Saturday, November 26, 2011

Thanksgiving in Review

Ready for a TON of pictures?
We had a very busy day in San Diego with two full meals.  Andrew was a champ and had a grand time with all of his grandparents.
 We started with a smooth 1.5 hour drive down and a short stop at Grandma and Grandpa Pfeffer's house.  Andrew and Reese played for awhile.

 At noon, we headed over to the Buxton's house and Dave and Danny helped get the turkey into the deep fryer.
 Andrew enjoyed his own version of Thanksgiving dinner.  First, he enjoyed some chunks of sweet potatoes and tried mash potatoes (which he didn't like).

 We gave him a larger chunk of turkey for him to gnaw on and he LOVED it.  He gnawed and sucked on it and did not want me to take it away.

 After dinner, Andrew played with Grandma and crawled around to work off his meal.

 After our time at the Buxton's we went back to the Pfeffer's for our dinner Thanksgiving meal.  Andrew was ready to eat again (much more than mommy and daddy).
 More turkey!
 He actually managed to eat some of it this time!  He also added pieces of corn to his daily food intake.
 Andrew crashed for the night about 8:45 and mommy and daddy followed immediately!
Also, Andrew made turkey-hands for his teachers at school and his grandparents.  I got the idea from a fellow April mommy, Ashlee.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving

As we drive to San Diego to celebrate the day with our families, I wanted to take the time to be thankful for the great things in life.

I am blessed to have an amazing son who lights up the room with his infectious laughter and bright smile. I knew that mommyhood would be good, but I didn't know it would be this good. I am thankfully for Dave, who participates and helps with Andrew. I am thankful for our extended family and the continual love they provide to all three of us. I am thankful for Aunt Melissa and her ability to love on Andrew all the time. My friends have been amazing as we transition into parenthood and it is so cool to watch Andrew start to develop friends with the kids too. My mommy group of April moms has been a major blessing this year and although I have never met any of them in real life, I feel like they are some great friends!

I am thankful for my job that provides for our family and the beat daycare ever for Andrew while I am at work. His teachers truly love him.

I am thankful for Kaiser, their quick action, and their sincere care for my child's well being. Also, the ability to take Andrew 15 times in the past three months can't be overlooked (thanks RUSD for having stellar benefits for us).

And on a silly note, I am thankful for smart phones that let me use the internet on my phone. I would be forever behind on Facebook news without it (and this post wouldn't exist)!


Monday, November 21, 2011

Low key weekend

 Daddy worked outside to finish the cabinet doors.
 Andrew loves standing up at the baby gate.
 We set up the tree (behind the couch) and Andrew watched closely.
 It was COLD!
We played and sang songs.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Baby Proofing

Andrew is crawling and pulling up on everything he can get to and it has become pretty clear we have some things to 'fix' to help protect Andrew from this fixer upper.  Thank goodness we have the dining (red) room done and carpeted because we try to keep Andrew in there as much as possible.

Our fireplace had a metal chain skirt and Andrew had actually started going INTO the fireplace, so this was my first "need" in the baby proofing process.  This is a metal and glass fireplace door set up.  We ordered it from Amazon (Pleasant Hearth Edinburg in gunmetal) and it arrived in two days!  It took Dave 15 minutes to install.
The second project is cabinet doors for the bottom cabinets in the kitchen.  When we moved in, most of the doors were falling off, off, or broken so instead of trying to save them (if you'd like to remember them as ugly as they were), we just took them all off and threw them away.
 Anyway, Dave has started making the doors one at a time.  The frame is built out of birch (as recommended by Dad) and the inside will be wainscotting.  Getting the frame just right took most of last Sunday, but most of them were successfully built and attached.

 While Daddy worked outside, Andrew talked to him through the sliding door.
This is what the door will look like before it is painted all white.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Seven Month Photos

Andrew looked sick in his sixth month photos at Pennys, so we went back!  He was starting to get another cold, so I was worried that we'd repeat the same issue. Instead, he was wonderful and smiled the entire time!!






Random List of Confessions

  1. Andrew started saying Mamamamama and Dadadadadada this week.  I'm not sure that he means anything by it, but it is clearly a different set of sounds than his normal 'talking.' I want him to keep doing it.
  2. I'm 65% done with Christmas shopping.  In less than 8 days from now, I plan to be 100% done.
  3. Five days of teaching are in store for me this week, then a week off.  Thanksgiving break can't get here fast enough.
  4. I have really good students this year and I should feel lucky, but I don't. Seven year burnout?
  5. Andrew is really clingy to me in the afternoon/evenings after work and some days I enjoy it.
  6. I can't remember the last time I cooked dinner.
  7. Andrew is sick again (runny nose and cough); a huge part of me feels like it is my fault for not being able to provide him breast milk and having to put him into daycare. 
  8. Somehow people at work think that I am so sweet and nice, but they have no idea the mean things I say into my head.
  9. On Friday (Veterans Day), I had the day off and sent Andrew to daycare in the morning to be productive at home.  I did manage to work on the Arlington website, but I also watched four hours of TV on the DVR in my pjs.
  10. I was basically told that I wasn't going to be teaching Yearbook at AHS anytime soon and it makes me really, really mad.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Happy Birthday Aunt Melissa




I'm almost a full week late, but these pictures were taken on the actual day!
Melissa turns 25!!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Seven Months

best photo of the "shoot" and it was at the beginning without his white onesie and sticker
 Rolling around instead of getting dressed

No matter what I did, I could not get Andrew to sit, smile, and be 'normal.'

Pushing himself against the chair as hard as he could

Climbing up on everything

This might have to be our 'official' seven month picture.

Hiding under the lion eating his hands...

"Mom took my sticker off, so I'm going to pout."

Maybe if we're upside down... nope, still not smiling towards the camera
 
New Developmental Milestones this Month: Andrew has so many different skills now it is hard to make a list of them.  For the sake of space (and my time), here are the new age-appropriate developmental things that he can do: turn in the direction of his name, feed himself puffs, sit unassisted (without needing his hands for support), get himself into a sitting position from his tummy/back, pull himself up on pretty much anything, and crawl anywhere he wants. He also is showing much more recognition of mommy when he gets picked up from daycare each day.
  • He is still working on his bottom two teeth (and has been for the last three months), I'd expect them to come out any day now. You can see them right under the surface, who knows when they'll actually come out.
  • At the end he gave up the fight... but I'd already removed the sticker.
  • He still isn't making much disgustable sounds (like vowels and consonant combos like "ah-goo"), but has been more verbal. The doctor said it was normal for boys and they don't worry about it until nine months, but even then, it isn't normally an issue.
Physical Growth this Month: A few less doctor's visits this month, but still WAY too many.  Andrew has spent the month losing weight. He is eating significantly less formula; we aren't sure if this is because he doesn't feel good or his new acid reflux meds are working.  The priolec seems working well and he's throwing up a lot less.
  • November 5: 18 lbs, 0 oz
  • October 18: 18 lbs, 6.4 oz
  • October 13: 18 lbs, 5.8 oz, 27.5 inches
  • October 11: 18 lbs, 11.2 oz, 27.5 inches
Doctor's Trips: I feel like a broken record now, Andrew has spent most of his seventh (and sixth and fifth) month of life has been about being sick, trying to get better, and seeing doctors.  We've been to the doctor's less this month because frankly, we know what he has and exactly how they are going to tell us to treat it.  The croup returned on his sixth month birthday, which turned into brochiolitis again, which meant prednisone and breathing treatments again.  This time we have done breathing treatments MUCH longer than previous rounds. We have FOUR refills on the abuterol for the BT, so obviously the pediatrician thinks this is going to continue.  Even though his cough is almost gone, Andrew still has breathing treatments every morning and evening before bed.

Things Andrew likes: Andrew likes everything to do with people and moving.  He is not content to sit on your lap, but instead wants to bounce, jump, walk, crawl, and move in general.  Instead of smiling at strangers now, he just stares and takes it all in.  Target capivates his attention and he doesn't stop looking the whole time.  He follows people by moving his head around objects and mommy.  He doesn't want to be "put" in anything that stops his crawling/standing game, which includes the jumperoo and high chair (although he'll be content for 5 minutes or so). 
Things Andrew doesn't like: Being left alone in his room when he's awake.  There is no such thing as playing in the crib.  Remember the picture of him standing up holding on the edge?  Yeah, he does that and screams for out attention until we get him.  Andrew also has starting hating the 'going to sleep' process for naps--not that he doesn't nap, but he cries and throws his head back as he's "relaxing" into sleep.
Sleeping: When the sickness was said and done, Andrew went back to being mommy's kick butt night sleeper.  He's been adding an extra hour in the morning (sleeping until 6:30 most days), which is amazing.  His "normal" sleep schedule is 8 pm-6:30 am.
  • Naps at daycare have FINALLY started to improve.  He normally takes one short catnap in the morning (30-45 minutes) and one longer nap in the afternoon (60-120 minutes). Depending on how late he takes the second nap, he'll take a third nap with me from 4-5 pm or he'll stay up... this third nap has become unpredictable.
  • The swaddle is officially gone.  Andrew has been sleeping in a Carter's sleep sack on top of his pjs to stay warm, but with his extra long body, they are getting too short.  I just bought a Halo Sleep Sack for him (in Large!). 
Eating: Andrew has decreased his intake significantly (resulting in weight loss) this month.  The doctor isn't concerned because he's still in the highest range.  Whereas we was eating 8-9 ounces every four hours during the day, now he's only finishing 5-6 oz with the exception of bedtime bottle where he still finishes the full 9.  He hasn't slowed on "real food;" he eats 6 tbsp of oatmeal and 2 oz of fruit for breakfast at daycare and another 4 tbsp of oatmeal and 2-4 oz of veggies and/or food for dinner. 
  • He has pretty much had every normal fruit and veggie.  We introduced everything one at a time, over a three day time period, to make sure he showed no allergies. It felt like it took forever to get everything covered, but now I don't have to worry if I grab a jar of mango, pear, oatmeal combo because I know he can have all three things without an issue.
  • His ultimate favorites so far seems to be squash and carrots.  He likes pretty much everything he's tried with the exception of peas and green beans.
  • He likes his food thicker than expected; we've moved on to stage 2 foods in the jars and from the little I have left that I made, I have to add oatmeal to it to make it thicker.
Playing: Andrew plays peek-a-boo and loves to be sang to.  He loves his music table because it lights up, sings, and gives him something to stand up on. Crawling over to the TV stand and banging on it is another favorite activity despite Daddy's efforts to get him NOT to do it.   He crawls all over everything, pulls himself up on our legs, or the wall.  He really, really wants to be in the kitchen, but without cabinet doors it is still off limits. Following mommy around the house is funny to him.
Diapers: Still in size 3s--we've used 384 diapers (670 total in size 3).

Clothing: Andrew is wearing 6-9 month clothing with a few of my favorite 3-6 month outfits thrown in there.    

Monday, November 7, 2011

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Feeding himself

We've been working on learning the pincher grasp and to practice Andrew has been feeding himself bananas, avocado, and puffs. 

 As you can imagine, it is not a clean activity!  He ends up with food everywhere (even in his ear), but every time we practice, he gets a little better. 
He does get frustrated because he wants to actually eat it and can't always get it into his mouth.  We end up helping at the end so that he isn't cranky over it (I see a stubborn streak coming out).

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Halloween Day

Last week was SO crazy that I put up pictures without any write-up or explanation, so I'm back :)
 
On Saturday night, we went to the church around the corner's Trunk or Treat with Desiree, Larissa, and Audrey.  Andrew rode around in the carrier with mommy.  The eight pieces of candy that Andrew was given were eaten by Daddy before we left.
 
On Sunday, our friends came over for pumpkin carving and carmeal apple making.  As mommy got ready for the party, Andrew played.  Mommy tried on Reese's bumble bee costume to see if it would fit Andrew--it did, he thought it was funny. More pictures of the party to come.
 
On Monday, Andrew wore his Halloween activity to school and his pumpkin PJs to bed.  Around 5 pm, we put Andrew into his dragon and visited Noma and Beverly (our two elderly neighbors) to show off his cuteness.  Andrew enjoyed crawling around in Bev's very white living room. After our short visit, we came home for our normal evening routine.  We didn't have very many trick-or-treaters, but it was fun for Andrew to "pass out" candy once.  We turned off the lights at 8 pm and went to bed :)