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!