Oh so much..

Well, let's see if I can update real quick, Victor has had his 4th and 5th ear infections now, the last one (that he is still taking antibiotics for) was a double whammy. Both ears, booo! So now we have an official referral to the ENT doc and we see him next month on the 14th. I hope he won't sugget tubes right away, but at the same time I want my baby to feel better!

Prunes! Yummy!

He has new teeth too! He got his 2 top front ones in. So now he has 4. It was rough though, he was waking up every 45 minutes to an hour crying all night for a week, incredibly fussy during the day, wouldn't let me put him down, I mean, just a hot mess for a week. The one tooth had cut through the gum, but the other one was not quite there and his gum was all swollen and painful looking. I was such a mess and so sleep deprived (more than when he was a newborn!) I almost lost it a couple of times, lol. I was crying in the car one day when Darius Rucker "It won't be like this for long" came on the radio... haha! (it's funny now, but at the time, was definitley not...) When it finally cut through I actually got up and danced around the living room! He felt much better for about 2 days and then he got the nasty double ear infection... *sigh*

" Hey you! I see you!"

"I made a mess..."

"A big mess... but mommy still loves me!"

"I love teething bisuits, they're the best cause mommy lets me make a big ol mess!"

"I'm nakey!"

Look at those fat rolls! I love my chubby baby!

At his WBV last week he weighed 24lbs. Woo!

Playing in the pac n play for a minute before I got mad that I couldn't go anywhere.

He's feelling better now though! He's still on antibiotics for 2 more days, but he's feeling so much better it's incredible how much happier he is. He had a big day yesterday too! He clapped for the first time! So freaking cute :-) I got video! I thought he might crawl for me too, but he settled for grabbing his toy, lol. Ignore my annoying voice!

He also nursed in the living room! Normally he will only nurse if we're upstairs in the bedroom where it's nice and dark and quiet, but I've been offering downstairs more to try and get him used to the distractions. He finally did! About 3 times! It wasn't for very long, just a few minutes each time, but it's a big step in the right direction!

He ate almost a whole jar of bananas yesterday too! Normally we don't even go through one jar in 3 days, but he ate lots of them yesterday! Since the antibiotics give him diahhrea, I've been trying to feed him bananas and stuff that will stop him up a little bit.

He crawled! Usually he will get up on hands and knees and rock, and then fall on his tummy and just kind of squirm, but last night he was up and actually moved his knees and crawled a couple of steps! I'm not sure I'm ready for this extra mobility, but it's happening!

Whew! So big day for Vic yesterday.... oh my goodness... all these new milestones. My baby is getting soooo big!!!!

Number 3

3, that's right, 3 ear infections in the past month and a half *pulls hair out* !! I feel so bad for my little guy cause he just cries and cries and won't go to sleep and doesn't like to nurse cause he doesn't want to lay down but won't nurse in any other position.....

I hate it cause I don't know where they are coming from, he's never even had a cold! I know that it's mostly genetic, apparently I had ear infections pretty much back to back until I was 8 months old, so I'm praying that doesn't happen to Victor!! We're trying a new antibiotic as well, so hopefully this time it will stay away. It's wierd, we'll do the antibiotic, then a week and half or so later we'll have a follow up with the pedi and his ears will look perfect. Then a week later he's got another one. I don't get it!!!!! It's sooo frustrating to know that he's in pain and to not be able to help him. Doc said if he gets another one they are going to refer us to a Ear, Nose and Throat doc to see if they can figure anything out. Also said that at this time of year they are a lot less common with the warmer weather so hopefully that will help things stay dry.

In the meantime, I just try to give him cuddles and deal with the crying as best I can... Poor little baby....

Grammy, Pop-Pop and Easter

I don't know if ya'll remember, but back when I was about 33 weeks pregnant, my mom had to have heart surgery to replace a valve. There were some complications and she was unconscious in the ICU for about 6 weeks. Thankfully, she is doing much better now and is FINALLY able to travel!!! My parents hadn't met Victor yet until they got here last Saturday night. They didn't think they were going to make it until Sunday, but decided to keep going a bit longer and got here about 11:45pm Saturday. I hadn't seen my dad since Matt and I's wedding over a year and a half ago. I'd seen my mom last June at my baby shower, but it's still been about 9 months there too. I missed them so much and I loved having them here!!

This was Vic and Pop-Pop's first time seeing each other.

And again :0)

Then we had a poopy situation (he was still on the antibiotic at this time and it was giving him diahrea so every diaper change pretty much was an ordeal) and we had to change Vic, but then Grammy got to see him too!

Lots of kisses for Grammy and Vic!His easter bunny that Grammy got him! It passed the "Soft test".

And the Easter truck. The bed of the truck was filled with candy ( that of course I had to eat, hee hee!).He was more excited about the crinkly paper than anything.

"This stuff is sooo Cool!"

We helped him out a little bit so he could play with the truck and not eat any of the plastic grass stuff.

He loved his truck! Especially the wheels.

They had lots of fun playing Vic and the truck.

Victor loved playing with the spinning wheels on the truck.

Pop-Pop was glad to show him how it works!

We made the bunny a load so if it dumped out on him it wouldn't hurt.

"Hi! This box is the best thing ever! I can chew on it and bang on it and it's awesome!"

We had a big box after we went to sams club and he loved playing with that flap in front of him. You know they always say don't bother giving the kid the toy, just give him the box it came in!

Vic loved this! He grabbed great big ol handfuls of Pop-Pops hair and just giggled like crazy! Matt has done this with him a few times but it's just not the same cause Matt doesn't have hair he can grab.

We love you Grammy and Pop-Pop!!

Our next adventure is a wedding up in Cincinnati in about 2 weeks or so, and then we have to go visit my brother Nathan and Sis-In-Law Kristy. Nathan just got back last week from being deployed in Afghanistan. YAY!! We are soooo happy he's home and safe. I know Kristy is thrilled to have him back. She had their 3rd baby boy in December while he was gone and has had all three kids (2 toddlers and a newborn) all by herself since then and Nathan hadn't met the new baby yet. So again, we are SO happy he's home!

6 Months already!

I can't believe my little baby is 6 months old already! Everything just seems like it has gone by so fast. 6 Months ago this was me! Huge and miserable and wanting my baby.

These pictures have never been released, lol. I look so awful in these pics but oh well. This was at the beginning of the induction process.

This was my first time (after they wrapped him up) holding my little baby boy. I still get teary when I look at these pictures..... Baby Vic in the bassinet about to go for his first bath and all that fun stuff.

He weighed 8lbs and 15oz and was 21 inches long when he was born and today at 6 months he weighs 23lbs and is 28 inches long. My baby is getting sooooo big! We didn't have a WBV today, but a follow up from his last ear infection so the nurse was nice enough to weigh and measure him for me :0) p.s. His ears look great, no redness, swelling or fluid, so we should be good now!

He can sit up very well all by himself and loves to roll around the living room. He likes to try and roll himself under the couch, haha!
I'm so proud and grateful that we have been able to exclusively breastfeeding for 6 months! No formula, no solid food of any kind. I plan on taking the solids slow too to make sure he doesn't wean before 1 year. I don't want to have to buy formula for him! I know that things could happen that would take it out of my control, but that's my hope! I'm also pumping more now too to have a stash so if something were to go off kilter we'd have a back up.

So we just started his first solid food this morning! I got an avocado yesterday and sliced it up and froze most of them but kept a few in the fridge for today and tomorrow. I just mashed it up with a bit of breastmilk and away we went!

First bite: "Mom what the *beep* did you just give me?"

Second bite: "Hmmm... not sure about this..."

Third bite: "Gimme that! This is awesome!"

I love it! It's so cute! He amazes me every day with how he changes and learns new things and I can't wait to see all the new things that he gets to learn. I do miss him being little and I can't believe how much he's grown.... But it's so much fun watching him grow up!

Recently...

Lots of fun stuff happening around here! Victor is 5.5 months old now and learning new things every day it seems like. I can't beleive how big he is now and how much he's changed. As of last Monday at our WIC appt, he was 21 lbs, 7oz and 27 inches long. He's such a big healthy baby! Everyone was completely amazed at how big he was and we're exclusively breastfeeding. I was talking to the nutritionist and when I told her that we weren't starting any solids till he was 6 months old, she was almost speechless. She said, "Well, you're doing everything that we want you to, so I really don't have anything else to say!" So here in about 2 weeks when he's 6 months we'll start him on his first solid food. Be sure to look for pictures of that!





This was last week sometime. He'd been on amoxicilin for a slight ear infection and had diarhea everywhere (sorry, TMI, lol) and was exploding out of his diapers at almost every other diaper change. This also prompted a diaper size change, so we're now in size 4s. This pic was after a particularly bad one so I gave him a wipe down and was about to give him a bath at 11am. I was getting the bath ready and I came back in the room and found him like this, Sooooo Freaking Cute!!

He just figured out about 2 weeks ago how to roll over. It's so funny too cause can only go from back to belly, so whenever you lay him down on the floor he immediately flips over. Then he usually plays for a second, but then as soon as he realizes he's stuck he gets MAD!!! I can' help it, I laugh at him a little bit when he does that. Here he's chewing on his favorite thing, his fingers. This is the standard, he will chew on his fingers at any possible moment. Oh the joys of teething!
The weight limit on his infant seat is 22lbs, so since he's getting so close to that we had to find a convertible seat a little earlier than we had planned. He likes it sooo much better than the little one though. He always used to cry when we put him in that one and this one, as you can see, I put him in itand he fussed for a second and then as soon as I got him settled he was all smiles!! We've got it in the new car now and he hasn't fussed once in it. It sits him up more and gives him a lot more room so I think it's more comfortable for him.

In most of these pictures, I realize he's always wearing onsies and sleepers or his diaper, haha! But he's too chubby for pants! I went through an entire drawer the other day of nothing but pants and not a single pair of them fit him! I had to get out a pair that was sized for 18 months that fit him around his waist. I know as soon as he starts crawling he's going to thin about a bit since he'll be burning more calories, it's good cause my back can't take much more! We just bought him a bunch of stuff, like size 12 months garanimals clothes, the pants all fit him now, the tops are a bit big but I'm hoping since he's about to go mobile they'll fit him the majority of the summer.

Nice shot of the drool here. Starting to sit like a big boy!

He really is starting to sit all by himself. It's amazing cause one day he had to have our support and then one day he was sitting and he started to fall over and then righted himself and just kept playing. I can't believe how big he's getting!
I know I posted this in my last post, but I can't believe my baby boy has 2 teeth! He's growing up so fast! It just seems like it's going by so fast all of a sudden. One day he was teething, then he started rolling over, then the next day he had 2 teeth, now he's starting to sit up by himself and the other day he scooted himself!! .... it's just amazing and wonderful and scary how fast it's all going!

I had just changed Vic's diaper and he of course flipped over onto his tummy. The toys were just out of reach. I was on the couch looking at something on the computer and I looked up and he was reaching for them, I looked up again and he had his legs up underneath him with his butt in the air and pushed himself forward to get the toy!!! I couldn't believe it!!

First time sitting in a big boy cart! We have a cosy cart cover thing, but we didn't have it with us. I usually carry him in the Moby Wrap but my shoulder's been bugging me so we tried putting him in the cart and Matt just wrapped his coat around him. Notice the babyproofing stuff in the cart!

He's such a big boy!! I've said it a million times.... I just can't believe how big my baby is getting! I started tearing up the other day when I was looking at him and just realizing again how grown up he is looking, no more newborn baby! I love this stage he's at though. I love that I can make him giggle and laugh and he really plays with me. He's so much fun!

We've got teeth!

Finally! After 3 months of teething, we have teeth! Not just 1, but 2!


He'd had a bit of an ear infection and I was afraid it was still bugging him cause he was still tugging at his ears. I'd been giving him amoxicilin for a week since the week before I'd taken him in after he'd been running a fever and fussin and pullin at his ears. Sure enough he had a little ear infection. Not too bad, Doc just said it was red and a little irritated. Friday at his follow-up appt Doc said his eardrums looked great, nice and shiny so it was probably teething.

He'd been crabby all day long and for 2 days I could barely get his fingers out of his mouth. And he was sucking on my finger and I felt something scratch me. I was like, "What the heck is in your mouth bubba?" I'm feeling around, then I felt his gums, and I felt this sharp little point! I couldn't believe it!! Finally after 3 months of teething, we have something to show for it!!

Then, the next morning I was feeling in his mouth again to feel for where the tooth was coming in and I felt another one! He's got 2 sharp little teeth coming through! He's not near as crabby today and I swear he's not drooling quite as much either, lol.

I just can't believe my baby boy has 2 teeth!

Giggles and a New 'Do

I decided it was time to make a change! I hadn't had my hair cut in at least 6 months and it was begging for some TLC. I got to the place and found a picture in one of the books that showed the cut I wanted and the lady in the picture had really dark brown hair. The stylist (who was also in the midst of some drama with a co worker) assumed that was the color I wanted too. She ran off to mix it up and never even asked me if it was right or if I wanted permanent or whatever. I let it go since I was going with such a different cut, I figured, hey, why not?
So this is my Before:

This is my After: I need to take a new picture of it too cause I've gotten better at styling it now that it's been a week. But this is it! It's SOOOOO dark.... I'm still kind of getting used to it, but I love the cut. I haven't had bangs since about the 6th grade! Matt loves it, so that's a bonus *wink, wink*

here is little Victor. Already looking at naughty girly magazines, ha! I was looking at a Victoria's Secret flyer and he grabbed it out of my hands. Silly boy!

"I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy.. it hurts!" He loves being naked. He could be screaming bloody murder and you undress him and he'll calm down every time, he's so goofy! We just got him a sippy cup to play with, figured it couldn't hurt to help him start figuring it out. I was really surprised. I put about an ounce of breast milk in it and he grabbed it, shoved it in his mouth and started chewing on it. He was getting the milk out of it too cause I could see some milk coming down his chin.

He's just getting soo big! He'll be 5 months next week... it's gone by soo fast already!

Here is a video I just took tonight. Matt was playing with him and got him giggling so I decided to try to capture it on video! I LOVE his giggle!! He just started really giggling a couple weeks ago and it just cracks me up every time cause it's sooo stinking cute!

Got him giggling on camera!! I LOVE IT!! It doesn't matter what we're doing, if he starts to giggle we both break out laughing too. It's sooo cute!