5 Months Old!

My 'lil Bubs is 5 mos old now and I can't believe it! I say that every month that passes, but I can't help it. I'm so amazed at how time flies in the blink of an eye. I'm starting to lose track of how many weeks has passed since I gave birth to him because life is taking over.

Dave, the girls, Angelo and I went to Michigan for Christmas with my side of the family. Angelo helped open his gifts and then stuck the wrapping paper right in his mouth, LOL! It was adorable. I'm waiting on pictures from my mom and sister since I forgot my camera. He had a hard time sleeping at my mom's house since it's a strange environment and there was so much excitement. We just got home yesterday (Sunday the 21st) so hopefully he'll get back on track today.

Angelo is back to sleeping through the night so I'm hoping he sticks with it. He goes to bed by 11pm and wakes up between 6 and 7am, eats and then goes back to sleep until about 9 or 10am. It's like he's sleeping all night and taking his morning nap at the same time, which works just fine for me. I can get a lot done in that time. He still takes an afternoon nap around 3pm and that nap has proven to be a necessity.

The Bubs is on solids more now, although we haven't been consistent with twice a day yet. He's had green beans, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, applesauce, pears and rice cereal. He likes the squash, sweet potatoes, pears and applesauce the best. Due to the solids, I'm trying to keep him on 6 ounces of formula, but he's not happy unless he gets 8, so I'm still trying to adjust things a bit. He's also struggling with eating every 4 hours instead of 2 1/2 or 3. I don't want to over feed him since he's already reached 19 lbs and in size 3 diapers. He gets a good work out with his Jumperoo though, so I'm guessing he burns a ton of calories with that thing. Angelo tries to hold his bottle during feedings, but ends up either pushing it in too far, or accidentally swatting it away. When he's done eating, he does this baby curl-up to try and sit up straight. It's really precious to watch.

Angelo is teething pretty bad now. I can feel the grooves in his bottom gums and can see the little teeth trying to break through. Hopefully they'll come in soon. I think he's doing pretty well though. He's not a huge whiner, but you can tell when his gums are hurting. That damn Baby Orajel doesn't do jack for him though. He hates the taste and the numbing doesn't last long due to all the drooling. He isn't taking to teething rings either. He still prefers chewing on his and our clothes and his blankets/burp cloths.

On the development side, the Bubs can stand on his tippy toes with us holding his hands and he's pretty steady. He rolls over just fine, but only from his tummy to his back. We're trying to help him sit up on his own, but all he does his reach over to touch his feet. I'm hoping that next month he'll be able to do it better. Bubbas likes to take his toys and shove them in his mouth. My God-Mother's daughter bought him some balls (yeah, that sounded good) that have different designs in them. If he's on his tummy, he can reach for them, tries to hold them and shoves them in his mouth, LOL. Although he can't understand why he can't chew on them, LOL. He still loves the Baby Einstein videos and we just got a new one from my sister. He's testing it out now, but so far so good.

Like I said earlier, Angelo is now about 19 pounds and in size 3 diapers. You know what really bugs me? It seems like everyone in town had a child when I did because I can NEVER find the brand of diapers in the size I want. I favor Pampers Swaddlers, but am now using the Pampers Cruisers. This time I had to settle for Luvs because nothing else was available and I refuse to buy store brand. They suck, BIG TIME! At least I got off cheap this time though. Luvs are decent and pretty affordable. I really wish the store brand diapers were good because I hate spending a lot of money. Oh and Sam's club doesn't have my brand in bulk either....Damnit!

I'm waiting for the Bubs to start the "Army Crawl". It looks like he's getting ready to start that pretty soon. As for talking, his "O's" are very clear and I've got him forming his mouth to say "Mmmm" for "Mama". Sometimes he does the "Ohhh Mmmm" as if to say, "Oh Mama!", which is something I've been playing around with as well. He hasn't blurted out "Dada" yet, thank God! I'll be damned if he says that first!

Dave, the girls, Angelo and I went for our family pictures last week and we'll be picking them up tomorrow afternoon. I was able to get the Bubs to smile big a few times and the pictures of all 3 kids turned out beautifully. Dave and I, on the other hand, look like we've been smoking a lot of weed. It's too bad that we take such awful pictures! I'll be scanning them Tuesday night and will post them as soon as I can. We got them done at Target because there's a 20% off in-store discount and no sitting fees. We ended up paying $70 for 2- 8x10's, 4- 5x7's, 4- 3.5 x 5's and 8 wallets. They did a really great job too, so if any of you are looking to do this, Target may be the way to go.

Now, on to me...

I've been working out twice a day and eating right consistently, with the exception of this past weekend at my Mom's. If I can lost a pound a week, I'd be very happy. So I've lost 43 out of the 54 pounds I gained during pregnancy. Only 11 pounds to go and then another 20 to get back to my weight before I met Dave. My mom sent me a 10-day diet, which didn't do jack for me. Dave lost 14 pounds though. That really pisses me off, LOL, but I'm happy for him at the same time. Sometimes I feel like a failure because I haven't lost all my weight by now. My son is 5 mos old and my baby belly should be gone, but Nooooooooo, not me!

I can't wait until the holidays are over so I can get my life back in order. It's utter chaos around here, especially with the girls. We're having behavioral issues with Dave's 8 yr-old and her mother isn't help one bit. She gets spoiled at her mom's and acts like a brat at our house. We've tried everything but giving her a tour of the police station, which we may end up doing. I'm terrified that if she doesn't clean up her act, Angelo will turn out the same way so I have to work over-time to make sure that doesn't happen.

Anyway, that's all for now. I you enjoy your holidays!

"Mmmmm"

Angelo is almost 20 weeks old! That puts him just shy of 5 months. I remember when I was 20 weeks pregnant and that's when I received confirmation that my baby was indeed a boy. It's been a year and 3 weeks since I found out I was pregnant and a year since my first ultrasound. The Bubs wasn't a bubs, he was just a little grain of rice. Isn't it amazing how quickly they grow in and out of the womb? I got on the scale with Angelo today. He's 19 pounds and in size 3 diapers. His 2's didn't even last a whole month!

Angelo is eating about 8 ounces of formula per feeding and we're trying to transition him to solids. Like I said before, our doctor told us he needed to be on solids twice a day, but the Bubs isn't allowing it yet. He's been real cranky due to teething and I can't feed him when he's upset. We're going to try and get him consistent with his rice cereal every night first and then get him on his fruit in the mornings. He is very good with eating the solids when he wants to, though. His tongue reflex is gone and he swallows without a problem.

A couple of weeks ago the Bubs found his hands and now he's found his ears. It's so cute to see him grabbing them and the look of wonder on his face is absolutely priceless. He's only able to roll over from his tummy, but not his back at this time. He bounces like crazy in his Jumperoo and I think we'll be able to put it on the #2 setting soon.

His "O's" are super clear now. It's so awesome! Today, after 4 months of me pounding it into his head (not literally, of course!) he put out a big "MMMMMM" to try and say "Mama". I'm so excited because I know he's going to just blurt it out soon. I caught Dave going behind my back, trying to teach Angelo "Dada" last night and I ran right in there to stop the madness, LOL! This child will say "Mama" first, if it kills me!

Unfortunately Angelo is still waking up in the middle of the night for some reason and we can't figure out why. He slept throughout the night from the very beginning and now I feel like I've got a 2 week old baby on my hands. He must be going through a lot of changes right now. What's odd though is that yesterday he was really tired. It's as if his two naps weren't enough, but I couldn't let him have a third or else he won't fall asleep well. Last week Dave came down with a cold and passed it along to the Bubs. My poor baby is snotting all over the place, but he's getting better. This could also be part of the reason he's not been sleeping through the night lately.

Now, on to me...

Dave and I went on this 10-day diet in effort to lose some of our "congratulations, you just had a baby" weight. He lost 14 lbs and I lost 2. That really sucks, but I guess I should be happy because something is better than nothing. I decided that dieting doesn't work for me so I'm going back to just eating healthy and working out. When I'm supposed to lose the weight, I will.

We're going to Michigan for Christmas #1 and we're bringing all 3 kids. I just hope we have enough room in the car for all our stuff. My sister is lending us some of her baby stuff so we don't have to bring all of Angelo's crap with us. Laura she just found out that she's pregnant with baby #2 and she'll be due about a week after Angelo's first birthday. Dave and I are going to try and get Angelo to meet Santa this Wednesday, if we can muster up some time. I really want to get a picture of his first time with the Claus.

By the way, the pictures in this entry were taken this past Saturday at the Wild Lights exhibit at the Columbus Zoo.

17/18 Week Update

17 weeks - Bouncing in the Jumperoo


17 weeks - After rolling over


16 weeks- "Look Mommy, I found my hands!"

Hey everyone! Sorry I missed last week's update. I've been extremely busy due to Thanksgiving and having to watch the girls while Dave was at work. I've also been working my ass off because I ran a sale, but now that it's over, I have some time to get caught up on the updates.

Angelo will be 18 weeks old tomorrow and is doing really well. He is getting fussy a lot and that's due to him teething. The drool in unbelievable and he's chewing on every little thing he gets his hands on. We've been using Baby Orajel and although he hates the taste, I think it's working for him a bit.

He's back to sleeping throughout the night and is going to bed a bit earlier these days. The poor 'lil guy is just exhausted by 9:30pm and clunks out on us. He is still moving around a lot in his sleep, but isn't rolling on to his back anymore. He may start that up again, who knows, but for now it's looking pretty good. I had to remove the bumper from the crib because he was pulling it over his head and getting caught in it.

Now I'm finding his arms hanging out of the crib when he wakes in the morning. That freaks me out, but no damage has been done. The Bubs has been waking up pretty happy lately too! I'll hear him mumbling to himself. I go in there to start our day and he's pushed his chest up and looking around for me. Then I start singing my "Good morning to you" song and he flashes me a series of beautiful smiles that just melt my heart. I'm going to leave my camera on his dresser for those moments.

I think the holiday spoiled him a bit because everyone was holding him and now he wants Dave and I to do the same thing ALL the time. It's so exhausting! Angelo is getting better with playing by himself in the Jumperoo while his video is on. He'll watch it twice in a row and then he's done. He's finally taken to the swing as well. I had him in it the other day and he fell asleep. I have to replace the batteries in his bouncy seat and I'm going to see if he likes that now.

I think I said it before, but he's a lot happier in the car now. When we're stopped at the light, however, he gets fussy, LOL! I think our trip to Michigan at Christmas will be very different this time because we're taking the freeway, the girls will be with us and he'll probably get more sleep. Last time he screamed bloody murder the whole way, to and from which killed me! It was absolutely AWFUL.

My 'lil Bubs is full of smiles these days, which makes me very happy. He laughs a lot more now too. He's doing some funny things as well. When it's time for a diaper change, he puts his legs up and pushes his butt up. When it's time for a bottle, he opens his mouth then tries to grab it. When he's done eating, he tries to push himself into a sitting position, but he hasn't been able to get there yet. I try to pull him up to make him sit, but he just stands up like a board, LOL. So from laying on his back to standing, nice.

It looks like I'm getting Angelo back to his regular nap schedule and that has been comforting. I'm pretty sure he's going through a growth spurt and clearly needs his rest.

Now, on to me!

Things are crazy in my house. I'm so glad I got my Christmas decorations up early this year. I started my Christmas shopping last week and I'm hoping to be done with most of it by the end of next week. We're going to Michigan from the 19th-21st, which is NOT enough time, but I can't stay longer because we're bringing Dave's girls with us. I think I'm going to go back in January because there are a lot of people I need to see and they haven't met Angelo yet. He'll be six months old by the time I can make that happen, sheesh!

I lost 2 more pounds, but that's not enough so Dave and I are starting a 10-day diet that my mother suggested. My first day is today so we'll see how it goes. I still have the "baby belly" in a major way. I thought most of it would be gone by now, but nope! I also still have that dark line on my stomach and I thought that would've faded by now, but nope! I was taking a bath the other day and thought, "My God, I still look pregnant! This is ridiculous."

Now that Angelo is 4 1/2 months old, I feel like I've finally got it together in the motherhood department. The biggest concern I had was my work and down time schedule. I think that things are beginning to balance out now and that will decrease my stress, which I've needed in the worst way.

That's about it for now. I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Cristin