14 Weeks old!

My little booger is getting so big so fast, I can't believe it's already been 14 weeks. Where did all that time go I wonder? This week I had to go shopping to get Sam some warmer clothes, we are starting to hit the cold weather and most of his clothes are meant for warmer weather. I got some pretty cute stuff, and I think that he'll like the fact that he's not freezing when he goes out, lol.

Sam is doing so good developmentally, he's holding his head up so well right now, and when he's on his tummy I know he's sooooo close to rolling over, he just can't figure it out yet, lol. He also babbles all the time and has just recently figured out how to blow spit bubbles, lol. I'm a little disapointed that I haven't gotten anymore laughs though, I'm starting to think I imagined the laughs he was making! Hopefully more will come soon.

Pretty soon we'll have his 4 month well baby check up, I think I"m going to schedule that for the week before Thanksgiving because I don't want him feeling bad from his vaccines on Thanksgiving. Plus if the Dr okay's us to start baby food I want to start him on some before that day so he's not trying something new in the midst of all the holiday excitement. I already give him teeny little tastes of my food right now, (like sweet potato and pancake syrup, etc) He just loves it when I do that, so I know he's ready for some new flavors.

AJ and I have also started thinking about what we want to do for the holiday's this year, we are thinking that on Christmas day we're going to make that a day for just our family and just stay home and let Sam enjoy his new stuff. We haven't decided on this 100%, but it's something we're considering, of course if this is what we do we would still love to have people come over to see us, we just won't want to go out anywhere. Well, nothing is concrete yet, we just are thinking about this now that our little family has grown.

Great Day!

I know it's a little early for me to be updating my blog since it's not Wednesday yet, but I just had to update.

Last night was the best night Sam has had as far as sleeping. He went down at 8:45 pm and slept peacefully and soundly until 4:15 am! This is great since he is usually waking up around 2:30-3:00 am. I woke up before he did, at 3:00 and expected him to be awake, but when I listened to the moniter, he was still sleeping peacefully, when he woke up at 4:15, I only think he actually woke up because he has scooted himself into the corner of the crib and his head was squished, lol! He's going to be crawling in no time based on the way he can scoot. I am going to move the sensor for my motion moniter closer to the center of the bed tonight to see if he will sleep longer. And once I put him back down to sleep he slept until 7:15 am! That is great since he usually was waking up at around 5 am, this is the second morning that I haven't had to put him in bed with us. I think the only reason he even woke up this morning is because he heard me moving around. (I'm thinking of closing his door or at least just cracking it, to keep the room warmer and to keep him from hearing us when we get up for the day.) I'm just so glad we're starting to make progress on the sleeping through the night thing! It makes for a well rested and happy mama!

He also made my day this morning when he giggled at me for the first time, he has kind of laughed before, but not for me, AJ said he laughed for him and my sister said he giggled yesterday when she was tickling him. So this morning when he woke up he was in such a happy mood, so I tickled him and he gave me the sweetest little giggle, it totally makes everything completely worth it!

We were going to go to the Pumpkin patch today, but unfortunately they are closed on Sunday (they really need to update their website!) So I made do with some pumpkins from Walmart and the leaves and flowers in my yard, I took some really cute pictures of Sam!

13 Weeks Old!

My little stinker is 13 weeks old already and tomorrow marks his 3 month birthday! I can't believe it already 3 months have gone by, he is just so sweet lately smiling and talking to me all the time. I'm so ready for that first laugh. Any day now I think. He's really starting to get dexterity in his hands and he grabs everything in his sight now, lol.

We did have to go to the Dr today cause his eczema is getting worse, she prescribed us with a topical steroid ointment to use on his skin, which is good cause he needs it. Every night this week when he has woken up I walked into the room to him rubbing his face all over the sheets and when I pick him up he would start screaming because he was so itchy. I've been putting some hydrocortozone cream on him like the Dr said last time I had an appointment, but it hasn't really been helping and it's getting worse since his back is now covered in spots. I'm also going to buy some baby laundry detergent to make sure that's not part of it. (I don't know how it could be as I buy the free and clear stuff, but I think I should get the kind meant for baby skin just in case. I'm starting to think that the itching is the only reason he's waking up at night anymore and I'm hoping that this solves that problem.

We also had to move his bathtub up to the bathroom, he's not ready for the big tub yet, but he made a GIANT mess in the kitchen last night with all his splashing, it was so cute so I didn't care about having to clean it up, lol. Also Auntie Sarah and Nana have got him on a nap schedule so he's sleeping right now, and he's growing out of his three month clothes already! It's his body that's so long that's why he's growing out of it all, he fits into 6 month clothes length-wise right now, just not width wise, it's too cute, lol. He also has realized what a camera is, and refuses to smile for me when I try to get his picture!

Shift Update!

Well, I wanted to let everyone know what happened at work. I ended up on a Tuesday through Saturday 2:00 PM to 10:30 PM shift. Not horrible, not amazing. In all honesty this is just like when AJ worked at Checker since he was closing most of the time. They had another shift open that was a weekend wrap that got off at 8:00 pm, but I didn't think that getting off a few extra hours early was worth having to work both weekend days since by the time I got home Sam would already be in bed. This way I have most of my morning with Sam, I mean 8:00 am to 1:30 pm is a good chunk of time and in all honesty more time than I am getting with him now. Plus I can schedule appointments any day of the week, and I can still spend time with family, just has to be in the morning. I'm also still getting a differential, it's an extra $1.00 per hour. I can also work out in the morning when Sam takes a nap. I'm finding all sorts of pluses to working a later shift. I am only sad about getting less time with AJ and missing out on bedtime with Sam, (I LOVE to give him baths, I will just have to make the most out of the nights I have off.) And like I said, this was just like when he worked at Checker and we made it work then, we are just going to have to make a conscious effort to spend time together and we agreed that every other Sunday night we will have a date night just the two of us, (as long as we have willing baby sitters, lol.) And we'll still get Wednesday mornings together too. Not to mention that he is a night owl, and while I don't want him staying up all night with me, he usually goes to bed around midnight, so we'll still get a little time together when I get off work.

Next time around I am hoping for an early shift, like 5 am to 2 pm, and I don't see why that won't happen, the only reason I didn't get a better choice this time around is because I was pregnant and in all of my third trimester I couldn't remember anything, so my Call Resolution Time was about 1,000 seconds per call. (Which is pretty horrible as the goal is 850 seconds.) I know it was because I was pregnant too cause since I've been back my CRT has been about 700 seconds. Unfortunately CRT is major points so I lost out on a lot. But like I said, should only 6 months till I get to change shifts again!

12 weeks old!

Another week has gone by and my sweet boy is already 12 weeks. I can't believe how fast it's all going, you know everyone tells you that it goes by in the blink of an eye and already I can see the truth in that statement!

Sam is going through another growth spurt I think, he's getting to the point where he wants to eat more than 5 oz in one sitting! There are times when I feed him and he finishes the bottle and looks at me like, "Where's the rest?" So I've put away all the 4 oz bottles and I bought some bigger bottles, if he does well on 6 oz then I will put the rest of the 5 oz bottles away. He's also started using medium flow nipples, this kid! I just bought some slow flow nipples and literally overnight he started wanting the faster flow, lol.

Sam is such a morning person, when he gets up in the morning, he is always so happy and smiley, I love it! I get to sit here and make him smile for me all morning, lol. He also rolled over the other night, I don't think it was a real roll over, I think he just got to moving and shaking and somehow ended up on his stomach, with how wiggly this kid is I'm not suprised, he's just like his Daddy, always gotta be moving, like a fart in a skillet, lol!

Things are not all peachy though, his eczema seems to be getting worse, and I'm starting to think that's part of why he wakes up at night, cause he's trying to scratch, it would explain why he's always moving around the crib... I bought some hydrocortozone cream like the Dr said and some Aveeno oatmeal bath and I'm going to try it out for a few days, if it still doesn't seem to help, then I'm going to call the Dr and see if we can get him something stronger.

Other than that, things are going good, everyone who watches him tells me that he's always really good for them. Which I like to hear, I already feel bad since I'm depending on so many people to watch him while I'm at work at least it's good to know that he's not a total terror when he's with them. I really wish I could drop some time off my shifts at work, but my job pretty much won't do it without either a medical reason or maybe if I was going to school. So right now I'm going to try to get a really early shift to reduce the time everyone else has him. I'm looking at a 4:50 am to 1:20 pm Tues-Sat shift. AJ would drop him off in the mornings around 7:30 and then I would pick him up at 1:45, I don't know whether that will become a reality and I won't know until next week, but that would be nice.

The trouble with "what if's"

 I am exhausted, not having a full night's sleep for the last 12 weeks, is starting to take its toll on me... Not that I mind getting up with Sam at night when he is hungry, I just wish he would go back to sleep right away when I put him back down instead of fighting it for 30+ minutes. I know this is probably just a new mom thing, but I'm ready for the day when I feel like I don't have to check him every five minutes to make sure he's breathing, these Dr's and books, and classes have pounded into me all the ways a baby can suffocate in their sleep and now I'm terrified and paranoid about every little thing, I know that Sam would probably sleep better and longer if I were able to put him to sleep on his tummy, but I just can't bring myself to do it when I'm not awake to make sure he's okay. I've contemplated getting a moniter with a movement sensor to give me some peace of mind, then I could put him on his stomach and the moniter would alarm if he hasn't breathed in 20 seconds... but that just makes me seem overbearing right? A part of me feels like maybe I'm part of the reason he hasn't slept through the night yet, since I'm constantly going in there to check on him and make sure he's okay. (I usually just peek in the room, andhe never wakes up when I do that, but still.) I just wish that I could relax and not have all the "What if's" running rampant through my head!

11 Weeks old!!!

Gosh, 11 weeks have already gone by, Sam is getting so big! He's moving out of 0-3 month clothes and getting into 3-6 month clothes already, and just in the last few weeks he's started going through a growth spurt. It really depends on the time of day, but he's starting to eat between 5 and 6 oz so I think he's going through a growth sprut. I can't believe that he's growing so much already...

Still not sleeping through the night, but I'm giving up on that one for a while, I figure that when he's ready he will sleep through the night... I'll just have to be tired for a while, lol. He's also starting to figure out that he can choose his own sleeping position, I put him to bed the last few nights and he immediately rolled over on his side before passing out, lol. I don't care how he sleeps, whatever is more comfortable for him is fine with me.

Other than that, not much else going on this week, we got his 3 month pictures done, so cute in his little hat. Next week we're getting family pictures done with AJ's family, can't wait, I'm sure they will turn out great!