6:19

6:19. Six. Nineteen. AM.

That is what my clock said this morning when hubs came in and plopped a toddler in my bed. He was up getting ready for work (early shift at second job) and apparently thought that the burrito needed to come in bed with me.

Ten minutes later, he starts poking and kicking me, and I realize he has no paci, which helps soothe him back to sleep if he wakes up. So, get up, get paci, give to kid, go downstairs, try not to kill husband, let dog out and feed him (Leroy will start whining the second hubs leaves the house for some reason if he's still in his kennel), and go back up to bed.

I didn't get back to sleep until 7:30, which was superb because the burrito decided to wake for good at 8. Yaaaaay. Ah well. It was a mom's group gtg day anyway, so playplace for breakfast it was!

And of course that brings us to naptime - he's not taking it well these days. This weekend he was gated in his room and played with his books and blocks for an hour before falling asleep. Great, whatever. Past two days? Oh, the screaming. It's what we've always done, pick whatever toy you want to take with you, let's go upstairs. Nope! Not having it today or yesterday. I had to carry him up and put him in his bed, and yesterday it was about 45 minutes of alternating between crying, yelling "let me outta my room mama," and letting out these awesome banshee-type cries, which if he was in danger would come in handy, but in a townhome all they do is alert the neighbours you may be attacking your child and CPS should be on speeddial. ::repeat:: Yaaaay.

So, a new timer or clock is on our list of things to procure, and he can henceforth go to his room for "quiet time" if necessary, if he naps good (he apparently passed out after only 15 minutes of screaming today), if not, fine, but I need a little bit of time alone if we're going to keep up this work schedule that hubs has going.

*sigh* I miss these days

The current status of things; or, less than 20 days until his birthday.

I have no idea how it went this fast. The past year, I mean. I'm busy preparing for his first birthday party, which means attempting to make a #1-shaped photo collage, and just looking through the pictures brings back memories.

And also? Sometimes looking at those pictures after he's gone to bed make me forget what he looks like now, so I have to sneak into his room to peer at his sweet sleeping baby face.

And then, I have to take 5 minutes to tiptoe out on certain floorboards that don't creak. Stupid house built in 1925. But this may all be solved with the addition of "baby crack" to the burrito's room...

ANYWAY. An update of sorts, or a timeline rather, to show the boy's progress since I last updated:

9 months - two bottom teeth pop out; he completes his primer on crawling and begins to hate the bouncer; we start doing full meals with snacks and he self-weans to two bottles and three nursing sessions a day

10 months - two bottom teeth are fully in and two top teeth come in, one at at time; he begins to climb the stairs; table food is a must all of a sudden and he's dining with the big kids now

11 months - four shiny new teeth and momma's nips hurt; walking commences! he is now able to drunken-stagger from one room to the next; self-weans to two bottles and TWO nursing sessions a day; eating off of momma's plate and demanding bites when not in his high chair

That's right folks, walking. It's a crazy thing. He's also started this new hating-my-crib project, where the goal is to sleep in a parental lap or bed. Sooooooo we're letting him cry it out (CIO for you newbs). Sunday, Monday, suckage; he acted like the crib was torture. Chinese water-boarding. The Guantanamo Bay of baby sleep areas. It took over an hour of crying, with two breaks for momma-comfort and a replacement pac. I really need to get to the store and get that baby crack already. When it stops raining.

So, his birthday coming up. There was some dramz, because we have a tiny tiny house and don't want to sardine these folks. I'm planning some decorations, but there is a LOT to do - I took two full days off before the party (Thursday, the day of his birth last year, and Friday) to help compensate. We still need to figure out the food and the cake. Sammich tray, yes. Everything else? Clueless. As of right now, it's fall-ish outside, so do we stick with lemonade? Or go with apple cider? Argh!

Then, I'd like to finish that collage and make him a happy birthday banner that matches his colors on his invitation. Here is it, btw:

Cutest baby evah. I love the face, and the hat. It's from vacation. Saving that for a whole notha post, if I ever get the time for that. Bah.

So, time for bed - didn't get to run my mile tonight, but hey, I worked until 715 instead, for overtime - OH WAIT I don't get that. ::searches classifieds::

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I hope I looked like hell this morning

because I totally ignored everyone on my way into daycare. I rather hope that they figured "eh, she's just bitchy cause she's exhausted/sick/undead."

Burrito fell asleep on the floor at 7 last night. I carried him up to bed, where we both had blissful sleep from 10 to 11, at which point he awoke and began to fuss. I figured he was hungry, so I fed him - after one side, he fell asleep. I rocked him for a few minutes, and then attempted to put him back in his crib.

no dice.

So back to the rocking chair, where he "fell asleep" again. I'm thinking he's playing possum here. Again with the crib, again no dice. I figured I'd try this "cry it out" thing, since he's almost 10 months, and normally sleeps through the night in his crib. I changed his diaper before it as well, to make sure there was nothing else he was complaining about. Everything seemed go for sleep.

SO, 5 minutes later, he's still crying. I go back in, pick him up, pat him on the back, put him back down, paci in mouth, blanket on. Crying again. Next time, just put his paci back in, pat him on the butt, done. Crying again. After an hour of this (I'm not sure if I kept it up every 5 minutes exactly, it was midnight-ish after all), I decided to try something, and moved him over into my bed instead of rocking him. He settled right down. Ah. Ha.

Back in the crib, buddy boy. There is no way I will get any sleep with him in the bed - and it's not safe. I had the huge body pillow on one side and me on the other, but if he were to wake up and crawl away without waking me up, his head + the wood floor? not good. And if he stays there, I'd be waking up every five seconds to make sure he's still there.

Sooooo, the crying went on for another hour until he calmed down and finally fell asleep. With me rubbing his chest. For about five minutes. All of this = one exhausted mom. I decided to take a mental health day today, as this weekend was insanely busy, and I was "ON" all weekend. You know the term, right moms? Or anyone who has ever watched kids? You have to be the go-to person, the entertainer, the caretaker, the feeder, etc. I needed some Cat time again. Just me. And I'm pretty sure that everyone's been there before. In order to be the parent I want to be, I need a little down time every now and then. This is only the 2nd time I have taken him to daycare and stayed home, and the previous time I had the stomach flu.

Today, I'm going to do some yoga, make myself some healthy meals, drink lots of water, and relax. Maybe some pilates too and a walk with the dog. Later on? I'll make my husband a pineapple upside down cake. And pick up the kid of course, feeling renewed and ready to play.

Of course, I'll have to go back to work tomorrow...but work is a post for another day.

And, happy birthday to my wonderful husband!