This last week of January.....

.....we attended breastfeeding group on Monday & Friday which is turning into more of a playgroup for us "old" babies. We lay our blankets on the floor and let the babies play with toys, roll around, and look at each other while the moms talk about nursing, poop, sleep, and other interesting topics ;) Hopefully some of us can still do play groups after we are all done with nursing as it's fun to have moms with babies who are around the same age. It's fun to see the new babies and their moms come in, too. These last couple of weeks there have been TINY babies: 4-6 lbs!! It's amazing because Eli was never that small so they just look so fragile! I also enjoy helping other moms who had similar issues as we did and giving them advice about what worked for us. Don't know what I would have done without the support group and LLL!

Eli's sleep at night is still NOT good. I'm dealing with it okay as I am tired off and on throughout the day but not falling on my face tired, so that's good. I take at least 1 nap with him, often 2, throughout the day, which helps. The longest he's slept at one time in the last 3 weeks has been 4 hours and it is usually 2-3 hours. He used to do 5-7 hours!! So that means I get a stretch of MAYBE 2 hours in between feedings, often more like 1. He always wakes up fussing which turns to crying and I try to console him by rubbing his chest. This hasn't worked yet and I used to be able to give him his pacifier which would help a couple wakes during the night. He no longer uses his pacifier as a pacifier, it is now a chew toy, so this doesn't work. So, I then pick him up and try to rock or bounce him. This works on a rare occasion and I usually end up nursing him. Amazingly, all the times he nurses during the night he nurses for a decent amount of time. This says he either is hungry when he wakes up, or he is just eating for comfort. Who knows.

After talking with a few moms, I've decided it probably is a combination of things: teething (Eric & I both had our first teeth at 4-5 months), gas, and missing mommy. Last Saturday he woke up crying and I couldn't console him and it turned to screaming. This lasted for a good 10 minutes and it was quite scary as we couldn't figure out what was wrong. He slowly settled down, started to nurse, and then exploded in his diaper. That's what I mean by gas. I am giving him gas drops throughout the day to help and it seems to be better. At the 4 or 5am feeding, I then have to take him into the guest room with me and we sleep together until around 7am. If I try to put him in his crib after the 4 or 5am feeding, he wakes up either immediately or 30 minutes later. Somehow his little body knows it is morning and he just doesn't want to go back in his crib. Needless to say, my sleeping hasn't been all that great. Hopefully he'll outgrow soon!!

Eli continues to work on sitting on his own, rolling over, and grabbing any and everything. He is improving with tummy time, which is good. He can do it, he just choses to only do it for about 20 seconds and then he face plants and gives up. Here's some good pics of him doing tummy time. These are great because Eric & I have pics of us doing the same thing at his age in his room.




We've had to start giving Eli his bath in the bathtub now due to him splashing like crazy when the infant tub is in the kitchen sink. This is better but it hurts my back. I tried bathing with him which was good, except he needs to be able to sit up on his own to make it easier. Here's a fun pic of bath time (we have more but they all show his boy parts which, by the way, he has discovered are fun to play with....which I don't want out on the internet!!!):


Carrie and her daughter Georgia came over today to finally have the 2 meet. Georgia was born one day before Eli. It was fun seeing them and it was too funny having them pose for these pictures. Eli kept starting to cry when Georgia would reach out to touch him and he broke down at the end wanting mommy to hold him. Eli will have several girl friends to chose from when he is older :)





Here's more fun pics/videos from the week:

Watching a bad American Idol contestant

Just chillin'

I like to eat my socks....yummy

This is how I like to swing now....hold on!!

Love to pull my socks off MANY times a day


And the most precious picture for last.....

....awww....I love my daddy!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Get that elephant!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Love my socks....and mommy loves to put them back on many times a day

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books


Kitty-kat....I'm gonna chase them around sooner than they think!