9 Month Checkup

......was today :) Little man is getting way too big for his britches! He weighs just over 21lbs and is in the 72nd percentile. And is in the 76th percentile for his height. Not sure the exact measurement for that, but he is tall for his age.

He had to get 2 shots today. One for the first round of flu vaccine and the other for the final Hep B vaccine. He usually does pretty well with the shots and only cries a little bit and today was not any different than normal. It probably helped that he was ready for a bottle when he was done too. Ah, comfort food! We all have it. lol

And...we are finally crawling! Well, when we really, really, want something or are removed from something that we don't need to have. He is still trying to figure it out fully. He has been trying to pull up on everything too. He can get to his knees, but not all the way to his feet without some extra help.

He has become so interactive and I am absolutely loving this age! My little man is full of smiles and giggles almost constantly. You tell him no, and he giggles...you make a funny noise and he giggles...and so on. I love it!

We have been battling a couple ear infections for the past couple months. He had one in August and then had a double ear infection just this past week, but with the follow up today things are looking much better. Which is fantastic. However, his Dr. is already on his toes considering it's not even ear infection season (if there is such a thing?? because according to the Pediatrician there is).

My little man is really growing up now. I wish that time would just stand still for a little bit so that I can keep him little for as long as possible. Like I said, I am loving this stage right now :)

Almost to the 9 month mark!!

A will be 9 months old tomorrow! I really can't believe it! We go back to the Dr. on the 14th, so we will know then how much he has grown since his 6 month checkup. I am going to venture to guess that my son is now around 21lb. We are starting to fit into 12 mos. clothing. We are still wearing some 9 mos items, but our sleepers are definitely getting too short in the sleeves and legs. We have bought some 12mos pj's, but not sleepers. The sleepers just look sooo big. :( I want my baby to slow down a little bit haha.

So, some of A's accomplishments recently...

1. We finally started sitting ourself up from laying on our belly yesterday. He had been doing it in his crib for a couple nights before yesterday, but finally started doing it more throughout the day.

2. We still aren't quite crawling. He is so close right now! He is rocking on his hands and knees like crazy and starting to get the motions of moving his arms, but he just scoots his legs. Or if something is out of his reach, he will literally launch himself toward it from his hands and knees and land on his belly just within reach of it.

3. We now have 4 teeth! His top two teeth came in just last week and he has decided that it's really fun to grit them together. For me, not so much. I hate the sound that it makes and it makes me cringe every time he does it.

4. We love spitting. We are constantly spitting. It makes it really hard to feed him when all he wants to do is spit as soon as he takes a bite. I think I usually end up wearing more of it than he actually eats. He had actually figured out the spitting a few months ago, but has recently decided that it's really a lot of fun again. I know this is just a phase, but it gets a little frustrating at meal times...lol.

5. We are trying all kinds of new foods! We had dinner at Nana and Papa's last week and he got to try some meatloaf. I figured it was soft enough that he could figure out what to do with it and he did. He LOVED it. And of course, he enjoys pieces of biscuits and rolls. And has had some scrambled egg. I don't think we have found anything that he will not eat. Which is awesome! I have a really good eater on my hands. I'm hoping that will make me start to eat a little bit better once he really starts eating more than just baby food.

I think that's it. I am sure there is more, but that's it for now! My mom mentioned to me yesterday that I needed to start planning A's 1st birthday soon. Especially since it's literally right after Christmas and only 3 months away! I can't believe it...it makes me sad.

And by the way...hubby is already talking about baby #2. Yikes! My Dr. actually told me at my August appointment that yes, we needed to really start seriously thinking about #2 soon. That really scares me as money is really tight right now and I'm not sure I am ready for #2. I want to enjoy my little man and all his milestones for now. We shall see. Until next time!

Weaning... :(

So my supply has been slowly dwindling down for the past couple of months. I am not really sure what caused it to do this. The only thing I can think of, my body was not responding well to me having to pump. I haven't been able to keep up with A's intake for quite some time now and we have had to supplement with formula at least one bottle a day throughout the week. Of course, on the weekends, I would try to breastfeed as often as possible to try to get my supply back up, but it just isn't happening.

This, of course, makes me incredibly sad because I was really hoping to breastfeed through this whole first year. So, I have started to wean my little man slowly. I am now down to pumping only once during the day and then I breastfeed him right before he goes to bed and then throughout the night and for his first feeding in the morning. I will soon be taking out either the morning feeding or the right before bedtime feeding. I am leaning toward the right before bedtime feeding in hopes that he will stop waking up every night at midnight for a snack...lol. That would at least cut out one time of waking up (hopefully). He still wakes up at least 2 or 3 times a night for a little snack. Anyone have any suggestions as to which feeding would be the best to stop next?

I think I have done really well getting to the 8 month mark (this sunday...oh. my.) especially given how much trouble we had in the beginning. And maybe that's why I have never really been able to keep up with how much my little man consumes from a bottle. I don't know. I just know that this is really hard for me right now because I love the bonding time we get. But I will make it through :)

P.S. We are loving our new daycare!!! It's so nice to have a happy baby when he gets dropped off and when he gets picked up!

For your enjoyment....pictures!

So these are definitely late considering A is 7 1/2 months old and these were taken at 6 months, but the photographer did such an awesome job and I absolutely love them!! I have also been extremely busy and my internet time has been next to nothing when I am home...so therefore, you are just now getting to see the product of 6 mos pics/family pics :) But here they are!! Enjoy!

We couldn't get Blaze to cooperate for the family picture where we are sitting, but the ones that he took with A turned out awesome! They both did so well that day!

Hopefully I can start posting and commenting more since A has started to go to sleep a little bit earlier and I can get some things done in the evenings now! However, we are battling our first ear infection right now. Doesn't seem to be too bad of one. We had a rough night Sunday night, with mommy only getting about 3 1/2 hours of sleep, but we made it through and we both slept much better last night...thankfully! It's a little challenging to function on 3 hours of sleep with an 8 hour work day...

Oh, you mean you actually entertain the babies?!? They don't just lay there?

I have found a sitter!!!!! Whoo hoo!!!!!! And she is FANTASTIC!!! Absolutely wonderful! When I left from meeting with her, I wanted to cry I was so happy. She even got down on the floor and played with Aiden while she met with me. She took the time to speak with me for over an hour and let me know all the wonderful activities they do with their kids/infants throughout the day. I am so excited about sending A to her facility that I can not wait to see how he responds! He will be going from noon to 5 every day which will give my hubby, G, a little time before he goes to work at 2 to do whatever he needs to do. I am so incredibly excited with this lady. She sounds phenomenal, her facility is fantastic and clean :). I am so glad that I was able to find her. Yay!!!

A little update about A. He has a nice little cold right now. Which, is why he had been so fussy and not wanting to sleep at night. Last night he finally slept for a good chunk of time. He is not wanting to nurse right now because I think he is too stopped up to do it. So, I had to pump at 3:30 this morning while he sat and waited for me to feed him. Poor little guy. Then, of course, he didn't want to go back to sleep after he ate. Normally during the night he will nurse right back to sleep after about 10 minutes and I can lay him back down, but not last night.

These last couple of days not being able to nurse have made me really miss that precious time we have together. Not sure what I will do when it's time to start weening him from me. It makes me a little sad because I know it will be coming sooner than later. I guess I will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Teething Troubles

A is going through one heck of a time with getting his teeth right now. We had one pop up last Thursday, which my mom found, and I noticed a couple looser stools and a slight fever. Then, just the other day (Monday), the sitter I have for right now informed me that he was very fussy for her (extremely unusual) and was chewing on everything he could get his hands on. That evening, I noticed the top of another tooth. Both of these teeth are on the bottom.

Last night and today have been BAD. Last night, my poor little man was up nearly every 3o-60 minutes fussing. We tried the pacifier (sometimes helps when he chews on it), nursing, teething tablets, and tylenol. My hubby finally took him to the la-z-boy and they fell asleep for the rest of the morning (from about 5-6). Hubby has been reporting to me most of today that A has been pretty much non-stop fussing. He did take about a 2 hour nap late morning, but was fussy again when he woke up and was running a little bit of a fever. So, hubby gave him some more tylenol and teething tablets.

I told him to put a wet washcloth in the freezer for a little bit and then give it to him later to chew on. Hopefully that will help a little bit. We have teethers that he has been chewing on. Any other suggestions?? I hope he sleeps better tonight...it makes me wanna cry when my baby boy is not feeling well and I don't have an immediate solution. I just hope he starts feeling better soon.

We had some late pictures taken of our family and Aiden. I will post some as soon as I get the cd mailed to me. From what I have seen so far, they are awesome! I love them! Can't wait to see the rest!

6 months already?!?! Where has the time gone??

Wow....it has been a long time since my last post. A lot has happened since then too! Where the heck do I begin??

We are 6 months now!!! A turned 6 months on the 5th of July! He finally decided that he could roll from his belly to his back before getting too ticked off for being on his belly. However, once he is on his back, he is perfectly content to just stay there. He will roll to either side, but has yet to go from his back to his belly. He will get there one of these days!! :)

We have begun solid foods. We started these around 5 months. He is very interested in everything that mommy and daddy are eating and drinking, so he is enjoying having something else to taste other than breastmilk throughout the day! He has enjoyed carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, and peaches so far. My child is not much on the cereal front, but he is getting better!

The newest development...we are starting to sit up unassisted. Well, in the tripod position. This includes making sure his arms are helping to keep him stable in between his legs when sitting up, but we are getting there! I can't believe it!

We had our 6 month checkup today. Here are our stats:
Weight - 18lb. .5oz - 57th percentile
Height - 27in. - 67th percentile
And of course, we had to get a few more shots. My heart breaks every time! I can't hardly bear to see him cry after the shots.

And lastly...my son has managed to, at 6 months old, get kicked out of the sitter's. How you may ask? First off, lets keep in mind the sitter only had to watch him 3 hours a day 4 days a week. The rest of the time he is with my husband and on Fridays, my MIL watches him. Well, the friday before the 4th, I am informed by my sitter than she "just can't do it anymore". She said that he required way too much of her attention and wanted to be held too much and it wasn't fair to the other kids. Lets also keep in mind that she had no other children under the age of 18 months. All are able to walk and feed themselves and pretty much keep themselves entertained, for the most part. So, since my son required a little bit of extra attention, he was ousted.

I, of course, decided that I really don't want my son going there anyway if she felt that a 6 month old (who actually wasnt even 6 mos yet) required too much attention. I don't know about you guys, but I don't really want my child laying in a pack and play the entire time he is at the sitter's. So, I now have someone coming into our home, whom I trust dearly, giving him all the attention he could possibly want for the time being :) This is until she has to go back to college in the fall. Which means I have to continue looking for a more permanent solution. But, it got my son out of the old sitter's house quickly!

Sorry I have not updated in such a long time. I also have to mention that I had a recent job change. As in, the 6th of July, started with another agency. Still doing social work, case management, but with another agency. Hoping this will be a nice change for a while :) Until next time!