delight

who know a baby’s first holiday season could be so busy?!  we have been really busy visiting family, decorating for christmas, cleaning up inside and out, and gift buying.  i know daniel doesn’t really care at this point but we are trying to start traditions for our family which include: trimming the tree while listening to christmas music and wearing santa hats, gift buying for our angel tree kiddo, taking holiday pictures for cards (which includes a mrs. santa outfit for our beagle :]), driving around looking at lights while drinking hot chocolate/cider, waking up christmas morning as a family and seeing what santa has left, and sharing the good things about the past year with one another. 

bullets for the rest….

• we have started cereal. bubby loves it. he is already a pro at sucking it down. he whines between bites because he wants more.
• cereal has brought a little constipation. so now i juice an apple to mix with the cereal and he gets gas drops. this does the trick.
• we are at the ‘lean forward, tip over’ stage of sitting up
• baby sounds…went from grunting to high-pitched squeaking and short screeching
• sleep through the night!!!! bedtime at 7pm- awake at 5-5:30am, bottle, play, cereal, long nap.  this works for us. i have to be up early for work so i get to spend the mornings with him.
• sleeping without swaddle. bubby has decided swaddling is not for him. as soon as we swaddle, he breaks out, even if it means arching his back and trashing around.  he falls asleep without it and stays asleep so i guess our big boy has spoken,
• we can’t get past the feeding every 2-2.5 hr feedings. we tried pushing it out to 3 and he spit up much more often.  so we went back to less milk and shorter intervals.  he spits up but not as often and not as much. we are still on zan.tac because he still has trouble with reflux.  since he has gained weight i am not so sure the current dose is as effective. projectile vomit graces us every other day or so. this is an increase from two weeks ago. i would do anything for his reflux to get better but i am glad the medication helps. i am still crossing my fingers that he grows out of it.
• grasping objects very well and bringing everything to him mouth without giving it a second thought.
• we are getting ready for a family vacation in new mexico. hopefully skiing and snow fun will ensue.  we leave after christmas and come back after the new year.  we are trying to plan how we will take this trip without totally disrupting daniel and sending him to melt down city. we will do the traveling during bed time and take all his gear to make him feel at home.  we will try to keep the schedule while there. any other ideas???

i leave you with pictures from thanksgiving courtesy of my cousin

thanksgiving

To Em and Bubby

As we gather around the Thanksgiving table tomorrow I know my heart will skip a beat because we will be celebrating our first holiday together. You two are my world.  I have so many things to be thankful but you both are the top of my list.  Em, when you entered my life I knew right away there was something special about you.  This was evident by the mere fact I spoke to you even though you were too drunk to remember what we talked about.  haha. What a special day that was!  Flash to three years later and here we are. Daniel, you entered our lives with a scream and we have loved you ever since.  Our life together is not always perfect but there is always love between us.  Everyday is a new day that comes with new challenges but together we face them and get through. 

I love you two so very much! Happy Thanksgiving

S.O.S

i need some advice pronto!  it has been a lllloooonnnggg weekend with daniel.  i just layed him down for bed since he has only had 45 mins of sleep all day (spread out over 3 nap times).  he is fussing and grunting right now. with what little time i have had today i have been searching all over for some answers…nothing concrete.  any ideas? advice? help!!   .

“I HATE SLEEP” – Daniel

there you have it. straight from his mouth….of course i had to interpret his screaming for you…

one of the most fun and most challenging thing for me as a parent is that everyday brings a change.  the past three days daniel has discovered (or maybe he knew all along) that we respond very quickly when he cries.  so he has decided to exercise his power by screaming his little head off at bedtime and at nap time.  last night i was about to rush him to the emergency room because i thought surely he is in tremendous pain with the way he is screaming and crying uncontrollably in his crib. i get him up and get his attention away from the fit by enticing him with a light up toy. immediately em chuckles and states, “little bubby is playing us”.  “no!” i exclaim and try to take him temp.  perfectly normal. is he playing us.  we feed him, play a little bit…still no out-of-contol crying.  as SOON as we lay him down to swaddle him…screaming baby comes back.  after letting him throw a fit (and checking on him every 5-10mins) for 30 mins we placed him in his swing…still crying but finally nodded off 15 mins later. needless to say he slept in his swing last night and has been taking his naps there also.  he gets memorized by the motion and eventually drifts off.

oh…and he is rejecting the paci…but is not using his hands either. i am not sure but maybe our infant wants to be a big boy!

so thankful

one year ago we got the news that would change our lives forever. we have so much to be thankful for. it is still hard to believe we have been given this little boy to raise and share our lives with.

sporting the beanie mommy made for him :]

 

early check up

bubs had his four month check up today. we had it a week early but with our schedules, doctor schedule, and thanksgiving this is how it ended up. 

stats:  14 lbs 5oz  (50%)      25 1/4″ (75%)     cuteness (100%)

daniel flirted so much with the nurses it was unreal.  he laughed so much at my silly faces and animals sounds that soon we were surrounded by the nursing staff.  of course this was soon followed by his new foot-in-mouth trick to which everyone giggled.   when the pediatrician arrived bubby  enough. he broke out his infamous sad face and alerted everyone that he was about to cry.  since the shots he has been fussy and wanting to be held.

pedi says we have the green light to start cereal! YAY! we have been so excited gearing up for the introduction of food. bubby is already staring at our mouths as we eat…think he may be a bit jealous.   how long did you have your little one on cereal before starting veggie puree?  our pedi said four weeks…

tyle.nol seems to be kicking in…good night sweet baby…

gumming it

i think we have set into teething territory.  bubby has begun sticking anything and everything in his little mouth.  he particularly loves the cold teethers and his blankets.  the last two days he has spent sleeping a lot, waking up cranky, and running a low-grade temp.  we are doing our best to comfort him, give him things to chop on, and massage his gums.

 he has also found out that his feet can reach his mouth…and now his time is filled with practicing this new trick.  we can’t stop laughing when we see him doing it, it is so cute. see….

em has a new schedule now so that she gets fridays and saturdays off (usually her days off are during the week so she works weekends). so we had a family outing yesterday to do some shopping for christmas decorations!!! i am so looking forward to the holidays this year. i am sure things might be a little over board and way too many pictures will be taken but hey you only get your first thanksgiving and christmas once, right?!

pot holders and mood music revisited

on tomorrow, nov, 10th it will be one year since we had our first IUI…the lucky IUI.  em and i walked into the RE’s office with giddy hearts and butterfly filled tummies.  we walked into the unknown and here we are today.  i played with my son all day today.  he is an exhibitionist, loves to be naked – or at least only doning a diaper.  as he squirmed around, arms waving and legs kicking , i smiled at him and he smiled back.  the thing about baby smiles is that they are so innocent.  the smile fills their face with utter joy.   he moved all over the place. he has begun to grab his feet and rock his body.  making it so much fun to watch him move with knowing it. 

thank you all for the breastfeeding and sleeping advice. i am still figuring out pumping but daniel is getting so much better at napping.  we followed your advice and he has a good napping and bedtime routine.  he is starting to give into to daytime sleep :]

fingers meet toes

super baby

first halloween

oh bubby your first holiday was a delight.  You wanted to go as a skeleton so we got you the finest outfit we could find.  You went to your first halloween party.  All the adults had on scary costumes but you never flinched. You are such a tough guy :]   Of course you were the hit of the party and got passed around.  You loved the fire pit and watched it until it was too chilly and we had to take you back in the house.  Mama and I were so proud of how well you took in the crowd and let us enjoy an hour away from the house.  Thank you little man.

crappy pumpkin, cute skeleton

 

bones

 

second part:

So yes, I have offically had my first period post delivery. UGH! i was hoping to have a much longer break.  Thank you for the breastfeeding support. I am at a crossroads.  Between the stress at work, the limited time I have at work to pump, and the return of my period, I am seriously lacking in supply.  I am able to give him about two ounces of breast milk per feeding – the rest is formula.  I am going to refocus and give it my best efforts for the next couple of weeks.  My job is actually very supportive of my pumping. I have my own office and am able to store the milk in travel pack. The problem is that in my profession I have hour long appointments and these days they are running back to back.  Therefore my free time at work is non-existant.  I am going to try to schedule free time like Nutella suggested. 

Now I leave you with even more pics…i mean how cute is this baby! :]

hey mom look at me

 

my fingers!

 

yum yum

 

 

help wanted

i am requesting your infinite wisdom about a few issues…

1) my milk supply is dwindling so fast that i am to the point where i am barely producing.  i felt bad last week…migraine..and i began to notice the supply going down but i upped my water intake and ate lots of oatmeal (a trick a friend told me about). nothing worked. i am pumping every four hours because work has become so hectic it is all i can to do fit in two pump sessions. what can i do as a last effort?  i know he will be primarily on formula from now on but i would still like to give him as much breast milk as i can.

2) the super sleep fighter, a.k.a. daniel…. yes, d man is really good at fighting off the sleep.  he has progressively gotten worse at sleeping during the day. we really would not mind this except that he gets cracky because he is so tired. by 7pm he is so cranky that i go ahead and get him ready for bed. once he is asleep, usually an hour later, he sleeps about six or seven hours. but during the day he will squirm and wiggle his little body right up till the time that sleep over takes him.  when he does fall asleep he sleeps so lightly that a little noise can wake him.  during the day he usually sleeps an average of 2 to 2.5 spread out over three naps. anyone dealt with this with their own?  any suggestions?