The Nest

What I like to do in the morning

Posted Tuesday, July 15, 2008 10:23 AM

Usually Jax wakes up right after Andy leaves for work, which is way too early for me to wake up.  Luckily he likes to amuse himself in his crib and will do so until I get him.  I've begun to take advantage of this and try to wake up around 8:30 so I can get a workout in, but usually I pull myself out of bed at 9.  For the next half hour I get ready for the day and if I have enough time, I'll dink around on the internet, checking my e-mail, blogging, perusing.  It's incredible to have this half hour to myself where I can relax and drink my coffee, eat my breakfast and whatnot.

Sure he usually takes a long nap in the afternoon, but that time is reserved for chores and anything else I want to get done.  This half hour is purely for me.  

When I first started doing it, it was mostly so I could eat my breakfast in peace.  Jax doesn't always want to eat his OWN breakfast, so he'll steal whatever you're eating, even if it happens to be the same thing.  Of course your strawberry yogurt tastes better than his strawberry yogurt!  Another big thing is when we have toast.  He just HAS to have mine!  My dad told me that I used to eat off of his plate all the time, so one time he fed me a jalapeno.  That stopped me from grabbing food off of his plate!  This funny little tactic hasn't worked for Jax.  We've fed him all kinds of funny things and if he doesn't like it, he'll make a face and go for the good stuff.  

Today we are definitely heading off to Wal-Mart to get those protetictive door handle things and maybe another baby gate.  Also I hope that it isn't blazing hot outside like yesterday.  Holy moley, we went to play outside in the afternoon before swimming and it was just too hot.  

Boo!

Posted Monday, July 14, 2008 11:24 AM

I haven't had much to talk about lately, so we've been kinda laying low.  Jax turned 2 on Friday and we went to the fair and then bummed around all weekend.  My in-laws gave Jax a swingset with a playhouse underneath the slide.  He loves it and has fun running around.  This upcoming weekend we are having his official birthday party at my parents' house.  I didn't think so many people would come since they would be driving long distances, but 25 people is the expected number!  Luckily there will only be 3 other kids besides Jax.  Then the weekend after that we will be camping for a few days!  Yay!  I'm really looking forward to our mini vacation.  It'll be awesome to spend a few days in a cabin on the lake and see all kinds of family.

Along with Jax's independence is the constant use of the word no.  Not Jax's usage, but my own.  He can open the refrigerator and pulls out yogurt or whatever it is that he wants to eat.  He loves to go over to my sewing machine and play with the pedal and the foot where the needle is.  It's definitely time to buy the contraptions that go on doors because he opens them and disappears into the bathroom or his own room.  I'm not too worried about him playing in his room because he usually picks up a book and sits in the rocking chair.  But we don't have real doors that lead into the sewing room, so clever placement of baby gates will have to do. 

Whenever I talk to my mom on the phone she tells me that it sounds like Jax is growing up to be just like me.  All I can say in response is 'oh my!'

Mr. Independent

Posted Thursday, July 03, 2008 10:58 AM

I can't believe how independent Jax has become.  He's certainly his own little person and stubborn as all get out. 

Whenever we go to the mall, he has to run off ahead of you and push the handicap button because it opens the door.  At the car he opens up his own door and climbs in by himself then sometimes he'll demand to put the buckles in himself.  Dinner time has become quite the event because Jax now refuses to sit in his highchair, he wants to sit in a regular chair like the rest of us.  The other day Andy insisted he sit in his own chair and Jax screamed and threw a tantrum the entire time.  Once he got to sit in a regular chair he was content and gobbled up his food.  A new thing we're doing is teaching Jax how to drink out of a cup.  

So far he's doing really good.  Still messy as I expected, but not flooding the table with spills.  The funniest thing is that he is eating yogurt and would dip his spoon in his yogurt and then dip it in his milk.

We are going to have to start showing up at swimming just on time.  Yesterday we arrived 10 minutes early like usual and stood around like the other parents/kids.  Well, Jax didn't want to wait and kept attempting to jump into the kiddie pool and screamed bloody murder when I pulled him away and tried to keep him occupied elsewhere.  I'm sure the other parents understood, but I felt terrible that my kid was the only one being a pain because swimming lessons hadn't start yet.  When our teacher came over he jumped right into the pool and was an angel.

I don't know if I'm ready for the 'terrible twos' because I have an inkling they will indeed be terrible if Jax is anything like me.  And I'm sure that he got all those fun attributes from me (stubborn....opinionated....loud.....hyper) and now I will have to deal with it.  When I was working still, one of my favorite customers was in and we got to talking about how both of our mothers made the comment that they originally wanted big families with lots of boys, but then they had us and didn't want any more kids 'cause we were such a handful.  She has 3 boys and told me "I'm paying for all the stuff I pulled when I was little!"  

Oh yes, another little incident is when we were shopping the other day.  Usually he runs around like normal and isn't too crazy.  Well, this last time he just terrorized the store.  He pulled all the necklaces down and tangled them and ran screaming through the store and tried to open the door of a woman who was changing.  Oh my goodness.  I'm really glad that it was at the place I used to work and my girlfriend is such a doll.  Otherwise it could have been really bad.  Actually, if we had been in another store and he was being a terror we would have left.  

I refuse to be one of those parents that lets their kids get away with everything under the sun and be rude.  My heart's already set on having each and every child I ever have work in customer service.  Andy doesn't agree with me, but I don't care.  Kids need to learn that it's a tough gig working in retail/restaurants.  Okay, sorry about the mini rant.  But I hated these 2 girls who came into the store all the time, tried every thing on and then left a huge mess in the fitting room.  No matter how many times I went back there to ask if I could take things out, they'd say no and leave a huge mess that took 30 minutes to put away.  And they never bought anything.  *sigh*

Wicked baby!

Posted Wednesday, July 02, 2008 11:39 PM

I have been dying to see the play "Wicked" for years.  The last time they were in Minneapolis, I was busy in my last month of pregnancy with Jax.  We haven't been able to plan a trip to NYC, but our friends are going next month.  I discovered a few weeks ago that "Wicked" will be touring and stopping in Minneapolis again!  My girlfriend and I have been perusing sites to find tickets and she got some totally kicka** ones.  We'll be going in November and I am so super excited right now!  I'm planning on calling relatives and seeing who we can stay with and then saving up for a few days in the cities!  Woohoo!

Potty Time?

Posted Wednesday, July 02, 2008 5:43 PM

I am quite convinced that it is near time to start potty training Jax.  He lets us know when he's pooped and what to do when we need to pee/poop.  Today after changing him, he motioned to his diaper and then darted into the bathroom and lifted up the toilet seat.  I grabbed his potty training stool/potty (it's really cute) and let him stand on it and then removed his diaper.  He stood there, then turned around and sat down, waited a few seconds, stood up, sat down.  After a few repeats of this, I determined that he didn't actually have to GO to the bathroom, he just wanted to imitate me.  Of course, I don't ritually stand up and sit down though.  :) 

I seem to remember hearing that you shouldn't potty train your child during a busy time of change because he/she'll get confused and probably won't take to it as well.  Next weekend is his birthday, the weekend after that we'll be visiting family and having his big birthday party, the weekend after that we will be camping.  So we're quite busy the next few weeks and I don't want to start training him only to have it sidetracked by travel.  But perhaps in August we will begin and see where it takes us.  Hopefully it'll be quick and painless.  I've heard from my parents that my brother was way easier to potty train than I was.  Then again, I was adamant abou peeing like my dad and several times would march into the bathroom, lift up the toilet seat, and stand there and pee.  My poor mother.  :D  Oh well.

Take the plunge

Posted Monday, June 30, 2008 11:52 AM

I've been thinking about it all weekend and have decided that I am definitely going to start selling my knitting online.  This morning I signed up for a general membership to Etsy and once I start getting more things knitted and put together, then I'll sign up for the selling membership.  Over the past week I've knitted a toy lobster, finished my messenger bag (complete with lining, handles and pockets) and started on a doll fairy.  Yesterday I came up with a great idea for a purse and now all I have to do is buy some good yarn and the fabric for the liner and get going!

If you want to see pictures of what I've knitted, here's the website.

http://www.knitlish.wordpress.com

Hold that thought

Posted Monday, June 23, 2008 9:15 PM

Andy and I have decided to put off ttc baby #2 until winter.  Or at least until sometime after October.  I told him that I want to make sure most of our debt is paid off before we start thinking about adding to our family. 

We were the first couple in our intimate group of friends to get married and have a baby.  And to be honest, we didn't really plan for Jax.  It was more of an "I think we should start trying to have a baby.  It usually takes a few months, so let's start trying now."  As you know I miscarried the first time.  We put babymaking on the back burner and then 2 months after that, poof!  

Two other couples we know are really putting a lot of thought and effort into planning their kids.  They have money budgeted in and timing and all that jazz.  It makes me feel a bit silly just jumping into parenthood like we did.  I asked Andy about it once and he told me not to feel silly.

Anyhow.  We both decided it would be a good idea to wait for the time being.  And to be honest, I'm not so sure I'd be able to handle Jax and a newborn at this stage.   Mostly I want to make sure everything's stable on the financial front.