Forty-Seven Weeks!

Today Nick is forty-seven weeks old! I remember when he was seven weeks old . . . that was when we saw his first real smiles :) Now he smiles all the time, laughs, crawls, babbles . . . it's amazing!

Last weekend was a whirlwind. Saturday we went out to Lake Orion to drop off donor milk. We visited with the family a little while, then headed over to Great Lakes Crossing to do a bit of shopping and eat some lunch. I had a chicken Greek salad, which Nick enjoyed sharing with me. After we got home, Jeff's parents invited us to go out to dinner with them before Jeff, Jim and their parents went to the UM hockey game. We just went up to Red Olive (formerly Honeytree) and Nick again shared a salad with me. He's such a cutie - Jim ordered saganaki and Nick's eyes got so wide at the flame!

Sunday I wasn't feeling well, so I mostly laid around with Nick until it was time to head out. Jeff took care of some business while Nick napped in the car, then we went to Boodles for Uncle Jim's birthday dinner. Everyone oohed and aahed over Nick. He did ok - I felt terrible, because Boodles in not a 20 minute meal, and he is so active now it felt like I was torturing him trying to get him to sit in a high chair. Jeff and I took turns holding him and I took him out to the car for a little while but what he really wanted to do was crawl around :( Needless to say it will be at least a few years before we try to take him anywhere that is longer than 20 minutes . . .

Monday it was back to work and daycare. This week a miracle happened - Nick took two hour naps almost every day at daycare! In the crib! He seemed to eat a lot of solids this week too, while still drinking most of his bottles - I think the weaning part of baby-led weaning is starting to kick in! I need to keep researching foods to send with him. Right now I send mostly snack foods but I need to start sending meals :) Tuesday Jeff had a dentist appointment, so I picked Nick up from daycare - which never goes well. As soon as he sees me he just wants to nurse :( Thursday I stopped at the grocery store on the way home because Nick was out of bananas. I bought him some delicious blueberries and still made it home by 6:30.

Tonight I didn't get home until almost 7 - late day at the office. When I arrived, Jeff was walking Nick around the great room, as Nick hugged his toothbrush and slept on Jeff's shoulder. It was the most adorable thing I've seen in quite some time! Well, at least since the last adorable thing Nick did :)

Today I bought Nick a ball pit - I am so excited for him to play in it tomorrow! I hope he likes it!

This weekend should be fun. I'm thinking about making blueberry pancakes in the morning - I'll have to find a sugar free, dairy free, whole wheat recipe but I'm sure they're out there. Then we have some shopping to do before we head out to A2 for a Connection Parenting potluck. We are so excited to see our CP friends! It's been too long. Sunday we are going to Ikea to look at and possibly purchase some shelves for the basement. We need to get our basement organized before Nick's party! Which is only 6 weeks away :)

Forty-Six Weeks!

Today Nick is forty-six weeks old! Yikes, I'm getting too close to 52 weeks for comfort :)

Last weekend was fun! Saturday I made a homemade pizza with homemade whole wheat crust, organic sauce and cheese, and green peppers and turkey pepperoni. Nick liked it - he wasn't begging for more, but he ate what we gave him. Saturday night Ms. Amanda came to baby-sit while his dad and I went to a wedding. Nick had a blast with her, as usual, and she left him a cute note on his chalkboard wall. When we arrived home, he was awake - poor Amanda said she accidentally woke him up while checking on him! I nursed him right back to sleep and he was fine. :) Sunday I made homemade pita bread and hummus for my Daring Kitchen cook's challenge - I have been dying to have Nick try hummus but I wanted to make sure it was homemade, so it wasn't processed. It's a fun way for him to get some protein from chickpeas though. And he liked it! I have to think of other things he can dip in it though - I don't want him to eat very much bread, but he can't have celery yet. That leaves carrots . . .

Monday it was back to work and daycare. This week I tried to be better about dropping Nick off, saying good bye and leaving, without hanging out for 5-25 minutes. Some days I did better than others :( He seems to be sleeping a little better in Infant B. My only issue is, I think they are trying to prevent him from sleeping in the morning so he will sleep longer in the afternoon with the other Infant B kids - he's been napping for an hour or longer each day, but after noon. At home on the weekends, he still take two very long naps. They say he's still happy and active though so maybe I just need to go with it . . . A few times this week Nick didn't nurse right to sleep, he played with us downstairs for a little while. The tough part when that happens though is paying attention to his cues when it is time to go to sleep.

Tonight we had an infant/toddler CPR class at TLE, so Nick stayed in Infant A with some of his classmates while we were in the preschool room, learning how to save him. Pretty much the only thing I learned though is that I hope I never have to give CPR, especially to Nick :( I'm sure I'd fail miserably.

Tomorrow we are going out to Lake Orion to deliver some donated breastmilk, and then we are stopping by the mall to buy Uncle Jim's birthday present. When we get home, dad is going to a UM hockey game with Uncle Jim, Grammie and Grandpa. Then Sunday we are all going to Boodles to celebrate Uncle Jim's birthday!

Nothing exciting is going on this week. We are supposed to get a ton of snow - looking forward to spring for many reasons :) Next weekend should be fun - Saturday we have a potluck with our Connection Parenting group and Sunday is Ethan's second birthday party! We're so exciting - Nick and Ryan haven't seen each other since September. It should be fun to see if they do any parallel play :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Forty-Five Weeks!

Today Nick is forty-five weeks old! And today was his last day in Infant A at TLE :( My little baby isn't such a little baby anymore . . .

Last weekend was a blast! Friday night I went out to dinner with Aunt Krystyn and Melissa, and when we got home, Nick was wide awake and ready to play! Melissa decided to sleep over, because it was pretty late, so Saturday morning all five of us packed into the Caliber and headed to Rebecca's for breakfast - in our pajamas! It was Nick's first time in a sit-down restaurant that we can recall, and it was such an awesome experience! He was fascinated by the train going around the ceiling and all of the memorabilia on the walls. Our server was great and brought Nick's food out right away without us even having to ask - he had a scrambled egg, sliced banana and oatmeal. He fed himself, as usual, and apparently there was a couple by the door who watched in amazement :) After breakfast we hung out at home until it was time to get ready for Melissa's baby shower. We got Nick all dressed up in maize and blue because he went with his dad and grandparents to his first UM basketball game while we were at the shower. When we got home, Nick was already here. Then our cousin Brittnee and her friend came over. Nick played for a little while, and he also clapped his hands and waved for the very first time! He conked out around 7:30 - he had a very busy and exciting day! Sunday morning we played with Nick for a little while, then he took a nice long nap. Aunt Krystyn wanted to spend as much time with him as she could before going home to Raleigh. We played together until it was time for Nick's second nap, and Melissa came to take Krystyn to the airport while Nick was sleeping. Nick slept for a very long time - after about 1.5 hours I went in and laid down with him, while his dad and grandpa went to pick up his crib. Nick slept until almost 6 pm! Then we all went to Trader Joe's to pick up our groceries for the week.

Monday it was back to work and daycare. Nick's Infant B teacher was out sick Monday and Tuesday, but Nick still spent some time in Infant B to continue transitioning into there full time. Wednesday we got a ton of snow! But luckily TLE was still open. This week Nick tried fresh peaches for the first time - he loved them! I also found out that they haven't been cutting up his banana at TLE - they give him one half at a time and he eats it like an adult. I saw it with my very own eyes. We still cut it up for him though :) Thursday morning when I dropped Nick off, I waved bye to him - and he crawled right over to me and waved bye back! I almost cried, it was so adorable and sweet.

Today was pajama day at TLE and I felt terrible because I didn't know. But Nick wore red for Valentine's Day and he looks so cute in red, I didn't mind that he missed out on pajama day.

This weekend should be fun. Tomorrow I might try to make a homemade pizza for Nick to try, and tomorrow night Miss Amanda is coming to baby-sit while we go to a wedding. Sunday Nick might get to meet his new friend Bailey, and we might put his crib together and maybe make a trip to Ikea for some shelves for the basement. We plan on having his birthday party here at the house, so we have about 7 weeks to make it presentable! Next week we don't have anything special going on, except that it'll be Nick's first full week in Infant B. Next weekend is his Uncle Jim's birthday, so Sunday we are going to Boodles to celebrate. It'll be Nick's first time at Boodles. Hope he loves it as much as we do!

I am getting so excited for Nick's birthday. It's bittersweet, because I can't believe my baby is going to be one in less than two months, but it's exciting because I love planning parties! I already ordered his special bib and a special onesie, and the onesie print is going to be the theme of the party. We're just having his friends and their parents over, and his grandparents. We don't want to overwhelm him with a huge family party. We are also going to request that his friends each bring a book for a book exchange, rather than a gift for Nick - he's too young to open gifts or realize what's going on, and he definitely has plenty of toys already! We'll probably do book exchanges for his parties until he starts school. We'll see :)

Nick Clapping!

Forty-Four Weeks!

Today Nick is forty-four weeks old! He is back to his normal self, thank goodness! Happy and smiling and growing. This week was a week of transition - transitioning from Infant A to Infant B at daycare!

Last weekend we had so much fun. On Saturday, after Nick's morning nap, we wandered into downtown Northville. We went to Baby Bliss to buy a baby shower gift, the Livingston Co-Op in the public market to check it out, Northville Chill-E Cook-Off (Rocky's of Northville won!), and to Baby Baby to look for an umbrella stroller. Nick had so much fun! He hung out in the Moby, saw a lot of people and enjoyed some fresh air as we walked from place to place. He tried some beans and chicken from chili and liked watching the dancing pickle. :)

Sunday we met Grandma Audrey and Papa Norm at Somerset to exchange Christmas gifts and spend some time together. We had so much fun! Nick showed them how he can crawl and cruise and stand up, we ate at the food court - Nick ate tomatoes and green peppers for the first time - then we walked around the mall and enjoyed the sights and conversation. They gave Nick a great book with moving pictures in it, lots of socks (inside joke) and a cute pink figurine that he has hardly put down since!

Monday was back to work and daycare. It was Nick's first day of transition, but the Infant B teacher was out sick, so Nick stayed in Infant A all day. Tuesday he spent some time in the afternoon in Infant B. Each day he spent a little more time in there, until today - he spent most of the day in Infant B and his new teacher even filled out his daily report! Wednesday Nick turned 10 months old. I cannot believe he's 10 months old!! The time has seriously gone by so fast. Thursday Jeff had to work late so I picked Nick up. It was lightly snowing but that made me late - I didn't get there until a little after 6, and then we stood around talking and we didn't get home until 6:30!

Today Aunt Krystyn is flying in! Nick and dad are going to hang out while I go out to dinner with Aunt Krystyn and Melissa. Tomorrow we have Mel's baby shower while Jeff takes Nick to the UM basketball game with his parents. Sunday we are just hanging out with Aunt Krystyn before she flies home. This week we don't have anything special going on. Nick's transition to Infant B should be complete by the end of the week. Our little boy is growing up!

Forty-Three Weeks!

Today Nick is forty-three weeks! And the poor boy - he's definitely had better weeks. It feels so terrible to have a sick baby :( I would rather be sick every day of my life than have Nick be sick ever.

Last weekend was rough for Nick. He continued throwing up overnight Friday and into Saturday. He probably threw up every other time he ate. We cut him off of solids and just nursed, because breastmilk is so much easier for babies to handle. Throughout, he was his active and happy self though! We *thought* he was feeling better, so we decided to go for a late lunch to Panera. We brought some solids for him and enjoyed a nice lunch ourselves, but after we were done eating and we started giving him some sweet potatoes, he threw up :( We cleaned up after him and went home. Later on, Grandpa came over and we were all hanging out in the basement and the playroom. Nick was still throwing up, and even threw up water. I called our next door neighbor, who is a pediatrician, and asked her advice. She said we should give him Pedialyte (which I didn't - I don't believe in Pedialyte, I believe in nursing!) and monitor him closely, especially for dehydration. When he threw up the water though, that was the last time he threw up. That night he slept and nursed normally. Sunday he seemed to be much better - no throwing up. We decided to go to the Plymouth Ice Fest, but unfortunately, it was pretty warm for January in Michigan and most of the ice sculptures were melting, and some had already collapsed. We just walked around and enjoyed the fresh air. After Nick's second nap, we journeyed out to the model home here in our neighborhood to check it out and see if there were any good ideas we could incorporate into our house. It had a neat loft area with stripes on the walls and a chalkboard wall, so we are thinking about trying to incorporate stripes into the playroom.

Although Nick seemed to be feeling better and wasn't throwing up, I decided to stay home with him on Monday. If he was sick and his illness was just incubating, I would have felt terrible taking him to daycare and getting other kids sick. We had an ok day - he had trouble napping though. He wouldn't go down for either of his usual naps. For his first nap, he ended up sleeping in the car - I had placed an online order at a local health food store, Zerbo's, and needed to go pick it up. The order included garlic oil for Nick's ears and probiotics for his tummy. Since he fell asleep, I ended up driving around for a while so he could get a good nap in. Then we came home and played for a while, but again, he wouldn't go down to sleep when it was time for his second nap. He finally fell asleep at 4 pm - when he'd usually be waking up - and he slept until 8 pm, when he promptly woke up and stayed awake until 11! Getting him off his schedule (which is self-imposed but which he's been pretty consistent with) always makes me nervous. But Tuesday he was back to his normal schedule. He had a good day back to daycare, and ate solids again. He had some issues but nothing that concerned his daycare teachers. I've been calling and checking on him daily. I did decide to cut back on his solids a little, because I want him to drink his milk - he clearly needs the immunities he gets from my milk! I have also been putting probiotics in his milk. Wednesday was even better, and today they said he was back to his normal self and had all his energy back!

This weekend should be fun. Tomorrow is a "free day" - we can do whatever we want! We might go to downtown Northville and check out the organic co-op and stop by Baby Bliss. Sunday we are meeting Grandma Audrey and Papa Norm at Somerset to exchange Christmas gifts and spend some time together. We haven't seen them since the summer so we are looking forward to that. The most exciting thing coming up is that Aunt Krystyn is coming for a visit! Our friend is having a baby shower next weekend, so Aunt Krystyn is flying in to town. We are going to the shower on Saturday, and on Sunday we have decided to take Nick to brunch in our jams - just like in the old days :)

Nick still has the ear infection. I stopped at Whole Foods on Wednesday and bought him some Hyland's ear drops - they are supposed to help with earaches, but we struggled to get the garlic oil drops in his ears so we haven't tried to put these drops in yet. He has been digging his thumb into his right ear a lot, especially when he's nursing, so I know the ear infection is still bothering him :( I also bought him some Vitamin D drops to hopefully help with his immune system. He is drinking a little more milk now that I cut back to two solids at daycare, instead of the three or four I was taking. And he will be moving into Infant B on Monday - which I am hoping will help with his naps at daycare! He'll be in a room with babies much closer to his age and they all seem to get on a similar schedule, and sleep for two hours in the afternoon :)