Cheese Please

Today we tried a couple new things.
Breakfast - Cottage cheese and diced peaches. Peaches went well, and he even smiled for the peaches with cottage cheese on them, but the instant he got just a spoonful of cottage cheese in his mouth he'd act like he was chocking to death and couldn't spit it out fast enough.
Lunch - We added American cheese slices to the end of lunch today and I think we have a new favorite.

For me?!?

I'm afraid Jacob is getting to know that good things come from Diapers.com boxes.

Poor thing - there's nothing special in it, just stuff we are storing for a garage sale. However, he doesn't seem too upset.

Oh the Places You'll Go

Less than a week ago Jacob learned to pull up and stand with support. He now can't find any reason to be on the ground and will use anything he can find to help him get up.


The window is a great place to see the world and stand for a bit.


The crib is no longer for sleeping, it's now just another place to party.


And it's always nice when Scoot stops by for a visit.


Above everything - don't lock him in anywhere!

Run, run, run all around the house we go.

Sweet Naps

All the guys in my life are currently napping.

In bed is Michael. Trying to sleep off the remnants of the bug that has swept through our house.

Next to me on the couch is Scoot. Not really napping because he's sleepy, but more as something to do while he waits for someone to get up and move.

On my chest is Jacob. He started his nap in the crib but decided laying on me is more comfortable.

I need to wake Jacob up for dinner, but with as quickly as he grows I know these sweet moments are fleeting.

Thank Goodness for Naps

A couple months ago all I wanted to do was see Jacob roll, now he doesn't stop moving.

I've learned the beauty of baby gates and can cover any appliance or opening under a table with pillows. He finds the most unstable of things to pull up on, and once he's up he gets angry because he's not quite sure what to do next.

For a couple days getting down was as traumatic as not know what to do once standing, however as of today he's getting better at falling down into a sitting position as long as I'm close enough to clap and cheer.

From here on out life gets fun.

First "Real" Trip to the ER

On Tuesday night I picked up groceries and Michael picked up Jacob. When he got home he complained that the day care had once again fed him more than we normally do. This has been an ongoing problem that I thought I fixed. For some reason the director of the center is quick to say he's a big baby and then exceed my feeding plan by not only increasing the amount of bottles given, but also increasing the amount in them. We grumbled about it and decided that Michael needed to go in and talk to her since my efforts seemed to have had only a short-term affect, then we went on with our lives. We started our dinner and I fed Jacob.

Around 7:30 Jacob threw up so we bathed him all seemed fine. Then it happened again, and we started to worry a bit. One more time and phone calls were made and we got instruction from the doctor on call to feed him a couple ounces of formula with a medicine dropper. He still couldn't keep it down so we headed off to the ER around 10:30.

There were about 30 people in the waiting room so we figured we were in for a long night, but within 20 minutes our name was called and Jacob went in for triage. She sent us to the next waiting room and even told us we were next. We honestly thought we were in luck and it would be a simple process.

40 minutes later we were called in to a treatment room and told we were 4th in line. Still not bad.

3 hours later we told them we were leaving because we'd been sitting in a room with a narrow bed and tiny stool for 3 hours, had no clue what the doctor even looked like, and had been told 5 times that it should only be 10 more minutes. One nurse even told us that 2 hours was normal waiting time for an ER then walked off when I told her we'd already been there twice that.

5 minutes later the doctor showed up.

He talked a lot, but we understood from him that he couldn't diagnose it as a stomach bug because there were no other signs. He gave Jacob a 1/2 tablet of Zofran and then we waited to see if that would help him keep something down. They couldn't find any Pedialyte so Jacob got his first taste of Jello - and he LOVED it.

After 6 hours in the emergency room we were finally able to take our sleepy little man home and get 3 hours of sleep until the appointment with our normal pediatrician.

The alarm clock went off 30 minutes before our appointment, we both woke up but Jacob stayed asleep between us, so we nodded off again for 15 minutes. Luckily the doctor's office is close and we still made it right on time. I've never been so happy to only have to sit in the waiting room for 5 minutes.

We discussed the entire night with our doctor (who I have many times said I love because of how good she is) and her simple conclusion was that he had been overfed during the day and his stomach just couldn't take anymore that night.

I talked to Jacob's teacher and told her that he wouldn't be coming in for the rest of the week since I canceled the sub posting I had. She felt horrible and wasn't the one in his room on Tuesday, and I still fully trust her. She is the main reason we want to keep that day care. However, Michael will be talking to the director and letting her know this is the last straw...I'm just glad he's had some time to cool down now.

6 Months at a Glance

It has been a while since I've posted...there just hasn't been time. Subbing has ended up being more than I ever thought it would be, my consulting job, and most of all the most adorable almost crawler that explores every part of the house.

I always knew that our house was a bit cluttered, but the more that Jacob explores and begins to pull himself up the more I notice clutter. So, while I'm playing with him I try to unclutter each piece he pulls himself up on. It isn't the fastest process, but I'm finding it manageable.

Guess I'll have to open the guest room door soon so that he'll motivate me to work on that too!

New things in the past month:
- Jacob has been getting up on all fours for the past couple weeks and rocking back and forth. He's starting to get the crawling motion down, but I think he realizes that he can go faster with his army crawl, so he gets a little irritated with the whole real crawling thing.
- There is no stopping him! Once Jacob started moving I was able to put pillows up to block him, but now those are just a fun obstacle to climb over. In fact, one of his favorite activities is climbing over me. I'm running out of options to keep him in one area.
- Real solids...not just purees. I don't think I've ever said the word puree more, but it looks like I'm nearing the end of that. At the beginning of this month Jacob was unsure about the puffs and Gerber Cheeto looking things, but now he can grab them from his highchair tray and get them to his mouth with no problem at all. He can also handle bananas, avocados and little pieces of bread.
- Every nap and bed time are spent in the crib. This is a big feat for both Jacob and me! It started with naps, then moved to the first couple hours of bed time, and now the whole night. I don't want to jinx it, but it has been amazing and he sleeps so much better in there.
- Smiles and laughs are the best thing on Earth. Every time I come into Jacob's view he gets the biggest smile. We play games and he laughs. You smile at him and he smiles. It is the best feeling in the world.
- Not a developmental milestone, but new for the month; I joined a mommy group. So far I've only gone out for wine with them, but I do have plans to do more. Next week I'm doing another wine outing (which is nice to make new friends and get some time out), zoo trip with the mom and kids, then a family pot luck dinner. Really excited and hope this goes well.

On Friday Jacob turns 7 months. I can't believe how time is flying by.

Changing Seasons

Houston really only has two seasons, unbearable summer, and comfortable winter. Fall and spring are simply one to two week transition periods from summer to winter. Even though we don't have all the seasons I still want to celebrate them, so this weekend I got Jacob out to the pumpkin patch for some cute fall pictures.

In college we had this pumpkin patch near campus called Pumpkinville that I went to every year I was at Bonas. They made apple cider, the roads on the drive out there were covered in red and golden brown leaves, there was a chill in the air, and best of all were the pumpkin doughnuts. Because of Pumpkinville I have yet to enjoy any other local pumpkin patch in our area. After researching every place with pumpkins in our area I finally settled on Dewberry Farms about an hour away because it seemed like they made it an event and the pumpkins were in the fields they were grown in.

After about 40 minutes on the road I decided that this was a good idea because there couldn't be too many other crazy moms like me wanting to drive out to the middle of the country for a pumpkin patch when you're sure to pass about 5 on the way. It was a good thought until we pulled up and there were men stationed on horses across a dozen lanes of long parking directing the traffic.

The line to get in:


Once we got in we realized it was so much more than a pumpkin patch. There were a dozen attractions for kids, a snow cone hut where you got to choose between 20 flavors of syrup and put it on yourself, cannons to shoot ears of corn from, farm animals, and even pig races. Next year Jacob will love Dewberry farms!

This year we paid the entrance fee but only got to use the pumpkin patch, flowers and farm animal areas. They made for adorable pictures!

My aboslute favorite:

First Big Scare

**This post was done a week ago, but it took me a while to download the picture to finish it**

Yesterday was Jacob's 6 month check-up. There may be something strange about me, but I love these visits. Our pediatrician is amazing and she is always impressed with Jacob so it is kind of my chance to show off every little thing he does with someone that really needs to know.

For the past few days though Jacob has been a bit snotty, and starting on Thursday it began to sound like the congestion was in his chest. Thursday night he woke up several times because of the congestion and his stuffy nose. The more it sounded like it was in his chest the more worried we got. By the morning Michael decided to take a half day so that he could come to the appointment with me.

Doctor believe it is Croup plus seasonal allergies, but warned us to come in next Tuesday if it isn't gone by then just in case it is something more that she wasn't detecting. She told us we're doing the right thing by making the bathroom into a steam room and advised us to get a cool mist humidifier. After that he got his vaccines, plus flu shot and off we went.

The rest of the evening went great. The humidifier worked great, Jacob got a bath, all was good.

Around 10:30PM Michael got me from bed saying Jacob felt warm. We did an ear temp check and he was at 101.3. We figured the winter sleeper he was in and his warm swing weren't helping the situation so we took him outside for a bit then brought him back in to take off the sleeper.

His temp immediately began to drop to a safe zone and we gave him some medicine to bring down the now low grade fever.

As Michael and I paced trying to figure out what to do I couldn't help but take a second of how cute Jacob was as he wondered why on Earth we woke him up, but was ready to play.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good
Too cute for words. Jacob crawled under our coffee table today and through to the other side.
The Bad
Apparently I can't leave magazines out anymore.

The Ugly
Thank goodness there are no pictures. I was on the phone sitting next to Jacob in his bouncy chair when I looked over to see poop every where. I'm sure Michael was ecstatic to walk in just in time to help.

Biggest Fan

Before Jacob was born Michael bought an Astros hat from Babies R' Us. This was sweet since much of our early relationship was spent at Minute Maid Park watching the Astros attempt to get to the World Series. He wasn't thinking about any of that at the time though; he's just a sports guy.
Since buying that hat he has been on a mission to find some Texans gear that fits Jacob. He even agrees to go to baby stores to see if they have any Texans stuff out yet.

Right before the season started I found a cute Texans outfit in Jacob's size and surprised him by putting Jacob in it for the first game. He loved it and took pictures on his phone to show people at the game, then came home in a great mood because they won.

Next week was an away game and once again Jacob had to wear the outfit. Although it was a close game, Texans won again.

For the third game Michael went to the game and I had to go to a baby shower so Jacob had family watch him. Michael trusted me to put the outfit on him again and reminded me several times before heading out. I got the onesie on, but with the crazyness of the morning I didn't get the pants on and instead placed them in the diaper bag with directions to put them on before the game started. That afternoon the Cowboys kicked the Texans butts and Michael blamed me because Jacob never got his pants on.

Guess the luck ran out on that outfit because Michael decided to dress him in this outfit for the last game.The new outfit does include the same pants...guess they're lucky pants since they won again.

Happy (half) Birthday to you

Half birthdays are almost important as birthdays, especially if you haven't had a birthday yet. This explains why I was that annoying mom today and told everyone at his day care while I was subbing that today is Jacob's 1/2 birthday.

Every night after Jacob has gone to sleep Michael and I look at each other and talk about how amazed we are with how much he has grown and how we still can't believe this little man came from us. This discussion every night reminds us how blessed we are.

Some of the things Jacob does now:
-Last night he scooted from the middle of the floor in his room, to the hall, all the way through the hall, and into the living room chasing a magazine.
- Holding the bottle is no longer even a challenge. He goes crazy when he sees the bottle and then grabs and steers the bottle to his mouth.
- On the same note it is impossible to get the bottle from him until he's completely done. Most of the time once he's done he'll chew for a bit and then finally throw the bottle down.
- There are two teeth in the center-bottom of his mouth and more on the way. These first two came easy, but the next few look like they'll be a little more troublesome.
- He said "goo" the other day. Just once, but that's enough for me to count it.
- He slaps, hits, and bangs on everything. Seriously, everything.
- He's sitting for longer and longer stretches. If he has something to lean back on he's steady for a good while with no problem, and if there's nothing around him he can go a few minutes.
- Any time I walk into the room that Jacob's in he looks over towards my voice and gives the biggest most adorable smile.

Picture of my big boy as promised.

Hidden so Obviously

On Saturday night one of Michael's friends came over to watch football and play Madden...typical guy stuff. Since I can handle one football game, but not multiple games back to back plus a football video game thrown in there I decided to bake again and spent the entire night in the kitchen (I wish I had my camera to take pictures of them because the cupcakes came out so delicious and I decorated them all like little pumpkins and pies).

At some point having both ovens running made it extremely too hot in the kitchen so I joined the guys. As Justin was talking to me I had a direct view into the dining room when I noticed the camera battery charger that I had been missing for over a month. I did my best to keep in the conversation for the next couple minutes but all I wanted to do was jump up and grab the charger (and of course call out to Michael that I hadn't lost it after all)!
We've torn the house apart looking for this silly thing and all along it was sitting in plain sight on top of the bar cart where we normally store the camera bag. How had we not seen it before?

Because I have a charged battery now I was able to download the pictures that have been sitting there forever, so as Jacob gets ready to turn 6 months tomorrow, I'm happy to show off some 4 month old pictures of him and his love for the TV remote.

Oh look! There is that beautiful remote.

I must HAVE you.

I got it! I got it!

There is nothing better than the remote.

And the first mess goes to...

Today Michael and I both had day long events going on that took more energy than a normal relaxing Sunday.

Michael had to wake up early (actually it seemed a lot earlier last year before Jacob was in our life and sleeping in was a normal weekend thing) to meet his buddies so they could be one of the first ones at the stadium to tailgate. This is a normal home game thing, but this game was important because it was Texans vs. Cowboys. Yelling at the top of your lungs, playing washers in the sun and drinking can be very exhausting.

While Michael was cheering on the team I was part of a 5 person team hosting a shower for a good friend. My main responsibility for the shower was the invitation, but I got there early to help set up. I have to admit that when I first saw how many people were hosting the shower I was nervous because I thought it would get confusing and there are some strong people on the hosting list that I thought would take over...not even close to reality. I was there first, then came the host with the decorations (that were so amazing and I'm in awe of her craftiness and design abilities) so we got the house set up, then came the food which we all prepped together and everything else fell in place. However, after being there for almost 6 hours I realized I had only sat down for about 45 minutes.

Once I got home Michael didn't want a salad or the chicken I had started to defrost so as we discussed where to get dinner from I prepared pumpkin for Jacob. Michael agreed to feed Jacob while I looked at menus online when from the corner of my eye I saw pumpkin fly through the air as Michael let out a yell. I couldn't help but laugh thinking he dropped the spoon or Jacob had hit it out of his hand.

It was more than just the spoon, the entire bowl of pureed pumpkin had been splashed across the breakfast nook.

Poor Jacob just stared with a contemplative look, either wondering why he was in his chair and not being fed yet, or why his daddy got to throw food all over yet he isn't even allowed to smear his face with food without getting a quick wipe down.

Trick or Treat

The other day I was driving through the back of our neighborhood and saw a house completely decked out in Halloween decor. Now we've never even come close to being in the running for yard of the month but more than a month early is just ridiculous.

I understand it is common practice to decorate for Christmas a month early, if not even a bit earlier, but it just doesn't seem the same for Halloween.

On that note though, more than a month early I am trying to figure out what Jacob's costume will be and we think we're set on an idea.

BAMM BAMM!

I'm trying to find this in an infant costume, or start finding pieces to create it. The best part is I got Michael to agree to as Barney.

Next step after costumes...figuring out what exactly we're getting dressed up for besides just passing out candy.

Graduating

We've been trying sippy cups every now and then without much luck. We tried Playtex First Steps and Dr. Browns training cups, but with two teeth in and more coming all he wanted to do was chew on the spout.
This afternoon while looking for a shower gift for a friend we wandered the aisles of Babies R' Us for things that Jacob "needs." This included foam covers for the fire place area plus coffee table and other safety items that we'll quickly need, a larger bath tub, some books. I also found some soft spouted sippy cups by Pampers that we got to add to our collections of cups to try.
Jacob sat in the cart instead of his carrier for the hour we were there. Although the toys and bright colors in every aisle drew his attention he was absolutely fascinated with the registry list (and later the coupons in my hand when we went to the grocery store - he has something for paper) and he sat so well for the first 45 minutes. A guy can only shop for so long I guess because after intently searching for items that were not in the spot they should have been I turned around and he was leaned over one of the side pillows and fast asleep.
Anyway...the main part of this post: This afternoon I put Jacob's meal in the new sippy cup and after a little chewing and playing he had it down.
My little boy is growing up and moving on from the bottle. Maybe we can get that great sleep schedule back again now too :)

Does Not Share Well

On Thursday I came into the daycare with lesson sheets ready for my class of 2-4 year olds. I had a plan and knew it was going to be a good day.
As I got the room ready for the day I noticed Jacob's teacher wasn't there and began to wonder where she was and who was going to watch the babies. No sooner did I start to think about it when one of the other teachers came over and told me that Valerie was out for the day and I would be covering the nursery. Considering that morning I had just told Michael how badly I wanted to spend the day with Jacob, this was perfect!
It ended up being easier than I thought it would be with the 7 month old that crawls everywhere and over everything (including the babies) and the 4 month old that cries non-stop. I was able to keep them happy and entertained.
Surprisingly, the problem child was my little boy.
Although he never cries and naps for long stretches with Valerie, he wouldn't sleep for more than 5 minutes in his crib that day. In order to get him to sleep he had to be in my arms and the second I put him down to take care of one of the other babies he would scream at the top of his lungs.
On the upside though - he found a new favorite toy to play with while sitting - a mini piano. He gets the biggest smile pounding on the keys.

Role Model

There is a new 7 month old at Jacob's day care and the boy climbs, crawls and walks along the wall. He is just go, go, go and I couldn't be more excited.
Although he is a bit energetic and really strong I have high hopes that he will be a good example for Jacob as he learns to move around.
I've been subbing in the class next to Jacob for the past several days and every now and then I get to go watch the nursery for an hour. Watching the two boys stare at each other and the way Jacob follows every move Caleb makes me believe it will be no time before he's crawling around.

He has been able to roll to get where he wants for a while now, but normally stays near his blanket (never on it though), but last night when I got home Michael even noted that you have to watch him because he's traveling so much now. Jacob was on the blanket when Michael went to grab Kleenex. He turned around to see Jacob across the room by the fireplace.

On the same line of role models, I've met a few not so good ones while working at the center. Mainly they're in my class - 2-4 year olds. There are nine in my class; 7 girls and 2 boys, and about 6 of them are alpha kids. I'm surprised I still have a voice after constantly explaining why we do not hit each other under any circumstance and then repeatedly saying, "go to time out."

I truly can't stand the bullying going on, but the worst part is the lack of potty training. I've had to change two poopy diapers for a 3 year old. These kids barely fit on the changing table.

I'm ready to get in the classroom with older children, but this experience had definitely shown me a few ways I want to make sure I raise Jacob.

Back to Work

I've taken about a month off from blogging, but am finally getting back to it. In fact I've taken a month off a lot of things, and have spent 99% of my time with Jacob. I admit for the past several weeks I have become an over involved mom...and I've loved every minute of it to be honest.

I'm ready to enter the real world again.

Jacob is now 5 months and moving all over the place. He isn't crawling, but he scoots and rolls across the room to reach whatever toy he's focused on or to just explore. He doesn't see the point of staying on the soft, clean blanket that I lay out for him.

He also has his two bottom teeth. They aren't completely there yet, but have fully poked through the gums.

His personality is showing more and more every day and I can't wait to start sharing again, but first I need to find the charger for my camera battery. Really hope I can find it before Michael realizes I can't find it.

Crazy Busy

I've been really lack with my posts lately. I just never realized how busy I would be staying at home. With him scooting around now and always wanting to play the only free-time I get is when he's napping.

The only problem is the only way that Jacob takes a good nap is if I'm holding or near him. We're working on the crib napping, but that means there are only 10 minute breaks between calming him down.

I have loved every second of it though, and hopefully we'll get into more of a routine and I can get back to updating regularly.

Tomorrow Jacob goes to daycare in the morning so that I can go take my last test for teaching and I'm thinking of keeping him in for the day so I can start packing for an upcoming trip and finish the laundry that has been building up.

I love how Jacob has playmates at day care and the interaction he gets there, but does it make me a bad mom to take a day off from being mom to get stuff done?