Lunch time!

sleep training

I realize that sleep training is much harder than I ever imagined it would be. This crazy journey of motherhood seems like a constant test of my patience, endurance, and sanity! My son no longer wants to sleep in his crib during the night or for his naps. He wants to sleep beside me. Although, this unconditional love is very heartwarming...not sleeping is a real pain in the ass! I am like a walking zombie all day. This, I realize is NO GOOD!

And so...

I have finally decided to sleep train my son. I have been leaving him to "cry it out" by himself in his crib. He is an incredibly persistent 6 month old however. He will cry himself blue at different pitches just to get my attention. It tears me up inside. I find myself wanting to run into that room time and time again, just to soothe him. Only I can't. Not if this is going to be an effective method of training. He won't ever learn if I continue to be the sucker. I just feel bad for the little guy. He is born enveloped in my womb, spent most of his first three months getting to know me intimately and now I am being ripped away from him so to speak, disrupting his comfort zone. Waking up alone is foreign to him and putting himself to sleep is definitely not something he is used to. It's funny but it seems that the fear of being alone, which haunts many adults throughout the course of their lives, begins here during infancy. My son does NOT want to be alone in that room. He freaks out and is learning to call me, which makes it worse! Hearing the yearning and relentless "mama" calling does a real number on me!

visting with our cousin

My husband and I LOVE wine. We have been drinking wine socially for years and for quite some time had no idea what differentiated good wines from the great ones. Especially when your first experience is Strawberry flavored Boone's Farm, which my parents still swear by to this day!
My husband, working in the restaurant industry, has been exposed to various brands and varieties over the years which really helped to develop our palate and knowledge...not to mention, gets us free booze! We love learning about the different varietals and expanding our palate.
We recently got into Wine Library TV with Gary VAY-NER-CHUCK! Whom we love, he is so wacky, you can't help but be fascinated!!! Anyhoo, he recently interviewed Nick Goldschmidt, who is equally fascinating and witty. They had great chemistry and the reviews on the wine he produced, made quite the impression on us. We absolutely had to see what it was about.
So my husband managed to get a case of the Goldschmidt Vineyard, oakville cabernet 2006 and it was WOW! Amazing nose and unbelievably smooth from start to finish. I was blown away! So this is what expensive wine tastes like, hmmmm!
I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a good red, because this is a MUST have. Hopefully someday we can get ourselves to Napa, it would be such a treat.

Mom&Me Yoga

Baby C & I attended our first mommy & me yoga class. Not sure what I expected, and why I was expecting anything at all is beyond me, however it was very different than I imagined. There was only one other parent beside me, with a child the same age as my little gus gus. The class began with warm-ups that didn't include the baby (and it took up most of the class time) and then we did about 3-4 poses with the baby towards the end of the class. The mom beside me broke up the pace by feeding her child and changing his diaper during class, lol.
To their credit, the staff was really great and the facilities were super clean (and everyone knows how I am about CLEANLINESS!!!), so that was a plus. I just felt in the end, like it was the sort of thing that exists solely to appease moms and their need to get out and "mingle" with their babies and other moms; and less of a workout or experience to enjoy with your child. Which is great if you just want to get out for a bit, but I could probably just run through the few poses right here at home and save my money. Ugh! Decisions, decisions...

I did wake up with some slight soreness in my abs however, so the poses do work, haha! Guess that counts for something!

our first play date

oh the chaos!

time...

something i no longer posses control of. i have tried several times...no, pretty much ALL DAY, to steal a few moments to myself, with absolutely no success. not that i am complaining, i just find it particularly funny and a bit overwhelming. i was told that this was the phase of my son's growth that i would find myself bored a lot.

really???

when does that happen? when he is demanding my attention 24/7 or when he is spitting up, destroying my nipples, crying (or rather whining), needing to be changed, or simply cranky from the constant barrage of stimulation now that is aware of his surroundings? Remembering to feed myself is quite the challenge while I tote the 14 pound bugger in one arm...oh yeah, I definitely feel the burn!

i find time for nothing. i would be lucky to get five minutes, i am mostly forcing the time just to unwind, while i hear the whining in the background...but that never lasts long :)
even now, i have introduced him to a play-mat with hanging animals to see if he would take to it, but NO. he is now letting me know he has had enough...all of the FIVE minutes he has been at it! when does anyone find time to be bored?!

Seriously?!

i spend more time trying to figure out what all the whining implicates...hunger, discomfort, dirty diaper, or exhaustion. my heart races as I anticipate solving yet another mystery!