling and jumping moves and volume level!

He is a lovely child, with the mouth of a truck driver. Dude, you should hear him. He’s SO LOUD. Painful. He still collects a good amount of saliva while on his back and gurgles to his heart content. You can tell he knows its one of his best moves.

He has found his family jewels. It was about time. Now, he and his brother can compare notes. Men! He can hold his bottle and get pretty close to putting it in his mouth. The tilting part is still a mystery, but I am sure that will come in time. (brother wanted to be feed anything and everything till 16 months.) He could even hold his bottle with his feet and eat, but that would take having him sit still, and as I’ve said, that just doesn’t happen.

He’s a doll. A lover. A sweet boy.

And he’s all mine.

e

dean and deluca hot chocolate and cafe au lait: $5.80

ice skating in Rockefeller plaza for 2: $44

2 tickets to view the NYC skyline from the Empire State Building: $38

2 Papaya Hot Dogs and a Drink Special: $3.50

******************

Spending the entire day being a major ass tourist: priceless

Yes, the leaves do turn colors here in California, but hubs and I have a better plan to take in the season.

Go to New York City.

Tomorrow.

Alone.

For 5 days.

We are taking the kids up to the grandparents today to get them settled before we head off at the crack of dawn tomorrow. It will be the first time hubs and I are both gone from the boys since Hola was born. Sigh.

I will be filled with major excitement the moment we take off tomorrow at 6a.m.

Until then, I will run around my house furiously packing the kids, then spending most of my afternoon in almost-tears dropping my babies off.

Any last minute suggestions on what to do while we’re there?

e

p.s. I almost forgot!! Hola is SIX MONTHS OLD TODAY. Hola hell batman! Time is a flyin!

The reality of Facebook has made my dreams a whole lot funkier. More people from my past continue to creep into my mind and play pivotal roles during my slumber.

It IS an oddity, isn’t it?

I have two cases to prove my point.

1st up.

A 15 yr old boy.

No, he is NOT currently 15, but he was when I met him.

It was the summer after my Freshman year and I was in Austin, Texas for UT Diving Camp. There was this boy. He was cute. With braces. We were “boyfriend/girlfriend” for part of the 5 days we were there. (And no, that only included kissing, ok? Geez.)

Anywho, we parted ways after camp was over. He headed back to the East Coast and I made my way back to Oklahoma. We wrote back and forth a few times. (Pen pals!) Sent pictures of what we had done that summer. (Total geeks, right?) He even told me to look out for his father to be on the front cover of a popular financial magazine. (Hello?? So, cool.)

Time passed, we lost touch. (Or he never wrote me back.) Typical summer lovin. (Oh God, did I just write that?)

Over the years, and with the addition of the Internet, I always wondered what had happened to him, along with several other people who came in and out of my life. You just want to know, right? Right?

Well, I may have searched for his name and came up with not much.

Until the age of Facebook.

(And yes, hubs knows all about my silly little interest in “random joe’s of mel’s past.” And yes, he does think I look like a stalker. So be it.)

I searched his name.

I found him.

I asked him to be my friend.

He said yes and added me. (Thank God. I would be horrified if I never heard from him. Still feeling 15 here.)

He has two little boys, just like I do. He looks just the same, just 20 yrs older. It’s weird. WEIRD I tell you.

Fabulous, but weird all in the same breath.

And no, I still do not know if he thinks of me as a stalker, but he has been nice enough to oblige me in my quest.

**************

Case in point #2.

I went to high-school with this fella. SUCH a great guy. We have always been friends, but haven’t seen or heard from him in 10 years, (like most people you move away from.)

Sophomore year, he invited me to the prom. He was a Junior. We went with a big group of friends. We had a blast. Maybe too much of one cause we all were a tad off in the sober department. Enough so, that at the after-party an accident happened. I BIG one.

I could explain the story to you, but I think the following quote from said Prom Date sums it up best.

(Btw, he just wrote this TODAY. ON FACEBOOK.)

“I think of you and that night at prom when I fell through that window and messed up my shoulder. Still have a big scar.”

Duuuude.

Poor guy. It was awful. He was sent off in an ambulance and I was left with no ride home. Not being 18 has its disadvantages. Like not being able to ride in an ambulance when your date is bleeding. What a night.

All in all, this Facebook thing has been such a trip. A trip down memory lane, that is for certain.

e

without something like this happening.

The boy can skootch across the floor to reach whatever he desires and then some. How can this be? He isn’t even 6 months yet and he is marking his spot by taking over Rt toys with gusto. Rt didn’t crawl until after Christmas, 9 months. We are certainly in new territory over here. Halp!

He has finally popped those two teeth he’s being working on for almost two months. Go Hola! (It’s about time.)

We have gone through as many poop diapers in this past week than I have in the entire first five months of his life. The boy is going through a major crap phase. Not sure if it has to do with the teething, a tummy bug, or something else, but MY GOD. It’s as if I have a newborn breastfed baby. NO THANKS!

Sleep training is better. We are back in our swaddle after realizing we were not making much headway de-swaddling the boy while he battled some congestion. So, we’ll hold off for another couple of weeks. Hubs and I head to NYC next week, so being in the in-laws care for 5 days will probably set us back a bit. Ah, the joys of getting away.

I walked when I was 8 months old. I climbed into the attic during my 7th month. My parents didn’t know where I was until they looked up and saw my head peering out from the attic opening. CAN YOU IMAGINE??

Um, here we go?

e

My first born is 3 1/2 today.

Don’t let the cuteness fool you.

Do you know the difference between a 3 yr old and a 3 1/2 year old? If you have a child 3 1/2 or older, then you know.

I am in the care of a 3 1/2 year old ALIEN.

No, he isn’t THAT off kilter, but there have been moments where I am thinking “WHO DROPPED YOU OFF AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY BABY. WHAAAAAAH!”

He has said things like,

“I want to wake Baby Hola up.” (um, if you wake your brother, my head is going to explode.)

I asked nicely and QUIETLY, “why would you want to wake a sleeping baby?”

He said, “Cause, I want him to cry, so we can feed him a bottle.”

Um, ok. Yeah?

He is testing the waters and some days I am FAILING. Other days, I need his “help” with many projects and his tanked is filled. Patience is needed and add in an almost 6 month old and you’ve got yourself some trying times.

I am superwoman.

I am superwoman.

I am superwoman.

If I keep telling myself that, maybe it’ll come true.

Until then, I use strategy like “If you don’t do this, then you won’t get that cupcake after dinner.”

SMOOTH MOVE EXLAX.

e