Happy Easter.

Yep, it’s weeks after the fact, but here I am posting about Easter.  This year’s Easter crept up on us very quickly, so I lovingly hit the Target $1 bins on my way home from work the day before.  I have to keep my mom-fail street cred and wait ‘til the last minute for everything.

Anyway, regardless of my tardiness, we decided to have Easter one day early since I’d planned on heading to my mom’s that weekend and would be knee-deep in organizing my old bedroom into a kid-friendly play room.  My mom’s house is slowly looking like an episode of Hoarders with all of the kids’ toys cluttering up every nook and cranny.  So, that’s how I spent my actual Easter Sunday – re-organizing a bedroom. 

I spent my Saturday morning before Easter watching my kids enjoy the little gifts that the Easter bunny brought them.  Even though it was a day early, they didn’t know, and they certainly didn’t care.  Once Anna saw her basket, everything else melted away.  I’m also proud to say that not a single candy bar or chocolate bunny made it into this year’s basket.  Actually, I’m not proud to say that, I’m sad to say that.  I didn’t get to finish off their candy this year!

Here are some pics of the basket unveiling:


Anna obviously approves.

These puffs are serious business, yo.

The kid has to taste EVERYTHING.  Even chairs.

The king of side-eyes.  Just like his sister.



As expected, he cared more about his sister’s loot than his own.  I guess outlet plugs and puffs just aren’t cool anymore.

I hope you and yours had a fabulous Easter with lots of egg dyeing and BBQ!

11 months under my belt.

As I quickly approach the one year mark with Joseph/Joe/JoJo (I still have no idea what I’m going to call the kid), I honestly can’t believe how quickly the year has flown.  I know I keep saying that, but it seriously blows my mind, man.  I mean, one minute I’m in the hospital having my baby, the next minute I’m freaking the heck out because his one year birthday is right around the corner, and I’ve done nothing – NOTHING – to prepare.  And I’m not just saying that.  I’ve really done nothing.  Who wants to help me put together a party.  I will pay you. 

…with beer.

God, help me. 

First, pictures.  Now that I have a new camera battery charger, I didn’t have to use my phone to take crappy shots.  I could use my nice camera to take crappy shots.  Photographer I am not.


If you’ll notice, the photos that are blog-worthy are fewer and fewer each month.  That’s because this kid refuses to sit still for longer than 20 seconds.  As you can tell in the last shot, he’s already totally over it and ready to move on in life.  Photos with Anna?  Heck no.  He’s not havin’ it.  Oh well, I tried.

The majority of his photos look like this:
 
Here’s a monthly comparison (click to see it enlarged):
 
Temperament:

Impatient is the word of the month.  Joe wants what he wants when he wants it, and if he doesn’t get it, your ear drums will pay dearly.  He’s still a very sweet little boy, and he still gets lots of compliments from daycare and other people who watch him, but Lord have mercy the kid has melt-downs of epic proportions if he doesn’t get what he wants (usually food, sometimes attention).  I think he’s really coming into his own these days and understanding his wants and needs.  And while I welcome this assertiveness as I know it means he’s blossoming into a toddler, I do have to say that I admit the more passive days of old. 

Feeding:
Bottomless pit = Joe (my husband and my son).  There are no foods that he turns away from at this point.  Green beans?  Yes.  Peas?  Yum.  Squash, carrots, chicken and rice?  Heck yes!  He’s not quite eating table food yet although I do think he’s ready.  I’ve been giving him yogurt melts and puffs, and he’s mastered the fine art of eating those, so I do think he’s ready to move on to more substantial foods now.  I do have some concerns about his lack of weight gain and small size (more on that later) considering he eats so much yet never gets any bigger. 

Per his pediatrician’s recommendation, today I started mixing his formula with whole milk.  I’m hoping that 1) he will tolerate it well and 2) it will help him put some much needed chub on those bones.

Sleeping:
Sleeping goes well most nights. After the sleep training technique was used, he manages to stay asleep most nights all through the night.  If he wakes up and cries, I just let him cry it out for a few minutes, and he usually puts himself back to sleep.  I try to not give him a bottle in the middle of the night, but there have been a few nights here and there where he refuses to fall back asleep, and to save my sanity, I give in and give him a bottle.  We do what we have to do in the midst of sleep deprivation.

Milestones:
He’s still not walking yet, but he’s standing for longer periods of time on his own.  He will let me lead him around, and he will move his feet to walk, so I know it’s only a matter of time. 

He’s had a bit of a verbal explosion over the past month, so I’m wondering if he’s going to be a verbal child.  Here’s what he can say so far (and attribute it correctly):
- Mama
- Dada
- Ann (for Anna)
- Ca (for cat)
- Baba (bottle)
- Uh (for uh oh)

He understands certain phrases like “go ni-night” or “look at the birds” (and I point to his mobile) or “did you go poo poo?” – I say that one a lot. 

Health:
There’s always drama on this front.  It seems like my poor boy is always sick with something.  This month?  Skin lesions. Or the correct medical term is nummular eczema.  After the first lesion popped out, I was convinced he had ring-worm.  Once the lesions started popping up in different areas, I knew we were dealing with something entirely different, so I took him in to the pediatrician for a look-see.  So, he has skin allergies to something – food, environment, stress, who knows?  Needle, meet haystack.  After a horrific blood draw at the doctor, hopefully we will have some answers.  They’re going to run an allergy panel on him, check to see if he has gluten allergies or whatever else may cause the eczema.  Good times.

For now, I have to put some cream on the lesions twice/day, use fragrance free detergents, don’t try anything new food-wise, and hope and pray to baby Jesus that the environmental allergens aren’t coming from my precious cats.  That was the pediatrician’s first question – do you have any cats?  She also said that based on his swollen eyes that it’s probably for sure an allergy.  We just have to figure out from what. 

I was also concerned about Joe’s small size, so I brought it up.  When they weighed him there, he’d only gained 1 ounce since his NINE MONTH visit.  ONE OUNCE!  Granted, he’s had some really awful stomach viruses (Oh yeah, I haven’t mentioned that yet), so she said that could be a set-back for him, but he’s in the 5th percentile with weight now, and it’s definitely worrisome.  Hopefully the tests will come back with something conclusive.  I don’t know.  We shall see.

Size:
As mentioned above, my kid is small.  He’s much smaller that most of the infants in his class.  And now that it’s confirmed he’s in the 5th percentile for weight, I don’t imagine he’ll be growing out of his 9 months – 12 months clothes anytime soon.  Still in size 3 diapers.  Size 3 – 4 shoes. 

Activities:
My mom and sister came over a few weekends ago and brought the kiddos with them.  It’s always totally crazy and chaotic in my house with four kids, but we have such a great time.  Anna and my nephew Jackson had a picnic in the back yard.  Please excuse the powder puff outfit Jackson had on.  He obviously dressed himself.  Future blackmail photos?!

 
And of course the “twins” (Joe and my niece Jocelyn) were having crib wars. 
(And before you call CPS on me, yes, that outlet has been covered – I’d just taken off the bumper earlier that day.)
Joe obviously doesn’t like being woken up.  Poor kid.

’Til next month.  Or in Natalie time, two months from now.

8 months under my belt & Merry Christmas!

8 months.  2 weeks late (again), yes, but at least I’m trying, right?  Working 5 days a week in the office has really zapped all of my blogging energy, so I do what I can when I can.   

Here’s my little man for his photo session (which was taken right around 8 months). 

 

Temperament:

Happy.  That’s the one word I would use to describe Joseph.   He’s very easy going, very adaptable to new people and new situations, always smiling and laughing, rarely does he get fussy.  He started a new daycare last week, and his teacher put on his daily report that he had the best first day ever and was smiling and laughing the whole day.  Yep, that about sums him up.  They just left out the part where he’s a ball of energy and constantly into everything. 

Feeding:
I’m still nursing, but at this point it’s mainly for comfort.  Since starting work, my supply has dwindled quite a bit.  I don’t even have to pump in the middle of the day anymore.  He prefers the bottle now.  Since I’m not ready to quit nursing just yet, I’ll continue as long as he will let me.  Call me selfish, but I’m just not ready to quit yet. 

He seems to be less fond of solids these past few weeks, and I’m not really sure why.  He honestly doesn’t seem to have a preference for anything at this point.  I’ve been mixing his vitamins and probiotics with his food, so maybe he’s on to me?

Sleeping:
Nightmare.  Total nightmare.  He’s sleeping worse now than he did as a newborn.  The major problem with this?  I have to work now.  How I’m able to function is beyond me.  It’s amazing just how sleep deprived one can be.  He typically goes to bed around 8:30ish (sometimes a bit earlier) and wakes at 12.  Again at 2.  Again at 4.  Again at 6.  Yes.  No matter what I do before bed – feed him solids, formula, nurse, make him stay up longer, make him take more naps during the day, shorter naps during the day – none of it makes any difference.  So, I’m about to start using the Ferber method on him to see if I can get the boy to learn how to self-soothe.  At this point, I know that’s the problem.  He refuses a paci most days, so my options are pretty limited. 

Milestones: 
This month has been HUGE as far as milestones go.  Here’s what he’s working on currently:

- He can sit up all on his own
- He can army crawl super fast
- He’s starting to lift his butt up in the air and his legs straight in an attempt to stand
- He’s starting to rock on his knees and hands in an attempt to crawl
- He can stand with assistance and even walks a few steps
- He can stand while holding on to something
- He’s starting to pull himself up in his pack-n-play to peer over the side

      

Here’s a video of a few of those things:
 


He’s sprouting about 6 teeth (that I’ve been able to count).  It’s crazy how quickly all of his teeth are coming in. 

Health:
He still has a nasty cough, but things seem to be getting better.  Still snotty, but I guess that’s to be expected.  It seems like kids his age are always snotty.  He had a bad diaper rash for a few days, but some extra-strength Butt Paste really helped. 

Size:
He’s wearing 9 – 12 months clothes and size 3 diapers.  Size 2 shoes.  He’s super long and has out grown most of his pants. 

Activities: 
We took the kids to see Santa this year at Bass Pro Shops.  The Santa there is so nice and believable.  Now that they have a ticket system where you make an appointment and only have to wait about 10 minutes, it’s much easier to get a good shot with the kids. 



We were also able to take some family photos this year.  I absolutely LOVE the way they turned out.  Thanks to my friend Sandra at Eau Claire Photographics for doing such a fantastic job! 



From our family to yours, may you have a blessed Christmas and a very happy New Year.