When we were just married, Eric bought a truck outright from a private seller. It was a beauty. A Ford F-150 Lariat Supercab, white, with a hood scoop, rumble muffler and an amp that would make a 16-year-old boy jump for joy. Not to mention my husband. It had a cattle pusher on the front, oversize off-road tires and was obviously well taken care of. We lucked out, got it for a great price, and have driven it ever since.
But it was getting old. 174,000 miles, and rust was beginning to show. It was getting to the point where we needed to sell it to get anything out of it. The great thing with trucks is that they hold their value really well - especially American-made trucks. Some of the truck we saw while searching for his "new toy" were $15,000 and they had the same amount of miles on it. Unfortunately, that was not ours. Kelly Blue Book had Eric's truck priced at $6,000, in fair condition, which we would say it was more in good condition than anything. No dents, a little spot of rust here and there, and overall, a well-maintained truck. But like I said, it was time.
So we posted Eric's truck on Craigslist and waited. Had a few bites, but no one came to look at it. So we dropped the price from $5500 to $4500. We would have been happy with $4000. But again, no one took the bait.
As we waited for Eric's truck to sell, we researched trucks online. And looked at car dealerships. We took Sunday drives as a family to check out local dealers and dealerships. For two months, we searched for the "perfect" truck that would fit Eric's needs. Leather, so it was easy to maintain and upkeep when he was dusty from a day at the job site. Some, but not all, bells and whistles, so that it would hold it's value even more, for even longer. Four wheel drive, since he hauls a trailer. Supercrew cab, since we need to haul two kids in car seats. White to match his trailer, and easy to keep clean. Each one of those things drove up the price.
During our search, it was decided that we might not be able to put money down on a truck without overextending ourselves. We pay $1100 a month in daycare alone, with a $900 mortgage. We didn't want a $500 a month truck payment. So I went to the bank. Being debt-free has it's advantages, and we rang in at 2.3% interest, the lowest we could find.
So we searched some more. We finally decided on a truck and went to test drive it one day while our kids were at daycare and I was about to start school. It was good, and we liked it. Came with all the bells and whistles we were interested in, plus a DVD screen and two wireless headphones in the back. It was older, and had some miles on it, but like I said, trucks hold their value a lot longer than cars and SUV's, so we were ok with it.
But the experience was a pretty poor one. Negotiations were made in the lobby of the dealership. They were only going to take Eric's truck at $2500 and they refused to come down in price on the truck we were looking at. So Eric and I walked.
But we kept coming back to that truck. This past Sunday, we took another family outing to look at it again. For some reason it was unlocked, and we sat in the cab. I didn't like it. Something just didn't feel right.
Due to a long-time teacher in our district passing away, school was dismissed early on Monday. I didn't know the teacher, so I came home and Eric and I talked about our truck options. For two months, it seemed like that's what we've been doing. We were getting tired and starting to talk in circles. So we took one last look at autotrader.com, and saw a truck that was newly listed at a dealership 40 miles away. There was only one picture shown, but it was white, supercrew cab, Lariat, leather interior, and exactly what we had been looking for. It was slightly more expensive, but it was worth a look.
So we drove to the dealership, only to find that the truck was out being detailed. Luckily, Pam, our salesperson, was incredibly kind and offered to drive us to the detailer, which was only a short drive, to take a look at the truck. When we pulled up, we were interested. Very interested. It was obviously a well-maintained truck and we were anxious to get a look inside. The same there too - very well maintained.
Pam allowed us to take it for a test drive, and that was it. Eric and I were sold. But we were worried what they would allow for trade-in. In those two months of no bites, we had started to reluctantly accept that no one wants to buy a 15 year old truck. Even with a clean title, and it being well maintained, the person that bought it would be a needle in a haystack and with winter coming, we knew it was only a matter of time where something happened with the truck, and we would be putting more money in than what it was worth.
Long story short, they came back with $3000 on the trade-in. Aggressively, I came back with $4000. She came back with $3500. I told her $4000 and the truck was sold. And sold it was.
So with our down payment and trade-in, we didn't have to take out a huge loan. It's a doable loan, with four years of payments on it. But, we took out a loan with a payment knowing that I can, and will, pay ahead on it, so hopefully it's done in three. Eric is happy as a lark, and just said to me, "I think I'm going to sleep outside in my new truck..."
It's a nice looking truck, with a few minor dings, scratches, and chips that come with buying a used vehicle. But it's nice, and we love it.
Debt-free works sometimes, and sometimes, it doesn't. For us, it wasn't feasible to pay cash for a truck. Like Eric has said several times, he can't be pulling up to half-million dollar houses in a rust-bucket. The truck he has now is modest, but looks good. He can be proud when he pulls up to his client's houses in it.
Although our goal has been to maintain our debt-free status, it's also a goal of ours not to get into a situation where we are forking out money left and right to maintain a vehicle that isn't worth it. We were on the cusp of that, and we didn't want to risk it. So we're happy, and even though Dave Ramsey would be disappointed, we did what was right for us, and right for Eric's business. We deliberated a long time, talked abut it for a long time, and made the best decision for us. And that's all that matters. :)
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Our Little Family: An Update
Breastfeeding: Four months in, and we're still going strong. I'm not a cow, like some women tend to be when they breastfeed this long, but I'm able to consistently produce enough. My lactation consultant told me that Catherine should not need any more than 4 ounces per feeding while at daycare, so that's what Christy was giving her, twice a day. Finally, Christy mentioned that maybe we should up it to 5 ounces, which stressed me out. I was only producing 10 ounces, which would mean there would be nothing left over for me to freeze at the end of the week, or for Christy to use in case Catherine had a sudden growth spurt. But we upped it to 10 ounces, and I've been keeping up. I am part of a breastfeeding support group on Facebook, and several times, mothers will post something about "low milk supply" because they're not producing more than what their baby eats. Well, duh (and I can say that now that I finally understand breastfeeding, thanks to many support groups, lactation consultants, phone calls to the hospital, and reading a shit-ton of books on it. Oh, and let's not forget, googling the shit out of it). Your body is only going to produce what your baby eats. The other day at Catherine's four-month appointment (where she weighed a whopping 12 pounds, 3 ounces... 4.5 pounds less than James at four months!) the doctor showed some concern regarding her weight, but not much considering she is still gaining steadily. Luckily, her appointment was during the time she typically nurses, so I was able to breastfeed and weigh her. She ate 6 ounces. Multiply that by 5, and she's eating anywhere from 25-30 ounces a day. That's more than the lactation consultant recommends, but she's a hungry girl, I guess! Luckily, I'm able to produce that much, and I'm fortunate to have a job that allows me to pump 3 times a day in order to provide for my child. I am also excited that I am no longer in the panicky stage of breastfeeding. I am in the smooth-sailing stage, where now all I need to do is nurse Catherine when she needs/wants it. From here on out, my milk supply will begin to taper off, and then diminish as we start adding more and more solids to her diet. Crazy to think that this is the peak season, so to speak. But I'm thankful it's going well, and I am so grateful to all the people who have helped along the way. Oh yeah, and for Google too. Thank God.
Battle of the Bulge: The Battle of the Bulge has been won, but the Battle of the Body Image is on-going. To the point where we got our family photos back, and I cried to Eric because I felt like I looked terrible. My hips were too wide, I have love-handles, my thighs touch together. Oh, and let's not forget, I just had a baby, so even though I'm below pre-preggo weight, I'm still "misshapen." And who knows if I'll ever get back to the body I had before. So just today, I was looking at the pictures, and I tried to look at them from my husband's point of view, a guy who tells me nearly every day how beautiful I am to him. I used to hate it when he would say things like that to me. But after trying to be a better wife, I have realized I am very lucky to have a husband who still thinks that about me, two kids and 10 years later. I'm not the 19-year-old he fell for anymore, in more ways than one. He loves me for who I am; big hips, loud demeanor and quick mood swings! So maybe I need to start looking at how I see myself. Instead of seeing love handles that stick out in a weird way, maybe I need to start looking at the fact that I haven't been this weight, or looked this good, in over three years. I love my long hair, which is weird because I've always wanted to keep it short for easy maintenance. No, long hair is easy maintenance! I think my eyes are really pretty. For not working out and just having a baby, my stomach is surprisingly flat. I have good looking legs. And all in all, for the most part, I feel good about myself. It's just hard not to see photos and zero in on those things that aren't "perfect," especially for a perfectionist like me!
The Daily Poop Scoop (and Sleep Update): Catherine had some poop issues earlier in life, and it seems as though they are still plaguing her. On Monday night, she became fussy about 6:30 and by 7:00 was scream-crying to the point where my anxiety was going to cause me to crawl out of my skin. I finally gave her a bath and while she settled and sat, soothed from the warm water, I realized she hadn't had a bowel movement all day. When I really thought about it, she hadn't had a bowel movement all weekend. That was three and a half days without poop. No wonder she was fussy. So I did what any good mom would do - wet a wash cloth and tried to stimulate her rectum. Never thought there would be a day where I could add that to my resume of amazing things I've done in this lifetime. But there you had it, and that's all it took. She started pooping... and straining to poop, then pooping again. I took paper towel after paper towel to catch it when it would come out so it wouldn't get in the water and make it nasty. It was a dirty job, but Eric was getting James, who had been puking all weekend and into Monday, ready for bed, so I was on my own. Following the poop-scapade, I put Catherine to my breast to nurse and she fell instantly asleep. My milk didn't even let down (which led to some crazy-full boobs the next morning!) And she slept all night. So that's where the sleep issues come in. Once she sleeps, this girl sleeps. But it takes her so much to get to sleep. It's the most grating, anxiety-inducing two hours of my life. So last night, I just let go of my anxiety (who knew it would be so easy?) and decided that I was going to let her cry it out. After 20 minutes of screaming, it was apparent she was NOT going to sleep. So I nursed her, which she did NOT want. Then I tried baby massage. I have never massaged a baby in my life, nor have I ever taken any special massage class. I just rubbed her little legs and funny enough, when I got to her hips/butt cheeks, that's when she calmed down. Again, not something I thought I would be able to add to my resume in this lifetime, but there you have it. Professional Butt Massager. Once she calmed down enough, I put her in her bassinet (she's still small enough that we just use her bassinet). And boom. Immediate scream-crying started all over again. Luckily my nerves were that tired that I was able to walk away and let her cry it out for the 15 minutes it took her to eventually fall asleep. She did end up waking up last night, for the first time in ages, but she soothed herself back to sleep. Tonight, I put her to bed at 5:30, an hour and a half before she normally falls asleep. She talked to herself for about 15 minutes and then I heard nothing on the monitor. When i checked on her, she was fast asleep, and stayed that way. When I woke her up to change her diaper and dream feed her, she was asleep by the time my milk let down (but thankfully because of intelligent design, she continues to suck and thus still gets full. Beautiful!). I put her in her bassinet and she's been sleeping ever since. Hopefully, this sleep pattern continues!
Speech Regression: A few weeks back, I blogged about James' speech regression. The progress he has made has been amazing. He talks so frequently now! He needs to work on his diction a bit for better understanding by strangers, but to us, he talks much clearer than he ever has. Tonight, I asked him if he had to pee, and he said, "Uh-uh. No pee, mama, no pee." So adorable! I'm so thankful we're heading in the right direction. It's awesome to hear all the new words he knows! And somewhere in between that post and this one, he learned his alphabet (upper and lower case) and his numbers up until 10. What? One day we were watching Super Why (God bless PBS) and boom - he pointed out and said all the letters that popped up on the screen. Holy crap! It is awesome as he is so proud. He is starting to spell short words, like "B-O-B, Bob!" for Bob the Builder, and things like that, which is much faster than I would have anticipated. So even though he doesn't totally communicate how we'd like him to, the kid can spell for God's sake. We've got to take what we can get.
Illnesses: Dear God, help us. Last week, I was sick with a cold and fever. I've also been blessed with viral-induced asthma, which doesn't allow me to properly cough anything up, so bacteria just sits in my lungs and manifests into something worse. Normally, every year, I end up with walking pneumonia or something. But this time, at Catherine's four month appointment, I mentioned it and the doctor gave me a steroid inhaler to use every morning and night, and another one for "attacks." I can tell a difference already, which is amazing. I wish I would have figured this out aBeingbout 5 years ago!! Hopefully this year, I don't get sick! However, once I got over my fever, James got the flu. The nasty diarrhea/vomiting flu. It was horrible! Following that, today Christy called us to come get him because he had a fever! Seriously? It's not even October yet, so I'm dreading the winter. Hopefully, this is the worst of it? Yeah right....
Being a Better Wife: My mother is an incredibly critical person, I an inherited that trait ten-fold. I am a perfectionist and I expect people who I surround myself with to be perfect as well. Only, I expect them to be perfect the way I want them to be perfect. So instead of being critical, I've tried really hard to look at the positive things. Instead of the fact that Eric has the garage so full of shit that I can't even walk through to find anything, I am trying to concentrate on the fact that the reason it's full of shit is because of all the work he's doing on other people's houses, which brings in money that allows us to live the way we live. Things like that. I told him tonight that I feel like I'm in a much better mood most of the time now that I'm not wasting energy hating the things he does. I have to admit, he does a lot, he works hard, and he's a great dad. So... we'll see how long this Positive Polly charade keeps up. I'm trying really hard, which is good.
So there you have it. There are so many things I've been wanting to blog about, I thought I'd just put them all in one post rather than several other posts. Who posts 5 things in one day, any way? Seriously? And, let's face it, very few people, if any, read this blog. It's really for me to chronicle this life as I live, and love, it.
Let's hope for a good night's sleep... :)
Battle of the Bulge: The Battle of the Bulge has been won, but the Battle of the Body Image is on-going. To the point where we got our family photos back, and I cried to Eric because I felt like I looked terrible. My hips were too wide, I have love-handles, my thighs touch together. Oh, and let's not forget, I just had a baby, so even though I'm below pre-preggo weight, I'm still "misshapen." And who knows if I'll ever get back to the body I had before. So just today, I was looking at the pictures, and I tried to look at them from my husband's point of view, a guy who tells me nearly every day how beautiful I am to him. I used to hate it when he would say things like that to me. But after trying to be a better wife, I have realized I am very lucky to have a husband who still thinks that about me, two kids and 10 years later. I'm not the 19-year-old he fell for anymore, in more ways than one. He loves me for who I am; big hips, loud demeanor and quick mood swings! So maybe I need to start looking at how I see myself. Instead of seeing love handles that stick out in a weird way, maybe I need to start looking at the fact that I haven't been this weight, or looked this good, in over three years. I love my long hair, which is weird because I've always wanted to keep it short for easy maintenance. No, long hair is easy maintenance! I think my eyes are really pretty. For not working out and just having a baby, my stomach is surprisingly flat. I have good looking legs. And all in all, for the most part, I feel good about myself. It's just hard not to see photos and zero in on those things that aren't "perfect," especially for a perfectionist like me!
The Daily Poop Scoop (and Sleep Update): Catherine had some poop issues earlier in life, and it seems as though they are still plaguing her. On Monday night, she became fussy about 6:30 and by 7:00 was scream-crying to the point where my anxiety was going to cause me to crawl out of my skin. I finally gave her a bath and while she settled and sat, soothed from the warm water, I realized she hadn't had a bowel movement all day. When I really thought about it, she hadn't had a bowel movement all weekend. That was three and a half days without poop. No wonder she was fussy. So I did what any good mom would do - wet a wash cloth and tried to stimulate her rectum. Never thought there would be a day where I could add that to my resume of amazing things I've done in this lifetime. But there you had it, and that's all it took. She started pooping... and straining to poop, then pooping again. I took paper towel after paper towel to catch it when it would come out so it wouldn't get in the water and make it nasty. It was a dirty job, but Eric was getting James, who had been puking all weekend and into Monday, ready for bed, so I was on my own. Following the poop-scapade, I put Catherine to my breast to nurse and she fell instantly asleep. My milk didn't even let down (which led to some crazy-full boobs the next morning!) And she slept all night. So that's where the sleep issues come in. Once she sleeps, this girl sleeps. But it takes her so much to get to sleep. It's the most grating, anxiety-inducing two hours of my life. So last night, I just let go of my anxiety (who knew it would be so easy?) and decided that I was going to let her cry it out. After 20 minutes of screaming, it was apparent she was NOT going to sleep. So I nursed her, which she did NOT want. Then I tried baby massage. I have never massaged a baby in my life, nor have I ever taken any special massage class. I just rubbed her little legs and funny enough, when I got to her hips/butt cheeks, that's when she calmed down. Again, not something I thought I would be able to add to my resume in this lifetime, but there you have it. Professional Butt Massager. Once she calmed down enough, I put her in her bassinet (she's still small enough that we just use her bassinet). And boom. Immediate scream-crying started all over again. Luckily my nerves were that tired that I was able to walk away and let her cry it out for the 15 minutes it took her to eventually fall asleep. She did end up waking up last night, for the first time in ages, but she soothed herself back to sleep. Tonight, I put her to bed at 5:30, an hour and a half before she normally falls asleep. She talked to herself for about 15 minutes and then I heard nothing on the monitor. When i checked on her, she was fast asleep, and stayed that way. When I woke her up to change her diaper and dream feed her, she was asleep by the time my milk let down (but thankfully because of intelligent design, she continues to suck and thus still gets full. Beautiful!). I put her in her bassinet and she's been sleeping ever since. Hopefully, this sleep pattern continues!
Speech Regression: A few weeks back, I blogged about James' speech regression. The progress he has made has been amazing. He talks so frequently now! He needs to work on his diction a bit for better understanding by strangers, but to us, he talks much clearer than he ever has. Tonight, I asked him if he had to pee, and he said, "Uh-uh. No pee, mama, no pee." So adorable! I'm so thankful we're heading in the right direction. It's awesome to hear all the new words he knows! And somewhere in between that post and this one, he learned his alphabet (upper and lower case) and his numbers up until 10. What? One day we were watching Super Why (God bless PBS) and boom - he pointed out and said all the letters that popped up on the screen. Holy crap! It is awesome as he is so proud. He is starting to spell short words, like "B-O-B, Bob!" for Bob the Builder, and things like that, which is much faster than I would have anticipated. So even though he doesn't totally communicate how we'd like him to, the kid can spell for God's sake. We've got to take what we can get.
Illnesses: Dear God, help us. Last week, I was sick with a cold and fever. I've also been blessed with viral-induced asthma, which doesn't allow me to properly cough anything up, so bacteria just sits in my lungs and manifests into something worse. Normally, every year, I end up with walking pneumonia or something. But this time, at Catherine's four month appointment, I mentioned it and the doctor gave me a steroid inhaler to use every morning and night, and another one for "attacks." I can tell a difference already, which is amazing. I wish I would have figured this out aBeingbout 5 years ago!! Hopefully this year, I don't get sick! However, once I got over my fever, James got the flu. The nasty diarrhea/vomiting flu. It was horrible! Following that, today Christy called us to come get him because he had a fever! Seriously? It's not even October yet, so I'm dreading the winter. Hopefully, this is the worst of it? Yeah right....
Being a Better Wife: My mother is an incredibly critical person, I an inherited that trait ten-fold. I am a perfectionist and I expect people who I surround myself with to be perfect as well. Only, I expect them to be perfect the way I want them to be perfect. So instead of being critical, I've tried really hard to look at the positive things. Instead of the fact that Eric has the garage so full of shit that I can't even walk through to find anything, I am trying to concentrate on the fact that the reason it's full of shit is because of all the work he's doing on other people's houses, which brings in money that allows us to live the way we live. Things like that. I told him tonight that I feel like I'm in a much better mood most of the time now that I'm not wasting energy hating the things he does. I have to admit, he does a lot, he works hard, and he's a great dad. So... we'll see how long this Positive Polly charade keeps up. I'm trying really hard, which is good.
So there you have it. There are so many things I've been wanting to blog about, I thought I'd just put them all in one post rather than several other posts. Who posts 5 things in one day, any way? Seriously? And, let's face it, very few people, if any, read this blog. It's really for me to chronicle this life as I live, and love, it.
Let's hope for a good night's sleep... :)
Saturday, September 20, 2014
4 Months!
How is it that you are 4 months??? Even more so, how is it that you are 4 month and weigh 12 pounds sopping wet?
Actually, I don't know if you are at 12 pounds or not. At the last breastfeeding support group I went to, you weighed 11 pounds, 7 ounces. Hopefully in two weeks you have broken into the 12 pound range.
And since you are four months old, shouldn't you have a schedule? Seriously? But you don't. Not even close. Every night its a toss-up. The last few nights you have been falling asleep after you "after-daycare" feeding that ranges anywhere from right at 4:00 to almost 6:00. So you eat at 5:30 and then fall asleep until 9:00 p.m. Then I dreamfeed you and you're out until you wake in the morning. Which is anywhere from 5:00-7:00 a.m. At daycare, you typically eat at 10 because even if I nurse you at 5:00 a.m., I will feed you again before I walk out the door. Then you eat anywhere from 1:00-3:00 in the afternoon. Sometimes you take a long nap, sometimes a short one. I will be the first to say it's annoying as hell! :) But the fact that you are always ready with that big, beautiful, gummy smile makes it all worth it! I can't wait until you are finally on a damn schedule though!
You are on the verge of rolling over. I can't wait! Its so cute to see you try so hard! You love your tummy time as that's about all you spend your time doing - trying your hardest to roll over! You also love faces, making faces with me, and simply being held. And no worries there, we love holding you!!
You are still breastfeeding and while at work I have been able to keep up. Its nerve wracking at times, but at the end of the week, Christy always hands me extra, so I know we are getting enough out - thank God. Breastfeeding is the harder thing I have done, but it's worth it!
James adores you and frequently delays bedtime so he can love on you a little bit. You love laying on the floor and watching him run around, which can be a little scary when he gets to close to where you're laying! I can't wait until you're a little older and you can run with him.
I love you little girl. Your tiny hands, nose, wars, and giant head (just like daddy). You are everything I ever dreamed!
Actually, I don't know if you are at 12 pounds or not. At the last breastfeeding support group I went to, you weighed 11 pounds, 7 ounces. Hopefully in two weeks you have broken into the 12 pound range.
And since you are four months old, shouldn't you have a schedule? Seriously? But you don't. Not even close. Every night its a toss-up. The last few nights you have been falling asleep after you "after-daycare" feeding that ranges anywhere from right at 4:00 to almost 6:00. So you eat at 5:30 and then fall asleep until 9:00 p.m. Then I dreamfeed you and you're out until you wake in the morning. Which is anywhere from 5:00-7:00 a.m. At daycare, you typically eat at 10 because even if I nurse you at 5:00 a.m., I will feed you again before I walk out the door. Then you eat anywhere from 1:00-3:00 in the afternoon. Sometimes you take a long nap, sometimes a short one. I will be the first to say it's annoying as hell! :) But the fact that you are always ready with that big, beautiful, gummy smile makes it all worth it! I can't wait until you are finally on a damn schedule though!
You are on the verge of rolling over. I can't wait! Its so cute to see you try so hard! You love your tummy time as that's about all you spend your time doing - trying your hardest to roll over! You also love faces, making faces with me, and simply being held. And no worries there, we love holding you!!
You are still breastfeeding and while at work I have been able to keep up. Its nerve wracking at times, but at the end of the week, Christy always hands me extra, so I know we are getting enough out - thank God. Breastfeeding is the harder thing I have done, but it's worth it!
James adores you and frequently delays bedtime so he can love on you a little bit. You love laying on the floor and watching him run around, which can be a little scary when he gets to close to where you're laying! I can't wait until you're a little older and you can run with him.
I love you little girl. Your tiny hands, nose, wars, and giant head (just like daddy). You are everything I ever dreamed!
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Battle of the Bulge: Week 17...? And a half?
I have no idea where I am on my Battle of the Bulge updates. In fact, I only know that Catherine will be four months old on the twentieth, which is... next... Sunday?
School started and I now have two full time jobs. Teacher and mom. For eight hours a day, students need me. Then for the remaining 5-6 where I am NOT sleeping, my family needs me. With so much going on, I have lost track of time.
So out of curiosity today, I stepped on the scale. 157.2. In a month I have lost about 2 more pounds. I don't know what it is about my family gene, but somehow it allows us to look thinner than we really are. The other day while having lunch with my coworkers, my pregnant colleague was lamenting that she had gained ten pounds in four weeks, putting her weight at 160. Not thinking, I said, "Oh! That's what I weigh!" And my colleagues could not believe it. So that was awesome.
The following day, a student exclaimed that of I lose any more weight I would be anorexic. An odd compliment but I guess I will take it.
Overall I am feeling pretty good. I am fitting back into clothes I have not seen since before James was born and people are starting to genuinely comment, instead of the "You look great (for just having a baby)!"
Onward!
School started and I now have two full time jobs. Teacher and mom. For eight hours a day, students need me. Then for the remaining 5-6 where I am NOT sleeping, my family needs me. With so much going on, I have lost track of time.
So out of curiosity today, I stepped on the scale. 157.2. In a month I have lost about 2 more pounds. I don't know what it is about my family gene, but somehow it allows us to look thinner than we really are. The other day while having lunch with my coworkers, my pregnant colleague was lamenting that she had gained ten pounds in four weeks, putting her weight at 160. Not thinking, I said, "Oh! That's what I weigh!" And my colleagues could not believe it. So that was awesome.
The following day, a student exclaimed that of I lose any more weight I would be anorexic. An odd compliment but I guess I will take it.
Overall I am feeling pretty good. I am fitting back into clothes I have not seen since before James was born and people are starting to genuinely comment, instead of the "You look great (for just having a baby)!"
Onward!
Monday, September 1, 2014
Speech Regression
About 2 months ago, I went to Adventureland with my cousin and her son, who is only 6 weeks older than James. I was impressed by his use of speech, and when I mentioned it, she said his speech had really taken off in the last month or so. People always talk about never comparing kids, so although I did a really good job of accepting it for what it was, I was still curious if it would happen for James that way.
About a month ago, I noticed James wasn't making a whole lot of sense when he would talk. I didn't think much of it, considering he is also working on so many other developmental milestones. But it still made me wonder. But in the hustle and bustle of life with a newborn, I again, didn't think anything of it.
On Friday, our daycare provider sat me down and told me the cold, hard truth of what she sees at daycare. James went from an easily 100+ word vocabulary to hardly anything at all. He frequently says mama/mom, Dada/dad, ball, up, down and a handful of other words, but he wasnt using words he used to use, like sit, milk, cup, water, walk and others.
She is no doctor, but she has been doing daycare for 12 years and has three kids. I think the woman knows what she's doing. But it was still a blow to the chest.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized Eric and I use too many yes/no questions, and not asking James to express himself using his words.
I immediately came home and googled the hell out of it. And came to the conclusion that James does talk a lot, but he doesn't make any sense. In other words its a whole lot of jibberish thrown in with a few "mom" and "dad's." I was mortified I didn't pick up on it sooner.
Of course, the most common diagnosis with speech regression is Autism. And if James were to be autistic, I would still love him unconditionally. But as I only speak the truth, I knew that if he were autistic, it would be a very difficult and tiring road to travel.
I don't think that's the case. Watching him play with the neighbor kids this weekend and play with us too, I know in my heart he isn't autistic. He still makes eye contact and still loves to socialize. He loves hugs and kisses and cares very much for Catherine.
But in trying to pinpoint when James' speech began to regress escaped me. Until Saturday, when talking to our daycare provider again, she about smacked me upside the head.
Catherine was born a few months ago.
So after a debilitating bout of food poisoning Sunday, I googled the shit out of that. It seems like its pretty common. That's why the experts don't recommend potty training a toddler before a sibling is born; they usually regress. Apparently, the same can happen with speech.
Christy, our daycare provider (sent from heaven, by the way), suggested we lay off the yes/no questions and instead encourage James to use his words.
Just in a few short days, I have noticed a difference. Although he doesn't use them of his own volition, when we ask James to use his words, he does. There are still words missing, but like potty training regression, I know they will come back.
Parenting is the most stressful, tiring, exciting, fulfilling thing I have ever done. I love my little boy with a passion I didn't know I had, and to see him "regress" in any way is difficult. But it's my job to help shape him, and by God, a little regression isn't going to stop me, or him, from being successful.
So until then, here is to words like fish, dog, cat, sit, milk and all the other words I know will come back.
About a month ago, I noticed James wasn't making a whole lot of sense when he would talk. I didn't think much of it, considering he is also working on so many other developmental milestones. But it still made me wonder. But in the hustle and bustle of life with a newborn, I again, didn't think anything of it.
On Friday, our daycare provider sat me down and told me the cold, hard truth of what she sees at daycare. James went from an easily 100+ word vocabulary to hardly anything at all. He frequently says mama/mom, Dada/dad, ball, up, down and a handful of other words, but he wasnt using words he used to use, like sit, milk, cup, water, walk and others.
She is no doctor, but she has been doing daycare for 12 years and has three kids. I think the woman knows what she's doing. But it was still a blow to the chest.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized Eric and I use too many yes/no questions, and not asking James to express himself using his words.
I immediately came home and googled the hell out of it. And came to the conclusion that James does talk a lot, but he doesn't make any sense. In other words its a whole lot of jibberish thrown in with a few "mom" and "dad's." I was mortified I didn't pick up on it sooner.
Of course, the most common diagnosis with speech regression is Autism. And if James were to be autistic, I would still love him unconditionally. But as I only speak the truth, I knew that if he were autistic, it would be a very difficult and tiring road to travel.
I don't think that's the case. Watching him play with the neighbor kids this weekend and play with us too, I know in my heart he isn't autistic. He still makes eye contact and still loves to socialize. He loves hugs and kisses and cares very much for Catherine.
But in trying to pinpoint when James' speech began to regress escaped me. Until Saturday, when talking to our daycare provider again, she about smacked me upside the head.
Catherine was born a few months ago.
So after a debilitating bout of food poisoning Sunday, I googled the shit out of that. It seems like its pretty common. That's why the experts don't recommend potty training a toddler before a sibling is born; they usually regress. Apparently, the same can happen with speech.
Christy, our daycare provider (sent from heaven, by the way), suggested we lay off the yes/no questions and instead encourage James to use his words.
Just in a few short days, I have noticed a difference. Although he doesn't use them of his own volition, when we ask James to use his words, he does. There are still words missing, but like potty training regression, I know they will come back.
Parenting is the most stressful, tiring, exciting, fulfilling thing I have ever done. I love my little boy with a passion I didn't know I had, and to see him "regress" in any way is difficult. But it's my job to help shape him, and by God, a little regression isn't going to stop me, or him, from being successful.
So until then, here is to words like fish, dog, cat, sit, milk and all the other words I know will come back.
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