Baby Blackbird

Thursday 3/17/16 – Week 34: Holy Sweet Potatoes

2016-03-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

This morning I went into Evan’s room to change his diaper and give him a bottle.

I was about to pick him up when I noticed his pajamas.

They were a different color from the waist down.

Hmm, did they change color in the wash?

What happened here---?

And then I smelled it.

P-O-O-P.

YIKES!

I peeled the pajamas off him and there was poop everywhere. Not just in the diaper. And not just on his thighs.

It was all the way up to his stomach! Good lord!

I finally understood why people say, “Just put them in the bath!”

Oh yes, I got it.

There was no other option.

I used as many baby wipes as I could and then it was bath time!

Looks like the sweet potatoes I made the night before had the effect of prunes!

Trust me, those pajamas ended up in the trash, but at least baby boy got all nice and clean!

My clean foxy boy

Friday 3/18/16 – We are in escrow! We got an offer on our condo and after a brief counter, we accepted!

Stay tuned for more details as they come… but hopefully this is the beginning of us getting into our dream house in a great neighborhood for Evan!

Outside play date at a friend's house

Evan discovers grass

Later at dinner time, Evan became a vampire!

Tuesday 3/22/16 – Evan and I met some friends at the zoo today.

We stopped at the giraffes and I took him out of the stroller.

He started reaching for the giraffes!

He loved them!

It was the sweetest thing.

What wasn’t the sweetest thing was watching two giraffes almost make more little baby giraffes!

Of course Evan didn’t realize what was happening but I was relieved when the big, tall giraffe walked away from his lady giraffe.

DENIED!

Wednesday 3/23/16 – I can’t believe my angel is 8 months old today!

"I love my mommies!"

Thursday 3/10/16 – Week 33: Lights Out

2016-03-10T20:45:00.000-08:00

Evan, comin' at ya!

Just as Evan and I get out of the elevator after our walk with Frankie, the power goes out!

In the whole building and neighborhood!

Thank god this didn’t happen while we were IN THE DAMN ELEVATOR!!!!

I like a challenge.

Well, here it was: Get Angel to sleep with no power.

I had just enough light to give Evan a bath.

Of course, I couldn’t use our bottle machine because there was no power! Thank god we had pre-made formula for him!

I was about to give him his bottle and realized there was now no white noise machine for him to fall asleep to.

Ok, ok…. I got this.

I have a white noise app on my phone!

I selected OCEAN and pressed play.

Angel boy didn’t realize anything was different and he fell asleep in my arms.

I laid him in his crib and left the room, with my phone on his side table still playing ocean noises.

I closed the door.

Then realized the monitor doesn’t work because the camera has no electricity!

So no baby monitor…

Ok, ok…people didn’t have baby monitors back in the dark ages! I will be fine and so will he!

Well that lasted all of two minutes because I love checking in on him whenever I want.

At this moment, people from our building started congregating in the courtyard.

Which is right outside Evan’s window!

UGH!

Are we moving yet?!

“Oh my god, the power is out!” I heard them all say.

“Yeah, no shit! Try having a baby and dealing with no power! Oh, and shut the f&%$ up because he’s trying to sleep!”

I wanted to see how he was so I snuck into his dark room and sat behind the chair holding my phone that was still playing ocean noises.

Can the lights please come on so I can eat dinner?!

After about an hour, the lights did come back on, thank god, and order was restored!

Saturday 3/12/16 – I put Evan to bed tonight and looked at him asleep in his crib.

I started crying.

Tomorrow is my birthday.

For my birthday for years and years, all I’ve ever wanted was a baby.

Last year, I remember being pregnant and thinking that for my next birthday we will have an 8 month old!

And now he’s here.

Our boy. Our sweet angel.

I did it.

I birthed him and made it through breast feeding challenges and he's healthy and happy and so sweet. And I love him so much. More than words.

I can’t believe he made my dreams come true.

"Who is that handsome guy?"

"Come give me a kiss!"

Sunday 3/13/16 – Happy Birthday to me!

Birthday kisses from Evan!

My how birthdays have changed.

We went to the zoo today!

And of course it was the perfect day and I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

I love my baby boy and my wife and my family.

Monday 3/14/16 – That damn sign language class has paid off!

Evan started to sign for MILK!

Right before bed, he always wants that last bottle so much. Now he opens and closes his hand and makes little noises like he is telling us what he wants!

So adorable.

Let me just say that now since he is eating more, his diapers are no joke. Puree poop diapers. WOW. Can’t we go back to the formula ones?!

Evan had his 8 month appointment today.

He is 22 pounds, 12 ounces and 29” long!

He is still in the 95^th percentile for height and weight. Evan is going to be a tall boy!

He was smiling at all of the nurses and the doctor and while we waited in the room to be seen, he tore up all the paper on the table! He loved the crinkle noise and had so much fun!

Tonight we put him to sleep in his crib and a few hours later, he woke up crying. Real tears, real hard crying.

We recently read that at this age in their development, babies can have nightmares.

How cruel is that?!

We think that’s what happened tonight.

After about a minute, he fell right back asleep. Poor little angel.

Thursday 3/3/16 – Week 32: Baby Kisses

2016-03-03T21:11:00.000-08:00

Rocket boy!

Friday 3/4/16 – Somehow Evan loves to eat now!

He likes bananas and peas when he hated them a few days ago. I’m still feeding him once a day but will start doing it twice a day pretty soon.

It’s challenging to try and figure out this new routine. It was so easy when he just drank milk! I got that routine down baby!

Now it’s food plus milk and then you tell me we are going out for the afternoon so I have to bring my whole kitchen and pantry with us?!!!!!!

My little angel taught himself how to drink through a straw today! God it’s the cutest thing watching him do it.

Evan and Mommy photo shoot!

Monday 3/7/16 – Daylight savings time prep begins!

I’m going to start putting him to bed 10 minutes earlier every night in preparation for this weekend when we spring ahead an hour. That way when it’s Saturday night at 6:00pm and he’s going to sleep, it will actually be 7:00pm and he’ll be right on track!

At least that is what I’m hoping…

"We'll see, Mommy!"

"I am the master of this household!"

Before his afternoon nap he was so sleepy and lovey dovey and he just kept kissing me! Baby kisses are big open mouth kisses that he plants right on my cheek.

I started to kiss his neck and really get in there and he would smile and giggle and kiss me back on the cheek. It was so, so cute. I love him so much.

Tonight during the bath, Julia and I had to tell him NO really sternly for the first time ever. He kept trying to rocket launch himself out of his tub!

His tub is at an angle so he is semi-upright and he kept kicking his legs at the bottom to launch himself up. We told him NO and he looked at us with so much confusion. “What do you mean by this word NO?”

Yeah, we will be using a new big boy tub tomorrow.

Tuesday 3/8/16 – I had my follow-up obgyn appointment today. Somehow I decided to make this appointment on a non-nanny day. I asked them on the phone if I could bring my son with me and they said, “Of course! People do it all the time!”

Ok, let’s go show my doctor my little boy who he helped take care of for 9+ months.

Well, this quickly turned out to be a big mistake.

We had a private house showing scheduled right before we had to leave for the doctor. So during Evan’s nap, I cleaned and straightened up and hid all of Evan’s things so the only evidence of a baby living here was his crib.

A whole 15 minutes before the people were supposed to arrive, Frankie wouldn’t stop barking.

Someone walks down the hallway, he barks.

Someone walks up the stairwell, he barks.

A leaf falls off a tree three miles away, he barks.

Then my phone rings and… he barks A LOT.

The people supposed to see our condo cancel! Just before they are set to arrive!

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I cleaned this house for nothing!

It was time to leave for the doctor, so I gave Evan his bottle. He didn’t want to drink it. It was time for him to eat, but he wasn’t feeling it.

Once the baby takes their first sip, the formula bottles are only good for ONE HOUR. We joke that they will explode after 60 minutes.

I set my timer and brought the bottle with us.

Then we hit traffic. Lots of traffic.

We somehow weren’t going to be late, but that damn bottle would expire before we got to the doctor.

I pulled over to offer some to Evan.

He still didn’t want it. He kept playing with it and biting the nipple and I was so happy I wasn’t breastfeeding anymore!

BOOM the bottle expired.

We got to the doctor and there was NO PARKING.

We had to park in OVERFLOW parking and race to the other building where my appointment was.

Ok, this was clearly a mistake to schedule this appointment and bring Evan with me, but I was doing ok so far.

I figured I would be home in time for his next bottle and afternoon nap.

WRONG.

My doctor was always on time for us.

Until today.

We waited over an hour in the waiting room!

I bounced Evan and walked around and showed him all the paintings on the wall and when I’d exhausted all my tricks, he started getting restless.

Finally we get checked into the room and now Evan is PISSED.

It’s time for a diaper change AND a bottle and thank god I have an emergency bottle of formula in my purse. I change his diaper quickly and the doctor comes in.

Halfway through my exam, Evan is STARVING.

I feed him the bottle and the doctor gives us a minute.

Can we please get this appointment over with already?!!!

A full belly = a happy baby.

After finding out I had a little more weight to lose until I hit my magical pre-pregnancy weight (which is so f*&%ing stupid that we moms all aspire to hit that miraculous number after our bodies MADE A HUMAN), I realized I hadn’t eaten lunch and it was now well after 3pm.

Evan fell asleep in the car and naturally I found myself at the most logical place.

IN N OUT.

That was the best burger and fries I’d had in a very long time.

I had to pull over to really appreciate it. God it was delicious!

Wednesday 3/9/16 – Tonight was my second night of working out after I put Evan to sleep. I started doing some 25 minute exercise videos and they are kicking my ass!

Thursday 2/25/16 – Week 31: Evan Claps

2016-02-25T20:45:00.000-08:00

We had our second Gymboree class today and there were more people there.

A few moms asked me how old Evan was and then couldn’t believe he was so big!

And everyone was shocked by how much hair he has!

He’s the youngest in the class (which is for 6-10 month olds) and almost all other babies can crawl. I know once he learns that, it will be even more fun for him to move along the ramps and slides.

They change their entire room set up every 2 weeks with new slides, ramps and mats. That way no one gets bored!

But let’s be real, I’m in no hurry for Evan to crawl. Especially with us hopefully moving soon. Let’s just baby proof the next place, not this one!

I know some parents really obsess over these milestones, but I’m taking (at least) this one in stride.

Then he did this...

Take your time, Evan!

Tonight we tried peas for dinner. We were unsuccessful…

Sunday 2/28/16 – The three of us went out to lunch today and there were two women at the table next to us who fell in love with Evan.

They asked his name and said "Evan Charles" sounds so royal!

You know it!

And just like that, he POSED!

This boy is hilarious!

When he's hanging out on his tummy time mat, Evan now is interested in the animals on the actual mat!

He really couldn't care less before, but now he's becoming more interested in so many different things. Especially detailed things, like this mat and buttons and zippers.

Wednesday 3/2/16 – Today was a huge day…

We were all hanging out in Evan's room and Julia and I started clapping.

He looked at me and saw me clapping.

Then he looked at my hands...

and he put his hands together and CLAPPED!

Clap, Clap, Clap

Say CHEESE, clapping boy!

Thursday 2/18/16 – Week 30: Sign This!

2016-02-18T20:19:00.000-08:00

My tiny dancer

Evan and I went to his first Gymboree class today.

I wanted to try out a new class and this one isn’t far from our house and has free valet parking… BONUS!

Plus, let’s be real, I had a gift certificate for free classes from the Ellen Mother's Day Show!

Despite their logo being a creepy clown…

…Evan had a great time!

He really liked the teacher who sang songs and played a tambourine. The other parents were nice and there was even some unstructured play time where we could try out their ramps and slides and interact with the other babies.

It didn’t feel like a non-stop class for me, and I appreciated that!

Some of these baby classes are GO GO GO and by the end, I’m sweating and need a damn drink!

Evan slept in the car on the way home and I transferred him to his crib to continue his nap.

This worked well… until the fire alarm went off.

We gotta move STAT!

Friday 2/19/16 – Evan is still saying “Bababa” and sometimes he even throws in a “Mama”!

We took a sign language class today because I thought it would be good to learn a few basic signs so that Evan and I could communicate with each other.

We learned signs for:

MILK

DIAPER

BATH

PLAY

ALL DONE

And others, but these are the ones I might be able to remember and try to teach him!

The class was going well until the kid next to us (who was older and crawling all around) kept coming up to Evan and putting his fingers in Evan's mouth!

WTF is wrong with these kids... and by kids, I mean what's wrong with their PARENTS?!!

Evan has TEETH and he’s not afraid to use them!

"Say what?!"

"Let me at 'em!"

Sunday 2/21/16 – Tonight was mommies night out!

We went out to dinner and had a babysitter come over. She put Evan to bed and it dawned on me... No one had done that before!

So after I wiped the tears from my eyes and ordered a drink, we had a great time!

The great thing about this age and our angel boy is that once he gets put to bed, he sleeps!

Rockstar hair!

So the babysitter is really there just in case of an emergency. Pretty nice gig!

Tuesday 2/23/16 – Somehow Evan is 7 months old today!

"I make polos look so good!"

This kid really is amazing. Such a happy boy!

I do not like to cook. There, I said it.

But I bought a cookbook for baby food and wanted to attempt to make some food for Evan.

BAM!

I steamed and mashed some apples, bananas and peas and it was easier than I thought!

Another Mommy WIN!

Wednesday 2/24/16 – Speaking of food that I MADE, Evan had some apples today and he eventually liked them!

Apples and carrots for ol' blue eyes

Thursday 2/11/16 – Week 29: Pears For The Win!

2016-02-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

Philly LOVE!

It’s 5:00am and Evan is awake and crying.

He’s holding his mouth.

Poor angel has more teeth coming and they are painful.

I went in and gave him the teething drops and 4 ounces since it was close enough to his wake up time. I tried to get him to fall back asleep.

I turned off the light and held him upright in my arms over my shoulder. I hummed him a song and patted his back and touched his hair.

He fell asleep.

This was so worth getting up early for. One day, he will be too big to do this.

I’m treasuring it now.

Friday 2/12/16 – We tried pears today…

And he liked them!

Pears for the win!

He’s been talking up a storm. Everything is “BABABABA”. It’s adorable!

We went out to a thai restaurant and Evan had a great time!

I can't wait to take him to all different types of restaurants so he can try new things.

Sunday 2/14/16 – Happy Valentine’s Day to my little angel boy!

In the morning when Julia goes in to give Evan his first bottle, I like to watch them on the monitor.

As soon as she opens the door she says, “Good morning!” and Evan starts kicking and making screeching noises because he’s so excited!

I love watching them. He loves her so much.

Monday 2/15/16 – Lunch today was bananas and some raspberries.

It seemed good at first, but then he wasn’t really into either!

I will keep trying! He’s not gonna get me down!

Tuesday 2/16/16 – Carrots were on the menu today.

Evan wasn’t feeling them…

"I will eat the spoon instead!"

But he was enjoying his Zoli cup!
He's taught himself how to suck through a straw!

Wednesday 2/17/16 – This afternoon, I brought Evan into our room and laid him on the bed. His eyes got big and he looked around, so excited to be in a new place.

I moved my hand over the lamp and started making shadow puppets on the ceiling.

He was laughing and laughing!

Then I was laughing!

It was so much fun just hanging out with him.

I was laying there thinking about how awesome he is. My little angel boy and I making shadow puppets. Laughing and laughing.

I love this kid!

We tried carrots again today and he seemed to like them!

For the first time, he didn’t gag while eating!
Mommy win!

I recommend all new moms go get their hair done!

It makes you feel AMAZING!!!!!

Thursday 2/4/16 – Week 28: No Mommy Sick Days

2016-02-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

Little bunny says hi!

Ugh how did I get sick.

Maybe I caught Evan’s cold?

I feel exhausted and can’t really breathe and am not feeling like the best mom here.

I don’t feel as present and I know this will happen periodically. I just want to feel like myself again. Mommy needs a time out to recharge!

Today was the last day of Mommy & Me class. There are technically 3 more sessions, but I figured having done sessions 1 and 2, I was good. I made a lot of great friends and we will all still stay in touch and have lunches together.

Plus I need to save my money for the nanny, who is definitely making my life easier!

And I want to take Evan to some classes that are more geared towards his development.

So we will try a few of those soon.

Sunday 2/7/16 – I’m still sick. This really sucks. And moms don’t get days off!

Thank god it’s the weekend and Jules has been helping me out. I’m hoping I feel better soon.

We saw some houses today and are hoping we soon have a buyer for our place.

We have had a few people come back for second showings, so we are crossing our fingers for an offer (or two or three)!!!

Monday 2/8/16 – We had more showings today and I think one of them was a second showing where someone came back.

Let’s get into escrow baby!

I tried a new approach for Evan’s hatred of food.

RICE CEREAL.

When I first heard of people giving their kids rice cereal, I didn’t think it made much sense. It’s mainly carbs and not exactly a vegetable or fruit.

Well, then it dawned on me.

He first needs to learn how to swallow something other than milk!

Then we can worry about what he is actually ingesting!

The rice cereal went ok and I even got brave and tried some avocado.

As you can see, that didn't go so well!

I also saw... his top tooth is IN!

I couldn’t believe it!

My angel is getting so many teeth!

Tuesday 2/9/16 – Through my Mommy & Me class, I found out about a service that installs, cleans and checks your car seat for you.

We had been taking the car seat in and out of the car so many times from all of our travels and I didn’t feel the base was as secure as it could be.

Somehow, it was 100 degrees today. Nothing like a February heat wave.

Hello, global warming!

Best part was we had another private showing today so I had to leave and bring Frankie with us!

(Note the sarcasm... I love getting kicked out of my house on the daily.)

The woman checked the car seat and was able to get it even tighter than I had it. Now angel is all safe and I’m not touching that thing again!

For lunch, Evan tried bananas today.

At first, I thought there was a breakthrough, and then he clearly hated them.

Mommy will keep trying.

Evan has been finding his tongue! He’s so cute when he sticks it out and touches it and must be thinking, “Wow, what’s this!”

Speaking of his mouth, he also realized that he can GRIND HIS TEETH.

Omg I just got chills typing that.

My tactic is not to react so he doesn’t think it’s a game and continues doing it.

But man does it send shivers down my spine!

Wednesday 2/10/16 – Tried a different brand of baby cereal/oatmeal today and Evan seemed to like it!

He is learning to swallow food from a spoon!

One small step for Mom… one giant leap for mankind!

Thursday 1/28/16 – Week 27: Evan Eats!

2016-01-28T20:30:00.000-08:00

"Hiiiii!"

In Mommy & Me Class today, the topic was BOOKS!

And thank god because I needed some new ideas of things to read to Evan.

An Amazon purchase is coming up!

I went out to lunch with the moms after class and it is always so nice to be out with all of these babies. Especially with the other moms. You know that if all hell breaks loose and your baby cries its head off or needs a new change of clothes, these ladies have your back.

Saturday 1/30/16 – Today is the day.

Evan EATS!

For his first food ever, I wanted him to have something that I made.

And organic. Of course!

I asked another mom about her sweet potato recipe and it sounded pretty easy. Especially for this non-chef mommy.

I roasted the sweet potato in the oven for almost an hour so it was nice and soft. We chose sweet potato for his first food because it seemed like a good choice that was soft and sweet.

Knowing that Evan LOVES his bottles, I figured he would also love to eat food. I mean this kid just loves being fed and I assumed this would be no different.

Oh, how wrong I was.

He. Hated. It.

Like, really hated it.

“Here is an organic sweet potato that mommy roasted for an hour for you.”

Oh, he wanted no part of it.

The fact that we ended up with that amazing photo montage made it worth it. He is pretty hilarious!

When he doesn’t like something, he clearly lets you know!

I know this can take time. I just really expected him to love food!

We will keep trying!

Sunday 1/31/16 – Finally, the moment we’ve been waiting for.

Evan's HAIRCUT?????????????

NOOOOO!!!!!!

Our condo is for sale!

We had our first open house today! It was pretty exciting and we are hoping we get offers soon so we don’t have to have too many open houses. Because an open house means we have to clean the entire place and put a lot of things away so it looks like someone lives here, but not really!

And the best part is, we then have to LEAVE with Evan and our dog Frankie and go somewhere for 3+ hours!

Oh, and today it decides to RAIN.

Come on, Southern California! Come on!

We made the most of it, which I’m trying to teach Evan.

“It’s adventure time!”

We drove around and visited some open houses of some places we had seen online. Because of the rain, that meant one parent stayed in the car with Evan and Frankie and the other one ran inside the house to see if it’s worth it to have the other parent go inside!

Whew!

We didn’t find any that we loved, but this killed some time and allowed us to explore new neighborhoods.

For lunch, we would have eaten outside somewhere because of Frankie but it was now raining! So Julia ran inside and picked up sandwiches and we all ate in the car.

Evan did great! He stayed in his car seat while we ate and he played with his toys and listened to the rain. This kid is a trooper!

As we drove toward the final house we wanted to see, we heard thunder.

"Oh, I love thunder----"

Wait…. That was EVAN!

Oh boy!

Time for a down and dirty diaper change in the back of the car under a tree to help shield us from the rain!

We all survived!

Despite the rain, our open house went well and we had a good turn out. Fingers crossed!

After his bath, we put Evan to bed and he had trouble staying asleep. He was tossing and turning and I’m afraid he’s getting a cold.

He is also in a developmental surge because he is moving in the crib while he sleeps and it looks like he is wanting to crawl! He is laying on his belly with his hands tucked under and his butt in the air and then he sways back and forth like he wants to move.

He started doing that too when I burp him after his bottle. He is in an upright position and he moves up and down and it looks like he’s humping me!

Hahahaha it’s hilarious. This boy can’t be held down! He wants to move all the time!

"Hi moms!"

"I love my...."

"...fishy!"

Monday 2/1/16 – Already one day after the open house and the private showings have begun.

Now we are getting these requests where people want to view our condo and not wait for another open house. So that means we are constantly cleaning and putting Evan’s toys away and then bringing them back out.

Oh, and then we are constantly vacating! We all went and hung out downstairs in the gym today.

At one point Evan opened his mouth and leaned back and I could see his top tooth coming in! Oh my god this boy is getting more teeth already!

And I think he’s definitely getting a cold. He sounds congested and at times it sounds like he is wheezing a little. I’m going to call the doctor in the morning.

Today in the spirit of trying to get this boy to eat some solid food, we tried avocado.

And he seemed to like it!

That’s my California babe!

Tuesday 2/2/16 – When Evan woke up this morning, he was definitely wheezing. Otherwise, he seemed perfectly fine but I could hear little wheezes when he exhaled. I called the doctor and we have an appointment at 1:15pm.

But before that, we have to all be out of the house at 11:00am because there is another open house today! Oh my lord.

Thank god Julia could take Frankie to work for a few hours.

Evan and I walked around the mall to kill time before the doctor. He fell asleep in his car seat and we went up and down the hallways.

I was hoping to grab something to eat, but news flash, the Beverly Center doesn’t have a food court anymore! WTF!

And sadder still, this Bloomingdales doesn’t have a wine bar inside!

What is a mommy to do?!

The doctor was great and so sweet with Evan. They listened to his chest and confirmed that he’s wheezing. Glad I brought him in.

They gave him two nebulizer treatments with steroids to help open his lungs. My poor angel.

Luckily, I knew what nebulizer treatments were because my best friend growing up had asthma so she had to do them from time to time.

He had a little mask on with a small container that had the medicine. The long tube went to the machine turned that liquid medicine into a vapor so he could breathe it in.

With the mask on, he looked like a baby Darth Vader. My baby. He was so brave. The machine was really loud and the nurse said it scares a lot of babies. Evan wasn’t phased by it. I was so proud of him.

He didn’t like the mask being tied around the back of his neck, but I tried to make a game out of it so he would tolerate it as long as possible. The second treatment was easier and I just held the mask up to his face and he breathed it in. I feel like no matter what we throw at this kid he takes it in stride. He’s amazing.

We got a prescription for a take home inhaler. My angel boy. His information had never been entered into the pharmacy before! His first presciption. I love him so much. Luckily he seems perfectly normal besides the slight wheezing. No fever and still tons of energy. It just breaks my heart to see him sick.

Wednesday 2/3/16 – Evan is definitely getting better. We did the inhaler three times today and he likes the inhaler mask! I show it to him and he gets all excited and wants to hold it to his face. Ok, here you go! Puff, puff!

He tried kissing me again tonight during his upright time after the last bottle. I love that open mouth on my cheek. He reaches out and brings me in and plants one on me! So adorable.

And there was more of the upright crawling/humping again tonight! He wants to move 24/7!

Nice kitty!

Thursday 1/21/16 – Week 26: Six Months Old!

2016-01-21T22:20:00.000-08:00

"I can't believe I'm half a year old!"

Friday 1/22/16 – This morning the nanny came over and I did something unbelievable.

I went to the gym!

It felt really good to finally work out. Evan is almost six months old (tomorrow!) and I haven’t started exercising yet. I’ve been able to for a while now, but it’s been hard to find the time and motivation.

Running on the treadmill was really tough. I definitely felt different from when I worked out before I was pregnant. I know I weigh a little more than I did back then and I could feel it.

But that feeling gave me inspiration. It was time to work out and get healthy. Not just to lose weight, but to get back in shape and be healthy for my family.

After feeling good at the gym, I went grocery shopping.

If you know me, you know I hate grocery shopping.

But somebody’s gotta do it!

And getting a smoothie to accompany me down the aisles certainly helps!

Saturday 1/23/16 – Evan is 6 months old today!

He’s such a big boy.

Such a good, sweet baby boy.

I really can’t believe six months have gone by.

Tonight he didn’t get a second nap, but right now he’s sleeping well for the babysitter.

That’s right, I said BABYSITTER…!!!

Julia and I went out to dinner and then we saw the new Star Wars movie.

Somehow in my childhood, I missed Star Wars. I never saw it.

I know, it’s shocking!

Well, let me tell you that I’m so overcome by this movie.

It was incredible.

Julia told me that what I’m feeling now is what she felt after seeing the first Star Wars.

And that’s when I got it. I understand the obsession!

I’ll hold off on my Star Wars / Star Trek jokes for a little while!

I can’t wait to show Evan this movie.

I know he will love it.

Sunday 1/24/16 - We went to a friend's house for dinner and Evan got to try sitting in a mini highchair!

At first, he wasn't so sure.

"What in the..."

Then he had a blast!

I think someone will be ready to eat food soon!

Monday 1/25/16 – Evan had his six month check up today.

He weighs 20 pounds, 8 ounces, and he’s 28” long!

He's in the 90-something percentile for height and weight.

Unreal!

We are going to start with solid food this weekend!

He had to get shots and he was so good.

Poor angel cried at the end when he got the last one (which had tetanus in it and I know that one hurt). I gave him a bottle right away and he stopped crying.

He also got a flu shot today.

He slept real long on the car ride home.

I laid him in his crib and he fell back asleep!

He's so amazing. I'm so proud to be his mom.

Tuesday 1/26/16 – Somehow, Evan is now wearing 12 month pajamas!

How did this happen?!

My little boy!

He just turned six months old!

But the footie pajamas that were 9 month size were too snug because he’s so tall.
This is going to be a tall boy!

"Hello, little bear!"

Thursday 1/14/16 – Week 25: “Gyeah!”

2016-01-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

Evan and I had another great Mommy & Me class today. We went to lunch afterwards and he fell asleep on the walk there.

He slept all through lunch and I think that’s because he woke up at 4:00am today!

I gave him a bottle this morning at 4:45am and he fell back asleep from 5:30-7:30am.

Evan woke up at the end of lunch and was a happy boy.

Mommy had some wine and great food, so I was a happy girl!

I went home to walk the dog and then joined one of the moms for a hike in her neighborhood. We wore the babies in our baby carriers and all was well until a car stopped us and said they saw a coyote up ahead!

Yikes!

Sometimes I forget where we live and don’t realize these dangers are out there!

Back home, Julia still hasn’t been able to kick this cold/virus, so she went to the doctor. It was then confirmed that she has bronchitis for real and she started antibiotics. So happy she went to the doctor. She just wasn’t getting better, so it was time for some drugs!

I’m looking forward to having my girl back!

Evan was a rockstar today. I think he will hopefully sleep well tonight. He had a fun filled day with some new experiences and usually that helps tire him out.

Happy (and hopefully sleepy) bath boy!

These long locks are ready for bed!

Evan, I am so proud to be your mommy.

I'm so thankful that the universe chose me for you. I'm so lucky and forever grateful.

Friday 1/15/16 – Well so much for Evan sleeping well tonight!

3:20am – he woke up crying.

At first I thought the noise was my muscles screaming out in pain from the crazy hike I did yesterday through the Hollywood hills.

It definitely was my muscles… and it was Evan.

I watched him on the monitor and he kept grabbing his mouth.

He also seemed to have a different type of cry.

Was he teething?!

So soon?!!!

I waited almost 20 minutes and then went in and gave him some teething drops. Then I gave him a bottle with only two ounces to get him to fall back asleep.

After a little bit, he did fall asleep. I laid him down and he cried, but I knew the medicine would start working soon.

He kept grabbing his mouth. It just breaks my heart because there’s only so much I can do for him.

My poor little angel.

This afternoon the nanny came to watch Evan for a few hours.

He loved playing with his new fish toy from his Uncle John!

While he was playing, I went and got my nails done! I haven’t done that since before I was pregnant!

I ran a few errands and went back home. It felt really nice to miss him. I walked in the front door and he was so happy to see me!

Saturday 1/16/16 – Evan loves the letter G!

Everything he tries to say starts with G.

There is a lot of “Gyeah!”

"Gyeah, I'm a rockstar!"

Wednesday 1/20/16 – This morning Evan woke up at 4:30am.

I went in and gave him the teething drops and two more ounces of formula.

Poor angel kept holding his mouth and he had tons of drool on his crib sheet.

And then there were the tears.
So many tears.

After I gave him the medicine and the bottle, he fell asleep in my arms. I feel such a sense of accomplishment when I can make him feel better.

I looked down at his angel face while I was rocking him to sleep. I remembered those early mornings when I was breastfeeding and he was hungry and I couldn’t satisfy him.

Now I can. My boy. I love you so much.

Thursday 1/7/16 – Week 24: Que Pasa, Evan?!

2016-01-07T21:28:00.000-08:00

Coolest cat I know

Tonight is the night.

We are going to MEXICO!

Evan’s first international trip!

It is going to be a whirlwind because we are leaving on a red eye tonight and coming back on Sunday.

But we are so happy we can go because two of our greatest friends are getting married. It will be a special weekend for sure.

And thank god we have traveled before!

Like a week ago!

So it is all fresh in our minds and this time we won’t be traveling with our dog. Just Mommy, Mama and Evan, so this should be a piece of cake!

The packing begins...

And since we are being extra extra careful, we are bringing all pre-made formula for the entire weekend. We don't want to have to bring powder and rely on bottled water, so figuring this out was another math problem.

How many ounces per day means how many bottles plus how many nipples...

A minor wrench has been thrown into our trip.

Julia is sick.

Like bronchitis sick.

She’s no longer contagious, but just to be safe she doesn’t want to touch Evan.

Which means I’ve entered single mom territory… and it is ROUGH.

Evan is a very good boy but to do everything by yourself is challenging. Sometimes you just need a break. I really don’t know how single parents do it. They are truly amazing.

For this trip, we looked into a valet service near the airport that turned out to be a lifesaver. We pulled up to the valet company, one of their employees got into our car, I drove us to the terminal, we got everything out and he took our car back to their lot. Best part will be when we land back in LA, they will come pick us up in our own car! No shuttles and no taxis!

We thought a red eye would be the best use of our time, so we have all day Friday in Mexico.

We got to the airport early to enjoy the lounge.

Evan enjoyed looking at his passport.

And eating it.

Suddenly this red eye decision starting to dawn on me… this might have been a mistake.

We didn’t start boarding until after 10:30pm.

Evan is usually asleep at 7:00pm.

He fell asleep on the way to the airport but once we had to go through security, he was wide awake.

He was still awake at boarding time.

We splurged and got business class for the ride there. We hoped having some extra room would be best for us and might let us get a little sleep along with Evan.

I was already nervous that Evan’s night time sleep was interrupted.

“Please let him sleep through the flight,” I thought.

Well, he did.

Until he didn’t.

We fed him during take off and then they dimmed the lights.

He fell asleep!

VICTORY!

Well, not so fast.

Halfway through the flight, he woke up screaming. I already felt bad because he couldn’t stretch out like he normally does in his crib while he sleeps. I really really hate messing with his sleep!

Especially after I learned that babies actually GROW in their sleep!

I know it was just one trip, but it is so important for him to get good sleep, especially at night.

I took him to the bathroom to see if he needed a diaper change.

Nope, he was fine.

But he was still crying.

This is when the mistake dawned on me.

A red eye flight is fine when you are traveling with adults.

If you end up getting only a little bit of sleep, who cares?! You’re an adult! Just drink some extra coffee the next day!

But when you take a red eye with a baby who doesn’t sleep LIKE A BABY the entire flight, the baby is awake AND SO ARE YOU!

So no one gets sleep!

This was a TERRIBLE IDEA!!!!

So we gave him some more food and he finally fell back asleep again.

He stayed asleep this time for the rest of the flight and was even asleep when we landed. I very gently carried him out of the plane and onto the ramp where we waited for our car seat and stroller to be unloaded.

They finally came out and I VERY GENTLY laid him in the car seat.

He moved around a little but STAYED ASLEEP!

Huge win for mommies!

And thank god he stayed asleep because we now had to wait in the long line to get through customs and be officially allowed into Mexico!

We were in line for over 30 minutes and finally we got to the front. Our passports were stamped (Evan’s first stamp!) and we went outside to find our shuttle bus.

It was about 7am and already the humidity was so high that I was sweating.

The shuttle ride to the hotel was just over an hour and Evan stayed asleep the entire time!

I was feeling better about his night time sleep. He was making up for it by sleeping now. And it worked out perfectly because if he had been awake and crying during the customs line or on the shuttle, it would have been a nightmare!

Friday 1/8/16 – We arrived at the hotel and were escorted to our room.

It was awesome!

Somehow we ended up with a room that had an upstairs rooftop terrace with an ocean view! We were so tired, but I had to explore.

It was gorgeous!

We set up Evan’s travel crib and tried to transfer him from the car seat to the crib while he was sleeping.

He had been in the car seat for a while now and we didn’t want him to nap in there too much longer.

We knew that if he woke up, this would be it and we could kiss our nap time goodbye.

Transfer…. Unsuccessful.

He woke up in the crib and it was then time to start our day.

We ordered some room service and I needed a drink!

While in Mexico at our all-inclusive resort, I enjoyed Bacardi and Cokes… and lots of coffee!

We hung out in the room for most of the day and Evan especially loved hanging out on the terrace.

Finally in the afternoon we ventured out to explore the resort.

Evan seemed to be having a good time.

Saturday 1/9/16 – Wedding time!

“Yeah, my colla’s popped!”

Evan looked amazing in his wedding outfit, and his moms didn’t look too bad either!

The wedding was on the beach and it was gorgeous. It warm, but there was an ocean breeze that cooled everyone down!

Models with their hair blowing in the wind!

Evan was a little fussy during the ceremony, and we realized it was his nap time. We fed him a bottle and laid him in his stroller.

He passed out!

It was fabulous!

We got to eat dinner, chat with people and have some more Bacardis!

We couldn’t believe he was sleeping for so long.

Then it dawned on me.

The white noise that he falls asleep to at home is ocean waves!

So this put him right to sleep. How perfect!

When he had been asleep for over 3 hours, we knew we had to wake him up. In general we don’t like him to sleep more than that because it could jeopardize his night time sleep.

We slowly woke him up and he was happy as a clam!

After a diaper change and another bottle, Evan was feeling good!

It was time to dance!

And just like that, the perfect song came on.

“IT’S RAINING MEN!”

I picked up my little angel and led him to the dance floor. I started dancing with Evan and naturally the crowd parted and everyone was smiling at him and clapping.

And he LOVED IT!

He started looking up at the lights and smiling and watching everyone clap and dance around him. I sang to him and held his hand and we danced and danced.

HALLELUJAH indeed!

It was such a magical moment.

Since this was a short trip, we tried to keep Evan on the same sleep schedule. The nice thing was that when it was time for bed at 7pm PST, it was 10pm EST!

So we had a great time partying and dancing the night away at the wedding before it was time for bed.

Around 10pm, we did our bedtime routine and laid Evan down to sleep. Complete with the ocean waves app on our phones.

At this point, Julia had just started feeling better, thank God!

We fell asleep and I mentally prepared for the long day ahead as we venture back to the airport and eventually find our way home.

Suddenly, I woke up to Evan crying.

What time is it?

Did I over sleep?

Is it the morning?

NO.

You can imagine my face when I realized it was 12:30am.

Oh god.

The walls in this hotel were pretty thin and I knew the family next door (via an ADJOINING DOOR) had kids (because they cried all morning yesterday).

I knew if I didn’t pick Evan up and soothe him back to sleep, he would wake up the other kids and then none of us would get any sleep!

I picked him up and rocked him and got him to fall back asleep.

FOR TEN MINUTES.

He woke up crying again.

Our general cry it out method wasn’t going to work here.

This went on for HOURS.

I turned to Jules at one point and remembered……..

SHE HAD TAKEN NYQUIL!

AHHHH!

I was on my own again.

It was going to be a long night.

Sunday 1/10/16 – Finally it was the morning and Miss Nyquil was feeling better and less drugged.

I think I got a total of 3 hours of sleep last night.

We ordered room service and started getting ready to leave.

It was another hot day.

We got on our airport shuttle and Evan fell asleep.

YES!

He slept the whole way to the airport and only woke up when we had to go through security.

The flight went well and since it was Evan’s 4^thone, I figured we were kind of getting the hang of this. We had a travel pillow that I laid on my lap and Evan rested his head on that. We entertained him with every toy we brought and he even took a nap at one point.

I could have done without the poopy diaper change in the middle of turbulence, but all in all it was a good flight.

Landing in LA and being able to have our own car come to the curb to pick us up was like heaven!

We got home and could even put Evan to bed at his normal time.

This was quite a weekend. A whirlwind international trip for sure.

But we are so glad we were able to be at our friends’ wedding. It meant so much to them and they mean so much to us.

50+ hours for an international travel trip with a baby + your wife being sick doesn’t equate to the best odds. But we did it. And we are so glad we did.

Tuesday 1/12/16 – Today was NANNY DAY!

The woman whom we had interviewed and was recommended to me by another mom in my Mommy & Me Class was starting with us today. She will be here for 10 hours a week to give me a chance to get other things done like go to the grocery store, schedule doctor’s appointments, stay sane, etc.

She is very sweet with Evan and immediately commented again on how big he is.

“He looks like he’s one year old!”

Oh boy!

I know he’s big, but let’s not get carried awa-----

Then she picked him up and he was almost half her size! It was hilarious!

I showed her a ton of things and then it was time for him to eat.

She gave him his bottle and then changed his diaper.

And it hit me.

Only Julia and I have done that! No one else!

Of course Evan didn’t mind at all. As long as he’s fed, he’s happy. He doesn’t care who is giving him the food!

I know this will be a good thing for me and also help Evan to get used to someone else and ease any possible separation anxiety in the future.

But he’s my little boy!

Ok, I realized, this was going to be tough.

I had to run an errand and knew if I left them here to play, everything would be fine.

After all, I was going to CVS right down the street. I would be back within half an hour.

I took a deep breath.

A very deep breath.

And I left.

I’m not used to driving in the car without my boy. It’s so strange looking in the mirror and not seeing his car seat.

I got what I needed and came home.

I quietly walked through the hallway and approached our door.

I anticipated that cute scene from a movie where the mom is listening outside the door and hears the nanny and baby playing inside. Baby laughing and all.

Except, I didn’t hear anything.

Nothing.

It was quiet.

IRRATIONAL MIND: OH MY GOD SHE HAS STOLEN MY BABY!!!!!!!!

RATIONAL MIND: They are probably just in the next room and that’s why I can’t hear them.

IRRATIONAL MIND: I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN! I CAN’T BELIEVE I LEFT! SHE TOOK MY EVAN!!!!

RATIONAL MIND: Everything is perfectly fine.

I opened the door and they weren’t in the living room.

I walked toward the nursery… and then I heard them.

I opened the door and she was reading a book to Evan, in Spanish!

WHEW!

All was well!

Thursday 12/31/15 – Week 23: Happy New Year!

2015-12-31T22:44:00.000-08:00

Thank god we made it to the airport on time for our flight!

We left at the crack of dawn (actually before the crack of dawn) and dropped off our rental car.

Evan stayed asleep until we got onto the rental car shuttle bus that took us to our terminal.

Somehow I managed to pick the worst seat on the bus. Evan and I ended up right next to the wheelchair contraption that was inside a large cage and not entirely bolted in. So we had the lovely sound of clanging metal next to us!

Clearly he wasn’t going to sleep through that.

We got out of the shuttle and it was time to get rid of some bags.

There was a young guy on the shuttle with a backpack and one carry-on size suitcase.

AND THAT’S IT.

Oh to be young, single and traveling.

I glared at him in my mind but hadn’t had coffee yet, so this glare was probably written all over my face.

Enjoy it, my friend, enjoy it!

We wheeled our suitcases to check in and thank god we had gotten to the airport extra early.

Because it took over 30 minutes just to get our tickets!

Was there a line?

NO!

They had us listed as having two babies instead of one.

Yes, Frankie is our baby, too but not according to the airlines.

I kept trying to distract Evan and hoped he would fall back asleep.

No such luck.

We made it to the airport lounge and had an hour to kill.

The lounge was almost empty and it was beautiful!

We had so much fun stretching out and having breakfast while surrounded by our millions of bags.

The calm before the storm

Then it was time to board the plane.

I had been given a window seat, but I asked the aisle seat passenger if he would switch with me.

Essentially I phrased it as, “You can stay in your aisle seat, but I will be getting up quite often because of this adorable baby. So prepare to unbuckle that seatbelt a dozen times… or just switch with me (big smile).”

There were a few other kids on the flight. This always makes me feel better because I know that if Evan freaks out at some point, one of these other kids will during the flight so we won’t be the only ones.

Evan was so good and even fell asleep for a little bit.

Of course he fell asleep right when the food service was coming through.

And I was STARVING.

So Jules fed me an egg salad sandwich because I had no hands.

Luckily Evan didn’t notice when some egg salad fell on his head!

He woke up and it was time to change his diaper.

In the tiny airplane bathroom.

And I could tell he had pooped.

Oh lord this could be bad.

I laid him down and unzipped his pajamas and…

SUCCESS!

Nothing got on the pajamas!

Trust me, this is a HUGE accomplishment that needs to be CELEBRATED. Especially when you’re in an airplane bathroom!

Now that he was all clean, we sat back down and he started crying. He was holding his mouth and was in pain. We gave him some Tylenol and hoped it would act fast to give him some relief from the teething. I can’t imagine how much that hurts to feel your teeth coming through. Ugh. Poor angel.

He was able to sleep a little more and we took a cat nap, too.

All of the ridiculous announcements some flight attendants make now drive me absolutely insane.

They think it’s their time to shine on the airplane mic.

Well guess what?

IT’S NOT.

Sit down and stop making pointless announcements about all the kinds of food and drinks you have and what the weather will be because you are waking up my boy!

There was a nice mom in front of us who was traveling with teenage boys. She was saying how good Evan was and when he got fussy she completely understood.

“There’s nothing you can do!” she said.

Exactly.

Whew, no side eye from this lady. She is a mom and she gets it!

Finally, we landed in LA.

So happy to be home and ready to ring in the new year!

(While watching the EAST COAST FEED of Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin because let's face it... we're EXHAUSTED.)

Cheers to our boy.

This year is for you.

Friday 1/1/16 – We took a lovely walk today.

I didn’t even know he was sticking out his tongue until we got home and I looked at this photo!

He’s just too much.

I can’t believe it’s 2016.

I moved to LA in 2007 and somehow I’ve been here almost 9 years.

I’m married to an amazing woman and we have an amazing baby boy. Everything is so different and incredible all at once.

This year, Evan will celebrate his 1^st birthday and we will hopefully move into a house!

Plus I know a million other things will happen and we’re looking forward to it all.

When the only thing that calms your baby down while you’re in Philadelphia is a singing Rudolph stuffed animal, you thank your moms for giving it to you for the plane ride!

Those thighs! I can't...

Teething Evan by the fire

Sunday 1/3/16 – Today, I feel like my boy is back!

I think the teething is getting easier.

He’s not fussy today and I have missed him so much!

He LOVES this teething banana

Business in the front...

Party in the back!

Monday 1/4/16 – Evan tried crawling today!

Granted, he didn’t get anywhere, but he was in position!

He laid here and made little grunting noises and kind of wiggled back and forth.

Lord help me because when he figures out how to crawl, he will be so fast and I’ll spend my days chasing after this angel!

Tuesday 1/5/16 – The second bottom tooth is definitely coming through.

He seems to still be doing well with the pain, so that’s good.

Evan and I went to the mall today and met up with another mom and her daughter from our class. It was pouring rain on the way there!

I’m always so shocked when it rains in LA. Like it never has before.

Julia will say, “It’s supposed to rain tomorrow.”

My response is, “WHAT?????!!!!”

Evan loves the rain. He spent the whole car ride looking out the sunroof and watching the rain fall. He was amazed. It was so adorable.

We first went to lunch and this photo tells you everything you need to know.

Baby + lunch + wine = happy mommy.

Killing it!

After lunch, I found an adorable pair of shorts for Evan to wear in Mexico.

Somehow that trip is only two days away!

Once we were finished shopping, we figured it was time for a snack and possibly another glass of wine. I mean, I had nothing to do for the rest of the day so we might as well make the most of this mall excursion!

We were in Pottery Barn and asked an employee if there was a lunch area in the Bloomingdale’s here.

She said yes.

“And do they serve… alcohol??” I needed to know.

Then out of nowhere, this random woman turned to us and said, “Yes, they have a wine bar!”

It was like the MOM CODE!

Two women + two strollers + two babies at a mall means… THEY MUST BE IN NEED OF WINE!

We had so much fun. Somehow we spent over 5 hours at the mall.

And I swear it went by so fast and felt like we were there for 5 minutes.

It was the time warp valley mall!

Thursday 12/24/15 – Week 22: Merry Christmas!

2015-12-24T20:14:00.000-08:00

Evan’s first Christmas Eve!

Today we got to visit with family and right around dinner time, Evan was laying on a blanket and tried something new. He was on his back and started scooting his feet and was crawling backwards!

This boy wants to move!

And when he does, we are certainly in trouble!

Angel boy fell asleep waiting for Santa

Friday 12/25/15 – Evan’s first Christmas!

On Christmas morning, we got up and walked our doggie and headed out to spend the day with the ones we love.

Evan has now been to so many new places in a few short days and he has met so many new people.

People who have been waiting to meet him his whole life.

It’s so special being here.

We made sure to tell everyone to wash their hands before holding him, because we are those insane first time parents!

Everyone was happy to oblige to get some time with the main attraction.

Or should I say MANE attraction.

Dapper Evan's Christmas pout

Evan was so good all day.

As long as we kept him fed and his diaper changed and gave him naps when he needed them, he was happy as a clam. I’m so proud of him for being in so many new environments with so many new people and just going with the flow!

And let me tell you, having your first baby + going home to visit family + baby’s first Christmas = EVERYONE LOSES THEIR MIND.

Evan got so many presents it was unbelievable!

He is so lucky to have so many people who love him and would do anything for him.
He’s our special boy and I think he made everyone’s Christmas.

He even started unwrapping gifts with Mama! Genius boy!

It was a special day for Jules and me too because this time last year I remember dreaming about Christmas with our boy.

I also remember that on Christmas last year, I was spotting a little. It happened out of the blue and I started bleeding a tiny bit. I was so terrified that I was going to lose this baby.
On Christmas no less. I rested as much as I could and said some prayers.

And here we are.

All together as a family with our angel boy.

Saturday 12/26/15 – We had plans to go to my dad's house today so we started the morning with our new routine.

Making bottles for the day.

Step One: Measure out the formula needed to equal six bottles.

Step Two: Pour it into these little travel containers by Munchkin and put them in the diaper bag.

Step Three: Fill up 1-2 bottles with filtered water and fill up the rest when we get to our family's house.

It certainly felt like we were cutting drugs for an upcoming sale.

Just wait till the FORMULA COCAINE hits the streets!

Once we got to my dad's house, I took Evan upstairs to feed him.

Then it dawned on me.

I was feeding my son in my old room where I slept growing up.

I couldn’t believe it.
I have a baby now.

The last time I saw some of my family members, I wasn’t even pregnant. This is what happens when everyone is so far away. It just feels surreal seeing everyone now for Christmas and having them meet Evan.

It’s like I found him and now have a baby.

It’s a fantasy dream land. It’s what I’ve always wanted.

Sunday 12/27/15 – Evan has a tooth!

For the past few days, he’s been acting like he is teething and wanting to put everything in his mouth. That is a sign of teething but it’s also a sign of having a 5 month old. Everything goes into the mouth.

So I started playing a game with Evan and would put my finger in his mouth and ask him where my teeth are. The first teeth to come in are usually the two bottom center ones.

I had been doing this every day and would then say, “Oh, not today!” when I didn’t feel anything.

Well today we were at our friend’s house watching some football and catching up and I played the game.

“Evan, where are my teeth?!”

I put my finger in his mouth.

“Oh, not tod-----------OH MY GOD THERE’S A TOOTH!"

And then I started crying. I couldn’t believe it!

The average age for teeth to come in is about 6 months. Well there’s our boy, ahead of the pack!

He’s growing up too fast! I love him so much and now we know why he’s been crying off and on sometimes at night. It’s because he was in pain.

Tonight he ended up crying again so we gave him Tylenol before bed. We are going to get some natural remedy teething drops tomorrow morning.

I can’t believe my boy is getting so big.

Monday 12/28/15 - We spent the day downtown with my brother. It was so nice being in downtown Philadelphia seeing all of the holiday sites and just catching up. We took Evan to the Christmas village and later for some Philadelphia cuisine - cheesesteaks and hoagies of course!

Two dudes in the City of Brotherly Love!

When we go back east and Evan is a little older, I want to take him all around town and show him the history of the city. It will be so fun to explore everything through his eyes.

Wednesday 12/30/15 – For the past couple days, Evan has been uncomfortable. We know it’s from the teeth coming through.

Apparently the worst part is when they are breaking through the gums (makes sense) and once the tooth pops out a little, it doesn’t hurt as much.

Also, the more teeth he gets, the more he will get used to the pain. This sounds so awful but thank god he won’t be this miserable every time there is a tooth.

Cause teeth come in for 2 years!

So we are sticking with the Tylenol and teething drops and are trying to soothe him as much as possible. We have this great toy that can go in the freezer so it’s nice and cold. He likes that.

And it goes in the dishwasher to clean it. Moms like that!

We’ve already been in Philadelphia for a week. Time has flown by.

Sometimes when it’s the night before you leave and you're trying to pack and organize and forget how late it is and you're suddenly starving, dinner looks like this.

Yikes!

Time to fly back home tomorrow.

And you better believe we learned our lesson and won’t miss this flight!

Thursday 12/17/15 – Week 21: Evan Takes Flight

2015-12-17T20:50:00.000-08:00

"Who me?!"

Friday 12/18/15 – Evan has been waking up randomly during the night.

Around 2:30am or 3:30am he will wake up and half cry for about 20 minutes and then fall back asleep. We haven’t gone in because he stops within 20 minutes, but I wonder what’s suddenly going on.

Teething????

Most babies start closer to 6 months, but two babies in my Mommy and Me class got teeth at 4 months!

So you never know…

"Look what I found!"

Just when you think you have this figured out, BOOM something changes!

Welcome to parenthood!

Two tough guys going for a walk

Baby blues!

Monday 12/21/15 – We are headed to Philadelphia for Christmas to spend time with family and friends.

Evan with his new train!

Evanzilla destroying the train!

Packing begins today.

Kill me now.

Trying to figure out how much formula to bring is like solving a math problem. This is probably the one time I wish I was still breastfeeding.

If he usually has X number of ounces in one day, we need Y number of 2oz. pre-made bottles and Z number of nipples for Xa number of feedings per day.

And if the wind is blowing at 55mph and we're traveling east in the afternoon, HOW MANY BOTTLES AND NIPPLES DO WE NEED?!

We overestimated to be safe and ended up with this:

Bottles

Nipples

We are trying to ship as much to the east coast as possible. We are sending a box of diapers and some formula ahead of time. We just have to figure out how much formula he will need for our two travel days so we can bring the ready-made liquid bottles. Then we have to figure out where to put it all...

Thank goodness I'm cute!!!

Wednesday 12/23/15 – Happy 5 months to our boy!

Whose idea was it to travel with a 5 month old AND a dog?!!

We realized that our love Frankie who goes under the seat on the airplane COUNTS AS A CARRY ON BAG!

"Don't blame me!"

So for our first trip with a baby, we are already down a bag.

Oh dear God.

(Not pictured: our suitcases and other carry on items!)

Last night we went over the plan and sequence of events. We made sure to allow enough extra time to get out of the house.

That is…

Until TIME EVAPORATED.

Julia went and put everything in the car while I took care of Evan.

Finally we were ready to leave.

We were running late.

Thankfully there was no traffic, but we got to the parking garage at the time we should have been checking our luggage.

F$%&!!!!!!

There was no chance we were going to make this flight.

We have a MILLION bags, need to valet our car, get on a shuttle, check a few of the suitcases and RACE to the gate.

Not. Gonna. Happen.

Julia called the airline.

There was a flight a few hours later.

Two seats left.

And that was the last flight that had room on it.

But getting on it was gonna cost us.

A whole lotta $$$$$.

For the price we paid, we could have flown first class!!!

Sadly, first class was unavailable.

So we had to bite the bullet, learn from this mistake (big time) and move on.

Luckily we had some extra time to spare because we got to the terminal and proceeded to wait in the wrong line!

"Hey moms, I think we might be in the wrong line..."

We ended up in the line where dozens of other people were trying to change their flights. Wait time in that line was about 2 hours! Thank god we had called the airline because we wouldn’t have made it out today.

We got in the correct line and checked our bags.

Well, some of them.

Then we were told that American Airlines was really booked in their normal Terminal 4 so they are also using Terminal 6.

So we got to walk back outside and take a nice stroll down two whole terminals!

Carrying a baby and a dog and tons of luggage!

Thankfully we all were accepted into Global Entry and were eligible for TSA pre check. That means no taking off your shoes and basically no line at security. YAY!

We got through security super fast and then it was time to find the lounge.

Mommy needed a drink.

We found our way to the Alaska Board Room and took over the entire business center area.

The "I can't believe we missed our flight" face

Evan didn't seem to mind.

Then mommies got these.

I'll let you figure out whose was whose.

And we all started feeling better.

We let Frankie out of his carrier so he could stretch out. But we had to hide him a little because technically he has to stay inside his carrier in the lounges. We thought that was BS so we made our own rules.

After some breakfast and drinks, it was time to go to the gate.

I was wearing Evan in the baby carrier and we gate checked the car seat and stroller along with a carry on we didn’t need access to during the flight.

Just before we boarded, we gave Frankie half a Benadryl and put him back in his carrier.

Night night little doggie!

On the flight, we sat next to a very nice guy (thank God) and he tolerated us with our baby and dog! Frankie was so good the whole flight. We had flown with him once before and he never made a sound.

Whenever Evan got fussy, we just fed him. His nap schedule was all over the place so we tried to get him to sleep a little bit.

Of course he would start to fall asleep and then the pilot and flight attendants would get on the loud speaker and make their damn announcements and he would wake up.

“We are cruising at (whatever) altitude folks and looks like…”

BLAH BLAH BLAH SHUT UP MY BABY IS SLEEPING!!!!

Halfway through the flight I started sweating.

Oh God what’s wrong with me?

Am I getting sick?

I look over and Jules is sweating.

It’s hot as hell on this plane! We tell the flight attendant and they turn the AC on because they were hot, too! Good lord. This plane was ancient. No TV and no AC!

I ended up changing Evan’s diaper twice on the plane. No poop, yay!

The changing table was a lot easier to use than I thought it would be. He also loved it because he could lay down and stretch out. Poor guy was in a car seat or being held all day long and just wanted to lay down for crying out loud!

During parts of the flight, there was some turbulence. Ok, sometimes there was a lot of turbulence.

Everyone said to wear Evan and walk up and down the aisle when he gets fussy.

Well I can’t do that when the damn fasten seatbelt sign is on and we’re going through Midwestern storms up here!!!

So he cried.

Nothing we could do.

We tried to distract him with every toy we brought.

Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t.

I just kept reminding myself that this will be 5 hours out of everyone’s life. As annoying as it might be, once we land, no one will remember us or our crying baby!

We finally did land… although much later than originally planned because we were on this later flight.

We got to our rental car and it started raining.
Fun!

Thank god for my family who met us at our hotel at 1:00am with a crib and box of diapers and helped us get Evan to bed.

Time to take a deep breath and remember that Christmas is around the corner and we are all together as a family.

Holidays are so stressful. You have to take a step back and breathe and remember what’s really important. We made this trek across the country to see our family so everyone could meet Evan.

His first Christmas.
Our angel boy.

Thursday 12/10/15 – Week 20: Santa Baby

2015-12-10T22:05:00.000-08:00

Look at this adorable boy!

Those cheeks!

That belly!

After our Mommy and me class today, one of the moms stayed after lunch for a glass of wine with me! I’m really enjoying getting to know these women. It’s like a whole new circle of friends in a whole new world.

Friday 12/11/15 – Today Evan and I ventured all the way to Woodland Hills (30-45 minutes away depending on traffic) to try a new class.

One of my friends signed up and wanted to try it so we decided to meet there with both of our boys. They are 3 weeks apart!

The class was fun, but very stimulating. I think Evan enjoyed it until about halfway through when he was not impressed with the “let’s shake pom poms until we can’t move our arms anymore” part.

Afterwards I was exhausted! It wore me out! I was ready for a nap!

Instead we went out to lunch and my friend was telling me all about her part time nanny.

It’s something Julia and I had been thinking about – doing a part time day care or having a part time nanny. Only for a few hours a week, but enough time to give me a break to run errands, go grocery shopping, or feel like a person in the world once in a while.

We might look into it more in the new year.

I’ve talked to other moms who have said if you can do it, DO IT. It will make you a better mom to have time away and get things done.

My biggest hurdle with it all is finding someone. I would love to get someone through a friend recommendation instead of a nanny agency. It’s hard to trust someone with the most important thing in your entire life EVER!

Saturday 12/12/15 – Big news for us in the coming months – we are going to move!

Sounds super stressful but oh so rewarding!

My Saturday morning crew

We live in a condo building right now and I think something happens every week where I say to Jules, “WE GOTTA GO.”

There are days where I can’t get out of the garage because someone parked too close to the wall and the stroller won’t fit through.

Or the water gets turned off randomly.

Or the elevator doesn’t work AND the fire alarm goes off AND the neighbor below us decides to do construction for the first time since 2003.

BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED TODAY.

There was a ton of banging below us and Evan was having a hard time taking his nap. Even the white noise of the ocean couldn’t keep out the HAMMERING and DRILLING below us!

Our neighbor let us know that she needed to turn the water off for an hour in the afternoon.

When the water has now been off for 3 hours, we start getting ready to take our dog for a walk. I figured by the time we were back, the water would be on. Or I would raise hell. One or the other.

I got Evan in the stroller and the leash on Frankie and we are about to leave when the ear-piercing fire alarm goes off in the entire building!

The fire alarm goes off here probably once a month FOR NO REASON.

THERE IS NEVER A FIRE.

I thought we should get out of the building so the noise wouldn’t hurt his ears, so we braved our way through the hallway only to find that the ELEVATOR DOESN’T WORK.
That’s right because the elevator thinks the building is ON FIRE.

So I take the 3 of us into the stairwell.

And I try to pick up the stroller while holding the dog’s leash.

How am I going to carry Evan down 4 flights of stairs???

In this moment, all I want to do is cry.

I take a deep breath and pick up the stroller. Down each flight we go, with the fire alarm soundtrack marking our every step.

We take our walk and I swear that when we get back if the water isn’t turned on and the alarm hasn’t stopped, we are checking into a hotel! I can’t take this anymore!

Luckily it was… let the house hunt begin!

Evan is ON IT!

New house for this wild haired angel

Monday 12/14/15 – I had been debating taking Evan to see Santa. The outdoor shopping area with the best looking Santa was no longer taking appointments. And I heard that people were waiting over 3 hours!

I couldn’t handle that.

It didn’t work out for us to all go as a family, so this morning I thought I would give it a try. Evan and I got there 5 minutes before Santa opened his little house and there was NO LINE!

I was so excited.

I finished getting him dressed in his Christmas sweater with bowtie (of course!) and in we went.

Santa was very nice and quite authentic looking! We got several photos and look at this smile!

Totally worth it!

"How much time do you have? I've got a long list, buddy!"

We also took some photos at home with his very own stocking!

Merry Christmas!

Baby model

Tuesday 12/15/15 – I noticed that Evan has some cradle cap on his scalp. This happens to a lot of babies and it’s large flakes of skin like dandruff.

We started using a new shampoo that has a scrub in it to help loosen them. The good thing is he has so much hair that you can’t even see it! The doctor said it is harmless and will go away on its own. We are just helping it along.

Today was really scary when there was a bomb threat in Los Angeles and they closed all of the schools.

Los Angeles has the second highest number of schools, right next to New York City.

The threat turned out to be a hoax and everyone was fine. But when you have a baby, this makes everything terrifying.

When I send Evan to school, I want him to feel safe to learn and play and not have to worry about anything like this.

Wednesday 12/16/15 – For the past two nights, Evan has slept for 12.5 hours!

I’m in shock.

We're all sleeping and it's glorious!!!

Snuggle boy!

Evan decided today that he wanted to sit up.

He's getting so big and growing up so fast - I CAN'T TAKE IT!

Big boy. Same wild hair.

Thursday 12/3/15 – Week 19: Mommies Gone Wild

2015-12-03T11:34:00.000-08:00

"Heyyyyyy!"

Today was the start of the Mommy and Me Session 2 Class. Some new moms joined to replace the ones who had to go back to work.

I must admit that I missed everyone! It has been such a nice constant in my life going to these classes every Thursday. I’m really bonding with some of the moms and it’s so awesome to see all of our kids together since they’re the same age.

This sure is a far cry from my first post about these ladies when I was nervous about bringing in formula and thought I would hate everyone!

We went out to lunch afterwards and that’s becoming a little tradition.

So is having a glass of wine with lunch!

Evan slept the whole time during lunch because it was his nap time and his morning nap was shortened so we could get to class on time.

Sitting at the table eating lunch and having a glass of wine and chatting with everyone while my boy slept – I felt like super mom!

Some of the moms asked me about how our sleep training was going. I said it’s AMAZING. They said I can sleep train all of the other babies!

I’m so proud of our boy.

Friday 12/4/15 – Evan has been doing a lot of rolling around during his naps. Especially when he gets upset. He wants to be taken out of the crib and he rolls from back to stomach to back all over the place.

It’s self-initiated tummy time!

Saturday 12/5/15 – Last night Evan slept from 7:50pm – 7:55am!

He cried a few times but it was only light crying.

Then I heard him at 6:04am and made his bottle. I went toward his room and he was quiet. He had fallen back asleep!

And he stayed asleep until almost 8am!

This kid is amazing.

It’s such a good feeling knowing that he got so much sleep and the sleep training is really working.

"I love my fishy!"

Today, Julia got to spend time with Evan because I had a lot of errands to run.

I got in the car and started driving.

One hand on the wheel, the other holding my coffee.

Time for some music.

Loud music.

Yes, it was time for this song.

That’s right, bitch, I’m important!

I felt like a million bucks.

Later, I texted some of the other moms asking them how their kids were sleeping. I was the first in the class to do sleep training and now other moms are trying it. They are all asking me for advice! I feel like a sleep training coach!

Sleeping babies = happy mommies!

Today someone told me how great I looked and that made me feel...

EVEN MORE IMPORTANT!

When you see a new mom, tell her how fabulous she looks! Even if she gained 100 pounds since giving birth! It makes us feel so good!

Tonight, Julia and I went out to dinner.

DATE NIGHT!

We had some amazing French food and great cocktails and wine.

Dinner was over around 9:30pm and Jules wanted to go home and go to sleep.

I said, “NO WAY!”

We have a babysitter! We aren’t going home!

One of our friends was having a birthday drinks gathering so we stopped by. It was so nice to be out and see everyone knowing that our little angel was home sleeping.

This was our conversation on the way home:

Me: Want to have sex in the car?

Jules: What is this 2008??

(pause)

Jules: Want to make out and fall asleep?

WELCOME TO REALITY!!!

Sunday 12/6/15 – Lately while I’m giving Evan his bath and washing his hair, he looks up at me. He just stares at me with these big love eyes.

So adoring. It’s unreal.

With a little smile.

I love this boy so much.

Monday 12/7/15 – Oh my god Evan slept for 12 hours last night!!!

7:00pm – 7:00am! This is the dream!

Timing wise he didn't get a third nap yesterday so I wonder if that had something to do with this long sleep. This kid is amazing!!

Every night before bed we read Goodnight Moon as part of our bedtime routine. He just started smiling at the first page when we open the book. I think he’s understanding that this happens every night and then he goes to sleep.

He’s so adorable, my boy.

Reading is FUN!

And exhausting!

Tuesday 12/8/15 – This kid is so much fun. We hang out together all day and it's amazing.

Four months old + sleep training = something happens and you feel like you might just have this. It's amazing.

As I type this, we are making coyote noises right now.

Today we got a special delivery of some crib bumpers!

Bumpers in general are a NO NO in the crib because babies can get stuck against the side and not be able to breathe.

That’s where BREATHABLE BUMPERS come in!

They are made of a mesh material so even if he ends up in the corner, he can breathe through the material. He started getting his legs all the way out between the bars while he’s trying to roll and we were afraid he would break something! So these make us feel a lot better and we know he’s safe.

They also make the crib look like a fort. I want to sleep in there! It looks so cozy.

Tonight, he fell asleep with his thumb in his mouth while I was rocking him in the chair. I think it was an accident but it was adorable! Self-soothing at its best!!!

Thursday 11/26/15 – Week 18: Happy Thanksgiving!

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Gobble, gobble!

Today is Evan’s first Thanksgiving!!!!

I’m so grateful for him and for my wife. I can't believe next year he will be running around!

"Moms, did you put wine bottles in my stroller??!!"

"Yes, Evan, yes we did."

We’ve come so far in one year.

Last Thanksgiving, I was barely pregnant and he was so, so tiny. I had all of the concerns with being a new mom and keeping that baby healthy and strong. It’s hard to believe that we have this beautiful baby boy now. The year went by so fast.

And he tried holding his bottle on his own today!

"Look Moms, two hands!"

Sleep Training Night #2!

RULES OF THE NIGHT: 10/15/20

The first time he cries, we wait 10 minutes before going into his room.

The second time, we wait 15 minutes.

The third time and for the rest of the night, we wait 20 minutes.

He fell asleep at the end of the bottle and I started cutting his nails and he woke up! So I read him Goodnight Moon and got him back to sleep by the end.

Time to open up the wine!

8:08pm = he’s asleep in the crib. I laid him down and he moved a bit but stayed asleep. He had so much stimulation today with meeting new people and being in new places. He is exhausted!!

12:08am = he’s awake. Timer set for 10 minutes.

12:12am = he’s asleep.

1:09am = he’s awake and crying. Timer set for 15 minutes.

1:20am = he’s asleep.

1:42am = he’s awake. This is the first real crying of the night. He has moments of silence, then crying. At least it’s not the desperate wailing that we had last night. Timer set for 20 minutes.

1:59am = he’s asleep.

3:30am = he’s awake and crying. Timer set for 20 minutes.

3:34am = he’s back asleep.

5:44am = he’s awake and pissed! He was saying, “I slept through most of the night and now it's morning, so let's go! Get me out of here!!”

We’re almost at the 10 hour mark.

6:08am = 10 hours are up! It’s time for a bottle!

Total number of crying sessions = 5

Total number of minutes crying = 60

Total number of check ins = 0

A distinct improvement from the night before!

"Maybe sleeping is fun!"

Friday 11/27/15 – Evan had 2 naps today.

RULES OF THE GAME FOR NAPS:

He has to stay in his crib for 1 hour.

He can cry, he can play, he can SLEEP – it doesn’t matter. But he has to stay in there for 1 hour.

We can do check ins, but for an hour or less, I prefer not to. I don’t want him to think that when I come in after 5 minutes, that I might do that at night, too.

The first nap he slept for 35 minutes and cried for 25 minutes.

The second nap he slept for 20 minutes and cried for 15, then slept a little and cried for 12 more minutes. Apparently once he gets the hang of sleeping more at night he will get the naps during the day.

Julia is crying listening to him. She can't take it!

I'm cold as ice! He has to learn!

"No!"

I hung up our stockings today for Christmas. It made me cry.

This time last year, I knew that next year we would have an extra stocking on the mantle. And here we are. One year later. We have our Evan. Our young buck!

Sleep training night #3!

RULES OF THE NIGHT: 15/20/25

The first time he cries, we wait 15 minutes before going into his room.

The second time, we wait 20 minutes.

The third time and for the rest of the night, we wait 25 minutes.

7:45pm = after a bath, bottle and a book he's fast asleep. I laid him in the crib and he opened his eyes and looked around for a second then fell asleep! This is exactly what we want! He needs to know he's in his bed and everything is ok and he can fall asleep on his own.

2:48am = he’s awake. Set timer for 15 minutes.

3:00am = he’s asleep.

3:10am = he’s awake and half crying. Set timer for 20 minutes.

3:13am = half crying becomes real crying.

3:30am = check in denied! He's settling down and if I go in, he might get stimulated.

3:35am = he’s asleep. I knew he was close!

4:43am = he’s awake. Set timer for 25 minutes.

5:10am = he’s asleep.

5:20am = he’s awake.

5:45am = 10 hours are up! Diaper change and bottle for my crying boy!

Total number of crying sessions = 4

Total number of minutes crying = 89

Total number of check ins = 0

The good thing is there was one less crying session and although he cried for more minutes, some of those minutes were half cries. Also, he slept for 7 hours before first waking up!!!

Saturday 11/28/15 – Evan’s first nap was from 10:00am - 11:00am today.

And he cried the entire time.

Yikes.

But for his second nap this afternoon, he cried for a few minutes then SLEPT!

We are wearing him down!!! He is too tired to cry for an hour!

At the end of this nap, Julia went in to get him and HE ROLLED OVER!!!!

From his back to his stomach!

This is a huge milestone!

Granted it's cause he was so upset and was twisting and turning in the crib, but he rolled over!!!!!

Time to take a deep breath.

In moments like this, I feel reassured that we aren't torturing him and that this is actually working.

His third nap was from 4:45pm-5:30pm. This one can be shorter and thank god because he woke up at 5:05pm and started screaming.

Sleep training night #4!

RULES OF THE NIGHT: 20/25/30 holy smokes…

The first time he cries, we wait 20 minutes before going into his room.

The second time, we wait 25 minutes.

The third time and for the rest of the night, we wait 30 minutes.

8:00pm = he’s asleep in the crib.

1:49am = aw shit. It's too early!!! I heard some noise and checked the monitor. He was making some little noises for a few minutes then fell asleep!

4:55am = he’s awake. Eyes wide open and he's staring at the camera! I was willing him back to sleep with my mind. But he wasn't crying. He was laying there making a few noises and just staring. I figured I would sleep until he started crying in a few more minutes.

6:04am = he is crying now but was content for over an hour! Amazing!!!

Sunday 11/29/15 – For his first nap of the day, he cried for 25 minutes then we watched him find his hand. And he rolled onto his stomach! He seemed upset that he couldn't quite roll back again but then he found his hand and was happy!

We watched him on the monitor. He's never slept on his stomach before. The doctor said as long as we lay him down on his back, if he gets onto his stomach, he is ok. Any position he gets into on his own is fine.

So it was scary to see at first but his head was turned and he was crying so he was breathing!

He had stopped crying for maybe 20 minutes and then started again. We had 7 minutes left in the hour of the nap.

Then he fell asleep.

And so did we.

And we all woke up an hour later! Wow!!!!

Successful nap for sure!!!

And for his second nap, he’s already been asleep for an hour and a half!

I did the dishes, took a shower, ate lunch and I'm having a cup of coffee while watching some football.

Our pediatrician said once he starts sleeping through the night, the naps will fall into place.

Consider them fallen!!!!

One sock napping angel boy

7:45pm = we laid him down in his crib for the night.

6:22am = he woke up ready to start the day.

This. Is. Amazing.

"More sleep equals more play time!"

Wednesday 12/2/15 – We have a whole new Evan.

Jules put him down for his first nap. He opened his eyes, looked around, rolled onto his side and went to sleep.

Later this morning, Evan and I went to Target for a few things. I wasn’t sure if he would get this nap messed up because we weren't at home for it.

But he fell asleep in the car on the way home!

I carefully took him out of his car seat, laid him in the crib and he ended up sleeping for over two hours!!!

His third nap is going well right now.

This is a new baby.

So proud of this boy.

Thursday 11/19/15 – Week 17: Sleep Training Begins!

2015-11-19T12:17:00.000-08:00

Sir Evan Charles of Hollywood

Last night was better and we got a little more sleep. I think anything would have been better than the night before!

Today was the last day of session 1 of our Mommy and Me class. Session 2 will start in two weeks.

Some moms won’t be back because they have to go back to work. I really feel for them. It must be so hard.

Almost every week now, a few of us go out to lunch after class. It’s really nice to get to know these other moms as we try and raise these babes. It takes a village!!

I can’t believe it’s November and almost Thanksgiving.

Time is going by so fast.

Friday 11/20/15 – Evan slept for 10.5 hours last night!

There was a feeding in there somewhere but that is so long for him. I’m so thankful for these nights when they happen!

Our boy is officially in SIZE 3 diapers now! I can’t believe how big he’s getting. What happened to my tiny newborn boy???

I happened to look at old photos of him from the summer. He looks so small!

It made me want another baby! HELP!!!

Now I know why people have more kids. I’m so exhausted but I see the pictures of this tiny baby and want a newborn!

S.O.S.!!!!

Monday 11/23/15 – Our boy is four months old today!

We had an appointment with the doctor and knew Evan had to get another round of shots.

He weighs 16 pounds and 10.5 ounces and is 26.5” long!

This kid is growing!

He did so well with the shots. There were only 2 this time and after the first one went in, he seemed ok. Then the second one went in and he started crying.

I had a bottle all prepared for him and then he was happy!

He loves to eat!

Then he slept on the way home like a good boy.

His sleeping schedule is different every night. Every night you don’t know when he will wake up next and if you should feed him because it’s been a while or just bounce him back to sleep.

We might start sleep training this week…

Tuesday 11/24/15 – Last night he was awake almost every hour! The longest stretch was from 3:00am – 5:45am.

I'm a zombie today!

I think it was from the shots. That's my guess. At one point we made him a bottle and he was still wide awake and crying after he finished.

He didn’t feel warm, but we gave him some Tylenol in case he was in pain from the vaccines. Let's hope tonight we get more sleep!

UPDATE: We are not off to a good start and Jules is working late so I’m here alone!

This is what’s been going on.

Please, feel my pain.

7:30pm = he’s asleep and I laid him in the crib.

8:00pm = awake and crying. I went in to bounce and rock him.

8:10pm = back asleep in the crib.

8:12pm = awake and crying. Bounced him again.

8:23pm = back asleep in the crib.

8:25pm = awake and crying. Bounced again.

8:36pm = back asleep in the crib.

9:14pm = awake and crying. Bounced again.

9:25pm = back asleep in the crib.

10:14pm = awake and crying. Bounced again.

10:23pm = back asleep in the crib.

3:30am = awake and crying. Julia made him a bottle and fed him.

5:30am = awake and crying. Bounced back to sleep.

6:45am = he’s awake for the day…AND I’M F*&%ING EXHAUSTED.

This kid is begging to be sleep trained.

Wednesday 11/25/15 – I had a dream that I was doing shots of red wine.

Then I woke up and heard Evan crying.

I guess that's my answer to a crying baby!

Sleep training begins!

Yes, the red indicator light shows the level of NOISE in the room.

Because Evan is 4 months old and over 15 pounds, we can now sleep train.

Our pediatrician, Dr. Scott Cohen, has a method that sounded good to us. We’ve never gone one night without feeding him halfway through, but our doctor explained that once the baby hits a certain weight, they are only eating for comfort. They can make it through the night without eating.

Rules of the game: For 10 hours, we can’t pick him up for feed him. He must stay in his crib.

The first night is the 5/10/15 rule. We do our normal bedtime routine and the first time he cries, even if it’s when I lay him down in his crib, we set the timer for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes if he’s still crying, we go in his room, put our hand on his chest, tell him we love him and that everything is ok. Then we leave.

If he continues to cry or whenever he cries again, we now wait 10 minutes before we check in on him.

The next time he cries, we wait 15 minutes.

Then every other time he cries that first night, we wait 15 minutes. Until the 10 hours are up.

If at any time, he has a poopy diaper, we would change him and then put him right back in the crib. That’s the only reason we would pick him up.

The check ins are really for us so we know he is ok while we are staring at the monitor and listening to him cry all night long.

Tonight, Mama and I will get through this with some whiskey.

7:30pm = he finished the bottle. He always falls asleep by the end of the bottle. Tonight he didn't. He was wide awake. It was like he knew it was coming. I read him Goodnight Moon while holding him upright for 15 minutes (we always do that after a bottle so he isn’t immediately laying flat with a full belly.)

7:45pm = upright time is over. I told him I loved him and gave him a kiss. He's already fussy at this point. He knows what’s happening! He’s begging me not to leave! I laid him down in the crib and now he’s CRYING. I set the timer for 5 minutes. And since we're in the next room, I turned the volume off on the monitor. Dear god we don't need it in stereo!

7:50pm = go inside his room. I put my hand on his chest. I tell him everything is ok and we love him. I rub my hand on his cheek and leave the room. I set the timer for 10 minutes. This sh*t is getting hard to listen to. I thought I would be cold as ice. But hearing him cry and seeing him look at you in the dark like why aren't you picking me up?! It kills.

7:58pm = I'm beginning to think that he will only stop crying when he passes out. And hopefully that will be soon. He's really not happy with us. But there are a few seconds (like two) when he's quiet. Those seconds make me hold strong and think this will work. He will get it.

8:00pm = I went in his room, put my hand on his chest, told him I love him and rubbed his cheek. I think he's getting hoarse from crying so much. Jesus, I hope this works. Like soon. Timer set for 15 minutes.

8:07pm = he's quieting down! Still crying but maybe this is working. He's rolled onto his side from squirming because he's so upset.

8:11pm = he passed out!!!! Sort of on his side. So we will try to go in and fix him at the next interval.

8:15pm = he is still asleep! I went in and moved him gently off his side onto his back. He moved and was still breathing(!!!) but stayed asleep.

10:18pm = I just want to say that our angel boy is still asleep!!!!! I'm in shock. A quiet, blissful shock.

11:08pm = after dinner and some TV, mommies are off to bed. Let's see how long we can sleep!

12:14am = he’s awake and crying. Not awful crying, but crying nonetheless. I set the timer for 15 minutes.

12:15am = no more crying. No more squirming. Fingers crossed!

12:17am = he’s crying. I set the timer for 15 minutes again.

12:24am = he started calming down a little and he’s completely sideways in the crib. He turned all the way around.

12:30am = Julia went in. She repositioned him and told him we love him and left. Timer set for 15 minutes again.

12:32am = he’s calming down. I know he’s definitely exhausted. And he’s not the only one!!!

12:43am = just shy of the timer going off, he passed out.

12:51am = he’s awake and crying. Timer set again for 15 minutes.

1:05am = I went in and straightened him out. Told him I loved him. I could hear all this snot from him crying. Poor baby. Please fall asleep soon. Timer set for 15 minutes.

1:19am = he passed out.

3:36am = he’s awake and crying. I set the timer for 15 minutes and am just staring at the monitor. I feel like I’ve been doing this all night. Then I hear something besides my baby crying…

Julia is SNORING!!!!! Somehow she can sleep through the sleep training with our son wailing in the next room!

3:51am = I woke Julia up and she went in and repositioned him again. Timer reset for 15 minutes.

4:14am = he wiggled sideways again but passed out.

4:17am = he’s awake and crying. Timer reset for 15 minutes.

4:23am = he passed out sideways in the crib.

6:08am = he’s awake and ready to start the day! He went past the ten hour mark of 5:45am, so now it's time to change his diaper and give him a bottle. He was so happy to be held! After I was finished burping him, he laid on my shoulder and zoned out. He let me play with his hair and I held my boy. Love love love.

Total number of crying sessions = 7

Total number of minutes crying = 133
Total number of check ins = 6

Evan Charles cannot be tamed!

Thursday 11/12/15 – Week 16: Four Month Sleep Regression

2015-11-12T18:34:00.000-08:00

"I got this."

We had a great Mommy and Me class this week.

We talked all about our partners/spouses and let me just say that I’m so grateful for my wife. I have someone who is supportive, kind and generous who has my back. Forever.

Some other moms don’t have that. And it was sad to hear that they don’t get the support they need at home.

Afterwards some of the moms and I went to lunch and it turns out a few of us had done IVF. I heard that two of the moms had miscarriages. They were in their mid to late first trimester when it happened.

I can’t imagine what they went through. We were so lucky with Evan. So grateful that when I got pregnant, it was with him. I carried him to full term (plus 8 days) and he is a healthy baby boy.

We are very blessed to have him and so lucky that we also have some embryos left over for Evan's sibling(s!!!). Some women do IVF and end up with only one embryo, like what happened to us the first time. Others end up with several embryos, but only one results in a pregnancy.

We are very fortunate and I guess this was an advantage to having two women do IVF at the same time... 4 ovaries!

"I can't wait to be a big brother!"

I’m finding that whenever I go out into the world and do something, I feel like a super mom. I need to remember this and make sure I get out of the house at least every other day - and not just to walk the dog!

Friday 11/13/15 – Breastfeeding is finally coming to an end. I’ve been doing it twice a day now, first thing in the morning and at night before his bath.

Evan is getting frustrated because there isn’t much milk left and it doesn’t come out immediately. The boy is used to the bottle, and that’s ok.

On top of this frustration, I have a MILK BLISTER.

It’s just as bad as it sounds.

I noticed this small white dot on my nipple that didn’t go away. After some internet research, I found that it is caused by a small amount of milk getting clogged in a milk duct. FUN!

Breastfeeding already hurt. Now it is on the verge of unbearable.

How do you get rid of it?

Well, the best way is to KEEP NURSING.

Are you freaking joking me?!!!!!

I’m probably going to stop breastfeeding him this weekend if this doesn’t resolve itself ASAP. It’s not worth it to have him be frustrated and me be in agony.

I feel sad about stopping. But I know that feeling is because I’m mourning what I thought breastfeeding was going to be. This magical bonding experience. Instead I’ve been greeted by intense pain and not enough milk.

I wish it would have been different and I could have done it longer, but it wasn’t in the cards.

What’s in the cards is Evan being healthy and having a happy mommy.

Sunday 11/15/15 – Today is the last day of breastfeeding.

I decided this when nothing was coming out and Evan wouldn’t even try to nurse. He was hungry and we were both getting frustrated.

I thought, “Why am I pushing this?!”

It was time.

Time to end the torture, take my body back, buy some new fun bras in celebration and make Evan a damn bottle!

He saw me making the bottle and he looked at it and smiled. What more convincing did I need?!

I thanked him for bearing with me through all of this.

He’s been amazing with everything. From the two tongue tie corrections to the lip tie correction to the different bottles to the nursing frustration for both of us – this kid just goes with the flow (or lack thereof).

And now, it’s bottle time.

Monday 11/16/15 – Last night we gave Evan a bottle at 7:15pm.

He was asleep in his crib by 7:45pm.

Around 8:15/8:30pm, he woke up and was crying. Julia bounced and rocked him back to sleep. This only took maybe 3 minutes total.

Then he slept until 6:30am!!!!!!

Angel boy in his magic suit

He woke a little around 1:00am and 3:00am but got himself back to sleep. Maybe sleep training won't be so bad when we do it??!!!

I'm so proud of him.

Granted it’s 11:30am and he hasn't napped yet today but anyway...that’s a battle for another day!

UPDATE: He finally napped at 1:00pm IN HIS CRIB!!!!

I knew I could break him!

I wasn’t going to let him sleep in my arms, so I figured I would keep putting him down in his crib. He only slept for 20 minutes, but we'll take it!

Wednesday 11/18/15 – Last night was the worst night ever!

Here was the sequence of events:

6:50pm = bath

7:15pm = bottle

12:00am = finally asleep after multiple awakenings where we went in and soothed him back to sleep.

1:00am = awake and we rocked him back to sleep.

1:45am = awake again.

2:15am – 5:15am = he woke up four times but was able to get himself back to sleep each time.

7:00am = awake and ready for a bottle.

I got more sleep when he was a newborn!

I found out that other moms in my class had the same problem.

The dreaded 4 month sleep regression is real. And he's so advanced that he decided to start it a little early!

His brain is starting to sleep more like an adult. He used to close his eyes and immediately fall into a deep sleep.

Now, he is starting to sleep like adults do where we don’t fall asleep immediately upon closing our eyes. So he will fall asleep in my arms but the second I lay him in the crib, he wakes up and CRIES.

"No sleep for me!"

Thursday 11/5/15 – Week 15: Positively Evan

2015-11-05T21:11:00.000-08:00

One year ago today, I drove anxiously to the doctor to have my blood drawn. I was about to find out that I was pregnant.

It feels like yesterday. I just got chills typing this.

I remember so clearly being at work and seeing the doctor call.

I ran outside and answered the phone – nervous as hell to hear what she would say.

“I was hoping you’d answer! I have good news for you!”

I got so excited I blurted out, “I’m pregnant??!!”

“Yes!” She said.

I remember shaking there on the sidewalk outside my building. I felt like I was on cloud 9. I was literally in a dream. Everything I had ever wanted was finally here.

Wow. What a difference a year makes. Now we have a healthy baby boy who’s over 3 months old!

Today my mom and I went out to lunch after the Mommy and Me class.

Evan slept almost the whole time! Then we fed him a bottle and changed his diaper and went home. It was the perfect day. He was such a good boy.

I learned today in class that babies this age should get 11-12 hours of sleep a night, including interruptions for feedings.

Whoops!!!!!

We had been putting Evan to sleep closer to 10:30pm or 11:00pm and he would wake up around 6:00am. Sometimes he would sleep this entire time and it really helped us to get solid sleep and be ready for the day.

But I guess it’s not helping Evan!

So tonight we started an earlier bed time. The goal is to get him in bed by 7:00pm.

New routine goes as follows:

Breastfeed

Bath

Bottle

Bed

Wish us luck!

I guess it runs in the family!

Sunday 11/8/15 - GO EAGLES!

Monday 11/9/15 – My mom and I went to the movies with Evan today! His very first movie was Spectre – James Bond!

There are Mommy and Me Movies that you can go to and everyone there has a baby. It’s the same thing as watching the movie, but if your baby cries, no one cares!

We sat down and a lady walked in with her COUGHING baby and sat next to me. My mom and I switched seats to get her away from Evan.

Let’s just bring HEALTHY babies out to the movies please!

The previews were really loud so at first I was worrying about his little ears. No one else seemed to be bothered so I imagined this would resolve itself.

The hardest part was not having Evan watch the HUGE MOVIE SCREEN!

We are trying to give him no “screen time” until he’s 2 years old. Studies have shown that babies who watch a lot of TV, etc have ADD and other learning problems. It makes sense since watching TV shows them a lot of fast images so their brain then wants to process things so quickly and they’re not ready for it.

It’s challenging believe me. No TV, phones, tablets until he’s 2. We will see how close we get!

I gave Evan a bottle when the movie started and then he needed some bouncing. So I walked to the side of the theatre to bounce him and he fell asleep in my arms. I walked to my seat and he slept through THE ENTIRE MOVIE!

Such an angel.

At first no babies made a sound. Then by the halfway point, all babies were crying! Except for our sleeping angel boy.

I loved seeing the movie and there were many scenes in Rome. Rome is Julia’s favorite city. We’ve always talked about going to Italy as a family when we had a baby. We want to show him the world. And now I was seeing part of that amazing city on the big screen while holding my son. I can’t wait to visit with our boy.

After the movie, we changed his diaper and went to lunch. He sat in the stroller and was an angel boy for sure today!

At night, I fed him his bottle and he started staring at me.

He was really looking at me. Into my eyes.

He connected with me on another level.

This has happened maybe five times so far since he’s been born.

He smiled at me and was looking at me with his huge blue eyes.

I started crying. I love him so much. He's so amazing. This incredible boy.

Tuesday 11/10/15 – Last night we made the mistake of putting him to bed around 8:30pm. It wasn’t on purpose, the night kind of just got away from us and it was later than we realized.

Then we thought if he went to bed later, he will sleep later.

WRONG!

We did a dream feed at 10:30pm and he was awake at 2:00am and at 5:30am and after that he never fell back asleep!

Sooooo tired today!

"I'm never tired!"

Business in the front, Party in the back

Thursday 10/29/15 – Week 14: Happy Halloween, Our Lion Boy

2015-10-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

Lion King pants!

We had Halloween dress up in Mommy and Me class today!

I mean how adorable are these babies!

Evan is a little lion this year since he’s our leo.

Some of the moms were talking about going back to work.

And it dawned on me.

This would have been my first full week back since he’s 3 months old now.

I just can’t even imagine. It’s so far from my mind.

We are so lucky and I’m so grateful to be able to stay home with our boy. Hopefully I won’t have to get a job for at least a little while. I would like to stay at home as long as possible.

I’ll get involved in his school and activities. Hell, I’ll run the sh*t out of the PTA!

Saturday 10/31/15 – Last year on Halloween it was raining in LA.

Julia and I went out to dinner and we made a toast.

To Baby Miranda.

We were praying the embryo transfer we had done days before would take. I was dreaming about Halloween the following year. I was trying not to be too hopeful in case of disappointment, but it was hard not to think about my baby dressed up in a costume.

It's one year later and we can say Happy Halloween to our Evan.

We love you so much our little lion boy.

Of course I had to recreate The Lion King

Simba Boy!

The family lion pride!

Monday 11/2/15 – Today while I was pushing Evan in the stroller and walking Frankie, it started RAINING!

WTF!

I’m always so surprised when it rains out here. It hardly ever does so every time I’m in denial.

Luckily the stroller has a canopy so I could cover my boy up.

Frankie and I were another story. Wet dogs!

Can’t complain too much since the weather is finally starting to cool down. We are all ready for fall and winter!

Tuesday 11/3/15 – It’s sweater weather!

Too bad wearing a sweater won’t allow me to get cozy enough to fall asleep.

Last night we got no sleep.

Evan woke up at 1:30am and again at 5:00am. I know compared to what some parents are going through, that’s a good night. But for us, it is not good!

He had woken so many times that he ended up in his Merlin Magic Sleep Suit in his crib and I just slept in the glider at one point. It was easier than going back and forth from our room to his.

"Let me think about this 'sleeping at night' that you speak of."

Evan says, "F sleeping at night..."

My mom is out to visit for a week!

Evan and I picked her up at the airport and he was such a good boy… until the ride home that is.

I fed him in baggage claim and thought a full belly would allow us to have a decent ride home. I think he was sick and tired of being in his car seat. At one point I pulled over because he was crying so hard he was going to hyperventilate!

Once we got home and he could be held, he was happy as a clam.

Today was a big day for our boy. Since he’s 3 months old now, we switched him from the NEWBORN formula to the INFANT formula. He will be on this formula now until he’s a year old.

He’s really growing so fast! I can’t take it!

Evan and Ashton getting better acquainted

Thursday 10/22/15 – Week 13: He’s Got The Magic Suit

2015-10-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

"Watchu talkin' about Willis?!"

Today I skipped my mommy and me class and took Evan to the doctor.

He’s had a cough the past several days and even though he didn’t have a fever or mucus, I wanted the doctor to listen to his chest. Poor baby would wake up in the morning with this awful mucus sounding cough but nothing would come out. I didn’t want it to turn into bronchitis or something crazy. And he’s so tiny that I knew I would feel better once he was checked out.

On the way to the doctor, I was driving along and explaining to Evan what we were doing. I explained how we had to walk through a special door in the hallway for this visit.

It was the first time we had to walk through the NOT WELL entrance.

It killed me. I wanted him to feel better and not be sick!

Then, I swore I heard thunder.

Oh no.

It wasn’t thunder.

It was Evan.

B-L-O-W-O-U-T.

I get into the exam room and take him out of his car seat and I knew.

I knew exactly what he had in store for me.

He’s recently only been pooping once a day, so when he does, it’s epic.

The doctor walked in and I’m elbow deep in baby sh*t and I said, “I might need another minute.”

Luckily we had a change of clothes with us! Evan left in a brand new outfit!

The doctor checked him out and said he just had a cold. There was nothing to worry about.

He suggested we elevate his bassinet mattress a little by placing a pillow or something underneath one side of the mattress (not underneath Evan). Also, we should get a cool mist humidifier.

I felt so much better knowing that his chest was fine. But I feel awful that he is sick to begin with.

There is a small voice in my head reminding me that formula fed babies get colds easier than breastfed babies.

Well… I’m telling that voice to shut the f*ck up.

Friday 10/23/15 – Evan is 3 months old today!

I can’t believe the time has gone by so fast. We love you, our big boy!

Saturday 10/24/15 – We went to a pumpkin patch today!

It was almost an hour away, but I wanted to start a new tradition with our son. This farm was huge and they have animals and hayrides and tons of things that Evan will love in a few years. I kept thinking about going there next year. A year goes by so fast. He will be almost 1 ½. So unbelievable.

Tonight Julia and I went out to dinner.

Without Evan.

Just the two of us.

We got a babysitter!!!!!

We walked out the front door and towards the car and it felt so weird.

Beyond weird. Like we were forgetting something.

I felt naked.

Like the feeling when you leave your cell phone at home.

Your very, very, very important cell phone.

We missed him at dinner. Our phones stayed on the table in case the babysitter had a question or emergency.

Of course she was just fine and never called.

We had a lovely dinner complete with a cocktail and some wine!

It was strange though being out to dinner. It reminded me of how it used to be. But it felt weird all at the same time. Because everything is different now.

It was a great day and special first dinner date as mommies.

I’ve missed my wife.

It’s important to us to find time to focus just on the two of us. In the beginning with Evan when he needed us literally around the clock, this was very hard. Basically impossible. Marriage takes a back seat with a newborn.

Now we can work in some more mommy time.

This foxy boy approves!

Tuesday 10/27/15 – Today is a very special day.

Exactly one year ago, we did our embryo transfer of Julia’s biological embryo into me.
Here’s a link to my blog entry from that day one year ago.

It’s crazy to think that one year ago I was laying down on the couch playing Farmville to take my mind off of the fact that I was hopefully in the process of getting pregnant. I was praying that this tiny embryo would implant in my body and attach to me.

I remember trying to take it easy and relax while doing meditation to prepare me mentally for what was happening inside my body.

Well, it all worked.

And today we have our miracle.

Our Evan.

We couldn't ask for anything more.

We did it.

And Evan can now roll from his stomach to his back!

Here he is in action!

Wednesday 10/28/15 – Dear Lord today is a rough day. Sometimes it’s hard to complain, but today has definitely been rough.

Let’s start with this morning when Julia was leaving to go to work and she left her sneakers on to get something from our bedroom. We didn’t realize it until she left that the cat had taken a sh*t on the floor and she stepped in it and now there was cat poop all the way back to our bedroom carpet!!!

Our WHITE bedroom carpet!!!

When you have a baby, any minor inconvenience such as this is suddenly THE BIGGEST F*CKING DEAL EVER. It’s hard enough taking care of a baby, let alone having to scrub cat sh*t out of the carpet.

We had scheduled someone to come take a look at our air conditioning unit and replace the filter. I used to do all of these types of things before Evan and just don’t have the time or energy anymore.

Whenever anyone comes over and I’m alone, I now have to carry Evan and walk all the way downstairs. Our building is too complicated to expect strangers to find their way to our door.

So as soon as the technician and I approach our door, our dog Frankie starts barking his head off.

He’s going insane and Evan is squirming in my arms and I’m trying to explain where our AC unit is.

The technician was a little strange and claimed he saw mold on our filter and tried to sell me a UV light to go inside our unit for $695!!!!

My mind exploded.

There was no chance I was buying this thing for $700! And you’re telling me we have MOLD?!!!!!!

I asked about bringing in a mold specialist and of course he thought we were ok for now but should have the light. So automatically I know something is up here. If the mold is really an issue, we would need a mold company to come take care of it.

Thanks for taking one look at this housewife/stay at home mom and trying to pull one over on me!

Not gonna happen!

Then he was about to leave and he dropped something. I looked over and saw that it was a small brush and black residue was now on my floor…NEXT TO WHERE EVAN LAYS DOWN TO TAKE HIS NAP!

All I can think of is…..

Does that small brush contain said mold?

Are there now mold particles on the floor?

Are they in Evan’s sleeping area?

OH GOD JUST GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!!

I never paid a bill so fast.

Later in the afternoon, someone starts knocking on our door.

Whenever anyone walks down our hallway, our dog barks. So a knock at the door is an entire barking session.

Of course Frankie’s barking startles Evan, so he starts crying.

Thanks.

No one ever knocks on our door when I’m sitting in the living room with nothing to do.

No, they knock on our door when I’m TOPLESS AND BREASTFEEDING MY BABY.

Clearly, I’m not going to answer the door.

They keep knocking.

I yell, “I can’t come to the door!”

They say, “I just wanted to tell you that you have a package downstairs in the lobby.”

It’s one of our annoying neighbors.

One I really don’t like.

Thanks a million!

If you’re trying to be helpful, BRING UP THE GODDAMN PACKAGE FROM THE LOBBY! DON’T JUST LOOK AT IT AND THEN MAKE ME GO GET IT! BECAUSE I CAN’T GET IT BECAUSE I HAVE A NEWBORN WHO NEEDS TO BE HELD ALL DAY AND MY BOOBS ARE HANGING OUT!!!

Throughout the day, Evan has been eating almost every 2 hours. He had been eating closer to every 3 hours.

He even had 6 ounces at one point, when he normally only eats 4.

If I try and put him down, he cries.

He’s been in my arms literally all day long.

It’s 4pm and I haven’t peed or eaten anything.

Then finally, Evan passed out.

Thank you Jesus.

He slept for an hour and let me put him down. I slept on the couch watching over him in his rock ‘n play. When he woke up, he was in a good mood and we took the dog for a walk.

Things seem better now.

Sleep makes everything better!

Speaking of sleep, we heard about something that apparently helps you get sleep with a baby.

Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleep Suit.

It essentially turns your baby into a Michelin man.

He can’t really move too much in this and the material is thick so each of his limbs are kind of swaddled.

He had been breaking his arms out of every swaddle item we had. And when he gets his arms free, he wakes up.

Well the only trick with the Magic Sleep Suit is that the baby can only wear it while sleeping in the CRIB. He wouldn’t fit with his arms extended in our bassinet anyway.

We weren’t quite 100% ready to transition him into the crib in his room just yet, but we were quite ready to get more sleep!

So I proposed sleeping in the glider chair for the night. It reclines and really wasn’t too bad. This way I could be in the room with Evan if he woke up and I could look in on him in his crib if I got worried.

Well, he slept like a champion.

Almost 9 hours!

I think this is the start of him sleeping alone in his room like a big boy.

He’s growing up so fast.

Thursday 10/15/15 – Week 12: Angel Boy

2015-10-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

"Um, excuse me. I'm 12 weeks old today!"

Mommy and me class Week 3!

Evan fell asleep as soon as we got to the class. After having screamed in the car the whole way there, he was tired!

Then he woke up about an hour in and was hungry.

So I opened my bag and took out….

A BOTTLE OF FORMULA!

All was fine and Evan was happy that he got to eat. Afterwards some of the moms and I went out to lunch. We strolled up the street and took over the front area of a restaurant. It looked like valet parking for strollers.

While we sat and ate, someone brought up formula. I immediately said that Evan is mostly on formula and felt so good that I talked about it.

And imagine my surprise when some of the moms said they were thinking of trying it!

I found out that today is infant and pregnancy loss awareness day. I couldn’t help but think about how lucky we are.

I looked into Evan’s eyes and started crying. I told him how special he is and what a miracle he is.

Julia and I went on this journey to have a baby and had our bumps along the way. But then I got pregnant with Evan and it’s hard not to think about how easily I could have lost him. So many things had to come together perfectly to create him and keep him growing to be a healthy baby boy.

He’s here. Our miracle. It was meant to be and he was more than worth the wait.

Friday 10/16/15 – Last night Evan went 8.5 hours between feedings!

I feel INCREDIBLE!

We went out to lunch today to meet a friend of mine and her son. He and Evan are 3 weeks apart. The last time we saw each other, we were pregnant and having lunch together. My how things have changed!

On the way home, he fell asleep in his car seat.

So that means….

STARBUCKS DRIVE THRU FOR MOMMY!

Monday 10/19/15 – Last night Evan went 8.5 hours again between feedings.

OMG.

Evan is amazing.

How did we make this happen?

So much is trial and error. But we have a new routine that might be working.

5:00pm – Start clusterfeeding. We offer him a bottle every 2 hours and he is usually hungry and drinks almost all of it.

10:30pm – Bath time.

11:00pm – One last bottle before bed.

Then he sleeps until 6:30am or 7am!

He will sometimes sleep between the evening cluster feedings too. It’s tricky to eat dinner if he’s awake and fussy, but we get sleep at night. So we’ll take it!

Tuesday 10/20/15 – Evan went 10 hours between feedings last night!

Hallelujah!

I keep calling him ANGEL BOY.

He is my angel boy but I’m afraid he might start thinking that’s his name!!!

God I love this kid.

Wednesday 10/21/15 – Today I organized a lunch with some of the moms from the mommy and me class. Four of us met for lunch and it was nice to get out of the house.

The great thing about the class is meeting these other woman who know EXACTLY what I’m going through.

And then during lunch, one of the moms said she wants to start giving her baby formula! It feels like I’m starting a revolution.

I feel better talking about it and the most important thing is that we are feeding our babies. If my talking openly about it helps some moms feel more comfortable or free to ask questions, then I feel good about myself.

Mommy high five!

Thursday 10/8/15 – Week 11: Holy Jesus, He’s Gonna Blow!

2015-10-08T14:26:00.000-07:00

Foxy boy

Mommy and me Week 2!

Class went well… and I might actually like some of the moms! This is huge!

Some of them went out to lunch after the class today. I said I would join them next week, God help me.

I brought my formula bottle and put it in a freezer bag to keep it cold. So that way I could pull out the bottle at any moment during class and feed it to him. I didn’t have to worry about mixing or pouring anything.

I have to get over this formula shame that I have. It’s hard when all the moms whip out their boobs or their pumped breast milk to feed their babies. I know that as I get more comfortable with the moms and the class, it will get easier.

"For sure, Mommy!"

Sunday 10/11/15 – We are still working on our routine. Evan was up after only 4 ½ hours and the night before it was 4 hours. That is a far cry from the 7+ we were getting.

The hardest part is getting sleep and then having it TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU!

I think the routine can still work. We just have to stick with it.

This morning our friends had their baby baptized so we went to the church and reception afterwards. During the passing of the peace section of church, an older man came right up to Evan and touched his head and kissed him!

How do people think it’s ok to just GRAB babies and KISS them?!

I had a mild heart attack and remembered that he already had his shots. It’s still unnerving because he’s so little.

Another woman came up to chat with us and specifically said, “I won’t touch him but he’s so adorable!” THANK YOU!

At the reception afterwards, everything was going smoothly…

Until it wasn’t.

Julia picked Evan up from his car seat to hold him and she felt something wet.

Real wet.

Oh yes, we have a blowout!

We took him to the bathroom and not only did he need an outfit change, but so did my wife!

What we were thinking while we pulled his pants off: “Holy f*ck, that’s a lot of sh*t!”

What we said: “Oh, good boy! You must feel better!”

What we were thinking as we got out the baby wipes: “We only have 3 wipes left in the container---F*CKKKKKKK!”

What we said: “Your mommies are going to get you all cleaned up!”

What we were thinking as other people started coming into the bathroom and my wife’s shirt is covered in baby sh*t: “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!”

What we said: “Almost finished here and then we get to put on a fun new outfit!”

Of course we didn’t bring a change of clothes for us, so it was then time to leave!

Pre-blowout

Monday 10/12/15 – Today was the first time I had to walk the dog in the afternoon.

With Evan.

We had a dog walker helping out and I finally got to the point where I felt I could handle the walk around the block with the hills. I also wanted to try and get some exercise so it was time.

Walking the dog and pushing the stroller is fun and tricky all at once. The hills were tough but we made it.

In the 100 degree weather.

Can it please be fall soon?!?!

Ready for sweater weather!

Tuesday 10/13/15 – Evan had been pooping once a day but today we got 3! And the last one was the perfect bright yellow color!

Last night we didn’t get any sleep. He kept waking up so maybe our routine isn’t working after all. I felt guilty because Julia has to work all day and I know she needs her sleep. But she’s so good about helping in the middle of the night. She knows I will function better the next day if I get some sleep, too.

One of us will try to calm him down and rock him back to sleep and if that doesn’t work, we switch.

I’m in a few mommy groups on Facebook and it’s so sad to hear women vent about their partners not helping AT ALL with their babies. I’m so lucky to have a supportive spouse. She works all day and gets home and the first thing she says is, “What can I do?”

Today Evan and I had a good walk with Frankie. We are getting the hang of this. And I’m enjoying the fresh air.

Evan held his head up so high during tummy time today. He kept it up almost the whole time! So proud of our boy!

Wednesday 10/14/15 – Evan is really exploring his toys during tummy time. While he’s laying on the mat on his back, he opens his hands to grasp them and move them back and forth. It’s amazing to watch him learn and discover new things.

He also learned to grab his rattle and shake it!

Genius boy!

Thursday 10/1/15 – Week 10: International Evan

2015-10-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

Singing Evan!

Today was the first week of the Mommy & Me class Jules signed me up for.

Oh boy. I was not looking forward to this too much.

The class is every Thursday in the mornings and I’m not so good with mornings. That’s the one time of the day where I feel really rushed. So if I try to get out the door before noon, expect me to be late.

I have to somehow get myself ready but also make sure Evan is fed, changed, clothed and not screaming! And his hair has to be brushed of course!

I walked into the class and was surprisingly only 3 minutes late.

I see boobs.

All around the room.

Moms are breastfeeding their babies.

“Oh dear god here we go,” I thought.

It wasn’t a breastfeeding class but I already felt like the odd man out knowing that I have god forsaken FORMULA in my diaper bag.

“Please don’t get hungry, Evan,” I prayed.

Well my boy was so good in this first class. He slept for part of the class and didn’t get hungry or need a diaper change.

He enjoyed the part of class where we learned new songs and got to sing to our babies.

SUCCESS.

I couldn’t handle much else this morning!

I have my reservations about some of these women but all in all I think it will be a good thing and each week we will discuss a new topic.

Evan was looking at the baby girl next to me and was smiling at her.

Maybe we’ll end up making some friends.

MAYBE.

Friday 10/2/15 – Today I had plans for lunch.

I was going to actually go out into the world with my son and dine with someone.

Sounds like a fairytale but this was real life!

Evan's ready for lunch!

The restaurant wasn’t far, and 5 minutes into the car ride we were still doing ok.

I was talking to Evan and letting him know where we were going and what we were doing.

Minute 6 = a meltdown.

He had eaten not that long ago, but suddenly he was screaming.

Was he hungry?

Actually hungry?

Dirty diaper?

Car sick?

Missing mommy?

Dear god why is he crying!

It’s the worst thing when your baby is crying in the back seat and you are driving.

Even if I pulled over to give him a pacifier, it would fall out in a few seconds and I wouldn’t be able to put it back in.

I talked to him some more.

I sang songs.

I tried to reach my hand back to touch him and comfort him.

No dice.

I pulled onto a side street and got him out of the car.

And when he wouldn’t stop crying, I figured f*ck it. It’s bottle time!

So I fed my boy on the sidewalk today.

I was over an hour late for lunch.

Luckily the friend I was meeting was completely flexible so it wasn’t a big deal at all.

Being anywhere on time is so difficult. Evan runs the show! If he needs something, forget about everything else!

He drank less than an ounce and passed out.

Ahhhhhh – he was tired. That was it.

He slept through a delicious sushi lunch and the walk back to the car.

Of course halfway home, he woke up in the car and started crying because now he was actually hungry!

AND he had a dirty diaper.

Let’s just say there were multiple outfit changes today.

And now we're all exhausted!

Saturday 10/3/15 – Two of our dear friends are getting married in January in Mexico. We had been debating if we should go or not.

Can we handle international travel with a 5 month old?

Are we insane to leave the US with a little baby?

Is he too young?

We kept weighing the pros and cons and decided we should go for it. Everyone says to travel now before he can walk because it's just easier.

We know we want to travel with him anyway and I figured the only way to get used to that is to do it! I didn’t want to look back on this opportunity and regret not going and being there on such a special day.

So in order to get on the plane, Evan needs a passport.

He is only 2 months old and is getting a passport. I wish I were as cool as Evan!

Is this not the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen?!

After the photo, we went to lunch. He slept in the stroller the whole time.

We must have been high on our sandwiches because we then thought it was a good idea to go to Target.

It’s never a good idea to go to Target.

Especially on a SATURDAY!

I had to return some things so we waited in the return line.

As soon as we approached the register, Evan started crying. It was time to eat!

Jules picked him up and took off with the diaper bag.

She ended up preparing the bottle one handed while she held our screaming boy. By the time I found her, she was stressed and Evan was gulping down the bottle.

Everything worked out and once he was fed we walked around the store. He was smiling and cooing the whole time. This boy loves to eat and once you feed him, he’s happy!

Every time we go out and he happens to get hungry or need a diaper change will help us learn how to handle these situations. Otherwise we will be leaving the house for 90 minutes and coming home again to take care of something!

You can do it Moms!

Monday 10/5/15 – Today hasn’t been the easiest day.

Evan is eating every 2-3 hours AROUND THE CLOCK.

So I did what any mom would do.

I went straight to GOOGLE!

And apparently there can be a 10 week growth spurt.

AHHHHHHH!

As most of these growth spurts go, they last 3-4 days. Evan has been so hungry all day and I think that’s exactly what’s happening.

Maybe after this growth spurt he will sleep more?!!

Hey, a mom can dream!

Tuesday 10/6/15 – Julia and I tried to go out to lunch today.

Well, we DID end up going out to lunch, but Evan cried in the car most of the time.

He’s fine in the car as long as we’re moving.

Which really isn’t a problem because there’s never any traffic in Los Angeles.

YIKES!

He used to fall right asleep in the car but now he’s more aware of his surroundings and realizes that WE AREN’T THERE IN THE BACKSEAT WITH HIM!

Sometimes Julia will sit in the back just to try and keep him calm for a few extra minutes.

Another newfound trick is the SUNROOF!

He likes the light and can see the clouds and sun and that distracts him sometimes.

The bottom line is that anything that gives you even an extra minute of a happy baby = a freaking lifesaver.

Wednesday 10/7/15 – We have been working on a routine at night that seems to work.

This parenting stuff is all about trial and error.

6:30pm = breastfeed Evan. He doesn’t get a full feeding amount when I breastfeed him, but it tides him over for a little while.

7:00pm = bath time. The bath is key because it makes him SLEEPY!

7:30pm = bottle to fill him up.

8:00pm = bed time in his CRIB!

Now mommies can eat dinner, do the dishes or laundry and not have to worry about waking this sweet little boy!

10:30pm = dream feed. We give him another bottle and he’s still mostly asleep. Julia usually gives him this bottle so I can take a shower. She holds him and he opens his mouth and drinks the bottle but his eyes are still closed. He makes this little fishy face as he drinks and I pop my head into the nursery just to watch. It’s the cutest thing ever.

Then he will hopefully sleep until 5am or so!

This seems to be working for the past few nights and it looks like we are out of the growth spurt!

Mommy WIN!

I mean... I can't handle the cuteness.