MAJOR change!!

I am back from my afternoon of getting my hair done and I made a HUGE change! My new stylist (she is the wife of one of Jer's good friends) is AMAZING and she convinced me that I could pull off something new and fun, so I said why not!? It is just hair, after all. The picture is a horrible self portrait I tried to take of myself, but you at least get the idea. I can't believe I did it!! :-) I will have Jer take some better pics and post them soon.

Picky Eating, Here We Come!

Colin has officially entered his first hunger strike. Well, not really a hunger strike so much as a certain foods strike. He will eat the following:

Peach Puffs
Cheerios
Ritz Crackers
Mild Cheddar Lil' Crunchies
Fruit only baby foods
Yogurt

He normally eats lots of other stuff baby food wise. At the moment, he won't eat any of the veggies, even his favorites. He won't eat any of the pastas, or any of the breakfast foods he normally loves. He would not take a single bite of his oatmeal this morning and ate yogurt for the 6th day in a row! He has cut way back on his formula...he takes bottles at 7:30am, noonish and 5:30ish. Since I added the lunch solids, he has really made a change on the formula consumption. I think that the more I am introducing table foods to him, the more he is shunning the baby foods which are pretty bland in comparison. Luckily I have several friends who have gone through this stage (Shannon!) so I know that it is normal and he will work through it. I also heard that teething causes them to not eat much and lord knows we have that going on. His poor top teeth are still just little white spots and have not poked all the way through yet. They are torturing him!



Tomorrow I have a happy hour party to attend for one of my best friends and Jer is watching Colin for me. I am looking forward to a couple of hours of grown up conversation and it should be a great time. Then on Saturday I am actually having my hair cut and colored and a pedicure!!!!! This is a HUGE deal for me...these are my birthday presents courtesy of Jer's parents. I am getting my very first whole afternoon to myself since Colin was born and I am pretty excited about it. My hair looks horrible, so this is a very good thing! :-)

Bye Bye Winter Clothes!

I finally made the move last night to put away all of Colin's 9 month sized clothing. He has been wearing 12 month clothes since the beginning of March, but I had not put away his winter stuff yet. I put up all of his cozy footed pj's and long sleeve onesies...everything is packed up now. There are now 6 grocery bags marked "Colin size 6-9 months" waiting to be put in the attic. All of his 12 month clothes fit at the moment, but those are on the way out. I bought several one piece jumpers on sale at JC Penney the first week of March and those are the smallest. They just snap and I think Colin has maybe another three weeks or so before those won't fit at all. I do NOT want to make the move into 18 month...he is my little baby!! :-) I think the only drawback of having a baby in the 95th percentile for everything is that he gets too big too fast!! I want him to stay my little baby!! Slow down, little man!! :-)

My Birthday

I am 31 years old today. Unbelievable, if you ask me. I have no clue where the last year went. Everything is a blur! The picture was one year ago today...what a happy time in my life. I was big and pregnant, but well past the sick part and prior to the super huge uncomfortable stage. That was when my every waking moment was wrapped up in Colin preparation. From the nursery to clothes to blankets and towels and diapers...it was my whole world. For the first time in my life, I was not worrying about sucking in and enjoying wearing all my fun maternity clothes. I was so excited to meet Colin that I found it hard to sleep at night thinking about it. I could finally feel him moving and playing inside me and I was getting to know him. It was spring and I was pregnant with my first child...what more could you ask for out of your 30th birthday?? I remember before I was pregnant and thinking about my 30th...I wanted a huge party...maybe even a trip to the beach...lots of friends and lots of margarita's. I had this picture in my mind of saying goodbye to my twenties in high style. But I can safely say that spending that birthday with just my family, eating cake, taking turns feeling Colin kick...it was the best birthday of my life.

Jeremy and Colin gave me a wonderful present today...the James Avery necklace that I have been dying for. It is a Mommy and Me heart pendant where the heart makes the abstract shape of a mommy and baby. I love it SO MUCH and I am so impressed with Jer and Mr. Colin for getting me exactly what I wanted! Colin was up for the better part of the night last night...another one of those random nights where he starts screaming and can't be consoled for some time. The funny thing is that I am pretty sure it is because Jer lowered his bed last night. I have been putting it off because I am well aware how finicky my baby is when it comes to sleep and I just knew it was going to be a problem. It sounds like such a small thing, but Colin is the ultimate creature of habit when it comes to bedtime and any variation throws him for a loop. It got so bad that I finally threw in the towel and we watched Teletubbies together on the couch at 1:00am. Is that a way to ring in your birthday or what?!? ;-) Needless to say, I am sitting here in my same pj pants that I always have on waiting for Colin's first nap so that I can get some sleep myself. This is certainly not a glamorous birthday by any stretch of the imagination, but I know that one day I will look back on this day and be melancholy about how old Colin has gotten and how I miss the days of sitting in my pj's with my little baby. So Future Chalna, if you are reading this, know that you were really REALLY tired on your 31st birthday and that Colin is the most precious 9 month old in the whole world. You would give just about anything for a full night of uninterrupted sleep, but every single time Colin smiles at you, you know you can hang in there another night. (I am well aware that the fact that I am talking to my future self means I need to go to bed right now.) :-)

Just A Swingin'

Today was back to the regular grind...all the guests are gone and Jer had to go back to work. Colin went back to his 2 hour morning nap today and I was beyond thrilled. He also took a good hour and fifteen minute nap this afternoon, so he was in great spirits all day. I am pretty sure that Colin was probably not taking good naps last week because he wanted to hang out with his grandparents instead! :-) After an afternoon excursion to Central Market with the little man, I made chicken with mushroom cream sauce for dinner and it turned out really nicely. Afterwards we decided to take a walk with Colin over to our neighborhood park. Last week they installed a new swing set and we were excited to let Colin try it out. He LOVED it!! We got some really cute pictures to boot! How awesome are those?!?! I swear I could just eat him up!!

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Today was randomly very cool in North Texas...it never really got too far out of the 50's. Tomorrow goes back to sunny and 80, so the cold front was pretty short lived. Jer's other set of parents who live locally came over to see Colin and took us all out to lunch for my birthday, which is rolling up on Tuesday. Jer's family is always amazing to me on my birthday...the entire family sends me cards and well wishes...even his grandparents. Since I come from such a tiny family, I just love how much they all make me feel like one of them. A couple of days ago I got a card from Jer's grandfather and one yesterday from his grandmother...I just love them! We went to one of our favorite little Italian places today and Colin managed not to cry for the most part, which was good. His mood was slightly better today than it was yesterday, but he is still obviously in pain and not his normal happy self. Again today he napped twice for only about 40 minutes each time. I really hope that this stage passes quickly because I know the rough afternoons are partly because he is exhausted and needs more sleep. Damn teeth! Who knew?! :-)

I had a moment today in the restaurant that was...interesting. Anyone who knows me is aware that I am utterly non-confrontational, but when it comes to Colin, I can see myself changing. I kept my mouth shut today, but it was the first time in a long time that I thought about losing my cool. We had a teenage boy as our waiter today, complete with bad posture and expressionless eyes. (note to self...remind Colin to smile when he is an angst ridden 16 year old!) Anyway, Jer comments almost immediately after we got there about how funny it is to be waited on by people who don't have kids. Everything he sat down on the table had to be moved out of Colin's reach quickly. This happens all the time when we eat out...I don't even think about it anymore. I just absently move everything on the table out of baby reach. Well, when the waiter brought our food out, he sat my Pasta Sampler in front of me and in reach of Colin. This is a dish that is baked in an oven and brought out in the oven hot dish, mind you. It was like slow motion...I was looking at Jer when he sat down my food...I heard him telling me to be careful as the plate was hot, and when I turned my head to look, Colin had his sweet little fingers wrapping themselves around the rim of the oven dish. DEAR GOD!!!!!!!!! It was like time stood still...my heart jumped into my throat and I grabbed his hand as fast as I could, but he had already touched it. He started screaming, of course, and I grabbed him out of his high chair and took him outside. Amid heart palpitations, I checked his fingers and they were fine. He must have scared himself quickly enough that no damage was done. I kissed him all over his face and he recovered quickly. The idiot teenage waiter never blinked over it or even said anything about it. I wanted to kill him. Swiftly. But I held my tongue...I know he did not mean for it to happen and he put the plate in front of me, not Colin exactly. But I really wish that waiters would be more observant for heavens sake!!!!!!!! I waited tables for 5 years, and I can tell you that I NEVER put a dish out of the oven anywhere near a child's grasp. I really think that kids today leave a lot to be desired...that boy today was not paying any attention to what he was doing! And now I sound like my mother....again. :-)

The Battle with Top Teeth Continues....

This has been a long day here in our house...it is always hard to say goodbye to loved ones and we have been a bit melancholy today since Jer's parents left. They headed back East this morning and Colin and I spent the day together missing all the extra love and attention! Poor Colin is having a horrible time with his top teeth...I actually came close to taking him to the ER this afternoon because I started to doubt that teething could cause such intense crying. After trying everything, I loaded Colin into the car and took him to the pharmacy for new infant orajel. Once we started driving he finally got distracted and calmed down, thank goodness. I stocked up on everything related to pain relieving for infants. We literally tried everything today...Tylenol, Motrin, Orajel, teething tablets, frozen rags, teethers in the fridge, water...gracious!! Not much helped, so I spent the day trying to distract him from the pain. I can see that his top front teeth are heading in, so hopefully these are the worst for awhile. I have felt like a bit of a failure today...I hate to see him hurt like that! I wish I could have done more. He had two naps that were all of 30 minutes before he woke up crying. Now it is 10:15 and he has already woken up crying twice since he went down at 8:00. I know he is tired...I have said my prayers that God will help him to get some rest. I think he is the only one who can help us now!! :-)

Jer was forced to attend a BBQ at his bosses house without us today...I hate when Jer has to attend work functions wifeless, but Colin was in no shape for a party. I am heading to bed now with the hopes that my little buddy will get some sleep. Poor angel!!