I am a little concerned ...

Because Brandt started waking up at night again. Last night he woke up at 11pm, and then twice later on, and then he was awake for the day at 5:20am. He went back to sleep pretty quickly each time he woke up, but I'm worried that he's getting back into his old habits. Yawn.

On a happier note, I plan to go to the gym this morning because it's launch. No, not "lunch" like what my dad thought I said. It's when the new choreography is introduced and my gym calls it launch and makes people sign up so the class isn't overcrowded. Last time I went to launch I had the best time and it recharged my interest in going to the gym regularly. So I'm hoping this helps my fitness slump.

Frump & Lazy

I have fallen off the wagon. I've stopped going to the gym as much as I used to and I've been eating more ... and by more I mean crap. I can come up with several reasons (excuses) as to why I've lost interest in working out, most of them revolving around 3 weeks of not sleeping because Brandt had been waking up at night. But other reasons include: I don't feel like it, and that ice cream looks really yummy. Then I have an experience that totally motivates me to get off my butt and back on track ... and this particular slap in the face happened to be yesterday's episode of Oprah.

And don't even start with the assumption that stay-at-home-moms sit around watching soaps and Oprah all day, because this was the first time in 3+ months that I have watched an episode of Oprah.

Anyway, this episode helped me remember how important it is to be active and eat well. Which is totally obvious information, although a lot of people choose to ignore it and eat as much as they want whenever they want without exercising enough. And the episode focused on childhood obesity, which is a scary trend that has continued to increase.

I was a fat kid. If you knew me in 4th grade through 9th grade you could definitely see the signs of obesity. I also used to brag about being able to eat 4 tacos at Taco Bell when I was 10. Not surprising that I weighed close to 160 at 12 years old. Yeah ... fat.

Then I lost some weight in high school, although I still wasn't thin ... but I wasn't as heavy as I had been. Once college came I was able to lose a lot of weight thanks to one particular summer job I had where I was outside in 100+ degree weather all day. I sweat so much and drank so much water that I made it down to my thinnest weight of 121. That is what Joe nostalgically refers to as "college Karen."

Then I got pregnant and REALLY fat (195 pounds, if you've forgotten). I did manage to lose most of it, although I could really stand to lose another 10 pounds. But back to my original topic, I've gotten lazy and I feel frumpy because I've lost my drive. I really need to find it again because the frump is starting to take over.

All Better

Our sleep situation has improved from the past few weeks and is better than it was before the recent issues. Brandt stays in his bed, although we still use the baby gate at night. He sleeps ALL night and has started waking up LATER! It's a freaking miracle.

The night before we left for Disneyland was the first night Brandt slept through the night since Christmas Eve and I was worried that the trip would screw everything up. It didn't, and I almost think it helped because Brandt was so tired from all the activity that he's managed to sleep more soundly.

The past few mornings he has woken up after 6:30am ... sometimes close to 7am. And this morning we heard him make noise around 4:45 but he put himself right back to sleep. I'm so glad he's figured things out, and Joe and I feel completely rejuvenated with our full nights of sleep. It's wonderful.

Disneyland

We had so much fun. It was a quick trip, we left at 4am Tuesday morning and got to our hotel around 11:15am pacific time (we gained an hour, which was nice). By the time we unloaded all our stuff into the hotel room and packed up the stroller, we were inside the park around 12:30 and spent several hours there. Brandt met Mickey for the first time that afternoon and he was hooked. He kept saying, "Mickey" in the cutest voice, in a tone that was a combination of excitement and shyness.




The next morning we were up early and had our complimentary breakfast at the hotel at 6:30. We left around 7am and headed to the beach which ended up being a 40 minute drive. The weather was beautiful. It wasn't cold and it wasn't hot, and the beach was practically empty except for a few surfers. We walked to the edge of the water and Joe rolled up his jeans & Brandt's jeans and then took him toward the ocean. When the first little roll of water rushed over his feet Brandt got a little freaked out. Joe bent over to roll up his own pants some more and while he was doing that, a bigger roll of water rushed past Brandt and he lost his footing and was down. Entirely covered in water, with sand on his face and in his ear & hair. He didn't much enjoy that part. So, we spent all of 5 minutes at the beach.



On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Kohl's (which was two stories!) so I could buy Brandt a new pair of shoes because I conveniently forgot his Converse at home and we only had his flip flops with us. So I settled for a pair of Carter's shoes that I'm not entirely happy with, but Kohl's had like 6 pairs of shoes on display that were not in stock, so I had to settle for my 4th choice.

We got back to the hotel, gave Brandt a quick bath to get sand out of awkward places, and loaded up the stroller. We were back inside the park right as it opened at 10am. We spent most of the day there, although we did leave around 12:30 so Brandt could take a little nap. I went to the grocery store to get more bananas, apples & pears (because my kid won't eat meat) and then Joe and I took a little catnap too.





We then headed over to California Adventure and I made Joe go on Soarin' Over California because it is one of the best rides EVER. Then we went to ride a few small rides for Brandt, and then headed to the Playhouse Disney show. Brandt has never seen any of the shows on Playhouse Disney (except for Doodlebops) but he LOVED the show. The jumping and clapping and dancing around. It was a lot of fun.

We spent the remainder of our day back at Disneyland. We really got lucky with crowds ... the longest we waited was 20 minutes. Tuesday and Wednesday were both very light days and were not crowded at all.

I think I converted Joe to a Disneyland fan. Actually I think Brandt converted him. Joe hadn't been to Disneyland since 1994, and every time I had gone during the 8 years we've been together he never wanted to go. Now that he's been with Brandt he realizes how great of an experience it is to share as a family. He's been thinking of ways to go a few times a year ... and I'm so excited ;)

To see more pictures, go here: Shutterfly

Quick Update

Brandt slept all night last night. From 7:30 - 6:20am. All by himself. This is the first time since December 23rd.

And we're going to Disneyland tomorrow! Well not actually until Wednesday, but we're driving to LA tomorrow. YAY!

The Opposite of Progress

I might lose my mind. But I know for sure I am definitely losing my patience. Brandt's sleep issues are not improving and I don't know what the heck to do.

We started using a baby gate across his doorway on Saturday night and things went fairly smoothly the first few nights. When he woke up (still 3-4 times a night) we only had to walk to his door and he would climb back into bed and go to sleep. We didn't have to stay in there for the 10-20 minutes it took for him to fall asleep like we had to do before. But the last two nights have been HORRIBLE.

I figured we were just reinforcing his night waking by going to him every time he woke up, so I told Joe we should just let him fuss for a while and do the whole cry-it-out thing. We went to him at 10 minutes, then 15 minutes, then 20 minutes. But he never calmed down and fell back asleep. Last night this went on from 12am - 2:30am, at which point I gave up and brought him into our bed. I was surprised that he actually went to sleep. But then he woke up at 4:40am. Joe brought him back to his room and stayed with him until he fell asleep, but then Brandt was up for the day by 6:20am.

None of us are getting enough sleep and I have no freaking clue what to do about it. And my neck still hurts like hell from Tuesday night when I slept on the floor next to his bed for 2+ hours.

I'm definitely a cranky pants.

"Are You Steve Nash's Brother?"

This is what the neighbor kid asked Joe earlier this evening. I've never really noticed any resemblance, but I don't spend a lot of time looking at Steve Nash or watching Suns games. But the neighbor kid was not the first to notice - several people (including my mom and my friend, Lindsey) have commented about how Joe and Steve Nash look very similar.

Coincidentally, Joe got an email yesterday from a coworker with the following:

"Bober…You really look like Nash in this one!"

What do you think?

I Probably Shouldn't Tell You This ...

Because it's not 100%, even though I have made the hotel reservations. BUT, we are probably going to Disneyland next week and I cannot stop dancing around the house and looking at disneyland.com to get in the spirit.

You don't understand. To most people, Disneyland is just Disneyland. Like someplace you go with your kid and shell out $1000+ on crap and food and more crap. But for me, planning a trip to Disneyland is a very calculated experience where I reserach the hell out of every hotel and compare prices on priceline, travelocity, expedia, and hotels. Priceline was the cheapest by the way.

We are doing it road trip style, so I don't know how Brandt will do in the car for 7+ hours, since he usually starts to get cranky at the hour 45 mark right before we get to my parents' house when we go to Chandler. But I do plan to bring the portable DVD and a few of his favorites: Cars, Letter Factory ... and probably some Elmo that I will check out of the library. And snacks. Lots of snacks.

The small details haven't yet been finalized, but I reserved the hotel so I feel like it's almost set in stone. I'm pretty sure we'll drive to L.A. Tuesday and go to the beach and Downtown Disney, spend Wednesday at Disneyland, and drive back Thursday. I know it's kind of whirlwind, but we don't want to spend a ton of money and I still haven't been able to convince Joe that you really need 3 days (minimum) of Disneyland to get your time and money's worth. So we are just going one day.

The one ting I haven't done yet ... tell my parents. This is a big deal for them, too ... especially my dad. I will tell them after I post this, because within hours my mom will be reading it anyway. This trip is just for me, Joe and Brandt ... I hope it doesn't rustle any feathers.

Snack on that for Lunch

I'm Excited

To read this book. I've only started reading Dooce.com like 4 months ago, but I am hooked. I'm very interested to read about her pregnancy and postpartum depression that she experienced with her first pregnancy because it's a way more realistic viewpoint of having a baby than watching A Baby Story on TLC or reading about any celebrity who has just given birth, lost all of their baby weight in a week, and proclaims how life with a new baby is blissful and happy and "magical" and the best thing ever. Because those of us who've had babies know the truth. It seriously sucks.

Happy Camper

I took Brandt to the pediatrician yesterday because we weren't seeing any improvements with sleep habits. I explained the situation to the doctor and his only suggestion was to try the baby gate option. I figured there had to be a gate wide enough for Brandt's room, because he has double doors and the opening is 60" wide. But we didn't want anything we had to drill into the wall, so I was hoping for a pressure mounted gate. I happily found a baby gate that I liked that wasn't too expensive, however Babies R Us was out and so were the 4 Targets on my side of town. So I resigned myself to Amazon, which happily had the lowest price and their wonderful free shipping ... so I ordered it last night.

Brandt only woke up once last night, and Joe being the wonderful person he is, took him back to bed and hung out in there for 15 minutes. Then Brandt slept until after 6am, and when he did wake up he stayed in bed. We just heard him talking to himself in there, so we went in around 6:20am and got him up.

Of course he does this the night I order the gate from Amazon. We'll see if things continue to improve ... I could either keep the gate or return it, depending. But I definitely feel like a new person this morning. Yay for sleep.

Bear & Boston

The dog just wants to play ... but the cat is all, "Get the f*%@ out of my house."

Poor Brandt is growing up thinking a "Bear" is a gigantic black lab, great dane mix.

Three Steps Back

Last night was not so good. Brandt woke up at 10pm, 12am, 2am, and 3am ... and which point I brought my pillow & blanket into the room and slept next to his bed. Until he woke up for the day at 5:45am. He NEVER sleeps past 6am ... ever. I honestly have no idea what to do. A crib tent won't work because our crib is a weird size, and I don't know if a baby gate at the door would work because his room has double doors. As for the Benadryl option, I don't know what dose to give him because the box says to ask a doctor for kids under 6 and I don't want them to think I'm drugging my kid.

And I feel like all we're doing now is reinforcing this behavior, because he knows that when he gets up we have to carry him back to bed and put him back. And if we leave the room before he falls back asleep he will get back up and follow us. But I don't know how else to handle this ... we can't just ignore him when he's standing next to our bed saying, "Mom! Daddy!"

He's not sleeping well, we're not sleeping and it's getting old fast.

Big Boy Bed

We decided to convert Brandt's crib to a toddler bed yesterday, since he's been so insistent on climbing out of his crib at any chance he gets (including 2am). The results were good, although we're not back to 100% sleeping though the night. He woke up at 11 and then again at 4am, so at least we got a long stretch of sleep in between. Here are a few pictures of Brandt helping with the conversion, as well as trying out his new bed.