The "C" word...

Yup, I think we are experiencing it.  The dreaded word of all new parents...colic.  Rudy has been consistently crying, whining, fussing, basically inconsolable every evening between the hours of 5-8, give or take.  Sometimes I try to feed him if he hasn't eaten in the previous couple hours.  He will eat some, then come off to cry, eat some more, cry...basically not really hungry, just unhappy.  I did some research today and found this...

We definitely are falling into the "textbook" colic in the third paragraph of the long page.  Ugh.  At least we are only one month away from month three when this supposedly just vanishes.  And it could be worse.

I read some tips for dealing with it, too.  Tonight I took Rudy out for a walk at 4:30 or so after he ate at 4. The fresh air was good for him.  He was happy and enjoyed being in the stroller.  He was still crying tonight, but not as long.  Now he is swinging in his swing.  That thing is a life-saver!  He takes all his naps in it and will sleep a couple hours at a time during the morning and afternoon.  I'm probably going to regret relying on it so much when it is time to put him in the crib for naps, but I'll deal with that later.  For now, if he is happy, I'm happy.

Another story I forgot to share was when I saw the orb in Rudy's room.  I had my friends over for dinner and a movie last Saturday evening while John was at a bachelor party.  I was thinking I would put Rudy in his crib once he fell asleep (which is usually by 8) so I wouldn't have to worry about him waking up with us downstairs.  He fell asleep in my arms and seemed very asleep.  I took him upstairs and the second I laid him down in the crib, his eyes popped open and he started squirming his arms and legs around.  I turned on the monitor and thought, "I'll run to the bathroom real quick, watch him in the monitor, and see if he falls back to sleep."  I was watching the monitor very closely.  It's only been used a couple times so I am still trying to figure it out and get used to the picture in it.  It has a night-vision feature that made the picture black and white.  Then all of a sudden, I saw it.  A huge, undeniable orb move all along the edge of Rudy's crib.  For a second I thought, "How did Rufus get in there?" -- that's how sure I am that I saw something.  Freeeeeaky!...was my first reaction.  But good to know Rudy has some guardian angels looking over him.  He has a lot of people in heaven, I'm sure, who are making sure he is safe and sound.    

He are some more pictures I took yesterday...

Thumb?  No, thanks.  I'll just put my entire fist in my mouth.

Happy baby!

John's new hat came in the mail yesterday and Rudy modeled it to show John since he was at work.

And, of course, Rudy had to get a new hat too!

:)

Business as usual

Things have been pretty "business as usual" these days.  Rudy is doing really well, settling more into a routine every day.  He still has his fussy periods when nothing seems to help but time and his mommy or daddy.  But we get through them.  John has been incredibly busy working alllllllll the time.  I can't wait for him to slow down and be at home with us more.  I can't complain too much because the extra money is nice, but we miss him very much.  He has a couple more jobs to finish up and then he is taking some time off of doing extra and that should be about the time I go back to work.  It will be nice for him to get some more one-on-one time with Rudy or family time with just the three of us.  It seems nonexistent at this point and we are all missing it and wishing for it.

As requested, Rufus is doing well.  He really seems indifferent about Rudy.  He is more concerned with John and I or any visitors we have.  He gets curious about Rudy every once in a while, like in these pictures one morning...

So Rudy decided to save the mother of all blow-outs for his mother last Friday.  We were sitting on the couch together...him on one cushion, me on the other.  I could hear him making toots and figured he was going to need changed, but wanted to let him finish before I picked him up.  He was laughing and talking away.  After a couple minutes I picked him up to find my leg, an entire side of his body (sock included), and our couch covered in poo.  From the look of us, you would have thought he wasn't even wearing a diaper!  That stinker!

Mom and Dad are headed to the World Chili Cookoff this week.  Rudy dressed up for a picture that I framed for Grandpa to take with...we will be cheering for him this weekend!

We still practice tummy time.  He is getting better, but hasn't figured out how to use his arms or hands yet.  I never realized holding his hands together or grabbing on to something would be a "milestone" to look forward to.  According to my book, he should be able to do that relatively soon so I keep watching for it.

Rudy is growing like a weed!  I just packed up a tote full of clothes that he has grown out of.  He is now pretty much in all 3-6 month clothes.  Some of his 0-3 still fit, but they are getting snug.  It is unreal.  But as much as he grows every day, he gets cuter every day too.  I still find myself just staring at him.  He is so precious and sweet and lovable.  I can't even begin to explain how happy I am that we were blessed with our beautiful boy.

Here is a picture of Rudy snuggled in this past Sunday watching Baby Einstein.  He was so happy and content.

He got a new seat/swing/bed to hang out in.  He has been difficult to get to sleep lately.  He either has to be held by me or rocked in his swing.  Both of those are fine during the day or if I am downstairs by his swing, but at night or when I'd like to do things upstairs or just do things in general, it gets a bit inconvenient.  This new thing rocks and is easily moveable.  I can take him into whichever room I am in and he is happy.  We also have been using the Baby Bjorn a lot more.  When he just wants to be held and nothing else seems to make him happy, I can strap him in and still do stuff around the house.

I can't believe how difficult it is to just stay on top of the simple chores and household stuff.  I'm not complaining because I love being at home with Rudy and doing all these things, but taking care of a baby is incredibly time consuming.  I don't know howI thought I didn't have time for this stuff before Rudy.

We are leaving for Michigan in one week from Thursday and won't be home until the following Monday.  John and Ryan (Ryan, Jenna and Nolan Davlin are going also) decided we would leave in the middle of the night Thursday, or technically speaking, Friday morning.  I am looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time.  An 8 hour car ride (without stops...as if that's going to be possible for us...so maybe 10+ hours??) and 4 days away from home with Rudy are going to be interesting.  I am so hopeful for the best, but yikes.  I should probably start packing now.  I can only imagine how packed our car is going to be.  Rudy has so much stuff!...and so will we for all the things we will need for 4 days of wedding festivities.  I plan to spend a lot of time with Rudy while we are there, though, so hopefully he will be fine and things won't be too terribly different for him.  We are staying in a 2 bedroom townhouse with Ray and LeeAnn so I'll have a living room to hang out in and a kitchen for the times I come home early or stay in with the babe.  When we get back I am going to have to try and get him going on a more regular routine for when I go back to work...ok, I am going to stop myself from rambling about the anxiety I have about that and save it for another day!

I'll leave you with one last picture...our sweet baby, smiling in his sleep...

I just love him so much! 

And he strikes again

Rudy had another blow out.  And yet again, on a Grandma's watch (or shirt more accurately).  I went to get my hair done today and LeeAnn came over to watch the little man.  When I got home we were visiting and she was holding Rudy.  Next thing she knew, her shirt was spotted with Rudy's poo.  Darn baby!  But he's too cute to get mad at...

The Allotey's came over this past weekend to watch football with us.  Jorja is adorable and I can't get enough of her.  She was so cute with Rudy.  She was so excited to get at him.    

On our way to Grandpa and Gran Ballweg's to watch the Patriots.  Rudy and John have still not been able to watch a Patriots game together yet...hopefully this weekend!

I bought this puppy hat for Rudy before he was born.  I haven't gotten around to all the photo shoots I had planned for him.  His big dome is out-growing this one already!

But this one still fits!  Check out those cheeks!  I love it.

Mom's are so awesome

...at least mine is!  I have gotten so much help from my mom this week it's unbelievable.  I am so thankful!  I have been trying to clean my house for 3 days now and between everything else, I always get stopped.  I asked my mom if she wanted to go to Ace today to buy some mums with me (she always likes to get mums for her house so I thought it'd be nice to go together).  Long story short, mom planted my mums, cleaned up my yard and front and back porch while I finished cleaning the inside of our house.  It feels SOSOSOOOOO good to have that all done!!!  I promise I did not intend that when I asked her to go along -- she's the best.

Rudy came along, too.  He is getting cuter and cuter and more personality every day.  Today mom was holding him facing her and he was looking right at her face, smiling, and talking.  She thinks he was seeing a reflection in her glasses (he is always looking at mirrors and picture frames for that reason).  Whatever the reason, it was pretty funny.  

I'll give you one guess what these two were watching...

Always moving!

Ahhh...relief!

Since Thursday, Rudy has been a perfect angel.  He has eaten every 3-4 hours, 4 most of the time, and hardly cries between eating.  He still has had an occasional melt down here or there, but overall, he has been great.  The lady who leads the Weight Watchers meeting (btw, Dawn, I get an extra 14 points for nursing!) held a brief "Getting Started" talk afterwards on Thursday.  She made the mistake of telling me she was a lactation consultant.  Of course I asked lots of questions (in my defense, she did ask how it was going...).  Anyway, she said it could be a growth spurt, but he is at the age that throwing him off a schedule and being away from me for that long was most likely the cause of our rough couple days.  Whatever it was, I am glad it is over.  And before she even told me that, I had told myself I wouldn't go that long without feeding him myself again (while I'm nursing exclusively, of course).  As long as he keeps up with this schedule, I'm keeping at the breastfeeding for now.

Side note -- At the "Getting Started" talk, the leader rambled on, talking very fast, and then stopped and said, "Alright, is everyone ready?!?!"  We were all quiet.  And then Rudy broke the silence.  He filled his pants so noticeably loud.  Needless to say, we left pretty quickly afterwards.  I was imagining his car seat filling up the whole way home.  Luckily, we just had a full diaper to take care of!

Our first date...post-baby

Last night John and I went out on our first date since Rudy has been born.  We went to dinner at Ross Isaac while my mom watched Rudy at our house.  I was so nervous leaving him because of his new routine of getting extra cranky around 6 or 7, and with dinner reservations at 7, I didn't want my mom to have to deal with it and I didn't like thinking of us being out while he was upset.  We left about 6:45 after I finished feeding him and we made it down the driveway with only a few tears by me.  Dinner was delicious and it was really nice to get out and spend some time with John without any distractions.  We got home about 8:30 and Rudy was happy as can be, wiggling around, laughing and talking.  I can't describe the feeling when I see him after I've been away.  Mom said he did great.  He cried about 7:45, but not a melt down.  He was just hungry...of course.  He drank a bottle and then didn't eat again until 1:00 am (even more reason why I think I'm not giving him enough...but not thinking about it for a week, so moving on...).  We missed one of Rudy's "firsts."  But it was one we did not feel bad missing!  Rudy had his first blow out.  That's right.  Massive poop, up the back, all over his clothes, blow out.  It's a shame we weren't there for it :)

All clear

I had my 6 week check-up with my doctor yesterday.  Everything was good and back to normal (minus the extra 20 pounds I still have hanging around).  He said, "See ya in a year for your next annual!"  I said, "We will see about that... :)"

So now I have no excuse to not work out and get back in gear.  I am joining Weight Watchers tonight.  All you WW lovers, please send me good recipes or tips that you have!...the easy ones preferred, of course.

Growth spurt or am I being punished???

Since Sunday, Rudy's eating schedule has...well... been non-existent.  He eats allllllll the time and all sorts of intervals.  I'm getting very overwhelmed and frustrated.  I looked up some information on growth spurts and he should have one between 4-6 weeks...right where he is.  And it says they will want to eat every 1-2 hours...check.  It also said they can last 2-3 days, up to a week...ugh!  I am going to give it another week and see how it goes.  Between the wedding ordeal and the craziness this past week, I am dangerously close to throwing in the towel on breastfeeding.  I'm having a really hard time making the decision because I feel like I'm a bad mother if I stop.  As if I am too selfish to put Rudy's needs before my own and it makes me feel incredibly guilty.  I worry that this isn't a growth spurt and I'm not making enough milk for him, which makes him come back for more so often.  Of course I read that is a normal concern.  I talked to John and my doctor about it yesterday.  The Doc suggested I start supplementing with formula...even just nursing once a day will be beneficial, he said.  He also said breast milk is better, but the differences are not different enough to cause any significant impact, that the way we raise him will be much more important than what I feed him.  And to not feel guilty, etc, because there are several moms who choose to not breastfeed and their babies all turn out great (my mom was one and I think I turned out ok...Tony on the other hand, welllll... just kidding, Ton!).  John and I discussed the topic and I am going to keep at it for another week.  We don't have anything going on so I don't have to worry about when he eats for us leaving the house, or how long we can or can't stay somewhere, etc.  And if this time next week I am still having problems and its too much, we are going to slowly start supplementing with formula and see how that goes.  Even adding in one bottle, he might get satisfied and get back on track each day.  And then we will just go from there.  He is only 5 1/2 weeks.  If this is just a growth spurt and he starts getting more routine and regular, the whole breastfeeding thing wouldn't be so bad (as long as I am with him...pumping between feedings will be a whole other skill to tackle).  Until he gets to 8 weeks, I read (thank God for people who write books!), its normal for his eating and sleeping schedule to be erratic.  So deep breaths... one day at a time... see why I am having such a hard time with this decision?!  Even just writing this I am all over the place.  We will revisit the topic in one week...until then I am not going to agonize over it.  Period.      

Crabby Rudy

Tuesday night we had our baptism class. Apparently, before Rudy can be baptized, we have to go to a class at the church. We had no idea about it until we went to schedule his baptism. The class is only offered every few months. Had I been on top of things we would have gone to it while I was pregnant! But we weren't the only late ones. About half the class had babies already. What they didn't have, though, was screaming, crying babies. He was being crabby, like clockwork the past several nights, starting ab 6:00. He didn't have one of his melt downs (I consider a melt down when even eating doesn't do the trick), but he did eat at 5:30, 6:30, and 7:45 (which he would have prefered about 7:20). Needless to say Rudy and I didn't last very long in the class. I told him he was taking after his dad, yet again...not liking church or class, especially together!

We have been working on strengthening Rudy's neck muscles with regular tummy time. He's getting better and better at keeping his head up. He hasn't figured out how to use his arms to help so we use a little pillow under his chest to help him out there. Tummy time is pretty funny. He likes it at first, but once it gets hard for him (and it's an obvious workout for the little man, the way he works and struggles), he gets angry and tummy time comes to a quick end.

My Happy Baby

I caught Rudy laughing at himself.  He is looking at a mirror and it was cracking him up this morning.  We have had a crazy day so far.  Starting at 6:30, he has ate at least every hour.  He falls asleep eating, wakes up happy for about 10 minutes, then is mad that he isn't eating...and the cycle continues...

For the record...He has eaten 13 times in the past 24 hours.  I hope John recognizes him in the morning - he has to be having one of those "growth spurts" they all talk about.  At least he better be.  All this work for nothing would not make me very happy.  I did look up how long growth spurts typically last.  What I found was 2-3 days, up to a week.  Please God, let it be 2 days!!  

T.G.I.M. (Monday?! Really?!)

We made it through our busy weekend. Everything worked out just fine. Friday night I left for the rehearsal at 5:45. I had fed him at 5:00. I came home between the church rehearsal and the dinner so I could pump since my mom would be giving him a bottle about 8:00...or so I thought. When I walked in at 6:45, Rudy was content and full sitting in his chair. A few of my biggest worries are (1) that my milk supply is too low, (2) he would go into a growth spurt over the weekend (wanting to eat every hour or two -- I had enough milk frozen, but when that happens I need to be the one feeding him so that my milk increases with his needs), or that (3) he likes the bottle more than me so therefore doesn't try as hard with me anymore and ends up hungry after an hour, which will also mess up my milk supply if when he gets hungry again he is fed with a bottle. So back to the night. While I was finishing up pumping, Rudy started to have a melt down. He was crying louder and harder than I had ever heard. My mom and I were trying everything...including eating which has always worked until now. He finally settled down (what seemed like forever but was only 15 minutes at most) and fell asleep on my chest.  I called John crying on my way to dinner.  Talk about hard to leave!  Hard to hand off a cuddling baby, worried about the things I mentioned earlier, and sad from him being sad.  But once I calmed down, the dinner was a lot of fun.  I hadn't been out to socialize with people in a long time.  And when I got home Rudy was sound asleep.  So asleep that he actually slept until 2:00 am.  So that makes 3 nights in a row that when his last feeding is with a bottle, he sleeps for 5+ hours.  I don't know if its the bottle or if he is just getting to the point where he is starting to sleep longer.  I guess we will figure it out over the next week or so.
  
Saturday Tony came over at 6:00 am.  He was only in town for awhile that day and wanted to be able to spend some time with Rudy.  I had to be up that early to get ready to go for the day and Rudy is usually up by then anyway.  Tony brought us Starbucks (soy milk for me!), which was awesome!  Rudy was up and kicking...literally.  He was talking, smiling, and wiggling around so I am glad Tony got to have fun with him.  And it was a big help for me to get to shower and pack things up while the two of them hung out (John was still at work until 7:15ish).  As far as Rudy goes, the day went great.  He was good for everyone and the plan worked out accordingly.  Sara's wedding was beautiful and it all went great as well.  She looked gorgeous!  It was perfect weather (sprinkled some so they have their good luck) and everyone had a lot of fun!  I knew I was missing Rudy a lot, but when John and him walked in to the reception looking all handsome dressed up, my heart dropped.  I was so happy to see them both!  Rudy was in and out of sleep at first but then woke up and was being his typical show-off self.  I held him for awhile before I let him be passed around.  He got lots of attention.  John was in charge of dressing him all day (Iowa outfit in the morning of course).  Rudy got so many compliments on his outfit...he looked like a little old man -- not a 5 week old baby!  I can't believe we didn't take a family picture with us all dressed up!  It was too hectic, I guess.  John did take one of me and Rudy though...

My pumping experience was the one major downside.  I had never gone so long without feeding him.  I pumped twice (which was a huge pain...trying to find a place to go, etc and ending up standing in public bathroom stalls).  The first time I only was able to get 1.5 ounces, which started up worry #1.   Having not fed him I was expecting to get about 5 ounces (what he is taking from a bottle).  By the time I was able to pump the second time, I was incredibly uncomfortable.  I was so full and rock hard.  Unfortunately, the pumping didn't help.  I was able to get 4 ounces, but the discomfort didn't go away like it normally does after he eats.  I was so frustrated with pumping and breastfeeding in general because of how inconvenient and difficult it had made the whole day that I was ready to throw in the towel.  I knew not to make any decisions that night of course, but at least I know now that I can't be away from him for more than one feeding.  Even if I was fine being away from him, the physical aspect was miserable!  I went about 12 hours between feedings.  Hopefully when I go back to work I can handle it.  Of course work will be more of a controlled environment and I'll have my office to pump in, so that should help.  But ugh!  As great as it can be at times, breastfeeding can be a real pain!

Everyone was happy on Sunday.  John was on cloud 9 waiting for football to start.  We spent the afternoon/early evening at my parents.  Rudy was a bit crabby.  He took one 2 hour nap, but other than that he only slept in small 15 minutes doses.  Again, I'm upset we didn't take a picture with all of us together in our Patriots gear...I'm sure there will be plenty of other opportunities!

He had 4 feedings that were 1 - 1.5 hours between each other (worry #3 creeps up again).  Then about 6:00 he started in with another melt down, similar to Friday night.  We got him calmed down and came home.  Again at 7:00 he had another one.  I'm talking freaking out crying, legs kicking, coughing and having problems catching his breath, real tears...the works.  And NOTHING seems to help.  Of course we try everything (including taking his temperature - no problems there) and if/when it happens again we still will, but eventually he calms down and falls asleep.  It was a horrible 30 minutes.  With no bottles yesterday he did go about 4 - 4.5 hours between feedings at night at least.

Then last night I get an email, "Your baby at 5 weeks."  It says, "At this age, babies stay awake for longer during the day - as long as 10 hours - and their increased alertness may lead to overstimulation, which partly explains those crying jags."  Well that about sums it up.  I'd say a weekend of different babysitters, different routine, a wedding, followed by a long afternoon away from home would qualify as "overstimulation."  And probably overtired, too.  Needless to say, I've never been so welcoming of a Monday.  Rudy and I need some normalcy in our lives!  

Calm before the storm...or a gift from God??

I feel like a million-bucks this morning!!  Rudy ate last night at 8:30 pm (a 5 ounce bottle from John) and slept until 2:00 am.  That's right.  5.5 hours between feedings!  I went to bed about 10 so a whole 4 hours of sleep!  Amazing!  I am pretty sure that is the longest I have slept in a month.  And believe it or not, he didn't eat again until 6:30 am.  So another 4.5 hours between and almost another 4 hours of sleep for me.  He did wake up at 4:00 am, though.  I try to always change his diaper first so that when he falls asleep eating or being burped, I don't wake him up changing him.  So by the time I finished changing his diaper at 4, he was back asleep.  Maybe he just needed some snuggle time because I left him in bed with us, thinking it would be only a matter of minutes before he woke back up and I'd have to feed him, but before I knew it John was telling us goodbye at 6:00.  AND he went right back to sleep after that feeding and is still asleep.  I don't know if this means I am in for a bad day, or if God was just looking out for me.  Only time will tell :)

Oh and the sweetest thing happened last night.  He was whining and squirming around unhappily after he ate at 8:30.  John and I were taking turns trying to calm him down.  He had been awake for a few hours so we knew he had to be tired.  So I started to sing to him very softly and he relaxed almost immediately and drifted to sleep soon after.  So sweet.  It was perfect timing.  I had been having some of those irrational post-pregnancy hormones thinking that Rudy didn't know me any different from anyone else and was getting down about it...ridiculous I know, but still, the thoughts were there!  I thought, I'm his mother and should be able to make him happy or know what he needs better than anyone else, but he will be happy for anyone or I can't calm him down better than anyone off the street.  I just wasn't feeling special to him.  I know that's crazy-talk and I'm already over it.

John has been helping me out more the last couple days (he had been working with my dad what seemed like non-stop!).  I spent some time making jewelry because the Studio was getting pretty thin and I went to a job interview yesterday (more on that later if anything comes from it).  It's been so great having his help and I wanted to do or needed to do those things.  But even though he was just in the other room most of the time, I didn't like not being the one taking care of him.  Even though before that I had thought, if John could just watch him for a few hours so I could do something else, that would be great.  John and him have this amazing bond.  He can get Rudy to calm down so easily and has really figured out what works.  Of course his methods don't work for anyone else, just him and Rudy (well most of the time at least).  It really is amazing to see them together.  John is a natural.  I guess my emotions and thoughts are all over the place right now!  

I think I am anticipating this weekend and its giving me these mixed up feelings.  I am in my great, wonderful friend's wedding this Saturday.  I've been really looking forward to it for over a year and am so happy she asked me to be a part of it.  Her fiance is great and they are so perfect together.  Buuuuut that means this is going to be the first time Rudy is going to spend some serious time away from me.  I have the rehearsal dinner tonight and my mom is going to watch him.  And tomorrow I start the wedding festivities at 8 am and John is playing in a golf outing at noon.  So between John, my mom, and LeeAnn, Rudy is going to be passed around all day and evening.  Here and there he is going to get brought to me to be fed so that he will only have to end up taking 2 bottles...but still.  That's more than he has ever had to take and I won't be around.  I hope he is a perfect angel for them and he doesn't get fussy from all the activity/change/etc.  At least my first time away from him for that amount of time is doing something fun...better than being at work or something!  We are so lucky to have such great help whenever we need it and I'm not concerned about them being able to care for him...it's just the thought of me not being with him that's hard.  I've made a page of notes, a schedule for the day, and tried to think though every part of the day...surprised??  It's going to be fine, he's going to be great, I'm going to have fun, it's just one day.  I need to have that on repeat in my head!

Well this turned out to be much longer of a rant than I was expecting...have a great weekend!  

Happy One-Month Birthday, Mr. Ru!

We made it to the one month mark. The "hardest" month is behind us and I like to think we came out pretty successful.  Rudy had his one-month doctor's appointment this morning.  He is weighing in at 10 lbs, 7 ounces and 23 inches long.  He is in the 68th percentile for weight and 92nd percentile for height.  Being that tall, she said his weight was right on track.  He is on the high end of what they would want babies to gain from his last appointment, which was a huge relief for me because I worry about him getting enough milk...considering I have about no idea how much he eats each time.  Everything else checked out great.  He had to have one shot and he was not happy about it.  She also recommended some gas drops to help out our gassy baby.  Hopefully those will work and give Rudy some relief.  Hard to believe its been a month already...the days can drag, but the weeks fly by.  It feels like we have had Rudy forever.  He's the greatest.  

I took a video of Rudy squirming around and mumbling after I took these pictures...it took me a bit to figure out how to get it on this blog, but I did it.  This has opened up a whole new world of sharing! (oh and it's a bit long.  I was going to make just one minute, then two minutes, then three, and so on. But he just kept on being cute!  So I don't blame you if you don't make it through all 5 minutes)

Rudy's first football game

Well it didn't take long to get Rudy to a football game. We went to cheer on "Uncle" George at the SHG v Lanphier game on Friday night. It was pretty hot so we only made it until half time, but we got to see George catch a pass which was great!

John has been anticipating the start of football season like Christmas morning. He has lots of plans for some serious couch time with him and Rudy over the next several weeks.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to see Tony perform but we were thinking about him!  Rudy is still too little and needy to make the trip to Bloomington just yet.

Come one, come all

Rudy has been very fortunate to get to spend some time with lots of family and friends.  Here are some pictures from the hospital with his grandparents.

We have had lots of visitors from all over and we are so grateful! Uncle Tony came home from Bloomington the day Rudy was born.

 The Keoughs came from Iowa and the Minellas from Chicago came the first weekend home.

Rudy got a taste of what he will be in for when he's able to run around with his cousins!

Aunt Maria came all the way from DC the weekend of August, even during hurricane Irene!  (She took lots of great pictures, but I don't have one of her with Rudy yet)  Great, great Aunt Ga-Ga from Kentucky, great Aunt Sue from Chicago, and great Aunt Michelle and great Uncle Burch from St Louis all came last weekend.  And just about everyone in town has made their way over, at least once! (Check out Facebook for more pictures...too many to post them all!)

And with all these visitors, I've decided Rudy is a show-off. He is such a good baby around guests. My dad keeps asking, "does he ever cry?" Rudy's true colors come out when it's just him and his mama especially. John has gotten a couple good doses, too. He is a perfectly sweet baby for us too, but his dark side never seems to come out around anyone else.  But I promise you, he does cry!!

Finally fall weather!

With this great weather we have been having, we have been able to get out for some much needed walks. Yesterday the Ru's and I went out for the first time by ourselves. I was pretty nervous taking Rufus along without someone else to hold on to his leash while I take the stroller. Believe it or not, Rufus isn't the best behaved dog on walks (or ever really). But before leaving, John guilted me into it. We actually did pretty good -- much better than I was expecting. Of course Rufus tried to greet a couple dogs crazily, but otherwise he walked with me right by the stroller. And Rudy stayed awake the whole time which was nice seeing his bright eyes happy. He is very content in his stroller. He coo's and ahh's, moves his hands around, and looks at everything (what he can actually see, who knows, but he looks like he's looking!).

"Rootin, tootin, Rudy"

My poor baby has been having some stomach issues. Here has been our last couple days:
Friday, September 2: poop at 6:15 pm
Sunday, September 4: poop at 4 am (and a real crab monster starting about 3 pm on Saturday)
Tuesday, September 6: poop at 10 am (and a rotten mood starting at about 4 am)
During these bad spells, we try everything possible.  Bouncing, swaying, rocking, swinging, singing, every position imaginable.  I even tried my Baby Bjorn...worked for about 5 minutes (like everything else) until he was ready to switch positions.  On a side note, the Baby Bjorn was really easy to use and actually very comfortable.  Hopefully he will take a liking to it...will make running around the house and getting things done much easier!

Anyway, when he does finally go, it's the same color and consistency as it's always been...so he shouldn't be constipated. But in between bowels, he is pretty gassy. And from his mood swings, we think it is uncomfortable for the little guy. I called the doc yesterday morning to see what they thought and if there was anything we could do to relieve his pain. She said it was perfectly normal for breastfed babies to go up to several days without a poop. As long as it still looks the same, then there is no reason for concern. However, if the baby is uncomfortable with too much gas, it could be a food allergy. And the one that seems to cause the problem the most often is cows milk. So see ya later milk for me! She said definitely no milk, but I could have small, limited amounts of other dairy. The plan is to try this for a week or so and see if he acts any better. Fingers crossed this takes care of our problem!