You're Gonna Miss This...

Time flies when you're having fun.  Month number 2 with a baby in the house was crazy but I think it will be this way for oh the next 18 years.  When Easton was 5 weeks old he decided that he was going to spend a night at the hospital.  The day before we were out and about, to the school to visit old friends and let them meet Easton and to the dentist with me, and Easton was very sleepy, not wanting to wake up and eat.  At that point we were still settling into nursing and supplementing and trying to find the balance between when and how much extra we needed to add to get Easton enough calories so he would gain more weight.  We were pumping, supplementing, and nursing around the clock so a day where Easton was sleeping and not eating as often was unusual.  I was thinking maybe he finally was settling into his new routine and feeling more content and full and therefore sleeping longer.  About 6 o'clock that night, he became increasing grouchy.  We tried feeding, swaddling, cuddling but he continued to get more irritable.  All kinds of things were going though my head, was he getting enough to eat, was he eating too much, was he just getting more irritable in the evening and we were heading to having another child with colic.  Layla had colic and this was very similar but she gradually became more grouchy.  This was a one night fine, the next night crazy.  As the night went along he became more and more inconsolable and by the morning I knew something was wrong.  He had went 3 days without a bowel movement so then we thought maybe he was just constipated.  He was still getting used to the formula we were supplementing with so we thought maybe that was it.  So, we decided to try some rectal stim (yep too much information there) and when I did he had a fever 100.4 so not officially too high but high enough to know something was up.  He had felt warm during the night but if I cried 10 hours straight I would be hot too.  We called the doctor as soon as they opened and they had us come right then.  The doctor checked him and couldn't find anything particularly wrong with him and then came the doctor's opinion.  We needed to do some testing because of the irritability, lethargy the day before and now low grade fever with no cause (OK I was good with that).  He was going to send us to the hospital (hospitals are good places for blood work) and he was going to ADMIT us..... WHAT!  Admit us..... no, no, no we have 2 kids in school, I had Dylan with me, we have soccer and baseball, and school activities.  A hospital stay was not in the plans.  I think the doctor could see the shock on my face.  He quickly explained the reasons for admitting him.  He said things could go 2 ways, it could be nothing and in 24 hours we would be heading home, or things could get worse and we needed to be in the hospital if that happened.  Scary stuff!   Since the day before we had been in a dentist office and a school it was hard to say what he had been exposed to.  We were told to come home and pack things to go to the hospital and they would call us with a room number.  We came home got packed, met Aunt Keke to hand Dylan off and got the call with our directions and room number.  We heading to the hospital got checked in and waited.

 By that time he had settled down, his temperature was in the 99 degree range... go figure.  The residents came in and as residents are so go at doing they made me feel like a complete paranoid idiot.  "Well Colic peaks at 6 weeks" "maybe he was just hungry did you try feeding him" "maybe his clothing was too tight/too loose/too hot/too cold" "maybe he scratched his eye" "could one of the kids have dropped him or hurt him"  Seriously, this is not my first rodeo.  The more we sat there the more annoyed I became.  At one point the resident came in to do a test on his eyes to see if his cornea was scratched.  When she  came in, she had no clue what she was doing, did it incorrectly as Easton was screaming and she had to have the attending doctor come in and show her how to do it.  The nurses and attending doctor however were fabulous. At one point the resident said maybe we wouldn't do any testing at all... at which I responded that we were at the hospital for more testing per our pediatrician... if we were just going to "wait and see" I could do that at home and didn't want to be admitted.  The attending shortly after apologized and said that they did need to do a CBC and urine culture.  They had a speech therapist come and evaluate his suck and swallow and had the lactation consultant come to observe him nurse.  Everything looked good.   After almost 24 hours and another sleepless night all his testing came back fine and we were discharged home.  Our pediatrician feels that he had a viral infection but received antibodies from me via nursing and therefore he never got really sick.  Whatever it was was now gone and we were happy to head home. 

The rest of month 2 was pretty uneventful for Easton.  He did continue his treks here and there. 
We went with Davis on her field trip to the Strawberry Patch.  Davis was so worried that I wouldn't be able to come because the school has a no siblings on field trips policy.  It's very understandable that they want the day to be special for the child on the field trip and not disturbed by younger siblings but as he was only 6 weeks old or so at the time and we had just been in the hospital , I spoke with Davis' teacher who said it was no problem at all if I brought him. 

We also continued with soccer and baseball 4 nights a week, craziness with 4 kids and Jamie's new work schedule.  It's tough with him not at home until 6:45 on a normal night but nights we had to get dinner and to games was brutal so though we knew the kids would miss it, we were happy to see spring sports come to an end. 

Davis continued ballet and was getting more and more excited as she got her costume for her end of the year recital.

  Layla received the Principal's honor roll for all As, the music award and a classroom award at her awards day.  We are always so proud of her and even more so because she works so hard to be successful in school.  Her class also did a musical performance and to my surprise she volunteered to have a little solo.  It's exciting to see her step out of her comfort zone.  This is something that we have worked hard on with her.. doing things she wants to do though they aren't comfortable or easy and we're so happy that she feels comfortable to do this.  A lot has to do with her fabulous 3rd grade teacher.  She would have never felt comfortable enough in 2nd grade to try something new.  Though with her new found comfort has come nearly teenage like attitude and now we are having to rein her back in a bit.  She has never been our wild child but there are days she's giving us a run for our money with her sassy attitude.

 The kids also decided they wanted to go to Mud Mania.  Mud and 3 mobile kids never seems like a good idea, then add in a baby in tow but we had never been so decided this would be the year.  I thought the girls would be able to go together because they were listed in the same age range but when we got there they were in different groups.  It was tough because neither one is too adventurous and they flat refused to let either Davis move up or Layla move down, even if it meant that they wouldn't want to go.  Layla did after some coaxing go through the course and after that Davis decided that she would try.  They divided the kids by aged but they did the same course in groups... weird.... so when Davis went she was with kids her same age but about 3/4 of the way through the course some older kids caught up with her, rolled her over a barrel as the bustled by then splashed mud all over her face.  That was the end of her Mud Mania career.  Dylan was almost as apprehensive and wasn't into the idea of mud on him either so the whole Mud Mania trip was a bust.  Oh well, we can say we did it and mark it off the bucket list.

 We had the chance to go to the Kenny Chesney/Zac Brown Band concert and take the kids.  It was supposed to be chilly and raining but we know that with a big family these opportunities are few and far between... or otherwise extremely expensive so we decide to go.  Other than one small mass mob moment when Layla I went to the bathroom we had so much fun.  The kids were up and dancing and singing the music.  Easton slept through the whole thing other than when he ate for a little bit, such a good boy. 

We also went for our first boat ride of the year and Easton's first ride ever.  He was a bit apprehensive at first but quickly settled in.  I think he's going to fit right into this family.  He loves being outside and seems to love time on the boat. 

He even fell asleep outside when we were working on the garden.  He's not a good sleeper during the day and as soon as you try to lay him down he suddenly is wide awake.  Very difficult to get anything done with a baby attached to your hip so this was a pleasant surprise.  He is still waking up at least 2 times a night and much prefers to be snuggled up against someone when he sleeps but I know these days don't last forever.  All our baby's didn't like to sleep.  Layla was over a year old when she consistently started sleeping though the night, Davis was 10 months and Dylan was right at a year.  This is nothing new but I know we can make it though these sleepless nights, especially knowing that summer break is quickly approaching. 

The kids got better at holding Easton, talking with him, and playing on the floor with him.  He learned to smile, especially at people that he knows.  He puts his hands in his mouth and is getting better at holding his head up.  He's starting to coo and learned to stick his tongue out.  The kids love when he tries to look at his noses and he gets all cross eyed.  They laugh and laugh.
At times he so intently looks at me I can feel how much he loves me.  This always has amazed me about babies.  They somehow seem even at a really young age to be able to express so much.  Then on the day of his 2 month well visit ( 2 days after his 2 month birthday) he rolled over... I really didn't believe it when Jamie told me but then I saw it for myself.

Layla made him a beaded headband

Mohawk thanks to Davis

Dylan making Easton talk

 Our little newborn is growing up.  It's always a bit bitter sweet and in a way more so this time knowing it probably will be our last and also knowing how quickly they go from babies to sassy 9 year olds.  I know each day, week and month will hold new challenges and magical memories.  Too often we hear how much people miss these days when they are gone so we are going to enjoy them while we can, knowing each time and age brings new challenges and new exciting things. 

 

The kids were so excited when we had to start supplementing because they occasionally get to give him a bottle

Easton pushed so hard with his feet his pjs ended up like this.  I love the "what it wasn't me" look on his face

 

 

 

And all my typos are grammar errors are due to blogging while holding this sweet pumpkin.  Nope he won't let me put him down..... and I'm enjoying every minute of it!