Poop on YOU!

... and we are BACK!  It has been a while since I have caught y'all up on anything going on in the Ochoa household and I figured this particular story was the right one to kick-start us off again.

So, Andrew turned 15 months on the 26th of April and I am not sure if that automatically flips a switch within toddlers brains to go from acting cute and silly to trantrums and squirmy.  But here were are in the full throws of toddler-hood and he is everybit of that and more.  His latest feat is to not be laid down to change his diaper.  Nothing short of a head-lock is keeping this guy from flipping over. 

So on Tuesday morning, after he was bored watching his shows on Baby First TV (sidenote: if you have Direct TV it is Channel 293, awesome station for little ones), he comes to find me in our bedroom as I finish fixing my face and getting the girls (Sophie and Lexi) off the bed.  I see him come in the room as I am on the opposite side of the bed and he wanders in our bathroom for a brief second before I telling him to "come on" time to go to school.  He follows me out and we walk to the spare bedroom to put the girls up.  I try not to let him in the room as Lexi gets a little territorial in her kennel.  I have learned that when you tell a toddler no and try to move them out of the way, a tantrum ensued.  I picked him up, looked at the time (running late, of course) and then I smelt it.  That smell that I always get when I have about 5 minutes to leave the house on time.   Yup, you guessed it, POOP!  Every. Single. Time I am about to leave the house, there it is.  Really?!  Sometimes, I get so lucky to actually get him almost in his seat when I smell it.  I think he does this to spite me.  It is just too coincidental. 

Anyway, I carry him from the spare bedroom to his room, which is right next door, and proceed to lay him on his back to change his diaper.  This does not go well.  He starts to cry and kick me in the stomach as my stomach is perfect height to his feet.  While this is happening and I am trying to calm this child down, I notice that this smell has completly gotten stronger, enough to where I am thinking he just completely poo'd his pants and it is just everywhere.  That would have  been the easy way out.  I look down at his feet and to my utter dismay, his shoes are covered in dog poop!!!   Not just barely stepped in or a little bit, but picture fresh mud .. now step in it.  When it smushes on your shoe it covers your shoe, front back, sides, everywhere.  This is the case with the poop.  How this child managed to do this, I will completely be at a loss.  I remove his shoes, look at the poop (yes, I have to look at it) and this poop has sunflower seeds and what looks like popcorn in it.  WTH!?  I am so confused at this point, but to make it worse, my blouse that I just put on has a perfectly nice smear of poop from where Andrew was kicking me, and from where I was carrying him, it was on my black pants.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?  This has to happen right now?!  Ugh! After about 10 minutes of panting, sweating and crying from both of us, I finally managed to change him, put new pants and shoes on him and send him on his way only to plow into the bathroom and find the closest wash cloth and soap to clean my pants.  I had no time to change the pants, they had to endure my harsh scrubbing in order for me not to smell like a Port-O-Potty, but i was able to slip on a new blouse.   I went searching through the house for the culprit but the only clue I could find were just his little steps leading from the hall to his bedroom.  No big clumps or logs, just steps.  Either way, we were clean, nasty shoes are in the garbage and we are off.   I try to put this whole scenario away in the back of my head until I get to work, and look down at my feet.  I have a huge spot of poop on the cuff of my pant.  OF COURSE!!  I will never win against this thing called POOP!  Great start to Tuesday morning!

Target Time

Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to Target by myself and Clay stayed home with Andrew.  I really didn't know what to do with myself.  I told Clay that I would return soon and left, no looking back because if I did I would get sucked back into the mainstream of "the home".  It felt great!  I walked in with a purpose because I was just there to get items for a friends birthday and nothing else.  Yeah .. right!  First place I stopped off at was the baby section.  I have to see what new things they got in ... it is a moral imperative.  After about 20 minutes browsing, I finally came to my senses and needed to focus on the task at hand.  And I did it, not only did I just get things I originally came in for (+/- a couple items) but I left in record time, something I have never done when Target is involved.

I came home and as soon as I opened the front door, I see Clay and Andrew like this ...

only not so happy and standing in the living room looking exasperated with his hands on hips.  I ask him what is wrong and he says he and Andrew have been strapped together for a while now.  I asked him how long is a while and he said An Hour!  AN HOUR??!!  Apparently Andrew didn't want to play with any of his toys and he only wanted to be held facing outward so he could see his surroundings.  Well, the only practical thing that Clay could think of was to put him in his holder so he could see and so Clay's shoulder could get a rest.  That worked for about 10 min. and when Clay tried to get him out ... no go.  He tried sitting with him in the holder .. nope.  He tried to lay with him in his holder .. nope.  Everything he tried didn't work ... that is what I came home to.  So to rectify my being away, I made Clay his 2nd favorite cake ... The Watergate Cake.

Recipe below:
 
WATERGATE CAKE
1 box yellow cake mix
1 box instant pistachio pudding
4 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1 can 7-Up
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients together in bowl until well blended, about 3 minutes. Pour into greased and floured tube pan. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool and frost.

WATERGATE FROSTING:
1 tub of Cool Whip
1 box instant pistachio pudding
1 c. milk
Beat all ingredients well until thick. Frost cooled cake.

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,176,144172-247192,00.html
Content Copyright © 2011 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.

The day flew by very quickly and soon we had two cakes, a sleepy baby and a full daddy ready for bed.  I think back at days prior to Andrew and at what might we be doing if we didn't have him with us and it looks boring.  A day like yesterday would have been like this for example, getting home, having a quick dinner, making the trip to Target (both of us, which is fun but not fun because Clay keeps a tight reign on me in the store so I won't saunter off), coming home and watching TV until it was time for bed. 

Andrew makes everyday more exciting even when he is screaming in your ear that he is hungry and you better feed him now or he's gonna grab you by the face and pull your skin off.  He'll do it, he tried the other day but didn't succeed because I had already filed his nails down.  Vicious!  He gets it from his Momma .. so I can't really blame him, I know where he's coming from.

I cherish the days we have with him so tiny because I know the days of him running around and telling him "No" and "Stop that" are not too far away.

4 Months Forever Weekend

Andrew is 4 months! 

Along with that comes rolling on his sides, rasberry noises, his new found ability to sit in his exersaucer by himself and trying to hold the bottle on his own .. oh and the messy start of cereal (blagh). We took him to the Dr. for his 4 month visit which included the inevitable ... shots. Oh boy! We are happy to report that he is 25 inches long, 13lbs and 2oz heavy and has his daddy's head ;) lol.  He flirted with his doctor, as usual, but it really looked like he was trying to negotiate with her on his shots. Almost like he was saying "For this smile, take away one shot" but the good 'ole Dr didn't take the bait and shots were on the way.

(a couple pictures of his Dr. visit ... we opted to leave the screaming ones out)

He didn't do as well with them this time as he did on his 2month visit and he cried for a lot longer.  One thing that Clay and I have in common is spoiling our babies when they have Dr visits or are in pain and it hasn't changed since we had a child (only worsened).  He calmed down as soon as we put him in the carrier then fell asleep as we got into the truck and his crazy parents bee-lined it to Baby's R Us and spent a good amount on toys/learning tools for little boy so he could feel better.  I know ... crazy right.  That is just what we do ... puts a dent in our pocket book but makes Andrew (mainly us) happy.  If we stay this route we are for sure only having one child and we will be broke by his 1st birthday! 

In his new sling wearing his new hat, so far he seems to enjoy both (crossing my fingers it stays like that)

He has discovered the pandas!

(his new exer-saucer)

New hat ... new shades!

The following day we went to go shopping at the Bass Pro Shops, Clay's manly store, which he needed to introduce Andrew to as quickly as possible.  While there, we decided to eat at the restaurant since Andrew was in a good mood and then after we placed him in the shopping cart to view his surroundings.  Apparently he thought his surroundings were boring because he passed out as soon as we got moving.  Nothing really struck our fancy as we browsed but I did manage to lose Clay for a bit.  Imagine my suprise when I found him in the gun section of the store.  No, we didn't buy him another gun but I did make some mental notes (and noticed a cute little pink gun for me, just saying) ... maybe for his birthday.  But we did manage to pick up these awesome little cowboy boots. 

Giddy-Up Cowboy!

Duh, you can't be a cowboy unless you got your crabby shorts on!

(new boots .. we just got them and they almost don't fit!)

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day, starting off with breakfast with Clay's dad, Dan, and half-sister Ciera at Cracker Barrel!  For those of you who do not know me that well, I live and die for this establishment!  It was my crack when I was pregnant in turn really turned Clay off to ever eating there again.  It has been exactly 4 months since we have eaten there and Clay was having a change of heart so that is where we went.  Breakfast was AMAZING as always especially the Hasbrown Casserole.  Andrew slept through the majority of the meal only to be awakened by the bussboys flinging plates and silverware into thier rubber bins next to our table!  Oh those bussboys and thier bins!!!  Grandpa came to his rescue and held him up until we left. 

Next stop was a quick feeding at the house then off to Meemaw's house (LaNell and Bill) to continue our relaxing day.   LaNell was making ribs and I had never had ribs like this before.  She had boiled them first in a marinade that included Dr. Pepper and other spices for about two hours then grilled them for another 15 minutes.  At first I was skeptical becuase of the soda but OMG they were out of this world good and just fell off the bone!  I need to get that recipe and fast!  Time flew so fast and we were on the road again back home. 

Memorial Day Monday was spent with his Mimi and Papa for a BBQ in the afternoon.  Andrew and I went by ourselves this time.  Clay was on his way to Belton to see his cousin Brad, who was on leave from the Iraq.  The day started off rushed and I hate being rushed not so much with Andrew but more with myself.  By the time we had gotten over to moms house, Andrew was in full meltdown, he didn't want to eat, was overtired that he couldn't sleep, had gotten a little gas pocket in his belly so he was in pain with that ... it was too much stimulation over the whole weekend to where he couldn't relax and it had caught up to him big time!  After about an hour, a quick catnap and 4oz of formula later, he was back to his silly little self again. 

Over at mom's house for a BBQ ...

 

Lovin' some Mamu time

I love it when they are together!

 The trees are gentle swaying, swaying, swaying ….

Mimi enjoying her Andrew

We had fun sitting outside feeling the breeze and seeing the cats and dogs play but my Andrew-clock was telling me it was time to go.  Hands rubbing his eyes and one big yawn later, we were in the truck headed for home.  All in all, great weekend to kick off his 4 months, busy but good.  Time really does fly when your having fun.  Bring it on 5 Months!

Early morning feeding

This morning we did everything as normal which was this:

6:30am - leave the house
6:45am - Andrew plays with his carrier toy then passes out until we reach daycare
7:00am - Get off car and take Andrew to his classroom with Miss Diane ..
(side note: it is usually just the two of us that are in the classroom becuase Andrew is always the first one there.) 
7:15am - Boob in the face ... wait, what?!

Imagine my surprise when I see another mother there leaving her baby at the same time we get there.  BUT, not only was she leaving her, she was feeding her.  Not just bottle feeding, but breast-feeding.  Please do not get it twisted,  I have nothing .. absolutely nothing against a mother breast-feeding her baby in public.  I may be a little jealous because our adventures with BF went south but hey, it is what it is.  But when you are at a daycare at 7:00 in the morning, with millions of little ones running around, parents going in and out, and you yourself are still trying to manage without your head falling off, the last thing you want to see is another womans boob in your face.  Ok, technically it wasn't "in my face" but there was no cover up!  At first I really didn't notice what was going on, just that she was with her baby and becuase I was trying not to knock everything over with the carrier as I made my way to Andrew's crib.  But as soon as I put the carrier down, I took a quick peek to see what was going on (I couldn't resist) and BAM ... boob!  I turn very quickly and told Miss Diane, Andrew ate at 5:45am and handed over his bottles for the day, that was all I could muster without stuttering or looking back again.  (I have a tendancy to just stare in disbelief or disgust and think that no one would notice, so to not look back again was a major accomplishment on my part).  I became a little flustered and tried to cover it up but I think that just made it a little more obvious.  The mother was sweet as can be, asked if I was Andrew's mother and introduced herself to me.  Well, me being the flustered nin-com-poop that I am, all I said was "nice to meet you", kissed sweet boy on the head and then I took off.  Not until just now (a couple hours later) did I realize that I didn't even tell her what my name was!  I think it was the excitement of seeing "the boob".  She probably thinks I am a snob.  Great!  I will be labeled the SNOB of Nursery One.  SMH!  So to rectify my rude manners I am writing her a card and placing it in her baby's diaper bag introducing myself to her and stating what a big loser I am for not introducing myself to her and that if she needs anything, to please not hesitate to ask.  It is the least I could do.  We will see if it goes over well when I drop it off this afternoon and I see her the next couple of days.  If she is still nice .. WooHoo! ... but if she snarls at me, well I guess I am going to have change my dropping off/picking up times of Andrew.  Oh Lord.

But come on .. wouldn't you want to just get out of there if the situtation made you a tad bit uncomfortable?  Just saying.  

Jenn

Feverish

Yesterday, Andrew and I stayed home from daycare/work.  On Wednesday night, as I snuggled up to Andrew while he slept on my shoulder, I couldn't help but notice how increasingly warm he was getting in just a short period of time.  Clay and I took him to the nursery to check his temp and sure enough he had a fever of 102.2!  After a few quick breaths to calm down we called the on-call nurse with the pediatricians office and after what seemed like forever a wait, they just told us to give him baby tylonol, keep him cool, if his little cough continued to give him warm apple juice and since he had a little congestion, to use saline drops and suction to keep him clear.  Ok, no problem (so I thought).

This kid knows when he is being ambushed and started to retaliate as soon as he saw us coming towards him.  We were saline and suction bulb in hand and his little eyes widened.  As soon as we sat him up to use the saline, he started to buck and throw his head back and forth.  I should have taken that as a sign to leave him alone for a while so he could calm down but we were on a mission to remove his boogers.  Just as I was about to enter his little nose with the suction bulb his head came down on it thus having the end of the bulb connect with the inside of his little nose.  OH NO!!!  I thought, NOT AGAIN!!!  He cried the most horrendous cry ever, complete with big draw-in of air and wailing.  It did not last long as his daddy scooped him up and hugged him tight and I must have looked like a chicken in flight flapping my wings all over the place freaking out yet again.  It lasted a mere 10 minutes (what seemed like an eternity in mom time) and he was fine, no bloody nose or internal or psychological damage that we could see but needless to say we DID NOT use the suction bulb again that night. 

He slept really good through the night and by the morning his fever had broke and he was back to silly little boy.  We stayed home just as a precaution because he was still a bit warm.  You really wouldn't even know he was the least bit sick with all the talking and laughing he was doing.  So we had a good day with him playing then putting himself to sleep in his crib and sleeping for 2 hours!  Major accomplishment since he never sleeps in his crib. 

While asleep it gave me time to tidy up the house and shower.  I kept the monitor close to me wherever I went because I knew he would wake up at any minute.  But he had proven me wrong and I showered in peace.   He played on his activity mat long enough to twirl himself 360 degrees and peeter out again.

The day ended with his Mimi and Papa (my parents)coming over and spoiling him with kisses and hugs and laughter.  Soon after, his Meemaw (Clay's mom) came over to give him sugars too.  I tell you, the boy is spoiled but we wouldn't want it any other way.

Jenn

Whew!

I should have started this when Andrew was first born but no one really tells you about the trials and tribulations that go along with having a baby .. at least not the first 6 weeks. But better late than never.

So we are starting when he is 3 1/2 months old ...

Many different formulas and lots of $$$ later, we finally found a one that Andrew is not allergic to. YAY!! He is on an amino-acid based formula called Neocate for babies that have a Milk Protein Allergy and Multi-Food Allergies.

He has been onit for about a month now and has been doing beautifully! He still has his eczema flares so it has to be either something environmental or in our laundry detergent, we are still doing process of elimination so who knows. He loves it and it really has been a God-send for us. Whatever makes little man happy is good with me. We are still doing a little spot treatments with hydrocortizone cream when its red/enflamed and slathering him in Aquaphor and Cereve lotion throughout the day to keep his little body hydrated and to keep the dryness away.

I always knew that having a baby was a learning process and an adventure to say the least but I never realized how much you learn .. not only about the baby but about yourself. The tv is not so important to me anymore which is interesting since I used to be bound to the couch and remote every night after work, I don't mind waking up at 3:00a for a feeding or that smelling for poop can make me happy. I have come to realize that I am more like my mother than I originally thought/denied and thats ok. I don't mind doing housework and it really boggles Clay's mind that I like to do it now instead of when I was pregnant when I was supposed to be "nesting". HaHa! I do things a little backwards. :)

We are still a little afraid to take him out in public, not that he's hideous or anything (by the picture you can see he is not) but the last few times we did, it resulted in major meltdowns by Andrew followed by me. I think we are just going to have to bite the bullet and just do it. It needs to be done and why not do it now. We are never going to learn unless we try and maybe this weekend is the time for Experiment #1. Wish us luck! Will keep you posted on how it turned out.