Happy Halloween!

Happy First Halloween Nicholas!

Waiting for his friend Emily to come over in her monkey costume!

Thirty Weeks!

Today Nick is 30 weeks old! Nick had a great week. He received his first development report from daycare - the possible marks are "not evident," "developing," and "evident" - and he got all "evident"s! His first great report card :)

Last weekend we took Nick to Costco on Saturday and he sat in the cart for the very first time! Our cart cover doesn't quite fit the oversized Costco carts, though - so his bottom was cushioned but his hands weren't protected. Sunday I worked on his costume a lot. He played with dad and took some good naps while I sewed away. Around 3 I stopped, we took a nap together, and then we went to buy Nick a jumperoo! He absolutely loves it. He has been trying to bounce in his exersaucer for a while now but it obviously is not made for that. The jumperoo is exactly what he wanted and he loves to bounce bounce bounce :)

Monday was back to work and daycare. Tuesday at daycare Nick played with - and ate - some canned pumpkin, and apparently, he loved it! I worked some more on his costume that night. Wednesday I almost finished it and he had his final fitting of the suit. Wednesday night Nick didn't wake up to nurse between midnight and 6 am! Thursday I finished the hat and sewed on the tail, and Nick was back to night-nursing. I really don't want him to night wean yet because I think his night nursing is what is keeping my supply steady - if he stops night nursing, he'll only nurse twice or three times Monday-Friday, and I'm concerned that's not enough to keep up my supply.

Today was Nick's Halloween party at daycare. I had to be in court in Shelby Township by 8:15, so Jeff took Nick and his costume to daycare. We couldn't make it to the party, so his Grammie and Grandpa Lundberg went and hung out and took pictures. They had a costume parade and snacks for the visitors. Grammie got to give Nick a bottle, although she said he wasn't too interested in it. After daycare, Grammie and Grandpa came back to the house to spend a little more time with Nick, then later on came back with Uncle Jim and brought a pot roast for dinner - can't wait until Nick is old enough to eat dinner with us!

Tomorrow is Nick's first Halloween. During the day we are going to have some more pictures taken by Mod4, then we're stopping by Aunt Cindi's to show off Nick's costume, then we're coming back to the house. Lisa, Donnie and Emily are coming over to hang out and help pass out candy - Emily has a monkey costume too! We can't wait to take pictures of our little monkeys :) We have been told not to expect very many trick-or-treaters - I hope we get a lot, because we bought a lot of candy, and Nick is so adorable, I want people to see him in his costume :)

Sunday is a catch-up day here at the house. We don't have any plans at all. This week should be an easy week too - the first week of November, holy cow! Nick will be seven months on Tuesday. It's so hard to believe we've been parents for seven months already! It's been an amazing seven months - and the best is yet to come :)

Nick Eats Banana!

Twenty-Nine Weeks

Today Nick is twenty-nine weeks old! He is getting bigger and stronger every day. We can already tell he is independent and determined. If he pushes a toy out of reach, he'll figure out a way to get it back, and if we try to hold something for him, like a teether, he'll take it out of our hands so he can hold it himself. He soooo wants to crawl, but can't quite get his knees up underneath him. It'll happen sooner than we want, that's for sure! What happened to our little newborn??

Last weekend was so fun! Saturday we ran out and ran some errands. Nick had a very tough time in his bucket, so over the weekend we decided to switch to the convertible seats we bought from www.elitecarseats.com - the Sunshine Kids Radian XT. It rear faces to 35 pounds and will hold Nick until he's 80 pounds! It's black and gray so it looks great in both of our cars. Sunday was a blast - the whole family took Nick to the pumpkin patch at Three Cedars Farm! What a great place. We had cider and doughnuts, and took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. They have a kitschy general store, a corn maze, a big wooden train for the kids to play on . . . it was so much fun, and it's right in Salem Township, so we hope to make it an annual tradition! Sunday night Jeff installed the new car seats.

Monday was back to work and daycare. It was Nick's first morning in the new car seat and he LOVED it. He looks so "normal" in the convertible, I can't even picture him in the bucket again! Mondays at daycare are "Start to Art" class - we took in a t-shirt of Jeff's for Nick to use as a smock. It's so fun that he's already working on art projects! So far he made a "stained glass" window and a snake. His everyday caregivers also do art projects with him - like painting paper apples for fall and black cats for Halloween. Tuesday night I had an LAA meeting - Nick didn't do very good without mom :( It seems like as he gets older, he realizes when I'm supposed to be home, and when I don't meet his expectations, he has a hard time. It makes Jeff very sad that he can't comfort Nick when he wants me, but we know this is just while he's so young - someday he'll want just dad dad dad :) Wednesday I was supposed to work on Nick's monkey costume, but instead I fell asleep when Nick did! Thursday was just Nick and mom while dad went to the Pistons game with grandpa.

Today I'm working on Nick's costume for sure! Although I have decided to switch from the faux fur to fleece - that way I can skip the step of making a lining. I originally had fleece picked out at the store but went for the faux fur when I saw it. Joann's doesn't carry very high-quality faux fur anyway - just taking it out of the bag left a bunch of pile on the floor! I am going to have to power through making this costume - I really am a novice sewer. I should have given myself a LOT more time. As long as he has something to wear that I made, I'm happy!

This weekend we don't have any specific plans. We hope to go to Costco and possibly the grocery store. I'll be working on Nick's costume as much as possible. This week we don't have anything exciting planned - but next weekend is Halloween! Yay! Nick's very first Halloween :)

Twenty-Eight Weeks

Today Nick is twenty-eight weeks old! He is getting so big. This week his sleep pattern was a little off - not sure if it's a new sleep pattern or if he's still getting back to normal from being sick. We'll see this week!

This week was rough. Jeff was very sick with the flu all week - so it was just me and Nick the whole time, plus I took care of Jeff as much as I could. All I have to say is, I was definitely not cut out to be a single parent! Or at least not a single parent who couldn't afford a nanny. I was exhausted every day. It's crazy how much I took Jeff for granted - I won't anymore!

Saturday we all just hung out at home. Jeff realized he was sick so we tried to keep him away from Nick as much as possible. Sunday Nick and I went out and ran errands while Jeff rested. We went to Block's and bought Halloween decorations. We came home, then went back out and went to a mom to mom sale, Costco, Joann's and Buy Buy Baby. It was rough on Nick - he's not used to having to run errands with me. Usually he stays home with Jeff or all three of us go so one of us can play with Nick while the other does the errand. He made it through though :)

Monday was Nick's 6 month appointment. He is 17 lbs 10 oz and 26.5 inches. The doctor checked to see if he's grabbing at things, asked if he's sitting up, checked his vision and his ears. He has some fluid in his ears but the doctor said that's probably from his illness, it's not an infection. He doctor said his growth has slowed, and that it will be much slower now, from a combination of being breastfed and from his genes. We're ok with that!

This week is such a blur, I can't really remember anything specific. I dropped Nick off at daycare and picked him up every day. We kept him away from Jeff until this morning so he wouldn't get sick again. Wednesday I went to the Carter's store at lunch with Karen and bought Nick some adorable new clothes - I just love that store!

Today I have a hearing in Grand Rapids, so I was hoping to get home and pick Nick up earlier than usual, but unfortunately I was called at the end of the docket, so Jeff picked him up and I got home at about my usual time.

Of course, the one day I don't pick Nick up from daycare, he got his proofs from his school pictures! They are terrible. I don't know what happened, but he didn't get both backgrounds we picked. There are three poses - he's not smiling in any of them, in one he is sucking in his lips so it looks like he has no mouth and in another he has so much drool on his chin it's ridiculous. The class picture is hilarious - the one teacher looks like she's on crack and the other is not even paying attention to the camera! And school pictures are so much more expensive now than they were when we were growing up. I don't know if we're going to order any of them :(

This weekend we have some fun plans. Tomorrow I'm hoping to go to a thrift store to buy some brown t-shirts to use as the lining for Nick's costume - I don't want to go to Joann's again and this might save some money. Sunday we are hoping to go to the pumpkin patch. There's one right in Northville - Three Cedars Farm. We're excited and hope to turn it into a family tradition! We don't have any scheduled this week, and I hope it stays that way. I need to work on Nick's costume every moment he's asleep!! I'm excited about it though. Even if it doesn't turn out perfectly, it's being made with lots and lots of love!

Twenty-Seven Weeks

Today Nick is twenty-seven weeks old! He is over his most recent illness and back to his "normal happy active" self, as his daycare teacher put it!

Last weekend we just hibernated in the house. It was great. Nick turned six months old on Saturday - wow, that was a fast six months! Nick took some good long naps and played with us as much as he could, given his condition. He was very congested and still had his fever all weekend. He had difficulty nursing and we kept paying attention to his drool and fontanelles to check for possibly dehydration. On Saturday we gave him a sippy cup of water - we aren't using traditional sippy cups though, just ones with straws, so I'm not sure if he drank any water or just chewed on the straw! We also gave him banana again, but this time in a mesh feeder. He seemed to like it a lot better that way, so we're going to keep giving him new foods in the mesh feeder. It's still self-feeding, so we're ok with it.

Monday it was back to work for mom, but dad worked from home so we could keep Nick home from daycare. Grammie came over to help dad out, and so did Grammie's friend Nancy. Nick had a rough day and dad thinks he missed mom, which made it so hard for her to stay at work! When she got home though he had a huge smile for her, and giggled as she put him into his pajamas. His fever went away on Monday, so Tuesday he went back to daycare. He was still congested but eating better and almost back to his cheerful self. Wednesday he was definitely back to his cheerful self, and eating and sleeping normally again. At daycare he painted a pumpkin and all the babies' pumpkins are on the window as Halloween decorations - so cute! Thursday Nick had another great day - he ate almost all of his bottles at daycare, so we're going to start sending more milk! He's a growing boy!

Tonight is parents' night out at daycare - the daycare teachers stay late and parents can pay $25 for them to watch the kids for a night out. We are taking advantage of this opportunity - it will only be the THIRD time we're away from Nick for an evening! We are probably just going to go to dinner and a movie.

Tomorrow Nick and I are going to some mom to mom sales, and at some point this weekend we plan on taking Nick to the cider mill for the first time. There is a cider mill right here in Northville, and another one in Plymouth - not sure which one we're going to yet.

Monday is Nick's six month well-baby visit - more shots :( That's all we have planned this week!

I have decided to make Nick's Halloween costume and he is going to be an adorable little monkey (minus the white fringe). I'm so excited! My mom made our costumes when we were growing up - Rainbow Brite, genies, a witch - and I bought my sewing machine last year with the intention of using it to do the same for my children. Growing up we always trick or treated in Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge. There was one house on Pinecrest that always had hot cider and coffee for the kids and parents - I want to be that house in our neighborhood! I want the kids to say "oh mom, we have to go to that one house where they always have cider and full size candy bars." :) Starting next year we plan to decorate too - one house in our neighborhood has a display that includes what looks like a skeleton crawling out of a grave. Super cool!

I have to spend every minute Nick is sleeping working on his costume to make sure it's ready for Halloween - only 22 days away!

Twenty-Six Weeks

Today Nick is twenty-six weeks old! Tomorrow he will be six months old. We can hardly believe he's halfway to a year!

This week started out great for Nick. Last weekend he went to his first UM football game! First he and mom went to a mom 2 mom sale and picked up some more pajamas and stretchy pants for him in the 6-9 months size. We also picked up a UM sweatsuit in 12-18 months for only $2! Afterward, we planned to take him to the tailgate to meet Grammie and Grandpa's friends. There ended up being extra tickets though, so we bought an extra set and all three of us headed in to the game. We figured we'd stay until Nick got fussy or needed to be changed - a quarter, maybe until halftime. He lasted the entire game! Never fussed or cried once. I did take him up to the concourse to nurse a couple times, and we walked around up there when the drizzle got a little heavier, but for the most part he was in the Big House. We still can't believe it! After such an eventful day, he slept well that night.

Sunday we got a late start to the day, then headed out to Grandma Juarez's apartment to finish up clearing it out. We had help from Lauren and Jan, Grammie and Grandpa, and Rachel and Jim - so what could have taken several hours only ended up taking about two hours. Thanks for the help guys! After that we went to Grammie and Grandpa's for a pizza dinner.

Monday it was back to work and daycare. Mom had court in Adrian in the morning, so she got to hang out with Nick at daycare a little longer than usual. Tuesday dad had to do some work from home when he got home, so mom picked Nick up from daycare. Wednesday was school picture day, so we sent his cute blue and white striped romper to daycare with him for pictures - we can't wait to see how they turned out! We hope they were able to get him to smile :)

Thursday is when Nick's week took a turn for the worse. He woke up and he was burning hot. We took his temperature both ways and both ways it was very high - 104 and 101. We called his pediatrician through the physician answering service. He said as long as Nick was acting normal otherwise to skip the ER and just come into his office at 10:30. Nick was taking a nap at 10:30, so we went in around noon. They weighed him (17 lbs 9 oz!), took his temperature (102.3) and then we took him in to be checked out by the doctor. The nurse tried to give him some tylenol but he rejected it completely. The doctor did the usual - checked his ears, checked his throat. Then he did a swine flu culture, which involved sticking a cotton swab in Nick's nose back towards his throat for five seconds. Needless to say, Nick did not enjoy that one bit and kept giving the doctor dirty looks after that! The doctor said as long as he was nursing and acting normal not to worry about him too much.

Today mom had to go to court (three times in one week, that never happens!) so dad stayed home with Nick. Since he still had his fever, and by now had begun vomiting, the doctor wanted to see him again. He sent Nick and dad to St. Joe's in Ann Arbor for some additional tests. Grammie went to help dad, and mom met them there after her hearing. They determined the illness was viral (gee, thanks, that's very helpful!) and said to try to keep him hydrated and comfortable until the illness goes away. They said he was still drooling and had tears when he cried when they drew his blood, and those were good signs.

So this weekend we are hibernating. We want Nick to rest and get better, and we don't want to expose anyone else to his illness. Hopefully he'll be better before Monday - one of the cons of both of us working is we need him to be well enough to go to daycare! We've both already taken so much time off lately, we can't really miss more time.

This weekend has been rough on me regarding working, too. Nick most likely contracted his illness at daycare. Although our daycare is great, and very clean, it's just a fact that kids in daycare get sick more often. I try to tell myself that even kids with stay at home moms get sick sometimes, but it's just so hard to see Nick uncomfortable and hating his treatments. The problem for us is not so much money, although obviously we'd have to change our lifestyle if one of us stayed home - it's that neither one of us really wants to stay home, and based on my experience during maternity leave, I really think you need to WANT to stay home to be a stay at home parent. We both love our little boy and we love spending time with him, but we both enjoy working, too, and pursuing our careers - our ambitious natures are part of what attracted us to each other. I always knew I'd be a working mom - it's just ingrained in me to try to be externally successful - and while most working moms have guilt from *having* to work, I have guilt from *wanting* to work. And on days when Nick is sick, it's twice as bad - I know he probably wants his mommy, but my job is less flexible than Jeff's, so he usually has daddy :(