Zoo, Milk, and Teeth Update

This is going to be a long post about many things. Hang in there because it's all good!

First, today we went to the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan. This was Wyatt's first zoo visit and it went well. He didn't seem overly happy or annoyed but just rather observant. The best part of the zoo was when we saw the flamingos. They were so noisy that he was really interested in them and what they were doing. It actually turned out pretty good because there were 2 flamingos fighting and so they were really noisy and flapping around and putting on a good show. We took a couple of photo ops with them and then moved onto the peacock that was sitting and posing for pictures. We tried to get a couple and Wyatt just wanted to keep looking at it as it walked away rather than the camera! Go figure!!

Posing with the peacock! As you can tell the peacock was way more interesting than the camera!

Second, today we also are on milk full time now! Dr. Rose said to start him on milk when we ran out of formula and today was the day! He has had 2 bottles of milk and at first he wasn't impressed. I thought it was because of the taste but it turns out that he doesn't like the ice cold milk. So we are nuking it in the microwave for a couple of seconds to just get the chill off it before he eats it and that seemed to work much better. I was hoping to start him on milk in a sippy cup exclusively so we could get rid of bottles but I don't see that happening any time soon. He really likes his 3 bottles he gets a day and the laying down with Momma when I feed him. Once he is feeling 100% from his teething then we'll try to get rid of the bottle. Fingers crossed!!

Third, we are still having teething trouble. He has been so clingy since Saturday when he was running his high fever and not doing anything but sitting on my lap and laying on my shoulder. He seems to think this should be the norm now and is so whiney when he's not on my hip or in my lap. Of course, I need to remember that at his doctor's appointment I was told that between 12-18 months is when children have the worst seperation anxiety! Uh oh!! We gots it bad. He will barely let Mike stay with him if I'm in the room or some place else in the house. So we'll see if this has to do with the teething or seperation anxiety. I'm really hoping that it's the first because he has always been such a good baby about going to other people and smiling and being friendly and I don't want him to lose that. We'll see!!

Okay, that is now the end and you can quit reading! :)

Fever

Yesterday was by far the worst we have seen Wyatt sick. He woke up at 11:30am with a raging fever and it wasn't going away. We gave him alternating doses of Tylenol and Motrin and this morning he was much better. I couldn't believe how sick he really must have been because all he did was sit in my lap or lay on my shoulder. After the first dose of medicine he went a played in 5 minute bursts before he would come and lay down. I got pretty freaked out and was looking up information on my doctor's website and was even considering taking him to K-Stat to be checked out but we stuck it out and everything turned out okay. One important piece of information we did find out is that Wyatt can't handle Motrin. Within 20 minutes of him getting the Motrin he had thrown it up. So we are going to be sticking to Tylenol for the time being.

He has been running a fever because of these dang top teeth we are getting. I looked this morning and he not only has his top two teeth coming in but also his I-teeth coming in at the same time. So we'll see which ones break the skin first!

Getting more teeth!

Wyatt has been a bear the past couple of days because on Monday we have started cutting 2 new teeth! Wyatt is now cutting his top two teeth and he isn't liking it, at all. He has been running slight fevers every night and has been very irritable. Hopefully the teeth will break through tonight and we can start having our happy baby back. They are almost through the skin and I'm really hoping tonight will be the night.
On a side note, Mike and I have decided we are going to start saving for Wyatt's orthadentist bill because he is going to be like his Momma and have a huge gap between his two front teeth!

1-Year Doctor's Appointment

Wyatt had his 1-year doctor's appointment today and it went well. He now weighs 19.4lbs=5% and is 30.5inches tall-=71%. So we still have a long and lean baby! Dr. Rose gave us the green light to start whole milk after we finish his formula. Trust me, I'm not letting that leftover formula go to waste. We were also told to have Wyatt off the bottle by 15 months. When we start milk we will be going exclusively to the sippy cup. We have also started giving Wyatt fruit juice. It's not so much juice but half water and half juice. So far, he doesn't seem that impressed with juice. So we'll play it by ear for now. At the appointment Wyatt also received 4 shots and had to have blood drawn. Since we live in a house that older than fifty years old we had to take him to the lab so they could test his lead levels. I took Wyatt there and was expecting that they would prick his finger but oh no, they actually drew his blood from his arm! I was shocked, on top of the fact that the woman drawing it was a new technician and learning! I was so impressed that Wyatt did such a good job and barely cried when they were doing the draw. He cried more because he couldn't move and he wanted to and didn't like being held down. All in all he had a rough day but was a trooper through it all. What a big boy!

The Big Birthday Party

Today we had Wyatt's birthday party and it was a success. We had it at the Train Depot in City Park. It was a nice covered area that had great access for the kids to go and play. There's even a pond not far away that Mike's brother Tyler took advantage of and caught himself a Crappie. We did the whole cake scene and Wyatt wasn't too impressed. He played around a little but wasn't one of those kids that went crazy and bathed himself in it. Everyone got ice cream and cake and then it was present time. By the time we started opening presents we were on borrowed time and it was past Wyatt's afternoon nap time. So needless to say things got hairy as we started opening gifts. He was a trooper though and stuck through the whole thing. It didn't hurt that Wyatt and I had a couple of gift helpers, Ollievia, Mike's cousin and Madison, Travis and Christina's daughter were super helpers and handed Wyatt gifts and took wrapping paper off for him. He's still not that big into wrapping paper removal! He received awesome gifts and had awesome people there to celebrate his birthday with! Like I said, it was a great success. My mom was a huge help and came down on Wednesday to help with Wyatt and all of the party preparations. Thanks Mom!! :)

The Cakes

Wyatt eating his special cake!

Wyatt's Birth Day~May 21, 2009

Today is Wyatt's birth day. (Notice that I'm not putting it together as a compound word.) I wanted to reflect on the day I gave birth to him in this post, since I started blogging after he was born. Here is his birth story!

On that Thursday morning we had to be at the hospital at 7am. Mike and I were both excited/nervous/scared/tired and didn't know what the day was going to be like. All we both knew is that I couldn't eat once admitted. (For those of you that didn't know me well, the entire time during my pregnancy this was a huge phobia for me that I couldn't eat the entire time I was in labor. It really freaked me out because I love food!) Once we got to the hospital and admitted we were sent to our labor/delivery room. My nurse had me change and she started the pitocin. By 7:30 my doctor had been in and broken my water. Everything was done, now it was a waiting game. Mike waited with me and then within a couple of hours my mom, dad, brother, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brothers-in-law, and sister-in-law had shown up to help us ring in this joyous occassion.

The contractions were feeling pretty good but I was breathing through them and focusing. The nurses kept asking me if I wanted an epidural and I kept telling them not yet. Finally, the anesthesiologist came by quickly just to meet me. He then informed me that he was getting ready to go do a c-section so if I wanted one I either needed to get it now or in 45 minutes. I decided to go with now. The contractions had gotten a lot closer together and I didn't know if I could make it 45 more minutes, especially since I knew he would be detained and really wouldn't be coming until he was done. I got the epidural at 3pm and I was a 4. Progress was moving really slow.

A few more visits from my doctor and nurses and family saying hello. A couple of hours after getting the epidural I started to feel extremely sick. I was shaking, dry heaving, and had sharp pains. I called the nurses who said that Wyatt was turned face up and his head was on my spine blocking the epidural. The anesthesiologist came back in and gave me a shot of something and punched my epidural button a couple of times.

After he did this I started to feel even worse. I literally couldn't control my shaking any more and felt like a drug addict who needed a fix. My jaws were clenched, my hands in balls, and my arms pressed against my chest. My doctor came in and checked me at 10pm and it was finally time to start pushing. I was fully dialated but Wyatt of course was still at a -3 station and wasn't planning on coming out any time soon. The doctor had to use a vaccuum to get the little booger to finally come down and in the process I had an episiotomy. The entire time I was supposed to be pushing I was shaking, dry heaving and generally feeling like I was going to pass out. The nurse kept telling me to grab my legs and I kept telling her that I couldn't because I literally couldn't. I couldn't move my arms out of their position. My jaw and teeth were hurting so badly because it was clamped. The shaking just kept continuing.

Finally he arrived at 11:44pm! Wyatt weighed 8lbs. 2oz. and was 20 inches long. My baby was here. I held him and couldn't believe that he was really here and in my arms. We spent 2 more days in the hospital since he arrived so late in the evening and went home on Saturday, May 23rd. We were so excited to be home and out of the hospital.

Here are some pictures to remember the day!

Right after being born!

With a little more sleep!

Early Birthday Present

Wyatt received an early birthday present from Grandma Anna. She got him a little couch that he can sit on in the living room. It pulls out to be a little bed also. He is loving it, as you can see from the pictures. So far his favorite thing to do with it is to climb over the end of it and then come back over. He has even figured out how to flip it over! So much fun!!
The couch is even more fun because you can stack toys on it! He spent 15 minutes taking his soccer ball and putting it on the couch and then rolling it off. He thought this was the funniest thing ever and just had to keep doing it. :)

Step-climber

Wyatt has been practicing climbing stairs lately, yes I let him with me behind him. My philosophy is that he's going to want to climb them, I would rather him be good at it than bad and fall! So he has gotten really good at climbing the stairs and even climbs up them when he's ready to go upstairs for bed! :) I was in the kitchen putting away dishes and Mike came in from the living room and was getting a cup of water. By the time he returned Wyatt had left the living room and had successfully climbed 3 stairs and onto his fourth. New rule: If you leave the living room and Wyatt is there you must put up the baby gate! Who knew he would be so fast!!

Of course, once Mike saw him he called me in and I had to take pictures as he climbed his way to the top!

Mike was standing behind Wyatt the entire time. Please don't e-mail about how unsafe it is, we know!

It's here!

That's right the new stroller is finally here! It took less than a minute to put it together and it works fabulously. I can't wait to take Wyatt on a ride in it, outside of the living room. Yes, we had to try it out in the house and ride around the living and dining rooms several times. Pictures to come of this fabulous new stroller! :)

The final countdown..

This Friday, May 21st my baby will be 1-year old! I really can't believe that it has been one year already. We have been busy planning Wyatt's birthday party for several months and we are in the final countdown to B-Day. We have everything done and ready, well except for, making all of the cakes (yes, that's plural), getting the jugs filled with kool-aid, tea, and water, and getting the ice cream. We are having a pretty low-key party and just doing cake and ice cream with family and friends. The party will be at City Park and there are plenty of places for all of Mike's cousins to run and play whenever they want. That's pretty much it. Just trying to get myself geared up for a crazy week at school and home. Luckily, my mom is coming up and staying the whole weekend so she can help with everything. Thank the Lord!! It will be nice for her to occupy Wyatt while Mike and I are busy making all of the cakes and getting them ready the day before. Something new for me will be making a cake with a cake form. I got a big 1 cake form. It takes a regular cake mix and we aren't doing any super fancy icing decorating besides his name on it, so it should be fairly easy. Right?! I guess we'll see how that goes! I"m sure that will be a blog post in itself. Stay tuned for more pics as we get things going and of course for the actual birthday party!

Of course here's a pic of Wyatt being cute!

I should have put Pledge on those rags so he could do some cleaning while crawling around with them!

Baby Jogger City Mini

That's right we have a new stroller ordered and on its way! After several recommendations and what has seemed like weeks of research I have finally chosen a stroller. The winner was the Baby Jogger City Mini. I love the tripod design and the foldability. You can fold this stroller with one hand! Hello!! It's also very lightweight and folds very flat. The thing I love the most about it is the terrific sun shade. This shade can practically go over your baby. I love the color and can't wait to get it and try it out. I was seriously considering a jogging stroller but finally came to the realization that my a$$ won't be jogging anywhere anytime soon!

We found a great deal on the same website that we ordered Wyatt's big boy carseat from adolcebaby.com. They were having a 10% off sale on all strollers and shipping was free along with no sales tax!! So let's do the math: $229.99-$22.99=$207.00 total! We saved $40.35 with no sales tax and the 10% off coupon! Can't beat that, Momma loves a good deal! :)

My 1st Mother's Day

Yesterday was my "first " Mother's Day! Yes, last year I was carrying Wyatt on Mother's Day but I didn't really count it because he wasn't in my arms. As a momma of a late May baby I have to wait the longest to celebrate my first Mother's Day with my baby in my arms. This Mother's Day was so worth it.

Mike, Wyatt, and I were planning on going to the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan but due to the unseasonably cool weather the zoo was put on hold until a warmer weekend came open. So we loaded up the car and headed to Topeka so we could go stroller shopping. I sold Wyatt's infant carseat, stroller, and bases on Craigslist and we are now needing a new stroller to replace the previous one. Babies-R-Us was supposed to have the stroller that I want to get but of course they didn't. So after that disappointment we went to Texas Roadhouse to eat. The wait was ridiculous and by the time we got our food Wyatt was past due for his afternoon nap and was not having any of it. We got our food to-go and headed home.

The best part of the day was when Mike walked Wyatt over to me to give me my card! It was so cute and precious. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it! The card was from Wyatt and Mike did the writing for him and then gave him the pen to let him sign his name. Those were the most precious pen scribbles anyone could ask for! I love the card so much I had take it with me to work today just to have it close. What a great husband I have to think of such a wonderful present that doesn't cost a dime. I love you!!

Good times with Dad

Tonight was my school end-of-year party. We were all set to go and I was putting the finishing touches on our dip when Mike and Wyatt got home. They came into the kitchen and it didn't take me long to notice the red mark next to Wyatt's eye! That's right there was a very bright red mark next to his eye and his eye was a little swollen. Apparently at daycare he tried walking without holding onto anything and fell into the coffee table. Our first major boo-boo and we made it out alive, even Momma! Whew!!!
So Mike and Wyatt decided it would be best if they stayed at home to monitor the swelling and for any bruising I thought for sure would appear. As you can see in the pictures Wyatt and Mike were having a great time together playing.

Army Crawling, Pulling Up, Crawling

That's the order that Wyatt has decided his development should go. He's been army crawling for a couple of months now and in the last month he's decided to start pulling himself up on anything that will hold him. Finally just today he decided that he will crawl regularly and not drag his legs behind him! How he decided that this was the appropriate developmental milestone process who knows!! Here are some pics of Wyatt pulling himself up on the couch and then crawling across the dining room floor. Proof that he can crawl appropriately, finally!

Getting Low!

As of tonight, Wyatt's bed is officially lowered to the lowest setting it can go. Mike found the little tools that he needed to get the screws out of the tiny space that they are in and got the bed lowered in just a couple of minutes! I put Wyatt in his new "low" crib and he stood up and hung onto the side and started jumping up and down. This is a completely new thing he has started and seems to really enjoy it! :) I can see that this crib lowering has come at the perfect time and I'm sure before too much longer he'll be crawling out of it.
Stay tuned for that picture!!