Solid foods, here I come!

Lately, Austin has been screaming and crying every time he finishes his bottle. I've been increasing the ounces he takes per feeding but his stomach can only hold so much at a time before he will spit up or vomit. Since he is approaching 4 months and the Dr. said we could start solids at 4 months, I went ahead and tried out some rice cereal to see if this solved our little problem.

After a bottle, I set him in his high chair and mixed a little bit of his rice cereal with some breast milk to make it extra soupy. I got a little spoonful and air planed it into his mouth and he gave me a very confused look and most of came dribbling back down his chin. He's still got that baby reflex where he pushes stuff out of his mouth with his tongue so it was a challenge keeping some of it in.

I think I managed to get in a teaspoon or two and he seemed to tolerate it but wasn't overly thrilled. I think I'll wait until our next doctor's visit in 2 weeks before I try again to see if he thinks Austin really is ready for solids. Since our little boy is 16 lbs. now it just seems that breast milk isn't filling him up as well as it used to. I can't wait to start solids full time because it's one more thing I can enjoy doing with him during the day!

Preppy!

Austin has SO many clothes in size 0-3 months and he's going to grow out of them any day now. I've been dressing him up in some of the outfits everyday to at least say that he wore them once. He also thinks it's a game when I dress and undress him so it's actually pretty fun for both of us. Here's my little boy modeling his latest look! :)

25 Random Things

This has been going around so I thought I'd take a stab at it!

1. I was born in Columbia, SC
2. I have a younger, but taller sister
3. My first pet was a cat named Miss Kitty
4. I now have 2 cats, Dakota & Jack and a dog, Lucy
5. Lucy sleeps in bed with me and Ryan and cuddles up right in between us
6. I hate ALL seafood, even the breaded and fried kind
7. I also dislike almost anything white and creamy like mayo, cream cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing, etc.
8. I've had my appendix out
9. I was a cheerleader in high school
10. I am only 4'10"
11. I love board games but don't care if I win or lose
12. I am a hypochondriac and always worry a simple bruise or rash is some kind of mysterious illness
13. I sit everywhere with my legs crossed indian style, even in restaurants
14. I can't whistle
15. I'm obsessed with make-up
16. I majored in psychology at Clemson University
17. I wish I could be a photographer
18. I can say my ABC's backwards really fast
19. Austin is named after mine and Ryan's favorite country song
20. I couldn't swallow pills until I was in college
21. I really hate scary movies
22. I have never owned a pair of jeans that fit me right
23. I've never met anyone famous
24. I look forward to checking the mail everyday and Ryan makes fun of me for it
25. I hate reading directions so I try to put things together based on logic and the picture on the box

2nd attempt at the Bebe Pod...

I think he liked it!

Playtime!

My neighbors love me!

Sittin' High!

Grandma Jo Ann bought Austin his high chair for Christmas and I finally got around to setting it up this morning. Even though he's not eating solid foods yet, at least we can let him sit at the table with us while we're eating so he can see us and what's going on. He seemed to be pretty comfortable in his new chair, just check out the cute pictures! :)

Video of Austin in the Wash Pod

1st visit to Grandma Jo Ann's

Austin went to visit Grandma Jo Ann over at her house last night for the first time. She made us a nice dinner which Austin was determined to interrupt, but you know grandmas, they will always forego a meal to play with their grandbaby!

Here's a picture of our little guy all bundled up and ready to go to grandmas!

Bath in a bucket

I bought Austin something called a WashPod for Christmas because we've gotten in the routine of having a bath every night before bed. Of course, he doesn't really get that dirty so I was only washing him every other night or every 2 nights so his skin didn't dry out too much. The other times he just sat in the bath and I poured warm water over him so he could relax.

Well the WashPod is like a bucket you fill with water and baby sits upright in it. It's supposed to simulate the womb but I liked it because it would submerse Austin in the water so he wouldn't get too cold. (It also requires less water than his bathtub which saves us money and is better for the environment!) Here are some pictures of Austin in the WashPod. He really enjoys it and especially likes trying to lick the water!

Where's the snow?

My mom called me yesterday and said "where are all your pictures of Austin in his 1st snow?" She had been checking the blog and looking for them since she knew the forecast had been calling for snow here in Greenville.

Well, I looked outside at 11pm Monday night and saw a few flakes coming down and then at 2am I saw a dusting on the deck out back and finally went to sleep dreaming of the beautiful snow covered trees I hoped to wake up to.

Austin woke me up at 6am and I hurried to the window to take a peek outside to see.....

...NOTHING....

just brown wet grass and cold bare trees.

I guess we'll have to hope for more a little more snow this year so I can dress Austin up in his Winnie the Pooh snowsuit and get those 1st snow pictures!

Milk Allergy

Ryan and I both had a cow's milk allergy when we were born and as it turns out, Austin does as well. When he was born, Austin had trouble with his latch on when it came to breastfeeding and the lactation consultants think it had to do with his recessed chin. Since I was determined to give him the best start in life by feeding him breastmilk, I was forced to pump and feed him by bottle early on until I healed and the swelling went down. Well, after being introduced to the bottle so early, he constantly refused to feed at the breast. Ever since, I've had to take on double duty and pump and feed him by bottle everytime.

Well, on Thursday I decided to give him his very first taste of formula because my milk supply has started to decline due to the constant pumping and I was getting worried that we may have to start supplementing soon. I made up a bottle of the pre-mixed Enfamil formula the hospital gave us when we went home and he took the bottle of formula with no problems (although I gagged at the smell of the stuff). He seemed to tolerate it well, however, the next morning I got him up and noticed a red rash all over his little body. He was also not his usual happy self and fussed throughout the day and could not be consoled.

After much worry and discussion, we finally found out that the rash and fussiness were most likely the cause of a cow's milk allergy from the formula. We haven't noticed this with breastfeeding because only a small amount of dairy makes it into breastmilk and I have a lactose intolerance which makes me avoid most dairy products anyway. The formula, however, was made from cow's milk and that large amount of the milk proteins seemed to have affected him.

Since Friday, I have begun to take an herb called Fenugreek to help stimulate my milk supply and we are throwing out the supplementing option until we have no other choice or Austin reaches at least 6 months of age. I imagine at that time we will have to buy a hypoallergenic or soy based formula which is more expensive than the cow's milk kind, so we will take advantage of our free food option for as long as we can!!

As for Austin, his rash has faded and is almost gone, but he has still been fussier than usual. We have taken him out to eat with us twice this weekend and have had to take him out of his carseat and hold him while we were eating to keep him from screaming. We also got a bad report card from the church nursery this morning and when I left dad in charge while I went to the grocery store this evening, he said Austin cried and cried the entire time I was gone. This is apparently normal behavior in milk sensitive infants and should subside shortly. I'm just glad we found this out early on, before we started him on formula full time!

Things Daddy says...

"I mean, It's not just me right? It's not just because I'm his dad is it? He really is the cutest baby you've ever seen, isn't he."

Happy 3 months, Austin!

Today Austin turns 3 months old, a quarter of a year, 13 weeks, 94 days! I can hardly believe he's been in our lives for so long but I can't imagine life without him! He has changed so much in these 3 months and he's growing up right before our eyes. On one hand I want him to stay this size forever, but on another, I can't wait to watch him learn and grow and interact. I love that I can hold him in my arms and read him a book and have him look at me and the colorful pages with those big, bright eyes....but I also look forward to the day where he can sit on my lap and read the book to me.

Three months is a stage where things start changing pretty rapidly as an infant's vision and awareness of the world around them really starts to improve. Austin has already accomplished so many milestones in his short little life, and while they might seem insignificant to some, they are absolutely enormous to the watchful first time parent.

Just like last month, I'd like to make a list of Austin's accomplishments and milestones that he's reached at 3 months:

-One of the most exciting accomplishments is that Austin is sleeping through the night! He goes to bed between 9-10pm and will wake up between 6-8am. He's also gotten into a pretty good schedule where he will take his morning nap around 9am and sleep for 2 hours and then take his afternoon nap about 3pm and sleep for another 2 hours. Of course he still has 2-3 power naps in between, but for the most part he is awake for the majority of the day now.

-Whereas Austin used to eat every 2-3 hours, he is now eating around every 4 hours with about a 9 hour stretch at night.

-Austin is starting to try and reach for things like the toys on his playgym and jumperoo. His movements still aren't very smooth so it looks like he's hurling his arms at things and he's not too precise with his grabs, but this is a very new milestone which will improve greatly, I'm sure, over the next few weeks.

-Austin has also become very aware of his surroundings lately. He certainly notices our dog, Lucy and the two cats when they walk by him and he's always looking around with those big curious eyes. He's also become very aware of his hands which he constantly tries to put in his mouth and he's starting to notice his feet and stare at them inquisitively when they move about. Unfortunately, this new awareness has also made him more susceptible to loud noises like the dog barking, which often frighten him and make him start to cry. However, he is also able to pick out mine and Ryan's voices and he will look for us and even smile when he hears us talking.

-Finally, Austin is developing nice strong muscles and can sit up (with support) and push off with his feet. He loves to be in the sitting position either in my lap or in his Bebe Pod. He also loves to bounce in his jumperoo or in my lap as well. He's always moving around and loves to stay active.

Open mouth, insert hand!

A couple weeks ago Austin discovered his hands...and he also discovered that they fit well in his mouth. Since then it seems that whenever the pacifier is out, the hands are in! He doesn't favor a particular finger or thumb, he just likes to chew on his fists in general. If you take a look at the pictures from the photo shoot you will probably see what I mean. Since he has such a passion for his hands, I'm interested to see what he does when he discovers his feet!

Strike a pose!

I decided to have a little photo shoot with Austin this morning in our living room in honor of his 3 month birthday coming up on Thursday! Here's a look at some of my favorite shots!

Precious baby parts...

Austin's 1st experience in the jumperoo

Sleeping through the night!

I don't want to jinx it, but for the past few nights Austin has been sleeping through the night! I don't mean the technical form of sleeping through the night of 6-7 hours, were talking 9 and 10 hours of sleep!! For instance, last night he went down around 7:30pm and didn't wake up until 6am! To make things even better, he went down for his morning nap around 8:30am and didn't get back up until 11am. Needless to say, I feel nice and rested today and I've got a pretty content little guy!

You may wonder what we started doing different and the answer is NOTHING! He still has nothing but breastmilk and has about 5-6 ounces every feeding. We haven't added rice cereal, formula or given him bigger bottles before bedtime. He's just finally maturing and getting on a good schedule. Per our doctor's advice, we usually keep him awake and active for most of the day with only 1 or 2 naps for a couple hours at a time. This means that he's nice and ready for bedtime and will sleep hard for several hours until he's good and rested and ready to get up.

I can only hope this trend continues and those restless nights are finally over!

Well baby visit

This afternoon was Austin's 2 month well baby doctor's visit. We've been looking forward to and dreading this day all at the same time. I was excited about hearing Austin's new growth percentiles but dreading the 4 shots he was going to get!!

As for growth, he is now almost 15 lbs. and 23.25 inches long. His weight percentile dropped down a tiny bit to 83rd and his height dropped to the 45th percentile. I was a little concerned about his height percentile since I myself am only 4'10 and that height would be devastating to a boy, but the doctor said that even if he remains in this percentile range he would still be about 5'8 or so. Of course, we are still hoping he can come close to reaching his dad's height of 6'1!

As for Austin's cold, things seem to be clearing up pretty well. The doctor noticed a little congestion but nothing to be worried about and said that baby's this young with colds could take up to 2 weeks before they are symptom free. He does, however, have blocked tear ducts which have caused his leaky eyes that we thought were being caused by the cold. It's nothing to worry about yet, I just have to massage the ducts a few times a day to try and clear them, but if they don't clear up by about 6 months it could require a simple surgical procedure to correct.

The doctor also noticed at this visit patches of excema on Austin's back and arms. He said this is usually genetic but neither me or Ryan know of any family with this skin condition. The only thing to do really is to cut out all perfumed lotions, shampoos and body washes and rub him down twice a day with thick unscented, hypo-allergenic lotion and some hydrocortisone. He said not to worry and that this routine should clear it up pretty well.

Finally, the moment we were dreading, it was time for the shots. Two nurses came in and took two needles a piece and jabbed his little thighs at the same time. At first Austin had a look of shock come over his face, then he started to wail once he realized what had just happened. It was over very fast and I picked him up and he whimpered a little but quieted down almost immediately. When I went to put his clothes back on he even gave me a smile to let me know it was all OK. :) I've got such a brave little boy!!

We left the office and Austin fell asleep on the ride home and took a little 15 minute nap. He's now up and playing and happy as can be so it looks like the shots barely phased him! I can't seem to stop from tearing up when I think about the event, however. I'm happy that we at least get two months off before anymore shots.

The face of sick

Here's a few picture of Austin from this weekend while he was battling his cold. I even put him in his playgym to see if I could get a smile, but he was so worn out he just fell asleep!

Winter woes

Well we finally made it through the weekend with a pitifully sick little one. He was so miserable and it just killed me and Ryan to see him and not be able to do much to make him feel better. I know how whiny I get when I'm sick and it makes me so proud of my little man for doing as well as he did! After seeing how sick and pitiful he was, Ryan made the comment that he wanted to find the individual who gave Austin these germs and punch them in the face. It was funny to see how protective he got of his little boy...Ryan's such a sweet daddy!!!

Austin only had a simple cold but since baby's don't know how to clear their noses, I basically had to do it for him with a bulb syringe and saline. Of course he screamed everytime I did it and I don't blame him because I'm sure it wasn't comfortable. I got out as much 'stuff' as I could but he was still so congested that he could hardly eat or suck on his pacifier because it made it hard for him to breathe. A couple times after getting a little food in him he would start to cough so violently that he would throw it all back up. This was about the saddest thing to watch and made us both feel incredibly helpless. Ryan and I just tried to soothe him as best we could while he was awake and do whatever possible to try and make things a little easier for him.

Well anyway, this morning I woke up to the sounds of Austin cooing in his crib and was pleasantly surprised to see his smiling back at me when I went to get him. He smiled and giggled while I talked to him and changed his diaper and even ate a lot more than he had been. He did have one pretty bad coughing fit but he sounded much better today than he has in a while. We did skip church, however, just to make sure Austin didn't pass anything on to the other babies in the nursery.

Ryan and I were so happy and relieved to see that Austin was feeling better, but unfortunately it seems that the two of us have now caught the dreaded cold! Luckily we spent Saturday taking down all the Christmas decorations and getting the house in order so today we just moped around, napped, sniffled and coughed. Hopefully the whole family will be back to normal by the weekend and we can finally get out of the house for a little while and do a little after Christmas shopping!!

Photobook

Make a Smilebox photobook

Year in Review!

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought it would be fun...

The Year In Review:
1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? I had my beautiful baby boy, Austin Ryan!
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't have a resolution last year, but this year it is to drink more water and try and lose this baby weight!
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Two good friends had their little ones in 2007, Tonya & Stefania
4. Did anyone close to you die? No, thank the Lord
5. What countries did you visit? We traveled to the British Virgin Islands during our St. John trip
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? More energy, patience and kindness for others.
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? October 15, the day Austin was born!
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Getting pregnant and having my baby boy!
9. What was your biggest failure? No failures, but I dissappointed myself at times.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Haha, my episiotomy maybe!? ;-)
11. What was the best thing you bought? Austin's rainforest playgym, he loves it!!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Austin, of course!
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I'll keep this one to myself!
14. Where did most of your money go? St. Francis and Babies R Us!
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The birth of my baby boy!
16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Austin by Blake Shelton
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:a) happier or sadder? happier now that Austin is in my life :) .b) thinner or fatter? definitely fatter c) richer or poorer? probably the same
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? spent time with my family
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? gotten upset over stupid things (and people!)
20. How did you spend Christmas? with all my family
21. Did you fall in love in 2008? I fell in love with my baby boy the moment I laid eyes on him!
22. What was your favorite TV program? Heroes
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I don't hate them, but I am dissappointed
24. What was the best book you read? Jenny McCarthy's Belly Laughs
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Austin's lullaby CD's
26. What did you want and get? my little boy to get here safely!
27. What did you want and not get? I can't think of a single thing!
28. What was your favorite film of this year? I honestly don't know, it will probably be Marley & Me if I'm ever able to go see it :)
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 27 and I spent it with Austin and Ryan on the couch eating pizza and watching the Clemson v. Illinois basketball game :)
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I can't think of anything better than giving birth to my sweet little guy!!
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Maternity!
32. What kept you sane? Austin & Ryan
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? No one
34. What political issue stirred you the most? The presidential election
35. Who did you miss? At times I missed seeing my friends and family more
36. Who was the best new person you met? Austin Ryan Harris!
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Motherhood is the toughest yet most rewarding thing you can ever do with your life!
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "You've got the cutest little baby face!"