I Hate Pacifiers...

Yes, it's really all in the title.


I hate, abhor, detest pacifiers.


Who ever came up with the word "binky" for a freakin' pacifier anyway??? I have never called a pacifier a "binky" and to be honest I refuse to. It's almost a pet peeve when I hear people say, "Do you want your 'binky'?" No. It's a pacifier. Pa-ci-fi-errrrrrrrrrr. When I hear "binky", it's like when my nieces were first learning to talk and that's what they called their "blanket" because they couldn't pronounce "blanket" so instead referred to it as "binky". Not pacifier.

If people want me to shorten the word "pacifier" or abbreviate it in anyway, (because you know four syllables is definitely waaaaaaaaaaaaay too long apparently) I'll say "paci". Why? Because it's a PACIFIER. You use it to PACIFY a baby. I don't give a "binky" to my child to "bink" him in any way shape or form.


Now, back to why I hate this tiny plastic object. "Babies have a natural sucking reflex when they are born." You are correct, sir! Buuuuuuut... babies are ALSO creatures of habit and do NOT like change. I mean -at al. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch.


So here is this baby. A creature of absolute comfort. And his "pacifier" brings him lots of comfort. I mean oodles and oodles of comfort. Awww. Sweetness. Now... try to take that pacifier away... and that sweetness automatically turns... well... sour.


And I fully blame the Soothie pacifiers. As much as I hate it, I acknowledge that it is the best freakin' pacifier ever. Why? Well, that was the pacifier they gave him at the hospital he was born in. It's like the epitome of pacifiers that doctors and nurses nation wide swear by it and parents have to then buy it because their kids want it. So when we got home, he refused ALL other pacifiers and only accepted the Soothie one. Well, I had no clue that I could buy those pacifiers at Wal-mart. So here I was thinking this was the only pacifier he would take and I had no clue where to get more. Now what happens? He loses it. Seeing as I had no clue where to buy more, I order it online and have it expressed to the house. For those 2 days, my son threw a perpetual fit, refusing any other pacifier, wanting only that stupid Soothie one. Then the very day they arrived, I find out they sold it at Wal-mart. Go figure.

But honestly... a pacifier for a baby can be like crack to an adult. It's baby crack. Why???? It can be soooooooooooooooooooooo darn addictive! My son refuses to go to sleep without it. Try putting him down for a nap without his Soothie pacifier. Damn that pacifier, it had to be sooo good. He'll thrash and thrash and search and search. I mean with the pacifier, he'll fall asleep within 15 minutes. Without the pacifier it'll take at least a full hour of hearing him cry until he is so exhausted he finally just falls asleep. Soooooooooooo, to try and break the habit of the pacifier aka "baby crack" we had to go cold turkey.

All I have to say is this. Damn that pacifier and damn you Soothie!!!

He Gets His Revenge...

My son ALWAYS gets his revenge.

I could have him do tummy time** for 15 minutes. (And he absolutely HATES tummy time with a capitol "H".) Then I will pick him up to soothe and comfort him and what? He throws up on me.

I could leave him alone for a minute to prepare a bottle that he's been HOWLING for. And when I present it to him he'll refuse it for a good 10 minutes.

I could give him a bath, get him powdered, lotioned and wiped down so he's all clean and smells nice. He'll then have a poopie diaper and spit up on his clean clothes.

Today however... I was trying to clip his tiny little nails. He's such a fidgety thing I have difficulty doing it and dislike it almost to the point of disliking clipping a kitten's sharp claws. Almost but not quite there... yet.

Why? Because of the fact that he refuses to hold still for a period longer than 5 seconds... unless he's sleeping... I have to hold his arm down and grasp his tiny little hand firmly so I can clip his little claws... -ah I mean... nails... clip his sharp little nails. And what does my stubborn hippo do???

He grabs and pulls my hair... then pulls me close. And sneezes... not once... but twice... one after another right in my face.

Oh... the joys of motherhood.

**For those of you who don't know... or simply can't get the meaning out of the words... "tummy time" is an exercise for infants where the parent places the child on his stomach to strengthen his neck, shoulder, and hip muscles, not to mention a few others but mainly those.

There's a BABY in the CAR... but Now My Son Has Fundage...

So yeah, I probably should start at the beginning... Unlike when I called my best friend up thinking I had already told her the story from the very beginning... yeah my memory totally went astray as soon as the kiddo arrived and still has yet to return to me... If anyone finds it please let me know...

But I digress. Where was I? Right. See? The memory thing again. Anyway, I called my best friend up and left a message on her voice mail saying, "Hey, Caden and I are fine from the accident, so no worries. EMTs said he was good to go." Well she calls me the next day and I'm all talking to her as if she already knew what was going on. Poor thing, my befuddled mind befuddled her. All she could say was, "What?!"

So... as I was going to do... let me start at the beginning.

I was in California with the baby, right? Right. Mmm'kay moving on. Well my folks were dropping off said baby and I to the airport so we could get home to my dearly devoted husband. It was raining pretty heavily for Southern California. (Suprising I know, but Southern California does on occassion get bad weather.) It was also 5:30 in the morning, we had a 6:30 flight and I had already checked in the night before so I had my boarding passes and everything and was pretty much ready and good to go.

Well, right as my dad was stopped at a light RIGHT OUTSIDE THE AIRPORT, this woman rams us from behind. I was looking at my son at the time the impact happened, thank God he was safe and sound and barely moved unlike the rest of us in the car who unfortunately enjoyed the fun of whiplash. He was all snuggled in his snowsuit (ready for the flight and weather upon arriving at our destination) and tucked in his carrier carseat. (I LOVE CARSEATS! THOSE FIVE POINT HARNESSES ARE AWESOME! Parents who don't use carseats are freakin' morons.)

Now as I said, it was 5:30 in the freakin' morning. We were set to go home. And this woman happened to be rushing to catch her 6 am flight. While it was raining. And no she didn't check-in in advance. Yeah.... first thing I could say after impact was, "THERE'S A BABY IN THE CAR!"

My dad openned his door and repeated, "THERE'S A BABY IN THE CAR!"

The woman acknowledged and said she'd follow us. Upon parking, directly in front of my terminal mind you, my mother opens her door and repeats for the third time, "THERE'S A BABY IN THE CAR!"

Lesson 1. You shouldn't be rushing in the rain.
Lesson 2. You shouldn't be trying to catch a 6 am flight at 5:30 in the morning.
Lesson 3. THERE'S A BABY IN THE FRIGGIN' CAR.

The police were called. The EMTs checked out my son. He was ok. Happy-go-lucky. Just sleepy because his nap was interrupted by the accident when the sound of metal hitting metal woke him up and jerked his little head. But my son was still a trooper. Of course the police were super nice to us. I mean there was a baby in the car. Not so much to that woman though. She missed her flight altogether. Big surprise there.

Caden and I however, had police escort through security. Yeah, different eh? The police informed Continental that we were just in an accident. So what did Continental do? Bless them. The check-in guy himself went to my gate and told them my situation. Met me at security and carried all my stuff for me on to the plane. They had already started paging us as the last passengers for "final boarding call" and what not, but they still held departure back about 10 minutes so the baby and I could board the plane. Of course we were the last ones on the plane, and everyone was apparently waiting on us seeing as the captain made it known that they were waiting for the final passengers (sarcastic thanks!) and I was soooo embarrassed that I apologized to the people who were seated around me saying we were just in an accident right outside the airport. That woman did not even get an ounce of the same courtesy.

Well after that, it was all ok. I had a headache after awhile though. Not surprising since I was also flying across country with an infant. My mom's neck hurt some. My dad I think was too preoccupied with how everyone else was doing that he seemed fine at the time and even after too.

So in the end, my son got his settlement. Though I'd honestly prefer we had not gotten into that accident at all. I am pleased my son got some fundage out of it. We also decided to take his piggy bank to the bank too. Tiny little piggy bank. Only about 4 inches tall and 3 inches wide and 3 inches long. But it was full of change. I didn't realize how much change was in that tiny little thing. Sixty-four bucks in a tiny little piggy bank. Honestly, storing up change goes a long way apparently, considering we gave him all our spare coins.

Now my son has a bank account, but I won't be telling him about it until he's 18. Let him work for his money first. *^_^*

So at the tender age of 3 months old my son has apparently experienced quite a bit, maybe even more than some people in their twenties. He's had his first vacation at the age of 2 months. Enjoyed two trips to San Diego. Flown in 4 different airplanes. Gotten in his first and hopefully only (knocks on wood) car accident and lived to not remember a single thing it considering he's still a baby and all. And received mulah from said accident. It's almost a shame he won't remember a single thing.

Random PS of sorts - My best friend called a week after I talked to her about my random and awkward way of leaving behind only half a message and said she just got into an accident. Some idiot ran a stop sign and totaled her car. T-boned it on the passenger side. She's ok. Was a little banged up and had a big bruise on her knee from where the passenger door was push all the way in through impact. Happy she had no passenger for the moron to mash but yeah. She's fine.

Speaking of the cars though. My parents vehicle got an impressive dent on the back bumper. I didn't realize how safe a Honda Accord was. While that woman's vehicle was pretty much totaled with her hood bent like an accordian and her motor exposed to the rain. Serves some people right.

Honestly, some people should not get behind the wheel. What if there was a baby in the car???

In California...

So here I am in California...

I literally carried my heavy son across the country that by the second day after my arrival my back was hurting. I swear, I will never travel with an infant again unless I at least have my husband with me. As crude as this sounds, it was difficult using the restroom while holding said infant. Sigh.

Anyway, my son is now getting spoiled rotten. Really he is. And I have no clue whether I should blame my sister or my parents more.

My sister is messing with his schedule. He had a good schedule going when we were home... of course that's 3 hours ahead of California but it's ok. I don't mind him going to bed early. However, my sister does. She kept him awake and kept him awake to the point where he was the most annoying grump on the planet.

Then my sister will play with him, which I don't mind except for the fact that she threw him in the air. Sigh. Then she tells him she's going to spoil him and spoil him and spoil him.

Now my parents... they LOVE and I mean LOVE carrying him. Which sucks because after a solid week of that he's now starting to expect being carried ALL the time. And when we get back home... it's just mommy and the baby and mommy isn't going to cart his cute little butt all over the place because he's getting heavy. But my dad for instance said, "Hey it's ok, let him cry for a bit." Then he hears the first tiny cry and he's alllllllll over the baby, picking him up and telling him that grandpa's there to the rescue!

My mom was carrying him... then she had him sit on my niece's lap and she started to walk away. The baby started to cry. Soooo she turned back towards him and he miraculously stopped crying waiting for her to pick him back up. Sigh... my son is a grandma's boy.

I beg and I beg my family not to spoil him too much... but it seems like an impossibility. So I tell my son, whether he understands it or not, "Enjoy this while you can because as soon as we get home it's all going to stop."

Starting Off 2008 With a War Against a New Mom's Arch Nemesis...-The Common Cold...

Darn you Cold Virus! From the first instant I heard that tiny little sniffle come out of that tiny little nose, I knew. I knew that there would be a really tough battle ahead against an army of billions and billions of germs. I knew that I would be in for sleepless nights and days constantly surrounded by mucus.

I bought a warm steam humidifier (not a cold steam one because it creates moldy bacteria, not a hot one because it does the same thing and can cause burns and what not... but a warm one). I find myself using saline drops over and over and over, and suctioning the muscus and whatever gunk with a nasal aspirator out of a 2 month old's little nose. That in itself is a hard and arduous battle. Who ever thought that a tiny little baby would have so much snot in him?

Now, my son is sick with his second cold in his short little life, and I find that I too am sick (again) because of the fact that my son is sick (again)! Darn you Cold Virus!

Little babies are needy, clingy, little things when they get sick! And to top it off... he was just getting a nice little sleep schedule going where he actually would sleep through the night... and NOW! Because he's sick! He won't sleep at all! I find myself giving him a tiny bit of children's Benadryl just so he can get the sleep and rest he needs.

Darn you Cold Virus! You think you have won... just wait til his immune system gets stronger. Just wait til winter is over. This new mom may be frustrated, may be sleep deprived, may be exhausted, but it's nothing some Vicks Vaporub, a box of kleenex, some vitamin C, and a mixture of drugs like sudafed, dayquil, and midol can't cure!

My son will conquer your army of germs too! Just you wait... there will come a day when he isn't sniffling or coughing... there will come a day!

The Newest Member of the Family!!!

I'd like to introduce my son, Caden. Born November 8th, at 11:52 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 13 oz. He was also 19 and 7/8 inches tall.He was a c-section baby. I once again went to my doctor's appointment. And he once again sent me to the main hospital triage to go through more lab work due to my extremely high blood pressure. And as usual my lab work always came back fine. My husband and I assumed we would be going home again but this time, the doctor came up to us and said, "We'll either be delivering tonight or tomorrow morning."
So two hours later, I was given wonderful drugs that took away any feeling as they were slicing into my belly. And a half an hour after that, I had my little boy. And five days later we were allowed to finally go home. (We were forced to stay in the hospital because they forced me to stay in hospital bed rest for 48 hours after delivery. I still had extremely high blood pressure and my doctor didn't want to send me home right away in case something happened to ME. So mom had to recupe in the hospital after surgery while baby simply enjoyed being coddled by all the nurses who just enjoyed taking care of him out of the other 20 baby's who were there.)
I'd put up the first picture we ever got of my son... but he was nude and probably wouldn't appreciate that when he gets a bit older. So I'll put up other cute and random "awww" pictures that will still embarrass him later.

Anyway, I had my first doctor's visit since coming home yesterday. They took out the staples that were on me. Apparently I have a better doctor than I realized. He stiched up EVERY layer he cut open while most doctors will only do half or every other. Hence my incision is healing very well and very quickly.

My parents also came all the way from California to visit. They arrived two days ago and are spoiling their first grandson. They barely allow me to breast feed because they want to enjoy feeding him themselves.

As to the baby, he had his first doctor's appointment TODAY. After only being around for a week, he grew to be a whopping 21 inches, and not only gained the weight that he lost after being born but more. He is now 8 lbs, 1 oz. So we have a growing, healthy, baby boy who will undoubtedly be spoiled by his grandparents who are staying with us for three weeks. :)