5 Months!

Z is 5 months old today. I am so loving this age! He smiles so much and is a joy to hang out with.

So what's he up to these days?

He's sleeping fairly well, give or take a night or two. He sleeps 10 to 11 hours a night, and takes 3 or 4 naps a day. He really can't stay awake for more than an hour and a half to 2 hours at a time. He goes down easily, but he is STILL being swaddled. This is a probably going to be an issue later, but for now, it is helping us all sleep peacefully and after all why would we want to ruin something we've worked so hard for?

He still loves bath time. He has shown a slight fear of the removable shower head in the past, but has always tolerated it pretty well probably because he was so happy in the water that he could ignore whatever it was that scared him about it. Well, the other night, the fear overtook him. I stood behind him and sprayed some fresh water on his head, and he completely freaked out. He was clearly very afraid of the water spray, and it was all we could do to get him out of his tub immediately. It actually took a good while to calm him down after that one. Needless to say, we won't be using that shower head again!

He keeps his fists in his mouth. We have tried various teething toys, but the fists always win! He has no teeth yet, but has enough drool to fill a swimming pool.

We haven't started solids yet. I am waiting until he is 6 months old, so he can get the full benefit of breastfeeding. I am looking forward to starting, though, and I have already ordered some cookbooks for making my own. So, we'll see how that goes.

We are in the process of looking at schools for him to start in August. He is still at home with our nanny half the day and my mom half the day. I'm sure there will be more than one post about this coming up.

For right now, we are more thankful than ever that he is here and healthy. I love every second that I'm with him, and when I'm away, all I can think about is getting home to him!

 I have to admit we are getting pretty good at making him smile on demand. Just love those gums!

Friday Momday

One of my favorite things about my profession is that it is pretty much standard to be closed on Fridays. I have always loved my Fridays off, because it was my me time. When I was pregnant, my Friday routine consisted of going to the OB, then to Brookwood Mall to eat lunch and walk around. Then I would come home, watch some daytime TV and take a nap. I used to eat my Chick Fil-A and watch all the mommies with their strollers and imagine how my peaceful Fridays would change soon, and change they have... for the better! Now, I wake up, make my coffee, sit and feed Z while hubby gets ready for work, play, put him down for a nap, drink more coffee, take pictures, and sometimes we go for an outing, then we get ready for Daddy to come home from work.

It is my Z time instead of my me time, and it is the best way to wind down after a long week and a great way to start off the weekend. I simply love it!

Can't post without a picture or two! Enjoy!

What The Kids Are Doing These Days

Tonight we took Z to Dodiyo's for dinner with our friends Julie and Lance. He did pretty well at dinner, so we decided to go to yogurt mountain afterward, even though it was his bedtime AND time to eat. In fact, writing it out makes me realize how dumb of a move it was. But anyway, the place was filled with pre-teens, tweens, teens, whatever the kids are calling themselves these days. Suffice it to say, we were definitely outnumbered, and Z was the only baby in sight. Nick picked out a table next to a large group of tweeny teen people, and Z decided to have a monumental explosion of screaming, probably worse than he has in a long time. He wouldn't even take his bottle, we knew we would only had one option, bail like crazy, and we couldn't get out of there fast enough.

The only positive thing (besides the yogurt) that came out of that experience was that the prepubescents got a nice little reminder about abstinence.

But on a brighter note, I was able to capture some smiles before we left

4 Month Visit, 2 Weeks Late

It wouldn't be a doctor visit post, without the subtitle listing how late I am getting to the doctor. It's not easy when you can only go on Fridays, and you have pesky things like CE credits that take up your weekend. Anyway, despite the tardiness and snow rumors, we finally managed to get to the doc for the his checkup and dreaded shots. When we arrived it had barely begun snowing, but by the time we left my car was covered!

My mom came with me this time, and the way it fell, it was about time for him to eat, so while we waited on the doc, I fed him some and intentionally stopped a little short so he'd have some left for comforting after shots. The checkup went well, he's 14 pounds 10 ounces and a whopping 25 and 3/4 inches, that's a 3 and 1/4 inch jump from his 2 month height! I was pretty excited about that. Anyway, she said he's interacting well and has good head control and that we can start solids whenever we want. I am opting to wait a bit because I have heard that it's easier if they're a little older. We may begin this weekend, though so stay tuned.

He braved his 4 shots very well. The nurse barely got the last one in before my mom scooped him up. He finished eating and we were off... in the snow. He fell asleep in the car so I dropped mom off to get her groceries and drove around with him. We could all tell that he was struggling after the shots this whole weekend. He just looked a little sad and didn't seem to have a lot of energy. On Saturday, he even ran a little fever, which made me unhappy, even though I knew it was basically normal. Anyway, I think he is probably already back to his old self, give or take a few outbursts of screaming last night, and he's over his cold, so all in all it wasn't so bad.

Here he is on the table. 

My Valentines!

I am so thankful for my 2 valentine's. Z and his daddy. Valentine's Day has special significance for Nick and me. We met New Year's Eve and had a most wonderful first Valentine's Day together. You could probably call it our first date. We had a candlelit dinner, talked, and danced. I have always liked Valentine's Day, but knowing and being with Nick has made me love it more than ever! Now, that Z is in my life, it (along with so many other things) has taken on a whole new meaning!
We decided that this year, it would be only fitting if we spent Valentine's Day as a family. So, we went to Brio together for lunch. My sweet hubby surprised me with a huge bouquet of flowers, and my valentine baby surprised me by being a sweetie at the restaurant. Happy Valentine's Day, Bloggers, and enjoy the pics!

Snow Day, What Else Can You Call It?

It snowed! I kept telling Nick, it's gonna be for real this time, and he didn't believe it, well 2 or 3 inches and a half-day of work later, we faced the fact that it actually snowed in Alabama! It has been beautiful. Here are a few of the pictures we managed to take. A lot of the snow had melted already, but we found a little friend still standing tall.

 

We had to make sure Zayd would have documented proof that it snowed in Alabama when he was a baby!

I'm Not Talking About it Anymore!

It's all about sleep when you have a baby in the house. I have already devoted 2 whole posts to sleep, and I usually try to post when things are starting to turn around. Well, call it 4 month regression or Mom speaking too soon, but things have gone bad again. We had almost 4 weeks of pure predictable bliss, long sleep-filled nights that last 10, 11, sometimes even 12 or more hours. Now, all of a sudden, we are having night wakings that come at unpredictable intervals and are much like those in the first few weeks of Z's life (I'm gonna start abbreviating to protect the innocent), minus the feedings. I think the hardest part is not knowing what kind of night it is going to be when you go to bed. He is still pretty dependent on the swaddle blanket, which he's almost busting out of, and he's been taking pretty good naps during the day. He just has these freak out moments in the middle of the night, and a few times it has taken up to an hour, that's right, an HOUR to calm him down. I guess, I should just resign myself to the fact that my sleep has forever been redefined and never look back!

Anyway, onto other Z news. He's been struggling with a stuffy nose/cold for about a week and a half now. This has been a major sleep disrupter, but we aren't talking about sleep anymore. He is also in the very early stages of rolling over from his back to his tummy, which will also facilitate the aforementioned... I'm still trying to teach him how to hang onto things, other than mommy's hair. That one he's not "picking up" as well yet, I know, I'm funny.

Well, at least he thinks so...

One Year Ago

A year ago today, I found out I was pregnant, what that test didn't tell me was just how much my life would change. I reflected on that change this very morning when I awoke in a daze from another long night of poor Zayd crying off and on with his cold. I realized that our lives were unequivocally altered forever because of what really boils down to one decision.
Around Christmas of last year (2008), we decided it was "time." Whatever that means... But, at any rate, we started the process. Around the end of January I started feeling a little "weird." I can't really describe it, but I think women just know when something is different. I was almost embarrassed to bring it up because I knew it hadn't been very long, and it wasn't likely. So, I waited as long as I could (about 2 days) and just spit it out: Nick, I think we should get a pregnancy test, or something along those lines. Even as I said the words, I wasn't believing it. So, the night of the Burr and Forman after holiday party, we stopped at Walgreens and picked up a couple of ClearBlue's and some prenatal vitamins (I am pretty sure I bought some candy too, because I never go into Walgreen's without buying some candy). I took the first test that night and as I have previously referred, I didn't do it exactly right, because I refused to read the directions, thinking how hard can it be? So, we waited until the next morning, and like a child on Christmas morning, I opened up my test, waited the 2 minutes (which is really not a long time to wait, they've come a long way on those things), and there it was, the vertical line, that I had faintly seen even on the test that was "mishandled." I wish I could put into words the feelings of excitement, anticipation, fear, elation, and relief (well, I guess I could put it into words). While I wasn't sure if I was ready for it to happen right away, I still wanted it to.

I know that before I know it, I'll be looking back at his birth one year later. I know I have gotten sappy on you probably one too many times, but I feel so blessed to have had an easy pregnancy and delivery and most importantly a wonderfully healthy happy (most of the time) baby. I could not ask for more!