Further Proof

That my child is growing like a weed. Remember about 2 months ago when I was so excited he was moving to the next diaper size? Well, he’s on the move again. And, of course I had to document it again!

Really mom? Naked pictures again?

 

Yep, I’ve got my socks on still…I’m cool.

I am SO big!

Agggh, stop, no more pictures in my underwear!

When Grandma K came up she of course came armed with a few presents, and one of them was an adorable monkey outfit. That was about 2.5 weeks ago that she was here, and we were thinking those 6 month outfits were still a while off…then I think a growth spurt happened! I put the outfit on as his pjs tonight (I adore zipper pjs!) and he was just TOOO cute! Warning, a million pictures follow…

Look at me sitting all by myself!

Uh, mom, falling over here…

Hello! Mother! All the way over!

Happy baby!

You’re still here! With that camera!

Oh, I am just TOOO cute!

Hehe, I’m in my pjs in my high chair!

Talking to daddy before I go to bed.

The cuteness just kills me!

We’ve had a pretty good weekend here, including a great afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa F today. Lots of playtime for them with Logan while Peter and I got some things done around the house and then a nice nap for Logan while we all had a yummy lunch and great conversation. They loaded us up for dinners this week too…thanks again mom and dad!

Growing, Growing, Growing...

My baby is growing up. There have been about a million things in the past few days that point to this. I mean hello, you saw the giggle video, right?

Well, let's start with yesterday at the doctor's. It was Logan's four month appointment. He was such a trooper. And I must say, I adore our pediatrician office. They have quite a few docs and nurse practitioners, two of which are also the lactation consultants I see. My favorite thing is they never seem rushed. And they have Saturday and Sunday sick visit hours. And evening hours during the week for well visits. They do not make this first time nervous mommy feel crazy when she worries, and they are so thorough at appointments. Anyway, wow, back to the point...

Logan weighed in at 12lbs. 14 oz. That puts him on the same 15-20 percentile he was at for his 2 month appointment, so that's fine. He's 25.5 inches long...that puts him in the 75th percentile for height! He was only in the 25th percentile for height at 2 months. Woah, he has shot up! We've got a long and lean boy on our hands. It makes me feel good because his weight is progressing fine (all right, I still obsessively worry, I admit) but the height changing so much makes it quite clear he is growing!

She asked if he was rolling yet, I told her no. That video that I posted forever ago? Ha, turns out Peter propped him up and helped him "fall" over. She said it was fine, they just start asking at 4 months but with babies on their backs so much now it's not expected as early. She told us the recommendation for starting solids for a breastfed baby is 6 months, which I knew and which we plan to follow. She checked him all out and he looked great, smiled and "talked" to her. He was a champ when he got his shots too.

Well, fast forward to about an hour later when I'm playing with him at home on the floor and Peter is sitting in the chair near us. This is what happens...I promise there is excitement near the end!



That screaming was of course me! I was SOOO excited. He rolled over 2 more times after that, but not tonight.

Here's why he's really growing up...we've been swaddling him since day 1. I swaddle him up, feed him, he falls asleep, and I put him in his crib. Well, we decided his 4 month birthday was the time to ditch the swaddle. I wanted to go slowly, one arm out, etc...but Peter convinced me to just go cold turkey. So, tonight I fed him but he was still awake, and I put him down in his crib with a sleep sack on, said good night, and came downstairs to watch the video monitor. He talked to himself for about 10 minutes, then...he was asleep. And he still is, 40 minutes later. OH MY WORD. So exciting.

Time really is going by so fast. He is so much fun right now, I'm so excited we get a whole weekend to play. Here's hoping we get great sleep tonight!

Our Giggler

So, we have a giggler in our house! He's been doing it for a while, but we were finally able to catch it on video...crossing my fingers it works this time! I also have an adorable video of him talking to Grandma K...and blogger is being mean and does not want to post it! You'll just have to enjoy the giggles instead! :)

Party Time!

We had a great weekend down in Richmond. We went for Conner’s birthday party, but got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa K as a great bonus. Logan did wonderfully on his first night away from home. He slept just like he sleeps here – not great, but down quickly again after he eats, so we’re not going to complain! Here are some highlights from our trip.

Logan and Mommy being lazy on Sunday morning

Getting measured to see if he’s big enough for the bouncy things at Pump in Up…you’ve got a little while to go buddy! The funniest part was we still had to fill out a wavier for him, even though I told them a million times he was not going to play on the moon bounce!

Hanging out with daddy before we went into the party.

Ha! We sat him on the outside of one of the bouncy things (I am so very descriptive) …goog thing  we signed the wavier!

The birthday party was so much fun! It was such a big space and  there was tons of room for the kids to run and play. It was so funny to watch them all and think of Logan being big enough to play too!

We also got to introduce Logan to our friends B and K, and had a great time catching up with them. They are pros with babies! :)

The best part? NO TRAFFIC ON 95 on Sunday afternoon! It was incredible. Peter and I didn’t say a word to each other until we got off the exit and we were both like wow, there was no traffic, we were afraid to talk about it and jinx it!

Can’t wait to go down to Richmond again soon to see everybody!

Poor Neglected Blog

Well, what happens when you have a sick baby is that they don't want to take any pictures so you have nothing cute for the blog! Logan is still fighting his cold, though he is doing a lot better today. It is just so hard to hear him cough. The mornings are the worst, he's so stuffy. He and I both are so sick of the stupid bulb syringe! Hopefully we're on the upswing.

I've had a nice slow transition back to work. We had another snow day on Tuesday so I took him to daycare for 4 hours. It was really hard to leave him, but I did, with a lot of tears. Today and the rest of the week we have 2 hour delays, so it's nice to be able to get a little more time with him in the morning and get an extra feeding in with him too.

It's not so much that it's hard to be without him during the day. Don't get me wrong, I miss him SO much. But if you've ever taught first grade, you know there isn't much down time. It's more that I get so sad when I do see him because I realize how little time I get with him. Since he's sick he's really not himself so it's hard to not blame that on daycare but I know that's not it. Also he's not really eating a ton at daycare, but he didn't eat a ton when he was with my mom either, he's just not a fan of the bottle. He's not screaming in hunger when I get there though, so I'm not sure if he's just eating less because he's sick, which the doctor said was normal, or if he's just waiting for me to nurse instead of drinking from the bottle, which is fine and what many breastfed babies do, or if he's just not eating enough.

Ugh. Parenting is so confusing and hard. Add work to the mix and it's just a whirlwind. And I don't get my daily bff fix because I run of out school to get Logan. I mean, don't get me wrong, I want to get Logan...but I so miss chatting it up with his Aunt S too! All my working mom friends told me the first two weeks would be awful. They weren't kidding. I'm really only on day 1. And a short day 1 at that.

No worries, we'll be fine. He's in good hands during the day, the weekend is coming. My secret greatest fear? That he'll forget me and be mad at me or sad without me. I just have to trust that we're doing the right thing. And, I have to trust that it gets easier...or that it'll at least be summer soon.

Heart Breaker

We went to the mall with Grandma K yesterday to see some of her friends. Logan wore his Valentine's Day outfit from the R's...he was SO excited!

Here's some more cute pictures with his adorable outfit...our little heart breaker...

This outfit is a 3 - 6 months! He's still in mostly 3 month clothes, but his 0-3 are now to small, so off to 3-6! Baby clothes are so confusing...some brands just have newborn, 3 months, 6 months, etc...then there are other brands that are 0-3. 3-6, etc...can we not just pick one sizing system? Either way, he's growing! :)

Logan's had a bit of a cough all week, but it's been a dry cough. Then last night he was really fussy, so I decided to take his temp. It was 100.5. Not high, but a fever none the less. So we gave him some Tylenol, he nursed, and fell asleep. He slept from 8-3! His longest stretch ever...helped by the Tylenol I'm sure. Then he slept from 3 - 5, ate again then 5:30 - 6:30. I of course went to bed at 10:30 because the Olympics were too exciting and then woke up at 1:30 worried about him, so I still didn't sleep, but oh well! He didn't have a fever anymore when he woke up at 3. But this morning his cough had turned "junky". We decided to call the doctor and take him in since they have Saturday hours. They listened to him and agreed that he is junky, but they think it's just a cold. They gave us things to look for, we're going to elevate the head of his crib tonight while he sleeps, and hopefully he will start to feel better. He also took a 3 hour nap this afternoon, on my chest. He then woke up and was fairly content, and I shot this video of him:




He looks pretty good there! I mean, it's tummy time and he's not even screaming - just talking to the turtle on his mat. He's sleeping again now, so hopefully all this rest will help him. He weighed in at 12 lbs. 9 oz. at the doctor today, so he's gained 12 oz. in 17 days, which is great for a 3 month old, so it looks like my milk supply is doing okay. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I wanted to take him to the doctor today because he starts daycare on Tuesday so I wanted to make sure all was well before then. We visited daycare yesterday and Grandma K went with us and gave it her stamp of approval. She was quite impressed and I think that is a great sign. I know I am going to have a very hard time leaving him on Tuesday morning but I know he will be well cared for and I think we will be fine.

Peter and I are headed out for a date tomorrow afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa F are coming to watch Logan. Who knew that a trip to Target and the grocery store would one day be an exciting part of a date! No worries, we are going out to a nice lunch too. And as a bonus, we're both off on Monday!

Here's hoping Logan feels better soon and we see a lot more of this (His hair looks so light here!):

Blizzard x 2

The snow just keeps coming! Last night we got our second round, this time it really was complete with a blizzard warning because of how windy it was. We got about 8 more inches of snow, so about 32 inches total. The total at Dulles airport, about 15 minutes from us, is 72 inches for the year. That’s the second highest total in the contenintal US. INSANE!

I have LOVED being home with Logan. I really feel like my maternity leave never ended, but now I’m getting paid! They have already cancelled school through Friday, and we also have President’s Day off. The best part of all is that in my county we don’t make up days until we miss over 15 (we’re at 10 now) because of the total number of hours we’re in school. So, we just get to enjoy!

Logan will go to daycare on Tuesday. And I am going to be a nervous wreck! It was hard enough leaving him with my mom, I know this is going to be really hard. But, I trust the people we are leaving him with and know I will be excited to see him each afternoon. Honestly, it’s just going to be hard.

Here are a few pictures from this week. We are so glad Grandma K still got to come up to stay with us for a few days. Logan has loved playing with her!

 

My very favorite thing…Logan napping on me.

Logan with his teething ring…he is now the drooling king. I think he’s going to be one of those babies that teethes for months before anything actually pops through!

Bath time!

So excited to be with Grandma K!

Awwww….

:)

Giving Thanks

No, I’m not reminiscing about Thanksgiving. Instead, I’ve found a small way to give thanks for my wonderful little boy.

Way back in 1988 I was in third grade and met Trish (in all fairness at the time she was Patricia and had long hair!). She was a great friend for this shy girl at a new school. We went to different schools the next year, but had mutual friends throughout the years. The past two years we have reconnected on facebook and I’ve enjoyed the wonderful mommy advice she has shared!

Trish posted this weekend that she’s participating in a fundraiser for St. Baldricks, and will be shaving her head to raise money for children with cancer. I donated and when she wrote to say thank you she said, “We’re so lucky to have healthy kids.”

It was like she had read my mind. That was exactly why I donated. I have a healthy baby and could not be more thankful. We are so blessed.

Please consider donating to this great cause . You can go to http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/trishc  . 

Donate to give thanks for the healthy child (or grandchild) in your life (I sound like a commercial, but I’m serious!). Thanks in advance!

Bumbo Fun

Well, it was too cold to venture out in the snow today, so we just let dad shovel instead and took him hot chocolate. Logan and I played inside and had a great day. Here are some pictures of our fun.

Today Logan put everything in his mouth…as he is doing all the time now!

“Sophie’s feet are delicious!”

I’m determined to find a way to get this ball in my mouth…

“How many times do I have to tell you that I hate tummy time? Why did you take Sophie away?”

Oh, this doesn’t look good…crying is going to follow soon, hurry!

Then we tried out Logan’s bumbo…he’s got great head control now so I was excited to see how he did with it. He had a great time!

“This is my new chair. Just hanging out.”

“Oh! It is very comfy!”

“Yep, such a big boy all by myself.”

“How many pictures can you take of this same thing, mom?”

I can’t believe how fast he is growing! Everyday he is changing so much. He’s making such great faces, full of smiles and little giggles. I can’t wait to hear big laughs from him.

School’s cancelled again tomorrow…I am getting so spoiled, now I’m never going to want to go back!

Blizzard Part 1

*Written Saturday 2/6/10…not sure why it didn’t post!

Well, the snow certainly arrived in full force yesterday. When we went to bed around 10 the lights flickered a few times. We got a little worried, and Peter went to get the sleeping bags from downstairs in case we needed more blankets on the bed. I was so panicked about losing power. It’s funny how your perspective changes when you have a baby. Before, I would have just thought ugh, no power, I’ll be so bored! This time it was oh no, will we be able to keep Logan warm, what is there that he needs that we might not have? And oh no, if the power goes out I can NOT lose my entire freezer stash of breast milk! Peter assured me however that we could just put all the milk out in the snow to keep it frozen! :)

Logan had a rough night (up at 11:30, 1, 2:30, 4:00, for the day at 7), which meant I was  up a lot, and I heard the snow plows out. But, there was just no hope for them to keep up. We woke up to a TON of snow! We started hearing a lot on the news about the danger of the weight of the snow on flat roofs, and Peter got worried about our deck and all the snow getting too heavy on it since it’s up fairly high. He went out to shovel, here’s the pictures I was able to grab from the back door.

This was fairly early in the morning, we probably got 7-9 more inches of snow after this. It looks like we got 24 total. Completely crazy!

My parents lost power last night, then it came back on, but went out again this morning. They were without power most of the day and it started to get cold in the house! We told them to come over here to stay with us, but it was pretty much impossible to get here! Luckily their power is back on now, but has already gone out once again for a few minutes. Hopefully it will stay on this time!

I made lactation cookies today! They are not, as Peter thought, made with breast milk. They just have flax seed meal, brewers yeast, and a lot of oats in them, which is supposed to boost your breast milk supply. They actually taste pretty good, just a slight after taste of the brewers yeast, but otherwise just like chocolate chip oatmeal cookies! We’ll see if they help.

Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get Logan out in the snow for just a few minutes to grab a few pictures of this insane snow! I’m interested to see when I end up going back to school. My dad’s guess is Wednesday, Peter is thinking Thursday. We’re also anxious to see when Grandma K can get up here. We don’t want her to come until it’s safe, but we also want her to be able to enjoy time with Logan. Hopefully she can come up Tuesday or Wednesday.

I’ve got my fingers crossed for a more peaceful night for Logan tonight! Maybe he was just too excited about the snow last night. :) Hope everybody is having a good weekend and staying safe and warm!

Turned into Best Week Ever...

Well, okay, so the week Logan was born was better...and the weeks I was home for real of course. But this week? Might as well have continued maternity leave! Monday was a teacher workday. Tuesday my school was closed because of no heat. Wednesday we were closed for snow. Thursday I actually taught kids. Today, Friday? No school because of impending snow (we're covered now).

That translates into lots of time with Logan and the feeling that I'm still on maternity leave! I won't lie, yesterday, my only day with kids, was hard. I had a really hard time leaving him because he was sleeping when I left, so I really didn't get to see him at all in the morning. Then I felt so rushed all day while I was pumping, which isn't good for pumping! Add to that the fact that I had to go to the grocery store on the way home since they're predicting 30 inches of snow...so I didn't get home until around 5:15, and boy was I ready to see him! My wonderful mother brought my groceries in and I got to feed Logan, and when he was done he was just SO happy. Tons of smiles for me, it was the best. Made my whole day worth it!

Today I did have to run to the store for a few more things and it was insane! I was laughing so hard at what people consider "essentials." I have never seen so much beer and wine bought! None for this breastfeeding mom, I'm too much of a worrier to even chance it, though I know tons of people say you can have a little. We'll just tough it out!

So, stay tuned for updates on the great snow of 2010. In honor of the snowstorm Logan wore his polar bear fleece outfit today, I caught this cute snapshot...it's not really a video, just a clip from the beginning of one, not sure why blogger is treating it like a video. Oh well! Happy Snow!

Best. Day. Ever.

Yesterday was my first day back at work. At first the morning was hard. There were tears when I left (from me, not Logan!), and it was a long drive in. But my team was super supportive, and only the people who hadn't heard me vent about needing positive thinking for my return said things like, "Oh, this must be so hard." So, I was doing all right. Only called mom 4 times! :)

The real drama however, was not my return. At 10am, I was in my room with 2 other teachers and heard running water. We were trying to figure out what it was, when all the sudden gross brown water came rushing out from the bottom of my heater! Luckily there were other people with me, because we were able to pull the rugs/cords up quickly, as the water proceeded to cover 3/4 of the floor. Well, this scene replayed itself 16 times, in 16 different rooms, throughout the building. Complete domino effect. They dried my floor, but didn't want us to put stuff back down in case it happened again. I did manage to get things planned for this week and my room back in order (I am such a control freak about my classroom, I have to have it organized and neat).

Then at 11pm last night my phone rings. It's my wonderful teammate telling me that our principal just called her and school is closed for tomorrow because there is no heat in our building! So exciting! When you're a teacher and you see that one school in the morning that's closed for no heat, no water, no power, etc. you think yep, never going to be my school. And then today, it was!

So I got to spend all day with Logan. My mom still came over so I got a couple hours extra sleep in the morning and she was still able to watch him. We had a great day. And now he is napping on my chest.

And the best part? They're calling for 3-6 inches of snow tonight...I'm so greedy, but another day perhaps? Can I be that lucky?

Oh, by the way, yes, Monday night sucked. I hate to use that word, but it did. All of my working mom friends told me the first few weeks would be hard. And it was so hard not getting home until 4:30 to see him and having so little time with him before he had to go to bed. I was pretty upset about it. But today helped, of course. And I know as we get the routine down it'll get better. With all this snow it may be April before we get into a routine!

On a random note, we are still exclusively doing breast milk. My supply seems to have picked up with the Fenugreek, he's gained weight well over the past week. I pumped at work yesterday and got 11 oz., I am trying to leave my mom 14, so did have to go into the freezer, but hopefully can get a pump in at night and will keep building my supply. We haven't done formula yet, but if we have to do some formula for bottles during daycare we'll be fine. Keeping my fingers crossed but we'll do whatever we need to for our little guy to keep growing strong!

Thanks again to everyone for all of your good wishes on my return to work. It really helped knowing that so many people had been in my shoes and still have fabulous children who love them to death, and that so many people were thinking of us. Love you all!

PS - Congrats to blog reader E, a friend from high school who recently had her beautiful baby girl...Logan approves. :) The JHS baby boom is almost complete for the fall/winter, one more to go I think! Seems as though we all approached 30 and decided babies were in order!