Hats off to a hat on

Every time I've put a hat on Guy since he was coordinated enough to reach his head has been cast away in milliseconds after it has been placed on his head. So when school had "Hat Day" in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, I was dubious. I had given up on hats. But, to be a team player, I bought him a hat and brought it to school. 

"He won't wear it," I warned the teachers. "But maybe he'll feel his first dose of peer pressure and get on board with the idea."

They smiled those all-knowing smiles and just nodded. "Oh, he'll wear it." 

I wondered what torture they had planned to result in the hat wearing, but decided I didn't want to know. 

But lo and behold, when I went to pick him up, he was carrying that hat around like a favorite teddy bear. And when I put it on his head he merely touched it and then left it on. 

Of course, I immediately had the teacher take a photo, because adorable. 

He hasn't deigned to wear the hat again since. 

Snowy Days

We had an unexpected cold spell in Tulsa, with a few inches of snow the first week of March. Having a toddler locked inside for a weekend and then into Monday wasn't exactly high on my list if favorite things. 

So, I began running out of things to give him to keep him entertained. And finally I resorted to the picture below. I grabbed all the corks I've collected over the years (or maybe just last month - I'll never tell) and helping him sort them into different containers. 

Maybe that's inappropriate for a 1 1/2 year old, but did it keep him occupied for 10 minutes? Yes. I'll put that in the W column. 

Sleeping Is My Favorite

 

A rare sighting of the Tot sleeping past 7:30 a.m. On a weekday, of course.

You can barely see his little elephant cuddled on the other side of him.

Guy didn't sleep through the night consistently until he was about 9 months old. It was a long, long 9 months. Then, once he did start sleeping through the night, going to bed was still a nightmare. Every night was the same routine: we would read a book, he would lie sweetly on my shoulder as I sang him "Yesterday"  by the Beatles and "Castle on a Cloud" from Les Miserables, he would whisper and smile at me as I put him in his crib... And then he screamed bloody murder the moment I left the room. 

At around 16 months, Greg finally tried something new and gave Guy his musical elephant as he put him down in the crib. He immediately snuggled with it and was happy. Turns out, he just felt lonely. So now he sleeps with his lovey, and we leave his door open and make plenty of noise while he goes to sleep. Some nights we hear him playing for almost half an hour in his bed, and some nights he goes immediately to sleep. The magic is that he does it on his own, and finally has almost a cheery attitude when it's time to go in the crib. 

Even nicer is the fact that he will now often wake up at 6:00 a.m., but after muttering for a while in his crib, will go back to sleep, or play quietly in his crib until 6:45 or so. After spending a year with him going to sleep crying and waking up crying, the simple joy of a happy child in the morning has been enough to fuel me to smile before I've even had my coffee in the morning.

He grows!

Eating cheerios and smiling for the camera are now two favorite pastimes.

I cannot believe my little boy is a year and a half old. Time flies when you're having fun, right? He's talking, walking and melting hearts everywhere he goes. 

At the end of December, he had his adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears. After two eardrum-bursting, pus-spewing ear infections, it was a must. Since the procedure, his language skills took off. The hearing test that he failed so miserably before the operation, he passed with flying colors a few weeks ago. 

His vocabulary, though limited, is delightful. Here are some of my favorites:

• Daddy (pronounced dad-day like a tiny Englishman. It is currently his favorite question as soon as I pick him up or if daddy is not in the bed in the morning.)
• More ("moe!")
• Na-na (which means milk, of all things)
• Boo (Translation: poop. A good one to know)
• Ome (his cockney version of "home")
• Ball (Which typically means "I wish for the dog to bring me something to throw and quite possibly knock over breakable things.")
• Maw-nah (Sometimes means yogurt but really means "I want that thing.")
• Maaaay! (Usually a cry of despair. Translation: "I threw that cheerio on the ground from my high chair so that I could look at it from a distance, and the dog has eaten it! Make her put it back!")
• Bye-bye (Self-explanatory)

A few seconds before this photo he was in a zombie-like engrossed state, watching Willow with his dad.

 Nothing like movies about lost babies for pre-nap prep.

He had the flu, which was miserable, but he was cheerful through most of it. The kid is hard to keep down. And it created an adorable game where he finds a tissue and fake "sneezes" (basically he just does a single headbang with a small whooshing noise) and then wipes his nose. And he's newly obsessed with sitting on the couch with us while I play Zelda (poorly) and dad beats all the hard bosses. 

Sad flu baby.

But really this is the most fun I've had with him so far. He's just a delight, and I love to hear him giggle. He's starting to "help" around the house. He throws things away (mental note: check the trash contents more often) and he will "clean" spills himself (we are not discouraging this, no matter how many tissues we go through in his efforts). 

Bedtime with Daddy. Ignore the tornadic mess behind them. 

Guy takes book selection seriously, and it sometimes gets messy.

Bedtime is even fun now. He sleeps with Crack (so named because he is addicted) the elephant. Guy gets a story and a song while he cuddles Crack, and then he is put in his crib with Crack. He spends between 5 and 15 minutes pulling Crack's tail (making him play Rockabye Baby) over and over. It's such a nice change from the constant crying of the past. 

Snot Factory

If the name of this post doesn't make you gag, then you're probably an experienced mother.

And if that's the case, I have a question for you. Why, oh why, does our son constant have a stuffy and runny nose? It's NONSTOP. Every morning, I pick the little boy up to find a crusty face and he's barely able to breathe out his nose. It's so sad, and so frustrating to see him constantly struggling with this. We've had him on antibiotics, he's been on allergy medicine. I've cut out dairy, and we're careful with foods.

I'm not sure what to do next, other than back him off to only cereal and milk again and see if it makes any difference.

If you have advice, let me know! I'm desperate to avoid a lifetime of snot bubbles and crusty sheets. Though, I'm sure I'll still see plenty of both.

Time Slips By

I never knew how fast time could go by when you have a kid, but it really does. I also now understand Mommy Guilt far better than I ever wanted to. In a typical day, I only get to spend about 3 hours with Guy, and most of that is spent trying to get him fed, bathed, changed or otherwise in activity that isn't about fun or snuggling, which is what I really want to do. Still, it's amazing getting to spend time with him at all, and he is growing and changing so fast, it's hard to keep up.

I've noticed that he's really starting to get a personality. He finds things funny out of the blue, like when I start making monkey sounds at him while changing his diaper. He cracked up like I was some sort of comedienne. So now, I spend a lot of my day making monkey sounds, just to try to replicate the smiles I got.

Eating is a new adventure every day. Guy loves to hold onto the spoon and "feed" himself. But really all that's happening is him smearing food all over his face and gagging on the spoon. It takes some doing to keep him from sticking the long pointy end down his throat. He's tried (and liked) the following foods: sweet potatoes, squash, peas, green beans, pears and carrots. We've tried puffs, too, but I'll post a video of that shortly. 

He's always trying to escape baby jail. 

Sleep is also improving. Most nights Guy goes down without much of a fight. We have a routine in place, which helps. It starts with dinner, followed by some play time. Then we change him into jammies. As gross as it sounds, he only gets a bath about once or twice a week, because it aggravates his eczema. His poor face is always bright red from it, and his arms and legs routinely get dry and bumpy. So, we're going for the au natural method. But really, other than his hands, face, and butt, the rest of him rarely gets that dirty. Plus, he smells delicious without any additives. But I might be biased. Please excuse me while I dream about snacking on his fat little legs...

We try to avoid TV, but the Ravens were in the Superbowl, and apparently he's a HUGE fan. Who knew?

ANYWAY, he sleeps through the night about half of the week. The other half he'll wake up once or twice, but will usually soothe himself back to sleep. During the day on the weekends he gets plenty of sleep in nap form, but at school he rarely sleeps more than a couple of hours total. It's been a real struggle trying to figure out how to get him to have more sleep during the day. There may be a come to Jesus moment with the daycare workers, I think. 

No, no. This shot wasn't set up. He totally sleeps with George, honest!

For the last week, I've done a lot of traveling. I went to Ohio for a wedding, came home for two days and then left again for work for another three days. Let me tell you, it was brutal. I missed him so much that it hurt by the time I got back on Friday. I may or may not have indulged him by letting him nap on me most of the weekend. It's just so nice to smell his little head and love on him for a while while he's sleeping.

I mean, really. Who WOULDN'T want to cuddle with that?

He's also been playing around with vocalizing lately. So there's been a lot of baby babble in my house. Though, he refuses to use any other consonant than G. There's a lot of "Gagagagaga" going on, but no Da's or Ma's or Pa's. I'm ready for some new tricks, son.

Greg is sleeping here, so I thought it would be funny to put a baby on him. 

That's about the extent of what's going on right now. Well, actually, I'm sure there's a lot more. But I'll try to tell you more about it all later. 

Six Months - The Age of Awesome

I'm afraid we're very overdue on posting. It has been a trying month, to say the least. There have been illnesses (me twice, Guy twice, Greg once), sleeping frustrations, a daycare change, schedule challenges, and much more to deal with. It's all very interesting, but also leaves little time for dalliances such as sitting at a computer and typing up what's going on. Still, I should make more time for this.

Anyway, enough apologizing, on with updating. As of yesterday our little Guy is SIX months old. It's unreal. It seems like I just got home from the hospital with a little lump of love, and suddenly we have this active, happy child. 

We've hit some interesting milestones, so without further ado, here are some new things, along with more photos than you probably want to see. 

• We changed daycares. This is a godsend. Before, we were using a daycare that was close to my work, but all the way across the city from Greg's commute. Therefore I had to take Guy to school and pick him up EVERY DAY. Not that I don't love coming in and seeing his smiling face, but it was hard if I had to work late or had an event. He had to be picked up by 6, and Greg gets out of work at 5:30. He could only barely make it across town in half an hour, and it took another half hour to get home. Unnecessary and annoying. So, we found out a daycare closer to our house had an opening and we toured it. They have an amazing space - tons of room for running and playing. There are only 6 in his class, and they range in age from 6 months (Guy is the youngest) to 18 months. In his old class, the oldest was 6 months. It's nice for him to see older kids doing things like walking and crawling. So far, he seems to like it. The biggest problem has been getting him to sleep in a crib at naps, so some days I find he's only napped for a half hour all day. But, he's getting better, and is starting to settle in

Nap time for bambinos!

• Solid foods are a hit. We've been doing cereal for a while now, but I've started introducing some vegetables and fruits. So far sweet potatoes, peas, squash and bananas have all been hits. He's been great with rice cereal, barley, and oatmeal. He's clearly a Tatum, because not a food has hit his lips that he hasn't eaten without a problem. In fact, he seems pretty annoyed when you get to the bottom of the bowl and stop serving it. 

Time to eat? Please?

• His grip and reach have become much more refined. He can now easily grab something dangling in front of him, and pull it directly into his mouth. That means we finally have to be careful what we have within reach. Like, um, beer. 

I'm 21, I swear, ossifer.

Evidence of Guy's growing fascination with all things 

he can grab, shake, eat and smash into his face.

• The grandparents have all been beside themselves as they watch Guy get older and more interactive. I can't begin to tell you how nice it is to live so close to both sets of grandparents. It means that we've had nearly weekly date nights since Guy was only 2 months old. Right before we had Guy, we read that something like 70% or more of married couples feel their marriage quality declines after having children. We're trying to be the other 30%, and so far, I think we have managed to achieve that goal.

Gigi can't get enough of holding sleeping babies. 

I'm pretty sure he thinks she's just a really fancy crib.  

Papa and Gramps with Guy. Funny story about Gramps and this picture - he and Guy were out in the hammock in their backyard. Birds flew overhead and, well, you see the result. Luckily, it got all over Gramps and not on Guy. But, as a GI doc, we're pretty sure he just inspires that behavior in all living things. 

• He listens attentively and watches faces with pure fascination. It's funny to see him trying to process everything, and telling him stories or reading books is now so much more fun. He finally seems interested, and will even vocalize as if he's talking back. Mostly his comments are "Aaaah, aaah, ggggggaaaaaaa" but I still think he's a genius. 

"Oh really? And then what did she say? 

Oh no she didn't!"

•  We've gotten the pleasure of dealing with illness several times now. Guy caught two minor bugs, which resulted in a low fever and lots of crankiness and lost sleep. He went to the doctor and experienced his very first blood draw, to check his platelets. I sat with him in my lap at the doctor's office, and distracted him while they pricked his tiny little finger. He seemed unaware at first, and then his little face just crumpled and he screamed. I felt so bad for the little man. Then they had to squeeze his finger repeatedly to get enough blood to test. He just cried and cried. Afterward, I hugged him and just apologized while he whimpered on my shoulder. Poor kid. Luckily, platelets were fine and he didn't have the flu, so we were sent home with a prescription for an antibiotic if it got any worse and instructions to help keep him comfortable.

Right: At the doctor's office, Guy showed off his penchant for his feet. 

Left: Sleeping off the ick at Gigi and Gramps's house. 

• As you can see above, he loves his feet. They've had to take his socks off a few times at daycare because he gets them soaked by chewing on them. 
• We just did away with the swaddle last night for the first time. He'd been breaking it for a while, but it still helped to get him to sleep. But, after many nights of horrible sleep, we decided to sleep train him (gently), and figured it was the best time to break the swaddling habit, too. My baby's growing up!
• He is now flipping himself over onto his belly at night. I'm pretty glad for this, because it helps him keep from rubbing his face over and over in his sleep, which tends to wake him up. 
• I've been able to get a few good laughs out of him. Real, deep laughs with a broad smile. One came from kissing and snuggling his little neck. It was pretty cute. 
• Books are more fun. He loves to grab the pages and flip them back and forth while you try to read. The result is that you read a page and he closes the book, you turn a page and he turns it back. I hope he's not trying to say something about our taste in reading material.
• He got his first playtime injury when another kid at school bit him. Poor little dude had teeth marks on his arm for a few days, but luckily it didn't break the skin. The daycare workers seemed really concerned that I was going to fly off the handle about it. But, really, when you have 6 babies in a room, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. 

So, it's been a lot of fun, and we're slowly learning what we're doing. Really, we couldn't be happier. Well, maybe we could be happier if we slept more than 6 hours a night, but mostly, we're pretty happy. 

A Very Merry

We have successfully made it through our first Christmas with our little Guy. I'd say it was successful, anyway.

On Christmas Day, we were reminiscing at Greg's parents' house about this time last year. We had just told both sets of parents that we were pregnant, but weren't sharing it with anyone else yet. It was our gift to them on Christmas, to know that there was a grandbaby coming their way in 8 months. I spent Christmas nauseated but overjoyed that in less than a year I would become Momma. I couldn't imagine then what it would be like to have a nearly five-month old child entertaining us all at Christmas.

At one point, I looked around, and a room of 9 adults were all just staring at the one baby, who was cooing and screeching with delight. It's amazing how this tiny, 14-pound creature can captivate a room of grown men and women, each one of us fixated on every move he makes.

We didn't go too crazy for him this Christmas, since we knew he wouldn't have a clue. He got a doorway bouncer, which he seems pretty jazzed about. He sat in it for a good 20 minutes on Christmas Eve, just hanging out. That's like hours in baby years.

From his grandparents, Guy cleaned up. He got several cute outfits (which are all getting washed this week), a couple of books and easy puzzles, some stuffed toys, plastic teethers and the like. He also got the most awesome Star Trek "feeding system" from my brother. It is a Starship Enterprise with a connection on the front for a spoon. It lights up and is basically the most awesome way to feed a child. I don't have a picture of it yet, so here is a picture of someone else's baby enjoying it in all its glory:

There will be sound effects. Oh yes. There will be sound effects.

Poor Guy has had a fairly rough couple of weeks. He's had RSV (we think), a possible ear infection (they were red, but not showing all the signs of infection), and really nasty eczema (or emphysema as one of the daycare workers mistakenly called it) all over his poor little body. His face is especially red and rashy. I've been slathering him in Aquaphor and trying to do anything I can to minimize the rash, but so far, nothing is helping and it continues to get worse. I'm hoping eventually it will stop.

On the fun side, Guy has discovered that he has an upper register to  his voice, and likes to let us know by screaming happily anytime he's in a good mood.  You can see his red little cheeks here, too.

All in all, it was a very good Christmas full of love, food, fun and more food.

Four Months and Still Awesome

The kiddo is four months old. FOUR MONTHS. Can it really only be four months ago that I walked into a hospital expecting a procedure and walked out 2 days later with a new human? Seems unreal.

We took Guy in for his four-month appointment, and he's still on the small side - 8th percentile on weight. He's in the 20s for both height and head circumference, so at least he's not falling behind everywhere.

There are plenty of other big things happening in Guy World, too:

• He's able to consistently roll to his side. He gets over there and then plays with his little hands, or stares off into the distance. But he knows exactly what he's doing. He throws his little legs up in the air and flops them over to one side or the other, like, "Heave Ho!"
• He is reaching for and grabbing things. Just this morning, in fact, I watched as he eyed a monkey dangling from his play mat, and he reached for the monkey's feet and grabbed them with his chubby little fist, and then struggled to bring it to his mouth. Sadly, the monkey was not long enough to make it to his mouth. But he laid there for another five minutes alternately letting the monkey go and grabbing it again. He takes his practice seriously.
• He started cereal. Now, I know this is controversial, because some say that you shouldn't start any foods other than milk until 6 months of age, but since he's still on the small side, the doctor thought it would do him good to get a few more calories a day. So in addition to his other feedings, he also now gets a bowl of rice cereal in the morning and one in the evening for dinner. The first few feedings were funny, but now he gets it and is pretty excited about it.
• We are getting closer to the elusive "sleeping through the night" phase. He will sleep 4-5 hours at a time and will often be soothed with just a pacifier and some cuddling, rather than me having to feed him 1-2 times in the night. I think the cereal in the evening is helping with that. 
• He follows everyone with his eyes now. Daddy, Momma, Gigi... really anyone he finds interesting. And he passes out smiles like they are going out of style. I kind of love that part. There's nothing quite like getting a huge, gummy grin with that little baby tongue sticking out at you.
• We can have "conversations" with him pretty consistently. Most of mine go like this:
• Me: So, Guy. What do you think of this situation in Palestine?
• Guy: Gggggggiiiii. Pbbbt. Aaaaaaooooo.
• Me: Really? That's a pretty controversial viewpoint.
• Guy: Jjjjjjeeeeeee! Aaaaaggkk. Pbbbbbbaaaa.
• Me: Well, if you really feel that way....

It just keeps getting more fun, and I'm looking forward to enjoying this phase for a while!

-Jennifer

Ready for Christmas

Okay, Santa. Anytime you're ready.

No Sleep for Banditos*

This was an old post that somehow never got published. So here it is now. 

So ending swaddling has been hit and miss. The first night, Guy kept a pretty normal sleep schedule - Down at 8, up at 12 and 3, and up for the day at 7. But last night, he apparently decided that sleep wasn't his favorite. Because he was up at 9, 10, 11, 12:30, 1:00, and 2:30. I finally broke down at 2:30 and brought him to bed with us. He sleeps much better when he's cuddled next to me. So, I finally got to sleep from 2:30 to 5:30, before he woke up and demanded feeding.

(To be fair, Greg did the 10 and 1 a.m. checks. So I did get a little bit of sleep.)

I'm a zombie today. I made the full-force coffee instead of the half-caf that we usually use. Because I need a little kick today to make sure I don't fall asleep at my desk.

The thing is, it's so hard to be mad at the little dude when he starts giving you this face at 6:00 a.m.:

Cute little jerk. 

- Jennifer

*Title shamelessly stolen from a Hanson album. Because I'm awesome. 

Silver Dollar City - Earlier in November

A few weeks ago we took our first real family trip. I have a lot of fond memories of going places with my family growing up, and it's exciting to think that we are starting to create a whole new set of travel stories. I know Guy still has a ways to go before he is able to remember these ventures, but we're at least working on the form.

Traveling with a baby is something that requires some planning and coordination. It's not the same as picking up and leaving with two adults. Luckily we had a good support team with Granny and Papa and their big ol' RV. I had not traveled in an RV before, and it was quite the experience, especially on the winding roads of the Ozarks that the GPS navigated us on. It was all I could do not to break into the fridge to down a beer or two to calm the nerves!

Guy did great on the drive up, with barely a whimper. We only stopped once for a quick feed at the Walmarts. The stay in the RV was likewise painless. He slept in a little baby tent that we borrowed from a friend. He didn't make too much noise at night either, allowing the old (and young) folks to get their sleep. This also happened to be the first weekend where Guy exclusively breastfed. (Although in retrospect we were about to head into a period of trials with the mouth issues and lots of bottle feeding.)

Silver Dollar city was quite delightful. The weekend really made us feel much more free to be able to do things. Guy did great in the cold bundled up in his stroller. Anytime that he got fussy we would stop and Jennifer would feed him. Of course while they were occupied Jesse and I would go and hop on a ride or two. Oh the life of a mom. Once the breastfeeding is over I'm sure that the riding will be much more equitable.

The only downside to the trip was that the very end marked the start of Guy's fussy mouth problem. Overall everything was a lot of fun, and went really well!

Please excuse the photographer's finger.

The Happy Family

What's Goin On

I can't believe how much Guy is already changing. Every day is just kind of amazing.

For instance, today I flipped him over on my lap for tummy time. This usually results in him gnawing on my leg and intermittently looking around. But this time, his head popped up at 90 degrees, and he just looked all over the place. Like it was no big deal. For five minutes (or more). I just patted his little butt and marveled at the fact that he already looks like he could start crawling.

He has also discovered that his hands can touch one another. He brings them together in front of himself and worries them over one another, his little fingers working overtime to understand what is happening. Sometimes his eyes follow his hands, and I can almost hear his thoughts: "Woah. Dude. That hand....is touching the other hand....is touching that hand. I can FEEL it, man! They're touching each other, and I can feel them BOTH! ARE YOU GUYS SEEING WHAT I'M SEEING?"

We put him to bed tonight without swaddling him for the first time ever. He's gotten much more mobile at night, and I'll come in to find both his arms have worked out from the bottom of his swaddlers and pulled the fabric up around his neck. It worries Greg, and frankly, I don't feel too comfortable with it, either. I've also come in and found him on his side. I worry about him ending up on his belly still swaddled, his face smooshed into the mattress. There are too many horror stories about suffocating children. I don't like it. So, we are trying to say goodbye to swaddling. So far, he's been up twice in the first hour. I'm hoping he stays asleep now.

He's also grabbing things much more often. I read the other day that nothing helps develop a child's brain more than reaching and grabbing items, so I try to dangle all sorts of things in his face. He goes for some of them, and others he just regards with that look of a stoner staring at a black light - glazed wonder.

We put up the tree today, and I set Guy up in his bouncer, thinking I could probably get the tree assembled and an ornament or two placed before he'd tell me he'd had enough. I put on Elf in the background and got to work. An hour and a half later, Guy was still happily cooing and watching me put ornament after ornament on the tree. I got the entire thing put up before the fussing started. And Greg got the house decorated outside with Christmas lights. It's officially the holidays in the Tatum house!

- Jennifer

The Definition of Irony

On Wednesday night (I presume so he could give me something to be thankful for on Thursday), Guy slept through the night for the very first time. MONUMENTAL. He slept from 8-11 in his car seat at my parents' house, then from 11-7 in his crib once we got home.

Oh, but the irony? Greg got me up at 4:30 because he was violently ill.

Hooray!

Also, I ate myself silly Wednesday night and Thursday. I'm pretty sure I've had 8 pieces of pie in the last 48 hours.

The irony here? Today was the first time I fit into my favorite jeans, and I discovered I'm only one pound away from my pre-pregnancy weight.

Double hooray!

Irony is such a ho....because it can go both ways. :-)

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!!

Long Overdue Three Month Update

It's been a while, clearly. Guy's three month-iversary has come and gone, with nary an update from his parents.

But I have a good reason, I swear. Well, several, in fact. Quick, look at this sweet picture of my husband cuddling with our puppy and playing with the baby boy before I start complaining...

Okay, now. The first reason is that we went to Branson shortly after he turned 3 months. So Guy traveled across state lines for the first time in his short little life. But, since we were camping, there was no wifi to be found, and therefore, no update.

The second reason is that we have experienced a regression. Yes, that's right. After almost two months of agonizingly working to make sure Guy was getting enough to eat, he finally got to where he was an easy baby at home. He would get hungry, I would nurse him, we would be done! Like magic! And then, two weeks ago, I picked him up from daycare, and the gal there said, "He's been fussing a little about eating today."

No big deal, right? I thought it would just be something short-lived. I was sick myself, so I figured he'd maybe picked it up from me and was just having a sore throat or something. So, when he fussed at the breast and the bottle, I chalked it up to illness. But he didn't eat all night, preferring to scream anytime I tried to put breast or bottle in his mouth. He started running a low fever, so I gave him a bit of Tylenol. I barely slept, he barely slept, and I stayed home from work the following day, thinking he was really sick.

Sometimes Guy has to take an extra morning nap with Daddy. 

We went to the doctor, and she looked him over. I prayed for an ear infection. We could handle an ear infection. Instead, she found a large white patch on his palate that she called "very concerning." She referred us to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor and told me that other than that, there was nothing wrong with him. We would just have to wait it out.

So, we then went into The Weekend That Sleep Forgot. Every feed was a struggle. I ended up spooning milk into his mouth all weekend long, because it was the only way he would eat at all, and even then he was very much against swallowing it. I actually looked forward to Monday, when I would get a break from being the Bad Mommy that tried to force him to swallow when it hurt so bad.

After a week of this, I called the doctor again. I'm not sure how many times I've Googled "White patch on throat" and "Sore in mouth" and "Infant mouth ulcers" at this point. I began treating for thrush, hoping that was it, but to no avail. There was no improvement. We got an immediate appointment with the ENT, and I breathed a sigh of relief. He, after all, was named DR. GUY. Yes, that's right. Dr. Guy was going to know what was wrong with my Guy.

When we saw the doctor, this is the closest approximation I can come up with for his reaction:

"Hm. That's....strange."

Helpful, right? He asked us about all these things, like was Guy intubated at birth? Did we let him fall asleep holding a bottle? (Like he can hold anything to his mouth for an extended period of time anyway.) Did we give him a pacifier a lot?

All the answers were no. Meanwhile, my little heart is just breaking into a thousand pieces. Even the ENT is stumped, and that means there's no clue as to how to proceed. At the end of the appointment, he says it's basically a "flaw" in his palate, and that we just have to wait to see if it will go away. I can give him Tylenol, but there's nothing else for it. So we made an appointment to come back for him to check it in January, but other than that, we're at a loss.

Some days he will eat, but only after a prodigious amount of complaining. Sometimes I can get him to nurse straightaway, but sometimes he'll refuse all together. It's all very difficult. And his sleep has not been regularly good, since he's hungry and not getting everything he needs.

Still, even with all of this, we get some smiles that I take blurry pictures of with my iPhone.

So cross your fingers that it all ends soon. That Guy's poor little mouth heals up, and that we get back to the happy, easy time we managed to find for about two precious weeks. Because I SWEAR, this time I will appreciate it. Scout's honor.

Guy of Many Faces

Guy, like his parents, is a chameleon. He wears many faces, so it's only natural that he have a plethora of Halloween costumes to don for his very first Halloween. He had not one, but THREE costumes, all of which are pretty adorable. So here, without further ado, are his best looks:

As the affable, laughable Mickey Mouse, Guy brings smiles to all the kiddos. He qualifies as the Happiest Baby on Earth. Also, he likes to eat his fist. Hot dog!

If you have a pain, Dr. Guy can cure your ills. He's good at finding the funny bone. Some might even call him the cure for the common baby.

And finally, we wouldn't be a nerd family if we didn't nerd him up right for Halloween. Starfleet Officer Guy is just out of this world. ;-)

Back to the Grind

Yesterday marked my first day back to work. Everyone warned me - "You'll be so emotional", "Take it easy", and "It's okay to cry. We all do."

Perhaps I'm a terrible mother, but I really enjoyed my first day back. My parents are staying with Guy for the next few days, and we won't have to start him at daycare until November 5. I don't feel apprehensive about leaving him with them. Of course, I do miss him. I mean, I've spent the last 12 weeks with him nearly nonstop. But I also am so happy to be doing adult things again, like meetings and going to lunch. Ask me again in a few weeks, and I might not be so happy about the meetings, though.

Even though my apprehension was low, I still found myself peeking at the picture I have of Guy on my desk now. I mean, it's just about the most adorable thing ever:

His legs look completely out of proportion with his body. He kind of looks like a parade float - giant head, tiny body. 

This one is pretty good, too. I'm not sure why I'm a sucker for pictures of him while he's on his tummy, but I am. Something about the concentration on his face, maybe? 

And this is the photo of me right before I left for y first day back at work. You can tell that Guy is just totally scandalized by the indignant way he's napping on Greg. Look at those tiny fists! It's like he's just yelling at me, "How DARE you go back to work? You know what? I think I'll just sleep through your goodbyes. How do you like THEM apples?!"

I Guess This is Growing Up

Today Greg made the comment that growing up doesn't seem to be incremental for Guy. Instead, it feels like one day he is a lump and the next day he's walking and talking.

Well, not quite, but close enough. Things seem to be happening exponentially lately. Milestones are coming and going and I've barely got enough time to note them all.

For instance, today I put him down for tummy time. In the last week or two, I've been impressed if he could lift his head to almost 45 degrees. I cheer, clap, and basically act like he just hung the moon anytime he does it. But today, when I put him down his head instantly shot up to a 90 degree angle, and he proceeded to look all around the room, nonchalantly. Like, "Hey, I do this every day." If I thought he hung the moon before, now I clearly think he made it from scratch before he put it up there. I took video, pictures, and spent the next five minutes watching him intermittently snack on his play mat and look up at me

He now weighs in at 11 lbs 14.5 oz - only a pound more and he will have doubled his weight since birth. I think today might have been my last trip to the pediatrician for a weight check only. We were so worried for so long about how well he was gaining weight, that it's such a relief to be able to just focus on having a good time, and letting him eat at his own pace.

He's becoming much more vocal. I feel like less of a madwoman when I'm talking to him now, because occasionally, he'll coo in response. So it feels less one-sided. "Guy, what shall we do now - laundry or dishes?" Coo "Dishes? I guess you're right..." Coo "Okay, fine! I'm going, I'm going!"

Also, he is really beginning to be soothed by presence now. Just today, he woke up from a nap squalling (I often wonder what's going through his mind when this happens. Is he terrified? Uncomfortable? Trying out his lungs? Confused? I think I might try waking up from a night's rest screaming and see how it feels. Maybe it's just the most awesome way to wake up...) and I came over and started talking to him, and he immediately began to settle. Kind of amazing. I feel like it would be a really neat parlor trick, except that it probably wouldn't be.

- Jennifer

Two Milestones

Yesterday was an historic day. A day for the books. A day to live in infamy.

I slept for SIX hours. In a row.

That's the first time that has happened in 12 weeks. (Actually, if we are being honest, it's probably been more like 4 months, considering how often I had to get up and pee at the end of the pregnancy.)

Guy went 7.5 hours between feedings, and slept at least 7 of it. I admit, I did kind of panic when I realized what had happened. I woke up on my own to a wet shirt - I had leaked milk. This doesn't typically happen to me. Then I realized how hard my breasts were and how tender to the touch. So I finally looked at the clock: 3:30 a.m. I had gone to sleep at 9:30. I immediately got up and went to Guy's room and leaned my face over the crib to check that he was still breathing. Indeed he was. Relieved, I went to the bathroom and back to bed, but he just have smelled my soggy mess, because he woke only minutes later to eat.

And, while I knew it was probably a one-time thing, part of me cried tonight when I was woken after only an hour of sleep. Yes, he only slept 3 hours on his first stretch the very next night, so I only managed a scant hour of rest before our first feeding. I even tried to recreate everything from the night before, to no avail. Oh well, you can't win them all.

Additionally, today during tummy time, Guy managed a roll! It took about 5 minutes of concentration and pumping of arms and legs, but he made it from tummy to back. He then proceeded to get mad, because it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. One minute you're content on your side, and the next you're staring up at the ceiling, and not sure how you got there. So distressing. :-)

The Awakening

I feel that we've started to reach the point where our little Guy is starting to wake up and be more aware of his surroundings. He has started to develop a certain amount of head control, and with that control he's able to look around on his own terms. Once Guy was a couple of weeks old, I came back from a day out or some event and I was annoyed about something. I walked around the house putting my coffee cup and bag down, talking loudly to Jennifer and my mom about whatever it was. As I walked past Guy, his head flopped around and tracked me as I strode past continuing my rant. Jennifer and my mom started laughing and told me what had happened. I was broken out of my moment, and a big grin spread across my face. I tried walking by again and talking, but it was a one time thing.

Nearly two months later, that type of moment happens all the time. The other morning I woke up to Jennifer poking me and asking me to go change the fussing baby's diaper. I threw on my glasses, and stumbled into the nursery. The moment I walked in Guy stopped fussing and a huge grin spread across his face. My face broke out into an uncontrollable grin too.

Guy has started to really track things and follow us anytime he's awake and we're around. When I come home he seems excited to see me, and follows my voice and face. (Sorry Tonks, I'm more excited to see him now even if you do jump up straight into the air with all four legs off the ground and wag your tail.)

Today I was hanging out with Guy on the window seat, and I was trying to take his picture. He was kind of drooling and staring into space, as babies tend to do. Jennifer came up and said, "I bet that I can make him smile." She cooed, and tickled him. His face lit up in no time. I got my shot, she walked away and I thought, "Huh." I tried the same trick, but nope! I guess it's a mommy thing.