Single Parenting

Whew! It is 7:00 at night and I can finally sit on the couch and catch my breath for the day. Kyle usually goes to sleep around 7 and as soon as I give him his good night kiss and lie him in his crib I let out a big sigh and congratulate myself on yet another successful day raising this little boy by myself. No lie, being a single parent is handwork. I am so thankful that this is not a permanent status!

Matt and I's relationship operates on the cornerstone of teamwork. We share responsibilities around the house. If I cook dinner, he helps clean the dishes, we both do the housework, the laundry, etc. I did not realize how nice it is to have a second set of hands around the house until those hands got shipped across the country. On a typical night, I would make dinner, then Matt would help do the dishes while I got Kyle's bath ready. Then we would both watch Kyle take his bath because it is one of the happiest times in Kyle's day and we both get a kick out of watching him splash around. After bath time is over, I get Kyle ready for bed while Matt fills the humidifier and empties the dipper pail. And while I nurse Kyle and put him to bed, Matt takes out the trash and cleans up Kyle's toys from the day. Then we both settle in for the night with either a good book or our favorite TV shows until we are ready to head to bed.

Now, after putting Kyle to sleep I get to come downstairs to a sink full of dishes from dinner, Kyle's toys strewn about the living room, and trash that needs to be taken out. I have to say by the time I get to sit on the couch and enjoy a glass of much needed wine, I am exhausted! In addition to Matt's help around the house, I miss his company. Instead of unwinding with some good conversation and snuggles on the couch, I have a date with my TV or my computer, and hopefully some phone calls to my family. This is my new normal for the next nine months. Luckily, I have lots of family near by to lend a helping hand when I need it and I will definitely never take for granted coming downstairs to clean dishes and empty trash cans after putting the little guy to sleep.

Well, I am off to bed, time to wake up and do it all again tomorrow :)

Deployment Goals

One of the silver linings to having Matt deployed is it usually motivates me to accomplish things in my life that I have been putting on the back burner. During the last deployment, Matt and I's relationship grew so much and I was so proud of all that I accomplished both personally and professionally while he was gone. I hope for the same thing this time around. In order to help hold me accountable, I decided to publish my goals for all to read and I will revisit the list in December to see how well I did.

1. Run a half marathon: When Matt deployed to Iraq I made it a goal to run a full marathon. It was an experience I will never forget and the sense of accomplishment was indescribable, so was the pain! I have yet to get the itch to run another marathon, but I do want to regain some of the endurance I had before Kyle was born. My two best friends from high school and I have decide to do the Philadelphia Half Marathon/Marathon in November. I have lots of little races I have signed up for in the Springs and in Denver over the next 9 months in preparation for the big race and I can't wait to accomplish this goal with my two best friends...#1's all the way!!!

2. Cook dinner twice a week: When Matt is gone it is easy to slide into a dinner menu consisting of cereal, cheese and crackers, Subway, and Chipotle. While I plan to enjoy my fair share of Subway and Chipotle during this deployment, I want to cook two meals a week and hopefully have left overs from each of those meals for one night, making four home cooked meals a week and three take out meals. I am really good about cooking at home when Matt is here, but cooking for one is not so exciting.

3. Read one non-baby related book a month: Ever since getting pregnant I have stopped reading for pleasure. While I was pregnant, I was busy with work and in my free time I would read books about pregnancy and parenting. Now that I have Kyle, in the little free time I have, I choose to watch TV, blog, read blogs, or sleep. I really want to get back into reading, even if it means reading tween novels like the Hunger Games :)

4. Learn how to use my SLR Nikon camera in "non-automatic" mode: Matt bought me a fancy camera for Christmas under the condition that I would take some photography classes and learn how to actually use the camera off the automatic mode. I am really excited about this goal, I love photography, and I have the two cutest subjects to photograph.

That is all I have for now, and if I come up with anything else I will post it. So far, being a single parent has been going pretty well for the most part. I truly have an incredible support system. I have an amazing family who have already helped out a ton with Kyle. I also have the best friends! Between my college friends, friends from previous duty stations, and fellow wives in Matt's unit I feel so loved and not alone in this challenge. Thanks again to all of you for your love, prayers, and support!

7 Months

Sorry for the lack of blogging these past few weeks. We said good bye to Matt last week and things have been a bit crazy around here. We are settling into a routine without him around and I just keep telling myself that each day is one day closer to his return.

Dear Kyle-

You are growing so fast! I can't believe how much you grow and change from month to month. This is by far my favorite stage in your life. You are so happy and can entertain yourself so well with your toys, but you are not yet mobile so I don't have to baby proof the house and watch your every move. Daddy and I started calling you Pip this month as a nickname. I am not really sure where it came from but it seems to have stuck for the time being.

Like I said, you LOVE to play with your toys. Your favorite thing is to take stuff out of your various baskets. You still love your blocks and I recently brought out a "barrel of monkeys" that you got for Christmas that has become a new favorite. While you are not yet crawling I can sense that you are getting close. You are very wiggly when I hold you and can pull yourself up on me when you sit on my lap. You are also enjoying tummy time more and more and are starting to move your legs and arms in a crawling motion, you just don't get anywhere. You also started rolling from your front to your back regularly.

Eating is also one of your favorite activities. You kick your arms and legs with excitement whenever I put you in your highchair in anticipation of food. You pretty much love everything I give you, especially fruit pouches. It amazes me how fast you suck down the food inside them! You still have not cut any teeth, but I can see that they are close. The bumps get more pronounced every time I feel inside your mouth and you continue to drool like crazy so hopefully they come through soon.

The torticollis in your neck is getting better every week. We started physical therapy last month and it basically consists of positioning everything on your right side so it forces you to stretch the muscles on the left side of your neck. We also do a variety of stretches which seem to be helping as well. Both your doctor and physical therapist are pleased with the progress you are making and have a feeling that it should be cleared all the way up in no time. It really is amazing how malleable the muscles are in babies.

We also said good bye to Daddy this month. It was one of the hardest things mommy has had to do in a long time. Knowing that he is going to miss watching you grow these next nine months breaks my heart. You and him are best buddies and I know you will miss your daddy time. Mommy really needs to work on her comedy routine. Daddy can make you laugh so hard and I just can't quite get the same giggles out of you. I am hoping he has the same effect over Skype. You love to go on horsey rides around the house and playing peekaboo. The good news is you won't remember this time without your daddy around so hopefully you will pick up where you left off quickly once he gets home.

You are such a joy in my life little man. Thanks for keeping me company while Daddy is away. I will do my best to be the same happy energetic mom without my second half to help, and seeing your face when I wake up each morning reminds me how much I have to be thankful for each day.

I love you!

Mommy

Reality Check

The deployment ceremony for Matt's brigade was last week and as they started casing the flags to ship them to Afghanistan, it hit me, this is really happening. While we have been preparing for this deployment for the past 18months, I have tried my hardest not to think about the actual "good bye" and just live in the moment, or maybe live in denial. There is always that glimmer of hope that maybe it might get cancelled, but as the soldiers stood at attention as we sang the Army song there was no turning back, I really am going to be saying good bye to Matt for 9 months.

While I am anxious about what the next 9 months as a single parent will bring, we are ready, and we will not only survive this deployment, we will thrive. It is all about having a positive outlook and while I am sure I will have my bad days, I plan to stay in the positive as much as possible and make the most of our time apart. Most importantly, I have a little man who needs and deserves a happy mommy!

We are all holding each other extra tight these next few days before the official good bye, but I am ready to start counting in the opposite direction.

*On a side note, we made the Colorado Springs Gazette. Check out our photos in the slide show at the link below.

http://www.gazette.com/sections/slideshow/?id=12503963

Hungry Hungry Hippo

I blogged a few weeks ago about Kyle's introduction to solid foods and I am happy to update that his pallet is beginning to take a liking to just about everything I have given him. I read in one of my parenting emails that it take 8 tries of a food before children can make a decision if they like something or not. With Kyle it takes about two tries. The first time I give him a new food he sort of crinkles up his nose but still begrudgingly eats it and then the second I introduce it to him he is a huge fan. It is almost like his taste buds have to get used to eating food with flavor as opposed to the blandness in rice cereal and breast milk. So far we have tried avocados, sweet potatoes, winter squash, peas, green beans, pears and bananas. He eats all of them with ease but I think his favorite is pears. I have been giving him two tablespoons of rice cereal twice a day and adding two tablespoons of a fruit in the morning and a vegetable in the evening so he is eating about four tablespoons of solid food a day. In addition to the solids I have still been nursing him about every 3 hours. The man definitely has an appetite.

I have been doing a mixture of making my own baby food and using organic jar baby food. It just depends on what is in season as to whether or not I decide to make it or use a jar. He does not seem to have a preference to the texture so that is good. I am relieved that he has become a good eater. It seems as though Kyle likes to throw a little challenge into most new things we introduce to him, i.e. a bottle, but eating from a spoon does not seem to be a problem at all. We have also not had any issues with digestion or allergies. I will note, that changing diapers has taken on a whole new level of grossness, it is always a surprise what color and texture the poop is going to be the next day.

He is also doing really well with his sippy cup. We give him about 2-4 oz of nursery water a day and I think I am going to try putting some of my breast milk in it soon so I have the option to leave him for longer periods of time. This will be very nice once Matt leaves and mommy needs some much needed "me time." I also know the grandparents are dying to watch the little guy so I am going to take full advantage. I am crossing my fingers that as he gets older he remains open to trying new foods, neither Matt or I are picky eaters and I love to cook new things and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or mac and cheese every night is not going to fly in our house.

*I meant to take a picture of him eating breakfast this morning for the blog and totally forgot so I will make an edit to this post tonight after I get a "dinner" photo. He actually does a fairly good job of keeping most of the food in his mouth!

Snow Day!

Colorado finally received some winter snow this past weekend and we could not resist dressing Kyle up in his snowsuit to play in the white fluffy powder. While we were pretty excited about the idea I think Kyle could have done without the experience. He usually does not mind being outside in the cold but he was not feeling his sled ride as much as we had hoped. He was a little small for the sled and had trouble sitting up in it so I think that had a large part to do with his dissatisfaction. Nonetheless, it made for some fun pictures!

We spent the weekend hanging out with Matt's parents. Matt is trying to suck up as much family time as he can these next few weeks before he leaves. Unfortunately, I got sick with some type of stomach virus and was out of commission Saturday night and all of Sunday. Thankfully we had the grandparents on hand to help take care of Kyle while I laid in bed all day. Being a sick mommy is no fun at all! Thankfully the plague left me as quickly as it came on and I was feeling like my normal self on Monday morning. I am crossing my fingers that no one else in the house gets it!

6 Months

Dear Kyle-

You celebrated your 6 month birthday this past week and I can’t believe you have been in our lives for half a year! Where has the time gone? I remember when you were a newborn, we could not wait for you to grow out of your colic and time seemed to be going so slow, but ever since those days left us, time has been flying by!

For your six month birthday mommy got some fun presents for both you and me to use. We finally purchased a BOB jogging stroller and a Kokopax carrier. I love both of these items and so far you seem to enjoy them too! I have been working at getting back into running and you have become my workout partner. So far you have fallen asleep on almost every run I have taken you on which has been great. You get a nap and I get a work out in! You were getting too big for your Bjorn front baby carrier so I upgraded to the backpack. I highly recommend this to all my mommy friends out there! It is really comfortable and makes carrying you around so much easier. I can put you in it when I go grocery shopping or when we play fetch at the park with Eros, and also when I am trying to cook dinner and all you want to do is be held.

You continue to grow and change so much these days. I stare at you in amazement sometimes at the little man you are becoming! Now that you can sit up right you enjoy playing with all your toys on your activity mat. I love to watch you play and talk to yourself. I try to imagine what you are thinking and saying, and you make it very hard for me to get anything done because you are just so cute to watch! You are also very good with your hand coordination and can pick objects up with ease. Your Sophie giraffe, blocks, and baby cell phone are some of your favorites right now. In addition to your toys you LOVE your jumperoo (Thanks Aunt Holly!). You learned how to jump in it this month and can really get yourself going. It is so fun to watch you giggle and smile. You also like to growl when you are jumping which is too funny.

We are working on increasing your “tummy time” to continue to build your core muscles but right now you show no signs of wanting to crawl. You are very content to just sit and play with your toys. This is fine with mommy, it makes my life a lot easier not having to chase you around the house, yet.

This month you have also really taken a liking to your dad. As soon as he walks in the door your face lights up with joy and you smile and laugh. It melts my heart and breaks it at the same time since he will be leaving us very shortly. I will have to make sure we read our daddy books and look at videos and pictures so you don’t forget him.

Winter cold season also struck our house this month and you got your first cold. Luckily it did not turn into an ear infection but you had your first stuffy/runny nose. It made for a week of sleepless nights for mommy and daddy but you seem to doing much better so hopefully that is the worst of our cold season this year.

Your adventures with solid foods are going well. We gave you sweet potatoes for your 6 month birthday and you were not quite sure what to think. You love your rice cereal and will eat about 2 tablespoons twice a day with no problem, so I thought for sure you would love sweet potatoes and other solids since you enjoy your rice cereal so much but you are a bit unsure. We tried avocado the next day and you liked that more, but the slimy texture made it hard for you to keep it in your mouth and I think more of it ended up on your face and hands than in your tummy. We tried yams (the orange sweet potatoes) today and you actually seemed to prefer it to the yellow sweet potatoes. Right now it is all about the experience of eating and trying new things so I am not too stressed about you getting any sort of caloric nutrition from these meals, and I am sure in time you will get the hang of eating other things besides rice cereal and breast milk, or you will be one cheap date when you grow up :). I am going to move onto fruits next week and am curious to see what you think about bananas and pears.

Your 6 month check up went well and you are continuing to grow healthy and strong. You are 17lbs and 26 inches long and wearing 9 month baby clothes now. We are going to be starting you on some physical therapy next week to help strengthen the left side of your neck. The doctors say you have slight Torticollis on the left side of your neck which basically means we need to lengthen the muscles so you are able to hold your head straight. If you look back at all the photos we have taken of you, your head leans slightly to the left in each one, mommy and daddy just figured it was because you had such a big head. The good news is you can move your head from side to side with ease and the doctors feel that after a few weeks of physical therapy the problem should be cleared up.

You are such a joy in our lives and I am so thankful every day to be your mom! I have to say that so far this is the best stage yet in your short little life and I can’t wait to see what the upcoming months have in store for us as you continue to develop. Thanks for making me smile every day little guy!

Love-
Mommy