Daily Life of Tristan 2

Here are some more pics of Trist during his day -- be sure to look at the post before this (had to break it up). I started school this past week. I enjoyed it, but I sure was happy to get home at night and to be able to see him during the day this weekend! Glad that summer will be here before long :)

He often falls asleep in the swing, which often gives us a nice break and sometimes even a quiet meal!

There is something that always catches his eye...


Just a closeup of Tristan!


He really enjoys his bath! If he is in a bad mood, we go take a bath. As soon as I turn on the water, he quiets down. He's not smiling yet in the bath, but he'll stay calm in there for a long time, just kicking his legs and moving his arms. He even doesn't mind getting his "hair" washed!


Trying to get a good pic of mom and son :)


Trying again...he doesn't look thrilled, does he?!


Pic with Dad!


Here is a video of him playing -- watch at the end for a little surprise! ;)

Faces

I was going to add more to this blog, but looks like I'll have to divide it up some. Site is giving me problems. But anyways, just some cute faces of my little guy :) You can see how fast his mood changes!

Things I've Learned

I really don't have anything planned for this blog, but I just wanted to updated it with something, so I'm going to brainstorm about things I've learned (so far) about parenthood...or just about having a baby:

1) Getting ready to go somewhere takes twice as long -- gotta get the child fed, changed, diaper bag ready, and always running back in the house to get what was forgotten!

2) Going to town is much harder, with or without child -- if I'm with Tristan, I have to schedule my shopping around his feedings, so I'm around a place with a nursing room when it is time to feed (I've nursed before in a changing room -- not the easiest), and if I'm not with Tristan, I have to schedule my shopping around places (again) with a nursing room so I can pump!

3) The idea of "sleep when the baby sleeps" sounds like a great idea, but it doesn't always work that way. You may not be tired when the baby sleeps, or the baby won't sleep long enough for you to relax enough to sleep, or some other reason. May work for others, but never really worked for me.

4) Your life truly revolves around your baby. Dinner time often revolves around eating, going to put the pacifier back in his mouth, eating some more, going AGAIN to put the pacifier back in his mouth, eating again, giving up and holding him while trying to eat...

5) Babies have a lot of gastro problems...acid reflux and gas are the two main ones. Neither are comfortable for the baby, and both can cause a lot of fussiness!

6) Nursing HURTS at first (at least, it did for me) and is not easy. I was tempted to give up on the nursing during the first 2 weeks, but as several people told me, I pressed on and sure glad I did -- it does get better!

7) I am a paranoid mother. I'm worried that the house is too warm during the night, so I constantly check the temp in the nursery. I'm worried that his poop is not the right consistency. I'm worried that he is not eating enough (which is stupid of me 'cause he is growing great). I'm worried about my milk drying up, so I often wake up in the middle of the night to pump (then can't get back to sleep...). I'm a worrier (I'm going to take after my mother ;).

8) No matter how fussy Tristan is during the day, those moments of smiling and cooing are the absolute best in the world. It truly brightens up my day :)

9) All those things I said I would never do with my infant...I do (at least, some of them). I've let my child sleep in the carseat in his room at night until we went to bed. I've fallen in love with the pacifier -- he took it from day 1 (no confusion with breastfeeding/bottle to all your baby experts that said no pacifier for however long!) I know there is more, but I've gone blank. I just know there will be many more times that I will regret my words in the future...

10) You need lots of burp cloths -- more than I ever realized! When a baby has acid reflux, you go through a lot of burp cloths!

11) I wash clothes constantly -- his because of his spit up, leaky poop, or surprise tinkles during diaper change, and mine because of his spit up, leaky poop, or surprise tinkles during diaper change.

12) I never realized how fast we would go through diapers! My child seems to enjoy having his dirty diaper changed, just to poop again either right after putting on the next diaper or right before...then he might spray himself and me as I'm changing him once again...

13) I don't enjoy waking up in the middle of the night to nurse, but when he finishes eating and falls asleep against my chest, it is hard for me to put him back down. I love the feeling of him at rest against me.

14) You can read all the books on babies and sleep and everything that you can get your hands on, but nothing will truly prepare you for a baby. Every baby is unique and nothing works for every baby -- it's a learning process!

15) I know I will love it someday if I have a little girl, but I adore being mommy to my little boy. He is the most wonderful thing to me...one of the hardest things, but I love it.

I can't put everything I have learned so far -- my list would go on for a while -- but these are just a few things. I know I have much more learning to learn! Does the learning ever really stop?

For the Love of Asian Food!

When Nate and I first arrived back in September, the last thing we wanted was Asian food of any kind -- no rice, no noodles! But, as time as gone on, we have started "craving" Asian food. Actually, we are starting to have conversations that go like this:

"You know what I am craving?"
"What?"
"Clay pot rice with the roasted chicken leg."
"Mmmm, sounds good. I would do anything for a hong dou boazi (red bean paste filled steamed bun) or a peanut zongzi (sticky rice formed in the shape of a cone with peanuts)".
"Oh, or a grilled sweet potato from off the street!"
Etc...

Yeah, so we are actually craving "some" chinese food, although neither one of us craves stir-fry at all!

So, we have been craving Asian food, but not enough to go eat at a Chinese buffet. However, we do have some favorites around that we enjoy eating at. One is called "Pho" which is a Vietnamese place. Very authentic and so good! The other is a Thai place that we just found last week. Tastes just like what we ate in Thailand. Here are some pictures of what we ate:


For our appetizer, shrimp spring rolls -- one of my absolutely favorite dishes on Earth!


This was my soup -- had big chunks of chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, lemongrass, etc. Served with jasmine rice, which is my favorite kind of rice -- not the rice that you have in your pantries!


This was Nate's dish -- chicken curry with Asian eggplant. Very spicy, but of course, perfect for Nate. Also served with rice.

On another note, Tristan slept for 6 1/2 hours straight last night! We had a tough time getting him down -- didn't get him down until 9:00, but he slept until 3:30! Maybe soon he will be sleeping completely through the night -- we shall see :)

Faces!

Our little boy has the cutest smile, whenever he decides to smile! He smiles a lot at his daddy, especially when Daddy is making funny voices and faces and singing random songs. When he is not smiling, he is making a confused look, but it is always cute :) I've been trying to take a picture of his smiles, but since they are not very consistent yet, it's very hard to do, but here are a few pics of what I did get on the camera!








Success finally! But it even gets cuter than that -- that was just the best I could get :)


Cute picture of Trist sucking his thumb while holding on to Daddy's finger.


This was funny to see for us :) He doesn't enjoy his tummy mat yet if he has to lay on it, so we set it up in a chair so the toys dangle down to where he can see and play with them. Guess he got a little to excited because he ended up pulling it down on him :) But he was so content with it laying on him!


This is his play station, at least it is if Mom and/or Dad are not available (like attempting to eat a peaceful meal together!). And yes, there is his diaper pail, which he has a fascination with right now! I got down on his level to see what was so special about it, and it actually looks like a penguin without the black, so maybe he will like penguins when he gets older! ;)


And his toy puppy -- Trist likes this toy also!

One Month Pic

Easter!

Happy Easter! This was our first Easter in three years to spend with our families, and Tristan's first Easter as well! Here are some pictures :)


These two are not Easter pics, but they are so cute of him!




Take 1!


Tristan with his Easter basket from us -- bet Mom and Dad will be eating the chocolate instead!


Again...take 1!


Must better -- although we had to give him a paci for a few seconds, pull it out, and take the picture quick!


The Tunnell family at Easter! Tristan likes to cross his eyes for pictures :)


Mamaw and Pampaw with their new great-grandboys!


Mom and Dad with all four grandchildren :)


My sister and I with our new boys! Cooper is now 2 1/2 weeks old, but he was born 3 weeks early, so he is still very tiny. Tristan is one month old now! Quit a little bigger than his cousin :)

Hope everyone had a great Easter!