Finally...a word from the peanut gallery.

In the stretch of the last 2 weeks so much has happened that pictures of Wyatt simply aren't enough of a communication milieu. I do realize they are necessary though, so, have no fear, they will continue regularly. It is time for some text from mom/dad to give you more detail as to what is goin' on behind those cheeks!

Well, Saturday marked the end of a wonderful visit from our beloved Nana Weller (Elaine). Elaine came in on Saturday the 21st, and, stayed for a full week graciously helping out a very tired set of parents. The week was full of hugs, cuddles, home made dinners & treats, and just ole plain fun! Her soft touch really helped Wyatt calm down when he was feeling bad from his vaccines, or, was just having some grizzlies. After we dropped her off at the airport, it was expected that a tear or two would appear in my eye. Like clockwork it showed up, but, the emotions weren't so strong since we'll be seeing them in a short 5 weeks!

That night, I was feeling pretty confident about things, and, encouraged Amy to get out and meet a friend for a drink. I knew she'd be just around the corner, so, if anything went wrong, or, we needed some food (given our bottle track record), she could make it home in lickety split. I put Wyatt down around 7pm because he looked legitimately sleepy, and, Amy left shortly thereafter. Around 7:15 or so, I heard him squeak on the baby monitor, so, I went upstairs to check on him. He was kicking his legs like crazy, and, really upset. I first tried to soothe him in the co-sleeper by petting his head, belly, and, telling him that he can go to sleep because he's tired. That didn't work, so, I gently took him out of the swaddle and walked around with him. His screams & cries got progressively worse and sounded more and more painful, so I held him a little tighter and talked to him the whole time. We sat back down on the bed in the same way he and mom sit after a feeding, to give him a sense of familiarity (or something), and he WAILED like I've never heard. He never once asked for food, so I knew he might be in pain. It was so sad. However, I gently patted him, held him securely, and, just told him that I was here with him and that I will be with him for as long as necessary. He could cry for hours and I'd still be there with him...all was going to be ok. For the next hour, we just sat together in the dark...together. He cried and I talked to him. He eventually settled down and just passed out, but, I held him for a little longer just to let him know I was still there with him. I put him in the co-sleeper, swaddled him up, and, quietly walked downstairs to relax on the couch. While that was probably one of the hardest hours of our (he & I) lives, it was SUCH a boost for both of us...Wyatt learned his dad was going to be there for him whenever he needed, and, I learned that I COULD do it. Up until then, Amy had been the master of calming him down in those periods of fussiness, only because he was either hungry, or, had grizzlies and needed to eat. When she walked in and saw me sitting on the couch, she had such a smile on her face because she thought I'd been sitting there all night, when, in reality I'd come downstairs about 5 minutes before she walked in. I broke the news to her, and we talked about how positive of an experience it was for both Wyatt & I. I felt so good about everything, and, Elaine's comments around how "we were doing such an amazing job, and, we're such attentive loving parents" rang like echoes. It's such a confidence boost to be able to get through something like that, only because it's stressful for both parties. He can sense if I'm stressed out, or, feeling helpless, and it just prolongs his fussiness/discomfort. Phew!

In other news, Wyatt finally was able to take a bottle for a bit on Sunday. Since our check-up, we've been shooting to do a bottle a day...even if it's an attempt, and we fall back on to eating the boobie. Little man has got to learn how to suck the bottle for when mom goes back to work. Anyway, we struggled for the first 20 or so minutes, and eventually he lost his mind as started crying. I think a lot of it was in the way I might have been holding him...I'm not sure. So, after I calmed him down, I put him in his blue bouncy chair that he's familiar with, and, fed him that way. After chewing on the nipple for a few minutes, he finally started sucking, and just about pulled the entire bottle into his mouth out of my hand. While he probably wore 1/2oz of the 2 oz he drank, he ate from the bottle nonetheless. The biggest thing was to just keep trying. No matter how fussy he got, I'd calm him down, and try again. Eventually he took it. I'm very excited to try again when I get him. It's not so daunting anymore either...it's kind of like a chess game..."Your move little man!". Regardless, I chalked it up as a "W". Funny side note...while he was breaking down, I took him into the bathroom to get a change of scenery thinking maybe that'd help, and, he discovered the mirror. As we bounced, his gaze was absolutely fixed on himself, and, I started to ask him (in a song form of course) "Who's that baby? He's so cute!Who's that baby? He's so cute!". He actually smiled and giggled at the whole thing, and, it was quite hilarious to watch him.

In an unprecedented fashion, Wyatt has now learned (or just is able to) sleep longer than 2hrs at night! He's been eating both breasts before bed, and, promptly passing out after, so, we think his tummy has finally gotten bigger and he can be satisfied a little easier. Thursday night, he slept from 11pm-3am, Friday night 10pm-2am, Saturday night 8pm-midnight, and last night, 9pm-midnight (yeah it's not 4, but, anything over 2 is great!). Amy & I kept waking up anyway every now and then just because, and, Amy mentioned she'd wake up and think "Wait, did i feed him and not hold him upright for 30 minutes!?" or "Wait, did I just feed him". However, gazing down into the co-sleeper she could see him still swaddled letting her know she did what she needed. The hardest part of sleep right now, is the actual "execution" piece...GETTING him to sleep. I was reading a book last night, and, they wrote that as the child gets to bond with the parents more and more, they simply don't want to leave them and go to sleep. They want to stay awake and hang out (hey, we're cool parents!), trying to avoid the early stages of separation anxiety. On top of that, when we put him down for naps, they don't last very long...maybe 30 minutes tops (an hour if we're lucky). He usually wakes up screaming, and we can't tell if it's something in his belly (like gas), or, he is just awake and nobody is around for the next 5-10 seconds (or however long it takes for us to sprint upstairs to grab him!).

Finally, I'd be re-missed if I didn't talk about Sunday's events. Since I got to go for a longer ride on Saturday, it was my turn to rest, and, get Amy out the door on her bike for a little bit of "mom & baby" time with her other baby...her Moots. So, she headed out the door around 10am or so, after a good tank up of Wyatt. He and I just kind of hung out. I read to him, we looked at pictures together, and, I did a bit of laundry while he was chilling out in his bouncy chair. We planned on meeting Amy around 12:15, so, I had the idea of loading up the car around 11, heading out to Golden, and, walking around downtown with him in the ergo. When I pulled into the public parking lot, he was out cold, and, I didn't want to wake him. I promptly pulled out of the lot, and, started to drive up Lookout Mountain, figuring we'd run into mom either still going up, or, starting to come down. We caught her about 2 miles from the summit, and, she had a such a big smile on her surprised face when she saw us drive by. Of course, she pulled off to say hello, but, Wyatt and I promptly told her to get back on the bike and summit. She did, and we drove down the hill and waited for her at the pillars, where she arrived about 10 minutes or so after we did. I'd pulled him out of his seat and was standing in the shade with him when she arrived, and, she was ready to hold him before she even got off of her bike :-). Amy changed in the parking lot, and, we walked over to a small park where she nursed him in the shade. He fell asleep shortly thereafter, and, we enjoyed some lunch at the Empenada Express again. We all headed home together, and had such a great day that we eventually were all in bed at 9pm, after watching a bit of the Emmys.

And now...onto Monday!

In the park

You rang?

Wow

This kid is pretty friggin cute!

Muggin' for the camera

V-Day

Well, yesterday was the day we'd been worried about for some time now...vaccination day. Our biggest concerns were obviously side effects and the types of issues the shots could potentially create, based on the info we've read.

The appointment started out as Wyatt's 2 month checkup, and, everything was great! He was in the 75th percentile for weight, which was a major concern for me since his reflux would kinda cause him to spit up most of what he'd just eaten. Luckily, the medicine has been working, and, any spit up we have is minimal with fewer and fewer episodes as well. Phew! His height was only in the 25th percentile, but we sense a growth spurt coming on. With both parents between 5'8 & 5'11, we know this little pinto bean is gonna sprout straight up!

After the doctor finished answering our questions, he walked out, and, we knew what was next. "The nurse will be in shortly" he said as he walked out, and, we definitely could feel the anxiety in the room building. The nurse walked in with a plastic tray that had 3 shot vaccines, and, 1 in oral suspension. She administered the oral first, and while Wyatt just kinda lay there, he had that perplexed look on his face like "Um...ok...this isn't that nasty medicine I get 2-3x a day, and, it definitely AIN'T the boob...sup with that?!". The nurse then asked us to "rotate" him 90 degrees so his body was facing her, and then she quickly put these GIGANTIC (I mean really...he's an infant...does it need to be so big?!?!) needles into his legs, 3 times. I'm not sure what order they went in, but, the first one really pissed him off, and, before he knew it, all 3 were done. I, of course, looked, and, watched his face immediately turn red and his legs start to kick like crazy. Ugh...I also started to cry a little because it was so heartbreaking to hear. These cries were distinctly different than his hunger or reflux cries, and, I'm pretty sure that's what did it to me.

As soon as the nurse pulled the third needle out of his leg, Amy immediately grabbed him off the table and was consoling him with as much love as humanly possible. You could feel how upset he was, but, also just how much Amy was helping him to calm down...it was pretty cool. He calmed down literally 2 minutes later, and, Amy gave him a bit to eat which really hit the nail on the head for him. He promptly fell asleep on her lap, and, we gently loaded him into the car seat to take home. I sat and ate lunch with him while Amy & Elaine went to the store really quickly, and, he slowly woke up from his slumber. I was very quick to take him out of the car seat and give him a bunch of hugs & kisses in case he had a memory of what had happened shortly before, but, luckily he just was looking around as normal...taking everything in. Then...he went ahead and did this:

Yep....he smiled at me. So, of course I smiled back, welled up with tears, said the loudest "awwwwww" I'd ever spoken, and, promptly kissed him a million times on his little forehead. Throughout the rest of the day, he pretty much slept it off like a huge hangover. However, later in the day & evening, he definitely wasn't feeling well. We checked his temp, and, he had a very low grade fever. His cries though, were again different than all other cries, and you could feel how much pain he was feeling. You could tell his body was working triple overtime to deal with what was put in him, and, it wasn't making him very happy. So, of course, the loving arms of Mom, Dad, and, ESPECIALLY his Nana were more than happy to work overtime holding him closely and soothing him.We poured so much love onto this little kiddo, and eventually all went to sleep.

So far today, things seem to be ok. I chatted with Amy a bit, and, he seems to be returning to normal. I spoke with him for a few this morning before I left, and, he told me that he won't hold it against us and get a tattoo out of rebellion when he gets older.

Miles of Smiles

Here's looking at you, kid