ANDY

Happy weekend, y'all!  Hope everyone's weekends are off to great starts!

Both boys slept through the night great last night, but Eddie and I managed to be up about 50 times.  We both got hot, so we kicked off all of the covers, and then 20 minutes later, we were cold, so we pulled the covers back up...this went on ALL night! Go figure! After I do this little update, I just might go get a little shut eye.  It's doubtful, but I am going to try!

I felt the need to update on my sweet little nugget, Andy.  Gah, I love this kid.

So, my last post was about weaning him down from nursing.  Last Saturday, I dropped down to one nursing: just before bed.  On Sunday night, as I was nursing him, he noticed that I didn't really have that "let down" feeling of my milk coming down like I used to.  Then I noticed that he really wasn't getting a whole lot from me... but the snuggle time was awesome nonetheless so I just snuggled in a little tighter and kissed his head a million times.  While I was rocking/kissing him, I started to think that he this right here might very well be my last time nursing ever!  I don't know if we will have any more kids, and if we do, if that baby will go the breast-fed route (since we all know it is up to the babies!).  That, of course, got me all kinds of emotional.  Breast feeding is NOT for everyone...maybe people count down the days until they are done with it.  For me, I really like it! ANYWAY... before I get all sappy on here, let me just say that while I was rocking him on Sunday night, I realized that it was time for him to be done nursing...and that was it! I haven't nursed since then.  And Andy is doing GREAT!

He chugs his sippy cups of milk like a champ-- still refusing a bottle.  I chatted with my pediatrician about it and she said skip 'em all together, so we have!
He is sleeping great- taking 2 naps a day, the afternoon one usually over 3 hours, and sleeping through the night (can I get an halleluiah?! ).

He has quite the healthy appetite and it cracks us up to watch him eat.  He literally shovels food in his mouth.  This morning, Eddie was loading him in the carseat and Andy saw a cracker crumb in the seat (note to self: vacuum car this weekend) and Andy dove onto the cracker bit to shove in his mouth before Eddie could take it away.  He refuses to wear a bib and has found a way to take off any kind (Cal was the same way!), so meal times are usually quite messy. 

Andy is such a speedy little crawler.  It is pretty amazing how fast he can go! Cal never crawled the normal way, so it's cute to see Andy's little bum sway back and forth as he scoots down the hall.  Andy pulls up on everything, but he is a little hesitant to let go (with both hands).  If I am standing behind him holding his hands, he will walk great--and fast!-, but he doesn't like to have me let go of him.  I think it will be a while still before he walks since he can move so quickly by crawling.  And, I am totally fine with that! He's growing too fast as it is!

 Andy's favorite "toy" right now are books! He looooooves looking at books.  He will crawl through the playroom full of toys right over to the basket of books and he'll just sit and flip through the pages-- it's really sweet!

Speaking of sweet, Andy is my total snuggle bug.  He wants nothing more than to snuggle on me and I LOVE IT.  He curls his little legs up and tucks his head right under my chin and puts those two fingers in his mouth and snuggles right in.  If I am laying on the floor playing, he will crawl over to me, wiggle his way onto my stomach, and then inch his way up to "the position."  I am going to have to have Eddie take a picture of it one of these days.  It seriously makes my heart hurt how sweet it is.  I am leaving him for the first time in a few weeks (gulp...) and I just told my mom I am terrified he won't want to snuggle on me when I get back.  (how irrational am I?  I know, I know...).

His other favorite "toy" is his big brother! These boys love each other and I love watching them.  I know they are going to grow to become the best of friends...or wrestle buddies...whatever.

Enjoy your weekend!  Looks like the rain is stopping here today to clear out for some SUN SHINE!

Andy is 2 months old!

Andy just had his 2 month check up this week!!!  WOW! I swear, time is FLYING by....

We have REALLY turned a corner with Andy and it is WONDERFUL!  He no longer has the nickname "the screamer" and has become a much much happier little nugget, thank you LORD!  When all of the screaming/spitting up/general unhappiness began, my pediatrician (and Jill!) suggested giving up dairy.  I didn't really think I consumed that much dairy, but I was happy to cut out milk and ice cream, etc... when that didn't seem to make a difference, I thought it had to be something else.

But, then I started to notice a correlation between what I ate and his tummy issues.  If I had a cheesy meal (lasagna, casseroles...), Andy had a horrible time with his stomach.  So then it dawned on me like a total dumb head that cheese and butter are both dairy products.... DUH.  Yes, I'm an idiot...I just wasn't thinking CHEESE..ugh.  I read somewhere that it takes about 2 weeks to get all of the dairy that is in your system out of your system.  While we were at the beach, I decided to give up all dairy to just see if it made a difference-- and it did!

Before, if Andy was awake, he was screaming and writhing in pain (literally every second he was awake, he was in pain and screaming bloody murder).  It was SO painful for me to witness and not be able to help him.  I just wished I could have taken all of his pain for me, instead of him.  He was also spitting up around 15-20 times a day-- not just a little spit up here and there, but massive projectile spit up, like I have never seen before. I was changing his clothes up to 6 times a morning and I was having to change my clothes as well. Bibs didn't work...the spit up was traveling further than a bib would reach.

Now, without dairy, if he's awake, he's laughing, cooing and smiling.  Seriously, it is like a new kid.  He VERY RARELY cries, and that's usually only when he's hungry, so it doesn't last very long.  He still dribbles some spit up now and then, but it is nowhere near as often, or with as much force as before.  I really can not get over the difference.  Andy is the happiest little guy now!  WOOHOO!

Some of my friends suggested we stop nursing and start him on "liquid gold" formula.  This special formula got its nickname because it is insanely expensive, but it is so broken down that babies can digest it really easily.  I nursed Cal for 10 months and I really was not ready to give up on Andy yet.  There is nothing against formula at all, but I really enjoy nursing, and I didn't want to quit without fully trying everything.  Thank goodness I didn't give in!

yo! I'm TWO months old now!

We had Andy's 2 month check up yesterday and he did great! Our pediatrician was thrilled to see him so much happier.  The last time she saw him, he was in a great deal of pain and screaming.  She said she's never felt so bad for a mother before.  I guess I was pretty worn down looking! HA!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 13 pounds, 3 ounces--- 75-90th% (Cal weighed 12.5 at his 2 month)
Height: 22.75 inches --- 25-50th% (Cal measured 23.5 inches at his 2 month)
Head circumference: 40 cm--- 50th% (Cal's head was 41.5 cm at his 2 month)
(I think it's neat to see where Cal was in relation to Andy-- Andy seems much longer than Cal and I can't believe he weighs more than Cal did!)

Sleeping:
We are working on this department! He is doing MUCH better than Cal ever did with sleep, thankfully.  Cal took his morning nap in the carseat and his afternoon nap in the swing.  The damn swing.  I have such a love/hate relationship with that thing.  Back on track-- Andy sleeps in his crib; something his brother did not do for months.  Andy takes a morning nap in his crib around 8:30 or 9 and usually sleeps for about an hour.  He takes his afternoon nap in his crib as well, from about 2:00 until about 4:00ish... (as I write this, he is still asleep and it's 4:45....).  He will take little cat naps in between those set naps, which he needs.  Those little naps are usually in the car as we run from place to place and they do not last very long.
Andy is sleeping on his stomach, like his big brother did.  He has a really strong neck, so I don't worry about him too much (however, I do still worry, obviously).
I am trying to rock him until he is almost out, then putting him in the crib drowsy so he can work himself to sleep.  Sometimes this tactic works better than other times. 
Andy has been waking around midnight, 3:00 and 6:00.  I do not change his diaper at the midnight feeding, but I do at the 3:00... I am thinking about not changing it then because it really wakes him up then.  At midnight, he eats and is back down in about 30 minutes.  At the 3am feeding, we are usually up for about an hour, sometimes an hour and a half.  At 6, I just go get him and bring him in bed with me.  He eats for about 10 minutes and then falls sound asleep in my arms, snuggled up.
Our pediatrician suggests that we start letting him cry it out for the 3:00 feeding.  I just don't know that I am able to do that yet.  Isn't he still too young?  Is that what we need to do to get him sleeping through the night earlier?  Cal was such an awful sleeper, I obviously don't know what is best, but I do know that he seems too little for that!

Eating:
Andy is doing great nursing!  He avoided the right side yesterday and the day before for whatever reason.  I had to pump a little to relieve the pressure.  I think that side flows fast than the other side and he was choking on it, and decided that he just wouldn't take that side!  He has been better about it today, thankfully.
He is eating during the day almost every 2-3 hours.  From time off to time back on again, it's at least 2 hours-- never less than.
Andy belches like a man in between sides (and it cracks me up).

Tummy Time:
We haven't been doing Tummy Time as much as we probably should, but we are going to start it this week! Our doctor was impressed with the strength in his neck, but I know we need to continue building that strength by doing tummy time.
Andy has flipped from his belly to back twice.  He does NOT enjoy this at all, but we still cheered for him as he did it!  I want to see him doing this more often so that I am more comfortable with him sleeping on his belly.

Likes/Dislikes:
Andy loves watching Cal and often will just sit in his chair cooing/laughing at his brother.  To be honest, I think it is about the sweetest thing I've ever seen. 
He does not like loud noises that startle him.  That gets him really upset...
Andy has ONE paci he will take.  Just one.  Not one BRAND, but one PACI.  If we lose this thing, we are screwed.  Do any of you have any suggestions for breaking in a paci?  The one he takes was an old one of Cal's (I disinfected it by boiling it, don't worry), so it's really broken in and the nipple is super soft.  All of the other pacis are harder and he won't take it at all.  He will chomp on the "lucky paci" though, and we are very grateful for that! It helps him get to sleep!

All in all, we are really getting used to being a family of 4 and I LOVE IT.  I can not imagine my life without these wild and crazy boys.  I am looking forward to watching Cal and Andy grow up together, play together, and inevitably, get into trouble together! I feel so blessed to have a healthy little boy who is growing like a weed!