Sam I Am, Four Months

Can I just say that Four Months is the best age? Sam is absolutely... perfect. No other word for him. He is a happy baby, always smiling, cooing, giggling and melting everyone's heart. Sorry folks, he's ours.

At 4 months he has great head control, can support himself on his two little legs, looks around to see what's going on, and grabs at everything. He likes to scratch his fingers along new textures, rolls back to front and front to back, stares at you when you're eating in front of him, and can just about hold his own bottle. He sleeps through the night, mostly on his belly even if we put him down on his back.

He'll sometimes give High Fives, and I love that when we make the ASL sign for "milk" his little mouth starts to open and close automatically. {Sigh} I could eat him up.

We took him to the Doctor this week. Here are his stats.

Weight: 14'2" (35th %)
Height: 25" (65th %)
Head: 43.5 cm (90th %)

Oh, and his eyes are still a gray/blue color. I still have all my fingers crossed that they'll stay that way!

His hair is growing back in where he rubbed it away. For a while now he's been sporting a racing stripe  around the back of his little head:

He has the hugest smile, an open-mouthed, full-faced smile that I just adore. And the dimples!

I am ridiculously in love with this little man! He is the Best!

Updates

There are a few things I left you hanging on and thought I'd follow up with some updates, such as...

Stomach Flu.  

I believe we survived. Barely. After a good night's sleep Thursday night Adam and I both woke up feeling much better. He had two bowls of cereal and some Gatorade (the Dr said Gatorade tends to stay down better than water). This morning he had 2 pancakes, a bowl of cereal, strawberries, blueberries and a banana. We are relieved his appetite has returned. While I'm not fully 100%, I was able to return to work on Friday and came home to a good nap. We are looking forward to the weekend to rest up and put our household back in order. We still have fingers crossed that Michael misses the worst of it. After the week he's had he doesn't deserve it. Here's praying that the stomach flu misses you this season (and we had the flu shot, too).

Blood Clot.  

I returned to the hematologist to discover my "abnormality." I am Factor V Leiden, an inherited and common clotting abnormality that, turns out, my sister Angie also has. We can safely assume, then, that my mother and sister both have this same issue, which is good to know for our children, and especially for my niece. We are 7 times more likely to develop a blood clot than the average person, especially during pregnancy. (It can also lead to miscarriages and low birth-weight babies, which obviously was not a problem for my 9-pounder.) You can read all the medical mumbo-jumbo here (because you can trust everything you read on the internet. And, no, I don't believe I had the snake venom test that's mentioned. I know you're disappointed.)

Bottom line -- my doctor wasn't overly concerned. He left it up to me on whether I wanted to continue with blood thinners. For my clot, he wanted me on thinners for at least 3 months, and since it's almost four months now, I can stop self-injecting once this prescription runs out. He suggested an aspirin a day would probably suffice.

Next I'll make an appointment with a genetic counselor to discuss this abnormality and my BRAC-2 positive diagnosis. Oh, gotta love recessive genes...

Potty Training.

Still trying. Next topic.

Sleep Training.

Now here I can report progress!! SAM IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!! Ahhh, sweet, sweet sleep. He goes down very easily around 8pm and wakes between 6 and 7am. We're close to dropping the late night (10pm feed), so that will be the real test. He does well on the nap schedule and is doing well at falling asleep on his own. He returns to the doctor next week for a check-up and I'll give a thorough update on him then. (But, I have to say, he's the BEST.)

Weddings.

We were invited to three weddings next month. I say 'were' because two of the weddings will not be taking place. The one that is still set is out of town, and while we'd love to be there, we RSVPed 'no' because we thought we had two other weddings to attend. The first, I don't know the reason but am hopeful it's just a postponement. The second is because the bride and groom up and got married on 1-3-13 with two days of planning! While I'm absolutely thrilled for them and they are two of my favorite people, their impromptu ceremony robbed me of a trip to Florida to visit dear friends and be in attendance and to be a bridesmaid. Their photos show an occasion filled with love and beautiful simplicity.

So that's the latest from our home. Life has surely become crazier with full time jobs and two kids. I'll try to be more prompt on posts... but no promises!

Not Cool

Dear Germs who have Invaded my Family,

You are Not Cool.

Most germs come in, wreak havoc for 24 hours and then are on their way. You, however, must love this home since you have decided to stick around for 5 days now, and counting. I don't blame you, it's a beautiful home, but you have overstayed your welcome.

Because of you we have disinfected sheets, blankets, towels, couches, carpets and bathtubs. I have lost count of loads of laundry, and our house has a not-so-nice stench about it. Poor Adam has had 4 baths and a shower in the last 24 hours. In the first days we denied him the food and amounts of water he was begging us for (yes, begging) because you wouldn't allow his belly to keep anything down for almost 48 hours. He resorted to requests for baths or hand-washing just to try to drink the water. Heartbreaking, I tell you!

Not cool. Not cool at all.

The only decent thing you've done since you arrived is release Sam from your clutches in less than a day.

And I don't appreciate the sneak attack on me either. I was fine with your discomforts for most of the week, but today's surprise blow has kept me in bed and out of commission, exhausting me but preventing me from sleeping. I feel helpless as I hear crying kiddos.

Don't you dare touch Michael. Amazing he doesn't have symptoms yet. He came home from a business trip to all this and has been juggling his work, his usual care of Sam, plus looking after Adam and me with soup and water. Oh, and not to mention cleaning, scrubbing, and washing off your after effects.

So, please, go away! If you keep this up tomorrow we'll have to take Adam in to the ER for an IV. His peanut stature can't take much more.

And please don't go to anyone else's house. Don't go away mad, just go away.

Signed,
Had Enough in Ohio

Birthdays

I've been lax on posts lately. I mean, I haven't written since I was 34. And now I'm 35.  !!

I'm trying to be excited about it.

It's not that I'm bothered by it, really, but, well, it's thirty-five... It's mid-thirties. It's closer to 40. It's additional health screenings. It's "advanced maternal age" if we were to decide to have another child. (Not that we're planning it, but it's something you think about.) Michael was telling me a story about a "younger guy" he met, and it struck me that, wow, we're 35 and 37... we're... Adults!

So why doesn't it feel like I'm an adult? With every year older, I still feel like I'm growing up. But then, that's important and good, right? It means I'm still learning, still advancing, still evolving. I would love to step outside of my life for a day and watch myself at the playground with the kids or lead a training session at work. Would I look at her and wonder, how does she? Would I like her and agree with her and recognize myself in her? Would I have understanding and respect for her as she tries to juggle motherhood and a career? Would I be able to see that she's trying, really trying to be the best at everything (and seems to be managing well enough)?

I'd like to think, yes. I like that girl.

Thirty-five isn't scary. It's actually fun to finally arrive at the life I always dreamed for us. Growing up I had this image of what I wanted my life to be like, and I finally feel like we're realizing it.

I have an incredible husband who manages to work from home AND watch over Sam (and pukey 3-year olds) while I'm at work. We have a home that we love and share with THE most adorable, lovable, light-up-a-room 3-year old on the planet and a squishable, cuddly, more-gorgeous-by-the-day 4-month old. I am excited about my job and the career that's advancing.

Pinch me! I might just wake up from this beautiful 35-year-old life that I am so very blessed to have!

So, what does one do to celebrate 35? Share it with family and an awesome girlfriend and a trip to the outlet malls. Thank you, Sarah, for being here! I needed the girl time!

Oh, and there was cake. Of course there was cake!

A private dinner at Maggiano's with tiramasu. Yep, 35 ain't all that bad.