Sleep well, little man

I worry when I watch my lil man sleeping.  He still has the cold he has been fighting for about two weeks now.  I can clear his stuffy nose out and rub Baby Vicks on his chest right before I lay him down to sleep, but 10 minutes later I can hear his labored breathing.  I always wonder if it's possible for him to just stop breathing altogether?  I know it is possible, but babies have gotten colds since the dawn of time.  As long as I am treating him properly, that's simply the best I can do.  Rationally, I know this.  But still, as I listen to him breathing while I lie awake at night, it tears at my heart to hear him struggle.

You're busted, son...

Cold and flu season is officially here!

Yesterday was a 3 cup of coffee kind of morning!

Rickybear was fine all day Wednesday, but once nighttime came my baby announces to me that he officially has a cold.  Maybe he understood that I had the next day off of work so I could take care of him.  We turned on the humidifier and rubbed his chest with Baby Vicks.  I had aspirated his nose and he seemed all clear.  I laid him down to sleep… and he starts crying and choking and sputtering.  I tried to soothe him with hugs, kisses, and a bottle, but nothing seemed to work.  He was just not happy.  I ended up giving him some Tylenol and we both tried to sleep again. 

He ended up waking up and crying about every 20 minutes all night long.  I was running on very little sleep and I was going through some internal turmoil.  I was ticked off that I couldn’t get any sleep, I was sad and concerned for my little man, I was angry that my husband was still sleeping through it all while I did all the work, then guilty for feeling upset about something my lil man couldn’t control.  At 5 am I ended up putting Rickybear on my chest and he slept for nearly 2 straight hours, which was his best sleep of the night. Once he woke up he was all sweet and groggy, then he broke into a huge grin.  We had survived.

If I didn’t know better, I would swear that he was a big faker.  He was in great spirits all day on Thursday.  He played and jumped and watched tv and read books.  He napped with no problem.  He even did tummy time for nearly 3 times as long as usual.  I cleaned the nursery, the living room, and the kitchen, while cooking 3 meals.  I felt like super mom!  Until bedtime that is…

We try to put the baby down and he starts crying again.  OMG!  He was fine all day!  Yes, I had to aspirate his runny nose every hour and rub Vicks on his chest, but he was happy ALL DAY LONG.  Hubby and I talked about it and decided to just let him sleep with us for the night.  I took very special care to arrange the pillows and blankets properly, but I was still terrified that I would smother him.  Again, we all survived.  He woke up a lot, but he didn’t take his usual 2am bottle.  He ended up with his head by daddy and his legs kicking my ribcage.  OF COURSE it couldn’t have been the other way around, lol!  When he wasn’t laying sideways he was all smooshed up next to me, breathing into my neck.  Such a sweet little boy!  Again, all smiles this morning.

He is spending the day at Nana’s today.  I hope he has a better night tonight!

This past weekend was a wonderfully lazy and relaxing weekend.  After date night on Friday night, hubby and I went baby shopping.  Basically, we just needed some more formula, but then we saw the sippy cups!  We ended up buying a purple and yellow (LSU!!) Playtex First Sipster sippy cup.  Well, I decided to test it out Saturday morning.  Why did I think he would catch on his first time trying??  I was completely wrong!  He looked like he was trying to fit the whole lid in his mouth!  He didn’t get the sucking action, so I will put it in the cabinet and pull it back out in a few more weeks.  As for the product itself, it seems really well designed and durable, and I had no problems with it leaking.  We have also been using slow flow nipples on his bottles, so I bought some Gerber medium flow nipples to begin using so when he does try the sippy cup again, he won’t choke.  I can only learn by trying, right?

The highlight of the day was Rickybear was able to meet some more of his cousins.  My cousin was in town from Alabama to babysit while her husband and brother attended the LSU vs. Alabama game.  She brought Cameron, her soon-to-be four year old son with her and he was such a treat!  They were watching Sam, who is nine months old.  Watching him play was like taking a look at what I have in store for the future with my son.  Sam is a master crawler and can pull himself up to standing.  He was getting into all sorts of trouble and toys were EVERYWHERE.  I need to treasure my lil stationary man as much as I can now because once he can crawl, my home will be in chaos.  And toys that make music?  No, thank you!  So annoying after hearing it play over and over and over!

Aside from the play date, Rickybear watched a lot of football this weekend and did a lot of bouncing.  Both his grandmothers stopped by to say hello to him, as well, so he was spoiled rotten with attention.

Since I am resigned to the fact that my son will be sleeping in our room with us until he goes to college, I bought the Dream With Me 3 mattress for his Pack 'n Play.  I ordered it from Amazon and it came in two days.  He likes it, I like it- looks like a success.  He does seem to be sleeping better on it, too.  Still waking up at 2 am for a nighttime snack, but a lot less wiggling around otherwise.  OH, and just because we turned the clock back Saturday night DID NOT mean we got to sleep an extra hour.  Apparently I forgot to explain to my 5 month old son what Daylight Savings is. 

Hubby asked me over the weekend when the baby can stay in the bed with us.  With as many pillows as we sleep with and as much as we toss and turn- I am not sure it would be such a good idea.  I also am remembering how fleeting sleep was when I was pregnant with this baby, and if we plan to have another one soon, I don’t see how that would work very well for me with a wiggly infant/toddler sharing a bed with me.  I will have to think on that one for awhile.

There's always time for bouncing...

... until it's time to sleep, that is...

"He is the best present you've ever given me."

My husband said this to me yesterday morning and I couldn't agree more.

(Picture is from when baby was about 3.5 months old)

Halloween Fun

Dear Rickybear,

Your first Halloween has come and gone and I am happier for it.  I know you won't remember this as you are older so I want to be sure to document it all.  =)

A few weeks ago you went to the Corn Maize.  We took you in the stroller, but I felt like the worst mother in the world because you were just SO HOT.  We somehow picked the one day with a high ozone alert!  I ended up stripping you down and carrying you in my arms because the stroller was a heat trap.  Once you cooled down you seemed to have a good time.  It was the first time for you to see farm animals, especially the goats, who's sounds you imitated your first six weeks of life.  And the pig races!  What fun!

As for Halloween day, you went over to Nana and Grandpa's house.  You refused to nap when we got there, so you played in your highchair while we ate.  As soon as we were done I whisked you to the backyard so you could play with... PUMPKIN GUTS!  I had been waiting weeks for this moment.  SERIOUSLY!  You have never felt something squishy like this and you were covered in head to toe with gook!  We took a million pictures of you because you were squealing and loving it.  In hindsight, maybe I should have stripped you of your onsie as well, but who knew that pumpkin stained??  At least you were wearing black!  This was the first time you sat unsupported without toppling over.  You sat up for nearly 3 minutes all by yourself.  I was so proud of you.

Once back inside you picked what cutout you wanted Grandpa to carve on your tiny pumpkin.  I dressed you in your adorable Halloween costume while Grandpa carved away.  Once it was all finished, you tried to eat it.  You soon grew tired and zonked out in the swing, but at least you had fun while it lasted.  We all went home and hid from the trick-or-treaters then.  I figured that if you weren't going door to door, there was no sense in handing out candy.  Besides, we had a Saints game to watch!

You were my most favorite treat of all this Halloween and I can't wait to see what fun you will have on these next upcoming holidays.