Baby Joaquin: 6 and 7 Month Update

My little Joaquinnie pants is now 7 months old.  These past two months have been so much fun for our little family because Joaquin has developed his little personality and has hit so many milestones. Right now, he is an adventurous baby boy. His favorite thing to do is crawl around the house following Sonic around. As you can imagine, Sonic does not approve of this, but he's a good sport about it and doesn't get mad but instead he rather calmly, yet irritatedly walks away. I'm always in close quarters just in case he decides to get crazy....and when I say he I mean both Joaquin and Sonic.

He also loves to navigate his way under, over, and through different things. Hence, this adorable picture with his playmat on his back. I don't know HOW he did this.

Other milestones include celebrating his first Mother's and Father's day,

riding on his first train,

going to the beach and the pool, lookin' all cool,

and being a big boy and feeding himself.

I'm just so proud of my smart baby boy. I can't get enough of him. I'm sure you can tell from the millions of pictures.

Here's a few other stats.

Size: He weighed in at 17 pounds during his 6 month check up. He has to be 18-19 now. He is wearing 9-12 month clothes now, mainly because he is in the 90th percentile in height.

Tall like Daddy!

Eating: I have been pureeing food like a maniac mom...a momiac. He's been eating sweet potato, zucchini squash, sweet peas, and bananas. We are limiting his fruits to one type a month  so he doesn't develop a sweet tooth and ditch his veggies. He still eats his brown rice cereal and I've put him back on baby oatmeal for breakfast. He is no longer allergic to the wheat. Yay!

Sleeping: UGH! The thorn in my sleepy paw. He is now back to waking up two times a night to eat. I've tried everything from giving him a pacifier to letting him cry (my heart can only take so much crying, you know.) and nothing but a bottle seems to work. I've done a bit of reading and all signs point to nighttime hunger. It stays consistent with his daytime feeding time frames, every  4 hours. He wakes up at midnight, then again at 4 am, then he wakes up for good at 6, but isn't hungry until 7. It's draining but Thank God I'm on summer vaction. Once, I brought him into bed with me at 6 in the morning and magically he fell back asleep. He has yet to do this again.

Next up: Summertime fun with Mommy! This might be the best summer yet.

Two Months With Baby Joaquin

My little baby is a whole two months old this week. I can't believe it's already two months, but I can't believe it's only been two months. Know what I mean? Joaquin is growing so fast and when I say fast, I mean chubby. We have his two month check up this week so we'll see how many pounds he's packed on. I'm guessing he's around 13-15 pounds. He's a chunkers and I just love his jiggly legs that look like they have rubber bands all up and down them and his chubby cheeks that I can't stop kissing. He's eating a whopping 4 oz of breast milk or formula each feeding and any less he screams like...well, a baby.

 

Another fav of mine is hearing him coo and ahh throughout the day. Sometimes I'll even get a loud ahh like he's trying to establish his roar as a human being. Primetime for chats and smiles is morning time and it really takes the edge off of my zombie-mommy state. He is a better conversationalist than a lot of people I've encountered and I can just googoo and gaagaa with him all day! It literally melts my heart every time.

And the question on every one's mind, how is baby boy sleeping? I feel so blessed that he is slowly but surely sleeping longer stretches of time during the nights. Since Week 2, we tried establishing a bedtime routine. I knew he wouldn't follow it just yet, but I wanted to create it early on so that all three of us could get used to some kind of bedtime routine.

His Bedtime Routine: We feed him his dinner anywhere from 7:00-9:00 pm depending on when he's hungry. On some nights, we will give him a warm bath and a lotion/baby oil massage. Most of the time he digs his baths but there are certainly those times where he screams his head off, particularly when it's time to rinse his hair. Then, I swaddle him tightly and rock him to sleep in the rocking chair while Hubby reads a bedtime story. We put on the sound machine (Joaquin enjoys the "crashing waves" channel) and he'll either fall right to sleep or he'll wiggle like a worm for about a minute and then fall asleep. He'll wake up around 1:00 or 2:00 am to eat, fall right to sleep and wake up again at around 4:00 or 5:00 am to eat again and try to chat it up, then fall asleep. I don't give in to playing with him at that hour because one, I'm half asleep, and two, I don't want him to think it's play time. He'll sleep again until about 7:00 am and that's when our day officially begins. He's a good napper as well, which has allowed me to nap, clean, or blog during the day. I'm one lucky momma! ::knock on wood::

As for me, the first month was definitely trying and was filled with hormone imbalances, c-section recovery, the lack of sleep, and my battle with breastfeeding. I felt so guilty that I wasn't "loving it" like people expected me to....like I expected to. My mommy friends reassured me that what I  was feeling was normal. The Baby Blues came and went.

But I'm so excited to report that most of that has passed and I truly, wholeheartedly love it. I love my little baby boy to pieces and I just love being a mother. Sure, there is still the lack of sleep (oh, how I miss sleep!), the hormone imbalances (sorry, Hubby), and my battle with breastfeeding pumping, but when I see my little Joaquin smile at me, my heart just melts to the floor. The good moments with my son outweigh the bad. I don't even mind poopy diapers...that has to say something!

As for my body, I am amazed at how resilient it truly is. I mean, don't get me wrong, I still have a few stretch marks, a very ugly c-section scar, and flab in some places I've never had before, but for the most part I am back to normal. My pre-pregnancy weight was about 130 lbs and while I was pregnant, I ate everything in sight and swelled so much from the summer heat that I gained 50+ lbs putting me at about 180 lbs. Right now, I am down to 145 lbs thanks to breastfeeding, my mother's genes, and not having much of an appetite. I've taken a few walks and plan to start some strength training soon. I don't care about losing all the weight, but I want to be fit and strong.

Before. During. After

     

Overall, things are amazing. My son is amazing. My husband is amazing. My dog is amazing. I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

How I'm Coping by Sonic the Dog

Three weeks ago, my life changed forever.

Days and days and days ago, I noticed something different about Mommy. She was walking differently, yelling a lot, and her front side was getting bigger and bigger. It was round, like my Kong ball.

I didn't think anything of it because it was a really nice place to rest my head. Hmmm, it sure did feel funny when it moved.

Then one day, Mommy seemed like she was in great pain. She was crying and squeezing me tight. Roh Row. We needed some help! Mommy and Daddy left that night and didn't come home for days and days and days.

Uncle Vince and Grandpa Jun did come and visit me. They walked me and fed me. It was fun! Uncle Vince even brought two mini hats for me to smell. It smelled so different. They kept telling me that "baby" was coming, whatever that is.

Then, they brought this miniture person home. I've never seen anything like it. It makes funny sounds and even funnier smells. Mommy and Daddy are carrying it around.... like they used to carry me.

 

This little person or "Papas" as they keep calling it, is too big to be a toy and too small for me to jump on. I'm so confused.

 One good thing about all this is the new cookies I've been getting. I've been getting yum-yums from my special jar like crazy! Mommy is even dropping more food off the dinner table when Daddy isn't looking.

 

Everyday, Mommy keeps saying they still love me . I'm still her "puppy kisses" she says. She even tells me that Baby loves me and when you get bigger, which I hope isn't too big, we will be best buds.

If you keep stinking up the place like I do, and keep making loud noises when you're hungry, like I do, and pee all over the place, like I do....then yes... I think we will be best buds.

But let's get one thing straight.... Mommy and Daddy were mine first!

29, 24, 6 and 5

Yesterday was my 29th birthday. It's a weird age to be. I'm on the cusp of letting go of my 20's...oh those glorious 20's and grasping on to my 30's.....Holy crap I'm going to be 30. I feel 29, which is weird. When people ask you "How does it feel to be _____?" I think many of us respond with...meh. However, I really feel 29. Maybe it's because I'm coming on to my 7th year as a teacher, 2nd year of marriage, and first child. Good Lord! I'm an adult. I also love looking at paint colors at Home Depot and spending too much time organizing my kitchen cabinets. Adult biz. I never thought I'd see the day.

Coconut Chocolate Cupcake from Sprinkles. OH MY!

Sonic also had a birthday this month. He is 5 years old. I don't want to count in dog years because that will make it a lot older. He is my puppy forever.

Puppy Cupcake from Sprinkles. Don't judge.

Yesterday also marked 24 weeks pregnant which is 6 whole months pregnant. Cra-zee.

How far along? 24 weeks, which is a whopping 6 months pregnant!

Total weight gain: 20 lbs. I am ashamed.

Maternity clothes? The stretchier the better. However, those elastic bands are starting to be a little more uncomfortable. I want to just be naked all the time but apparently there are laws against this?

Stretch marks? Nada

Sleep: Sleep is good. I wake up every morning with leg cramps but I am a ninja and I stop them before they get worse. The trick it to flex the foot and point the toes to the sky. Works like a ninja charm.

Best moment this week: Celebrating my birthday at the beach, stuffing my face with snacks. It was a great day!

Miss Anything? Sushi and being able to wear flip flops without dying of pain.

Movement: Baby is kicking, flipping, and hiccuping a lot still. 

Food cravings: Sweets. Cakes, cupcakes, pumpkin pie, ice cream....all those fat loading treats!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing at the moment
Gender predictions: Still feeling like it's a girl.

Labor Signs: Not yet

Symptoms: More weight gain...booo. Water retention....hisss. Swollen feet...RAWR!! Those are angry sounds, by the way.

Belly Button in or out? It's almost out. It's kinda gross.

Wedding rings on or off? My wedding band is the only thing that barely fits. You think hubby will buy me a spare?

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and excited!!

Looking forward to: More birthday celebrating this weekend!

Weekend Recap: I'm A Lucky You Know What

This weekend was full of good things... literally... good things.

Friday was Christmas Bunco. This is in fact, one of the best days of the year. I get to spend quality time chit chatting it up with 11 of my favorite girls. I truly love them so much. They don't know how happy they make my heart. (Many of them are camera shy so I spared them the embarrassment of plastering their beautiful faces on my blog.)

One of my students asked me what I was doing that night and after I told him I was going to have dinner with my friends, he proceeded to add that we will probably be talking about male ice skaters, "you know, because they have tight pants?" His words, not mine.

Sadly, we did not have time to talk about male ice skaters because we were too busy eating, laughing, and laughing some more.

p.s Brie plus cranberries equals heaven. It's simple math.

And we ate some more.

But, the highlight of my night was getting to rummage through my friend's NEW KITCHEN! Holy Moly! I died and gone to kitchen heaven.

Check out these sexy drawers. You can move those pegs around accordingly.

I really want to make food babies with this spice rack. Ohh my!

I love drawer. I love kitchen. I love friends.

Oh, and I'm loving this, too.

Hubby gave me an early Christmas present because my old phone decided to be a freakface and give me hard time. Even though it was being difficult, I feel bad for moving on to something bigger and better. I'm the type of person who gives feelings to inanimate objects. I am sorry Palm Pixi.

But, I have to admit, I have super obsessed with this thing and I am even more excited about the camera on this bad boy. Now I can take good pictures even when I forget my real camera!

See what I mean? Isn't Sonic just the cutest in my sweater?

• I need some cool Apps! What are some of your favorites?

Pesto Puffs and Dashing Pups

I really can't speak enough about how much I love pastry puff. I dream of eating it fresh out of the oven with Nutella schmeared all over it, melting from the heat. Oooo baby, you know what I LIKE!

Here are two other recipes and blogposts where I talk about my obsession with this crispy creation.
Mini puffed apple pies
Sweet and Salty Puff Daddy Pastries

This weekend I went to a little Halloween party on Hubby's side of the family. It was so cute!! There were little cousins dressed as Hello Kitty, Joker, Teletubbie, and Raggedy Ann. Even grandma dressed like a vampire!! The food was simple but delicious and the decorations were in full effect. Oh, how I wish I didn't forget my camera!

Bloggers, you know the sad feeling in your heart when you dig through your purse to find that you didn't bring your camera?  Yeah... I had that.

I did manage to snap photos of the little appetizers that I made...well... I managed to snap the process.

Pesto Cream Cheese Puffs
(Pampered Chef Recipe)

Ingredients:
Cream Cheese
Ham
Pesto a la Jar
Puff Pastry
Will power so you don't eat them all

Here are the magic verbs....

(For 20 minutes at 350F)

Again, I didn't remember to take a picture of the finished product. I figured your imaginations are so amazing and vivid, that you could just make up the ending on your own. But, for those of you whose imaginations suck, here is a pretty accurate picture of what it looked like.



Source

HEY! It's all I could find...deal with it. Jokes. That isn't even puff pastry. I would know... I'm a connoisseur of puff.

Moving on....

Yesterday, hubby and I beat some kind of world record for the lamest Halloween turn out. We had a whopping TWO trick or treaters! And to make it worse... I didn't even know what the hell they were dressed as! (But they weren't dressed as skanks so extra candy for them!)

To make the most of the night, Hubby and I set up camp outside and ate our yummy dinner.

Pesto Pasta and Porkchops

As you can see, Hubby was in the spirit of Halloween and dressed up as a man who just got off of work....pretty spot on if you ask me. And lil ol' me? I dressed up as a girl that didn't die from her afternoon run... I jazzed it up with the boob flattening sports bra and beads of sweat. I went ALL out!

And Sonic took home the bacon (he wishes so desperately for that to be true).



He dressed up like Bond...James Bond. So freggin' adorable. I could just eat him....but I wont because that would feed into the stereotype of Asians eating dogs.