Wesley Arlo- 6 Months

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

I don’t know what’s scarier..that I’ve had a CHILD for half a year or that I have to go back to work in 6 months. Oy. Searching for childcare is no easy task and the cost of it? WOOF. It would probably be cheaper to pay to have my parents move here and help out.

So, 6 months! What’s been going on? Well, LOTS. I feel like Wes has turned into a little person and less and less like a baby. He is obsessed with grabbing his feet and flailing about. Now I get why they call that pose happy baby in yoga. He also has his hands in his mouth 24/7. And when it’s not his hands, it’s whatever he can get his hands on.

He’s started to try to sit up, he’s rolled over, and he can reach with both arms to grab for things.

Most major development? He is no longer in his infant car seat. This makes me ferociously sad, but he seems to love it! And he has had no problem facing outward in his strollers when we go for walks. If anything, he naps more!

We started Wes on solids too. Last month, I introduced rice cereal into his bottle at night then gradually started making it thicker like actual cereal, then buying a lot of stage 1 and stage 2 squeeze packs that he now gobbles up like a champ. His favorite was the pear/spinach/peas combo. Who would have thought?! That’s my kid. He also got some local peaches and apples pureed while we were back home in NY. With that, comes weirder diapers. It’s kind of hilarious.

He is OBSESSED with his jumperoo. I think he spends a cumulative 3 hours each day in that thing. He loves to rotate from activity to activity and just jump. Jump. JUMP. A lot of the time, he jumps himself to sleep! It’s also a nice distraction for him when I want to get my workout in during the day.

With his increase in activity, he’s more regulated in his napping which is a GOD SEND. Usually one at 9ish, 1ish and 4ish. Usually. I cannot tell you how much more I get done around the house now, it’s insane. For the first time ever, I actually showered while he napped. That has never happened because I was so paranoid he’d wake up from the noise of the shower (our house is small, y’all).

We had a few instances in New York when he would wake up at 3/4am and would require a feed, but other than that he has slept through the night from 7:30pm-6:30am.

Wes now knows his name and will respond when called. He is also a lot better at following sounds and looking around and really focusing on things.

I swear he loves the dogs. Mostly Reggie, even though Reggie still gives zero craps about him. Layla is ALWAYS wherever Wes is. He’s started to grab for them and at first I was all AHHHH DOG HAIR IN HIS MOUTH. But then I realized it’s a lost cause. Especially when I find dog hair in his diapers. Whatever.

He’s still got that stupid eczema on his neck which I’m constantly slathering with cream. I feel really bad for him, but he doesn’t seem to mind at all.

He has a gorilla face that I think is the funniest thing ever. He usually makes it when he’s super concentrating (not to be confused with poop face) or when he gets so excited about something.

He is still a super jolly kid and I’m just WAITING for the photos to reflect that. We had his 6 month check up this morning and he was all smiles with the doctor. FYI: weight is 20.5 lbs, 27 inches and an 18 inch head (for all the smarts). Right after his doc appointment, we headed over to the health center for his 6 month vaccine where he was again all smiles and only made one cry as the needle went in. I swear all doctors and nurses love him to pieces.

…and we go through about a zillionty bibs every day because the boy’s a drooler! No teeth yet though.

He has a loud voice and loves to babble all the time. Especially if you put a burp cloth up to his mouth, he will yell so you can repeatedly pat his mouth with it to make it sound funny.

Hopefully I didn’t forget anything! #mombrain

In case you missed it, here’s his past updates:

Three Things Thursday

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

1. I got back into the habit of falling asleep to watching Netflix on my phone in bed each night. (does that not sound like the worst sentence ever?! pff) Well anyways, it works because it’s taken me four nights and I’m still only 8 minutes into One Fine Day. That’s about 2 minutes a night and BOOM, I’m asleep. PS: I love watching old rom coms because flip phones? HAHAHA

2. I have been loving my workouts lately. I feel so proud of myself for really giving it my all. Most of my workouts are from Beachbody (21 day fix, 21 day fix extreme, insanity, t25) but there’s also some spin in there and LOTS of walking every day. LOTS. The Beachbody is great because they are quick and effective workouts that I can do without really having to think. Something that really comes in handy when my brain is already fried from having a baby in the house.

So guess what? I just weighed myself the other day and I’m 20lbs less than what I was pre-pregnancy. But the weight all came off from one place: my butt. No joke. All my clothes fit the exact same except for the hiney-region. (I attribute about 90% of it from breastfeeding and the other 10% from lack of binge eating/drinking as in pre-baby days. Or maybe it’s the other way around.) It’s kind of gross because my butt looks like how someones belly looks like after losing a TON of weight. It’s also pretty gross that there was an extra 20 lbs back there. But it makes me laugh because that just shows how big my butt actually was. Ok, I’m going to stop saying butt now. Butt.

3. I’m craving girl time like WHOA. I miss hanging with friends! Especially when it involves wine and not talking about baby-related things (although I am guilty of somehow always bringing the conversation back to Wes). I find that I am in such a better mindset when I get a couple of free hours to just be me. And what better way to be me than to do it with friends? Unless I’m getting a mani/pedi or massage, then that is definitely better.

What’s your favorite old rom com?

What’s your favorite thing to do with friends?

Winesday Wednesday 10/14/15

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

JUST when I thought I had exhausted my pumpkin beer for the year…

Tyler picked up a bottle of this stuff for me..

From the website:

STYLE: Specialty Ale FOOD PAIRING: Dessert, Pork

TASTING NOTES: We made this beer with our own hops, barley and pumpkins.

15 INGREDIENTS: Rogue Farms Dream Pumpkins; Rogue Farms Dare, Risk, Carafa II & Crystal Wheat Malts; Rogue Farms Independent Hops; Orange Peel, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamom, Vanilla, Ginger & Nutmeg; Free Range Coastal Water & Pacman Yeast.

From Patch to Batch. Dedicated to Farmers and Fermenters.

750ml Bottle & Draft / 14° Plato / 6.1% ABV / 25 IBU / 75 AA / 25° L

I was a bit skeptical of this beer because I didn’t so much care for their voodoo doughnut bacon maple ale, but this one was a complete (and GREAT) surprise! It first tastes like a typical pumpkin ale, but has a subtle spicy finish that is so smooth you could slap it. I really loved it.

I raved about it so much that Tyler went back to the beer store for me the next day. I thought he picked up another of the same (just in case it was gone sooner rather than later) but he picked up yet ANOTHER winner:

(source)

From the website:

Every fall we produce our pumpkin ale, brewed with 60 kg of pumpkin as well as molasses, demerara sugar, crushed cinnamon sticks, pureed ginger, and crushed whole cloves and whole nutmeg – and oats for body. The result is pretty much pumpkin coloured, and very smooth and creamy. Close your eyes at the nose and you think there is a slice of pie on a plate in front of you, but when you fill your mouth the perception is more like pumpkin cheesecake, full of delicious flavour and mouthfeel.

To me, it had the same spectacular quality as the Rogue beer, just with a slightly happier finish. I’m not a hops person, but this has just the right amount of balance that I’d drink it again. And again. I think I’ll need to go back and get more of both before the fall beer season is over!!!

What are you drinking this week?

Weekend Recap

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Friday

Pancakes! Ah, I missed my Vitamix so much. The bad boys were drenched in maple syrup and I just about licked the plate.

The morning was pretty low key: workout, errands, cleaning…. booooooring. But this guy finally fit into a pair or harem pants my mom made. Is he going to be a blondie? From his eyebrows it looks like it!

After Tyler got home from work, we made a pre-Thanksgiving trip to Costco and managed to get out of there under $100. I don’t think that’s ever happened. Still: a turkey, chicken, and some veggies= $98. Jeeze.

Wes has been really loving his solid foods. I picked up a few more organic squeeze packs for him and we’ve yet to come across a flavour he doesn’t like. The kid kicks his feet and grunts if you don’t feed him fast enough. Don’t worry, I didn’t let him have any wine- although, he was pretty keen on grabbing the glass!

We’ve been practicing our tummy time and rolling a lot this week and he FINALLY did a completely unassisted flip from back to front (TWO of them!). To the non-parents, this is no biggie, but I assure you it’s the most exciting thing since sliced bread.

The pups were itching for a walk, so I caved and took them for a quick one around the block. The sunset was INSANE.

And that picture is facing east!

Wes fell asleep at 7:30 and we watched Spy before heading to bed. Tyler and I agreed it was probably the funniest movie we’ve seen in a long time.

Saturday

Wes didn’t get up until 7! That’s a lot of sleep. Good boy.

Only difficult part is that it’s still dark as hell out until around 7:30, so it still feels like the middle of the night.

We enjoyed a nice long morning before it was time to head to Wes’s first pool class at the Y! I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about it- mostly for the whole locker room part. I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage with a baby who can’t yet sit up on his own. Luckily, it went pretty smooth and the boy loved the water. He was kicking and splashing a lot, just not smiling or giggling. He was mostly interesting in staring at everyone.

After his class, we ran to Rona where we left with nothing but Girl Guide cookies. These are the BEST cookies.

Then it was to Safeway for Thanksgiving fixings and Babies R Us for Wes’s convertible carseat. We got it for a pretty sweet deal. It regularly retails for $350, was on sale for $250, and we had $200 worth of Air Miles vouchers to redeem. Ended up paying only $60! Score.

Some fuel for all the shopping:

Then it was back to a few more stores for the essentials.

Does anyone get emails from Lucie’s List? I absolutely love them- they’re so helpful with Wes’s growing stages. Anyhoo- the latest email was about solid food and there was a lot of info on rice cereal vs oatmeal for babies and I was really glad to have read it (something about glucose yadda yadda in the rice. It made me *personal decision* run out and grab some oat cereal to swap out for the rice I had been giving Wes). And beer. Muy importante.

The evening was pretty good- we played around with Wes for a long time. The kid is seriously so fun to hang out with now– he rolls and giggles and well, it’s just the best. We enjoyed a delicious steak dinner, gave Wes a bath, watched Amazing Race, and I made brownies for Sunday. Once Wes went to sleep (8pm) I headed downstairs to get in my cardio workout then we watched Southpaw.

Sunday

7am wakeup! Dare I say I’m getting used to this?

So, I think I was in denial that Wes is growing up because I’ve had him in the infant car seat in the stroller up until today. He napped while I took him for a walk and cried about him growing up.

I have the Bob Revolution as well, but still have to take the adapter out of it from the previous owners. I really lucked out and found it on Kijiji for $150 and it came with the fleece liner, snack tray and weather shield! Can’t wait to use it for long walks instead of my City Mini GT (just to extend the life of it for future kiddos).

While we were out of the house, Tyler set up the smoker for our Thanksgiving turkey.

Then he made me breakfast. #besthusband

The afternoon was pretty low key. Wes napped, I worked out, Tyler watched football. Blah blah.. Then there was the turkey dinner! It was pretty good..I ate more turkey than I have in years, but not so much of anything else. There were carrots too, so there’s a veggie. And those brownies? They’re almost history. It’s gross how much of a sweet tooth I get.

Once Wes went to sleep, I laid in the tub for a bit and was in bed by 8:30. (Asleep by 8:31).

Monday

5:30am wakeup. Thanks, Wes. He ate and slept for a bit longer (giving him about a 12 hour sleep!) but I couldn’t get any more shut eye. As hard as I tried. Gave myself a big pat on the back for falling asleep so early the night before!

I think one of my favorite things about this baby is how he can look so peaceful in his sleep and simultaneously fart louder than a vacuum.

After breakfast, we went for a nice long walk then came back for more lounging. There were some naps- and it wasn’t just by Wes. I don’t think I’ve napped in ages and it felt glorious! Post nap, I finished the brownies. You know, to get rid of temptation.

I roasted some sweet potatoes and zucchini to pair with leftover turkey for dinner then headed off to a spin class. It was a new to me instructor and I absolutely LOVED her class.

Any workout that can incorporate this song into the mix is a winner in my books:

PS: Remember how the beagle stole/ate a box of quest bars? Well, the last two have been recovered! And in vary precarious places, might I add. That means the pooch didn’t consume any of my $$$$ protein bars so I’m a happy lady.

How was your long weekend?

What’s your favorite protein bar?

Take any group ex classes lately? What was it?!!

…From the Week

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Monday was our last full day home in New York. Ugh face. But hey, I got a whole month there! Not too shabby. We tried to make the most of the last day and took a family drive to the mall. SO EXCITING, HUH?!! Ha, well I had to return some things I bought for Wes (kid doesn’t fit in 18 month jeans! What the hellllllll) Afterwards, we drove to Grant Cottage only to find out it was closed. Womp. In case you’re wondering, Grant Cottage is the cottage where General Ulysses S. Grant died. See, those are the types of attractions near home. Thrilling.

We picked up my aunt for lunch at Panera and it was delicious. Half of me NEEDS one here in Calgary and the other half of me doesn’t want it because it would take all my money. Wes ate mangoes and flirted with the entire 70+ year-old population. Small baby boomer town = lots of places filled with gray hairs. Everywhere.

Oh, and I tried that limited edition pumpkin quest bar! I thought it was gonna be yucky but it was SO GOOD. I should probably buy a box. (no jen, no. you have no money.)

I packed. And I packed. And then there was more packing. It was a tight squeeze. I’m glad I won’t be flying for a while. PHEW.

Wes was in his carseat for a good part of the day, so I put him in the Ergo and went for a long walk. I would love it if somebody would strap me to them and walk around so I could nap. Could you even imagine?

The night ended with a weenie roast! It was on the small scale. Like, micro-mini.

Tuesday. Ahhhhh Tuesday. I am SO glad Tuesday is over. Let’s bullet point Tuesday, shall we?

2:45am wake up. Except my alarm wasn’t until 3:15. Can someone say anxious?
TSA lost my laptop. I had about 3592730293 bins to go through security (camera, laptop, stroller, car seat, breastmilk, toiletries, jacket, shoes, diaper bag, backpack…..) I had a minor anxiety attack before they finally recovered it.
The first flight was pretty uneventful. I got the row of three seats to myself, so it was easier to feed and change Wes.
RAN from arrival gate to departure gate of second flight. Made it just in time. Wes starts screaming profusely as I got to our seat so I started to feed him. No sooner did that happen, the flight attendant told me I needed to move seats to be on a side that had extra of those pig-nose bag thingies that drop from the ceiling in case of emergency (who cares what they’re really called). Cue MORE SCREAMING. And there was no changing table on the flight…I’m just going to end this bullet point because: RAGE.
I unpacked everything once we got home because I wanted to make sure there were no foods in my luggage that Reggie would get into. We went to run some errands and came back to find Reggie had gotten an ENTIRE box of Quest bars from the counter. 7 were among the wreckage (unharmed), 3 were recovered from various hiding spots and 2 are MIA. PLEASE NOTE: He buried one in the pillows of the guest bed and got so ferocious with his nose-burying, that his nose bled…..ALL OVER THE WHITE DUVET. Cue more rage.
Frozen breastmilk thawed en route and leaked all over my laptop. You know the end result because I’m typing from said laptop, so that’s good.

No pictures from Tuesday because: see above.

Wednesday

This was a total get-our-lives-back-in-order day. I was stressed x infinity about the number of things that needed to get done around the house- reorganizing Wes’s stuff, laundry, cleaning the dang house, groceries…….

Wes woke up nice and early, but I didn’t mind since I actually got in a good night’s sleep! I quickly got started on the eleven thousand shows that were recorded while I was gone, while Wes went through the usual eat/poop/lay/jump morning routine. We then went to the store to get some essential groceries. There was approximately ZERO perishable items in the house and one cannot survive on boxed goods alone.

PS: notice it’s the same jumperoo as the one I bought in NY? The kid is obsessed with it, so I had to find another one!

I set up Wes’s compact high chair and he got right to it and ate SO MUCH. High five for that thing.

And some stuff I won in a giveaway arrived! Yesssss

The weather was SO NICE that I put Wes in the stroller and walked to the bank to deposit some stuff, then continued on a nice long walk. It was hilly too, which felt good since all my walks back home were completely flat. By the time we got back home, I was drenched in sweat. LOVE.

I put together a dinner of turkey burgers and roasted veggies, then took the dogs for a walk and got in my workout. It was nice to have a little me time, but I did feel bad for putting Tyler right back to serious baby-duty (Ok no, I don’t feel bad).

Also: posted my extremely in-depth review on the latest pumpkin beers. If you missed it, you can read it here.

Thursday

In the morning, I did my pilates workout while Wes was in the jumperoo. As luck would have it, he fell asleep just as I finished so I put him in the stroller and went for a nice long walk. It felt really good to get some fresh air and quiet time.

I picked up some stuff at the grocery store for dinner..mind you, it took two trips because I forgot my wallet the first time. WOMP. And somehow this pint of gloriousness made its way into my cart..

Dinner was Crock Pot Sweet Potato and Quinoa Turkey Chili (I used beef instead since we had turkey the night before). I highly recommend it, it’s SO good!

Wes had a couple of friends during/after his own dinner.

Poor Wes, the stupid eczema is back on his neck and chest. This dry weather is taking its toll and I’ve been slathering him with CeraVe every two seconds.

So that’s this week in a rather long nutshell! Back to the same-old same-old routine at home!

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