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!

Sleep is for wimps

I will no longer ask other mothers about their babies' sleep habits. I just can't listen to another person tell me how their little angel started sleeping through the night at three months. ::shaking fists of fury:: Lies! It's all lies.

I mean, how is it possible that EVERYONE else's baby sleeps all the way through the night without needing a lil' snack here and there?? Oh Brendan, it's okay that it's 1am and you can't possibly survive another second without a bottle. And oh sure, 4am is a perfect time to have a really LOUD conversation with your imaginary friends. But seriously, as soon as I peer over that crib and he sees me and flashes that huge gummy grin, I can't possibly be annoyed about the early wake-up call. Kenny and I have laid (layed? I can never get this right) still in bed many a time at wee hours in the morning stifling a giggle when the baby starts his incessant high octane babbling. The trick is not to let him know that you're in the room or it's all over. Of course, there are times when he just won't give up and we have no choice but to surrender.

Anyway, our little guy had his 4-month checkup on Wednesday. He's up to 15lbs and 25.5" tall. So just below average for weight and a little above average for height. Long and lean. He had to get three shots. Oy. Still not easy for Mommy to deal with so I was grateful that Daddy was able to get to this appt too. Brendan was pissed about the shots and let us know it but this time he calmed down very quickly and was fine for the rest of the night. Thankfully Nana Darlene was watching him the next day so when he woke up with a little temp and crankiness she was able to give him some Tylenol and make everything better.

We got the all clear to start giving him baby cereal and we're hopeful that it will help him sleep for a longer stretch at night. We're going to give it a whirl tomorrow night. Have to make sure the video camera is fully charged for that one. I'm sure it will be an interesting (read: messy and hysterical) adventure. Don't worry, I'll make sure I upload it to You Tube so I can post it here.

Here are some recent pics of the little munchkin. He's just too cute for words.

Halloween:








The new toy:
(Notice the big drool spot on his arm.)




(Moving in for a closer look.)


And of course, a sleepy picture:



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

More Milestones!

Brendan rolled over last week, October 22nd to be exact! He was laying on the bed next to me while we were pretending to get ready in the morning. I had put him on the Boppy pillow like I always do so he could watch Disney and he wanted nothing to do with his beloved Boppy. So I laid him flat on the bed and all of a sudden he rolled from his back to his belly! He did it a few times but of course every time I called Daddy in he would lay on his back looking all innocent like I was making it up. Once he got on his belly he would get annoyed because that's his least favorite position and he kind of got stuck there so I'd have to help him roll back the other way.

Within the last week he's gotten noticeably better at holding himself up when he's laying on his belly. See exhibit A:
It's absolutely amazing what a difference just one week makes.

And here's a sleepy picture, just because.


But the best new thing of all is the laugh! He does it for Mommy and Daddy every once in a while but apparently he does it for everyone else all the time when we're not around. I was able to get a video of Grandma Annie playing with him and a good chuckle at the end. Hopefully I've figured this you tube thing out and the video works:




Brendan is 3 days away from 4 months today!

Milestones

My darling son woke up at 4am this morning. Nothing unusual there. I gave him his bottle, he drank it, fell asleep. I lifted him up to put him in his crib. Big eyeballs. "I am wide awake now Mommy, entertain me!" I turned on the rainforest soother that he loves. It has a light show, a swinging monkey, a fish and it makes all kinds of rainforest sounds. He usually will watch it for a few minutes and then conk out. Not this morning. No. This morning he decided to talk to it. FOR TWO HOURS. I pleaded with him to go to sleep so I could get some much needed rest before it was time to get up but he was merciless. Babble, babble, coo, giggle. And repeat. He FINALLY fell asleep at 6am. Just in time for me to get up for the day.

It gets frustrating sometimes. But then something always happens to remind me how lucky I am and how grateful I am to have this beautiful baby. I stumbled upon a blog today about a woman who gave birth to her baby boy via c-section and was able to hold him for sixteen precious minutes before he passed away. I had only gotten through the first few sentences of that entry before I lost it. I'm not even sure of the details surrounding her son's short life but from what I gathered she knew she would lose him shortly after his birth.

Before I had Brendan I obviously would have been upset to read that. Anybody would. But now, knowing what it's like to go through the journey of trying to conceive, then growing this miracle inside me, then giving birth to him, I really just cannot imagine having to say goodbye ever, let alone moments after meeting him for the first time. So now every day I will make sure I hug him a little longer, give him a few extra kisses and tell him how much I love him.

Our favorite little jumping bean is learning how to roll over. ::Cue the scary music:: This means we're closer to the day he becomes mobile. I won't be able to stick him on the Boppy pillow on our bed to watch TV while I get ready in the morning. God forbid I come back in and he's managed to roll himself off the bed. Yes, I am a horrible mother. I let my baby watch TV. Sue me. This is the only way I get 45 minutes of peace to do everything I need to do to get us both ready in the morning. He watches Johnny and the Sprites and the Wiggles, which actually both have some educational value. Johnny is alway teaching some lesson about patience and right from wrong. And those crazy Wiggles sing about the merits of fruit salad (yummy, yummy) and vegetables. So there. He's learning some valuable stuff.

He rolls over onto his side, gets stuck for a few minutes, then rolls onto his back. Once he even rolled onto his stomach. And got stuck there. Until I finally rolled him back the other way. He's quite proud of himself and flashes a big gummy grin every time he does this little trick. His favorite spot to practice his rolling skills is on his new elephant cuddle mat.



In this picture he was taking a break from rolling and became too engrossed with whatever was on TV to pay any attention to Mom.



We also tried out the Bumbo seat. It's a seat for babies who can hold their heads up but aren't able to sit up on their own just yet. The first time he sat in it for about 30 seconds before he was overcome with boredom. But this time he stayed in it for a while longer, which is promising.



So many new adventures we're having! Stay tuned...


Brendan is 3.5 months old today!

Where has the time gone??

How the heck did it get to be October already?! The cold weather has started already -- I actually turned the damn heat on today. It's never a gradual change, always from warm to holy crap it's cold out here! Today is Kenny and my 3rd wedding anniversary. Go us!

Last week Brendan turned 3 months, had his first cold and had diarrhea for FIVE DAYS. It was quite a week! Poor little guy just sort of swats at his nose because it's bothering him and he doesn't know what to do with it. I try putting saline drops in there and sucking those babies out but I might as well be poking his eyes out with a dirty fork for all the fight he puts up. Every once in a while I get a good one out and even though he won't acknowledge my efforts, I know he appreciates my determination. Kenny insists that I have an unhealthly obsession with boogers and poop. I just might.

So yeah, on to the poop. Started Saturday night and didn't stop until we finally switched him to soy formula Thursday night. His little tush was so raw that the changing table -- his absolute most favorite hangout -- became a torture chamber for him. No squeals and big smiles and jogging in place. Just absolute terror that we were going to have to wipe his raw skin again. The woman who watches him recommended Triple Paste. That. stuff. is. AWESOME. And expensive. But totally worth it because his little bootie is back to normal and we're back to being excited about the changing table. Good times.

Brendan is growing by the second. Every time I look at him I can't believe how small he started out and how much bigger he's gotten in only 3 months. Kenny weighed him the other day before his bath and he's up to 14 pounds! His 4-month checkup is next month so I'm curious to see what he'll be up to then and how tall he'll be. I'm not excited to see him get more shots though. That will be another sad day for Mommy.

He isn't doing any full-blown giggling yet but he's definitely much more expressive and has a wider range of happy sounds now. He is such a happy baby with a nice, even temperament. We get lots of smiles and squeals and some little laughs. I really can't wait until he starts giggling, that has got to be the best sound in the world. He also is able to hold his head up pretty well now so all he wants you to do is hold him in a sitting or standing position so he can check things out. He is NOSY. Always staring at everyone wanting to know what's going on. I just don't know where he gets that from. ;)








Brendan is 3 months, 1 week, 1 day old today!