Breast feeding article

I noticed an interesting article about breastfeeding on my Yahoo! home page today and thought I'd share. It's a bit jumpy as they go from breast feeding to H1N1 flu back to breast feeding, but I find the numbers pretty amazing...only 40% of women breast feed their babies through 6 months, no matter how rich or poor the country. They estimate 1.3 million babies lives could be saved from it. Hmmm, glad I'm still primarily breast feeding James. However, I also don't think people should be judged if they cannot breast feed their child...I think good health care can go a long way....just my cheap two cents as I know my production has sloooooowwwweeeddd waaaaayyyy down and I have to supplement to keep our Peanut growing strong and there's not much I can do about it, so I feel for the moms that want to do it but can't or go through so much pain with it.

Gerber Talk

James has been chattin' me up here the past couple of days! Here is one of the times I actually caught him on video talking "Gerber" in his pterodactyl-like screech (he usually goes silent as soon as he sees the camera as he gets easily distracted...hmmm, wonder where he gets that from? not me, hehe). We were actually woken up this morning, not by an alarm clock, but by James having a pretty in-depth conversation with his mobile animals :-) Wonder what was so exciting at 7:15am in his crib...maybe they were planning a big shindig for Friday night? This stage might just be my favorite.

First Giggle!!!

So we've been patiently waiting for James to giggle for us (OK, patiently may be overstating it as Jim and I will both randomly laugh at him for long periods of time just to see if we can get him to mimic us)...and today I got it! Without the camera around, of course! Easton's vet was there to witness it though and she felt very honored to hear his first full-on giggle. He was chillin' in his car seat while the vet was checking Easton out and I pulled the weird animal thing down to him, he grabbed it and let it vibrate back up and I laughed at his facial expression and then he just busted out a long giggle to go with his huge smile :-D IT WAS SO ADORABLE! He did it again for us so we could verify what we heard. Then, the vet took Easton in the back to get his doggie biznASS done and I gave Jim a call at work and managed to get a few more giggles out of James for him to hear (his response: "Awwww, that's so cute"). A few of them he sounds like he starts laughing and ends in a cry, but it's still cute. After the vet and a meal for James, I decided to take him back outside and put him on the blanket to see if I could get him to giggle again. He did, just not as long and distinguishable as the first few, but I was able to capture on video (above).

James' friend Katie walked down to visit with him for a bit too before her bed time (well, Kathleen and Matt carried her down as she's only 8 days older than James, minor technicality). She's so cute! I love visiting with them to compare war stories and hear what she's up to as they totally understand what we're going through as they're doing the same things :-) She got herself some Easton kisses for the road (he loves him some baby kisses) but not before we got some good pictures of Katie and James to show them when they're graduating high school (I'm sure that will be here before we know it as I can hardly believe James is almost 5 months old already)!

We may have to keep a close eye on these two kiddos! ;-)

Boy gets brave and goes for the first date-movie theater-arm around the girl move....

...Boy all happy with his successful attempt to woo Girl...

...Girl throws a left jab to let Boy know who's Boss (thatta girl Katie, sorry Mr. Suave, you are not allowed to date until you are 25, thank you)

The pictures didn't actually happen in that order, but it was too funny not to re-arrange them.

Below, James is developing quite the goofy personality. He had spit up (again) and soaked his shirt enough that I figured I'd take it off him since bed wasn't too far away and it got stuck like this after he started squirming...usually he'd freak out but today he just went with it and hammed it up for a picture :-)

Welcome, Isaiah!!!

We'd like to officially welcome our newest friend, Mr. Isaiah Xavier! He is the son of our family friends -- Congratulations to Tanya, Dave and big sister Gabriella! They should end up in the same grade for school -- maybe they'll head off to the U of I together one day, which is where I met Dave and Tanya :-) James (and I) can't wait to meet him, he's such a cutie!

Farmer's Market Friday

James was super happy to take a walk and not use his car seat -- what a big boy!!! He loved kicking his feet out against the foot rest of the stroller -- kept him busy and must have tired him out because he fell asleep just as we were walking up our driveway (the walk was cut very short because Easton's retractable leash stopped retracting) and he took about a 1.5 hour nap -- meant I got to pull some weeds (not fun, but needed to be done)!
Thursday I was determined to get James to take a nap in his crib. He fell asleep while breast feeding around noon, so I took him upstairs to go to nap -- of course, he was wide-eyed and bushy tailed as soon as I hit the top step. I tried rocking him and dancing with him to get him to go back to sleep -- no dice. So then I thought maybe he didn't get enough food from me, so I'd give him a bottle of milk I'd pumped a couple days earlier -- well, it made him happy as he probably was hungry still, but he refused to nap still. Fifteen minutes of dancing and 20 or so minutes of fussing later = James finally asleep...for 3 hours! I didn't get anything done though because I was paranoid since he was on his belly! I kept running upstairs to check on him and I had to get a picture because it's my favorite when he sleeps with his booty up in the air (I turned the fan on high and had it pointed directly at him through the mesh bumper to make sure he got fresh air to breath). On a cool note, this was during the time that Mark Buehrle was completing his perfect game (no-hitter) versus the Tampa Rays, so I'm glad I randomly called Amanda and found out the game was on TV -- very exciting to watch even though I'm not a Sox fan -- still a fan of baseball at it's best!
Jim and James got some fun play time together on Thursday when Jim got home from work.

A close up of our smiley Bug :-D

Our neighbor, Elise, came to visit with James during the afternoon.

James took the burp rag from me and was playing with it and it ended up on his head like this -- I had to take a picture because w/ the pattern on the rag, he totally looked like an Egyptian Pharaoh :-)

I have been wanting to take James to the local Farmer's Market since it opened in June. Mother Nature had a different plan though as it rained for 3 Fridays in a row and then last week it just wasn't gonna happen. So today, it finally happened :-) It was really nice outside (pretty warm actually) and we did a lap first to check out the goods. There was a knife sharpener (old-fashioned, very cool), lots of fruits, veggies, plants/flowers and pastries and even a doggie treat station! We ended up with some fresh cherries, apple butter, pumpkin bread and a peanut butter puppy treat -- I was pretty proud of my restraint at only spending $15 -- so tempting with so many yummy items! We then took a walk around the Town Square, which was really cute. They had a little program under the gazebo for ~2-4 year olds that were singing and dancing to a "Sticky Sticky Bubble Gum" song -- I'll have to remember that for a few years from now! There is a lake that you can walk right down to and put your feet in (which I thought was potentially a drowning hazard w/ all the kids there, but I guess you gotta put some faith in parents), a splash fountain and an amphitheater -- I was impressed and we (I, as James was passed out within 2 minutes of being in the market) got some exercise walking around.

I was so excited for James to wear these Safari overalls! If I haven't previously mentioned it, I LOVE OVERALLS on boys -- sooooo cute! He wore his sunglasses to protect his pretty, big brown eyes and there is a matching safari hat too (which he wasn't in the mood to wear).

The old-school knife sharpening station -- maybe this is the best technology they have for it out there now still, but I was pretty fascinated watching him work.

The backdrop of the gazebo is a renovated wildlife area -- it was gorgeous!
When we got home, I put James down on his activity mat to play while I went to grab my sandwich and I heard the chime from the elephant and looked but didn't see him -- he had rolled himself about 3 feet from where he started. Of course, he never did the "travelling roll" while I had the video camera rolling, but it's the only way he could have gotten from point A to B so quickly (unless Easton gave him a ride, which I doubt happened). The positioning actually worked out as it gave him some tummy time too. I love the "oh nuts, Mom caught me, maybe if I'm really cute she'll forget about it and still love me" look that he's starting to work on for when he's older :-)

He was so excited about roll-travelling that he was talking to me and he got some Easton kisses for his efforts.

Baltimore Orioles at Chicago White Sox Game

On Sunday, July 19, Jim was going to celebrate day #2 of Dominic's bachelor party at the White Sox game. However, it ended up a couple people who were supposed to go had to bail at the last minute and James and I got invited to our first bachelor party :-) The Sox lost 10-2 but we had a good time with good friends (note: the Sox are 0-2 at games that James attends....maybe I should take him to more, hehe).

James had a good time when Daddy gave Mommy a break and took James for a bit (and then I went into spastic photographer mode)!
James thuggin' it up with the backwards cap courtesy of Dad (maybe starting a new trend with "love thuggin'").

Mom gets a hot dog; Dad gets nachos; James gets breast milk and Daddy's thumb for dessert :-) We have to enjoy the ball games where he isn't begging us for treats from every vendor that passes!

James and I posed for a pic with the bachelor and his father (I thought it was an unwritten rule to have no pictorial proof of what happened during a bachelor party extravaganza but I got permission for this one and the bride-to-be was there with us so there were no known shenanigans :-)).

Mommy-Son Saturday

Jim was out at Dominic's bachelor party festivities on Saturday, so James E and I had the day to ourselves. We chilled with Easton for awhile out front on a blanket and enjoyed the awesome weather (mid 70s and a nice breeze). The neighbors came over and played with James during his tummy time when their dogs came to visit Easton. At night we went with the Schillingers to Gma and Gpa Schillinger's block party. It was a fun night with karaoke (only heard mumbled Taylor Swift from 3-4 year olds about 4 times), largest adult egg toss and water balloon toss that I've ever seen and a bags tournament (that Laura and I got eliminated in the first round, bummer).

James can't keep his fingers out of his mouth...these teeth NEED to cut already! He's been waking up during the night about every other night bc he flips himself over, gets mad he's on his belly, realizes his diaper is soaked (bc he is drinking at least 6 oz. of formula at night when my supply runs low) and that he's hungry again since it's been 4-5 hours since his last meal...so I end up being awake for 45-60 minutes with him and then BEG him to take a nap in the morning (which usually doesn't happen). As you can see below, he's starting to "play shy" a bit with people. It's cute bc he'll smile and then bury his head in my neck/shoulder...which is OK now until he'll need to be broken of it when he won't leave me to let anyone else hold him...he's gettin' heavy!!! :-)
Tummy time outside in his cute airplane shirt from the Folzenlogels (the pants are still too big for our short stuff). Right after he spent 30 min on his belly and 10 more on his back, I put him belly-to-belly on me and he promptly spit up and both of us needed a wardrobe change! Look at those dark brown eyes -- so deep in baby thought :-)

Eric (our neighbor that will be a freshman this year, wow, he's grown up so much in the 3 years we've known him!) was great at playing with James and keeping him entertained during his tummy time (I think Eric was enjoying a break from the yard work and getting the rain barrel working at their house too). James is getting good at holding his head up high during tummy time -- he'll be on a tear around the house soon when he gets the strength to crawl -- I'm sure it's not far away!

Can little boys in denim overalls be any more cute??? James had a great night outside at Gma and Gpa Schillinger's block party with Laura.
Uncle Ed and Aunt Mary Jo took a turn walking James around as the night went on (he was up from about 7:15am - 9:30pm with just a 30 min nap on our drive over).
I absolutely love Gma and Gpa Schillinger! They came outside to enjoy the family fun for a little bit.
Perhaps the largest adult egg toss I'll ever see in my life -- at least 25 pairs competed and then maybe more for the water balloon toss (which I took the soaking on here w/ our thin balloon -- soft hands were no help at all)!

Look What I Found!

MY TOES!!!

James has recently become a big fan of playing with his toes :-) Mr. Independent generally prefers to find them himself though -- maybe he enjoys the surprise of finding a "new" body part every time? (Yes, our little Peanut still fits in this onesie -- the 0-3 month size when he's 4.5 months old -- as the doctor said: "someone's gotta be the little guy")!

Mommy Turns 30 :-)

Well, I hit the big 3-0 over the weekend and survived -- WHEW! James was feeling a little punky from his shots still and wasn't sleeping great (from the flipping onto his belly previously blogged about) so it was a long weekend, but so much fun! Pops came up Saturday morning to see us because GG had two concerts to work and then a pretty solid group of people came to hang and celebrate -- it was great! Thanks everyone for all the birthday wishes :-) I look forward to a great 4th decade with all my lovely family and friends!

My bug and I on my birthday -- Jimmy got me an HD video/still picture camera so I can take some sweet videos and pictures to post on here of James as he grows up -- thanks Bub!

James was quite happy on the activity mat for a long time. He is totally obsessed with his fingers and hands - they are constantly in his mouth and it's really gross as they often end up on your face and slime you. What a cute outfit too! Cassie got a birthday present for me for James, hehe, and it was SO CUTE -- it has a big orange crab on the booty -- adorable!On Monday, we were joined by Gma Chele and Uncle John at Kampai, a Japanese teppanyaki restaraunt (like Benihana) to celebrate Gma Chele and my birthdays (our b-days are 2 weeks apart). There was lots of action from the chef, so James enjoyed watching. He had his normal "Mom and Dad are trying to eat dinner" radar on, so we took turns walking/bouncing him as the other scarfed their yummy food (good thing I don't generally mind cold food, eh).

Four Months Old

Lucky James got to go to the doctor on his 4-month birthday and get his shots...poor lil' man :( It seems like we are always there for ever between waiting for the doctor, then waiting for the nurse to pull the shots, etc...then they get upset that we are still there and they are late for starting their lunch because they took so long and I need to feed James...ah, I'm sure it will get better as he gets older and doesn't need to eat as often!

He weighed in at 11lb, 12oz (still 3-4th percentile), 22 3/4 inches long (dropped off the charts here, shorty) and had a head circumference of 15 inches (15th percentile, lots of brains I guess, hehe). The doctor said he checks out great and is staying along his growth line, so it's all good. He said to wait until after his 6 month appt to start introducing solid foods (yummy, rice cereal) and to start giving him bigger bottles to see what he'll take (breast feed him then give him a bottle if he still seems hungry as my supply is weaning itself down). I can already tell he weighs more than he did on Friday, so I'm excited! I'm guessing his small size is part of the reason why he's been hitting most of his motor milestones about 2 months early (that and just his plain awesomeness, hehe).

I forgot to make the "4 month" sign, so I had to photo shop it in. Don't mind the outfit, I told Amanda I would try to get one more picture of James in his Sox outfit that she bought him before he grew out of it and while it wasn't full of poop! Last time I tried, he literally had a poop explosion that morning -- it went through the diaper, onesie, sleeper, sheet protector, sheet and was very lightly on the mattress pad -- YIKES, that was definitely a productive diap -- thank goodness for Dreft -- that stuff works wonders!

Hangin' with Dad

James is almost 4 months old here in the pictures! So hard to believe -- but we are getting some FABULOUS pictures of him now as he smiles more often, can control his head more and "sit" better with support.

Jimmy reading Harry Potter Book 7 to James -- we've had so much trouble reading to him at bed time (he just cries), maybe he was still hungry (it was awhile back last time we had tried) or maybe he just wants to relax and read along Daddy -- looks pretty happy right here to me! I love this picture -- it should be a poster for the "READ" campaign, I find them much cuter than Serena Williams or George Lopez (nothing against them, I'm just biased in this case).
Smiles from both boys! Woo hoo!

Since James has learned to roll over from his back to his belly, we've found him in all sorts of positions in his crib. Honestly, it's driving me crazy! I haven't gotten a good night's sleep since he started doing it because he either a) rolls and gets mad about it bc he hates tummy time and has forgotten that he learned how to go from belly to back at 4 weeks old and wakes himself up crying or b) rolls and keeps knocking his head into the slats and then wakes up mad. So I've been up at 4am, 5am, 4:45am, etc for about 5 days now and once he wakes up he realizes he's hungry, so then I'm up for at least an hour while I change him, feed him and try to get him to fall back asleep...ugh...yuck! The doctor told us to flip him back over to his back if we find him on his belly to reduce the risk of SIDS but that just wakes him up. We've tried using rolled up receiving blankets on his sides, but he can move them and I'm pretty sure he'd just worm his way out of a sleep positioner too. I know he's strong enough to hold his head up to breath if needed, so I shouldn't be worried, it's just that the research shows that babies don't get into as deep of a sleep on their backs, so they are able to startle themselves awake to breath if they stop in the middle of the night (same reason they suggest swaddling them with their arms out now instead of inside the wrap)....oh the worries of motherhood! I just want my bug to be as safe as possible!!!

First Baseball Game!

On July 9, 2009 James attended his very first MLB game! Amanda offered to take me for my 30th birthday and the White Sox were playing the Indians, so James and I were in for a trip to US Cellular Field! Her mom and Jamie S. and her mom joined us. James was appropriately dressed in his new Indians onesie (thanks Aunt Lynn and Mal), denim overalls, red socks that look like tennis shoes (fake laces and all) and say "Little Champ" and a cute blue cap (that actually fits his head, thanks Cassie)! It was a battle of the bats and the Indians won 10-8 -- woo hoo!!! James is their good luck charm I guess as he's watched two games on TV and attended one in person and they've won all 3 -- I think they should pay us to travel around with them the rest of the season ;-)

James and I with the stadium in the background -- baseball fields are so relaxing :-)

Myself, James and Amanda

Myself, James and Jamie


James started to get real antsy and tired, so Amanda and I walked the concourse with him. They were doing promos for the Brookfield Zoo Dinosaur exhibit so we got our pic taken w/ the T.Rex/Alligator thingie (you be the judge)...he was walking around with a lion, so we weren't quite sure.
The walk worked! James snoozed on me for a couple innings towards the end of the game. He did such a good job -- he loves being outside, it's just hard to keep him protected from the sun since you can't put sunscreen on babies until they are 6 months old (weird, as they are probably the age that needs it the most).

On the way out of the stadium we decided to get a picture of James as Joe Crede. I was walking and feeding him a bottle, so I walked behind the photo, asked Amanda if she was ready and hurriedly pulled out the bottle and presented him all "Hakuna Matata"-esque...he was screaming his head off but got a group "awwwww" from the crowd that was waiting their turn.
(sorry these 3 pics are so small...for some reason it won't upload them in any other size).
We had such a great time, Thanks Amanda!!!

Exer-Saucer

On Monday we tried the exersaucer again to see if Peanut could touch the bottom yet....and his lil toesies just made it! Within 10 seconds of being in it he was playing with the red/yellow/blue spinners and was SO EXCITED!!! He's such a curious guy so this new adventure was right up his alley.

How does your Hybrid sound James?

James is a TV junkie...he really likes the VW commercial when the car asks the guy "how does your hybrid sound?" and the answer is "haaaaaaaaaaa" in the hushed tones...he gets all giddy when I ask him the question, so I'm guessing it's a hit with him :-)

4th of July 2009

James and Easton made their first trip to Cleveland for the 4th of July weekend to meet my side of the family. We had such a blast -- thanks everyone for coming out to meet them and for the Garners for hosting us all weekend!