The Super Dooper Update - September thru December!

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Yikes! Where does the time go?! I knew it'd been a while since I last sat down to type and even a bit longer since I last actually published a blog entry... but four or five months?! Man.

I started a blog a couple of months ago, I guess, and kept adding to it and revising the updates every week or so. I'm not sure where to start... so I guess I'll have to look at that blog and do some kind of copy-and-paste with everything. Yikes. So I just looked at it, and there are over ten long paragraphs! Hmmm... I guess I'll just transfer everything here and everyone who reads this will just have to plan on setting aside a good chunk of time to read everything! :P So, go grab your coffee or tea (and maybe a light snack) and enjoy! Apologies in advance if it's confusing to read. He's progressed so much in just a few short months!


So, here's how I started the blog entry way back in September...

The days and weeks fly by even quicker now that I'm back to work for the school year. The weekdays all meld into one with the only difference being that Monday is even more depressing and Friday is even more exciting than pre-Jacob days. The weekend zips by ten times faster, and evenings just aren't long enough at all. Just thinking about how chaotic things are with only the three of us and with Dave being at home during the day, I am in awe of the parents who "have it all together". I find it amazing that some people can work away from home or stay home with their kids all day and still manage to prepare a healthy dinner for the family and eat it together as well as keep up with the laundry, dishes, and their kids' extracurricular activities on a regular basis. Babies are a lot more work, though. Or at least that's going to be my rationalization. :P So, until Jacob grows up a little more and becomes capable of doing more for himself (or even just becomes capable of entertaining himself for longer than five or ten minutes!), I'm letting myself off the hook of trying to be Supermom. Or maybe things will start falling into place over the next few months and I can figure out how to juggle everything with ease and confidence. One can dream, right? :P

So much to update about...

Jacob's now sitting up for several minutes at a time and is getting stronger and stronger every day. We put a Leachco nursing pillow behind him for the predictably unpredictable topples. We had been putting this more closely around him at first in an attempt to cushion him from falls on all sides, but the therapist pointed out that we were inadvertently preventing him from learning to use his hands to catch himself when starting to fall. (Oops!) So, now we just put the pillow completely behind him - close enough so that his head lands on it when he falls backwards but far enough away so that his hands immediately touch the floor when he leans to the side. We had to "teach" him this reflex (of catching himself) as well as the safety reflex of putting his hands out when being dropped/lowered ("falling") face-first.

*Update for progress through early November... We no longer use the pillow for Jacob in a "safety" sense. He sits independently for an endless amount of time without toppling unless he's trying to reach for something way out of his grasp. We're now using it as a "bump in the landscape" - something for him to try to maneuver over when attempting to crawl. Or a comfy prop for quick living room diaper changes... or a soft pillow for us to lean on when we're on the floor with him. :)

**And once again, I started updating and revising and another month flew by. Progress through early-December regarding the pillow... It accidentally got peed on during a recent diaper change and is headed for the laundromat as soon as we can get there! :P He's mastered sitting and getting to the floor by himself (without just falling), so it's really not needed anymore at all. :)

And back to the original September entry -

Over the past month, he's developed quite a bit of strength. Arms, legs, tummy... but he still does NOT like to be on his stomach for more than a few minutes regardless of what cool toy may be in front of him. About two weeks ago (or maybe three), he scooted himself around in a circle and/or half-circle on three or four different days to reach a toy... which is the most independent movement he'd EVER done. A couple of days ago, he started rolling onto his stomach when playing and actually did a full 360 degree flip to get to one of his toys! If we put our hands behind his feet to give him a little leverage, he'll push up against them and propel himself forward... but he's still probably at least a month away from even doing an army crawl. I'm so glad to see him finally rolling onto his stomach by himself. It's finally time to start working on baby proofing the house. :) He loves when we position him in a kneeling stance and bounces up and down giggling and smiling. He works hard during his therapy sessions and then with us on other days. I'm so proud of the progress he's made since I blogged last. His development's coming along, but I don't think I'll ever stop worrying until he finally gets around to crawling. I know I just have to keep reminding myself that all babies/kids learn and grow at different rates, but it's hard.

*Update for early November... Jacob's still not crawling yet, but he's started to do a "wounded soldier" army crawl for a few weeks now. He bends his left arm at a 90 degree angle, sticks his left leg straight out, and drags himself across the floor bending his right arm and leg a bit to give himself a little boost. It's cute, but I wish he would just get his knees up and realize how much easier it could be to just crawl! His therapist continues to give us "homework" to work on with him to strengthen his stomach muscles as those are what need to be developed to allow his thighs to be more comfortable in the crawling position. Most of the activities involve practicing bending forward and down to reach something on the ground when standing or when sitting on a small stool or couch cushion. She said stairs are actually good practice for pre-crawling, but we don't have any here. Nevertheless, he's getting there little-by-little. Lately, we've been following behind him and holding onto his upper thighs to help alternate his legs in coordination with the correct arms when crawling. At first, his thigh muscles were so tight and rigid, but now they're really loosening up. Crawling's still probably several weeks or another month away, but it's awesome to be able to finally see a good deal of progress!

**Update for early December... JACOB IS CRAWLING!!!!!! Just a few days after Thanksgiving, Jacob took his first few crawling "steps"! He's still pretty slow-moving for a crawler, but he can get half-way across the living room before he drops down to his tummy and slips back into the army crawl/drag. His pincer grasp is just about perfected, so he's all about seeking out the tiniest pieces of lint, dirt, leaf crumbles, crumbs, etc. on the floor as he moves about. We're vacuuming just about every day - sometimes every other day, sometimes two or three times a day depending on how the weather is and what gets tracked in or blown through the doorway with the wind. We have a LOT to do to truly baby-proof the house, so it's nice that Jacob's taking his time amping up his crawling. I think the main area of the living room is pretty good (at least until he starts walking and trying to get to the TV and DVD player), and that's usually where he spends all of his awake time anyway. Hopefully I'll be able to get to the back part of the living room and then the dining room soon before he gets faster and more curious.

Back to September...

Jake was previously pretty intent on using his right hand for everything (except feeding) and very rarely used his left hand. At this age (or at the age he was during his initial developmental evaluation), babies aren't supposed to show a hand preference. His therapist just encouraged us to keep handing him things on his left side and having him reach with that hand (which I had already been doing), and now I think he's using both hands pretty equally. It was the other way around when it came to eating, though. I think that was due to the fact that I'm right-handed and when I sit directly across from him in the high chair... I've always inadvertently fed him more towards his left side. So, whenever the spoon came close to his mouth, he would reach out with his left hand to help guide it in. I focused on feeding him on his right side for a couple of weeks, and his hand-to-mouth coordination improved quite a bit. So now I've been making a conscious effort to alternate sides every few bites and he's been doing much better with this, too.

*Update for early December... Jacob's doing great with eating and playing with both hands. We've moved onto "finger foods" (bite-sized pieces of soft, easy-to-gum fruits, veggies, and crackers/toast), and Jacob LOVES feeding himself this way. Every now and then, he still seems to prefer using his right hand to eat... so I'll gently block that hand and he quickly reaches up with his left. He looooooooves his food!

September entry...

For about a week now, he's been flopping himself over onto his tummy in his crib when we lay him down for naps. He pushes himself up onto his hands and cries, babbles, or grunts and won't give up until we leave him alone for about five to ten minutes and then come back in to check on him. (Dave saw him do this for the first time. I think it was September 25th.) Usually after about ten minutes, we can give him his pacifier, lay him on his side, and he'll fall asleep with a little song or some butt-patting. :P

*December... Now that he's crawling a bit, he's also been pulling himself up on the couch and end tables and in his crib when we try to lay him down for his naps or for bed. He'll pull himself up in his crib and shake the rail like he's a prisoner. :P So far, he'll do that for a few minutes and then start to cry then wail full-force if we don't go in to soothe him. Once he gets to a full wail, I'll go in to check on him after a few minutes and hoist him out of his crib. He usually falls asleep with just a few minutes of me rocking him in my arms (while sitting on our bed) and singing my little made-up sleepy-time songs. I try to lay him in his crib before he's completely out so that he has the feeling of drifting off to sleep in his bed instead of in my arms. (The "experts" say that a lot of babies wake up immediately after being laid in their cribs from falling asleep in their parent's arms because it's akin to falling asleep in a cushion-y bed surrounded by cozy blankets and then waking up on the floor with just a blanket on your back.) His naps haven't been more than 45 minutes long for the past few days except for times when Dave is home with him and lays down in our bed with him. They slept like that for two hours the other day! I wish I had the time to do that on the weekends!

September -

Over the past month or so, getting Jacob dressed has been quite a bit easier than before. Well, with his shirts, anyway. He's actually pushing his arms through the sleeves once we get them in the openings. He also grabs the front of his shirt and tries to pull it down after we slip it over his head. He still kicks and moves his little legs like crazy, though, and is flopping over to his side and trying to use the changing table bars to pull himself up now, so getting his diaper and pants on is a different story. He's been grabbing onto his toes during diaper changes (something most babies his age have been doing for months) but still hasn't quite developed the stomach muscles to pull them all of the way to his mouth. He loves when we stretch them up towards his face, though, and go, "Geeeet doze toes!Get 'em!" ;P

December... Not much has changed on this one. He does great trying to get his arms through the sleeves and occasionally helps put a foot in his pant leg. He's not kicking so much anymore, but now that he's crawling... he constantly tries to flip over and get away from us when we're trying to change his diaper. He still grabs onto his toes when we start out, but he quickly moves on to trying to escape! The Huggies wipes box has been a lifesaver for diaper changes. He LOVES that thing! I'll push the little "button" to pop the lid up and lay it on his tummy before I start. He holds onto it, tries to tap the lid down into place, and feels the soft rubbery part where the wipes come out. Other wipes containers that I've seen have a very rough opening... nothing I would ever give to a baby. So, thank you, Huggies, for constructing your wipes containers to be safe and useful for a diaper changing distraction! ;P

As far as other things Jacob...

He's still obsessed with putting everything in his mouth. I'm sure that's probably inevitable for another few months, though, huh? He got his first tooth (bottom front tooth on left side) just a few days after his six month birthday and the second one - right next to it on the right - just a few days later. Shortly after his eight-month birthday, his top two teeth starting poking through (first the left one, then the right just a couple of days later). He woke up crying in the middle of the night a few times and needed some rocking and cuddling and singing to get him back to sleep after having a dissolveable teething strip... but nothing more than a fifteen or twenty minute disruption in sleep (although sometimes it was three times in one night!). A few weeks later, his teeth on either side of THOSE teeth started coming in... so he's up to six teeth now! His pediatrician told us that she saw Number 7 at his nine month appointment, but we can't see anything (and don't try to feel for them anymore since he's prone to biting now!). He's been drooling and chewing on things a lot lately again, though, so maybe they'll show up before too long. I have a little fingertip toothbrush that I use at night and TRY to remember to brush his little teeth before bed each night. Sometimes, though, he ends up getting tired and cranky a little earlier than I estimate. He doesn't handle teeth-brushing well at all when he's overtired - especially his top teeth for some reason. Oh well. I think I'm doing pretty good overall.

Jacob is still fascinated with the great outdoors and with new faces. We didn't go too many places over the summer, though, since it was so hot, humid, and downright miserable. Every now and then there was a bearable day, so we tried to take advantage of those days as much as we could. We took him to the community park once, and he got to see the high school's marching band practicing as well as watch about 100 kids running all over the playground from the town's community center summer camp. He loves watching other kids play regardless of their age and especially likes it if one of them come up and talk to him or smile at him. He gets a BIG grin. It's so cute to see. I took him for a few walks in his stoller - his first ones sitting upright like a "big boy" instead of facing us in the "bucket seat" attached to the stroller. He was so excited to see the world from this view. He clenched his little hands into fists at his sides, sat up nice and tall, and just took it all in. During our walks, I talked to him about things he might have been seeing or hearing and he would smile, shake his head excitedly, and/or make his deep, little excited noise ("Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!). Too cute. We bought him a couple pair of baby sunglasses, but his head was too wide for them! So, we quickly learned to be observant about the location of the sun and the direction of the stroller. We took him to the monthly flea market in Belleville a few times, and he had tons of admirers. One older woman approached him in his stroller and said, "Usually I don't give two hoots about babies, but YOU are a CUTIE!" He sat there and flashed a big grin. :) He smiles at just about anyone who smiles at him first... no fear of strangers yet. I took him for a walk to the dollar store a few months ago just to look at new things. We were walking down an aisle with shampoo and stuff and he got a big smile. I glanced around to see what could possibly be so interesting to him... and right at his eye level were a bunch of boxes of women's hair color with pictures of the women with bright, happy smiles grinning right at him. :P We took a few more walks during the fall to see the leaves changing color and went on a few outings with my mom. This year, I really want to make a point of finding friends/playmates for Jacob and setting up times to get together with them. He loves his family, but he really needs more interaction with people other than Mommy, Daddy, and his grandparents!

Over the summer, one of our friends from Texas sent Jacob a high chair! I had been feeding him either in his swing or in his bouncer chair, and neither of those were very ideal... especially as he was getting older and meals would be getting messier. The high chair is adjustable to seven different levels... so he can be at table-height or couch height - making it easy to feed him in the dining room or in the living room if we're watching a movie or something... or even to just let him play in while we're doing laundry or washing the dishes. The highchair she sent just happened to be the same product line as his jumperoo and a bib my mom had bought him a while back (Fisher Price Rainforest), so we're pretty coordinated with our baby accessories here. :P Jacob's pretty much feeding himself anything that's "finger food-able"... and even spaghetti is finger food-able to an extent. :P He gets noisy and grumpy if we don't offer him finger foods with every meal. He's already asserting his independence at meal times. He definitely loves his fruits better than his veggies, but he eats them all alright. He tries to help feed himself (with his spoon) every now and then, but that's definitely a work in progress! He does great with the finger foods, though.

We've been slowly introducing him to sippy cups and haven't had much progress yet. We've tried three so far. One is a Nuby brand that he bites the nipple of and gets mad at. Another one is an Avent Magic Cup (similar to this one but without the handles) which he seems to drink out of a little better, but I think it requires more effort than he prefers. :P The most recent one we've tried seems to be working the best, but he still would rather just have his bottles. After babies reach one year, they're not supposed to drink formula anymore. I guess he'll just HAVE to figure out sippies at that point, eh? We might just be doing his regular milk (organic soy milk) in a bottle for a few more months, though, to make sure he's drinking enough fluids in general. Sometimes he'll drink maybe 2 ounces of what's in his sippy cup and not drink anything else for over half an hour unless we give him his bottle. :P

Hmmm. What else? Ah... playtime stuff...

Up until about seven months, Jacob wasn't all that into Peek-a-Boo. He would smile when we played it with him, but he didn't seem to realize that he could use his hands to pull the blanket or towelie off of his face. He would just lay there making little excited gasping noises while flailing about like a turtle on its back. The therapy helped out so much. Within a month or two of working with him using her recommendations, he "gets it" now and can tug anything off of his face without a second thought. He gets a kick out of pulling things off of or away from my face... maybe because I react so silly when he does it to get him smiling and laughing. ;) He never initiates it, though. Maybe that'll come in time.

His favorite toy until a few months ago was the Playskool Busy Tumble Top that his Uncle Derek got him for a "Happy Jacob Day" gift in May. He knew how to operate it from the start and would put his hand up to the "spinner" and try to grab at it, but he finally mastered a fluid push-and-release about two months ago (I think). He still loves this toy and plays with it almost daily, but now that he can crawl and understands that he can control things (putting things IN, pushing buttons, retrieving objects, etc.), he's really loving the Explore N' Grow Busy Ball Popper. He has an older version than the one in the link, but it works the same. The motor apparently takes a lot of power; we just put new batteries in less than two weeks ago and they're already wearing down! Hmm... or maybe he just plays with it a bit too much! :P

A few other interests...

1. His Leap Frog Activity Table (again, an older version) at which he pulls himself up to stand and knows how to activate all of the different functions - turning "pages", pressing keys, moving his hand across a spinning toy, pulling a lever to the side and releasing, sliding a lever back and forth, and pushing a lever up and down.
2. Knocking down block towers
3. Playing with stacking cups - putting them in and taking them out of the other ones... also tossing them off from his highchair tray as quick as we can put them on ;)
4. Pulling things off of the couch or end tables and tossing them to the floor
5. Trying to play with one of the kitties with their toys (feathers on a long plastic rod)
6. Taking apart, chewing on, and throwing stacking ring toys
7. Books, books, books. :) He loves pulling his books out of his shelves on the entertainment center. Sometimes he really show interest and wants to be read to; other times he listen and look for a few minutes and then pull out a few more to mess around with. He loves turning pages, feeling textures in the touch-and-feel type books, and recently got a kick out of a scratch'n'sniff book.

I think I'll go ahead and finally stop here. This is an enormously long update, but I think it covers a lot about his development and growth over the past few months. Hopefully I'll be able to get back on track and keep this updated on a regular basis again now. I'm sure I'll slack off here and there from time to time, but hey... Mom's get busy, lazy, and distracted, too, right?! ;)

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