Sleep Success!

Okay...I don't want to jinx myself, but we had a really good night last night! We tried the cereal thing again, except this time we gave it to him before his last feeding rather than the 5:00 pm feeding. While still not as excited as one would hope, he did actually swallow more cereal than he did on Saturday. We used his pacifier to help with this, which was probably was not the best thing to do but, hey, if it worked, I was going to try it! I think it is going to take a few days for him to get used to the consistency and taste of the cereal

So, after we fed him the cereal, we gave him a bath, got him dressed for bed and then fed him his bottle. He was out...and when I say out, I mean out....by 8:30 pm. I didn't hear him until 5:00 am this morning! That was 8 1/2 hours, which he has not done in weeks!!!!!!!!! I sure hope this isn't a fluke and this becomes the norm! It sure was nice not to have to feed him at 3-4 am while Ted or I was still half asleep! :)

Brody's First Experience with Cereal

Yesterday, we fed Brody cereal for the first time. Let's just say it was quite an experience. First of all, it was his first time sitting in his high chair. I don't really think he knew what to make of it. I have pasted some pictures of him below.

The video below is his first taste. As you can tell, he was not happy!! I think he may have been too hungry to try something new, so we are going to try again tonight when he is in between feedings and not so hungry. I think he will be more cooperative! I am keeping my fingers crossed.

He has become REALLY talkative in the last couple of weeks. He is loud and really has a good time entertaining himself now. You can hear him on the other side of the house. Ethan gets the biggest kick out of it! He has become more social and loves to be around people. He also is starting to discover more things and loves when people talk to him. He also starts smiling and laughing when I sing to him, which is often! He is my biggest fan and I love it! :)

Having a Good Time!

The two videos below were taken yesterday. He absolutely LOVES his bouncer, as you can tell in the video below!

Below, the elephant toy attached to his car seat is the most fascinating thing to him right now. He could stare at it all day long if I would let him! It is so funny to see him discover all these toys and realize what his hands can do! :)

Where did the sleep go?

I am not sure what changed, but the past couple of nights, Brody has only made it until 3:00-3:30 am before he wakes up crying and wanting to be fed. When I first hear him cry, I try to hold him off but he is wide awake and is only happy once I feed him. I have noticed that his diaper is soooooo full when I go in there too so he must be peeing out all the formula he ate the night before. When I was talking to a co-worker, she said if he is doing that, I might want to start feeding him cereal because that should stay in his stomach and he should be satisfied for longer at night. When I took Brody for his 2 month checkup, his pediatrician suggested that I start feeding him cereal a couple of weeks before his 4 month appointment so I could let her know how things are going. I was going to hold off a little bit longer, but Ted and I are going to go today to get the cereal and I am going to start giving him some tomorrow. I am going to give it to him tomorrow morning and as long as he doesn't have any issues with it, I think I will start giving it to him before he gets his bottle before bed. His doctor told me to spoon feed, not to put it in the bottle so I am going to try that and see what happens. I think he is ready for it!

We did have an eventful tummy time this morning. He didn't stay on his tummy for long before getting unhappy, but I did get some cute pictures. Anthony, my nephew, stayed with me last night because he wanted to help with Baby Brody. He was helping me this morning keep him occupied. Here are a few pictures....

Christy is leaving tomorrow to go back to Chicago. :( I am sad about that. I am going to miss them alot. It was nice to have Brody hang out with his cousins and for us to do things as a family again. Missy was also in town until Wednesday of this week and it was nice to have everyone here. Here are a few more pictures...

Brody's First Visit to the Zoo

Today, everyone in my family, except my mother and I, went to the zoo. It was kind of hot today and I was wondering how Brody would do in all that heat. They said he did awesome! They were there for almost 2 hours and he was smiling and laughing and having a really good time! They said he was so good! The sent me the picture below of the kids sitting on a rhino statue!

Also, Brody had another first today....he took a nap in his crib! YAY! (While it is technically not his first time, it is definitely his first time in a while!) He slept for about an hour, my sister said. An hour is good...I will take an hour. She sent me the picture below at work and her subject line said: SUCCESS!! (look at my little man's chunky thighs....I think that is where all of the food he is eating is going! :)

I don't know what she did, but I guess it comes from having 2 kids of her own, and transitioning one to the crib after she slept in her swing for the first couple months of her life! :) I figured that this week would be a little more difficult to start something new with him considering all the people in the house so I told my dad that we would try the crib next week...atleast in the afternoon and see what happens. I was reading on the internet (Yes, that damn internet again!) about taking baby steps with him. They suggested putting him in the crib for 5 minutes to start out, then 10, then 15 and so on until he gets used to it. Christy said she did the same thing with Ashleigh too! I mean, I can't believe it is this difficult considering he goes to sleep in the crib at night with no problem! I guess we will see what happens!

He is down for the night and I am off to bed! Good night! :)

Other Weekend Pictures

Here are some other pictures I took of Brody this weekend. He has really turned into a cat napper now and I am not sure why. I would say that today he slept for a total of 2 hours, combining all of his cat naps. I guess that is okay, but he sure gets grumpy! He still seems to sleep for good at night so I am thankful for that. But, it is just so frustrating. He used to be a really good napper during the day. Hopefully, he will get back into some type of routine in the next couple of weeks. I have also told my dad that we need to start putting him in the crib instead of the swing for his naps. I figured that since he isn't really sleeping in the swing now, maybe he will start in the crib! Wishful thinking, I am sure! But worth a try!

He is really starting to grab things now and of course, they end up in his mouth. He is also talking so much. It is really cute! In his infant seat, there is this little bar that is above the seat that has a little mirror on it. I tried to post a video of him talking to himself in the mirror, but for some reason, it wouldn't upload! I will try again later. I sure wish I knew what they were trying to say at this age! :) He hasn't really rolled over from this tummy to his back anymore than the couple times he did it a few weeks ago, but that could be because he doesn't really like tummy time that much. I can only get about 10 minutes out of him at a time. He is starting to try and roll from his back to his stomach, though. He loves laying on his back, that's for sure.

Here are the pics! I am off to bed! :)

Brody met his cousins for the first time!

On Thursday night, I called my sister, Christy, who lives in Chicago to wish my nephew a Happy Birthday and make sure he got the package I sent him. She then tells me that they are thinking of heading our way to surprise my parents the next day, but they aren't sure. They were originally scheduled to be off this week because they were going to go to my brother-in-law's parents house for the week, but they decided not to. So...I convince her that she should come so Brody could meet his cousin's for the first time. They left Friday afternoon around 3:30 and stopped for the night in Ohio and got here around 5:00 on Saturday. My parent's still had no clue. So, we headed over to their house and surprised them. It was awesome to see the look on my parents face when they saw my niece and nephew walking up the stairs! We have been having a great time this weekend and the best part is they will be here all week. My other sister, Missy, came down from Fredericksburg this morning and is staying until tomorrow, maybe Tuesday. It was nice to have the family together (with the exception of Ted, who left today for a week to do some work in Maryland! :( He is scheduled to be back on Friday).

My nephew, Anthony, is the biggest fan of Brody's and wanted to be everywhere he was. He just turned 7 and can't get enough of him. Maybe it is the age because my neighbor's daughter, Kaylie, is 6 and she does the same thing. (I posted a picture of her and Brody a little bit ago). He kept telling everyone he was on Baby Brody duty. (Both Anthony and Ashleigh call him "Baby Brody" not Brody....it is super cute). Anyway, he is constantly wanting to hold him and feed him and be around him. I told my sister she needed to have a little baby....she of course, laughed at me!. My neice, however, didn't really want much to do with Brody. She did want to hold him but that was only after my sister asked her or Anthony was holding him. I think she just did it because she thought it was the thing to do. Here are a couple pictures from this weekend!

On another note, Ethan had a really good birthday on Saturday. We decided to get him a skimboard and a boogie board and he loved it! He said he wants to go to the beach every Friday, Saturday and Sunday! We pick him up next weekend and then will have him for a whole month. It should be fun! I plan on taking him to the beach often!

One final funny note.....I had to tell this because I almost peed in my pants when it happend! Anthony, my 7 year old nephew, tells me yesterday that there is a kid in his class that is really mean. I said, "What does he do?" He tells me, "he calls all the girls bitches!" I know it was wrong, but I couldn't help but laugh. I couldn't believe he said it. Watching my sister try and tell Anthony that that was a bad word, while trying to hold her laughter inside, was priceless! :)

Tomorrow is Ethan's Birthday

So...tomorrow is Ethan's birthday. His mother is having a party for him at her tomorrow afternoon after he has his Karate belt testing. Ted and I went today to get his birthday gift. He mentioned wanting a boogie board for the beach so we ended up getting him a boogie board and a skimboard. We weren't sure about the skimboard but he saw kids using them in Nags Head last year and thought it would be cool. I asked my friend Marty if he would teach him how to use it. I have no clue how to do that and fear that I would break something if I tried. I mentioned that we are getting him for the month of July so hopefully, every Saturday or Sunday I am going to try and take him to the beach. He should get good use out them.

I think Brody is going through a growth spurt...or something is going on. We have started feeding him 7 oz. at his last feeding at night to see if he would stretch his sleeping to 5:00 am again. Once we stopped swaddling him, he hasn't really slept for a whole 8 hours at night, but he has been sleeping for about 7 or so. Apparently, the 7 oz. isn't doing the trick. On Wednesday night, he was so tired because he really didn't have a good nap during the day and was completely out at 8:30. Well...he woke up at 2:30 and was on an off for almost an hour so Ted finally fed him around 3:15. Since I have started back at work, we have started to rotate who is going to get up with him in the morning when he wakes up. It just so happened that it was Ted's turn. Well...last night, we fed him and put him down around 9:15 pm. He wasn't having it and stayed up until 10:30pm. He hasn't done that in so long.

He has also decided to not take a nap the last couple of days. He has slept for little periods of time, but his nice naps that last 2 hours have gone away. Today we were home and he probably slept for a total of an hour all day long! I am not sure what is going but I sure hope he works it out soon! Especially since Ted is leaving on Sunday. It will be a rough week if this continues! :(

Brody is a Baseball Fan!!

Last night, I had Brody in the bumbo chair and was watching the baseball game. He stared at the TV for a good 10-15 mintues so I decided to take a picture because it looked like he was really watching TV. The ironic thing is who is on the TV screen. For those that don't know, it is Jason Varitek, #33, catcher for the Boston Red Sox.....the best player in baseball (in my opinion!) Anyway, I have constantly joked that I am going to enroll Brody in baseball camp as soon as he can walk and it looks like he is getting a head start! :)

I was talking with a co-worker this morning about how much Brody has changed in the last three months. I pulled a picture that was taken when he was 4 days old and pulled one from yesterday. They don't even look like the same baby!! His skin color looks much darker and he had much more hair when he was first born! He actually looks small in the picture on the left. Here is the comparison:

Here are a few more pictures from yesterday. He loves his bumbo chair! :)

Not much happening....

I just fed Brody and put him down for the night. He is making some noise, but hopefully will fall asleep in the next few minutes. He started to fall asleep when I was feeding him and he didn't take the whole bottle. When I went in there just a few minutes ago, his eyes were open so we will see! He is starting to eat 7 oz at his last feeding, and 6 oz the rest of his feedings. He seems to still get satisfied with the 6 oz during the day so I haven't switched him.

I think I am driving my Dad crazy. I call him like 6 times a day to check to see how Brody is doing and I have started to worry about him taking his naps in the swing (which is where he takes his morning nap at my parents house during the week). Those damn books I read and the internet make me crazy! I have to stop reading them. I keep saying it but I still continue to read them and drive myself insane! We are starting to put him in the crib for his afternoon nap (which he really hasn't done consistenly at my parents house since I started going back to work). My dad said that he was in there for about an hour and slept for 30 minutes. I guess we will do baby steps. I am worried about him outgrowing the swing. I think the maximum weight is 25 lbs., and I am sure he will be there soon! Last time he went to the doctor, which was a couple weeks ago, he weighed 16.8. He was fully clothed so I will give him a few ounces. But still, over 16 lbs. is alot for a 2 1/2 month old! I will be curious to see how much he weighs at his 4 month check up!

Brody has started getting a little irritation on his checks the last week or so. I think it was from him rubbing his face with his sleep gown. I stopped putting him those at night and it seems to be clearing up. I am also putting Aquaphor on it too! Hopefully, it will be completely gone in a few days!

We had Ethan this weekend and he is really starting to interact with Brody alot more. Brody was talking and laughing and Ethan got such a kick out of it! He seems to want to be around him more too. I am sure it will also get more fun once Brody starts sitting up, and playing. In the car, Ethan will get in the car, and as soon as Brody starts to fuss, Ethan is right over there, talking to him and trying to get him calmed down. He is a good big brother to Brody.....it is really cute! Here are a few pics I took the last couple of days! I had Brody in Ethan's bean bag chair and he was having fun!

Brody and Big Brother Ethan!

Ethan being mischevious!

Mmmmm....this hand is yummy! What did you say?
Look at me Ma....

I think Tab and Kevin are ready for a baby of their own! :)

Ted's Home!

Ted got home yesterday morning, and of course, they lost his luggage....AGAIN! I swear, he has the worst luck with luggage and Delta. He got his clothes, but his bow did not make the trip. They ended up delivering it to our house yesterday afternoon! Atleast they found it! We aren't sure when he is leaving, but he is scheduled to go up to Northern Virginia for a week and half in the next couple weeks or so! I think after this trip, he is done for a while. He was supposed to go to Italy for 6 weeks in July, but I think since he went to Hawaii, he won't go on that one! Thank Goodness! It will be nice to have him home for a while before hunting season starts! :)

The not swaddling Brody has gone okay the past couple of nights. He has slept for about 7 hours at night before he wakes up. Not too bad! I am working from home today and tried to put him in the crib for his morning nap, but he was not having it! He would go down pretty easily for naps in his crib when he was swaddled but now is a different story!. When he is at my Dad's house, he normally sleeps in his swing because it is warm in his room there with the afternoon sun coming shining through the window so I guess I can't expect him to do something different here!! I gave him about 10 minutes of crying and then I brought him down and put him in the swing. He was out in 5 minutes! I know that pretty soon I am going to have to let him "cry it out" sometimes, but I just can't do it at this point. All the books I have read have scared the crap out of me when it comes to this. They say at this age, you shouldn't let them cry for longer than 15 minutes or they will feel abandoned! I definitely don't want him to feel that but then again, I don't want him to get spoiled and think that if every time he cries, I will pick him up. Sometimes, this mommy job is hard! But, I am SO not complaining because he is more than worth it! :)

Yesterday was the first day that Brody actually picked up a toy. He has been picking up his bib and his pacifier holder, but this was a first for the toy. He is also starting to bat at the toys on his bouncer. I posted a picture of him reaching for them below. I still can't believe how much he is changing!

We are picking Ethan up today. He is going to be staying with his Grandma and Nana this summer instead of KinderCare. His Grandma thinks he is getting to the point where he is too old for daycare but not old enough to say home by himself! I kinda agree! When I was in 4th grade (which he just finished), I stayed home alone right after school for about an hour or so until my sister got home. Then, we were home all summer by ourselves, but she was here and I wasn't by myself!. I am sure he is going to love being at their house because their neighbor behind them has a really nice pool and today was his first day over there and guess where he was when I called this morning? In the pool! I am sure that is where he will stay all summer! He will be a little brown berry by the time summer is over!

Here are a few pics of Brody from the past couple of days. He is in love with his bouncer!


The picture below is of my neighbor's daughter, Kaylie, and Brody. She is so cute.....everytime I come home, her and her brother, Benji, always come running to my car and want to see Brody. They did it before I had him, but now they do it more. Well...Kaylie always helps me bring stuff into the house and she always wants to hold him. When she does hold him, she handles him like she has done this all her life and he loves it! Even when he is fussy....he will normally calm down when she has him. He just stares at her like he knows exactly who she is! It is so cute!

BTW - I have no clue why his hair looks red in some pictures because it is actually a light brown color. You can see it in the picture above on the bouncer. I guess it might be the color on my camera. Weird!

The Swaddle Verdict

Last night was a mixture of both swaddling and not swaddling. I figured I would start off the night by putting him a sleepsack and a onesie. I was afraid he would get too warm if he was in a footie sleeper. So I fed him around 8:45 and put him down about 10 after 9:00. He fussed a little bit and I went back in there once, but then he was asleep by 9:30. He started crying about 1:15 and I went in there and his arms were freezing! I turned the fan off and opened his door hoping it would warm up. He has half asleep so I didn't want to change him and possibly wake him up more. Well....he fussed on an off for about 30 minutes so I finally went in there and decided to swaddle him. Once he was swaddle, he calmed down and went to sleep. I heard him fussing just a little bit around 4:30 and was going to give him a few more minutes before I went in there, but I fell asleep....and so did he. My alarm went off at 5:30 and I had to go in and wake him up.

So I fed him and put him back down in the crib so I could get ready for work. He loves his mobile so I turned that on (it is wind up kind, which stinks, because it only lasts for a few minutes) and went to take my shower. When I got out, he was fussing so I went in there and turned the mobile on again. After that shut off, I heard him making some noises, but he was just playing around and talking. It was cute...I wished I would have gotten it on tape. He didn't cry or anything. When I went to get him to put him in the carseat, he was smiling up a storm!

So....I am going to try the same thing tonight, but I am going to put him in his long sleeve sleeper and see if that works. Hopefully, this transition will not be too bad and he will get used to it pretty quickly.

On another note, Ted gets home tomorrow morning from Hawaii! He got done working last Friday and he has been hunting since then. He flew to the Big Island and went hog and sheep hunting with a guide on the island. He killed a hog the other day and was trying for a bigger one yesterday. I haven't heard from him so not sure if he got one or not. I am curious to see what Ted thinks about Brody...he definitely has changed in the last 3 weeks, that's for sure. We also get Ethan this weekend, which I am excited about. I haven't seen him in a couple weeks and his birthday is next weekend! :)

I will try and post some more pictures later! I haven't really taken any in the last few days. I feel like I only have an hour with him at night. It is like by the time I pick him up from my parents house and get home, he goes to bed soon after that! Once Ted gets back, that should change because I will be able to go home straight from work because Ted will be picking him up. That wil be nice! :)

To Swaddle or Not to Swaddle....

Brody has decided that he can break free of the swaddle at night and proceeds to cry out for help. Sometimes, I can go in there and swaddle him back up and he will sleep for the rest of the night. For example, the night before last, he started crying at 1:45 and I went in there and his arms were out. I swaddle him back up and put the pacifier back in his mouth and he slept until 5:00am. Last night, however, he slept until 3:45 and started crying. He broke free of the swaddle and when I tried to swaddle him back and put the pacifier, he wasn't having it. I fed him around 4:00 this morning. I decided that I would put him in a sleepsack after I fed him and he cried on and off until I got him up to take him to my dad's.

He is also moving himself throughout the night so he is sideways in the crib when I get him. Sometimes when I swaddle him, he will arch his back and that must be how he is moving himself at night. Weird. I have been reading online today (which Tab gets mad at me for doing...she told me that I should do what I think is best and not what others think) and most people have said that you should stop swaddling them around 3-4 months. Brody will be 12 weeks on Wednesday (technically 3 months old) and I am just wondering if now is the time to stop. It is so frustrating because he has been sleeping for 8 hours for the past 3-4 weeks (with a few outlier nights) and I am just afraid that is all going to go out the window when I stop swaddling him. He also goes down so easy at night when he is swaddled. UGH! This stinks...I just am not sure what to do.

I am not sure what I am going to do tonight. I'll let you know how it goes!

Brody's First Road Trip

Brody and I had our first road trip this weekend. Well...it wasn't exactly a road trip, but we were in the car longer than 30 minutes at a time. We went to see Tab for the day and it is about an hour and a half up to her house. On the way up there, he did pretty well. He fussed only a little bit on and off on the way up, but not too bad and he normally calmed right down. The way back was another story!! He was pretty sleepy when we left Tab's and I figured he would sleep most of the way home. We were off to a good start because he did fall asleep as soon as the car started going.

Well...about 45 minutes into the trip, he started fussing on an off and nothing would calm him down. Then, with about 20 minutes to go until home, he started wailing and would not stop.. Once I got him home, I took him out of the car seat and he was soaking wet......he was so hot! (We had the air in the car, of course, by it was 100 degrees out yesterday and he was crying so that made him hotter). I went to put him in the bath, which normally calms him down and that didn't work he either. He was calmer but still cried during the bath. When I finally fed him around 8:30, he went right down at 9:00 pm and slept until 5:30 this morning.

Whew...what a night! I told Tab that I feel for those parents that have colicky babies....I couldn't imagine having a fussy baby like that! Last night was definitely not like him so I guess he really didn't like the ride! He normally likes riding in the car, but I guess he likes shorter trips better. He will have to get used to the trip to Tab's because we will do that often!

He also had another first yesterday....sitting in a bumbo chair. For those that don't know, it is a little chair to assist babies in sitting upright. It is for babies 3-14 months that have some neck and head control. He has that so I thought we would try it out. He did so good and looks so cute in it. He tends to lean to the left a little bit, so I put the cloth on that side to see if it would help...it did a little bit. He did so good and was really holding his head up. Here are a few pictures.....I had to post the first pic because that was the first time he was in it and wasn't sure what to think. His facial expression is priceless!


I had to post this one because it was so cute. Chloe got into his face and he didn't seem to care.


Here are a few other ones that were cute too...... He loves his bouncer!

Finally...the weekend!

I am so glad the weekend is finally here! My first week back at work was not too bad, but the first day was definitely the most stressful. My idea of an easy transition was thrown out the window, but the rest of the week was pretty good! Today is my first day of working from home. When developing the timeline for my current project, I made sure that I had no deliverables for today so it wouldn't be too bad. I am going to try and do that as much as possible, if I can help it. I worry about having to attend a call or having something due on a Friday and Brody being totally fussy. But, he typically isn't fussy anyway so hopefully that won't be an issue.

When I started posting this, he was upstairs in the crib taking his morning nap. I was curious to see how the afternoon was going to go because he has decided to stop taking a long nap in the afternoon at my dad's house this week. He did say that he has been running around in the afternoon more and they really haven't had a solid afternoon at the house so that may be the reason why.

Well....he didn't take a long nap for me either, just a few cat naps. But...not taking an afternoon nap has not really affected him because we are back in our routine of sleeping from 9:00 pm to 5:00. I had to wake him up again this morning to feed him! I swear, I thank my lucky stars that he is such a good baby and not one that is colicky or doesn't sleep through the night! Ted said that we should stop at this one since he is so good.....lord only knows what the next one will be like!

The video below was taken yesterday. Apparently, Brody is a bit ticklish on his chest and I was tickling him. He started laughing alot so we got the camera and he did laugh a few more times. It was really funny! Sorry...my hair is kind of in the way, but you can definitely hear him!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of days. He has started to pull his legs up to his chest while he is laying flat and sometimes he laughs! It is pretty funny!

Sleeping Through the Night Again

For the past 2 nights, Brody has gotten back to sleeping from 9:00 pm - 5:00 am, thank goodness! I guess the previous 2 nights were a fluke! I actually had to wake him up this morning! He hasn't really been sleeping in the afternoon at my parent's house so he is pretty tired when he goes to bed at night. He does have a good morning routine through. However, everything can change in an istant!!

Generally, he is fussy on and off every evening from about 8:00 pm until I feed him around 8:45 or so. Since I am home by myself, I have been putting him in the crib afor about 20 minutes before I get his bottle ready and let him move around and I talk to him before he goes to bed. He totally calms down when we do this! I took a couple pictures and took the video below from last night. He loves his mobile, as you can tell from the video. The minute I turn it on, he is looking at it!

Ethan's birthday is the 21st and I guess Ted got an invitation to his birthday party at his mom's house...I guess mine got lost! :) I can't believe he is going to be 10 years old! Where hast he time gone???? Anyway, I think we are going to get him a skin board to use at the beach. It is like a little surf board that you run and jump on when the waves break on the shore. My friend lives about a block from the beach and I plan on taking him alot this summer if I can. I think we are getting him for the whole month of July, which will be good. I plan on taking him to the beach, Busch Gardens, maybe Water Country. I am going to try and do some things with just Ethan, and not Brody, so he doesn't feel slighted! It should be fun!