Cooper's First Run

Happy Wednesday. We are on the struggle bus in our house lately. Last week Cooper's reflux was so bad that he was screaming in pain every time he tried to eat. There is nothing worse than having to watch your baby scream in pain and not being able to help him. We started him on a new medication Friday and it seems to be helping a lot. Unfortunately Friday he also had to get his 4 month shots which always upsets his equilibrium for awhile. And of course we are in the middle of the 4 month sleep regression- which means we are back to getting up every 3 hours all night.

Things aren't all gloom and doom however- at our 4 month visit we did get permission to do something I've been waiting to do since before Cooper was born- run with him!

The weather has been so bad that we didn't get to it until today. It still wasn't nice out, but it wasn't actively raining so we went for it!

My wonderful aunt got us the Thule Urban Glide jogging stroller as a baby shower gift and it is amazing. Seriously it has better shocks than my car! We got the car seat adapter to go with it so his car seat just sits on top of it until he is big enough to ride in the stroller itself.

Cooper was very interested in looking around at the world whizzing by for about 10 minutes and then he fell fast asleep. I had only planned to run for 30 mins or so since it was our first run, but they say not to wake a sleeping baby. So I ran until he woke up (about 55 minutes).

It definitely felt harder than running solo, but I strategically picked a flat path, and was happy to see that my pace wasn't much slower than usual.

I can't wait for a summer full of running with my boy!

Three Things Thursday

Hi Friends! I've been too exhausted lately to put together a coherent post about anything, here are some random things on my mind and happening in my life lately.

1) Tickpocolpyse
My friend and I went for hike on Sunday with the baby and our dogs. It was a lovely until halfway through when we realized we were all completely covered in ticks. I have never seen anything like it. It was absolutely horrifying. There were hundreds of them. I took off my socks and shoes when we got back to the cars and they were just crawling with ticks. As soon as I got home, Cooper and I went straight into the bath. My poor husband had just gotten up after working a midnight shift and had to spend hours combing them out of the dog. She looked like a Dalmatian she was so covered. I vacuumed and sprayed tick spray all over my car, but Monday morning as I drove to work, a tick fell off the ceiling and onto my face. Its been days and I still feel like I have things crawling all over me. So gross!!

2) On the Other Side
We take Cooper to the same pediatrician office where I work and it is interesting to see things from the patient side. We complain about the parents who call multiple times in a day, but now as a parent I totally get it. When there is something wrong with your kid, you want it fixed NOW. We have been going through this nightmare of trying to get liquid Prilosec to help with Cooper's reflux. We have called the pediatrician, CVS, and insurance dozens of times in the last 2 days and we still don't have the med.

3) Food Rut
I am in a major food rut lately. In trying to eat things that are cheap, easy, and healthy, I find myself making the same things over and over. I never want to see another chicken breast or egg. Easy lunch and dinner ideas?

What is happening in your world?

Adjustment

I am a runner in every sense of the word. Not only do I run for exercise, but I've always run my way through life. As soon as my alarm goes off I am up and moving. I've always filled my days with as much as possible- exercise, baking, errands, long dog walks, eating out, exploring, time with friends, etc...

This week he learned that he can grab his own feet

When Cooper was born obviously the pace of my life slowed somewhat, but he was still pretty portable. As long as he was full, he would sleep just as happily in the car, in his car seat, or in someone's arms as he would in his crib at home.

In recent weeks that has changed. In order to get a good nap in he really needs to be alone in his rock n play in a quiet space. When he doesn't get good naps he turns into a major cranky pants and the whole day derails. Basically after he wakes up, is changed and eats, I have about an hour to try and run and do something before he needs to be back at home to nap again. He also hasn't yet settled into a schedule where he naps at about the same time every day for about the same amount of time. This makes it pretty impossible to make plans in advance.

It's a major adjustment and it is hard. There are days when I feel like a prisoner in my own house- albeit a prisoner with a treadmill and Netflix and a fully stocked kitchen. I knew having a baby was going to change my life, but I feel lately like I can't even do the baby related things I was looking forward to- like going to Mom & Me groups or going for long walks.

I love this little guy with all my heart and I love being a Mom. But I miss being able to run- to go for a run, to run to the store, to run to meet a friend for coffee.