Brave Miss Izzers Ran Away

Justin loves Izzers (luckily). Izzers loves Justin sometimes. Here is why:

and . . . 

He is very curious about his furry little friend. Unfortunately, he is in the stage where everything he can grab goes to his mouth. Ewwwwwwww. 

(extra points for you if you sang the title to the tune of a Monty Python song).

And I die of cuteness

Here I sit, watching Battlestar Gallactica, my netflixed Glee DVD having been eschewed by my lovely, TV-hogging husband. Justin fell asleep before 8:00 for the second night in a row, leaving us time to set up our newer, more conservative budget (we've been spendhogs as of late). Normally, this would be a good thing as wine and good tv would follow, but that is obviously not the case. So here I am, with time on my hands, to indulge your need for cuteness.

Yes, even very German babies get into St. Patrick's Day. Justin gave this a slight farmer twist by opting for the green flannel, by BabyGAP. 

Look at my thighs and adorable rattle! 

Izzers is not amused. This is a normal look for Izzers nowadays, until Justin gets Puffs. Then she dances around his exersaucer and steals Puffs from his tray when we're not looking.

And I die of cuteness. Fortunately I was able to snag these booties and loafers before our new budget was put in place. I think 'adorable'. Justin thinks 'yummy'.

We learned a very important thing this evening - DO NOT FEED THE BABY FOOD WHEN HE IS THIRSTY. It will not go well. In fact, it will go something like - put baby in cool, space-saving highchair, baby squirms, give baby some carrots, baby screams bloody murder omg, take baby out, give baby bottle, baby is pacified and happy, baby eats whole tub of blueberry yogurt. 

I do not consider myself a particularly by-the-books religious person, and I rarely ask for things of that nature, but our little dude has a minor surgery Friday to put tubes in his ears, so if you would add him to your prayer list, or think of us that day we would all greatly appreciate it - especially Mama. 

Man-erisms

Remember how one of our New Years Resolutions was to watch our language so Justin's first word was not a bad one? Well, it won't be a bad one, but it may just be . . .

Yep - 'Balls'. One day, mid-conversation with Mitchell, I said 'balls', and Justin laughed. So, we did what any normal parents would do and exploited it, saying 'balls' over and over again to make him laugh. We're fully expecting 'balls' to beat out mama and dada now. 

Such a little man . . . 

7 Months

Our (not so) little Tank is officially seven months old and this has been the busiest month so far, for Tank and us. Here is the seventh month rundown, JFrog style.

Health

Our baby goes to daycare, which means he will be exposed to every baby germ under the sun. And until someone pays me to stay home with my son, which I would greatly prefer, he will be getting sick and building up his little immune system. We're still giving him two breathing treatments, each twice a day. He loves his nebulizer.

In addition, he has had a couple colds, which make his wheezing worse - it's really not that bad between colds at all. We visited an ENT, who found that both of Tank's ears have fluid in them, which allow bacteria to grow and make it harder for him to fight off infections. In two weeks, he will get both ears drained and tubes will be put in. 

And, of course, the reason this post is a few days late - Tank has been fighting his first stomach virus. It started Friday at midnight when we awoke rather pissed off and was covered in poo. He was up again at 2 and 5, and it continued throughout the day, about every hour. We did a lot of laundry Saturday and Sunday. He was still a happy baby. I called a nurse just to make sure he was okay Saturday night and she suggested taking him to be seen by a doctor when we couldn't remember the last time he had wet his diaper. It's a good thing we did, because after a lot of poking (three failed attempts at drawing his blood, and one failed IV insertion), we discovered that our otherwise happy baby was dehydrated nearly to the point of being admitted for the evening. Five hours and one large IV later, we all left. He is doing better now, but there is still room for improvement. 

Food

Tank is doing very well at eating solids. He has not refused to eat anything, but each time we give him food, even if he has had it before, he gives us this 'What the he$% is this?' look. 

Our current pantry includes:

Sweet Potatoes

Squash

Bananas

Yogurt

Green Beans

Applesauce (he has had it twice, and both times has not slept well at all)

He has also had some Puffs, and does quite well at picking them up and putting them in his mouth . . . sometimes. 

. . . othertimes Izzers gets a treat. 

This is her new spot whenever Justin has Puffs. 

Sleep - Sleep training was put on hold while Justin was sick, but I don't think anyone of us slept well in month 7.

Size - Our little Tank weighed in at 20.5 pounds at the ER on Saturday. Yep - he has officially passed his 3.5 month older cousin. He is wearing 9-12 month clothes and a size 3 diaper. 

Justin's Indian Name would be 'Sitting Belly'

Diapers are so much cuter when the poo is on the correct side . . . 

Fun Times - Justin has learned the 'I drop it, you pick it up game'. 

Umm . . . you gonna get that?

The flowers, Sophie, and the Music Box are still toy favorites as well. 

Justin also thinks Isabelle is awesome. Sometimes I try all I can think of to make him smile, and then the dog walks by and he laughs, laughs, laughs. 

Milestones - Justin still is not teething (not that I am at all complaining), but has started to make sounds. He says 'Maaa maaa' (first!!) and 'Daaaa Daaaa'. He says Mama when he wants something, and I think now when he wants me, and says 'Dada' when he's happy. Go figure . . . 

He supports himself on his legs pretty well when balanced. 

The comb-over! Justin's swirl has grown out and has turned into a comb-over. His Grandpa W should be proud!

Happy 7 Month Birthday Handsome :) We love you!

Sleep Training?

In typical fashion, I started talking about how great it was and it went to crap. I talked about how much of a good sleeper our little dude was, and then, well, he was not. Our 9-6 sleeper went to a 9-2, 2:15-5, 5-6 sleeper, etc. He'd wake up fussy, sometimes eat, sometimes not, sometimes calm down easily, other times not, sometimes wind up in our bed, sometimes Daddy wound up on the floor . . . you get the picture. He slept well two nights of the previous three weeks, and if you've never met me in the morning (Lucky you!!) , you may not know that lack of sleep makes me very, truly, cranky. And the worst part? Mitchell got up with Justin most of the time - I'm talking 90% of the time, so he really should've been more tired. 

So here we are, entering the world of sleep training. First things first - I am NOT about to let my Handsome cry it out. Hearing him cry during every nebulizer treatment (which he gets twice a day) is bad enough, and he actually needs that. A good friend lent us a book on gentle sleep training, and I decided to give a few things a try - when Mitchell was out of town. I know, perfect timing on my part. 

What, you mean I'm not supposed to do this when I sleep?

I realized that things Justin had associated with sleep - getting a bottle and being rocked - were not there for him if he awoke in the middle of the night, which happens often now that he moves in his sleep. To help him soothe himself to sleep, I've made a few changes:

1) No more bedtime bottle. We will make sure he is well fed during the day and he gets a bottle no more than an hour before bedtime. Seriously Bon - your 20 pound seven-month-old will not starve if not fed right before bed. 

2) No rocking to sleep

3) Earlier Bedtime. I have attempted to move up Justin's bedtime, and thus far (this being the third night) he is going to bed an hour earlier than in the past. 

4) Bedtime 'Buddy'. Justin is given his stuffed dinosaur when going to bed, hoping that he will associate it with sleeping and it can calm him if he wakes up at night. 

5) Bedtime Routine. The routine is pretty simple: I leave the lights in the bedroom off, turn on the humidifier, change his diaper and put him in his pajamas and sleepsack (have I told you how much I love those things?). Then I read a book to him, give him kisses (a Momma can never have too many), lay him in his crib, give him his dinosaur, pat his back, and after a short while, leave the room. We have a monitor set up so we can keep an auditory eye on him. 

6) If he awakes during the night, try to get him back to sleep without removing him from his crib or making a large presence. I try shushing, light back rubbing, and moving him back to the middle of the crib if he is in the corner. 

'That's fabulous Bon, but how's it goin?' you may ask. 

So far it is going well. He has gone down easily - only this evening did he fuss initially and need a little back rub to go to sleep. He does suck his fingers as a means of calming himself, but he has done that for awhile now and we're not worried about it. He has awoken once each night, but not with much fussing. He does move A LOT, so I have moved him to the middle of his mattress so he does not hit his head on his mobile if he raises it. 

A well rested Justin = a well rested Momma = a happier world!

Each night he has returned to sleep without being removed from his crib or fed and has not woke up until 6:00! In addition, he has taken two good naps at daycare each day. We will see if this continues or if it was just a nice break for Momma while Daddy was gone. 

p.s. I'm down over 5 pounds and feel a lot better! Weight Watchers works :) Now, if you'll excuse me, my baby is asleep and I have a large glass of wine calling my name . . . 

'Ode to Scream': A Serenade by Justin

This is what has been playing on repeat at Casa Hunt this week. We hope you enjoy as much as we do!