And Mr. Andy Lanteigne finally makes his appearance...

Meeting Santa!

2009-12-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

17 months old!!!!!!!!

2009-11-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween everyone from Andy the purple dragon

2009-10-31T12:11:00.000-07:00

Andy's 16 month photo with he bear

2009-10-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

My little man is growing up!

This past month he learned to walk up and down the stairs by holding onto the handrail (or my hand) instead of going on his knees. He says even more words ("juice" is a new frequent one), and he just (finally) managed to be able to tilt his sippy cup up and drink from it!

Andy sings "Twinkle Twinkle" (hums is probably more accurate) and "The wheels on the bus...". He loves to read, and be read to, and he can sit through about 30-minutes of a movie or TV show. He loves to put things into other things, and I often find plastic sandwich bags all over the house because of it.

He is wearing a size 6-6.5 shoe, and size 24-month clothes. and he finally keeps a hat on! He LOVES animals, and knows what a puppy, lion, tiger, and a fish say.

Andy plays so well with other kids too! He loves to play dress up, and he tackles Owen pretty good sometimes! And he tickles too - it is so cute! And it isn't just some nasty scratching like it was with Owen (thank goodness!).

But Andy is still Andy and he loves a good temper tantrum. And he has perfected his fake cry, but now when I call him on it he just s,miles and stops. He is such a riot!

Andy's word count

2009-10-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Andy’s words…

1. Daddy (Da-yee)

2. Papa

3. Hi

4. Mama

5. Juice

6. Andy

7. Grandpa (Grak-ka)

8. Cheese

9. I love you

"I love you!"

2009-10-08T18:56:00.000-07:00

Grandma came over today, and she and I were saying “I love you” to Andy, and he said it back!!!! He says it “I la you.”, it means ‘I love you’! And then tonight I called her so Andy could talk to her on the phone, and he said it first, she repeated it, and he said it again. How sweet! Andy called his Grandma to say ‘I love you’ to her! What a good Grandson!

at the pumpkin patch

2009-10-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

Andy's 1st haircut!

2009-09-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Andy got his first ever haircut at 1st Choice today. Owen got one too, and I went home with both their hair in little baggies.

15 months with the bear

2009-09-27T19:11:00.000-07:00

15 months old

2009-09-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Andy is 15 months old! This has been an amazing month! He seems to have really grown up this month.

- Andy got his first haircut (which really makes him look older)

- Andy talks on the phone to people (you still can’t understand what he says, but he jabbers on there all the time and loves hearing whoever is on the other end)

- He is in size 18 month pants and pj’s that are one piece, but size 24 month tops, and 2-piece pj’s. He doesn’t wear onesies anymore. He is a size 6 shoe all of the sudden – I think he wore is size 5 and a half for no more than 2 weeks!

- He is 31” tall and 26lbs

- He says “Mama”, “Papa”, “Daddy”, “Juice”, “Grandpa” (which sounds like “Gradka”, so it might be ‘Grandma’ too, but he follows Dad around the house and says it over and over, so I think it is meant as ‘Grandpa’), and that is pretty much it. He has said “Hi” and “Bye bye” before, but only once or twice, and not for a looooong time now.

- He crosses himself every time he hears us pray, and he LOVES to pray! It is really so cute!

- He sits behind me in the car, in Owen’s old black car seat.

- He has MAJOR temper tantrums when he doesn’t get him way, or when he is tired, and he rarely listens to us call his name or tell him ‘no’.

- He loves to open the kitchen cupboards, and has lately been getting into the drawers in the big room. He also LOVES keyboards and computer mouses. I’ll often come to my computer to find a bunch of weird windows open thanks to Andy.

- Andy still loves to play outside, and always follows Owen around.

- He can ride on little ride-on toys or bikes, and he can go forwards and backwards all by himself.

- He likes to play games and will initiate hide-and-go seek, tickle games, laughing, and copying games.

- Bath times are a lot shorter now as Andy splashes soooo badly, and he’ll often put his head under water until he wants to get out. It’s pretty exhausting!

- Andy loves to dress up in costumes just like his big brother.

- Also like his big brother, Andy has a horrid fake laugh. It is so loud and so fake, but sooo cute!

- He’ll take out his soother, and cluck his tongue to tell you he is hungry.

- He understands a lot – if you ask him to take out his sucker, give something to you, pick something up, put something down, close the door, open the door, sit on his bum, come here, go there, etc. And he knows what it means when I ask if he is hungry, tired, thirsty, and he is pretty good at letting me know the answer.

- Andy and Owen started a new daycare this month, and they both LOVE Joyce! Andy jumps right into her arm when I drop him off in the morning, and she has never really had a hard time with him. Although, when I go to pick him up he usually jumps into my arms and waves goodbye to Joyce. J

- We took down all the baby gates. Andy is great going up and down the stairs. And he is trying to walk down, as opposed to going down backwards. He still needs help with it though. And he goes up the stairs one foot on each stair

14 months with the bear

2009-09-02T22:53:00.001-07:00

Doesn't he look so big all the sudden? Well he is so big! Andy is now 31" tall, just under 26lbs and wearing size 24-month clothes, and a size 5.5 shoe!

My little climber!

2009-08-30T23:03:00.000-07:00

I find Andy on top of chairs, tables, couches - you name it, he's climbing it these days!

But at a friends' birthday party, he couldn't get up on of anything besides this chair rail.

Spaghetti is bliss!

2009-08-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

13 month photo with the bear

2009-07-26T22:45:00.000-07:00

12 month photo shoot with the bear

2009-07-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

My wee little man is a year old now! And why, do you ask, is his 12 month shoot in pants and a sweater? Well, I say, because this weird weather is refusing to be sunny and nice, so here we sit, inside, with pants and sweaters, waiting for the sun to shine.

Andy's 1st birthday!!!!!

2009-06-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

It is Andy’s birthday today! He is one year old! Yay!

We had a joint birthday party for 3 kids from PG – Andy, Matthew, and Sarah. It was a Curious George theme.

I felt bad because Andy couldn’t have cake or cookies or ice cream today lik

e the other kids, so he got a new food treat today – watermelon! And he LOVES it!

11 months with the bear

2009-05-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

ANDY IS WALKING!

2009-05-07T16:05:00.001-07:00

Andy took 4 steps to me just now - yayyyyyyy!!!!!!

Almost walking!

2009-05-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

Andy now walks when only holding one of our hands! And he can stand on bis own for a few seconds too! It won't be long before he is walking on his own!

Andy's beer bash!

2009-05-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

A half drunk can of beer was left on the end table over night. Silly Gabe. So Andy found it in the morning and knocked it over. He wasn't interested in the can, he was interested in the liquid that was now all over him and the table. So he splashed it all over and then began to slurp it off the table as we ran over with cloths and towels. Most of it was absorbed into his short, but the small taste Andy got made him smile! He now goes crazy for all cans!

10 months with the bear

2009-05-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

6 teeth!

2009-04-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

Andy’s 6^th tooth came in! Finally! Tonight was a rough one for him, the poor little guy!

"Mama"

2009-04-23T10:40:00.001-07:00

He says “Mama”! Yay! And he knows it is me! Woo hoo!!!!!!!

my water baby!

2009-04-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

Andy LOVES water! He loves the bath, he loves washing his hands, he loves to go swimming, and now I can say that he loves to play in a big bowl of water at Grandma's house!

It started with Owen playing with his boats in the water, and then turned into a bath/pool party with Andy eventually dumping bowl after bowl after bowl of water onto the deck. They both had such a great time, and I got some awesome pictures!

Ok Mom, no more pictures!

2009-04-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

Andy and I went for a walk down at the river today (under the Agassiz bridge and it was a lovely day, but enough was enough after a while, and Andy wanted to go home.

Andy's new teeth!

2009-04-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

Andy has top teeth, but you can never see them unless you do 'squishy face'. So here you can see his top 2 teeth, and the 2 beside them that will (hopefully) come through very soon!

Day at the river

2009-04-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

bath time!

2009-04-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

Our library visit

2009-04-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we all went to the library to see the ducks and get a few new books.

5 teeth!

2009-04-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

I saw another tooth today – Andy now has 5! It is the one next to the top two on his left (right side if you are looking at him).

I gave Andy a full cheese string to munch on this morning. He loved it! He really likes being in control of what he eats, and he eats little more than finger foods these days. He didn’t come close to choking, and when he had bitten off too much, he simply spit it out. Way to go Andy – I am SO proud of you! He was pretty proud of himself too! ☺

popsicles

2009-03-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

Owen shared his popsicle with Andy tonight and he LOVED it! He would make awful faces but then always want more!

9 month photo with the bear

2009-03-31T14:16:00.000-07:00

Isn't he so frickin' cute?!?!??!!!

My beautiful boy

2009-03-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

Tooth #3!

2009-03-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Andy has a third tooth! We only saw it today. But it looks like it has been there for a few days already. And he is a drool monster today, so cranky, and has a major runny, nose, so maybe the other top tooth is coming through. The one he has already is the top left (from his point of view, top right if you are looking at him).

8.5 month update... kinda...

2009-03-15T15:11:00.001-07:00

We all went to the Jordan’s house last night and Andy did great. He ate well, had fun chasing a remote control car around, went to sleep in the play pen well, and even transferred to the car and then to bed well when we went home. And then he slept until 5:30, ha d a bottle, went back to bed, and slept until 8am.

And now Andy’s schedule has changed once again! He is usually up at 7:30, goes for a nap at 10 and then again at 2pm, and usually one more around 6, with bedtime at 8:30 or 9pm. But I want to try and take out the 6pm nap and get him just to go to bed at 7pm. We’ll see how that goes over tonight.

But he is eating great – 3 bottles a day – first thing in the morning, after his afternoon nap, and right before bed. And he eats nice big meals (2-2.5 jars of food) at breakfast lunch and dinner with snacks throughout the day (toast, cheerio’s, yogurt, Mum Mum’s, etc.). And he loves to eat – he mow’s down his food!

And he is such a happy baby these days too. It has been wonderful to have such a happy boy lately, I hope this lasts a while.

Muscle man!

2009-03-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

At Moms house today Andy pulled himself up on the dining room table – he did like chin up, where he was holding onto the table and lifted his feet right off the floor, and pulled his face up to the level of the table. Man is he strong!

New foods and new schedule - good, good, and more good!

2009-03-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

Andy had a lot of new foods today – plain yogurt (he makes awful faces but always wants more), toast (with and without butter – he ate almost a whole piece twice today!), and veggie Mum Mum’s (the new foods in them are spinach and pumpkin).

Andy has had a good schedule for the last few days – I hope it lasts! What he has been doing is waking up at 7:30, having a bottle and then breakfast, then napping at 9:20-9:30 until 11 or so, having lunch, napping again at 1pm, having another bottle at 3, having a snack, and then dinner, either having a short nap before or after dinner, and then going to bed around 8:30. It’s a good schedule – I like it!

Speedy little boy!

2009-03-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

Andy is soooooooooo quick with his crawling and cruising! He can pull himself up on anything (and I mean anything), and he can get across the room and up the 4 stairs from the play room to the kitchen in about 3 seconds. I have to watch him all the time – every second!

More pictures of Andy cruising!

2009-03-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

Good times and bad

2009-03-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

Andy needed his soother and rocking twice again last night. I hate how he is now dependant on us rocking him back to sleep at night. Every since he got used to pulling himself to a standing position at night it is harder and harder (if not impossible) for me to just lie him back down. He just screams if I do that so then I have to pick him up and rock him.

Andy was happy in his highchair for 30-45 minutes eating Cherrios this afternoon while I cleaned the kitchen and made diner. It is the first time in a loooooooong time that he has been content, and restrained, for that long. It was nice. It felt normal! ☺

Andy is crawling up stairs! Agh!

2009-03-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

Andy crawled up the stairs today – all by himself!!!!! Aggghhhhhhhh! First he went up the 4 stairs from the playroom to the kitchen, and then he went up 7 of the stairs to upstairs! And he didn’t fall backwards, or even almost fall or anything. He was so quick too! Oh my word! He did one stair about a week ago, but Gabe picked him up right away. This time I just sat behind him and held my hands out just in case, but I let him climb the steps.

New foods!

2009-03-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

New food: applesauce with apricots. Andy like it. He likes fruit more than veggies now. It was always the other way around. He doesn’t like peas anymore, and he doesn’t care for the meals with chicken or beef in them. He still loves corn, green beans, sweet potatoes, and turkey. But now he really likes applesauce, pears (not by themselves though), raspberries, blueberries, pineapple, and apricots as well!

Andy and Matthew - best friends and wagon buddies!

2009-03-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

Still not sleeping through the night on a regular basis

2009-03-06T15:06:00.000-08:00

Andy slept through the night! He has needed a soother and rocking once a night for the last few nights. Once isn’t bad, but I would sure like him to start sleeping through all the time now! Please?! ☺

Sheesh!

2009-03-03T19:05:00.000-08:00

OK, Andy is already better at cruising. He can now walk around by holding onto furniture, and he can go from one piece of furniture to another as long as they are close enough together. Sheesh! He is going to be walking on his own so soon! And he is only 8 months old!

My baby is getting bigger!

2009-03-03T15:05:00.000-08:00

I heard Andy coughing at 6:30 and then it got eerily silent, so I quietly opened his door, but he saw me. I went back to bed, but he was calling out for over 5 minutes, so I went back in to get him. I opened the door and found Andy standing up in his crib and shouting. It was as if to say “Hey! I’m awake! Come get me Mama!” He is so cute!

And man Andy wants to walk! He can pull himself up on anything – furniture or people (that happened in the last week or so), and now he does it ALL the time. And he tries to go from one object to another. That and the fact that he can walk good while holding your fingers (I mean REALLY good), makes us think that he’ll really be walking pretty soon.

Another photo shoot!

2009-03-02T15:12:00.000-08:00

He may not sit still for me for very long, but Andy is always happy to pose for me for a little while!

22lbs already!

2009-03-01T15:04:00.000-08:00

Gabe took Owen to Church this morning, and I stayed home with Andy. We had a really fun time playing. He is such a chub-chub these days! I want to weigh him again. I think he gained 2 pounds in the last week!

Owen woke Andy up this morning by going into his room, throwing all Andy’s stuffed animals into the crib with him and then yelling “Don’t you have a lot of animals in your bed, Andy?” and laughing and playing. Gabe and I were in bed sighing at it all. Owen did the same thing yesterday, but Andy had been crying and yelling for a little while. So when Owen went in, Andy was happy, and Gabe and I lied in bed and just listened to them play and laugh. But today, Owen went in without Andy even being awake. It’s a sweet though, but we might have been able to get a bit more sleep out of him. Oh well.

I weighed Andy – he is 22.2lbs with clothes on! He gained so much in the last few days!

Mmmmmmmm... pineapple!

2009-02-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

Andy did have a new first today – pineapple pieces. He’s had pineapple in a fruit cereal before, but today I gave him small chunks to eat and he loved it! He didn’t have much, but he did down the small amount I gave him. He wants to eat our food, but I tried to give him 8-month old fruits and veggies, but the pieces are too big and they make him gag.

Andy's 8 month picture with the bear!

2009-02-28T15:17:00.000-08:00

So far, so good...

2009-02-27T15:02:00.000-08:00

Andy did good last night. He got up once and I fed him. Unfortunately, it was a long process, so I was up for an hour, but Andy was only up the once, so that was good. And he was really sleepy again all day today – lots of little naps, and he wasn’t awake for longer than 90 at all today. No fever, and no adverse reaction to the shots so far.

Well it looks like Andy is reacting just fine to the immunization shots. He is so happy today! And he has a huge appetite! He wasn’t really eating well for the last few days, and he has been pretty cranky (we thought he might be teething and he is fighting a cold), but so far we haven’t had to give him too much Tylenol or anything today.

Andy had only 1 dose of Tylenol today, and no other drugs.

Round 2 of immunization shots...

2009-02-26T22:01:00.000-08:00

Andy got his 2nd set of immunization shots today. He did much better than last time. We were forced to wait 2 hours from the time we got there until the time we left after the shots, and Andy was hungry and very tired, so he did really well in spite of all that.

The nurses name was Mary this time, and there was a nurse-in-training as well. Andy cried hard after his shots and in between them as well, but he calmed down quickly afterwards, drank a whole bottle, and fell asleep in the car on the way home. And he has been happy and very sleep all day. A nice change after what happened last time!

We got the full shot, including the pertussis, so we will be watching Andy carefully to make sure he doesn’t have a bad reaction like he did last time.

While at the Health Clinic, I weighed and measured Andy. He is 21lbs, and 27.75” long.

OK, so maybe he is reacting a bit. He had a good 30-minute scream-fest this evening, but then I gave him Camilia, and he had a good nap after that.

Yummmmmm!

2009-02-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

Andy's favorite foods right now are sweet potatoes with turkey, creamed corn, and green beans. He isn't a big fruit fan.

Selling all Andy's too-small clothes...

2009-02-25T09:47:00.000-08:00

If anyone is interested, I am selling all the boys too-small clothes, That is everything from NB - 12 months (5lbs - 20lbs).

I have pictures of it all, and a lot are on my blog,and it is all on Craig's List too. And I can email them to you if you are interested. I have HUNDREDS of items, and I am selling it all for very cheap - no more kids for us!

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T09:59:00.000-08:00

... from Owen and Andy!

Going for a walk...

2009-01-20T16:36:00.000-08:00

Andy, Owen, Grandma, and I all went for a walk along the river this afternoon. The weather was just too nice to stay indoors all day. Andy went in the double stroller today for the first time (not in the car seat, I mean). He didn't care for the back seat, but he really liked the front (he had a better view), and even fell asleep by the end of our hour-long walk.

We saw a donkey, an eagle, fishermen, lots of people and babies, and lots and lots and lots of puppies!

My gorgeous little man!

2009-01-19T21:32:00.000-08:00

Andy is almost 7 months old. He is getting so big! He weighs over 19.5 lbs, babbles, eats like crazy, is almost crawling (he can only go backwards), and is wearing size 9-12 month sized clothes. He is such a happy baby now! Yay!

Andy is 6 months old now...

2009-01-07T16:43:00.000-08:00

Andy was 6 months old at Christmastime. He can now sit up on his on, roll over both ways, and is so very close to crawling! He is eating sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, apples, bananas, oat, rice, and barley cereals.

He is wearing size 9-12 month clothes, a size 4 shoe, and a size 3 diaper.

He's babbling and blowing raspberries all the time, is sleeping through the night most nights, and is a pretty happy baby when he isn't teething (he has one and a second will be through any day now).

He's turning into a really great kid!

Andy's 1st tooth!

2008-12-29T13:03:00.001-08:00

We now know why Andy has been so miserable the last week or so - he has his first tooth! Yay!

6 months and the bear

2008-12-28T16:33:00.000-08:00

Playing in the snow!

2008-12-26T16:44:00.000-08:00

Andy had his first play in the snow day today. He wore the blue and yellow winter coat that Owen had given to him as a baby but never wore, and it fit perfectly! And I bundled him up, and put him in the black carrier under my coat and off we went for a walk down the street with Papa and Owen.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-13T11:30:00.000-08:00

5 month photos with the bear

2008-12-01T09:31:00.001-08:00

Car seat carrier

2008-12-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

I had this car seat carrier given to me (thanks Heather) as a gift, and I LOVE IT!

I was afraid that it wouldn't really work for me as I am so tall, but I have to admit that I really do love it - it works great!

The point of this carrier is not to have to carry the car seat in your hand, or on your arm, which can really hurt!

You can get yours at Lellow on Mill St. in Chilliwack.

And here is the story behind my picture... below is a picture that is on the packaging for this carrier (called the Flying Falcon for some reason). There were a few different funny pics, but we decided to recreate this one. Although this carrier is good, I'd still only use it for short periods of time, like from the car to the mall, or from the car to the grocery store. I would never do my full shopping with this

carrier - it is just way too heavy. I mean, my kid is 17lbs, and my car seat is like 20 lbs, so why would I carry around 40lbs when I can put the baby and car seat in a stroller or buggy.

But I thought this picture was just too funny not to recreate. Here you go Heather - this is for you! And thanks again for the gift!

Rice Cereal!

2008-12-01T08:53:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Andy had his first taste of rice cereal! I think it was more fun for me, but Andy seemed to like it too! :)

I bought the Heinz Organic kind because it doesn't have any skim milk powder in it, as Andy is allergic to milk.

Andy is over 5 months, and will be 6 months old the day after Christmas, so even though we are a little early in introducing food to him, Andy is close enough in age that we thought it was OK. I did check with Andy's pediatrician too, and he said it was OK.

I was surprised how much of the cereal Andy actually ate - not just put in his mouth and spit right back out. He probably consumed more than a teaspoon, but less than a tablespoon. I know it isn't much, but think of how small his tummy is!

We're back to trying tricks

2008-11-25T19:22:00.000-08:00

Andy prefers to sleep with his head elevated, like in the swing or cuddle seat. And we are tired of waking up 4+ times a night just to put his soother back in because he is uncomfortable sleeping (mind you, this happens in the swing and cuddle seat too). So we are trying a new trick. Today I put a very thin pillow under his sheet, and then put 3 rolled up blankets on top. The will (hopefully) keep Andy from rolling. These blankets are positioned to his sides and above where his head will go. Hopefully they will keep him in the middle. I am hoping that the pillow, although very thin, will elevate Andy's head enough so he is more comfy. And I also put the bumper pads on his crib today too.

My little poser!

2008-11-21T15:16:00.000-08:00

Here we go again...

2008-11-17T15:21:00.000-08:00

Andy has another ear infection. We think he is teething. It figures. Just as soon as his colic is over, and he finally gets over his cold, we have teething. Lovely.

4 months old

2008-10-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

New and improved Andy!

2008-10-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

Hmmm... it won't let me copy and paste my journal entry here. I wonder why - see the comment to see my posting.

We switched again...

2008-10-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

Andy is now on soy milk - Similac Isomil to be exact. Since then he has stopped screaming like someone is stabbing him all the time. He now whines and fusses and cries like a regular baby. You have to understand that Andy is now 103 days old and he has never (NEVER) done that. He is either sleeping, happy (babbling, laughing, talking cooing, etc.), awake and quiet (very rarely!), or screaming like someone is stabbing him.

Since we switched him to soy he seems to be doing much better. That was about a week ago.

Andy's 3 month bear photo!

2008-09-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

what do we do now?

2008-09-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

Last night was awful. Andy was up just about every hour – all night long. He went to bed last night at 10, got up to eat at midnight, needed the sucker at 1 and 1:10, so I brought him into bed with us at 1:10. He needed the sucker all night and wanted to eat again at 3. Gabe fed him and gave him amoxicilin and Andy wanted to be awake. Gabe put him in the swing and slept on the couch. And then Andy was up again wanting his sucker all night until we brought him back into bed with us at 7, and then he slept good until 8. It was a really rough night!

3 times today Andy has had major, tummy-emptying pukes. All over him and whatever he is laying on (including our bedding). So not fun. We are going to try giving him soy based formula to see if that is better for his little tummy. We can't think of what else to do.

Rough night!

2008-09-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

Last night was pretty good for the first half and pretty bad for the second. Elia watched the boys so Gabe and I could go out and celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. We got home at 10:30, and Andy had had his last bottle at 9:30 and fallen asleep at 9:45pm. So he was down for the night. And he slept until 2:30, had a nice big 5.5oz bottle, took his medicine, got a clean diaper on, and was the happiest baby in the world. But he wanted to be awake and playing. I let him for 20 minutes, and then I put Andy in his crib as I was tired and wanted to go back to bed. But I got up at least 6 times in the next half an hour to put his soother back in. Finally I just stayed in this room (in the rocking chair) and kept putting the soother back in his mouth. Then I swaddled him (around 3:30) and he nodded off just before 4am. But at 6am he was awake again, so Gabe brought him into our bed and he slept well until the alarm went off at 8am.

I'm a zombie this morning

2008-09-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

I had to put the soother back in at 1:30am, 3am, 3:45, 4:45, and 5:10. Then I finally got up and fed him at 5:15. He was happy and fell asleep around 6am. These night time feeds are getting longer and longer. I don't like that.

Andy's baptism...

2008-09-21T23:23:00.000-07:00

Last night Andy was up a lot. Gabe slept on the couch with Andy in the swing a he put the soother back in a bunch of times. Andy fed at 2:10 (6oz) and 6:50am (3oz).

Andy has such fantastic happy mornings now that he is feeling better!

Andy was baptized today! He slept in Krista's arms until we undressed him. He cried when he was baptized, but calmed down afterwards, and actually didn't fuss nearly as much as we excepted. He even did better than Owen had when he was baptized! We took lots of pictures, and kept some of his hair from the tonturing for his baby book. Lots of people came to watch the baptism: all 4 of the Moore's, the Bhulers, the Harmes's, the Martel's, Ted and Helen Francis, Grandma and Grandma, Elia, and Leila.

And then we had a BBQ at our house afterwards to celebrate and a lot of people came to that too: Sean and Cari, the Harmes's, the Martel's, all of the Francis's and Kim's boyfriend Jason, Grandma and Grandma, the Jordan's, Lindsay Friesen and her husband, Gabe Friesen, the Farley's, Rhiannon and Theo, Christie Gilbank, Eddie Bhuler, and Sid and Melissa Ketel.

In this last picture you can see us and Andy's godparents - Matthew and Krista Francis (they are Owen's godparents too).

Andy's 1st ear infection

2008-09-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

Andy screamed all night. I am so glad we had our Doctors appointment today. He has a raging ear infection in his right ear. My poor little baby!

Guess who loves his Mommy?!?

2008-09-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

Andy does!

Owen is a Papa's boy (always has been), and it looks like Andy will favor his Mama! Yay for me!

Andy is 10 weeks old today and going threough a growth spurt! He is now wearing size 3month (or 0-3 months, depending on the brand) clothes and size 2 diapers! He is still in a size 1 shoe (but that may be becasue his size 1 shoes are so cute I'll cram his foot in there for as long as I can!).

All smiles!

2008-08-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

Andy smiles a lot now these days! And I LOVE his smile and his little laugh! They are just too cute!!!!!!

Andy has this star that lights up and plays music and it is his favorite toy right now (well, the only one he even really cares for at all besides his jumperoo). Here he is smiling at the star...

Baby Shower!

2008-08-31T13:11:00.000-07:00

The ladies of St. Herman's (our Church) threw us a baby shower yesterday! Thanks to everyone who came - it was so nice to be able to sit and chat with you all!

And thank you to everyone who brought food and gifts - everything was so fantastic!

Andy's 1st ambulance ride and Hospital visit

2008-08-29T00:26:00.001-07:00

Last night was brutal. Bru-tal! Andy had his last feed at 10:50 last night – I wanted him to eat late so he would sleep in late, like normal. But he was up at 2. I put his soother back in 3 times before getting up to feed him at 2:25am. He ate 6oz and was up for the full hour and then never seemed to be himself again for the rest of the day. He was up pretty much all night crying and screaming, not really wanting his soother or a bottle. We fed him another 2oz at 5am and then he screamed until another small feed (1.5oz) at 7:40am.

He cried all day long with small naps and a few 10-25 minutes of happiness throughout the day. But mostly he cried and screamed all day long. He ate 1oz at 1pm and 1 oz at 2:20pm. We attempted to feed him multiple times until Gabe took him to the clinic at 7:30pm. They were closed so he went to the Hospital but the line up was really long so he came home. We have Andy 1ml of Tylenol every 4 hours or so (5 times in total).

But after 4 or 5 hours of constant screaming, Gabe called the Health Clinic. Andy had been doing this weird hiccup sounding thing that seemed to be worse when he cried, and when he attempted to drink. It seemed like he was having trouble breathing and swallowing. The BC Health Nurses Line nurse said it sounded like he was having seizures and that we should call 911. So we did and I rode with Andy to the Hospital in the ambulance as Gabe followed in the car behind us. Elia stayed home with Owen. And of course, Andy stopped crying just before the paramedics got to the house and almost didn't complain, cry, or hiccup at all since then. He did have a few of the weird hiccup things in the ambulance though and the paramedics said it sounded like he was struggling to breathe.

Once at the Hospital we were seen to right away. We told our story to 4 nurses and 2 Doctors. Andy had a poop there and seemed to be better once he did that. We did attempt to feed Andy a bottle there, twice, and he refused to eat the first time,but at 11:30pm he ate 1oz. He had a good crying fit and the Doctors listened to his heart and lungs. They checked his ears, throat, back, chest, and checked his heart rate and circulation. They figure Andy is just having a bad reaction to the immunization shots he got yesterday but that it isn't an infection or allergic reaction. We attempted to feed him one last time but Andy didn't eat. We went home just before midnight and on the way out (this part kills me), Andy smiled at the Nurses. Why didn't he just say “My parents are idiots. They over reacted.”

I even said to Gabe while we were there “I'm glad Andy is feeling better, but I wish he cried a bit just to show the Doctors why we are here.”

He seems to be acting normal now (it is 12:30am) and I hope he eats a bit more and then sleeps. He hardly slept all day so I am hoping he'll sleep through the night. Today was brutal for me and I need a good sleep just as much as Andy does.

Jumperoo!

2008-08-27T15:10:00.001-07:00

Andy loves to jump - he has from the very beginning, So Grandpa Kim bought him this Jumperoo. And Andy loves it!

Andy's is 2 months old!

2008-08-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

Click here to see Andy's 1 month bear picture.

Click here to see Owen's 2 month bear picture.

Fashion Show!

2008-08-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

As Andy is growing out of a lot of his newborn sized clothes (he is 12lbs 13oz now!), I had to do a fashion show and photo shoot before Iput them all away for good.

sleeping good!

2008-08-22T15:18:00.001-07:00

Last night was another goo done! Andy ate at 10pm last night, and went to sleep around 11pm. He then slept until 5:10am! He ate 5oz at 5:15, had a huge puke, and then it took me an hour to do the whole routine (by then the sun was rising). I was worried he would be up soon after that, but he slept good until 9:40! That is more than 7 hours between feeds and sleeps – that is awesome!

I honestly credit the Miracle Blanket for his good sleeping these past few nights! He doesn't even have to come into our room anymore – I just put him down in his crib, on the nursing pillow all swaddled up. I don't even have to go back in and put the sucker in and all of that (at least not more than once within 2 minutes of laying him down). It is great!

The Miracle Blanket is a mircale!

2008-08-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

I bought this blanket online about a month ago and only really started using it now as the weather was too hot to swaddle Andy for the last few weeks. Andy has never had a good sleep from his middle-of-the-night feed to the morning feed , and that has been really hard on us as I don't sleep much a tall, and that is the time of night we really need our skeep. Otherwise it feel slike we have been up since 3:30am - and sometime we have been!

So I swaddled Andy all up in the blanket last nightand put him in his crib at 2am - and he slept until 7 without making a peep! And he is in his bed again now for his morning nap all swaddled up and sleeping heavy. This blanket is awesome!

http://www.miracleblanket.com/

Colic update

2008-08-19T10:31:00.001-07:00

Well, we can now officially say that Andy is colic free. Yay! I don't know if he just grew out of it, or the chiropractor massage worked wonders, but it is all gone! They do say it peaks at 6 weeks, and we found that Andy's 6th week of life was terrible for colic. But now, at almost 8 weeks old, it is all gone. (knock on wood!)

Andy had his 2 month check up yesterday and he is happy and healthy! And 12lbs 5oz - my big boy!

Coping with colic

2008-08-12T08:45:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we heard that these 2 things help with colic:

infant massage from a chiropractor (3 times in a wek should do the trick)
a drug called “BENTYLOL” (the trade name), also known as “DICYCOLMINE” (the generic name)

So today we will try both. Has anyone else heard of these, or any other ways of helping with colic?

Andy gets Churched!

2008-08-10T22:27:00.000-07:00

Andy got Churched today!

thirty nine days old

2008-08-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

Boy am I tired this morning!

2008-07-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

July 30, 2008 (day thirty five)

Andy was very cranky from 9pm-midnight last night, and he exhausted both Gabe and I at night as he always does. I don't know why this is his rough time of day, but it is and always has been. I guess we should just get used to it for the time being.

Andy was up every other hour last night – 5 feeds in 1 night – what is up with that?! It was the night with the most feeds in his whole life. He must be having a growth spurt! I read today (online) that formula fed babies should be eating more per feed, but having less feeds throughout the day as the formula takes longer them to digest. But that isn't the case with Andy at all. He ate way less often with the boob. He must be growing right now and that is why he feeds every other hour. I just wish he didn't do it at night. It won't last forever though... right???

Here is another good one...

2008-07-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.babble.com/content/articles/features/dispatches/tuttle/Milk-Money-Is-breastfeeding-really-cheaper-than-formula-Not-always/

Milk Money - Is breastfeeding really cheaper than formula? Not always.
by Kate Tuttle
July 7, 2008

You hear it all the time: one of the reasons to choose breastfeeding over formula, in addition to all the well-known health advantages, is that it's free. No need to stockpile expensive formula, bottles, and so forth. You can meet your baby's nutritional needs, for the first six months at least, with zero economic outlay. Just think of how much more you can deposit into junior's college fund!

But if breastfeeding's so cheap, why do so many women spend so much money doing it? Between the lactation consultants, nursing bras and tanks, Boppy pillows with vintage cloth covers from Etsy, and a hospital-grade breast pump for when mama goes back to work, a nursing mother can end up spending a small fortune. And that's not even counting the financial hit involved in taking time away from work or negotiating a schedule that allows for nursing or pump breaks. If breastfeeding's so cheap, why do so many women spend so much money doing it? Every mother is different, and so is every baby. So it's impossible to quantify the expenses of the average nursing or bottle-feeding mother: and many, many women do both. But a little research and a handy chart can provide ballpark figures for just how much each option costs.

A very good article on breastfeeding VS formula feeding...

2008-07-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

The Breastfeeding Conspiracy
~Believe it or not, formula isn't poison.~
by Marjorie Ingall
December 11, 2006

When my daughter Josie was a few weeks old, I started going to a support group for new moms. Most of us looked like we hadn't slept since the Carter administration. Epic tales were sung of colicky infants, dread about returning to work, exhaustion so severe it caused hallucinations. (I personally remember watching the bathroom rug crawl across the floor like a flattened Muppet.) Many of us cried over our struggles with breastfeeding: Plugged milk ducts, engorgement, nipples so thrashed and bloody they looked like raw hamburger, babies who couldn't latch on and kept losing weight. But some group members, those who'd had no problems nursing, kept insisting that we simply needed to try harder. Call a different lactation consultant. Use nipple cream. Butch up. Didn't we want what was best for our babies?

Exclusive breastfeeding is tough, and the temptation to give up is strong. Formula companies pimp their products, tucking bottles into the going-home bags of brand-new moms as they're released from the hospital, sending coupons to their homes, sponsoring medical guides and filling parenting magazines with ads. But breastfeeding advocates push hard too. Think of last year's public health campaign that compared not-breastfeeding to riding a mechanical bull while pregnant. In my ultrasound doc's office, there was a big poster headlined "THE TOP 12 REASONS TO BREASTFEED." The reasons included "Your baby will be smarter" and "You will lose weight faster."

Well, look, there's little doubt that breast is best, if you can manage it. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for a year. Breastfed babies have been shown to have less diarrhea and fewer colds and ear infections than formula-fed babies. Studies indicate that they're less likely to die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or develop lymphoma later in life. (More on these studies later.) Breastfeeding is also free and super-portable, whereas formula can cost from $1,000 to $2,400 a year. Given the vitriol aimed at formula-feeding mothers, in online forums and on the street, one might suspect formula was pure poison.

But given the vitriol aimed at formula-feeding mothers, in online forums and on the street, one might suspect formula was pure poison. Jill Davidson, thirty-four, of Providence, RI, an educational consultant, was the mother of a newborn when she was invited to speak at a conference in Chicago. She was able to fly her mother from Connecticut to stay with her and care for the baby. Davidson pumped in her hotel room, then handed the baby off to her mother to feed. As her sixty-something mother sat in the hotel lobby feeding the baby, a woman passing by hissed, "Shame on you! You should be breastfeeding that baby!" That's been the tenor of the breastfeeding discussion in recent years: women (even menopausal ones!) who don't do it must be either ignorant or abusive.

But women formula-feed for many different reasons. Some have medical issues, like Ginny Falk, whose daughter had a cleft palate. Some are viscerally disgusted by nursing, like my friend Judith. Some have jobs that are incompatible with nursing or pumping, like Debra Siegel, thirty, a marketing executive in Los Angeles. She worked in "a warehouse full of men. I didn't have an office; I'd have had to pump in the bathroom. And I needed the job; my husband was unemployed at the time." For Debra, returning to work was hard enough. Adding the stress of breastfeeding felt impossible. "I felt suicidal having to leave my baby, but I had no choice," she says. "I was the sole support of my family. So I decided not to even try to breastfeed. I'd talked to a lot of people and knew it took a while to get into a groove, and since I had to go back to work, I didn't want to spend my entire maternity leave feeling panicked and miserable. But as I got closer to my due date, people got more and more aggressive telling me I was selfish."

Click here to see the whole article... http://www.babble.com/content/articles/features/dispatches/ingall/index.aspx

2008-07-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

Our feeding problems are over!

2008-07-29T18:24:00.000-07:00

Andy has colic really bad for his first 3 weeks of life. So Gabe and I decided to do an experiment. We formula fed Andy for 2 days and 2 nights. First we gave him Good Start (the formual we had in teh house), and then we switched to Similac Alimentum (for babies with food allergic and lactose intolerance - specifically made for colicy, fussy, gassy babies). And Andy was like a new kid - he was happy and smiling, and slept well too! So on the third day we re-introduced the boob. First off, I wanted to see if he would take the boob OK again, and secondly we wanted to see what happened to him tummy/mood when we switched back. And cranky old Andy came back. But now we could tell that his cries weren't just fussy cries, but cries of pain. We could tell that he was having some sort of bad reaction to my milk. So after only 2 breastfeeds that day we switched back to Alimentum for the rest of that day, that night, and the next day (which is today). Andy happy Andy is back. So I am done breastfeeding.

I have a lot of food allergies myself and struggle with lactose intolerance, so we don't know what it is that is affecting Andy's tummy, but our family Doctor is almost 100% sure than Andy has at least 1 food allergy. We will have to be very careful when introducing foods to him in 5 months.

Since switching to formula, we have heard a few stories from friends about their colicky babies, and how formaula (this one particularly) helped them as well. I cried myself to sleep the first night we fed Andy formual and he was happy. I had a feeling that taking him off the boob would help him out, and I didn't want to give up breastfeeding. But after listening to him scream all day when we re-introduced the boob, and watching him struggle to pass gas, as he turned red and cried for hours was not worth it. I am sacrificing a really big thing here - I didn't get to breastfeed Owen either, and I thought I would get to breastfeed Andy longer than just one month. But it isn't meant to be. So I am done. And I am OK with that. Andy is a happy baby now (he even is smiling now and it just melts my heart!). I am sad for what I had to give up, but I would give up so much more to make sure my babies aren't in pain.

If anyone out there is struggling with a colicky baby, I suggest trying Similac Alimentium. It has worked wonders inour house!

Andy's 1 month photo with the bear

2008-07-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

Every month until he was 18 months old, Owen had his picture taken with this bear. Now it is Andy's turn!

From happy to mad in 2 seconds flat

2008-07-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Andy has colic. He is a terribly cranky brute, and if he is awake he is screaming. It has been really hard on all of us. We are sleep depreived and that makes it all worse of course. Thank goodness Andy loves the sling (and Ijust got a really good one), becasue he doesn't like the sing, bouncy seat, cuddle seat, or lying down. He is just such a fussy baby!

Andy is 4 weeks old today. He weighs 10lbs 4oz, and is still wearing clothes that fit up to 8lbs. He is very long and lean! He has beautiful, full, pouty lips and really big hands and feet. Like his big brother Owen, I think Andy will be quite tall.

But every night around 9am, Andy screams for 2-3 hours straight. Oddly enough, those are the house he would wake up and kick the crapout of me when he was inside the womb. He has terribly bad gas and these evening hours and when it is the worst (for some reason).

Birth announcement!

2008-07-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

3 weeks old

2008-07-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

We finally got some sleep!

2008-07-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Last night was great! Andy ate at 9pm and then I had a nap, and then Andy fed at midnight, and then Gabe and I were in bed by 12:30. Both those feeds were really good (both sides and not a lot of gas). Andy woke up to eat at 3am and had another really good feed and then went straight back to sleep (maybe 10 minutes of walking and rocking), and then Andy slept until 7:50! I actually went into his room to wake him up to eat next! I heard him squawk once at 4am, and once again at 7, but he didn't wake up, so I stayed in bed. It was a fantastic night!