Ohio follow up

Let’s see, it was a long week so I will just post the important stuff.
Don and I eventually figured out how Columbus worked. You know when you get to a new place and you don’t know where to grocery shop or a nice outdoor area? That is how our first day was. Luckily our trusty GPS can find just about anything. We ended up finding a nice park that Ryan loved, we went out to eat at a whole bunch of different places (Greek, Italian, Mexican etc), and we found the nice places to walk. While I am still somewhat anti-Ohio (sorry all you Ohioites) it wasn’t as bad as originally assumed.
Don and I have had an interesting adventure at the hotel. So with a baby you have to pack a lot of stuff when you travel, it took us probably an hour to set everything up once we got into the room. The next day the hotel informed us that we needed to switch rooms so they could do maintenance on the room we were staying in. UGH. Luckily because of Dons persistence we got a free night and late check-out out of the ordeal. It turns out that the pack-n-play (portable baby bed) works great as a wheel borrow to move everything from one place to another.
My class was 8:30-3 with an hour lunch break where I came back to the room to breastfeed. Then when I got home there was reading to be done and Ryan to be played with and food to be found… It was a lot and by the end of the week I have found myself completely and utterly exhausted. If the class had not been as interesting as it was I would have given up long ago and would have no notes to show for all that time I was sitting in the room.
We are heading back to North Carolina tomorrow. It will be a different sort of trip because we can’t leave until after my class which gets out around 3:30 which means we won’t get home until like 1 or 2am. I have already called my mom and set up some time for her to be with Ryan on Saturday so that Don and I can have some recovery sleep time.
Over-all the trip has gone well, I will be happy when we are back home and back into our rhythm of life.
I will post a few pictures when we get back, I brought the camera but not the computer cord.

Wingman

You know how men sometimes borrow their friends dogs in order to meet women at parks? Well they could just as easily borrow a baby for the afternoon. While I was in class this last week Don had Ryan. He would put him in the Baby Bjorn and walk me to school, then he would take Ryan out to go pick up lunch. When I would get home from class he would regale me with stories about women stopping him on the street to see Ryan and ask him questions about my little man. Ryan developed what I like to call the flirt smile, he sort of looks down like he is being bashful as he gives a big smile at the women cooing at him. In short Don is not allowed out of the house with Ryan any more (Just kidding). I understand where these women are coming from, my men are a pretty cute pair.

Don was approached by one man who asked if he was the man who had given birth to the baby... he said Don looked like him because he had facial hair. Wow, apparently the man hadnt looked beyond the facial hair because he would have noticed that the man who gave birth was Asian! Oh the things that happen when you walk around with a baby!

O-hi-o

We made it to Ohio! The trip was easier then I expected (I had very low expectations- 8 hours of drive time with a baby which of course turned out to be about 10 hours of travel time). Ryan handled it a lot better then I thought he might. Even when he was awake he was for the most part in a good mood. He has started to discover his hands so he played with a little blue bee stuffed animal and this kept him occupied for a very long time.
We only had one tense moment where Ryan had a dirty diaper and was hungry. The issue was that we were in nowhere West Virginia and there was no where to pull over, literally there were no exits. Ryan couldn’t breathe he was screaming so loud, he was freaking out so I was freaking out and poor Don couldn’t do anything to help. Ryan slept for 9 ½ hours in a row the night we got in and has been in a good mood ever since.
It is interesting being in a new city with a baby. We don’t know where to eat, or how to get around and where it is safe to walk etc. I have moved around and traveled a lot in my life but it was nothing like it is with a baby. With Ryan we have a time limit for everything; he gets frustrated if things take us too long to do.
The class itself is actually really good. I went into law school thinking that I would like to go into adoption law and that is the entire focus of this course. The teacher is great and reminds me a lot of one of my friends in Chicago. We have these clickers that remind me of Americas Funniest Home Videos where the teacher polls the class and you have to pick A, B, C or D and then a chart pops up on the board with how the class voted… At least it is interesting. The best part of it is, at the end of next week I will be DONE WITH LAW SCHOOL. That’s right, no more classes! I will post more about the trip when we get back.

Baby Clothes

Ryan has grown out of his 0-3 month clothes… time goes by fast. I was trying to keep him in the 0-3 as long as possible. Last night Don commented on Ryan’s cleavage… apparently the neckline was getting a little too low…

The good news is we get to break out the next batch of clothes including the one below!

Pictures of Ryan at 10 weeks

Ryan with his new friend Fiona who is ONE week old!

Ryan and Dad

Practicing the head lift, he has gotten very good at it this week

Ryan and mom are ready to head outside, we know we look cool!

Updates

A Few Quick Updates:

- Ryan Has continued to sleep well at night (usually around 7 hours at a time) last night he slept for 9!
- I have lost 6 pounds since saying I would start losing the weight that wouldn’t come off on its own after the pregnancy
- Ryan is now 10 ½ weeks old and weighs right around 12 pounds. According to the doctor he is still below average weight (but not enough to worry, about 35%) and above average length (75th percentile)
- Ryan Don and I are heading off to Ohio for a week so that I can take a law class; we are driving which will be interesting. I’ll let you know when I get back how it goes.

Follow up on Movies

I have a follow up to my previous blog entry. This one has to do with the rating of movies. Now I will begin by aknowledging that this will sound very parental of me, but hey I am allowed right?
Okay the Dark Knight was rated PG-13, what is that all about? It seems that there should be something that they look at besides sex, blood and swearing when deciding to give a movie a rating of R. Just because a movie pans away right as there would be lots of blood but they show everything including torture leading up to it does not mean that it is any less gruesome. My imagination is pretty good and when you leave me to think about what happened next I get a pretty clear picture.
There was a child sitting in front of me at the Dark Knight, the child required a booster seat that’s how young she was, probably 6? I know a lot of you have seen this movie (either that or everyone else in the country has seen it at least 3 times to make up for you based on the numbers), would you allow your child to see this movie? My brother and I were talking about it before the movie and he said he would let an 8 year old see the movie, after the movie was over he amended it to older (I suggested 35). Based on the PG 13 rating I would assume a lot of parents would allow their children to see it, how could they know it would be as “intense” as it is?
Here is the screwy part at least in my head, and the part that leaves parents with no idea how scaring a movie is going to be. Clueless was rated PG-13, do you really think that Clueless and Dark Knight should be rated the same? Little Miss Sunshine was rated R… Really? Which would you rather your child see?
Well I have decided Ryan isn’t allowed to see anything but Pixar until he moves out of the house… okay maybe that was a little bit of an exaggeration, but how am I to know what is appropriate for him to see without seeing the movie first myself?
Okay enough of a rant…

Going to the Movies

I have learned something valuable about time and time management from Ryan. With a child you have very little “me” time. Sure I can have the occasional “I’m going up stairs to take a shower I will be back in a few minutes” and the even more rare “I’m going out to dinner with my brother” but these times are often few and far between.
So back to the point: I have learned that when I do get this time I need to make sure I REALLY enjoy what I am doing. No one wants to waste the few hours a week they have alone on something they don’t enjoy doing; what a waste. I am going to get a lot of criticism for this statement BUT I wish I hadn’t spent my free time seeing the movie Dark Knight. I know I am in the minority (Don LOVED it) Okay let me explain.

I went to IMAX with my brother and Don to watch the movie today. It was very well written and the acting was superb. Here were the issues: I was freaked out the whole time, I don’t like creepy characters, I am not a huge fan of violence in movies, IMAX is really loud and big (so the creepy violence was super loud and larger then life), and finally the moral of the story was: everyone is evil if pushed far enough.
I admit I watch movies for a different reason then most people do. I watch movies to feel good, I know lame right? I usually don’t watch them for their cinematography or anything like that... I like to walk out of a movie feeling good. I can see the eye roll from some of you all the way from here, but this is what I like and I am sticking to it. My favorite movies are Enchanted and Finding Nemo if that explains anything… I should have gone to Mamma Mia or Sex and The City.

A Big Milestone!

There are a lot of milestones that children are supposed to hit; some of them big and some of them not so big. Ryan finally hit the milestone I have been waiting for since his birth. He slept 8 hours in a row in his crib last night. Don and I even got to wake up and have breakfast together at the table before Ryan woke up. I hope this is the beginning of a trend.

One word Meme

Annitra Tagged me for this meme (what this means I don't know), the rules are you have to answer each question with only ONE word, then you tag friends to get them to post it on their blog.

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Supportive
3. Your hair? Up
4. Your mother? Grandmother
5. Your father? Lost
6. Your favorite thing? Ryan
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? Lemonade
9. Your dream/goal? Peace
10. The room you’re in? Livingroom
11. Your hobby? reading
12. Your fear? suffocation
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
14. What you’re not? Rested
15. Muffins? Delicious
16. One of your wish list items? Vacation
17. Where you grew up? Carolina
18. The last thing you did? Cleaned
19. What are you wearing? Shorts
20. Favorite gadget? GPS
21. Your pets? None
22. Your computer? Needed
23. Your mood? Chill
24. Missing someone? Many
25. Your car? Accord
26. Something you’re not wearing? Makeup
27. Favorite store? Amazon
28. Like someone? Love
29. Your favorite color? Green
30. When is the last time you laughed? Morning
31. Last time you cried? Recently

I hope my answers all made sense, it is hard to just use one word. I was told I have to tag people so let’s see… I will tag Jess my wonderful friend in Chicago that is taking the bar in the very near future and Jen who JUST had a baby yay new mom (I will have to give her lots of time to post this on her blog).

Taking care of my baby's momma

I have found that it is very important to take care of yourself when you stay at home with a baby. It is easy to fall into a pattern of not showering and sitting around in your PJ’s all day focusing 100% of your attention on the baby. If you don't focus anything on yourself, you start feeling like a slug and you have 0 energy and are no fun to be around (even the baby thinks so). I went to go get my hair trimmed and my eyebrows done today for the first time since Ryan was born. It’s nice to look and feel like a normal human being, maybe I can keep this up… okay probably not but it sure feels good today.

Energy Boost

I have a new reason to lose the pregnancy weight… I need to be able to keep up with Ryan. I swear, when he is awake he has more energy then he knows what to do with. I know from the past that when I am in shape I feel better and am more awake/ alert during the day. So I am turning a new leaf, I don’t think I have a choice… his energy is just going to increase as he gets older. So this weekend Don and I bought a treadmill! I have already run on it once… it was a pitiful excuse for running, but we all have to start somewhere right? I feel good about this... I plan on running during Ryan’s morning nap and then at night when Don comes home. My pre-pregnancy pants better watch out because mamma's coming home!

Notice the disparity in energy levels...

Yay Treadmill!

Passage of Time

Having a child makes you acutely aware of the passage of time. I like most have let days and weeks pass me by without ever noticing (especially when it came to school). With a child, especially a newborn you notice everyday. Ryan turned two months old last week, WOW. Two short months and everything has changed. When Ryan was first born he couldn’t focus his eyes on anything, he couldn’t sleep for long amounts of time, he couldn’t interact, and everything was about survival. At two months old he can track people with his eyes, he smiles when you play with him, he recognizes people, and he has a blooming personality (which is a lot like mine… watch out world) everyday he is developing more and more into his own unique person. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Surviving Shots

We made it through the first round of shots. Ryan was a trooper, he cried harder getting weighed then he did with the shots. He has only recently started to get fussy (5 or so hours later) we gave him a dose of Tylenol and he is doing much better. Hopefully he gets a good night of sleep and is right as rain in the morning. We decided on getting two of the shots this time, we are going to go back in a month and get another one. I feel pretty comfortable with our decision and the doctor didn’t give us a hard time which was nice.