Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

What a couple of weeks we have had! Reese is doing a few new things and we've been through a few new things. He has finally become fully aware of his feet! It hilarious to watch him just lay there and hold onto them for dear life for at least half an hour. He tries soooo hard to put them in his mouth and he has come very close a few times. He has this funny grunting noise he makes when he's trying to get something in his mouth and can't quite get it...it's pretty amusing. He also is blowing raspberries all the time now. Especially when he's really concentrating on something he'll take in a huge breath and let out the longest raspberry. He's putting EVERYTHING in his mouth, except his chilled teethers. He always scrunches up his noses and smacks his mouth when I try to put one of those in there, making a completely disgusted face. Speaking of teethers, I do think he is starting to teeth. He chews on whatever he can and constantly has his hands in his mouth. We went from wearing a bib all the time because of spit up, to having a bib on all the time because he slobbers everywhere. His hair is starting to fill out and I can really feel it when I kiss the top of his head. It's so light, though, it's hard to see it.

Sleeping has become a bit of an issue. However, a very large part of that has been due to his forumla. He is on probably 90% formula and 10% breast milk for the past week or so and about 75% formula 25% breast milk for about a week before that. My milk has just plummeted over the past several days to the point where I'm only pumping once a day and it is so slow, he won't even nurse. He's been exclusively on a bottle for about 4 days now. And while that does make me a little sad, we still get our bonding time. We were on Similac Advanced for two weeks (per the doctor's suggestion...give it two weeks) and he was just having such bad tummy issues, mostly with gas. I could just tell his tummy was hurting! So, after two weeks, we switched his formula to Similac Sensitive, which is lactose free. What a difference it has made! His little tummy is so much better and he is much more regular than he was with the other formula. He's not waking up crying out in pain multiple times a night. He's still waking up, but for a different reason. We have fallen into the common new parent trap of rocking the baby completely to sleep. As a result, I believe he has gotten dependent on us to be able to fall back asleep. So, when he wakes up in the middle of the night (and at naptime and at bedtime) he has to be rocked back to sleep. We are going to work on fixing that, ASAP.

Another thing that has contributed to his poor sleep and clingyness for the past day or two is that we think he has gotten his first cold. He is very congested and coughing more than usual. He doesn't have a fever, but he is very snotty and just kinda acts like he doesn't feel good. So, as soon as he's back to his normal self, we are going to start really sleep training him. It's not going to be pretty, but it will be necessary. Oh, and he's worked out of his Miracle Blanket a few times over the past few nights, too. So, I guess we're going to have to start weaning him off the swaddle, which really makes me nervous. We'll see!! Here are some really cute pictures from recently!



Trying to hold his bottle like a big boy!

Still liking his swing.

Mmmm...my bib tastes yummy!

Hee hee, Mommy...I can get out of it!

Yay...my feet!

Practicing sitting up.

Bubbles on my head, hand in my mouth!

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Last weekend Cameron and I ventured to the Big City (a.k.a. Atlanta) to help celebrate my good friend Tara's *0th birthday. We're not going to actually say how old she is, cuz I'm right behind her come November! It was such a fun time to just get away from the Valley, leave Little Man behind and spend some time with great friends. These girls are great friends who all live in or near ATL. I wish I got to see them more. The theme for the party was Mardi Gras, hence the beads and Carolyn's strange outfit. Don't worry...she doesn't always dress that weird! This particular group of girls and I loved dressing up as a group for Halloween. Our first year in dental school we all dressed up as Playboy Bunnies with Cameron acting as Hugh (this was before we started dating...he really gets into Halloween!). The next year we were the Spice Girls. We've always had such a great time together and I miss seeing their beautiful faces on a regular basis.

The former Bunnies and Hugh: Me, Carolyn, Kristen, Cameron, Alice, and the b-day girl Tara in front!

My Funny Valentines

How could you not love these faces?! I don't think Cameron's fully awake yet, but Reese was ready to go!!

Snow Day!

Snow is a rare thing here in the Valley. I can count on one and a half hands (don't worry, though...I have two complete hands!) how many times it has snowed here. We got a couple of inches of accumulation on Friday. It was so pretty! Ella kind of didn't really care except she wanted to smell the snow. The flakes were so big and it made me want to go skiing really badly. Here are some pictures of the snow...enjoy!


Our house covered in snow!


The park across the street


Ella in the snow!



Our bird bath in the side yard...the turtle is covered in snow and ice!

50 Years

This past weekend we celebrated Cameron's grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. Their actual anniversary is tomorrow, but they didn't want to have the party Valentine's weekend (who can blame them?!) They got married in 1960 when they were just teenagers and never looked back! 50 years is such an accomplishment and a rarity, I think, in today's society. Cameron laughed and said he probably wouldn't live long enough for us to be married 50 years. I told him that he'd only be 76 years old...that's not really old. It's old, but not really old. But, I do have a skewed sense of what is old. My grandmother (on my dad's side) and great-grandmother (on my mom's side) were both 96 when they died. And my dad's dad was 87 when he died. And 76 is only 6 years older than Cameron's grandfather, so really, it's not that old. It kinda makes me sad when Cameron says stuff like that. But I digress...

The afternoon was a lovely time and people thought Reese was so cute (because, duh! He is!). He missed most of his naps during the day and despite that he was a perfect angel all day! People kept commenting that they were amazed they hadn't heard a peep out of him all day. He got passed around, too, but he was loving the attention! He conked out in the car and slept pretty good that night. READ: no crying for half an hour at 4:30am. I, unfortunately, didn't take that many pictures with my camera, but I do have a really cute one of Grandaddy and Reese. He was so cute because I took Reese over to say hello when they got to Cameron's parents' house and he just scooped him up immediately and walked around with him for about 10 minutes.

Monkey Head

Or Bear Head...not really sure which! This little hat was with some monkey stuff at Old Navy, so I assumed it was a monkey hat. Either way, it's cute!

Yummy!

Mmmmm, Daddy your nose tastes so yummy!!

(sorry, I know it's a little blurry, but of course I didn't have my real camera handy, so the cell had to suffice...just goes to show you Reese will put anything and everything in his mouth these days!)

45 Minute Intruder

Ugh...this "45 minute intruder" thing is about to drive me slap crazy! Everyone has a 45 minute sleep cycle where they transition from deep sleep to lighter REM sleep. Apparently when babies are learning to sleep (cuz supposedly it's something they have to learn) they can wake themselves up as they transition due to twitching, etc. This causes their naps to be only 45 minutes because a lot of times they can't fall back asleep on their own...thus aptly called the 45-minute intruder. This makes for a very tired baby and a very tired Mommy. For about three or four weeks, Reese has been visited by the 45-minute intruder every. single. nap. Oh, the frustration. Fortunately, Reese doesn't seem to be too cranky once he gets up, but if you try to calm him down and make him go back to sleep, whoa, buddy...watch out!! If he does fall back asleep (while being rocked, mind you), as soon as you try to put him back down his eyes pop open and he starts screaming again. This causes Mommy and Daddy to just give up and unswaddle him and take him in the den with us. He'll stay happy for about another hour and then he's ready to eat. And, for now, this only seems to be an issue during his daytime sleep. I have read a lot that babies just kinda go through lots of changes physically and developmentally from about 4-6 months so here's to hoping it'll work itself out in another few weeks!

Speaking of eating...Reese is not a picky eater and doesn't seem to mind the taste or texture of formula. He is, however, having some issues with his tummy getting used to it. I still nurse him a couple of times a day and am still pumping at work so he gets some breastmilk throughout the day. BUT, I have noticed an even greater decrease in my milk supply over the last few days so I know the day is coming soon where it's going to be all formula. The formula just makes his little tummy hurt because it gives him (smelly) gas and makes him somewhat constipated, which is something he has never experienced! We're going to give it a few more days of the same formula, Similac Advanced, before switching to a sensitive one. The doctor said to give it at least two weeks of the same kind to give them time to get used it. The biggest issue we are running into lately is that every night for the past few nights Reese wakes up around 4:30am, with what we assume is a tummyache and he just cries and cries for about half an hour before he finally settles back down. Obviously when he's so upset we go in there and get him up to rock him back to sleep, so it makes for two very tired parents. But hopefully we'll work through it. Last night he woke up for a second, but went right back to sleep so maybe we're on the up and up.

Another big difference is that we have taken him out of basket. Since Friday he has been sleeping like a big boy in his crib. Again, just like the switch to formula, this has not phased him at all. He had just gotten too long for his basket! Kinda makes me a little sad. We wanted to make sure that he got through the transition from basket to crib before we move (which is still going to be awhile). Cameron also wants to work on weaning him from the swaddle. I'm not convinced Reese is ready for that, so we'll see. He's mastered taking his paci out of his mouth, staring at it, and putting the edges in his mouth, so once he masters putting it back in the proper way, then I might be ready for him to be unswaddled!! We had Cameron's grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary yesterday, so I'll make a post about that later with some pics. Anyway...I have a couple of really funny pictures to post, too, so look for those soon!

Well Baby!

Reese had his four month well baby check up on Monday. Everything checked out perfectly. The doctor said he has great, healthy sounding lungs and heart. He was so imipressed with how responsive and alert Reese is and how strong his head and neck are. Reese only weighs 12lbs 11ozs, which is the 15th percentile, but he's on the curve, so we're not concerned. Hey...at that weight at least he's still easy to lug around! Dr. Cawley said he would probably start gaining more weight since he's getting formula now. He also suggested giving him rice cereal once a day. So, we'll try that this weekend. He's 23 1/2 inches long, so he looks very long and lean, definitely not something he got from Mommy!! I made the comment about Reese being a drool machine and when Dr. Cawley felt his gums he said they were starting to feel a little tough so he may pop a tooth through in the next month or so. I'm not sure I'm ready for that!! The doc also said we could start trying to let Reese go from bedtime till morning without getting him to eat, so we may try that this weekend. Basically everything is right on track and he's reaching all his milestones right on time! We are so blessed!



What 'chu lookin' at?!

More Four Month Pics!

Here are some more pictures from Reese's fourth month! I still can't quite get the picture fast enough when he's smiling so big, but hopefully we'll be getting a new camera soon!


Such a big boy!

All pooped out from eating (he still has milk on his mouth!)

Cute outfit!

Liking bathtime more!

I've included a link to the four month post album on Facebook. Just copy and paste! Blogger is too much of a pain to load pictures on, so this is just easier!


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013262&id=198400433&l=a32d92145d

Four Months!

Dear Reese,

You are four months old and getting to be such a big boy! You are so very alert and curious about everything. And lots of things go in your mouth! Your hands are your favorite thing right now and you have learned to suck on your fingers. Mommy gets covered in slobber sometimes! Reese, you have started to roll over from your back to your tummy and sometimes back to your back again! This is a new development so you aren't doing it all the time, yet. You are learning to like tummy time more and don't cry immediately when I put you on your belly. You still really love to stand up on Mommy and Daddy's laps and are so strong. Mommy put you in your excersaucer and you liked it, but didn't want to stay in there very long. Napping is still a little hairy, but you are sleeping really well at night still. Blowing raspberries is what you love to do when you're laying on your changing table (and other times, but mostly then). You are still learning the difference in cooing, coughing, and laughing, but we're getting more giggles out of you! We had to start giving you formula in addition to Mommy's milk, but you are taking it in stride and are doing fine with it. We love you very much and you truly are such a sweet, good baby.

love,

Mommy and Daddy

As Promised!

Here is our new house! We are promptly digging up the palm trees and those massive tree/bushes on the sides of the front door. We like them, but they just cover up too much of the house! I'll try to get some interior pictures up...as soon as we take some!