My baby is FOURTEEN weeks old!

And what a FUN 14 wks its been! Everybody was right when they say each phase the child is in currently is their favorite. It’s so true. I loved the infant stage because he was just so itty bitty and cuddly. I love this stage because he’s smiling ALL THE TIME and he’s starting to jabber away! I can’t wait for what’s in store for the next stage of life now :)
So this is how I start my mornings lately, (Thank GOD it’s 8am now instead of the 5:30-6:00am like he was doing) :

It’s mid October and still 80 degrees??! Yowza! I am NOT turning the air on in October. So it’s 78 degrees in the house with the beautiful sun shining in and the windows open. That means its just a stay-in-my-diaper-and-chill kind of day.

My little Al Bundy. Ha ha.

Alrighty folks, that’s all for now. I have my TEN year high school reunion tonight. Can you believe that??? Where does the time go. Gosh, high school seems like a lifetime ago! I’ll post pics tomorrow :)

-Linds

Stop…Belly time!

Did you read the title as intended? In true MC Hammer fashion? :)
So Eli was doing a little belly time this morning and making momma so proud! He’s getting so strong and he was just as cute as can be. Lately he’s been “talking” up a storm! I think it drives him  cuh-raaazy not being able to say what he wants to say yet. Here are some pics of him doing some belly time. I have to guide his hands forward, otherwise he just planks :)

“Hi momma! Look what I’m doin’!” 

Grabbing onto the ribbon for some leverage…. “oh, a taggie!”

Here he is, hammin’ it up for the camera. I could just eat that face!

Now you got your Eli fix, hope you all have an awesome day!
-Linds

Swim lessons!!!

Ohmygosh my squeezies I’m so excited to tell you all about our first swim lesson! So Energym in sycamore has free swim lessons for pregnant women and infants from 3m to 8m! How cool is that???! My friend Nicole mentioned how awesome it was and suggested I try it out once Eli turned 3 months. So the temp of the water is set at 92 degrees, (I DESPISED swim lessons as a kid because my mom always chose the classes that started at the but crack of dawn, in an outdoor pool, where the water was never higher than 0 degrees. I’m certain I saw ice crystals. Needless to say, I had to be forced into the pool against my will and vowed never to do that to my children. I still love you mom, I know you meant well) and there is 1 instructor for every 4 students. Check out their website for more info if you’re interested—I HIGHLY recommend it! (Oh, and tell them I referred you because we BOTH then get $25 off of the lesson fee when we have to start paying after 8months, pleaseandthankyou). Nicole, I told them you referred me so they said they’d apply your $25 credit :) Here’s the link . Check it out!
Unfortunately we had to start in the middle of the term because Eli had to turn 3 months first. There were 2 other women and their kidlets (one of them I know from work! What a small world.) and the instructor is AWESOME with the kiddos. At this stage it’s just about getting them acclimated to the water and working with their baby reflexes. Eli did awesome! He didn’t fuss ONCE even when I poured water over his face. We took it easy this first week, but next week he’ll be dunked under water so we’ll see how he does then :) You have to purchase an approved swim diaper, no disposables allowed. I got a blue camo pair for Eli. He was super cute in them. I didn’t have a helper today so I just took a pic with my phone in his car seat right before getting into the water. I can’t wait for Aaron, my mom, and Steph to come to one of these lessons and see what it’s all about and to take some better pics. But for now, this one will have to do:

At this point he’s not too sure about this whole swimming thing.

Seriously, if you can’t tell already, I’m SUPER excited for Monday mornings now. We are in the 10:20 class. Come join us :) There’s even a viewing window to watch through :)

-Linds

My baby is THREE months old today!

This onesie is from my cousin Karen. She stitched his name on it using letters from t-shirts. SUPER cute! Thanks Karen!

  ,..And oh what fun Auntie Stephie and I had during his “photo shoot”! He’s looking like such a big boy. I pulled an over-all outfit out that Jac let me borrow since Parker has obviously outgrown it being almost 10 months. It’s size 3 months, looks huge, and yet barely fits :/ I’m guessing this will be the one and only time he’ll be able to wear it so we might as well get pics in it. Here he is, my little stud, ha ha:





We thought it would be funny to leave the top part of his shirt unbuttoned but I got a vision of him being 18 years old and I didn’t like it! The second pic is better because he looks like my baby boy (Auntie Stephie said “do you miss grandma?? Grandma is gonna be home soon and I’m sure she miiiiisses YOU!”—and that’s how we got the smile in this second pic :) True story. We’ve been very sad around here because Grandma did a road trip with her sisters to Florida for a wedding this past week, and we’ve had no Eli/grandma time :(
 Alrighty, lets get down to business:
Size: He weighed in at a whopping 14lbs today and was 24 1/2in long!
Likes: Well he hasn’t napped on his belly in a really long time so I think that no longer makes the list. He has however, made a new friend, Gerry. We got Gerry the Giraffe, a hangy toy from one of Aaron’s Minnesota buddies in the mail after Eli was born and he’s just now realizing his hands have a purpose and is enjoying swatting and grabbing at him. (Speaking of hands, he seems to think those things taste scrumdiddliumpscious because he is constantly shoving BOTH fists into his mouth, so add that to the list). He’s still loving the car seat (thank GOD!), and stroller rides. He loves listening to people talk to him and he’s a great listener.
Dislikes: Being ignored. If you’re in his presence, you better be interacting with him or he’ll let you know that your behavior is unacceptable. Mommy’s dislikes include Eli’s growth spurts, for 2 reasons: 1) He’s fussy and his schedule gets all jacked up, and 2) he Grows! :*(
Feeding: I’m happy to report that he takes a bottle (of breast milk) no problem since I’ve had to return to work. What a nightmare that would be if he wouldn’t! He still eats every 2-3hrs during the day and can go long stretches during the night now that he’s sleeping great. He still only takes 3 1/2 oz though when I Do give him the bottle. Very odd to me. I figured he’d take more by now. One of my friends said her son took EIGHT ounces by this age! Yowza!  I tried to give him 4-5oz one night before bed but he kept pushing the nipple out of his mouth at the 3 1/2 oz mark. Maybe he’s never needed more because he  eats every 2hrs..? Either way, I don’t worry about it because clearly he’s growing juuuuusttt fiiiiinnne.
Sleeping: So I get the question “is he sleeping through the night??” almost daily and I find it tough to answer. Yes he sleeps 8-10 hours straight but no, not THROUGH the night. He goes down at 7pm routinely now and he’ll wake up anywhere from 2-4am to eat, then go back to bed for a few more hours.  Last night he didn’t get up until 5am for his first middle-of-the-night feeding and then slept until 8:15! Woo hoo! I was so thankful because I had worked the night before and didn’t get into bed until after 1am so I was beat :(
Milestones: He can now support his head pretty well independently and loves when you hold him up to balance on his feet or pull on his hands to a sitting position. Still waiting on him to roll over. He comes awfully close a lot, but no cigar.
So there you have it! He’s growing so fast!

Night night!
-Linds

Ready for the Bears game…

Yesterday we went over to Auntie Stephie’s and Uncle Pibe’s house to watch the Bears/Packers game. Well Eli saw a little of it in between being passed around among the ladies. He was such a good sport despite not taking his long mid morning nap like he usually does. I was nervous that he’d be fussy because of it but he was such a good boy! That’s because he just LOVES undivided attention. He did manage to fall asleep in my Friend Sara’s arms with his leg draped over her cute preggo belly. I about melted (I think she did too)

Hard to tell but she has a reeeeally cute baby belly that Eli found quite comfy

I put him in an orange top with blue pants, his matching blue and orange kicks and a knitted bears hat I got as a shower gift from my friend Leslie, so he was all set.

How cute is that hat?! Thanks Leslie!!

  I love that face. Muuuuuah!

What?! The Bears lost??

Hope you all had a nice Sunday funday :)

-Linds

My baby is TWELVE weeks old!!

Seconds before a Huggies Snugglers fail :/

There is nothing better in this world than your baby smiling up at you in recognition and looking truly excited to be in your presence :) I was feeding Eli this morning and daddy walked in after an early morning meeting and greeted us and Eli popped off, lifting his head like the big boy he is, and gave daddy the BIGGEST smile and started jabbering away like he had so much to tell him! Made my morning.

Yesterday Grandma Marilyn was over to visit/play with Eli and she bent down to sniff his butt to see if he needed a diaper change and he decided then was the perfect time to let out a loud toot (Eli doesn’t DO silent) right in her face! She said she nearly crapped her own pants. ha ha ha ha. Love that kid, although I doubt it would be as funny if it was my own nose insulted by an infamous Eli toot :) Ok, it still would be :D I never found flatulence to be a very funny topic like most people do until It was my own infant son doing it unknowingly, then its hilarious!—Like when I hear him stretching on the monitor and then a toot follows. Never fails to get me and daddy belly laughing.

In case you were wondering, we’re all doing very well with the new sleeping arrangements. I can’t wait until he can sleep with blankets and pillows, it only seems right. I wonder how babies tolerate sleeping all night, flat on their back with no cuddling of blankets and no less than 10 pillows like their mommies??? But he does it so I won’t complain.

I want to send a shout out to my uH-MAZ-ing momma who has been so hands on with Eli and making THIS momma’s job a thousand times easier than it should be. Its because of her that I’m not a sleep deprived zombie, that motherhood has been such a painless transition for me, and that Eli doesn’t have to be in day care. I truly wish all new mommas were guaranteed a helper like her. I LOVE you tons mom! Muuuuuuah! You take being an “awesome Grandma” to a new level. Sorry to all the other grammies out there, the bar has been set.

This picture cracks me up. He looks guilty like he just said "what?! I swear, it wasn't me!"

Blessed mommy,

-Linds

Mommy survived!

Well all day yesterday I was psyching myself up to putting Eli in his own room in his crib to sleep for the night. I’m happy to report that after rigging the video monitor, hanging all cock-eyed, just so, on the corner of his crib with scotch tape (so I could see the hair in his nostrils of course) I let my baby boy sleep alone alllll the way down my football field-sized hallway! I’m so proud of myself :) AND I lived to tell about it. He did just fine as I knew he would. It was so nice not having to tip toe around the room when getting ready for bed so we wouldn’t wake him. Now, would I be ready for this step withOUT my video monitor—Nope :/

My widdle peanut in his giNORmous looking crib:

Please disregard his messy closet :/

Proud Momma,

-Linds