mylostone

My son Mylo flew on an airplane for the first time two days after his 9 month birthday. I told him the story of how he was named on a plane and then, just like that, I had on my lap what every passenger hopes for when they see small children boarding a plane… a sleeping baby! The boy slept 90% of the time while I struggled to get just one second of shuteye. Boo. But I was at least able to watch Biutiful starring the godly, Javier Bardem, uninterrupted, which is something that, since having a baby, never happens anymore.

So where did that plane take my precious cargo you’re likely wondering? Now I don’t know whether to laugh or laud this, but, Las Vegas!! Yes, Sin City.

Vegas here we come!!

What can I say other than it’s in my blood. My folks love Las Vegas and travel here at least once if not twice per year. My grandmother loved Las Vegas and if I’m lucky, if not a little sorry, my son will catch the bug for this outrageous and outlandish city some day too!

My son Mylo started crawling today! It’s exciting but at the same time also somewhat surprising because he’s been scooting or doing the army crawl since he was 5 months old. So much so that I assumed he might skip moving on all four’s all together and go right into walking.

There’s something so utterly adorable about a baby crawling, though. The slapping of his hands on the ground, the widening of his eyes as he gets closer to what he’s set his eyes on (usually me). His pensiveness as the smallest distraction causes him to change course. His laughter as he passes life from a new angle and with new perspective.

It’s all so very humbling.

Slappity, slap, slap… here I come!!

I took my son Mylo down to the Brooklyn Bridge Park at the foot of Atlantic Avenue this morning and pushed him in the swings. We were at the same park this past Friday with five of his best neighborhood buds and their moms but he was napping in the stroller during the majority of the outing. When he woke up I was excited to put him in the swing for the very first time, but he sat there slumped over, on the verge of falling back asleep. I pushed him once and then yanked him out. It didn’t count.

We made up for it this morning though. Turns out he’s still a bit too small for the swings so I took off my sweater and used it to prop him into place. He smiled a bunch but I wouldn’t say he was exactly screaming with delight. He’ll eventually get into it, I’m sure.

Mylo's first non-baby swing.

My son Mylo recently learned how to do something new. Pull himself up. Last week he did it with a great deal of shakiness and this week he pulls himself up more swiftly and with greater assurance and posture. My in-laws snapped these great photos of him. Check out the rise of the little guy…

On another note, I wish I could tell you that my husband Jason got him dressed on this day but only I am responsible for the above fashion disaster. I don’t know what I was thinking other than that it was really early in the morning and I was half way between taking his pajamas off and putting his day outfit on when I all about gave up.

It’s become increasingly difficult to get Mylo dressed because the boy refuses to sit still for even five seconds! I thought, ‘no big deal it’s just my in-laws who are going to see him today,’ and now, well, now he’s out there for the whole world to see.

Last night my son Mylo pulled himself up on to the shelf underneath the coffee table – about a half foot off the ground.

Up to no good.

I was proud of this mini-Mylostone but was also under the impression we had some time before he could actually pull himself up. Well, the very next day he crawled over to the TV console, held on to the drawers and pulled himself up. The video I snapped below is of him performing this new trick for the second time. We’re screwed, right?

I guess rolling off his playmat and chewing on the rug tassels is soooo two months ago!

This Mylostone is a precursor to walking: sitting up. My son Mylo has been sitting up quite well and pretty much unsupported since he was almost 6 months old. That’s not to say he doesn’t lose his balance or topple over from time to time, because he does. But the little guy can sit up, thrust his head from side to side and bang toys together in the air with the best of em.

Sitting surpringly still for a change.

While I am in awe of my son’s rapid development and just how strong he is, I only wish he would stay sitting like he is in the picture above for more than five minutes at a time. Usually what happens is he gets bored, or frustrated and he throws himself down on the ground in protest (hitting his head on the way) and proceeds to crawl all over the apartment getting into things he should NOT be getting into. Like let’s see, the dog’s water bowl. The cat’s food bowl. The power cords (we have to child proof those, I know), the shoes on the shoe rack, the front tire to his stroller and the list goes on.

My mother-in-law said to me today, “wait until he starts walking.” Really? Here I am thinking that walking could/should make our lives easier. NOT HARDER! We. Are. So. Screwed.

This Mylostone is for you, Granna…

I’ll admit, I am on my Blackberry a lot and if I’m not on it, it’s never not within arm’s reach. During my son Mylo’s early days when I became a new mom and nursing was long and arduous, when I fed him for up to half an hour at a time, sometimes every hour, I found a lot of solace and comfort in my trusty smartphone. When I wasn’t texting or playing Word Mole I would read Facebook status update after Facebook status update after Facebook status update. And when that got old I installed the Twitter app on my Blackberry.

A couple of months ago when I was at BuyBuy Baby with my mom we saw a onesie that read, “Stop Texting and Change Me.” She quipped that mine should say, “Stop Texting and Feed Me.”

Let me make something clear before I go any further. I never denied my son a feeding because I was on my phone. My mom’s objection with my phone is a generational one. She has a cell phone but it’s never on because she doesn’t like being found. I know what you’re thinking, why bother having one, right?

My mom couldn’t believe that I was on my phone during a time that is meant for fostering a deep bond between mother and infant. To that I say there is little bonding going on in the early days of breastfeeding. Until Mylo was about 1 month old I was hard pressed to see any bonding in breastfeeding. It was painful. It was demanding. It was lonely. It was time consuming. And it instilled in me a deep appreciation for our four-legged mammal friends. (Especially since they don’t have a smartphone to turn to.)

The good news is that Mylo is 6 months and almost 2 weeks old and I am still nursing and absolutely loving it. I am no longer on my Blackberry during feedings the way I used to be. Feedings are shorter and hours apart and when he is on my breast I coo at him, caress him and delight in making him smile or laugh while he is sucking. The bonding part of breastfeeding is in full force now and no text message, Facebook status update or Tweet would ever take precedence over what I share with my son during this time.

On the other hand, all that time spent on my Blackberry coupled with my son’s development has made him a budding smartphone candidate. He is obsessed with my phone. And much to my mom’s chagrin, I tell him, “Soon enough baby boy, you will have your own cell phone. Mommy’s gonna track you down everywhere!”

Hopefully by the time he has a phone, the "ignore call" option will be a thing of the past.

A New York City Mylostone down the hatch! We celebrated the birthdays at Carmine’s in Times Square Friday night and I think my son Mylo enjoyed himself more in the middle of Times Square than he did at the restaurant. Lights it seem, are more fascinating than eggplant parmasean the size of Texas!

No, seriously, the boy loves just about ANYTHING that lights up. Our Blackberries, his baby mobile, and now the busiest neighborhood in Manhattan. While his dad carried him around, he stared dead ahead with his eyes affixed to the blinking billboard monstrosities and his mouth was agape with wonder. It’s anyone’s guess how I was even able to get his attention long enough to snap this photo!

Times Square is nothing. Wait until he see Vegas!

Times Square: A baby mobile on steroids.

My baby's got a cold :(

Ok, so it’s not a good Mylostone, but it is one nonetheless. I woke up with a piercing sore throat Monday morning – the beginnings of a winter cold. And by mid-afternoon my son Mylo’s eyes were glassy and he was sneezing. By nightfall the poor guy had a fever.

It reached 102.5 Tuesday morning, which was alarming to say the least, so off to the doctor we went. Luckily though, by mid-afternoon, his temperature was pretty much gone. They said to keep an eye on his fever and his willingness to nurse – which of course was not hampered the slightest!

I feel horrible that I gave my baby my cold. It is day three now and while we are on the mend, we also share a gnarly-sounding cough.

Earlier in the week my son Mylo began pooping several times a day again. It was reminiscent of the newborn stage when he pooped up to a dozen times per day, but different because even during the newborn stage he would stay dry in between diaper changes for a longer period of time. This time he was only dry long enough for the next diaper to get on!

My poor baby had diarrhea. A little worried, I took him to the doctor who said there was nothing to be concerned about. He was bright-eyed and happy. Not dehydrated and most likely not a result of some foreign parasite. A relief, but why all the excessive pooping?

But then, just like that, the poop stopped and the tooth popped!

One day before Mylo was about to turn 5 months old, we lay canoodling in bed, him chomping away on my fingers as usual, and “ouch,” there it was. His first tooth. The texture and size of a lone grain of dry, basmati rice, the tooth percolated through his bottom gum and stared me in the face. (And there is a second one coming in close behind.)

The grill begins...

What To Expect.com says that diarrhea is a symptom of teething but that doctors are divided on the subject. They also note that some parents swear that their teething babies have bouts of loose poops.

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I am now one of those parents, are you?!