This and That

I spoke too soon. Today things in the world of happy-baby went sideways. After 2 weeks and 2 days of improvement, things today are as they were for the first 8 weeks. Even tylenol today is not helping him calm down. It's kind of crazy how things go from this

 

to this

 

 

to screaming mad in a couple of seconds...I wish I knew how to make it better.

 

In other news...I found some pictures I found that I meant to post here a while ago. Funny how time just has a way of sneaking away on me sometimes...and my memory seems to be going with it. A few weeks ago I decided that taking Camia to the park would be a good idea since she is suffering in the attention department. I let her pick which park she wanted to go to, and she chose the one that is 20 minutes away as opposed to the 3 around here that we can walk to. Oh well. The one that is 20 minutes away is fun because there are ducks you can feed and a trail to walk around the whole lake on. As a treat, I picked up nuggets and fries for her and we had a picnic in the park with my mom. Unfortunately this little adventure ended rather abruptly after she displayed poor attitude on the park after our walk. I was a little disappointed since this was supposed to be for her, and I almost did not carry through with my threat because I wanted to stay.

 

 

 

 

My Oma enjoys holding Caleb when he is not crying. I think it's pretty special.

 

 

As usual, my mom went shopping the day after halloween to get candy that was marked down to half price. We thought it might be cute to put Caleb in it.

 

 

I am not sure what he thought...

 

10 weeks

Buddy Boy is 10 weeks today. His last miserable day was 2 weeks and 2 days ago. He has started giggling sometimes - 3 times to be exact - and has started telling stories, both of which make my heart melt and almost - almost - forget about the first 8 weeks. He still has his fussy moments, and he still cries, or screams, sometimes, but never for 2 hours anymore. I can handle 5 minutes, maybe 10, but he doesn't do more than that anymore...knock on wood...

 

In the last week or so he has also discovered his hands which can be entertaining to watch. He knows he also has feet too. He also looks into a mirror and has a word or two with the baby staring back at him. I find that since he is more calm, I can love him. Actually love him. If I wore lipstick his cheeks would be covered in lip marks.

Pumpkins, Seeds and Christmas Tunes

Today Camia and I decorated our pumpkin from the pumpkin patch and baked the seeds for a snack. All while listening and singing along to Christmas music. I am not a very good carver and do not really appreciate jack-o-lanterns. I told Camia that after trick or treating she could have at her pumpkin to her hearts content. Just because it was an excuse to delay the decorating and seed-baking since I didn't feel like doing it.

 

 The finished product:

 

9 weeks

 

Mr Man today is 9 weeks. And had his 2 month immunization shots yesterday. I was a little disappointed that he was to get them because just when things were starting to get a teeny bit better, he gets his shots and things go backwards almost instantly. Yesterday afternoon was miserable, he was not settling, he developed a bit of a fever, didn't nurse well...We finally gave him advil and he calmed down and slept for a few hours. Today was not fun, even though he slept the most he's ever slept during the day in his life. Roughly 7 hours were spent with him counting sheep. Between naps he was cranky. And with him sleeping so much I have to admit that I felt compelled to check on him to make sure he was still breathing. With all that being said, I did manage to get a smile from him on camera. His details at his 2 month appointment with the dr are 12lbs 5oz and 23.75 inches. He is in the 95th percentile for both weight and height.

Who's Who??

Camia and Caleb, rouchly around the same ages. In some photo's, it's amazing how much they look alike.

 

 

 

 

8 Weeks

 

Today Caleb is 8 weeks. While it has been a challenging 8 weeks, he is still loved very dearly. When he is not crying he gives us some huge smiles and is starting to talk a little bit. I do notice, though, that he does not talk as much as Camia did at this age. I remember her talking lots with very little prompting. So, maybe there is hope for my ears yet ;). He loves his bouncy seat and can spend up to 45 minutes just sitting and looking around. He now wakes only once during the nights and does between 4 and 7 hour stretches. More sleep means more patience and a better ability to deal with the hard days. I feel like he is getting better with his crying. Tuesday was rough with him, but yesterday he was a dream baby again. And today he is doing pretty good too. We have him on pro biotics to help him with tummy issues and that seems to be helping. We did a test. Last week he was on it Wednesday through Saturday. We decided to skip it on Sunday since I have heard that if you give an infant too much it can cause even more problems. Tuesday he was terrible. So Tuesday night he got another dose. Wednesday he was fabulous.

I also gave nursing more consideration and I am going to try to go 3 months, my original goal. I might even go further, if it goes ok. I just had to get over feeling guilty about supplementing, and I feel so much better about it. He gets about 2, maybe 3 oz of formula every night because I don't have enough to satisfy him. He is happier, which means momma is happier too.

One of the greatest things about marrying into a family who is almost twice my age is that they offer advice because they've all done it before. Multiple times. And they all get it. I got advice from one sister in law that has stuck in my brain and comes up constantly these days and that is 'This too shall pass'. It will not last forever. It seems that things are starting to finally look up and as bad as it sounds, I learn to love my babies again and again. I guess that's why they call it unconditional love. 

Trick or Treat

This year Camia wanted to be Little Red Riding Hood. I bought her costume several weeks ago for two reasons. First I did not feel like or have the time to sew her one. Second, the price of the ready-made costume was the same cost as it would have been to just buy the fabric to make the cape. To avoid destruction before trick or treating, the costume hung in my closet. It drove her batty because she wanted to wear it so badly. But we stuck to our guns and she got to wear it for the first time last night. And she has been wearing it all day today.

It was pouring rain and we all got soaked. But it was still so much fun. I was proud of her as she ran up and down the drive ways. I was proud how polite she was.