Baby Shetler

May 18, 2007

Last Year, At This Time...

At this time last year, I was puking from the immense amounts of pain I was in. Labor? Oh no. Not labor. Labor would have been productive. No. This was just my stupid uterus's reaction to Cervadil.

T- 5 hours, 23 minutes until Dylan joined the world.

I have been like this all day. Well, truthfully, I have been like this since yesterday. "Last year, at this time..."

So I figured it would be a fitting title for a post on Dylan's birthday. Not only what I was doing last year at this time, but what I have learned and experienced since them. So here goes.

Last year at this time...

... I was having a girl.

... I had never sat and watched Dylan sleep - not to make sure he was breathing (although I did that too) - but just because. Just because he looks like an angel when he sleeps. Just because his features are so perfect and he's just adorable how he likes to cuddle up. When he was first born, he would pull in his legs and we'd call it "peanutting up" because he looked like a little peanut. Now, he rolls onto his side, contorts himself into a pretzel shape that doesn't at all look comfortable and hugs Hippo. (Yes, Hippo is still around).

... I didn't realize how incredibly painful it was to try to breastfeed when your baby is a "lazy sucker." I also had never experienced the amount of guilt I felt when I eventually had to give up breastfeeding.

... There was never anything that could instantly make nothing else in the world matter the way Dylan's smile or laugh does.

... I didn't realize just how little sleep you actually need.

... I didn't think there was anything worse than seeing your parent in the hospital. Now I realize there is. Seeing your baby in the hospital is heart-wrenching. Even if he is laughing and kicking his little butt off. Seeing him go in for surgery - even minor surgery - is even worse.

... I had no idea how much fun phones, remotes, empty soda bottles and keys are.

... I didn't clap every time something happened. "Yay! Dylan ate his cheerios!" or "Yay! Dylan put the ball in the dinosaur." or "Yay! Just because, yay!"

... I didn't understand how it could possibly be true that during a c-section, once you hear the baby, you're not even thinking about the surgery. I had never had surgery, but I couldn't imagine NOT thinking about it.

... I never realized just how many movies, commercials and TV shows have language or situations that is completely inappropriate for children.

... I didn't fully appreciate just how hot it is when a man is a good father to his son.

... "Sleeping in" was not staying in bed til 7:00 am.

... Maintaining my identity outside of being "Dylan's Mom," seemed important. (Well, outside of being my daughter's mom, since I was having a girl).

... I didn't realize what it was like to honestly be willing to give up your life for someone else.

... I didn't appreciate my mother-in-law as much as I do now.

... *MY* baby was not going to play on the floor without some sort of blanket down, watch TV until he was 2 or leave the house in an outfit that didn't match.

... I was going to lose all my pregnancy weight in 9 months (9 months up, 9 months down) and go back to the theater and dancing (in moderation, of course).

... I didn't realize how snuggly a boy would be with his Mommy.

... I didn't fathom just how proud it would make me to see someone putting a cheerio in their mouth, or drinking out of a sippy cup, or putting a shape in the right hole, or even just rolling over.

... I wasn't as happy and content with my life as I am now. I love being a mom. I love being Dylan's mom. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and Darren. I love him so much I just can't believe it sometimes.

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY DYLAN. I LOVE YOU AND DADDY LOVES YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!!

Posted by Terri at 03:45 PM | Comments (2)

April 13, 2007

My Journey Towards The Dark Side Is Now Complete

I did it. I swore I would never do it, but I did it this morning.

Dylan had an alfalfa sprout going on with his hair in the back. I licked my fingers and smoothed it down.

I hate myself right now. I do. I really do. I might as well go buy the minivan now and slap the big soccer ball sticker on the back of it.

Posted by Terri at 01:43 PM | Comments (3)

March 23, 2007

Thank Goodness THAT'S Over...

Sorry, no pictures today.

So - Dylan came through with flying colors. It's true what everyone said - after he fell asleep it was only about 10 minutes. Then later that afternoon he was playing and giggling and just a happy little person. Man, I wish I could bounce back like that.

Dylan also fed himself for the first time yesterday. He was eating puffs after lunch and I was putting them in his mouth. Then I put one in his hand and moved his hand up to his mouth. I did this about 5 times, and then the next one I just put on his tray and he picked it up and put it in his mouth! OMG! SO PROUD!!! Of course, every time he puts one in his mouth now, he claps.

And this morning, Dylan washed his hands at the sink like a big boy. And he's putting things INTO things now - like shape sorters and stuff like that. It's just amazing. Every day it's something new.

Man. I really sound like a mom now.

Posted by Terri at 12:10 PM | Comments (1)

March 21, 2007

My Poor Little Munchkin

Dylan goes for tubes tomorrow. We have to be at the hospital at 6:15am. So all around it sucks. But Uncle Mike is coming home from China tomorrow and will be spending Friday-Sunday with us. So all we have to do is get through tubes and then all is well.

In the meantime, look at pictures of my baby.

Continue reading "My Poor Little Munchkin"

Posted by Terri at 03:22 PM | Comments (2)

March 08, 2007

Cow Wears A Bell

Yeah... don't ask...

So updates since last post:

Dylan's 9 month checkup went well. He's fine (except for his ears, but I'll get to that). He weighed 23 lbs 1 oz and was 30 1/2 inches. You can call him "gigantor."

Dylan's eating all kinds of meats now (beef, lamb, turkey, chicken, ham). Of course, it's the mushed up jar kind. He didn't so much like the real thing. (I gave him some chopmeat). He also tried real banana and real pasta w/gravy and cheerios. Did NOT like the pasta. Was ok with the banana and cheerios.. When he chews the cheerios it's so cute! He opens his mouth real wide every time. OMG. It's cute. Just trust me.

Dylan is getting tubes on March 22nd. I'll talk about it when it's over.

Dylan likes to spin. When he's sitting, he can rotate completely around. When he's on his tummy, he can rotate completely around.

No crawling or walking yet. And he was terrified of using the walker we got him. We're still babyproofing everything now in anticipation of the big crawl.

And I will leave you with pictures. Because Dylan is the cutest EVAH!

Continue reading "Cow Wears A Bell"

Posted by Terri at 11:20 AM | Comments (2)

February 15, 2007

Fo Shizzle

Yeah, it's been a while...

Well, Dylan had the Rotovirus; we ended up in the hospital for an IV; he got pinkeye; Igot pinkeye... A wonderful time was had by all.

Dylan started eating chicken. He did not so much like chicken at first, but I think it's growing on him. He's eating the jars of baby chicken. I gave him real ground beef (ground way up) and he really really didn't like that.

We go for our 9 month checkup the end of this month, and then back to the ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) Doctor, and probably talk about tubes. Gasp!

He's still such an amazing little kid. He's so happy and giggly. He has the greatest laugh. You can't not laugh when you hear it. And everyone that says hi to him, he smiles at. We make so many friends at the supermarket. (The girls in the toddler set go crazy for him).

A woman at the supermarket asked me if he was named after, "You know who..." I thought of Luke Perry, and said, "No!" She said, "Oh, no musical reference here..." Yeah. She was a little old to have watched 90210.

I'm so rambling right now because there are like a million things going on at work, at home, everywhere. It's crazy. It's nuts. But Dylan is just the cutest, snugglyest munchkin ever. He rules. Seriously.

Posted by Terri at 03:23 PM

January 19, 2007

My Baby Is Amazing

No, seriously, he is. I'm going to wax motherly right now, so if you can't stomach gushing, stop reading.

Dylan and I were sitting on the floor the other day, playing with the Animal Train:

Hop on board, the Animal Train
Come on, everyone (toot toot)
Learning about animals
Is really lots of fun.

Colors, sizes, what they say
If they're fast or slow
Learning about animals
There's so much to know! (toot toot)

Yes, I know all the words to the Animal Train song. Get over it. So anyway, we're sitting on the floor, playing, and the music stops. Now, there are two ways to start the music. You can push on the train's smokestack and it plays the Animal Train song (see above), or you can press on the floor of the engine, which plays one of four other songs about animals. Dylan was playing with the second car, so when the music stopped, I reached over and pressed the floor of the engine:

Polar bears live where it's cold
Lions like it hot.
Tigers can run very fast
And Hippos can not.

Some have two legs, some have four
Some are quiet, others roar
You'll discover animals
And learn a whole lot more.

The music started and Dylan started bobbing up and down to the beat. Oh my GOD so cute! Then the music stopped and he looked at me like, 'Huh?" So he reaches over, and PRESSES THE FLOOR OF THE ENGINE:

Oh when animals make their noises
They all sound really grand
You can sing along
And join in our lively band!

Big smile, I mean, we're talking huge, proud-of-himself smile. He knew what he was doing! I completely melted. I mean, a year ago, he was just this concept of a person, kicking my bladder and now he knows how to make the music on the train go. And I'm so proud. And then I was thinking, I watched all these shows before like Extreme Home Makeover where the kid is sick and the parents go on and on about how much they've learned from them and how special a person they are and how wonderful they are and blah blah blah. I was always like, "Whatever, he's a year and a half. How do you know what kind of a person he is? How can you say all that." But I totally get it now! Dylan is the most amazing little person. He's so affectionate, and he loves people. He cuddles up to you and tries to touch your face. If you're sitting by him, he reaches out to touch you. If there are a bunch of people around, he reaches out to each person to touch them, really trying to make a connection. He's got this great sense of humor - he's silly and when he's being silly or thinks something is silly, he smiles and sticks his tongue out. When something's funny he laughs and claps his hands. When you put a song on that he likes, he bops up and down to the beat. He blows raspberries and then laughs at it. When you reach down to pick him up, he lifts up his arms towards the ceiling and leans in towards you. He's just a great little person and I love him so much. I've only known him for a little while, but I couldn't live without him now.

Posted by Terri at 10:33 AM | Comments (1)

January 03, 2007

Maternal Instinct

One of the things I was afraid of when I found out I was going to be a mom was falling. Ok, maybe it sounds silly, but I mean, there you are, carrying your baby and you trip and fall. That's a long way down for the baby. And it's instinct when you're falling to use your arms to break your fall, right? If I fell, would I drop my baby?

Yes, these are the things I worry about.

Cut to today. Dylan had a doctor's appointment for his second flu shot. I picked him up out of his carseat and took a step to the side, out the door. My foot hit the curb and slipped off it, knocking me off balance. Not only was I falling, but Dylan was in front of me!!! I didn't think. Seriously, nothing was going through my mind. I wasn't thinking, "I must protect my baby," or anything like that. Ok, maybe I was thinking, "Oh shit!" but that's about it. I guess what I'm trying to say is there was no thought process that caused what happened next. I didn't decide to do it. I didn't choose to do it. It just happened.

Not only did I not drop my baby, but somehow, by a physical feat I'm still not sure how I did, I managed to twist myself so that I fell with Dylan on top of me. Not only that, but once I was down on the ground, I realized that my arms wrapped even tighter around him, completely protecting him. (Again, I would like to reiterate that I did not think to do this). Without my arms to brace me, I landed hard on my hip. (Luckily it is well padded). But I wasn't even thinking about that. I wanted to make sure Dylan was ok.

He looked at me with this little terrified expression on his face. I didn't think he was hurt - just scared - but I wasn't sure. So, ignoring the immense pain radiating from my hip, I put on a big smile and said, "Wheeeeeee!!" Dylan giggled. Thank God. He was alright.

I staggered to my feet. A mom drove up and said, "Are you alright?" I told her yeah, and she went on her way. I was alright - more shaken than anything else. I just, I don't know. It really amazed me how I just did that, without thinking. It may sound stupid, but it really made me feel like a mom. It was just one of those moments that afterwards, you're thinking about it, and you're just like, "wow!"

Posted by Terri at 01:45 PM | Comments (3)

January 02, 2007

Christmas Pix

Happy New Year!

I've been gone for a while, and to make it up to all the multitudes of loyal readers of this site, I have included lots of Christmas pictures of a rapidly growing Dylan. (He is just too cute).

He's very good at sitting now, and loves playing with all his toys. Still not crawling, but that's ok. It makes it easier since I can just plop him down on the floor in the living room and go into the kitchen for something and not worry about what he's getting into.

So, click below to see the pictures...

Continue reading "Christmas Pix"

Posted by Terri at 10:06 AM | Comments (1)

November 09, 2006

Here a POOP, There a POOP, Everywhere a POOP POOP

Warning: Contains graphic images and references to poop. (As if you haven't already figured that out).

Dylan had applesauce again last night. Now, the last time he had applesauce we had what is now being referred to as The CVS Incident. (I'll get into that later). So we waited a few days and tried it again last night.

This morning, Dylan had his morning poop. It was a little more liquidy, but not too bad. We fed him, dressed him, and brought him to daycare. We were showing off to the teacher how Dylan can sit now. So he's all sitting on the mat, banging away on some toy that looks like the love child of a piano and a train and he starts going, "Baah-uhhhh." It wasn't the "bottle" word, but something that sounded similar. He couldn't be hungry - he just ate. But the "Baah-uhhhhhh"s were getting louder and more distressed, so I leaned over to smell his butt. (Only a mom...) And there I saw what could only be poop seeping through the back of his overalls.

It was all over everything.

I went next door to his classroom to get his diapers and wipes and a change of clothes while the teacher put him on the changing table. What a mess! Four sets of gloves (for her), lots of screaming (by Dylan), and about a million wipes later, Dylan was clean and in new clothes. I guess applesauce is off the menu.

The CVS Incident

Last Friday, Dylan and I had to go to CVS to fill some prescriptions. There were no diapers in his diaper bag because we had just come from Grammy's house where the last diaper was used and I didn't bother to refill it before going out again because 1) he had just had a poop at Grammy's house (a big one) so I wasn't worried about that, 2) this poop (and the subsequent diaper change) was only an hour earlier, so he wouldn't be too wet and 3) how long could filling a prescription at CVS possibly take?

Ha. Stupid Mommy...

While the prescriptions were being filled, Dylan and I went over to the baby cold remedy aisle to find some more baby tylenol. Dylan started babbling. (Come to think of it, it sounded a lot like "baah-uhhhh." Maybe that's Baby for "poop.") I turned him around to look down the back of his diaper to see if he was dirty. I didn't have to look hard - it was all up his back...

So here we were, in the middle of CVS, with no diaper and poop everywhere. It couldn't wait til we got him home because he was wearing a shirt and pants (instead of a onesie or overalls) so it would get all over the car seat. I ended up having to buy a package of diapers (thank God we were in a place that sold diapers), getting the nice man behind the counter to open them for me and changing his diaper on the floor in the middle of CVS. Luckily we had been to the doctor that morning and I always bring a change of clothes to the doctor so he had pants in the bag. Otherwise he would have had to go out in just a diaper. All I could think of as the people walked by and looked at me funny was, "Oh my God, I've become one of those people that just changes their baby's diaper in the middle of a public place." But you do what you gotta.

Moral of the story: Don't ever leave home without diapers - no matter how quick a trip it is.

Posted by Terri at 08:35 AM | Comments (4)