24W2D Peri Visit

Went to see the Peri again today - all is looking good. He was pleased with the baby's progress and reported that the fluid looked good in there today. She was punching and kicking a lot (has been all day), so we got a good look at her most-recent favorite activity - kicking the fool outta Mommy.

I'm getting pretty darned uncomfortable. She's kicking hard now, and my belly isn't taking it in stride. When I stand up I feel like 20lbs of lead is hanging from my mid-section, and it kicks. It simply feels like there is no room in there for her.

My belly is tensing up often (probably my old friend B. Hicks). I'm often in actual pain when standing - as standing seems to make the tensing of my belly worse. Anyone have any ideas how to combat this discomfort?!?!?!

Our boy Jim had a "red letter" day about 4 days ago! (aka. a day so special the calendar date is shown in red) He started WEARING UNDERWEAR!!!!! From about 10 AM each day to somewhere after dinner he is successfully wearing underwear!! We've had 2 accidents in about 4 days of wearing real big-boy underwear. I consider that to be EXCEPTIONAL! YAY!!!

On top of that greatness, we've had a breakthrough in his voicing his "I gotta go potty!". That's a major milestone - before he would never tell us, we'd just find out after he was wet/dirty. He's even taking himself to the potty on some mornings now - he says, "I do it myself!". OH, and TMI for his future-self, but he's ALSO doing #1 standing up. He's been doing that for several months now, but it is soooo darned cool to see him assume the position with confidence.

Jim is asking LOTS about his "baby si-ser" these days (note there is no t in the word). Often he asks, "Is your baby OK?", or "You got a baby in your belly?", or "When is baby sis-er coming home?". It is sooo sweet. He's even starting to get quite protective of me and her. I scolded our cat Humphries, but Jim didn't see the "reason" for it, so he asks, "Humphries, did you bite Mommy? No! No!", to which I replied that Humphries doesn't bite and Mommy isn't hurt. Then he said, "Humphries, did you walk on Mommy's baby?!? No! No, Humphries!". I don't think he ever got it that Mr. H was just being anoying - he didnt' do anything to really deserve scolding, but it was sweet nonetheless.

Lastly... and probably most funny... Jim seems confused about the baby's whereabouts on my body. He understands the baby is "in my tummy", but when he looks at me before/after shower, etc. he seems to think my boobs are somehow related to her whereabouts. He keeps trying to figure it out, and so we once-again point out the BELLY and how HUGE it is. Alas, he's no wiser about her location. :) That's just fine though. :)

I'm often thinking of my bloggy friends. I wish I could make myself blog more often though. I kinda suck at the whole "give" part of give-and-take these days.

Rain, Leaves, and Little Boys ...Things that Fall

Jim has taken to the idea that he is a big boy - bigger by a couple of inches than he is. I know this in 2 ways:

1) He can't quite comfortably reach a normal stair rail, yet he keeps trying out taking the stairs like a big boy. Twice this month he has fallen down the stairs, while I watched in horror. Can you say slow-mo-fall? I can not only say it, I have nightmares about it. The 2nd time he was left with a swollen and scraped nose, because he tried to catch himself while falling. No, no Jim, roll with it baby!

2) He has started head-butting kids that are bigger than him. Especially when they won't share. I would find this somewhat funny, because damn, it works to get that toy! But, I have been the "big kid" that wouldn't share before - that shit HURTS! OW! He'll do it more than once too, if you are dumb enough not to give him what he wants or move quickly out of forehead range. For the initiated, this can lead to pushing the forehead out of reach, thereby landing baby Jim on his butt, hard. Ow!

So, we are dealing with both issues as best we can. We have started teaching Jim to touch lightly the offending person while saying,"No no insert person's name here!". It results in the cutest little "petting" action, where he lightly strokes your arm/hand/foot and gently chides you - unless you don't immediately comply, which results in a fast and furious head butt or a slap (his alternate form of disciplining bad parents). *sigh*

His teachers have been teaching him "not nice" as a method to communicate his frustration. It sounds like an odd combination of "No, no" and "Night, night", so we were glad to have it explained for us in today's report from daycare. We had been having some confusion over why he wanted to go to bed before 8 o'clock. :)

On the stairs training - he won't do the tummy-thing, I've tried. People keep telling me that is the method he should use, but this boy ain't having it. So, I have been teaching him to bump, bump, on his rump to navigate our huge flight of steep stairs. For 3 days now, since his fall at our friend's house, he has successfully bumped his way downstairs whith the help of Mommy. I figure we'll encourage this for quite a while before we allow him to solo... My goal is that he survive it, should he solo without permission.

Boy, oh, boy, my boy.

...Is This Thing On? ... Testing! ... Testing!

Well, that was a long bathroom break, huh?

I bet you all thought I was gone! I wasn't sure myself, but here I am...

Really, I have just been living and let-living. I've been reading all the same blogs, and finding new ones, but I just haven't felt like blogging. Sure, I think of things to say now and then. From time to time I've even saved a draft post. I've just not "felt it" lately. Then there is the whole privacy thing I've been mulling over. You see, I want to share juicy Jim pics, but I also want more anonimity. As it is, a crafty person could surely track us down. I just hate that...

So, I guess I'm done mulling it over, and I'm planning on trying to do more blogging, but I probably won't post too many pics. We'll see...

Let's see... What's new...

I'm taking BCPs so we can start a FET this coming month. We only have one embrio in storage, so we are taking a BIG chance with doing a cycle. Our odds are really, really crappy. According to the stats we have something like a 5-10% chance of baby. Not so exciting, huh? Yeah, I'm not thrilled either. Then again, we made the deal when we started this that we would use ALL the embrios we created and we DO want at least 2 kids. So, here we go!

We were supposed to start the suppression cycle in June, but my body didn't cooperate with the whole ovulation thing. So BCPs then I start Lu*pron on the 4th of July. I laugh when I think - way to be independent, body. Can't do it by yourself, huh? Well, here's a shot for ya!! Heh, would be funny if it weren't my tummy the shot was going into! If the suppression check goes well the 2nd week in July we'll be on our way! After that we have the "thick lining" check, and if all is well we'll need a small miracle for this embrio to thaw and survive for a transfer. I know.... one thing at a time...

In lighter news...

Jim is 15 Months old now! That's a fun and exciting kind of new, becauase he's fast becoming a little boy instead of a baby. He's so cute and fun, and it is wonderful to see him growing. Then again I miss the 6 mo old baby, too... I'm so glad he's getting more interactive, but it's both sweet and sad.

Let's get you guys up to date on his stats:

- He's been walking since ummmm... seems like forever! He started just after Christmas, so it's been a while.

- He's just over 26 lbs and 31 inches at last check - people keep thinking he's two, which isn't handy as you might think. Instead they don't understand why he's not acting like a "big boy". Duh!

- He talks - A LOT! Then again so do Bo and I. Eh, what can you do?

- Oh, and before you read the vocab list below and think I'm gloating because he can talk alot - just let me say, my boy is NOT athletic in any way. What I would give some days for him to have an athletic bone in his body. The boy can't climb to save his life. Especially when that is CLIMBING DOWN! I mean the boy can be a foot off the floor and he's unsure of how to get down. He also trips over rugs - any rug - even the flatest most non-threatening rug ever made - he will fall down trying to cross its threshold, I kid you not. We love him, but we aren't signing him up for sports anytime soon...

- He now says:

• Ball
• Bite - Bite or Bitey
• Box
• Mommy, Daddy, Kitty (the main family)
• Car
• Duck - "Clack Clack"
• Peeese (please)
• Sssho (shoe)
• Ba Ba
• More
• Thank you - really, he does this on his own!
• Night Night
• Nana and PatPat - my parent's nicknames
• Ganba - sounds kinda like "grandpa"
• Mana Mana - this folks, means Banana, but cracks me up everytime as I launch into the MUPPETS! Ha!
• PuuPeeee! - he always says this like he is terribly excited at the idea... oh, and all stuffed animals are puppies btw.
• Go
• Bye Bye, Mwah! Usually these words are a set, but occasionally they get used alone. :)
• Dat - means "that"
• Da - which of means "yes" and is sometimes said as a question when he wants to do something he isn't supposed to and knows very well he should not even bother to ASK! Da?
• Tent - he LOVES the tent we got for him from Ikea... LOVES it I tell you.
• Down
• No no - usually he only says it as if he's reminding himself NOT to do something he's about to do when he KNOWS he shouldn't.

I'm sure there are more, but really, you get the point... He's talking up a STORM. It really is cool as all get-out that he can communicate so well. Of course, the down side is that he gets really frustrated when he can't get his point across. Boy, can he throw a tantrum! I'll put my 15 mo old against your 2 1/2 yr old any day - bring it on!

- He has 8 teeth now!! No wait - he has two molars breaking through too! So, I guess that's 10! Wow... that sounds like soooo many.

- He's off of bottles since March, when he turned 1 we started moving him to sippy's and found that the soft silicone ones did the trick. Once he started on those he quickly transitioned off of bottles one feeding at a time. I know, we're lucky... I've read the stories!

- He mostly feeds himself - and he eats most things. *knock on wood!! He has started to "graze" a bit. Usually this involves announcing he is "done" then coming over to Mommy and seeing what is on HER plate. If he's interested he'll beg to get up in my lap and help himself. It's cute, for now. :)

Really, that's probably enough stats and updates for tonight. I'll maybe find some way to get more posts in more often. Don't know... I hope you guys haven't all taken me off your blog rolls!

Here's a little bit of cuteness for those that made it this far! Here's what happens when you say the same word over, and over, and over and you GET what you are asking for everytime! Now let that be a lesson to you... young man. Yeah, I did have to chase balls all over Target once he busted out!

A Major Milestone or TWO

Jim, my boy, you have reached an important milestone... your first bar brawl. We're proud of you son - always go down swingin'!

Then again, if you didn't go down against a table edge, you wouldn't have had to reach your a second major milstone so soon...
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Notice the beautiful work of a nurse at the children's hospital?















They gave my little man some numbing meds on the cut. That sounded like a plan until Jim rubbed his eyes... allowing him to mash the bandage holding the meds, causing the numbing meds run INTO HIS EYES. This, of course, caused him to howl and scream. I pressed the call button - told them what was happening - and NO ONE CAME! Can you say "Bad move?" Yeah, thought so. All I could imagine was him going blind - it was an awful few moments.

Very quickly I went to the nurses station, stood in the middle of the room where I very loudly and forcefully said "I need somone to help my boy NOW!" Amazing how a little bit of loud puts things into motion sometimes. Frankly, I wasn't sure it would work, but damned if I wasn't going to try!

A wonderful "not your nurse" person jumped up to and helped us out. He fixed the meds and the best part? He gave us BUBBLES!!!!!

Let me just tell any of you Moms that don't already know. Bubbles work like no other to calm a child that is frantic - ask your ER to stock bubbles and ask for them when you are there!!!! The children's hospital buys those tiny bottles, like they sell as wedding favors. Perfect amount of bubbles. :) Ahhh Bubbles...

In addition to the numbing meds, they gave Jim Lortab - to take the edge off. So, while we waited for them to stitch him up he was a bit cranky, I can't imagine why, so I kept blowing bubbles and saying, in a stoner voice, "Oh, man! Look at the Colors" and giggling. I just couldn't help myself.

Even with the numbing meds and the Lortab, I can't say Jim was a real trooper. Well that is if I don't want to lie.

He was a scared little boy. They covered him up and did a gypsy swaddle on him so that both arms were restrained - then they covered him in a sterile dressing until only his right eye was showing.

His eyes were wild, and he was screaming the whole time, but he made it. We held him down, tried to reassure him, and did our best to be brave for him. It is not something I EVER want to go through again. Then again, if he needs to have it done again, so be it. I'll be there if possible.

Afterwards there were tears and snuffels and snuggles, then a bottle of milk from Daddy put everything back to rights again.

All in all things went well. They didn't have to do any heavy sedation, and Jim didn't really mind wearing the bandaid - so he didn't try to pull it off and eat it. We all got a good night's sleep.

THEN...

The poor baby had to go to the Dr's office today to get his tetnus booster (required because of the stitches). This little man just can't catch a break, huh?

I would say though that Jim gave some fear BACK to the establishment today, because he caused a BIG stir with his awsome bandaid.

This is one of those "bacon" bandaids. I think I've seen plenty of bloggers talk about them in the past not to have to explain.

I wonder, if you had seen this, would you have gotten the joke? Or would you have freaked the fuck out like the nurses at the Dr's office?

They all thought that either he had a HUGE gash, or that we were nasty enough to leave a totally blodied bandaid on his eye until the blood turned dark. Ewww! No way! And yes, I do realize that sometimes you have to leave a bandage in place to prevent blood loss - but not THAT long!! Geesh!

The explaination is even funnier though, because when you say "It's just bacon." it really doesn't translate for people, and you immdiately get the follow-up, "You put bacon on his cut?!?!". Um, no.

This whole scene transpired again at the Daycare - teachers, parents, other kids - they all thought something terrible had happend. Go Jim! Make a name for yourself. Just make sure they don't start calling you "Bacon Head" - wouldn't look good on a resume.

Mommy Loves You, Brawler! Mwah!

How is it, being 8 months old?

Well, Jim seems to like being 8 months old just fine... Then again, he would probably say something more like:

At least, that is until When Mommy...

... leaves the room to run a quick errand in the kitchen.

... won't help me pull up to standing so I can knock all the books in the floor.

... won't give me a bottle 30 mins after my last one.

... insists that I sit instead of stand.

... won't hold me upright while I flail about on the couch cushions for the umpteenth time today.

... wants me to play by myself for just 5 minutes.

... wants to do much of anything besides smile and play with me.

Other than these things, I'm thinking he is having a BALL! :) Little man is somewhere around 24 lbs now! He was just shy of this mark at his last appointment a couple of weeks ago. Wow.

Jim is able to stand for long stretches of time without his legs giving out. He isn't really into taking steps of any kind, but we are working on the concept.

When he has desires that are out of his reach he sorta leans - Tower of Piza style - until he can reach it. Unfortunately without Mommy's supporting hands this method isn't likely to result in more than a bite of carpet. So, we are trying to help him learn to move one foot for bracing support during leaning. Yeah, it isn't sinking in yet, but methinks more carpet biting may help.

Little man has decided to start throwing baby tantrums. When he doesn't get what he wants he lies face down on the floor and sobs while banging his little head into the floor or back of his hands. I'm not really sure why he continues to do this as it has netted him nothing but bites of carpet. Maybe I should be more specific though, to be fair - he only throws tantrums when he is forced to spend time on his tummy/back. He really, really HATES to do tummy-time.

Frankly, I'm wondering if/when he'll figure out that he has WAY more mobility when he's doing tummy-time. Man can that boy roll! He doesn't crawl yet, but he is starting to scoot using his arms and legs. So cute.

I feel the need to perform a public service for all those new Moms out there. Pu.blic Serv.ice Message - If your baby can roll they CAN get into trouble, quickly. Let me illustrate with a story:

I laid Jim on his belly on the right side of the den and quickly went to the kitchen to get a paper towel to clean up kitty food that had been violently rejected by Humphries Kitty. By the time I returned to Jim, who can normally barely scoot, he had traveled the entire 20 feet of the room and had smeared kitty hork up the sleeves of both arms, on his face, and it appears into his mouth. Luckily my boy isn't the very best at getting food into his mouth on his own. Thank God for small favors. Yuck.

OK, how about some cuteness?

Happy Almost Halloween Jim!!

Can I just tell you all that we are totally lucky parents so far? Our boy is smiley and happy so very much of the time. He is adorable. He loves people. He loves to be out in a crowd and make eyes at the ladies. He's great in restaurants. He can entertain himself or he can be the center of the party - either way, he's happy. Everyone loves our boy. Strangers comment on how amazing his smile is - it is infectious. He lights up our world. Sometimes, I get scared, I feel that I will jinx our good fortune by speaking of it... that the fates will come down on our heads and rob us of our joy.

However, I realized tonight that if I don't write about it then I just might loose the record of my boy's amazing effect on people. If, Heaven forbid, something terrible should happen to my boy, it would be sad to have never celebrated his beauty and charm. You see that's all there is - today. That's it. Today is done so far as it goes and tomorrow is not gauranteed. So, while I'm tempting fate by saying so - I want to shout from the treetops - My boy is a wonder, a joy, and a light and happy place in my otherwise dull world - everytime I look at him he lights up and that makes me light up too. Thank you, Jim for being so wonderful.

From the cuteness below you can't tell that my boy was sick, sick, sick on the day of this photo shoot. We have no doubt that Jim would have preferred to be home, cuddled up with one of us, instead of being put under bright lights and made to smile. However, he is darned cute, and we are so glad to have such great photos of him.

Jim is now sitting up on his own, eating level 2 and 3 foods - over the last week I've started introducing some table foods in tiny, tiny bites. Tiny as in I cut one piece of macaroni and cheese into 3rds so I could give it to him to try. It isn't really a fear of choking that I was dealing with, just a fear of ruining an outfit since he wasn't wearing a bib and I was too lazy to go get one, but he wanted to try my food sooooo badly. :)

Jim is now saying several words - Momma, Dada, Nana, MMMmmm (for hungry), and he is trying to add the word Kitty.

It is really great playing with Jim - he is so amazing. A couple of weeks ago he learned to pass a ball by rolling it back and forth with you. He's learning about gravity by dropping things from his highchair or my lap - he loves this game as it is parent-interactive. :) He's beginning to get his knees under him and rock back and forth, so all he needs to do is add some extra arm stregnth and he's going to be off his tummy! Yesterday he started standing while holding onto a chair, and while he can't pull up yet he's working on it!

I think we need to lower his crib tomorrow night... He is now able to peek over the side by pushing up on his arms - luckly he can't pull up or I think he could go over the side!

Our boy has moved on to size 4 diapers! For anyone that doesn't know, once your baby starts having blowouts and leakages from his once-perfectly-sized diapers it is time to shift up to the next size, most likely. Our daycare, who should certainly understand this phenomenon was slow on the uptake. They tried really hard to ruin about 14 outfits by refusing to use the larger size diapers we provided for 2 weeks. I finally explained that they would be getting a bill for replacing his clothing if he came home one more time in a size 3 diaper.

What we finally figured out was that they were borrowing from another kid's stash instead of using the diapers in Jim's bin. While this is cool in the "money saved by not using my diapers" way, it is also a little bit frustrating to know they could also be "borrowing" from Jim's stash to diaper others. So, even though we'd provided the right size, it wasn't making it to his bottom.Grrrrrrr...

This past weekend we were away from home when Jim needed a diaper change - badly. Turns out there were NO diapers in his bag. Uh-oh. Let me say a GREAT BIG FLASHING NEON THANK YOU! to the kind lady that gave us her last size 5 diaper (her twins were now wearing 6's). Now, you could say that we were forgetful, and we deserved the embarrasment and trouble, but you would be mistaken. My hubby is the diaper-bag nazi and replenishs the bag ANYTIME we use something AS SOON as we get home.

I'll give you 1 guess what happened to his diapers. Yep, the daycare people. Turns out they have been taking his diapers from his bag instead of getting them out of the bin marked "Jim" in the closet. Grrrrrrrr.... Guess what else. This isn't the 1st time that has happened, I just hadn't heard about it.

I'm thinking the daycare people are going to get a talking to on Monday. Go get'em hubby!

On to happier new... My cousin D and her hubby T of 25 years visited with us this weekend. They decided that they would like a trip to Nascar to celebrate 25 years. Congrats guys on being so happily married for so long - that is a rarity in today's fast-paced world.

Let's see... What else... Oh yeah!

Stacie, over at Here Storkey Storkey had some pretty darned good news from her babies' neuro visit this past week. At least, I will term it good news. Overall, both of her boys had really good results on their expected outlook neurologically. Her son Jason has received what could be considered "highest marks" and may not even qualify for future intervention because he may not need it!! Wooo Hoo!

There has been some arm nerve damage done to her son Shawn's arm, most likely from the craptastic job that was done fixing his shunt this summer, but all-in-all his current prognosis is a certified miracle - given that he had 8 brain surgeries in 8 weeks. Go Shawn!!! Keep working hard on the rehab of your arm, I know it is tough, and I know you hate it, but it will be worth it when you are able to give that neuro-nut the finger! :) Ha!

The biggest milestone of them all is their 1 year birthdays, coming up soon, and want to give big kudos to Stacie and Issac for being so amazing in the face of such adversity. I think your biggest accomplishment was to keep your family intact during such an amazingly rough year.

Milestones at 5 Months.

What is little (big) Jim up to these days?

Sitting up assisted really well! He is getting to where he only needs some correction to keep from crashing to the floor. He knows to hold on and self correct (for the most part), but he forgets the whole gravity part if he sees something interesting...

Belly-laughs - playing "got your belly" is about the most fun thing imaginable for everyone involved. I hold Jim in my arms cradle-style and curl him up to my mouth with which I growl and love-bite his tum-tum. He rewards me for my workout with the GREATEST SOUND EVER! He squeals and laughs a full belly laugh over and over while I "get em'". Daddy, Mommy and Baby are loving this game.

Temper tantrums (flails his arms and legs in protest to anything frustrating). What could be frustrating him, you ask? Oh, a 5 second delay on getting the bottle to his mouth is plenty, let me tell you. I guess this isn't so different from when he was smaller - he just has the power to hurt now! Big boy = strong boy

He holds his own bottle for about 1/3 of every feeding. This is golden. :)

Is eating cereal about 1 time per day. We took video of his first food. The whole thing was so funny that we could barely feed him. He figured out really quickly that he could laugh just as I got the cereal in and it would spray rice bits all over Mommy. Isn't that fun?!?!?!

Since we've been doing this food thing for a little while (even though you guys haven't had the opportunity to follow along), I would now make an observation. Solid foods are kinda a pain, don't you think? He is terribly cute, but man oh man can he make a mess! Sticky mess! Flinging Mess! We need a dog, because Humphries hides everytime the flinging starts!

Standing! You heard it right - he is practicing standing! July 1st he was just sure he never wanted anything to do with bearing his own weight. This week he is standing for several seconds with very little support. He's getting stronger at an alarming rate! Personally, I think he is just trying to catch up to his cousin Corbin - 1 month older - who is standing so well that it is scary. That boy is going to be walking within a month. I'm sure of it! His Momma is about to be really busy. :)

Rolled Over!!!! He rolled onto his stomach while in his crib at daycare this week! They said he didn't even cry or anything. He just settled down and went to sleep that way instead. YAY!

First Fever - 103 degrees C. We ended up taking him to an Urgent Care for children. We made it just before they stopped taking patients for the evening - thank goodness! I'll have to tell the full story later, but let's just say it was "an experience".

Flat spot isn't going away... My baby's head is now more evenly flat across the back, but it isn't appearing to get better with repositioning. So, we are going to take him to get his head measured by a specialist. The appt isn't for a few weeks. If you want to read up on the process, you can read about it here: http://www.orthomerica.com/products/cranial/allstars_index.htm I'll fill you all in more a little later on the helmet thing... It's getting late, Momma's gotta go to bed!!!

Jim 3 Months, Wk 4

Wow, the time seems to be flying these days! Jim is coming up with new things every day it seems.

Jim has been going to daycare for 3 weeks. He seems to be doing OK with it, and his daily reports say he's content and happy most of the time. I know, this is subject to change. :)

He's doing so many new things this month...

Visiting with Grandparents out of town - for a whole week!!! He started crying when we drove away - does that tell you anything about how it went?

Blowing bubbles - talk about needing a bib! This boy needs and all-day bib! Yikes.

Reaching started last month, but now? NOW he actually moves his whole body towards what he's interested in! Sometimes it is as simple as him leaning over to bring his mouth closer to a tasty bit. Other times he will actually scoot himself (on his back) towards an object of desire. He doesn't go very far very fast, but he's certainly motivated and somewhat mobile. Double-yikes!

Lets see... What else.... Oh Yeah!!!!

On Father's Day weekend....

HE STARTED ASKING FOR A BOTTLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No joke.

When Jim is hungry now he'll say "MMmmmm... MMMMMmmmm... Ma ma mu mah.... mmmmmmmmm.... MMMmmmmmm...." until he gets what he wants. It is so amazingly wonderful for him to be clear about what's making him cranky! I love hearing the part where he sounds like he's saying Mama, but I'm greedy that way. LOL.

Oh, and better yet, when he's already eaten and he starts the "MMMmmmm" I know that he has gas or his tummy hurts. Babies often think they are hungry when their tummies hurt. Of course, feeding them simply results in spitup. Blech.

Three days ago he started laughing out loud. A real laugh. A belly laugh! It is so wonderful to hear him laugh. He is a total joy to behold!

Jim is ALMOST rolling over. Last night I was watching him on the monitor and saw him almost flip over in the bed. He hates to be on his tummy. So, I'm not sure what happens if he launches himself onto his face in the middle of the night. I'm expecting some crying.

Yesterday I was holding him in my lap after dinner, he was laying streched out. Well, he decided he wanted to sit up, so he did! He brought himself 75% of the way from laying down to sitting up before I figured out what the heck was going on. It was pretty amazing! Of course, I helped him the rest of the way and cheered him on.

He's found his feet! He only plays with his feet in his crib (guess he's got to be really bored or something). It is really cute to watch him tickle his own toes. :)

He's found his VOICE. His "baby voice" seems to be gone alltogether, which makes me sad. I wish I had captured more of his baby sounds on film. However, he uses his new "big boy voice" all the time! He sits and chews on his hands while squeaking and humming to himself. he seems to be making noise simply to be making noise. IT WAS cute, now it is getting tiresome. Luckily it seems to be a mostly nightime thing.

Well, as you can see, lots has happened this month. There is LOTS of cheering going on daily. He's grown so much. Go Jim! Go Jim! Rah rah rah!

He's such a sweet baby boy. I doubt you could fault me for being one happy Momma right now. :)

3 Months Old

It's so amazing that Jim has come so far so fast... How is it that a week just FLIES by now? Up until last week the days just dragged and now they go by in a flash!

This past week he learned to grab items he's interested in. Then he graduated to sticking them in his mouth. Frankly, I think it never occurred to him that he could taste the world... So, I started sticking stuff in his mouth and he was off to the races! This boy went from no interest in toys to gotta have it in less than 3 days!

Oh, and this morning I found him turning the upper half of his body to his left, very far to his left. It scares me that he might soon roll over. It only scares me because he still cannot lift his head. He tried to suffocate on his Bop.py pillow last week, so I'm not excited about this new development.

He got his face down in the stuffing and got too tired (starved of O2) and started drifting off. Scared me silly! So, I've talked with hubby and made sure he understands - Jim is not to have any tummy time without supervision until he can hold his head up VERY well.

I think he's going through another growth spurt too. Yesterday he drank about double his normal intake. Today he is sleeping - all day so far - and it's Noon.

I need to find someone to get hand-me-downs from. My baby is almost out of his 6 mo onesies. Yikes!

Oh, and not to jinx myself, but he has started sleeping 7 1/2 to 8 hrs per night on a regular basis!!!! Woooo Hooo! Now, if I could just get myself to bed when he goes to bed we'd be golden.

Well, can't think of anything else to tell at the moment. Think I'll go see what I can get into here at the house, since baby is asleep!

2 Month Checkup - With Shots, Oh my.

We had our 2 month checkup today! The consensus is that I have a BIG boy...

He weighed 15 lbs (off the percentile chart), was 23 1/2 inches long (75 percentile), and has a 16 1/2 inch head (95 percentile). So, he is a well proportioned, but still.

I was just a little frustrated with the nurse practitioner who reviewed his impressive stats and started describing methods of delaying his meals. I told her that I am doing all in my power to delay and/or reduce his milk consumption. I hold him to a pretty strict 3 hr minimum time limit between feedings. He is welcome to go longer than that, but it really doesn't happen other than at night.

I explained to her that I WOULD feed him on demand, but I swear this boy would eat 5 oz every 45 mins if I would let him. Really. Really, really. I've seen him do it. I use distraction tactics like the playmat, dancing, walking, singing. If that doesn't work he gets milky water if he HAS to have something before 3 hrs.

I also hold him to 5 or 6 oz max, again I use water to supplement if he is still hungry. I know it might sound like I'm not doing right by him, but he is getting the maximum number of recommended oz of formula with what he already eats. It would be unhealthy for me to give him much more, so I have to try to curb him just a little bit.

By the end of our discussion the NP agreed that it appeared I was doing the right things for him and to keep it up. :) She actually commented that I was very lucky to have this particular problem because it is worse for those who deal with a kid that will not eat. I told her I was pretty familiar with that issue too, as my friends (some of you guys) have been down that road.

We also did his 1st shots today... They wanted to give him 6 vaccines in total (3 shots and 1 oral vaccine). I told the NP that was just too many vaccines in my opinion. I asked to spread them out, so we did the 1 combo DTaP and the oral vaccine. I take him back next Tues to get the other two shots.

The NP kept trying to tell me "it is really very safe" in order to get me to do all of the shots today. To which I told her, quite firmly, that I figure it this way - I do no harm by spreading out the vaccines, but if I combine them and it turns out it isn't actually safe I may cause irreparable harm. I would much rather do no harm and have a 2nd office visit.

10 Weeks - It's Been 10 Weeks!!!

Wow, OK the time has flown. Yes, in the last month there were some days that went as slow as molasses on an iceberg, but those were, thankfully, the exception not the rule. For those of you that aren't into kid discussions, this one is ALLLLLLL about kid stuff - fair warning.

Let's see, what is little Jim doing since his 2 months list...

He's become very fond of his bouncy seat, and has been for a while. However, now I can actually leave the room for a couple of minutes without having to take him with me. With this skill I can do things like take stuff out of the oven or move loads of laundry, etc. YAY!

Started liking his swing. Well, a little swing goes a long way with him, but it is better than before. Today he spent a good 20 mins in it, watching the rain fall in the backyard.

Usually only cries when he needs something (knock on wood), unless it is after 8PM, then all bets are off .

He's started going to bed at 10:30 or so and SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!! (knock on wood very firmly, indeed) Folks, this one is like mana from heaven. He wakes up kinda early in my opinion (6:30 AM, who knew there even was such number on the clock other than parents), but I'll take it, anyday.

hmmm... what else... That last one is so big I can't concentrate...

Recognizes his bottle - that's kinda cool, except when it isn't his bottle. Sometimes it's a frosted glass I'm using, or get this, a banana!! But hey, he is learning to chill out when he sees that he's about to get fed. That is worth a lot - way less screaming. :)

Looking at food like he wants some... Yeah, my baby is a foodie, just like his parents. We are in for a fight soon I'm betting. He's gonna want real food and I'm going to have to try to keep to the recommended 6 mo window. It's not gonna be nice.

Likes time on his playmat, but he's not so much on the tummy time - he seems to think I am torturing him. After tummy time, I can get a good 15 to 20 mins out of him on his back on the playmat. I get down there with him and we sing and play. It is so sweet. I love it.

Oh, and Stacie, you gave me a great play activity with your video of "getting Jason's belly". I have started doing this with him and he LOVES it! He doesn't laugh out loud yet, as your little guy does, but he's getting there! I get some firm giggles at this point.

He initiates the "stick your tounge out" game. I just LOVE this... He wants to play with me, and it makes my heart melt every time. I can't help but giggle.

He's totally got head control - we spend lots of time sitting up now because he doesn't want to lay back like a baby anymore. He wants to SEE THE WORLD!

One weird thing... He doesn't like seeing himself in the mirror. He actually seems to really dislike it. I don't know if it is confusing for him or just terribly boring. I'm going to keep trying it though. I can't imagine what life would be like if you hated mirrors.

Oh, and he HATES to burp, even though he feels better just afterwards. I think it is simply the delay of food consumption, but I could be wrong.

Well, for all those that made it this far, thanks for listening to me drole on like an idiot. I'm just so glad that things are starting to get interesting... Of course, it is just in time for me to find another job, but it is better than nothing. I cannot imagine going back to work sooner now - all the really good stuff just starts at 8 wks!!!

Oh, and Gemini Girl - I wish I had some photos to share!! I haven't taken any for a week or so... I'll have to get to that this weekend.