Michael’s First Birthday

You know, I had this giant idea of what Michael’s First Birthday would totally be like. Did it happen that way? No. Did everyone attend? No. But you know what? All of those people who mattered did, and that is what is really important. I didn’t get to enjoy my son’s first birthday because I was so stressed out over every single detail and getting everything so perfect.  I should have just followed one of the Golden Rules in life—Keep It Simple Stupid. There are reasons why cliches are always around….because they are true!

So how did it go? According to everyone that did go (and by that I mean our usual group of friends and our immediate family members, which I should have just planned for like I normally do), it was a blast! We had cupcakes, and old fashion Carne Asada, jump houses, balloons, birthday songs, goodie bags, and a game of Apples to Apples. After all of the “grown-ups” left (and by that I mean our parents, ha ha!) the drinking commenced and that’s when we played Apples to Apples---twas fun! We even had a round or two in the bounce house which was loads of fun.  Maybe that was my lesson this weekend, to always remember that keeping it simple works!

 

Here’s us in the bounce house enjoying our time.

 

The Birthday Boy.

 

A lot of this was going on.

 

See?

 

My husband consoling Michael after we sang and clapped to “Happy Birthday.”

 

The mommy <3

A year ago today (04.04)

Dear Michael,

 

A year ago today, I finally met that little person who would forever hold my heart. I finally met the one who had been tickling me from the inside for the past nine months. The one who taught me what real unconditional love truly is. I finally met you, my little bunny.

 

A year ago today, you were placed on my chest and for the first time, I knew why I was here. You were wailing when being weighed and checked out, but when they placed you on my chest, you knew. You knew I was your mommy and that I was forever yours. You were so tiny, and with your tiny hand, you held my finger.  I’ve been holding on to that day since then because that’s when I knew that everything would be alright in the world.

 

A year ago today, my life changed. Yes I know, I knew it was changing the day I found out you were coming, but when you finally arrived, it was official.  My life changed forever because from that moment on, there would forever be a little person who would always depend on me to keep him warm, happy, and safe. My life changed because it was no longer about me, but about you. I like my new life, thank you!

 

A year ago today,  I learned to stop and smell the roses. To cherish every little gesture, every little hug, every little smile, and every little giggle because I know that one day I will miss them. I now know what real happiness is. Like today, I was rocking you to sleep and you just weren’t ready, yet, you looked at me, and I looked at you--we both smiled. Those little moments will always be in my heart. I can’t wait for the rest of them

 

Love mommy,

 

Your biggest fan.

 

First Hair Cut

This weekend hasn’t even been over and I can actually claim it as bittersweet. Today we went to get Michael’s first hair cut. His bangs were hitting his eyes and he desperately needed a new hair cut. Last time, Stevan and I did a terrible thing where we trimmed his hair and everyone ended up calling him Gohan from Dragon Ball Z. It wasn’t bad looking, just a little too straight and not so natural looking, but the bangs were bugging his eyes. Back to today, we went to Cool Cuts 4 Kids in Elk Grove where they “specialize” in first haircuts and kids hair-do’s. Figured since we kinda had an oopsie with his trim last time, we should let someone else work on his hair (and if they messed up, the blame belongs to them. Ha ha!)

 

Before we went in, I kept hearing this little line that one of my brother-in-laws had told me, “After boys have their first hair-cuts, they become tremendos! (They become “bad.”)” This ended up turning into today’s chant and it would not leave my head. 

 

So we go in. The hair lady sits him down in a little fire truck for him to entertain himself and plops in an Elmo movie. This was the trick. She begins by turning on the buzzer and placing it on the back of his hand and sings, “Tickle. Tickle.” Michael was amused, not by the clippers, but by the chord of the clippers.  She begins by buzzing off the back. I begin to slowly hold back my tears. My baby will no longer look like the “Michael” that I have known this past year, but like a 1 year old Michael. I didn’t want to be one of those mom’s who went snap happy with her camera so I didn’t take any pictures. Luckily, my husband could care less and he taped what he could on his blackberry. Love it!

 

Soon after, he was done. He did good. The hair lady saved us his hair clippings and placed them in a zip loc baggie. She said they were out of First Hair Cut kits, but that I could come back and pick one up whenever.  Which I definitely will.

 

After he was done, we debuted his new do’ to himself via the mirror. Michael did not know what to think—he just starred at it. I’m sure it will take some time for all of us to get used to it.

 

I can’t wait to show off his new do’ to everyone this week (from Grandma’s birthday, to his birthday on Wednesday, to his party on Saturday!

 

 

Oh, did I mention that he was a bad boy all day after we left the salon?. Yeesh!

Review: Vapor Raz Raz Baby

 

 

RazBaby Vapor Raz Clip & Pacifier Holder

(It comes with two pads that release the calming scent of Eucalyptus & Menthol. All you do is add the pad and clip it on baby’s clothes. The clip has a strap for a pacifier if your baby uses one. Each aromatic pad lasts up to 8 hours!)

Michael is sick. Actually we both are. Steve is the only one immune to whatever bugs have been going around lately, which is okay since he is the one who has to go to work every day.  Michael has been coughing and is quite congested which means that this mama doesn’t sleep well either at night. The humidifier is doing a decent job, but we thought he needed more “help” with his congestion (no sleep for Michael or I these past two nights.) I had noticed the RazBaby Raz Clip earlier last week and thought, “Huh! That sounds like a good idea! Maybe we’ll try that out next time Michael gets sicks.” Lo-and –behold, he did earlier this week. I kinda blame it on being outside all day Saturday at a birthday party when the weather was yucky outside. Back to the RazBaby. Tonight is the first night of us using it and am hoping that it helps with Michaels breathing, hopefully this and the humidifier do wonders tonight.  So wish us luck tonight and plenty of Zzzs! I’ll add a wee little update to how our night went with the RazBaby.

Here are more details to the RazBaby Vapor Raz--

 

It’s 100% safe and effective and easy to use.

Refills to the pads are also available (our local Walgreens sells 4 refill pads for $5.99)

 

---

So we tried it for two days and two nights. I have to say that this works pretty well. It kept all of his mucus away while he wore it. I love the fact that it’s not so gooey and messy like the stuff from the jar. Plus it’s portable! I’ll definitely be using this again if/when we need it.

 

Where's Michael?

Aside from that little fun milestone, he is getting quite close to walking. He's been surfing furniture for weeks. He is still very cautious about letting go, but every once in a while, you will see him just holding on with a finger or so. I would bet that he will be walking about a week or two after his birthday. Seems so close.

I seem to be catching whatever bug is around here. It's not a heavy one, which is good news since I hate being drugged up on meds, especially when caring for Michael. It's just a light tickle in my throat with a slightly annoying cough. I know Michael is somewhat sick too because his nose is runny and well, he had a fever a few days ago too. Plus his appetite has been lacking until today. Go figure.

On the marital front, we are doing absolutely great! Steve and I seem to be getting out of whatever tiny funk we were in and are all cuddly. Which is weird, well to me, because I am not affectionate like that at all ( I've gotten mushier?) You know what though? I kind of like it. I mean, Steve seems to be happier with my being much more affectionate (he's the mushier one, physically though) than usual. Now, if I could only get over my fear of feet and maybe, just MAYBE I'll do a foot rub (I don't mind getting one, but me giving one--ewe!)

First Birthday.

In about 3 weeks, my little bunny turns 1. How did time go by so quickly? The other night I was just browsing through videos on my blackberry and I actually started to cry from nostalgia. Steve ended up joining me on the crying-fest. He said he was sad. I said, "Yes, I am sad too but I am much more excited to see what else he has in store for us." Then I began to confess how head-over-heels I am in love with Michael. I knew I could love, but this little man has shown me what true unconditional love truly is.

How did we go from this to this, in a year?

So now I am planning his First Birthday. Everyone we know wants to pitch in and help. Let me tell you, we are so blessed to have so many people in our lives that love us like they do. Now that I have brought up the party.....

This is my theme: I blame Pinterest since it's where I got my ideas. It's a "Yellow/Teal/Orange/Lime-Green/Purple" Monster Bash First Birthday Theme. Ha! Right? Everything will be color coordinated and I'm hoping that it will look fantastic. However, I would love to go overboard, but I must be realistic. Once I start doing the "crafting" for it, I'll post pictures a little at a time. Right now they are ideas in my head and am hoping that my ideas can meet reality. I'm really excited over this. This is my first party (aside from baby showers that I planned and hosted) where it's all for me/my baby. I can't wait!

Family Time

Steve has been working so hard these past few weeks that it's been almost impossible to have some family time. Today I let him sleep in for almost 10 hours (I would have let him sleep in longer but I needed him to watch Michael so I could make lunch) that he woke up in such a great mood that we ended up taking a walk after lunch. We decided to walk to the main street and then see where that led us--a park. I've seen the park before but I've never actually visited it before today.

Getting ready to head out.




About to head down the slide.

I've also added some random pictures from earlier in the week for fun. :)

Michael and his cousin Gabriel


My mom and her two grandchildren.


Every time I see this, this lyric pops into my head:
"They see me rollin', they hatin' " LOL

My date night with my Valetines.

Friday evening, my husband decided to ask me out. He said, "Will you go out with me?" Normally I thought it was just him being sweet and I answered with, "Yes." Thinking it was just him playing around he said, "Seriously. I'm asking you out on a date. Will you?" Stunned, I said, "Um. Okay? I mean, we don't have a sitter lined up for anything and it's last minute for anything like that." He said he had it planned out and that we would go see The Vow. We did!!

He told me to pack up Michael's bag with toys and blankets. I did. I also packed up his bottles and some snacks. This was to entertain him while we watched the movie at the Drive-In. This made everything so much easier on us when it came to watching a  movie. Not only that, Michael slept the entire time we were there! How sweet of him to give us some Mommy & Daddy time at the movies.

That was my date night with my boys. The Vow was a sweet and cute movie. I won't get into what happens or a review since it just came out and well, I'd like for you to see if you are able to.

Happy Valentine's Day--with whomever you choose to spend it with--family or friends, or a loved one.

Wordless Wednesday.

He learned how to stick his tongue out on purpose.
Yep. Highlight of my day!

My baby is 10months old! Holy Crap!

My mom said the other day, "Your baby is no longer a baby." This made me quite sad. Yes, he is still a baby by technical standards as he is not walking yet or "toddling", but he isn't a new born either. I love knowing that every day he might possibly learn something new. Which also reminds me, it's been 4 months since his last update and whoa!! He's changed a lot and a lot has happened!! So onto the update:

Weight & Length:
Michael is officially 10 months old as of today. Crazy! The last time we weight him he was 17lbs. Now, he is 21lbs. Our nurse who visits (I don't know if I clarified, but there is nothing wrong with Michael. The nurse comes about 1 to 2 times a month as part of a program I participate in. It's for first time moms and when I was pregnant, I signed up for it. It's actually great since I get to interact and learn a lot more about parenting and babies) will be here on Wednesday. I wonder if his weight will have changed.

His length by now should be at 29inches. OMG! Over two feet!

Sleep & Naps:

His sleeping at night has gotten a ton better! He only wakes up twice and they are quite spread out. His bedtime hasn't changed, 8:30pm, and  his wake-up time hasn't either, 7:30am. He wakes up at 1:30am and then again at 5:00am. It's not bad unless I stay up waiting for Steve to "clock in" at work (a habit we have when he leaves early mornings like he did at 3am.)

Napping has gotten a lot better! He goes down about 2-3 hours after waking up and is out for 1.5hours. Then up again and down after 3 hours and is out for another 1.5hour. I get to do so much around here! :)

Feedings:
He still drinks 6 oz bottles but not as often. His feeding schedule goes something like this:

{breakfast} Gerber and a bottle (he hates cereal. I can't get him to eat any rice/barley/or oatmeal cereal.)
{snack} toast with some gerber on it
{lunch} sopa de fideo (a mexican style noodle soup) or grilled cheese sandwich
{snack} carrot stick
{dinner} spaghetti or spanish rice with some chicken

Obviously this isn't every day but what he may have one day.

Diapers:

Still in size 3 diapers.

Nicknames:

Monkey! Chulo! or Papa.

Personality:

He still loves Elmo! He recognizes him now when its an image or a toy. He wakes up really happy--a morning person, something he did not get from either if his parents. He likes to poke at people, especially their noses. When he gets curious and wants to touch something, he uses his index finger to touch it. He loves to squeal and make you laugh (he loves pressing his face through the mesh of his play pen and make faces.) He loves being chased and chasing people. Loves to hit the punching bag (oh no! LOL)

Milestones:
When I last updated, Michael had no teeth at all. Since then, he has had his two bottom teeth come in and a top one (top left.) Right now he is on the verge of getting his top right tooth. He is going to looks so grown up with top teeth. However, he has also learned that he can bite. He bites hard!!

•     Michael has been crawling since 7 months.
•     He has also learned to pull himself up and get back down.
•     He loves to sign to Zeppelin and Tool. Oh, and Vicente Fernandez.
•     He loves the guitar. Hears someone playing it and runs to it.
•     Michael loves to clap
•     He has also begun to furniture surf,
•     3 teeth and 1 coming through!
•     He has been saying "Papa" since 7 months and is now saying "Mama" when not crying.