FYI

Ever since Carter started with rice cereal, his poop is TOXIC. It's so bad. Just thought I'd share that.

(He must have been reading my mind. I was getting ready to hit Post when I read this.)

BBQ

Carter and I went over our friend Jane's house yesterday for a barbeque. It was the first time all of us Mamistad girls have been together all at once. It was a lot of fun. The babies all behaved themselves for the most part, the hubbies enjoyed chatting about sports, and the ladies bonded over poop.

We've known each other since we were all pregnant together and all of our babies are around the same age. That little boy right under Carter and I? He's 3 days older. Can you believe the size difference?? He's 20 pounds!

It's so fun getting together with these ladies and comparing what our kids are doing and how they're developing and growing. Carter and Ayla (bottom left) had some tummy time together and when he got upset and started crying, she cracked up. She was laughing like a five year old! It was so funny.

Going Green

I've decided to get rid of most of our household cleaning products and use the holy trifecta: lemon juice, baking soda, and vinegar. Any success stories out there?

In other news, Carter got his first report card the other day. His child care specialist (daycare provider's supervisor/mentor) came by on her monthly unannounced visit and had this to say about our little man: "Today I visited Shaista. During my visit I observed the following: Woke from nap -- lots of smiles. Very observant and attentive to other children."

I'm so proud. :-D

Easter Trip

I've been so busy at work I haven't had time to post about our Easter.

We took Carter to see Chris' extended family in Delaware. He did pretty well on the drive over there (about 2 hours) but got a little fussy at the end. We tried to go by the new German bakery in town to get some Swiss Alpine bread (can't find a link to what it is but good god it's delicious) but they only have it on Thursdays! What kind of crap is that? I was so disappointed. It's got dried fruit and some other sweet stuff. I didn't think I'd like it but after I tasted it, I could have eaten the entire loaf. Seriously.

Carter was pretty out-of-sorts all weekend. I think it was all the people, smells and noises that he's not used to. He slept like crap and was fussy for everyone. But he did get some good MomMom time at the very end and behaved himself. I was so glad. He was terrible with her at Christmas. Apparently Chris was the same way when he was a baby. Silly boys.

Icky butt continued...

It seems the hydrocortisone cream and butt paste are doing the trick. It looks much better today.

NG posted in the comments about a possible perfume allergy. We use all "sensitive" stuff so I don't think that's the issue. We'll see if it recurs. Right now it seems to be improving.

Oh, and Carter slept until 2 am last night! I had just woken up drenched in milk so I was pumping when he woke up. It was awesome. I got my 5 hours!

Icky butt

Carter's got icky butt.

We've slathered on the A&D the past few days but it doesn't seem to be helping. He's got these scaley patches on his upper thighs and red ickiness on his butt cheeks. I thought it might be a yeast infection but the doc's office said it doesn't perfectly fit the profile. So she said to try hydrocortisone cream under some butt paste for a few days and if that doesn't work, to bring him in.

Poor little tushie.

Doctor's Appointment

Carter had his 4 month visit yesterday. He loves going to the doctor. The second you lay him down on the table, his arms start flapping and his legs start kicking and he gets the biggest grin on his face. Little man squeals in delight. I think it's the noise the paper on the table makes.

I nursed him while we were waiting for Dr. Cross and finished up as she chatted with me about Carter's milestones. Usually he fusses when I burp him, but he just sat right up, let out a huge belch, and grinned at her. The whole time she was talking to me, he just smiled and coo'd at her. He's in love with her.

Our little man is now 24.5 inches long (50th percentile), with a head circumference of 41cm (75th percentile). He only weighs 12 lb, 15 oz so he's in the 10th percentile for weight. She said she's not worried about it because he's growing nicely along the curve that they use and she'd rather him be thin than overweight. But I was a little concerned about it, so we discussed introducing solids.

We're starting (well, we started last night) with rice cereal before bedtime. One, it MAY help him sleep longer. Two, it'll help him ingest a few more calories and get him a little chunkier. We'll do that for a few weeks, and then introduce "real" foods to him next month.

As for his shots...he did awesome. Last time, he screeched so loud and screamed so hard that it made me cry along with him. It was horrible to see him in so much pain. This time he cried, but no more than he does at home when he's hungry or tired or just plain pissed off. And as soon as I picked him up, he was quiet and happy again. He fell asleep the second we got in the car and slept for HOURS. It was great. Too bad we were out running errands so I didn't get to enjoy a nap with him. :-)

So far so good with regards to any reaction to the shots. No fever, not really too out-of-sorts. He's a good kid.

Happy Anniversary!

My grandparents have been married for 60 years. Amazing!

Carter loved meeting them and I *think* they felt the same. :-)

One year ago today

Our lives would be forever changed.

Feast

Last night, Carter had a feast! He had his first experience with rice cereal. I'll talk more about the doctor's appointment in another post, but we all agreed that it was time for him to try it out. We'll be waiting on other foods for another month though.

Anyway, it started off great. He was basically sucking on the spoon like he would a medicine dropper or bottle. I'm not sure how much cereal actually went down his throat, but he did well getting it off the spoon.

It ended not so well. I think he got frustrated that he was still hungry because lots of it ended up on his face and his bib. I nursed him afterwards, and he took both sides and then proceeded to puke up probably half of what he got from me. I guess he did get a little bit of cereal if he ran out of room in there, so that was good.

Ugh

Off to get some shots. Poor little man. Will give the 4 month update when we get back.

So very tired

Right after I published that last post I came out to the living room to this little guy all tuckered out.

Improvement

Last night was a definite improvement. He only needed me to go in once before he fell asleep around 9:00 to put his paci back in. Then he woke up a few times before midnight but then I nursed him at 12:15 and he fell back to sleep until around 3:30. I nursed him again around 4:00 and he slept until my alarm went off at 6:45 this morning. That's the most sleep I've gotten in a week!

He's in a great mood this morning. He's happily playing in his jumperoo while I got ready and ate breakfast and now am able to blog.

Man, I sure needed a night like that.

Rough patch

Carter and I are going through a rough patch right now. He's not sleeping and he's crying a lot and it's making me a little bit crazed. Yesterday I found myself sobbing and yelling and begging him to please please please stop crying. For a brief second, I understood Shaken Baby Syndrome. Please understand, I would never ever hurt him. I knew had to put him down and walk away because I was about to totally lose control. It was scary for me to feel that way. I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it. And the guilt is just intense.

Last night, by 2 a.m. I'd lost count of how many times I'd gotten up to soothe him and get him back to sleep. Every time he'd fall asleep, he'd start screaming the second I put him back in the crib. It's so frustrating. Finally, I just brought him into the living room with me for the rest of the night. He sleeps only slightly better when he's right next to me.

The good news is that I've realized that he doesn't always need to nurse when he's screaming in the middle of the night. I can usually calm him within 5 minutes by just holding the paci in his mouth and rocking him on the glider as hard as I can until he calms enough to realize the paci is there and starts sucking on it. And if I can't calm him within 5 minutes, then it's time to nurse him as a last resort. That ALWAYS works but I don't want him to be completely dependent on it.

I know that this phase will pass and one day he will sleep. It may be his first night away at college though...

I got a new phone

Isn't it perty???

What do you think?

Does Carter look like my brothers? I think I see it in the first pic, but not sure about the others.

Does this look broken?

Introducing...

Clayton Kenneth Lobb! Little Miss Carly became a big sister to a gorgeous 8 lb 11 oz baby boy yesterday. Congrats Phil and Laura!

It's amazing how tiny and light he felt. He has his daddy's nose and his mommy's lips, and he makes cute little noises. I can't wait for he and Carter to become best friends!

Roly Poly

Carter rolled from his belly to his back last night...twice!!