Words

Words Evan is saying at 13.5 months old:

Hey

Bye bye

Ma (Mama)

Da (Daddy)

Kitty

Milk

Duck

Bird

Book (he's still working on the pronunciation of this one!)

Nana (not so sure about this, but my mom insists he is saying it - meaning her of course)

13 Months Old

My son is 13 months today! He's been celebrating by doing all kinds of exciting growing up things.

For the last week his first molar has been breaking through. He had his flu shot a week ago and had a fever that night. Then the next couple of days didn't eat as much. It wasn't until he started jerking his head away when I'd give him a sippy cup or put my hand near my face that I realized he was teething since I thought those symptoms were a side effect of the shot. I'm still not sure about the fever. He did have a teething fever of 101 a couple of months ago, but this was even higher (103). So maybe it was a combination of the shot AND teething.

He WALKED the other day!!! I said "come here" while he was standing holding on to the door jamb. He took a step, then looked down and deliberately took another step, then another step, then another. By then he was to me! I made a big deal about it and immediately went to change my facebook status, bragging about his accomplishment. I didn't think he'd do it again but I got right back down on the floor and stood him up a few feet away. He walked right to me! He did it several times. I think the most steps he took in a row were about 7. He did really well too, he didn't wobble much or fall down. He would always make it to me! I'm so proud of him, you'd think this was something only he does and not every single baby in the world, but he did such a great job!!

My mom said that when I was a baby I walked a couple of times when I was almost 1. I fell down and she said I didn't walk again for a couple of months, then when I did start I walked perfectly and never fell. I guess I was a perfectionist even then! But Evan is 13 months and just walked for the first time. He hasn't walked since then. I couldn't get him to yesterday or so far today. However, he did this same thing with crawling and a lot of the words he says. He'll do it a few times in a row, then stop doing it for weeks and then suddenly start again.

He also said 2 words together for the first time this morning! He said "Hey Kitty." He said it several times after Matt said it. SO cool!! He's just been all around more vocal today, saying words that he's been able to say for months, but usually doesn't say. He said "da" (daddy), "bye bye," "okay," "kitty," and "hey kitty" this morning.

He also got scratched by our cat Serenity this morning, shortly after saying "Hey kitty" to her. Evil cat. Her claw covers fell off weeks ago but we haven't had many problems with her scratching him so we didn't replace them. But tonight we will definitely put them back on her! She scratched his face, about half an inch under his eye. It bled and now there's a scab there and it's looking a little puffy around it. I washed it after it happened, but I'm going to watch it to make sure it doesn't get infected.

That's all for Evan's 13 month update. I think I still have yet to post his 12 month stats from his doctor's visit a month ago....I will have to do that soon!

1st Birthday!

My baby is a year old!! I feel like I should write a long post using beautiful words to describe how touched I am that my baby is a year old today. But I can't put into words how I feel right now. I'm so HAPPY. I thought I might be sad or a little weepy that my baby is growing up, but I just feel so proud of him and I'm glad that we had such a wonderful year.

Evan is such a good little boy. I know I've written about it before and it might make some people (including other mothers!) want to gag, but he really is such a great child. I've been so blessed for multiple reasons this past year. 2009 and 2010 have been the best years of my life. I was thinking the other day about the years leading up to Evan's birth. Wondering which was the worst year. Thinking 2006 was pretty bad...but 2008 was worse. And 2007 wasn't so hot either. But then as soon as 2009 came around I found out I was pregnant...and my life changed for the better. Check out the announcement, pictures of the day he was born, and my birth story. Awww, I just want to thank Joy again...just thinking of how sweet she was makes me tear up!

We had a dinosaur birthday party for Evan on Saturday. We invited his playgroup friends, my family, and a couple of our friends (Evan's adopted aunt and uncle). My grandma flew out from Arkansas just for Evan's birthday! And my great aunt, great uncle, and their daughter decided to come at the last minute from SC. Like, about 2 hours before the party started my mom called me to "warn" me that they were coming. I was glad they were able to share the day though.

It was a lot of fun! Not many of his playgroup friends could come since 2 were on vacation and 3 were sick. But 3 of them did come and it was nice to have other kids his age there. We grilled out on the patio and everyone ate under the trees in our backyard. It was the first day in months that the weather wasn't super humid and hot. Evan opened his presents and boy did he receive a lot!! One of my favorites was a monogrammed towel with his name and a dinosaur on it. I don't really know what his favorite is yet. My parents gave him a walking dinosaur toy that plays music and he likes to dance to it, but isn't doing too well walking with it. He also liked a poppy up toy that also plays music. And of course he loves the books he received.

He inhaled his cake!!! As soon as it was put in front of him he grabbed a fistful of icing and shoved it into his mouth. You'd think he knew what a cake was even though we've only given him a couple of sweets before and in VERY small portions. Matt cut him a really big piece of cake. After a few minutes I went over to take it away since I didn't want him to actually eat it all....and it was GONE. He ate every bite of it! I wouldn't even eat a piece of cake that big!! Everyone was quite amazed by it. He actually resorted to 2 hands so he could eat it faster. Thankfully I got a video of it. ;-)

Today on his actual birthday we sang "Happy Birthday" to him first thing in the morning (and I sang it to him after he woke up from both of his naps). Unfortunately the middle of the day wasn't so happy. Evan had his first real injury. He was in the bathroom and toppled over and hit his mouth on the corner of the cabinet. It was bleeding A LOT. And he was crying A LOT. I was trying to call Matt who wasn't answering. Then I called the nurse and talked to her in between Evan's screams. She told me to get him to stop crying and let him suck on a popsicle. So he did, but the bleeding continued and he kept crying even on his 3rd popsicle. But Matt came home and we were able to locate the source of the bleeding. He cut his gum and the inside of his lip between his 2 front teeth. The bleeding stopped after awhile. The nurse called me back twice to check on him and give me instructions. Basically I gave him ice water a lot. He took a long afternoon nap and his lip was a little swollen when he woke up, but he was acting fine.

So nothing really serious, but it was scary (I was afraid he'd knocked out a tooth at first!) and stressful. I was by myself when it happened and trying to clean up the blood and give him an ice pop (good thing my sister had left some in the fridge after she stayed here last month!) and locate the source of the bleeding. Then after about 15 minutes my sister and grandma came in (and were no help whatsoever) and then Matt came in a couple of minutes after that. Then I felt like there were TOO many people in the house and it was just making Evan more upset. But Matt was great and helped comfort Evan and clean him up (we were both covered in blood and grape popsicle).

We went out to dinner with my family to Cracker Barrel for Evan's birthday dinner. That's his favorite restaurant. :-) And now he's back in his crib, talking and cooing even though he should be sleeping. Such a little sweetie!!

9 Months Old

It's AMAZING how much he's changed since turning 9 months! It seemed like a lot of stuff happened during month 7, but month 9 is also turning into a big month.

Let's see if I can even begin to recount what's been going on with Evan......

*He kissed me for the first time while we were in New

Orleans. He had slept part of the night on the bed with Matt and me. When he woke up in the morning he crawled over to me, crawled up on me, and gave me a sloppy kiss. SO SWEET!

*he started saying "Mama" -- meaning ME!! He turned from him saying it when he only wanted me (which was when he was tired or hungry) to now saying it every time he wants something. Whether that's food, a toy, or something he isn't supposed to have.

*He started saying "hey." I think he started saying this around the same time as "Mama," while we were in New Orleans. It might have even been before. I didn't realize that's what he was saying at first.

*He started crawling on his hands and knees - fast. He had mostly been doing the army crawl, only crawling on his hands and knees a little and not far before he'd fall. But after returning home from NO he was crawling like a pro!

*He started "playing" with Serenity (our cat). She actually loves the attention. She'll plop down right in front of him and he'll grab a fistful of hair and pull. She'll get up, turn around, and plop right back down in front of him. If she's walking near him he'll start chasing her. The other day I walked in the room and he was completely on top of her. Yep, she's scratched him twice (on the hand). You'd think they'd both learn a lesson, but so far neither has.

*He started pulling up onto his knees.

*He started going from his belly (or crawling) to a sitting position. Before he could go from sitting to crawling, but not crawling to sitting/pulling up.

*He started pulling up to a standing position.

And my absolute favorite.......

*He started waving and saying "bye bye"!!!!!!!! My mom and sister heard him the first time. We were visiting my grandparents and they went into the house to bring him out to the car so we could go to the beach. They told him to say goodbye to my grandparents and as they were walking out the door he waved and said "bye bye." They told me when they came out to the car and I figured they had misunderstood or were exaggerating. But when we were at the beach I was sitting with Evan on a picnic table. I was feeding him, but he was distracted by the birds and people around us. He started watching a family walk out to their car. There was a little girl in a bright yellow dress trailing behind the rest of the family members. Evan lifted his hand and started flapping his fingers. I thought he was acting different...concentrating very hard. He held still except for his fingers and suddenly he said, clear as day, "bye bye." There was no mistaking it! It still amazes me just remembering it! He was watching the little girl as he did it.

8 months old

And his newest things (besides teeth!) are blowing raspberries (something he's been able to do for awhile now, but it's like he's discovered he can do it all the time), his cheese ball grin, eating finger foods on his own (Puffs), and bouncing in the Exersaucer.

7 months was the month of biggest changes. Evan changed SO MUCH. Not only the things he does, but also his personality. He's more opinionated, but still the mild, serious sweetheart he's always been. I just notice that he shows annoyance more often (and usually has a good cause to!). I spend less time wondering what he's thinking and how he feels because now I know.

We lowered his crib mattress again (one more time and it will be as low as it can go) because he's up on his hands and knees. He isn't pulling up on things yet, but if he did in the crib he could easily flip or fall out of it because he's so tall. We are also about to put away some of his things in the attic because he's outgrown them. His infant bath tub, his bouncer, and his swing. And in a couple of weeks we'll be putting away the infant carrier car seat and changing to the convertible seat. It's very bittersweet. I'm sad that he's growing, but excited and happy about it as well!

I found THIS bath tub at I.kea for $8! It's what we need. A couple of weeks ago I posted asking about baby bath tub solutions. It's small enough that it's easy to clean and doesn't need much water, but doesn't have all of those slanted sides and bumps on the bottom so he has more room.

So I leave you with a picture of the cheese ball grin:

Teefs

Evan's first tooth came in today! Matt discovered it first and is very proud of the fact. :-)

Watch out, world!

Evan is on the move! He crawled this morning for the first time!!!!

It really came out of the blue for me. Sure, he's been moving a lot the past couple of months (rolling, squirming, and scooting), but he hasn't shown much motivation to get up and crawl. Yesterday I noticed he kind of got up on his knees while laying on his tummy, but he just went up for a second or two. This morning he was on his tummy on the bed and lifted up completely on his hands and knees. I thought, "all he has to do is slide his knees forward and he'd be crawling!" He went back down on his tummy and a few seconds later was back up and immediately crawling!!! He crawled straight for the edge of the bed and I had to make him stop so he wouldn't crawl off.

I made a huge deal about it and called Matt to tell him. I tried getting him to crawl on the living room floor, but he decided enough was enough and wanted to eat his cereal instead. After he finished eating i had to get ready to go walking with our friends (I kept peeking into his room where he was playing on the floor to see if he was moving, but he was on his back under his play gym and stayed that way). And we haven't had a chance to do it again since before breakfast. I'm hoping that after he wakes up from his nap and eats he will try again on the floor! I will also try to video tape it and post it on here. :-)

He is 7 months, 2 weeks, 6 days old.

yellow

The title of this post says it all! Everything is yellow here!!! Every year we see the yellow pollen from the pine trees, but this year it's ridiculous. We don't even have many pine trees around our house and yet everything is completely covered with it. The air is even covered...you can see yellow clouds floating everywhere. The sky looks hazy with yellow, the grass looks yellow, the trees look yellow, the roads are yellow, everyone has yellow cars...... gross.

My allergies were SO bad on Friday and Saturday. They were getting better, but today I've had a slight relapse. Matt's were terrible and didn't get better...now he has a cough too. He went to the doctor this morning. I haven't heard what the doctor said yet.

My dad's birthday was yesterday (he is 50 now!) and we're having a party for him on Friday night. It will be the first party we've ever had for him. A couple of years ago my mom turned 50 and Matt and I threw a party for her. This year we're not doing the party though, my mom is.

Easter was fun, but like i said earlier, it would have been better if my allergies weren't so bad. Evan "swam" in his little pool for the first time.

We skipped Spring apparently! It's been in the low 90s the past couple of days and all last week it was in the mid to high 80s. We went from 60 degrees to 90 in days!! It's great though...yesterday was a little hot, but I'm loving this weather! I just need to buy some capris and more short sleeve shirts. I went to go get my capris last week and realized...they are all maternity! I don't own any regular ones.

Evan's newest thing - saying "mamamama" and "babababa." He's done it before, but not consistently and not for long. Now it's all the time! And for the record, he said "mamamama" before "dadadada." ;-) I know he's not saying "mama" for real, but Matt and I had already bet on which sound he would make babbling first. I won! The weird thing is that he only does the "mamama" when he's upset. It just breaks my heart because I'm hearing "mama" even if he doesn't really mean ME. I'm glad that it doesn't happen very often!

Changing

So many things have been happening with Evan this week! It's crazy how he changes from one day to the next! This is definitely the most I've noticed him changing. Usually it's a little more gradual than this. Since he turned 7 months a couple of weeks ago he's like a whole different baby!

He's smiling even more. And he also started smiling at the camera. Up until a few days ago he would not smile when we had the camera out. Sometimes I could trick him into smiling for a picture by "hiding" the camera (I would hold it down low) and distracting him by acting goofy. But now he'll see me get the camera out and start grinning and look right at the camera! I'm very happy about this development. :-)

He's also started laughing more! I mentioned in THIS post how I hoped he'd start laughing more often. Although he isn't laughing a lot, he's started laughing when I do something to cause it like kissing his neck, tickling him, or holding him up in the air. Before the past couple of days, he'd sometimes laugh if I did that stuff, but it was rare, and it didn't last long. Yesterday I played "This little piggy" with him and he laughed and laughed when I did the "wee, wee, wee, all the way home!" part. So then I just started tickling him all over and he was full of giggles! :-)

Drum roll, please! He's also started....sitting up!! He's been able to sit with support up until 2 days ago, March 30. He could also "sit" on his own, but he basically just slumped forward and put his hands on the ground to brace himself. So I don't really count that. My mom was determined to get him to sit on his own so she started working with him the other day. He was doing pretty good, he could balance for a few seconds on his own. But then the next day she worked with him again, and he sat right up! He was sitting perfectly straight and staying that way on his own! We were ecstatic and he caught on to that. He was so proud of himself! He'd get all excited and start flapping his arms, which would cause him to lose his balance and fall over. lol But by the end of the afternoon he was sitting straight up on his own and playing with toys! So I count that as his first day of really sitting up. Of course I didn't have my camera, so no pictures yet.

I know there are some more things...when Matt came home last night I kept saying, "oh yeah, he started doing..." I felt like I started every sentence with that. I guess if I think of them I can add them later.

I hope you all have a happy Easter! We're traveling to Charleston to visit my grandparents. It'll be their first time to see Evan since he was 7 weeks old. It's also the first time we've gone on a trip with Evan since Christmas...I'm hoping it'll go smoothly!

Oh yeah, I am looking to buy a new pair of tennis shoes/sneakers, whatever you call them. I want them to provide good support (I go "power walking" a couple of times a week now) but still look good with capris and shorts. It would also be nice if they are comfortable for people who hate wearing shoes. I hate wearing shoes and socks during when it's warm outside! I get so overheated and uncomfortable. I was kind of looking at something like THIS, but they aren't really athletic shoes so I'm not sure they would provide good support. Oh yeah, Adi.das is not a good brand for me, way too wide for my feet. So recommend away!

5 months old & first foods

My baby turned 5 months old yesterday! It's absolutely amazing that it's been so long since I had him. I can't even describe how I feel about it. Proud, a little melancholy (he's growing too fast!), excited, content....

(Matt and I took Evan to a free preview at a Gymboree class yesterday.)

We've moved into size 3 diapers. He's still in size 3-6 month clothes. I had estimated that he'd move into 6-9 months at this point, but the 3-6 months are still fitting well. His new favorite thing to do at this point is scratching on things with his fingers. Especially the sheets in his crib. He now sleeps on his tummy (we put him in on his back and he flips himself over...the doctor said it is fine for him to sleep however he wants at this point). So when he's really tired he'll lay on his tummy and aimlessly scratch the sheets. It's kind of weird.

Last Friday we started him on rice cereal which i think I already mentioned. We give it to him at his 11:30 feeding (2nd feeding) and his 6:30 feeding (4th feeding). I was going to do 3 times a day like the Babywise book says, but decided to follow the pediatrician's instructions of doing it twice a day instead since Evan is starting a little earlier than the Babywise books recommends (they want you to wait until 6 months if possible).

The bummer thing about this past week was my milk supply dropping a lot. I had noticed Evan was crying while eating and just after, but I thought it was his reflux acting up. I should have put all the signs together (less poop, crying, my milk not dropping for several minutes, him waking earlier in the morning...), but it wasn't until I pumped after feeding him one time and didn't get anything that I started to wonder. A couple of feedings I've pumped instead of feeding him and only less than 3 ounces would come out! We tried giving him formula when he'd cry after finishing, but he wouldn't take it. So he obviously wasn't starving.

Anyway, I've been drinking more and feeding him more often. I meant to go buy some fenugreek since a couple of people recommended that, but I never did make it to the health store. By the time I had the opportunity to make a trip there I felt like my milk was starting to come back. It's been letting down quicker, Evan isn't crying after eating, and he has milk around his mouth just after eating again. I feel like the reason this happened is because I wasn't drinking enough water.

Yesterday I made some sweet potatoes for Evan. I baked 3 sweet potatoes and then mashed them with some breast milk. They were still all stringy though so I put them through the food processor and after that they looked smooth like the pictures of homemade sweet potato puree I've seen. I put them in ice cube treys and froze them. It made A LOT. But the good thing about it is that I'll definitely use them and this just saved me some time. It's a good thing he liked them!

Actually, I think I can safely say he loved them. When we put them in his mouth I don't think he knew it was food. He sat there grinning with the food sitting in his mouth. When he finally swallowed he smiled again and immediately opened his mouth for more. He kept up the smiling and immediately opening his mouth after swallowing the whole time. He even laughed a few times! :-)

4 month appointment

4 month stats:
Weight: 14 lbs, 4 oz (25-50%)
Height: 26.5 inches (90-95%)

We have one tall baby!! Everything else is great with him. I was concerned about his back because his spine seems curved, but the doctor said it's the muscles and he'll outgrow it. If it's not better by his 6 month appointment he said he can do x-rays to make sure it isn't scoliosis, but he's pretty much positive it isn't at this point. That's a big relief to me because I was really worried that Evan had it, especially since I do. But infant scoliosis is very rare, only 1% of babies have it.

I'm not sure what I'm doing with my blog these days. Obviously I haven't been posting! I'm wondering if I should keep trying to post, if I should just quit but leave it up for others to see, or if I should completely take it offline. I don't know...

I enjoy blogging, but I don't have time anymore. I'm super super busy. I joined a playgroup back at the end of November and since then I've been meeting with them a couple of times a week. I've made some great friends through the group that I also get together with a couple of times a week. Then I have things like appointments, shopping, hanging out with our families, etc, that also take up my time. I can't remember the last time that I spent a day at home (I thought that I would on Wednesday, but then my mom called and asked if I wanted to go shopping with her, so I ended up going out for a couple of hours then too).

I mostly enjoy being so busy, but sometimes I wonder if I should slow down. My house is a wreck. When I come home in the evenings I have no energy to clean. If I have free time at home that's the last thing I want to do. I've noticed the past couple of weeks that I feel really down in the evenings once we're home. I wonder if I'm burned out and it doesn't set in until I'm at home. I don't know.... So part of me wonders if I should stop doing so much and then once I have more time at home I can blog regularly again.

Speaking of feeling "down," I realize I never really updated about my anxiety that I posted about in November HERE. It's a lot better now! I still have attacks every once in awhile, but not as often and they aren't as bad. I talked to my chiropractor about it and he wasn't as helpful as I had hoped. He didn't seem to get that I had this problem before pregnancy and childbirth. I told him that, but all he said is that I should make "me time" and relax and let someone else watch Evan while I go out shopping or read a book or something. I said that Matt does watch Evan most evenings and I get a break, but he said I need to completely get away a couple of times a week. haha. Anyway, not so helpful. My bad dreams have also declined, thank God. I still have them every once in awhile, but not every night like I was a couple of months ago.

We started Evan on rice cereal today! He was such a good baby! He did really well with eating it. Towards the end he started getting a little antsy like, "okay, let's get back to the real food," but he ate more than I expected. He also wasn't as messy as I thought. He only spit some out a couple of times and I think it's just because he had too much in his mouth. Anyway, this coming up Friday I'm going to start making baby food for him. I've decided to mostly use organic homemade food for him. I'll still use jarred food sometimes for when we're out or I don't have enough time to heat up the homemade food. I'm excited about it! I'll definitely write a post about that after we try it next week.

Firefly hasn't been doing so well and last night we finally discovered the source (I won't go into details, it's kind of gross). Matt took her to the vet this morning and she has a UTI. She's on antibiotics. We also need to restrict her diet because the vet said she's overweight. She weighs 14 pounds, 6 ounces! More than Evan! Anyway, I'm hoping the medicine will work and that she'll be okay.

White Christmas

Our trip to Arkansas went very well! Evan was great, didn't fuss at all. We stayed on our schedule really well the entire time. While we drove we'd stop at a fast food restaurant when it was time to feed him. I'd nurse him and then we'd put him on the table on his blanket and play with him for awhile. Then Matt would either order us a meal (since Evan's eating times line up with our meals) and we'd eat while Evan stayed on the table. Then we'd hold him for a little bit and then pack him up and go. By then it would be his nap time. His afternoon feeding wouldn't line up with our meals, but then we'd do the same thing except just order a snack or milkshake instead of a meal.

Evan also did really well while we were staying with my grandparents. He napped better than normal and he was really laid back. I was afraid he'd be super fussy like he was when we visited my mom's parents back in October, but he wasn't. The trip back wasn't so smooth, we had to make some unplanned stops (including pulling over on the side of a back road in the middle of nowhere in Alabama to change his diaper in the car!), but it could have been much worse.

Evan experienced his first snow and his first Christmas on the same day! How cool is that!? I couldn't believe that it snowed while we were there. The day we arrived it was great weather, very warm. But of course the temperature dropped that night and it rained the entire first whole day we were there. That turned to snow overnight and on Christmas morning there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground! I am not a snow fan AT ALL, but it was a fun experience for Evan's first Christmas and while we were on Christmas break since it didn't interrupt our everyday lives.

Evan received lots of presents of course. I can't even list them all, but most of them were clothes, little toys that he can play with now (and put in his mouth), and sippy cups (he got 3 of them, lol). Some other fun things were traditions that my mom started for him. My parents made a donation in his name to an organization that purchases and gives things to 3rd world countries. So Evan donated 5 ducks to a family in Africa. My parents are going to do that in place of a present every Christmas. He received his first Christmas ornament in his stocking from Nana. Every year he will also receive a Christmas book from Nana. :-) My parents also bought him an exersaucer that we have yet to assemble. I think he's about ready for it though, he's holding his head up really well.

Things that have been going on with him lately......

• His eyes are changing. At first I thought they were turning green in the middle, but now I think they are a light brown. The brown(green?) color is expanding and taking over more of the blue though! I'm so excited to see what they end up looking like!
• He is rolling over from his back to his tummy. He did it for the first time yesterday. :-)
• He is standing. I still hold his hands so he can balance, but he supports all of his weight. He can't do it for very long, but he just did it yesterday for the first time.
  

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Grabbing

Yesterday was the first time I noticed Evan actively grabbing for things that he sees. Before he'd grab his toys, but usually only if you put it near his hand. He's grabbed his caterpillar toy on his own before though, but it was more because his hand accidentally happened to touch it. But yesterday I held his rattle in front of his face and he reached with both hands to grab it, purposefully. And then it went straight to his mouth! I also put his little bear snugglie toy on his chest and he grabbed it and pulled it to his face so he could slobber all over it.

What are some good toys for babies his age, especially for putting in his mouth? The toys he has now are a little big and I had bought some cheap plastic teething rings, but he has no interest in them. He seems to like soft things.

7 Weeks Old

And the thought at the forefront of my mind is: I can't believe it's been 7 weeks since my house was clean. After that I think: Wow, I can't believe my baby is 7 weeks old already.

I watched A Baby Story today. I used to never watch those baby birth shows before I got pregnant because it made not having a baby even worse. Then I didn't watch them while I was pregnant because I didn't want to get scared. Now that I've been there done that I find that I can watch birthing shows and am even interested to see how other women's births went.

Thanks for all of the anniversary wishes! We had a great time in Charleston this past weekend. Friday evening we arrived and checked into our very nice hotel in the historic downtown area. We ate HERE, which was a lot of fun and delicious! We then walked up and down King Street since the temperature was great. The shops were closed, but it was neat to see the window displays. I would never actually buy anything from any of them anyway. Then we went back to the hotel and relaxed.

The next day Evan and I slept late while Matt scoured the area for drug stores that sold saline drops and a nasal aspirator since Evan had a stuffed up nose. He finally came back and watched Evan while I slept some more. We went out for lunch and then went to the Battery to walk around and take pictures. We walked past Rainbow Row. It was SO HOT, 90 degrees. The sun was beaming down and so we stayed on the sidewalk in the shade instead of walking next to the water. Evan did great. He woke up at one point when we stopped and started fussing, but he stopped after we started walking again. Poor baby was probably really hot.

After that we left Charleston and headed to my grandparents' house. My grandparents LOVE Evan. :-) It's so neat to see them interact with a baby. I never would have imagined how much my granddaddy would love Evan. He couldn't take his eyes off him. He held him a lot and would baby talk to him. I guess you'd have to meet my granddad to understand how odd it is that he loves babies so much. It was such an awesome experience to see him playing with and talking to Evan. I'm glad we only live 3 hours away so that we can hopefully see them more often. They never leave Charleston now, so it's up to us to go visit them and that hasn't happened as much as it should in the past.

Evan is starting to grab things more. I noticed it late last week and thought it was funny that that was what my 7 week email newsletter talked about...babies grabbing things and swatting at things. He hasn't grabbed his rattle yet, but it's kind of thick. He grabs my hand if he feels it and has started grabbing the blanket. I put one of his toys in his lap today and he kept grabbing parts of it and moving it. He has no clue what he's really doing, but I guess it's a reflex that will develop into better hand/eye coordination.

He's amped up the cooing and "talking" when I'm not in his line of sight. He never coos when I'm in his sight though, only when I'm not in the room. It's adorable!!! I only wish he would do it when I'm interacting with him. I've also noticed that he's been laughing in his sleep more. That's the only time I've ever heard him laugh. It makes me wonder what he's dreaming about. I'm glad they are happy dreams. :-)

No pictures right now, but I'll post them tomorrow!!

5 Weeks Old

I'm too lazy to upload pictures now, but they are coming!

This has been another event filled week. Evan has been having problems with gas/acid reflux. I've stopped drinking as much milk the past couple of days and that actually seems to be helping. For awhile earlier in the week I was drinking more milk than usual, so I think that's what caused it. Anyway, the acid reflux has resulted in a lot of spitting up and fussiness. :-( My mom assured me that that's normal behavior for a baby, but it's new for Evan and so of course it's upsetting to me. Evan has his one month appointment at the pediatrician tomorrow so I'm going to ask about it then. My theory is that the milk made his stomach more upset, but what causes the spitting up is him straining so much because of the gas. He tenses his whole body up, arches his back, and his face gets all red. Shortly after that he'll spit up big time.

He is definitely smiling for real now! Not as much as I'd like, but several times a day. It's so precious, I can't describe how I feel when he smiles at me. :-) He's also definitely imitating faces now. Mostly he imitates sticking out his tongue, but the other day he was imitating my big grins. He played that game with me, my mom, and my sister. It was driving Matt crazy that Evan wouldn't play it with him after he came home from his trip. But on Saturday morning they finally played the game together. I wish I could have captured that on video!!

Evan is holding his head up longer and longer. It's amazing how much he's developed in that area in just a week. I don't know when babies start to creep around and crawl, but Evan wants to be moving NOW. He works his arms and legs and does end up moving around, but obviously he doesn't have much control over it now. I have to watch him to make sure he doesn't launch himself off my lap these days.

He went to his first wedding last night. Matt and my dad stayed home and my mom and I talked to him. All of my friends from high school were there and able to meet Evan. I saw one of my old best friends from high school that I haven't seen since graduation! It was nice seeing her and I found out she now lives nearby, so I can see her again hopefully.

We've been going out almost every day. Usually on short trips, but it's nice to get out of the house some. I get discouraged by the fact that breastfeeding isn't smooth enough to do in public yet, but I have to keep in mind that even 2 weeks ago it would have been impossible. We've improved so much since he was born. It went from me dreading feeding times and absolutely hating it to being able to lean back on the couch and read a book or watch TV while nursing. I can only hope that it will continue to improve! The nursing cover helps a lot, I even nursed at my parents' church last week (in the nursing room).

Not much else is going on in my life, just baby Evan stuff. I'm working on editing the pictures my dad took last week so hopefully I'll have them ready in a day or 2!

4 Weeks Old

On Sunday we had a photo shoot of Evan. One of my dad's hobbies is photography. He has a bunch of professional grade equipment and has halfway turned his garage into a photography studio. Unfortunately he doesn't have enough time to put into it, but we finally got everything set up to take pictures of Evan at almost a month old!

I'm very pleased with the pictures, I just need to go through them, pick out my favorites, and touch them up. I wish Dad would touch them up for me, but he's so busy. He will probably work on them a little bit, but right now he's out of town. So for now I only have one photo to share, but I'll post more later!
Matt went out of town yesterday. It's his first business trip since Evan was born. I spent the night over at my parents' house last night and I'm going to again tonight. I had thought that my nights of staying over at my parents' house would be over after I had a baby, but obviously not! It's not too bad staying alone with Evan, but it is nice to have a little break after feeding him in the evenings. When Matt is home he can change him and then play with him just after his evening and night feedings. I hadn't realized how much I count on that until I thought about facing it without him. So now my mom can help out with that! Plus, it's nice to have someone cook for me too. ;-)

Evan has been pretty fussy the past couple of days. Today is better, but Sunday and yesterday were kind of rough. I think that he was over stimulated though. All Sunday afternoon we were taking pictures of him and moving him into different poses. Plus we went to visit my parents' church and everyone wanted to touch him (ugg! gross). I let a couple of people hold him, but people that I trusted. So that was a long day. Then yesterday was just plain stressful with getting ready to go over to my parents' house and some spit up/pee incidents.

I think that Evan is starting to smile for real!!! He's been smiling when he gets gas, but the past 2 days I've noticed that his smile has changed at times. I'm almost positive they are real smiles. My mom noticed it yesterday too without me bringing it up. My dad was playing with Evan and he smiled and it definitely seemed related to happiness and my dad's antics. I'm so excited!

I also think that he's starting to imitate faces. Today I was pursing my lips and sticking my tongue out at him and he started doing the same thing, but only after I would do it. I did it about 4 or 5 times with him imitating me. Then I stopped and he stopped too! It could have been a coincidence, but I think not. It'll be interesting to see what happens with this in the coming days and weeks. I'm excited about the new stuff he's doing. :-)

3 Weeks Old

This has been a week of firsts for Evan. His first bath, his first trip to Nana and Papa's house, his first outing (besides going to the doctor's office), his first time to go to church, and his first Panthers game.

His bath went great, he didn't cry at all. His second bath was the same way. He just relaxes. The first bath we gave him he actually kept his eyes closed the whole time, I think he was sleeping. The other day when we gave him another bath he was awake the entire time, but was still very relaxed. After the first bath I think he was too relaxed. We had completed the entire bath and were drying him off when he peed all over himself, me, and Matt. lol
He also had a good time going to Nana and Papa's house for Labor Day. We all ate on the porch outside and left him inside in his swing. We put him in the window so I could keep an eye on him. Partway through the meal I looked in at him and he was waving his arms and legs, thrashing around with his mouth and eyes wide open. He wasn't crying, just fussing. He knew we were leaving him out. So we brought him outside with us and made sure that no mosquitoes found him.

We put him to bed in his pack n play and swaddled him up in his swaddle blanket. It drove my dad crazy to see him all wrapped up. He didn't see how Evan could be comfortable, but I assured him that Evan likes being wrapped up to go to sleep. Well, after about 30 minutes of Evan being in the other room asleep Dad went in there and started talking to him. I just rolled my eyes and let him, being thankful that I have a calm baby who wouldn't start crying if he woke up. Soon Dad came out and announced that he had unwrapped Evan because "Evan was uncomfortable." lol Sure enough, a few minutes later Evan started making noises and I could hear him kicking his legs. Dad went in there and brought him out. Evan was wide awake and Dad talked and played with him the rest of the time we were there. Oh well, I guess grandpas are allowed to do that. ;-)

Mom, Evan, and I went to eat at the Mexican restaurant down the road on Friday. Evan did really well the whole time we were there. He stayed in his car seat on the booth next to Mom. He opened his eyes briefly at one point, but quickly closed them again. Next we went to Target and he kept his eyes open for the entire car ride (Mom sat in the back with him) and then kept them open for awhile in the store too. After that he slept the whole time.

Yesterday I took him to church for the first time. Matt was already there working on the parking team, so I loaded Evan up and drove over to meet him. Our church has a new building that opened up the day Evan was born. So obviously I hadn't seen it yet. It's still really close to our house, just a couple of minutes away from the old location. It's really cool and there's still an overflow area that is perfect for people with little babies. It's too loud in the sanctuary and the nursery doesn't watch babies under 5 weeks old. Not that I will put Evan in there even after he's 5 weeks. I'm not sure if I will let him go into the nursery at all during flu season, but we'll see. I know I'll wait at least another month or so even if I do decide to put him in there.

I won't even get into the football game. Evan watched a little, but we joked that the reason he went to sleep was because it was too painful to continue watching. ;-)

The olive oil has fixed Evan's cradle cap. It's still there a little, but I didn't even do anything to it over the weekend because it isn't noticeable unless you look really close. Evan's appearance is changing every day. I think he's starting to look more like Matt. His face shape is becoming more like Matt's and I'm pretty sure his hair is starting to get a red tint to it. It's definitely getting lighter than it was when he was born. His eyes have also lightened up. Right now they are dark gray (but not as dark as they were when he was born) and the area around the pupil is turning a light blue/gray/brown/green. I can't really tell exactly what color yet!! Mom thinks he has hazel eyes and that they won't change anymore. I think they will keep changing though. It's still early to have a set color.

Evan is more and more aware. Today Melissa was over and said that when I walked across the room while talking that he followed me with his eyes and turned his head to keep watching me! He is following things with his eyes and turning his head. He hates tummy time. I put him on his tummy a little every day and he can lift his head and turn it to watch me, but he fusses the whole time and thrashes his legs and arms. He's better if I put him on my stomach and chest and let him look up at me that way.

Alright, alright, I'm done with all the stories. I should really write more posts that are shorter instead of less that are longer. We'll see if I can manage that!

2 Weeks Old

My midwife, Tina, holding Evan at our office visit the other day:






Uncle R and Matt playing with Evan:









So much has been going on this weekend...and it isn't even over!

First an update about me, yesterday was 48 hours since I started the antibiotics for my mastitis. It seemed a lot better to me until evening time. Then my breast started hurting again. The redness mostly went away except for a little spot. I think I'm just going to wait until tomorrow to call the doctor though. That way if I need to I can go into the office instead of going to the ER.

Evan has been doing great. It's just amazing how little he cries. Even when he should cry, he doesn't. Like the other day I pinched some of his skin in his diaper when I put it on. About 30 minutes later I noticed it because the top of his leg was all red. Poor child, he didn't fuss or anything. Maybe he couldn't feel it, but it didn't look very comfortable. Obviously I've been more careful about strapping his diaper on lately. I don't think there's anything wrong with him that makes him not cry, he's very aware and he does cry sometimes when he wants to eat and he isn't getting food fast enough. :-)

This child can pee...outside his diaper. The other day I looked down and saw a stream of pee coming out from the top of his diaper...onto our bed. Whoa! The really crazy thing...his diaper was completely dry afterward. I swear he sucked in his gut to make a space between his skin and the diaper and then aimed so that he could pee out of it! After he was done the diaper looked snug around his waist again.

Then 2 days ago I was changing him in his pack n play changing table and he peed while I had his diaper off. The stream of pee arched about 3 feet and landed...on our bed (of course!). Once again, he was completely dry and so was his changing table. It only got on the bed. Needless to say, Matt has been washing sheets a lot lately!

Last night Evan's cord fell off. I nursed him and then we took off his onesie to change him. I noticed it had fallen off. Matt and I couldn't find it anywhere. We looked all in his clothes, all over the bed. It turns out I was sitting on it...eww!!! I have no clue how that happened. I'm glad it's off now and I'm looking forward to giving Evan his first bath...I think. I wonder if that'll make him cry!

Matt's best friend's girlfriend flew up from Louisiana just to see Evan. R was going to fly down there to see her, but after Evan was born and C saw pictures of him she changed the plans so she could meet him! They came over on Friday night and brought presents and had dinner with us. It was a lot of fun and I'm really glad C got to meet him so soon. She won't be back until New Year's. Evan is so loved and he doesn't even know how much. :-)