Did you miss me?

Wow. It has been quite awhile since I last posted a Julien update, hasn't it? It's not like I've been busy or anything..... ha! But here I am. Friday night, 7:30. Julien is asleep. Guy is at the Yankees meetup victory party. I *could* be playing another marathon of bejeweled blitz on Facebook, but I decided to give ya'll a little peek into what our little man has been up to this past month.

So on the developmental front, Julien is "cross-crawling" now. This is the style where baby moves the opposite arm/leg in crawling. And he's getting quick about it too! Not walking yet, but still pulling up on everything from the coffee table, to mom and dad. Better balance, not such a weeble wobble. From time to time he will "forget" and let go with both hands (well, most of the time he is only holding on with one hand and holding a toy in the other). He can hold it for a split second... anything longer and baby go boom! When he means to go down, however, he does so with control.

The teeth have been coming in fast and furious. All four lower incisors have cut through, one of the top incisors is in and I can see the other 3 right behind. Needless to say, we have bought stock in tylenol. I don't know what it is, but he doesn't care for the cold teethers very much... I'm thinking about getting Sophie the giraffe. I hear she's a hit!
(yes, I know... you can't see his teeth in this picture. I keep trying.. I must have taken 100 pics and still no teeth in plain view! he's very shy about showing them off!)


Julien's weight gain has slowed down quite a bit. Not sure if its all the extra activity or what. Not worried - he still has rolls and not only is he still nursing, but he is also eating a variety of cereal, fruits and veggies. No jarred baby food for my little man. Its all fresh, steamed, blended and frozen. All the fruits are his favorite - bananas, pears, peaches. All I have to do is wave a spoonful of pears under his nose and as soon as he smells it the mouth is open. Green beans don't quite make the hit list, but he can be enticed to eat them if "hidden" with fruit. Yep, already tricking him into eating his veggies.

Last weekend was Halloween. Harrah's had decorating and trick-or-treat at the office for the kiddies. So, I picked up Julien early from daycare and we paraded him around in his oh-so-cute Chewbacca costume. Felt bad for the neighborhood kids... trick-or-treating time coincides with Julien's bedtime routine so I had to keep the lights out. I've never purposely evaded trick-or-treaters before, but they don't have to deal with a cranky crying baby!

I guess that's all for now... I've rambled on long enough. 'Til next time. and hopefully you don't need to wait another month!

My, how time flies!

Yes, it has been over a month since my last blog post. I haven't gone and dropped off the face of the earth... just busy working and being a mom! Which, by the way, is changing and growing -- almost daily it seems!

Since my last entry, Julien has gotten a bit more mobile. He sits up very well now without any kind of support. He will also reach waaaaay over to pick up a toy (or grab at a dog) and right himself back up without toppling over. Hasn't quite figured out getting onto all fours this way just yet. But crawling isn't going to be his thing. Oh no sir, this boy is going straight to walking! His favorite thing to do these days is have someone hold onto his fingers while he pulls himself up to standing. He will do this over and over and over (and over) again. And while he's up he just wobbles around as he tries to find his legs. Its something like a cross between a drunk and the Ally McBeal dancing baby ~ but not as creepy ;)



Julien has also gotten a lot better at entertaining himself. In fact, right now, I hear him "talking" in his crib. Yes, he is quite the talker... "ba ba ba" "da da da" and the occasional "ma" come out. When he's happy, when he's mad... the only difference is the tone accompanying the babble.

When Julien turned 6mos we started to feed him some additional food as well. Bananas and avocado are the two he has had so far. And not "baby food" -- real bananas and avocados; peeled, mashed and mixed with a little breastmilk for consistency. From what I understand from Julien, everything goes good with breastmilk!

Uh oh, the talking has gone from happy baby to "hey mom, where are you" ... gotta run!

Mmmm Mmmm Good!

Today was Julien's big day... rice cereal! Another first for our little man, and he was a natural. I was expecting him to resist, not know what to do with this strangely textured milk in his mouth, not knowing when to swallow. A little surprised, but not really given the fact that he's been following my fork from plate to mouth at dinner lately. I actually made more of a mess spilling the bowl than he did eating!












Now I just need to make sure not to overfeed him. I started with the "recommended" amount for first feeding - 1Tbs of cereal to 3-4 Tbs of milk. I think I spilled about half, so when he was done I mixed up some more. And he still wanted more.... more reading and research for me now. I've read somewhere that babies who gain weight more quickly in the first 6mos are more likely to be obese at 3 in our "supersize me" world.

Feed me Seymour!

Julien is coming up on 5mos... hard to believe, isn't it??? I've started to think about introducing him to "solid" food... solid, that is if rice cereal slurry is considered solid. This past week we've started getting ready... baby spoons in bright colors and a box of organic (no GEI) rice cereal have been purchased. We even took Julien to Babies 'R Us yesterday to try out some high chairs. We decided to go with the Chicco... it seems pretty comfy and has a nice large tray with removable inserts. Sorry Babies 'R Us, I ordered it online... found a place that was way less expensive, plus no sales tax or shipping. I can wait a few extra days for it. After all, I said we are getting ready to start. Haven't pulled the trigger yet!

Here's a pic of the chair, and no it is not pink.. it is blue and tan.


And here's a few pics of Julien that I took yesterday. He is sitting up pretty good supported now, still a little wobbly but I can tell he is using those abs to pull himself forward/back when he goes a bit too far. Of course, if he goes way to far one way or the other, he will fall.

Got Teeth?

So, I think I know why Julien was not feeling so well a couple of weeks ago... last Thursday I just happened to notice two little teeth sticking out through the gum line, bottom center. They are so cute. But poor little guy, it must hurt. He hasn't been sleeping as well the past few nights and lucky me.... I get to play the part of "Human Pacifier" for (what seems like) hours on end. And they may be small, but man, when he chomps down it hurts!

Side note... went for his 4-month well vist two weeks ago. Julien is now 16lbs, 10ozs. Still 24.5in long. Yes, quite short and chunky, nothing at all like his mommy... must take after his dad :)



P.S. Getting a shot with teeth was not easy... so sorry if this is a little blurry!

Poor Boo Boo

Poor little booboo (yes, that is our "baby" name for Julien. not sure where it came from, but it has stuck! sometimes its just boo, or little boo, sometimes boo-bear...). Last week he had a fever on Monday. His/our first. I stayed home with him and took him to the doctor. No other symptoms with the fever, so not sure what happened....

And now, a week later, he has a cold. Poor little guy was so stuffy last night. I know he wasn't sleeping very well. I wasn't either, since I slept sitting up with him in my lap so I could keep him a bit more upright. The things we do for our kids! So far it doesn't seem too terribly bad. No fever, his nose is running clear. Drinking plenty of fluids and plenty of wet diapers. He hates the saline drops and aspirator that we use to help clear things up.

I feel so bad for him. There is only so much we can do. I guess the main thing is to hold him and love him. Which we do anyway, just more so right now :) Oh, and wipe his nose, over and over and over again...

Get better booboo!

Musings

I just put Julien to bed for the second time tonight. I love when he falls asleep in my arms. He looks so sweet and innocent.



It is times like these that I think "I could have another one." But then I remember...

* that I haven't had a full night's sleep since he was born. Yes, I can function through the day, but just thinking about sleep without being woken up multiple times is more fantasy than reality. I just read today too that it takes breastfed babies longer to sleep through the night than their bottle-fed counterparts. I forget why tho...yes, short-term memory loss is part of the lack of sleep!
* that I'll probably be 40 (or darn close to it) before Julien's brother or sister comes along. It's been challenging enought with one, I can't imagine taking care of another little one AND Julien. On top of being exhausted all the time all over again, I also have to worry about an increase in problems (for me and the baby) during pregnancy. I had such a good pregnancy with Julien... I would probably be pressing my luck for a repeat.
* the economy is still crap. Guy and I have been lucky in that we both have jobs. Yes, I took a pay cut and it took Guy a bit longer to get hired on this time around than the last time he was searching. Can I bring another child into the world in these uncertain times? Of course, I look around and see pregnant women and women with small children everywhere. It doesn't look like having children has slowed down as the economy has worsened. In fact, I bet the statistics show that it has actually increased. As I seem to recall, there was a baby-boom in MS/LA after Hurricane Katrina. Something to do with not much else to do.....

So for all the reasons I can come up with for not having another one, why do I find myself contemplating it? I've even started looking for a doctor that is pro-VBAC. Just keeping my options open, I suppose. Who knows, maybe we'll just get another dog instead :)