Chicken and Sippy Cup!

Today, Grandma Margaret came over to visit w/ Carson (and do her taxes). I think they both got a kick out of spending the day together. :-)


Grandma fed him chicken and gravy for the first time! Yum! Exciting new world of meat!
And we tried our sippy cup out again! First try was Friday. Going to take some practice (he likes to chew on it), but he's not too bad at it!

Photo Shoot!

We took Carson to Portrait Innovations today for his 6 month pictures. It was so hectic! They warned us as it's close to Easter (and they were right!). It went well overall. They were really good w/ him. He did break down in tears somewhere around the 3rd picture taken (note the big tear in his sitting pics in the white shirt!), so we were worried! But they got some pretty cute shots. Enjoy!

6 Mo. Checkup

Carson had his 6 mo. checkup today. He did really well. He did pee all over himself, my hand, and the table.....but that's okay. :-) He got 3 shots this time. He cried and his little face turned bright red, but he stopped as soon as I picked him up. What a big boy!

Here are his stats:

21 lbs. 6 oz. (95%)
28.5 in. (96%)

Head circumference o/s.....they don't give sheets out anymore! Grrr. She said I would get one so I didn't write anything down, but then I did not......ugh. I'll have to have Grandma look it up for us.

Dr. commented that he's "slimming down" since he's only in the 95th/96th percentiles. Ha, ha.

Dr. said that he should now be through all of the Stage 1 and 2 foods. Oops. We've only tackled Stage 1. :-) Guess we should move on. He said he could also have puffs now! And little pieces of our table fruits and veggies. I can't believe it - he still seems so little!

As always, I asked him exactly what/how much he should be eating (formula and food-wise) and I got a "whatever he wants". I appreciate that he's trying to give me the freedom to do whatever, but anyone who knows my personality knows that I prefer a little more structure and guidance. :-) I'm a rule-follower. So frustrating. I guess I'm going to have to learn to be a little more laid-back w/ him, but I really like to have a right or wrong way to do things. We'll have to figure it out on our own I guess.

All in all, the checkup went well and we have a healthy little boy. Guess we need to do some shopping for more baby food. And based on his weight, we need to do some shopping for another convertible car seat!

6 Months!

Carson is 6 mos. old today! I can't believe it. Where has the time gone already?! He's growing so fast. We're truly blessed to be his parents. Happy half-birthday little man!




Looking back at 1 mo.....

Weaning

So.... I've been really struggling for the past couple of weeks with the idea of weaning. Breastfeeding is a totally personal decision and everyone is different. And I make absolutely NO judgments of what anyone else chooses to do - whether or not they do it all, how long, etc. And I wouldn't want anyone else to judge me either. I always knew that I was going to try nursing. In my opinion, I thought it was what was best for him. I wasn't excited about it.....but I was going to do it. And the first probably 8 weeks were HARD. We just didn't get it right in the beginning. But then we finally figured it out. In my mind, I was going to see how it worked once I started back to work and not place any timelines on it. If I only made it a few weeks, I was going to try not to be too hard on myself. And we'd just see how it went. But I also had in mind that 6 mos. would be the absolute longest I would go. I honestly didn't think we would get that far. But now, all of a sudden, my baby is 6 mos. old. I can't believe it. So rationally (to me), it's time to stop nursing. I'd set a date. I should stop. So why is it so hard?? I guess it really is true that it's a bonding experience. For both of us I think. And I know it's good for him - and he's been sick so much. It's is the one sure way I can soothe him when he's fussy. But I'm only able to nurse in the mornings and on the weekends since I work. So I should be able to stop. It's not like he doesn't take a bottle well. And it's not like it's not a bonding moment w/ a bottle. I guess I'm really just worried that he's not going to like formula. That all of a sudden, I'm going to have no supply and he's going to refuse formula or something. But seriously - look at him. :-) He likes to eat. I think he's going to like formula just like everything else. I think that I'm just a natural worrier....and procrastinator. :-) We Blands tend to talk about things a lot and not do them right away. Anyway, I finally sucked it up and gave Carson a bottle (well, half) of formula today. I did half formula, half milk. And....he drank it like a champ! I don't know what I was so worried about. I think we'll try 1/2 and 1/2 this week while we're home at night. He doesn't always eat so great at daycare and I don't want to waste any milk if he doesn't finish the bottle. So, I guess I'll keep trying to cut down my pumping schedule. We have a lot of frozen milk that we can supplement for a while. There's just a lot of guilt. I've been very lucky that it's gone well. I could keep going. Pumping at least. But selfishly, it's just really a lot of work. I personally think that I've given him a great start, but I think there's always guilt when you stop. I look around at other moms who are still going and their babies are much older. But, again, personal choices. Everyone's different. I think it's time for me. I just hope he continues to drink formula well. And I hope that my guilt goes away. :-)

This weekend

Nothing too exciting to report this weekend. Snow on the first day of Spring isn't much fun! So we stayed around the house most of this weekend - aside from our first big trip to Wal-Mart. And don't ask me how we managed to make it almost 6 mos. before we took him to Wal-Mart! I can't believe it. But he was wonderful - slept almost the entire time and was perfectly content! He really is such an amazing little guy. We're so lucky that he's so laid-back. Most of the time at least. :-)

So we hung out this weekend in our jumparoo. Check out these thighs!

"Mom - I hope you didn't just take a picture of my thighs for your blog......" :-)
And we had peas for the first time. That officially completes our Stage 1 veggies. Love them all!

I think his teeth were bothering him again this weekend. He was pretty fussy today. He's been drooling like crazy and gnawing on everything in sight. I decided to try that fresh food mesh "thing" - whatever it's called. I stuck a frozen peach in there. He wasn't sure at first but I think he ended up liking it. Before eventually throwing it down and dissolving in tears. Some things are only made better by Mommy hugs. :-)

We also FINALLY put his letters up in his room. Only took us 6 mos. Yeah - we're good like that w/ household projects. :-) Little crooked, but whatever. They're finally up. :-)


And this weekend, my adorable son has developed this very odd-looking habit of sucking on his bottom lip. I tried to get a picture but it doesn't really do it justice. He just sits there most of the day sucking on that lip like it's a pacifier! So I've tried offering him his paci again to see if he'd take it. Today, he finally took it and chewed on the handle part like it was a teether. Oh well - guess I'll be thankful for not having to break him of the habit later, but it would be nice once in a while if he took it. But no, guess he's content sucking on his own lip. And it makes the funniest noise as he goes to sleep! I'm wondering if it's because his gums hurt. I hope it stops when his teeth finally pop through. He looks better w/ two lips! Still pretty cute though.

Easter Bunny!

The Easter bunny came to visit daycare on Tuesday. Ms. Kaitlyn reported that all went well - none of the babies were scared of the giant bunny. :-) Looks like Carson didn't mind him at all!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Pictures

My friend Kirsten is a budding photographer and took some really good pictures of the little man during our play date! Thanks Kirsten!

Play Date!!

We had a play date today at Nancy's. Babies everywhere! It was a lot of fun. Hopefully we can do more!

Carson and Elizabeth

Last time they got together, Carson cried almost the entire time. Hopefully he made a better impression this time. :-) Cute couple. Ha, ha.



























The Triplets! (Kate, Nolan, and Alison)



Whew! Play dates are exhausting!

Belly

People keep asking me if Carson's started sleeping on his belly yet, and I keep saying, "No, thank goodness, not yet" knowing that I'll freak out the first time he does (because I'm paranoid like that. Lol). Then I woke up Saturday morning to this...... :-)


I know, rationally, that he can roll over, so he should be fine to sleep on his tummy. But still....I'm a first-time mom and I worry about everything. :-) And I'm fine as long as his face is turned all the way (well, kind of), but he's been doing this face-down thing that freaks me out. But....trying not to worry. I'm glad he usually snores so I don't have to run in and check on him all the time. Ha ha. He DID sleep thru the night......

Good morning Mr. C!
Still, I'd prefer this (tonight)

Soooo big!

Um.....think someone's officially too big for his bouncer.

Pears - Yum!

Tried pears tonight! Loved them! Just peas left to try. (And prunes - but we don't need help pooing right now!)

Sleep training

Carson's finally starting to feel a bit better. He still has a nasty cough and isn't quite back to normal, but he's definitely better than last week. Thank God! But.....since he's been sick, we've been having major sleep issues. I know I shouldn't complain. We've been VERY lucky w/ Carson - he's pretty much been sleeping through the night since about 8 weeks or so. But we'd have to rock him to sleep. Every once in a while, he'll wake once, but pretty much go right back to sleep after a few cuddles. So, we really hadn't worried too much about sleep habits. Well.....I don't know if it's sleep regression or just that he's been sick, but for the past couple weeks, he hasn't even come close to sleeping through the night. And most nights last week, he would not only cry, but SCREAM every time we put him down. He'd fall asleep the moment we picked him up, but would scream the moment he went down. It was so bad this weekend....and I knew he didn't feel well. It was just so sad. So I actually ended up sitting/sleeping on the couch holding him.....all night. I know - not a good idea. But I just wanted him to get some rest. And he slept all night. Not a peep. But once Sunday rolled around and he was acting like he felt better (and I could barely bend over because my back hurt from the couch - lol), I decided enough of that. We're going to sleep in the crib no matter what. Guess it's time for "sleep training". Ugh.

I dreaded having to work on sleep habits and was just hoping we'd be lucky. :-) I couldn't bear to think of leaving him in his crib all alone and crying. But we have to try something I guess. He's been sleeping swaddled, too, up until this point. We tried a couple times (half-heartedly) to break that, but he'd wake during the night. I figured that since his sleep was all screwed up though, there's no better time to stop it. So, we started Sunday. The first two nights were rough. It's so hard to see him cry and not pick him up! But it really lasted only 10 minutes or so the first night. Just felt much longer. Lucas just sat in there and patted his belly until he finally gave in. I've read stories from parents where it took 30+ minutes for several days......so once again, I know we're lucky! But he did pretty well and only woke up a couple times. I actually think he's going to sleep better now that he's not swaddled. He likes to sleep w/ his arms up in the air and he seems to like to sleep on his side now. And those fingers are available for mid-night sucking if needed!

And... knock on wood, for now (I'm SURE we'll have more issues later), but for NOW, we're sleeping through the night again! Whew! This is night four and he went down w/out a problem. Probably shouldn't get too excited, but let's hope it keeps up! I'm sure there will be a night or two that I'm still going to give in and rock him to sleep. But they're only babies for so long..... :-)

My favorite things......

Fat piggies!!!!

SO glad The Office is back!

Carson is a fan too......