FRUSTRATED!!!!

If the next time you see me and I have a few bald spots, just pretend you don't see them! They are either from Tristan pulling my hair out - which he does quite regularly - or because I've yanked my own hair out in frustration. The child won't sleep through the night! He used to, he started around 6 weeks until 5 months, but since then it hasn't happened. And he's started waking up in the middle of the night and staying awake. I've tried letting him cry it out a few times but I think I give in to easily. It just seems to me that if he's crying so hard that he can't breath, I should probably check on him.
Tonight he went to bed around 9 and then woke up at 12:15, I nursed him and he fell back asleep but as soon as I laid him down in his crib his eyes would pop wide open. I rocked him once and then laid him back down and I let him cry and just sat outside his doorway where I could see him but he couldn't see me and watched him to see what he did. He of course screamed like the world was falling down on top of him. He kept laying his head down for a second and then would bounce right back up and scream even louder. I let this go on for about 35 minutes before I went in and picked him up. I tried rocking him but at this point he was wide awake and was just not having me try to put him back to sleep. I was so frustrated so I had Chad try and take a turn rocking him. He lasted about 10 minutes before he brought Tristan downstairs. I stayed down in the basement and worked and Chad let Tristan crawl around and play for a little bit. When Chad wanted to go to sleep I tried to get Tristan to go to sleep too by laying down with him but he still kept pushing away and jumping up. Finally, I threw him in the car and went on a drive. I drove about 10 miles before he finally fell asleep. He woke up once a few minutes after I laid him down in his bed but I only had to rock him for a minute and he's been asleep since. Of course that was only 2 1/2 hours ago so we'll see how long it lasts.
I think he's also about to get a new tooth or teeth because he keeps gnawing on my fingers and pulling on his ear. So maybe that's a partial cause of him waking up so often but I've given him teething tablets and it doesn't seem to extend his sleeping length. I've looked at a couple books and gotten some advice from friends and family, I just need to stick to it and let him cry it out I guess. But before he finally sleeps through the night on his own, I may end up bald from pulling my hair out in frustration!

Things In Threes

I sure hope the old adage, things come in threes is true because it has been a rough couple of weeks for the wee one. First he got croup, which as I said before, is actually not too bad since it's the first time he's been sick. But then last Friday I was woken up to Chad running up the stairs and yelling for help. He had Tristan cradled in his arms, literally foaming at the mouth and covered in pink. Chad was wearing some pants that he hadn't worn in a while and they apparently had some Tylenol and Benadryl tablets in the pockets. A few must have fallen out and Tristan found them, and like every 8 month old, put them promptly in his mouth. Fortunately he started throwing up and that's why he was covered in pink. When Chad brought him up to me I dug around in his mouth and pulled out part of a Tylenol tablet. We of course called poison control and they said that he should be alright since it was only one tablet and just to watch him. He stayed acting normal so that was a crisis averted. And then today.... I gave Tristan some freeze dried strawberries and bananas a few days ago not realizing that he couldn't have them yet (yes, stupid mom moment) and a couple days later he had a little bit of a rash on his face. It still hadn't gone away and so I called the doctor's office to see if I could give him Benadryl and they asked me to bring him in just to document it and make sure that's what it was. It's a good thing we went in because he didn't actually have an allergic reaction, he has Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. The other day we noticed that he kept playing with his tongue but thought it was just his new entertainment because he wasn't acting like he was sick or anything. Apparently he has quite a few sores/cankers in his mouth. Poor baby!!!! So now he's all doped up on Benadryl and Ibuprofen. Fingers crossed that this is it for a while!

New Friends

This is Tristan and Asher, he's the son of Michelle, a friend from our ward. They crawled all over together, climbed stairs, shared some cheerios and played with each other's toys. It was his first real experience playing with another kid and as you can tell from the smile on his face, he enjoyed it! Guess I need to start setting up some play dates for him! Asher is 2 months older than Tristan and such a cutie!

On another note, I bought a cookbook called Cook Yourself Thin a couple months ago and we finally decided to try out the recipes. They are fantastic!!!! We haven't had one that we didn't like and I've started to notice that my pants are getting a little looser. Hopefully it actually works and I'll start to drop some weight because I'm getting soooo frustrated that nothing works. I lost all the weight I gained when I was pregnant with Tristan but haven't been able to lose anything since then. Fingers crossed that that will change once I stop breastfeeding. Anyway... if you're looking for some good recipes, I would highly recommend this cookbook!

Trouble Maker

Oh for the days when Tristan was not mobile!!!! Haha he's into everything and so fast! We have been strategically placing things in his way so he can't get up the stairs or grab and pull down the game consoles, dvd player and dvr but he seems to find ways around that.

I grabbed the camera as fast as I could to catch this one, but like I said, he's fast! So I only got his descent from the couch. We've been placing the playpen between the wall and the couch so that he can't get up the stairs into the kitchen which worked for a few weeks. But Houdini has found a way to sneak past the barriers. He climbs up the MonsterSak, onto the couch, scoots across the couch to the end, grabs the edge of the playpen and swings off the couch!!! He's too smart for our good!

Here he is pulling down all the video games and proceeding to pull down the game consoles. I had placed his little walker toy at an angle in front of that portion of the entertainment center and he tried and tried to get past it from the side. When that didn't work, he just went under it and stood up on the other side, pushed the toy out of his way and went to work pulling everything down.

Some approved mischief. When visiting Chad's grandparents the other day, Tristan was getting into things he shouldn't. Basically, he found all their decorations and plants and wanted to destroy them! So Grandma took him over to the best baby cabinet ever.... the tupperware cabinet! As you can see he thoroughly enjoyed himself!

Your Chariot Awaits

Chad and I like going on bike rides together but haven't been able to for a while. Last summer was because I was pregnant and until recently was because we had no where for Tristan to go. We bought this little puppy the other day and tried it out for the first time. Tristan thought it was great! He got so excited when we pulled out of the garage; he was bouncing up and down and laughing. I see more family bike rides in our future!

Weekend Full O' Firsts

We had a fun Independence Day weekend. We were going pretty much non-stop the whole time but it was fantastic. We actually got to spend some time with Eddie and Gio which is a rarity these days since Eddie's in med-school and quite busy. We went swimming, bbq'd, watched some fireworks and just had fun. Tristan had a whole bunch of firsts this weekend... see below :D

FIRST TIME SWIMMINGAs I've said previously, this kid is a little fish in the bath tub and the pool was no different... just bigger. He thought it was the greatest thing ever! Here he is with his new float-tube. We also took him out and just swam around with him. If we put him on his chest and faced him to Chad or myself, he would reach out and kick to get to us. Smart!

Playing motor-boat with Daddy. He was giggling and smiling the whole time. The first time swimming also led to his first sunburn (very minor). I lathered him up 3 times in 4 hours with sunscreen and he still got a little pink on his shoulders and arms. Dang kid is so pale! I guess next time he will be wearing a t-shirt as well.

FIRST TIME ON A TRAMPOLINELook at that smile! He thought the trampoline was awesome! I got up and bounced him a little bit which he thought was hysterical. He would race around the tramp (usually away from us) turn around and laugh. Chad's sister Jen and her hubby Brandon have quite a fun house, swimming pool, trampoline and numerous toys for Tristan and his cousins to play with once they get a little bit older. He had so much fun but his hands, feet and knees were BLACK from crawling all over the trampoline.

FIRST TIME SEEING HIS NEW COUSINSTristan actually saw Tyler and Matthew on Brandon's birthday on the 30th but he didn't really notice them because there were way too many other people around for him to talk to. On the fourth, we went over to Jen and Brandon's for a BBQ and to hang out. Both boys were sleeping in their swings and Tristan suddenly realized there was someone in there. Here he is trying to get as close as possible, I had to keep grabbing him to keep him from taking a leap off the couch to the swing. That's Tyler in the swing... can't wait until he and his brother Matthew are a little bigger so all the boys can play together!

FIRST FOURTH OF JULYSitting on Daddy's shoulders trying to see the Sandy Fireworks off in the distance. He was more excited about being on Chad's shoulders and pulling his hair and bouncing up and down. We sat out in the front yard and watched the neighbors set off fireworks which Tristan was much more intrigued by than the ones he could barely see.Sitting in Jen and Brandon's front yard watching the neighbor's fireworks. Jen was cold so she borrowed Tristan's blanket for her legs. Once he realized that was his blanket he kept grabbing it and pulling it off her, snuzzling it for a minute and then setting it on the ground. We put the blanket back on Jen and he did it again, and again. Uh-oh... is this a sign of things to come? I'm pretty sure Jen has Tyler and Brandon has Matthew (it's hard to tell without being able to see their faces).

FIRST TIME GETTING SICKNot such a good first but he seems to be doing alright as evidenced by the picture. This was right after I brought him home from the doctor's office and he made himself a little fort with the couch pillows. I noticed on Sunday that he sounded really hoarse when he would cry and was acting like it hurt so I took him into the pediatrician Monday morning. Sure enough, he's sick. He has croup! Apparently he doesn't realize that he's supposed to have that in the winter time, not the middle of summer! I can't complain too much though since he's now 8 months old and this is the first time he's been sick. For being a late-fall baby, we sure lucked out! HAHA I love this picture! He's just so happy!

Quick sidenote: He is up to 21lbs, 8oz as of Monday. His outfits in the pics are all 18 months as well. Such a big boy!