5 months old...

I can't believe my little guy will be 5 months old tomorrow. He is growing so strong, so quickly. We have been very busy the past month or so...he has continued to have issues with

his stomach bleeding and we know have a GI consult at the beginning of August. He seems to be maintaining his place on the growth curve, so I am not overly concerned at this point. I am being very adventurous by trying goat cheeses, and I am even considering buffalo mozzarella. The biggest problem is how expensive these "alternatives" to cow's milk protein are.

The past two weeks Warren has had a spell of getting up every 1-3hours during the night (and considering that we had 2.5 blissful months of sleeping through the night). However, last night he slept through the night again, and I am hopeful for tonight. I think he is either having some teething pain, or his little brain couldn't let him sleep it was developing so fast. He has started really trying to crawl the past week or two and tonight he managed to move just a little bit on the hardwood floor. Our floors make it very tricky for him because they are so slick, so he needs a foot or something to push off of, but he can move.

We have had lots of adventures in the past month. We have gone to the lake, the nature center, and today we went the farmer's market.

At the lake-I always have more fun than he does!

The logistics of both of us being in very deep lake water, and remaining safe, is a little tricky. Again, I think I had more fun with this than he did. I am looking forward to trying his float out in the pool at the beach in a few weeks!

Burke (see Kim I am trying to use his nickname) and Warren had a blast at the Farmer's Market today. It is so nice for Warren to already have a little buddy.

Contemplating crawling or whatever means necessary to get the ball...

4 months and more

It has been awhile since I have posted anything, but we have been very busy. On Saturday, one of my best friends got married--and I am still amazed by how beautiful the wedding was. I am just so glad that I got to be a part of their special day!

The wedding was held outside in Bethel, NC. The day started off a little bit rainy, but by the time of the wedding the weather was beautiful-and hot! I was just grateful that the bride and bridesmaids got to be inside the cabin with fans; the groom and groomsmen were not so lucky. They had to stand around outside in their tuxs with only cold bottled water to get them through...but we all made it! There were so many good ideas, that if I ever get into wedding planning, I will steal alot of ideas from this one. My favorite part was the candy table--it even had rock candy!

The next day we went to Jim's houseboat on Fontana Lake. Aunt Amy went with us, and we had a great time--although I have severe post-tramatic stress from my forays into tubing. I don't want to re-embarass myself too much, but let's just say that I climbed into the tube 3 times and had to be assisted back into the boat from the water 3 times. By the 3rd crash, I was getting pretty good at landing without anything aching as well as getting into the boat without looking like a beached whale! I think I will stick to boating sports on the Wii, and when I am actually at the lake I will just swim or ride in the boat!

On Monday, my little guy turned 4 months old. I can't believe how fast he is growing and changing. He is rolling over, babbling alot (I am sure he got my gregarious nature), and he wants to be constantly on the move...I don't think this bodes well for me for the next few years!

For those of you who have been concerned and asking, Warren is doing much better. I am milk product free for over a week now, and his poop is the right color, no more blood, and he is less fussy. So while it is a struggle for me, it is rewarding to know that it is working. Here's to it being a temporary thing!

The American Dream?

So, I have been told that it is the American Dream to be a homeowner, pet owner, and parent. Today-it felt more like a reality competition!

First (and this maybe slightly gross to some of you non-medically inclined people), Warren had some blood in his stool. That combined with increased fussiness and throwing up lately made me decide to call the nurse. They wanted to see him. I took him in, and indeed he was hemacult positive! So, the NP and doctor seemed to think that it was either a viral infection (gastroenteritis) or possibly a lactose intolerance. So--for now I have to give up dairy products. I could not do this for anyone besides my child, because I dearly love cheese.
Now you can't tell from this picture of Warren that he doesn't feel good, but let me just say this is outfit number 1 of the day--it was cute while it lasted.

Next, I had to rush to Lucy and Ethel's scheduled annual checkup. Let me just put in a blurp for the Canton Animal Hospital. They are wonderful. They let me be wishy-washy about whether I would be able to get to the appointment based on how quickly Warren was seen. And then when I showed up with Warren in my arms, Ethel terrified on the leash, and poor Lucy left in the car, they were nothing but helpful. I highly recommend them. Everyone there is nice, pleasant, and helpful.

So, back to my story. Ethel has always been anxious in the car. By anxious I mean things may come out of either end. So, yes we showed up at the vet with poop in her tail, and her shaking all over. Then we get in there and she was whining more than normal. But I have to say this for her, she would lay down anytime I told her to sit. However, she did growl when the vet tried to pet her in the waiting room. Therefore, I told the assistants that we should probably put a muzzle on her before they drew blood for the heartworm test. She has never bitten anyone or been at all aggressive, but she was more anxious than normal and the baby was starting to cry (over whom she is very protective). I volunteered to put the muzzle on her because she doesn't like stuff over her face. It was miserable for me--I hated making her feel even more trapped. Luckily, John showed up just as they were finishing up. Then when the vet came in we decided to muzzle her again--John did it this time. The cat's visit when a lot more smoothly.

Add to all of this that I am scheduled to work 7p-7a tonight, and it made for a very exhausting day. Thankfully on the way to the vet work had called and offered me call. Financially I really shouldn't have taken it because we still behind from me being out on maternity leave for 12 weeks, but it was nice to be able to do all of Warren's nightly routine. Maybe they will call me in and I will get paid time and a half!

Lastly, I just got back from the Dollar Store, and it appears that everything contains milk! This may not be a good week for WeightWatchers because I believe my diet will consist of pes, corn, potatoes, and water!

Day in the Sun

Warren and I spent the afternoon at Amie's pool. It was a lot of fun, even though the morning started out looking like it could rain! Warren can't understand why his Mama is always making him do things. He seemed to enjoy putting his feet in the water, but I wasn't willing to put more of him in because the water was a little cold.

Burkley and Kim were there as well. Warren and Burkley just wanted to blow bubbles at each other, and occasionally Warren would reach out towards Burkley. All in all their friendship is starting out great!

Warren fell asleep in my arms while I was holding him in the pool--I guess I really am pretty boring! So, he took a nice nap in the car seat.

Thanks Amie for such a wonderful day!

Our newest feat-rolling over!

Warren has developed a new skill--rolling over to his stomach, and then back to his back again, and finally back to his tummy. Once he gets to his stomach and is unable to continue log-rolling due to some kind of blockade (a pillow for instance), he gets very upset! He does like to lay on his tummy for a little while kicking his legs, he will be crawling before we know it. He has always been the kind of kid that wants to be going places. He doesn't tolerate a lot of time on his back anymore now that he has learned the secret to rolling over :(

3 month photo shoot

We took Warren to get some 3 month pictures today--and yes I spent more than I intended, but we had a great time!



This is a cute little outfit that my sister made for him...I think this is the best smile we got out of him the whole time.


I love this family shot--all of us actually look happy to be there!

Lazy Sunday

What a Sunday-Warren slept til 7am, he did wake up for a short coo-ing session around 4am, but he was content and we didn't even have to get him out of his crib! I got to sleep until 11:30 (since I have to work tonight), and we have just spent the rest of the day relaxing and listening to Frank Sinatra--and yes, I made my sweet baby dance on the porch with me. I am definitely the leader in the embarassing mama category as far as Warren is concerned. Now it is off to work for me!

Oh-I also like to start things way before Warren is ready--hence the jumper: He can't even really support himself in it yet, he keeps falling forward and looking around like what is happening to me!

So, we just resort to slobbering on it!



What a tiring day! So, he just fell asleep in his favorite place, the porch swing!