Issac @ 5 Months old

Hello, Ladies...

My precious little boy is 5 months old now. It is truly amazing how much a child develops in the short amount of time. I am finding it very important and useful to continue blogging about Issac monthly because I know that although I may think that I'll be able to remember all what is going on during this season of his life, the reality is that in a year from now that probably will not be the case. Team Tostado has been busy busy bees in this New Year that is for sure!

Cousins :) @ Fiona's 1st Birthday

Sleep deprivation...ain't no thang!

Oh, how the sleep deprivation is the new norm. I think my body is finally getting fine tuned to Isaac's random sleeping schedules. Adapting at first what much more difficult (as is most parenting tasks) than I ever thought it would be. I think that there is just no prep work that could really ever be done for this. Looking back on my pregnancy thoughts of "He'll be sleeping though the night at 4months" makes be giggle. It doesn't bother me that he is not sleeping though the night at all the time. I won't lie and say that it is not tiring or even that you don't have to conger all your strength to move your body out of bed at time, but there is no use in fighting it and thinking that it is because I am doing something wrong.

This truly is a special time with him that I want to remember.It is so very precious putting him to bed, we have developed a pretty regular bedtime routine.Change into PJ's, bedtime story with Daddy, feeding, then sing 'somewhere over the rainbow' while rocking him to sleep. He loved music in the womb so why would I think that it would be any different now. Hearing him sing with me just melts my heart into a millions pieces, his little "oohhh, eeehhh, aaawwww, ooohhh's"  bring an everlasting smile to my face. 

Get that Motor Running!

Issac's motor skills have come leaps and bounds in the past weeks. He is working on lots of new things like: sitting by himself, baby push ups and pulling up on his knees, perfecting rolling over, turning pages of books, and dropping and then picking up toys. Isaac is my little adventure boy already, he wants to get into everything...if this is a glimpse of what is too come we better get ready to be running all over the place. His grip is amazingly strong it seriously blows me away at how such little fingers can hold on so tight.  I can also tell a huge difference in the advancement of his vision. When he saw grass the other day he started lunging towards it, had it been a nicer day outside I would have let me get a feel for it. I know that this is a snap shot of his moving and groovin' skills and I am loving every minute of it! Seeing your child discover the world is such a blessing. Check out Isaac's video of him singing with the hairbrush, this totally brought back childhood memories of when a hairbrush would magically transform a moment. He just loves to hold it up and sing!

The Battle of the Bottle

In being completely honest I had absolutely NO idea that babies could refuse a bottle. When making the decision to nurse I knew the potential problems that I would face and it did not even cross my mind that at 5 months we would be battling with our little man to take a bottle for feedings. Isaac's strong preference of wanting to go 'all natural' has really made being away from him and going back to work a challenge. Let me stop you right there...if you are thinking, "well why didn't you give him a bottle from the start? Then this would not be a problem". Answer: Because nursing did not work out right away we had to give him a bottle, in fact he took a bottle up until 8 weeks when he decided that he didn't want it anymore.

I feel like I am running out of options, I have researched the web for hours reading bottle manufacture websites, personal blogs, baby websites, and pretty much you name it I've read it. We have tried all the tricks that we have read or have been suggested to us and by all I mean all. The only thing that we have not tried is complete starvation. Even if we did I am not sure how long the stand off would last. Once while I was at work Isaac held out for 6 hours! It was if once he got past the fussiness he had decided that he would just wait for me and that would be it. He definitely proved to us that he was not going to deviate from his preference. For the longest time I held out on trying different bottle types. From what I learned it really has not too much to do with the shape of the nipple. So, I gave in to what others were suggesting and the we tried different bottles. That was a complete bust! It didn't matter what bottle or nipple it was that Isaac was not and is not having it. He was barely 4 months when I tried as another resort a sippy cup. At first it was something new and exciting for him and he didn't get crazy he was actually accepting it. Yay! for what seemed to be some progress. Well, that progress was very much short lived and 3 bottles and 2 sippy cups later we have come full circle back to square one.

hhmmm...I guess this will work

Playtex, Medela, Dr. Brown's & Tomee Tippee = NO

 In many ways I love that he prefers to nurse over anything. It is really a special bond that we share, it just makes it very difficult with my return to work. I have tried and tried not to be stressed over it but how can you not be when you are away from your baby and not sure if they are going to be getting enough to eat while you are away. For now what seems to work so that I can be gone for up to 4 hours is oatmeal cereal 1 tbsp, 1 tbsp of bananas, and 2 oz of milk mixed together. This will 'hold' him until I can get back to him but he still missing a feeding of milk. I know that this is only a season for now, and in the coming months we will begin to start solids more regularly and we just keep hoping that he will one day decide that he is OK with either the bottle or the sippy cup. Thatis how is was when he began to nurse it was like one day after trying and trying he said OK lets do this. Until then we will just have to keep on trying.

Coming Soon...

In a few short weeks we will be celebrating Isaac's 6 month bday! We are looking forward to his first trip to the zoo, the 6 months check up, and his adventure in starting solids.

Parenting Bucket List

While listening to KLOVE this morning on my way to work I heard a story about parents starting a bucket list for their children. This immediately caught my attention and I began to intently listen to what the story was about. Although this idea is not 100% original or even ground breaking; it does have the ability to completely change our families lives. For those who do not know or have never heard of  a 'bucket list' it is a list of things that one would aspire to accomplish before their departure from this life. Well a parenting bucket list is taking it one step further in that this is not just about you but also about your children. The list would include things that you want to accomplish as a parent with and for your children. It is so easy to get caught up in the "time flies" mantra or the "cherish every moment" saying and take a million and one photos or videos.  But  what better way to intentionally invest your time into your children and have the pictures and videos along with it.

My Parenting Bucket List for Isaac 

• To teach him about/show him how God loves him! 
• Go to the beach and fly a kite 
• Have a season pass to the Zoo 
• See the snow in Colorado 
• Take a hike in Lake Tahoe  
• Memorize Bible scripture together
• Run through the sprinklers/water fight 
• Road trip traveling all of Hwy 1 in California 
• Have a picnic under a redwood tree 
• Serve our community together - soup kitchen, tree planting, Operation Christmas Child 
• Go to Hawaii and visit Paul's Place 
• Have Mommy/Son Dates 
• Take him on Ferry in the SF Bay  
• Spend an afternoon at a museum of his choice 
• Walk on the Santa Cruz Pier 
• See the Grand Canyon 
• Put our feet in both the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean together
• Go site seeing in Washington D.C.
• Swim with dolphins 
• Go to Disneyland for his birthday 
• Ride a train 
• See the Parade of Roses 
• Go to the CA state fair 
• Watch fireworks from a battleship 

My list is in no particular order and seeing that he is only 5 months old I know that much of this will wait until he is at an age where he can appreciate what we are doing. Yet, I still feel it is never to early and never to late to start a parenting bucket list. I also think that it is important to have a list for each child that is a work in progress. Meaning as a child grows and their interest develop and change its OK to change the list and we should be adding to it as well. The entire point of this is to accomplish quality time invested in our children's lives. After having Isaac I often found myself with wishful thinking that he came with an instructions manual, but no child does. Much of parenting is trial and error and no parent is a perfect parent. However,that doesn't mean that we should not be taking the time to make every effort to have life lasting memories and experiences with our children throughout their lives. I know that I have much more that I want to add to this list and it truly is a works in progress. 

Another thing that I would like to add is that I will be encouraging my husband to develop his own list for Isaac. Parenting is a team effort and there are many things that we will accomplish as a whole family, but I do think that it is very important that he also define his very own parenting bucket list. I encourage any parent out there to make this your own! There is no rules or regulations just have fun with it :)