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