6.5 Month Check Up

As I update this, Sterling is crying in bed....he is sleep training, and its so hard for me to hear him cry. I just want to go in and rescue him....I know he is safe, I just checked on him. This is so hard. We've had issues with trying to establish a routine for him. Then we found out we had to move and that turned his whole schedule upside down. Now I have to essentially start from scratch....I can't wait till this is all over with...I will now update you all, from his last appointment.

He now weighs 17 pounds and is 25.25 inches long. His doctor made it seem like he was little. She questioned me about how much he is eating. He hasn't changed his eating too much. He eats two meals by spoon and still nurses every 2.5 to 3 hours. I supplement with a bottle if we are out in public. Mostly because he is not used to be covered up while nursing.

We talked about sleeping. I told her that he STILL wakes up a lot. She said a baby his age should be sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night...without waking up. She told me to basically let him cry it out. He will cry it out for nap time...bedtime is a different story. We will see how it goes.

Sterling is getting so big and so strong. He can sit up on his own, pass a toy from hand to hand, he gets up on his hands and knees and rocks forward and back. He wants to crawl so bad. He gets so mad when he can't move...lol...He rolls back from front to back and back to front. He loves being naked. He will reach out for me when take him out of his exersaucer. He loves Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Patty Cake is becoming a close second. He still enjoys being read to. It really calms him down. He is beyond fascinated with the dogs. He enjoys playing with his siblings and lucky for him, they love hanging out with him. Tolkien plays guitar for him, and he gets a big kick out of that. Sterling likes to touch Ara's face and for whatever reason, tries putting her fingers in his mouth every chance he gets. He still gets kind of scared of Emma, but he likes it when she plays Peek a Boo with him.

He is crying again...it died down and it sounds like he is sleeping, but protesting in his bed. Julian will start howling any minute....

4.75 months old!

Sterling had a checkup/immunizations yesterday. He is now weighing 15lbs 8oz. He is 24.5 inches long. I was told he is the 50th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. She said he is progressing quite nice. He did wake up with a fever this morning, from those darn shots. My mother was changing his diaper last night, and be mistake grabbed his thigh. He screamed! Poor guy. The pediatrician gave us the green light to begin solids. I told her he had already begun rice 2 weeks ago. We didn't really discuss to much. I asked things like, "when can I take him for walks" I want to know how warm it has to be outside. We are getting restless. I also asked for some advice on how to keep Jeremy in his memory, when he deploys out again. We need to make another picture album of Jeremy, for him to look at daily.

The other day Sterling was crying and my dog Julian began howling (something I have never heard him do) it was so weird! I felt like Julian was worried about Sterling. Ever since then, Julian will howl if Sterling cries for longer than 5 minutes. With Sterling's recent visit to the doctor, he has been so fussy, and crying way more than he usually does.

My little guy has changed so much. He really loves being read to. He loves it when I sing to him and loves bath time. He kicks the water around, so bath time is pretty messy. Also, he found his feet last week, and likes trying to eat them.

Not too much more going on here, oh and now I hear Sterling waking up from his nap....better go!

And now I will eat my words.....

Yep, that is right...I said that I was going to hold off, feeding "solids" to Sterling, but I gave in today. I really wanted to hold off, but this past week he literally stares at me, when I am eating. It was getting so intense, and all his mouth smacking/tongue clicking, made me cave. So this morning, I decided to mix him up some rice cereal, per the Gerber instructions. He LOVED it. He kept opening his mouth like a little bird or something. He also squealed, in complaint, when I wasn't shoveling it in fast enough. He did really well. I assumed he would push it out with his tongue, but he really didn't. He did well pushing the food to the back of his mouth, and swallowing. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to paint a mess free meal here..there was mess, but a lot less than I expected. He did eat some for dinner, as well, with the same results, as explained above.

I feel like he has changed so much in this last week. Last weekend he wasn't make much of an attempt to grab at things. He has really changed it up the last few days. This morning I was dangling a toy in front of him and he was reaching for it. He has been grabbing his toys intentionally the past few days.

And finally, his laughing has gone from every once in a while, to all out bursts of laughter. My little guy is growing up so fast....Its just amazing to me, how fast, and how much...

I had a great time today, with Ara and Tolkien. Jeremy stayed home with Sterling, and the kids and I went out without them. It was so nice of Jeremy to give us some time alone. We went out to lunch, then I brought them to the record store, and bought them each a record. It was really cool, because I used to go to that same record store, in my teen years, and buy records. I loved seeing Ara and Tolkien in the same situation, browsing through the records. We went to the grocery store, then came home.

I have so much I need to do around the house...but I really don't want to do it. I know I am going to regret it, but I can't help myself....I just want to relax, especially while Sterling is asleep.

I think I will just veg out, and talk with Ara...

Baby Lemonade

Sterling on his new quilt, that his Grandma Kim made for him. I need to quickly say, Sterling HATED tummy time, until he got this quilt. Now he will tolerate tummy time for about 20-25 minutes! He has now even learned how to roll over both ways. He also does this little inch worm type crawl. He can move about 1/2 and inch sometimes. He is so desperate to move around. Its great seeing him.

Sterling is officially 4 months old. He just recently took his first road trip, to Seattle. He had a difficult time in the car, but it was worth it. We had a great time in Seattle visiting Melissa, Brad, Isla and Graham. It was equally great getting to spend time with Melissa. I miss them all so much. I say it all the time. I really enjoyed seeing her kids. They are without a doubt, the cutest kids, not related to me, that I have ever ever been around. They are incredibly smart, and very entertaining. I love them, and look forward to seeing them again very soon.

Sterling has been watching me eat. I have noticed he will watch me bring the food to my mouth. He will then smack his lips and click his tongue. If I am holding him, facing out, he will twist his neck until he can see me eating. I believe this is a sign that he is ready to start some solids, but I also will admit, I am not jumping on the queue, and will wait as long as I can. I will see his pediatrician in 3 weeks, and will ask their opinion at that time. I know several mothers, via Baby Center, that have already started their 4 month olds on solids.

Sterling and I went to Kohls and Sears yesterday. We were looking for new cookware, and new silver wear. I think we found some potential buys, but I will be going back with my husband, to make a final decision. Sterling, once again, proved how much he is hating the carseat right now. I had to carry him around the store, and push his stroller. I was very sweaty by the time we got out of the store.

Thank you Ara, for having some really good taste in music. If it was not for you Ara, I would never have given Syd Barrett a listen to. I really like his music, and listened to "Baby Lemonade" 15 times in the car yesterday.

Off the subject...Charlie Sheen is really starting to piss me off. I feel sorry for him, but I also feel sorry for all of the people that are depending on him, to "get clean" so they too, can continue with their jobs. I am sure it has to be frustrating waiting around for him. They wait in limbo...
It makes me wonder if he even thinks about all the lives he will impact if he can't get it together.

Well Sterling is beginning to make noise in his bed. I better get him before he really lets me know he is awake!

.....Grrrrr.....

I hope that getting it off my chest and on "paper" will make me forget about it. What am I talking about you wonder?? I am getting really sick of people telling me that my baby is behind. The people that feel the need to make these kinds of comments obviously do not realize how hurtful it can be to the mother of the child. My son was born nearly a month early, he may not have hit all the milestones other almost 4 months old have, but he is just FINE! If there was an issue, I am sure his pediatrician would say so. His pediatrician has also told us that we need to keep in mind that since he was born a little early, we might notice him hitting these milestones a little later than babies born at their full term. We work with him a lot, and we feel he is where he needs to be at. I have 3 other children, and have worked with children, specifically infants to 2 years old, and I can honestly say ALL BABIES DO DEVELOP AT DIFFERENT TIMES! Anyway, maybe now I will stop letting this issue bother me so much.

In other news, I went to the MD today. My MD thinks I have an infection in my right breast. Its been very tender and I have a hard time nursing Sterling on it. Afterwards I feel extreme pain and a hot stabbing feeling. It sucks. She gave me antibiotics, so hopefully it clears up soon.

Jeremy, Sterling and I will be making a trip to Seattle. We are going to visit The Keymers. I am really looking forward to seeing Melissa. I miss her so much and I really haven't had a real chance to talk to her, in quite some time. We hope to hit up IKEA, while we are there. We need some new drinking glasses, and the ones we really love, were purchase there. It will be interesting to drive with the baby, but I am sure he will do ok...well, at least I hope so!

Just like old times....sort of

I say "Just like old times" because today Jeremy and I actually went out for two meals today (outside the house) We haven't really been "out" to eat since Sterling was born. It is getting more interesting, the older he gets. He used to just sleep through our meals, but now he is quite aware that we are somewhere new, and he wants nothing to do with sleep. We went to the Chalet for breakfast, and Applebee's for dinner. It never ceases to amaze me the looks we get from people, when we enter the restaurant with our baby. Some people look happy, clearly the don't mind babies...while other scowl at us, and let it be known that we have officially ruined their meal.

Tomorrow is Sunday, it will be a busy day for me. We have to go out to the base, do our grocery shopping. Then I will be going to Katie's house for lunch. Karla, Sarah and Jamie are supposed to be there. Sarah has never met Sterling yet, so this will be exciting. Jamie will hopefully be there, unless she is in the hospital. Katie's husband is going to make chili. I haven't had chili, while nursing, I will admit...I am a bit worried about how this will affect Sterling. It will be nice to catch up with everyone, plus I will have a chance to ask Katie more about Roller Derby tryouts.

Ara and Tolkien are supposed to come home tomorrow too. I miss them. We now are having them stay 7 days with me, then 7 days with their dad. This has been working so far, but waiting 7 days to see them, is longer than I'd like, somedays. Hopefully they won't be too tired, and we can have some time to reconnect. I'm not sure if Emma is going to come home tomorrow, but if she doesn't I am sure she will be home after school on Monday.

I am currently on the lap top, in our room. Sterling is sleeping, but everytime I try and leave the room, he wakes up! So, I finally just decided that I would get in bed, and get on the computer. Julian is laying next to me too, which is nice. He really loves me so much, and loves to be with me. I love my little pup so much. He still can cheer me up, even on the worst days.

So not much going on still...I will have more to update on, perhaps later next week. Sterling has another ultrasound on the 2nd of Feb, then sees Dr. Starr on the 7th of Feb. I am hoping for more improvement. He's been doing really good, and is almost 3 months post hospital!

Till next time!

Thinking....

And missing NYC...
The past week I have been waking up from dreams, that I am in New York City. I can't seem to get it off of my mind, and I find that I am missing it. We went on our belated Honeymoon December of 2009. I loved every minute of our trip...and really wish we could go back. It was everything I expected and more. I know some people do not like that big city, but I fell in love, head over heels with NYC. I can honestly say "I love New York." I look through the pictures that we took about once a month. I really wish we had the ability to see more places in the world. Perhaps when Jeremy and I are older...and our little baby isn't, well, a baby.

I've lived in Spokane my entire life. I have always wanted to move away from this city, start somewhere new, where no one knows me. I don't like going out and running into people that I know. Let me clarify that statement...I don't like running into the idiots I went to High School with. A lot of them still live in Spokane, and when I go out to the valley, specifically, I usually see someone I know. I have always felt like I was meant to see more, than just this little town. I already told my husband that if we win the lottery, we are going to travel a lot.

When we went to NYC I tried my absolute hardest to soak up everything around me. I didn't want to forget anything about our trip. However, when I look at our pictures I am always amazed at how much I did forget...even though I browse through our pics at least once a month.

Spokane is a boring town, there really isn't much to do here. My mother always says the same thing about it too. I remember one point in our life, when she and I were going to relocate ourselves to Portland Oregon, that clearly never happened. I know my mother longs for a change as well.

Now when I go on and on about wanting to leave Spokane, I am speaking in terms of, "If all the kids could go with us." That would be ideal....But, maybe I would feel equally satisfied, if I could just go see more of the world, you know?

I will close this now, and really I just had to get this somewhat off of my mind....
I miss you NYC, and love you...I hope to see you soon....