February 9

Hi Elijah!
Happy Lijah was back today! WOOHOO! This morning, I fed you and changed you then you were happy Lijah again. You were laying in bed cooing at me, looking around, smiling, and almost laughing. I was so happy to see happy Lijah because I missed him! Since you were being good, I took you over Great Gramma's. She hadn't seen you in over a week because you were so fussy!

After that, we got you some new medicine for reflux and ran some errands before we had a great dinner at Malaras. It was your first visit to one of our favorite restaurants and you got to be loved up by Sandy. She has been waiting to love you up for WEEKS!

I don't know that the cereal helped you much. You didn't spit up as much which was good but it sure didn't help you sleep much. Hopefully, the reflux medicine will cure your reflux and that will help you sleep better!

You were snuggling up with your daddy tonight and you guys napped together. You are giving your dad a complex because you won't quit being fussy for him :) You look like a little old man in this photo.

February 8

Hi Lijah!
Today was a trial run for us on how day care is going to work out. Your dad had to be to work at 8:15 and he took you with him so he had to get up and get both of you ready on time. Your mom lucked out and got to sleep a few more winks before I met you both at the doctor's office. We did our final check up with Bonehead and we are cleared for the gym now and work on the 22nd. We all had lunch together then Grampa Keith wanted some Elijah time.

Here is the deal kid - I can't remember if I told you this or not so if it is a repeat, you will have to chalk it up to me being old - your grampa kinda likes you :) See, I talk a lot about how many grampa's are up in heaven and that gives your Grampa Keith the short end of the stick because he is here and being a great grampa to you. He likes to spend time with you and love you up even though he may act like it doesn't matter to him. To top it off, Heather loves you up and takes lots of great photos! So, even though you are missing quite a few Grampas, you are blessed with your remaining Grampa Keith and I am sure he is going to continue to love you up for a long time to come.

After dinner, we tried something new for your fussiness. We put a bit of cereal in your bottle. We are thinking that you have a touch of reflux and the internet says that a tablespoon of rice cereal would help you to keep food down. We also tried keeping you upright longer to see if that would help. You were such a good boy after you had your first dose of cereal. You were back to being happy Lijah and we were so excited to get that little baby back that we had missed for so long. We will see if that is the secret to keeping you happy and, possibly, having you sleep longer!

February 7

Hi Elijah!
Seems like I have a lot to share with you today baby boy! You are still a fussy pants. Mom and dad are starting to research our avenues for refunds... :) But, you appear to be a good boy when you are not around us. You went over to spend time at Gramma Ruth's house today and you were a good boy. Came home then started screaming. Maybe you are allergic to me and your dad :)

Guess what Gramma Ruth said? She told your dad that you have my eyes and mouth. WOOHOO...You kinda look like me. :) When I look at you now, I don't see 100% of your dad anymore. I am starting to see a bit more of a mix of both of us. That makes me so excited!

You have spent 3 nights in a row in your crib now. Your mom cries a bit less each night. I was going to sneak you in our bed tonight because you were so fussy but I had flashbacks of the night you rolled across the bed and knew it was better for you to be in your crib. I have been putting the monitor a little bit further away from my head each night but I still grip it tight since it has a vibrating buzz when you squeal too high.

You are over 6 weeks old now. You are starting your 7th week of life. 6 weeks seems like you are a little old man now :) It is a big milestone for me. Since we were never able to fully breast feed and I just pump for you, 6 weeks was my goal to stop. However, when you were at the 5 week mark, I told your dad I was done. It was too painful and I just was going to start weaning off. Ever since then, it has been much easier. I guess I took the pressure off myself and quit monitoring the clock as to when to pump. Now, I just pump when my body tells me it is time and life is much easier. I am still not making enough for you to eat full time but you are about 50/50 breast milk and formula. Since we reached our 6 week goal, any day additional now is just added health benefits for you.

We have a busy week this week buddy. Tomorrow is our final doctor appointment with Bonehead. Tuesday is dinner with 2 friends who can't be named because they work for the federal government :) Thursday is book club and Friday we are hoping to leave to go to Denver. Hopefully, we will have good weather for our Denver trip.

February 6

Hi Sunshine!
I am exhausted today. Wiped out emotionally and physically. You slept in your crib last night. Alone. Away from your mom. Like a big boy. Your mom was the one who whimpered all night with the monitor stuck to her head waiting for you to cry to tell me to come get you. Your mom was the one who had to rush in twice to make sure you were still breathing. You? You were fine. Your dad? He snored all night long. I guess we now know exactly who was the big advocate of you sleeping with us. I missed you so but it did work out good and I bet I relax a bit more tonight than I did last night. Right now, you are sleeping on my chest before I get ready to go out. I let you do that because I know pretty soon you will be too big to do it anymore. Each day, you change a little bit. You are more alert, make new noises, and just grow into a big boy. Each day, I whine to your dad that my little newborn is gone and he rolls his eyes at me.

Tonight, I am deserting you and going out with Debbie for her birthday. Your dad says you two are going trolling for chics at Home Depot. :) I hope you find a rich one that will pay my alimony and child support demands.

We took some silly pictures of you today and this is my favorite. See, you don't look like a newborn baby anymore - you look like a big boy!

February 3rd, 4th and 5th

Hi Monkey,
Your cousin Brandi accused me of slacking on your blog. She was out of town and wanted her Elijah fix. Well, kiddo, I am slacking because I had nothing to say! On Wednesday and Thursday, we didn't do anything and you didn't do anything fun. Pretty much all day Thursday, you cried. Needless to say, it was a very long day.

Today, we did go meet Vivienne Lindberg and her mom for lunch - I joked that we were introducing you to your future wife. You can go for the older ladies - she is 2 months older than you. Neither of you were too interested in each other - she slept and you went back and forth between being good and fussing. After that, you went over Kylie Shark's house for a couple of hours. Report was that you were good there.

Your dad and I don't really know what to do with you. Seems like you are eating a bit more and might be going through a bit of a growing stage. You aren't sleeping any more - just two or three hours at a time before you want to eat. I don't think you have your nights and days mixed up because you sleep 2-3 hours whether it is night or day. We are hoping that daycare will help get us into a routine!

Even though you were fussy and I didn't post, I still did take your picture every day. Sometimes, multiple shots of fussiness everyday!

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

February 2

Hi Elijah!
Not much to report today! We didn't do a whole lot. We did have fun watching you roll over several times. It is like a new circus trick for your mom and dad to watch. We went to dinner with Sherry & Aunt Sheila where we picked up your baptism pictures. WOW - some great photos in there! Between my camera, Sherry's camera and your Gramma Debbie's camera, we are set with baptism photos. We read another book today and I don't think you looked at the photos but you do listen. I think you like the sound of your mom being a goofy dramatic reader :)

February 1

Hi Elijah,
I can barely say "Baby Elijah" today because you are such a big boy it is flipping your mom and dad out! Your mom started laying you on your tummy while you were relaxing to get you working your neck muscles. I look over and the next thing I know, you are going "FLIP" and on your back. You rolled over! I think that you have done this before but I always made excuses - oh, the bed was inclined or I helped you. This time, there were no excuses - you are a big boy who can flip from his tummy to his back. Not only that, we think you are discovering your tongue. Last week, you kept moving it a lot and I got worried that you were dehydrated along with your tummy issues. In passing, your dad said "I think Elijah just learned he has a tongue." That is what it is - you learned you had a tongue and that you can move it and make noises. Here, your mom was ready to call a specialist and it is just you learning that you have a tongue. You are also experimenting more with your noises. We think you like to hear yourself talk - your dad says you get that from me and I suppose I can't dispute that!

After that, we went to have birthday dinner with your Uncle Jeff, Aunt Sheila, and your cousins, Cory & Jeremy. Uncle Jeff got to love you up a little bit before he heads back to Phoenix. Next time you see him, we can call him Grampa Jeff because Baby Jake will be here!!

I will make a big confession that will probably get me in trouble with your family. I can imagine my cell phone lighting up like crazy when people read this but I have to share it. Then, I will tell you about the lesson we learned! You still sleep with us the majority of the time. Your room is kind of cold so we haven't attempted to move you in there and plus, as a convenience factor, we just plop you in the middle of the bed. Last night, you woke up at 3:30 and I fed you in your boppy. You fell right back asleep so I just left you in your boppy in the middle of the bed. Once a day, you like to take a nap in your boppy - I guess you like the incline every once and awhile. Around 5:30, I feel little feet on my back. I figured I rolled over next to the boppy and you were kicking me. I turned over carefully and you had escaped your boppy and rolled right into me and you were on your tummy. Somehow, you went from your back in your boppy to your tummy next to me. Your dad and I don't know how you did it but it is forcing us to cut the cord and put you in your crib. Can't take any chances with you now that you are a superman rolling machine! In one sense, it was so darn cute to have you snuggled up next to me and realize how much effort it took for you to get there. In another sense, it freaked me out because what if I would have thought you were still in your boppy and didn't feel you? Scared your mom so your days in our bed at night are over.

Tonight, we are going to have some Mexican food with Sherry Shark and retrieve your baptism photos. Man, Elijah, her and your Uncle Zach did a great job. Can't wait to see her photos. Then, we are going to have to go to the hardware store and pick up a vent deflector so we can get your room warmer for you to sleep in it. We are going to try to do the Mexican with no tequila for either of us!!