Mommy & Me Photos...

Andrew is growing up so fast! He is almost starting to take on more of a "toddler-ish" look. Daddy took these shots of us the other day.

In other news, we found a system that works for us during the day. Daddy brings Andrew to me at lunch (it's only 6 minutes away from home) and I do a superfeed at that time. He is able to go from his morning feeding at 7:30 until noon, and then pig out and go until I get home at 4:00.

This new plan came to be after 3 more days of bottle refusing by Andrew. I was coming home to feed him at 10:00 and then having Daddy try a bottle at 1:00. Yeah, that worked for 2 days and then Andrew decided he didn't like it.

This is way easier. He is taking in more solids, and his belly is bigger and he can eat more at a time. He is still taking in all his ounces of milk, just more at once. Major celebrations here! I am done stressing at work, worrying about whether or not he is taking bottles for Daddy.

In other news, Andrew now SCREAMS whenever we eat! We can't sneak anything by this little guy. I decided to share some raspberries with him and he went nuts for them! We buy the bags of frozen berries at Woodman's and eat them semi-thawed. Super good! The pieces I give Andrew are small enough--don't worry. It also helps that he has 8 teeth and is learning how they work! Bananas are another hit--the "real" ones, not the mushies. :)

Sorry I've been MIA!

I've been super busy at work and we've had a lot going on at home. We got a new car!!! We've been looking for 6 weeks or so for a 2nd vehicle to be our primary vehicle. We've really wanted a Ford Focus and we (at first) wanted the wagon, but they are really hard to come by around here. We upped our dollar amount and found that there's a lot more choice in the newer vehicle range. We ended up getting a 2007 Ford Focus Sedan. It's so cute! It's white, 4-door, fun-to-drive car that gets great gas mileage. I was super excited that it is LATCH equipped and got Andrew's carseat installed (it's no fun when you have to deal with the regular seatbelts like I did in the Nissan, although I would probably be an expert at it by now since I've messed around with it so much). Oh, and the new carseat we got is the Evenflo Titan Elite. It's a convertible seat that goes up to 60 pounds. Andrew can stay rear-facing longer and it has the 5-point harness, which I love. Here's the car (dealer photo, so that's why it looks like it's in a ginormous garage).

In other news, Andrew is doing some really cute things! Today my mom watched him while I was at work (to give Daddy a break so he could clean the garage and take care of some other duties around the house). She puts him in the Bumbo seat and he loves this Fisher Price piano thing she has and he started dancing! I came over after work and was like, "When did he learn that?" and my mom said she was showing him how to dance to the music and he caught on fast! So cute. We also got to visit with our good friends, the Shudas. Mom (Jane) and Daughter (Jackie) came by because my mom is going to hem up Jackie's prom dress (she's 16 going on 21). I used to baby-sit Jackie, starting when she was just 6 months old. We're pretty close and I think of her like a little sister. They were all excited to see Andrew. Jane kept saying how beautiful he was. :)

Here are some recent pics. In these first two, we were in the car (the older one) and we were playing Andrew's favorite game where I hold a toy up by the ceiling and let it drop (soft toys only). He giggles hysterically. It is so cute and it's also a good way to distract him when Daddy runs into the store. I sometimes would rather just stay with him in the car than unbuckle him to run in the store for 2 minutes. Daddy is always wanting to go to Menard's, to look at stuff he doesn't really need, only to come out empty-handed.



The other day, he was being SO cute in his crib. I snapped a couple of shots of him.





Bathtime! What can I say other than he loves it. We got this bath ring from my Aunt Lori whose kids have all outgrown it. He is such a big boy sitting up in the tub!

The only other news is I think he is working on his 1-year molars. He's been drooling a lot, pursing his lips (he does this when he's teething), fussier than normal, and the gums feel swollen there. Yes, one year molars and he's not even 8 months. I hope they're not coming already! He's going to have a toddler mouth on a baby's body.

Solid food diapers reek!!! Ugh, I would take the runnier, better-smelling diapers any time. Ever since we've added solids (and we're only doing like 1/3 of a jar once a day), his diapers smell worse than adult poo! At least they're pretty easy to clean. We haven't had a blowout in a long time. That part is nice.

Speaking of solids, he is loving sweet potatoes and not so much into the fruit. I thought it'd be the opposite. Sometimes I think it's because the fruit is colder than the warm foods and that's why he makes faces. We'll keep trying. We also tried Cheerios last week (just a few, like finger-food style) and he likes them! He actually fussed when he wanted more. Also, when I'm eating, he now knows what spoons are so it's hard for me to sneak a meal in without him trying to steal it from me! I give him sample bites if it's something that is not too textured. He is still breastfed 90 - 95% of the time.

That's about it! Just wanted to let you know how we've been!

Tooth #7 and tooth #8!

They are starting to come through. These will be the bottom two on either side of the center two. This will make 8 teeth at 6 months! I hope his molars decide to wait for awhile.......

In other news, we've recently started solids. He's not too crazy about cereal, but he will eat it. He enjoyed sweet potatoes and carrots, but did not like peas.

6 month check-up

He had his 6-month check-up on Friday. He's up to 17 lbs, 7 oz and is 26" long. The nurse practitioner, Emily (she's awesome, by the way) said he's looking healthy and happy! I asked her about his extreme energy, and she said it's very normal. :)

6 months old!

Andrew turned 6 months old yesterday, February 25, 2008. He has his 6-month check-up this coming Friday, so I'll give an update on his weight and length after that.

As far as the photos go, I had been planning on taking some nice photos again, so I got my camera out on Sunday and took these semi-pro shots. I shoot with a Canon Digital Rebel (the original) 6.3 megapixel camera, for those of you that are interested. Enjoy! Please feel free to give feedback on which ones are your favorite and why.

And...Daddy took a "Mommy and Me" shot of us...

Andrew is afraid of strangers...

It started a little while back when Uncle Jeff (my brother) held Andrew. He was talking to him and everything was kosher until about 30 seconds later...Andrew got a HUGE pout on his face and started bawling. Big, crocodile tears were running down his cheeks. I went to hold him and he was; of course, fine. I had Andrew in my lap and I had Jeff sit next to us on the couch and Jeff was able to talk to Andrew then, from a safe distance.

So, last weekend, the Fam (Daddy, Mommy, and Andrew) went on a trip (trip here = a whole 2 hours away) to Madison. We booked a hotel for Friday night. It was a lot of fun, especially soaking in the hot tub (we brought Andrew down by the hot tub in his carseat and took turns watching him).

Anyway, we decided to go to the mall. I thought it'd be fun to wear Andrew in the Snugli carrier. After all, I was in Madison...a lot of baby-wearing types live there and I could feel cool too. I got Andrew strapped into the carrier (facing out because he's a big boy now), wrapped a warm blankie around him (it was pretty cold out), and we ran into the mall. Not a minute into our walk, he started doing his cry that he does for strangers. I guess there were too many unfamiliar faces around us! He was just wailing! We had to stop and sit down at a bench to take him out of the carrier. People were staring at us. I just smiled at them and comforted Andrew. He was fine when he could see us again. I guess he doesn't like facing out!

The next morning, the Fam decided to go down to the continental breakfast (score!). I was talking to this really nice lady who was also eating there. She said that she and her husband were in town to visit with their granddaughter. She was talking to Andrew and telling him how cute he was and finally asked if she could hold him. I told her she could and she started talking to him. Ten seconds later: you guessed it. Crying! The pout is so cute though. I need to snap a picture of it!

Success!

Andrew took a bottle for Daddy yesterday. This is awesome!!! I mean, I know he took them in the past for him, but then he refused them for several weeks. I just thought we'd give it a try again. I told Daddy that around Andrew's 10:00 feeding, warm up a bottle and try and see if he'll take it. If he didn't take it, I could come home to feed him. This way there was no pressure on Daddy (like he has to give it and there's no other way Andrew will be fed).

I walked around with a smile on my face at work after I finished pumping. I got to wipe the dust of my Medela, so to speak!

This might not seem like a big deal to mothers whose babies take bottles no problem, but to us mothers in the "Bottle-refusing Boobie-loving Baby Club", it's a major breakthrough! My goal is to just come home once a day (on my lunch break) to feed Andrew. This way I'm not doing so much running and Andrew and I get a little bonding time during the workday, albeit about 12 minutes. I don't want to jinx myself though, so I'm going to try not to get too hopeful about it. We'll see how today's feeding goes.

Update: So, today the bottle didn't go so well. A couple of minutes in, he started crying and crying. I got a phone call at work and I could hear the little dragon wailing in the background. I came home to feed him. Tomorrow is a new day and Daddy will try again with the bottle. Hopefully we'll have a repeat of Tuesday!

Anxiously awaiting spring...and the Heart Walk

This winter has been so unlike the winters of the past 5-6 years. If it isn't way below zero, it's snowing! We've gotten more snow this year than in the past 5 years combined, I swear. I keep telling myself that next month is March and most likely there will be a day (or two) that Andrew and I can take the stroller out.

In other news, on Saturday Andrew and I did the annual Heart Walk (at the mall) with my mom (a team from her work was doing it). Andrew sat up in his stroller like a big boy (usually I have it in the reclined position, but thought I'd try him upright). He really liked looking around at all the people! Mom and I are such power walkers that we were passing all kinds of people. Andrew ended up falling asleep and getting a nice, long nap in. We were on the news but it was such a quick shot of the overall team, that I only saw us for a brief moment. There was a large group from my mom's work and there was a sea of faces wearing black t-shirts and I saw little Andrew's bald baby head in the croud. It was cute!