Week 16

The nurse practitioner and the doctor recommended lots of tummy time Wednesday at Mayhem's 4 month appointment.  He really doesn't like it and protests loudly almost the entire time he's down on the floor, but after three shots and a low-grade fever he was just too worn out to care very much.

I bet that was a good nap he was having.

Mayhem's 4 Month Appointment

13 pounds, 10 ounces (that's 2.5 pounds gained in four weeks!) and 23 inches long (no change)

This time in the waiting room, a little boy screamed, "No, no, no, no, no!" all the way down the hall when his mom carried him to the back for his turn.

The medical professionals are pleased with his growth but say he needs more time on his stomach to help develop his upper body strength.  He only spends a few minutes on his stomach at a time because he pitches a fit until I flip him back over.  I've been unintentionally giving him his way this whole time and it never occurred to me that babies need to suffer a little in life too!  The nurse practitioner said that babies train us if we let them.

He got sleepy while we were waiting to be seen after weighing in and was not happy to be woken up by someone looking in his ears.  He pretty much screamed from then until we left.  He definitely didn't appreciate the shots in the thighs and didn't drink the liquid vaccine as fast this time either.  He fell asleep as soon as he was in the car and has slept most of the afternoon and went to bed early with a slight fever.

The nurse practitioner said he is a strong-willed child.  How she can tell that already I don't know, but if he is I'm not surprised: both his parents are hardheaded and stubborn!  (She liked his cloth diapers and said she wished those were around for her babies.  I'm starting to hear that a lot.)

 

Getting weighed on the scale

 

Wrinkling the paper on the table

Boots' First Father's Day

We haven't had time to really celebrate Boots' first Father's Day with dinner out yet, but I took these pictures on our way to church last week.  My two men!

Too Stupid to be Scared

  Earlier this afternoon, in a moment of certain genius (you'll want to quote me on that later), I let a strange man in my house.

I almost answered the door with my pistol.  He was wearing a backpack and a fanny pack which said "hobo" but ID tags and nice clothes which said "salesman."  Somewhere in there I thought "Jehovah's witness" and wondered if I should go get my Bible.

  So I put on my mad mama bear face and let him in.  (Cue collective gasp!)

  His name is Alan, he's from Estonia which is one of those little countries close to Russia.  He's a computer science major and for four years now he's been coming to America to peddle kids books for some company out of Tennessee during the summer.  What computer science and kids books has to do with one another I'm not really sure.

  He explained a few things about children's fun books not being educational and children's educational books not being fun.  Something about colors and shapes, blah blah blah, conversation took an expected detour when he asked about my former job (never fails to derail!) and then we talked about Mayhem taking lessons one day when he got distracted on the way to the bathroom by my grandmother's piano.

  He's very nice, educated, good looking, drives a grey Camry, and coming back in the morning to talk to me + Boots about children's educational fun books unless he comes tonight to kill us in our sleep which is a real possibility.

Do I have "sucker" tattooed on my head?  I just sold us to a possible ax murderer who's planning to flee the country in September and return to the mother land all because of some books that I don't even need!

  (He hit up all the neighbors too so we're all in for it!)

Everybody says he looks like me in this picture.

Week 15

Week 14

This boy. 

He has been sleeping so good.  The past two nights he only woke up hungry once, sleeping from 9 PM to 6 AM.

But today......

After we got back from our little Publix run at 1 o'clock, he decided that 14 weeks is a grown man and he ain't got no time for a nap!  Grumpy and yelling one minute, happy and playing the next.  He's normally so good about taking a nap, sometimes even putting himself to sleep without me holding him.

He passed out for thirty minutes (and I mean passed slam out!) after thirty minutes of hollering and then woke up right where he'd left off.

He'd sleep in my arms for five minutes until I laid him down then he'd wake back up again.  There were big, fat baby tears and much wailing and gnashing of gums!

Does nap rebellion accompany the three month growth spurt?

I gave him and his little red eyes a bath at 8 and put him to bed at 9.  I hope he sleeps good tonight to make up for those missed naps this afternoon.

When Things Don't Go According To Plan......

A year ago tonight, deep in baby fever, I cried myself to sleep because I was sure Boots would never quit smoking and I was determined that no child of mine would have a daddy that smoked so I was certain I'd never get pregnant.  I'm so glad I'm not in charge and I AM is.  ;) 

P.S. Boots quit smoking on his last birthday, about 6 months before Mayhem was born.

3 Months of Mayhem

-Weighed 11 pounds, 2 oz and was 23 inches long at the last doctor's appointment
-Wears size 1 disposable diapers instead of newborn
-Wearing 0-3 months and 3-6 months clothes instead of newborns
-Holding his head up a lot better, especially on his stomach, but still not strong enough to be trusted on his own
-Turns his head from side to side easily, even when on his stomach
-Wants to sit up on his own, he'll lift his chin way up like he's trying to pull himself up
-Likes to take naps with his little elephant buddy (I called it a "baby" at first, but he's a boy and that just seemed weird)



-He will hold onto his rattle for a few minutes and shake it around, sometimes banging himself in the head

-Still likes watching ceiling fans and staring at lights

-Listens to you talking to him and will "talk" back with coos and funny noises

-Sounds like a baby dinosaur when he's crying because he didn't get his way (like being laid down for a diaper change or being put in the carseat)

-Blows spit bubbles (probably unintentionally still)

-Puts himself to sleep sometimes, especially when he's in the floor, but he needs a blanket up to his face and the pacifier

-Usually sleeps from 9 PM to after 12 AM sometimes 2 AM without waking up to eat, then he's hungry every two hours after that

-Last night he slept from 9 PM to 5 AM without waking up to eat (he whined at 10:30 PM, but a pacifier reinsertion put him right back out) and then was up for the day at 6:30 AM (I haven't slept that long without getting out of bed to go pee or something since last fall probably!)

-His morning stretch when he's first released from the velcro sleep sack is the funniest thing to watch early in the morning

Week 13

Meme's Garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mayhem and his Ginny.

 

 

 

I'm jealous.

Mayhem's First Wedding

The wedding was gorgeous, the bride beautiful, and yellow won.