Our journey through nine months of pregnancy, the adventures of raising our little munchkin and now doing it all over again. Who knew this parenting thing could be so much fun??
Our first new year's eve as a family of three was very nice. Our friends had a party at their house from 3:00 to 6:00 - complete with jump castle in the back yard for bigger kids and a countdown to the new year at 6:00. The neighbors probably thought we were insane when they heard us outside doing the countdown six hours early, but it was fun with the little kids blowing their bubbles and blaring their horns.
Andrew being entertained by our friend, Jay
Gotta love being able to hang out on NYE in t-shirts and flip flops
Trying to gnaw on J's beer bottle.
Andrew isn't the one that caused all of this destruction (just some of it!)
Evan and Andrew playing with a glowstick
"Oooooh! Glowstick!"
New years day we went out to Sullivan's Island to watch the polar bear plunge. We didn't take part in it, although this would have been the year to do it since it was 70 degrees. Instead we watched the crowds, met up with some friends we hadn't seen in a while, had a few beers, and enjoyed the day.
Andrew entertained himself chewing on the strap of the sling (when he wasn't trying to get his hands in J's beer)
This was the biggest crowd that I had ever seen for the plunge. Everyone came out due to the nice weather and they raised about $50,000 for Special Olympics
I wish I had gotten some pictures of some of the crazy costumes people were wearing
I left at 3:00 with the munchkin because it was past his naptime and I knew he wouldn't sleep with the crowds of people around. While we walked back to the car I thought he might pass out in the stroller. Then I looked down and saw this:
He was sitting forward, holding onto the tray and humming. I literally laughed out loud as we walked the rest of the way.
All in all I would say that it was a very nice new years and I can't wait to see what 2012 holds for the three of us.
So I've been having some issues with pumping and getting as much milk as I was in the past. I've been blaming it on my pump. Especially since the new Ameda pump is not the same as my original. It's not as strong and doesn't function as well.
Well, now for the last few days I've been using a Medela Pump In Style Advanced and I'm not seeing an improvement. As a matter of fact, my first pumping session at work this morning resulted in only 5 ounces. I used to be able to get 8-10 the first time I pumped.
Sigh.
So maybe it wasn't the pump. Maybe it's my body that is crapping out instead. That makes me sad. We still have three months to make it to my goal of a year of breastfeeding. If things continue on the way they have been that is never gonna happen.
I know I should probably increase my number of pumping sessions at work, but I am already spending an hour a day with the two that I do right now. It would be one thing if I had a private office and could pump while I worked, but I share an office and have to go to an empty room to pump, so that is an hour of productivity out the window.
I'm not totally throwing in the towel and stopping. But I might have to resign myself to the fact that we are going to have to start forking out some cash for formula to get us through the next three months (he has been getting some formula right now, but only about 5 oz a day).
In the meantime I am going to chug water like it's going out of style and nurse him and pump the hell out of myself this 3 day weekend and see if that helps.
Please body, go back to working like you were. I want to provide for the munchkin for just a little while longer...
I wouldn't call Andrew's first Christmas a total success. Starting on Saturday (Christmas Eve) he was just all out of sorts. We took him to get his picture with Santa (attempt #3) and while he didn't scream and cry, he also wasn't the smiley baby I'm accustomed to:
That night he was miserable. He was very fussy and wanted to be held all the time. When we got him down to sleep he lasted an hour and then was up screaming. He had only pooped once (that morning) which is unusual for him. He always goes two (sometimes three) times a day. He was arching his back and crying. We could tell his tummy hurt and it broke my heart to see him so sad. J was able to rock him and get him settled and he slept a few hours before I was up at 3:00 with him.
Christmas morning he seemed a little bit better. He smiled a few times and I fed him some prunes to get things moving. He pooped twice and took a nap before we opened presents. He wasn't as into it as I hoped he would be, though.
He watched the train with daddy:
This was before his nap and outfit change.
Then hung out with us while we opened gifts:
Sitting in a box watching daddy open his infrared smoker/cooker
Not thrilled about being put in daddy's cooler
Playing with his stacking toy
Once 2:00 hit he was a mess. I had tried getting him down for a nap and he lasted 15 minutes. He spent the rest of the afternoon and evening being sad, uncomfortable, and downright cranky.
He did have fleeting moments of happiness
But this better illustrates what we were dealing with that day/night
Thankfully after a night where he woke up about every hour and fussed before passing back out, he seemed to be slightly better yesterday morning. He finally ate, he passed a bunch of gas, and he had a couple nice poos.
I wouldn't say that he was his normal happy self, but this was a big improvement from the night before:
This morning he seemed to be back to his old self. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he isn't an absolute nightmare for Marc and Andrea.
Now for his stats. Age: 9 Months
Stats: I'll find out just how big my little munchkin ha gotten at his appointment next Wednesday. I'm guessing he'll be around 19.5 lbs and I wouldn't be surprised if he is 30 inches. He has a very long torso.
Size (diapers, clothes, etc.): Still comfortably in size 3 diapers and in 6-9 month or 9 month clothes. He fit nicely in a 6 month outfit the other day. When I tried a 12 month one on him last week it was huge. He still has some room to grow to get into those (which is good since I don't have a ton of 12 month outfits... yet).
Sleeping: Sleep has been hit or miss lately. This past Thursday night he gave us 12 straight hours. Sunday night he was awake about every hour fussing and whining and last night he was up at 3:00. For the most part he is a great sleeper and I can't really complain when he has a few bad nights.
Eating: Mostly EBF and bottles of expressed milk, but there is some formula thrown in there every once in a while. Especially since my pump has suuuucked since getting the replacement. But I'm hoping that problem is fixed now that I have a Medela Pump In Style Advanced (Thank you again Christina!!) He is still doing great with the purees, wasn't a fan of yogurt when I gave it to him (but I'll keep trying) and still not really getting the whole solid food bits thing. He did suck on a sweet potato fry when we were at dinner the other night, but I'm not convinced any made it into his belly. We'll just keep trying. I mean, he won't be eating purees forever, right? RIGHT???
Milestones: He learned how to go from his belly to sitting on 12/17 and now we can't keep him laying down. I also find him sitting up in his crib occasionally. He is this close to crawling and I think it will be any time now. I was actually hoping he would do it when we were off with him for Christmas because I don't want to miss it. Maybe he'll wait til this upcoming 3 day weekend. And I think he is about to pop out one of his top teeth (which might explain part of this past weekend's complete crankiness).
New adventures: Took him for pictures with Santa on Christmas eve and he did just fine. He didn't smile, but he also didn't scream and cry, so I count that as a win.
Favorite toys and activities: His favorite thing in the car is a pack of tic tacs. I have it in the cup holder on his car seat and he grabs for it as soon as I put him in. We need to make sure he can't get it open - that would be a total choking hazard. He is also a big fan of the toy he received at the gift exchange at daycare. It's a Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Baby's First Blocks toy. Right now he loves playing with the lid, but he also tosses the blocks around. Still loves the jumperoo, although once he starts walking I assume he won't be interested anymore. I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
Funny happenings: Yesterday I put him in his crib for a nap. I was watching him on the monitor as he sat up and was playing instead. After a few minutes I saw his head drooping. He fell asleep in a sitting position, leaning forward with his head on the crib bumper. I left him like that for a while until J decided we should move him since "That can't be good for him".
What I'm looking forward to: Welcoming in the new year with our little guy and all the awesome pictures I am going to take of him with my new camera. I'm no professional, but they have to he a helluva lot better than my crappy iPhone pictures :)
Holy cow! Andrew is 9 months old today. It seems like just yesterday that we were anxiously awaiting his arrival. Now here he is - 9 months old.
Being that the past two days have been very rough I haven't been able to do his stats, but I'll be back in the morning with all his info and some pictures. Right now I'm praying we don't have a repeat of last night's hourly wake up calls. Please please sleep little munchkin!
Not sure what is up, but Andrew slept 12 hours last night and is now almost an hour into his first nap. Just to be sure I took his temperature and he's fine (although he is a little snotty).
I'm not going to get my hopes up that my fantastic little sleeper will keep this up, but I'll gladly take the early present from my munchkin.
And once he wakes up we are on a mission to find a Santa to get his pictures taken. Wish us luck!
I just looked at the weather app on my phone. It is currently 71 degrees and sunny out. Yeah, not exactly feeling like Christmas out there. Don't get me wrong - I love not having to bundle up, heat up the car in the mornings, and deal with the general unpleasantness that is winter weather. It does make it a little more difficult to get into the holiday spirit, though.
I grew up in southwestern PA. We normally had snow on the ground starting around Thanksgiving and it would snow all the way to April some years. I can't really say that I miss that (at all!), but sometimes I do miss having a white Christmas.
Unless we decide to pack it in and move up north (sooooo not gonna happen!) Andrew will only be accustomed to the balmy Christmases that we experience here in Charleston. My sister (the one at the center of the baby name drama) moved back to Pittsburgh in October, so theoretically we could visit her and experience some winter weather. But since I'm still not feeling too warm and fuzzy about her and the thought of a 10 hour car ride with the munchkin makes me break out in hives, I don't see that happening this year.
Instead I think we'll enjoy not having to dress in multiple layers and scrape our windshields while we cook our Christmas dinner outside on the grill.
Andrew (and his fabulous hair) are in the grinchy holiday spirit
At least his ornament made it here in time for Christmas
