His Baldness is Fading

Now that he is spending most of his time (sleeping and awake) on his belly, the large bald spot on the back of Lewis' head seems to be slowly filling in.

Speaking of sleep, I think we're having another growth spurt.

Is that possible?

Up to feed at 11pm, 2am, 6am, and then 8am. Our 'magical' slip-the-pacifier-in-before-he-truly-wakes-up trick that we utilized this past week failed last night--the boy wanted to eat. Doesn't he know his mama is still sick?

I miss the days when he slept all night long.

It's exciting that he can roll so well, but not when it means banging his head/whole body into the sides of his crib, forgetting how to roll back over to his back, STILL managing to hike a leg out of his crib slats by going on top of the bumper, stretching up to gnaw on the crib slats, etc.

I'm envisioning some sort of baby tie down device. Something between a straight jacket and a hog tie. I kid, of course.

Have mercy.

Enough complaining. We love him, and he is still awesome, despite his frequent awakenings. :)

OH, and the crazy neighbors behind us? Yesterday, the dad debuted a Fireworks Launcher he forged out of a piece of pipe. It sits on his shoulder--has a handle and a shoulder rest and everything. Looks like there was definitely some welding involved. He had the oldest kid (16 y.o.?) light the firework, and then the dad demonstrated how to aim and shoot off all 5 or 6 fireballs of a Roman Candle into their trees. Practicing for this weekend, I suppose. After the demonstration, he gave smaller firecrackers to all four children (I'm pretty sure the youngest is like 4 y.o.), and they proceeded to run around the yard, throwing balls of fire and swirling sparklers as they went.

Dropping It Like It's Hot

Here are a few short videos of Juniper and Lewis playing together with the Jumperoo. Enjoy!

And Lewis LOVED this next bit--he thought Juniper was hysterical. :)

Sunday/Monday - Father's Day and Waycross

We spent Father's Day morning lounging around the house and loading up our baby gear (and there is a lot of it). Kevin opened his Father's Day gifts--Lewis and I got him a 'Dad'-themed book for them to read at bedtime, 'Dad' and 'Lewis'-sized U of L T-shirts for the 2011-12 basketball season, and a homemade picture frame with a picture of the two of them in it. I meant to take a picture of the frame before Kevin took it into work--I'll have to see if he can snap a picture of it for me. It was a huge mess but a lot of fun doing arts and crafts with Lewis. :) He had small flecks of blue in his poop for a few days. Awesomeness.

Lewis gnawing on Juniper's ever-present pointing finger

Father's Day - Uncle Kevin and Juniper

Where's your belly, Juniper?

OR

Future Flasher? :)

Father's Day - Kevin and Lewis

(Lewis is doing a weird sucking-on-his-bottom-lip thing as of late...

not sure what that is all about. Anyway, that's why his smile looks funny.)

After lunch, Kevin headed to Louisville to get the dogs, and all of us ladies (aunts, cousins, mom, grandma, sister, Juniper) took off for Women's Week at Waycross. They have all gone for years and this was the first year for Emily and I to join in. The drive down 65 was a rainy one, and we saw like 4 or 5 separate chain reaction crashes in the Northbound lanes--super scary. We finally arrived safely at camp (after a failed attempt at feeding Lewis and some subsequent crying--I should have known things were about to go downhill). We finally got all settled in and got a visit from Ben (he's an assistant director at camp). Again, Lewis gnawed.

Tasty

And Ben whispered sweet nothings in Lewis' ear which kept making him laugh

(but he never let go of his Death Suck Grip).

We had a nice afternoon/dinner/evening. Drinks, catching up, laughing, etc. Great thoughts for the next day at camp--hiking, swimming, creek hiking, seeing Adie, etc.

Then I went to bed, and The Great Flu of 2011 happened. I don't think I've ever truly had the flu until now. It was worsened by the fact that I was in a room by myself with Lewis, with no phone in my room, no cell reception, afraid to wake up Em/Juniper down the hall because it was 2:30am, etc. My mom was on the entirely different side of the conference center...it was like the worst possible scenario.

Finally in the morning, Emily found a note I'd left on my door, so she went and got Mom to help take care of Lewis while I napped through breakfast. I tried to nap, eat a little something, drink Gatorade, etc., but I felt absolutely terrible. Fearing I'd get others sick and knowing that I had milk stored up at home (plus my pump, if needed), I decided to head on home. Of course I got stuck in construction traffic, which pushed me into hitting rush hour traffic. Luckily Lewis was good on the drive home. Kevin was amazing in unloading the car (and child) and letting me pass out immediately. He unpacked, did a feeding, did the laundry, etc. Luckily he'd taken Monday off, but what a crappy way to end his long weekend. I am thankful. I woke up to feed a few times and finally felt a little better overnight. Then I felt alright yesterday but have started to feel puny again today. In the meantime, I hear one my cousins (still at Waycross) was sick yesterday. And now today, Kevin has it. I feel so bad that others are getting sick--I have no idea who gave it me! I wouldn't been out and about if I'd known I was sick. Blech.

Hopefully next year we'll have a better experience! Sure can't get much worse! :) I even tried to eat a Waycross chocolate chip cookie (my favorite), but couldn't stomach it. That is sad.

So that takes us to the present! I do have another video of Juniper and Lewis to post, but I'll save that for tomorrow or Friday. :) We are trying to get back to our 'norm' of a routine...the last few days of our adventure and then yesterday here at home were all sorts of out of whack. Mama needs her consistency/predictability back, please. :) Today was much better.

Saturday - Twins and Retirement Party

Saturday morning, Kevin, Lewis and I headed out to Fishers first thing to visit with the Butt twin boys (Jenson and Edison). I'd met them a few weeks ago, but this was Kevin's first time. We had a nice visit--her husband is away on business until tomorrow, so she's managing all five children. She is a super woman--I wish we lived closer so I could offer her more help. She is doing a phenomenal job. We capped off the visit with some lunch from El Camino Real (a really good Mexican restaurant near their house...the REAL reason I wanted to go visit...haha) and then had to head back to New Castle for my dad's big retirement party!

Getting in the Party Spirit

We had family and friends over to my parents' house for drinks, dinner, and desserts. Mom made her famous lasagna, accompanied by Caesar salad, garlic bread, Concannon's cream-filled chocolate cake, Concannon's carrot cake, and some tiramisu. I did the legwork and can say that all three desserts were equally divine.

Among the guests was our former German foreign exchange student Dietgard (who married an American and now lives in Indianapolis) with her daughter, Mathilda, born three weeks before Lewis. It was fun to catch up and share our new mama stories with one another.

Lewis and Mathilda

So if I haven't mentioned it before, Emily bought Lewis a bunch of adorable clothes after he was born, including the following, his official 'Papaw Carter Party Outfit':

Two of a Kind

The top and bottom are both a true size 6-12 months, and they were roomy on him. Subsequently, the made him look like a giant baby!

Big, BIG, Boy with his Grandma DeeDee

The crowd eventually thinned out and the party transitioned from dessert into the Men's Poker Game that inevitably occurs at all Anderson family functions. Men in one room, women in the other. I headed to bed while things were still in full swing because I was afraid that Lewis would be waking us up all night (which he did) because of a Pack n Play issue.

One more post on Father's Day/Waycross, then I'm done for today. My poor husband has caught what I had/have. Things are not cheery here in the Thompson house. Apologies to anyone who was around us this weekend. And thanks to whomever originally passed it on. I had it, my cousin Mallory had it, now Kevin. It's the gift that keeps on giving. :)

Friday - First Swim and Beer Burgers!

Friday we made plans with our cousin Gina to take the babes swimming! Gina, Mike, and Lauren had gotten Lewis the cutest swim shirt, swim trunks, and flip flops ensemble, so we were excited for him to get to wear it and try out swimming for the first time. I think he liked it!

Ready for some swimming action

Surveying the situation

Floaty Time, Excellent

I would call it a success--he only fussed a few times while in his float. Eventually it was nap time, and he was fighting it, so we had to go after a few hours. It was a perfectly beautiful sunny day out in the country. It was nice to be able to hear the insects and birds for a change. We don't have a pool membership anywhere around here, so I'm not sure how often we'll get the chance to go the rest of the summer--but if we're in New Castle again this summer, we'll try to make it out to Gina's again. We did pick up a splash pad at the neighborhood yard sale a few weeks ago that hooks up to the hose and just sprays on him and lets him splash around. We may get that out because summer only officially began yesterday, and summers in Louisville are h-o-t.

After naps and showers, we finally got to put him in his "My Aunt is the Best" onesie that Emily got him! It's a size 6-month, so I was afraid he'd outgrown it. It still fits, barely. :)

Auntie Em (aka Scary Larry) and Lewis (smiling at someone other than me)

So that was Friday! We ended the day with a quick visit from Emily's old college roommate, Michelle, her husband, Jamie, and their 7-month-old daughter, Landree. Then Emily made us an amazing dinner: beer burgers (beef, oats, beer) with pub cheese (sharp white cheddar, cream cheese, garlic, and more beer) and sprouts on focaccia buns, served with fried zucchini, fries, and fresh sugar snap peas. Amazing way to end the day.

Thursday - Reunited and It Feels So Good

Be prepared for lots of pictures today! I think I'm going to try to break our long weekend down day by day. Our original plan was for Lewis, Kevin, and I to be in New Castle Thursday-Sunday and then Lewis and I at Waycross from Sunday-Tuesday. However, Sunday night I fell ill in the worst possible ways and had to leave Waycross on Monday instead. Before the horrible sickness ruined everything, we did have a nice Father's Day weekend.

We got into NC Thursday afternoon and spent the afternoon reacquainting Lewis with his cousin, Juniper, and Auntie Em (they'd met when Lewis was just a month old). They got along SO WELL--so many sweet moments. It really makes me wish that we lived closer to one another.

Juniper repeatedly throwing down the sweater that we got her...

not sure if that means she likes it or doesn't like it. :)

Pretty girl

Hi-yaaaaah! Take that, stupid sweater!

Mom and Dad had a dinner Thursday night, so we ordered pizza from the legendary Top Hat II. Or is it Too? I forget. Anyway, it was the best ever, and that's saying a lot. Juniper got to experience it for the first time, too. Her life will never be the same. :)

Pizza Bliss

As I mentioned, they got along so well! Lewis thought Juni was hilarious. He watched her very closely whenever she was in the room (dancing, walking by, shaking him while he was in the Jumperoo) and would just crack up. She was so good about being gentle with him, too.

Mama, what is she doing to me?

Four Months Old!!

Monkey is FOUR months old! He went to the doctor today--had a good check-up. He did cry a little from his vaccinations AND because it was time to eat, but he was a trooper!

Four Months

His stats:

Head Size: 17 3/4 inches (greater than the 97th percentile)

Weight: 17 pounds, 7.5 ounces (17.5 pounds) (90th percentile)

Length: 27 inches (97th percentile)--they seemed surprised that he's grown 3 inches in 2 months

BMI: 16.88 (I didn't know they did BMI for babies)

They said that he is proportionate and staying steady on his growth curve--because of that and because breastfeeding is still going well, we are going to hold off on solids for now. The doctor said we can start practicing feeding between now and our next appointment (at six months) if we'd like (mixing up rice cereal with breastmilk and letting him practice eating from a spoon and swallowing). The AAP also just came out a few months ago saying babies should only have breastmilk (or formula) for the first 6 months (instead of 4-6 like before), so we'll probably wait until closer to six.

What he's doing this month:

• Sleeping in big boy pajamas/sleepers (no more swaddle sacks!)
• Sitting well in his Bumbo (and tolerating it for longer periods of time)
• LOVING his Jumperoo--he morphs into a wild animal!
• Laughing!
• Is ticklish on his belly (Kevin just discovered that today...his laugh is highly contagious!)
• Rolling from his back to front (BOTH ways as of a few days ago). And he has done a barrel roll accidentally a few times where he gets too much momentum and goes back to front to back in one swift motion. He looks at me like, "What just happened?"
• He is HEAVY! I almost switched out his infant car seat for his convertible one the other day because heave ho-ing him in and out of the car is starting to wear on my back. I realized that he isn't able to sit up in a cart yet, so he needs the infant seat for Target/Kroger runs. Of course, I could also put him in his Ergo for such trips. We'll see--he is just big.

Also, I've been going through his drawers this week to make sure I've gathered all of his newborn through 3-6 mos. clothes (if they no longer fit him) to go into storage. I found these hats that I'd made before Lewis was born (before we knew that he was a he)...I have a few pictures of him wearing his 'Lewis' hat in the hospital, but you can't read the name. And now his head is too big, so oh well. They'll be in his memory box.

Harper Adele or Lewis Pete??

Big Boy and Bad Neighbors

As I mentioned, Lewis is quickly filling out his 6 mo. wardrobe. I think we're set now for the 6-9 mo. clothing. He still doesn't have a ton, but I think we'll get by. He has a lot of 12 mo. clothes, so we can always break into some of those early if needed. He's also had a few 'Big Boy' moments this week which I thought I'd mention--I will also post tomorrow after his 4 mo. check-up!

My mom called the other day asking for a picture of Lewis smiling for a 'project' she is working on (which is still a surprise to us). I was here alone with Lewis and tried to get one, which went a lot like this:

Feeeeeeet.

Thankfully Kevin and I were able to get one once he was home to help sing, bounce, make silly faces, etc. We did the best we could do and still didn't get a true smile, so a grin had to do. I'm curious to see what this 'project' is all about.

Lewis is rolling over like a maniac, so we had to stop swaddling him a few weeks ago. I was still just putting him in a onesie and wrapping the SwaddleMe under his arm pits (with his arms free), but I noticed his legs were perhaps getting a little long for the swaddle sack, too. So we made the jump this week to his Big Boy 'Jamas. These claim to be 6-12 months--I beg to differ.

Big Boy

First time riding in the Big Boy stroller (sans car seat)

We took him on a spin around the neighborhood last weekend

through our neighborhood's annual yard sale.

I know this is far away, but I think

he looks a little like his Papaw Carter here!

These say 'The Great Outdoors.' :)

And finally, anyone who has ever visited our home has probably heard me complain about, OR even witnessed themselves, the obnoxious neighbors who live behind us. I mean, to each his own, love thy neighbor, whatever, but if Kevin and I could make a list of the qualities we would NOT want in neighbors, they could write the list. They are obnoxious.

When we sell this house, we're going to have to time it to when they are out of the country.

Let's see, they:

• Have a trampoline right next to our fence where their four (usually unsupervised) children jump, provoking Peter and Hattie to bark more than they normally would, which is annoying.
• Host late night bonfires with music, shouting, general drunkenness. If the tiki torches are lit, we know we're in for a party!
• Have rented a bouncy house (for a birthday party)
• Rented PONIES for pony rides in their yard (for a birthday party). Who does that? Rather, who does that in the middle of the city-ish 'burbs?
• Shoot fireworks at our house
• Have driven their dirt bikes/4x4s in circles in their yard (how lame) at midnight, in the snow, for hours and hours
• Own a full-on Haunted Boat and set up a Haunted Back Yard for their friends to go through (complete with a chainsaw massacre-er and goblins hanging in trees)
• Throw their Frisbee into our yard/onto our roof
• Climbed up on our 8-ft fence to jump onto their trampoline (I had to check my homeowner's on that one)
• Cut through our yard via a gate in our fence and then left that gate open (which is not cool since we have 2 dogs who will run right through that gate)--I have continually relatched the latch, have put down landscaping pavers to barricade it closed, and asked them not to open it, etc.

Finally this weekend, they broke the gate. Sheared the top board (including the latch) right off (obviously paying no attention to the landscaping pavers which were there to keep them out of our yard). Jerks. Five screws, ripped right out. They were apparently searching for a lost tortoise, which they lost two years ago, too. I wonder if it's the same one?? I highly doubt it. I cringe every time I see a new puppy or kitten over there because they seem to have a way of disappearing.

Soooooo, the point is this:

Mama's New Toy

I am SO excited to be able to do fence repairs on my own! I should also say that the yahoo neighbor probably hand-built our fence with the guy who used to live here (a woodworker, which is NOT the same thing as a carpenter). The fence is a nightmare. If we were staying here any length of time, I would like to rip it all out and reinstall a quality piece of work. I digress.

In the past, our friends (Tony, Alan) or my dad have come down with their screwdrivers to help with fence-related issues (broken boards, reinforcing boards where the dogs jump most, etc.). Now I/we can do them ourselves! We have a little cordless 12v drill/driver, but it doesn't have the kick we need for the fence boards. This 18v is a beast, and I love it so much! I love it as much as I hate the fence itself. Does that make sense?

The Longest Month Ever

It feels like this third month has been the longest month ever! Lewis FINALLY turns four months next week--we have a doctor's appointment, so I'll post after that with his latest picture and stats.

I have obviously been failing at blogging. I usually think of it/have time to do it when Lewis is napping, but the past week or so we've been spending most of our time in the basement where it is cooler (since I am opposed to hot weather), and the computers both stay upstairs. Also, after a flurry of activity the past month, we have kind of calmed down for a moment.

We did go to Clara's birthday party last weekend, but I forgot to take any pictures there (typical). :) Reed and Maria made up the cutest goody bags--Lewis left with a couple of books, toy keys, and, of course, a Care Bear (the party's theme). We had a great time, and Maria did such a great job with everything (especially the beautiful Care Bear cake which I really should have taken a picture of).

A few pictures:

Hey!

Looking an awful lot like the Carter side here!!

Papenhaus boys when they were little, I believe!

HAIR! After sporting some male-pattern baldness for the first 3 months, his hair is finally starting to fill in! He has sort of a short, spiky flat-top now. And one big bald spot on the back where he sleeps. :)

To Em, "His hair was as soft as a baby chicken..." Ha!

My favorite picture yet. Finally able to capture a 'real' smile.

The garden looks like hell this year (crabgrass is a thing of the devil), but I did get some roses last weekend! All is not lost. Also, I tried Round-up for the first time, and think I'm going to love it. Finally a workable solution to the annoying grasses/weeds all over our bricked out patio area.

The dogs also love spending time in the basement. I snapped a few pictures of them the other day while on the floor with Lewis. Hattie will NOT let me take a straight-on picture of her. She always looks away and/or poses. I thought this one captured her stubbornness (and her Master Splinter beard) the best.

Hattie Boo (or Lou), we love you

Peter, on the other hand, will stare at you for as long as you'd like. I wish I could hear what he is thinking.

Peter Dink

Peter's liver values were elevated back in February when he and Hattie got their teeth cleaned. Not enough to warrant major concern, but enough to try to figure out why. He's been acting a little puny/'off' (but he's always been a bit of a strange dog), and we aren't sure if it's because of his liver or because of Lewis being born. We've run bloodwork 4-5 times now and have been experimenting with different chews, pills, etc. to try to get them to come down. So far, they remain the same (or even a bit higher). Looking back through his history, we found that they were also elevated back in 2008 when he had blood drawn (but the vet then thought it was caused by a drug reaction and assumed they would go back to 'normal').

We switched to a vet's office closer to our house (and with more reasonable prices), and I really like her so far! She's really energetic, asks really good questions, and seems excited about figuring out how to help Peter. For now, we are doing a pill and a prescription food to see if it helps. We'll go back in a few weeks for more bloodwork! It's nothing life-threatening for now, thank goodness. Just mysterious.

This weekend we are going to do some work around the house/yard and hit up our neighborhood's yard sale!! I'm excited! I brought up Lewis' 9 month clothes yesterday and discovered that he doesn't have that many at all! So I got a few sets of pajamas this morning at a yard sale and then went and got a few more at Kohl's with a gift card (thanks Aunt Joyce and Uncle Charlie!). I've been stocking up on 12 month and 18 month stuff at Goodwill, but I guess I skipped the 9 month stuff.

Next week, we are traveling to my parents' house to see my sister and Juniper (yay!), visit with family, have a retirement party for my dad, and then Lewis and I are off to Waycross for a few days of Women's Week! I'm really excited to spend time with my aunts, mom, sister, niece, grandma, cousin, etc.

I will shut up now. Happy Friday, all!