Week Thirty at a Glance...

Week Thirty at a Glance: Monday, October 15th - Sunday, October 21st, 2007

• He had a cough, congestion & a runny nose all week. He would cough during the night, but it only woke him once.
• Bedtime was around 7-7:30pm, and he would wake up around 5am every morning.
• Tuesday night was rough where he woke up and wouldn't go back into this crib so he slept with Mommy and he was restless all night
• Had a good week at school: had applesauce & carrots every day, took decent naps (Friday he had a 3 hour nap at school), went outside and played with his friends
• Did not duplicate an outfit yet to school (I know, it will be a shocker when it does happen)
• Loves jumping - either in the exersaucer or not
• Giggled up a storm when you fan something at him to create a breeze
• Blowing rasberries with his mouth
• Doing a much better job at holding his own bottle
• Is really secure when sitting by himself
• He had a really good weekend - mood, napping, and visitors!
• Saturday, Daddy took him to cousin Will's football game & Grandpa & Grandma were up for a visit. He got to hang out at Uncle Steve & Aunt Carolyn's house and visit with everyone. Daddy said he was incredibly well behaved and perfect!
• Saturday afternoon, Auntie Alyson came over to babysit while Mommy & Daddy went over friends house for dinner.
• Mommy, Alyson & Alexander went to the playground and played on the swings
• He was perfectly behaved for her and he went down easily for bedtime
• Hung out at home on Sunday with Daddy, Mommy & Alyson... played, had a mini-photoshoot, took good naps and again had a great day.
• Went for a walk with Daddy in the afternoon over to Damon & Melissa's house (friends from work who live on the other side of the lake)
• And to top it all off, the cough & congestion are going away!

For your enjoyment...

Sorry for the quality but this was too good to pass up. The past couple of days, he's started to do this grunting thing when he begins to get frustrated. The expressions are priceless.

Where does time go...

So while I was trying to make bottles for tomorrow, get his clothes picked out, and school bag packed - I was wondering where does time go?!?

I don't feel as if we do something overly special each & every day but when the day comes to an end, I am constantly wondering where it went! Our schedule hardly varies yet I still have no time for anything other than our schedule. I was so behind this week in my own personal email - that never happens.

And this is what all mother's tell you when they say that time goes by in a blur.

Every day, we wake up around 5a and then get ready for the day around 6am. Dan leaves for work, and then Alexander & I head out. I drop him off at school and I stay there for about 10 minutes each morning. I get him settled, play a bit and then head out to work.

If Dan has pick up duty, he'll leave around 4:30p, if I do I try to leave a bit before 5p so he isn't there all day. I always feel like such a bad mom if he's the last baby there.

We get home around 5:30/6p and then play with him until bedtime @ 7p. Bedtime is the best time of the day for me. It's 30-45 minutes of relaxation. We rock in the glider and he'll play with my hair or cuddle. Then I put him down in his crib. Most nights he falls asleep right away, but there are some nights where he ramblings and then will fall asleep on his own.

After I put him to bed, I try to get everything done that I need to. However now I'm exhausted because rocking in the chair has now made me drowsy & ready for bed. I make bottles and get his stuff ready for school. Then I try to get things ready that I'll need. And depending on my level of exhaustion I'll make any cards I have to make or just go to bed and do it all over again.

How do people have two babies under a year?!

Week Twenty Nine Pictures...

Week Twenty Nine Pictures: Monday, October 8th - Sunday, October 14th

Week Twenty Nine Pictures...

Week Twenty Nine Pictures: Monday, October 8th - Sunday, October 14th

Week Twenty Nine: At A Glance...

Week Twenty Nine Glance: Monday, October 8th - Sunday, October 14th

There was a lot going on this week yet at the same time it was quiet. Odd.

• Grampie celebrated his birthday on Wednesday (the 10th)
• Uncle Matt had his 30th Birthday on Saturday. Daddy & Uncle Steven went down to surprise him and they played golf and went out to dinner. Uncle Matt was very surprised.
• Uncle Matt came up to visit (he had a job interview). He spent the night on Wednesday so we got to see him for a little bit Thursday morning before we left for school, and then Thursday night before his flight.
• Auntie Alyson, Grammie & Grampie came over Friday night to celebrate Grampie's birthday
• Mommy & Alexander had a Mommy & Alexander day on Monday (due to the Columbus day holiday) and Alexander showed Mommy how he can hold his own bottles for the first time.
• Alexander had a great week at school. Did very well playing with the other babies. It was very sweet watching him sit on the floor with another baby and they were "sharing". She would take the rings from Alexander and then he would reach over and take the other sets of rings that she had. Then she took his socks off and started to eat them, and he leaned forward and started to pat her shoes. It was all quiet cute.
• Had carrots & applesauce this week & took decent naps.
• Still has not yet duplicated an outfit to school & Auntie provided him with even more clothes
• Bedtime is still around 7-7:30pm and he wakes up around 5am
• Separation anxiety is definitely starting to creap into our lives. If you put him in his pack & play or chair and leave the room for a nanosecond, he screams. Then when you come back, he's covered in tears.
• Definitely saying "dahh dahh dahh" & "diii diii" although not contecting those with anything
• He's doing a great job sitting by himself
• Went out with Grammie on Sunday, did some shopping & our returns
• Discussion with Dr M this weekend regarding his wheezing. Xrays came back negative for pneumonia & blockage of his air ways. (Other post ...)
• Other observations I've noticed: he is finding his crotch while having his last bottle of the night; he makes a noise like "mmm mmm mmm" just as he's about to fall asleep;
• No teeth yet but he still likes to chew on anything he can get in his mouth
• Getting really good at blowing 'rasberries' with his mouth and if you do it back to him, he gets the biggest kick out of it

Thoughts from Dr. M...

I spoke to Dr. M more than a couple times this week and there's nothing new to report. Which can be a bit frustrating. Dr. M confirmed that he did not have pneumonia nor did he blockage of his air passage. He still is not sure what the cause of the wheezeing is. He says he's hesitant to confirm "Asthma" even though the definition of asthma is constant wheezing.

However folks with asthma have disruptions in eating, sleeping & behavior and since Alexander is not affected in those areas at all yet he wheezes fairly consistently, we're at a stand still.

Our latest discussion was that it's a game of "wait & see". The next step WOULD be to put him under and put tubes down his throat with a camera to see if he can see anything. NEITHER him nor I want to do that since there is absolutely NO reason why Alexander should be put under. And thankfully Dr. M agrees, he feels that at this time he's still healthy & happy so there is no need to subject him to a procedure like that.

Whew... guess it's back to the game of "wait & see"

Another First...

Alexander had another moment this morning...this one was a good one!



Sorry about the quality of the pictures. I didn't have my camera with me, just my cell phone.

We were lying in bed as he was having his first bottle of the day.

He reached out for the bottle and rather than holding it with him, I let go and let him hold it. He managed to hold it up and drink from it all on his own!

And he was able to finish the bottle too!

Week Twenty Eight: Pictures

Week Twenty Eight: At A Glance (Monday, October 1st - Sunday, October 7th)

Week Twenty Eight: At A Glance...

Week Twenty Eight: At A Glance (Monday, October 1st - Sunday, October 7th)

This seemed to be a week of firsts... although it was a lowkey week with the usual day to day happenings, the weekend was a busy one!

• Teeth seem to be bothering him, he wants to eat on everything. He also will EAT my fingers and pull them out over his gums.
• Sleeping was pretty consistent this week where he would go to bed around 7:30pm, then wake up around 5:15am and depending on his mood or our exhaustion, we'd bring him into bed with us and he'd fall back to sleep til 6a.
• Wore lots of new clothes from Grammie & Alyson to school this week - still have yet to duplicate an outfit.
• Wore his jean jacket and suede shoes for the first time.
• Had his Six Month Check-up (16 lbs 3 oz, 26") with shots
• Went to the hospital for the first time & got x-rays taken
• Threw up for the first time
• Had a good week at school - went outside every day, played with his friends, had carrots and had good naps.
• Linda said that he is getting very vocal and that if she's with other babies for too long, he let's her know it by screeching.
• He does this lip thing where you don't know if it will go away or if he'll break into a crying fit.
• He's starting to get to that age where things startle him and he'll cry. He may also be starting to get to separation anxiety which usually happens around the same time.
• Went to a farm & apple picking for the first time with Grammie & Alyson
• He's very vocal and is starting to say 'dah dah' during those vocal sessions
• He's doing such a great job of sitting by himself
• Had his first blog entry that he posted by himself (I swear!)
• Starting to outgrown Size 2 diapers, but can wear clothes from 3 Months, 3-6 Months & 6 Months.

Lookout Farm..

Grammie & Alyson took Alexander to his first farm, where he road a train for the first time. They went to the playground, picked some apples, played with the hay, and picked out his own little pumpkin. They even saw some animals. Grammie wanted to take him on a pony ride, but he's still just a titch too small.

Alexander's first post...

Coming to you direct from the fingers of Alexander:

nnf ujjjjjjjjjjjm k

Six Month Check Up

Alexander had his Six Month Check-up yesterday with Dr. M and things, overall, went well. Here are the latest details from his appointment.

Weight: 16 lbs 3 oz; Length: 26"; Head: 41.3 cm

Alyson guess almost dead-on as to his weight/height. I said 17 lbs in the dr office although I didn't think he weighed that much. From our group, one baby dropped out so there were only 4 babies there. Alexander still was the smallest out of the whole group - on the scale and by looking. The girl of the group weighed 20 lbs and another baby, Drew, weighed 22 lbs. I forgot to look at the other baby because we were in the middle of a conversation with Dr. M about Alexander's wheezing. (A whole new topic on that to follow) But overall, the appointment went well - each baby was sleeping thru the night, had started solids or just starting, starting to sit up or sitting up by themselves. Kate & Drew each had 3 teeth where Alexander & Lucas hadn't had them pop thru yet. And most importantly (and loudly) have found their voices and were using them as much as possible.

I'm even happy to report that all babies & mommies did well with the 6 Month Shots. Each baby screamed bloody murder but quickly calmed down once the shots were done. And I think each of the mommies have prepared themselves now and know what to expect. Job well done.

Our next appointment is for his 9 Month Check up.

Firsts...

Today was certainly a day of firsts, and many of them...

We started off the day with Alexander's Six Month doctor's appointment. Everything went well and his weight/height growth was very good. Dr. M was happy with his progress. Height, Weight & Head cm all look great with good progress.

We talked about the flu shot, immunizations, and asthma and Dr M's wife (a RN) explained that they do not recommended the flu shot for babies/children, unless they have asthma. We commented that we believe Alexander may have asthma because he is constantly wheezing and has coughing episodes nightly. Plus, Daddy had asthma as a child. She said that if Alexander does have asthma, then we will more than likely be giving him the flu shot. So we'll see...

And as strange as this may sound, to our delight, Dr. M was finally able to hear Alexander's wheezing. Last time we explained the wheezing but Alexander didn't want to cooperate & wheeze for the doc. As he was listening to him, Dr. M was concerned but not overly concerned. He & his wife made a comment about a friend of theirs who is a chiropractor who we may want to visit with (chiropractors can do something which will clear the ears and allow for the breathing passages to open - ????? - I have no idea if I understood her correctly). Then Dr. M noted that he wanted Alexander to have x-rays taken. X-rays?? Our little guy is going to go for x-rays?? But he's only little! He handed us a sheet with the orders for the x-rays and said for us to go after the appointment.

We finished with our appointment and headed to the hospital for the x-rays. Thank goodness it wasn't a Sunday. I don't do hospitals on Sundays. We were headed there but decided to take a long way there because Alexander had fallen asleep and the more sleep he could get the better. Once at the hospital, I check in at the radiology/lab desk while Dan parked the car.

After we checked in, it was probably a 15-20 minute wait. Daddy was a bit freaked out because he kept picturing Alexander lying on a table. Mommy was surprisingly fine until we actually got into the room with the x-ray machine and then I couldn't imagine seeing Alexander up there. Daddy also was letting Alexander sit on a chair by himself (yay) but he slid over to the left and bumped his head (awww), but he's a trooper and cried for 3 seconds.

They called us in and explained that one of us would have to hold him on the table. We had to take his clothes off because he had snaps on his shirt so he sat there with just his diaper on. The first one, he sat with his back to the film and I stood behind him, holding his hands straight out to the side. Then the next one, he had to sit to the left with his arms straight up but sitting. Every time I lifted his arms he tried to stand up. So Daddy came over to help hold him. I held his hips down, while Daddy held his arms up. He did pretty good although he was starting to squirm. Thankfully, we got the picture before he squirmed so we didn't have to take anymore.

She asked us to wait outside to make sure the radiologist didn't want another view. We started to feed him and a few moments later, she popped her head out and said that we could go and thankfully it came back negative and he does not have pneumonia. Well that's good to know. We're not exactly sure what Dr. M would be looking for on the x-rays but at least we know he doesn't have pneumonia. She said that they're not suppose to tell us first and it has to come from the doctor but because it was negative she felt she should share. Dr. M may call us with something completely different - guess we'll have to wait and see.

So he finishes his bottle and sleeps the entire car ride home. He's a bit fussy which could just be from the long day, so we try to put him down for a nap. He wouldn't lie in his crib, in his swing, in his pack & play or with me. Daddy decided to take him for a drive and that seemed to work very well, he slept the whole drive.

Once he got home, I decided to try cereal. We tried it several weeks ago but it was around the same time as his diaper rash, so we only tried twice but stopped to clear up the diaper rash. He was playing in his exersaucer as I made his cereal and a bit of formula in his sippy cup. Then he started to get really fussy so I picked him up and noticed his back felt wet. Okay, let's change your diaper. OH NO! He didn't pee, he pooped. He pooped everywhere. It was all over his back (passed his shoulders) and caked everywhere. I brought him to the sink and had to hose him down. The shirt was unsalvagable! I have never, ever seen that much from one little baby. It was crazy. It took a good 15 minutes to hose him off and clean him up.

Then after that, we tried the cereal. He didn't seem to love it, but he wasn't pushing it away either. He ate the whole thing but didn't seem interested. He also didn't want the formula in the sippy cup. We were getting closer to bed but still far enough away that I didn't want to put him down just yet. He was getting even more fussier. Then I could hear his belly start to gurgle. He didn't look good, his face was pale. He started to gag all the while his belly is gurgling. He ended up throwing up on me, and not just your typical spit up. But full fledge throwing up. The poor little guy was so upset, you could tell he didn't know what was going on. He kept looking around as he was crying. That was more upsetting to me to watch then the x-rays.

He threw up three more times along with another dirty diaper and then finally we felt comfortable to feed him and but him down to bed. I wasn't all that comfortable putting him in his crib alone, but he seemed to be much better. After his bottle, he was in his crib for probably 20 minutes before he started coughing. I then decided I couldn't have him in his crib alone if he was going to get sick. I brought him into bed with me and I laid down with him. I wasn't planning to go to sleep for the night, but that's just what happened.

I wasn't necessarily comfortable or slept soundly but at least I knew he was sleeping and okay. Overall, a very long day with a lot of stuff going on for such a little guy. We'll wait to see what Dr. M has to say...

Size Confusion...

There's a little bit of size confusion when it comes to clothing & Alexander. Okay, it can be done right bizarre.

He's always been on the smaller size for his age range, which is fine by me considering he's a very healthy & happy little boy. I would much rather have him be a bit smaller now and then grow into himself then be a large baby the size of a 30lbs turkey.

And because of his sizing, he's never really fit into the clothes that match his age range. When he was born, he was wearing preemie clothes for the first 4 weeks of his life. Then newborn stuff passed his 3 month mark. He's now 6 months and can still wear a variety of sizes. For example, he has some onesies that are 0-3, some pajamas that are 3 months, and a shirts that are 3-6 months that he can still wear.

Here's a perfect example of how he can wear a variety of sizes in one outfit.

The jacket: 0-3 Months. Because he was 0-3 months in the spring/summer, there was never a need for him to wear a jacket with jersey lining. And now that fall is here, I thought for sure he would not be able to wear a size 0-3. I was wrong. It fits him and the sleeves aren't that short either.

The pants: 3 Months. It's probably the last time he'll be able to wear those pants, but he did get some good usage out of them.

The onesie: 6 Months. It fits him perfectly right now so I imagine that in a week or two, he will no longer fit into the onesie. Hence why we had to have him wear it at least once.

Today, Linda & other girls at school commented that Alexander should get the Superlative for "Best Dressed" in the entire school. I would have to agree!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...

Here are more pictures from last week since my internet & blogger are friends again with open lines of communication... I love the fact that he's really getting the hang of sitting up by himself. And even tonight, he did a really great job without slumping forward.

And check out his cool moccasin type slippers - he's one cool dude. Girls at school *loved* them and wanted a pair for themselves.

Week Twenty Seven: Pictures

Week Twenty Seven Pictures: (Monday, September 24th - Sunday, September 30th, 2007)

At the moment, blogger is having a hard time uploading pics... so here are a few to hold you over.