We have a 1 1/2 year old!!!!

How in the world did this happen so quickly?!?!?! How is James already one and a half years old?!?!?! I still have pain from my c-section, surely this isn't possible that he's already this old?!?!?
Everything goes into the mouth -- gotta watch this kid like a hawk!

James had his 18-month doctor appointment :: back on the charts, WOO HOO! Go James! Well, go James at drinking your Kid's Essentials everyday -- those guaranteed 240 calories are definitely working! He was up to 22.2 pounds (3rd percentile; from off the charts at 19.2lbs at 15-months) and 30 inches tall (9th percentile) with a 47.2cm head circumference (lots of brains = big head, right, putting him in the 50th percentile there). Poor kid got 3 shots, including his flu shot, so hopefully that stays out of our house this year! He passed with flying colors on all the physical developmental stuff (+3 word, check!; autism questionnaire, check!; drinks from sippy, check! imitating mom and dad, check!) and is catching up on the teeth (9 total now -- popped out a molar last week)! Overall, he's lookin' darn good if we must say so ourselves :-) Very proud of all our 18-month old has accomplished so far and can't wait to see what he has in store for us next! We love you, Bug!!!!

15 Months!

OK, so don't judge me, but it's nearly impossible to get this kid to sit still for a picture -- thus, the letting him stand on the chair w/ the sign in the background (and a set of hands close to catch him). He is a monkey of all sorts, trying to climb everything these days. He loves going to school; carrying the den garbage can around, dumping it, then putting all the paper back in (drives Daddy crazy); throwing Easton's toys/balls for him to fetch; reading or "E-I-E-I-O"-ing as he calls all his books that; learning new words and signs :: newest is "duck" which he'll do if he hears the word "duck," sees a duck on the TV/computer or hears quacking (found a "duck song" on youtube that we had to watch 3 times because he loved it) -- very cool to know he can link all 3 senses to one sign that he does -- such a smarty pants! He loves animals -- he even got to pet a rooster at school last week! He got to see the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup!!!! He is goofy and thrives on getting us to laugh -- loves to "draw" on our bellies with the stuffed blue crayon :-) He can drink from a straw, too (although a little messy, so we're stickin' with the sippy when possible.
Prepping for a forward somersault...or a bear walk? Tuck the chin to the chest, James!

His new star for the wall at school...I only had big pictures, so I didn't get as many on for this room as I had in the infant room.

I took James for his 15 month dr. appointment today. He checks out really well with his development -- dr. said no worries of autism (whew); he has more then "a couple" words, so he's good with language development; he was practically running laps around the room (and she's seen him in action at school since her daughter is in the class next door) and he throws balls for Easton, so his gross motor skills are very good, maybe even a little ahead, and his fine motor skills are good (feeding himself, drinking all from sippy, holding a crayon/marker, etc). The only thing he's not super duper at is keeping calories in him to gain weight! Doh! He weighed in at 19lb 4oz today and was 28.5 inches tall with a 46.5cm circumference noggin (at his 12 month he was 19lb 11oz, but got his ear infection about a month ago and dropped weight; I thought the nurse measured him wrong at that appt too for height as it was 29.25in -- this one we did twice and I think we got it closer to right this time - very difficult w/ kicking and screaming and rolling kid)...so he has 'failure to thrive' which sounds horrible, but she said there's probably no underlying issues with him, he's just really really active and burns all his calories off quickly (and he'd rather play than eat, so he gets up from the table at school during lunch and says "all done" and brushes off his plate at dinner time, even though he'd probably still eat more). We're gonna help him get some extra calories and lots of nutrients by giving him Pediasure or Kid Essentials 1x/day and see how that works. Will get him a weight check in 6-8 weeks and hope that he grows some!

6-Month Dr Appt

James went for his 6-month check-up last week. We were there forever! It was about 2 hours total after waiting, talking with the dr. (we had his undivided attention for about 30 minutes, so it was good) and then waiting for the nurse to pull his vaccines and then he was starving, so he needed to eat. He is still officially our lil' Peanut -- weighed in at 14lb 4oz (5th percentile), was 25.5 inches long (25th percentile, woo hoo, back on the charts) and had a 42.5cm head measurement (holding steady at the 20th percentile there). He checked out well and is moving on up with the adventures of solid foods :-) We added oatmeal cereal to his diet and at first I thought he may have been having a reaction to it, but I think we've determined it was just prickly heat because it was quite warm outside and he spends a good portion of his day spinning around like a helicopter on his belly. The dr. asked if he was rolling over and I started laughing -- he's been doing that since he was 3 months old and is now moving w/ a purpose -- you know, Easton's toys just are not safe anymore :-) He's also transferring objects from one hand to the other (after playing with them first, of course). James goes back in early October to get his first flu shot (it's a 2 shot series), so hopefully he manages to avoid it until then! We have loved every minute (even at 2:30am on work days when I get up at 5am) of having James in our lives and it's been awesome to watch him grow and develop these past 6 months!














Hopefully this isn't practice for a future mug shot! James is bigger than the teddy bear and definitely dominates the GloWorm!

James has become fascinated with paper -- he was more interested in it than in getting his picture taken for his 6-month b-day. He's become quite hard to catch sitting still these days.

WE LOVE OUR BUG!!!

Wake up and play with me Daddy!

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!

James 11 weeks, Jimmy 29 years

Jimmy turned 29 years old and James was 11 weeks old on Tuesday! Lots to celebrate!

Below is the daily "how I found James in the morning" picture -- always a surprise! I think he woke himself up this morning by kicking the back of his crib. I took him back to the doctor to check and see how the weight gain was going and...we have one Chunky Monkey on our hands! He gained 12oz in 6 days!!! If you remember from last time, infants should gain about 1oz per day and James had only put on 5oz in 9 days. Needless to say, the doctor was very happy with him weighing 9lb, 14oz :-) So I don't have to force feed him every 2-2.5 hours anymore but I still need to make sure he doesn't go longer than 4 hours between daytime feedings. She thinks it is a good idea to keep giving him a 4oz bottle of formula at bedtime to make sure his belly is nice and content for a good night's sleep -- still going 7-8 hours, so that is great! We then met up with Jim and Mikey for lunch at Portillo's -- yummy!









It's so fun to be 11 weeks old! He was giggling at me here -- it still doesn't happen very often or on purpose, but the smiling does for sure!









One happy baby on his changing table









The birthday boy and his son!










Not a clear picture (Jim's finger was over the flash) but it was the best family photo we got w/o James screaming his head off! Maybe he was just singing "Happy Birthday" to Jimmy in his Gerber language?!?

Take Baby to Work Day

Wednesday morning James was having a good ole time playing with his hands and feet while I got ready. He isn't really much of a sucker but he does enjoy putting his hand in his mouth for a couple of seconds before throwing another air-punch. He has also started recognizing his feet. He will pull them up like the middle pic at the abs and then accidentally grab them and get so overly excited he kicks them back out. The way he pulls them up makes me think he may figure out how to roll over from his back to his belly soon but we'll have to wait and see!

Found his thumb

Found his feet

Trying to stuff both hands in his mouth at once

I was getting ready so I could take him down to work to let him meet everyone! It was nice to see everyone but I sure don't miss that drive!

At my desk

With Vicki

With Heather

Jenny thought the best place to change James' dirty diaper was on my desk neighbor Scott's desk. Scotty is a bit of a clean freak about his desk as he clears it off on Fridays and disinfects it and he eats lunch at my desk so mine gets dirty and not his...He's lucky we like him and that diaper didn't even come close to touching his desk :-)

He started crying just as I got the camera out to get a pic of him and Jenny

Nick kept asking Jenny when I was coming in to school to visit. He stayed at school for 2 extra class periods after his early release to see me and meet James, which is pretty fantastic! That's easily the longest he's been at school in a looong time so I feel pretty special. I'm very proud of him because while he may not be the best "typical student," he's come a long way and is leaving to become a Marine in mid-June. He'll be back to visit in September hopefully before he gets deployed to Afghanistan...thanks for helping to defend our country Nick, make us proud!

Gina G. and myself in the Field House. Gina is a first year teacher and a victim of the bad economy as our school district RIFed (reduction in force) all 1st year teachers. I have really loved working with her and am keeping my fingers crossed that something will work out so she can remain a part of our team. She is also a huge Cubs and Blackhawks fan, which makes her even more fun to have around and helps us even out the Cubs fans with the Sox fans.

After work I took James to the doctor for a "weight check" to make sure our little peanut is gaining weight. At his 2 month appt the doc said she thought his evening fussiness is probably related to him being hungry due to him being tired and my milk production decreasing as the day gets later. I used the Wii Fit to try and weigh James (not the most accurate of measuring devices, I know, but what I have handy to get close to ounces) and he was still registering under the 9lb mark on it, so I decided to give the doctor a call. Babies of James' age are supposed to gain about 1 oz per day. It turns out James finally broke the 9lb mark! He weighed in at 9lb, 2oz; however, this weight gain was only about 5 oz over 9 days. While he is gaining and that's good, it's still not at a rate that they like to see....so that means we (well, mostly I) have to feed him more often during the day to try and fatten this skinny minnie up! He had usually been pretty content with eating every 3-4 hours, but now we're feeding him every 2-2.5 hours during the day so he gets 5-6 solid feedings during the day and one before bed. I felt like a milk machine before but definitely now :-) I can hear him Moo-ing from across the house, hehe. We are supplementing him with a bottle of formula at his last feeding before putting him to bed to make sure his belly is good and full for the night. I almost cried right there in the doctor's office when she told me she wanted me to wake James up after 5 hours of sleep -- I mean, I have a newborn who will sleep 7-8 hours at night and she wants me to wake him and break that pattern -- is she nuts?!?! So we are going with the formula at night to fill him up and then not letting him sleep past Jim's alarm clock in the morning as a compromise. He is going to get his weight checked again on Tuesday, so we'll see if what we are doing is working -- if not, then I'll just be setting and re-setting an alarm clock throughout the night and day time because I'm freakin' exhausted already, let alone with having to wake him in the middle of his nights sleep.

Two Month Dr. Visit

On the scales...

I took James for his 2 month doctor appointment today and it turns out that our Peanut is...just that, a little peanut! He was 21.5 inches long (that's 2.5 inches in 1.5 months, I'm impressed) and 8lb 13oz. So he's just a little guy and in the 3rd-4th percentile for both of those categories -- he started in the 5th percentile, so no big deal as he's just keeping with his growth curve. He's got a head full of brains though, with a circumference of 32.8cm (20th percentile). It's funny because I can recognize when his head is growing -- it gets bigger at the top and then the face matches it the next day or two. The doctor said he checked out well and all looks good! She thinks the fussiness at night could just be because he's hungry, so we are going to feed him more often towards the second half of the day when he starts to get tired (thus, a weaker suck action) and my milk supply slows down -- should keep him satisfied and help me produce a bit more for him too...can you hear him MOO-ing??? Our little trooper got one oral vaccine for rota virus (the nurse was impressed with how well he drank it all up) and 3 other vaccine shots (not as traumatic for him or me as I thought it would be) for 5 total immunizations started. I think it was a good idea for them to put more than one vaccine in a shot to stick people less...smart thinking doctor peoples!

Oh yeah, and the best part of the visit other then James getting a clean bill of health...if the revised feeding schedule seems to work on the fussiness --- I can begin to slowly phase dairy back into my diet! WOO HOO -- I hope it works!

GGs Visit

GG came to visit this week to help me recover and get some QT with James. She's been a busy lady! She has been awesome -- laundry done, bathrooms cleaned, meals cooked, doctor's appts for both myself and James made (close to) on time :-)
Above: James checking out his world -- he gets SO ABSOLUTELY MAD at himself if he needs to take a nap -- he doesn't want to miss anything that could be happening in his world -- so much to learn, so little time!

Below: GG holding James one night as he FINALLY fell asleep -- he looks so peaceful; however, he was up screaming until 2am this night, little stinker ;-)

My doctor's appointment went well today. They just wanted to check out my incision and see how it was healing -- the midwife kept looking at it because she was so thrilled w/ how it was healing! She said "all incisions should look this good!" Jim did a most excellent job caring for the wound before I could actually do it myself -- he's the bestest! I think the fact that my body rejects the type of stitching they use (Vicryl) may have helped the incision site heal better bc they had to staple me up -- guess it was a big debate in the operating room what to do, but they went w/ staples because I may be talked into having more children sometime (in the very very far future). Other than that, a pretty uneventful appointment, just some good advice and things to watch out for in the next few weeks. Hopefully James and I are both done with dr. appts. until I go for my 6-week post-partum and he goes for his 2 month appt!

Week 2 Dr. Visit

Above is one of the pictures the hospital's photography company took of James when he was 3 days old (our365 gets the credit) -- I can send the link for people to order pictures, let me know if you're interested.

Today was a pretty busy day for us considering we've pretty much been holed up at home since getting out of the hospital. My mom is here for the week to help us out and it's already been awesome! This morning Mom, James and myself joined our neighbor Rachel at a breast feeding support group. Very nice to hear that even people who have been nursing for almost two years still have their issues with it. We had to leave the group early to get James to his 2 week dr. appt. He is looking good -- essentially back up to his birth weight (he was 1/2oz. shy, but we'll round up) and almost 1/4in. longer at 19.25in. -- how amazingly fast they can grow! Guess that means he's actually getting enough food when he eats -- we can even up the amount of milk Jimmy gives him at night while I pump to see if he'll finish it. Peanut was all content sleeping in his bundleme in the car seat until the dr. came in and we had to get him naked down to his diaper -- then he broke out the howler monkey screeches (still so funny because he'll usually stop crying within 10 seconds of picking him up as he's just faking). I started to feed him after the dr. left because it was coming up on 5 hrs since his last meal and then the BIG BAD NURSE came in to give him his first Hep. B shot -- he was NOT happy to say the least but recovered quickly to finish eating -- good way to a Montalbano's heart is through the belly!