Big Changes for #jd3

So, it's official...as of Christmas day, I stopped breastfeeding. Since my supply began to decrease at the end of October/beginning of November, I started supplementing with formula. Then it got to the point that it wasn't worth pumping at work. When that happened, I started feeding James when he woke up in the morning and in the evenings at home. The last couple of weeks, it seemed as if James wasn't getting enough milk during his feedings so I would give him more milk (from a bottle) afterwards. It was at that point I realized I would have to stop breastfeeding sooner than later.

Part of me was a little bummed but the other part of me felt really good about what I was able to do for my son. Now that he's ONE YEAR OLD and can "officially" drink cow milk, it's become less stressful in the Davis household.

*side note: At some point in the near future, I will do James' "turning one" blog post.


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On a different, but related, note, we are actively transitioning James away from the bottle. In the words of my lovely hubby, Mr. Boo, "This is going to be hell." True words. James LOVES the bottle. He loved the boob, too, but hasn't noticed it's been missing from his diet.

There is so much crap out there about transitioning from the bottle. Feel free to share your experience (mostly because I love hearing other mommas' stories). Here's what we have currently decided to do. He usually goes to bed/nap with a bottle in hand (except when I breastfed him, of course). We have stopped doing that by having him drink before we even put him into the crib. We also decided to stop giving him milk in a bottle before his first nap of the day. We put it in a sippy cup. If he chooses to drink it, GREAT! If he doesn't, he goes without (This is mostly because he typically eats his breakfast before napping and it's about lunch time when he wakes up. We figure, if he misses that milk, it shouldn't affect him in a negative way).

Another thing we started, last night, is to put his last milk feeding in a sippy. It broke my heart! He cried like crazy for 10+ minutes about the cup. He knew milk was in there but absolutely refused to drink from the cup. When he finally calmed down, I had the cup close to his lips and he decided to grab it and drink! He only drank 1 1/2 oz. but we decided that was a victory. We did end up putting the rest of it in the bottle because he didn't eat well yesterday due to travelling.

So, here starts the sippy cup adventure. Please tell me your stories!

The Latest on Baby Boo: One Year is Approaching!!!

I've had a lot of people say to me lately, "James is almost a year old!" Honestly, I haven't really thought about it that much. Yes, I've been planning his birthday party for a month or so BUT I haven't had the fact that he's almost one on my mind.

Now that the reality of him turning one in December has hit me, I have a few goals I'm working on with him. James has always been slower to develop skills compared to his friends but he always seems to get things done a day or two before his appointment with the pediatrician! Future procrastinator like his dad?! Hehehe.

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He's doing well developing his movement/transportation. He's doing great with crawling and pulling himself to standing. (Warning: James' firsts ahead!!) He has even started side stepping while holding onto objects...and climbing stairs! In fact, he was halfway up our stairs the other day before Jimmy noticed! Based on his balance, I don't foresee him being able to stand without holding on or walk in the immediate future.

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He is improving with his eating! As you all know, this has been the biggest challenge he has presented to Jimmy and me. He will typically eat a full container of puree at each meal in addition to the breast milk he drinks throughout the day. We have been working REALLY hard on getting him to eat finger foods. We offer him everything we eat. He will now let us put it in his mouth (and he's finally starting to do it on his own sometimes!) but, unless it's a puff, he spits it out! He has kept two other things in his mouth for more than 1 second: apples and taco meat. He's slowly but surely coming around. I'm just praising Jesus that he is finally getting puffs into his mouth by himself. It's not efficient or pretty, but it eventually makes it there!

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A couple weeks ago, James went on his first plane ride to Nebraska to see his cousins, aunts and uncles. He was awesome on the plane and was very popular with the ladies. The experience wasn't bad at all and everyone was helpful. He was very constipated on the way home and got a little grunty/fussy. He had a surprise waiting in his pants when we got to Chicago. Good thing we had a short layover cuz it took some time to get that one changed! Here are some highlights (via pictures) of the trip:

He was SO excited to look at the planes!

Plane selfie with Grandma.

First time meeting Aunt Ashley.

Cousins.

More cousins!

Aunt Ash and Aunt Shawna

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Finally, our adventure continues with transitioning away from the bottle. I've tried a few different cups. The most recent being made by Avent. He seems to like it better than the others so far because its spout has the feel of a bottle nipple so he seems to understand how to use it.

In other related news, it seems that my milk supply is decreasing despite how much I'm pumping each day. I'm not sure why it decreased all of a sudden. I have been congested the last week so I'm not sure if that has any effect. I've had to do a little bit of supplementing with formula. I asked the pediatrician about starting cow milk early. She said it wouldn't hurt but also said that the formula provides things like iron  and cow milk wouldn't give as much of it.

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In our future: Surviving the holiday season and managing to pull off a kick butt 1st birthday party in the meantime!



Surprise! A James Update...

The last 3 weeks or so have been full of surprises. Mr. Boo and I think we are watching James, we look up and...SURPRISE! He's done something new. I don't think I've typed a James update since he turned 9 months. I guess I'll give you his 9 month measurements:

Height- 28 in. (34%)

Weight-17 lbs. 3 oz. (11%)

Head- 46.5 cm (89%)

Basically, he's average height, skinny, and has a big ole head!

James' firsts since turning 9 months:

• Crawling- he mostly commando crawls but started what we think of as traditional crawling a week or so ago.
  

  
• Pulling himself up- he started by pulling himself up to his knees and eventually learned to go to his feet; his technique has improved from the "wide base of support/butt sticking out" pose to standing straight up; we had to put his crib mattress down a few levels because he's now standing up and trying to look over.
  

  
• Climbing steps- we live in a split level home and he has attempted to go up from the main level to the upper level; he made it up one step but hasn't been able to do more than that.
• Consistently sleeping 9-11 hours- he started skipping his evening nap most days and going to bed a little earlier than usual.
  

  

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James gave us the ultimate surprise the other day. He has been constipated a lot since eating more solids (side note: prunes seem to help...the doc also suggested mixing apple juice with water). His poop hasn't been as soft as it should be so I can imagine J isn't feeling that great regarding his bowels. Anyway, I was changing his diaper and there was a tiny rabbit turd is his diaper. I was doing my thang to clean him up when he started grunting REALLY  hard. As I started putting coconut oil on his booty, a turd started coming out!!! AHHH! It kept coming and coming and coming. I looked like one of my dogs' turds! My jaw seriously dropped. I couldn't believe the size of that thing.

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In our future:

J goes to the doctor this Friday for his second flu shot and, ten days from now, J will go on his first flight! I am a little nervous about flying alone with him. Not so much the flight part as much as the security part. I'm sure the TSA employees will be nice but I'm afraid the general public will be jerks because people tend to be in a hurry and there's no way I can be in a hurry when I'm by myself with James!

An Exciting Week In The World of James....

My boy decided to end his 8th month with a bang! He has been eating more consistently, talking up a storm, and hitting some developmental milestones.

Even though I have a ton of frozen homemade food in my freezer, James seems to prefer those squirt pouches. When did those become a thing, anyway?! I'm pretty sure we didn't have those when I has a kid. Sometimes he likes me to squirt it straight from the pouch; other times, he likes it with a spoon. We'll just agree that feeding him takes a lot of patience nowadays but it getting a lot better.

"Talking up a storm" does not mean actual words but he is definitely more vocal and we take turns talking as I pretend to know what he's saying. SO FUN!

Finally, James had two developmental firsts this week. At our family photo shoot, we were all on our bellies taking some pics and J decided to scoot/creep/crawl forward (I seriously do not know the difference between the terms). He has been getting all over the place for a while but mostly via rolling, scooting backwards, and wiggling. This time, he actually progressed forward using his arms but his belly and legs were just there for the ride...kinda like the military crawl. It was so cool to see...Jimmy and I were speechless.

Then, yesterday, he decided to go from his belly to the sitting position by himself. Jimmy and I both missed it! We were both in the living room, Jimmy looked over and saw him sitting. We were like "what the what?!" J pretty much did that the rest of the evening ;)

(you can skip the video to 1 minute to save time)

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Besides those fun things, J's cousin, Maggy, was born and J went to the zoo for the second time (but his first time going while awake!).  He LOVED the fish at the aquarium but wasn't the biggest fan of feeding the giraffes.

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My boy turns 9 months tomorrow! I am so happy that he is healthy and growing. He goes to his 9 month appointment on Wednesday so we'll get his recent stats. I'm dying to know how much he weighs!

Waving, Another Tooth, Eating, and Massive Dooking

My little cutie had a first this week...

HE WAVED! 

It was so stinkin' cute! At first, I thought I was trippin' but he has been doing it ever since. It's still hit or miss but I'm still a proud mommy :-) I'm also starting to teach him how to high five. He's starting to get the idea but isn't quite there.

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This was one of MANY takes. We could never get the perfect picture because he hated the light!

James popped out his second tooth about a week ago! He was unusually fussy last Friday so we finally broke down and gave him Tylenol. It really seemed to help his mood. The next day, we noticed a big ole tooth in his mouth! It looks a little weird, though, because the second one is significantly bigger that his first tooth. Hopefully it all evens out!

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My boy is FINALLY starting to eat willingly! He doesn't eat everyday and it takes a lot of patience on my part, but at least I don't have to force it in his mouth. His favorites seem to be the squirt pouches (usually something fruity), mum mums, and, most recently, puffs. He seems to prefer me squirting the food in his mouth rather than me feeding him with a spoon (although, he will occasionally take food from the spoon). I think he likes the mum mums because they are big enough for him to hold on his own. He doesn't quite have the pincer grasp yet but tries really hard to pick up the puffs with his two little fingers. 

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Funny boy ;)

Now that he's eating a little more, I'm starting to deal with a change in his poopy diapers. The following may be TMI if you don't have kids or care to talk about poop. Lately, it seems like every time I change a diaper, he has a little poop around his booty hole but none on his diaper. I just knew there would be a massive explosion in my future. I was secretly hoping it would happen to Jimmy or Jane (his sitter)...love you guys! LOL. 

Today, J was grunting like he's never grunted before...and, then, I smelled it....the massive dook I've been anticipating. I'm just thankful he didn't let more out when I was changing him (I recruited Jimmy to help with this one!). An hour or so later, it happened again...but worse! It's like this boy had a poop reserve. Hopefully his body will adjust well to the changing diet so my boy doesn't get an upset tummy :(

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Coming Soon: 

We have family pictures next week and James has his 9 month appointment the following week!

Talking, All Fours, Poor Sleeping, and Nashville

James is such a fun, happy baby. He loves to smile and giggle. It warms my heart :) He has been "talking" a lot lately...mostly "ma ma" mixed with a few "da da's." I'm pretty sure I heard him say his name (yeah right).

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James has mastered being up on all fours and can now do the baby version of downward dog. He tries SO HARD to crawl but can't quite figure it out yet. It's very entertaining for Mr. Boo and me! It's so funny to watch him play by himself. The ways he can keep himself entertained crack me up. The boy is all over the place which scares me for when he actually does start crawling. 

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My boy went from master sleeper to whatever the opposite of that is called. He's been waking 1-2 different times in the night, no real pattern. I'm still trying the Ferber method on those nights but it's so hard to let him cry. There are nights that I'll be awake an hour or two in the middle of the night and it really screws me up (that's in addition to the time I get up to pump). I would like to blame it on our trip to Nashville but how long do you give a baby to readjust to his regular schedule?!

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Last weekend. we visited our favorite city of Nashville. Our wonderful friends, The Lobbs, went along with us. Friday was sort of our "touristy" day. We ate at Pancake Pantry, walked around Belmont, Lipscomb, and downtown, then ate at Blue Coast. Later that evening, we walked around the Opryland Hotel which is always a treat.

Saturday, after James and I finished our 12 mile run, we checked out The Factory in Franklin and ate at this delicious hot dog place (I was craving a corn dog...weird). Later that evening, we enjoyed a BBQ with old friends and re-told stories of our past adventures in Nashville.

The next day, after a pretty chill morning, we went line dancing at Wildhorse Saloon. I put James in his carrier and we hit the dance floor! (Our boy is a flirt, by the way. There was a group of ladies sitting by us and he had them wrapped around his finger. I had to warn him, though, because they were from Michigan. No respected Buckeye boy would go for a Michigan girl :))

Pumping, Irish Festival, Godparents, and J is Eating Food (SIKE!) BUT...

...He does HAVE A TOOTH! Is it possible for a baby to be teething 1 1/2 months prior to actually getting the tooth?! It sure did seem like he was teething that entire time.

He had to be asleep in order for me to open his mouth for the picture!

BREAKING NEWS: J ate food last week on Monday! I bought one of those pouches that had a mix of two fruits and a veggie. We had just finished our run and sat down to watch Mr. Boo play volleyball. I decided to give the pouch a try...the boy ate about 1/3 of the pouch!! I was shocked. I thought for sure this was the turning point in his eating adventure. Not so much. That stubborn turd hasn't eaten since then!

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I'm  in a pumping slump. I was SO CLOSE to calling it quits last week. If it wasn't the life source of my precious baby, I would quit in an instant. I probably mentioned that I was getting up around 145-2 a.m. to pump since J was sleeping through the night. I did this EVERY NIGHT for a few weeks until I just couldn't stand the way I felt every day...I was so tired and sluggish in the morning. 

After seeking advice from other moms, I decided on a new method. I started pumping after his last feeding/just before I went to bed then again just before leaving the house for work/after his morning feeding. This is all in addition to the three times I pump at work during the day (I schedule pumping sessions like I schedule my patients!).  I've been doing this for about a week and just can't seem to get the same amount of milk. I've been feeling a little better since my sleep isn't broken but I just don't think it's worth getting less milk. Therefore, starting tonight, I'm going back to my 2 a.m. wake up call :( Until J starts eating food, I need to pump as much as I can.

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I'm loving all this family stuff we are doing this summer! This past weekend, we ate some delicious pizza at Dewey's then headed to the Dublin Irish Festival. The festival seemed lame, at first, until we found the Celtic game arena. We sat there for 2 hours watching these chicks throw these weighted bags over a goal post with pitchforks! LOL. James had a grand ole time, too.

 Dewey's

Mr. Boo!

Ninja in training!

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Finally, Jimmy and I have been praying and talking about the future with J and any other kids we may create. We knew we needed to write a will which meant we would have to pick godparents. We didn't want it to be any of our parents because we didn't want them to be senior citizens responsible for young children (sorry parents! LOL.). So, naturally, we went through our siblings next. Since we live in Ohio and this is where our kids will grow up (yes, things can change), we decided to first ask Chris and Amy (Mr. Boo's brother and our sister-in-law). Honestly, we were afraid they would say "no," at first, because they already have two kids and one on the way (very soon...yay!) but we knew they would be excellent at the job so we were hoping they would say "yes!" We gave them 2-3 weeks to think about it and they said YES!!!! We were so relieved because, if something ever does happen, we want J and other kids to have an easy transition.

Sitting, Music, Friends, and Cuddles

My boy is 99% there with his sitting. I'm still cautious with him sitting on harder surfaces because he occasionally gets lazy/tired and falls over. I'm so insanely proud of him! Today, for the first time, we noticed him on all fours!!! We've been waiting for this one! I tried to get  it on camera buuuut...NO.  

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J is getting major exposure to music. We've decided he'll probably play the piano or be a drummer...or both! He'll have the perfect teachers! Last weekend, he went to his first James Davis gig. Mr. Boo played with his dad and their friend (also named Jim!) at a bar/restaurant. James had a great time and even got some drumming lessons.

He mostly likes to eat the sticks but that's a good start!

We also went to the Columbus Jazz and Rib Fest that weekend and James got to hear some great music and watch us eat some great food! The boy doesn't know what he's missing.

(My favorite picture this week)

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We had some good friend time this week! Our friends, The Hatti, invited us over for dinner. We grilled burgers and veggies, drank margaritas (my fav!), and topped it all off with cake! J got to play with his friend Charlotte  (10 days younger than James) and take notes on her yoga skills.

Later that week, we met our life group at Schiller Park in German Village for bible study. It was an amazing evening outside. We enjoyed a yummy Mexican style salad for dinner and sipped on Blue Moon. 

Finally, this weekend was The 5th Annual Davis Hillbilly Party! It's funny to see how the party has evolved over the years. It used to be a bunch of drinking 20-somethings partying the night away and now it's this:

LOL. Not that I'm complaining! It just cracks me up! Different and still fun. You can't go wrong with food, drinks, and friends!

Who says your life ends when you have kids?

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My boy is becoming a cuddler. Needless to say, I'm LOVIN' it!!! After I feed him or when I pick him up and carry him, he just gives me these sweet little hugs that put the biggest smile on my face. :) :) :)