Week 21

Week 21 has been a rough one. After a really nice weekend, Baby had his surgery.

On Tuesday, we went to the hospital to begin his cleanse. I stayed the week in the hospital with him while Husband kept Little Miss on her schedule as much as possible. The cleanse was rough on everybody. He just pooped on everything. At midnight, food was cut off. 

The surgery was postponed about 2 hours so he was one hungry and cranky baby. He went into surgery at around 11:30. We got to be with him right up until he went into the OR. The surgery was supposed to take between 2-5 hours, but we got notification that he was in recovery around the 3 hour mark or so. We got to be with him in post-op where a nurse held him until we got there. He quieted down once I got to hold him. In post-op, he got a little treat for being such a good boy. Back in the room, we saw his little bottom which looked great. All the stitches are on the inside so you can't tell much from the outside. He got some heavy drugs, but he was a trooper, not needing the drugs as often as he could have them.  The night of his surgery, he was slept with the help of morphine, but he liked to be held as much as the last two nights. He wasn't a fan of the hospital crib so I relaxed my co-sleeping views. 

 The next morning, he got the catheter out and got to start some food. He was a bit disgruntled that he couldn't eat as much as he wanted, but he seemed thrilled to get real food. He immediately started peeing which was good. The new bottom didn't get to work until the middle of the night, but the nurse and I applauded for him. 

 With everything in working order, we were told we could go home on Friday, but it took forever for the surgeon to get out of surgery and discharge us which was frustrating, but we understood. Regardless, it's been great being home. We were worried Baby wouldn't like sleeping by himself in his crib, but he slept 8 hours last night. He's increased his food level by a lot. He doesn't like napping by himself, but he is right now so it may just be a process. He doesn't seem to be bothered much by the bottom. We've given him some Tylenol every so often, but I don't know if he even needs it. Better to stay ahead of the pain though. So, we're almost done. He will have a surgeon visit in a couple of weeks as well as follow up with the pediatrician, but I suspect he'll knock those visits out of the ballpark. It's been nice having our little guy home again. 

 There will be some maintenance with the new bottom, but hopefully no lasting side effects. We won't know for sure for a couple of years, but he's done such a great job with everything so far, surpassing all the goals the doctors have given him, I have no doubt he'll rock the next stages, too. 

 Otherwise, he's still rolling back to belly and occasionally belly to back. He is now up to 36 ounces a day versus 24. He loves "jumping" and has enjoyed time in his swing today. No complaints. He's pretty much acting like he didn't just spend 4 days in the hospital.

My Favorite (Recent) Picture

Baby loves the swing.  He always did like it, but we put it away for a time for more floor space.  It takes up a lot of room, but nothing was settling him down the other night unless we were holding him or walking him around.  Husband took to walking him around our small apartment in his stroller before bringing out the swing.  The swing saved the day!

I'm in a Swing

Baby loves the swing. He could live in there if you let him.

 

Movies Watched in August 2014

1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. About Time
3. This is the End
4. American Hustle

Improving. I loved Guardians of the Galaxy. Husband was disgruntled because About Time wasn't funny yet was billed a comedy. I liked it quite a bit though. We both liked American Hustle. It was a good date night - rental and popcorn is the best.

Movies Watched in July 2014

1. Sex Tape

I got to see this one in the theater with friends. Meh, but I had a good afternoon out at least.

Books Read in July 2014

1. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell 
2. Cowboy Take Me Away by Lorelai James  (NOTE: This is part of her Rough Rider series.  The order of which can be found here.)
3. Then Came You by Jill Shalvis (NOTE: This is part of the Animal Magnetism series. The related books can be found here.)
4. Straddling the Line by Jaci Burton (NOTE: This is part of the Play by Play series. The order in which to read the books can be found here.)

Decent month full of quick reads.  I'm enjoying my romance run.  All of the books were solid with great stories and characters.

Weekend Update - Baptism

Picture alert!

Last weekend, Baby was christened.  It was a beautiful day.  He was really good.  Little Miss was super helpful while we set up the room and got ready to host a little gathering and get to the church on time.  There were many children to be baptized, but it went smoothly.  I was surprised there were no criers.  It turned out that's because we were the crying baby.  He settled down right afterwards though and kept smiling at the priest throughout.  I think it was just the awkward angle. Plus, he's the type of baby to always love being upright and moving.

Below are half of the cousins on Husband's side of the family.  The love is strong between the two.  They were fantastic in church and played very nicely with one another all day.

 Sister was very ill when Little Miss was baptized so this is the first picture (in a church) of Little Miss and her godparents.  So, it is both kids with all of the godparents. 

 Below is Husband's family all together.

 Below is my family excluding the Nephew.

There are tons of pictures and every combination of family member grouping you can think of.  I'll frame some of them eventually.

Afterwards, we had everyone to the community room and some of our good friends who could make the event.  We made food up ahead of time so everyone helped out to assemble and lay out everything.  It was a nice relaxing day.  I definitely deserved the nap later in the evening.

On Sunday, I went out with friends to a winery.  It was another beautiful day.  We sat outside, snacked and enjoyed some wine.  There's no better way to spend a Sunday.

Week 20

I'm behind a week, but I hope to catch up this week.  Baby is rolling over onto his stomach like a pro.  He can occasionally roll back onto his back.  He's been sleeping and eating regularly, no changes.  He's a good, smiley boy.  He's starting to play with things.  He has a few toys that he'll grab and cuddle or chew.  

I think he may be teething.  He's always been fairly drooly, but he's added the chewing.  He always soothes by sucking his thumb, but now he's gnawing feverishly.  Funny how he is preparing to grow some teeth while Little Miss is busy losing hers!

Books Read in August 2014

1. Bound by Lorelai James (NOTE: This is part of The Mastered series. The order of which can be found here.)
2. Unwound by Lorelai James (NOTE: This is part of The Mastered series. The order of which can be found here.)
3. Saddled and Spurred by Lorelai James (NOTE: This is part of the Blacktop Cowboys series. The order of which can be found here.)
4. Will Grayson Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green (NOTE: This is not really part of a series, but a sequel or related book about a secondary character is coming out soon.)
5. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
6. Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
7. Wrangled and Tangled by Lorelai James (NOTE: This is part of the Blacktop Cowboys series. The order of which can be found here.)

Solid month filled with the mediocre and the fantastic, the fast reads and the very slow. I also began utilizing my library. The deadlines kill me, but I like the variety.

Movies Watched in June 2014

1. Admission

Still a pathetic time for movies. I watched this one on HBO Go. Meh.

Books Read in June 2014

1. When We Met by Susan Mallery (NOTE: This is part of the Fools Gold series. The order of which can be found here.)
2. Trying to Score by Toni Aleo (NOTE: This is part of her Assassins series. The order of which can be found here in the Books tab.)
3. Before We Kiss bySusan Mallery (NOTE: This is part of the Fools Gold series. The order of which can be found here.)
4. Until We Touch bySusan Mallery (NOTE: This is part of the Fools Gold series. The order of which can be found here.)

I was looking for some romance and had all of these in my giant pile of books to read. I rarely glom onto an author, but it was nice to spend a solid chunk of time in Fools Gold with Susan Mallery's characters. Decent reading month, enjoyable.

The Fine Print

The other day, I had this conversation with Little Miss:

Little Miss:  You're the best mama I have.

Me:  I'm the only mama you have.

Little Miss:  My point still stands.

Seriously, who talks like that?  I do like that she mostly still calls me "mama" though.  

Weekend Update - See You in September

The first weekend in September doesn't deserve a separate post.  We really did very little.  I tidied up the apartment a little.  We napped a little.  We took walks.  On Sunday, Husband's friend and his wife came over to watch some football.  It was a quiet weekend.

Last weekend, it was kind of the same type of deal.  It was quiet and low key.  I caught up on some television and put a billion loads of laundry away.  On Sunday, I met a friend for brunch, and we walked around.  The weather was beautiful.  I picked up a pretty dress on sale and managed to walk out of Target with nothing.  So, big milestone for me, too.

Milestone

Baby sleeps in a sleep sack.  He also has an open swaddle now that he can roll over so his arms are free, but we alternate depending on the laundry rotation.  It's been tricky for him to roll over in the sack, but he can.  He loves rolling onto his tummy.  But today, he rolled onto his back in the sleep sack.  If he can do it in the sleep sack, it'll be a piece of cake with clothes on!  He looked so proud of himself if not a little surprised.  We lavished praise on him accordingly.

Optimism

Little Miss left the house with Husband the other day and told him this:

"It's going to be good day today.  I just don't know if it's going to be awesome or just great."

Week 19

Our happy boy is still pretty happy.  He loves being on his tummy.  His personality is coming out more and more.  

He loves it when we take his clothes off.  His biggest giggles come from taking his clothes off or bathing him.  

His 4 month well baby visit is this week.  It'll be interesting to see how he's grown.  He certainly feels bigger, but I think he has leveled off a little.  A couple of weeks ago, he seemed to have grown overnight.

In order to keep our new school schedule, we have to wake him up to feed him in the morning and to give him his last bottle.  On the weekend, we let him sleep, and he'll have his first meal around 8am.  Having another sleeper is nice.  We worried.  He will fight to stay awake, but he's content by himself usually, just hanging out in the crib.  He has transitioned to sharing a room with Little Miss well.  I think it's easier for him to sleep there than hearing us snooze our alarms forever in the morning, too.  No new tricks this week though, just waiting for him to roll from his belly to his back and then we will be off and running (figuratively).

Weekend Update - Labor Day

We had a glorious low-key weekend.  I worked from home on Friday.  

On Saturday, Husband went to a friend's house to watch sports.  Meanwhile, Baby and I took a little nap after our morning routine.  Then, we took a walk.  He slept most of the evening while I watched tv.  Husband came home after we were both in bed.

On Sunday, Little Miss came home after being away for what seemed like forever.  It was great to have her home.  We had a nice family dinner together.

On Monday, we got up and got going.  Little Miss and I needed to do some last-minute school shopping.  So, we went to Target for a backpack, lunch bag and a few other essentials - like Kit Kats.  We had a girls' lunch and then went to buy some back to school shoes.  Little Miss had to have these cowboy boots.  She wore them out of the store, and she absolutely loves them.

And now we have a First Grader!  More on that after I load the pictures...

Week 18

This was a big week!  We finally saw Baby roll over onto his tummy.  He hates tummy time so it's a frustrating time for everyone until he can roll back over to his back.  I also had to break down and get a bumper for the crib.  He has started sleeping in the crib now that he's sleeping consistently through the night.

He is still congested from his cold, but he has no fever and is still eating and doing everything else he's supposed to do.  He's been experimenting with not napping as often with mixed results.  He still needs to sleep, but it's a matter of giving into sleep.

He is such a cuddle big except when it is nap time whereas Little Miss didn't like to snuggle, but she would nap with me.