Easter Bunny

We went to see the big furry guy today. A actually smiled as soon as I put him on the Bunny's lap. We got some cute pictures, but none that had him looking at the camera.... but at least no weird expression like we got with Santa! M said A just doesn't like smelly bearded guys....

I love this age.

I remember saying at 4 months that I loved that age. Every day has been a joy, but 7 months is really fun. A can do all kinds of fun things--move around the room, entertain himself (usually with pens, cat toys, shoes, and remote controls), smile and giggle. We have so much fun!

If I were to predict A's first word, I would say it will be "cat." I think that he is starting to "get it" because he looks at the cat and says "Dat." Not sure about this, or how to recognize whether it's a sound or a word, but there it is.

Apparently, when M put A to bed last night, A said da da (which is his typical babble these days). M then said "YES! 'Da Da.' Now you just need to say 'Da Da, I love you!'" He then said "Da Da, Aye O Ooo," or something that sounded like he was mimicking. M was very happy about that.

7 month old pictures!

Taken, just need to be uploaded! :)

Grossest thing yet

A is still fighting a runny nose cold. Today, I got him up to feed him, and as we finished, he blew his nose and a mountain of snot came out--all over the chair, the floor, him, me. Ick. I then went to boogie his nose and even more came out.

Now this might not seem gross, but it most certainly is. It's probably because it's a much more rare occurrence--I'm used to being thrown up and pooped on, along with any other gross thing that happened nearly every day in A's first three months. But I've never seen snot like that before.

Sick baby

Poor A woke up with the sniffles. It's gotten progressively worse over the course of the day. Little guy was miserable this evening, and I could barely get him to nap. He napped at the grocery store (so probably about an hour) and then M was able to put him down around 4 (another hour).

I was at my wits' end this evening, though, and couldn't get him to nap for anything. Finally, I decided to lay on the couch and snuggle with him. He seemed to like it, but wasn't going to sleep. Then I put him on my chest. He seemed to like that even more, but still no sleep. Finally, I shut off the light over my head and he was asleep within minutes.

Our son has not napped on either of our chests since he was probably about 3 months old. Although we very much love it, we didn't want to encourage bad habits. So, it was nice to get to do that tonight. I learned by this that my son's feet are always moving. I've noticed that he moves his foot at the ankle while he nurses, but he apparently does the same thing in his sleep. Too cute!

Mommy's Photo Shoot

I got this idea to get this cup and saucer planter from Walmart from one of my Mommy boards. Here are the results, along with some other props I got there. The last one was from another day, but I thought it was cute!

Playdates

This week, we've had two playdates. We met some new mommies and babies through meetup.com. It was a really low key playdate at someone's home. The hostess has a son who is only 2 weeks younger than A--they seemed to be fascinated by each other. There was also a 10 month old and then some older kids. I'd really love to find a playgroup here in our town so that we can meet some moms and babies A will go to school with. Short of starting my own meetup group, there doesn't seem to be anything out there like that. Even the Moms Club international doesn't have a chapter in our town, but instead, our town is part of the Moms Club in another local town. Hopefully we'll meet some kids in the neighborhood once it gets warmer and everyone is out more.

We also had a playdate with Best Bud and Prom Date. Best Bud is really cruising! Unfortunately, A makes a sound that seemed to drive him crazy--he would start crying every time A "talked."

We haven't seen Prom Date in a few weeks, but she has gotten so much bigger! She's still a peanut compared to the boys, but she also can hold her own with them.

Bubbles

Since A enjoyed the bubbles so much at Gymboree, I figured we'd try it at home. He had just woken up, so surely that had an effect. I sat him down on the kitchen floor and blew the bubbles at him. He didn't seem to "get" it as well as he had there, but he eventually was reaching for them and had this "Where did it go?" expression on his face. My bubbles aren't as good as theirs--the bubbles at Gymboree are the kind that are a little harder to pop. I think the kind they make for cats does the same, so maybe I'll check those out next time we're at the pet store.

First sporting event

Last night, we took A to his first sporting event! A friend of ours is on his college's swim team, and they had a meet at Rutgers. A did really well, especially considering that we had to wake him from his nap to go. He didn't sleep from that time (4:30) until we got home (7:30).

He did try to snuggle like he does when he's sleepy, but he didn't go to sleep and he didn't really fuss all that much either. He got incredibly warm--we had him in lined jeans and a long sleeved tshirt. I was very glad that both of us dress in layers every day.

M is starting to recognize (finally!) that A looks more like him than me. He saw the blog entry below with our baby pictures and he finally saw it. I still don't think he looks like M did as a baby, but I DO think he looks like M did around 3 or 4.

Snow

We got about 4 inches of snow on Friday. We took A out in it, but he started acting like he wanted a nap the second we bundled him up.

CIO Night 3

Ahhhh, uninterrupted sleep. A slept from 7:45 until 5:30 this morning. Then I fed him. He woke again at 7--I fed him again. He's still sleeping at 8:45.

Hopefully the time span will get longer as time goes on, but at least he didn't wake at all while M was sleeping... that's a step in the right direction!

CIO, Night 2

As we got into bed last night, I told M that hopefully A wouldn't cry for the whole hour.

He ended up waking up around 2:30. I let him cry for 12 minutes, and he stopped about the same time I got back in bed. M said "We CAN'T get that lucky." About half an hour later, he started to cry again. We waited 12 minutes again, and M went in to him. Sometime after that, I fell asleep and he had stopped crying by the time I woke up... not really sure how long that was, and don't remember looking at the clock when I woke.
He then slept until 6:30, at which point I fed him. He's starting to stir now, at 8:30.

Not bad!!

CIO, Night 1

We've been doing the Ferber method for naps since A was four months old. At nighttime, however, I always assumed him to be hungry so I'd get up and feed him.

A few nights ago, he started a new trick of sleeping until 11 or 12, then waking every 2 hours after that.

So I decided we'd give the old Ferber method a try for night time. He slept until around 2:30, and we had to go to him a total of 8 times--after 10 minutes, 12, and then repeating at 15 minutes. He finally got himself back to sleep after a little more than an hour.

It became apparent exactly WHY he was waking all those times--he wanted some Mommy cuddling. When M went in for the checks, he cried (and loudly) but not nearly at the volume as when I went in.

A little nervous, I went in to check on him at 6:30, waking him as soon as I opened the door. Feeling guilty, I fed him. Other than that, though, he is sleeping as late as he normally does.

Mango, Take 2

So M tried to give A the mango again for lunch. Success! Apparently, he just wasn't hungry this morning. He gobbled the whole thing down!

We also took him out in the snow this afternoon. He was super tired, so our pictures didn't come out fantastic, but we were afraid it was going to start raining so wanted to make sure we got them in.

Movin' on up...

This month has been a busy one. I organized and repacked all of A's clothes up to 3 months. I'm starting to fill his 3 months + sized clothes bin with his 6 month sizes. I went shopping for 6-12 month clothes. And finally, we dropped his crib. We also passed on his swing and Bumbo. We'll be passing on his bouncer seat.

My boy is getting so big!

There IS a food he doesn't like.

Inspired by Best Bud's mom (who makes her own baby food) and overwhelmed by the large amount of sliced mango we bought for ourselves at Costco, I figured I'd give "making it" a try while depleting our supply of mango.

I read that it could be mashed with a fork, but that didn't work for me so I popped it in the food processor and then put in old tubs.

I warmed it up this morning and A made the WORST face when I gave it to him. Thinking it was just new, I gave him some more. Next thing I knew, it was all coming back at me. Yuck. I then tried mixing it with some jarred bananas; maybe it was too tart for him. That came back too.

Oh well; I guess we'll try again tomorrow!

Another Gymboree picture

Stolen from Best Bud's mom!

Gymboree Part 2

We went with Best Bud and his mom to Gymboree in Princeton yesterday. Although we got there late, we had a great time. I still wish it wasn't so expensive, but alas...

A loved the bubbles (I have some pictures) and when the parachute went up and down over his head. He's also doing a great job at standing when he's holding onto something, but can't get there on his own.

Hectic

We've had a hectic day, and it's only noon!

The day started with my big boy waking up earlier than normal. Somehow he knows that it's Tuesday and he has to be well rested to enjoy swimming class so he wakes up early. **sigh** We got to class and he fussed from the moment we got in the pool. Not the entire time, but for most of it. We got out after 15 minutes, which was ok because we had an appointment to keep.

Despite the silence from the backseat for the car ride, A did not nap on the way to the doctor's office. Do you see a meltdown on the horizon?

We got to the doctor's office ten minutes before our appointment time. I don't know what time we got into the room, but it was close to 11. We didn't even see a doctor (it was catching up on shots since we switched practices), and still didn't get out of there until 11:45.

He had 2 shots and an oral thing (which he LOVED!) and his weight is the same as it was at our last appointment. They didn't measure him for height.

We go again when he is 9 months old!




I don't know why we buy toys; we should just buy a roll of crinkly paper from the doctor's office! Once again, I don't know why the sound isn't transferring. I hear it on my cell phone and I hear it when I play it on the computer, but I don't hear it on here. it's nothing exciting; just the crinklies.

Gymboree!!

We did a trial class today at Gymboree, along with Best Bud and his mom. It was SO much fun, both for A and for me. It was great to see him socializing with other kids and the exercises we did brought lots of smiles to his little face.

All that said, the price of the class is exorbitant. If I was working, perhaps I could justify the class, on top of A's gym membership so he can take swimming. But I'm not, so I can't, and it would be a hard sell even if I was (to me, not to M!).

This is one reason I'm considering Moms Club International--their mission states that they want to keep their dues low because they know that the decision to be a stay at home mom requires a financial sacrifice. It's really hard to strike the balance between getting A socialized with other kids, trying new things, and meeting other moms, and not paying a zillion dollars to do so.

Pictures and video from the swings

I don't know why the sound didn't upload too. :(

Swings!

Since today was a 60ish day (in February, WHAT??), we decided to go for a walk. It was A's first time in the stroller without the carrier, and he did great--he was very interested in seeing the world go by.

So on our stroll, I decided to see how long it would take to walk to the park. Then I decided to go see the swings. This turned into seeing how wet the swings were. The baby swing was not that wet, so in A went. He started yelling with displeasure until he got a big PUSH, at which point, he cracked up. He loved it!!

I took some pictures and video on my cell phone, so I'll upload those here when I can.

Compliments

I've gotten used to hearing "I can't believe those cheeks" (and all associated comments regarding wanting to bite them, etc) and "Wow, look at all that hair," but the comment about my son that makes me the happiest to hear is how beautiful his eyes are. I just love his big brown doe eyes; they are the prettiest eyes I've ever seen.

"I'm the CATman!"

My boy is the Pied Piper of kitties. I didn't think anything of it when our own cats seemed to like A... they're our cats; I would HOPE they would like him. Catcher was a fan of curling up with my very pregnant belly and Mitten is an all around lover. But then we went to Best Bud's house. Best Bud's two cats nuzzled right into A's hand and were rubbing up into him too.

He is really good about petting them too--we've been practicing on Mitten since he was about 2 months old. He sometimes grabs her fur, but most times, he pets her very nicely. We try with Catcher as well, but he often runs away first.

We noticed today that Mitten turned her back to all of us. I read somewhere that this is a sign that a cat trusts you, so M said "Wow, she trusts him!" because A was right at her tail.

I know that children are naturally interested in animals, but it's so interesting to see that they are interested in him too!

Hands and knees

A is progressing toward crawling. Today was the first time I saw him get himself up on his knees by himself. He is tolerating time on his tummy for longer and longer periods and pushing himself backward (although not crawling backward).

NO!

Now I know that it isn't possible for my son to already have his first word. I know that it is just coincidence. I know that he doesn't even hear the word NO all that often, but here's what happened.

I was feeding A his dinner last night. I started to clean his face (you know, the spoon across the chin move) when he turned his head away from me and said what sounded like a very firm NO! I said to M, "Did that sound like no to you?" and he said it did... (I'm not sure how much he was really paying attention at the time since he was in the other room, but that's not important).

Man, I knew this kid was strong willed but my goodness!!

Himself

Proof that A looks only "like himself," as my grandfather apparently always said.

Daddy at 7 months (with his mommy)

Mommy at 6(ish) months (with her great grandmother and on Daddy's first birthday!)

Where has the time gone?

I think he looks a lot like his Mommy here!

The vicious cycle

It's strange for M to get sick. If what "they" say is true, he gets sick less often than I do because he was breast fed and I was not. I have no idea, but again, I digress. The problem with this is that when he gets sick, it is inevitable that I will get it eventually. So here I am, on cold number 2 in as many months.

But since A is getting my milk (in addition to spending all his days with me), it's now a waiting game to see how long it will take until he gets it. Last time I was sick, he was sick within three days, so my money is on Thursday this time around.

I sure hope I'm better before it hits. ;-/

The beauty of the internet

Actually I suppose it's more about digital cameras, but I digress. Picture People sent me the digital proofs of all our shots yesterday. I won't share them all here because I don't know who's looking and I don't want to post A's bare bum on the internet... I also don't want to ruin the surprise of what's coming soon to a mailbox near you. But anyway, here's another good one:

SUCCESS!!

What a great morning we had today!! We went to swim class at the new time with a new teacher. He did GREAT!! I even got some SMILES!! WEEEEEE!! He cracked up when I "listened to the fishies" and even let me do the same to him.

Then I really pushed my luck and went to the grocery store. He was sleepy after swim class so I thought I'd risk it. I didn't have any milk defrosted so I didn't bring that with me but he still did GREAT. He woke up about 10 minutes into the trip and was quiet the whole time. He also gave me smiles in the checkout line.

YAY!! I think I've found the magic formula. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that it works next week too!

Nakee Baby

Another one of our shots from today...

I think this is Daddy's favorite of the ones he's seen. ;)

6 month pictures

I got a freebie for an 8x10 so I figured "free is for me!" and got his 6 month portraits done. I also ended up getting some Valentine's Day photo cards, which will probably be coming to a mailbox near you soon. It's a different picture than the one here. I call it "A's Harry Potter shot" because of the Harry Potter esque hair.


They took some incredibly cute shots, but at $18 a pose, ain't no way that was happening. I took a few on my cell phone of the images (sshhhh) but have yet to get them on the computer. Some of them were simple naked baby shots, which were very cute, but we can totally recreate them on our own for FREE. All it takes is a naked baby (got it) and a white sheet (easy to get it) and we're golden.

Eaten posts

I wrote this big long thing the other day, with a smorgasbord of what's been going on--the swim class that occurred without us making it in the pool, the beginnings of crawling, and some other stuff--but it didn't load and I can't remember what I wrote.

So, in short:

Thursday we went to swim class. The babe was apparently tired since he started sucking his thumb (our clue that it's naptime). He started crying as soon as I took off his clothes and pretty much didn't stop. I nursed him twice to no avail. The class began and he still didn't stop crying, so I started to dress him again and put him in his seat and he stopped.

I requested a different time slot in the hopes that it would work better for his nap schedule... our first time at the new time is tomorrow morning.

As far as crawling goes, we are making progress! He is doing great at lifting up his chest and sometimes even gets himself onto his knees. When we put A on his knees in the crawling position, he often screams, but it sometimes works and he can hold the position for a few seconds. He is also able to slide himself backward. I took some video of this, which I will upload some other time. I think he needs to hang out with Best Bud a little more (he's a crawling machine!) because A does a little bit better at it every time he sees him.

Swimming.

Thursday was a super busy day for us. First, I had to go to the gym to learn how to use their machines. This was at 10:30, so I had to wake A up from his nap to get there on time. He doesn't nap in the nursery. The orientation took longer than expected, so we had to run home quickly! I fed A, put him down for another nap, ate, got everything together, and then had to wake him again so we could be on time for SWIMMING!!

He did well in the class, up until the time I had to sit him on the edge of the pool. He started wailing and didn't stop until we were walking to the car (he loves the bouncing), at which point he conked out again.

Hopefully, the next class will go better since we won't have all that other stuff going on in the morning.

I'm so excited for today!

We have a very busy day ahead of us. First, it was a new food--bananas! Later this morning, we have to go to the gym for me to do an assessment type thing. Then, A STARTS SWIMMING CLASS!! I'm so excited, although I'm also nervous. I hope it works out with timing and his schedule that he's not sleepy and he's not hungry when it's class time.

Crawling.

Ha, made you look. No, A isn't crawling yet. I think, though, that watching Best Bud do it so well has inspired him. He is getting good at lifting his chest off the ground and even starting to get his tummy up too. He is able to turn himself 90 degrees too.

We're still waiting for that elusive first tooth to make its appearance!!

The THUMB.

We were very concerned about A becoming a thumb sucker. We have been giving him the pacifier whenever we can, except for nighttime. So, he sucks on his thumb when he's sleepy--this is the surefire way to know that it's naptime. I suppose it could be worse; he could use it all the time. The only trouble is that I have been woken around 11:30 the past two nights. I went in to find that his sleeve was covering his hand, and it was soaked as well. **SIGH**

Bananas!!

Boy did A love him some bananas. I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise, considering our house nearly always has bananas since we love them so much. He liked them so much that he ate the entire container, including the added rice cereal. Plus, this was only an hour or so after a nursing!

I guess I need to go get some more bananas, or else we're not going to make it the required four days of a new food!

Peas

It turns out, the problem with the peas was his cold. I tried mixing breast milk and rice cereal in with his peas and that was just fine. Then I took out the milk and that was fine too. So, he's had peas, applesauce, and green beans with much success.

Ew.

I have changed quite a few diapers in my day. Apparently, though, none of the children in those diapers were yet eating solids. Ew; this might just be the grossest thing I've seen yet.

Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

My vocal little boy has turned into a babbler. And a screetcher. His favorite is babababababa (raspberry) or bababababa SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEETCH!

I need to think of more nouns that start with B fast!

Playdate!

We had a playdate today. Best bud is crawling already! And pulling himself up to standing (just about). YIKES! I don't envy Best Bud's mom at all! Speaking of whom, A just LOVES Best Bud's mom... she can make him smile nearly every time. It's so cute!

I can't help but compare A and Best Bud. They're so close in age, Best Bud sets a good benchmark. They are about the same height, but Best Bud is definitely heavier--he's very solid. Their feet are about the same length, but Best Bud's hands and feet just look so much bigger.

Then there's Prom Date. She's so petite; her mom says she's smaller that some two month olds--at nearly 5 months! But, she holds her own against these two boys, as you can see on the shutterfly page. She's not quite able to hit them back (or pull their hair), but soon enough she will be!

I continue to be amazed that these three are on nearly the same schedule--they all wanted to eat at about the same times and they all wanted to nap at about the same times. Weird, but very cool for Mommy Socialization time!

Work.

I do not, for one minute, miss working. That said, I received an email today (well actually several days ago, but I just checked it) from a former student. She is now at Drexel University, and emailed me with an article in which she thought I'd be interested. She then went on to say that this must be why teachers love what they do--when their work has an impact and a student continues to think about what went on in the class.

Of course, the class in reference no longer exists in the school and has been replaced with more academic subjects, but what can you do.

What I'm worrying about this week

1. Going organic. I read an article about it and have seen all the hype, so now I wonder if I should be feeding A organic foods. I asked M what he thought, and he said it's probably not super important for fruits and veggies, but that maybe we want to take a look at hormone free milk and meats.
2. Cleaning greener. Our home is a huge energy waster, since it is a little bit older. Since this is so damaging to the environment, I'm trying to find ways to help the environment elsewhere.
3. Lead paint. After the recent recalls, one really can't be sure of what's in paints. Of course, A is putting his mouth on EVERYTHING. In addition, the new pediatrician had something on the form about lead paint and older houses.... we have a mark on A's file because we live in an older home.
4. The NH primaries. I was going back and forth between two candidates and then made my choice. Now it looks like I might not have that choice in November... time shall tell, though.
5. Why won't this kid eat his peas?
6. I'm worrying about F.
7. I'm starting to worry about finding a new job for September.
   

We have a new pediatrician!

We chose our former ped based on a friend's recommendation. We liked her well enough when we met her late in the pregnancy, and so went with her.

Around the second time we met with her, I started telling M I was thinking of changing doctors. There wasn't anything tangible, but I was a little hesitant about some of her advice. I liked her a LOT, but as a doctor wasn't so sure. He suggested that we stick it out a little longer.

Then, a few things started to happen. First, at the 2 month appointment, we were scheduled for our next appointment... in December. I asked at that time, "Don't we get a 3 month appointment?" and I was told no. Fine, ok. So I came home and looked at the immunization schedule, and sure enough it said there should be a 3 month appointment. Fine, ok. I didn't call about it... my fault, I know. So, we go to our December appointment, and I was told that it was his 4 month appointment and that he'd be getting his 4 month shots. I asked when he'd be getting the listed 3 month shots. I was told that he was supposed to have a 3 month appointment and that I'd have to come in again in 2 weeks for his 4 month shots (she'd give the 3 month shots that day). Ok, a simple mix up.

Next, we went for A's 5 month appointment last week. He had a little sniffle. Despite having received shots in early December with a worse cold, I was told that he could not receive shots when he was sick. They treated that visit as a sick one. I had called the doctor a few days before to make sure it wasn't RSV, so knew it wasn't a cold about which I should be worried. I would have to come back in a week to get the 5 month shots and have him checked for his cold.

That was just the final straw. We have a new insurance plan, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity to switch (even though the old doctor accepts the new insurance). (In addition, the friend who recommended her is also switching, although that's neither here nor there).

So, I looked in the big book of providers and found the practice of the doctor who treated A in the hospital. We liked him a lot at that time, so I figured his practice would be a good one to check out. In addition, it's much closer to our home.

So, we met with the new doctor yesterday (not the one from the hospital, but a doctor in the same office.) He's youngish and talks fast. More importantly, when I asked about starting A in swimming lessons, he said "Absolutely do it." Then he told me about what he and his wife did with their kids, and then said that the AAP says to wait on this. A doctor who gives advice based on his own beliefs, not necessarily the recommendations of the AAP--exactly what I want. He also told me what his family did when it came to solids. Then he told me that at this age, A will be eating SHOES, so not to worry about what dirt and crud goes in his mouth... lol.

Finally, he said that in an emergency situation, he and one of the other doctors see patients in their homes. This seems to me the closest thing in our modern world to a house call, and far better than a trip to the ER for sure.

The grocery store.

We attempted a trip to the grocery store yesterday. With the Can Can sale, it was a big trip. I knew I wouldn't have room for everything with his carrier in the basket, so I figured we'd try our new shopping cart cover. I Also brought along my sling, just in case it didn't work.

I had a tough time figuring out the cover, and it took a really long time to put on the cart. This one has ties, which are kind of a pain. Anyway, I get it on and put him in and he was a happy little boy.

I've never been stopped so many times as I was yesterday about what a beautiful little boy, so alert, so good and quiet, and so bright! I think it had something to do with him being in the cart for all to see instead of in his carrier.

Then we hit the heart of Can Can--the canned veggies aisle--and it was time to go home. He started to cry so we finished that aisle and headed for check out. A does not like to wait in the check out line, I suppose, because he has screamed every time we are there. This make my least favorite part of grocery shopping (bagging) so much more stressful.

I really need to figure this one out better, somehow.

Vocal.

A has always been a vocal baby; not surprising, given his family. Anyway, we've noticed that recently, he sounds like he is talking... I believe he is learning the patterns of our speech and how our language sounds. This is so nifty to hear him starting to communicate in other ways!

Summer 2008

It's not uncommon for me to start dreaming of summer at this time of year. This year is a little different, though, and in a lot of ways. First, I have not been on a beach, with the exception of a quick trip in the FL Keys in January, since August 2006. That is a very long time for this "shorechick" to be away. It was just too much for my very swollen self while I was pregnant; especially when considering the pins and needles I had in my hands when I drove near the end.
Second, there are no vacations in sight for us for a very long time. The beach vacations of which I dreamed in past years are just that...dreams. Finally, summer of '08 will mean I'm getting ever so close to going back to work. In fact, if I find a supervisor's job, I will likely begin that in July.

Nonetheless, I'm summer dreaming already. I'm starting to think about A's first birthday party. I'm having visions of him toddling around (!!) and maybe even going on the boat. I'm hoping to go waterskiing and teaching M to do it too. And of course, I'm trying to figure out the logistics of taking myself, A, and all our crap to the beach. I hope he's better at finding sand crabs that I am, but I think his Grampy will be great at helping him find them!

Sitting in the tub!

So A can sit on his own now, and I thought we'd try the "toddler" side of his baby tub. It worked! He was sleepy, so he didn't have a GREAT time, but he sat all on his own. He's getting so so big.

5 month picture!

Belated, I know. The series on the shutterfly page is pretty funny. He was very interested in the sheet of paper, and it's hard to tell how tall he is in comparison to Blue Fish, since he is sitting rather than leaning!

Goodbye, Jack.

Jack has passed away. Please offer prayers for this sweet little boy.

The Bad Mommy Chronicles, v 4?

As mentioned below, A has a cold. As I gave him his bath, I got the bright idea of running the hot water to make some steam for him to breathe in. Then I realized how much water I was wasting by running the spigot and so turned on the shower....the shower was pointed right at my naked sick baby. He screamed, I screamed, M came running in. He was fine, probably more startled than anything, and didn't even have any redness.

Happy New Year!

A did well last night--we had some friends over to celebrate the new year in a super low key, brand new parents (well, at least for us) way. He was fighting a cold but still tolerated being held by someone other than his mommy or daddy.

Proof positive that there is a power in children...he's fascinated by them!

As I said, he is still fighting a cold. This one is mostly in his chest, but he's starting to develop a runny nose. Since best bud was diagnosed with a mild case of RSV (Click here if you want to know what it is), and A stayed there a few days ago, I made my first call to the pediatrician. On New Year's Day, she called back within an hour, which is reassuring! M answered the phone, and she just advised us to give him lots of steam to try to clear up his congestion.

The poor boy, though... he has been sleeping SO MUCH the past few days; it's just unbelievable. For example, this evening he napped from 7-8. At 8, we got him out of bed and brought him downstairs while I finished a show. Then, just a few minutes later, we took him up, gave him his bath and did the bedtime routine. He went to sleep very quickly, only half an hour after waking.

So maybe he doesn't like peas after all.

Yesterday morning, we tried peas. Not only did A turn his head away from them, but he also ended up throwing up--actual gagging and all. Today, M tried again while I was at the grocery store and said that A wasn't interested at all. I'm not really sure what that means or how we proceed from here, but it is what it is. I guess we'll try one more time and then move on to green beans!

Cousins

A met his cousins today... my cousin, his wife, and their three kids. My grandmother kept saying that he was going to start yelling and that he always yells when he's with her or my mother (not true on the second one...my mom is just more patient!)

So anyway, not only was he good with my cousin and his wife, but he was also fantastic with the kids. He was fascinated by the oldest girl, who got a big kick out of holding him, and he did well with the second girl too. He was also interested in their youngest's Hess truck (A got one too for XMas--guess we're pulling that out sooner than expected!)

Poor kid won't have any cousins of his own, though. His Mommy is an only and his one aunt claims to never want kids. Ah well--I guess he'll just have to take on the children of his "aunts" and "uncles" as cousins!

And while I'm uploading..

Here are some recent pictures!

It's girly, but it's fun (Future prom date's tummy time mat)!

For your viewing pleasure

Alex's first attempt at rice cereal (he loves the little red light on the video camera!):




Alex's silly mommy can make him giggle!

PEAS!

A had peas for the first time today. I'm all jumbled about whether or not he was SUPPOSED to have peas, but he really seemed to like them. He ate about half the container and was so cute with his little mouth open wide.

I took lots of pictures, but haven't yet uploaded.

In fact, I think I'll go upload the video of rice cereal now.

**SIGH*** Grandmothers.

It has gone from "Are you SURE you're supposed to feed him every two hours? They must have changed it since I nursed your uncle." (COUGH COUGH, 65 years ago...) to "He is clearly spoiled; that's why he won't go to anyone else." Sprinkle in a little bit of "You better wean him before he's a year old because you don't want to be nursing him when you are going back to work," and one begins to wonder if she is thought to be a complete idiot.

Mom, you will love this one. Today, she said, (AND I put it on speaker for M to hear so he will vouch for it,) "I'm not going to tell you what to do."


Self, SHE MEANS WELL, SHE MEANS WELL, SHE MEANS WELL, SHE MEANS WELL.

At least she cracks me up every time she calls his paci a coochie.

First night away from Baby.

So M and I went to Atlantic City to see my BFF and her hubby. We left the boy with his best bud for the night. We were worried--he has been so fussy for such a long time and he was not so great with "strangers" on Christmas Eve that we just didn't know what he would do. Apparently, he missed us for about an hour then was happy to be with Best Bud. Best Bud got some cool new toys for Christmas; far better than Baby Feisty's Dr. Seuss figurines!! HA!

So, we get the boy back home and he is a dream child. He started smiling at us again and we even got a giggle. We need to send him to Best Bud's mommy more often!

He sleeps like his momma.

Rice cereal

Baby Feisty continues to do well with rice cereal. I'm not sure when we move on to the next food, but we're going to continue with this for awhile.

Here's his first try at it:

Christmas...

Well, actually, Christmas Eve, but you get the idea.

He did really well. He did his "I can't take this, there are just too darn many people here" thing for awhile, but overall, he did well.

It is clear that his grandparents plan to spoil him rotten.

Some pictures from Christmas Eve at our house (check out the new wall color!)

Reaching.

Wow. This kid is really starting to get a handle on using his hands. At bathtime today, I leaned him forward to wash his back. He grabbed onto the other side of the tub and was holding himself up that way. Unfortunately, the camera was nowhere to be found because it was very cute!

AHHHH, sleep.

The whole night! He slept the whole night! WAHOO! He fussed a little at bedtime, which is unusual, but I haven't fed him since 8:30. Boy am I paying the price for that little bit right now! He started to cry around 5, and M said the monitor wasn't loud enough so he turned it up, but Baby Feisty went right back to sleep. I'm not concerned because our room is close enough that if he really needed us, he would have woken us up.

Of course, now I don't know what to expect from our morning.

I do doubt this has to do with the rice cereal. Everything I've read says that starting solids doesn't help babies sleep better, plus we gave him the cereal at 10am...almost 12 hours before he went to sleep.

So, a little creeped out that he slept so long, around 6, I went in to make sure he was still alive. His head was in the corner of the crib, he was on his tummy, head turned to the right, thumb in mouth. Soo cute... I have to figure out how to get a picture without waking him!

Rice cereal

Yesterday, we tried rice cereal for the first time. Baby Feisty really seemed to like it--he was reaching for the spoon and leaning forward. I'm not quite sure if I'm doing this right, but I guess I'll have to figure it out... the instructions my doctor gave me weren't fantastic.

I took some video and lots of pictures, but don't know when I'll have the time to upload them.

Amazed.

Once again, the kid surprises me. I had him in his Bumbo chair and we were playing with his Ellie---Ellie Phante. I let him have Ellie, and, huge surprise, he dropped Ellie. I saw him reaching for Ellie, so I said, "Go ahead and get Ellie yourself." Next thing I knew, Ellie was back in his hands.

We did a follow up for the first study in which we participated. It went really well--the woman doing the study said that he was the first baby who was actually participating and the rest of the babies have a high standard to meet.

It was very similar to the SECOND study in that he had a string attached to him and controlled something with his movements. This time, there was a screen with a baby--when he moved his arm, he saw the baby and heard music... I said "Starting him early on tv!" He really seemed to get a kick out of it--the study lady said he was smiling through most of it.

Hey, I know you!

When he sees M or I for the first time in awhile, A will reach out and touch our faces. It's like his way of saying hello.

Well, upon seeing best bud and future prom date yesterday, he did the same thing to each of them. I wish we had a camera handy; it was so darn cute!

Tired.

Looking at the baptism pictures, with eye cream galore on, and I look tired. Under my eyes is very puffy. I've always had puffiness and dark circles there--it goes along with my Italian heritage, I suppose, but wow it looks a lot worse these days.

I don't especially FEEL tired, and my days surely aren't as draining as they were when I was working. I'm loving my life, and I have little day to day stress (of course, there's the "How are we going to live on only one income" stress but that's just not the same).

I have a really hard time getting up in the morning too. Even though A is down to 2 night wakings, the 7am alarm now invariably gets hit as snooze instead of off. Luckily, he is sleeping until at least 9 these days, which allows me to get things done before he gets up. Of course, it also means that I'm not getting to that 9am class at the gym anymore.

Maybe that's why I'm so tired--I'm not exercising!!

A year end retrospective.

Our whirlwind year is finally over. We've said that July 2006-July 2007 was both the happiest and saddest 12 months of our lives, and now it's completely over. So as 2007 comes to a close, the happy things:

• February--closed on our new home!
• April--moved into our new home!
• June--kissed our apartment goodbye!
• July--A made us wait. and wait. and wait some more and then finally graced us with his presence!
• August--A started to smile
• September--A met so many people who love him at our "come meet Alex" party!
  
• October--A started to giggle, A's first Halloween
  
• November--A's first Thanksgiving
• December--A's first Christmas, A was baptized

All through the year, we've been surrounded by love and support and many many helping hands.

We've been "elfed"

A funny silly internet thing. A, his mommy, and his grandparents got "elfed"!!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1509019095

He was also "elfed" with his mommy and daddy!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1509333124

Catch up

I haven't yet uploaded the pictures from my camera of yesterday's events, but A's grandfather sent me some of the pictures he took. My Godson came to sit up front with us and wanted to know where was his candle. Goodness do I look tired; guess it's time to spend some big bucks on eye cream cause the cheap stuff ain't workin.



We saw A's doctor today for his 4 month appointment... he has lost weight in two weeks. I suspect it was because he hadn't eaten in some time combined with using a different scale today. He's also gained 1/2 an inch.... again, I suspect she didn't measure him really well. So, he's 14lbs 6 oz and 26-1/2" tall.

The world's newest Catholic

What a day today was. We woke to a very white yard... uh oh, this might mean trouble. A's great aunt was the first to call--What's it like there? Well, we didn't get a lot, but it's all icey slushy junk. She didn't want to make the trip; with a 2 hour drive in good weather, it's definitely for the best. Then one of his friends couldn't make it either.

OK, well, the important people were definitely coming--all of A's grandparents would be there no matter what and so would his parents and Godparents. Of course we wanted EVERYONE there, but definitely those people needed to be there. But wait... A's Godfather lives in the Poconos... what were they getting?

Apparently, something like 5 inches of snow. They made the trek, with three kids in two, no less. We were nervous he might not make the ceremony, but got there about a 1/4 of the way through.

The baptism went really well. A did great through it all--he was so happy and "talking" to my dad behind us. For whatever reason, our family was in the first family row, so they didn't have anyone but the Godparents blocking. It was fantastic. We thought the ceremony was very nice, and the best part was that our whole family was able to crowd around the baptismal font to see! My Godson must have gotten bored and came up to sit with us during the ceremony. It was very cute.

A looked great in his little sweater vest and cords. A woman in the store told me that cords were no way dressy enough for a baptism, but I think it was just great (even with the cargo pockets in the cords!

Our restaurant choice was PERFECT...so much food and everyone really enjoyed eating family style. It was great to see everyone and spend time with them too!

In all, a wonderful day.

Every day

Every day, I...

• Give A at least 100 kisses
• Make A giggle
• Get a smile that melts my heart
• Say I love you at least 20 times
• Am amazed at what my little 4 month old can do!
• Am amazed at what I can do with my little 4 month old
• Am perplexed when my little 4 month old acts unusual

Merry Christmukkah!!

The little one loved the Hanukkah lights. He was just staring at them. He looked so cute when we took the pictures!

Yesterday, A's best bud and his mom came over to help us paint. We put the boys in A's crib for a nap at the same time, as we often do, and here is the result:

That's right... I went in to check on why A was screaming, and he was getting kicked in the face! Poor guy!

Later, we found them asleep like this:

Light a candle for Jack

Click here to "light" a candle for Jack.

A whirlwind weekend.

On Friday, A went to see his Grandpa. It was A's first time "lighting" the Hanukkah candles, and M said he was just fascinated. We have been far too busy here to do them, but I got out the menorah so we could take a picture of A for his "First Hanukkah."

Saturday, we ran errands and banged out a bunch of Christmas shopping. Then we had a Christmas party that night. A screamed basically the whole time we were there. We even had to leave early because it was just too much for him. He probably could have handled it if it wasn't such a long day or if it wasn't so close to his bedtime. He slept the whole ride home and barely moved when I took him out of his carseat and into the crib... and I even changed him! At least he got to see Grampy and Grammi, though!

Sunday, more errands, and more screaming too.

The problem seems to be that he is having a tough time napping in his crib. Right now, he is napping in his crib and went to sleep with almost no crying or problems at all, but otherwise, we've been having a very tough time. This, of course, leads to a very unhappy baby.

Funny things this weekend--When I went to get A up for the day, both on Saturday and on Sunday, I went in to find him on his tummy. I definitely didn't PUT him on his tummy, but there he was. I watched him do it at another time--he was getting himself onto his side and then using his feet against the crib rails (I haven't yet washed the peed on bumper) to turn on his belly.

Jack.

Jack seems to have taken a turn for the worse. Megan said that he might not ever be taken off his vent, which means they will essentially let him die...this depends on tests they will do this week. Aside from that, there is something muscularly wrong with him.

SNOW

We got some serious snow yesterday (more than a dusting), and it's stuck around. I took A out with me yesterday to get the mail. We put on his new jacket (6-12 months size--too big!), and hat and mittens set (also 6-12 months size--the hat is too big!) and took a picture of him in the snow.

This is the best one of both of us, and you can see the snow whizzing by our faces:

As I think I said in a post yesterday, it was a big scream fest yesterday. He wasn't happy being bundled up, but once we were outside, he didn't yell or scream at all. Dunno if the house was too warm or if he just really loves to be outside, but if today's screamfest continues (and it's only 9:30), we'll do it again.

Deliberate.

For a long time, I've been saying that A is playing with this or doing that, and M tells me that it's not on purpose.

Today, he is definitely doing things on purpose. I held him in his crib and he was at eye level with the monkey on his mobile. He reached out and batted at it. He turned away, and I said "Do it again," and swung the monkey. He batted at it again and then grabbed on to its leg.

Unpredictable schedule

First, A was very predictable. He woke at the same times at night as well as for the day. Lately, he's been waking for the day around 7. Today, M came in to say goodbye around 5:30, and asked "How many times did he wake up last night?" I said, "Oh my God, none!" I freaked out a little bit and asked M to go check on him. He returned and said, "He's still breathing, and somehow, his legs are sticking straight up." A woke a little later, ate a little bit, woke an hour after that, ate a little more, and then woke for the day around 8.

All this after he was waking around midnight, 3:30, 5:30, 7 for the past week.

Silly me.

I hoped for a good day today.

15 minute naps and screaming the rest of the day means not so much

Feeling a little bit better

At least, A is sounding better. He seemed to be doing better yesterday... he took several naps curled up with Mommy on the couch (and Mommy took a nice one too) and his congestion seems to be easing.

Last night, however, was a little rough. M and I are sleeping on our bed (which is basically an upscale air mattress), on the floor in the spare bedroom. We expected our new bedroom furniture to be delivered today (long, stupid story on that one) and so had to move everything out. So sleeping in a completely unfamiliar environment, with my tissues and water OUT of arm's reach was just really strange.

A woke around 12:30 last night. And then he woke again. And again. And again. And again. And then after the 6th time out of bed, I finally said frig it and fed him. He woke again around 3:30, I think? I don't remember. I know I didn't feed him again until he woke at 5:30. I know I heard him crying again around 6:30 (or so I'm guessing--I have no clock I can see with my wonderful eyesight) but didn't wake fully and he went back to sleep. He's still sleeping now (8am), which is close to his OLD schedule rather than what's happened the past 2 weeks.

We're still getting the occasional smile and have had a few giggles since he's gotten sick. :)

4 month appointment

So, we didn't get a three month appointment. We were told at the two month appointment to come back in December... I asked, "What about a three month appointment?" and was told to come back at four months. Apparently, we WERE supposed to have a three month appointment and there was some kind of mix up. So we technically had the THREE month physical and shots today and will have the FOUR month physical and shots in two weeks.

Anyway, A weighs 14 pounds, 12 ounces (50%). He is 26" long (75-90%), and has a head circumference of 16.5" (50%). The doctor thinks A is going to be tall, based on his height now.

She recommended that M and I get the flu shot, since A is too young to get it. Probably a good idea--who knows what M will bring home from work.

She said his cold isn't too bad, and that it could be to blame for his night wakings recently.

Last night, he fell asleep on M around 7:30. We took him to bed at 8:30 and fed him. He woke again a little before midnight. I went in and held him and put him back in the crib still awake. He was very quiet and went back to sleep. At 3:30, he woke again and I fed him... right back to sleep again. He woke at 5:30, and once again I cuddled him, and he woke for the day around 7:30.

Sick :o(

I have been dealing with a sore throat for about a week. It really felt like the canker sores I often get in my throat, so wasn't too concerned. On Friday, I started with soreness on the other side of my throat and it developed into the sniffles. We were at the mall and I had to stop at CVS for some Lotiony tissues.

This morning, we woke up and M said, "He's been coughing an awful lot this morning." Sure enough, our little boy has his first cold. His nose is so gunky (and it's CERTAINLY due to that snot drop on his shoulder the other day!) and he doesn't want to sleep alone for long at all. We're lucky to have gotten ONE good nap today.

He's napping on M's chest right now, and it's so sad listening to him breathe. My poor little guy is so tired too. I don't know what kind of night we're in for tonight.

Last night, we continued with Cry It Out (CIO), not knowing he was getting sick. He did well, except for his 3:30 waking. He cried for 45 minutes (with us periodically checking on him) before he finally fell back to sleep. It's hard to listen to him cry, but hopefully this will teach him to put himself back to sleep when he awakens at night. We're going to have to stop this process and start again later when he is feeling better, I guess.

We also have a pediatrician's appointment tomorrow morning. Hopefully, A is doing well on his growth charts and is on track to be 6' tall (HA... maybe when pigs fly).

In other news, we have primed three of the four walls in our family room. I hope to get more done tomorrow or Tuesday and then start painting the walls! WOOHOO; this project should be finished in time for Xmas!

Speaking of Christmas, the menu is planned, some of our presents are purchased (we have a few people completely finished) and lots of presents are on their way (ahh, the beauty and wonder of the internet!).