Sleeping in the crib

We had a dry run of Jax sleeping in his crib all night this weekend when we took an overnight at the hotel and my mom watched him.  He did fine.  Well, he has officially outgrown the PNP by 3 pounds and it was starting to droop.  I tried just letting him sleep in the bottom part but he was way too loud, wiggling around and uncomfortable.  So, yesterday, I went out and bought some breathable bumpers (for peace of mind), and we took all his toys out of his bed except for the giraffe and put him to sleep in his own crib.  I had to put him in there awake because he just wouldn't go to sleep after his bottle.  He played around with his giraffe for a good 20 minutes, we could hear it jingle all the way down the hall so I finally went in there and tucked him in again and he was asleep within a few minutes.  I told him I loved him and prayed that God would keep him safe and give us both peace about this and let us sleep peacefully and then I went to bed.  He woke up around 1:30am crying and Tony went to see what was up.  He couldn't turn over so Tony helped him along and he went back to sleep for about 2 minutes and then he cried again.  So I got up and fed him and put him back down and he wimpered for about 5 minutes and fell back asleep and the next thing I know, it was 6:45am, time to get up for the day.  I went in to wake him up and he was sleeping on his stomach/side with his little blanket curled up under him.  He looked so cute.  But he also peed through his diaper, whcih hasn't happened in a long time.  I think because he never sleeps on his stomach and it all just went forward.  We will figure that out I guess.  He turned over and woke up and smiled at me, telling me hello mama.  I changed him, fed him and put him back to bed with daddy, all snuggled up.
So all in all, it was a good night and I think we both slept better.  We will see how it goes tonight.

He's found "it"

Well, Jax has officially found his manhood.  Everytime I take his diaper off, his hands cannot get to his penis fast enough.  I thought this wasn't supposed to happen for at least a few more months, that's what the doctor said anyway.  He said babies don't discover their private parts until they are close to a year old.  Well, wrongo Mr. Doctor, wrongooo.  Tony thinks it's the funniest thing, which it is kinda, until the diaper is a poopy one.  Then it's not so funny.  Ah, the joys of having a boy.  Oh the things I will learn. :-) 

35th birthday

For my 35th birthday Tony and I got a hotel downtown so I/we could get a full night's sleep for the first time in a long time.  It's been about a year since I have had more than 6 hours sleep at one time.  Between being pregnant and having a baby, sleep has not come easily for me for a while.  I was a little nervous at how Jax and I would handle being away from each other for a whole 24 hours but we both made it through great.  I guess we were both occupied enough to not worry about it.  But once we were done with our hotel and movie the next day, I was ready to get back to my baby and when I saw him, he seemed happy to have me back too.  I think it was good for both of us though, to know we can do it if mama needs some R&R in the future.

This one is for Tony

I always said Tony would be a great dad.  He was always scared he wouldn't know what to do.  But I knew that his playful,child-like ways that I love but sometimes annoy me and push me to the edge would be put to good use with any baby or babies we had.  Even though it has taken a while, I'm glad to say that he is turning into everything I thought he would be and more.  It is so cute to see his heart just open wider and wider for this little kid.  He is always telling Jax to quit melting his heart.  The progression he has made since the day we brought Jax home til now is amazing.  You can see his face light up when Jax looks at him and smiles or laughs at one on his jokes or stupid faces.  It's as if he's shocked that the kid loves him, which he does very much.  Tony is Jaxson's favorite person other than me.  I'm sure at some point he will favor him over me but hopefully for my sake that will be a while away.  They love to rough house and yet he is so gentle when putting him to sleep.  I even caught him kissing him the other day. He doesn't think he should kiss him because they are both boys, but he is loosening up on that it seems.  I didn't make a big deal about it because I want him to continue doing it.  The more fun Jax gets, the more fun Tony is having be a dad.  Maybe he'll even be open to having another.  Who knows, we'll see.

6 months 1 week stats

We went for Jaxson's 6 month shots on Friday.  I made Tony go with me this time but he had to leave right as we were put in the room because our new couch was being delivered.  Jax took the shots a little better this time.  Each time it seems to get a little better but I'm sure he doesn't think so.  He weighed a whopping 17 lbs 12 ounces, his head is 17 3/4 around and his length is 26 3/4.  He is in the 50 percentile for weight and 70-75 for height and head.  Our little boy who at first wouldn't grow fast enough for the doctors in the beginning is definitely making up for that now.  He also slept through the night too, from 11pm - 7am.  Amen.  If we could only get a couple more of those a week mama would be so thankful.

He has really been making some changes lately.  When we used to put him to bed,  if we woke him up even the slightest little bit, he would freak out and wake himself up and cry until we fed him again or stay awake for another hour.  Now, for the past week or so, we have been putting him in the bed half asleep and he just turns his head and goes nigh-night and stays that way for hours.  Even for naps.  I've put him in his crib wide awake after looking for the tired signs and he just puts himself to sleep.  It is wonderful.  I feel like I have so much more time to myself now, even though it is just a few more minutes, but I guess it is less stressful too.  He seems to like the crib a lot now, so that's good.  We are gonna have to start putting him in there in the next couple of months.  He is gonna outgrow the PNP in the next 7 pounds.  that will be a sad day, but maybe we will all get a better nights sleep.  Fingers crossed.

He still does not want to sit.  It is lay or stand for my little man.  He is very stubborn about it.  I have to literally bend him sometimes.  He doesn't like that too much.  I keep telling him (not that he understands) that he will have so much more fun when he starts sitting and he'll be able to start doing more things too.  He doesn't listen.

Crossroads

Jax and I are coming to a crossroads, don't know if that is the right word for it but whatever.  Lately he has had the appetite of a 13 yr old boy and my body just can not seem to keep up.  When he is nursing, he will eat for a few minutes then fall off and cry, then go in for some more and then fall off and cry and over and over this happens.  It makes me feel bad because I don't know why he is doing it.  I don't hear of many other babies doing this.  Is he teething, is it his ears, am I not producing enough milk for him?  I've checked on all these and none of them seem to be the cause.  Or at least not one individual cause.  There is still plenty of milk in there after he refuses to go back for more. And there are no teeth sticking up yet.  The doctor has checked his ears and nothing is wrong.  I'm having to give him a bottle after almost every feeding now. I am at a loss.  I said I wanted to make it to 6 months of breastfeeding, so we accomplished that goal, but now that it is becoming a reality that I may have to ween him soon, it is just sad.  I want my body back but I like the special time we get together that no one else can give him.  Once I stop breastfeeding then there will be no real reason to keep him in our bedroom so having that happen at the same time is just overwhelming to me.  I like having him right next to me but I'm sure he will sleep much better in his soft comfy bed at night instead of the lumpy pack n play.  This part of motherhood is not fun.  It's sad.

New pics

Kylee and Jax

Jax flying high

Such a pretty boy.  Look at those blue eyes.

He's such a happy kid.

At the park.

Daycare visit

Just visited Jax at daycare and he was sleeping in the swing.  He finally woke up after a few minutes so I got to play with him a little bit.  I don't know if it's harder not to see him all day or to see him and have to leave him again.  It was bittersweet but I'm glad I got to see my baby.  He was all smiles as usual.

6 months old

I can't believe it's been 6 months already.  It doesn't feel like that long.  I guess because only in the past 2 or 3 months have you started to interact with us and get a little personality going on.  You are so aware of everything that is going on and just want to get involved with all the new things you see around you.  You have a new perspective on life now that you can sit up and roll over both ways.  At first you didn't like being on your belly but sometimes you just roll over and start playing with your toys all by yourself.  It's so cute to watch you go.  Now if you would only sit by yourself, then we would have a party going on.  You refuse to sit, even though you can.  You just want to go from laying down, straight to standing, no stops in between.  Slow down little boy, you will be standing and walking on your own in no time, but mama and daddy are not ready for that yet.  You are more interested in the pets now.  I've let you pet them but you tend to pull their hair and they don't like that, so we will work on being easy with them.  You've had 2 colds in your short little life so far, one of them was bronchiolitis (thanks daycare). We have given you bananas and sweet potatoes and you love them both. You gave me my first kisses the other day.  You love playing Superman and drag racer with your dad.  You have a good time at daycare, I can tell from the pictures they send home of you playing with the other kids. You always greet me with a huge smile when I pick you up. We are still breastfeeding even though you seem to like the bottle a lot lately.  We will see how much longer that goes.  I took you in the big bath for the first time and you loved it. You splashed and kicked like crazy. You still don't sleep through the night but I guess that's okay since you are so good in every other way.  Soon, we will both get a better night's sleep.  For now, I will enjoy our alone time in the middle of the night for a little while longer. 

Happy 1/2 birthday little buddy.  Mama and daddy love you.

Kisses

Jax has sucked on my chin before but never really with any emotion or feeling behind it.  Just wanted to suck on something I guess.  And while he has been sick, and he has been more clingy and lovey, I wouldn't say he really knew what he was doing.  Yesterday, I want to get him from daycare and he had the biggest smile on his face when he saw me. When I picked him up, he just pulled my face to his mouth and gave me the biggest kiss ever.  He sucked on my chin and slobbered all over my mouth for a good 2 minutes.  It was beautiful.  I hate baby slobber and drool but I guess it really is different when it's your kid.  He pulled my hair and just kept kissing me and I would have let him do it forever.  So sweet.

No such luck

Well, sleeping through the night was a one night deal I guess.  Jax went to bed at 8:30 and woke up at 11:30 and then again at 3:00am and 7am.  I'm tired and now to top it off, I have a cold.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised after being spit on , sneezed on, and coughed on for the past 2 weeks.  I'm going to bed early tonight (yeah right) or at least I'm going to atempt to.  I think Jax is starting to ween himself off of breastfeeding.  He is going shorter and shorter lengths at the breast.  My goal was 6 months, so we are almost there but I'm not sure I'm ready to quit yet.  Hopefully he will continue to nurse until I am mentally ready for him to stop.

Slept through the night

Last night we pumped this kid full of milk and formula because he just would not stop crying.  He still is not feeling 100% from being sick.  Finally around 11:15, after rocking him and feeding him about 7-8 oz of milk/formula, he fell asleep...and he slept all night.  I think I woke up once just out of habit and then my alarm went off at 6:45am.  I had to look at him to make sure he was still breathing and he was fast asleep.  I hated to wake him u pbut I had to feed him before I went to work.  He went right back to sleep afterward and slept til 9:30.  I won't bank on it, but I hope this becomes a trend.

Jax does Superman

3 hours & growth update

So I spent 3 hours in the doctors office yesterday just so the doctor can tell me that Jax is doing better.  Gee thanks for telling me what I already knew and taking so long to do it.  Thankfully Jax is feeling a bit better since starting on the meds and he has a little more spark to him the past couple of days.  He is still really whiney and is coughing but overall, he is getting better.  We measured him while we were there because I can't seem to keep up with what size clothes to buy him.  He is growing like a weed.  He pretty much just skipped the 6month size clothes and fits perfectly in the 9month clothes which looked so big.  He is 25 3/4 inches long and weighs 16 pounds.  I have no idea what percentile that is but I assume it is somewhere in the middle from what I've researched.  He isn't really wanting to breastfeed very much lately.  He cries when I lay him down to do it and he will only attached for about 5-10 min on each side now.  He used to go 15 on each side everytime.  I don't know if he is just being more efficient or if it's because he is sick and it's just easier to suck on the bottle.  I'm sticking it out but I hate having to pump at home and work.

Bronchiolitis

Jax has bronchiolitis, basically a baby form of bronchitis.  He has been miserable for about 5 days now and he was just getting worse and worse, so I took him to the doctor yesterday.  Got a breathing treatment.  Now he's on 3 meds which he doesn't like the taste of one bit.  He slept most of the day yesterday.  When he would briefly wake up, I felt like I had missed him even though I had been with him all day.  He was a trooper though, giving me a smile even though I know he felt like crap.  It was so sad seeing him so miserable.  He actually gave me a few hugs for the first time.  Every now and then, I would just watch his little chest move up and down making sure he was still breathing.  I know I'm not the only mom who does this, so I don't feel like a freak.  He slept much better last night so maybe the meds are working...hopefully.  He weighs 16 pounds now.

5 months

Well, at 5 months:

• Jax is weighing in at around 16.2 pounds.  He feels like more sometimes. 
• He is babbling all the time now and talks and laughs with us. 
• He is a big flirt, always batting his big ole eyes at me and then giving me a big spitty laugh. 
• He loves to blow spit bubbles all the time so his face is always a mess. 
• Joy and Sadie have become a little more interesting to him lately.  He will watch them go by and try to grab their fur if he can get it.  Gotta watch him with Sadie though, since she's a grump. 
• He can roll over from front to back now but still gets frustrated if he gets stuck. 
• He is more interested in his toys and he loves his little stuffed monkey whose cheeks glow red and sings a song. 
• He is cuddling into my neck and actually holding on as we wander around from place to place. 
• Still no teeth yet. 
• Cradle cap is making a comeback.  I just hope we can get it under control before it gets as bad as it was. 
• His sleeping habits suck.  He has started waking up twice a night again, so I'm only getting about 3-4 hours sleep at a time. 
• We gave him bananas yesterday and he made a face at first but then he liked them.  But boy did he stink a little bit after that.  I can't even imagine how this kid is gonna smell once we get lots of solids in him.  Ugh! 
• He is sitting up for a couple of seconds on his own now.  But he doesn't like sitting, all he wants to do is stand.
• He is very attached to me.  I can let others hold him but he wants to know that I'm there or he'll cry.  Family excluded.
• He is such a sweet boy and so easy going.  Good baby.

Carry on

Tony and I took Jax out for a walk in the baby carrier for the first time this weekend.  We tried it on me a while ago and Jax hated it, so Tony suggested we try it again.  I told him he could do it this time since I'm still having issues with my back.  Sure enough, Jax loved it.  We put his little sunglasses on and went on our way around the neighborhood.  They both looked so cute together.  Jax looked like he was on a fun ride and kept smiling and you could tell that Tony even thought it was fun.  We looked like a proud little family walking around knowing how freaking cute we looked.  We'll have to do it again soon.  Maybe I'll try it next time.

Tony & Jax

It's so neat to see Tony with Jax.  He's gotten so comfortable with him.  If I'm holding Jax, and Tony is in the room, Jax is all about making faces with his daddy and doing silly spitting noises.  He sings little songs for him too. Tony likes to say he's indifferent to Jax, but when he's with him, everyone around him can see that he loves that little guy.  I think he's a little embarrassed to show it, so he denies it, but it's obvious.  Jax just loves his daddy too.

Growth pictures

Here he is from his introduction to the world to a few days ago.  He is getting so big and fun.  Love him.

Rolling over

I think we have a roller on our hands.  We laid him on the blanket in the living room and Tony kept propping him up on his arms.  He cried and fussed and wiggled and I guess he finally got mad enough that he kicked correctly and threw his body in the right direction and he rolled over.  He didn’t want to do it again though.  He kept trying to roll but his arm got in his way.