Daylight Savings Time

Daylight savings time makes me nervous.

Especially coupled with the fact we are traveling to the Midwest next weekend. I really don't want Graham waking up at 4 am there because he still hasn't adjusted to the the one hour fall-back.

Me, a crazy mom.

Motherhood as an Introvert

I went to dinner the other night with Catherine. We had a long discussion about life as an introvert.

Through the conversation, I realized me being an introvert even applies to motherhood. I get seriously excited for alone time. I rarely get time that I am completely alone now. When I get it, I absolutely cherish it. I love the Friday mornings that I get to drop Graham off at Ms. Sherrie's because of this. I guess the need to recharge after social situations can even apply to spending time with your own child.

Another thing I've noticed is I get exhausted by constantly talking to Graham. I know it is really good for Graham's development to hear a large vocabulary and just plain hear a lot of talking. There have been lots of studies that show children who hear a large number of words are more successful in school. This 1) gives me anxiety because my vocabulary isn't great, and 2) makes me tired. I'm not used to talking that much. I feel exhausted after a day of trying to constantly explain to Graham what everything is. If I were an extrovert, I think I would prefer to constantly talk to Graham.

Off the subject of motherhood, but it annoys me that people perceive being an introvert as a bad thing. Here are some traits of introverts:

Introverts have an inward focus and aren't usually the life of the party. They have a strong sense of self that can make them feel highly self-conscious around other people – making walking into a crowded room a little nerve-wracking. Introverts have a hard time being goofy in front of the camera and telling jokes to more than a couple of people at a time, but they can be extremely witty. They're less "Larry, Curly, and Moe" and more Woody Allen - but that doesn't mean introverts' personality traits are neurotic.

Introverts process their emotions, thoughts, and observations internally. They can be social people, but reveal less about themselves than extroverts do. Introverts are more private, and less public. Introverts need time to think before responding to a situation, and develop their ideas by reflecting privately. Introverts' personality traits can be passionate, but not usually aggressive.

Introverts can focus their attention more readily and for longer periods of time, and they aren't easily swayed by other people's opinions.
Read more: http://psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_introvert#ixzz0VT4jblT

Most of that sounds like attractive traits to me.

Irrationally Paranoid

So I am constantly irrationally paranoid that if I change something in Graham's routine he is going to stop sleeping through the night. As such, I am a pretty inflexible annoying mom. I'm one of those who says she can't do something fun because it might influence Graham's sleep. I can totally justify myself, Graham is much happier when he has slept well and everyone's life is easier. Maybe not more fun, but easier.

Examples of me being crazy:

1) Graham woke up the other night for like an hour. John and I rocked him to get him to go back to sleep. I was a) afraid that he was going to to it again the following night because he saw that it got a reaction, b) thought about feeding him but was too afraid to because he might expect that going forward, and c) also considered ignoring that fact he was awake (by turning the monitor off) and leaving him be, but was afraid that he would get much more upset, and would then not go back to sleep at all.

2) I am paranoid about our next flying adventure because we are flying during his normal bedtime. It really isn't the flying that bothers me, it is the multiple transfers of Graham I'll have to do after he has fallen asleep, and I am paranoid he'll wake up during them and not fall back asleep.

3) I am paranoid if he doesn't eat his entire bedtime bottle he'll not sleep through the night. Which is completely irrational, since he does that all of the time. So I am beginning to overcome my fear there.

Halloween Candy

I bought Halloween candy yesterday. I bought candy I like... big mistake. I have been chowing down on that Halloween candy. There might not be any left for the real trick or treaters.

Jury Duty

I got called for jury duty!! So excited!!!!

(and yes I'm being serious)

Sleep

I was talking to Kareen today (who is taking her last Actuarial exam ever this week, everyone send good exam taking thoughts her way!).

She didn't know that Graham was sleeping through the night even though she is a reader of my blog.

Graham sleeps through the night and has been now since I went back to work. He goes down around 7 pm and sleeps until 6 am or so. It is amazing. We do have to do a pacifier run some nights, and some nights we have to do multiple runs. The need for those comes and goes. The pacifier is an amazing tool. He'll be awake and crying, I stick it in his mouth and he immediately falls back asleep.

Recruiter Email

Today I got an email from a Des Moines' company looking for actuaries. It is a company that I don't want to work for, but it got me thinking...

I believe I've traveled back to Iowa 8 times so far this year (it'll be 10 by the end of the year). There have been extenuating circumstances this year, typically I don't go home that frequently. However, it is starting to wear me down. I love to travel, but it is much more exhausting with Graham in tow. Even more exhausting when Graham is in tow, and I am without John.

If I lived nearby (for instance in Omaha or KC), would I even travel home more frequently? Or in the end, would I actually just spend around the same amount of time with my family? Would I just save frequent flier miles?

Is it worth traveling home monthly (which is my goal for now), and continuing to live in Jax? The biggest positive of Jacksonville is I really do like my job, and most days John likes his too. After living here for four years, I have more friends here than I have left in Des Moines too. It just seems like a lot of work to move to another nearby city and have to rebuild my social circle again. It is so much harder as a real adult than it was in college.

It is even more work to start a new job and have to build your reputation. I think most people underestimate what an adjustment it is to go from well liked at the original company to just another hire, and how much work it is to build your old reputation at the new company.

How differently would I feel if we weren't underwater on two houses? If we had positive equity would have I already moved? I'm not sure.

If I lived closer, I would be able to relieve Kelsey and Kinsey some weekends, so they can enjoy their lives a little bit. As it stands right now, they have a really large burden of caring for our mom. I know when I was 22 or 23, it wasn't something I would have wanted to do. I know they would appreciate getting more relief.

Pictures!

Get used to it Mom and Dad, I'm going to constantly fall over.


Get used to it Graham, your dad is going to constantly want to take pictures like this.


Baby smiles!

It is cool that my parents won't buy me expensive toys. The cheap ones are super fun!

I'll hold the bottle myself, thank you very much.

Also note that John is wearing a Florida shirt in some pics and an Iowa shirt in others. It is pretty easy to be John right now. Florida has the nations longest win streak and Iowa the second longest in football.

New Car seat

We moved Graham out of his infant car seat into a convertible one (so he is still rear facing). He has much more room to stretch out now. It was partly because he is a chunky monkey and didn't have much room left in the infant seat, and partly because I was having a very hard time carrying the infant seat around. Supposedly the infant seat is good until 32 pounds, but that baby has to be thinner than Graham.

Now we have the awkward situation where we don't have an infant carrier for restaurants, but he isn't able to sit up by himself yet. Maybe that will help us save some money. ;)

Slight Fever

Graham has a low fever today and has been more fussy than usual (which means he is being a little fussy)... I'm wondering if there is a tooth thinking about popping out.

Either that or he is getting sick (so lets hope for the tooth).

Food

Graham loves food.

He has tried sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, green beans, and bananas. The end result is he has loved them all. I've heard that some babies reject certain foods, that certainly does not describe G.

Next up is peas.

Oh and the green beans went right through him. The end result was some seriously green poop.

Unscientific Weight

I weighed G on the bathroom scale last night .... 19.8 pounds. One big boy.

Classic Text

Tuesday - Thursday of this past week, John, Graham and I were in Orlando. I forgot my cell phone at work, so I activated an old one of John's. As such, I only had John's contacts, not my own.

Late on Tuesday night, I got an awesome text:

"So they are sleeping together and she is spreading rumors that I am sleeping with a married man."

I had/have no idea who sent this text.

I sent back a reply to feel the situation out:

"Yikes"

The person replied and said:
"Omg... I met to send that to your sister. Lol. Sorry.

I replied:

"I thought it wasn't intended for me, but I was feeling it out."

Anonymous person replied:

"Yeah, it is a bunch of drama... it isn't true but it sux. :("

So I am posting this for a few reasons.

1) It is very amusing to get an anonymous text like that one. I read it in the middle of the night, and in the morning I thought I dreamed it.

2) I want to know who this person is. I thought it was Stephanie originally, but I checked her number to what I have in my phone, and they aren't the same. Well unless she has changed her number. Then I thought maybe Nate, but then I reread the text and it is definitely a girl. Those are the only two of my sister's friends that I think would have my number.

Graham Thinks John is Funny

An Older Rolling Over Video

I forgot to post it - from October 1st. His rolls (and by rolls I mean his chunky monkeyness) are noticeably bigger now.

Sleeping

Some Pictures from WDW

Convo T day:

First time Graham met Mickey Mouse, and he slept right through it.

John's favorite ride (the teacups) Graham seems okay with it.

I'm a fairy, but you can't tell.

Graham on the Teacups

First Visit to Walt Disney World

Ridiculous, right? Taking a 5 month old to WDW?

John's sister (Jenny) was in Orlando with her family, and John's mom and step-dad came down too. So we went to meet them all at Disney World.

On Thursday night we went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. I dressed up as a fairy, and it was a great costume. I don't have any pictures though... once I get some from Jenny I'll post them. Graham was going to be a pumpkin, but it was too hot for his costume. So he was a UConn fan. John was going to go as himself, but he was running late, he didn't have a chance to change out of his suit, so he went as a businessman (not as an attorney). Graham rode the teacups, Haunted Mansion, and the Winnie the Pooh ride.

On Friday, we went to Epcot. Graham met Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Mickey Mouse, and Chip and Dale. He was mostly uninterested in the characters.

Today we went to Hollywood Studios. It was sad to be there without Kelsey. :(

Overall a pretty successful trip. And I don't think we were crazy for doing it.

Which is good since John has a conference in Orlando this coming Tuesday, and we are planning on doing it again!

Sleeping Boys

Miley

The Miley concert was fun. Thanks to Kelsey, all of us knew all of the songs she sang (and the order). She sounded terrible in general, but she is a Disney star, and your expectations can't be that high. The high school girls behind us hated us because we stood the whole time, and they were too cool to stand up. They likely thought we were all drunk; but we weren't, we were just being ourselves.

She does a motorcycle thing where she is flying above the audience, that was pretty cool.

Her opening band is her brother's band (Metro Station) and they were highly inappropriate for the demographics of the audience. They lines such as "lets get naked and just touch". I'm pretty sure a bunch of 8 year olds don't need to be singing along with that. He was also a walking advertisement, every word out of his mouth was about how awesome they are, and where you can buy their music. Annoying.

Between Metro Station and Miley you were able to text some number and potentially your text would get selected to be on the screen. Mine was awesome, and of course chosen. "Smith Sisters Girl's Night Out." Very appropriate because on of the songs Miley was going to sing is GNO.

Before the concert we went to East Village for some food festival. While there, we went to the t shirt shop Kelsey likes. There was an awesome shirt there "As of X/X/XXXX Iowa is as Gay as Connecticut". Awesome. I don't know date, but you get the idea. Yay Iowa!

Nice Things to do for Moms

1) On an airplane, offer to let the mom use your tray table for her drink.

2) When at the mall (or anywhere else with doors) open the door for the person with the stroller. You have no idea how many people don't do that.

3) Tell her how cute her baby is ;)

4) If the mom (or baby) drops something on the ground, pick it up for her.

5) Offer to carry the car seat. I've actually had people offer, I guess I look like I have issues carrying it. I do have issues carrying it; Graham is too heavy, my arms are going to fall off. I've never taken anyone up on the offer, but it was still nice of them to offer.

6) When the baby isn't sleeping though the night, offer to take the overnight shift (thanks Kaci!)

7) Follow her blog so that she can get free stuff.

8) Tell her how good she looks (it doesn't even have to be true).

Visit Home

Kelsey and Graham. She came home to see him and Miley. I continued to irritate her. But she assured me she still loves me.

A family pic without Mom and Kaci Jo. Kaci was there, but she got there after Kelsey and Kinsey left. Mom was there in spirit, after all this picture was taken at her bingo hall.

Graham thinking that Grandpa is the best ever.

I wasn't in charge of taking pictures at the concert. As such, I only have two pictures, both of which exclude Kaci. This is one of them. In the other, I look weird. I'm sure Kaci will post some more complete photos.

Snow

Yes, there was snow this past weekend in Iowa. Graham got to experience it for the first time. In the picture it looks like he likes it (it is either that or the attention his aunts and uncle are giving him). =)

Flying wtih an Infant Tips

I feel like I am a pro at flying with an infant now. Graham has flown 16 legs thus far in his life (4 roundtrip flights, half with just me).

Here is some advice:

1. Have a infant carrier (like a baby Bjorn) in addition to the stroller. That way you can put the baby in the carrier when you get to the gate so you can collapse the stroller using both of your hands. Likewise, when you collect the stroller you have both of your hands.

2. You can get a gate pass for someone to help you through security.

3. Be prepared to need to open all of your bottles for some security test. Ask your TSA employee to change their gloves. If you are bringing sealed bottles of formula, you will not have to open those. You need to pull out the milk out of the diaper bag when they go through the xray machine.

4. When you get to security, put the baby in the carrier. That way you have your hands free, and they don't make you take the infant out when you go through the xray.

5. When people offer their help -- take it.

6. Book a long enough layover to be able to change the baby's diaper.

7. I think it is easier to sit by the window with a baby - then it is easier to hide all of the activity from the baby, and hopefully they'll fall asleep easier.

8. Fly with someone else, it is so much easier with another set of hands.

9. You'll need a gate-check tag for your stroller and/or car seat, go get it before boarding. It slows down boarding when you ask for it as you are boarding.

10. The flight attendant will be happy to hold the baby if you need to use the restroom.

Pool and Ocean

Family pic.

Feet in ocean for first time.

Graham and I

In the pool

Ready to check out the pool

John's Birthday

Today is John's birthday! Happy birthday to him!

Exciting Weekend

This weekend we celebrated my birthday. John promised me a surprise, and surprise me he did. We went to Hammock Beach for the night on Saturday. Graham was with us, so we got to put his feet in the ocean and go for a "swim" in the pool for the first time. He was mostly indifferent to both activities. He loves his baths and splashes quite a bit, but in the pool he wasn't really in the mood to splash, he mostly just looked at his hands under the water. I haven't uploaded the pictures yet, but I will soon.

We ate at Barbara Jeans on Saturday night (which is Lesley's favorite restaurant), I ate SO much food. I felt like I was going to burst.

This weekend coming up, Graham and I are going to Iowa. Hopefully our flights go smoothly again. Today G had a MAJOR blowout at Miss Sherrie's. So now I'm paranoid about blowouts again, so send no blowout thoughts my way.

Speaking of the major blowout. Miss Sherrie took the cover off of the car seat and washed it for us! She is just awesome.

More Pictures

Graham and I hanging out.

Yep, I am that cute.

Seriously, were you still doubting it?

My Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. (Happy Birthday to me!)

Graham got me this card:

I didn't know that he liked dogs. So far when we've seen them, he has had zero interest.

That is his hand print as of yesterday. =)