Teething ALREADY?

That's right. Not even 4 months old and the boy is cutting 2 top teeth. Ever since this past Thursday Carter was just a little "off". Fighting sleep more, more fussy, and just having some rough days. He's also been drooling more and putting his hands in his mouth ALL.THE.TIME. However, I was thinking there's no way he's teething--that doesn't happen until 6+ months. WRONG. Thankfully my generation's answer to anything is google so when I googled "3 month teething" I came across message board after message board of Moms saying their 3 month old babies are teething, yielding the SAME symptoms as our little man. Carter has even gotten to the point where he wants his paci again--the poor guy just constantly wants something in his mouth. I felt his little gums yesterday and sure enough--2 little notches on the top. I lifted up his upper lip today and you betcha, 2 little pearly whites (well...I don't think I'd go that far yet--but definitely white tinted splotches were seen underneath the gums) are right up there which helps to explain the irritability/sleep fighting/fist eating-ness which has been a part of our life these past 5 days. Most of the teething toys are too big, so right now we're resorting to his hands, my hands (washed of course), pacis, and cold washcloths (did I mention how I love google?!).

Even though there have been some rough days, he definitely still has his moments of being SO much fun.  We took out the playmat and replaced it with the jumper as he's much more into seeing things on eye level vs looking up at the ceiling. The weather has been really nice so we've been spending more time outside and Mama even planted flowers--and is determined this year that they will live. We shall see.

Here's a video I took today...please pardon all the baby talk and my singing, I tried to edit it down to just the laughing part but I'm still figuring out the video camera technology.

First "Sick" Visit :(

Don't let the title make you feel sorry for our little man....he's his normal, happy, "I only cry when I'm hungry or tired" self. However, he's had this nasty cough for 3 days (no fever or other symptoms) so I decided to take him in and get it checked out. When I called the doctor's office they said "is this for a sick visit or well visit?", so my friends, at almost 4 months Carter had his first "sick" visit at the doctor. Of course he didnt cough while the doctor was in there, but since he's never had fever and the only symptom is the cough he was diagnosed with croup and a prescription to use the humidifer and put him in the bathroom with a steamy shower. So, that's what we'll do! I feel very blessed that he lasted almost 4 months--fingers crossed, we made it through flu/RSV season! :).

They did weigh him and with clothes on the boy is a hefty 15 lbs, 2 ounces. Our little chunker and we love it. Here are some iphone photos (remember the 3 pics/day rule) I just downloaded 648 iphone photos to the camera so these are just a select few :).

This was when he was 7 weeks or so, it just shows me how much he's grown because these overalls would now be capris and the shirt wouldn't button as a onesie!



Not sure why this is sideways, but lots of Max/Carter playing time going on these days!



Hanging out with Daddy after work!

You can really see the belly here :). He still LOVES the bath!

"Superman" arms--he always does this after his naps/in the morning when you undo the swaddle

3 months old and Daddy already has him working out!

Rockband with Uncle Stephen and Aunt Diana on one of the snow days!

LOVE this pic. Caleb coaching Carter before he got his first set of shots!

Big belly laugh. Haha.

Our little valentine

More Carter and Max playtime!

First run at the lake with Daddy (7 miles!)

Sporting his Daddy Boot Camp shirt :)

A pic of "modified tummy time" :)

Such a great age to run errands! Here we are playing while the car gets inspected!

Little talker in overalls

The Friday of my first week back to work Carter fell asleep on me. He NEVER does this so I had to document. I just let him sleep for 2 hours and loved every.minute.

Little Leprechaun

Whattup Mom, just chillin' in my bumbo.

Tummy time is getting a *little* better!

All 5 cousins together!

Happy baby!

Love his expressions.

Admiring the squirrels on St. Patrick's Day!

Loving this beautiful weather in the front yard with Daddy and Aunt Diana (we sent this picture to Uncle Stephen to make him jealous!)

He continues to love the play mat and really grabs at the toys now.

Lovin' lots of time with family!

The 4 boy cousins. I can't imagine what sort of adventures these boys will get into one of these days! They will have SO much fun together! I also loved how excited Harrison was to get to hold Carter...so sweet.





Talking to Aunt Emily

In Austin this past weekend we went with Sofia to an elementary school carnival. Caleb took her on this slide secretly hoping she would need help so he would "have" to slide down with her....nope, she's very independent :)

Carter chillin' in the carseat during the carnival

Not sure who had more fun at the carnival--Sofia or Caleb! I did make sure she did the cake walk--I LOVED those things growing up! I don't think she loved it like I did :)

Stephen and Diana's wedding shower!

LOVE this pic of Mamie and Grandaddy. They will both turn 80 this year and still so healthy and so in love :).

The "5 grands" with the 3 "great grands"--it's very rare for all of us to be together

Mamie and Grandaddy with all their babies--this is the "calendar cover" for 2012 :)

To give Stephen credit, Carter was crying when we handed him off!

Playing outside with Grandpa in beautiful Austin weather










3 Months!

Our little man is 3 months old and is developing quite the personality. We don't have a well check appointment this month, so here's my documenation of what's going on in Carter's little world...

EAT:
He had his bottle strike at about 2.5 months but after 3-4 days of working through it he's back on the bottle. To be honest, at times he still refuses the bottle and it takes him a good 2-3 minutes to figure it out, so right now we make sure he gets a minimum of 1 bottle/day. He takes about 4 ounces every ~3 hours during the day. We're still on level 1 nipples but I'm going to buy some level 2 this week (again, this is my personal journal and since 50% of my workday is consumed by infant feeding and different types of nipples you betcha I will document when we switch flow rates--it's a big deal in this household!). I limit his nursing time to ~7-9 minutes--I've figured out he can still go 3 hour intervals and spits up way less. If Carter had his way he would nurse >30 minutes at a time, and well...we just aren't gonna go there!

PLAY:
Oh my goodness, he is becoming quite the little character. He definitely coos and interacts so much more  now and I'm lovin' it. Just this morning I had him on his changing pad and we just had a little conversation for about 4 minutes of back and forth talking. LOVE it. He still is not a fan of "traditional" tummy time but one of the benefits of being a speech therapist is sharing an office and having lots of friends who are physical therapists. One of the first questions I got from my PT friends when returning to work was "how's he doing with tummy time?". Ouch--he screams and hates it but I make him do it? Well, Mommy friends, I learned through an article and talking with the PTs that "tummy time" is not just putting your baby on a blanket/mat on their tummy on the floor. Basically, anything that is not putting him on his back is considered tummy time. So, we now sit him up more, use the Bumbo more (can do it for about 30 minutes!), and hold him in "airplane" position on his tummy which he tolerates for 20-30 minutes.  I think he just likes to "see the world" as Caleb calls it and when he's stuck on his tummy on the floor he just gets bored....atleast that's what I'm telling myself :).  His little hands have opened up (before were always clenched up) and he's starting to grab at his blanket and burp cloth when it's on his lap. He has also discovered his hands and loves to put them in his mouth. He loves to look at himself in the mirror and will talk and smile at himself, completely unaware of me trying to get him to look at the camera (yes, I still take a minimum of 3 pictures and 1 video a day for Daddy). Unfortunately the big swing, our saving grace, broke a couple of weeks ago :(.  After a major melt down the other night Caleb and I both decided it was worth the $50 to buy a new motor...I was on the phone with Fisher Price when they opened and our new motor is in the mail!  He goes between the travel swing, the playmat, the bouncy, and blankets on the floor.....but most of all, the boy loves to be held and I can't complain about that. We spend hours each day with him on his back on my knees and he just looks around. He's still a little bobbly at times but I would say pretty much has developed head control. He's starting to bear a little weight on his legs....but it's inconsistent at this point. He rolled over once from his tummy to his back (on his 2 month birthday!) but hasn't done it since. However, he now prefers to sleep on his side and will roll to his side no problems. He continues to love movement and both Caleb and I have enjoyed taking him jogging in the Bob stroller--he just looks around and enjoys movement and the scenery!

SLEEP:
Well, if I would have written this on exactly his 3 month birthday I would have said he gives us a good 8 hour stretch each night, then goes about 4-5 hours until he wakes up. His routine got out of whack over our trip to Austin this past weekend, so he's still a little off. He now only sleeps in his crib (hallelujah!) for naps and bedtime. I think all 3 of us have developed a love/hate relationship with the swaddle. He still has to be swaddled to go to sleep so of course, we ALL love it when he's sleeping. However, he FIGHTS the swaddle and is getting so strong that no matter how tight we get it, the little houdini can break out of it if he fights hard enough....and can't go back to sleep. He will wail his arms and cry because he can't get comfortable....because he has to be swaddled. Grrr. He wakes himself up, which wakes up, and well....that's the love/hate swaddle relationship. He is awake for ~1.5 hours at a time during the day, then needs to go down for a nap and does the "eat, play, sleep" routine over again! He naps anywhere from 45 minutes-2 hours, about 5x/day--the boy needs his sleep, and he is SO much happier when he gets it! We've got our bath+bottle/nurse+bed routine going for bedtime and it's working GREAT!

Some of my favorites at 3 months....
-putting his arms in "superman" position when we undo his swaddle
-putting his little fist over his eyes when he's nursing
-the biggest grins--kissing his feet, talking baby talk, and rapping--yes, the kid definitely prefers rapping to lullabies--not sure what this means for his future but you better believe during tummy time when he's screaming I break out some Kanye "that that that don't kill me, can only make me stronger" :)
-that last feeding of the night--having the "heartbeat" sound on the monitor, the mist of the humidifer going, and just rocking him and staring at him, praying and praising the Lord for blessing us with our little man
-his coos--he really thinks he's talking and telling me something and will just smile and coo back and forth
-watching Caleb baby talk--Carter and I both love it and smile so big :)
-getting home from work and just snuggling with my little guy. Working gives me a new appreciation for some good quality time and keeping priorities in line (maybe that's why my house hasn't been vacuumed in over a week?!)
-Carter going to bed at a decent hour (~7:30-8) so Caleb and I have quality time together at night
-being able to get up and go--I feel like the first 2 months it seemed like such an ordeal to get his diaper bag packed and everything ready to go run a short errand...not sure if it's I'm just more used to it now, but it's much easier

Woa, that's a lot. If you've made it this far, here are some 3 month pics. He wasn't too smiley, he's definitely more of a morning person and I took these after I got home from work Thursday afternoon:

love the wobbli-ness :)

Back to Work!

The 12 weeks of maternity leave ended and March 1st always seemed so far away.....until yesterday. Honestly, I think 12 weeks is too long. After 6 weeks I was completely recovered from a medical standpoint and emotionally and mentally was "ready" to go back but who could pass up 6 more weeks of vacation? Those 2nd 6 weeks definitely made me fall in love more with my little man and with the idea of being a stay at home Mom. Until about a week ago I was dreading leaving him and going back to work....then I had a work shower at my house, saw the people and realized I MISSED them. It would be nice to go back just for the interaction with the co-workers. Then on Friday I had to go to the hospital for my annual health check and realized I MISSED the job--the patients, the family, the complex medical issues. Then what really made me at peace was spending the day with Courtney and our little guys for a full day (her son Max is 7 weeks older than Carter, she's watching Carter while I'm working) and seeing what a wonderful Mom she is and how she loves Carter. I always knew Carter would be fine, but seeing the way Courtney interacted with Carter as she does little Max and putting the boys on the floor together and letting them "play" really gave me a peace. To top it all off, last Sunday at church the worship leader led us in a song that says "In my life, be lifted high. In our world, be lifted high. In our love, be lifted high" and asked us to really think about what's going on in our life, in our world. That's when I knew--I'm not going back to work just for the money or the adult interaction or the having to use my brain which I've missed (I joke that I only use my brain when I watch Jeopardy!). I am going back to work because the Lord has called me back for this season--I still get to be a Mom to Carter 7 days/week and I leave him for about 17 hours total (I'm working 2 8 hour shifts/week--Tues and Thurs) to go and be His hands and feet at Children's Medical Center. He has plans for me there, so I'm going. I try to deviate from His plan sometimes--even though I knew this, Monday night I was weary and told Caleb I didn't want to go back--we made a "deal" to push through work until tax day (April 15--6 weeks!) and then we would have a heart to heart. However, I woke up yesterday morning, did my morning routine then went and stood by Carter's bed as he peacefully slept and gave him a kiss goodbye. I can't say I wasn't a little sad or a little teary, but I walked down the stairs, kissed Caleb goodbye, got in my car and felt such a peace that this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Went to work and it could not have been better....I even got to do a swallow study which I haven't been able to do in almost a year (pregnancy + radiation is not a good mix).  I jumped right back in and loved every minute. One thing that did kind of "hit" me unexpectedly was seeing a baby that had Carter's birthday, was 6.5 lbs, had never been able to eat, and had been in the hospital since birth. Working with that little girl 1) made my heart break in a way it never had before--I guess that's what mommyhood does and 2) gave me even more of a perspective of how blessed I am and daily take for granted what it means to have a healthy baby and be able to be at home and live a "normal" life. Of course I missed my little man, but Courtney sent me pictures and I went through the pics on my phone about 10 times during my pumping breaks--which is a new process, all in itself! I loved being able to come home and just love on Carter after a full day's work--and maybe I did rock him and stare at him while he slept for 45 minutes just because I knew in that moment there was nothing better--cooking, washing bottles, preparing milk, all those "to dos" could wait, where I would typically stick him in his crib and get right on that to do list. So, my friends, I get to be a speech pathologist, a Mommy to a healthy and happy baby boy, a wife to a very supportive husband and wonderful father, and most of all in all these roles a servant of the Lord and my life could not be better. Speaking of life being better--Carter also slept for 11 hours STRAIGHT last night. Yes, life could not be better. I am very blessed.

PS-Operation Bottle was a success! He is now taking bottles and nursing, no problems. Back to my little foodie of a guy--however it comes, he'll take it! Woo hoo!

We always have some sort of "operation" going on here!

When we got back from Austin we started "Operation Crib" in the Wood household. The first night was a bust, as Carter screamed his way to victory in the pack in play in our room by 11 pm. The next day I spent hours reading books and  on the internet reading about baby sleep patterns and ways to get them in their cribs. However, the absolute BEST advice I got was from a good friend and very wise mother (get ready for lots of advice asking, Joce!) at playgroup. She highly recommended a bedtime routine--for their family they do "bath, bottle, bed" and no matter how crazy the kids are at bathtime, they realize the routine and it's almost bedtime, settle down, and go to bed. Allright, Carter loves his bath, so let's give it a shot. People...it WORKED. And you better believe that for now 8 nights in a row he has had a bath and may have just a bit of a rash (we're now just giving him a water bath every 2 nights) ,but by golly he's happy and we're happy and he's IN HIS CRIB! I would venture to say operation crib is a success! We give him a bath, lotion him up, put on his swaddler, nurse him (or give him bottle...more on this below), say bedtime prayers, turn on the mobile, turn on the humidifer, and put him in bed (pretty extensive routine, but it's working!). Does he go down without fussing at all? Of course not, we'll (hopefully!) get there. We usually have to go up and pat him 1-2 times, but that is NOTHING compared to the screaming agony of being in the crib at night just 2 weeks ago. Whew. Operation crib was a success.
Sidenote: Last week I had a work shower over here and someone asked if we had created new "rules" with Carter as Caleb and I thrive off routine and "rules" (have 10 seconds to make the bed, new towel days, etc)...the answer, of course! We don't even realize we do it but oh we do. The other night he was crying in bed and we were watching him on the video monitor. I was going to go pat him and Caleb said to wait 2 minutes, it had only been a minute and 37 seconds...basically, this is a "rule" Caleb has that I have now adopted:  he has to cry for 2 minutes to be patted. If he stops and settles down, the 2 minutes starts over again. Ha. Believe it or not, he fell asleep in those 23 seconds :). Haha, very quirky things we do around here but they work for us....

Allright, so I was thinking operation crib was a success, I start work next week, we're golden. Ha. Carter has a different plan. Without going into details, I had a case of mastitis over the weekend and the doctor told me  to nurse him exclusively (don't pump, don't give him bottle) to help with the infection. So, Carter did not get a bottle from Saturday afternoon to this morning. I'm feeling much better (love the miracle of antibiotics!) so last night Caleb took the 2nd feed (another rule--I take first feed of the night, he takes 2nd) which ended up being around 7 am. Carter wanted nothing to do with the bottle. After screaming, took about 2 ounces and was done. Whatever--maybe he wasn't that hungry. I get up at 7:30 and pump and then he starts acting hungry about 8:30. I decide to give him a bottle since I just pumped and guess what---he FREAKED OUT. Yes, my child of all children started refusing the bottle. So, we start "Operation Bottle" in the Wood household and you better believe I'm throwing lots o feeding therapy his way. So far he's taken 2 bottles but he does not go after them or take to them in the typical Carter fashion (whatever temp, immediately down the thing). We're now doing every other feed nurse with the bottle at the other feedings and hopefully he will re-figure out he LOVES the bottle... pronto. I told him we have 6 days to work on this. If it means staying home for the next 6 days and doing feeding therapy 6x/day, we'll do it. We will get there. I'm pretty sure he lost his suck reflex (typically integrates around 3 months) so he just needs to figure it all out again....but that boy, definitely our child with his routines already! Although it is annoying he won't take to the bottle like the champ I know he is (power of positive thinking!), I can't complain much about HAVING to stay home and snuggle and play with the little guy all day with a little "therapy" thrown in every 3 hours :).

Hope to update with a success post soon! :)

Snow Pics and Trip to Austin

The past 2 weeks have been oh so fun around here. The first week of February Dallas had lots of ice and snow--so much so that the schools shut down 4 days straight. Although our life wasn't too different, as Carter and I both enjoy hanging out at home, we did get a little stir crazy being stuck inside for 4 days. Caleb went to work the first 3 days but took off on Friday as the roads were too dangerous. Uncle Stephen attempted to go into work, but that didn't work....so, we had fun family time for the snow day, see pics below.

The following week Caleb went on a guys ski trip so I took Carter to Austin and we had lots of fun times with family and friends. Unfortunately, I didn't get my camera out until the last couple of days, so we have no pics of our day trip to San Antonio to see the Kemp's or Amanda and her girls :(. Also, I would love to post pics of Caleb skiing in here, but seeing that I'm the photographer of the family he came back with ZERO photos of his trip. However, he had a great time and although he has never been so interested in my life while away (Carter brings a whole new element!) and missed Carter like crazy, he was not roughing it and enjoyed 3 days of snowboarding, hearty dinners, and "guy time".

Onto the pics...



Stephen's car got stuck in our alley on the attempt to go into work which resulted in Caleb and Stephen outside with shovels for over an hour trying to get it back in the driveway!



Carter was not liking the snow, but to give the kid a little credit he did start screaming inside about 20 seconds before we made it outside for this pic as it was time for him to eat....and we all know that when he wants his food, he wants it NOW and was not about looking cute in a ridiculous Bevo outfit in 12 degree weather!

We attempted the next day and he was pretty "whatever" about taking the pic. Our family snow pic :)

Looking like such a big boy!

Our first night in Austin. It was Grandpa's birthday so Mommy made a very homemade-looking "Happy Birthday Grandpa" onesie for Carter to wear. Grandpa was happy to see him, but this night Carter was still recovering from shots and the drive and was pretty fussy so we didn't get a great pic of the shirt.

We went to visit the Gillespey familiy on Friday and they ADORE Carter. This is the family I used to babysit for in Austin--the girl holding Carter is now 12, she was 3 months old when I first started babysitting. The girl to her left and the boy in the back were both newborns--I saw both of them when they were born at the hospital. CRAZY how fast they've grown up! We love this family and are so excited to reverse the roles :). They were my parenting practice for over 7 years!

Love my time with Nana. This is his swaddler that is a must for naptime. We learned on the trip if I put him in this and rock him in his carseat, he would typically fall asleep within 5 minutes!

With Aunt Beth...looks like he's fighting the swaddle here!

Playing with Papa

Cousin Sofia entertaining Carter with her "friends". She was so sweet to him!

Chillin' with GrandmaJo

With the great grandparents! Love my  Mamie and Grandaddy!

Aunt Connie feeding Kennedy Kate with the classic "Carter napping" in the back.

My first time to meet Kennedy Kate! She's 2 1/2 weeks, I'm 2 1/2 months. I don't really know what to think here.

Love this pic of Grandaddy with the 2 babies!

With the Mommies

I love this picture. Anytime someone is missing, we hold up a paper plate in their spot---hence, this is where Caleb should be!

Hanging with my Aunt Connie

Playing with Aunt Ali!



Talking with Mamie

And that's a wrap up! I'm soaking in these last weeks as a "full time" stay at home Mom. I go back to work 2 days/week starting March 1st. A much needed weekend of family time is on the books for this weekend with a little Mommy/Daddy running+breakfast date thrown in while Carter plays with Max. The weather is gorgeous and we're looking forward to a little lake running---I haven't been out there since my pregnancy days!