Sunday, April 29, 2012

Giggles and Cereal

It's hard to imagine...one year ago I was ecstatic to realize that the fertility drugs and IUI had worked, yet I was living in a constant state of fear that we would miscarry again. I was prepping for the date that our little one was suppose to arrive. I had a hard time imagining that things would go our way. A year ago, we had our first ultrasound of Mr. Coop. The measurements were perfect, and we saw his heartbeat for the first time.

Where has the time gone? My tiny little fella is tiny no more. He has completely filled out! Coop is 4 months and lovin' it!

Current Weight- 16lbs 10oz (2.6lb gain) 
Current Height- 26 1/2in (1/2-1 inch gain give or take) 
Current Favorites- The monkey on the activity mat, Standing, Taggie Blanket, Winkel, and Chewing on...well anything 
Current Dislikes- Wearing a bib, Being held by anyone other than Mommy and Daddy, the pediatrician's office 

Coop has a great little personality, but he really only shows the real fun loving boy around people he knows well. If I take him to visit others, he pretty much just stares at them with little to no sounds or movements. He reminds me of a deer in headlights. At home though, he yells and babbles so loudly. Mike says he sounds like a baby pterodactyl. He scootches all over his activity mat, even when he is on his belly, he does a little army crawl. He giggles a ton when I say, "I'm gooooooonnna getcha!" I don't even have to touch him and he laughs so hard. He is extremely ticklish, which I exploit like a good Mommy.

When I started writing this post it went something like this...Sleep is still quite an issue. He sleeps for usually 3-4 hours and then loudly demands to be fed. There have been 2 rare instances that he slept for 5 hours...total flukes. The doctor recommended to give him a tablespoon of cereal in his bottle for nighttime feedings, but it hasn't helped his sleep or his reflux. Speaking of reflux we are on medication #2. It is a tablet, which we get to cut in half and put into his mouth. F-U-N! It seems to be helping a bit, but the other one worked for a bit too. Anywho, little Mister usually takes a nice long nap for me in the morning (about 2 hours) and then takes 2 45-60 minute naps in the afternoon. Notice I said "for me" bwhahahaha, this is not the case for anyone else. Mike rarely gets even one good nap. This little guy is me in terms of sleeping habits.


However; the tide seems to be turning! A week ago, the little mister began sleeping for 5 hours at a time!! One night he went 7 (this truly was a fluke though). 5 hours....we'll take it! It usually means just one middle of the night feeding. Very exciting stuff!

Also, we decided to start unswaddling. Mainly because by the time Coop woke, he looked something like this...

I was very worried about unswaddling him. He seemed so dependent on it for falling asleep. So, far...so good though! Yes, it takes him a little longer to fall asleep because his hands are so yummy, but overall, things are going very well!

I am enjoying being back at school. But, it is hard to be away from him for so long. I am definitely counting down to summer, for sure! I can't wait to take him to Brookfield Zoo and the Shedd Aquarium! I am already scared of going back full time in the fall. I guess it's a bridge I will cross when I get to it.

I absolutely adore this little guy. He has brought so much love and joy to my life. I think back to life before, and I simply can't imagine life without him.




Tuesday, April 10, 2012

This Little Piggy

This little piggy hates the carseat,
This little piggy is handsome,
This little piggy likes to giggle,
And, this little piggy sleep fights,
And, this little piggy went oink, oink, oink every hour in our home!

Ok, I'm not much of a poet, lol. I smell a growth spurt. The little Mister is suddenly eating all of the time! This morning he at 5oz at 9:15 and then 4 1/2oz at 10:45. Oh and by the way, he is still up every 3 hours to chow down.

I have fear in my heart of what is to come...Coop is almost consistently breaking free of his swaddle. I wouldn't mind using a sleepsack, IF he wouldn't become so consumed with gnawing on his hand that he doesn't fall asleep for nearly an hour! I never imagined how much I could talk about sleep habits, it's become an obsession.

Mr. A-Loop visited the big bunny at the mall over the weekend. I was a tad disappointed. I expected Coop to be screaming or what I really wished for was for Coop to sport those big buggy eyes that I adore...

He would have matched the giant wabbit perfectly. Instead, my little feller didn't notice the ginormous germ invested bunny, he stared at the archway of flowers and laid there like a little meatloaf. A tasty little meatloaf that would later need to be disinfected.

Let's go over what my little meatloaf got for Easter...plastic eggs filled with cash, a Tigger rattle, a stuffed duck, a vibrating toy thingy, two outfits, and A SLIDE. That's right my 3 1/2 month old got a slide. It just makes me laugh. His Grandma and Grandpa LOVE him so much, he's just a lucky little guy!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Concentration

Mr. Coop has gotten pretty good at grabbing things. As it would seem, the smaller the better. This morning while we were playing, I gave him a strand of links.
Sassy Ring O' Links Rattle Developmental Toy
He had them in his tight little fist and had a serious look of concentration on his face. He stared at his hand and sloooooowly pulled it towards his mouth. Missed. Tried it again. Missed. I tried to help him, but I could see that he REALLY wanted to get that link in his mouth himself. Try and try as he might, he just couldn't do it. He started crying. I felt bad for him, but it was still unbelievably cute to watch.

Also, after weeks of playing in his bouncer...
Tiny Love Gymini Bouncer
He finally realized that the hanging crab that lights up and plays music is in response to his movements. He stared intently on it and whacked the hanging star. It lit up and played. Then it stopped. And, Whack! It played again. His little light bulb went off and it was amazing. I am soooo excited to see all of his little light bulb moments.