Sunday, December 28, 2008

Merry Christmas!

It's been a very busy week! It was fun, tiring, busy and a bit stressful but we made it through. Now we just need to get back on schedule, which was totally messed up this week! It's very hard being on a 2nd shift schedule, with the rest of the world being on 1st shift it seems!

Christmas Eve we went to my parent's house. Got there at 5:30pm. We were very happy that they invited us in the evening to help with our schedule. We had a fairly normal start to our day which helps a lot. Dawson loves it at Grandma's house and is very comfortable being there. He even smiles sometimes when I say Grandma, which is so cute! It takes him a few minutes to get used to all the people, but then he makes himself at home. We had a yummy homemade Manicotti supper and then watched some tv while we waited for my sister to get home from work. Then we opened presents.

Dan and I got a wood tv stand made by my dad. It's really nice! Sure looks better than the temporary one we had set up! Dan got a DVD and I got a music CD. Dawson got a cute bath toy, it's a boat with cartoon characters in it, you turn the rudders and it goes in the water. Haven't gotten a chance to try that out yet. He also got a Little People set with animals. It came with a DVD with some stories on it, he really likes that. He's already playing with the little animals too. He got a drum with 2 attachable sticks. He's discovered that banging other objects on the drum makes cool noises too! We left around 11pm and watched a movie at home. Dawson stayed up a little later than usual, I think because of all the excitement. He just wouldn't sleep! He went to sleep around 6am.

Christmas Day we went to my Grandma's house. We got up around 9am, so we only got about 3 hours of sleep. Dawson was NOT happy about being woke up! But we had to leave by 10am to get there by 11. We took Dan's car because mine wasn't warming up like it should. I had Dawson's carseat forward facing because that car is smaller and has little room to face him backwards. So Dawson didn't sleep most of the way there. He did finally for maybe 10 minutes, but he just prefers to be facing backwards. Fine by me, the new recommendation is rear facing until 35lbs. It's actually a law some places now! Anyway, we got there at 11, Dawson isn't as familiar with that place, so he clung to me for quite a while. Though after seeing grandma and his aunt Sarah, he felt more comfortable with the other people there.

Dinner was good, lots of good stuff to eat as usual! Snack was yummy too, I totally pigged out! I was scared to step on the scale, but braved it tonight to find I've only gained a pound! Wow! That's less than I have been on a regular week! I'm a bit confused, but I can't complain! Dawson, after his 3 hours of sleep, was really needing a nap that afternoon! He doesn't like sleeping in other places though. So I layed down with him on the bed in the extra room and nursed him a bit. He fell asleep and I was just carefully getting up when someone came in and woke him up. By the 5th time someone came in, he was fully awake and very unhappy! I tried getting him back to sleep, I even left the room to see if he'd fall asleep by himself, but no luck. So he was rather crabby and so was I!

Gift opening is always very hectic there, lots of cousins and relatives all getting and opening their stuff at once. My cousins Laura and Amanda passed them out this year. Dawson got a pair of shoes. I'm very happy he did, he's outgrowing his shoes and being tight on money, I wasn't looking forward to spending another $20 on shoes! I can't believe how fast that boy's feet grow! I got a set of 4 really nice steak knives. The ones I have are falling apart, even though we've used them for less than a year! These should last a lot longer! I also got 2 baking sheets. Dan got a Menards gift card and some cashews. He's looking forward to shopping! Still not sure what he wants to get but I have no doubt he'll find something he needs!

We got home around 6pm, Dawson and I were SO tired! Dan for some reason wasn't. When we don't get enough sleep, he seems to be more sleepy and crabby when first getting up but is ok once he gets going. I'm often fine at first but eventually get really sleepy and crabby as the day goes on! So Dan was fine, but Dawson and I layed on the couch for a nap. I woke up 3 hours later! I couldn't believe we slept that long! Dawson was still asleep! I got up and did a couple things, then tried to wake up Dawson. He did the grunt, flip and fall back asleep thing. It took a full hour to get him to really wake up! I would've let him sleep more but I was worried about his bedtime. I put in a short movie and he layed there and watched it, then got up once it was over. He really likes watching a movie after a long busy day, it helps him unwind.

Friday we stayed home. Dan looked at my car and scraped the ice off the cars. We got freezing rain that morning. Then we did dishes, laundry and relaxed at home. Dawson loves coming with to do laundry, I like it too because it wears him out! It's quite a walk to the laundry room, so I have to wait for Dan to be home to do it since it's too much for me to carry the baskets all the way down there now. It'll be nice when I can get back to being able to do it myself.

Saturday we went to our friend Jenny's house at 6pm. Dawson loves her Siberian Husky and her 2 cats. We're still working on being nice to the animals, as he pulls tails and grabs at their face! Luckily she has very child-tolerant animals! The 4 men and her 2 kids sat and played some car video games while Jenny and I had a nice visit and chased after Dawson. Dan got a combination and pocket knife set, I got a fleece blanket and Dawson got a little wooden wagon filled with ABC blocks. He also discovered some bead necklaces there! Jenny's daughter Abby had won them at a Christmas party but had no interest in them, so after Dawson played with those pretty much the whole time we were there, she sent them home with us! Dawson is loving it! His uncle no longer lets him play with the beads there, so he was very happy to get some of his own.

After opening gifts, the men went back to playing video games and Jenny and I undecorated the house. Apparently the cats had been playing with everything in the tree and she was excited to get rid of it. It was fun undecorating, we got everything done except throwing out the tree. Around 11pm Dawson was tired and crabby so Jenny and I managed to drag the guys away from the video games. Took 2 rounds of what they were playing, but we did get them to stop! We stopped at Walmart on the way home, Dawson is going through so much soy milk, so I'm gonna just start buying 2 at a time now. I think he's up to 3 half gallons a week now!

Now on to the pics! It was fun dressing him up. I went through 3 outfit plans so I'm glad I started a couple days in advance! I had a cute vest and tie, but we ended up with a sweater vest for Christmas Day and a green flannel shirt and jeans for Christmas Eve. Jenny's party was casual and I didn't take any pics. We just put him in a regular outfit that wouldn't collect much dog hair, as her Husky really sheds a lot! Even after vacuuming, there's still stuff in the carpet!

Dawson eating breakfast Christmas Eve morning
After getting home from Grandma's house, he was being silly and wanting to keep his hat on. He kept looking at his reflection in the glass doors, taking his hat off and requesting I put it back on!
Playing with his Little People toys after getting home from Grandma's house

Playing with his drum after getting home
Smiling for the camera! It's often hard to get him to smile when taking pics.
Trying to mess with Great-Grandma's tree! He was being told no by Grandpa!
I really liked his outfit that day, the sweater vest is so cute! I couldn't get a good pic of him facing me standing up, he was on the run all day!
He often tries to climb onto this table and knows he shouldn't be! So he stands next to it until I'm not looking, then climbs up there. Once we're done moving the tv stuff around, we won't need the flap up anymore, so hopefully it won't be as tempting to go up there! He's landed himself in time out a few times because of this. At least that works, he won't do it again for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, it never carries over to the next day!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Falls, Fears and Silly Routines

Dawson took a pretty good fall tonight. He often bumps his head on things and barely thinks anything of it, but this one looks like it hurts! He was running and fell, falling on the edge of our glider rocker on the wooden seat part. He's got a 4 inch colorful blue/purple line on the top of his head now. Poor little guy. :(

He seems more fearful lately, I hear toddlers around this age start questioning more. He used to just be afraid of the vacuum and blender. Now he doesn't like baths, new changes in his room, like curtains. We didn't get sleep for days because of that one! He finally had a good bath this last time, I'm hoping it'll continue.

One of the biggest things is me taking a shower. He completely has a fit, crying like he's scared of it. I've showed it to him, let him come in and I talk to him, but nothing helps. He cries and screams like I'm gonna melt and go down the drain! So we try to have Dan feed him while I'm showering or something so he's distracted. Having some music on really helps too.

The funniest thing is when I get out of the shower, he looks relieved to see me alive and follows me to the bedroom. We have a whole routine now. He "helps" with my pants and makes sure my feet pop out at the end. Then he comes up on the bed and takes off my hair towel. Then I brush my hair and he has a turn brushing it. He thinks it's pretty cool.

He has a thing with brushes and combs now. He often brings me mine and wants me to comb his hair. There really isn't anything to comb, but I do it anyway. He'll stand there smiling as long as I'm willing to keep combing!

Tomorrow we're going to our friend Jenny's house for a Christmas party. Should be fun! Dawson really likes her Siberian Husky. She's an indoor dog and fairly tolerant with him. The cat, however, sees Dawson and runs for safety. I guess she likes her tail too much!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

December Update!

Sorry, I've been bad at keeping up with this lately! The time has been flying by and nothing major has happened.

The pregnancy is still going good, I have 2 appointments in January, then I go in every week in February. He has a name, but we're not telling! It's a big relief to have a name this time though, doesn't feel like there's much left to do other than setting up the bassinet mid February and having the baby! I'm hoping the next 2 months will go quickly, I'm getting more sore and it's getting harder to keep up with Dawson as I get bigger. I'm very ready for winter to get over with, I always get so cooped up and bored in the winter!

Dawson is testing his limits and trying our patience more and more lately. He'll look at us out of the corner of his eye as he gets into things, fully knowing he shouldn't be! He's been very active and runs all over the place. We go to the mall to play once a week, it's nice to get his energy out and he can see some other kids.

I just signed him up for ECFE class for 12-18 month olds. It's once a week, he starts Jan 8th and it goes until May 14th. Should be lots of fun and it'll be good for him to get out and interact with other people.

He's starting to get some hair too! I really can't imagine him with a full head of hair, but he's got some wispy stuff on the top of his head, it's cute. He insists on me combing it, then he combs it himself, it's really cute. I was thinking before that he'd have my darker hair, but it seems lighter like Dan's so far. It's fun looking to see what he got from who. :)

Dan is doing good, he has off wed-sat this week, that'll be really nice. It's been snowing a lot here, so he's been busy clearing the snow and keeping the cars going. He has to move them out of the lot every time they plow, which is never at a good time with his schedule. They usually want them out by 8 or 10am. He just does it after work and brings them back when he gets up the next day. It's a lot of work to run the block back to the apartment 3 times after already spending 10 hours at work! I did my car once but I was sore for 3 days afterward, so he insists on doing them all now.

This weekend he worked on the living room. He took apart the big entertainment center and just kept 1 tower for now, for the vcr, dvd player and all that stuff. The tv is on a temporary stand until we can get one. It works for now, it looks a lot bigger and brighter in here, which is what we were going for. We still have to put together the cabinet we bought for the movies and cds. It has doors on it, so we don't have to worry about Dawson getting into them anymore. The entertainment center was starting to look pretty funny, the bottom half was empty and the top half was packed full of stuff. I should've taken a picture for a good laugh. Seems like everything moves up as they get taller!

I haven't been able to take any pics lately, my camera isn't working properly. It takes a charge, but dies about 4 hours later. I've brought it to Best Buy 3 times now. The first time they sent it in and replaced something. Still didn't work. The 2nd time they sent it in and they did nothing to it! They said nothing was wrong! I'm getting frustrated! The 3rd time I brought it in, they said to keep it and just keep charging and using it for Christmas, since it works a little and they wouldn't have it back before Christmas. So I'm doing that. I hope someone will figure it out after Christmas!

Here's Dawson on Dec 18th. I was testing out my camera and he had to come over and be a part of it!

I don't think this looks very comfortable! I had an appointment to go to, so he slept with Dan while I was gone since he woke up right when I was about to leave. He often sleeps like this, I don't get it! Usually it's on his tummy in his crib, but in our bed he always sprawls out like this. I think he just likes all the space!