The Stray Puppy

A couple of weekends ago (July 31st-August 1st), I took Jacob out into the backyard with our dog, Goliath, to get a little fresh air despite the insane heat and humidity of our Midwest summers. I saw a reflection of a beagle-ish dog in our sliding glass door but didn't see it in the yard anywhere. It had wandered out-of-sight over by the shed, and when it came into view, Jacob's eyes opened wide and he sat forward in my arms staring at the dog.

He loves Goliath, and Goliath always gives him kisses or stands around waiting to be petted. So Jacob's used to dogs being friendly and giving him attention. Well, apparently THIS pup wasn't very keen on people and was solely on an exploratory mission around the neighborhood. As soon as the pup scurried out of Jacob's view, Jacob let out a loud cry and didn't quiet down much until I started walking with him to try to find the dog (who had easily squeezed through the gap in our fence out to the front yard).

Me: Let's go find the puppy! Where'd he go?

Jacob: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! WAAAAA WAAAAA WAAAAAAAAA!

We spotted the dog in the neighbor's yard, and Jacob stopped crying momentarily. Once it wandered down the street, though, Jacob started sobbing again inconsolably. I took him inside to find a blanket and a box of doggy treats a friend have given us talking both calmly and excitedly to him about how we'd go out and sit on our blanket to wait for the puppy to come back. I spread the blanket out and set down the box of dog treats after showing Jake the picture of the dog on the box and talking about the doggie. No sooner did I place him on the blanket when he started bawling all over again. Poor little guy! I had my camera in my pocket and took it out to get a shot of him sitting up next to the box of dog bones. He hadn't been sitting very well without support until this point, but this incident ended up being the turning point in his sitting abilities! He REALLY wanted to see that dog!




The dog traipsed by again - sniffing and darting through yards -, and Jacob calmed down enough to watch it come and then go again. And then the crying resumed. I took him inside after that to hang out with Goliath. Bless his little puppy-loving heart. <3

"They Grow Up Too Fast!"

(Jacob at our yard sale this weekend in a box of his newborn-six month clothes... sniff sniff!)


It's so cliche, but it's true. I don't think I'll ever stop getting all sentimental when I look for clothes for Jacob and realize that he's grown out of a smaller size once again. Infants are so precious - and their teeny, tiny clothes are just so adorable -, and mine's growing up.

Where to start. Hmm. Jacob is now six months old - almost seven months! He's been doing so much lately in regards to his development - and I haven't posted in so long - that I can't even remember how long ago he started doing some of the things he does. :P So, I guess I'll start with the physical stuff.

At his six-month check up, Jacob weighed 19lbs. 5oz. (with a onesie, bib, and socks on) and measured 27 inches long. I know one-year-olds who only weigh twenty pounds! I never mentioned it before, but he has a slightly flattened area on the back of his head due to lack of Tummy Time when he was constantly upset with the dairy formula as an infant. His pediatrician didn't mention anything about this when he went in with Dave for his four-month appointment, so I asked him about it this time. He noted that it did look a little flat but didn't seemed too concerned with it and stated that there was still time for it to round out as long as he was spending the majority of his awake time sitting up or on his tummy. So, hopefully he's right and there's nothing to fear. Most babies' spit-up issues start slowing down around this point, but Jake's still spewing fountains on a daily basis. Sometimes he fusses before, during, and/or after spitting up and sometimes he'll just puke without warning and with a smile on his face. The doctor prescribed something for reflux and we're going on week two without much of an improvement. I've started feeding him more solids/food lately, so perhaps that will bind with the formula and help keep it down better, too. Fingers crossed. I am SOOOOO tired of cleaning up spit-up out of his bibs, clothes, and blankets... and out of MY clothes, too. Some days we go through six or seven bibs. One day he went through that many bibs AND at least five outfits. So, yeah... I'm seriously looking forward to this being resolved.

(Update: August 8th - We're on Day Three or Four now of VERY, very little spit-up at all throughout the day! Most days he's only going through three bibs or so, and that's usually due to them being messy from the foods he's eating! I hate to get excited too soon, but I'm hoping this is how it will stay from here on out.)

Because of fearing his fountains of vomit, we likely slowed Jake down as to his motor development... namely rolling over, pushing himself (his tummy) up off of the floor, and sitting unassisted. Upon discovering that a majority of babies start doing these things around five months, I started getting a little concerned. I contacted a local family/child services organization and requested an evaluation. Someone came for an initial interview the week before last, and we set up a day (Monday) for both a physical and developmental therapist to come for the evaluation. I probably just jumped the gun, because I've been giving Jacob a lot more floor time and Tummy Time lately and he's already doing a lot better. I guess we should have just ignored the puke issue and dealt with all of the messes earlier. He still has absolutely no interest in grabbing/sucking his own toes (yet?) and still doesn't really like being on his stomach, but he's tolerating it a little better and is finally starting to reach his arm across his stomach to get his toys ("crossing the midline" - which, of course, is necessary for rolling over). Sometimes. :/ We'd been working with him on sitting on the couch and sitting him on our lap, but now I'm making sure to work with him on sitting on the floor, in his crib, on his changing table, etc. so that he can develop his balance. I'm sure this all sounds like pretty obvious stuff that most people do with their babies, but like I said... I think we were just a little preoccupied with all of the vomit. So now I'm sure the therapists are going to wonder why on earth I even wanted them to come in the first place. I think he's progressing pretty fast now with the added floor time, but I'd still like to hear other suggestions for getting him off of his stomach and geared towards crawling.

(Update: This past weekend - July 31st and August 1st -, Jacob made some major strides in sitting up unassisted. He can now sit on his own for a minute to several minutes at a time... although we're always right at his side since there's no telling when he might just topple over/sideways/backwards. :P It's so awesome to see this, and I'm so glad that he's developing this skill so quickly! He just needed the opportunity! Nevertheless... the therapists and the case worker from the social service agency all came over this past Monday and determined that Jacob does have enough delay to qualify for physical therapy services. He scored a little low in some areas that the developmental therapist was looking at, too, but she said that those were all skills in areas that were closely linked to developing his stomach muscles and coordination... things that will start coming along with more Tummy Time. He doesn't have the "safety reflex" of putting his hands out to stop himself if/when he falls forward (or when the therapist lowers him face-first to the ground) along with the other things mentioned above. Anyway, so the physical therapist is supposed to call sometime within the next week or so to set up a day and time to start coming on a weekly basis. Hopefully we'll be able to set something up so that I can be home to participate in since I'm going back to work in just a little more than a week.)

A week or so before his six-month birthday, he started babbling "da da", "ma ma", "ba ba", and "pa pa" along with the vowel sounds "aaaaah" and "O". It was so adorable, but it's now seemed to have disappeared. I'm hoping that maybe this is just following his normal Jakey-timeline where we see a skill/milestone and then don't see it again for a few weeks. He did that when he first smiled and first giggled, so hopefully it'll come back soon. Right now all we're hearing is the vowel sounds and occasionally a "ffff" or "fuh fuh fuh"... and - for whatever reason - usually only when he's laying down. We remind Grandpa to use words and syllables when he talks to Jacob instead of doing Baby Talk and/or making silly noises, but that seems to be something he forgets about each morning. Hopefully that's not the cause of Jacob's disappearing babbling.

On July 28th, I noticed Jacob's first tooth popping up through his gums! He woke up from his nap that morning, and I started playing with his tongue after getting him out of his crib. He likes having things touch his tongue - whether it be a wet washcloth, a towel, a finger, a stuffed animal, a toy, etc. -, so I was tapping his tongue with my finger and making "panting-puppy" noises (which always makes him smile or giggle) and saw white below his tongue. I felt along his gum line... and felt little ridges! :) This first tooth didn't seem to bother him. No screaming in the middle of the night... no restlessness... no obvious signs of pain. A few days ago, though, his second tooth (right next to the first one) started surfacing, too! He'd been alright until today (August 7th), and was just a little fussy off and on. Twice today I gave him one of these little natural dissolving strips that I found at Walgreens a while back. I'm not sure if the strips helped at all, but Jacob didn't get any worse. :P I guess we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that his future teeth don't cause much more pain than these ones have, but I'm not counting on it.

I've been introducing him to a lot of foods over the past month or so. We started out with rice cereal when he was about four-and-a-half to five months old. Ummm... can you say "blech!"? :P I think the first food I gave him was sweet potatoes mixed in with the rice cereal to try to sweeten it up a little. After sweet potatoes came bananas and then squash, apples, pears, and peas. Now we're onto oatmeal cereal and "Stage 2" foods. The other day, I picked up a few jars of various combos. So far, he's tried pears and mangoes (which he LOVED) and peas and rice (which he ate fine). I cooked up and pureed some fresh Japanese eggplant yesterday (August 6th) and was worried that he might have a bad reaction to it given his stomach problems, but it was pretty mild and he didn't have any reaction to it whatsoever - facial OR digestive. :) He ate a whole Japanese eggplant in one sitting. Tonight I steamed and pureed two thin carrots, and he ate all of that. As long as he still seems alright tomorrow, I think we'll move on to either the Lentils and Rice or the Spinach and Potatoes. Ooooh, and Apples & Blueberries in his oatmeal for breakfast. :) I have some butternut squash that Dave brought back for me from one of our friends' gardens. I'll have to cook that up in the next few days; some in a dish for me, and some for Jacob. I can't wait to start cooking regular mini-meals for him. My mother- and sister-in-law sent us a package last week with a bunch of clothes for Jacob and some wrestling shirts and a picture for Dave, and a "Vegetarian Mommy and Baby" book/cookbook. The book has a bunch of information about feeding, about the different fruits and vegetables, and about nutrition as well as a section of recipes. There are lots of baby food recipes and information online, but it's nice to just have a book handy to pull out whenever I need something.

That's about all I can think of to update about right now. I'm sure there are a lot of things I'm forgetting... but I'll get around to posting more in another week or so (hopefully!). School/work starts for me next Tuesday. It's going to be sad leaving my little guy for the majority of the day again, but I'm so glad I had all of this time over the summer to work with him on developing his skills, to play with him, and to get to know him more as his personality emerges more and more. Hopefully the physical therapy sessions will start soon and we can get him crawling over the next month or two!

A Family Bed

Co-Sleeping (sleep-sharing... family bed... whatever you want to call it) is for us! :)

During his first two months, those of you who know Jacob or have read all of blogs here know that he had some pretty bad issues when breastfeeding didn't work out for us and when I started him on dairy formula. After battling through a day pretty filled with Jacob's screaming, crying, and fussing, Dave and I were both exhausted come nighttime. We had him in a bassinet in our room from the start, but it was just too tiring to have to get out of bed every ten minutes or so to replace his Binky (pacifier) when he woke up screaming because it fell out of his mouth... or to pick him up and rock him or sway with him when the pacifier wasn't enough to comfort him (and when he didn't need a bottle or to be changed). I can't even imagine if we had put him in his crib in another room that early on! Anyway, after about a month or a month-and-a-half of struggling with this and getting very little sleep, we brought Jacob into our bed on his Boppy Newborn Lounger Pillow.

Jake never liked laying flat on his back - for naps, diaper changes, or anything -, and the lounger pillow is contoured to support/raise babies' backs and heads up a little and cradle their bums. The only way we could get him to nap was to lay him in this pillow. Once we started using it for nighttime sleeping, too, (bringing it into the bed with us) we all got a lot more sleep. I started off placing the pillow next to me but away from Dave for fear that Dave might roll over on him or something. The pillow is actually pretty thick, though, so I probably didn't even need to worry about that to begin with. Plus, babies don't start really moving around in their sleep much until about four months or so, so there wasn't much to fear in the way of any accidents happening. After about two or three weeks of having him next to me constantly, I moved the pillow in between Dave and me so Dave could help out occasionally, too. So, with him in bed next to us, we could just reach over and feel for his Binky in the dark and put it back in his mouth or lean over and put our arm on him for a little comforting pressure or just sit up in bed and rock him in our arms (well, usually MY arms). Most nights, that's all it took to get him back to sleep - unless he was hungry for his 2 or 3 am feeding. No more up and down, up and down, up and down every ten or fifteen minutes!

At first, sharing our bed with Jacob was something we did out of necessity so that we could get a little extra sleep and not go insane as first-time parents. After a few weeks, though, I came to love sleeping next to my little one. Hearing his little breaths right next to my ear... being able to reach over and touch his little hand (which led to him closing his tiny fingers around one of mine)... inhaling his "clean baby scent" on nights I had given him a bath... gave me comfort at the end of the day as well as peace-of-mind in the knowledge that he would never have to wake up alone in a dark room after being so close, safe, and secure inside my belly for over nine months.

After a few months in bed with us, though, Jacob continued growing... and started moving around. The first night of concern was when he started making noise, and I opened my eyes to find his head flopped over the top of the Boppy pillow. I repositioned him and he was fine for the rest of the night. After that I started placing another pillow above the Boppy (between the Boppy and the wall) to prevent any more head flops. A few nights later, he had wiggled himself half off the side and was partially laying on top of me. So, I started rolling up receiving blankets and stuffing them under the Boppy to prop the sides up. A few nights after this, I woke up to Jacob fussing because he had scooted his legs and bottom off the end of the pillow. I had been too scared to just lay him between Dave and I on the bed, but I was too scared NOT to at this point. Bye-bye, Boppy Lounger!

After he seemed adjusted to the soy formula, he didn't mind laying flat much anymore. So, we kept him between us and folded up the thick, super-soft blanket that coordinates with his crib sheets to use as his "bed" on our bed. We folded the top portion of the blanket under to make a little pillow so that his head was still elevated (in an attempt to help with his periodic congestion). With the blanket keeping him at a slightly different height from us, it seemed to be a good next step. Over the next few days and weeks, Jakey started moving around more and more... so I rolled up receiving blankets again to use as a bumper so he wouldn't scoot into my chest at night. (I would always lay facing him while Dave would lay away from him, so he almost always turned toward me instead of Dave.) Most recently, he realized that he was just an arm's reach away and would wake up flailing his little arms around while babbling to the ceiling fan which, of course, would wake us up in turn. So, despite the fact that both Dave and I love sleeping with him in our bed (most of the time waking up to his sweet smile), it was time for Jacob to start sleeping through the night in his own crib... in our bedroom, of course.

I took measurements of everything and figured out where all of the furniture would fit. Over the course of about a week or so (we're pretty slow-moving sometimes with Dave's hernia and being busy being baby-parents), we got everything moved and in place. There's still some organizing to do, but the big part's finished. This past Saturday was his first night in his crib, and he slept just as peacefully as he did when he was in bed with us. He fussed a few times like usual, so I got up to give him a little rub or to turn him on his side or to put the Binky back in his mouth (yes... the Binky is back!) and he went right back to sleep.

Jacob usually sleeps a good eight hours or more and is sleeping even longer now that he's taken to the pacifier again. It'll be nice to have the bed to ourselves again after all of this time, but we both miss him in between us even though he's still in the room with us. I figure he'll probably wind up back in our bed periodically once teething gets too bad... unless that ends up entailing resuming the rocking chair and/or pacing and bouncing routine. I don't know anything about teething yet!

Jacob Loves... - Month Five Version

While Jacob still loves almost all of the things on his first "favorite things" list (ceiling lights and ceiling fans, music, looking at picture books and listening to stories, Daddy), he's gained a few more over the past few months.


1. The Great Outdoors

Jacob loves being outside and even just looking out the door. He watches the leaves, flowers, and grass blow in the breeze and loves watching cars and trucks go by as well as kids on their bicycles or skateboards. He likes touching the flowers and their stems and playing with them with his feet. He gets a little anxious when I start to put his bare feet on the grass (tenses up a little and makes a little shivering/gasping noise), but then he'll squish it between his toes and start taking steps across the lawn. Sometimes I take him out after the sun goes down and he'll look around at all of the streetlights and the lights at the neighbors' front doors. I take a blanket outside with us when it's not too hot and humid and spread it out beneath the shade of the tree in the front yard (since there aren't any trees in the backyard). I'll play with him and try to get him to do Tummy Time on there, and he does alright. Mostly he likes just laying around gazing at the sky and clouds or being held and walked around to see everything. Our little nature lover. :)

2. Wind Chimes

I love wind chimes and have several of them outside and one inside. We hold him close to them to try to get him to hit the decoration (or "windcatcher") to make the striker hit the rods. His coordination is improving, but mostly he loves just watching the decoration sway back and forth, watching the rods dance around, and listening to the chimes. Sometimes he gets super excited and spits up. :P

3. Grandpa Nick

We're currently living in my dad's house (my old childhood home), and my father comes back to stay every year from April until the end of September. This April was Jacob's first time meeting his Grandpa Nick. Grandpa loves making silly noises and funny faces which almost always elicit a big smile and sometimes a lot of giggles from the little guy. I say "almost" because there's usually NOTHING that calms Jake down when he's hungry or tired except his bottle and a nap. :P

4. Anything he can shove in his mouth... especially fingers

No teeth yet... but Jacob's been sucking on things like crazy for about two months now. Since his hands are always accessible, that's what's in his mouth the most right now. Next in line are towlies (basic cloth diapers that we use as burp/spit-up cloths), Mommy and Daddy's fingers or forearms, Mommy's hair if she forgets to pull it back in a ponytail, and whatever toys he's playing with. For the longest time, he alternated between a simple orange link/ring and a birdie toy that had a ring and beads attached (that came with his activity mat)... but he's not favoring them so much anymore.


5. Bubbles

Whether riding in the car or sitting around the house, Jacob calms from being minorly fussy when we get out the bubbles. He doesn't really get excited about them, but he *has* started smiling when I get ready to blow on the wand. He just watches them with a puzzled or wondering look and then waits for more. The cats find them fascinating, so Jakey gets to watch them pop the bubbles, too.


6. The "puppy" and the "kitties"

The most excitement came about three or four weeks ago and lasted for a good week or two, but Jake still loves watching and petting the furries. A couple of highlights were the first time Sage (cat) jumped up on my lap while Jacob was sitting there and the first time Goliath licked Jake's face. He loves watching Goliath chase and shake his stuffed tiger. I think it's time for another visit to the dog park to watch the more active dogs.

7. Other babies

At Jacob's four-month check-up, he noticed all of the other babies and just looked and looked and looked. Ever since then, he usually gets a big smile and checks out any kid in sight. He loves it most, of course, if/when the other kids interact with him in any way and seems a little dejected if they don't approach him.

8. Busy Tumble Top

I took Jake for a walk to the Hallmark store one day and then stopped in Dollar General afterward. They had a baby toy called a Busy Tumble Top, and Jake was instantly fascinated. Money's kind of tight, so I didn't buy it for him but I posted a message on my facebook page for anyone who might want to get Jacob a "Happy Jacob Day" present. His Uncle Derek came through and it arrived on May 5. Since then, we've played with it almost every day. Jake loves watching the balls pop up and spin around inside the toy and even tries to reach his hand up to push the top to make it work... he just doesn't quite have the strength and coordination yet. Maybe in another month or two.

Time Keeps Tickin' Away... Five Months!

I know in my last post I said there were things I wanted to write about before I forgot them... but now it's been almost a month and... I'm sure I've forgotten most of them. :P

Jacob is now five-and-a-half months old and getting bigger by the day. I don't even recognize him in his "old" pictures anymore. He looks like a completely different baby! He's gained so much weight and gotten so chunky. My little almost-a-preemie-sized little guy is just about completely caught up as far as the child development growth charts go. People who "know" babies can correctly guess his age now instead of thinking that he's a month younger than his actual age. He's already almost outgrown all of his "3-6 months" clothes and fits comfortably in the "6-9 months" outfits. It's amazing how fast he's growing.

I started feeding him rice cereal about two weeks ago just to see how he'd do. He goes through a 12 oz. container of (powdered) formula in about two days drinking around 30 oz. each day - sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more. I was thinking that food-food might fill him up a little more than just the formula, but that doesn't seem to be the case. At first, he didn't care for it at all. He reached out and grabbed for the spoon each time, but he just wouldn't swallow it. So, I added some Stage 1 organic sweet potatoes to each feeding of rice cereal, and he still didn't seem to care for it or the sweet potatoes. He really didn't seem to even grasp the concept of swallowing substances that were thicker than his formula; he pushed most of the cereal and sweet potatoes back out with his tongue. Each jar of baby food is good for three days, so I prepared it each night and then went on to a second jar. Once we got to the second jar, he started truly opening his mouth... but still wasn't too keen the whole thing. So I waited a few more days and then added some pears. He loved this and grunted for more in between each bite. I gave him some cereal this morning, and he ate that alright. Not crazy about it... but he ate a little more than half of what I had mixed up. Tonight I tried some peas, and I couldn't load the spoon fast enough! He gobbled up what I had warmed up and wanted more. He probably ate about one-third to half of the jar! I picked up some jars of carrots and squash, so we'll try those after the two jars of peas are gone. My little guy loves his veggies! :) I'm a proud Mama. Well, I already was... but, you know. :P


A few days later...

I'm doing my best to keep up with this blog, but it's getting more and more difficult to find the time to sit down and type away. Jacob's still our little Nap Fighter Extraordinaire, and the free time I do get usually goes to taking care of things around the house. Sometimes when I get a chance, though, I just have to take a break from doing anything and just zone out/play around online. :P

Ummm... hmm... what else?

Tummy Time progress is continuing at a snail's pace, but I'm making more of an effort to keep it up twice a day. He's getting his head up a little more and for a little longer each time, but he still hates it. He's figured out how to roll onto his back now - using his heavy little head for a weight to help hoist himself over - and can get off of his tummy pretty quickly when he's positioned just right. If his arms are off to the side (instead of tucked in front beneath his head), he flails around like a fish out of water. One of these days, Jakey... you'll figure it out! We're convinced that when he does start crawling, he'll probably start walking shortly afterward. He loves being held up to stand and even "walks" one step at a time on alternating feet.

We went to our first Babygarten session last week - Jacob, Dave, and I. Babygarten is a story hour at our local library for babies up to a year old. Everyone sits in a circle with their little ones and the children's section librarian leads songs that incorporate "finger plays" (hand motions like clapping, rubbing hands together, "twinkle, twinkle little star" motions, and so on). After the songs, everyone reads a book together and then the kiddos get to play with a boxful of toys dumped out on the floor. Jacob's been enthralled with other babies and kids ever since his last appointment with the pediatrician in May. As soon as we sat down in the circle of babies (all ten to twelve months and ALL boys!), he looked around and got a big smile on his face. I think that he was expecting the other babies to come up to him and play or entertain him, though, (like everyone else in his life does) because his smile faded somewhat when they didn't approach him. He seemed to have a good time until the final song and book. He got a little fussy, but Dave and I were able to distract him a little and try to keep his interest. He enjoyed playing with the toys and watching all of the other kids play. He didn't smile much, but he watched the other babies intently and was really focused on the new (new-to-him) toys. Since that day, we've sung the first song we did there ("Choo, Choo" - about a train going up the track, coming back, and then going to each of the boys' houses) just about every day here at home. He loves putting his hands on the backs of ours and moving them back and forth along with the tune. They have Babygarten twice a month during the summer, so it'll be interesting to see if he starts to like it more and more or if he loses interest.

And several more days later...

A few days after Babygarten, the library hosted a marionette show of "The Wizard of Oz". It was pretty loud, and I was worried that Jacob might start crying... but he did great. He seemed a little frightened/nervous with the louder, gruffer voices - the Wizard and the Wicked Witch of the West -, but he watched with wide-eyed fascination. He started getting a little antsy after about forty minutes (ten minutes until it was over), but he settled down when I put him in his carrier and alternated his position between looking at the other kids and looking at the stage. It's so awesome knowing that I can take him out to different places and events on my own without him having a meltdown. And it's so awesome that the library has a few things to offer on at least a monthly basis... and that's it's only about four blocks from the house!

He's been babbling a lot more lately - mainly "Vvvvvuh" and long "O" sounds... but he does a longer babble that truly sounds like, "I love you!" Remember the old video of the dog saying, "I love you."? I guess it's kind of like that but in baby-speak. It's super cute. Most sounds are still only produced when his fingers are in his mouth, though. Unless he's "yelling" to express his frustration or displeasure that we aren't quick enough in preparing his bottle. He's been doing a lot of excited/silly spitting lately, too. Cute but a little messy... especially when I'm trying to feed him some "real" food. :P

Next month... six months old!

Sooooo Big!

I really don't have much time to write this. Little Jacob has been on "strike" with his naps lately again, so I haven't been able to get much done around the house during the day. I try - TRY - to catch up a little at night, but by then I'm so exhausted and just pass out with him or else kick back and relax for a minute. Until yesterday, it had been two or three weeks since I'd checked my email, and it's been just as long since I've updated this blog. There's so much I WANT to write, but I'll have to save it for another post. Maybe... hopefully... I'll get around to writing it this weekend before I forget all of what I want to write.

Jacob had his four-month appointment with his pediatrician last Monday. His percentages for his weight and height have really shot up since his two-month appointment. On his first and second visit, he was only in the 3rd - 5th percentile... but now he's up to 14 pounds, 7 1/2 ounces (38%) and is 25 inches tall (50%)! He's still a lot smaller than a lot of other babies that I've seen who are his age, but he looks so big to me. I'm so glad I've been taking pictures like crazy every since he was born. It's amazing to look back on his earlier pictures and see how tiny and skinny he was compared to how healthy and vibrant he is now. Poor little guy. It makes me feel so bad about not switching to the soy formula earlier. Two months of horrible upset stomach and painful gas - the screaming, the crying, the lack of sleep on our part. If only I had trusted my instincts and researched a little more a little earlier. :( Sigh. Anyway... there's nothing I can do about that now. I just need to be thankful I switched him over and that he's doing 100% better now in so many ways.

Now that he's getting bigger, it's getting harder and harder to stand and hold him in one arm while feeding him with the other... and it's even getter harder to find a comfortable way to hold him on my lap for feedings. Plus, his feet touch the arm of the rocking chair, so I'm convinced that he's starting to kick his feet around to touch the wood as a way to keep himself awake. :P He has such great visual focus now and knows to grab the bottle and move it to his mouth (most times)... but of course he just doesn't have the strength and flexibility in his fingers to hold his bottle on his own yet. If only bottles had handles (and didn't weigh so much with formula in them!), he'd be feeding himself by now.

Let's see. What else?

He's starting to enjoy standing up on his feet and stretching out his legs. He can stand for a few seconds at a time when we hold him up for support. Tummy Time, though, is STILL not getting anywhere. It seems like there's never a right time to fit it into the day. Whenever he wakes up from sleeping, he wants to eat. That can take up to thirty minutes sometimes depending on how hungry he is. And then he sits up (in our laps or in his bouncy chair or his stroller) for a while to make sure his tummy settles. Even then, he STILL spits up food pretty often without much excitement... and by then he starts getting fussy and is ready for more food and a Power Nap again! Aaaack! Just have to keep trying whenever we can, I guess. Maybe he needs some little friends to be his role models. :P

Over the past few weeks, Jacob's really started to babble a lot more throughout the day... and to giggle like crazy on occasion! It's so cute. He's starting to get ticklish - on the bottoms of his feet and certain spots on his tummy - and will smile and then burst out with a loud cackling giggle. He's still all about putting everything in his mouth (I imagine he will be for a while), and a lot of his babbling starts out when he sticks something in there. I try to mimic his babbles or try to figure out what vowel/consonant it sounds closest to and say a few simple words that start with that sound. Sometimes our "conversations" last for ten minutes or more.

I've started signing to him - "Mommy" when I'm changing him or looking at him and playing on the couch or in his chair and then "drink" when talking about his ba-ba and being hungry. He really watches my hands while he's listening, so I'm hoping he starts picking this up to help us out until he's able to verbally communicate with us.

Well, I should head off to bed for tonight. Long weekend ahead.

One... two... three... FOUR!

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Last year on Mother's Day, I took a home pregnancy test and found out that I was pregnant. This year, I have a little one who has made such a change in my life... that it doesn't even seem real that I wasn't a mother last year. I love little Jacob so much. I loved him the moment I saw his tiny little image thrashing around on the ultrasound. I fell in love with him even more the first minute I saw him... and then even more when we brought him home and he stared into our eyes each time we held him or fed him. My heart ached with a love beyond words as his tiny little eyes seemed to peer right into my soul. This little being depended on me for e v e r y t h i n g. So tiny... so helpless... so precious. And now, four months have already passed. He gets bigger and bigger and cuter and cuter by the day, but I feel a little sad - a little twinge in my heart - when I look at all of the clothes he's already outgrown. I know it's a very good thing that he's growing... it's just bittersweet. I'm trying to treasure every moment, though, and trying to remind myself during the trying moments that he'll never be this little again.

During his first two months, I called him my "Little Bunky". Kinda like "monkey", I guess... except he wasn't a monkey-baby since he was so little and was having such a terrible time with his gas and the formula. Since he's been on the soy formula, I've found myself calling him "Bunky" less and less. I made up a little song with "Bunky Boo" in one of the verses that I still sing to him occasionally when he's eating and trying to fall asleep, but aside from that... he's now my "Little Buddy" or my "Cutie Pie". :P

Over the last three days or so, he's really been "talking" up a storm at various times during the day. Little "AAAAAAAAA"s and "IIIIII"s are the main noises along with "GAH"s and gurgling coos. He's been giggling quite a bit lately, too, but nothing crazy enough to post on youtube. :P Just cute enough to make me wish he would just smile and giggle all day and never get cranky or fussy.

His hands are still an endless source of fascination. Well, for his *mouth* anyway. He's started sucking on just his thumb every now and then, too... just like Mommy did when she was little. Hopefully that won't last any longer than the binky lasted.

He got a new toy recently that has balls that bounce and spin around when you push on the top... and then I brought out one of those old-school wobbly balls that have the animals in them that chime when you rock the ball back and forth. Jacob really seems to love these, but sometimes he gets so frustrated because (I'm assuming) he can't reach inside and grab the balls or animals to shove in his mouth.

He still loves listening to stories and looking at the pictures. I hope this is one interest that he never outgrows. He's also still enthralled by ceiling fans and lights. Sometimes he giggles at them or coos in contentment.

Tummy Time progress is still slow. Some days are better than others. I've been trying to get him to use his leg muscles to practice standing up or bouncing... just in case he wants to just skip crawling and start walking instead. :P

Jake still has no definitive sleep schedule. He continues to fight naps most of the time. Some nights he'll sleep from 8:30 pm until 5 am, but other nights he'll fall asleep around 7 or 8 and then wake up at 11:30 then 2 am then 5 or 6 am. Sigh. Sometimes I'm sure he would be able to sleep straight through if he didn't have bouts of gas that woke him up! Unless gas wakes him up in "normal" morning hours (5-6 am), he's generally pretty happy. Seeing his big, toothless grin and seeing his eyes light up when I lay him on the changing table makes the sleep deprivation a little more bearable. I'm really looking forward to the summer and to getting some extra sleep during the day when Dave's up to watch him. I've been taking care of Jacob EVERY time he wakes up for the past four months now since Dave claims to not be able to feed him in the dark and/or not be able to fall back asleep afterwards. (Well, I'm sure I could count on two hands... maybe even one... the times when Dave's done the middle-of-the-night or early-morning feedings without me having to get up, too.) It was manageable for the first two months or so, but having to get up twice a night and then work a full day and then come home to "relieve" Dave from taking care of him... it's just gotten to be too much. I NEED SLEEP! One of these days, I'm just going to have to go somewhere for a sleepover so that Dave can get a glimpse into exactly how little sleep I've been getting. Aaaaaaaaaanyway...

It's so incredible watching this little guy grow day by day. I know that he'll start sleeping through the nights one of these days, and then I'll probably think that I miss the 2 am mommy-baby time. :P I guess the teething stage is next along with grabbing for things more and learning to roll over and also sit up without support. As much as I love cuddling with him, I'm really looking forward to him being able to sit and entertain himself for a little while. Eating dinner when it's still warm will be nice. :P One of these days. :)

Ten Minutes with Jake

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A glimpse into Jacob's day for the people who can't be here to watch him grow up...



Rise 'n Shine!

Early morning diaper changing time (Don't worry... no actual diaper changing happening!)...





Strength Training

Over the past few weeks, Jacob's started to develop his neck muscles and is holding his head up more and more. He's still a bit wobbly. :P





Story Time

I was actually surprised that Jaccob was so interested in this book for this long (over 5 minutes!) since it's just a simple 5-word early sign language book. He sits like this for just about every story we read if he's in a good mood. I generally sit him up on the couch for story time, but this time he was in his vibrate-y bouncy chair.





Splish, Splash!

Jacob's been doing great with his baths for several weeks now, but this was the first time he realized how much fun he could have with them. I took his hands and splashed the water with them during his last bath before this one, but he didn't really respond at all. I did the same thing this time, and he just had a ball. :)




It's so fascinating watching him grow and realizing how quickly it's happening. I'm so glad that summer's coming soon and that I'll get to spend a lot more time with him.

Enjoying the Baby Period

The soy formula has made such a drastic difference in Jacob. He's now happy, smiley, and giggly most of the time unless he's tired, wet, or hungry... and I'm starting to pick up on his cues for those times so that I'm at least prepared for the crankiness or can try to do something to hopefully prevent or delay the fussing and crying that will undoubtedly arise. Overall, though, he's doing great. This is the Jacob I had been yearning for those first two months when his system was being tormented by the dairy formulas. His smiles are so beautiful (but hard to capture on camera!), and his giggles are so cute. Even on days when he's attempting to break his record for "Nap-Fighting Champion", all he has to do is flash one smile and it's all worthwhile. Well, almost. :P

We're still working on getting him to tolerate Tummy Time more. Despite his love for Daddy, Jacob still only lifts his head well if he's facing the TV (wrestling and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse seem to be his favorites). The combination of the bright lights/colors, sounds, and action is the only thing that gets him to raise his head any considerable amount for any length of time. I'm kind of worried about this, but I'm sure it'll keep improving little by little. He stretches his legs out and tries to scoot up on our stomachs when we're doing Tummy Time, so we'll usually put our hands or legs behind his feet to give him something to push off from to show him cause and effect. We have him sit on or between our legs a lot and he's progressed to the point where he's holding his head up by himself fairly well. It's still a little wobbly, but it's a definite improvement from where he was with it this time last month.

Now that he can do that and can sit up pretty well semi-supported, he's finally ready for his swing. Sometimes he'll sit in his swing for a good twenty minutes and interact with us, but sometimes it's just not a swing-y kind of day. Two Saturdays ago, I took him and the swing outside for a while to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. It was so beautiful out that day!

Bath time is continuing to go well, and sometimes Jake even seems as though he's starting to like it. I took this video on April 5th after his first cry-free bath. He was all smiles and giggles. Mommy did good. Haha.

Grandma Jean offered to spend some time with him at her house last Monday, and everything went well... until the last hour he was there. He started fussing, crying, and then screaming unconsolably. She looked at his gums, noted that they were white, and proposed that he was starting to teethe already. He had/has been chewing on his hands a lot recently (and our fingers, as well), but I had figured that he was just doing that as a normal part of this stage of his development. Dave and I both tried to hold and console him, but nothing was working to calm him down. He did seem very content when Dave rubbed his gums and let him suck on his finger for a while, but he cried off and on all of the way home. I gave him some homeopathic teething drops as soon as we got him out of his car seat carrier, and he fell fast asleep. I'm seriously thinking now, though, that he was likely just missing Mom and Dad and being home. The only time he hasn't been with Dave or I for any extended period is when he's gone over to Grandma's. And this was the first time that she's watched him in over month. He hasn't had any problems since then (aside from his gas), so I really think that's all it was. I guess either Grandma will have to start making a habit of hanging out with him at her house more often or else we'll just have to make sure to pick him up earlier in the evening before his "usual" bedtime.

GET THAT BLASTED BINKY OUTTA MY MOUTH, WOMAN!

The last picture of Jacob with his Binky - taken March 20, 2010

Where I was once concerned that Jacob and his Binky might be best friends for life... he now wants absolutely NOTHING to do with it. He gets fussy before he's ready to zonk out for a nap. Giving him his pacifier used to do the trick to help him soothe himself to sleep. Now if you try to put it in his mouth when he starts fussing, he gets louder and grumpier and spits it right out. :P I'm glad that I won't have to struggle with getting him to give up his Binky when he's older, but I kind of wish that it would at least be a "sometimes" thing. Currently, we're preparing the formula as needed, and the smallest amount you can make is 2 oz. at a time. Sometimes he drinks it all and still needs more to fall asleep. Other times, he drinks half of an ounce and is out cold. And then the other ounce-and-a-half gets wasted. And that stuff's expensive! Luckily I was able to get on WIC, so I get six free containers of formula each month. We're able to get by on that at the moment, but I'm sure it won't be long before we'll have to start buying one, two, or three extra containers in addition to that. Anyway, so yeah... the Binky would come in handy for this reason if he would just accept it now and then. But who wants to suck on plastic when you know you can get food instead, eh?

Spring - A Time For New Experiences and New Faces

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Spring is here, and most days couldn't be more beautiful. I wish I wasn't working and could spend ALL of my days with Jacob instead of just evenings and weekends. Summer's coming soon enough which will give me the extra time, but the weather's undoubtedly going to be horrible (hot, humid, and muggy) by that time. Sigh. Oh well. I'm just trying to make the most of the nice days that I do have with him.

I took Jake outside a few times this week after work to enjoy the fresh air for thirty minutes or so. I laid a blanket down on the grass and sat with him while he gazed at the sky and talked to the trees and the sun. He really seemed to enjoy himself until the sun started intruding on the shady spot I had picked out. Hopefully we'll have more nice days like this before the bugs start multiplying and coming out in force and before the heat kicks in.

This past Thursday, Dave and my dad went down to the base with Jacob to meet a few wrestlers (AJ Styles, Victoria Sky, and another female wrestler) who had scheduled an appearance at the BX. They got to talk to them and have pictures taken and even got their autographs for free. Jacob got to see his grandma that afternoon, too, since she works in the BX. He was having such a good day, so she took him out of his stroller to show him off to her co-workers. Apparently, he didn't care for that too much and kept fussing at them. :P There must be something about our family's voices, speech patterns/pitch, and/or facial expressions that Jacob's already aware of. He gave his grandparents and great-grandparents big smiles his first time meeting each of them, but he tends to be scared (or at least wary) of almost anyone else who's new.

My mom came over today and picked Jacob and me up to go out for coffee. That was the only original intended destination, but Jake was doing so well that we ended up going for a walk around St. Ellen Mine Park and then out to a late lunch at Aroy Thai, too. He was a little fussy off and on but mainly only when he was hungry, tired of sitting in his car seat, or simply tired of not being home. For the most part, he was content to sit or be held and look around at all of the colors and new sights. When we got back to the house, he had another drink and then zonked out in my arms. I tried to transfer him to his crib, but the first attempt only lasted about three minutes. After more formula and another fifteen minutes or so in Mommy's arms, he stayed asleep after I laid him down again.

His gas is still waking him up in the morning as well as nasal congestion. For the gas, we're trying the Mylicon drops again, but they only help momentarily. I wish there was a straight "cure" for it, but I guess there really isn't one. Hopefully this is just a temporary thing. Maybe since he's eating more again, his body is having a hard time trying to break everything down? Maybe he'll be better once his body gets used to the extra food intake? I dunno. Fingers crossed. As for the nasal congestion, we've tried running the ceiling fan at night, using a humidifier, taking him in the bathroom after it gets steamy from a hot shower, and using saline drops combined with the nasal apirator... all with no success. He can breathe alright during the day (even though he sounds a little stuffy at times), but he wakes up wheezing and struggling for breath most mornings. It's so frustrating not being able to help him especially when all of my attempts don't do much aside from irritate the crap out of him. I wouldn't care much for someone squirting drops in my nose and shoving a bulb syringe in there every day, either. :/

Three months!

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(Actually written on April 12th)
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Today is Jacob's three-month birthday. Our teeny little superguy is growing and growing! His cheeks and his little legs are finally getting pudgy, and he's recently (within the last two weeks or so) discovered that he can suck on his hands - and anything that he gets in his fists - whenever he wants.

Jacob doesn't have another check-up until he's four months old, but we're guessing that he must be over ten pounds by now. I guess I really need to get moving on pre-washing the cloth diapers so we can start using them before Jake outgrows the small size G-Diapers and prefolds that he has (8-14 lbs.). We've been using the disposables since he was born since Dave and I weren't familiar with the whole baby thing and figured disposables would be a little easier to deal with, but I think we're ready to tackle cloth diapering. Hopefully it's not as daunting of a task as it seems. It'll take a little getting used to, but it's what I intended to do all along and will save us a bit of money in the long run. Disposables are EXPENSIVE!

Anyway... Jacob's continuing to do well on the soy formula. Over the last week or so, it seems that his gas issue may be resurfacing a bit, though, so I'm thinking of trying the Mylicon drops again to see if they help. Maybe the dairy formula just affected his system too much for the drops to help him back then, but maybe they're just what he needs to get over this less severe gas. We'll see. Aside from the gas issue, he's pretty happy most of the time.

Jake loves his stories and bright colored things. He had his first trip to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods over the weekend (with me and his Grandpa Nick) and was all wide-eyed looking at all of the lights and at the different colored packaging on the shelves. He still sleeps through most car rides, but you can only expect a baby to sleep for so long before he gets hungry and needs his bottle. :P

It seems like he's starting to stay awake more during walks. Well, during daytime walks anyway. Grandma came over yesterday, and the three of us went for a walk around the neighborhood with Goliath (our last remaining dog). He hadn't napped much earlier that morning and didn't fall asleep in the stroller at all, either. It could have been that he was too uncomfortable to sleep, though, since he was dressed for the cooler at-home temperature. I changed him when we got home and Grandpa rocked him for a while in the rocking chair. He fell asleep after a little while but woke up within minutes after Grandpa laid him down in his crib. I rocked him for a bit afterward and ending up curling up with him on the couch on his lounger pillow once he fell asleep again.

Jacob still isn't a good napper, but I think he's starting to improve little by little. I've been successful in getting hour naps out of him lately... not consistently, but it usually happens at least every other day. Other times, he strives to maintain his role as Nap-fighting Champion. :P

Dave went out-of-town to work this past weekend, and Jake fell asleep around 3 in the afternoon on Saturday. He woke up screaming and crying as if he'd had a nightmare (day terror?) about an hour-and-a-half later, so I consoled him and gave him a bottle. He fell asleep again after his bottle... and didn't wake up until 1 a.m.! Like I mentioned, though, on Sunday he wouldn't nap at all until evening. I worked today, and Dave said Jacob didn't nap at all today. After I fed him this evening, I laid him down around 5:30 and he slept until I woke him up around 7:30. He probably would have slept longer if I had let him. I wanted to give him a bath, though, and get his "birthday picture" and spend a little more time with him before we passed out for the night. He enjoys his baths so much now. After his bath and a little more food, he's now out for the night.

I wanted to take him to the library tonight to pick out a few good color-contrasting baby/toddler books, but I guess that'll have to wait for the weekend. We have a TON of books for him already, but it's always cool to see what the library has available. Plus, I'm sure that Jacob would fall in love with the place. :P

Jacob Loves...

He may be too young yet to appreciate many of his toys, but there are a few things that Jacob really loves.


DADDY! - While I'm sure that he loves me, too, Jacob is just smitten with his daddy. Whenever I hold him and Dave walks in the room and says anything, Jacob's eyes get all wide and he starts looking around trying to find him. When they get face-to-face... smiles abound. Today he got a little fussy for a minute, so I walked around the house with him saying, "Let's go find Daddy. Where is he? Daaaaddy... Daaaaaaaddy... Daddy?" Jacob became quiet and still and broke out into a big smile when we found him. They spend the majority of the day together now that I'm back to work, so I guess it makes sense. I just hope that he starts reacting to me like this once summer comes and I'm home with him more often.

His chickie - The little yellow chickie that I wrote about a few entries ago (the one I bought for him at Hallmark) makes a cute chirping noise that brings a smile to his face whenever he hears it for the first time (or first few times) in a certain time period. He doesn't really grab for the chickie yet, but he loves the sound effect.

Lights and shiny things - In any room we go into, Jacob almost immediately looks up at the lights or out the window to the sunshine. Even when he's sitting in my lap in the rocking chair without the light on, Jake looks up and stares... I suppose at the glass globes around the lightbulbs or the brass on the ceiling fan and blades. Unfortunately, this category also includes the television. The constantly changing colors are a big source of amusement and contentment. My little baby is already a couch potato. :P He does his best at Tummy Time when I lay on the couch so that his head faces the TV. I suppose the fascination will go away once he starts to understand speech and realizes that CNN news really isn't all that interesting.

Music - Jacob's Uncle Derek recorded a bunch of Rockabye Baby albums onto CDs for a Christmas present. These albums have songs from different bands/artists that they've taken the words out of and turned into lullabye tunes. I think we have the CDs from just about every band/artist whose music they "lullabye"-ified - The Beatles, Bob Marley, Green Day, Beach Boys, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, The Ramones, Bjork, and a bunch of others that I can't think of at the moment. Anyway... ever since his first days, Jacob has loved listening to those CDs as well as most music in general. These CDs (along with being snuggled in his sling carrier) helped me get him to sleep for a nap many, many times in his first two months of life.

Being read to and looking at picture books - Jacob loves looking at the colors and pictures in storybooks. Lately, I've been propping him up in the corner of the couch with a pillow next to him for a little extra support/safety and putting the book right in front of him. He stares intently and really seems to love hearing the storyline.

People and faces in general - So far, Jacob's given a huge smile to just about everyone he's met who's spent more than three minutes with him. Every now and then, I'll hold him on my lap facing the computer and look through various peoples' facebook photos. He sits contentedly as I go through them and smiles at the brighter, cheerier faces... gets a bigger smile for babies... and starts moving his little arms and legs (and sometimes making noises) at pictures of people who he knows. It's so cute! :)

Time, Time Tickin' Away

Last Friday, Jacob turned two months old. Every day I find myself amazed that just three months ago I was still suffering from morning sickness and heartburn and had this little life inside my stomach. And every day I find it impossible to believe that this tiny little guy is going to grow into a teenager before I know it. I went to a thrift store today and realized that I will never be looking for newborn or 0-3 month sized clothes again. We're on to the next size up and will just keep growing and growing. I can't wait for Jakey to hit certain milestones, but (like most moms) I'm not ready to lose the "baby" in my baby. It's all bittersweet.

Sigh.

So...

The soy formula seems to be working wonderfully! Jacob almost seems like a different baby these past few days. He's so much happier and much more playful - smiling, laughing, and making cute little noises and expressions throughout the day. He's so much more content and relaxed. No more screaming and turning beet red just to pass gas off and on all day and all night. I feel so bad that he had to suffer through so many weeks of pain before we figured this out and made the switch. He could have been a happy baby from Week One if I had just stuck with my gut instinct and done a little more research on baby formulas. Anyway... there's no point in stressing about that now, right? Hopefully we've found the "cure" and Jacob will continue to blossom and show us his true self in the weeks and months to come.

He's still not sleeping much longer during the night - maybe four-and-a-half or five hours tops. I'm hoping that'll change once his system becomes accustomed to the soy formula. His pediatrician gave us a ratio to safely combine his formula to get more calories per serving, so maybe giving him a feeding of one of these servings at his last evening/late night feedings will help him sleep more. Although, that doesn't seem to be the case during the day as far as the higher-calorie servings allowing him to take longer naps. Hmpf. All we can do is wait it out and hope that he starts drinking more soon. He's finally up to drinking a little over three ounces at some feedings, but most babies his age are already drinking five or six (or more!) ounces at a time!

After my mom's success with bathing Jacob in his tub without the sling/hammock attachment, I tried it here a few days later... and we had a happy bath, too! All he wanted/needed was to be more submerged in the water. The sling attachment - which I had originally thought would be a great way to ease him into the idea of baths - was actually the cause of his discontent. Oy. So Bath Time is now a happy time... until it's time to wash his hair and then get out of the water!

This past Saturday (the 13th), Jacob went on his first road trip. We headed down to Carbondale to visit with some of our friends who we haven't seen since before Jake was born. As usual, he slept most of the way down there and then was so overstimulated that he slept (or fussed and tried to sleep) through most of the visit. I really wasn't expecting to see so many people myself, but everyone ended up over at Pops' apartment throughout the afternoon and evening. There must have been about sixteen kids and adults including Pops.

Over the past few days, Jake's discovered his hands. He's been sucking on his fingers or his knuckles - sometimes when he's content and other times as a way of consoling himself. He's also been taking hold of one of my fingers and leading it into his mouth to suck on when we're playing or just hanging out "talking" on the couch. It's so cute.

His baby acne has come back a little, but it's not too bad. It's much less prominent than it was before. Hopefully it'll go away over the next few weeks.

That's about all I can think of for now as far as his health, progress, and recent excitement. Jacob gets to meet his second of three grandpas next month. My dad will be moving up here for his six-month summer stay, so they'll get to spend a lot of time together. I'm really hoping that either we'll be able to fly out and visit his grandparents and aunt on the east coast one of these years soon or that they'll be able to come out to visit us. I want him to meet as many of his family members as possible... and I want to meet them, too!