Fender's first Christmas...

We've been busy over the holidays having tons of fun with great friends, family, and tasty food. We spent Christmas Eve over at Grandma and Papa's house;


Christmas Day at PaCurt's (Fen's Great Granddad);



the day after Christmas we drove to Jackson, MS (our puppy, Sebastian in tow and all Fen's ensemble came with) where Fen got to meet his Great Grandmother Boswell. Drew's brother and his family drove in from Florida. We all spent that night at Fred and Aunt Barbara's where Sebastian found lots of dogs to play with.


The next morning we made it to our final destination...Grandmother's house. Later that evening we had dinner, exchanged Christmas gifts, and spent time with Great Grandmother Powell at "Great Linda's" (Fen's Great Aunt's) house.






We've had so much fun seeing everyone and exposing Fen to so many new things. This trip was his first across the Mississippi river and first exposure to walks in the woods. Fender found is toes to play with for the first time. He has started to suck his thumb...uh oh. And he has perfected the art of turning from his back to his sides. He'll be turning over in no time.

Sleepovers and rumballs...

Wow. It is even more difficult finding time to update a website now. Last week I went back to work part time...and boy was I exhausted. Fen still isn't sleeping through the night and everyone keeps saying that he should. I think it may be time to take everyone up on their advice...I mean...when all the parents are saying the same thing independently of each other...and I can't think of a single time or subject that they would all be on the same page about...then it may be time to listen. Even the books suggest adding a little rice-cereal to the milk should help him sleep more through the night. Will have to see if Drew can get on board with it and then the sleep deprivation and exhaustion may get just a little bit better. :)

So last night, Fen has his first "sleepover" away from his parents. Aren't grandparents so "grand"! PaPa and Grandma watched over Fender while Drew and I had dinner and a movie...oh and I had a one-hour deep tissue massage before the movie too. Heavenly!!!!!!!!!!

But back to Fen... all reports this morning are that he didn't let them get much sleep last night. I think even less than I get... he usually goes down for about four hours from 10pm to 2am and then for a couple of hours he sleeps again and feeds at 4 or 5am. I think the reason for not sleeping more after the 2am feeding might be because he is so tired he never finishes his feeding. Only one side usually, despite my best efforts...so he falls asleep and wakes back up again. Maybe the rice-cereal will help with that...and if we make that 2am a bottle feeding, then eventually I will get on the same schedule so that I produce more milk in the day and less at night. For a few days or maybe a week...we are going to be going through a transition period, but I think having a plan of action for the change over is good.


With Papa and Grandma watching Fender now, it has allowed me to build up another reserve of bottles. And now that the Chicago trip (Drew has a seminar on Monday) will be behind us, Drew will get to start helping out with bottle feedings. We're both thrilled about that. It has been hard being the only one to feed him for the past 10 1/2 weeks.

We're all getting ready for the holidays. Looking forward to Christmas Eve at home with my family and the week after Christmas in Mississippi with Drew's family. I need to make some fudge for the season. Last week, Fender and I stopped by Aunt Pauline's and made some rumballs, yum... (picture of Aunt Pauline and Fen, below). Last night I tried some of the homemade chocolate covered pecans that DJ made and today I am going to try some of her banana nut bread. 'Tis the season to have a full belly. :) I don't think the rest of this "baby fat" is going to come off until after the new year. But I did lose another pound this week. It is just coming off more slowly now.


Well, guess that is a big enough update for now. Pictures throughout are from recent days. He is so much fun. Drew is due back from Chicago tomorrow night (late...should get in about 10pm) and Fen has an 8am appointment at Children's hospital tomorrow morning for a hip sonogram. Hopefully it turns out that it is just precautionary, but many breech babies tend to have trouble with their hips and they want to make sure he is fine. 8AM...ouch...that one is going to be tough...especially with Sebastian who is sure to give me the sadest puppy face ever in the morning when he doesn't get any playtime before I leave in the morning. :( Oh well...sometimes there are days like that.

9 week progress report...

Being with him everyday, I may not notice how much he is growing, but I do notice when he learns new things and he seems to be full of progress lately. Yesterday, during some playtime on his belly, he was able to prop himself up on his arms, lifting his head and part of his chest up off the ground, all on his own. He is really starting to smile now...honestly...it isn't gas. He smiles most with his Daddy...no surprises there. He has also started to reach out to touch things. He isn't very accurate yet, but you can definitely see the intent, focus, and effort to reach mobiles hanging or toys right in front of him. He is also focusing and watching us and things much further away than he used to, and his color pallette has moved from preferring black and white only to a range of colors...still preferring a stark contrast of colors on an object. He seems to have an affinity for lady bugs. He migrates toward the one on his hanging gym and he likes to look at that side of his play cube too. One is 3-Dimensional and the other only a drawing. Just seemed like a neat observation to me. Anyway... here are a couple more pictures of our little play thing.

2 month check-up and best day yet...

As soon as I post this, I have no doubt that this day was just a fluke, but Fender was almost on a schedule today. In fact...the past THREE nights in a row, he has gone down for a four hour stint from 9:00PM to 1:00AM! Now...if I can just get that to be more from midnight to four, that would suit my schedule better. I'd prefer not to be in bed at 9:00, but I'll take it. I am definitely exhausted by 9:00PM. Let's face it...I'm exhausted when I get up in the morning. Today he fed, at 9:00AM, Noon, 3:30PM, and 6:00PM. I'm waiting to see if he makes it until 9:00PM to feed. Then it would be a true 3-hr feeding day... midnight for the next feeding (or 1:30am if things continue as they have been), a 3 or 4AM feeding and then a 6 or 7am feeding and we're up again. Sheesh...and that is with a schedule...no wonder I'm exhausted. The bad thing about today is that he slept a lot. We had some playtime and went to the grocery store, but he slept an awful lot today, despite me trying to wake him up for play. I guess when they want to sleep, they will sleep and if they don't want to sleep, they won't.

I managed to get groceries bought, put away, dishes put away and the sink cleaned out, a little play time with Sebastian, this website updated, and now I wish I was down for a nap. But hate to be sleeping when Drew gets in...which is also why it is so frustrating that I need to go to bed with Fen, if he goes down at 9:00PM. It just leaves so little time for us with "Daddy." Oh...how I love the weekends.

For now...here are a few pictures from the past few days. Oh...and he had his 2-month check-up yesterday, then we went to see Drew at work. Fun day...probably why he is so tired today. He had four shots yesterday...two in each thigh. :( He got a dose of tylenol before the shot and I gave him a second dose four hours later, but quit giving it to him after that. I thought it would be better to wait and see if he had any fever or side effects and actually needed the drug. He didn't seem to. Yea. What a trooper. He weighed 13 lbs and was 24 inches long. 75th percentile, whatever that really amounts to. He is doing very well. Doctor was pleased. I'm so proud of him. He's thriving despite the fact that his parents are fumbling through the exhaustion and learning as we go. :)