The Armadillo Tales

Come On Over

Today was a whirlwind day for the armadillo.   A couple of his friends came over and like little twisters, made sure they explored every nook and cranny in this house.   That included getting to know the cat, much to his dismay.   The armadillo welcomed his friends with open arms and I could tell he was very excited that they stopped by.    Each time they came through the front door, the armadillo was there to greet them with a sweet, "Hi".   I could tell he was very proud of the fact that they were there in his house.   He would greet them and proceed to welcome his friends to his play area and show them his toys.    I loved that.   I love seeing his excitement and seeing him stand up just a little bit straighter as he presented his playthings.    He was such a fabulous host.  The whole group looked like they were having a blast.   It was amusing to see them running around, laughing and having such a terrific time.      

I was a little sad waking up because if things were going smoothly in my life, the whole family would have been on their way to Hawaii.   But unfortunately we were not.   Nothing's changed since we returned.     No one has spoken to me since.   My family in Hawaii have mentioned to B-Dad (not me!) that they are concerned about me.    If they were so concerned, why has no one spoken to me since?     Alas I have accepted that and decided to move forward.   

Nevertheless, I have my own family and my own life.   I'm glad my friends and their children came over today.  It erased my sadness, made me laugh and gave me the strength to surge forward with a smile on my face.   

Above photo taken while on vacation in Maui.

Good Stuff at Old Navy

I don't ususally shop for the armadillo and the lil' lamb at Old Navy.   They just haven't had anything good in awhile so I stopped looking.    But we went there last weekend and I was pleasantly surprised at their newborn collection.   The collection included clothing with humorous sayings, fabulous designs, and they were affordable too.   I picked up a bunch of clothing for the lil' lamb.  He's growing so fast that he's not able to fit in a a lot of the armadillo's old clothes.   

Visit Old Navy to view their collection.

Catfight

No matter how often we cut the lil' lamb's nails he still manages to scratch himself.   Sometime in the middle of the night he must have scratched himself.  He has this huge scratch in the middle of his forehead.  Ouch!   It's as if the lil' lamb got into a fight with the cats and one of them got him good.   

I never understood why the "powers above" decided to give babies nails as sharp as a knife.    Poor thing always has one scratch or another.    They disturb his beautiful face.      

Has it Been 4 Months Already?

Yes, yes it has ... 4 wonderful, superb, breathtaking months.    I can't believe that time has been so cruel in allowiing 4 months to have flown right on by.   My lil' lamb is becoming more aware of his surroundings lately.   He seems to be able to recognize if B-Dad or I have walked away from him, then becomes upset when we don't reappear.   My little one has forced his mommy to move up to the Baby Bjorn carrier.   He's getting so heavy that I have to use something with a little more back support.  Oh my aching back!   

[Damn neighbor is playing his stupid music right now ... very loudly in fact!   Why does the bastard play his music so that it is earsplitting?  On top of that, he leaves his sliding door open.   What for?!      To top it off, it's not even music I like.   Insolent fool!]

Getting back to the lil' lamb ... He's starting to hold up his head for longer periods of time.   He's also trying to sit up every now and then.   We also think he's teething.  Poor babe is drooling like a leaky faucet.   

I love him and my armadillo ... my boys ... my babes ... I love them with my whole heart.

Doctor

Today both the lil' lamb and the armadillo went to the doctor's for their well-baby check ups.   I don't know about the armadillo or the lil' lamb, but I think I was dreading this appointment more than the boys were.   I knew they were going to get shots and I hate hearing them cry in pain.   Does it get any easier?    I don't think it will but I hope so.   I told B-Dad that he had to come with me because there was no way I was going to take the two of them in by myself.   

The armadillo has grown since his last appoitment six months ago.   At two years of age, he is 36 inches long and weighs almost 27 lbs.   He's a stringbean.  The armadillo has always been more long than heavy.   I can't believe that he is 3 feet tall already.   That's more than 1/2 my height!    The lil' lamb is 26 inches long and weighs about 15 1/2 lbs.   I could have sworn he weighed more like 17 lbs.   My back will attest to that.    Both boys are in the 90th percentile for height.    I hope that stays that way.   I couldn't say from experience but I hear it's not fun being of the male gender and short.   Ah, the worries of the male human. 

When it came time for the shots I was a complete coward.  I left it up to B-Dad to hold the boys down.  I hated doing that with the armadillo.  He would scream and stare right at me.  As if saying, "Why are you doing this to me?!  Don't you love me mommy?!"     No more acting as the restraints for me.   I ask the nurse to bring in another person.   I don't know how B-Dad does it.   My heart ached when I heard the armadillo start crying before he had his shot.   Then my heart just about exploded with sadness when the lil' lamb started to wail.    I could never be a pediatric nurse.   You just know those kids think of you as a she-devil that is going to cause them an enormous amount of pain.   

All in all both boys are doing fine.   The armadillo goes back in 6 months and the lil' lamb returns in 2 months.   Not something mama is looking forward to, that's for sure.

No Pappy

Pappy went on a last minute business trip yesterday and my first thought was, "How the hell am I going to get through the next 24 hours"?   But as my relief shift [aka B-Dad] will be making his way home tonight, I can safely say, whew ... the three of us survived!   

Although I had my doubts.  Yesterday I was consumed with how would I get through it?   How would I take care of both the armadillo and the lil' lamb without pappy?   Would I get through bedtime?    Question after question kept popping up in my mind.   I was a bit nervous I have to admit.   But as I sit here typing this, knowing that B-Dad would be home tonight, I can safely say that those hours without Pappy were no big deal.   It was a little hectic last night but all in all we endured.   

The armadillo and the lil' lamb are still at the age where they don't quite notice that B-Dad was gone.   That alone helped me a lot.  I don't think I could deal with the armadillo asking where B-Dad is and when is he coming home.     Bedtime went smoothly for everyone.    I was pleased that the lil' lamb fell asleep in my room before I went to take the armadillo to his room for bedtime.   It made it a lot easier so that I could read the armadillo his bedtime stories and not have to rush.   The armadillo also helped me a lot.  He was patient and he even told me "good night" as I put him in his crib.   I can't tell you how much a relief that was.  It was a little bittersweet too.    I wanted to pick him up and bring him into my room, but I knew that would have been a bad idea.   The lil' lamb was still sleeping when I got back and he slept till about 3:00 am.   I fed him and pumped, and we both fell back asleep.    I actually slept in late, not intentionally though.   Both the armadillo and lil' lamb were still sleeping when I woke up at 7:45am.   I thought either one of them would have woke me up sooner.   

I had to put myself on turbo this morning in order to get the armadillo and the lil' lamb ready for storytime this morning.     But I managed to feed both the armadillo and the lil' lamb, change their clothes, and get to storytime just a few minutes late.   Wow!

All in all, things went pretty well.   It helped having all of us on a schedule, and it made the time fly by pretty quickly.    Hopefully B-Dad won't have to go away again anytime soon.    Now if you'll excuse me ... I'm off to pack my suitcase so mommy can take her "business trip"!

Feed Me

My lil' lamb has had the appetite of a big lion lately.   He's been averaging about 6 oz a feeding, but I know he can tank down a bit more.   The lil' lamb is still taking in just breast milk and I can barely keep up.  I'm still breast-feeding via the pump.    I used to have about 4 feedings worth in advance, but now I'm down to 2 feedings, if I'm lucky.    The lil' lamb has been growing bigger every day it seems.    He's outgrowing his clothes so fast that he only wears them about twice, and then I have to put them away.    They become too tight or too short.   I'm just amazed at home much he's grown since the day he was born.   I am now shopping for clothes from 6 -12 months.  Yikes!   I just had to return some shorts back to Gymboree because I couldn't get it over his monster "python" thighs.   Everyone that sees him mentions how big he is.   Believe me I know ... just ask my back.  Oh my aching back.   

I have to cut this post short ... it's time to siphon ...

Mad Armadillo

I love watching my armadillo and seeing the changes in him as he grows into a little boy.   He gets taller and his feet gets bigger ... he develops his social and physical skills ... his vocabulary grows ... and he gets mad at me.   The armadillo became upset with me at lunch today.   I'll never forget that face.    We had lunch with a friend and her daughter.  During lunch, I took the armadillo's milk away because he repeatedly took the straw out and making a mess.   After a couple of minutes of crying and screaming, I asked him if he was going to stop.  He said yes.   He took his milk back and gave me the stinkest look I've ever seen.   My mommy friend noticed and I honestly believe that the whole restaurant could feel the bad vibes my son was sending to me.   Ouch!     Thankfully he's still at that age where grudges don't exist or I'm sure he would still be mad at me.   Boy!  If looks could kill I would be hurting right now.

But being the mom that I am, I had to make sure he wasn't still annoyed with me.   As we were leaving I asked him for a hug and he gladly gave me one ... with a smile on top! Lovely!

Kissed by a Bug

I am just a mess!   Today we had storytime for the armadillo.   Afterwards the other mommies and I like to hang out while our children play in front.  I don't know how I didn't notice or felt it, but some bug bit me on the lip.   It is so nasty when I think about it.  To think, a bug sat on my upper lip for at least a couple of seconds so that she could bite it and give me a puffy bug bite.    I didn't notice the bite till an hour or so later.  I thought something was on my lip, like a hair.   But when I looked in the mirror I saw what looked like a mosquito bite on my lip.    Gross!   I hope this repugnant bite goes away soon.   

Then to add to that, my hair is falling out.   Not the normal hair fallout, but much much more.   I feel like I'm getting bald spots on my head.    I've heard it's normal after having a baby and breast feeding.     But my stomach flips everytime I take a shower and feel the amount of hair that comes out.   I could deal with the gray hair, but no hair?   No way!

Sleep

He slept through the night!  It was the first time the lil' lamb didn't wake up in the middle of the night.   He slept from around 10:30pm and B-Dad woke him up at around 7am.   Wow!  I woke up thinking that I missed that middle of the night feeding.   Then my mind raced about that something was wrong.   But no, the lil' lamb slept the whole way through.    I wonder if he was really tired or if this is the start of something new.   It would be nice if the lil' lamb slept all night, but I'm not going to hold my breath.   He's only 15 weeks old and it would be wishful thinking.   

But of course he was a little bear yesterday.  The lil' lamb barely slept and was grumpy more than normal.   He either was having a hard time falling asleep or just didn't want to take a nap.  Sigh, I guess we can't win it all.