Monday, March 31, 2008

Girls don't make passes at boys who wear...


Luckily for Dori, he looks cute in anything!!!!

P.S. Before you say anything, these are non-prescription lenses so no babies' eyes were harmed in the taking of these pictures. Also, if you're wondering about the black paint lines behind Dorian, this was Mama's poor editing job. She doesn't know how to use Photoshop so she just used Microsoft Paint to cover up her extreme XXX nursing cleavage. Unsuitable for public viewing. I obviously hadn't looked in a mirror before I left the house that day!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Crockbaby Blog's 1 Year Anniversary

Dorian then.
Dorian now!
Dorian & Mama then.
Dorian & Mama now!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Springtime for Dorian

Springtime means...

Wearing shorts (with Grandpa).
Spending time with Daddy (before he goes on tour next week).
Hanging with Great-Grandma Dorothy...
And with Mama too!
Sunbathing!
Of course, Springtime always means flowers.
And Easter! The Easter Bunny brought Dori a basket (via Grandma). It contained loads of goodies he could not eat. Mama was happy to help consume the goodies! I don't even think James saw any of them! Darn hormones.

Ooh, what is this???
Mmmmmmm, chocolate (drool, drool).
MY goodies, Mama. You're not having them.
It's important to read the ingedients.
Give me something I can eat!
Ooh, I can eat this stuffed bunny.
And this chick too!
The real Easter bunny left this British car on the porch. Seriously - we have no idea who left it for Dori!
And a brief update...

Dori can now sit up on his own (though not consistently). Dori will do tummy time now for a few minutes at a time. He has also now rolled over from his stomach onto his back (though I have yet to see it). He loves to stand up and is always pulling himself up (by holding on to our hands) from a horizontal position. My dad calls him "Stand-up boy." He refuses to smile for the camera or video camera, even though he smiles and laughs most of the time. Very strange. He still does not sleep.

I am working hard this week, helping the accounting firm reach a March 31st deadline. Luckily, James is around a bit more this week before he goes on tour next Monday. James is still sick, but getting better. I think he just wants the attention! ;)

Anyway, I need to get back to work! Happy Spring everyone!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Downer Post

Right, so my mom requested a Crockbaby update last night. Here you go, Mom, now you can see why I've been holding off writing! Nothing really good to write about! Our camera broke last week so no pictures (we've been taking pictures on our phones and on the video camera but I don't know how to upload those to the blog). James is super-busy at the moment - we'll try to remedy the picture issue this week-end. I woke up today after 3-4 hours of broken sleep and realize I feel very, very tired again. I somehow managed to get back on track after that horrible week about a month ago but I am feeling run-down again. I am also feeling so out of shape and quite down about it. I am dying to get back into shape but don't have the energy to do cardio and all I seem to want to eat right now is chocolate and sweets. It is the nursing and fatigue, I'm sure. Other moms have told me they're craving the same things - seriously, the cravings are so strong it is bizarre. So I guess it's going to be a few more months of being a lumpy, lethargic Kelly. Who just got a bad haircut. The one time I leave Dorian to go do something for myself, it ends in disaster! It is too short again. I needed it trimmed because I hadn't gotten it cut in almost a year, but the split ends were up to my chin practically. I wanted all of them cut off, but now I feel like I am back to square one again with my hair. I have been trying to grow it out for over a year now. Anyway, enough about me. Poor James is sick right now and still has to work. I feel really bad for him, especially because I don't have the energy to fawn all over him like a good wife should. Dorian has just gotten over a cold. We stopped the sleep training because Dorian was sick. I tried to start it up again today and it was like back to the beginning again. I'm not doing it. I can't bear to hear him cry anymore. I refuse to do it. I don't care if it works in the end - letting your baby cry it out goes against everything I believe is right and feel is necessary. I'm not doing it. It is so frustrating to have a baby who won't sleep. I am lucky if I get 2 hour stretches at night. He doesn't even have a long stretch at the beginning anymore. And don't get me started on his naps. He did have a 1.25 hour nap the other day but only short ones since. He is a very happy baby though, so his sleep habits obviously work for him. He does not fuss very much anymore. He smiles and laughs A LOT. Very cute.

I am starting to get worried because James leaves in a week for a month-long tour with Tempest. I will get to experience single-parenthood and quite frankly, it terrifies me. Whenever I thought about it over the past few months, I thought "Piece of cake." But since I have a baby who does not sleep (meaning I'm exhausted) and I must get work done from home (and it will be the busiest month - taxes are due April 15), I am not looking forward to it. Luckily, I do have my parents (though my mom is incredibly busy herself), friends and baby experts (Cindy and Kate in particular!) and the moms in my mom's group. I still don't feel comfortable leaving Dorian alone with anyone for more than an hour or so, but perhaps people will come over or allow me to come over to their house while they watch him for a couple of hours. At least long enough for me to get a shower once or twice a week, and do some work on my laptop! Anyway, enough complaining. I apologize. We're all rundown around here. Send good thoughts James' way...he has to work today, tomorrow and Saturday (and can't miss it) so poor him has to push on. Life with a baby! Little germ factories, they are.

In more positive news, Dorian went 5 hours the other day without feeding!!!!!!!! Then he ate 3 times over the next 1.5 hours to make up for it. Usually he goes 2-3 hours during the day without eating, which is big progress. Still every 1-2 at night though. Baby steps. Baby steps. Please don't take this post too seriously - it feels good to let it all out. Dorian is still THE CUTEST BABY EVER and we love him so much. Every day is like Christmas with him. I wouldn't change anything. I just feel very tired right now and when I have a moment to myself, it really hits me. Just felt like sharing.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Today is Dori's 5 Month Birthday!

He celebrated with all his friends on Friday. The babies in my mom's group are finally starting to interact. It is so cute. Dorian is not quite there yet (he's the youngest) but the other babies now look at him curiously, pull on him, touch his face, etc.
Dori kind of lies there and just takes it, while looking at me like "What the heck is going on?"
Dori stares at James and I all the time now. Very intense. We'll catch him looking at us from across a room and his gaze just remains locked on us for minutes at a time. It's so sweet. He blows lots of rasberries now, and we can have full on tongue-out conversations with him. He is a good, good boy (who still refuses to sleep).

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Rock on!

James, Dorian and I went to the Sonora Celtic Faire this week-end. James' band Tempest was playing and Dorian had not yet seen his daddy play an electric gig. We bought Dorian a special headset before attending the festival. It's obvious Dori is going to be a musician some day - we don't want to ruin his hearing before he really gets started. Dorian was by far the main attraction at the festival. Everyone oohed and ahhed over him, especially with his cool headset on. During the first set, he wasn't yet convinced rock was for him.He pouted during the second set because he couldn't be on stage with Daddy.He slept through the third set.By the fourth set, he was ready to rock on!!!Be sure to check out the blog below - I posted both blogs today. I had so many great pictures of Dori, I didn't want to ration them out this week. Consider this a Dori binge-fest!

It's in the genes...

James doesn't need my milk to stop Dorian from crying. He merely has to pick up a guitar and start playing. Dorian can be screaming his head off and this will make him stop instantly. It's amazing. The other day James plopped Dorian down next to him on the couch when he was having a crying fit and did what he usually does. Look at what happened next...Isn't this little boy made to play guitar? Look at those eyes...he is going to be a heartbreaking rock star some day!Dorian learns very quickly. He soon figured out that his hand needed to come up from UNDER the neck! James said, "It was done so purposefully - he knew what he was doing." It is so true. This was no accident. He was mimicking his daddy. Little genius!!!

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Growing up...

My name is Dorian, I am 4.5 months old and I can:

Play with my feet!
Roll onto my side (but not my stomach yet).
Sit in the bath in my new bath seat.
Sit in my new high chair (both the bath seat and high chair were from the White Elephant Sale, like new, and dirt cheap!)
Grab things very, very well!
Look at myself in the mirror (but I don't know it's me yet).
Squeal!!!!!!!!!
Stand up (I can pull myself up too!!!)
I still don't sleep very well. I slept much better in New Orleans and for a couple days after (must have been the wine my mama drank over there!), but now I am back to waking every 1-3 hours. My mama and daddy are so tired. They have even been making me do sleep training, complete with the dreaded "cry it out" technique (they were finally so exhausted and desperate for sleep, they thought they'd give it a try!), but it doesn't seem to be helping. I guess it is helping me with naps - my parental units are forcing me to take 3 naps a day (though I never nap for more than 30 minutes at a time). The sleep training doesn't seem to be helping my nighttime sleep at all. I eat rice cereal at night, take gas medicine, wear extra layers and have a full gentle routine before bed. Why can't I sleep? We see my doctor again tomorrow - maybe he'll have some more insight. Other than my sleep issues, I am a perfect baby. Don't you think???