{{Somewhat}} Wordless Saturday!

Most of the pictures we've been taking lately have been Christmas related which is a whole other post, but the random pictures we do have are pretty cute! Winter has officially hit around here and the kids are in heaven! In my opinion, things are a whole lot easier without hats, gloves and giving the car time to warm up......but I'm trying to embrace it as much as possible! 

Here's a little bit of what we've been up to!

First snow!!

(Poor guy....the boots we had ordered for him ended up being too small so he had to wear Mellany's old boots this particular day.)

Date night!

Mellany's Photography

"Mama, take a picture of me with Charlie"

{{Somewhat}} Wordless Wednesday!

The past three weeks have been really fun around here. Nana came to visit and help out while John was traveling for work one week, we had friends come to play while we enjoyed the last of the warm weather, we celebrated Thanksgiving and are celebrating the start of the Christmas season. We really enjoy this time of year and are looking forward to some time with family!

Mellany and Charlotte enjoying their umbrellas

Nana getting her hair done by Stylists Mellany and Johnny

One of the first completely content times this little man had!

Johnny's photography

Mellany & Charlie selfie

It was nap time....I thought he was sleeping in his own bed....apparently I was wrong!

Sweet baby boy! Put to sleep by the blow dryer and wide-eyed on a couple of mornings. 

Johnny and mommy trip to Toys R Us. He spotted what he wanted right away!

Like father, like son!

!!!LOVE!!!

Instead of wearing his regular hat one morning, he opted for this one.....this little guy cracks me up! 

Johnny's photography

Thanksgiving Celebration at Preschool!

Mommy selfies on Thanksgiving while daddy cooks! We had a super simple and quiet Thanksgiving at our house, just the 5 of us. We sure did miss our family though!

Game time on Thanksgiving night.

Thanksgiving dinner....Mellany made sure that Baby Karen was included on the meal as well!

Literally sleeps with one eye open

If you look closely you can see it...John is taking the picture, Mellany is laying next to him, Johnny is laying sideways next to her with his legs on her and his head on me (I am on the far side of the bed)....good thing we have a King size bed!

John caught this one night....just totally comfortable standing on the end of her bed fixing her cloud....

We received a "flat doll" in the mail from Independence school district in Missouri. We were to take a picture of the doll in our city and write about all the things she did. So, "Flat Paige" went to the Purdue University campus of course! 

It's Christmas Time!!!! Writing letters to Santa and reading Christmas books!

Library time!!! Charlie's first visit!

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!

Charlie: 2 Months

Another 4 weeks has gone by and boy have we gone through a lot in that short amount of time! In about Charlie's 5th or 6th week I/we began noticing that he was fussy for a good portion of the evening from around 3/4:00-9/10:00. I kinda mentioned to John in a joking manner one afternoon that he was acting like he had colic and then didn't really think anything of it after that. Shortly after that, my dad and Teresa came to visit and his fussiness got more intense and for longer time periods during the day--like all day. On the Sunday afternoon that my dad and Teresa left, I came to the conclusion that Charlie had to have gotten ear infections. So I took him to urgent care where they told me his ears were completely fine and that he instead had colic which would probably last for several more weeks. I couldn't believe it and could have cried! So I talked with a couple friends and tried to learn some coping mechanisms on how to help him not be so fussy and I even had two friends just come and hold him for me while he fussed! But over time, I felt like he just kept getting worse and I was convinced that he had acid reflux that was just really bothering him. About a week and a half after the urgent care visit with the colic diagnosis, I took Charlie back to see our nurse practitioner to get some zantac! I was stunned in the dr office to find out that Charlie actually had a milk protein allergy (he even had gotten blood in his stool when I changed him there!). He had fallen off his own weight curve, was super fussy, spitting up, gassy, constant stools with diaper rash....all signs of milk protein allergy (even with cutting dairy and caffeine out of my own diet-he still had the allergy). His poor belly was just so inflamed that he was in a whole lot of pain! The way to resolve the issue is to stop breastfeeding and go straight to formula--and not just any formula--we are back to the alimentum that Johnny used.

Five days after starting the alimentum, Charlie had his 2 month check and he gained 12 oz in that time!!! So, it seems to be working. He also isn't near as fussy as he was and can be completely content laying/sitting on his own without someone holding him. I am SO thankful that I listened to my motherly instinct and took him back to see the doctor. I just knew that it was something more than just colic and his symptoms could have ended up so much worse had I waited! Now that we (hopefully) have all of that behind us he will just get better and better with each day! 

Here's a little bit about Charlie this month:

• Charlie still loves his brother and sister so much! He just smiles and smiles when Mellany talks to him and he is so interested in the vehicles that Johnny brings over to show him. 
• He has bumped up to size 1 diapers and can wear up to size 6 month clothes because he is just so long! 
• He has already developed a love of music. Anytime music comes on or someone sings to him, he intently listens. 
• He tracks very well with his eyes. 
• His fingers and toes are super long and he has a strong grip with both 
• He is finally starting to get some hair on the top of his head
• He loves to be held when he's falling asleep
• He doesn't really love the binky all that much. There are times that he wants it but most of the time he doesn't really care to have it. 

Sleeping:
He is sleeping really well at night and during the day (since being on the formula). For a good portion of month 2, we were putting him in the bouncy seat to sleep and we were finding that he just wasn't very content laying in it; now that he's on the formula and his belly isn't hurting, he really doesn't mind the bouncy seat all that much. He does nap very well in his car seat and is now sleeping in the cradle in our room at night on his belly (we have an angel monitor because this makes us nervous, but he sleeps incredibly well this way). His favorite place to sleep is still on our chest.

Eating Habits/New Foods:
Charlie is eating every 3 hours. Since finding out about the milk protein allergy, we have commenced breastfeeding (even though it did seem to be going really great as far as supply, latching, etc.) and gone straight to formula which has improved his behavior 10-fold! He is still spitting up (a lot!) and it smells terrible. He is also really burpy and has gas pretty often. I'm pretty sure he has some reflux issues as well because sometimes his spit up is clear and smells acidic and it comes out of the blue. Hopefully this resolves over time and with some new bottles we are trying.

New Discoveries:
The floor mat. Charlie loves laying in the floor mat and looking at the toys in it. I'm pretty sure he is even reaching for one of them at times. Even though he is flat on his back, he will lay there for about 15-20 minutes at a time.

Accomplishments:
Smiling and "talking"--he loves when anyone (especially his sister) talks to him and he tries his hardest to talk back with the biggest and sweetest grin you've ever seen!

Places:
Mellany & Johnny's preschool, Mellany's ballet, church, Meijer, Kids club at the gym, doctor's office....we really weren't able to do a whole lot because the screaming and crying pretty much limits what you can do.

Special Memories:
Papa & Teresa got to meet Charlie for the first time which was so fun (even if he was pretty fussy the whole time they were here). We also got to celebrate Charlie's first Halloween! He was a Missouri Tiger and because he was fussy pretty much right off the bat, I handed out goodies while "wearing" him in the Moby Wrap. As soon as he was in the wrap, he fell asleep and that was the extent of his first Halloween experience! ha!

2 Month Dr. Visit

Length:  23.5"

Weight: 9# 13oz

Head Circumference: 41cm

Charlie's two month visit was really smooth, considering everything we had been through. We discussed his milk protein allergy, weight gain issue, colic, spitting up, sleeping habits and his incredible growth since his visit 5 days prior and even since his one week post birth check up. Dr. Fahler was thankful that I followed my motherly instinct and brought him in a few days prior to "catch" the allergy issue and get it resolved quickly. He said that Charlie was coming out of it really well and was extremely pleased with his weight progress and his demeanor in general. His physical exam went smooth and after a few immunizations (which he took like a champ and only cried for a minute or two) the exam was over.

His next appointment is in 3 weeks for a weight check and then again in January for his 4 month exam.