Sammy Jay: 9 Month Update

So this started off as an 8 month update.... and another month has past and so this will be an update from 7-9 months! Sorry everyone... I have a baby to care for and a blog that is neglected, that's just how it is.

It's kind of hard to believe my baby is already 9 months old! Were has the time gone... I have a feeling I'm going to be saying a lot for the rest of my life! Also, it seems like I can only getting around to doing an update every few months- so here is what's been going on in the last three months...

Clothes- I have all his 12 month clothes out but I he can still fit into most of his 9 month clothes, so he's been wearing a mix of both. The 12 month pants still seem a little long but it's the summer- so who needs pants! Also, I'm happy to report he's still in size 3 diapers- which he's been in since 4 month (so half of his life!). However, I bought a box of sizes 4 because I know he going to need them soon, and I really don't have plans to buy another box of 3's and then only use half of them. He'll live if his diapers are a bit big.

Movement & Talking- Tons of movement. He can fully crawl, he can pull him self up on anything or anyone, and he's trying to walk (but luckily we aren't there yet). He also does a lot of talking but no one can understand him, so no real words yet either. However, we were very excited when we taught him how to wave! He's good at it, but he's only do it when he wants to.

Sleeping- Was going well until this a few weeks ago. Again, I think we have a growth spurt on our hands so the last few weeks he's been getting up 2-3 times a night. However for a good month while he was 7-8 months- he was either sleeping through the night or just waking up once to eat.

Eating- He loves his food. He is now only wants to food himself, so he's getting a lot of finger foods and a lot less baby food- even though I just made a bunch the other night. What concerns us about the finger foods- he still has no teeth... ok his first has broken though on the top but I really don't think he can use it yet. When he eats the finger food- because he really can't chew it up- we find it later in his diaper so we are really wondering how much nutrition is he really getting from the food if its passing right though? Hence why I made more "baby" food so he can really get it into his system. 

Other highlights from these past 2 month-

Sammy favorite food is watermelon! He has had some almost everyday this summer.

I joined a stroller workout group. This great because I get a really good hour workout in and I don't have to worry about a babysitter for Sammy. Plus he seems to enjoy the classes too because he loves just watching people. 

Sammy has gotten a lot of pool time in this summer! He's got it made with both sets of grandparents having a pool to swim in.

Sam had his first Father's day! I know I did write a post about this, but this is my current favorite picture (it's the background to my phone) so I wanted to share it again!

Finally we took him to his 9 month check up and here are his status:

Weight: 21.5 pound (Percentile- 77%)
Height: 28 inches (Percentile- 36%)Head: 18 inches (Percentile- 71%)

Happy 1st Father's Day to My Husband

I feel like I'm always apologizing for not blogging enough, but life has a funny way of getting in the way of writing when you have a seven month old. However, I'm excited to be back writing for Sam's 1st Father's Day!

 

For his first Father's Day I gave Sam some gifts, the luxury of sleeping in, and I even made him breakfast. 

 

 

However we don't have any major plans. We went to the local farmers market - like we do every Sunday. And then later tonight Sam's parents are coming over for dinner.  So nothing too exciting, but that's the way we like it. 

 

Also, this morning I took a little video of Sammy Jay eating breakfast with his "Sam I am" bib! He was really "hamming" it up for his dad on his first Father's Day.

(Get it... "Sam I am" and "Green Eggs and Ham"... Oh- it's a bad "dad" joke!)

 

Happy 1st Father's Day Sam! 

Goodbye My Fur Baby- We'll Miss You!

I first want to start off by thanking everyone for all the mother's day texts, Facebook massages, and cards. I felt the love which was (and still is) needed. My first Mother's Day was marked by Sam and I having to make the very hard decision to put down Shamrock. It sucked that it had to be on Mother's Day, but it had to be done to stop his suffering.

If you have been a long time reader of this blog, you might remember back in 2012 when we first got Shamrock, we had to take him the ER Vet and later we found out he was having "seizures". Well, now 2 1/2 years later, he was still having issues even on two types medications. The seizures were just something we got use to (kind of) and we always just did what we could to make him comfortable during and after an "episode".

(After one of his first vet visits)

Yesterday was a "good day" for Shamrock (until it wasn't). He seemed to be getting back to his normal self- being that he had some seizures early last week.

(He always needed to be involved)

So we had left the house to head to the in-laws for Mather's Day dinner. However, I forgot something at the house and being we were only a few blocks from home, we just turned around. When I got into the house, I heard Shamrock crying out so I knew he was having an "episode". I went back to the car, told Sam, and we came in to make sure he got through it. 

(He loved sleeping under blankets)

Being that he some times he would pee during a seizure, I picked him up to put him in the laundry room. When we picked him up, his whole back half of his body was limp. Like floppy. I've never seen him that limp and it made me really worried. 

(He love to lay on his backed and you just had to get his belly)

I started by call our vets office but they had just closed for the day. So I did the next thing any parent would do- I googled local vets. To my pleasant surprise, there was a walk-in vets office just down the street that was still open (which is even closer than our normal vet- even better considering his state). I call that vet, gave them our information, and we were on our way. 

 

 

The whole car ride Shamrock was still crying out and it just confirmed to me we were doing the right thing. 

Once we got to the vet- they took him right in the back so they could start assessing him. They had us wait in an exam room. It felt like forever (even though it was about 10-15 minutes) before the vet tech came back in the room to let us know the vet would be out shortly to talk to us. 

 

Soon after, the vet came in- you know that it's bad when a doctor comes in talking in a very low  quite voice. She let us know that he was showing no sign of reflexes in his legs and that his body temp was really low, so they had him on some warming blankets trying to bring his temp back up. She asked questions about his medical history and what his "normal seizures" look like. 

 

After a long conversation that included the vet suggesting transporting him to a 24 hr vet hospital,  starting him on IV fluids, pain meds, and a laundry list of other meds and things to be done. By the end, we just wanted to know his chances of come out the other end of this. She gave us 50/50 shot and the uncertainty of what his quality of life would be after that. 

(My baby's "bunk bed"- he loved sleep under the bassinet!) 

She told us to think it over and let her know what we wanted to do. May I add, she was awesome- never once did she bring up ending the fight right then and there. We asked if we could see him, and they brought him into the exam room. While looking at Shamrock we could tell, he was in so much pain and still crying out. We talked it over, did the quick math on what all those things would end up costing (way too much), and we asked the vet to tell us about the process of ending his pain. 

By the point that we had made the decision, it had been over 45 minutes from when we first found him and he was still constantly crying out in pain. His normal "episodes" never last this long and being that vet laid out the very big up hill battle he had a head of him, we just knew it was time. It was one of the hardest decision we ever had to make; but we made it together which made it a little bit easier.

We did spend a little extra money to have the vet make a paw print memento because Shamrock will always be a part of our little family's history. And he will never be forgotten.

He was the only cat I ever knew that gave hugs. Like real hugs- with both paws around your neck and he held on tight. Plus he loved to rub his face on your face- it just was one of his things.

And this is how I want to remember Shamrock- full of life. This video was from the very first day we got him, which happen to be on our first wedding anniversary. He was Sam's gift to me. Shamrock was so excited to be at his new home that he wouldn't stay still long enough to let me take a picture of him, so that why I made a video.

 

Shamrock- We love you and we already miss you SO much. You were an awesome cat and you will always have a very special place in our hearts. Rest in Peace- my fur baby.

My First Mother's Day!

Morning everyone! I can't believe it was on Mother's Day last year that I officially announced that I was going to become a mother. If you missed the post from last year (or you just want to walk down memory lane- like I did), here's the link to my big announcement!

Even 6 months later of lil man's arrival, I still find myself think "Oh my god- I'm a mom! I have a kid! When did this happen?!?".

Today I count my blessing. I have a wonderful family, great friends, good job, a nice home, and I got a full night sleep. (Thanks to my in-laws taking lil man for the night.  If you know me- a full night sleep is the best Mother's Day gift I could ever get!)

I never really thought too much about how my life was going change before Sammy Jay was born. I wouldn't lie, it has been a pretty big adjustment because his needs come first. However, I wouldn't change it for the world. 

This lil boy gives endless smiles and loves "hamming" it up everyone. He's is a character!

And for the days that are harder because he's teething, not feeling well, or just being a grump butt- I know I have one of the best support teams anyone could ask for. 

To my mom- who has rearranged her schedule to watch lil man 2 days a week so we can have him grow up being raised by family. I feel so lucky that I have a mom so active in my son's life. 

To my other mom- who is always willing to clean my messy house whenever she comes over to visit. I wouldn't know what to do without her. She's always help us in all kinds of ways, including taking lil man for over night stays to allow us time to get stuff done, and time to relax a little. 

Happy Mother's Day - To all the moms out there! I hope you have a great one!

Happy Half Birthday Sammy Jay!

Yesterday Sammy Jay turned 6 months old. However because I only saw my baby for about 3 hours yesterday total so I'm celebrating it today. Also being that I know I didn't give you a 5 month update post- you're getting a 2 for 1 deal with this update.

Can I say taking this picture was a lot more of an ordeal because Sammy just wants to play with the board because it's something new within arms reach.

Clothes- Last month Sammy was still wearing 6 month clothes but for the last 3 weeks, we have transition him into more of his 9 month outfits. He still can wear 6-9 month outfits but I only see those lasting another week or so. Also, he is still wearing a size 3 diaper but I'm starting to get nervous that I'll have to size up again in another month or so. Sizing up in diapers sucks because there are fewer diapers in those bigger boxes. 

 Movement & Talking- Oh we have a mover on our hands. Here is a little video I took this morning. 

 

We have some major baby proofing to do because those pillows against the fireplace will only work so long. As for talking- not there yet. But we get a lot of yelling, giggles, and weird throat noises.  

Sleeping- He is a great night time sleeper. He'll go to bed between 7:30pm-8:30pm. Sometimes he will get up in the middle of the night (between 3:30am-4:30am) for a quick feeding and normally go back to sleep until about 6:00am-7:00am. However, he's starting to skip that middle of the night feeding which really make mommy happy! 

Eating- He's a champ when it comes to eating. However, I don't think anyone is surprised at that being he's a mostly an Italian baby. So far he's had rice cereal, peas, green beans, avocados, and sweet potatoes... and few bites of other things that the grandmas gave him. 

 Other highlights from these past 2 month-

We had celebrated St. Patrick's day! 

We had a sick baby. Luckily that only last a day or so.

We finally got some use out of his stroller. 

We saw uncle Jimmy off to prom. 

We went to the park for that first time. 

We went on another road trip to Michigan for my cousin Amy's wedding. (A full post about that coming soon!)

Lastly, Sammy went to his 6 month doctor's appointment. 

He's stats as of today:
Weight: 19 pound (Percentile- 78%)
Height: 27 inches (Percentile- 67%)
Head: 17 inches (Percentile- 46%)

Happy Half Birthday Sammy Jay! Mommy loves you! 

Have a great weekend everyone!

We have a mover on our hands!

May I start by saying I'm in love with these frog pj's I got Sammy Jay this weekend! He needed some more that aren't too warm, and these were prefect. Plus they zip! I hate snap pj's! Whoever thought those are a better idea than a zipper is an idiot!

Anyway... so I think it's time to really start looking into baby proofing our house – Little man's really starting to get the hang of the army crawl. So we're probably only a few days away from the true mover and shaker that's going to be our baby.

As of right now if some thing in reach- he can pull, roll, and push himself enough to grab at it. So far toys and clothes have been his big attraction, but I think Shamrock needs to watch his tail because that's the next thing I have a feeling he's going to be lunching for! Here's a short little video of what I'm talking about:

Today my mom is watching little man and I have a feeling it's going to be a lot more of an action packed day than before! 

Friday Fun Day!

Happy Friday Everyone! This mommy is enjoying another Friday at home with her babe. I can't believe he will be 6 months in 2 weeks and I still never got around to write up a 5 month update- sorry about that. At this point, I'll just make sure I get a full detailed update done when he does turn 6 months.

Grabbing his feet is one of his new favorite things he loves to do! And he also lots to "ham" it up for everyone!

Today we don't have too many plans but we will be stopping by my in-laws to see  Jimmy off to prom. Also we might get some shopping done because lil man need more pjs in the 9 & 12 month size which he's starting to wear. He's getting so big!

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and maybe a video of a baby playing will start it off right!