First Razorback Weekend

Noah's first Razorback weekend has come and gone.  Our friend Katie kept him while we went to watch the game.  Earlier in the day we went to Mika's house where Noah hung out with his buddies Connor and Hayden.  Everyone was decked out in full Razorback regalia.  Noah did well for the  sitter.  He went to bed on time and slept through the whole game.  Sort of like the Razorbacks.

Boys on Gameday

Everything is ok

No one knows why he cried all day because Noah is fine.  The doctor said his ears look fine, his color, weight, height, etc. are all fine.  She also looked at his fingernail and said not to worry, it will grow back.  In fact it is back but its brown and scabby.  I forget about it because it is so teeny tiny.  We did get slightly reprimanded for giving him ibuprofen.  When Jenna told her the pharmacist told us too, she kind of backtracked and said "Well we don't recommend it but you didn't hurt anything."  It cracks me up the difference of opinions out there.  You just want to know if the docs are covering their butt half the time.

Down, up , and back down

We now think Lil' Bit had an ear infection. I spoke to a nurse and she said the way he would cry out as if in pain and then would immediately be fine when he was held upright sounds like pressure was building in his ears until they hurt and then he was better when he was vertical because the pressure was relieved. We didn't know babies could have an ear infection and not have a fever (because we kept checking his temp). So Jenna looked up ear infections in her book and it said 70% of ear infections clear up on their own within 4 days. And sure enough according to my math skills the 4th day was when it got better and the 5th night (last night) he slept 11 hours. So now we feel confident it was an ear infection.

Today, the sitter called Jenna and said Noah has been crying all morning long. This is the first time he has cried at all for her so she was worried. Jenna called and got a pediatrician appointment this afternoon. This is his first 'Sick' side visit to the pediatrician so I guess this is some sort of milestone. He goes in at 3:30. I'll let you know what he/she says.

Easy day

Lil'Bit and I are hanging out today.  This is my last Friday off before school starts next week, so we are hanging out being lazy.  Jenna's had a rough first week of school, but she's keeping her chin up. Just be patient with her if she hasn't returned any calls :P

Noah has had his best week of sleep ever.  Monday-12 hours Tuesday-11hours Wednesday-8 hours Thursday-11 hours His best previous night of sleep was 8 hours and he averaged 6-7 hours so this has been a huge turnaround.  His daysitter says she doesn't do much different so maybe its coincedence.  However, I do not plan to change anything experimenting with it.
Aunt Holly had another surgery on her leg yesterday but Uncle Bill told us everything went well.  She'll have to stay in the hospital 2-3 days and then back to rehab.   I know her spirits are down, but we're thinking of her.  Noah can't wait to bounce on that knee, so keep your head up and work hard.  I've always heard doctors make the worst patients when they are sick, but I don't know if therapist's make bad patient's in rehab.

Noah's Aunt's Amanda and Sue will be here in a couple of weeks to meet Noah.  That will just leave his Aunt Judy, Uncle Ed , Aunt Patsy, and Uncle Stanley in the pantheon of relatives to meet.  We'll see them soon though.  Take care everybody and enjoy your Friday :)

First day of daycare

Noah had his first day of daycare today. I dropped him off this morning and Jenna picked him up this afternoon. It wasn't that hard. He had a great morning at home and apparently a good day at the sitters. The lady keeping him also keeps 2 toddlers with Noah. They both belong to girls Jenna knows from work and school. The great thing about her is she has 2 kids starting kindergarten this year so we don't have to pay for the days school is out like a couple of our friends do. I also have ties to her since her sister is the foster-parent of a little boy I just picked up as a patient.

Noah continues to do a lot better the past 2 days. Its amazing how your outlook changes after a couple of good poops. His nail is also healing nicely. He actually has about half the nail grown back. It just shows you the resiliency of youth. I lost half my nail 3 months ago and I can't tell if any has grown back. He loses the whole nail and 5 days later half of it is back. You can also touch it and he won't pull it away.

He was so tired tonight when he got home. He didn't cry during his bath and he fell asleep during his bottle. I don't mean catnapping either. I mean he fell asleep. He didn't even wake up when I burped him. Mrs. Flowers, his sitter, said he watched the kids play all day from the floor and his bouncy seat and only took a 30 minute nap. Hopefully this will translate into a full night of sleep. I'll keep ya posted.

Noah rolled over!

As I was typing the last post Jenna had Noah on the floor on his belly. She remarked how much higher his head was than the past. The past few days I've had him on one of my therapy balls practicing being up on elbows. Well today he was actually up on his elbows and his head was at a full 90 degrees. Then all of a sudden he rolled over to his right and landed square on his back. We both yelled "HE ROLLED OVER!" and either the act itself or our reaction scared him to death and he cried for about a minute. He may be too scared to do it again but at least he did it once.

Worst father ever

Most everyone has heard the story by now but I'll tell it to you folks who haven't heard it yet. Last Wednesday morning I got up and fed Noah his bottle about 5:30. He had scratched his face so I went to do what everyone, including our pediatrician, says to do and bite the nail off. Now I have bitten his nails off since he was 2 weeks old and never had a problem.

Well this morning was different. I bit his nail and at the same time he jerked his hand away from my mouth. He had never done this before so I wasn't prepared at all. The short story is his entire nail came off. The only thing left was the nailbed. You can imagine how horrible I feel. He cried almost all day Wed and Thurs. The Pharmacist had us alternate ibuprofen and tylenol. He also stopped eating as much and didn't poop for a couple of days. We assumed the problem was the ibuprofen stopping him up, but now we know we have a little hoity-toity baby.

We also changed his formula this week from the $23 Similac Lactose Free to the $12 Wal-Mart lactose free. Since a container only lasts 6 days we hoped to save considerable money. Well again for sake of brevity, he doesn't like the cheaper formula. Give him the good stuff and he eats like a truck driver. Give him the cheap stuff and he turns up his nose. He also finally pooped today and now I truly regret wishing for that so hard. Formula poop is not made the same way as breastmilk poop. Not even close.

Headed to LA

That's lower Arkansas for the non-Southeners in the audience. We are headed to ElDorado tomorrow to introduce Noah to the rest of my family. I'm lying here after 1 awake because I'm so excited. I can't wait for Mamaw and Papaw to meet Noah. Of course, my Dad and Rosalyn go by Mamaw and Papaw as well so this is about to get confusing for me. I can only imagine what little kids think.

Anyway, Noah's having his portrait taken tomorrow. Then Friday, Rosalyn's girls are coming up and Noah will get to meet his other 6 girl cousins. On Saturday, Mom says we may be going to Beverly and Randy's for an impromptu family gathering. Papaw is cooking a brisket according to a little bird. Sunday we shall rest. Jenna is declaring it a pool day. Granda and Pops are coming over from Texarkana and maybe I can get Dad and Rosalyn over as well. It may be the first time Noah will have all his grandparents together since the night he was born. We leave on Monday, back to the real world. Jenna starts school the next week so I'm sure she's gonna sleep in as much as possible.

Pray for a safe journey down and back.
Sweet Papa

Boys Day Out 1 & 2

Jenna has had a work project the past 2 days so Noah has been with me. The first day he went with me to see clients and he was a litle star. He was in a good mood, went easily to different people, and frankly slept everytime he was in the car. He even sat with me at BCBS yesterday afternoon for over an hour discussing insurance and he was awake the entire time without crying once. Today, he and I were going to run a few errands and go to the library when Ron called and reported a batch of Stabbing Goat beer blew out of the fermenter. So...we went to Ron's while he was at work and we cleaned everything up. Noah watched me from his car seat and then he fussed a little so I put him down in Hayden's crib. He stayed awake the whole time and just cooed and kicked his feet. His temperment has improved so much in the past 2 weeks its like he's a different kiddo. He's even watching Baby Einstein videos for 20-30 minutes before getting bored. And by watching I mean staring at the screen and not moving a muscle. Everyone always told us Baby Einstein was crack for babies but I thought he wouldn't have the attention span for another month or so.

Long and lean

Noah was weighed and measured at his Dr. appointment on Thursday. he is up to a whopping 9 lb. 3 ounces placing him in the 10th percentile in weight. He was also 23" long placing him in the 50th percentile in height. So basically we have a skinny little peanut on our hands. Anyone who saw his Daddy in high school and college shouldn't be surprised by that ratio.

Murmur is going, going, gone!

We (finally) heard from Noah's pediatrician yesterday and she said she was pleased with the results of the echocardiogram. Children's Hospital found no structural defects with Noah's heart or the surrounding blood vessels. Also, on Thursday Noah had his 2 month checkup. At the checkup, Noah had a different Dr. than his normal pedicatrician and he could not hear a murmur at all. Thanks for all of your prayers while we waited. We really thought everything was okay, but there was a little lingering worry in the back of my mind at all times.

In T-Town

Jenna left last Sunday with her parents and Noah. So I had to bachelor it all week. Whenever Jenna left in the past I was fine. I know I missed her because I was always ready to see her when she got home. But this week was different. I just wandered around the house. My usual distractions weren't working so Tuesday I found myself in a 7 hour Star Trek marathon I couldn't escape from. I've never been a Trek fan but somehow there I was watching Capt. Kirk chasing off after some purple chick. The good news is I came down to T-Town last night with Kara DiCarlo. Jenna's 'Sip-and-See' party is Saturday so I came down to play golf and partake in my father-in-laws libations :)

Anyway, think of us on Sunday when we are trying to get home before the kennel closes and we have a crying baby in the back seat.

life as Noah's mommy

Well, little Noah is seven weeks old now and I feel like I am starting to get to know my son. He has the funniest little quirks. Chad and I have a lot of fun trying to immitate him. He has this strech he does after he gets off the breast and when he is waking up, which is usually what he is doing when he is getting off the breast! He sticks his lips out, elongates his neck, and looks to one side while beginning to smack his lips. This is Chad's favortie thing. The thing he does that I like is his little leg bounce. Unfortunately this occurs when he is mad and crying. It happens most often during a diaper change or clothes changes. He begins to bounce his legs by bending and straigtening. He usually does it with his right leg only, but if both legs bounce at once, he is really mad! And, sometimes all I can do is stand there and giggle at him!

He is doing pretty good at night and usually takes late evening feeding around 10 or 11, then wakes again around 4, then sleeps until 7 or so. This varies some and he seems to do better at these time when we give him a bottle of expressed breast milk. I think he gets more then than he does directly from my breast. My milk supply falls off in the late night. His belly also seems to be doing better. My sweet husband has managed to find several soy products to satisfy my cravings. I even ate some peanut butter and chocolate ice cream that was soy and dairy free! It was good, especially after not having any ice cream for so long. You know I ate ice cream all the time when I was pregnant.

I have also starting exercising again at the park with Noah. He just loves his stoller. Today I went with my friend Kara DiCarlo, a PE teacher, boy she is going to get me back in shape! She had me doing pull ups, football shuffles, and push ups. That is good though, because when school starts again I want to have something to wear.

I am getting better at mastering the art of multitasking one handed. It is getting tougher though because Noah is starting to get a little longer and heavier to hold with one hand for too long. I can breastfeed and make coffee at the same time! My dad says he could see that on ESPN sportscenter!! Getting out of the house with a baby is also easier (at least doesn't take me four hours to plan for it, anyway)! It seems that when we runs errands after lunch, Noah gets his best nap in. He doesn't sleep too much during the day and seems to boycott his crib in the day time, but I don't care because he sleeps in it at night!!

I know my posts are way fewer than chad's but he keeps me updated. He says that a lot of people are looking at our site and if you are reading up on us, then Thanks! Keep calling to visit...I am not screening as much anymore...hehe!

Everything looks good

Noah's echocardiogram looked good. The radiologist said structural he could see no reason for the murmur. He had all 4 chambers, all his valves, no aortic obstructions, and could not find a hole anywhere. He also pointed out, he is not a cardiologist but he felt confident we would get an all ok report from Children's. Noah was a little fussy in the beginning so we had to put him on the breast and drape a sheet over them to calm him enough for the echo. He eventually calmed down enough to complete it and Daddy could snap a quick pic and video on his phone.

Noah's Echocardiogram