6 Months

I cannot believe what was once our little tiny peanut is six months old already. He's looking more and more like a little boy than a baby every day, which is scary and exciting all at the same time. He's showing his personality more and more. He's a very happy little man, always ready to flash a big smile. And he's very friendly, he'll work his charms on anyone and everyone. Of course, he loves his Momma best. And his Daddy second best (hehehe).

The most exciting development of late is that Brendan is finally starting to SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT. YAY!!!!! The first night was December 17th, Daddy's birthday. He woke up bright and early at 4:40 but I was still super happy about it. He's gotten through eight of the last 14 days without waking up for a bottle with four of those eight days being the past four days. Of course, I still wake up a few times throughout the night out of habit (and to fulfill my OCD need to make sure he's still breathing). Hopefully I'll stop that soon.

We spent Christmas with my family and Brendan got to see his Uncle Keith and Aunt Shannon who hadn't seen him since he was five weeks old. They were very impressed with how good he is, just hanging out soaking everything in. I'm hoping they're going to give Brendan a cousin very soon...

Aunt Lauren was also there and of course Grandma Annie and Grandpa Charlie, who hosted the day at their house, along with Rob & Susan and their sons Jason and Christopher and Charlie's mother Mimi and two sons, Charlie and Nicky. After everyone was sufficiently buzzed the karaoke competition started. Grandma Annie started it off and Little Charlie "sang" a few songs too. I'm happy to report that I got the high score of the evening. There was a claim that Uncle Keith got the high score after I left but I'm not counting that. Anyway, I've heard him sing.

We celebrated Christmas with Kenny's family this past Sunday at Nana's. Uncle Scott, Aunt Splat and Aunt MaryAnn were all there too. Brendan got a lot of cool presents, including a rocking horse from Aunt MaryAnn and Uncle Jay that sings and talks. Brendan is already trying to eat it. Oh, he also got his third tooth for Christmas! Well, the day after Christmas anyway. He'll be eating steak in no time.

Here are some photos from our first Christmas celebration. The other pics are on Nana's camera so we'll have to wait for her to send us those.

Styling in his argyle sweater vest


Snuggling with Aunt Susan


Snoozing on Mommy


Some hats Daddy bought Brendan for Christmas






And one of the shirts he bought (yes, that's his middle finger)


Uncle Keith showing Brendan how to use the jumper


Doesn't everyone sleep with washcloths in their mouth?


Doing what he does best - being cute



Brendan is 6 months and 1 day old today!

When it rains...

It's been a banner week at the Gaska household. Brendan developed an awful cold last weekend that just wasn't getting any better. He started to have a fever Monday that wouldn't go away and he wasn't interested in eating - he was only getting about 15oz a day. Mind you, he's not a big eater to begin with. He takes in an average of about 25oz/day. The rule of thumb is 2-2.5oz per pound per day. He weighs about 16lb so that's 32-40oz. I'm convinced our son is anorexic. The dr is not concerned because he's growing nicely from month to month.

Anyway, clearly 15oz is no good. I took him to the dr on Wednesday morning. Diagnosis = bronchiolitis and yet another double ear infection. Bronchiolitis is a lung infection caused by a virus, most likely RSV in the baby's case. We have to do nebulizer treatments with him 3 to 4 times a day for about 10 minutes. And holy cow, he HATES it. He'll be ok for about the first 5 minutes and then turns into Mr. Squirmsalot for the next 5 and cries the whole time. I've learned the easiest way to get it done is to sit him in his carseat and distract the heck out of him with toys. The noisier the better.

Thankfully, we're pretty sure he's on a teething break this week so that's one small blessing. He now has two adorable little teeth on the bottom that he's constantly rubbing with his tongue. Ken lovingly refers to him as a coke addict since that's exactly what he looks like when he does it.

We must have caught the ear infections nice and early because they don't seem to be bothering him a whole lot. Or it could just be that the rest of his ailments are distracting him enough where he doesn't even notice they hurt. He's got lots of gunk in his chest which makes him wheeze and cough a lot. Not to mention the boogie factory. I change my shirt a few times a day when I'm home with him because when I hold him he uses it as a hanky, rubbing his nose all over me. And when he coughs, he makes sure to turn his head each time so he can cough in my face. So there's some saliva mixed in with the snot for good measure. But that's what parents are for, right?

Here's a pic of Brendan self-medicating



Brendan is 5 months, 1 week and 6 days old today!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with Nana Darlene, Uncle Scott, Aunt Splat and Uncle Al at Nana's. Nana made a delicious turkey and some homemade stuffing and mashed potatoes. Brendan sat at the table with us in his big-boy high chair and enjoyed some rice cereal and applesauce.

Some more firsts: Brendan has his first tooth! I brought him to the pediatrician Wednesday so she could make sure his ears were completely healed and she felt his gums. Sure enough, he's got a little tooth on the bottom and another one on its way. Our little boy is growing up so fast! Another first: Brendan discovered how to turn the bathtub into a jacuzzi Wednesday night. Not quite as exciting for me, but fun for Daddy and Brendan. (What is it about guys and farts???)

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, we can look forward to celebrating Christmas! We decorated inside the house and put the tree up yesterday. Brendan was a little freaked out at first because he was napping when I put the lights up around the living room. But when it came time to decorate the tree, he sat in his bouncy seat happily helping Mommy decide where to put each ornament. He was extremely excited about it, squealing and laughing the whole time. Mommy even wore a santa hat and Daddy put Christmas music on to get everyone in the mood. And get this - Mommy cooked dinner! (Get away from the window, pigs are not flying. I do cook--every once in a while.) I made pot roast in the slow cooker and we had some biscuits and garlic mashed potatoes.

Okay guys, I'm ready for my turkey!


Seriously, where's my turkey?


Hanging out with Nana


And Uncle Scott


Looking very cute, as always


Turkey coma strikes again



Brendan is 2 days away from 5 months today!

Whatnot and other stuff

It's been a while, I've been a very bad blogger. Let's see... the big things since we last chatted were our first trip to the emergency room and the baptism.

November 15th started and ended normally enough. Brendan went down at 8:30 -- an hour past his usual bedtime but this happens every once in a while so I didn't think much of it. He woke up at 12:50am for a bottle and fell back to sleep within 15 minutes. He woke up at 1:30am and was crying like someone was stabbing him. We tried desperately to calm him down. Kenny did laps around the room, bouncing him around and that helped a little. But every time we went to lay him down in the crib the hysterics would start again. Finally, Kenny put him in the bouncy seat on his side of the bed and turned on the TV and I rocked him until he fell asleep around 3:00am. Not 20 minutes later he woke up screaming again. We went through the routine again and nothing was helping. I brought the swing into the bedroom, put it next to my side of the bed and he fell asleep in there for about 2 hours. But then at 6:30am he woke up again screaming.

We finally decided it was time to go to the ER. Got to the hospital and of course once we were there he seemed totally fine. I was starting to feel like a giant idiot. Then the dr came in and he was giggling away at her while she was checking him. She got to his ears and the hysterics started again. Sure enough, both ears were infected. Poor thing. We were thinking it was a stomachache and here he was with two earaches. He never tugged at his ears, at least not more than he usually does when they don't hurt so we had no clue. The dr had us give him Motrin and gave us a Rx for amoxycillin. He was so not loving the yummy bubble gum flavored amoxycillin but after about a day he decided he absolutely LOVES the stuff. He's pretty confident that he can administer it himself as he's always grabbing the syringe with his chunky fingers and jamming it in his mouth. He'll be done with the medicine tomorrow (10 days) and then we have a follow-up appt with the pediatrician on Wednesday to make sure the infections are both cleared up.

We've been feeding him baby cereal for a few weeks now. He absolutely hated it at first and cried every time I tried to feed him. But then I started adding baby applesauce and now he can't get enough. Just like the medicine, he tries to grab the spoon and feed himself but he just ends up jamming himself in the gums. He's prety good at getting it all over his face. He has a habit of jamming his fist into his mouth in between spoonfuls, getting the cereal on his hand and then rubbing his face. This is why Mommy feeds him before bathtime.

Yesterday was Brendan's baptism. He was very well behaved, no crying or fussiness. Although, he did start talking during the ceremony. I guess he wanted to add a few words to the sermon. He's very religious, you know. My sister Lauren stood up as the godmother and Kenny's brother Scott is the godfather. After the ceremony we headed up to Grandma Annie's to hang out and have some food. Brendan changed out of his baptism outfit - which he wasn't terribly fond of - into an adorable little outfit that I tortured him with. In all fairness to me, I did leave out the bowtie. Once we were done with pictures I changed him into windpants and a cotton shirt. That boy has more clothes than Kenny and me combined. I suppose that's my fault. Daddy is guilty of adding to the growing wardrobe too though.

Some pictures for you.

Here we have Brendan doing his Jesus pose:


The happy family. By this point Brendan had enough with the pictures and refused to look anywhere near the direction of the camera:


The crew. Notice how we're all looking in different directions:


The happy family with the grandmas:


Looking dapper in his after-party outfit:



Brendan is 4 months, 3 weeks, 4 days old today!

To eat or not to eat...

We attempted to feed Brendan his first bowl of baby cereal on Saturday night. He was excited about his cool new chair and the funny faces Mommy and Daddy were making to show him how to eat but he wasn't quite sure what to do with the cereal once it got in his mouth. He mastered opening his mouth and moving the slush around in there (and everywhere) so we'll just go ahead and label that a success. The next night I think he actually even managed to swallow some! Hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon. Before we know it he'll be asking us for a bite of our cheeseburger (get your own!).

Here's the video of his first meal:


And here's a video of him rolling over:



Brendan is 4 months, 1 week, 4 days old today!