All the pregnancy stuff is cluttering up the page. Time to get that big round lady off the main page and leave it all here so it will disappear into Archived Posts oblivion.
So, here's the lovely slideshow of my ballooning!
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Jack is doing better, but still isn't out of the woods (this refers to my Thankful post below).
Our little online group made a collection for them just to help Megan and PJ out while they have to stay in Philly.
Check them out at: multiplebaby.blogspot.com
Wow, here we are at the four month mark.
What has A learned this month?
He has started teething. This has changed his sleep schedule a bit--he's no longer sleeping for a 6 hour stretch.
He is starting to pull himself up to sitting. When he sits in his bouncer, he kind of does a little sit up. He likes to pull on the monkey part of the bouncer and put it in his mouth.
He can get his big toe into his mouth.
He giggles often.
He (if he's in the mood) will giggle when you tickle his feet.
He gets upset if I am not looking at him and smiles when I do.
He prefers to sleep on his side.
He likes to suck on his index and middle fingers and prefers the left hand.
He can roll from stomach to back.
He likes his Jumperoo and his Exersaucer.
He's starting to blow raspberries, and loves to do them when he gets changed!
These days, he is waking for the day around 7am and napping around 8:45.
Let me preface all this by stating that I am getting a cold. That plays a factor in each of these stories.
We are doing what's called "Cry It Out," sort of. We let A cry himself to sleep--if he is getting too upset, I go in to help him out. If he cries for more than 4 minutes, I go in to help him out. The idea is to get him able to go back to sleep on his own so that if he stirs at night, he doesn't need to call us to help him get back to sleep.
Last night, he woke around midnight. I fed him. Around 1, he woke again. I let him cry, heard him stop and figured he was back to sleep. At some point, he started crying again and I just fell asleep while timing him.
I'm alleviating my guilt (and this is true, so I'm not lying to myself here) by telling myself that if something was wrong or if he really needed us, he would have yelled loud enough to really wake me up. In truth, this is how cry it out works.
So that's today's story 1. Today's story 2:
I was really congested in my nose so decided a hot shower was in order (plus it was time for me to get started on my day). I started to strap A into his bouncy seat, as always, and feel a trickle coming out of my nose. Before I had a chance to do anything about it, I dripped snot on his shoulder!
This poor kid!
My son is right now in his jumperoo, parked in front of the television, watching The Price is Right. He loves the colors and it is the only thing I can do to stop him from screaming ALL the time that doesn't include me holding him. I need to eat lunch!
Teething means A screams a lot more than normal. It also means he wakes up at night a lot more than normal. Orajel has become a Godsend--I dunno if they put a sedative in it or if he goes to sleep because of the reduction in pain, but it is truly a wonder drug.
I'm debating whether or not to retake A's Santa picture. A friend of mine called the mall on my behalf (yeah, she's a little nuts like that!) and asked if it would be a problem to redo it. They said no problem. I just don't know when I'll have the time to go back to that mall...
We're also trying to take holiday photos here in "the home office." We tried last night, and A had a dazed expression on his face. Couldn't get him to smile... he was definitely sleepy at that point and a little hungry, so maybe we'll try again tonight.
I am so thankful for my healthy and happy boy. Please keep my friend Megan's son Jack in your thoughts and prayers. He is a triplet and is not doing well at all--he's in the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's NICU. Look here, but know you will probably cry.
Yesterday was a MUCH better day. A slept like a champ during the night after the day from hell--7ish-3:30, 3:30-5:30, 5:30-8. He napped from 10-10:30, at which point we left to run some errands. He slept in the car and stayed asleep until lunchtime. He did get very fussy in the early evening--we gave him some Orajel and he went right to sleep (around 7:15) and stayed down till 11.
...and what did he do to my smiley, happy boy?
Today is, perhaps, the worst day of A's short life. He woke up a whole lot more than normal at night (and when he wasn't crying, Catcher was...). It got to be so bad, at 5:30, I went in and brought him to bed with us. At that time, he was ready to get up--gurgling in bed, smiling, and kicking... he was ready to play. I fed him and he finally went back to sleep.
Already exhausted, we get up to a very happy and smiley boy... for a few minutes. Not long after I got out of the shower, he started screaming... and it felt like it didn't stop until just recently (2:44pm). We've tried everything--walking around the house, feeding, playing, cuddling, burping.... the only thing we haven't done is put him in the car and drive around for awhile.
He just made the loudest and longest (and apparently, stinkiest) fart ever over on M... maybe that has been the problem all day.
But this kid just will not nap today!!
(Of course, it doesn't help that I have a to-do list that is a mile and a half long to get the house ready for Christmas. But that's neither here nor there...)
A's outfit is so cute, but taking the pictures with it on didn't work so well! Hopefully we'll get some good ones on Thanksgiving!
SIGH. My big smiley boy--I thought he would be so great on Santa's lap. He was, but he just would not smile on his lap.
On Monday, we went to one mall and tried twice... all we got was a kind of blank stare. On Tuesday, another mall, two tries. Smiling and giggling in the line and as soon as I took him off Santa's lap, but not a one on the lap.
I felt pressured to buy and I really should have chosen a different picture. But anyway, here's the one we got :(
The best parts of being A's mom...
1. The awesome "I'm so happy to see you!" smile I get when I get him up for the day.
2. The grins he gives me when he "finds" me after not knowing where I am.
3. The snuggles when he's sleepy and sucking on his paci.
4. The giggles he gives me when I raspberry his tummy or dance with him.
Those are the highlights of my days. Sure, there's lots more that's great about being with him, but those four things are just the absolute best.
My goodness, how time has flown. I was thinking this morning that A is 14 weeks old and at 14 weeks in the pregnancy, we had told everyone about it. Goodness!
We are doing ok with the time change so far. A went to sleep at regular time last night. He woke up for a feeding earlier than normal, and then every two hours after that. He woke up an hour early (so two hours earlier if you eliminate the time change--he usually wakes around 8:30, but woke up at 7 now time), so I brought him to bed with me, nursed him, and he fell back asleep in my bed. I put him in his crib and he slept until about 8-8:30.
Boy--a year ago today, I was already pregnant but didn't know about it yet.
