This weekend

So this weekend SJ and I took a trip to Bossier, LA to a friends house for her baby shower. I got to hang out with Lacey and Michelle for the weekend while Seth hung out in Maryland with Mickey. It was a great visit, although too quick. And, SJ got to visit with Grandmama, Aunt Steph, and Cousin Sarah and give mommy a break while we were there!
The actual flight was quite and experience that could have been much worse if SJ wasn't such a good kid. To start things off I got to Reagan National and had to park at a complete seperate concourse. Then I got to the ticket counter and realized the car seat base was still in the car. Thank goodness we had enough time that I could check my bag and car seat carrier and go back to the car for the base. The trip home was another experience. I got to the airport to find out our flight was delayed. They didn't know for how long and rebooked us to get home at 10pm. We were orginally scheduled to get home at 5:45. I was not too happy AND I only had enough food/formula to get us through the original time. Thank goodness for Michelle and John who went to the grocery and brought us more formula. The delayed flight ended up getting us to Memphis 20 minutes before our originally scheduled flight departed. So we ran, 2 diaper bags, a stroller, and SJ in the baby bjorn, through the airport to the gate. WOO HOO!!! We made it and they were able to get us on that plane. Everythings great!! Right??? Well, we got in the air and then I realized, what are the chances our luggage got on this flight...yeah, probably not. And I checked the car seat and base. Great! Now what? So as soon as we landed I had Seth call a car rental place to see if we could rent one so he wouldn't have to drive an hour to bring one. Well, all I can say is Northwest Airlines became very accomodating. When I reported the bags missing, they gave us a carseat and base. Brand new, and they don't take them back so we now have an extra car seat and base. And $50 towards another flight!!! WOO HOO!!! SJ slept through all the flights, so I couldn't have been more relieved and the terrible experience was better than it could have been.
So, while I was in LA, Seth and Mickey I thought were hanging out. But to my surprise when I got home I found a redone kitchen!! They put in new countertops and tile backsplash. Mickey is very handy and helped Seth SO much!! We're so lucky to have such great friends! Both of us! They did hang out some in the middle of it all and played Rock Band, Mario Kart, and even a trip to an O's game! The downside, they worked until 3:30 am. So they're "relaxing weekend" was chock full of projects. I'm excited they'll get to hang out again (for real) in a few weeks when we go to Tampa.
So now I'm waiting on my luggage...oh what fun...
In the meantime, here are some pics of my new kitchen!! We still want to knock down a wall and repaint, and lay wood floors, so this will only push us to get it done sooner rather than later!

The Old Kitchen

Tile done

Tile done, countertop in!

Our New Kitchen!!!

6 Months!

Here are some cute pictures from the last 2 months

We had our 6 month check up Friday!! Seth is 17 1/2 lbs, 27 1/2 inches long. Such a big boy. We saw a new doctor this visit - our old doctor sadly left the practice. But this doctor was wonderful!!! She was so thorough and talked to me for a good 15 minutes, asking me questions and letting me ask her questions. She said we can start him on small finger foods, let him start getting used to a sippy cup, brush his teeth, give him water, put sunscreen on him. And she told us to watch out because he seems like a very active thing and she has no doubt that the next time we see her he'll be crawling and pulling up. We'll see...crazy to think that in 3 more months he'll be really getting into stuff!

His accomplishments this far are rolling over - although he's pretty lazy and won't always put forth the effort. He's sitting up pretty well too and learning how to catch himself when he starts to topple over. He's eating 3 meals a day and yes, we started him with some finger foods. I thought mashed up banana pieces would be best, but he made gross coughing choking noises with that...and I hated it. So we tried the gerber graduates puffs and he does much better with those. He gums them and then swallows well. He started splashing in the bathtub so I was so excited to get him a baby pool. This weekend we got one and played twice. Both times he played for a good 45 minutes in it!! I'm very much looking forward to taking him to the beach now!!! Hopefully he'll do just as well! He's also grabbing EVERYTHING in site. It's fun but annoying at the same time.

Pics from Uncle Ed and Aunt Laura

They always look like they're getting into something when they're together!

Henry: But wait a minute!

SJ: NO! Don't say anything.

Caught in the Act!!!

4+ Months

So SJ is now almost 5 months. It still amazes me at how fast he's growing. Everyone tells you that will happen, but you can't believe it until you spend every day with an infant. He is the best thing in the world to us. Our world is completely overtaken by him - every conversation etc. IT'S AWESOME!

Seth Jr/SJ is now 24 inches (no real growth there) and 14lbs (or he was 1 month ago). He looks so big to everyone but he really only measured in the 25th percentile on weight and height, but his big ole head (Thanks daddy) is the 97th percentile:) It's all those brains!!!

He started cereal, which he goes to town on, and has now tried, peas, green beans, and sweet potatoes. He did ok with the peas the first couple times, but when we talked to Grandmama and Paw Paw on Skype he decided to put on a show and act like he didn't like them! He's a STINKER!

He's also gotten his first tooth! ALREADY! It's broken the skin and is very visible. A second tooth is starting to come in right next to the first. We're doing a lot more formula these days:) Mommy's a little afraid of the teeth!

SJ got to meet his other new cousin this past week, Henry. Henry didn't care too much about SJ but SJ stared Henry down. He's a lucky boy to have so 2 cousins so close in age. Now we just have to get Aunt Laura and Uncle Ed back in the states!!! Seeing Henry was awesome for us too, it brought back memories of how little SJ was and made us remember some of the things he used to do.
We have some cute pics of the 2 of them on our shutterfly site. greers.shutterfly.com

I'm waiting on the pics from Laura and Ed - they took some really great ones!!!

Another Month gone by...

Our little boy changes everyday. It is truly amazing how quickly babies learn and grow...and how slowly we as adults learn! Imagine if we continued to learn as quickly as babies...wow...

So, after 2 people told us about the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby we bought it. Not that we ever had issues sleeping at night, but naps were few, and had to be in someone's arms. It was wonderful to cuddle with him and sleep with him in the afternoon - he'd sleep for 3 hours if we held him, but that's 3 hours of not moving, not getting chores done etc. And as my husband constantly tells me and my mom would agree too (from my childhood) I'm the world BIGGEST wiggle worm! I can't sit still that long! So I'm sure SJ wasn't getting the sleep he really needed. At the same time, he wouldn't sleep in his crib during the day and the doctor said he was too young to "cry it out."

Well, if there are 2 things I would reccomend to new parents, they would be that book and a bouncy seat that has lights and sounds. Not just any bouncy seat - lights and sounds make a difference once they're older!

So it's been about 2 weeks now that we've put SJ to bed at night before 8pm, let him cry (our method is to go 5 minutes, calm him down, let him go 10 minutes, calm him down, 15min..etc). So far we haven't gotten past 15minutes and he's asleep for the night until 6ish. We used to be in his room for an hour or more getting him to sleep. I guess because of that, in turn he has learned to nap in his bed. He's been taking morning naps for a week now and the last 2 days has taken an afternoon nap! Today he's been up there for 2 WHOLE HOURS!!! IN HIS BED!!! It's WONDERFUL!

Granted our first 3 months haven't been as hard as they could have been, I feel like we have truly gotten through the hardest times, and we can get through the rest...I know we've been spoiled with him...we are SO THANKFUL that he's been this easy!

Other firsts this month...giggles, a couple squeals, family pictures, rolling over from tummy to back...

Month # 2

Wow, so much happens in just a month. Time seems to go by so fast these days. Seth (SJ) just had his 2 month appointment. He's now 11lbs 11oz and 24 inches tall! He's grown 3 inches in a month and is now officially too big for "newborn" size clothes. He has found his hands and is getting so good and putting them in his mouth, although he's partial to his right hand already...we'll see if that lasts and he'll be right handed! He's also getting really good control of his head and will sit in a Bumbo and talk to us. That's the best, he smiles and coos a TON! It's awesome and amazing how quickly he's changed.
The doctor told us that because he sleeps so long at night, it tells her that he can put himself back to sleep...I LOVED hearing that...and then last night he proved it. Seth doesn't make ANY baby noises while he's a sleep...he seems to sleep pretty hard, but around 5am this morning (after going to bed at 10:30) he started making his waking up noises. Being selfish this morning I thought, please don't be ready to get up...and what do you know, the little bugger put himself back to sleep and didn't get up til 7:15!!
He's getting to be like a little baby and not a newborn anymore! He only ate 5 times yesterday instead of how he used to eat every 2 hours, now its already 5-7 times, and he'll eat as much as you give him usually...so the doctor told us if he wants 8oz that's fine...he's such a big strong boy.
Oh, and he has another new cousin! A little boy, Henry Greer born 1/22. Exactly 2 months apart! He's so lucky to have other cousins so close to his age. Andrew was born 1 day before him and now Henry 2 months after. It's going to be so fun for him growing up!!!

Update

It's been a while and I was reading up on my friend Michelle's blog and figured I'd update ours. So our little man has had his 2 week appointment (2 weeks ago) and had gained 10 oz since birth. He was 7lbs 11oz when we left the hospital so he'd gained a whole pound! We go Monday for our 1 month appointment. Big Seth's guess is that he'll be 10 1/2 lbs and my guess is 10lbs. He's a BIG eater. He took a 6oz bottle the other night before bed and eats every 1-2 hours lately. He's sleeping better during the day now too now that I know he wasn't getting enough to eat.
He's still sleeping through the night too, from about 10:30 or 11 to 5 and then again til 8 or 9. I guess the 7am thing was short lived but 5 works too!
I'm loving my days off too. I enjoy getting out when I can don't get me wrong, but the days with my son are priceless. I taught 1 class this past week though, well I say taught losely, my kids took a dance exam and I wanted to give them their grades so we invited the parents, I sat in a chair and we went through the exam for the parents. It felt soooo good to get back.

To see updated pics, our shutterfly site is greers.shutterfly.com!