The Osbornes

7 months & counting...

2009-07-08T08:26:00.013-05:00

As per usual I wrote this letter a few weeks ago, but it took me a while to post it. Nobody's

shocked, I know.

Dear James,

You've hit seven months now- I can't believe it!! Where do I begin to catch up on the past few months? Well, here goes...

Right around four months you started sleeping all the way through the night. It took your Dad & I awhile but we finally figured out that you needed a very early bedtime but then you would sleep 12 hours straight. Every morning you wake up in the B-E-S-T mood, which really helps Mom's feelings about a 6am start to the day. Let's just say that you did NOT get the early rising habit from your parents.

You've mastered rolling both ways and enjoy rolling across the room as your mode of transportation. Just recently you've gotten up on all fours and it looks like you'll be crawling soon. It's fun to watch you try to crawl- you aren't exactly the most patient baby and you start yelling with frustration when you can't figure out what comes next. I know I shouldn't find this so funny...but...well it's adorable. I'm confidant that you will take your revenge on me by crawling into everything!

You started solids at five months and LOVE it. We honestly can not get food into your mouth fast enough! It hasn't really occurred to you that you can refuse the foods that you aren't too fond of (peaches and broccoli). You'll give us the stink eye after every bite but always open up for more.

On your 6 month birthday you got your first tooth. Your Dad & I had taken you to the doc for your well-baby check up (you were, as always, in the 50th percentile for weight and 85th percentile for length) and when the doc asked if we had seen any signs of teeth we replied "no". About 5 mutes later I gave you my finger to nibble on and immediately hollered. It seems that you had gotten your first tooth that morning. You were so good about it- you didn't get fussy or have any of the other dreaded teething signs that we just assumed it was a ways off yet. About a week later you got your second tooth and we are eagerly awaiting the top two.

Right now you have three favorite things: jumping, splashing and your cousin Isabella. We joke that it's always 'quarter past jump-time' in your world. You've got a jumperoo that you love but better than that is anyone's lap. We take you to the public pool as often as possible and you have a blast splashing. Bath time is always fun also. You splash so much that the back of my legs get soaked. I am also confused as to how that happens. You are always so pleased with yourself for the big splashes that I end up giggling just as much as you do. As for your cousin Bella... what can I say, you ADORE her. She never fails to get you giggling to the point that you are red-faced. Every time she walks into the room your face lights up. Thankfully she has just as much fun with you (but honestly, who could resist your infectious giggle?)

There isn't really anything you strongly dislike right now. You aren't a huge fan of sitting (why sit when you can jump or roll?) but it's no big deal- you just flop yourself into the position you like better. You also have very limited patience for the time post-bath, pre-bottle. You don't really cry about it, but you don't hesitate to yell at me to hurry it up!

This summer should be interesting as you get more mobile. I'm grateful that I only have to work a few days a week- you grow so fast that I would miss things otherwise!!

I love you more than my next breath!

Love

Mom

Here are a few recent photos:

and a few very short videos:

Laughing at his cousin Bella:

And his first bagel (note: it was frozen to help with teething. Also, that his HIM snorting his excitement!)

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T13:50:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day and it was fantastic!! The day started will James sleeping in until almost 10am. Then we headed over to the nursing home to visit Dave's Gramma where we met up with Joyce, my mother-in-law and Lilli, James' cousin. After that we went to my sister-in-law, Crystal's house and and met Melissa and Steve there. I got some lovely cards and flowers from everybody and when we got home there was a teeny tiny mold of James' hand waiting for me. Here are some photos from the day:

Totally unrelated to mother's day, here is a video from today:

James in Action

2009-04-29T14:50:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple of little video clips of my lil guy going to town:

James & the Giant Jumperoo

In this one he just learned raspberries and the delicacy known as 'feet'. Please note at the 1:40(ish) mark how he actually roars at his foot.

I also FINALLY updated the photo links!!

Letter to James

2009-03-08T17:39:00.003-05:00

It occurred to me recently that the details fade in time.

My sister, Melissa made me a fantastic baby book and James is going to have something wonderful to look at but all the pictures and milestone dates don't really tell the story of who he is. I find myself wondering "when did I sleep through the night? Was I a happy baby? Was I a total pain in the ass? When did I cut my first tooth and more importantly- how bad was it?". Since my mom is gone I don't really have anyone who can answer these questions. Sure I can find out when I first walked but what was it like? Did I take to it right away or did I wipe out more times than a fat man on a surf board? So I decided that for prosperity I am going to include letters in James' baby book detailing not only his milestones but what he's like. I know I always appreciate when I come across something in my mother's handwriting, I'm hoping James does too.

Here is the first letter:

"All about James, the first 3 months"

You recently turned three months old although it seems like just yesterday that we first set eyes on each other.The past few months have been a wild ride but I'm happy to say I think we've finally gotten used to each other. I've started back to work a few days a week and I miss you terribly while I'm gone but every time I walk in the door and you give me that big gummy smile I forget all about everything else.
You are growing so fast- it's a constant amazement!! You learned the difference between night & day very early on (within the first week) and by six weeks you were giving mom some much needed chunks of sleep. Although you don't REALLY sleep through the night just yet, it's not a big deal. You go down like a champ & I consider myself lucky. I know plenty of mamas with older babies that struggle harder than we do! The biggest bonus is that you always wake up with a smile. Honestly my favorite part of the day is our bedtime routine. You love your bath and I love our cuddle time. The only thing I don't like is turning out the lights & walking away.
Your first smile came at 4am when you were just shy of six weeks and ever since then you are smiles all the time. You're not a huge fan of the early evening and prefer to be left alone until we start our bedtime routine. Your dad & I think it's hilarious how much personality you already have!
Likes & Hates: You just became a little more tolerant of 'tummy time' but that's only because you just learned how to roll over and can now get out of it whenever you feel like it. You H-A-T-E your car seat. You love to stand (while we hold your hands or waist of course) and you also love to sit and rub your hands together. It almost seems like you're plotting your next coup. You're earning your nickname 'Wiggle Worm' with your constant motion. Dad & I are in for a rough time when you get mobile!
I'm looking forward to your first giggle- I can tell it's close! I know that I certainly have laughed more in the past 3 months than I thought possible. You've changed so much about my life and I'm eager to see what the next few months have in store for us!
I love you more than I could ever explain
Mom

Paparazzi be damned

2009-02-04T05:27:00.002-06:00

The phrase is "A picture is worth a thousand words"

Not this one. This one is worth 3 words.

They are "F*** You Mom"

Little heifer....

2009-01-28T09:48:00.003-06:00

Somebody is growing like a weed!! At our 2 month check up (which happened on Monday Jan 19th) we found out he had grown an inch in 2 weeks but hadn't gained all that much weight. On Friday we had a little puke-in-the-eye incident which resulted in a green-goo eye which brought us to the doc AGAIN this past Monday. HE GAINED A POUND IN ONE WEEK!!!!

Porker.

So now we're up to 12lb 9oz and almost 24". He's in the 75th percentile for both. I'm thinking future defensive end.

We're all smiles all the time now. James also is trying unsuccesfully to suck his thumb. It cracks me up everytime. He gets so mad, like his thumb is some elusive creature that is out to get him. At least his aim is getting better & he stopped punching himself in the forehead. Here are a couple of quick video clips showcasing the smiles & thumb sucking. The quality is kinda poor- I took them on my regular camera not my video camera.

Here are some smiles I caught:

Here he is trying to outsmart his thumb:

What a cow!!

2009-01-08T10:10:00.002-06:00

We finally had our 1 month check up but he was 6 weeks old when it happened. James is weighing in at 11lbs 4oz!!! I can't believe what a little porker he is! The doc said that was normal growth (50-75%) and it just seems like a huge jump because we were a few weeks later than the check up should have been. We have to go back in 2 weeks for his 2 month check up so he can get all of his shots. He had to get one shot while we were there & he took it like a champ. Actually he hated the alcohol more than the needle. James also has a bit of a flat head developing on his right side, so we're putting him on a wedge while he naps & hopefully that side will pop back out. For some reason mommy's lil booger just like to lay down with his head turned to one side. Eh, what can I say- he's got quirky parents too.

In other James news I got my first smile! Believe me, I had received plenty of smiles that were followed by horrible smells and loud noises from his south end, but this was an honest-to-goodness eyes crinkling smile. It was at 4am. Ugh. I'm just glad that James has put a reward system in place for getting up in the wee hours of the night.

And one last tidbit- I am back to work. Well, as much as I plan to anyway. I can't believe 6 weeks went by so fast! I will be in the office all day on Tues & Wed and sometimes on Thurs as well. Our neighbor/'long time friend of the family' is taking care of my baby while I'm working. She's due with her 3rd child at the beginning of March. After her 6 weeks I'll be watching her kids on the days that I'm off. It's a nice arrangement for both of us- nobody needs daycare, each one of us is relying on a sitter who actually has an emotional attachment to all of the kids AND travel time is negligible (we share a driveway). I put in two days at the office this week- it wasn't too bad. Honestly it was refreshing to get a bit of my life back to normal but I am glad it's only a few days a week!

Well James & I are off- we've got some mall walking to do now (it is too damn cold in Chicago to walk outside and these pounds aren't losing themselves). I'm throwing in one pic, but check out the album link if you've got time- I put a bunch of photos up.

A month already?!?

2008-12-21T10:48:00.002-06:00

Ok, technically he's not a month old for 2 more days....but close enough.

Everyone has always told me "Cherish each moment, they grow up so fast". It's not that I didn't believe that was true, it's just that I had no idea HOW fast it goes!! My lil man already looks so much different than he did 4 weeks ago. He's starting to get those chubby baby cheeks and make those cute little noises (not that fart grunts aren't cute). We're very close to our first actual smile. His face lights up now when he sees or hears Dave or I and his mouth opens- he's just not quite sure how to work those smiles yet. And thankfully he's still the sweetest, easiest baby ever!

Here's the next picture in the "Mom, I Really Wish You Wouldn't" series:

Aaaaay

2008-12-12T13:59:00.002-06:00

(in best Fonz voice)

"Hey pretty lady, do you have plans for later? How 'bout heading back to my place for a bottle?"

Hitting that mark

2008-12-07T10:57:00.004-06:00

We are officially into our 3rd week. The magical time when colic is most likely to show up. So far we've dodged that bullet and WOW am I hoping to keep on that plan!! We've also started to do the newborn version of 'sleeping through the night', which is not really sleeping through the night at all. We're pulling 3-4 hour stretches between night feedings though and for that I'm ecstatic! Now it only takes me 14 hours to get 8 broken hours of sleep. WOO HOO!!

Time is flying by so fast, honestly. It breaks my heart to know that I only have 4 more weeks to sit around with him all day before I have to go back to work. On the bright side, I'll only be going back part-time AND I won't need to put him in daycare. My neighbor is having a baby in the beginning of March so we've worked out a fairly confusing calendar of who-works-when and we'll watch each others babies. I'm sure I'll have plenty of posts when I come to THAT bridge but I'm not going to worry about those challenges until I need to.

We've also discovered a love of PJs. For the first week and a half I kept him swaddled, and I still do at night but during the day he LOVES to sprawl out.

Took me long enough...

2008-12-02T08:38:00.003-06:00

As most of you know, our lil man HAS ARRIVED!! It's taken us some time to get used to each other and we're still working out the kinks, but my First Time Mom Paranoia has subsided enough that I can put him down for the 15 minutes it will take for me to update everyone.

Here's how it went:
Around 11:45 in Saturday the 22nd, my water broke. I called my doc and she told me to head into labor & delivery. We got to the hospital at 1 am (No, we don't live that far- Dave & I had a bit of both dillying and dallying to do before we left). In triage they checked me and found that my water had indeed broken and I wasn't just peeing all over myself, and I was dilated to 3.5 cm. I was told I was not going home, but the nurse didn't seem to think I'd be having him all that soon either. Between 2:30-3am I was finally sent upstairs to be admitted and I got my epidural. I was checked again and had progressed to 6cm so they called my doc & told her to make her way on in. By the time she got there & checked me I was dilated to 9cm. By now it was a party in my room. I could still feel the contractions, but at about a 3 instead of a 10. Melissa, Steve, Joyce and Dave were all keeping me company. At about 5:30am my doc made the announcement: Everyone who isn't staying for pushing, needs to leave. So Joyce & Steve went to the waiting room for what would be a pretty short time. After pushing for about 20 minutes, James Andrew made his appearance at 5:52am on November 23rd. He weighed in at 7lb 11oz and was 20" long. (sidebar: my labor experience? NOTHING like on TV. We watched "Romy & Michelle's HS Reunion" between pushes. It was all very laid back & calm- until the last 5 pushes, that is.)

Although a short labor is a blessing for sure, it does have it's own set of complications. My body didn't have time to loosen up as it should have so I had quite a bit of tearing AND James had quite a bit of bruising on his head. When the bruising started to fade and the red blood cells started to break down, his biliruben levels went up and he ended up jaundiced. I was released from the hospital on Tuesday but James needed phototherapy until Thursday. His levels were never dangerously high but the pediatrician that we are taking him to doesn't round at the hospital I delivered at and the ped on-call would not release him until his levels were ridiculously low. If I were to continue to see the ped from the hospital they would've let me take him home on Wednesday with home treatment. It was a bit frustrating and heartbreaking to leave the hospital without him but Dave & I both agreed that the lil guy's health was worth the trauma to us (this is where I interject props to Dave. Post labor hormones + leaving your baby at the hospital = lots of tears and trips to the hospital to sit in uncomfortable chairs, watching a baby sleep. Dave was so patient with me even when we both knew I was being a bit irrational).

We're home now and everyone is doing great. James is an absolute dream. He rarely cries and it is super easy to read what he wants. It took us a few days but I think he finally knows the difference between night & day. Not that he sleeps through the night but at least he stopped being wide awake through it!! Dave took last week off and is back to work this week, so now I am adjusting to being alone with James. Basically I also sleep like a newborn now- every couple hours for an hour. Joyce has been here almost every day to give me a break (nap) in the afternoon, and there aren't even words to describe what a huge help Melissa & Steve have been. They basically spent every possible minute with us from the moment I went into labor until the moment they went back to work. Having such a great support system has definitely made this an easier transition.

Senor Wiggle-Butt is starting to stir, which at this point means "FEED ME" so I'm off. Now that we are getting adjusted, I'll post regularly. I'm putting up some new photos also- see links over there ---------->

Moving Forward

2008-11-20T21:52:00.002-06:00

I had my 37 week appointment today and it went VERY well. Right now I'm 2cm dilated, 100% effaced & station -1 (or however the hell you phrase that). After a bit of prodding from me and her insisting there is no way to predict when labor would happen, my doc said "there's no way you're making to your due date." She said she can't narrow anything else down, which I didn't really expect her to. I also found out that even if James looked like he was never going to make his appearance, my doc doesn't let her patients go past 41 weeks.

It's strange to think my due date is just shy of three weeks away and I should have a lil guy be then. Exciting times!

Short and Sweet

2008-11-18T14:46:00.002-06:00

I guess I really could've mentioned this in my previous post. Oops.

During my last doctor's appt we did an ultrasound. Everything looks great (fluid, position, etc). So far James is measuring 6lb 4oz, which we all know is nothing more than a guess. My doc said that I'm on track to have an "average" size baby. According to every book, average is between 6-10lbs. Gee doc, thanks for narrowing that down for me. I believe she meant between 7.5-8 lbs, but we'll see.

Oh, and yes- he is still a he!

37 weeks and counting.....

2008-11-17T15:52:00.001-06:00

Well, we're finally entering the home stretch!!
Still feeling great and I have no complaints. I mean don't get me wrong- I won't be sad when I my feet return to normal size, but these things are to be expected. My doctor appts are weekly now and this Thursday we're going to start tracking my progress (for the uninitiated that means poking & prodding to track effacement & dilation).
All and all this whole pregnancy has been very easy. I hope the old adage about easy pregnancy meaning hard labor is untrue. Oh, well- even if it is true I'm pretty committed by now!
Anyway....stay tuned for all the James Andrew updates!