Weekly Check-in 6/28

mindaa

How was your week?

QOTW: It's hot! What is your favorite way to stay cool in the summer?

mindaa

My week has been more relaxed now that the grandparents have been and gone, we're able to get back to our routine. I've gone from a full house to an empty house as DH is currently out of town for 4 days.Thankfully LO hasn't been overly fussy and our solo outings have gone smoothly.

QOTW

I live in Phoenix, so we escape to higher elevation and go camping as often as possible in the summer. And I love the water park! 

marijaa333

I've been exhausted, but it's for a good cause: we're finally seeing definite progress with breastfeeding so now i'm trying to transition him from having breast milk from a bottle to nursing more and more. I am just afraid to let him only nurse because he may not still be transferring enough to sustain weight gain, and I may lose my supply if I don't pump. So, for now, I'm nursing AND pumping, which basically takes up all of my time. Thankfully, my husband cooks delicious food, which has been the highlight of the past month.

We have a trial day with a nanny tomorrow--I hope she works out! And then my parents are coming for a visit. I hope that's helpful as opposed to more stressful... 

QOTW: Ice tea or cold beer on a shady patio, ideally next to a body of water.

NeonNoon

My week was so miserable I'm reluctant to talk about it. There were several days where DS whined almost constantly while awake and for brief moments while sleeping. I'm very ready to have a normal week. I hope DS gets over his growth spurt/cold/teething/whatever soon.

I'm really resenting not having a support network locally. I know I need to prioritize meeting other moms but it seems like a very steep hill to climb right now.

QOTW: I don't think I've figured out anything that really works for me aside from air conditioning! I avoid going out during the hottest times plus have lots of cold drinks. Oh, and I've recently discovered bamboo viscose tees that are awesome for hot, muggy weather.

spen1208

Back to work today.  Ughhhh.  I thought I had prepared as much as possible last night before going to bed, but I didn't.  After getting three kids out the door and to daycare with all their needed items, then myself to work, I felt like I had accomplished so much and desired a nap!  I think it's going to take us a few days to get back into a solid morning routine.  haha 

DS finally has his own room and slept there all night last night!  He was restless at times, but I'm considering it a success!   He is 13 weeks today and seems to be going through a growth spurt.  He seems restless when sleeping and is sucking his meals right down and wanting more.  My oldest DD (she's ten) has shown some real pre-teen moments lately and I'm not enjoying the small glimpses of attitude she seems to have.  We are trying to work through those moments. 

QOTW:  I'm that person who is always cold...I usually have a space heater running in my office during the summer months due to the freezing cold AC.  I like to stay cool with an ice cold beverage or days on the lake. 

ewenner

My week was rough. The little guy is so alert - at three weeks, he's darn near impossible to get to sleep during the day. He does usually sleep OK at night, which is good, but life would be so much less stressful if I didn't spend all the daylight hours trying to keep him from screaming his little head off. It's. Never ending cycle of eat, poop, and cry from 5 AM until 8 PM. And I know he's tired, but he fights it so much, he just won't shut his little eyeballs. Ugh!

As for staying cool, I actually love the hot summer weather, so just relaxing out in the sun is good for me!

KaLikeAWind

Hey ladies! Nice to see a lot of you again!

My week has been rough. LO will be a week old tomorrow. Tired, trying to bf, LO is losing weight and its stressful. I can't articulate much more than that right now.

QOTW - I live in a state that borders Canada so a heat wave for us is 85. We don't even have central air - just a couple of window units we usually don't bother to install in the summer. We just keep the air moving with ceiling fans and try to shut out the sunlight where it comes they the windows strong.

Guennie

NeonNoon said:

My week was so miserable I'm reluctant to talk about it. There were several days where DS whined almost constantly while awake and for brief moments while sleeping. I'm very ready to have a normal week. I hope DS gets over his growth spurt/cold/teething/whatever soon.

I'm really resenting not having a support network locally. I know I need to prioritize meeting other moms but it seems like a very steep hill to climb right now.

QOTW: I don't think I've figured out anything that really works for me aside from air conditioning! I avoid going out during the hottest times plus have lots of cold drinks. Oh, and I've recently discovered bamboo viscose tees that are awesome for hot, muggy weather.

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. We moved to a new state last year and I have made friends with one of my neighbors but other than that I haven't gotten out there to meet other moms. It seems so hard, maybe that's just me or I think it will be hard to connect with anyone because I'm an older mom.

It was my four year anniversary on Sunday. My h was actually off work for once. We had brunch then went to check out the art museum which was hosting an Andy Warhol exhibit. Our daughter did ok for a toddler. My h gave me a card and flowers but I have to be honest, I know that he bought them on his way home the night before and it felt like a last minute thought. I had a gift for him.

I don't do well in the heat so I stay inside in the air conditioning as much as possible. If I have to go out I drink lots of ice water.

NeonNoon

Thx @mindaa & @Guennie. Sorry if I'm repeating a post I can't see. I find this board to be quite helpful in feeling supported. And DH is home all the time or it would be much worse.

We've been at our current location for 5 years. I've been to many mixers and classes etc. I find it easy to make acquaintances but hard to form more meaningful friendships now. It was so easy when I was younger! I have like one friend in town (who has a baby about the same age as DS, conveniently.)

There are all these social networking tools to use too. I'm sure I'll get around to it when I can spare the time and energy.

I'm impressed by those women who can just walk up to others at a grocery store or park. I'm way too introverted to do that.

Sorry your LO is crying so much @ewenner. That's so stressful. Maybe he's peaking early in terms of fussiness. Hang in there!

mattandlora

NeonNoon said:

I'm impressed by those women who can just walk up to others at a grocery store or park. I'm way too introverted to do that.

Me too. I will say this though - getting out and about with my second baby was MUCH easier than my first. Yours sounds like he has the same personality my firstborn had / has. He requires constant attention, but the reason he needs attention has changed as he matures. I can say a lot of negative things, but the reality is that he is a high-energy, determined, social, curious kid. This gives us plenty of joy and laughter when he's having a good day, but I just want to drink when he's having a bad day. In the end, his personality will give him a lot of potential to be a successful adult. But for now, we don't take him out in public much.

harmonicbabe26

Hey all! Jumping in late to the convo. Nothing to add to the check in - boring around here - but wanted to comment about making mommy friends.

I've found 2 things to work.
1. Neighbors with kids. We're lucky, almost every house on our street has a young kid in it, most within a year, either way, of our DD1. She has an automatically built in play group on our street. It's the best! And a while ago one mom actually got everyone's emails and we now meet regularly for play time on Sat morning (some people work some don't), bdays, cookouts. It's awesome!

2. DD1 is SUPER outgoing and extroverted. I'm the exact opposite. So when we go out, she takes the lead and instantly makes friends at playgrounds and activities. That way I'm forced to socialize. Sometimes it's enough to just follow the kid around and they will almost bring mom friends to us...

mdogan29

Not much to report here either, still dealing with issues with my mom, she was in hospital again last week and now moved back to rehab and my brother (who's been caring for my grandma) wants to move back to FL now (we're in NC), so trying to figure out what to do once my mom is out of rehab, where we can place them both (hopefully together) -- of course, we're having trouble b/c of the cost of everything and their financial situation. It's been stressful to say the least.

Bash is doing well though! He still has days where he has crying/complaining fits and I can't figure out what it is, but for the most part he seems like a generally happy kid, you just have to keep him moving. I think he's going to be a terror once he's on the move! I REALLY need to get in shape before that happens! I'm still so tired most of the time, this heat is just wiping me out!  He loves to sit up and stand (with help), he's not really digging tummy time, but don't think he'll learn to crawl without it (right?) and is sleeping quite well at night, but doesn't really like naps during the day. He will fuss until he finally drifts off and will not keep a pacifier in his mouth for anything (unless I hold it in place), but still loves my finger for soothe-sucking (doctor approved).

@marijaa333 I'm happy to hear the BF is going better!! It will be exhausting for a while until he is eating more and needing to be fed less ofter! Hope the parent's visit goes well!

@NeonNoon as far as getting together with other moms --- I finally found a group I like through meetup.com, (just did a search for local mommy groups), there is a wide age range of both moms and kids and right now there are quite a few babies, they like to keep the group fairly small, so I think there are less than 30 of us in the group and they do several activities a week. I've been to 3 meetups now and some of the babies are super fussy, but it's good to hang out with other adults -- all of the moms are super friendly (to my surprise even the younger ones)! And I've received some very good advice and tips about things we've been struggling with. I've actually found that Bash is less fussy outside too, something about the fresh air seems to cheer them up -- as long as it's not too hot! We usually try to attend morning/outdoor events or go for a walk between 9-11am.

QOTW: To keep cool has been really hard this summer!! The A/C can't seem to keep up, but we do stay indoors during the hottest times of the day. But we love the water and will try to enjoy it as much as we can this summer. We took Bash to the pool this past weekend and he was mesmerized by the water! (I just hope we don't have to worry about that crypto bacteria problem!!)