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October 13, 2002
October 13, 2002
Collin is 15 months old.
***It’s official…I’m off the pill!***
How many of you read that tagline and thought we were TTC again? Ha, Ha, Gotcha! Well, I really am off the pill, but not because we are TTC, because I made a stupid mistake! I’ve never been one to take the last 7 little green pills (the placebo pills) in the pack. I know you are supposed to take them so you don’t forget to take the REAL ones, but I’ve always thought why take them if they aren’t something I need to take anyway. Well, that was my problem this month. I didn’t take the green ones like usual, but when it was time to start all over again on day 1, I hadn’t yet refilled my pills and I completely forgot and didn’t even notice until it was day 4. By then it was too late and we would have had to use an alternative birth control method anyway. I figure why bother this month. If I want to continue with the pill, I’ll get my refill and start again next month. If not, we’ll continue with the alternative method. I’ve been back on the pill since I stopped breastfeeding Collin and he was about 3 months old and I’ve never had a problem with forgetting to take them. This month it really just slipped my mind. A part of me wants to get off the pill anyway. I don’t want to get pregnant right now, although if it happened, I’d be thrilled! But I just don’t like the idea of shoving hormones (more!) into my body. I guess it’s no big deal, I think I’m just head tripping on it for some reason lately. I know that studies have shown that there really is no link to weight gain and the pill, but I’ve always been thinner when not on the pill. Maybe it has something to do with me feeling more energetic and more willing to exercise while not on the pill. Not sure, but nonetheless, I’m off the pill…for this month anyway!
For several weeks now Collin has understood what HOT means. I often wondered how he would learn the concept of hot and cold over the past several weeks he’s figured it out. It started when we would serve him food and we would tell him it was too hot to eat and that we had to cool it down. I would then blow on his food, showing him how I would put it up to my mouth and blow air on it to cool it down. He quickly picked up what I was saying and started blowing on his own food. Even if it’s cool enough to eat, he’ll bring it up to his cute lips and blow really hard several times and make a whispering sound. Very adorable! After making dinner and shutting of the oven, I’d take him over to the CLOSED oven door (after it had cooled down for several minutes and was barely warm) I would place the palm of his hand on the warm door and say, “hot.” He would then bring his fingers up to his mouth and blow on it while pointing to the oven. Over the past two nights he’s been bringing the concept to the bathtub. We’ll draw him a bath and let some of the nice warm water trickle out of the facet while he is in. When I shut off the water, he’ll go over to the HOT knob, feel the medal part (it’s a little warm but certainly not HOT…I would never let him touch a burning hot surface of any kind!) and then bring his finger up to his mouth and blow. It’s amazing how fast these little beauties learn. Truly amazing!
We’ve been having a bit of a struggle with the afternoon nap. Collin thinks it’s more fun to stay awake and play. If he skips his afternoon nap, he’s cranky, whiny and in a foul mood for the remainder of the evening. He also gets over stimulated and overtired and it’s a nightmare trying to lay him down for the night. I try hard to have him take his afternoon nap, but there are times where he just won’t have it and no matter what we do, he’ll refuse. I can’t blame him; he’s so busy trying to figure out the world that I’m sure the crib and sleep are far too boring compared to toys and books. For the most part, he does well, but at least once or twice a week he’ll skip the afternoon nap.
This kid has a voice and he knows how to use it. He’s come to the realization that if gets attention when he yells. We try not to make a huge deal of him yelling because we don’t want him thinking that is how you get your way. We also know that this is part of him learning what new and exciting things he can now do to get attention or his point across. It’s mostly when I have to step into the other room and he’ll let me know he doesn’t approve of me leaving him. Also when I’m trying to get a task done. There are two ways we try to discourage his behavior. If it’s a certain yell that he’s just upset and unhappy, I’ll try to act like the noise is no big deal and divert his attention. That usually works. Other times when he’s yelling because he wants or needs something, I’ll bend down to his level, tell him that I’m listening and that “we don’t need to yell to get our point across.” Then I’ll ask him to tell me what he needs. Usually he’ll grunt, say or point to whatever he wants/needs, I’ll get it for him and he’s happy. Yi, yi, yi! I sure hope he starts understanding soon because my eardrums hurt!
Last weekend some of us girls got together for a “girls day” and had a great time. We met after I got out of class on Saturday and had lunch a pizza place called Zio’s. They have the best pizza and calzone’s in town and I swear I could eat their food at least twice a week and never get sick of it. After lunch we went a few doors down to a “paint your own pottery” place. I picked out a large plate and painted it as a Happy Birthday plate for Collin. I wanted Collin to have his very own special plate to have his cake on each birthday. Something he can treasure when he’s older and say, “my mom painted that for me!” It turned out very neat (I’ll try to post a picture to his website soon) and we all had a great time. It was nice to get out of the house and get out of “mommy-mode” for a while! I’m hoping to go back next month and paint a Santa’s Cookie’s plate.
This Saturday we are going to the pumpkin patch for some family fun and I’m really excited! Last year we went, but Collin was too young to enjoy or take part in any of the activities. Now that he’s walking and interested in more things, he’ll have fun, I’m sure. My MIL is leaving that morning for Tennessee for a college reunion with some of her college buddies and so Mark, Collin and I are meeting Sean, Wendy, Erin and Connor (Mark’s brother and his family) at the pumpkin patch. It will be very interesting to see how the day turns out because this will be the first time that we’ve gone out to do something as a “family” where Mark’s mother wasn’t involved. She’s pretty much our go between so this will certainly be a test. I for one am looking forward to it. I planned the event and I’m sure that Sean and Wendy wouldn’t be going if I hadn’t really made a big deal of it (they really aren’t into doing family things or even having fun for that matter!). After the pumpkin patch, Erin (10) and Connor (8) will be coming back to our house for a sleepover. We’re going to be making homemade pizzas for dinner and later on that night we’re making caramel apples, Halloween cookies and watching a fun movie. I’m exited and it will give them some time to spend with Collin (they absolutely adore Collin and often comment on how he’s the smartest, cutest and more brilliant baby on Earth…I can’t argue with that!). Mark has the weekend off from the band so it will be nice to spend some real quality time together as a family!!!
Enough this time around…more next week after the family festivities. Have a great week!
Until next time,
Hugs, Jennifer & Collin
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