2 Month Check Up

On Friday we went for our 2 month check up with Dr. Smolen. I also did a little research and found these categories for development. Most of them don't really apply until he's older but I thought I'd put them in there so I wouldn't forget them later on:

Length/weight: M weighs 12 lbs and 1 ounce which is average and his length measured 24.5 inches (he's the top of his class!). So the doc says that even though he is average for his weight, M is really tall. All good reports on this end!

Waiting for Dr. Smolen to poke me with needles 

What the doctor said: M is doing great! And that we are really lucky parents to have a child that sleeps through the night. His skin looks great, his baby acne is almost gone! We did ask about his left eye because it is still constantly dripping and matted all the time. But the doctor said that his tear duct just hasn't come in yet and it's totally normal. If he's 9 months old and it still hasn't come in then they can do something about it but until then he is not worried about.

The doctor has to do a full body check and for little boys that includes making sure that his circumcision was still correct - because apparently the wiener can go back to uncircumcised if the skin doesn't take. But the Dr. S said that his wiener (his term was Penis - but wiener is such a better word I think) looked normal. To which I said, "great! I really didn't want him to have a weird wiener." At that point, Josh rolled his eyes and then covered his face with his hands. But Dr. S just laughed and confirmed that no, M did not have a "weird wiener."

M did get some shots and then one medicine that was given by mouth Pentacel (combination of DTaP, IPV, HIB), Prevnar and Rotateq. He did awesome with these, only cried for a few seconds and then was done!

Feeding: Guess this doesn't really count yet because he's still on the bottle. BUT at our next appointment (4 months) we are going to discuss working in some different kinds of food.

Firsts this month: screaming fit, slept through the night, sat up in his bumbo, tried and LOVED the swing, eating in a public restaurant, talking, had a major blow-out in his britches, peeing on Daddy, peeing in the bathtub, smiling.. there are tons more, I just can't remember them right now!

Developments: there are so many things he is starting to do! I can definitely tell that his hearing is getting better because of the way he will try to find Josh's or my voice in the room. He is always looking around and loves having staring contests at the ceiling fan - or at himself in the mirror which he gets from his father while sitting on his playmat. He is starting to talk so loudly now. He is babbling and loves to talk to us and himself. He has been starting to follow people around the room. His head is getting so strong that he is holding himself up more and can even sit in the Bumbo for short periods of time.

Likes: laying on his playmat, talking to us, sitting outside, sitting with his "Bear", milk, pooping (at least I think he likes this because he seems to laugh and smile when he's doing it), sitting up, swinging, bath time

Dislikes: changing his diaper, burping, being held - this is so infuriating because sometimes I just want to cuddle!! There is no force-cuddling with him either. He just.won't.cooperate. He doesn't really do much so there's not much in this category. He's just a really happy baby for the most part.

What I'm thankful for: I am really thankful for a baby that sleeps through the night. I don't want to jinx myself but he has been doing great since we've been swaddling him with the arms in. All around, he's just a great baby. He really only fusses when something is wrong with him. He is just happy, happy, happy!

What I'm looking forward to: sitting up by himself and rolling over which are the next things to come!

How Mommy's doing: There are good days and there are bad. I feel guilty that my job is so far away and takes time away from spending it with Mason. It's also really hard with my hours to get M on a routine which I desperately want to do whenever he is ready for a routine. But I'm looking for another job that has routine hours and is a little more flexible. Fingers crossed! Also, while I am happy that M is doing so great and is developing perfectly, I am also sad that he is growing up so fast. In order to not waste any time and miss anything, I am reminding myself to slow down and appreciate the time I have and that other things can wait or be rescheduled. A part from M, I am battling the post-baby body blues. I keep reminding myself that it took 9 months to put it on. But seriously, nothing.will.fit. I have no clothes and on top of that I have extra skin still. I thought that ish went away around 4-6 weeks?!?! I feel like flubber!! I also keep telling myself that Operation Starvation starts this week and that I'm going to work out... It never happens. I work 45 mins - 1 hr away so it's usually 10 hours at LEAST (often 12 hours or more if I go to my second job) after I leave M so I want to go home to him immediately as quickly as possible. Let's not mention that there is a house I have to help straighten up, laundry to do (I won't pretend that I cook), time that M needs to spend outside before dark, pack my lunch for tomorrow... And the list continues. These are all considered excuses but I'm sorry I want to spend time with my son. I am just not willing to cut that out yet. At the same time, I have to deal with it. Starting today, I'm going to be better about it! (Maybe after today since I was too sleepy last night to pack my lunch which means that I'll have to resort to Wendy's for lunch today - no judging please)

Here are his 2 month pics:

Look at the belly!!  

Holding his "Bear" 

Following Friday's appointment we went over to my parents because we HAD to hang out with them since MiMi didn't get to see Mason all week (her words). We went to dinner with my parents, Nae Nae, (Great) Uncle Jeff (to Mason), and Uncle BoBo. I forgot to get pics, I promise I'm trying to get better about it! That night Danny, Sarah and Lilly got into town so we had fun hanging out with them.

Saturday morning we got up early and started getting ready to go to Hickory to surprise my little nephew at his first football game! I was SO excited because I kept this secret all to myself - even after asking Deb (MIL) and Little Dave (BIL) about sending me a schedule. Any of you who know us knows how difficult it is for me to keep a secret. Chase was SO excited that he waved at me from the sidelines and proceeded to tell "Coach" Little Dave (his dad) that we were there. Chase did SO good!! He even picked up the ball on a fumble and ran it 15 yards... in the wrong direction BUT STILL!! It was the first time he got the ball and was so excited - we've all made similar mistakes one time or another. He was the absolute CUTEST!!

**Disclaimer: I have the cutest nieces and nephew in the world. The following pics are proof**

Mackenzie with Mason - she's such a big girl!! She's going to be a heartbreaker too! 

The grandchildren 

 Next we went back to Charlotte and had every intention to go to the Greek festival but thought it would be way too much for the kiddies. So instead we went to Blakeny to sit outside and listen to the music. Lilly found the sprinklers in the quad area and had so much fun letting them squirt her in the face and play in them:

Horsey with Uncle Danny

Eaker grandkids

The "Unicorn" look

We had to strip all of her clothes off because she was SOAKING wet

Ice cream with Nae Nae

Sunday morning Mason was a talking machine! So here are a few awesome photos and videos:

Hope everyone has a great week! Happy Monday!

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend was pretty much relaxing – thank goodness! I was telling Josh the other day that I feel like we were constantly having to pack things up to go places. Last week was a week full of “firsts” and it rolled over into the weekend. We had our first HUGE “blowout.” Seriously, there was $hit everywhere. I don’t know how he could have had that much poop in his body. Not to mention while I was changing his diaper he started kicking his feet… Right into said poop, which then got all over his clothes! Thanks, M. He also broke out of his swaddle for the first time and then proceeded to talk to the camera instead of going back to sleep (sigh). See below:

Saturday morning we packed up the car to head over to my mom and dad’s for a pool day. We decided beforehand that instead of waking M up to bring him home later on that night, that we would just sleep over at Mi Mi & Paw Paw’s house. So this is a pic of all the crap things M needed for a sleepover at a house that is literally 4 miles away:

BUT when we got there we were greeted with the best Southern breakfast in the world! Eggs, grits, and sausage – MY FAVORITE!!

We had a blast hanging out by the pools with my bestie Hayley and her hubby Lee along with the neighborhood. On Sunday, we went back to our house to shower then came back to the house to visit with my older sister (Sarah), BIL Danny, Lilly, & Baby Baum 2.0. It was pretty uneventful but here are a few pics from the rest of the weekend:

Tickle time with Cousin Lilly

Lots of kisses for Mason!

MiMi and Lilly

Playing with Aunt Sarah

I'm not quite sure why she wanted to lay on Dundee's bed but she was having a ball!

Mason and Cousin Matt

Much needed pool time - please excuse the post-baby body, I'm working on it! 

I woke up and there was a little burrito in my bed

And here are the updates that we have gotten from Ms. Dawn - 

Tummy time while talking to the fishy!

We're getting ready for our 2 month check up this Friday so we'll report back soon! Hope everyone has a great hump day! 

Nightmare on P Street

Week two of working is going great as I'm starting to not dread going to work. Originally, I was so sad to be going back to work and really considered staying at home. I'm glad I am sticking with work. I have a lot of respect for women that choose to stay at home. And who knows, I may end up staying home when he and far-off-future-Baby #2 are older but right now I feel like I appreciate my time with him more now. I also know that I am much more attentive to him. I think that if I stayed at home I would be more likely to have one of those kids that are screaming their heads off in Target because I would be so used to it that I could ignore it and therefore everyone else would be able to ignore it.

M has been a little grumpy this week. I'm pretty sure that he's going through a growth spurt. However, my co-worker and friend, Jason, informed me that that's what they say for everything and it really is the truth. Any time that M is fussy, I always say it's a "growth spurt." I guess it's because he's never really that fussy and when he is I have to blame it on something and not because he's being a complete nightmare to which I don't know how I'm going to get through the day. For example, here's how it went this morning:

Oh so cute happy baby!

A split second later Nightmare Mason is back! 

We have had a few "firsts" this week and it's only Wednesday. M is sitting in his Bumbo!! Let's not forget, this kid is ONLY 7.5 weeks old. I am so impressed! M has always been a little wiggle worm and great with his head and neck control. From Day 1 he's been able to pick up his head and sit it back down without jerking it around like they usually do. But sitting in his Bumbo already?? That's just amazing to me! I have been thinking that maybe we should try it but wasn't sure if he was too young. Then I got a pic from Ms. Dawn with him sitting in it like a big boy and she said that he did great! Here's our pic:

So of course I couldn't wait to try it when I got home for myself. It's true, he did it!!

I had a personal "first" this week. I have given up trying to put him in a routine. In talking to Ms. Dawn originally, I told her that I wanted to start putting him down in his crib around 10 or 11 am for a nap or at least for some "quiet time." We have come to the conclusion that a) it's too early to be doing routines and b) I may have a kid that doesn't take naps. Ms. Dawn said that she has been trying to lay him down but he just sits and talks to the monitor. Granted, she did say that she's never had a baby that self soothes like he does, especially in the crib but she thought that he was probably too young. After all, he may doze off for about 10 minutes but then he's back at it kicking and playing. He is seriously so active I won't be surprised if he doesn't take a nap at all when he's older. BUT he will have "quiet time" at least because I need to get things done or maybe take a quick nap ;-) Here's a video that Ms. Dawn sent of him hanging out in his crib talking into the monitor:

This last "first" is something that M has just now started doing. I was leaving work yesterday afternoon when I received a text from Josh saying, "will you please come home and make your son stop crying???" Now, let's just have a side note. Whenever M cries, Josh does not like it. Not saying that I like it, I just have a little more tolerance over it. So I called him to check in because I was freaking out. M had been crying for about 5 minutes straight so Josh had put him in his crib because he wasn't hungry and he did not have a dirty diaper so he couldn't figure out what was wrong. M is a really good baby. He usually never cries unless something is wrong so it was strange that he was doing this. And when I mean screaming, I mean he was wailing and crying so hard that he was coughing. Let's also mention that M was in his crib which is in his room with the door shut while Josh was talking to me in the living room and it sounded like M was right next to the phone screaming.

Here I go rushing home to see what is going on. I give Josh a fly-by kiss (who is on the couch looking like a deer in headlights) and go to pick M up from his crib and he immediately stops crying. I look at Josh who says, "wait for it..." M starting screaming again. So we try walking around the house which works for about 2 minutes... More screaming.. Finally I sit down and ask Josh to make a couple of ounces in a bottle for me. Now, M had just eaten about two hours ago so there was no way that he should have been hungry. Except that homeboy drank 5 more ounces and was perfectly fine. It was the WEIRDEST thing! He has never done that before!! So we escaped from this experience unharmed.. Mostly. Until today...

I am having to work later on this evening and won't get home until around 9:30 pm. I text Josh around 3:00 pm to ask how he was doing. His response was "he hates me." He was screaming AGAIN! Josh knew that M couldn't be hungry because he had just fed him an hour earlier. Meanwhile, I am stuck at work hating my life because I can't go home to help calm him down. Fortunately, Ms. Dawn had told Josh that if it happened again to give M an ounce of water because it may just be that M likes the sucking sensation and water isn't bad for babies. SUCCESS IS OURS!!! I checked back in with Josh about 15 minutes later and his response was "how do you think he feels?" with this picture:

Hopefully, this nightmare screaming match will end soon. We're not quite sure why he has started doing this but we're hoping that the water trick will keep working. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure Josh might go insane ;-)

Here's some more cuteness pics that we got this week:

Stroller ride with Ms. Dawn

Don't let this smile fool you... Homeboy has some lungs!

Swinging at Ms. Dawn's

Oh and my last pic has nothing to do with M but about the awesome new den set up we got from Josh's parents. Likey? We do!!

Hope everyone has a fantastic rest of the week! We'll be back soon!