Yikes!

Oh boy, this has not been a fun afternoon with baby Joel! He is soooooo cranky. I think his injection sites hurt, and they are a little red. He just screams and screams and screams and is pretty much inconsolable. It makes his Mommy very sad. After almost two hours of screaming, I was finally able to get him to fall asleep. He's not sleeping very restfully, so I don't imagine it will last long. Poor Bailey! She ignores him for the most part but seems really bothered when he is screaming like that. She came and sat right beside us on the couch and shivered. She even leaned over and licked his leg once. (That didn't help the screaming, by the way!) Let's hope that he feels better when he wakes up so that he doesn't scream all the way to Cincinnati later. Sigh...

Pediatric appointment....

Yeah! We took Joel to see Dr. Foldvary this morning for his second round of baby shots. He weighs 15 pounds, 5 ounces and is 24 3/4 inches long! He is in the 50th percentile for babies his age....they don't even track him on the preemie scale anymore! Dr. Foldvary said that he has "great" growth and "great" development. He even said, "Boy, he sure doesn't look like a preemie anymore, does he?" (Mom is trying not to be offended by that....he's not fat, I know!:0) ) We get to switch him to regular formula starting next week (to give him time to get over any side effects from the shots) and get to start him on vegetables then too. He's growing up too fast for me! Dr. Foldvary is great and answers all of our questions, no matter how dumb we think they are! Daddy took Joel into the injection room for his shots. Mommy stood outside, and when I heard the first scream I think I felt worse than he did! He fell asleep almost immediately afterwards with Rob holding him, and seems pretty sleepy this morning yet. Poor baby! We have to get ready for our trip to Cincinnati tonight. Maybe he'll sleep the whole way...? (Wishful thinking...) We are so proud of him and how well he is doing. We should see him sitting up and pushing off from the floor with his arms soon. It doesn't seem possible!

Our handsome boy!

What a happy baby!

Today was a great day with Joel! He woke up around 8:30 this morning in a happy mood...smiling and "singing" to me when I came in to get him. He was in a good mood all day...hardly any crying at all! He spent quite a bit of time in the exerciser today while I worked in the kitchen. I think he is definitely "over" the swing and definitely prefers the exerciser. He was really funny cooing and screeching while he played, and I was finally able to catch him doing it on video. We learned "Patty Cake" today and he was giggling and smiling during that. He is most definitely more communicative than he has ever been. I took him to visit his PawPaw, Grandma, and Great-Grandma yesterday. He was a little cranky then but not too bad. Grandma gave him a taste of ice cream, so he was pretty pleased with himself! We had a post-placement visit with our social worker today. She commented on how she can't believe how much he has changed since last month. The best news of the day is ...EUREKA!...we have figured out how to keep him happy when we walk (other than carrying him the whole way, of course!). He is just big enough to sit in the stroller without the car seat. He looks pretty scrunched in there, but he was happy and made pleasant noises instead of crying. Not one tear! Yeah! He is currently asleep, so Mommy and Daddy are relaxing a little bit. It won't be long until his next bottle, so I should try to do something productive I guess. Good night!

So darn cute!

He's really getting into the exerciser! He played in it for about 20 minutes today while I worked in the kitchen. He's pretty comical!

First Overnight...

We spent the long weekend (Thursday through Sunday) in Columbus with Rob's sister and her husband. Joel did fuss a lot in his seat on the way down, and finally fell asleep about 15 minutes before we got there. He slept in the pack and play we borrowed from our neighbors, but did not seem to sleep very peacefully. We had a good weekend with Sherry and Jerry. Rob did some van shopping. Because we continue to have problems with feeding the cereal through a nipple, we tried feeding very watered down cereal to Joel with a spoon. He was pretty good about it the first night, but after that it was a no-go. Boy can he scream when he is unhappy! Saturday night was his worst sleeping night. Rob put him down around 2:00 am and he was awake again from 3:00-7:00. I just don't think he liked sleeping in that pack and play. Our nephew, Alan, and his wife, Sarah, came for lunch on Sunday. They had not seen Joel since his baptism and were surprised how much he had changed! The ride home was not too pleasant. Joel was sleeping when we left, but he only slept about 20 minutes in the van before he woke up and cried. He cried most of the way home, much to Mom's distress. He was restless when we first got home but, miracle of miracles!, he slept 8 1/2 hours last night! He was sooo exhausted from the weekend. He woke up happy, so that's always nice. He's currently laying on his blanket on the living room floor "talking" to the TV and giggling. He's so funny! More later...

Our Little Family (minus one uncooperative dog!)

I love this picture! The expression on both their faces is priceless!

Big happy smile!

Busy, busy boy!

So cute!

Getting a grip on this whole "parent" thing....

Well, not bad....Joel is only four(almost 5!) months old and I finally feel like I am more confident in taking care of him. I seem to be improving with getting him to fall asleep for naps, and tonight for the second or third time recently I was able to get him to calm down and fall asleep in my arms during a MAJOR screaming fit. He sees Dr. Foldvary on July 31 for his next shots. I'm going to talk to him about Joel's temper recently. I don't know if he is teething or what, but he has been really irritable and grumpy. Maybe it's just a phase...let's hope so! He rolled over by himself this morning, but I think it was by accident! He was really confused about what he had done and started crying until I picked him up. We have also discovered that he is calmer on the walk if we turn his seat around so that he is facing out and can see where he is going. So far, so good. We have had some issues lately about his late night bottles with the cereal in them. We are having issues with the bottles clogging. The bottles with the bigger nipples seem to flow too fast and gag him. Very frustrating! He is smiling and making a lot of noises to respond to you still and is drooling all over the place. One of these days he'll hopefully have a tooth to show for it! Things are fine in general....Good night!

First Trip to the Lake...

With Rob gone for a few days, we needed to find something to do to keep busy. I called my Aunt Ginny to see about possibly bringing Joel and Mom up to the cottage at Devil's Lake for a picnic. Ginny and Uncle John were going to be up there, but they said a visit would be fine. We went on Saturday at noon. It was COLD and really windy there, so there was not much outside time. We ate on the enclosed porch and talked for a long time. Joel slept on the chaise....all the cool air must have worn him out! While we were there, Uncle Ted called and invited us to come visit him at his place at Deep Lake, about 10 minutes away. We went there and sat out on his deck for a while talking and playing with Joel. Their place was really nice and we could have relaxed there for quite a while. The ride home was a long one....Joel seems to increasingly hate his car seat. We are going to Columbus next weekend, so that should be fun if he screams the whole way. I think we are going to have to be creative about when we feed him and when we travel. I think part of the issue Saturday was that he hadn't slept much and was just irritable in general. I gave him a bath when we got home and he slept well. He does love being outside. Hopefully our next visit to the lake will be warmer! Good night...

Dipping his toes in the water at Deep Lake. He wasn't sure what to think about that.

Joel and his Great-great Aunt Ginny. He was kind of a cranky boy!

The cottage at Devil's Lake. I love it!

Miniature Gilligan! :0) (It was cold there....which explains the long sleeved shirt and jeans in July!)

Christmas in July???

We're pretty bored around here without Daddy for the weekend, so we put on the snowsuit that Lisa and Jason bought to see how it fit. He is so cute! He was, however, not a fan! He hopefully will be able to wear it some this winter. It should be okay length-wise, but the hat part night be a little snug. Poor baby! Bailey is really nervous without Rob around and follows right at my heels. It's nice to be needed, but I told my friend today that I feel like my whole life is feeding or cleaning up after someone! It's much easier with TWO parents....that's for sure! Speaking of....someone isn't happy in the other room and Bailey need to go outside. Duty calls! Good night!

He looks so big!

My adorable little snowbaby!

Big Boy!

We sat Joel in his new exerciser tonight for the second time, and let him stay in for a while to check it out. He is really too small for it, although his feet touch the floor. He is supposed to be able to sit up by himself before he uses it, but we kept a close eye on him. He loved it! He whacked the frog a couple of times and even giggled once when he did it. He bounced by accident and his eyes got really big, but he didn't cry. I have been working on his scrapbook lately, and it is hard to believe that the little four pound baby in those pictures is the same "big boy" in the exerciser pictures. In only four months! We have had a frustrating couple of days because Joel has been extremely irritable and fussy. It's hard for me being alone with him all day long because I get tense that I am doing something wrong and that there is something really wrong with him. He usually settles down eventually. He has developed a bad habit in the last few days of only going to sleep when he is held. Of course, we are holding him more because he is so fussy, so it is sort of a vicious cycle. Plus, Rob has his annual "Boys' Trip" this weekend so I will be without him from Thursday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. We will be fine, but I hope that Joel isn't as fussy as he has been. I don't think poor Bailey can take it if both of us are cranky! :0) Joel actually fell asleep after I fed him around 10:00 and is still sleeping. We will need to get him up for a bottle around 12:30, but he usually falls asleep easily then. He did sleep well last night (about 6 hours) after being so fussy, so maybe he will sleep well again tonight. Let's hope so.....Good night!

A Rough Night...

Holy cow, can this kid scream! I don't know what his deal is tonight, maybe he is trying out his expanding lung power or something. I've NEVER heard him scream like that. We were finally able to get him to stop by swaddling him and giving him some Pedialyte with gripe water in it. He is sleeping now, which probably isn't the best thing since he has to be up in an hour to eat. I don't care...the noise was becoming ridiculous. Here's to a quiet night (hopefully)....

What????

Okay...I'm going to have to stop bragging about Joel's sleeping because he seems determined to prove me wrong! Last night he went to sleep at 1:00am and was up again at 3:45! WHAT???? When I woke up, I thought it was 6:30 and was mad because Rob wasn't getting up with him. Apparently, my brain refuses to accept the 3:45 thing! :0) Joel was quite wide awake, smiling, and "chatty". Mommy was none of those. He has been kind of cranky all day, and was really yelling for Daddy a little while ago. Then he threw up on the carpet....added bonus. Let's have a moment of silence in hopes that he sleeps until at least 6:30 tomorrow morning. Please! The good news is that I am making really good progress with Joel's scrapbook. Of course, I'm only just finishing the one from his time in the hospital and it is many, MANY pages long. Don't care! Anyone who knows me knows that I can't stand having pictures laying all over without scrapping them. Soon I'll have to start on the hundreds of pictures AFTER he came home. Oh well....I won't be bored! :0) Good night...

A New Record!

Joel set a new record for sleeping last night....7 whole hours! We were shocked when we woke up at 7:55 and he was still asleep. He's such a good boy! :0) We went to Wauseon for pizza tonight with my family, and he was pretty well behaved. He is sleeping now, but I will have to wake him up soon for his last bottle. I know it's wishfull thinking, but another 7 hours tonight would be OUTSTANDING!! We shall see....Good night!

Such a big boy...

Joel came SO close to rolling over by himself today! He was almost 3/4 of the way over and got stuck....boy was he mad! Rob and I probably looked like idiots laying there beside him going "You can do it buddy!". Bailey looked at us like we were nuts! :0) He did not like his bath at all tonight. With him it seems that he either loves it or hates it. It makes my life easier when he loves it, that's for sure......He's crying now so I need to go relieve Daddy! Good night!

Joel in his Mud Hens outfit. He's getting so big! He can't sit up by himself, but he holds his head up really well if he is propped up. It won't be long!

Updates....

Things have been going well around here lately! The other night (Sunday?) Joel slept from 1:00 am to 7:00 am, and Monday night he slept from 1:00am-6:15am! Mom and Dad are happy about that! Plus, we have had three nights in a row of peaceful walks, so I guess his little bout with screaming on the walks is over for now. He has this goofy flat seahorse velvet toy that we have deemed his "lovey" that he holds on to now. He seems to not want to be in his swing without it, so we dare not lose the thing! :0) We are thrilled that he is doing so well and seems to be so healthy and happy. He sure is getting bigger and bigger....haven't weighed him in a while so I'm not sure what he weighs. We bought an "exerciser" thing that we still haven't put together. THAT should be entertaining! More photos soon.....

A Better Night....

Joel slept 5 1/2 hours last night! What a relief! He didn't sleep at all yesterday until about 6:30 pm and then he slept a couple of hours. I thought we were really going to be in trouble during he night, but the little guy slept so hard he barely changed positions all night long. He was up at 6:15 and then back asleep by 7:15. He's still sleeping, but he is starting to fidget some. We have learned to let him wake up in his own time for the happiest baby! He generally wakes up happy if you let him do it slowly. He hasn't been sleeping much in the afternoons lately, so we'll see what today brings!

Ballgame and the Fourth of July....

We took Joel to his first Mud Hens game on the 3rd. He did really well during the game, and barely cried at all. However, the post-game fireworks were another story! They were SO loud, and he was scared to death. My sister has a picture of him while the fireworks were going off, and he looks terrified. Mom and Dad felt guilty after that! On the 4th of July we went to a picnic at Lisa and Jason's house and then to Wauseon's fireworks. Joel was a little cranky during the picnic, but he did sleep through the fireworks. Today has been rough....he has cried a lot and has not slept at all. Hopefully he just had a big weekend and will settle back down. Rob helped me take his picture for his fourth month birthday. Joel is starting to be less cooperative, and spent most of the time staring at the bear and poking at him. Mom will persevere, though! :0) The picture turned out cute, and we can retire the bear until next month. Also, he is really trying to roll over a lot. That should come any day now. Before the picnic Saturday he found the "baby" in the mirror in our bedroom. He was cute, smiling and cooing at his reflection! He is currently having a meltdown in his crib, so I'd better go work some "Mommy magic". If I only knew what that was! More later...

Joel slept during Wauseon's fireworks. Never opened his eyes!

Happy Fourth of July!!

Joel's four month picture. He's getting big enough to protest now....the next few months' pictures could be challenging!

Sweet smile!

Littlest Mud Hens fan!

Daddy and Joel at Joel's first Mud Hens game.