Six on Seven

William had his six month well check and shots on Friday afternoon. I'm not quite sure how we got so far off month wise on these checks, but he was only a week shy of seven months at this visit - probably has something to do with the busy pediatrician practice (that I am seriously leaving in the dust - ugh). But all's well that ends well and he was a champ.

His Stats:

Weight: 17lb 13oz 25th - 50th Percentile (he only gave generalizations)

Height: 26.75" Just under 50th Percentile

Head Circumference: 17.5" 25th - 50th Percentile (he only gave generalizations)

Last Well Check in: 15 lbs 2 oz (45th %) and 24.5" tall (22nd %)

So - He's Growing!! But still a little boy and I don't understand all the comments we keep getting about how big he is - someone actually guessed his age to be 10 months! I think these people have lost reality with babies...

he has discovered our very pretty pewter bowl - I think gnawing on the beaded edge makes his mouth feel better - bring on the baby proofing!

We saw Dr. Hearst and I am not a fan. We had to reschedule the appointment with Dr. Evangelist because of Mema's memorial service, so we just took the first available appointment. It said on the sheet they give for the well checks to NEVER EVER EVER UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES put babies in a walker. Well - that is William's most favorite thing so I asked why. Big mistake. He repeats the NEVER EVER EVER UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES talk because the walkers have been linked to injury, babies falling down stairs and tipping over, etc. I say, we don't have stairs and it's he loves it. Dr. Hearst then only sort of backtracks saying something about the risk is less since we don't have stairs and evaluating the risk, blah blah blah. I just tell him that that is a risk I am willing to take in an effort to maintain sanity and happiness in our house.

starting young with an obsession with fabric just like his mama

Then - he's asking the generic questions about eating and formula. He asks about rice cereal and I tell him he gets it in every bottle - and he tells me that he's supposed to be getting it by spoon to train him to eat with a spoon. Um - idiot doctor - William is a pro at eating baby food with a spoon, which I just told you and furthermore - whatever time we were here for reflux they TOLD me to put rice cereal in every bottle. I couldn't figure out why he was trying to make me feel bad for doing it right.

Maybe he just thinks I'm an idiot because little man's poor wee-wee (censored for the blog..heehee) was messed up because I was not pulling back the skin or something - never remember being told to do this - but whatever. And dummy - don't you think I felt bad enough when William wailed while you were undoing the skin that adhered to itself?! This, however, does not make me a bad mom in other aspects of caring for my child.

Anyway - long story short - he had a rebuttal for everything I was doing. Those were just the high points that really made me mad. (oh and they had run out of one of the shots he was supposed to get - ridiculous - we had an appointment! they should know this!!)

We scheduled his 9 month well check, but I swear, we will have a new pediatrician by that time. I will NOT wait two hours for well checks or appointments anymore. It is ridiculous that I had to step out of subwaiting to ask a nurse how much longer because it was 5:15 and getting close to the bedtime routine. (which she found to be ridiculously early - but it's what my kid wants so leave me alone!)

I didn't mean for this to turn into some kind of crazy rant against RIVERTOWN PEDIATRICS, but I'm so over them right now. Done. Done. Done.

making funny faces at himself and "eating" the mirror - see all the slobber!

On other news - the happy baby syndrome has continued!! And just in time for me to take him to Mima and Granddaddy's house for 5 whole days!! That's right - my hubs is traveling the world for two weeks and my baby is at the grandparent's house - so I am writing this on MY time in an empty and quiet house! Can't tell you how nice this is!

It was funny last night though - I got home, after avoiding the empty house at Hadley's for an hour, and every time I went in the kitchen I felt like I should be washing bottles. But, wait, they're all at my Dad's house! Best feeling ever. At first I had no idea what to do with my time. I had all these projects in my head that I wanted to do - so after wandering around the house for an hour or so - I broke out the paint and started this project.

he would probably enjoy being more in the water if he would put down the washcloth

I'll be honest - I do miss William more than I thought I would. He's sweet and cuddly and laughs and is so happy now that he is more joy than terror these days and the house is SO empty and my days feel like they lack purpose because I'm not constantly doing things for someone else. But this break is exactly what I needed and now on Thursday when he is home I will be grateful to have him instead of pulling out my hair - which will be good since the hubs is gone for two weeks instead of just one this time.

helping daddy pack for his trip

Loves.

Bbbbecoming a Bbbbig Bbbboy

Here's the William catch-up that is weeks overdue...

He is quickly getting bigger and more grown up right before our eyes. He can now sit up by himself, no support necessary, and catches himself most times before he falls. Watching these little muscles grow is so funny. One day he would fall over at the least little unbalance and now he is catching himself with his obliques (or his hands). And he is so proud of himself. He doesn't have to have to toys to be tickled that he is sitting. He will sit and pump his hands and babble to anyone who will listen, stuffed animals included.

With sitting brings a whole new level of happiness thank goodness. Now he can play by himself and I don't even have to be in the same room, thanks to the return of the pack n play. The hamper really wasn't cutting it - when he would fall he would scratch his head and we were pretty sure that two more scratches and someone was going to call DFCS on us...uhoh. It is now full of toys and he loves it.

More momentous, we have a happy baby in general now. This has been almost 7 months coming but I am so grateful! He is now "showing off" for me and my life is so much better and easier! He is content to play in his walker, which he is now a pro in - seriously - watch out!!, or sit in his crib, or my lap and is just happy almost all the time. Those of you who have been reading this blog since the beginning can appreciate this for me I am sure! It's nothing short of a miracle!

Teething is still a major part of this little man's life but we have no cut throughs yet. He developed a rash from all the extra water flowing from his mouth, but thanks to Jill Holcumb, we found some cream that has all but made it go completely away. I'm almost convinced that when he does finally get some teeth it's going to be a whole mouthful but that might just be hopeful wishing.

Sweet potatoes now top the list of favorite foods, poor bananas are a distant second. I also managed to get him to eat and enjoy a green vegetable finally - green beans. Pears and peaches were also sampled with success, so I guess I now need to go buy these things to mash up into baby food. Maybe I'll get to that next week...

Sam informed me this morning that his pajama arms were getting too small, so I guess I should expect a switch from 6-9 to 12 month clothes sooner than usual this time around. I think he's long waisted like his momma - new clothes are slightly tight in the crotch - but we'll just wait and see. Thank goodness for the huge biannual consignment sale next week!! He doesn't have much to wear when he's officially outgrown 6-9 - my little boy is getting so big!

He has been steadily working on more babble sounds. His favorite at the moment is B. He sits and just practices. BBBBbbbbbbbbbbbb It's SOO cute. He also has a sound that mimics "Hey" and he has just discovered how to making a smack/clucking type sound. He shows absolutely no interest in learning how to make an M or D - so we might be out of luck for his first word. Oh well - I think my first word was cat...

He still loves the jogging stroller. Which is awesome. And he's trying to transition his schedule to eliminating a nap - which is making me slightly crazy. It was nice to know what to expect and now that's all up in the air. Ready for that to settle out. I'm racking my brain trying to think if I've missed anything noteworthy and I think that's pretty much it for now.

Well check and shots on Friday!

Loves.

Mema

My sweet great grandmother passed away Saturday morning. She was the epitome of a Southern lady. Never said a hurtful word and one syllable words became two. Her Southern drawl was something to be envious of. Everyone was dahlin' and bless her heart. At holidays - she would sit in the comfy chair, covered in afghans, and the one liners that would come out of her mouth would be the most clever thing said all day and the whole family would die laughing with her.

I became part of her family when I was eight and she accepted us three new great grandchildren like we had always been there. I didn't realize it then - but that was something to be treasured. Some of the best memories was going up to their lakehouse, spending nights in the bunkroom, eating dinner on the large porch above the boathouse, squealing as we jumped off the top deck - all under the watchful eye of Mema and Dadoo. They were precious people.

Dadoo passed about three years ago and Sam and I were right there when we were leaving his memorial site where his urn was placed and very quietly she said "I'll see you later, I love you." It brings tears to my eyes right this very second thinking about it. Their love was amazing and quite evident. I know she was lonely after but she was so strong - I can only hope to be half the woman she was.

She had been sick for quite some time. Having good days and bad days, and then good hours and bad hours. Sam and I dropped by on the way up to Cleveland maybe 1.5-2 years ago to surprise her - and she was having a bad hour and didn't really grasp who we were but she knew she knew someone that lived in Columbus. She never dropped her smile and sweet words though. I wish we had spent more time coming up to visit with her.

I am grateful that she got to meet William. Who is, I'm pretty sure, her only Great Great Grandchild. The family tree that they started is nothing short of amazing. I can't even begin to do the math at how many Grandchildren & Great Grandchildren there are and we were all loved as if we were the only one. I am so sad that William will never get the opportunity to know first hand how amazing this sweet little woman was.

She will be greatly missed. A huge hole in our family & our hearts.

Loves.

Recreational Yelling

I am going to go ahead and apologize for the length of this video. I'm scared to try and edit a video in fear that I will accidentally delete it and lose it forever.

The first 38 seconds are hilarious - and the last 2 minutes are just fun - so if you watch the whole thing I hope you enjoy.

I feel that it's important to note that he is NOT upset. This is just his new fun thing to do. And while it is completely adorable - a full day of listening to this (mixed in with some unhappy yelling) will make you insane. Trust me.

I have been totally lame and haven't done a true pepito update - so I will try and get to that this weekend. We'll see in between the studying, birthday party, baby shower and DATE NIGHT! That's right - we are going to dinner and a movie, a romantic one at that. I think the last time we did that was when William was way itty bitty - maybe 3 weeks old and I didn't realize that I didn't like being away from him until we were at the movie. Oh how things have changed! ha!

Loves.

NAKED BABY!!!

William loves to be naked. No seriously. He cries when I have to put clothes on him after a bath. And poor pepito was teething bad today, so as a kind gesture, we had some naked time.

Truly tush hanging out naked time. Of course it had to be documented because he's so darn cute and so we can embarrass him later in life. Maybe a whole album that I pull out on his first date...hmmm...

Anyhow - he also decided that since he was naked he would make full use and bring back the peeing in the air trick. On the changing table and on the floor but he was having so much fun that it was ok.

Though I did put a diaper on him after he peed on the floor so he could stay naked...

Cutest kid on the block for sure. Nothing I love more than naked baby time too - he's so happy, which makes me happy.

Loves.

Wave on Wave

Sam was gone all week to England, which made figuring out and making him a Valentine's gift was super easy. I knew I didn't want to spend any money, especially since Valentine's isn't really considered a major holiday in this house. Not that we ignore it - but we don't do the big gestures. Our favorites were in college and included pizza and champagne (the cheap kind).

And then I ran across this on Young House Love. Wonderfully sweet, subtle and perfect. And even more surprisingly - I hadn't done it yet - which I find a little strange but y'know...

Even though it was amazingly simple, I know I did good, because my husband, who is not really outwardly sentimental, said it "aww - that's sweet" when he opened it. (If I remember correctly, I didn't get that when I made him an entire book of 101 reasons I loved him for our First Anniversary...so, yeah, I'm pretty darn proud of myself)

Wave on Wave by Pat Green is our song and was our first dance at our wedding. Unfortunately there's not a wonderfully romantic story about it - it was at the top of his itunes playlist in college and we listened to it every day, multiple times a day and something about it obviously just struck a chord with us. Maybe we danced to it - I can't remember - but I bet Sam does. Anyhow. There you have it.

in true Sam & Meghan fashion - we had fun and laughed during our entire "first dance"

And funny - no one knew the song or anything about it at our wedding. Everybody was asking "whahuh?" Well, I find it amusing that it was obscure to other people. And y'know - I think one Valentine's Day I gifted Sam tickets to see Pat Green in concert in college - awesome show. I was so proud of myself. I have a picture somewhere but I think it was lost in one of our many computer crashes and now only lives on in the scrapbook...

Wave on Wave my love. Forever.

Loves.

Sweet Valentine's

Lucky for William and I, Sam returned to us unharmed and a whole half hour earlier than expected on Saturday night. Just in time to go to bed and wake up for Valentine's Day. We never have big plans for Valentine's Day but that's how we like it. Sam got up with William, which might have been the highlight of the day for me, but then he woke me up at 7:30 saying he wanted to go to Hardee's for breakfast - so the sleep in was shortlived at best. No big deal - Hardee's has THE BEST biscuits and it USED to be our Sunday morning thing - so I was happy to revive the tradition, after showers of course! Then we went to Target to get dogfood - aren't we romantic?! ha!

This is the picture I used on Sam's card from William.

When we got home - we put William in his Valentine's Day outfit that I made for him and did cards & presents. William mostly enjoyed the taste of his card...haha. Oh well - when it makes to a scrapbook it will be fun to remember when everything went in his mouth!

I love Sam's face in this one - so sweet.

William also ate his card from Bebe & Grandaddy - it was apparently yummier than the first - he ate it in two!

It was a perfect low key day with my perfect two Valentine's. I might post Sam's love inspired gift - we'll see - I'll have to remember where I found my inspiration...

Loves.

Nothing more magical

I love snow. Like a little kid loves snow. I get all excited and could watch it fall all day. Love. This is the second year in a row that it has snowed in Columbus. Last year it snowed when I was around 12 weeks pregnant and I had to build a snowman by myself because we couldn't find Sam's gloves. It was lovely spending the day with him sitting by the fire and chatting pretending we were out of power. (that part probably only lasted about maybe 60 minutes but it was still nice)

February Last Year with my Masterpiece

This time Sam is in England and for the first time this week I REALLY wish he was here to see the snow and be with our little family. (I wish he was here more today than at the the random wake up calls in the middle of the night by pepito...) William didn't think too much of the snow - but considering he's only six months old that's to be expected. But I did manage to bundle him up, plop him in the bumpo and prove that he saw it.

so cute all bundled up

Funny all that has changed since the last snow. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

Loves.

London Bridge is Falling Down

Sam has been in England all week for business - so it goes without saying that I am exhausted and ever grateful to my daddy for coming down Tuesday & Wednesday so I could study for my quiz. When my brain is functional and I don't have cookie dough icecream calling my name - I will update properly.

In the meantime - the first picture that actually captured his excited face. Such a cutie.

Loves.

Spoke Too Soon

The chair picture was the last time he was truly happy. Poor little guy began wailing and not eating soon there after. It was terrible. And almost non-stop. And then that evening it was just plain bad. More wailing and we could tell something hurt but no idea what. We were guessing that his congestion was ticking him off majorly or maybe he was finally going to get that top tooth his mouth has been working on. Either way - we were up all night. I threw in the towel (was relieved by Sam) at 12:15 and Sam was up until 1:00 with him. Finally get William down and then two hours later (apparently - I don't remember this but it would make sense as to why I woke up exhausted) I got up to put the paci back in and pat him to sleep. Then at 4:00 he began to cry again and cried until 5:00. Sam got up these times, bless him, and I guess he fell back asleep. Thankfully he slept until 7:15, I think, and I got up with him and tried to feed him breakfast during Curious George. He was having none of that and basically that is how our day went. Me trying to get him to eat, ANYTHING, and him wailing about it. There were a couple happy moments in the walker, but they were short lived.

At about 4:30 today, after the zillionith attempt and failure at getting him to eat, I decided that it was time to be concerned that he had only eaten 7 oz all day and we were going to the Pediatric Acute Care. (btw Columbus parents - this place rocks!) I first tried to call the pediatrician but to no success - their phone kept hanging up on me and I am none to pleased with them at the moment but whatever.

By the time we get to Acute Care, poor little guy is asleep. We have to wake him up to get weighed, etc. and he just wants to be held and sleep on our shoulders. Tell the sweet little nurse what's going on, she takes his heartbeat and oxygen levels. I had no idea you could test oxygen through his ankle - but that's a cool trick I guess. We watch Madagascar on the tv in the exam room and wait for the doctor. I think his name was Dr. Davis - but whoever he was I really wish he had a private practice. He was lovely. Much better than our doctor, anyhow.

He looks in William's ears and they are full full full. Both of them. Poor guy - no wonder he was ticked off at the world. And then, just to be on the safe side because it's making the rounds, he wanted to do an RSV test. He really thought it would be negative because William didn't have a fever and wasn't having any real difficulty breathing but I was totally fine with the test because every baby we know has had RSV and it's scary stuff.

Turns out our little pepito has RSV (which I learned is the baby version of bronchitis) but all is well and no need to rush to the hospital or put him on breathing treatments. The nurses give him a mega shot dose of antibiotics to jump start all of that, and he screams and now hates the sweet blond nurse with the cool red glasses, and we're good to go. We get home and give him some ear drops we have from the last infection (they don't expire until 2011 thank goodness), he eats more ounces of formula, and goes to sleep pretty easily.

We just need to watch him closely tomorrow to make sure that RSV doesn't go crazy bad, fill the antibiotic prescription, check in with our pediatrician on Monday if everything is looking on the up and up and we're good to go.

It's nice to know that I am in tune with my kid - I knew something was wrong. And while he probably didn't have an ear infection or RSV when we went to the doc last week - I would like to be taken a little more seriously when we do go to the doctor. From now - no more PAs - we want to see a doctor, and we would prefer the doctor to be Dr. Evangelist (not technically OUR doctor...big practice). So there you have it. William wasn't mad at me for the past 48 hours, he doesn't like having gunk in his ears. I feel slightly better.

Now what I actually spoke too soon about was - William rolled over back to tummy. Turns out that when he really wants to play with his barn animals truck he'll do just about anything to get to it. Good thing that truck doesn't live on the changing table...

Loves.

And the Magic Number Is....

SIX!!

My little pepito is six months old today and the difference between a month ago and today is seriously like magic. Two days ago he began being happy (for atleast twenty minutes!!) playing by himself. I cannot even begin to tell y'all how exciting this is for me. After months and months of trying my best to keep him entertained and, well, just shooting for relatively happy, he can now do it on his own. Case and point - right this very minute he is playing in his crib, no screaming, crying, nothing. He is talking to himself and playing with a handful of toys. It is truly amazing. There IS light at the end of this tunnel!!

The Six Month Rundown:

*Has found and loves his feet

*Is now on medicine for reflux and it seems to be helping - though we won't truly know for two weeks

*Wears 6-9 month clothes

*Weighed 16lbs 12ozs at the doctor last week

*Only likes his bottles warm

*Love all baby food EXCEPT peas

*Everything goes in his mouth

*Has noticed Burnie the cat, and she has acknowledged him

*Hasn't screamed while in the car in a very long time

*Really enjoys taking walks in the jogging stroller

*Hilbert the blue elephant is his new favorite buddy

*Likes to sleep with his head in the corner of the crib and will move there if you put him down anywhere else

*Can't wait for warmer weather so he can be naked all the time

*Splashing in the bathtub is the MOST fun

*Likes to help cook (eat wooden spoons and sit on the countertop in the bumpo)

*Squeals in delight

*Laughs when tickled on the changing table

*Checks to make sure Daddy is watching him play

*Horrible teething has taken a backseat for the moment

*There is a top tooth about to break through

*Loves to chew on Mommy's chin

*Prefers to be standing

*Still rocking the size 3 diapers

*Really enjoys pulling his socks off

*Still too skinny (and short) for many of his pants

*Has been mistaken for a girl recently, but I think that's because I was buying pink fabric to make a dress for a friend's baby...

*Moved up to the bigger and better 6 month MAM pacis

*Grabbing things with two hands, holding on to them, and putting them in his mouth

*Is mesmerized by both his mobiles and really upset that Mommy won't let him pull on the feather balls

*Loves his walker and has been able to "jump" thresholds

*Knows the PBS commercial song

*Enjoys Curious George in the morning

*Bedtime is not as easy as it used to be because he would rather play

*Two hours awake, One-ish hour nap is our general schedule still

*Prefers to be rocked to sleep

*Does not travel well without music, specifically Baby Einstein Mozart

*Is really close to sitting up by himself

*Still shows no interest in flipping back to tummy

*Does all the right moves for crawling - just not simultaneously

Those are the highlights but mainly the being happy part is what is changing our life, my life. I'm glad I held on (not that I had a choice - ha!) the past six months to get to this and I'm convinced it can only get better and more fun. He's a darling little boy and I am happy to say that I am looking forward to the next six months!

Loves.

End of January already?

Seriously - this year is flying - almost as fast as the year before! I can't believe January is over already but I can't wait to see what the new month brings! (hopefully sitting and playing contently by himself...)

Anyhow - the new medicine has been a trip. Apparently, and I'm just guessing, there's some kind of stimulant in it because if we give it to him too close to bedtime - good luck on getting him to sleep. What is usually a 30-45(tops) ordeal turns into 2 hours atleast. It has been exhausting!! Luckily after only three days we figured this out and last night went a little bit better. He's waking up a little too early for our tastes, starting at about 5 and on the good days we can hold him off until 6:30.

I think the whole reflux thing is made worse because his teeth are starting to hurt again. So I never know what crying means what and we just end up in the stroller walking around the neighborhood. Which is fine with me and also with him. One of his top teeth is THIS close to coming in though and hopefully that will bring him (and us) some relief. We'll see.

Good & Bad news - he's back to being a show-off baby again. Which means when we go to the in-laws he is a pleasure and a joy. That's the good news. The bad news - nobody believes me when I say he's been a crying teething reflux monster all day. And how could you when he's all smiley and happy but it's frustrating. I wish he would be smiley for me. And I guess he is - but not as often as I would like. Oh well. One day.

He can now sit with very little support and sometimes no support (thought that doesn't last very long). He absolutely likes to be in the middle of things and can sense when you aren't paying attention to him even if you're in the same room. This is when he pulls out the "I'm so upset and possibly in pain" cry that he knows gets our attention and we will pick him up/give him what he wants. He knows how to work us. Oops.

I think he has given up on rolling over back to tummy. No big deal. More time on the changing table. Unfortunately, with all the snot sucking I've been doing on the changing table it is no longer our happy place. He starts crying the minute I put him down there. Wish it had occurred to me to do that on the sofa or ANYWHERE else and not ruin the happy place, but it's too late now. Good news - I am getting snot out of his head. The things I consider successes now are a little unsettling. haha!

Loves.