Alligator Wrestling

I feel a little silly posting this right after my thankfulness post, but I decided to go ahead so that when I read this in 20 years, I won't think that it was sunshine and unicorns all the time.  Most of the time it is, and I most definitely have a lot to be thankful for, but there are some hard times.

Right now, all of our hard times involve:

sleep.

Or the lack thereof.  Terry has done an incredible job of regulating Mason's naps during the day.  They are very consistent - 12ish and 5ish everyday, and most of the time he sleeps longer than 30 minutes now.  We're very blessed, naps don't make me want to beat my head against the wall anymore.

Nighttime is another story.


He used to be such a fabulous nighttime sleeper!  He'd go to sleep by nine, and we wouldn't hear a peep out of him until 5, sometimes later.  Oh how I miss those days - if only I'd known how things would change I would have cherished those moments so much more.

Now, when Mason knows it's bedtime, things get crazy.  He does okay in the bathtub (in fact he's sitting in the tub like a big boy!) but after bath time it all goes downhill.  Getting his diaper on his like wrestling a hyperactive alligator.  I literally have to use one arm to hold him down while the other arm does everything else.  Once I finally get his diaper on and am assured that he will not pee all over the sheets right at bedtime, I let him move how he wants and I just work around him.  We have this new ointment we have to put all over him for his eczema, so I just get whatever spot is available to me at the moment.  He thrashes about like a rabid shark, so I eventually get access to every spot.  Getting him dressed has become an ordeal in itself.  Back-laying is too good for my little acrobat!

Once I finally get the little man dressed, the wrestling match should be over, right?

Wrong.  He also has some kind of eye infection, so I have to put drops in his eye too.  He knows what's coming now, no matter how sneaky I am or how hard I try to distract him.  After the drops, we brush his hair, turn off the light, and get the bottle.  At this point, my head has fallen dramatically against the back of the rocking chair, defeated and exhausted.  I cannot beat the mighty alligator, but perhaps he'll let me cry "uncle" for the night.

No such luck.

As he's eating, he's still thrashing about, doing everything possible to keep himself from succumbing to the boring world of sleep.  Kicking his legs, pulling his hair, pulling my hair, scratching, whatever it takes, just as long as he does not fall asleep.  He makes it through most of his bottle wide awake, even though I keep my eyes closed (hint hint) and don't talk or make any sudden movements.  I put him on my shoulder, rock him, pat his back, but this is where the real fight begins!  He squirms from side to side, he pulls on my shirt, he scratches my neck and anything else he can get his hands on (is that even legal in the WWF, or whatever they call it now?)  Finally, I lay him down, even though he is still wide awake, I need to walk away.

At this point, I jump in the shower, and at some point while I'm in the shower or shortly after I get out, he puts himself to sleep.  Yes, he cries.  Call the bad moms club, I already have a membership.

Ahh, so the story ends here, right?  If only...

I typically have a little time to dry my hair, get on the computer, but by 10:30, he's up crying again. (I better wrap up this post - it's 10:09 so I don't have long!) Thankfully, I can usually go in and do a little patting and he'll go back to sleep.  Around 1ish - fussing again, and this is where my prayers get a little frantic.

Dear God, please, please, please can you get him back to sleep?  Just this once, I'll get up with him in a little while.  


Most of the time, I'm pretty sure God snickers a little and I have to drag my exhausted behind out of my oh-so-cozy bed.  Sometimes, he'll let me pat him back to sleep, sometimes I can rock him back to sleep.

Sometimes not.

Sometimes, he pretends like he needs to eat, but he'll only play with the bottle.  Once I've made sure he's changed, tried to feed him, and checked the temperature, I'll leave him in his crib and try to get back to sleep.  Sometimes this works.  Sometimes I have to get up 5 more times.

Anywhere between 2 and 4, he's up again, this time he is ready to eat, and I better hurry dangit!  Back in the day, he would fall asleep at the end of his bottle, and I would gently lay him down and sneak back to my bed, and we'd sleep, and it was wonderful.  Now, he likes to stay up for an hour or two after he eats - he must have heard that advice from Oprah and Bob Greene...I never did like those two.  Oh, and did I mention, he wants me to stay up with him?  *sigh*  I go in every now and then, when the whines get to be too much, but I can't even tell you how tempting it is to just turn off the monitor, (bad moms club) especially when it's 5:00 and my alarm is going to go off in half an hour.

Finally, he'll drift off into dreamland.  And then my alarm goes off.  Most days, it doesn't even phase him, some days he'll start screaming and will be inconsolable.  This is the part where I have to get ready for work and daddy has to take over, and some days, I'm glad for that.  (Bad moms club.)

I love my little guy and I do have much to be thankful for, but sometimes, I just need to cry "uncle."  It is now 10:22, I have 8 minutes to dry my hair, and then we'll start the whole debacle over again.

Mason's First Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving.  I have so much to be thankful for.  I'm thankful for my healthy, handsome blue-eyed baby boy who brings so much joy into my life.  I'm thankful for my husband who is an awesome daddy who doesn't hesitate to show love to his son.  I'm thankful for my parents who love their grandbaby so much and would do anything for him.  I'm thankful for my brothers who are more fun to be around than they've ever been!  I'm thankful for my job - even though I would rather be able to stay at home with my little one, my job pays the bills and buys the groceries!  I'm thankful for good friends, who still love me even though I'm not around as much as I used to be.

Look at these gorgeous blue eyes.  I've never seen another baby as beautiful!

For Thanksgiving, we went to Mamma's as usual.  I was looking forward to giving Mason some of our yummy Thanksgiving dinner, but he slept through the entire meal!  He went to sleep when we got there at 11:45 and slept until 1:30!  I did try to give him some sweet potatoes and turkey when he woke up, but he wasn't interested - there were too many other things going on.

After lunch, we decided to head outside and put Uncle Steven's new camera to the test.  We got some amazing pictures!  Mason got to play in the leaves for a while, and he loved it!  We couldn't keep them out of his mouth, but I tried to remember "God made dirt, and dirt won't hurt!" 

We got some great family pictures too, with the grandparents:

...and with our little family!

Steven did this one on Photoshop, and I thought it was so gorgeous I couldn't leave it off!

I'm such a lucky lady!  Things may not always be easy in life, but I have everything I need and I couldn't ask for more!

My Little Prodigy

Here's my little prodigy in action! (I have a video too, but blogger won't let me post vidoes anymore!  Boo!)

A Day of Firsts!

My little guy had a busy day of firsts!  Since he's been sitting up so well, I decided to let him try sitting in the shopping cart while we bought groceries.  He did an awesome job, and seemed to really enjoy the view!

Then, at Grammy and Grandpa's house, he got to play the keyboard!  He's a prodigy!  =)

In his final first for the day, he got to sit in a high chair at Casa Ole, just like a big boy!

What a big boy!

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween, we had a party at Mamma's house.  Mason dressed up as a scary dragon, and Miss Tennie dressed up as a little lamb.  They were so adorable together!

Of course, we couldn't get either of them to smile, but they're so precious anyway!

RAWR!!!

Oh no, look out for the slobber!  That's one scary dragon!

Mason had to get home to bed before the real festivities started, like the haunted house, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have enjoyed those anyway!  Maybe next year! 

Sleeping Problems

My little man is such an angel when he sleeps!

When he's in a really deep sleep, nothing will wake him - storms, lights, dogs...

But.  Unfortunately, getting him into such a peaceful state is quite an ordeal!  He is so lively and playful, that he fights sleep like no 7 month old I've ever known!  He will do anything to keep himself from going to sleep:  pull his hair, kick his feet, grind his teeth...the list goes on.  It's been a difficult few weeks as far as naptime goes, but then I look at that precious sleeping angel, and remember that it's all worth it!

7 Months Old!

My sweet baby was 7 months old yesterday!  He has grown and changed so much in these short seven months!  He's so active and playful, and (most of the time!) he has such a sweet spirit!  We had quite a busy day on his 7 month birthday, which was also Halloween!  Terry spent the day with a friend at the Texas A&M football game, so we spent the day hanging out with the rest of the family.  First we showed everyone at Grammy and Grandpa's how Mason can sit up!

Then, Mason got to hang out with "Mr. Steven" for a few minutes.  Steven had a dream once that Mason's first words were "Mr. Steven" so that's what we've been calling him!  =)  We're all glad that Mason is finally getting comfortable with my brothers!

We went to Cotton Patch for lunch, and Steven got his first laugh out of Mason.  Steven was trying to teach him to make noise by humming and running your finger over your lips (not quite sure how to describe it!) and Mason was trying really hard!

Here he is smiling for Grandpa!

We were sitting in the men's shoe department waiting on Steven to try some shoes on, so I decided to try to get a picture of Mason's teeth.  Here's what I got - the look on his face cracks me up!

Here he was trying to make noise with his lips, like Mr. Steven taught him!

And finally, he was all tuckered out and just couldn't stay awake anymore!

Happy Seven Month Birthday baby boy!