7 Splendid Months of George!!

This month we have had some MAJOR breakthroughs and milestones.The premature graying of my hair can go on the back burner for now because George can finally have grains with out puking for three hours.  I am as pleased as punch!!  I was initially preparing myself for a child with serious food allergies and weight issues and I'm so glad it was only a stage!  The truth is, I started reading my scriptures daily in hopes that I could receive a few minor (yet miraculous) blessings and so many great things happened once I started reading with more of a routine.  Another little miracle is that my milk supply has really made a boost and G isn't wanting as much formula anymore,  Hooray!!!

In the morning I feed him some yogurt with single grain oatmeal cereal and he absolutely LOVES it.  He grunts with displeasure between each bite and I can't seem to feed him fast enough.  He doesn't like the cereal on it's own however.  I always have to mix it with yogurt.  He is still loving fruit and vegetables.  Lately I made some sweet potato and kale cubes and he'll eat those combined.  I always have a little mommy party whenever George doesn't reject new foods. 

If you look closely at the photo below, you'll see some little nubbins coming through those lower gums.  That's right.  G is getting his first two little lower teeth.  It's making him a bit cranky but overall he's a pretty pleasant little guy.  If he is ever ridiculously cranky in the car we have a funny little anecdote.  He  loves this song called "singing in the shower" by Sandra Boynton.  If he's screaming and we let the music play, he immediately settles down to listen and sometimes falls asleep. 

He can be pretty dramatic but most of the time he's a very mellow little dude.  Chase tries with all his might to get him to laugh.  He can usually get a few giggles out of him but nothing more.  He will have G play air guitar for the kids and G keeps the straightest face while Sadie and Jack just laugh and laugh over his gnarly moves. 

Another little milestone is that he's sitting up!  He falls over after about 5 seconds but it's so cute to see him checking things out with a little more elevation. 

We took him in for a weight check and he weighs 15.12 pounds.  Still 8th percentile but at least he's gaining weight.  The funny thing is that he looks really chubby with all his little rolls and dimpled fingers.  He's just not very dense.  Those rolls are inflatable!

Another plus of 7 months is I can put him in his high chair with a couple of cheerios and he's entertained for at least a little while.  He's also pretty good at getting those little cheerios in his mouth.  He'll pick one up with his fist and use his "hook 'em horns" fingers to get it in his mouth.  Very innovative little move.

Crawling is his biggest milestone this month for sure.  He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth.  He's really good at scooting all over the place to get to where he wants to go.  No toy is out of reach for George these days.

Sadie is a great help if we ever need to feed G a bottle and we're too busy getting dinner ready or helping Jack with something.  He loves snuggling with her and a bottle.  I have a feeling she loves it ever more.  However if we are out and about, I can give George a bottle in his car seat and he holds it himself while guzzling the whole thing up.  Very convenient when we're at Costco or taking long drives to the outlets.  

We have entered the "too active for pictures" stage and many of them are turning out pretty blurry. 

 

He's also entered the "I can't handle life if Mom leaves the room" stage.  He cries even if Chase is holding him because Mom is simply the COOLEST!!  It's the saddest little cry in the world when he thinks I'm walking by to pick him up and I end up walking by to get Jack's shoes on. Poor guy.  For a third kid he sure likes to be held a lot.  He sticks his fingers in his mouth and just walks around on my hip all day.  His favorite spot for sure!

 

He gets a kick out of other babies and will always sit and smile at them.  He couldn't keep his hands off of  Miles at P Terry's the other night.  Had to get a look at his ears, eyes, and saliva too. 

Getting so big! We love you George!!

My sister is law is full of surprises!!  Not only is she a smarty pants physician's assistant (PA) but on top of all her other talents she's an incredible photographer as well.  She took our pictures while we were in Utah and I can't tell you how excited I was to have a family photo that I LOVE!!  She is great at posing and getting the kiddos to smile. I also love her editing skills.  The colors in these photos totally pop.  Way to go Brooke.  You are going to be BUSY this fall taking family pictures for the entire SLC valley! 

Narcoleptic?

Jack has always been an awesome sleeper.  As a baby he started sleeping 8 hour stretches at 6 weeks and when he got older we had to wake him up at 11 a.m. for the morning.  We had things to do!!  It's great having a comatose sleeper because NOTHING will wake him up.  If he falls asleep in the car he'll either keep sleeping in there when the engine quits or we can take his limp body up to his crib where he will sleep for another three hours. 

Lately he's been falling asleep on the way to church at 2 p.m.  When this happens (and it happens almost every week) Chase carries him in and lays him on the front pew.  Jack will sleep there through all of sacrament meeting, sunday school and relief society.  Even if we tried to wake him up, he wouldn't budge.  Heading to nursery with all of his buddies is out of the question! Sometimes Chase and I both have to teach so we'll ask someone to sit by him during the classes held in the chapel.  It's always funny when he starts stretching and nearly rolls off.   He'll always catch himself  and snuggle up for another few minutes.  This is when everyone around exhales in sync.  He's quite the entertainment for a boring sunday school lesson.

We can usually tell when we're about to lose him for a couple of hours.  His face looks a bit like this. 

A smooth car ride or a song in a rocking chair will close those eyes indefinitely.  At the end of his siesta we are rewarded with not only a much happier (and wired) Jack but some awesome bed head too.  With a name like Jack the rock star tresses are totally appropriate and too cute to comb. 

The only drawback from these long naps is Jack wanting to party until midnight!  We often find him in his closet with the light on building a tower with blocks and lining up ALL his race cars in perfect order.  He has become quite the night owl so we try our very hardest to keep him awake these days. A long nap is not worth the noise that comes through the ceiling when that block tower comes crashing down.  Especially during the wee hours of the morning. 

I only worry for his school years when he has to be at kindergarten at 7:30 and won't wake up!! I don't even want to think about waking up a "teenage" Jack for high school. I like to think all these z's are making his brain extra witty and smart to make up for all the missed school in the future:-).

6 months

Georgie Porgie Porge!!  Oh my goodness you are 6 months old!!  Part of me thinks these last six months have been a total blur but there are some moments I'll NEVER forget.  For example, I will never forget him throwing up for two hours straight every time I fed him a little oatmeal or rice cereal.  I will never forget him waking up in the middle of the night while we were in Utah because he was starving.  Out of all of my chiddlers I have worried about George the most.  I am so concerned about his violent reactions to certain foods (something my other kids never had) and I worry a lot about my own personal milk supply. 

George is VERY alert and wiggly.  Getting him to nurse longer than 5 minutes is an absolute miracle and never happens.  He will latch on for less than a second and come off again so he can arch his back and look at the ceiling fan above him or the window to his right.  He is so much more interested in the world around him than relaxing with Mom for some yummy leche. 

Unfortunately breast milk is a supply an demand conspiracy!!  George doesn't eat long enough so I don't produce as much.  It is so frustrating!!  I don't understand why it works this way.  Why do us women have ridiculous amounts of milk when the baby is 7 lbs. and barely big enough to eat more than an ounce (and therefore force Mom to work overtime pumping gallons out over the course of three months for the deep freezer...we've got about 100 bags in there folks:-).  Then when the baby is 15 lbs. with growth spurts every other day, there is barely an ounce left on each side!!!  WHY!!  It should be the other way around!!  Then I wouldn't have had to spend so much time with my friend Medela Pump InSTYLE.

So because George was pretty much starving in Utah we went out and bought some formula and lots of baby food.  I tried to just feed him the baby food and one bottle at night but sometimes he wanted more milk than bananas.  I don't know if I'm the only woman feeling this way but I hate formula.  I feel like because G will drink 4 ounces from a bottle in a snap and won't from me TOTALLY hurts my feelings.  It's like I've been replaced by this smelly white powder!!

After Chase went back to Texas for work my milk supply totally plummeted.  I don't know if it was the stress or just George being a total stinker but the only way I could even get him to latch on was to swaddle him tight and sing either "sunny side of the street" or "getting to know you" while I bounced him around the room.  It took me 45 minutes for the "let down" to come one night and that's when I really started to panic.

I wasn't getting any sleep at night because even if G was sleeping I would lay awake in bed scared to death that any minute he would wake up and want to eat again only to scream because nothing would come out!!  I started calling La Leche League and just bawled on the phone to them in hopes that they could give me some solutions.  I have always wanted to nurse all my babies for at least a year and dag nabbit George was going to make it 6 more months!

Looking back I can now see that I totally bit off more than I could chew.  I thought I could stay in Utah for three weeks with out Chase but I always forget how hard it is with a nursing infant and little help from relatives.  I think the main problem was I was merely snacking for meals.  I just didn't have enough time to cook anything.  Usually Chase comes home at night and holds George so we can whip up some dinner.  I didn't have anyone to hold George at night and it took all my energy just to feed the kids so I mostly just ate something convenient like a Cliff bar (for almost every meal:-)  No wonder I had no milk! 

I can't blame my little George though.  It's not his fault he's so wiggly and hungry. He's so adorable that all is forgiven with one smile from his always moist little lips.  He's always smiling at everyone that greets him.  He laughs really hard when Sadie swings on a swing toward him.  He gets a BIG smile on his face anytime he sees Jack because big brothers are the coolest.  He chews on his own toes and NEVER wants to be swaddled anymore.  His pacifiers are so "last month" and he won't even let you put one in his mouth.  He'd much rather have his two "longhorn" fingers.  When he eats baby food he'll stick his fingers in for a little suck between each bite.  Definitely a George trademark for sure.

So, after 6 days on my own (with out Chase), I called him (Chase) and asked him if I could come home.  It was just too much for me.  Between crying on the phone to La Leche League or choking down a yogurt, it was evident that I wouldn't last another day with out a full nights rest and my own body pillows by my side. 

My knight in shining armour (Chase) flew in the next day and we all flew home the following morning.  I told all my friends on FB that we were cutting our trip short due to George and his "newborness."  I didn't think it appropriate to tell everyone that at that point I was a total basket case!!  I knew I would be missing out on a lot of fun by leaving early (tickets to Wicked, East High Dinner with the ladies, seeing my sisters that were out of town, fun play dates with old friends, and a free photo shoot with Angie Monson) but I was just too homesick for my hubby and my Texas. George missed his crib in our dark closet too.  He slept amazingly our first night back and so did I! 

I was worried about his weight so I took him in for a 6 month check up as soon as I got home.  I was devastated to find he had only gained about 6 ounces in two months.  He went from 40th percentile to 8th!!!  I feel so torn because I want to nurse him but I know I'm not enough for him anymore.  He needs more..obviously.  I am also torn because so much of the food newborns are supposed to eat make him vomit so I just don't know how to get him to gain weight faster.  Vomit certainly won't help.  Dr. Woods suggested nursing him and then giving him a bottle after every feeding.  I've been doing just that and after a two week weight check he had gained another 10 ounces.  My milk supply has somewhat returned as well so that has helped immensely.  I still haven't tried oatmeal again.  I'm too scared to see him get sick again.  

 

We have another weight check in a month.  Until then I'll continue attempting to snuggle this rambunctious, wiggly little guy.

4th of July

We started our nation's birthday with a late morning hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon.  It appeared to be the perfect day, scenery, and company but after a few minutes into the trail we realized the relentless flies would eat us alive if we didn't return to the car as soon as possible.  We got to the top and as quick as a whistle commented on how beautiful the mountains were and immediately headed back down to the road.


Those nasty flies bite!! The kids were not pleased.

The afternoon was better, don't worry.  We were house sitting for my mom and dad so we invited Nick's family over for some good old American barbecue.  The trouble is when Nick's around a mere hamburger with ketchup and cheese just doesn't kick it.  You can always count on something gourmet and "phenomenal" from Uncle Nick.

Aunt Brooke also happens to be a phenomenal photographer.  She took some pictures of us in the back yard and I LOVE them!! 

We then headed over to the Dalton's new home (under renovation) and walked onto the golf course for a front seat view of the fireworks. 

Jack was terrified, Sadie was enthralled and George was squishy.

 

Happy Birthday America!!

BRRRRRR Lake

Bear Lake is famous for raspberry shakes. So we stopped at the first place we could on our way into town. S, J and G were tired of the car anyway, so it was good to stop. This trip to Bear Lake was the first where we've had our own cabin, which turned out to be awesome, since it was right on the lake. Plus, it had a huge back patio and a hot tub. The hot tub was the biggest hit, particularly since even at its warmest, Brrrrrr Lake is not warm. It was so not warm that Toots refused to get in the water. Even walking out to the boat from the beach, Toots made me carry her on my back. Redonkulous, but what can you do?

 

 

It was also amazing to hang out with all of the cousins on the boat. Sadie again chilled with Grace and Mills, usually in the bow. Ethan went wherever he wanted, as did Holds and Nathan. MJ and Rich I think were on the boat for the entire two days we had it rented: they were the resident grabbers of waterskiis and ropes. Abby snapped this hilarious photo of Chris and D-Max, who was very concerned about Holden's safety while riding the tube!

 

The beach (well, a "bear lake beach") acted as a magnet for Jack: It has water and sand (and a lot of rocks). So he spent most of his days down by the water, digging, building and transporting with beach and construction truck toys. He and Ethan were pals for that. Dunc-Max also enjoyed hangin' with J on the beach. Sadie spent her time hangin' with Grace and Mills, whom she misses since we left the DC area.

The other great thing about Brrrrr Lake was that G and I (that is me, Chase) got to spend all sorts of time bonding. That time was primarily between the hours of 4 and 8 AM, when the rest of the cabin was sleeping. One morning, G and I headed out on a long walk. Another morning, we sat and watched the sun rise (and wished we'd had the boat so we could have taken advantage of the glassy water). On the last morning, G and I took a drive....all the way around the lake. G fell back to sleep for most of it, and so I just listened to Coldplay and enjoyed the views of the lake from all vantage points possible! It was, well, good father son time, I guess.

Sadie gets the prize for looking the silliest in her goggles.  It's pretty steamy behind those lenses.  She wore them almost the entire trip.  Uncle Chris started calling her "goggle Sadie."

Monday brought some sweet waterskiing, made possible by our boat rental and by unusually quiet winds. Man I miss waterskiing. And I miss being on the boat with my bros and with Toots! I love it out there--it's just so relaxing!! Although not yet waterskiing, Sadie and Jack both made it on to the death tube. I coaxed Sadie by telling her the tube was like a pony, and she was being a cowgirl to ride it. I coaxed Jack by promising black nibs, which he ate a whole bag of. He did not enjoy the tube ride, which lasted only a few seconds! Further, once he got back on the boat, Toots placed all the guilt and blame on me by telling Jack that "Daddy made you do it!", all while consoling him and drying his tears. Nevertheless, both were brave and did it. Both were also very excited to get back in the hot tub.

Other highlights of Bear lake include smoothies from CC, late-night hot tubbing, an FHE around the fire pit, Scattegory arguments, Curtis as a chef, CC holding G, and the arrival of the Froot Loop bandit. Definitely a fantastic time for all involved!! Thanks Pops and CC for hooking up the place!