And Sold!

I'm at home right now and Micah is asleep so its the perfect time for an update. Micah is still growing at a 100mph. Some of the parenting websites a glance at from time to time informed me that around the 1 year mark babies tend to go through a separation anxiety stage. Of all the stage that Micah has gone through, let me just say that this is probably the most annoying one. Yes my son,  you are so annoying right now. I love my little guy but it seems like I can't set him down for a second without him crying and going into a tantrum. Hey buddy, how about I'm going to get you a snack. Micah has also started taking his first true steps which is awesome and worrying at the same time. I don't know how we'll manage to keep up with him.

No don't leave me!!

All the baby sign language that we taught Micah is working great. It is definitely helping him in communicating himself with us. He is starting to also point at things and grunt or mumble to let us know he wants it. That gives us a great opportunity to say the name of whatever item it is and teach him to talk. He has already said certain words other than the usual mama , dada. The other day he called out for my dad and yelled "Abuelo!'.

Now that he is a year old the Doctor has given us the ok for different foods that Micah can now eat. Real Milk, Honey, etc. He's been doing great and hasn't found a food he won't eat. He still makes sure to save a small portion of whatever is on the menu so he can hand feed the dogs. Now that he is drinking real milk, I've now learned how disgusting real milk smells when vomitted. A couple nights ago, I woke up to Micah struggling to breath and immediately woke up to check on him. He was fine but had thrown up a zippy cup of milk he had drank a few hours earlier. I don't know how but it came out in chunks, almost as if it was turning into cheese inside of him (ok sorry, that was TMI). So we bathed him, and washed all his sheets and clothes thinking that was the end of it. Well the next day the sitter told us he wasn't eating and had thrown up as described a few sentences ago. Well that night we went to our bible study and had sat him down on my lap when I smelled throw up milk from the night before. So I grabbed a couple wipes and cleaned his mouth and hands and handed him off to Laura. That's when I noticed that my pant leg was wet but it was too late by that point and Laura had sat him down on her lap. It was coming out of both ends on this little dude.

All of that got me thinking about how much a parent truly spends on their children. Not just the direct expenses like formula, milk, diapers, clothes...... But also indirect expenses, like baby proofing, Special shampoos, and now dry-cleaning for my dirty pants. I know its a lot in the long run. Kinda makes you appreciate your parents more.

Sometimes When I stay home and watch Micah I take him to a play area at a Mall nearby. I know its a little germ fest but it would be good for Micah to socialize and more importantly tire himself out.  Micah is a very social baby. Much more than others in fact. When he meets other babies and toddlers he likes to reach out and play. I just learned that when first meeting other babies he has to be carefully supervised. I was watching him reach out to another baby today and smiled at the scene of him being friendly. Then had to run and stop him from slapping the other baby ....... repeatedly. Hey, but the other baby took it like a champ. He's gotta a bright future ahead of him as a punching bag.

On a brighter note, Just wanted to let everyone know that our house in under contract. Laura and I had just talked about how right now is probably a bad time to sell a house because no one is buying or looking for houses since we're in the holiday season. But later that day I got a call from our agent telling us we had a great offer. The home inspection was done today so I'm guessing we'll be working out the details about what we need to do. This is the first house we've owned and sold so I really nervous about the next few steps. The house is in great shape other than a few details here and there but its nerve wrecking to get a home inspection done thats going to throw all the imperfections you weren't previously aware of in your face. Hopefully its nothing to major. I know obviously that no Home seller wants to lose more money on repairs for a house they're wanting to vacate and a home buyer will try to get everything move in ready so Im curious to know what the report finds. With this in mind, Can any of you share any thoughts and experiences on what a Home seller should fix? Or if you've found yourself in a similar situation drop some advice!

Where's my hair?

Hey guys, How's everyone doing? Micah hit the 3 month mark this month and the parent life is pretty good. I've read in different places that the 3 month mark is a milestone because your baby falls into a routine and will begin to sleep and eat better. Micah is doing that for the most part. He has been sleeping for at least a good  5 hours straight, occasionally waking up once for a quick diaper change or feeding. Our schedules have changed alot. For the 3 of us. Laura is getting used to working full-time again. I'm sure this is probably the biggest change. She is working on going part-time in the next couple months. We're hoping that everything will work out.

            Micah is getting used to others taking care of him. We've been so fortunate to have family to watch Micah while were working. My mom watches him 1-2 days a week, one of my aunts takes care of him -1-2 days a week and I have reduced my hours at my part-time to be able to take care of him once during the work week. Keeping up with this schedule is pretty time consuming. It requires alot of preparation. We have to get his clothes and diaper bag ready at night. We now have to wake up earlier to get him whoever is taking care of him and still be able get to work on time. Blah blah blah..... It's not that bad. It's all part of being a parent. 

        My days with Micah are awesome. I enjoy almost every minute of it. We have our good and bad moments. Yesterday I had to take the dogs to the vet for their vaccines. So I got everyone ready early and we were off. Micah fell asleep on the way their and was calm all the way home until I walked through the door with him in one hand and the dogs in the other. He must have figured he had given me long enough of a break and started to squirm in his car seat. It's all good. I got this. I look down at my watch and see it's time for him to eat. I got this. We always change his diaper right before he eats so he'll eat more comfortably. I took off his little pants and felt the back of his chubby little knee was wet. At first I thought it was sweat since it was a little warm and he had a blanket on. But I looked down at my hand and saw it was green , and it wasn't sweat, and his diaper wasn't sealed on right, and now the bed sheets were dirty because I had laid him on the bed to change him instead of his changing station, and now I was gagging.  

Yea it was gross.

Confused and Worried....

I've written about Micah's hair before. It's so long and it keeps growing. I used to say to myself that I wouldn't cut it until it got ridiculously long. That was before I actually met Micah. I never realized he was going to have so much hair. Most babies are pretty much bald or have little hair. The funny thing about Micah's hair is that it is about the same length all around. From the back to the front to the sides. I couldn't even see his ears. And that Mullet, Oh that Mullet! That thing was creeping down his back. So enough was enough. We decided (I decided, Laura wanted to let it keep growing) to cut it. I did it all with scissors and cut mostly the sides. It was pretty special. his first haircut, and we took plenty of pictures. He started off worried, then cried and after it was done and over he was pretty grumpy. He normally reaches up for the hair above his ears and twiddles it once he is starting to go to sleep. That night he reached for it and it was gone. He had a somewhat confused look on his face like where's my hair? How am I supposed to get to sleep? He looks like such a little grown up now. Like a little latino Benjamin Button.

Get off me! Im gonna put you in a home when you get old!!!

Me llamo Benjamin Boton.

"Micah quiere leche de mami!"

Hello Everyone! Remember me and this blog? I know it's been a while since I last updated but I've been a little busy with a newborn baby and what not. I would love to say that we have the hang of this. But we don't completely. I say this in a humorous way because when my wife or I are up at night and switching bottles because Micah refuses to eat out of anything we give him, or when I change his diaper right after having just changed it, and after all that realize he's pooped again, or when he cries because he loves being in his parent's arms and hates his bassinet, I think about how I was as a baby and the loud sleepless nights I gave my parents. From all the stories I have heard of me as a child , I understand completely why Micah is a little troublemaker at times. When my sister was being  born, my parents left me under my aunt and uncle's care. I guess I must have missed my parents because I am told that I cried and cried like there was no tomorrow. So in a last ditch effort to quiet me, my uncle put me in a closet and closed the door. Now I know that sounds cruel and you won't find that kind of parenting advice in the books but I'm sure I was being a brat. So I had been in the closet for a few minutes when I go quiet. My Uncle came back to check on me and found me peeing in all of his shoes. True Story. So whenever I feel frustrated I smile because I know. I know this is my son (if you dont believe me, check out the picture below) and I will give him the same love and patience that I was given. (By my parents, not my uncle.)

Now please don't misunderstand me and think that we're losing it over here. We are enjoying every bit of being parents. Micah is so alert. I play games with him where I kiss his nose and make little noises and when I come off he smiles and coos. Sometimes I just talk to him and ask him how his day was and if he gave mommy a hard time while I was away. He responds and coos little noises and expressions like he is trying to tell me what he did that day. I've read that most things just click and fall into place around the 3 month mark and that seems to be the case. At times he still gets a little fussy when I feed him but it's only for a few seconds and then he just drains the bottle. He's sleeping longer too! Last night I think we got a good 5 and a half hours of sleep. I know that sounds like a stupid thing to get excited over but you have to remember that he normally wakes up about 3 times to eat or needing a diaper change. It felt so good but I couldn't enjoy it because I kept waking up wondering if he was ok because he hadn't woke me up first.

Around this time we were expecting Micah's hair to fall out since that what everyone told us would happen. Not the case with this little guy. His hair looks like its here to stay. It's getting so long that if I trimmed the sides a bit he'd go straight mullet. I'm tempted to do it for the laughs but then I'd come home to him driving a John Deere tractor, in a camo cut-off t-shirt and bottle filled with budlight in his hand.

Then again, Joe Dirt was a funny movie...

Laura and I have decided to talk to Micah in Spanish as a primary language until he gets older. We figured that he will learn English eventually through school, his friends and tv but we don't want him to forget or not pick up Spanish. We're also trying to teach him a little Sign Language. Laura's sister is deaf so Laura learned how to sign to communicate with her. I only know enough to ask "What's your name?" and that's it, at that point I would probably have to hand the person I signed to, a letter apologizing for wasting their time. I got the idea to teach Micah Sign language from a video I saw on youtube. The link is below. Its amazing what an infants mind is capable of. According to some information I read, the baby probably would sign back until the 6-9 month mark but we should start teaching him as soon as possible. If I'm not mistaken, In deaf culture, a deaf person has to give you your deaf name in sign. The sign is normally a mix between the first letter of your first name and quality or characteristic you have. Laura's sister has given us all our names. Mine for example is the letter in A in sign and a brush against the side of my head as if I was putting on glasses. Laura's is the letter L while she signs cute which is a flick of her chin with the her index finger. Micah's is pretty cool. It's the letter M coming away from my eye representing his long eye lashes. You can see me signing to him in the video below.

Laura has done an awesome job in her new role as mommy. She can tell the difference between his cries and knows what each one means. In a few days she will exchange her role as stay at home mommy and get back to the work grind. Staying at home has not been a vacation for her. I sometimes thought to myself that she had it good, being able to stay home and "play" with Micah. "Play" ha, it wasn't until I actually took care of him by myself while she went out grocery shopping that I realized there was no playing involved. I was quickly calling her up, wondering how far out she was because I couldn't get Micah to stop crying. All joking aside, Baby, you have done a wonderful job these past couple months taking care of Micah while I'm at work and away from home. I know it wasn't a vacation and it was hard at times but you've stuck through it and now Micah is a momma's boy because of it. Thanks. I wuv you.

Pregnancy Hormones

Pregnancy Hormones I'm learning are a funny thing. They can turn your wife against you in a heartbeat. I can't say I wasn't warned. Almost every piece of information made reference to it at some point. Luckily my wife's hormones don't turn her into a psycho who hates me. She just seems to cry at small things or be fine with things that would have made her cry before the pregnancy.

For Example.

The other night we were watching Wreck it Ralph at home. I had already seen the ending but watched it again with my wife. Before, the ending to that movie would have made my wife Cry. So I sat back with tissues and my phone set to camera so I could take a picture and upload it to my blog because I'm stupid like that. I waited and waited but the tears never came. I even asked "Aren't you sad?, Doesn't that make you want to cry?". Nope, no tears from my wife.

The next day was our 3rd year anniversary. We both woke up and started getting ready for work. I had to be out earlier so as I said bye I said "Oh and Happy Anniversary, love you babe." And the tears came out. "Oh my god!, I totally forgot that was today. I can't believe I forgot. I'm so sorry." I didn't think it was a big deal. I'm sure if I hadn't mentioned it she would have remembered at some point during the day. I wouldn't expect her to remember first thing in the morning because we didn't have any special plans (by choice not because I forgot). So either it's the hormones or those tears were the Wreck it Ralph tears my wife held in the night before.

On another note, Women's senses are heightened during pregnancy, so I read. So here's a little something for the guy my wife works with who decides to smoke a pack of cigarettes in his car with the windows up. Doesn't spray himself down and then thinks its acceptable to go back to work in a small confined space surrounded by bullet proof glass with 3 other people including a pregnant woman.
You're an Idiot.

Share and Comment

Hey everyone just want to let you guys know that you all are more than welcome to comment and share the Blog with your friends. I'd love to get your opinions and suggestions on the Blog. My wife (Borat) jokingly said that it would be funny if I started to review Products on here and I kinda laughed it off......but hey if some company decided to lets say send me some baby swag so I could try it out and than give my opinion on it than that'd be ok with me. ; ). But in order to do that I'd have to get more people looking at what I'm writing. So come on guys help me out.