davejenbarnes

James is now 8.5 months old and I figured it was time for an update.

I am still nursing him. It’s going better than ever, in fact. He nurses about every 2.5-3 hours on average during the day (it makes sense, when you think about it because breastmilk is still digested at the same rate as it was when he was little) but we have practially eliminated all of the night-time feedings. He’ll still wake up about once a night every third or fourth night at some random time between 2 am and 6 am to nurse. Not having the constant night nursings makes the daytime a breeze.

I gotta tell ya, I am loving nursing him. God’s design is brilliant. No matter where we are or what we’re doing or who is around, I get mommy-son snuggles every few hours. My boy is growing up so fast that I cherish every time he nurses. It relaxes both of us. Sometimes to sleep. The time James spends nursing is delicious time… I hope delicious for him as well because I hear that milk is as sweet as melted ice cream. He gets real food at dinner time, but I have been very selfish with dropping any nursings.

We’re also still cloth diapering him. It’s so easy. He only makes a stinky diaper every few days now and it’s so easy to shake off of the pocket dipes into the commode. Fuzzi Bunz are our main workhorse diapers but we also have a few Happy Heinys and even a Bum Genius. The Happy Heinys are prolly my fav because they don’t leave any red marks on his thighs like the FB, but the Bum Genius will fit him until he is potty trained, hence the “genius” part of its name. Whenever we travel, I’ll put him in paper diapers and he’s just graduated to a size 4 in those. The size 3’s are getting tiny!

I haven’t had him weighed recently but he’s gotta be over 23 pounds… if not 24 pounds! He’s _almost_ walking (he can take about 4 steps before “timber!” he falls forward), he’s pulling up on everything (even flat walls), and standing on his own for about 90-120 seconds at a time, crawling everywhere, learning how to fall down safely (by landing on his big cushioned cloth diaper bubble butt or by sticking his arms out front to break his fall), cheerios are his favorite snack and he can pick them up with two fingers in both hands, he waves bye (though it looks more like a pose than a wave right now), and is fluent in “mama” and “dada” (he gets us mixed up all the time, wouldn’t you know). I just can’t believe how many new skills he is picking up every day. I am living in a constant state of amazement.

Nuby, uploaded by davejenbarnes

Here is the info about James’ child dedication service. There will likely be zillions of children being dedicated at the same time.

And in other news, James is now able to take about 5 steps before he faceplants. I wouldn’t call it walking, but he’s getting awfully close to walking and he only just turned eight months old. He can walk if he has someone holding one of his hands. He’s been standing on his own for about 30 seconds to a minute for a few weeks now and tonight I think it was well over a minute that he was standing on his own a couple of times. One thing’s for sure. This little guy is not going to wait until his first birthday to start walking.

postcard, uploaded by davejenbarnes

Dave and I found a group on flickr which we really like. This group has weekly challenges (weekend challenges, actually) which you work on and submit 3 images. We both mess around in photoshop with the master image. This week, I’ve been at the computer and came up with some interesting results (see above)…

I used to just mess around in photoshop, aimlessly selecting and pushing buttons and the what-not, but I’ve noticed that I am beginning to come up with the process in my head before I actually get to the computer to try stuff out. I had completely composed this image in my head while nursing James and knew step-by-step how to make it.

This is entirely possible thanks to my parents who sent me to a one-day photoshop seminar recently. The presenter’s ideas and techniques overhauled my approach toward everything I do in photoshop and this image would not have been possible without the new philosophy I have toward photoshopping anything.

Thanks, again, Mom and Dad!

We’ve officially begun the hunt for our next dwelling place. We’re completely tired of hearing the 3,000 pound man walking around upstairs, shutting doors, peeing, showering, stomping up the stairs, running the garbage disposal, and other intimate noises one should not have to hear every Saturday afternoon around 2 pm. We’re also tired of the speedbumps, going for walks in a parking lot, the orange security lights, the smokers living everywhere around us on their smoking balconies, the management, the gate. You know, we’re just tired of apartment life.

We’re looking into rental properties because we are still trying to get rid of our negative equity. You know, car payments and student loans. Call us old fashioned, but we do not want to have any debt when we buy a house. I know how expensive it will be to furnish a house. Plus, we will be able to afford a much nicer house down the road when we’re debt free than we would be able to afford now.

Of the places I’ve been rather excited about, none of them “feel” right yet. David contacted a realtor and we’re looking forward to building a relationship with them. We might end up buying a house from them, so we want to be able to trust them. I think we will start looking at properties next week…

So far, I’ll admit that I am a tad anxious to see the insides of a four-plex on Duval just north of the Gateway Shopping center. I know from the pictures online that it has hardwood floors, a fireplace, and lots of windows. I know from contacting the realtor in charge of the property that the water and trash is paid for by the ownership and that the first month’s rent is half-off and cats are okay, but I’m unclear as to the pet details such as pet rent. I know from driving by that it is on the second (and top) floor, has no garage, and the parking stinks. The drive would be wonderful for David as he would be driving against the flow of traffic for both the morning and evening commutes. There are some pretty big parks nearby as well as easy access to SHOPPING, BABIES R US!!, and all manners of Good Eats.

Oh, yeah, and today was my birthday. Twenty-nine. Expect to see many more great photos because Dave got me a Speedlite 430EX for the rebel. Score! Oh, and expect me to smell great, too, because Dave’s co-worker, Jessica, and her husband, Damian, were very generous with their gift of perfume and matching lotion and shower soap. Mmmm… it’s really good-smelling, too! :-) Also, thanks to my in-laws for their gift. I haven’t decided what to get yet, but I know some rechargeable batteries are in my future now that I own a speedlite so I’ll probably get those first.

Oh and one more bit of news before I sign off. We are going to be Dedicating James to the Lord on Saturday, April 8th at 6 pm at our church with probably a hundred other babies and children. Our church is large, I tell ya. SO, everyone is welcome to attend, just get the details and directions from either of us! We would love to have many people there.

Dear James,

You are growing before our eyes. Just this month has flown by at warp speed. It seems like just yesterday that you were born, but you’re wearing 12-18 month size clothes now. We need to have a little talk about the clothes, too. No baby needs as many clothes as you have. Your wardrobe is better than your mom and dad’s combined! So what you need to do is stop asking for summer clothes from your grandparents with those grey-blue-brown-green eyes of yours and start asking for big kid clothes, like in the “T” sizes.

The things you are doing astound me, really. Just last night, on your 8 month “birthday” you looked at me and copied me - I was asking you if you wanted some milk while showing you the baby sign for milk and you got big alligator tears in your eyes (I knew you were so tired and hungry) stuck up your little pudgy arm and gave me the sign for milk. I am just amazed. I was hoping you would pick up the sign for milk first because I think it will be the most usefull for you to know, so we will keep working on it until you can ask your mommy for milk anytime you want. Newborns should come with that baby sign pre-programmed if you ask me.

Grandma K has taught you how to stand up in your crib which has completely ruined your naptimes. Now you climb up and just stand there for the duration of your nap, which means you no longer take naps. I mean, I can hold you and rock you and you’ll get a nap that way, but a nap in your own bed… it just isn’t happening these days. Now, we need to get Grandma to show you how to get down from standing and we’ll be set for naps again.

This month, you’ve completely mastered crawling (not that you couldn’t crawl before but now you’re Way. Fast. Better. Watch. Out. Here. I. Come.) and pulling to standing on any and everything. You’ve learned how to fall down backwards (plop, into a sitting position) and how to stick out your arms to catch yourself falling forwards. You’ve sat from crawling and started getting into everything. Your daddy and I have followed you crawling from the livingroom to the kitchen then all the way into your room where you like to pull all the cloth diapers off of the shelves of your changing table. Oh, that’s another thing! That changing table is almost obsolete. Sure, it’s an easier height for us, but you roll and wiggle to no end and we are finding it harder and harder to diaper and dress you. It’s much easier on the floor where I can throw a leg over your belly and keep you from rolling over. I don’t think I’ll ever throw a leg over you on that changing table, though!

Daddy has taught you to clap and say “Bubble” and “Apple” and “Bible” although they all sound alike and you have no idea what you’re saying. You’ve been saying “Mama” for a couple of months now and it’s very sweet though you only seem to use it when you’re mad. I wonder if you’re saying it on purpose?

Uh-oh. As I type this you are sitting next to me in your pack-n-play and you are making a stinky diaper! Better go clean that up!

Love,

Mama

IMG_0134, uploaded by marklio

My mom and dad sent me to an all-day advanced photoshop seminar for my birthday last week and the first thing I had to do when I got home was change the color of our car to see if I could do it. Here is an animated gif of it…

UPDATE: made a prettier gif
Now… how to get the real car to do that…

So, yeah. James wakes up at 3:20-something and starts making noise so I think… well, I’ve got to be up at 5:30 to start getting ready (for my day of photoshop seminar-sitting) so I might as well nurse him now and then try to pump when I get to the hotel too early (it’s in South Austin and traffic, I hear, is a beast.) So I get up and nurse the boy.

He was going good and after about 17 minutes on one side, after his drinking slowed way down and he was just pacifying himself, I broke suction and switched sides, thinking it would feel better to be evenly emptied rather than lopsided when I showed up at the hotel. I don’t know if it was too much milk, a need to burp, the lemonade I drank with dinner last night, or what but the next thing I know, my peaceful almost-asleep, content nurseling son turned into the fountain of milk. He soaked himself, me (even down to the underwear), the chair… all this happened around 4:00. So of course, now I am fully awake and I get David up and David takes over dressing James in dry clothing while I go change and get dry clothing and then start taking the chair cushions off so they all dry.

David finally got James to sleep at 4:30 but I could not stop thinking about why this happened and how insanely hungry I have become by fully waking up before I was supposed to.

I have so many mixed feelings but only 7% of a battery left on this iBook, so I will spare you my train of thoughts, save this one. Being vomitted on by your baby who drinks milk your body just made feels like the worst kind of rejection. I worked hard to make that milk only to end up wearing it and wiping it off chair cushions and throwing a sleep sack that had just been washed back into the dirty laundry. What a waste. At least James is okay.