Pictures (just because)

Yesterday, Andrew wore his "big boy" outfit from Desiree.  The adorable plaid shirt and kackies were hidden under the sling as he slept through church, but I could resist taking some pictures of his utter cuteness later.

 He is obsessed with his tongue and likes to show it off to us all day long.

Melissa says that this is what he'll look like when he's 6. 

Six Week Pictures

I know it is meant to make you spend way too much money, but the hospital photographers offered a free in-home photo session and a free 8x10 when your child is six weeks old. I took them up on the offer and swore to myself that I would only get the free photo and no others... did that work? No. I ended up getting two free 8x10s and buying the "scrapbook" package of one 3x5 of every picture they took. $100 later and a few weeks waiting, they arrived in the mail yesterday. Some of them are super cute... some not so much (but I didn't spend the time to scan those).

 As Melissa says, this is his new head shot.

 This the the "official" 8x10 that I got for the wall

 This is the other 8x10 that the salesman threw in to convince me to spend money.  It will be on the wall in Andrew's room.

 Chargers Baby

 nope, still didn't get my cute bear hat picture, although this one is better

 I didn't have any make-up on and my hair isn't done, but I still like these with me and Andrew.

Sleeper!

We've been following the EASY method (Baby Whisperer) for a little less than three weeks now.  Remember, I told you all about the sleeping thing here. I've got to say that I am SO impressed with this lady that I feel like I could be her promoter (and I have tried to share with the bumpies).  Andrew has always been a happy baby, but I think he's even happier now.  He sleeps well during the day and at night. 

The "eventually" that I mentioned in the previous post is here--after the five minute wind down where I hold, pat, and shh I put him down and leave the room without needing to continue patting/shhhing.  More times than not, he's still awake and looking around, but he puts himself to sleep.  Naps range from 45-90 minutes and night sleep averages about eight hours per night (the longest was 9 hours and 22 minutes).

As long as we "do" the routine, he also pretty much sleeps anywhere.  He's slept on the floor at Melissa's, on the RV bed camping, at the go-cart race track, in Ontario Mills, and many different restaurant.

Since Monday when the doctor prescribed Zantac, we've having a lot easier time eating too.  He HATES the Zantac (who in the world decided to make children's zantac in peppermint flavor?!?), but he doesn't arch his back and refuse to finish eating anymore.  Because of this, this week he has also eliminated his "dream feed" at 11 pm (basically he refused to eat and we were brave enough to just let him sleep).

Star

Drama King in the works

Father's Day Celebration

We celebrated on Saturday with my parents and sister by taking a trip to Fast Lap in Ontario.  Dave found a fantastic coupon online that got us five races for $22 (it is normally $25 for one race).

Dave, of course, knew what he was getting himself into and had a wonderful time trying to beat his own time and the other fast daredevils on the track.

Melissa liked it better during her second and third race and was starting to become one of those scary daredevils by the third race.

I raced once and was done; Dave said it was because I was too slow, but really I was not thrilled to be squished into a seat in order to go around and around and around again for ten minutes (can I say BORING). 

Dad really enjoyed himself the first time, but the second time he got a bit sick to his stomach so he was done too.

My mom thought it was too loud and spend most of the time with the baby in the air conditioned "safety video" room :)

Andrew didn't notice he was anywhere different than normal and took a nap.

Beach Camping

Last Wednesday we drove down to San Clemente to visit my parents at their Beach Camping site!  The weather was cold, the beach is far away, but the company was fantastic! 

Grandpa and his mini-me

 Andrew played with everyone including "Mr. Bear" whom he loves!

 He slept well on the RV bed.

 He had fun with June and Rick.

 He tolerated the cold weather much better than mommy (she was freezing).

Happy Father's Day Dave

Well Baby Check-up, Week 9

Andrew went to his two month appointment today with Dr. Ghebrial.   Everything looks good and the doctor was super impressed with his head control and back strength.  He commended mommy on obviously having lots of tummy time (yeaaa Mommy!). 
As I thought, Andrew does indeed have reflux and will start taking baby Zantac tonight.  The doctor suggested adding rice cereal to his bottle after a week of Zantac if the spit up quantity does not decrease (it probably will never go away).

He also had to get three shots.  After the first one, he turned bright red, scrunched up his face (it looked like he was holding his breath), and let out the biggest, longest scream ever.  I cried.  After about 30 seconds of being held, Andrew was perfectly fine.  We'll see how the next 24 hours go.

Here are his new stats: 

Length: 24 inches, 89th percentile

• 3 Weeks: 21.5 inches, 58 percentile (grown 2.5 inches, 31 percentile jump!)
• Birth: 20.5 (grown 3.5 inches)

Weight: 12lbs, 3.8 ounces, 51st percentile

•  3 Weeks: 8 lbs, 14.9 ounces, 24 percentile (gained 3 lbs, 2.6 ounces, doubled percentile )
• Birth: 7 lbs, 5 oz (gained 4 lbs, 15 oz)

Head Circumference: 16.73 inches, 95th percentile

•  3 Weeks: 15.5 inches, 84 percentile (grown 1.5 inches)
• Birth: 13.5 (grown 3.2 inches)

The most interesting thing that Dr. Ghebrial printed for me was the "weight-for-length" percentiles.  Andrew is in the 10th percentile for this--meaning that only 10% of babies his length weigh less than him, 90% weigh more!  He is one "skinny" baby!!

Hmmm

Old man? Rock star? Nerdy face?

Baby Whisperer

I like routines.  Actually, I can honestly say, I thrive on them.  I firmly believe most people do (even those who say they don't like predictability).  At school, everything that happens in my classroom is a routine that I explicitly teach, we practice, and we follow all year long.  Routines make me happy and they allow my students to feel relaxed and understand what to expect when they walk in the room.  I firmly believe that 90% of my classroom management is based on routines taught and they eliminate a ton of discipline problems that could occur.

I think it is perfectly natural that my child should be on a routine.  He'll know what to expect, feel relaxed and confident on what's coming, and, I'm assuming, a happier baby overall. Also, as he grows, I'd hope that a routine would help in other ways too.  As I was reading around on the Internet about the different "sleep training" methods, it was a pretty obvious choice for me to "pick" the Baby Whisperer (Tracy Hogg) because Andrew already naturally followed this routine so the E and A were pretty stinkin' easy (no pun intended) to follow.

In The Baby Whisperer words, "A structured routine is not the same thing as a schedule.  A schedule is about time slots whereas EASY is about keeping up the same daily pattern--eating, activity, sleeping--and repeating the pattern every day.  We're not trying to control children, we're guiding them.  The way humans learn--or other species, for that matter--is doing something over and over, which is what a structured routine reinforces."

Andrew is a pretty easy baby; however, I thought that he didn't like sleeping unless he's being held.  Between Dave and I, we spent many nights sleeping in the recliner with the baby on our chest.  Going to sleep was also becoming more and more of a challenge.  He would get really fussy, need to be swaddled, held tightly while holding the pacifier in his mouth, rocked, and patted on his bottom to fall asleep--this process was frustrating and would take anywhere from 10-45 minutes for each nap and in the middle of the night.  Then, as you went to put him down, more often than not, his eyes would pop open and he'd be wide awake again.  We (or maybe just me?) had two goals: 1)sleep longer hours during the night and 2) go down for naps/nighttime without a huge ordeal or needing to be held.

Anyway, Baby Whisperer (as I mentioned in his two month post) has been a wonderful experience so far.  As she suggested, I've been keeping a log of when we do each part of the EASY routine and how much he eats/sleeps during the day.  She makes it pretty clear that sleeping and eating well during the day directly impacts how he sleeps at night.  We've gotten so much better at sleeping this week and I'm sure a huge part of it is that we have a clear and repetitive routine for nap time and nighttime taken straight from her book.

Nap Routine:
After playing for awhile, Andrew starts yawning.  After 3-4 yawns we start this routine.
1. Change diaper
2. Swaddle
3. Hold upright in dim room (no bouncing, rocking, jiggling, etc) for 5 minutes.  If he starts crying (which is almost always does), firmly pat his back in a tick-tock patter and say "shhhh" into his ear (sounding like a faucet turning on).  Mommy likes this time too because it is "cuddling time."
4. After 5 minutes, into the crib he goes on his side and continue patting his back and "shhhh"ing if he's still awake.  Continue this until he relaxes and goes into deep sleep. 

Nighttime Routine:
"Tank up" feed 2 hours apart in the evening, after second feeding we start this routine
1. Bath time
2. Gentle massage and sleeper on
3. Read book
4-5. Follow steps 3-4 from above
6. Around 11 pm, dreamfeed (in hopes he'll sleep until 5)
*Also, if Andrew wakes up before 4 am, I know he isn't hungry, so we follow the routine steps 3 and 4 to put him right back to sleep.

Eventually we should be able to do the first few steps and lay him down drowsy without needing to continue patting/shhhhing. The time he has to be patted/shhhhed in his crib has already dropped dramatically from 20 minutes to anywhere from none to 5 minutes.

Two Months Old

Andrew is changing daily!  It is wonderful that I have the opportunity to be home with him and learn all about him as he does this changing.  My three days back at work were an okay break, but made me appreciate the next 12 weeks even more.  His personality is taking shape!

Developmental Milestones this Month: Andrew fits into the textbook category for his development.  He can do the following (all age-appropriate according to What to Expect the First Year): smile in response to your smile, startles at a bell/clapping sound, lifts his head 90 degrees and raises his chest when he's on this stomach, rolls over from his stomach to his back, holds his head (relatively) steady when sitting upright, grasps rattle/toy held to his hand, pays attention to small objects in front of him and tracks them as I move them.  He's also just starting to vocalize, but is pretty quiet. 

Things Andrew likes: anything with eyes or polka dots (which I assume he thinks are eyes)--his reaction is smiles.  He loves the octopus on this play mat and the bear and bird Grandma hung by the changing table.  He still also really enjoys his crib mobile and being talked/read to.
Things Andrew doesn't like: Being strapped into his car seat, hiccups, burping or really anything that makes the bottle come out of his mouth, and staying in the same position for too long

Sleeping: As I have gotten better at reading him and following the Baby Whisperer EASY method, we've been getting better and better at napping during the day.  He doesn't always sleep, but we are getting several good naps in per day.  It is by no way the new normal and just typing it out may jinx it, but Andrew has slept 7 hours in a row three of the last four nights! We also transitioned to the crib this past week during the day for naps and he's been in both places at night.  I'm sure he doesn't know/care about the difference between his crib and bassinet, but Mommy isn't quite ready for him to be down the hall; however, I said I'd transition him about 8 weeks and I'm stickin' to my guns.  The monitors are out and we've been using them since last Saturday.

Eating:  We're now at 4.5 ounces every three hours during the day with a "tank up" feeding at 8 pm, and a "dream feed" at 10:30.  He is eating about 30 ounces per day.  Everyone is a lot happier now that we aren't messing with breastfeeding.

Diapers: Still in size 1--it amazes me how many diapers we have used! We're at 410 size ones!

Clothing: Andrew is wearing 0-3 month clothes.  Because he is still long and skinny, most of the pants/shorts that we have in 0-3 fall off his belly, but the newborns are too short.

And a rundown of the last two weeks so that I don't forget anything important:
May 22: Visited San Diego for the first time.  He slept in the car all the way there and home!
May 23: Took all day to adjust back to normal from San Diego trip, super fussy
May 25: Upped formula to 4 ounces from 3.5.  Made mommy and daddy happy with a six hour stretch at night (starting about 7 pm) followed by a four hour stretch.
May 26: Completely transitioned to 0-3 month clothes and packed up all the newborn stuff to give back to Tawni and Rachel.  He is still skinny enough to fit into newborn, but way too long.  Mommy cried.  Dinner with Keys Family
May 28: Attended his second car show in the Baby Bjorn and slept most of the time. Lots and lots of smiles for Daddy!
May 29: First birthday party for Caleb
May 30: First Memorial Day Picnic with Grandma and Grandpa; lots of smiles at Grandpa. Slept for SIX HOURS starting at 5:30 pm. 
May 31: Napped in his crib and stayed asleep!  During tummy time, Andrew really started holding up his head for extended periods and sort of rolls over when his arms are put under him by Mommy
June 1-3: Mommy back to work and Grandma babysitting--Grandma says we have an Angel baby on our hands
June 1: Figures out how to roll over completely with Grandma
June 4: Start sleep routine using the EASY method.  First night: down at 8:45, up at 1, 4, and 7.  Went down immediately at 1, but needed encouragement at 4.  Up for the morning at 7.
June 5, 7-8: Slept 7 hours straight starting at 9 pm (this is good sleep time for mommy and daddy!)

"Stop taking about me mom," says Andrew.

Hospital Bag Review (What I actually used)

The things I didn't use are crossed out and the things I couldn't live without have a star!
Important Papers/Information (in folder)

• Index card with critical info (Name, Kaiser #, Doctor/Midwife name, Kaiser L&D number, Dave’s cell)
• Birth certificate forms (filled out already)
• Breastfeeding/pooping log forms
• Birth Plan
• Contact List of emergency numbers

For Jennifer

• Nursing sports bra and tank top*
• Nursing night gown
• Going home outfit (tank, casual pants, sweater, maternity underwear)
• Slippers
• No-slip socks (2 pairs)*
• Toiletries (small shampoo/conditioner/face wash/tooth paste/toothbrush)*
• Hair Brush
• Chap stick
• Make-up* (obviously you guys know how many pictures we took!)
• Stretchy headband, bobby pins, ponytail holder
• Nipple cream
• Disposable breast pads

For Baby Andrew

• Going home outfit
• Sleeper w/hat (2 sets)
• Socks (3 pairs)
• Knit blanket from Grandma T
• Receiving Blankets* (we actually brought two more from home)
• Burp Clothes
• Car seat installed in car w/warm blanket in case of cold weather*

For Labor/Delivery/Hospital Stay

• Water Bottles (2)*
• Snacks for Dave* (should of had more for the starving man!)
• Jolly Ranchers
• Flip Camera w/charger
• Playing Cards
• Tennis balls in a sock*
• Dave's stuff to spend the night
• Camera (point and shoot)*
• Camera (Canon)*
• Cell phone charger (Jennifer)*
• Cell phone charger (Dave)*
• iPad w/charger
• Sweater/Jacket for Dave
• Boppy Pillow
• Pillow w/colored pillowcase*

Bath Time

One of Andrew's favorite "activities" is Bath Time! 

While Grandma was here, we took a few pictures :)

Holding up his head like a big boy!

Bottle Experiment

The Breastflow Bottles were wonderful when I was trying to breastfeed and bottle feed at the same time.  Andrew took it without problem and it did not cause excess gas; however, they were a pain in the butt to wash because of the double nipple.  Really, the inside blue nipple required scrubbing to get the formula out of the small, hard plastic spots.  When it was clear that breastfeeding was going to work no matter how hard I tried, we decided that we wanted to use a different kind of bottles that were "easier."

It seems like everyone told me that their child did/did not like certain bottles, so I was concerned about switching.  Thankfully I have wonderful friends (Rachel and Tawni) who have tried multiple bottles and let me borrow them! 

First up, the Avent bottles.  Andrew took the bottle without a problem at first, but after about half a bottle, he would push the nipple out of his mouth and drooled a HUGE amount all over himself.  We used these all day just in case it was a fluke, but same thing happened every time. On to the next one...

Second bottle--Nuk Bottle.  Again, Andrew took the bottle without a problem and ate it super fast.  So fast, in fact, that he spit up most of his meal and had a lot more gas than normal.  I only used this one twice and didn't feel like subjecting my poor son to the tummy problems for a full day.  Next...

The third bottle--Soothie.  I was actually pretty stoked about these bottles because they are actually the same bottle and collar as the Breastflow Bottle.  If Andrew liked these and they worked well, all we would have to buy is new nipples.  Like all previous bottles, Andrew took it without a problem (at this point, it became pretty clear that my son will take any bottle).  He ate his normal speed, had his normal about of spit up, but had horrible hiccups about 15 minutes after eating.  I added a bit more burping and the hiccups got better the next bottle.  I was sold on them; however, in the middle of the night, his starting drooling a ton when eating with Daddy.  Dave vetoed the bottle after that.  I'm sure that these would work well with a bit of training from the wee one and Daddy.Last bottle--Playtex Drop-in Nurser.  Andrew takes it and eats well.  Burping is great, spit-up is minimal, hiccups aren't normal.  Best part, you don't have to wash the bottle (this sold Dave on this bottle).  He drools a little bit as he eats, but nothing a burp cloth can't take care of.  The best part?  Tawni let us borrow all of her 4 ounce bottles and gave us a box of the drop-ins! 

My poor child has used a lot of bottles the last two weeks, but he appears to be pretty easy to please as long as there is milk flowing into his mouth.  All that said, we're going to use the drop-ins because they're easy!

Back to Work and Off Again

This week I went back to work for three days... three minimum days at that. 

It really shouldn't count as "going back to work." 

My mom came out to take care (and play) of Andrew and I headed back to my classroom to give finals, clean up, and sign out for the summer.  The first day I cried on the way to school, but as soon as I walked into my room I realized how much I had to get done in the 15 hours I had to work.  I got busy and worked non-stop while at work.  This afternoon I turned in my final grades, signed out with the administrators and prepared to leave.  I do have to go back tomorrow or Monday to finish a few things I didn't have time to do (unhook my computer and lock everything up), but really I'm home with my baby boy for the next  12 weeks!

And yes, Andrew's birthday was planned around school.

Happy Birthday Caleb

 We celebrated Caleb's first year of life on Sunday!

His cupcake eating skills were the best part--it took him almost 30 minutes to get dirty!  Andrew enjoyed sleeping with mommy, daddy, and Aunt Tawni

 As we celebrated it was amazing to look around and see the about of kids around us.  As I told Dave, "we're old enjoy to have kids!"

Sammy showing off Brendan's animals (Brendan wouldn't pose for me!)