A 2fer - 8 Months Old & update

This week is pretty hectic so I'm going to post Bret's 8 month and some updates all in one.

I officially do not have a baby anymore (at least that's the way I feel). Bret eats three solid meals a day (nursing in between), takes 2 long naps a day (woo hoo), plays in the bath like it's his own pool and he squirms whenever I hold him :( I know I say this every month, but seriously, I can not believe how fast time flies by. He's still trying to master how to crawl. I'm really proud at how he's handling teething. His two bottom ones are poking through and he's yet to act fussy or like he's in pain. They obviously bug him because he chews on anything he can get into his mouth. He's a trooper. All of a sudden his "vocabulary" has exploded. Instead of just saying da-da, he's saying ba-ba, la-la and is trying to say ma-ma. Whenever he says ma-ma is comes out as ma-ba. It's funny to watch him play with his toys because it looks like he's having a conversation with himself.

We're leaving for Tech on Wednesday. I can not wait!! We're driving up to Jason's parents' place for the night and then driving the rest of the way on Thursday AM. That'll give Bret a break from the carseat. Bernie (Cousino) is going to reunion too with his wife, Julie, and their son, Ethan. I can't wait to see Alanna and G-IV!! The weather is supposed to be decent - the low 70's.

I found out on Friday that if I would've gone back to work, I would've lost my job. The lab is cutting 19% of their engineers which turns out to be about 7 people. I was still pretty low on the seniority list (I f-in hate unions). I would've been eligible for a month's worth of severance pay, but oh well. I can't believe how many people have 30+ years and will not retire. They're screwing the young people and don't even care. It's not my fault that some old ass cheated on his wife; she left him w/ half his pension. Or it's not my fault that you've devoted 40 years to the company in lieu of having a life outside of work (sans family and hobbies). It's not anyone's fault that you didn't save money in your 401K but your own. I've never met so many f'ed up people as I did when I worked for F*rd. Somedays I felt like I was working in a pysch ward and I was the only 'normal' one....At least that was my perception!! I feel bad for the two people that were hired into the lab ONE MONTH AGO and now they're getting let go. The union f'ing sucks.

Question for you moms - when did you start giving your kids yogurt? I need some new breakfast ideas for Bret. The fruit and cereal thing just seems so boring every day. I am starting to try Gerber oatmeal; something new to try. I started putting fruit and veggies into this net-thing that my sister bought us. Bret just basically sucks the juice out of whatever I put into it and it turns into a pile of mush. He LOVES the Graduate Puffs. I think he would eat those all day if I let him. Plus it helps him to practice the pincer grasp. He does really, really well - I shouldn't say that I'm surprised, but I am. Now if only I could keep him from putting 4 in his mouth at at time. LOL

If anyone will be in Houghton, let me know if you want to meet up for a fishbowl and pizza!! We're staying at the Northern Lights.

It's been busy!!

I can not believe that June is almost over! The first few weeks have been crazy!

We had Jason's cousin's wedding last weekend that started with a Wednesday cookout, Thursday get together, Friday golf (guys), Saturday wedding and Sunday gift-opening. The wedding was fun. My cousin came down to watch Bret since it was an adult reception. I stayed 'til about 9:30pm then went back to the hotel room. Bret did well with Chrissy; I need to leave him for a few hours more often. He needs to get used to other people. My fault, I know.

Father's day was fun. The day started off like this....LOL....So gross at the same time. Jason and I were eating lunch on the couch when I heard splashing. I asked Jason where the heck that noise was coming from. When I looked at Bret, I just busted out laughing because he was stomping his feet in it.....YUCK

Jason got his gifts early. He got some Lowes gift cards (to start working on the basement again :) ), a mousepad with a funny pic of Bret on it and an "I love my Daddy" frame for his desk. Here is a pic of three generations of Starks:


The color is a little off because of the sunlight. Otherwise, it's a cute pic.

I've been checking out a lot of books on child-rearing lately because I've allowed Bret to fall asleep nursing since he's been born. Now that he's almost 8 months old and on the home stretch of nursing, I need to 'teach' him to fall asleep on his own. This is part of the reason why he still wakes up at night (I think). Today I started feeding him more food during the day and we'll see how he is at night. I started reading the Baby Whisperer (thanks Heather!) and so far, I've been doing two no-no's: using props to put my kid to sleep (stroller rides and nursing) and I practice 'accidental parenting' which means you start a bad habit with good intentions (i.e. nursing him to sleep). So, the author basically suggests the EASY method for routines E= eat, A= activity, S= sleep and Y= you time. For the S, she recommends the Put Down/Pick Up (PDPU) method for babies who don't know how to put themselves to sleep. Basically, I put Bret into his crib and walk out of the room. When he cries, I walk in and pick him up to comfort him. Once he stops crying, I put him down in the crib again. I'm supposed to do this until he doesn't cry or falls asleep. I tried this yesterday for his PM nap and it was HELL. We went through it for 1/2 hour and he still cried. I didn't have the heart to keep him crying so I nursed him. He slept for 2.5 hours. Last night he woke up at 1am and I did nurse him. However, I did not get him out of bed when he woke up at 2:30am and then again at 5am. He fell back asleep until 7am. Woo hoo. Today, I started the EASY routine. It's sort of different but it's worth trying. I fed him lunch (solids), played with a new toy that we bought then I put him in his crib. He cried one time. When I put him in his bed the second time, he fussed a little but then started 'talking' to himself. After about 10-15 minutes he fell asleep. ALLELUIA!!!! We'll see how long he sleeps this PM. I'm excited!!

This weekend, we have two birthday parties on Saturday and two graduation parties on Sunday! We're going to be traveling fools......Plus, I think we're going to Milwaukee with Jason in the next week or two....Karen, I'll call you before we leave; maybe we can get together for dinner or something. Then it's off to Tech for the 4th. I am SUPER excited for that trip. I can not wait!

That's my fun for the past few days / week!

7 months old!!

It definitely shows that Bret is getting "older". He sits without support, is starting to rock on his hands and knees and wants to get into EVERYTHING!!

I started giving him some Gerber finger foods to pacify him until I get his food ready. So far, he can grab the puffs and sometimes even with his thumb and forefinger. He puts them in his mouth but gags instead of sucking/chewing on them. I guess he's not quite ready for finger foods. LOL I keep trying, figuring he'll get the hang of it eventually.

I started giving him water in a sippy cup. He knows to put the spout in his mouth, but then again, everything goes into his mouth. Hasn't quite figured out how to get the water out. I give it to him out of a straw and he really seems to like it.

Not too much else other than teething. I sort of see whitecaps on the bottom but they haven't poked through yet. He tugs/plays at his ears and the DR says that's usually a sign that kids are teething (if their ears look good otherwise). Poor thing.

Walks are fun. He loves looking around at stuff and watching the birds. The walks usually end up in a cat nap. Plus they're good for me!!! A few miles at a time is about his limit.

I'm not going to post any pics today since I did last week. I picked up his 6 month pics last week and they're so different from his 3 month, it's unbelievable!!