Rolling Over

Friday was a big day in the J house...LJ rolled from back to front...all by himself! I previously reported that he was exhibiting the skills needed to accomplish such a feat, but didn't desire to be on his tummy, so he never went all the way. Well, Friday morning, he moved his little arm and found himself on his tummy. He proceeded to pivot 360 degrees...not rapidly, but within the next 5 minutes on his belly. He is tolerating tummy time much better these days.

We dug out some of LJ's cousin DL's clothes...I remembered he had some really cute romper-type outfits and he was born in November, so I thought they should be about the right size for LJ. They fit (a tiny bit big) and are so cute! LJ looks adorable in them.

LJ hasn't been taking a two-hour nap since I wrote to you about that...I knew I'd jinx it. As a matter of fact, I am really doing a poor job of getting him down for his naps. I swaddle him, bounce him in the bouncy seat, and then pick him up to put him in his crib. All of this goes well, but as soon as I put him in his crib...his eyes pop open. Repeat. I know I am supposed to be putting him down while he is drowsy...so that he can put himself to sleep, but that would take too much work and we're not ready to invest the time needed to accomplish this. That, we will save for another day.

In other news, we had a fine weekend. RJ was out working on the back deck he is building and a man stopped to ask if we had any yard work for him to do. He and RJ negotiated a great deal for the man to grind down all the stumps in our yard. If you have ever been in our yard or if your children have every played in our yard...you know this is a great thing. All told, the man and his helper worked 4 hours and ground 20 stumps. This will make mowing the yard MUCH easier! And, children can run with wild abandon.

All the Attention

What a big weekend! LJ's Godfather, MFK, came to visit...he arrived Friday night after LJ had gone to bed, but LJ was all smiles Saturday morning. We had French Toast Casserole**, eggs, and sausage for breakfast. Not too long after breakfast, RJ and MFK spent the afternoon doing "guy stuff"...this took them away from the house, so LJ and I had a nice afternoon together. Once the guys returned, I made some pizza rolls and stromboli*** and we had an early dinner. After dinner we went out to a local park...RJ and MFK threw the football as LJ and I watched. Every-so-often we'd have to do a head's up as disc golfers were teeing off nearby. That was fun, the weather was nice, and afterwards we got snow cones. That took 30 minutes, LJ was losing his patience, but MFK and I both ordered cherry-cola and it was GOOD!

Sunday we left to visit KK (LJ's Godmother) as she lives in the same town where RJ had an early doctor's appointment on Monday. We also picked my mom up at the airport and went out to dinner before dropping her off at her hotel (she left Monday for her week in Rome). RJ's visit to the doctor went really well. Everyone at this hospital was really nice, not in a hurry, but really nice. The doctor gave RJ some really good news concerning new research in the thyroid realm (this research indicates that RJ is, for all intents and purposes, cured and some of the testing he's had done in the past is no longer necessary). LJ was a really good little boy! I am still not used to all the attention this little guy gets (and brings to me and RJ in the process). People seem to love to see a baby...so many strangers come up to us, talk to us, and touch little LJ's hair or his cheeks...it is amazing! After RJ's appointment, we all went out for lunch and then we headed home. MFK left not too long after we returned home and this left the Js to recover!

The Js don't have any plans to go out of town anytime in the near future. We are looking forward to a day visit from CP's family and LS's family...and to the relatives who will be in town for SJ's graduation!


**French Toast Casserole is super-yummy and you must ask me for the recipe if you think it sounds good. As a bonus, it is easy to make and is great to serve when you have houseguests.

***The pizza rolls and the stromboli are both super-yummy and you must ask me for the recipe if you think they sound good.

2-Hour Naps!

Little LJ has adjusted his nap schedule the last 3 days...and I've been loving it! He used to sleep in between every feeding, but about 4 weeks ago, he dropped his late afternoon nap. So, he was taking one morning nap, one midday nap, and one afternoon nap. Then, he'd be up for about 3-4 hours before bedtime. Well, Monday he started a new routine, but I've been waiting until it happened three days in a row before I allowed myself to believe it could be something somewhat permanent. Lately, he's been making either his midday nap or his afternoon nap 2 hours (one day 2 1/2) long!!!! YIPPEE!!! Do you know what this means??? It means that I can do a few little chores AND relax for a little while during the day. I can do sanity-saving things like...eat lunch without rushing! This is a really happy thing.

In other news, the weather has been beautiful and LJ and I have been enjoying it while taking our afternoon nap.

SJ, RJ, and I agree that LJ is exhibiting the ability (skill-wise) to roll from back to tummy, but he isn't interested in being on his tummy, so he doesn't move his arm for the finale. He is much more tolerant of tummy-time and even smiles as he lifts his head up. He is grabbing anything his little hands can find (including my hair and nose) and putting it in his mouth...if he can get it there.

I'm Not Making This Stuff Up!

So, my wrist/thumb on my right hand has/have been bothering me for a while now. When I say "bothering me" I mean painful, sometimes shooting pain, especially when I move it a certain way or pick up a certain ~16 pound object. What do you know? This ailment has a name...Mommy Thumb. I'm not making this up. It is also known as deQuervain's tendonitis, "an irritation of the thumb tendons that causes everything from mild soreness to an intense pain that radiates up to the wrists.” It is fairly common in new moms and comes from (supposedly) my picking up LJ by hooking my hands under his arms. So, RJ has me experimenting with different pick-up techniques and I am using Absorbine Jr. aka "the wonder tonic" several times a day. Lucky for me, RJ thinks Absorbine Jr. smells divine!

Yea! It is Over...

We made it through the weekend of the conference! Yea! RJ and I are on the planning committee for a conference on college teaching, so we are supposed to implement our plan as we attend the conference. It is usually a good time, but this year I have been dreading it...mostly due to the fact that I dislike disrupting LJ's routine (slight as it may be). Luckily, this conference is held about 45 minutes from my Mom's house, so there wasn't too much disruption. We stayed with her in the evenings and she kept LJ during the day. Worry #1...MILK - will I be able to bank enough; will I be able to excuse myself to pump often enough. Worry #2...SEPARATION ANXIETY - mine, not LJ's. But, it all went well. I did have enough milk, did pump as often as needed, and after the first day, had limited separation anxiety. LJ was his typical, well-behaved self and MawMaw had a good time playing and showing him off. She is now on her impromptu trip to Virginia prior to her planned trip to Rome. Rome should offer a unique experience considering current events.

In other news, RJ admitted that he agrees that LJ's hair might need a little trimming. I seized on that and encouraged him to do it NOW (this conversation occurred during LJ's bath last night). So, we did cut it...a bit too short in the back and just right over the ears. We are sad and RJ and I had a nice discussion on decision-making. I knew that, if we didn't do it right then, I'd wimp out - and it really needed to be done. He knew that he'd like to spend more time thinking about it. Needless to say, it is done.

I have a couple of more thoughts, but I'll save them for a future entry.

LJ's First Easter

Dear Faithful Reader: I'm sorry to have left you for so long. This has been a hectic week and I haven't gotten to the computer at my normal times. Please forgive me and continue to look for LJ's happenings on a regular basis.

LJ's first Easter was a great one! We left at 10:00 am for our trip to MawMaw's house. SJ rode with us and that was nice...someone else to talk to. LJ did fine, he napped and played with very little fussing. We stopped at a RV place on the way as we are looking for a travel trailer to buy. We'd like to find a nice used one, but that is proving more difficult than we thought it would be. We discovered that there is a Cracker Barrel "on the way" (ok it is a few miles out of the way...) so we stopped there to eat fish and chips. VERY YUMMY! We arrived at MawMaw's house around 2:30. We had a nice weekend with Bigbro and his family and LJ's cousin and Friday companion, SJ, helped him find his very first Easter egg.

We got home around 6:00 on Sunday and have been going ever since. Monday was the usual work stuff, but Tuesday we went up to Richard's brother's place as relatives from Pennsylvania were coming to visit. So, LJ got to meet his great aunt, great uncle, and several extended cousins. It was a great time and good food!

Tuesday evening, LJ's aunt M and cousin C came to visit and spend the night. We went out to eat and met up with SJ in the process. Then, M and C stayed with LJ this morning while RJ and I went to work. Since RJ went to work with the roosters (as I always do), he should get to come home early. But, it is almost 4:00 and he isn't home yet.

Tomorrow, we head back to MawMaw's. RJ and I have a conference (we are on the planning committee for this conference) this weekend and it is very near where MawMaw lives. She will keep LJ for us while we are at the conference and we will spend the nights with her. If she weren't available I don't think we'd be going as it is too difficult to leave a nursing baby with someone else for the night. I'm concerned about having enough milk for bottles as it is! We missed this conference last year due to my morning sickness (which, let's face it, doesn't only occur in the AM). It is hard to believe that at this time last year little LJ was on his way!

Thunderstorms - Part II

Nope, LJ is definitely not afraid of thunderstorms. On Saturday evening, we had a doozy of a storm - complete with hail. SJ came over and played with LJ while RJ and I went to church. It poured rain and hailed for about an hour. LJ didn't get upset at all. After church, SJ stayed for dinner and told us all about her trip to London. It sounds like she had a great time...RJ and I are trying to figure out how to get over there. I think LJ would be great...once we got there...it is the plane ride that I'm not sure we want to tackle!

Sunday (and Saturday too), LJ would NOT nap. He wasn't upset (unless we were trying to make him take a nap)...he just didn't want to take a nap. I didn't think this would be good for him...he's a baby for goodness sake. And, he's far too young to be making these kinds of decisions. So, RJ and I tried to put him down several times. See, we were also trying to not swaddle him for his naps. By the end of the day, we gave up, swaddled him, and he took a nap. Apparently, he is not ready for the non-swaddled sleep. Last night, he slept from 8:30 - 6:00. He woke up at 2:00, made some noises, but went back to sleep. Same thing at 5:00. I only wish I could get back to sleep so quickly!

Today, it is storming, so LJ and I sat out on the front porch and listened to the rain. We also watched cars go by and I told him what make and model they were. I figure RJ will be glad about this...if I got them correct. Then LJ started to show signs of sleepiness, so I swaddled him and he is now napping.

This week we are looking forward to going to MawMaw's house for Easter. It will be our first over-night stay besides M&B's wedding...but that was staying in a hotel...this is our first stay in a house. Be careful, if it goes well, we may be coming to visit you next!

LJ's First St, Patrick's Day

Ok, I admit...we don't really do anything for St. Patrick's Day. We don't even make sure we are wearing green, but as it turns out, LJ was wearing green. RJ was not, so I put some green (lime scented) lotion on my hand, found him, and pinched him! All in good fun. Let's see, what did we do on this day? I made a pound cake...yes, from scratch. It is a little dry, but put some butter on it, put it in the microwave for 10 seconds and that takes care of that problem. RJ sketched out plans for a porch on the back of our house...to keep the sun from oppressively beating in the windows in the afternoon. LJ hung out, ate, slept, and played.

Wednesday, we took LJ to his first sporting event. The ladies and the men are in post-season basketball, so we caught the end of the ladies' and the beginning of the men's games. He seemed to like it all right.

This weekend we plan to do regular stuff...laundry, clean up, etc. RJ will probably work on that porch.

LJ has been waking up once during the night...that hasn't been too much fun. We are hoping it is a growth spurt or something of that ilk.

LJ's First Visit to Grandma & Grandpa's House

Note: Please excuse my misplaced modifier in the title of the previous post. LJ's visit to the doctor did not last 4 months as you may have been lead to believe.

This is the first day of Spring Break here...don't you miss Spring Break? A whole week! Actually, the students have a whole week...we have Friday off. But, RJ and I took off today and we plan to go visit LJ's Aunt MJ and Uncle BJ this afternoon. Yesterday we took a longer car ride and went to visit LJ's Grandma and Grandpa (RJ's parents). This was LJ's first visit to their house and RJ stood him up on the ground when we arrived. You know, touch the earth kind of thing. I think this is the first time little LJ has touched the ground (outside) with his little feet. We had a nice visit...uncle BJ was there too...and got home in time for dinner, bath, and bed.

LJ has been a little fussy...while eating...and has been putting his hand up to his left ear. He isn't fussy when he's doing that though. We thought, "Could he be teething?" and put some baby Oragel on his little gums. This seemed to do the trick for the fussy-ness while eating, but who really knows. According to the book, this would be a little early for teething, but not impossible. I don't like the holding his ear thing, but I don't know how much stock to put in that. It is just this past week that he has been grabbing at toys (with purpose...oh, and they go straight to his mouth...ha!), so I can't see how he's refined this skill so much that he can think, "hmmm, pain...I must touch it with my hand." He may just be tired when he's doing that...he's started rubbing his eyes when he's tired. This is good...I can't miss that cue, so I get him down for his naps a little sooner.

Hope you treat yourself to a Spring Break soon!

LJ's 4-Month Visit to the Doctor

LJ’s stats:
Height – 27 inches (this is “off the chart” – above the 100th percentile)
Weight – 15 pounds 3.5 ounces (this is in the 50th percentile – meaning “average”)
Head Circumference – 17 inches (this is in the 75th percentile)

As a parent of an infant you are very excited about these visits as they show you how much your baby has grown. You even place bets on what these statistics will be…for weight anyway.

RJ – 16 pounds 2 ounces
MJ – 16 pounds even
SJ – 16 pounds 4 ounces
And the winner is:
JJ – 15 pounds 14 ounces

So, LJ is a long baby of average weight…sound like anyone you know? Who LJ happens to look more and more like everyday? So far it appears that little baby J is taking after his father in all things looks-related.

LJ had 4 shots today and he was a little trooper. She had the first needle in his leg and was putting the second in before LJ started to howl. He only cried at the time of the injections…after that he was smiles again. He’s a tough kid!

I’ve decided that I am going to try to teach LJ some sign language…just little things like milk, pain, love, etc. The theory is that infants are capable of communicating before they develop language skills, so if you teach them so signs, they can communicate with you long before they can say the words. It is worth a shot! I ordered a little book that has 60 signs in it…all American Sign Language, so it’ll be useful in the future as well.

Advice Please...

RJ and LJ are still sleeping (at 8:45 am), so I have a few minutes (or maybe many minutes...who knows?) to ask you something that RJ and I have been wondering...

How can we make sure that LJ is a kind little boy (and grown up)? He is very cute, but this may come and go. He has a pretty nice temperament right now. It'll break my heart if he is a little meany. So, is there something we should be watching for? Some moment we need to seize? Some infant behavior we need to recognize as the precursors to meany-ness? I know it is too early for this now, but we really want him to be a nice person.

Any thoughts?


And it is now 8:50 and I hear RJ and LJ, so I did have only a few minutes.

2-Day Delay

I've decided that babies (LJ anyway) have a 2-day delay in "reacting" to things that I would think would really get them out-of-kilter. We had a great weekend with my brother's family. Great = visiting, hanging out, laughing, and eating. Maw Maw arrived on Sunday and took us all out to lunch...yum! All of LJ's cousins wanted to hold him and play with him and LJ didn't really get fussy at all...even though he missed most of his naps in the process. Each night, I'd go to bed and think, "well, he didn't really nap today...what's going to happen tonight...is he 'overtired'?" And, he would sleep until his normal time, wake to eat, and then go back to sleep...until 9:30 or 10:00 (this is amazing too). So, on Sunday I decided...no big deal...LJ reacted fine...and then there was last night (and thus the 2-day delay theory). We made great strides to have LJ ready for his last nursing session before bed by 8:00 - to coincide with The Amazing Race. That went well and LJ was off to sleep by 8:30. He woke at 11:30...RJ got him back to sleep. He woke at 12:30...RJ tried, but decided LJ was hungry. He nursed...went back to sleep. He woke up at 3:30...at which point we put him in bed with us. He slept "all right" until 6:30...RJ fed him a bottle as I was getting ready for work. As I left, RJ was trying to get LJ to go back to sleep. So, I'm thinking it is a 2-day delayed reaction to his eventful weekend. I have to come up with an alternative to the growth spurt theory!

SJ has offered to have some cousin time with LJ this week, so we are taking her up on her offer. She suggested we see "Hitch" and we have heard that it is really funny...so that is what we are doing this afternoon. RJ is going to take off early today and we are going to a movie. How decadent! I hope I'm rested enough not to fall asleep during this one. If you recall, I fell asleep during "Ocean's 12", but if you've seen it, that may make sense to you.

So far as I'm concerned...things are going well. I've managed to lose enough weight to fit into jeans a size smaller. Just one more size to go. This is nice, but causes a problem as I only have 1 pair of pants (jeans) this size...I had 2 of the larger size *sigh*. But, what can you do? I had to take some measures to lose weight...breastfeeding has not "melted away the pounds" as it apparently does for so many. I didn't really expect it to...my metabolism has never been like that. The only thing I've really done is to stop eating with reckless abandon every day of the week. I haven't been exercising or greatly limiting my calories. Every breastfeeding mom will likely tell you that one of their fears is that their milk supply will decrease, that this will be unknown to them, that the baby will secretly be starving, and that once they realize their supply is low...it will be too late to do anything about it. This is why the weight loss is such a tricky issue. Or, maybe this is a rationalization on my part?

RJ is doing well...he longs for the day when he can get some work done around the house. By this I mean...in the garage and outside. It has rained here every 2-3 days for about 6 months...so the grass is growing (and the weeds too), but it is always too wet to mow. Our yard looks like a jungle. I told him that one day...LJ will take longer naps a couple of times a day and we'll both be able to get more done. I'm not sure he believes me, but he is ever hopeful!

Thunderstorms

Apparently, LJ is too young to be scared by thunder and lightening as we had a pretty big storm last night. Actually, it was around 5:00 am. I was surprised that we had not heard from him before this. LJ was in bed and asleep by 9:00 last night...RJ and I were 30 minutes behind him! LJ slept right through the storm...not a peep out of him. I, of course, was wide awake...when I finally fell back to sleep...I dreamed LJ was drowning. Go figure! When I left for work at 7:15...LJ was still asleep. RJ says he woke up pretty quickly after I left, but that was an EXCELLENT night for us!

Our current afternoon routine (I'm not 100% sure what goes on here in the am!) goes something like this. LJ eats. This takes about 30 minutes. Then we read a story. Right now we are reading Bible stories for children. Let me tell you...even though they are for children...Cain still kills Abel...Joseph's brothers still sell him into slavery, etc. You can’t change what happened, but this does seem like a lot for a child to think about…of course, LJ is just looking at the pictures and listening to the comforting voice of his mommy. At the conclusion of the story, we change into a clean diaper and then...TUMMY TIME! Sometimes we are rewarded with a roll over, but mostly just high-head holding. I have run the camcorder for several of these sessions just in case, but all this means is that we have several minutes of LJ on his tummy. Tummy time lasts about 5 minutes and then we have "other" play time. After an hour or so of this, LJ is ready for a nap. This nap lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to the all-time record of 1 and 1/2 hours...this was set yesterday (I was in on an hour of this!). Once LJ awakens, we start the whole process over again.

This weekend LJ's uncle (bigbro), aunt, and many cousins are coming for a visit...I'm sure he'll be a good boy...as usual!

LJ's Baptism

The big day was this past Saturday and as Fr. R said, LJ "is now a Christian." All is well that ends well and this ended well. I didn't even get stressed when LJ's Godfather called from about 30 minutes away at about 10 after 11:00. The baptism was scheduled for 11:30, so this presented a small problem. Fr. R said it was ok and we waited. We waited so long that people arrived for a baptism scheduled for noon. So, LJ had about 30 people celebrating with him! He was a good boy and didn't cry when Fr. poured the water over his head. We do that every evening during his bath, so it wasn't a shocking experience for him.

After the baptism, everyone came back to our house and we had a big lunch...fajitas from a local catering place. They always send enough food to cover twice as many people as you told them you would have, so we have TONS of leftovers. The RJ and I will be having fajitas for dinner all this week (and I guess LJ will too...indirectly).

LJ didn't roll over for any of his guests, but he rolled over for RJ this morning. We had some tummy time after lunch today, but all I got was some very high head lifting. We'll try again after his midday snack. He's just waking up from his nap now!

LJ's First Valentine's Day

LJ's First Valentine's Day was just like every other day in LJ's life. I might have eaten some almond m&m's, so he "ate" some processed candy. Does this count? We didn't even dress him in red. Daddy came home with some pretty flowers that night and I asked if we could go to Target. There is no one at Target at 8:00 pm on Valentine's day...I must remember this for next year. If only I could wait and go to Target only once a year. After that we went to a famous burrito establishment where I ran into a student from 2 years ago. She, of course, thinks LJ is adorable! As if she could say anything else. And that was LJ's first Valentine's Day. He was so worn out that he feel asleep (solid) without his bath...and woke up at 4:45 to eat...just that perfect time where it doesn't do me any good to try to go back to bed.

So, I got up at 4:45 on Tuesday. I left for work about 40 minutes earlier than normal (6:30) and there were kids waiting for the school bus...couldn't have been more than 10 years old. What is going on that kids have to wait for the bus at 6:30? That is terrible. These kids aren't on some rural route that takes an hour to get through either...they are not too far from our house. RJ tells me that, as a child in the country, he was the first to get picked up in the morning and the last to get dropped of in the afternoon. So, he had to ride the bus almost an hour each way, every day. This makes me sad (in a good way...) to think of him as a little boy, riding the bus all over the county roads. Ok, back to me. I have little sympathy for my students who complain about how late they stayed up...studying for a test...and how tired they are. Yeah? Well, you could have studied earlier if you wanted...or you could have decided not to study at all. I HAVE to get up as another human being's life depends on me. So, save the drama for your momma!

LJ sleeps in his crib now...that transition has transpired. He wakes once in the night to be fed. When that one time is...your guess is as good as mine. It is usually between 4:30 and 5:30. We decided to put him to bed earlier in the hope that he would wake up earlier, so I could feed him earlier, so that I could go back to sleep. He was in bed by 8:30 last night...and woke up at 1:30 to eat. I did get to go back to sleep, but that was a little earlier than I expected. And, he was up for the day at 6:45 am...poor RJ!

Batteries

It seems that almost everything baby related requires batteries. All different sizes too. I not only have to keep a stock of the usual AA, but now AAA, D and the almost-never-used C! These toys, vibrating chairs, musical thingies, etc. eat batteries at an alarming rate (especially if you forget to turn them off as you move your wee-one away from whatever it is). But, here is the most frustrating part...all the battery covers are screwed to the toy, so you must have a Philips screwdriver that is easily accessible. We keep ours on the dining room table along with all the other stuff we need to have accessible, but don't have a regular place for...oh, and the stuff we don't need accessible, but for which we don't have a regular place (and that folks, is a run-on sentence). And, why is it that some things include batteries and some don't? Here's my favorite though...one musical thingy came with batteries, but the instructions say, "For best results, replace the included batteries with new batteries." WHAAAAT? Did they decide, "hey, we have some old batteries laying around, we'll just throw them in, but we'd better tell the consumer that they won't last very long?"

LJ is fine and enjoying all his battery operated thingies...the ones that have working batteries anyway!

Rolling Over!

Ok, I don't know if I can really say LJ is "rolling over" as he doesn't do it all the time...but he has done it once, two days in a row! Front to back. He's rolled over a couple of times before, but it was accidental at best. He'd just get so mad being on his tummy that he'd get his legs kicking just right and fling himself over. But, this is different. I put him on his tummy yesterday and he supports himself with his arms very nicely. He wasn't crying or flailing or fussing, he was just looking around and then...ploop...he rolled over...it was like butta ("butter" with the Streisand accent). I was so excited that I called RJ on the phone...as if LJ had found the cure for all the ailments of mankind. RJ was excited too. I put LJ back on his tummy, but alas, that was all the tummy time he had in him...so he turned into the turtle on his back.

LJ woke at 3:30 last night...remember, we are going through a growth spurt ;-) But, he's been sleeping in his crib quite well for the last 3 nights (all the nights we've had him there).

This morning RJ called me at work to tell me that...LJ rolled over! See, he did it again. And RJ sounded as if LJ had found the cure for all the ailments of mankind. So, it isn't a mommy thing...I guess it is a parent thing! I tried the tummy time this afternoon...no roll over. But, we are optimistic the trend will continue.

From the Mouth of LJ

My mom gave her students an assignment this week, so she has been busy grading. She doesn't enjoy that part of her job too much, but says, "you take the good. You take the bad. You take them both and there you have the facts of life." That sounds very wise to me, but someone told me that was the theme to a tv show. If there is one thing my mom knows a lot about - tv would be it.

I was out to lunch with my mom and my aunt MJ and I heard some other babies talking. One said, "agoo ah ack agoo". I thought that was brilliant. Oh, you may be out of practice with baby talk, so I'll translate the rest for you. It seems that not all babies are as nice to their parents as I am. I've been pretty easy with this whole sleeping through the night thing. Did you know that some babies cry out in the night and their parents come to get them? I didn't know this either, but it is true. One baby told me that she gets to spend several more hours in the company of her parents by using this technique. She told me to be careful though...if you do this too many nights in a row, your parents might catch on and try something called "cry it out" and you don't want any part of that. So, I tested this technique last night. At 1:30 I cried out. They didn't come. I cried out again. They still didn't come. I had to call out steadily for a minute or two and sure enough, my daddy showed up. He tried to just pat me on the stomach and put my pacifier in my mouth. This is not what I had in mind though, so I just spit the pacifier out and cried some more. You know what? The next thing I knew my mommy was up and I got to eat! I was really tired about half-way through and I accidentally fell asleep. But, at 5:30 I tried it again...and it worked again! I got to eat! I think this threw them off because 5:30 would have been acceptable if I hadn't tried the 1:30 "together time"...so I fooled them into letting me eat 2x last night. It was sooo fun! They seemed a little tired today, so I decided I'd better be really happy and easy...give 'em a break. I'm not sure if I'm going to try this tonight...I don't want to know what "cry it out" entails.

I'll tell mom to do a better job of keeping you updated.

Making the Transition

Things are going well here. We are making the transition from car seat sleeping to sleeping in the crib. This week, LJ is taking 1 nap in the morning and 1 nap in the afternoon...in his crib. The other naps he is taking in his bouncy seat while I am on the computer. We started this yesterday and he was fine with it. Last week, I took an afternoon nap with him on our bed...I may still do that...I can't give up that nice time together! LJ is so cute...when he is sleepy for a nap (which still happens about 1 hour after every feeding)...he starts to yawn and stare for long periods of time. So, I pick him up and swaddle him, give him his pacifier, then I walk with him to he gets really drowsy, then I put him down. Last week he started smiling at me while I swaddle him...then when I pick him up he turns his head toward my arm...I put the pacifier in and he closes his little eyes. It is so cute!

We have been having some issues with his sleeping. Last week he was waking up around 4:30 - 5:00. This is no good for me because I have to start getting ready for work at 6:00. If he gets up at this time, it is useless for me to go back to bed, so I am essentially getting up at 4:30. Ridiculous. We figured out that this is happening on days that he only gets in 6 feedings instead of 7. It is hard to find time for that 7th feeding because he seems to want to go more like 3 hours now...instead of 2 1/2. Last night was good though, so maybe he's growing out of needing 7 feedings? We also put him to bed earlier last night. We started the bedtime ritual at 7:45 instead of 8:45. This was GREAT for me...I got to go to bed before 10:00! RJ will start coming home at 7:00 tonight...I told you his boss would let him.

So, we are still working into a routine, but we are getting there. You can still sign the roll call entry if you haven't already. I warn you...reading the comments might make you cry!

Roll Call

Since we are keeping this blog instead of keeping a baby book for LJ, we'd like you to check in. That way LJ can see who read his blog and wanted to know all these intimate details of his infancy! So, if you read the blog, post a comment (you can do it without having to create an account by clicking on anonymous) and leave your name (or some code that I can figure out). You can leave a comment too, if you like.

Thanks for making LJ's blog so neat-o!

Tummy Time

So, the guidelines are "back to sleep, tummy to play." This is supposed to reduce the risk of SIDS. Ok, this is no problem; LJ sleeps just fine on his back. You'd think this would be good enough, but no! I'm supposed to actually give him "tummy time". Since babies don't sleep on their tummies anymore, they have to have supervised time to develop the motor skills that come with time spent on their tummies. This sounds simple enough, but LJ HATES tummy time! Think of a turtle flipped on its back and you can picture LJ on his tummy. He lifts his head (which is part of the purpose of tummy time), grunts, cries, pounds his face on the ground as he give up, flails his legs, and repeats. A couple of times he has flailed his legs so good he actually rolled himself over...but this is not something he does with purpose. Regardless of his disdain, we have tummy time at least 2x each day...for a total of 10 minutes. I hate to take a happy baby and do something that I know will cause anguish, but I also know that we'll get fewer minutes of good tummy time if I put an unhappy baby down in an unhappy position!

Another thing that tummy time is supposed to prevent (or lessen) is the "flat spot" on the head. CP, my MD friend has some fancy name for it like plagiocephaly or something like that. But, for the purposes of this blog, we'll just call it a "flat spot". LJ does have a bit of a flat spot on his right side. It'll go away, right? I mean his skull is still growing! Do you know any babies or do you have any children who had flat spots and how did they turn out?

Congratulations to little AP...CP the MD's daughter...CP tells me she is sitting up all by herself! YEA!

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times...

Let's see...where to begin? I am at work right now, so I am writing this without having to bounce LJ in the bouncy seat. This change is hindering my ability to think!

The first week back at work went very well. It is a new routine to get used to, but I think it'll be ok. I'm only away from home for 4 - 5 hours at a time...and these hours pass very quickly. Heck, it is only 2 pumping sessions! It is funny...when I was planning this schedule and trying to figure out when I'd have time to pump milk...I thought this was all so precise. If LJ would eat at 8:30, I MUST pump at 8:30 or the whole thing would be off. HA! HA! HA! HA! Now, I realize that NOTHING about a baby has to be THAT precise and it NEVER will be that precise. I pump when I get around to it...within reason. Ok, back to last week. LJ was such a good boy last week...he slept straight through to 6:00 am and 7:00 am every night. This was great for us and we got really used to it. One day last week, I swaddled him up and we BOTH took an hour-long nap on the bed in our room. That was really great. RJ works until 8:00 pm and that is NO FUN. I've decided that we don't really like that. He checks and responds to e-mails in the morning while home with LJ and he is thinking about asking our boss if he can count that time and come home at 7:00 pm. I'm sure she'll be fine with it.

The first Friday went well too. SJ came over and stayed with LJ and I think they had a nice time. I know that she took him for a nice long walk and he fell asleep. Other than that, neither one of them was crying when I got home, so I think that must mean it was a success. The major bummer of this first week back to work is that RJ and I had to work all day Saturday. We had to train the leaders of the program that RJ runs. We (meaning several of us in the office) usually do this the Friday before school starts, but we were at MJ and B(S)J's wedding, so we rearranged this. MJ and B(S)J should feel powerful...their wedding rearranged the schedule of almost 100 people! Anyway, we had to be up at work almost all day. So, SJ came over and stayed with LJ Saturday too. Once again, neither was crying when I got home, so it must have gone well. I joke, but there were times when RJ came home and LJ and I were both crying!

So, Sunday was the only day of the week that we could sleep as long as LJ slept...and he woke up at 4:00 am. WHAT?????? That was crazy. I fed him, RJ put him back down...and he was a little difficult to get back down. Then he woke up again at 7:45...ARGH! Another weird thing...he fell asleep while nursing Sunday afternoon. This hasn't happened for 8 weeks! And, he slept for an hour on my lap. WHAT????? Then, he woke up at 4:00 am this morning as well...and was VERY difficult to get back down. ARGH!!!!!! So, I don't know the reason for the regression, but I can only assume it is a growth spurt! HA!

The Grind...

The first two days back at work have gone smoothly, but I already feel like it is a grind. Let's see, Monday night LJ slept until 4:00 am before he wanted to eat. We woke up and fed him and went back to bed. By the time I fell asleep, I got about 1 hour before the alarm went off at 6:00. LJ started to stir around 6:30, but I turned the blow dryer on and didn't hear a peep after that. I left for work around 7:00. Would you believe LJ didn't wake up until almost 9:00??? RJ is soooo lucky!

My classes went well. I don't really like the first week...especially of the spring semester. With add/drop the people in the class change so much it is really hard to do anything good. You don't want to have to do it all over again the people who add late. But, the students seem nice...none of them show an ugly personality until later in the semester anyway ;-) At noon, RJ met me in the parking lot and we trading LJ. He had just eaten, so I went to the grocery store...since he was already in his car seat and all. I didn't have my list with me, so I ended up buying things that "looked good" and forgetting things we actually need. RJ got home around 8:00 and I was ready to go to bed. But, The Amazing Race was on and that is one of like two shows we actually watch, so we watched that. Then we gave LJ a bath and had him asleep by 9:45...

And, I woke up to my alarm clock!!!!!!!! Can you believe it???? I can't! 6:00 am and we hadn't heard from LJ. WOW! Of course, he woke up not to long after that and RJ had to get up and give him a bottle. But, this was very exciting.

And, today was a repeat of the day before. It is almost 7:00 pm now and in an hour RJ will be home. We'll eat dinner, give LJ his bath, feed him, and put him down for the night. Then I'll get a bath and we'll go to bed so that we can repeat this whole thing over again.

I told RJ this morning that we'll be doing this for like 10 more years. Think about it. If we have 3 kids (IF) and we stay home with them until they are like 3 (before we send them to Mother's Day Out/Pre-school or some other day time program...a few times a week) and we have the kids about 3 years apart...that is 9 more years. WOW! I'm not going to think about it anymore. But, we are so fortunate to have such flexible jobs and such family friendly bosses. This makes going back to work so much easier.

Here's looking forward to the weekend!

And So it Ends...

This is it. The last day of my maternity leave. When I planned to be home for 10 weeks, I thought it would last a L O N G time...but I was wrong. I am kind of sad about it. I mean tomorrow I go back to work and will get four new classes of students. I haven't even really thought about that. Usually, I would have made copies of the syllabus and I would have everything all ready for the first day of school. Not this semester! I do have the syllabus ready and I am going up to work to make copies today, but I'm not terribly excited about the first day of school. It seems like last semester just started! The only thing that is keeping me from being nervous is...we don't have to put LJ in day care. That is soooo great and I am so thankful that we could work out our schedules to avoid that. Thanks to my niece, we don't have to put him in day care for one minute of the week. This is such a huge relief. Oh, and I only work from 7 - noon anyway...I'll still get to spend most of the day with little baby J. And, it is probably really good for LJ and RJ to get to spend time together. So, I'll survive, but this week will be a little hectic...getting used to yet another new schedule. Our trip to the wedding was really good. LJ was such a good baby! The trip out there took 8 hours, but we were rookies. We stopped to feed LJ his bottle...that wasted about half an hour of time when LJ is happy and quiet! So, we didn't make that mistake again...we feed him in the car from then on. He didn't get too fussy, too often and all-in-all we thought it went rather well. Any time he'd crank up, we'd play static on the radio and he'd quiet down pretty quickly. We were a little apprehensive about the hotel...thin walls and people on either side...crying baby...you understand. Well, the first night we weren't sure what we would do with LJ...see we didn't want to be able to hear his every breath or else we wouldn't get much sleep. So...we put him in his car seat in the closet! We left the door open half way and turned on the AC fan. Worked like a charm and he slept until 6:30 the next morning. I guess the car ride wore him out! The next day we "helped" decorate for the rehearsal dinner. We mostly held LJ, watched the work, and gave our opinion when asked. LJ behaved very well for the decorating and for the rehearsal dinner. We didn't have to go outside with a crying baby once. He even seemed to be watching the video of the bride and groom as children. The video made me cry! See, this is one of those weddings were you are really happy that these two people are getting married. They will be such a great team and I love them both so much. So, seeing them as children through adults with emotional music...well, it made me cry! The wedding was beautiful. Everyone looked so nice and the ceremony was really nice as well. Well, what I saw of it through the little window in the door! It was time for LJ to nap and I didn't want to take any chances. I didn't want to worry about him crying, so I just watched the ceremony from outside. RJ video taped most of it, so I'll catch those parts later. The reception was really nice also. LJ got to meet all his aunts, uncles, and cousins. I counted and 22 different people held him through the course of the weekend. He was such a good sport about it and didn't get fussy unless it was nap time. Then, he slept very nicely in his bouncy seat...even though there was a band playing and lots of people around. It was nice seeing all the family!

The ride home was great! It only took 7 hours and LJ was zonked most of the way. We are paying for it today though...he's being a little crank pot!

Watching TV

It appears that LJ is now drawn to watch the TV when it is on. This is too bad because we don't want him to become interested in/addicted to the TV at this point. I mean, it is ok for us to watch hours of TV, but we hope LJ will aspire to greater things! So, no TV on while LJ is in the living room and not eating. This is sad for me as I go to bed as soon as I can after LJ eats for the final time, so my TV time will be limited as well. RJ probably doesn't care about it as much as I do.

In other news, LJ still loves his baby gym...unless the TV is on and then he looks at it while in the baby gym. This is how I came to decide we must turn the TV off.

LJ seems to be crying more aggressively now, but not really any more. He used to have a very mournful cry, but now it is more intense. I guess he is asserting himself more.

We seem to have the naps down, so I'm not working too hard on that anymore...we have a routine. He cries and gets a little fussy. I swaddle him, give him his pacifier, sway with him until he gets drowsy, put him down, and take the pacifier out. He usually naps for about one hour. At night, he is going 7-9 hours every night with one exception. One night last week he woke up 2x.

I have mastitis in my left breast now. I caught it before I developed a fever, so that is good. I'm on some antibiotics. I also have pink eye. I have no idea where I caught that, but I have some antibiotic drops for that. And, Saturday I was super achy all over...probably due to the tetanus shot. But, hey...what can you do?

We are on our way to my nephew's wedding at the end of this week. This will be a long car trip for us...and our first hotel stay since LJ's birth. We'll let you know how that goes!

2 Month Check-up

LJ had his 2 month check-up this morning and all went well. He weighs 13 pounds 7 1/2 ounces and is 23 1/2 inches long (I guess you can't say "tall" until they can stand?). This means that when we weighed him on MJ and BJ's postal scale at Christmas...it was probably pretty accurate (it said 13 pounds). Babies are supposed to gain about 1/2 an ounce a day and that was 11 days ago. LJ was very cooperative. He was still sleeping at 8:00 this morning, so I had to wake him up to feed him prior to our 9:00 am appointment. He woke up pretty happy and was all smiles at the doctor's office. All the nurses rave about how cute he is and the doctor held him and smiled with him for a while. Then came the vaccinations. He got 4 today and cried as he got them. But, he pretty quickly after that he fell asleep. Then I got a tetanus booster...I think it has been around 20 years since I last had a tetanus shot! LJ doesn't seem to be bothered by the vaccinations...he is swaddled up and taking his second nap for the day.

My friend CP came up from Houston yesterday and brought her little girl. We had a nice visit...AP (her little girl) is such a happy baby and makes all kinds of cute noises. When RJ came home she burst into tears and for a little while she'd wail every time she accidentally looked at him! It was kind of funny, but I felt badly for her...she was pretty upset at the sight of him. AP has this really neat baby mat that LJ took a turn on. It has a little star with lights that blink to music. The star and other toys hang from a couple of "bars" that span the top of the mat. LJ liked it a lot, so we went and bought one for him last night. He really LOVES it and will smile and laugh while on the mat for a good 30 minutes. We also bought him a mirror that we can hang over the seat in the car, so he can look at himself...but I can also look in my review mirror and see his face in his mirror. There are lights around the mirror and it plays music. I even have a remote control that lets me turn the lights and music on and off, louder, blinking, etc. Pretty cool huh?! This is just in time for our trip out west for my nephew's wedding.

My sister and her daughter are coming today as well as my mom. This will be my sister's first time to see LJ, so we are excited about that. We need to go shopping this weekend...LJ needs something a little less pajama-ish to wear to the wedding and he needs a baptism outfit. I'm sure his MawMaw will enjoy helping us shop for these (this is not a hint for money!...seriously!).

As I said, LJ is swaddled up and napping to the ocean sounds in his room. He sleeps to the ocean sounds at night, so we figured we'd play them at nap time too. There are some seagulls who squawk every so often (they sound scary to me), but LJ doesn't mind. RJ and I figure that we'll take LJ to the beach when he is older and as soon as he hears the ocean, he'll fall asleep! HA!

Have a good weekend!

Naps

Swaddle System 2 seems to be holding (ha!) as we have had 7 consecutive nights of 6-8 hour stretches. With the exception of 1 night, LJ goes until 5:00 ish, so we are very happy with this. Of course, when I go back to work - I'll pretty much just get ready for work after that feeding as I will need to get up at 6:00 to get to work between 7:00 and 7:30. We started giving LJ one of the two bottles he'll get while I am at work in the mornings. He doesn't seem to care about the source of his food, so we haven't had any bottle/breast issues. All-in-all, sleeping at night and eating seem to be going well.

Naps are another story. For the past 7 weeks LJ has napped in his bouncy seat with one of us bouncing him. This was due to the fact that RJ and I just wanted him to sleep, so we would do whatever it took to get that to happen. Now, I'm to the point where I want him to nap in his room without my aid. So, we are working on that this week. We (me really, RJ is at work during napping times) are using the Ferber approach. Once LJ is drowsy I swaddle him up and put him in his car seat (which is his bed right now...he doesn't like the crib...too much space). If he wakes up, I let him cry for 1 minute, and then I go in a comfort him for 2-3 minutes. I don't pick him up or rock him or anything else I don't want him to associate with sleep unless he can reproduce it himself. If he continues to cry, I let him cry for 2 minutes before I go in for 2-3. Then, I let him go 3 minutes and finally 5 minutes. At this point, I repeat in 5 minute increments until an hour is up and then that nap time is over. Well, the last 2 days he's gone to sleep without me having to let him cry more than 2 minutes...except one time today. I think I made the mistake of putting him down when he was wide awake instead of drowsy. But, once the hour was up and I picked him up...and calmed him down because he had been crying for a while...he fell asleep...of course! But, you do the best you can do. The nap he is taking right now...I put him down drowsy and he's knocked out. He still takes a nap between each feeding. He'll eat (which takes about half an hour), play (for about half an hour - 45 minutes), and then want to nap (30 minutes - 1 hour). When he wakes up, he wants to eat...and he eats every 2 and 1/2 hours during the day.

When do they go to 1 long morning nap and 1 long afternoon nap??? And when will he go longer than 2 and 1/2 hours during the day??? I'm not complaining...remember, I have a 7 week old who goes 6-8 hours at night ;-)

Happy New Year!

I don't know with what time zone we rung in 2005, but it was somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. It was during LJ's night feeding...which was at 2:30 am. He didn't wake again until 6:30. I have a new "rule" - once it is 6:00 am, if LJ wakes up, I'm up for the day (as he usually is too).

We did have a nice New Year's Eve though...we watched i-robot and thought it was decent. I'm really getting into this Blockbuster.com membership. This makes the second movie LJ has let up watch! The first day of 2005 has been a nice day too...except for the bowl games...while several of you are enjoying watching your alma mater play, several of us did not enjoy watching ours. We thought we'd go out to lunch, but that is not so easy to do on New Year's Day...most places are closed. We took a walk and LJ met the neighbors down the block. They have 5 girls and it was cute to watch them all peek over the stroller to look at him! Tonight, we plan to go out to look at the holiday light display outside of town. These people put up tons of lights and then charge you to drive through (it is on their land and when I say "tons of lights" I mean "tons"). Monday is the last day they will be up, so we have to get this done. We tried to go on Wednesday, but LJ would not have it...that was the day we went to visit my friend, so I think he was tired of being strapped into his car seat. LJ will probably fall asleep on the way out there, but if he doesn't, I think he'll like the changing colors and contrast of the lights.

LJ smiles ALL THE TIME! He is cooing a lot and is starting to squeal and laugh...all of these things are very fun. He is starting to enjoy his "tummy time" a little more (as he tolerates it for a longer period of time). He has rolled himself over from front to back twice...according to the book this is advanced (but we are not surprised ;-) ) He has outgrown one of our favorite outfits and is starting to wear 3-6 month clothes. They are a little big, but 0-3 month clothes are a bit too small. We have started a night time ritual. Between 8:00 and 9:00 he gets a bath (which he really seems to like). Then RJ puts lotion on him and makes this into a little massage (which LJ loves). After that, RJ uses Swaddle System 2. Finally, I feed LJ and he goes to sleep. RJ and I try to be in bed within an hour after that. It all seems to work well and I think LJ is starting to get the idea. His cradle cap is getting better, but has really improved since I proved that I am marketing person's dream. I bought the Gerber Cradle Cap Kit. I've decided it is nothing more than mineral oil, a comb, shampoo, and some light lotion. BUT, we used it for the first time last night and there are considerably less flakes...who's the sucker now?! And we are still working on getting rid of the thrush, but I am relentless in my attack. LJ sees that medicine dropper coming and opens his mouth like a little bird. Of course, the medicine is fruit flavored, so he probably likes it anyway!

HAPPY NEW YEAR ~ Wishing you a great 2005!