Happy 2 Months

So this is a day late, but yesterday was so crazy.  We started our day visiting Ms. Linda.  She is a long time family friend that will be keeping Holden when I return to work on Monday :(  I wanted Chuck to meet her and see where she lives etc.  Holden will be one of 2 newborns that she'll be keeping.  The other little boy, Carter, is one day younger than Holden.  I'm glad he'll have a friend to grow up with.  She also has a 6 month old and then 4 toddlers, including our little friend Jacie Jones.

We then had to run home for a quick lunch before heading to see Dr Kim for Holden's 2 month check up.  All went really well.  Here are his 2 month stats:

Weight:  12 lbs. (55%)
Height: 23" (50%)
Head Circumfrence:  16 1/4" (80%)

Mommy's sweet boy

I'm gonna have one smart baby!!!  LOL.  Holden is starting to look more and more like Chuck every day.  Chuck was a little chunky baby too.  I love his chubby legs, especially now that he has started to smile and coo.  When I kiss on him or pinch those little thighs, he just grins at momma.  I LOVE IT!

He also had 3 vaccinations, 2 shots and 1 oral.  He only cried for a few minutes. But boy was he fussy yesterday evening.  He missed most of his naps because of the running around.  So when Obbie (Chuck's mom) came over to watch him so I could get my hair done and Daddy could finish replacing the fence, he was quite content being held and cuddled.

Yea, so our fence blew down Tuesday when the winds were whipping around like crazy!  So needless to say we are getting a new fence!  We needed to anyway, just really didn't want to.  Oh well, the joys of home ownership.

We are so blessed to have our little boy and cannot wait to see how he continues to grow and develop.  We love you.  Mommy is going to miss him so much when I start back to work Monday.

Splish Splash

Holden loves taking a bath.  He is so funny.  Every time I place him in his little tub, no matter how many times I move his little legs to BOTH be in the infant net, he always kicks one leg out over the edge.  Cracks me up every time.  It's like he's this little man, just chillaxin in the tub.

We have fun with bath time.  We normally sing and of course we have our automatic sprinkler system, that was apparently installed AFTER we had Holden.  I never knew that we had a sprinkler in our bathroom, but we do.  And it never fails, it ALWAYS comes on shortly after we put Holden in the tub.  Funniest thing ever.  I normally sing this little sprinkler chant and he just smiles.  I really need to catch it on video.  Can't wait til he gets a little bigger so we can play with some of his bath toys.

Happy 1st St. Patty's Day

Our little Leprechaun fit right in at our friends out this past weekend.  We have spent St. Patty's day on Greenville Ave. for the past 5 years.  We figured why not bring little man along.  BEFORE you question our judgement as parents, LOL, let me say that our version of St. Patty's on Greenville takes place about 2 blocks away at our friend Mike Vargas' house.  He always does a really bug cookout and all our friends and the kids come to hang out, eat and goof around.

Now that I cleared that up, Holden did really well.  We got down there early, so that we wouldn't be blocked from actually parking at Vargas' house, so we arrived shortly before 9.  Just in time to feed little man.  He hung outside for a bit but then was pretty sleepy and ready for his mid-morning nap.  He spent the first half of the morning cuddled up inside.  He awoke just in time to see everyone and get some of the beautiful sunshine that was out that day.  He was such a little charmer.

After being the life of the party for a little bit, he was down for the count again.  He took a really good afternoon nap and was ready to head home about 6:30.  It was nice to continue our annual tradition of spending St. Patty's with friends.

Of course, he couldn't just have one outfit to wear his First St. Patty's Day, so yesterday, on the actual holiday, he had to show off just how good he looks in green.  It was such a beautiful day.  We started our day off with a jog after his morning nap and we had dinner with some friends on a patio to enjoy the rest of the sunshine. 

Our little Leprechaun

How could you resist kissing this little angel

Looking forward to many more of these wonderful days that I get to spend celebrating with my little family.  Holden has been such a blessing to not only Chuck and I, but so many of our close friends.  We just love sharing our precious little angel with them.  He is growing so much, hard to believe that he'll be 2 months old next month and that I'll be returning to work soon.

First Bottle

Well, the dreaded day arrived. I had initially planned to introduce Holden to a bottle 3 weeks before going back to work, but talked myself out of that.  I figured since he took a passy (or pappy as we call it) really well that he wouldn't struggle with a bottle.  So I decided to wait another week.

It was really important to me for Chuck to be here to start the bottle process.  He has been anxious to have this time with Holden, so I though a Sunday evening would be best.  So this past Sunday, March 13th we gave it a shot.  He did great!  Not that I thought he wouldn't, but was very thankful to see that he didn't skip a beat when it came time to eat.  This will make going back to work in a week a little easier, knowing that my little man will still be getting nutrients from his momma.

Here is a video of him.

We've been giving him a bottle every other day for his evening feeding and then I get up with him to nurse between 12-1 and then he is down for the count until about 5:00.  We've implemented the BabyWise routine of feeding, wake time and sleep time.  I had really already been employing this method, but wasn't really focusing on scheduled wake and sleep time.  I would just let him be awake and sleep when he wanted.  But now with a little more consistency with our routine he is sleeping much better through the night.  Going 5-5.5 hours between his evening feeding, late feeding and morning feeding.  Definitely helps me get the sleep that I'll need when I start back to work.  I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful little baby.

6 weeks old- 3/7/2011

Holden is 6 weeks old today.  Time sure is going by fast.  I wish I could just stop time!  Here are a few things about you:

• You have graduated out of newborn diapers and are now wearing Size 1.  They are a little big still, but you'll grow into them.
• Most of your newborn clothes are getting a little short.  You can still wear some of the footed sleepers, but your outfits are going to have to be stored away.
• We've started wearing size 0-3 months, Mommy has to cuff the sleeves and legs, but more room for you to move and grow.
• Your hair is still red and long.  None of it has fallen out yet or changed colors.
• Your eyes are definitely like Mommy's now.  They are a blue/gray color now.  Mommy is very happy about that.
• You've been sleeping in your bed for a few weeks now.  However, the past few nights you have been waking ever 2.5 hours to eat, I think you're going through a growth spert.
• You're starting to smile more.  You love when Mommy gives you kisses and when daddy snorts on your cheeks.
• You really enjoy time with Daddy.  Whether its daddy and Holden time when daddy gets home from work or nap time on Sunday fun day when daddy finishes playing golf.
• You are liking your play mat more and more.  Tummy time is starting to be fun too.  But you still don't like it for more than 30 minutes, then your bored and want something else.
• We've started buckling you in your bouncer, because you like to sit up more, so mommy doesn't want you to tip forward.
• You really don't like your swing yet, but hopefully you will soon.  Fingers crossed for that one.

You have changed and grown so much over the past 6 weeks.  Mommy enjoys every moment she gets to spend at home with you and is dreading going back to work in a few weeks.  But until then, you are all mine and I will cherish every moment.  Mommy and Daddy talked about you last night, we said our prayers together and thanked God so very much for you.  We are very blessed to be your parents.  We love you tooter.



Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

WOW! Didn't think this day would come so soon!

So, having a boy I figured that I would not be a stranger to the ER, but I definately didn't think my first visit would be when he was only 5 weeks old.

Let me back up.  I've been dealing with sinus junk for the past few days.  Holden started getting congested too on Monday, more so than normal.  Normally he's just a little congested at night.  So Monday night I started the home remedies.  Sat in the bathroom with the shower really hot to steam up.  Did the saline drops and suctioned his nose several times, took temp and used humidifier.  When it was better yesterday I called the pediatrician who recommended that I continue to monitor his temp and use the saline not only before feeding, but also several times each hour.  So, I did that.  Holden had been sleeping more than normal the past few days, probably because he doesn't feel all that well.  So it was a chore to get drops in his little nose while he was trying to sleep, but I managed.  His temp had been steady around 99.2-99.5 degrees, so I thought everything was going ok and that he was just congested.

Well when I checked his temp at about 4:30 it was 100.2.  So I called the pediatrician back as recommended that morning.  The nurse wanted to speak with the doctor before advising me on next steps, but suggested that I re-take his temp again as when it registered 100.2 he had just woken up from a swaddled nap.  In the meantime, he was feeding.  So when the nurse called me back I was expecting her to say just bring him in and we'll check him out.  Wrong, instead she said that with him being so young, Dr. Kim wanted us to go straight to Children's Medical ER.  I immediately got worried.  I felt so helpless.  I had already called Chuck to give him an update, however, didn't think I would be calling him back to tell him to skip the gym that we were going to the ER.  But that's what we did.

I checked his temp before we left and it had gone up to 101.7.  I packed a bag for overnight just in case and we headed out.  Dr. Kim had already called the ER so when we got there the check in process was easy.  In the short time it took us to get there, his temp had broken and was back down to 98.8.  What a relief, but then I was concerned that my home thermometer wasn't accurate and maybe this was overkill.  I was a
nurvous ninny in the waiting room, but not Holden and daddy.  They will just relaxed like nothing was the matter.

We got into a room and the doctor was in really soon.  They started an IV, took urine, blood and nasal samples to check for all sorts of stuff.  My poor baby cried so hard.  They had to insert a catheder to get urine sample, so you can imagine how that went.  But man, nothing was like the scream we got when they took the nasal swab.  My little man is tough though.  They had his little hand wrapped up like Ft. Knox to keep the IV in.

My sweet baby.  Mommy never left his side.  I just kept holding his little hand, kissing him and rubbing his head while they poked on him.

Once they got the IV in, he went for xrays.  They wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything hiding in his lungs like nephonia.  He was suck a trooper.  Only cried for a few minutes when they took his pappy from him.  Pappy is what I called my passy as a little one, so we're calling it that too.  Other than that, he was so good.

Then it was the waiting game for all the test results.  Holden didn't let it keep him from his evening routine though.  After he nursed, it was daddy time.  Holden and daddy have their time in the evening when mommy is getting dinner ready and then before his bath.  So naturally we wanted to keep with our routine.  He is so precious, was so relaxed and safe in daddy's arms.

Thank our awesome God!  All the test results came back clear so we didn't have to have a spinal tap and we didn't have to be admitted.  Nothing was detected to indicate that he had anything other than maybe a cold and congestion.  I'm very grateful that our pediaitrician is overly cautious.  With Holden still being so young a high fever can be very scary.

We left with instructions to continue to use the humidifier and saline drops and to follow up with Dr. Kim.  We got home around 10, got him ready for bed and he was down for the count by 11.  He slept and nursed well throughout the night.  I hate hearing him cry though.  He does not like his little nose to be suctioned out, but I know I have to do it so that he can get back to being my happy little man as soon as possible.

At least I know that I was doing everything right!  Thank goodness for google, experienced friends and my mom to give good advice on a sick baby.  I hope that we dont have to visit the ER for many years to come.