Sawyer 1 year update

Getting older sucks.  Why?  Because time seems to fly by at warp speed and I’d rather freeze this precious moment in time with Bean forever.

In a blink of an eye, he turned 1.  In just 12 months, he became a little boy, full of personality, (now toothy) grins, infectious squeals, love, and crazy mobility and understanding.  It makes me last 12 months look lackluster and sluggish.  Ha!’

Although he turned 1 last Friday, I wanted to wait til his 1 year check-up so I can provide all the status.

• Weight/Height: weight – 25lbs 1 oz (chunky ) 90%; height – 30.25″ 90%; head – 19″ 94%.  Big boy!
• Eats: Bean officially eats three distinct meals a day: Breakfast — roasted apples (chunky and pureed) mixed with oats, and cinnamon + 1/2 a banana (lately we’ve introduced Cheerios in whole milk).  Lunch — 1 2% cheese stick, 1/2 english muffin with peanut butter, carrot sticks.  Dinner — Sprout packaged meal or sweet potatoes or a hodge podge of what we are eating.  Bean’s fave foods are puffs, peanut butter, pears, and CHEESE!  The biggest change the last couple of weeks is the introduction of cow’s milk.  We are also trying to wean from the bottle.  Both have  not been simple.  We try to do his daily milk in a sippy cup (it’s about 2.5 oz whole milk mixed with 2.5 oz formula).  He will not yet take the cow’s milk plain.  At night, we’re still giving him a warm bottle (half formula/half milk) right before bed.  He doesn’t fall asleep eating so I hope to move this last ‘snack’ up earlier so that his bedtime routine no longer includes milk (at least within a  half hour).   I believe he’s getting about 800-900 cals a day.
• Sleeps:7p-730a on average with one 1.5-2 hr.  I think we’ve moved into the territory of only one nap per day, which is actually okay by me.  Hopefully the time at which he gets tired will become more predictable.  I’d say it’s usually about 3 hours after he wakes up.
• Sounds:dada, something that sort of sounds like mama, throat gurgling, clicking his tongue, snorting, blowing raspberries, sticking his tongue in/out fast to make noise, ‘da’ (for dog?). He seems to ‘know’ a lot of word’s meaning, but isn’t keen on mimicking a lot yet.
• Movements: He is a walking machine.  Just not solo.  He loves, loves, loves to push anything around: rolling chairs, kitchen stools, his new tricycle, his Pewi push toy, his baby rocking chair, etc.  If it moves, he’ll push it.  He can walk pretty steadily holding only one hand.  He also can stand still without any support for a few moments.
• Toys, etc: random boxes,Tupperware, drawers, his Fischer Price ball toy, his xylophone toy, his new drum, balls, kicking soccer balls, the stairs, dogs/cats, books.
• Clothes:size 4 diapers by day, size 5 sleeper by nights.  Bean wears 12-18 pants (though we squeeze him in some 9-12mo) and mostly 18-24 mo tops (24 mo onesies are nearly too small) and 24 month pj’s.
• Teeth:4!  He has his two bottom teeth and his two eye teeth (yes he looks like a vampire) and is getting his two front teeth any day now.  We are attempting brushing by simply giving him a toothbrush to gnaw on for now.
• Other: Sawyer has learned the art of the temper tantrum.  He flings his body backward and lays on the floor looking all tragic and ridiculous.  I just look at him and go, “really?”  He’s not amused.  (Luckily I’m sort of amused … for now). He also seems to go ballistic when it comes to changing his diaper — most hated activity ever!

Body after baby: 6+ months

Well friends, it’s been over 6 months since I gave birth. By bean’s birth date, I had gained about 27-29 lbs and never really felt ‘big.’ I quite liked my preggers belly and didn’t notice the expansion of my thighs (or didn’t care).

I heard of the miracles of breastfeeding and was convinced I’d be one of the lucky ones to melt off the pounds with ease. I imagined being close to my pre-preg weight (of about 118/119lbs) by 3 months or s,o and by 6 months be a lean-mean-fighting machine..not really, but you know what I’m getting at.

And where am I at after 6 months, 11 personal training sessions, and a renewed gym membership?

Still about 6 lbs over my desired weight (116-118lbs). 1” over my “normal” thigh circumference. 3” over my “normal” waist circumference. And about 5-7% above my “normal” body fat percentage. (And yes I quoted “normal” because I realize that the body I have now, may be my new normal). Hurumph.

The trainer was able to drop me 4lbs (note: if you’ve been keeping track or following, the pounds gained/lost may seem inconsistent mostly because I’ve been using multiple scales as reference starting/ending points; the gym’s scale said I lost 4 lbs). She also skimmed 3+ % of body fat and reduced my waist and leg size by 1” each. And she definitely improved my strength, muscle tone, and my overall body image.

That all being said, I’m still ticked that I’m not losing more. Sure to some, it’s wah, wah, poor girl weighs 120-something, but for me, this weight is NOT my normal. I feel sluggish. I have pockets of fat that didn’t exist before. I can’t fit in majority of my clothes. And I don’t feel like sugarcoating my disappointment. I’m upset. Period.

So what gives?

I go to Spin 2x per week. I do yoga 1-2 times per week (mini sessions, like 15-20 min). I have been seeing the personal trainer 1-2x per week. And I do cardio 3-4x per week on top of all that for about 40 min followed by ab work, burpees, mountain climbers, dips, or the like.

As for calorie intake, on the days I work out, it’s about 1600. Days I only do yoga, I (try to) keep it closer to 1300. The weekends are about 2000 cals each day (err, including Friday since I don’t work on Fridays). I’ve upped my protein to about 50+ grams (not a lot for most, but quite a bit for me).

And still little to no weight loss. Is it hormones?

I asked my doctor and you know what she did? She gave me numbers to obesity (/weight management) hotlines. Huh? Gee thanks!

I spoke with my trainer last Monday and she suggests that I reduce my sugar intake. Hmm, she may be on to something. I posted this on twitter and these were just a few of the responses:

Yeah 10g is ridiculous and not do-able for the lifestyle I want, but I *can* cut it back. I took a look at my normal sugar intake and I’m above 50g a day…heck my weekend large non-fat vanilla latte has 54g of sugar (<—yes you read that right). I seriously had no idea. Ugh. This cannot be a 3-4x per week indulgence. This is 1x per week tops and maybe with half the pumps of vanilla syrup.

I refuse to jump on the artificial sweetener bandwagon (because let’s face it, many people think Splenda is a perfectly good substitute) because I don’t like the taste or the chemical make up. Instead I’d rather reduce the amount of real sugars (lower fruit intake, increase veggie intake, reduce processed foods, increase protein, etc).

I’m going to see if I can reduce to <10g *added* sugar per day and see if that makes any difference. Or I was thinking of doing 30g of total sugars per day (that includes lactose, fructose, etc).

Last week I managed several days with less than 30 total grams of sugar (including all my fruits and dairy) and felt great! Okay that’s a lie, in the morning I was cranky and had a headache, but by the end of the day I was feeling much better.

Will this work? Let’s hope so. I feel like I’m making a change that I can keep up with, which is important to me. Anything drastic and I know I will jump ship. So this sugar-total may increase a bit as I find what’s right for me, but the goal is to be far more aware of the unnecessary sugars I’m consuming.

Bean needs a healthy, happy mamma so I’m going to do what it takes!

Tally up your sugar count for the day and share – you may be surprised!!!

Sawyer at 4(+) months

Hey there!

Back from a glorious weekend.  We had some people over for Cinco de Mayo and I finally tried Skinnygirl Margarita.  The verdict: tastes like margaritas.  Did I like it?  No, not really.  Why?  Because I don’t like margaritas.  I’m a moron.  I had a feeling it would taste more like lime/lemonade, but it still had that tequila-y flavor.  Blech.  This is why I’m a wine/champagne girl.  Anyway the food was fab, as was the company.

Backing up to Friday, we had to take bean in for his 4 month pediatrician appointment…meaning more shots.  Poor guy.  He doesn’t look like it affected him as much as me though does it?

No worries, he’s not screaming, he’s just trying to eat his shirt (because anything close to his mouth, goes in his mouth).  So Sawyer’s stats at 4 months and 4 days are:

• Head circumference – 16.7”, 53rd percentile
• Length – 25.9”, 80th percentile
• Weight – 16.0lbs, 68th percentile

I was fearing I was feeding him too much since I felt like he was looking like a chubba-wubba, but according to the (loose) rule of 2.5oz per pound, I was actually under feeding him.  He eats about 26-30oz of formula per day and based on his weight, he could drink up to 40!  Meep!  His doctor said that we can start solids at any time since his head control is good.  I probably will wait another month or so (I think it’s me that’s not ready!)

He really is getting big though.  He’s no longer this fragile infant, but rather a little man, full of personality (smiling is his favorite). 

What he’s been doing:

• Holds his head up on his own (meaning, he can sit in his Bumbo, jumparoo, and on our laps)

• Role to his sides from his back.  He actually likes sleeping on his side in the AM.
• He sleeps in his crib in his own room (has been since Easter weekend)
• He sleeps mostly through the night: goes down between 8-830p and wakes up once at 430a-ish, then back to sleep until 730 or 8a. 
• Puts everything in his mouth – his favorites seems to be his hands, burp cloth, and bib
• He is actually amused by his toys and likes to grab onto them, especially if they make noise or crinkle
• He also likes to grab onto his hair, which is starting to fall out.  His hair from birth has gotten so long it goes well past his ears and is giving him quite the little mullet   New lighter fuzz is coming in. 
• His nails grow like weeds and require me to cut them at least twice a week or he wrecks havoc on his poor face
• He giggles/laughs/smiles incessantly and my heart melts each and every time he does it
• He coos and talks and is most vocal in the AM when he’s in bed with us
• He’s 99% formula fed at this point
• His favorite song seems to be Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (no thanks to my singing)
• He’s becoming quite the drool monster – no teeth yet
• Tummy time – still doesn’t love it, but can now flip over on his back

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Sawyer is the best thing that has ever happened to me.  I truly feel blessed to be his mom.