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!!