Tuesday, October 1, 2013

First Family Vacation- Durango, Colorado

September 30, 2013

I can't believe the last time I blogged was in February! Ramey was only 7 months old.  Now he is 15 months! I'm super detailed in this because I forgot my travel journal so this is my travel journal for the trip and I don't want to forget anything from our 1st trip!  Don't read it if you don't want to = )


September 21st
We packed the car the night before except our suitcases.  We did our normal morning wake up time and routines to try and have it as normal as possible.  We got in the car and took a "Yay we're going on our first trip" picture and Harry went to start the car.  It was dead!  Harry had commented the night before that I shouldn't have turned the dome light on to pack the car.  It wasn't on for too long.  He even said, "It'd be REAL funny, if the car didn't start in the morning."  Harry wants me to say that he had to back his car out and back in to get it close enough to my car, to jump.  He was real annoyed.  Then he got so sweaty, that he had to change shirts.  Good start to our first family vacation.  We ended up leaving at 10:15.  Should have been around 9:45.

We stopped in Weatherford to stretch, change a diaper, nurse a baby, and then get going again.  Ramey fell asleep for 30 minutes and was woken up when we had to stop because of stupid road construction.  We had 2 or 3 times on the highway that we had to exit and drive on the side road because of highway construction. 

We needed to stop for lunch but all of the tiny towns didn't have anywhere to eat or good places to get Ramey out to walk.  We ended up stopping at a KFC and he ran around the restaurant because there weren't any other customers. 

Harry also wants it noted that he saw most of our family "landmarks" that we record in a journal, lol.  The leaning tower, big cross, first mountain, windmill, etc.  I will post at the end of this the results of the trip sightings. 

We stopped in Alanreed, TX, a place that Mom and Aunt Shelley took cover in their town storm shelter last time they were there in May when a tornado was a mile from them.  Alanreed is basically a post office and gas pump.  How they even found the storm shelter is a miracle.  Ramey played in grass behind the gas pump.

Right when we crossed the Colorado border a huge hail storm hit.  I was sure that my windows were going to be busted out! Ramey had fallen asleep about 5 minutes before and was woken up immediately.  It probably lasted 15 minutes but it was so hard to see and we were on a mountain pass.  Not the funnest thing.  Then, the sun was out and a huge rainbow was right beside us!  I could see both ends of the rainbow.  It was so close and so amazing!  It was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever seen!

We got to the hotel, The Days Inn in Trinidad, CO around 6:15 mountain time.  I thought that I had accidently written down the wrong info for the hotel because when we drove up it was the same hotel my family and I had always stayed at but I knew that was a Best Western.  Little did I know that they changed to a Days Inn, so we got to stay at the place I had originally wanted to stay at but couldn't find the info for!!!  I was excited!  So we checked in and Harry was mad because we were on the 2nd floor,  and he had to lug up all of the luggage. 

Ramey loved the hotel.  He kept crawling up on the little window sill and looking out at the mountains and sunset.  Harry ran and got us Taco Bell because it was close. 

I put up a divider for Ramey so he couldn't see us in the night.  I also had his sound machine which was the best idea ever!  He slept pretty well, cried a few times in night, but put himself back to sleep after a minute or so.


September 22
The next morning, Ramey woke up at 6:45 mountain time.  We got ready in the room and were about to go down to breakfast around 7:30 and Ramey was sitting in the arm chair.  Next thing I know, he was standing up and I was on my way over to get him when he flipped over the arm backwards. I screamed and ran to get him but wasn't fast enough and he fell out of armchair onto his head/shoulder.  It was horrible because it seemed to happen so slowly but I couldn't do anything about it.  This was his first fall off of anything!  Almost made it 15 months.  He cried for a minute but was okay.

We ate breakfast then left Trinidad at 8:30.  We took the scenic route, Scenic Highway 12 up through Cuchara, Colorado.  We have always stopped at a corral that my grandparents and mom would stop at and then at Cuchara.  Well Ramey fell asleep, so we passed by the corral and just as we were about to drive by Cuchara, Ramey woke up so we stopped.  Just a 30 minute nap, boo! But we got to walk around the tiny little 8 store town then got back on the road.

Side note: Our GPS said we would get to the cabin around 2:40.  About an hour after Mom and Dad's plane landed in Durango.

We stopped in Alamosa (at a place we ate at in April) for some lunch.  We got in right after a HUGE tour group of old people got there and wanted to try and get our order in before them.  We seriously sat for 20 minutes while our waiter kept helping his 3 other tables and walking right by us.  Harry even said "We're ready to order" and he just walked by!  Harry had had enough.  He saw the table of 30 people order, from a different waiter, and have their order put in, so we just got up and left.  Harry was so annoyed. So we got back on the road and would eat in South Fork.   No restaurants were open on Sunday.  We found the very last restaurant in town and it was open, Ramon's Mexican Restaurant. 

Ramey loves those squeezy baby foods and he has been super picky with eating real food, so I always have some with us just so he eats something!  Well he was eating one sitting in Harry's lap and I noticed under Harry's finger, it looked like it said Strawberries.  I asked Harry to move his finger and sure enough, stupid strawberries.  We think that Ramey is allergic to strawberries because his skin broke out in a splotchy rash when he ate fresh strawberries a couple of months ago, so we stay away from them to be safe.  Well of course he sucked down the whole squeezy thing in 20 seconds.  I think his allergy might just be a skin reaction because he has such sensitive skin and didn't seem to have any breathing problems when he ate the strawberries, but I was freaking out! Plus we were in the mountains and about to drive up on a mountain pass with tiny towns around and no hospitals!  So we just watched him really closely.  Right before we left, Ramey got to touch his first aspen tree!  It's always been my favorite kind of tree!


We then drove up Wolf Creek Pass.  As soon as we started going up the mountain we noticed snow and ice on the ground.  Then cars were driving by us COVERED in snow!  There had just been a big snow storm.  It was raining on us with some snow mixture but the ground was covered at least 6 inches deep in ice and snow. It was so scary.  Harry drove 25-35 mph over the mountain pass.  We also noticed multiple rock slides with huge rocks in the road and huge waterfalls shooting off the side of the mountain because they had just gotten so much rain.  I was so glad once we were finally off of the mountain.

We stopped in Pagosa Springs and had ice cream and walked around the little shopping center we always stop at. Ramey threw quite the fit when he was no longer allowed to eat ice cream that Harry was letting Ramey lick off of and then back on the road we went!

After we left Pagosa Springs, we ran into a huge downpour and pulled off of the highway for 5 minutes or so.  But it continued to pour, so we decided that we would just drive super slow and pull over if we needed.

We had another detour in Del Norte because there was a wreck.  Then another detour in Durango on the way up the mountain because of a big rock slide.  It was definitely the trip of detours!

It was about 6:00 when we finally got to the cabin.  It was raining when we got to the cabin and Harry unloaded the car in the rain by himself- he wants me to say, lol.

Since the weather was yucky, we stayed in the cabin and ate chicken for dinner.  We moved around the furniture in the back bedroom of the cabin so Ramey could be barricaded again.  The cabin was really nice but not stocked well at all.  They gave us 2 rolls of toilet paper for 6 people for 8 days! They also didn't have a garbage disposal or dishwasher.  The view was amazing though and was pretty easy to Ramey-proof. 


September 23
My 30th birthday!  We woke up and had cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Then wanted to go on a picnic.  So we drove up the mountain to see if we could picnic up at Durango Mountain at Sig Creek campsite.  We got out of the car and it was a very cold 45 degrees and super windy.  We decided not to do a picnic but still drove up the mountain.  It was very pretty.


As we were driving up the mountain I spotted 2 deer.  They were probably 20 yards away but we got Ramey to look in the right direction and he saw them!  He was pointing and following them with eyes when they were moving through the trees so we know he saw them.  It made this deer loving Mama very happy and ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!


Then Ramey fell asleep, we all got out of the car very quietly at the picnic/campsite and took some pictures. 

Then we drove into town and ate at the Balcony Bar and Grill.  It was about 65 in town and the sun was shining.  It was gorgeous!
 



We went back to cabin and Ramey napped. Mom and Dad drove up to Ouray and Harry got groceries.  He also surprised me with Orangina (my favorite drink from France), flowers, a birthday pie, balloons, and taffy.

That night Mom and dad "watched" Ramey.  He was in bed, so they just had to watch the monitor, lol.  Harry surprised me by making reservations when we were still in Oklahoma at a fancy steak place.  The Sow's Ear.  He even arranged for flowers to be at the table, gorgeous calla lilies.  It was great steak and food. 

It was such a great birthday!


September 24
Harry planned to make a big breakfast but forgot flour for biscuits and gravy, so he just made pancakes. Then we went into town, and were going to go to the Polo Outlet store but it was no longer there!  I even brought my Outlet coupon!  Boo!  So we walked around the other stores and when Ramey got a little fussy Harry ran up and down street with Ramey in the stroller to entertain him. 



Then Harry, Ramey and I drove to Mancos so Ramey could sleep because he refused to sleep in his stroller.  Then we ate at Steamworks Brewery for lunch. After we went to park on Main and 17th Street. It was a really nice park.  Ramey swung in the swing and then would climb up the stairs to Harry and Harry would guide him to the slide and I would catch him at the bottom. He kept signing "more" over and over.

Katherine and Ryan got to town and ate lunch with Mom and Dad.  They were going to meet us at the park but we weren't there too long so we all decided to head back to the cabin around the same time.  There ended up being a horrible head-on double fatality wreck right in front of Katherine and Ryan. Which also means we probably passed the guy that caused the wreck, so that is very scary too.  We are all very thankful that we were all okay.

That evening we went on a hike and broke all hiking rules.  We were just going to go a short ways to Electra Lake so we didn't think we'd be gone long.  We ended up going behind a closed fence and a lady we ran into on the road said that the road would meet along with one that lead to our cabin but we probably should have just turned around and gone back. 
Here are the rule of hiking that we broke:
- No food or water
- not appropriate clothing
- no bear bell
- no bug spray
- no compass
- no map (I did have my iphone which was dying with the map) but it only showed main roads
- we separated.  Katherine and Ryan went ahead- with NO PHONE
- we went off of the main road
- then we were on a walking trail and went off of that
- Then Harry and Ramey went ahead by themselves up the mountain on a trail, that wasn't really visable
- no one knew we were hiking, but us
- it was dusk and getting darker
- we listened to a stranger about how to get back to our cabin but didn't give us any real directions.  She just said, "Yeah, you can go that way"
- we hiked where it said "No Tresspassing" all over the place
ate at cabin.

As it was happening, we kept saying "we are doing everything wrong!  We are breaking all of the rules!"
I'm glad we made it back all in one piece!!!

Ramey cracks me up in this picture!!!

Then we played "What's Yours Like" with the family.  Mom won.  It was pretty fun and funny!


September 25

Ramey turned 15 months old today!  Which means 15 months of breastfeeding!!! Proud Mama moment!  I nursed for 15 months so it was one of my long term goals!

Harry made his big breakfast- biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage.

Then we all drove to Telluride. Ramey slept for hour in the car and woke up right when we got to Dolores and stopped and saw Dad's cousin Dan and his wife Collette at his shop.

We ate lunch at Appaloosa Café outside looking at the gorgeous mountains around Telluride.  Then we shopped a little bit, nursed a baby, and drove back.


Ramey has a new favorite game.  Putting every water bottle he can find on the ledge in the cabin.  Here's a video of it!

That night Harry gave Ramey his first shower ever.  He HATED it.  He screamed bloody murder the whole time. Guess he will take baths the rest of his life, lol.

That night I looked for shooting stars for awhile while we all sat outside on the balcony of the cabin but I never saw any.  It is crazy how many more stars you can see in the mountains!


September 26
We ate at Durango Café for breakfast.  Then went next door to a little consignment kids store and bought a really cool hiking carrier. Ramey loved it!

Then we walked around town and shopped. We went to my favorite book store in the whole world.  It has books stacked all over the place where you can barely walk through the place.  It is in an old house close to the train station. 

Then Mom, Dad, Harry, Ramey and I planned to drive to Ouray for lunch...well... I had a huge panic attack.  Harry was driving and I was sitting in the passenger seat and Mom and Dad were in the back with Ramey.  There are some big drop offs and not a lot of guardrails and knowing how the wreck happened earlier in the week because someone else crossed over, I think is what made me freak out the most.  I trusted Harry's driving but not the other people.  Plus, I was sitting on the side of the car that was looking over the side of the mountain and I am afraid of heights!

 So I felt bad but said we needed to stop in Silverton, which is between Ouray and Durango.  I didn't think I could go any further.  So I was bummed the whole time we were in Silverton because I wanted to go see the gorgeous trees that were already changing on the way to Ouray because Durango trees still hadn't changed and wasn't that one of the reasons we came!!! But I was so scared and freaked out that I didn't think I could do it.  Plus I felt bad because everyone else wanted to drive up there.  So we got in the car to go back to Durango after we ate at Natalia's and I bought an aspen necklace, a gorgeous rock, and a hat for Ramey.  Then the road forked- one way to Durango, the other to Ouray.  Dad asked if I was sure I wanted to go back to Durango.  Dad reminded me the road wasn't bad the whole way and the worst part was right before the town and maybe we could go a little bit up the road and then turn around when it go bad, so I said "okay."  We stopped and took a bunch of pictures in some gorgeous aspen trees along the way.  And got some of my favorite pictures from the whole trip!
I sat in the back this time and on the drivers side, so that helped.  I still had a little breakdown but we actually got all of the way to town. 



It was 4:55 when we pulled into town and I was afraid the one store I wanted to go to would be closed!  The Rock Shop that my Granddad always loved.  He was a geologist and loved this rock store.  We have always gone there and chose and broke open geodes.  The store has not changed AT ALL!  Each and every display is exactly the same as it has always been for as long as I can remember when I was 5!

We pulled up to the rock shop and Mom ran in to see if they would stay open a little later for us.  Mom hurt her knee in her quick exit out of the car and they ended up not closing until 5:30, so we were lucky!  But what a weird closing time!

I picked up a geode I thought looked good.  Not too small, but not too big.  I handed it to the guy and asked if he thought it was good.  (Geodes just look like round concrete rocks from the outside.)  He said it felt pretty solid, so he didn't think it would be too good.  So I put it back and then thought, well Ramey needs to pick it himself.  He didn't see which one I chose.  So I held him up and he picked the one I had chosen.  I thought that was a sign because there were at least 50 to pick and he picked the same one, so we kept that one.  The guy cracked it and it was gorgeous!!!  I think maybe the best one we have ever had!  I'm pretty sure that Granddad helped us pick that geode!

Then we went to an antique store and I got some really pretty little geode type earrings and an old green mason jar for flowers.  We then drove back home and I didn't have a panic attack.  It probably helped that Mom and I sang songs and did fingerplays with Ramey on the ride home. 

Harry grilled burgers for dinner at the cabin.


September 27
Uggggh... I woke up with a horrible migraine at 7:00. I nursed Ramey then took my good and strong migraine medicine that I can't nurse Ramey for 5 hours after taking.  They didn't help at all.  I laid in bed feeling super nauseous but thank goodness I brought some Phenergan and that helped with that but not with my head.  Then I threw up.  I've never thrown up with a migraine before, felt like I might, but never actually had.  I swear the altitude made it so much worse!!!  I took some more medicine so I had to add another 5 hours of no nursing and it helped a little.

Meanwhile, Harry took Ramey on a hike and he fell asleep for 35 minutes on Harry in the new hiking carrier.  Harry walked around as long as he could and until Ramey woke up.

Harry also wants me to note he made bacon, omelets, pancakes, cinnamon rolls. 

It rained most of the day and snowed for a second.  I was still in bed until 5:00 when I finally started to feel better. I tried to get up and around at 3:30, but immediately felt nauseous again and had to do more Phenergan.  Harry called all over and went into town and got me a manual breastpump, because I wasn't able to feed Ramey for 8 hours but I ended up not using it.  But what a sweet hubby.   

Katherine and Ryan decided to leave early, they were going to leave early in the morning, so they could watch the OU game in Angel Fire. Right before they left it started to snow big and hard! It snowed for 30 minutes or so and then stopped.  It was gorgeous.

My head was feeling okay, so we went into town and tried to go to Jean-Pierre's French Bakery. We went in and sat down and it was Suuuuuper fancy.  So we left.  We ended up at Francisco's Mexican Restaurant and had a yummy dinner there. 

Then we did some last minute shopping and drove back to the cabin and packed.


September 28
Ramey's 2nd shower attempt with Harry was in the morning. (There was no bathtub.)  He screamed the whole time again.  Maybe more than last time.  As soon as I took him from Harry and wrapped him in his ducky towel, he threw up.  Poor little lamb!

We left at 10:15am. We decided to go the faster way instead of the pretty, scenic way on the way home.

Right before we got to Albuquerque, I realized I forgot my pillow!!! Thank goodness Mom and Dad were at the cabin for a couple more days and could bring it back with them!
We ate in Albuquerque for lunch at Chick-fil-a and played on playground.

I nursed Ramey and then we got back on the road right as the OU/Notre Dame game started and we got our 2nd pick. What a great start.

Ramey slept for 2 hours in the car so we could listen to the game when reception worked!  2 hours was so much nicer than the 30 minutes he did on the first 2 days of the trip. 

We then played at a Loves and got attacked by mosquitos.  I was real creeped out by a scary lady in the parking lot of Loves who was just sitting in her car in the back of the parking lot staring at people, so I made Harry move the car so I could nurse Ramey out of her death stare.

We stayed in Amarillo for the night.  The day of traveling was a little over 9 hours.  We stayed at Hampton Inn because Harry insisted we stay there for whatever weird reason he had. He couldn't even really say what it was but when I asked what hotel I should call for the night he said "Hampton Inn" silly hubby.

We ate Jimmy Johns for dinner in the hotel room.

Ramey hid a water bottle that we couldn't find for an hour. We looked ALLLLL over the room and couldn't find it anywhere.  It was driving us crazy.  We found it after looking off and on for an hour in a little pocket that was on the side of his pack'n'play.

I made another barrier for the night for Ramey and he went right to sleep.

My hip came out of socket when I was reading on the floor in the light of the bathroom.  Harry thought I was blowing my nose, but came to see what the noise was as I writhed in pain on the floor not able to get up or change positions and about to faint.  I don't know why it happened, but it hurt so bad and Harry thought it was so funny because it didn't make any sense and I couldn't get up!


September 29
We left at 9:51am and didn't stop until we made it home! 
Ramey feel asleep after an hour or so on the road and slept for 2 hours.  Once he woke up we only had an hour left, so we just pushed on through.  He as fine in the back seat and didn't act like he needed to stretch or have milk, so we kept going!
It took about 3 hours 45 minutes. 

Ramey did great on the trip!  I had bought a Sesame episode to watch and some apps on the ipad but he didn't use it once.  He read a ton of books, looked out the window, did some fingerplays with me when I sat in the back, and listened to Harry and I sing to him.  We did about 100 verses of Old McDonald where Harry would say the animal and do the sounds and I did the rest of the words.  I am pretty sure Harry and I laughed and had more fun doing that than Ramey did listening.  Harry cracked himself up the most when he chose Duck and for the sounds on the last one said Afflack.  lol.  He thought it was hilarious.

Here are our "sightings" and numbers:
(What's funny is only my family will now what most of these things mean, lol)
Cross- Harry
Leaning Tower- Harry
Deer (dead)- Harry
Big Windmills- Meredith
Old Windmill- Harry
Corral- Harry
Mesa- Tie
Dustnado- Harry
Little Volcano- Harry
Capulan Volcano- Meredith
Mt. Dora- Harry
Real Mountains- Meredith
Teepee- Harry
Mine Shale- Harry
Aqueducts- Meredith
New Mexico Deer- Harry
Colorado Deer- Harry
Aspen- Meredith
Biffy- Harry
Touch Aspen- Meredith and Ramey
Beaver Dam- Harry
Waterfall- Meredith
Runaway Truck Ramp- Tie
Snow on ground- Meredith
Snow on mountains- Harry
Elk- Meredith
Durango Train- Meredith
Moving Durango Train- Meredith
Smoke from Durango Train- Meredith
Hear Durango Train Whistle- Tie
Beaver Home- Meredith

New Mexico Deer- 88
Colorado Deer- 8
Elk- 30


 

Friday, February 1, 2013

7 months



Well our baby boy is 7 months and a week old today.  It is going way to fast!  He started crawling on January 30th and so we will be baby proofing our house this weekend.  If he sees a cord across the room he will start inching his way closer.  He is a very curious little boy and I know will keep us on our toes.... for the rest of our lives!

I am trying to get him on more of a routine/schedules these last couple of weeks because his nap schedule is driving me crazy.  He will sometimes sleep for 30 minutes to an hour and a half.  So for the last 2 weeks I have been recording when he is waking up, eating, and sleeping so I can try to shoot for around the same times each day.  So far I have discovered he wakes up around 7:15-7:45 and wants to go down for his first nap at 9:00.  He can now go 3.5-4 hours before eating.  He is also eating baby food 2-3 times a day.  He hasn't met a food he doesn't like so far, lol.  He likes and has eaten oatmeal, sweet potatoes, squash, pears, bananas, and green beans.  He goes to bed at 8:00. We put him in his bed awake but sleepy and he puts himself to sleep within 5 minutes.  Same with naps.  But he still takes a swing nap once a day in the evening.

He loves pulling up on his toy bucket and does it all the time.  He also likes doing deep knee bends.  If he is standing and someone is holding his hands or under his armpits he will do them over and over and over and over and over.... and that is where his huge fat thighs have come from!  I LOVE his thighs and they are very ticklish, lol.


I was being pressured to get Ramey's haircut... I didn't want to do it but I was having to sweep his hair out of his eyes every few minutes.  So we took him to Snip-Its after everyone recommended it and he did great!  We went on the weekend so Harry could be there for the first big haircut and the wait was an hour!  We we checked in and then went over to Canes and ate some food, Ramey fell asleep in the car and then we drove out to Deer Creek to look at neighborhoods.  We want to move to DC in the next year or two.  Then we went back to Snip-Its and only had to wait about 5 minutes then we were up!  He sat in a bumbo in the chair and just looked around and was great!  But I miss his long hair.  I pretty much just stared at him the rest of the day and kept running my fingers through his short hair.  It needed to be cut, but he just looks like such a big boy now. And Harry and I also made fun of him and said his forehead looks huge now, lol.

Morning of his haircut                          Middle of his haircut

All done.... Big Boy!


I started my Mom's group bible study on Monday.  I am so excited to be in this group and think it is going to be a huge blessing.  Everyone was so sweet and welcoming my first time.  There are also 5 other tridelts that are doing the Mom's group too, but they are in different small groups.  My delta sisters are everywhere!

Ramey and I have also been trying to do play dates with different ladies and their babies.  Ramey got to play with Addi Claire, a precious little 14 month old of one of my sorority sisters on Wednesday, (Thanks for having us over Ashley!) and it was so cute seeing them together.  They both wanted whatever the other one had, specifically a hippo board book. I can't wait until we get to start teaching manners, lol.  It was also fun seeing what Addi could do and thinking Ramey will be doing those things before long...

Today, Ramey was asked to model for one of my long time friend's wife for some photos.  Well of course Ramey woke up early today and his naps were very crazy so he was not in the best mood for pictures.  At first he just kind of stared at us, lol and tried to eat all of the props.  But once Harry got there and then Gib got there after work, Ramey would smile for both of them!  Thanks for asking Ramey to be a model for you, Tracy!  Sorry he wasn't as smiley as I was thinking he would be!  Hopefully you still got some cute ones you can use!

Ramey is loving being in the big tub.  He will go on his tummy (on his wonderful Leachco Bath N' Bumper- which I highly recommend) and splash and HUMP like a crazy person!  He was doing it the other day and we were cracking up because he was going insane!  We got a video of it!  I'll try to upload it at some point, but it is on the good video camera.


Here is the 7th month list we do each month.  Some of this is repeat info from above, lol

7  Months
January 25, 2013

Uses his pincer grip (1/24/2013)

Is very good at pulling up! First time on 1/18/2013

Will not stay on his back or stop moving when we change his diaper

Loves Ellie and smiles at her when she is just sitting/laying down

Laughs at Ellie when she barks or makes her toy squeak

Takes 2 naps in his crib a day and 1 or 2 swing naps

Loves to eat sweet potatoes, pears, avocado, banana, blueberry puffs and oatmeal!  (Note: these are the only foods he has had and he loves them all!)
TMI: Poop has changed

Laughs when we scare/surprise him

Really LOVES to bounce and had huge fatty thunder thighs

Loves it when we clap

Takes baths in the big bathtub but sits in a cushioned thing and likes splashing in the water and tries to grab for the drain and his penis

Likes to play catch

Will always calm down immediately if I start singing The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Sits up in his stroller on walks instead of in his carseat in the stroller

Loves to nurse still- 6 times a day

Grabs my nose, chin, and cheeks… especially when he is nursing. 

Likes to play with mommy’s bra while he is eating.  He is a very busy boy.

Enjoys helping mommy fold the laundry

Is obsessed with drawstrings on clothes.  Is also fond of tags on blankets, clothing, toys, etc.

Likes to be tickled on his feet, tummy, sides, butt, nipples and arm pits!   If I put his arms up he immediately starts laughing and tries to get away because he knows the tickles are coming.  Same when I take off his socks, he starts to giggle because he knows I am going to kiss those feet!!!!

Rubs his eyes when he is tired, just like his daddy.

He giggles when I bite his nails (I still refuse to cut them with clippers ever since I got his little finger.  So I bite them or Harry cuts them while I sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider and entertain him)

He LOVES Beanie- his string bean toy

Still obsessed with tv and will not get very mad if he can’t watch it

Will grab anything that is sitting on the arm rest of the couch

Has all 4 limbs moving and wants to crawl but can’t get the parts working together and ends up scooting backwards

His favorite part of eating is the spoon and gets mad if he doesn’t get it at the end of the meal to chew on.

Still loves bouncing in his jumper

Needs a haircut... got one on January 27, 2013- 7 months and 2 days old

Babbles a lot more and likes to talk to himself in his crib when he wakes up. 
Favorite words are aday-day-day-day  and daddadaddada

Likes when we put a burp cloth or taggie blanket on his head and he rips it off and smiles

Giggles when we are taking his clothes off and the shirt gets stuck on his head

Laughs when I pull his pants up and accidently tickle his booty and thighs

Some pants that should fit, cannot squeeze over his fat thighs!!!

Wakes up around 7:45 and goes to bed at 8:00.  Dreamfeed at 10:30 and sleeps until the next morning.  If he wakes up in the night he normally puts himself back to sleep and will even grab his paci and stick it back in,

Sleeps ON his face! We try to turn his face to the side but sometimes he will fight us and continue going back to it.

Rolls all around the crib before he goes to sleep.  Normally he ends up sleeping on his side or tummy but never sleeps on his back anymore.

Monday, January 14, 2013

January- 6.5 months old

Happy January!

Well our little guy is growing like a weed and changing so much every day!  He can sit up without any help for a long time and is so close to crawling and pulling up!  Mom thinks he will be crawling in the next 2 weeks... mark it down.
 


We had our 6 month well-baby visit today even though he was 6.5 months!  He got 4 shots including his flu shot.  He handled it alot better today.  I really tried to stay on top of his tylenol and I think that has made the biggest difference.  Also he has HUGE fat thighs now so that might have helped too, lol.  The nurse even commented and said, "I didn't realize you had so much meat to work with!"  He does have some pretty incredible rolls on his arms and thighs.
Here are his stats:
Weight: 17 lbs 2 ounces- 32% (was 28% last time)
Height: 26 1/2 inches- 39% (was 32% last time)
Head Circumference: 43 cent.- 20% (was 18% last time- small head like his daddy!)

We were started doing Baby Led Weaning (which isn't weaning at all).  The Europeans call introducing solid foods weaning.  Anyways, it is where you basically give babies the food you are eating.  Not little pieces but big pieces that they can gum and suck on.  I did some research on it and it seemed like a pretty good idea.  Well we tried it and he loved it.  He was always getting food to his mouth but never really biting anything off or swallowing anything.  Well he started biting off bits and then he would gag but that was all, until one time he was choking/gagging... I don't know if he was actually choking or not but it scared me enough to stop it.  We only did BLW for a week and only for 1 meal a day, but it was enough for me.  So regular pureed baby food it is.  I made a bunch last night but so far he has just had some avocado and sweet potato.  I also made: bananas, peas, squash, apples, bananas with peaches, bananas with blueberries, and pears.  I made a bunch and then froze it in ice cube trays so all I have to do is thaw a cube and we are good to go!


Ramey's first Christmas

We went to church on Saturday evening for Christmas Eve service and it was Ramey's first time at church.  I didn't want him to go to the childcare area and thought he would do okay in church because it has the big tv screens and he loves tv!  But it is really loud with the music at the beginning so Harry stayed outside the doors with him until it was time for the service.  He did great!  There were a couple of times that he grunted but that is what he does! He wasn't mad just concentrating on his toy, lol.
Actual Christmas was a little crazy because of the "horrible snow storm" we were supposed to have.  I really didn't want us to get out on the roads with a little baby, so we ended up doing Christmas at Mom and Dad's on Christmas Eve.  We debated and went back and forth trying to decide what to do, but thought safety was the most important thing so Christmas on Christmas Eve is what we decided to do.  Then we ended up having a light dusting of snow and a little ice.  And then Mom and I realized that we have never been apart on Christmas and that made me so sad thinking it was going to happen on my baby's first Christmas!

Christmas Eve, Ramey opened 2 presents from Santa and the elves!  He got some really cute jammies and the book The Night Before Christmas.  We put on his jammies and then Harry and I read the book to him.  At first he wasn't too interested and for some reason, probably because we are both such dorks and know the story so well, Harry and I started reading in unison.  Ramey started smiling and giggling and looking back and forth at Harry and I.  It was pretty precious.  Then we put Ramey to bed and got the Santa presents ready!  It was so much fun being on this side everything and getting to be Santa.

Then on Christmas morning when Ramey woke up I went in and feed him in his room.  Then Harry came into Ramey's room and we read the story of the birth of Jesus from Ramey's golden book Bible stories.  Then we got the video camera ready (just like Dad use to do for us) and took him into the living room to see his presents.  Then right after that we did FaceTime with my parents.  Then we had a very laid back and relaxing Christmas day.  I still made cinnamon rolls like my mom has always done but it was so weird being without my sissy and parents!  Then a little later that day my dad and mom came over!  I was so glad I still got to see them.  Then Harry's family came over and we did presents with them and ate Christmas dinner then it was time for bed!


A few weeks before Christmas we moved Ramey into his own room!  He had been in a mini-crib in our room so a switch to a regular crib wasn't that different, but he wouldn't be within my reach.  He did fabulous.  He woke up once or twice and put himself back to sleep the first few nights.  Then he slept from 8-7 (with a 10:30 dreamfeed) until Christmas.  Then something happened.... after Christmas he was waking up 2-4 times a night!  He had stopped eating in the middle of the night for a month or two and now was eating once or twice a night.  He was waking up around 2:30-4 and then again around 5-6 but then sleeping until 8 or 9.  Now for the last 4 nights he is back to the regular great night sleeping baby!  He goes to bed at 7:45-8, dreamfeeds at 10:30 and then wakes up 7:15.  He was also pretty cranky and fussy (for Ramey) during those weeks too.  I know I am super spoiled because Ramey is a very, very happy baby and is always smiling and laughing so when he turned a little cranky and was fussy, it was just so weird.  When we would be out and I would say he was fussy and in a bad mood, people would look at me like I was crazy, but people that were around him all the time could tell.  Now my super happy baby is back and I'm pretty excited about that.  Hopefully this little guy stays around for awhile, lol.

Now it isn't all amazing for us.... stupid naps.  Ramey does nap and will nap in his crib or his swing.  But he only naps for 30 minutes at a time 3 or 4 times a day.  He normally wakes up pretty happy and will even just play and talk in his crib or swing for a little while after he wakes up, but 30 minutes??? I can barely get anything done in 30 minutes!  Occasionally he will sleep for 30 minutes in his crib and then seem cranky when he wakes up so I will stick him in his swing and he will sleep a hour and half longer.  But how do I get him to take those 2 hour naps I read about?  Come on people, help!


Coming up... I signed up for a Mom's bible study group that one of my friends/sorority sister does and said I should do too!  It is at Crossings and meets every Monday.  I am pretty excited about it and there is free childcare, so I don't have to worry about my little angel!  I can't wait for it to start!
The Edmond Public Library also had some free baby classes that I might check out.  I also want to do a Mommy and Me swim class since my parents have a pool and I plan on spending alot of time in the pool with Ramey.  Now I guess I have to get a swimsuit... and some waterproof diapers!


Here is Ramey's monthly list!


6 Months
 as of December 25, 2012….. has aleady changed in 2 weeks!  But for records I am going to keep this the same because Harry and I sit down and write these lists on the night he turns a new month!

Weight-  16 lbs on our home scale on Christmas Day
At the doctor when 6.5 months
Weight- 17.2 lbs- 32%
Height- 26 ½ inches- 39%
Head Circumference- 43 cm- 20%

Can sit up on his own for awhile without tumpling over

LOVES his activity jumper… would jump all day if I let him!

Laughs a lot when people are silly or yell at him (in a funny way)

Very ticklish, especially on his tummy, neck, feet, arm pits, sides and thighs
Pretty much everywhere Daddy’s beard touches

Sleeps in his room in his crib

Likes to sleep on his tummy.  Especially face down in the mattress.  So Mommy or Daddy have to go and turn his head to the side because it freaks us out.

Loved playing/eating bows at Christmas

Smiles when Ellie squeaks her toys and plays fetch with us

Tried real food (steamed sweet potatoes and avocado) on his ½ bday/Christmas
Now has tried pears and toast, pizza crust, banana, and cheese and herb biscuit.
Hasn’t really swallowed much, if any, but has tasted all of those things!
(This was all with baby-led weaning)

Liked trying cold water for the first time and blinked a lot when he was drinking it

Loves sucking on his string bean toy, Beanie

Starting doing a cough/crying thing when he is unhappy and wants our attention

When he is in his swing and ready to get out, he will stop fussing as soon as we turn off the swing and start to unbuckle him.  He smiles real big when he realizes he has won.

He tried to pull up and stand while he was in his little sink bath tub yesterday.

Hates having his nose sucked out with a regular nose sucker or the nose frieda.

Doesn’t like getting dressed anymore.

Loves toys with crinkle paper inside.  (His mirror with crinkle leaves and his new butterfly from Aunt Kali and elephant from us)

Still fights to watch tv.  If he is sitting in my lap and tries to watch I will block his eyes and he will move his head all around to try to peek around my hand.

Grunts and groans when he is trying to do get a toy or concentrate on something.

Sticks his tongue out... a lot!

Has a foot in his mouth 75% of the day

If he is laying back on a pillow, can pull himself up to a sitting position

Loves sucking on Mommy’s chin

Is starting to teeth and drools allll the time!

Smiles all the time

Laughing with his hands in his mouth

Doesn’t like when Mommy leaves the room if he is playing



That's all for now!  Have a great day and thanks for reading!
Meredith