You are 12 weeks little man!

12 weeks old!

• Mommy got on the scale with you and looks like you are around 14 pounds!!! Wow!!!
• You are smiling ALL THE TIME these days! You just grin and grin when you see mommy or daddy....or really any new face after you check them out for a second.
• Mommy thinks she heard a small chuckle the other day...we know it is close bc you will smile with your mouth WIDE open sometimes and you look like you want to giggle so bad.
• You are starting to do MUCH better at tummy time now that you can hold yourself up better. You pretty much can hold up your entire chest and head, but you do tire easily and get frustrated.
• You will roll over onto your back during tummy time sometimes. Seems more like your head makes you topple over! ha!
• You are sleeping from around 730 or 8pm to 6 or 7am. You did start waking this week around 1-3. All you want is your paci and you go right back to dreamland.
• We still bathe you each night around 7 and give you your HUGE bottle (7-8 ounces) of mixed breastmilk and formula.
• You have even sometimes needed a little "extra" if you are really hungry. BIG BOY!
• I think you are having a growth spurt this week because you have seemed really hungry throughout the day and are wanting that extra at night.
• Your day routine is pretty lax but mommy has been trying to do more naps in your crib.
• You used to REFUSE to nap in there, but this past weekend decided it was ok. You even fell right to sleep a couple times.
• You MUST have your paci to nap! We don't always swaddle you for naps either. You seems to like to be cozy with blankies around you. (and mommy just watches you on the monitor like a freak).
• You like to have your face covered with a blankie to nap (another cause for concern for mommy) and if being held MUST be held tight and close.
• You fight naps sometimes like a WILD beast, but have seemed a lot better about that this week.
• On the go is the way you like it! You will sleep so well in the car (once we get going) and in the sling/stroller...as long as we keep it moving!
• You wake up to eat between 6-7, then eat at 10, 1, 4, snack at 5, and big bottle at bedtime at 730. You prefer to breastfeed and then require a bottle after for at least two of your feedings during the day (usually the 10 and1). If mommy doesn't give you the extra bottle you will not nap well and usually want to eat between feeds. Mommy doesn't mind because you are such a happy baby when you are full!
• When mommy goes in to get you in the mornings you are usually sideways in the bed! Swaddled and all, but somehow turn completely sideways! It is crazy.
• If I don't wait too long to pick you up after a nap, you will see me and just smile so sweet. If I wait too long you will scream because you are STARVING! ha!
• You do seem gassy sometimes and the gripe water seems to help with that.
• You are still BLOWING it out pretty much after EVERY feed during the day. We moved up to size two diapers at 10 weeks and they seem to contain the mess a ton better. It was getting pretty old Mr!
• Mommy has now taken apart and washed the carseat twice and your bouncy chair twice..swing once! Not fun! We have put burp cloths in all your seats now to try to help with that. Luckily, we haven't had any major events since we got home from Memphis (where you went through four outfits in one day).
• You started "talking" last week too. You will just coo and coo. You also make the sweetest ah noise too. If we say hi to you, you sound like you say it back sometimes. So sweet!
• We have also realized that Baby Einstein is like baby CRACK!!! YOU LOVE IT! You actually seem to like all cartoons, but the baby Einstein will make you stop crying instantly. We try not to let you watch tv too much. Only when we need to shower or eat and you aren't napping. ha!
• Your big sister, Weeza, loves some Baby Einstein too! ha! She has never paid the tv any attention until now. She is mesmorized just like you!
• You still don't grab at things too much, but do seem to notice toys more. You have found your hands and LOVE to put your entire hand in your mouth (and even gag yourself at times).
• You only spit up a little when you guzzle too much down too fast!
• Your hair and eyes seems to be getting lighter. We are pretty sure your eyes will be blue, but still can't tell if your hair wants to be blonde or a little red! We are pulling for red!
• You usually nap around 830 or 9 until 10, around 11 or 12 until 1, and around 2 or 3 until 4. I try to not let you sleep more than thirty minutes after 5 since you will be going to bed at 730. You will usually catnap around 630.
• You seem to get cranky around the evenings. I think your body is just getting ready for the long stretch of sleep.
• You still LOVE your bath as long as you aren't too hungry. If mommy doesnt give you the 5pm "snack" feed you scream bloody murder until that bottle touches your lips.

There are no words to express how much your mommy and daddy love you. You are the most perfect baby in the whole world! I wish we could stop time and keep you this way forever, but I know you must keep growing. God surely blessed us when he chose us to parent you!

Love you....forever and always!

So....I need to get it together

My sweet,  sweet boy will be 12 weeks on Wednesday, Feb 15.... 12 WEEKS!!!!! That makes me sad and happy all in one! I cannot believe how fast time has flown. And of course, my last post was when he was two weeks old. I am so mad at myself for that because this his how I am going to log about his growth and changes; and here we are at almost three months and I haven't recorded a single memory. Of course I remember some things, but in just reading my last post (when he was two weeks old) I was brought back to his early days!!! Boy has he changed since then! So, so much!! He is such a BIG boy now. Our infant days are behind us and we have a full flegged BABE on our hands! He really is such a sweet, sweet baby. We are so darn lucky for that. He started sleeping through the night right around six weeks. He just kind of gradually did it on his own. He started out going from 9-2 around two weeks then stretched that out to 3 until around five weeks. It then became 4 and 5, and then WAM...6am!!! We didn't even have to do any "cry it out" nights or anything. We are so lucky for that because I don't know if I would have been able to do it. He is so pitiful when he gets upset and NOTHING seems to settle him but eating! I know that sometimes they wake even when they are not hungry or wet, but the few times he has had "bad" nights it has been because he was hungry. By his 2 month check he was sleeping through the night regularly. He had grown A TON by then too. He weighed in at 11.11 (75th percentile) and was 24.25 inches long (95th percentile)! His little head had grown too...15 inches (only 0.5 bigger). WOW!!! We knew he was getting big because he was eating soo much, but I didn't think he was almost 12 pounds! Dad guessed better than mommy. He knew he was at least 11 and mommy was thinking more like 10. At his one month appointment (at 3 weeks) he was only 8.14 and 22.75 inches so he did A LOT of growing in 5 weeks. He was so funny at his one month appointment...peed EVERYWHERE while being weighed. HA!!! He used to always pee when his diaper was off. He hasn't been doing that anymore luckily...but....he sure does like to poop through his diapers. More on that later! It seems like the week of Christmas he did ALL that growing. He was still wearing all his newborn stuff that week and I was actually feeling like we were running out of clothes because everything seemed so big. His auntie Leandra actually went and bought him some more newborn clothes too. He wore those for about a week and WAM...0-3 months fit! Those fit for about  2 weeks and now we have been in all 3-6 since around 9 weeks. He is just so long so some things are too short for his long legs.

His two month check up went well. He was so pitiful during/after his shots though! Seeing him get stuck made me so sad. I feel bad for all the babies I have to stick at work, and seeing my own child go through that makes me even more sad. He was so happy the entire appointment and then HELLO!!! His scream was just pitiful, and his little whimper after was even worse. He was pretty pitiful that day as well. I gave Tylenol throughout the day and evening. I never took his temp, but he felt warm to me. He is also usually such a PIG, but that day didn't seem as hungry. He woke up the following AM at 3:30 starving. I fed him and then he woke up again for the day at 6:00am. He seemed much better the next day. We will have more shots at his 4 month check. So sad! Hopefully he will do well with those. The doctor did notice that his left hip was still "clicking" on exam when she rotated it. That should be gone by that age. She wanted us to get an ultrasound of his little hips just to be sure. We did that the following week and everything looked normal. We will see if he still has the click at his four month check. I noticed it after she told me, but have not felt it lately.

So Christmas was AMAZING! Having all Frank's family stay with us was just PERFECT. It got a little crazy at times. We had two air mattresses in our room at one point. I told my soon to be brother in law, Ken that if he saw my lamp on to not look up because that meant the boobies were out. Cash was still getting up around 3-4 at the the time to feed. He made sure to keep his eyes covered whenever the light was on. We just spent the week hanging out and cuddling Cash. I even ventured out and left Cash with his grandparents for a couple hours to have a drink with Frank and his sisters. It was a GREAT time! Leandra's boyfriend came in town and they stayed through the new year. They rented a hotel on the beach. Frank's best friend (and Cash's Godfather) came in town with his wife (and two crazy dogs) for NYE. We had a blast that weekend. We went downtown on NYE (during the day) and had a yummy lunch at Leaf. Cash had a MASSIVE blowout in his carseat. I picked him up and could see it on everyone's faces on the patio that he was covered in poop. I took him to the car to clean him up and feed him then returned to enjoy my lunch with everyone. ha! I was a pro already! We drove out to Lee and Steve's hotel after because it was such a beautiful day. Nothing like taking your five week old baby to the beach on NYE. We rang in the new year hanging out at the house watching all the crazy dogs play. It was great. The next day we went and toured Middleton Place plantation with everyone. I think it was 70 degrees that day. Crazy! We were there last spring with Nicole and Luca and it wasn't even that warm. It was surreal remembering Frank pushing Luca's stroller around that place not even a year ago, and there we were with our very own stroller and baby. Who would have thunk it??? We had to say goodbye the following day to everyone. I cried like a baby (again) when Lee left!!! It was just so nice to have everyone's company. Cash started smiling intentionally that week as well. It was so sweet to see him smile at Lee. I am so happy she got to see that before she left. He pretty much would only smile at her at that point. We did everything in our power to get the tiniest grin from that boy then. He was a little stingy with his smiles at that point. Nowadays, he is a grinning machine. He is VERY close to full on giggling as well.

Once everyone left it was just me and the babes for a while. I was pretty lonely at first. I think having everyone around all day made the days of just me and Cash seem too quiet. My friend Anna was busy birthing her baby Miller too so I didn't get to see her. Now that Miller has been here for six weeks, we have been busy visiting her and her coming to visit us weekly. It is so nice to have a friend going through the same things as me. Miller is so sweet, and I just know Cash and him are destined to be best buds! My friend Jackie keeps me busy too. She is my workout partner. Her family is the sweetest. I just love her little girl Gabby and Gabby loves her some Cash. She even spent the night one night and hung out with Frank, Cash, and I. Jackie has kept Cash for me while I went to the doc and will again this week so I can go to a work thing. She loves her some Cash too!

Since this post is more like a book; I am going to end it here. I am actually going to do another post for his 12 weeks and what we have been up to. I am PROMISING myself that I will at least do one post a week about Cash because I feel like I am forgetting so much. I know it is silly. He has to grow, but I just want to remember when he was my little baby. It is all still going by too fast. I will be returning to work in less than three short weeks. I can't even think about it without wanting to cry. I am lucky that I will for the most part still be able to be with Cash, but I wish I could be rich and continue my stay at home mom stint. I keep telling myself it will be good for me to get out, but don't believe it. I want to be here with him and not tired from working all night. Such is life.....suck it up, right? It will be fine!


I will leave this ridiculously LONG post with some pictures from his 1 month and 2 month photo shoot! My sweet boy has grown so much! I love him more every day!

Tiny Reindeer boy!

he has changed so much!

Becoming my big baby!