Little Guy - Big Changes!

You have had some big changes lately!  We are heading on our first vacation as a family of 3 this weekend - on a plane! Hopefully you cooperate, you're not a fan of sitting still lately and it is making us a little anxious to think about trying to keep you still in a seat for 4 hours when you aren't interested in TV or anything that doesn't move. :)

Last week you took a few steps, but were very timid.  You took a few more this weekend and now you seem to be getting braver by the day...baby steps - quite literally :) 

You got your 1st top molar/9th tooth last week

You learned how to high-five this weekend and you think it's the best thing ever, you get so excited when someone wants to give you a high-five :) 

You decided it was time to oblige and wave back to people when they wave to you - for the longest time you would just refuse to take part in this childish game.

You took your first ride on the tractor with Daddy this past weekend - you loved it!  Whenever we step foot in to the backyard these days you start pointing and grunting for us to bring you to the shed to see the tractor...you let us know what you want, that's for sure.

You started blowing kisses to Mommy/Daddy in the morning when we leave for work.

You've been making funny faces lately - mainly this one:

You make us laugh all of the time by doing new things every day :)

12 Months Old

We've been so busy having fun and celebrating, I haven't had time to document what's been going on!  You've had your first ice cream (Country Drive Inn, of course..) your first cupcake, your first wagon ride, a birthday party, busy busy busy! 

 

 

 

We had your 12M checkup last Friday, you weighed 21lbs 15oz (30%) & measured 31.5" (90%).  Dr. Miller says you're a healthy little boy!  Next checkup will be at 15 months - yikes!

 

You are on the move non-stop lately, I could barely get a 12M picture!

 

You are still sleeping like a champ and eat pretty much anything we put in front of you.  Not only have you become a good experimental eater, but once you get started - you will keep going and going, asking for 2nds and 3rds!  Some of your favorites right now are blueberries, bananas, tomatoes, meat of pretty much any kind, bread, pancakes, waffles.  Daycare actually commented last week that you've turned in to their best eater, who would've thunk it based on the start of your eating "career" ;)

 

We transitioned from formula to milk last week and recently decided to quit bottles cold turkey.  I was truly surprised that you seem to miss them, since you have been loving water from your sippy cup for a couple of months now...but I have a feeling you'll get used to taking milk from a sippy cup soon enough too. 

 

You aren't walking independently just yet.  You can stand on your own for a few seconds, but immediately squat down and crawl away - it just appears more efficient for you right now.  You'll walk when you're ready, even without walking - you manage to get around JUST fine and very very quickly.  We continue to babyproof the house with locks and gates to hopefully avoid disasters :) 

 

Welcome to toddlerhood Mom & Dad ;)

 

No fear

This past weekend you suddenly discovered the wide open staircase in the center of the house, which we've managed to avoid since you've started moving & exploring.  Typically you would just crawl right by the stairs, not anymore... Now you rapidly climb up the stairs with zero fear as to what's behind you.  Then when you get to the top, you try to nose dive down to the bottom to start the climb all over again.  We're in trouble :)

 

Buster is not too happy with your exploration skills...he's already sharing the attention & love, now you want his food too?!



Funny Little Guy

You've been making us laugh a lot lately...most recently with your dance moves.  You bop your head sideways back and forth after watching us do it.  Of course I'll dance around like a fool to get you to imitate, it's too cute. 

Now that you're on the move & testing the waters, you're getting yourself in to some more dangerous situations, which just seem fun & appealing to you.  For example, you like to play with the vent for the air return, you strum it like guitar strings, though it is not at all flexible like guitar strings and you've cut your little fingers on it.  We try to say "NO" sternly and you laugh, hysterically, at both of us when we say NO.  So, we put a safety gate in front of it.  You LOVE opening and closing the cabinet doors in the kitchen and bathroom, but for whatever reason, you like the one that has the cleaning supplies the best.  Daddy installed locks on the dangerous cabinets on Sunday night, you were NONE too pleased Monday morning.  You cry so hard everytime you try to open it, as if the world is ending.  This is a cry that we know we can laugh at :) 

You started pulling up to a stand in the past few days, though in a very unconventional way, but you make it happen.  When you started fussing to get out of your crib this am, I looked at the monitor and you were standing and quite proud of yourself! 

You like to walk around the house with the hand me down (pink) stroller and explore, you look so cute with your little sneakers, toddling around.  My mini-man, my goodness I love you buddy!

11 Months!

Somehow you just keep inching closer and closer to your first birthday - slow down, would you?!  It has been so much fun to watch you change & grow, especially these past few weeks.  Lately we're starting to see more little boy in that face and less baby...but we still see that handsome little smile on a daily basis :)  

At 11 Months old you are:

Sleeping solidly from ~7:30-6ish (usually on the 5:45 side of 6 these days though...)  Typically taking 2 naps a day, the first around 9:30, sometimes 1.5 hours, sometimes 3.5hrs.  The 2nd nap is usually around 2pm, but depends on how the 1st nap went ;)

Crawling all over the place, pulling yourself up to your knees and getting frustrated that you can't reach higher from your knees.  (You're not getting yourself to a standing position on your own just yet) 

You now own 2 pairs of your very own shoes, thanks to Grammy & PopPop!  We went to Stride Rite this past weekend and could not get over how cute you looked in the little sneakers, oh my goodness.  You had to have a pair of brown ones to go with your fancy outfits too.   

Using Sophia's baby carriage as a walker with a 5lb weight in it.  The other walking toys seem to move backwards too easily, but this one is slowed down with the weight and you're doing a great job cruising around the house with it!  (You're confident enough in your masculinity to not care that it is a pink baby carriage ;) )

Giving lots of KISSES!  Especially to your monkey blanket, you will pull the little monkey back far enough to view his whole face, then pull him close and kiss his face, pull him back to see his face, repeat.  It is so cute because you're so gentle when you do it!  Though you do usually end up biting his face after about 7 or 8 kisses.  Warning to everyone getting kisses ;)

Clapping your hands excitedly over all sorts of things.  You will see something out of the corner of your eye that you like and just start clapping and giggling. 

LOVE reading books...you're starting to explore books other than Little Blue Truck now, though those are still your favorite.  You do like to browse books on your own, but if I hold up a book and ask you if you want to read it with me, you will get very excited and crawl right over to my lap, I love it!

Have 7 teeth and seem to be working on a few more in the back...

Taking 3 bottles a day (just dropped from 4-5oz bottles to 3-6oz bottles this past weekend)  1 when you wake up, 1 in the early afternoon and 1 before bed. 
We know you're supposed to be off of bottles and transitioning to milk around your 1st birthday so we are trying to time your bottles around the same time of day that you'd typically have milk!  We just started giving you your nighttime bottle downstairs, to get away from the routine of having your bottle in your rocking chair in your room.  Now we read you a book or two in your room before going to sleep! 

Eating everything and wanting 2nds and 3rds at all 3 meals.  Last week when you were getting another tooth and had your belly issues you didn't want to eat anything.  Now you seem to be hungry ALL of the time.  It almost seems like you're always in your chair having snacks!!  You are still a huge fan of bread products (Freihofer's in your blood??), bananas, tomatoes, blueberries, on and on.  You eat your veggies for the most part too...for now!  You usually have breakfast around 7:30-8, lunch around noon, a snack around 3, another snack around 5 and dinner at 6.  My goodness! 

Still making us smile all of the time :)  We love you so much buddy! 

Teething? Sick? Investigating Your Cues

Sometimes I feel like we're investigating an unsolved mystery when we are trying to figure out how you're feeling.  If you aren't sleeping solidly - is it teeth or are you sick?  If you are sleeping more than normal - is it a growth spurt or are you tired?  If you cry - is it teeth or are you tired or are you hungry?

Starting last week you had a few changes that had us scratching our heads.  You wouldn't eat a darn thing we put in front of youYour eating habits started to change...more recently you have been trying pretty much anything we put in front of you - especially if it came from our plate/fork during a meal together.  Your favorite foods included bananas, bread, crackers, yogurt, berries, oranges- (oddly enough these were all things I ate a LOT of during pregnancy ;))  During your food strike you wouldn't even touch bread - we were shocked.  We didn't know if it was teething, sick, you nearing the threshold of toddlerhood?  I've been inspecting your gums regularly when we brush your teeth (which you still love) and haven't seen any new teeth.  Then on Monday after your bath I saw a new tooth, the bottom right lateral incisor had cut through.  I figured that must have been the cause of the changes as of late.  Mystery solved!

A few hours later...you were in your crib for the night and I heard you fussing.  I checked the monitor and all of a sudden you sat up and projectile vomited literally from one side of the crib to the other - I saw it shoot across the screen.  I ran to your bedroom, picked you up and you vomited again, all over me.  I ran to the bathroom with you and you vomited one more time.  It was just awful for all of us.  You were covered in vomit, terrified and exhausted.  I was completely panicked because I had never seen anything like it and hated seeing my baby so scared & upset!  I of course ran to call Grammy to ask "WHAT DO I DO??", we cleaned you up, I took off the 4 layers of sheets that your vomit managed to soak through (of course you aimed directly at the edge of the crib where the sheet liner doesn't reach, I will no longer be making your bed with 4 layers of sheets...).  Then Daddy sat with you for a bit in the rocker to keep you upright, though you fell back asleep pretty much immediately.  I think the experience was much more traumatic for us than you! I called the on-call doctor to find out how we should proceed in case you woke up to vomit again or if you slept through the night, should we give you formula in the morning??  The doctor's advice was to give you a teaspoon of Pedialyte every 15mins, 3x until it was clear you could hold it down.  Then increase to 2tsp every 15mins, 3x, etc.  You were none to pleased with this strategy...you LOVE your bottles in the morning, which are typically 5oz of warm/cozy fluids.  1tsp of cold Pedialyte was not cutting it.  We proceeded with the tiny amounts for 1.5hrs until I gave in and gave you 2oz (60ml) which you CHUGGED - it made me a little proud, I'm good at chugging too!  ;)  I gave you some cheerios which you happily chowed down, so I gave you a 1/2 piece of toast which you also chowed down.  I held off on anything else until the Dr's office opened and they gave me the green light to give you some formula. 

The rest of the day consisted of a lot of snuggling with Mom, two 2hr naps, some tiny bits of food here and there and a few smaller bottles.  After your 2nd nap, you looked like yourself again, I was so happy to see you and your pantless self (you don't like to let us finish dressing you after the diaper change struggle of late) :) 

So we're still not sure whether the Loose BMs of the prior week were teeth related or stomach bug related or toddlerhood changes.  You're still a little hesitant to chow down during every meal as you were before.  I'm sure you'll let us know when you're hungry and we'll try our best to follow your lead with patience...Happy to have our happy little boy back though!

Cautiously curious...

You've been showing off your newly acquired skill to family & friends recently, though you're still very cautious with it.  I think you understand the freedom it gives you, but you just don't know if you want to use it yet.  For the first week, you would mainly crawl around in whatever room we started in, but wouldn't leave that room.  You're pretty anxious to move & really want nothing to do with the changing table or diaper changes at all for that matter...

This week, you're starting to cross the threshold from one room to another to see just what's beyond your direct view.  This morning while we were getting ready for work you nudged the bathroom door open and went in to find Daddy brushing his teeth (also one of your favorite activities these days!)  One of the cutest things that comes along with your crawling is that you get really excited when one of us comes home from work and you will crawl right up to us with a smile on your face, it's the perfect way to end the work day. :)  Your most rebellious activity (for now) is crawling to the air return/heat vents.  I think these alone may have enticed you to put your skills together to crawl...we're trying to figure out the most consistent way to say "no." You don't seem too crazy about that word, don't worry - I've never liked it either :) 

Off you go...

Baby on the move...

It wasn't too long after last Friday's post that you seemed to cautiously make the decision to crawl.  You had all of the pieces to the puzzle, but it wasn't clear whether or not you were going to choose to assemble the puzzle.  You had done a few "crawls" here and there, mostly to get yourself in to trouble (heating vents, mom's hair dryer, kitchen cabinets, etc)  Saturday morning you did some more crawling to get to your favorite Little Blue Truck books.  Then on Sunday we went for a few visits, first to Nana & Grandpas and then to Aunt Liz/Uncle Matt's to meet their new addition Oakley.  When we were at Nana & Grandpa's you just started crawling around the family room like you'd been doing it all your life...haha  Nana has been wondering for some time now when you would move, apparently you wanted to show her that you've made the decision to move.  We didn't know if it would be a fluke or not, you just showing off at their house, but then you did the same at Matt/Liz's and then continued to do the same at home.  You haven't really stopped moving since.

You're still cautious about it...you pretty much stay within one room, which is convenient for us - so thanks for that ;)  But you do get yourself backed in to a corner every now and again...

New Trick Up Your Sleeve

You've learned a new trick this week, you can now get from your belly to a sitting position and from all 4's to a sitting position.  It's one that you've been gradually working on (slower than most of your pals at school) but all of a sudden it has clicked and you're happily showing it off and practicing it over and over and over and over again.  You were especially funny with it last night.  You weren't that interested in sitting in your highchair while Daddy & I ate dinner, which isn't typical for you.  So I put you on the floor, I think you were ancy because you wanted to show off your confidence in your new trick!  You were moving from your belly to sitting, then all 4s, then belly, then sitting, then scoot and army shuffle, which would be followed by you throwing your arms in to the air so Daddy & I would both cheer "YAYYY" for you.  Repeat.  You were pretty darn proud of yourself, we were proud of you too :) 

Double Digit Months

We've entered the double digit months...hopefully I won't be one of those people that is still counting in months when he's 48 months old...when do you stop saying months and start just saying year anyway? 

You're having a little rough patch in the health department during this first week of your 10th month.  The doctor confirmed today that you are having your 2nd round of Pink Eye, a mild upper respiratory infection (though your chest sounds clear, thank goodness) and you're also in the process of cutting 3-4 more teeth.  Poor baby :(  Let's hope you're better in a few days when Mommy & Daddy are supposed to have a night away at the Mirror Lake Inn - we could really use it! 

 

At 10 months old you are...

Weighing 20lbs 13oz and measuring 28.5"

Sleeping solidly - you go to bed around 7:30 and sleep until 6 or 6:30 (other than the times that you're having pink eye in combination with a cold).  You nap twice a day now, usually around 9:30 and 1:30, one of those is usually ~2hrs, the other ~1hr. 

Eating a ton - you are trying all types of food, eating what we're eating and enjoying MOST of it.  You even had flounder this weekend and seemed to like it!  You LOVE bread, anything made with bread-like consistency (pizza crust, waffles, pancakes) and those are pretty much the only things you'll eat with your own hands.  Everything else you more or less demand we feed you from a fork/spoon.  You still get 4 bottles a day and you still seem to like them. 

Drinking water like it's your job.  We give you a sippy cup of water after every meal and you'd think you won the lottery.  You get SO excited about it, it makes us laugh everytime.  Sometimes we'll gently take it from you and give it back to you so we can see how excited you get :) 

Teething like every other 10 month old out there.  You have 6 teeth fully cut through, 4 on top, 2 on bottom and at least 3 more making their way.  (1 on top, 2 on bottom)

Making your way around through a combination of army shuffling, scooting & lots of rolling.  Today you even crawled a few feet.  We're feeling kind of frustrated baffled at your lack of connecting the fact that you're feet/legs can help you get around.  In due time I'm sure, but get on with it already. 

Laughing at all sorts of things and smiling at anyone that catches your eye - especially Buster.  Throwing your arms up in the air when we say "YAYYY!", which means we say yay a LOT in this house lately.  Love to ride around the house on your car with your little hands holding on to the handlebars so carefully, only removing them every once in a while to start the music again.  Playing with the Learning Home (thanks Aunt Kristina for that hand me down!).  Reading Little Blue Truck books multiple times a day (Mommy has the city one memorized) 

Giving us reasons to smile all of the time.  Thank you for showing us that our hearts can in fact continue to fill up with love more and more every day.  We love you buddy. 

Sweet Moments

You woke up last night around 10:15pm - just as we were getting ready to head to bed, which isn't normal for you.  Daddy went in to snuggle you, put you back down and just a few mins later you were up again, so it was my turn.  I tried getting some Orajel in your mouth, figuring it must be teeth the way you were ferociously sucking on your fingers (more than normal) and grunting - though you refused to open your mouth for me.  It's challenging enough to try to tell how much came out of the tube while in the dark, then you were refusing it - stinker.  In between our back and forth attempts to comfort you, you would fall back asleep on me and ever so gently stroke my hair or collar bone.  It's the sweet moments like this that make all of the more challenging moments worth it.  The feeling of your little fingers and the warmth of your breathe just fills my heart so much, just want you to know how much I love you buddy!   

When You're Ready..

We haven't been overly anxious for you to start moving, simply for the fact that it would make our lives more difficult (selfish, maybe - but honest.) until lately... You're starting to get more annoyed with the fact that you can see something and can't get to it quickly enough.  You're great at rolling around and army scooting yourself to something, but it's not an exact science for you and not very efficient - we like efficiency in this house!  If you realize that something is across the room, you'll first look to us and put your arms up so we'll pick you up, then try to nose dive towards whatever it is that you want while we're holding you.  Or you sit where you are and cry/whine - which is a really unpleasant sound.  You're still cute as can be, but that sound is far from cute!  You're not grasping the concept of using your legs to get you somewhere, you LOVE to use your legs to clap your feet together, kick and make noise with toys, just not to mobilize.  Just like I recall saying with solids when you were refusing that transition, I'm sure a few months from now this frustration will be a dim memory and I'll be cursing the day I ever wish you would move as I'm chasing you around the house trying to prevent you from injuring yourself (yes I just got back from a night with Lucas who was climbing the little tykes table without using any chairs and carrying his lawnmower on top of the table with him.). 

So after venting some frustration earlier today, I took a deep breath, reminded myself that you'll do things when you're darn ready (not when a book says you should or when the neighbor's baby did or when your mom/dad, cousin, aunt/uncle, whoever did) & picked you up when you put your arms up to me and kissed you on the cheek - I know that won't last forever and I'd be lying if I said it didn't melt my heart everytime you did it.  Man those cheeks are kissable!!

Priorities

I hope you'll always know (& feel) that you're my number 1 priority.  You're so little right now, but I still wonder what you're feeling on a daily basis...  Do you like going to school everyday?  Do you feel like we make enough time for you?  Do you like the array of foods I'm trying to put in front of you?  Can you recognize the stress that either of us feel on any given day depending on what happened at work that day?  Do you know how much your little smiling face changes my entire mood when I walk in to your room at school at the end of the day? 

We just got back from a great long weekend in Lake Placid, Auntie Alyssa summed it up nicely when she said from the photos on Instagram it looked like we were happily enjoying controlled chaos...  It was so nice to have a weekend away, spend some time with our family and remember what's important. 

It can be very challenging to keep things in perspective when you're drowning in the day to day realities of life.  There are so many things I want to be able to do for you and with you right now.  I want to spend days thumbing through wholesome baby food cook books so I can make sure we're giving you the nutrition you need.  I want to lay on the floor with you for hours so you can explore all of the toys in your playroom for as long as you want.  I want to take photographs of you everyday in all of your adorable outfits so I remember how cute & innocent you are right now, while you're not mobile & getting in to trouble just yet.  I want to enroll in Mommy & Me classes so we can socialize with other local new moms with babies your age.  I want to go to baby music classes with you and see your face light up from exciting music!  I want you to know how much love I have in my heart for you and how I think about you ALL day when I'm at work. 

I've been really busy at work lately and it makes my head feel like it's going to burst with pressure.  I want to do my best at work but when I do that, I don't feel like I'm doing my best at home.  I didn't pick you up from school today until 5:10pm, it didn't hit me how late it was until I checked you out on the computer and I felt a small piece of my heart break off.  Days like this make me wonder if I have my priorities straight...

Nine

Our little boy turned NINE months old a few days ago.  I just packed away the 6-9M clothes and took out the 9-12M, I got sad when I put his 6-9M PJs in the bin... Did you know that they don't make button/snap up footsie PJs for 9-12M??  We thought it was odd that all of our hand me down PJs for the next size zipped up, we like the snaps so much better, what the heck.  Anyway...I took Jack to his 9M check up on Friday morning before school/work.  The doctor said he looked great, Jack was giving all sorts of smiles and he only had to have 1 shot this time (Hep B). 

Current Stats/Happenings:
Weight:  19lbs 9oz (35% - with the belly and thighs on this guy, I still can't comprehend how he falls at 35%, what in God's name does the 99% kid look like?!)
Length: 28" (50% - his height is at a plateau from his 6M checkup)
Activity  Jack is becoming more interested in moving around.  He will roll around and will scoot on his belly, but mostly backwards.  While sitting he will spin himself around to get to whatever he wants within a very stretched out arms reach.  He isn't crawling yet and is starting to get really frustrated by it.  He will rock back and forth on his hands/knees but he doesn't go very far.  If he sees something that he wants and can't get it - he lets us know all about it.
Favorite Things - He loves chasing Buster around (via transport of our arms), I even saddled Jack on Buster's back this week and Jack was giving DEEP belly laughs & shrieks, he just thought it was the best thing ever.  Buster, on the other hand, pretty much despised it :P  He also loves to ride around in his car that we bought him around Christmas time, he can play the music on his own and whenever a song stops, he'll start the music up again, can't cruise around without tunes.  He still loves hanging out in the bath at the end of the day, he'd stay in there until he became a prune if we let him.  He loves his Little Blue Truck books.  He gets super excited when we pick him up from school, kicking wildly, shrieking, the whole nine yards. 
School  - Jack is now fully transitioned to Infant 2 at school (with some gentle nudging/reminding by Mama) the school has stopped switching him back and forth between rooms so much.  He stills seems to love the teachers there and always seems happy when we pick him up, but I can't say it's any easier to think about him being there all day then it was a few months ago...
Sleep - He is still good to us with his solid sleeping through the night.  He has had his occasional nights of getting up in the middle of the night, but it is very very rare and usually linked to a tooth breaking through. 
Teeth - Jack has 6 teeth now, 4 on top and 2 on bottom and they are so stinkin cute. 
Feeding - the latest obsession that is constantly on my mind, worry worry worry.  I just downloaded a book on my kindle called Feeding Baby Greene.  I want to make sure we're doing whatever we can to set Jack up with a diverse mix of food while we have this small window of feeding him via spoon without giant protest from him, this could be a separate entry of its own...  :)
  Jack currently has 5 bottles a day totaling ~32oz (and roughly at 6,9,12,3,7:30)
  As of this weekend, he is now eating 3 meals a day, prior to that it was just lunch/dinner
  This kid LOVES bananas.  We are attempting new/different foods with him as often as we 
  can, but it usually involves bananas in some fashion. 
  He recently started using the pincer grasp for puffs and a handful of other types of foods
  We realized tonight while eating dinner that he will eat whatever we are eating.  We've
  always sat him near/with us while we eat dinner together but tonight Brian made a
  delicious dinner that involved orzo with cilantro/lime.  I put a small amount on my fork
  and gave it to Jack and he ATTACKED the fork!  I then chopped up some of the mixed
  veggies that we were eating and he also went crazy for those!  He has only seemed to like
  things totally pureed - unless he sees it come off of our plate into our mouth...hmm we
  might be on to something here!
  Our next venture will be to switch to 4 bottles a day...then 3...etc etc
Love - Don't know if it's possible for my heart to get any fuller :)

First Work Trip

I miss my pal.  Here I am - in Greenville, South Carolina on what was supposed to be a 2-night trip.  I should have known better seeing as it is January 16^th and I live in upstate NY!  There was a snow storm over night/today back at home.  I wasn’t supposed to fly back to Albany until this evening, so I’ve been tracking my flights all day.  “On Time, On Time, On Time…cancelled” Wait, what?  Every US Airways flight has been on-time today!  Can this be right?  Hit refresh, “cancelled” hit refresh, “cancelled” dam.    That’s what I get for booking the last flight of the day.  When we lived in NJ we learned to always book the first flight out, otherwise you were bound to be delayed – but that was NJ, where nothing goes right with traffic (air or car!).  There was a brief moment when my eyes filled with tears, I texted Brian, we each wrote some choice words, then I pulled it together and called US Airways.  Apparently there is such a thing as air congestion where air traffic control can cancel flights – who knew.  I then re-booked a hotel room at the hotel I happily checked out of this morning (with the thought of being on my way back home to see my boys!).    

I know Jack is being spoiled by all sorts of people at home right now, I can tell by the photos that are being sent to me (thanks Brian & Grammy!)  But I sure do miss him.

Morning stretches with Daddy

Fun with Grammy - woohoo, this lady is crazy!

He loves loves LOVES the phone so I’ve been calling to talk to him in the morning and at night.  He breathes heavily into the phone, lets out some giggles/shrieks and tries to inhale the phone.  He also really likes when he calls someone, so I texted Brian this morning to have Jack call me so he could hear it ring, it excites him greatly!    This is maybe the 4^th or 5^th time that I’ve had to travel in the 2.5 years I’ve been working for GE and low & behold, while I was here it was confirmed that I’ll likely be traveling to Oregon in a few weeks too.  I had a feeling that one was coming – go figure that it will also be smack in the middle of winter.  Do you think it’s feasible to bring Jack with me and strap him in the baby Bjorn while I climb a wind turbine or two?  He seems to like adventure (being thrown in the air, going upside down, etc)…

Hopefully tomorrow’s flight plans go a little more smoothly than this evening’s did?!  I miss my boys!

New Year - New Nap Routine

Jack is a really good sleeper, we got lucky with that.  Starting in early July when he was about 10 weeks old, he made a decision to sleep through the night and hasn't gone off-course since.  Maybe he's adopting some of his parents 110% commitment issues ;)  His naps, on the other hand, haven't always been as solid/predictable.  Up until the past month or so, he was on a 4 to 5-naps-a-day schedule.  Which theoretically sounds great, but the length of the naps, the timing of the naps, the location of the naps - nothing was routine.  He would basically nap at some point after each feeding/bottle. 

While at home, he typically wakes up around 6-6:30am and is ready for a nap (rubbing eyes, yawning, etc) by 7:30-8.  During the week, however, 7:30-8am is the time that he usually arrives at daycare.  When he gets to daycare, he perks right up when he sees all of his girlfriends (teachers), kicking his feet wildly, screeching, ready to play.  So I decided it was time to try to skip that nap while at home too.  It went pretty well this past weekend, we just have to be more creative with how we entertain him.  So depending on what time he wakes up, the goal is to keep him awake for his 1st & 2nd bottle (he currently gets 5 bottles a day, ~6.5oz/bottle) then put him down for a nap around 10.  On Saturday, he napped for THREE hours, from 10:15 until 1:15 - I probably checked the monitor 145 times in those 3 hours.  

We'll see if we can switch to a solid 2 naps a day in the next few weeks.  Yesterday he took 2 great naps at daycare (9:30-11 & 12:30-3) and then decided to skip his ~5pm-ish nap.  He was showing signs of being tired earlier than usual, but he was in pretty good spirits all night and made it until his usual 7:30pm bedtime.  We've learned that typically, he's in charge but we're not giving up on our attempts to maintain some semblance of control!

Lucky.

"Just call us lucky" is a phrase that has been ingrained in me, courtesy of my parents, from the time I was old enough to understand the words.  I've never believed it more than I have in the past 18 months or so.  First, we were blessed to get pregnant in a relatively short amount of time (though it didn't feel like it at the time).  Then Jack was born without complications, so much so that we never even saw the pediatrician while we were in the hospital.  We brought our little guy home and more often than not, have felt so incredibly blessed to have this miracle in our lives.  We had some ups and downs in the first couple of months as we started to figure out the whole parenting thing (I know we're only at the beginning of this very long road...)  But, since Jack learned to smile, he hasn't really stopped. 

This past weekend our little guy was dealing with teething, constipation, a typical daycare cold and to top it all off, he got his first ear infection which came along with a fever of 103.5.  Meanwhile, Brian got the stomach flu.  Friday & Saturday were pretty rough days.  Jack wanted to smile so so badly and everytime he'd try, he'd realize how bad he felt and would let out a little cry instead.  It was such a sad sight for anyone that knows this little boy like we do.  We made our way to the doctor on Saturday morning (right after Jack & I got home from what ended up being a VERY quick trip to NJ to see our newest family member Brody).  The doctor confirmed what I had thought was likely an ear infection, prescribed antibiotics and sent us on our way.  Jack woke up in the middle of the night on Saturday, still in pain, but went back to sleep in his crib.  When he woke up cooing and babbling on Sunday morning, I thought my heart might burst.  I had never been so happy to hear that sweet babble and felt so lucky to have this happy little boy back in our lives.  He's been touchy with the teething still (who needs teeth anyway?!?!) but we're managing with some Tylenol, Orajel & good old TLC.  We rang in the new year by hanging out with our little guy, cooking dinner at home and going to bed at 10pm.  I can't remember the last time I didn't stay up late enough to see the ball drop?!  But, our priorities are elsewhere these days...2012 was quite an amazing year, I can't wait to see what 2013 brings - just call us lucky. :)