Happy Halloween!

For Thomas's first Halloween he was a Baby Executive Chef and Randy and I were his Sous Chefs.  :-)

Isn't he just a pan full of cuteness?

My grammie made Randy's apron and my Aunt Sharon made mine.
Amazon made Thomas's uniform.  Ha Ha

Rolling over!

On the 10th of October Thomas rolled over once, but we haven't been able to get him to do it again.  That was until yesterday when he rolled over 3 times and today he has rolled over too many times to count!  Yay Thomas, we are so proud of you!

Look what I discovered!

When I was in the kitchen this morning, I looked down at Thomas and he was just staring at his feet.  So much so that I was able to grab my camera without him noticing.  It was so cute how he was wiggling his toes and just staring so intently at them.  It was like he was in awe of them.

Then he started lifting his legs and grabbing at them.  Oh my gosh, it was so cute!

Until I got busted.  LOL

Eve's Visit

My best friend Eve from Arizona came to visit us and meet Thomas last weekend.  We were able to go to a seafood festival, walk on the beach boardwalk, spend some quality time at home and Eve & I were able to have a 'girls' dinner together.  We had such an awesome time!  

At the fesitival

Went to the seafood festival and all I got was this silly hat.  LOL

Eve and I were able to step out for a few hours on Sunday night to have drinks and appetizers at the restaurant at the marina.  It was so nice to be able to catch up just her and I. 

At the marina

At the marina

Eve and Thomas

Taken on our walk

We went for a walk on the beach boardwalk

4 Month Check Up

On one of our morning walks

We had Thomas's 4 month check up today.  He is doing great, had 3 shots (one of them orally) and he barely cried.  I actually asked daddy to come with expecting it to be as hard as the 2 month visit, but it wasn't bad at all.  He is now 16 lbs 1 oz (75th percentile, 50th as average) and 27" long (97th percentile, 50th as average).  He has almost doubled his birth weight and grown 6 inches long in 4 months.  Wow!  I am telling you, he may be taller than mommy and daddy someday .  Ha Ha

We are pretty sure now that he has a dairy sensitivity so I am giving up dairy for now.  I tried to introduce dairy back into my diet last weekend (after about 5 weeks without) and that hasn't gone so well.  We have had lots of spit up, outfit changes, baths, showers, laundry, burp cloths and a little bit of fussiness.  Randy said that all of this was to make me want to give up dairy.  This is true and it worked.  :-)  Hopefully in a couple days Thomas will begin to feel better again.  The doctor said this may be the cause or have some to do with his reflux.  I am just hoping we figured it out, we hate to see Thomas not feeling well.

As for solid foods, the doctor would like us to wait until 6 months because of his reflux.  We are fine with that because it is recommended to breastfeed only for the first 6 months by the American Academy of Pediatrics anyways.  So Thomas is a healthy little man, right on track with developmental activities and happy as can be.  

Yep, he has discovered his tongue.  I never thought it would be so cute to have someone stick their tongue out at me.  LOL

Laundry

Randy put Thomas in his laundry basket.  I'll clean this laundry anytime!

Day at the park

This is Thomas's friend Brodie. He is 7 months old and crawling like crazy!
Isn't he a cutie!

 On Friday Thomas and I met my friend Karen and her little boy Brodie at a park for a picnic.  We enjoyed visiting and playing under a shaded tree.  Thomas laid on the blanket playing with his toys, talked a little bit and then started to get fussy because it was nap time.  I barely drove a mile in the car and he fell asleep.  Poor little guy does not like being tired!  

It's fun having friends that have babies too! 

Happy Birthday Grandpa Barney!

 Today is Grandpa Barney's birthday!  We love you Grandpa!  Happy Birthday!

Showing off my 'guns'

So relaxed

This is how Thomas looks on our way home from our walks.  He usually stays awake most of the walk, but then out like a light.  Oh, and this bib says it all, 'This is what handsome looks like'.

Like I said.....

Thomas puts everything in his mouth.  :-)

This is how we take Precious out during the day.  His neck is now strong enough to look forward in the bjorn.  He loves to look around and Precious wants so bad to lick his face when I am bending over to put on her leash.  

Almost 4 months

Doesn't this picture look like he is thinking "Really?"?  Funny thing is that he is looking at daddy who is telling him to model for the camera.  Ha Ha  Saw these pajamas and had to get them!

Thomas is doing great!  His medicine seems to be working better for his reflux.  He still spits up a good amount sometimes, but we aren't sure if that is normal spit up, reflux, eating too much or something in my diet.  About a month ago I gave up dairy to see if that would help and he does seem to spit up more if I add back in dairy, but he also spits up more when I don't.  So we just aren't sure.  For now though I don't do any dairy, which I have come to realize is my favorite food group.  LOL

Thomas is holding his head up on his own and sits up with little support.  He loves to stand with us supporting him.  It is cute, he can be fussy but as soon as we stand him up on our laps he stops fussing and gives us a great big smile.  He loves his changing table (unless it is morning and he is really hungry).  Loves his walks, baths, his banana medicine, his toys and loves to be talked to.  He tries so hard to talk now.  He tries to push out the sounds that it almost sounds like he is yelling sometimes.  He is grabbing at everything too.  He has even started grabbing at his washcloth that we put over his private (so we don't get a shower) when changing diapers and then tries to put in his mouth.  That is another thing, he puts everything in his mouth!  Toys, burp cloths, wash cloths, bibs, our shoulders, our fingers, my face, but most of all his fists.  He loves his hands!

He is sleeping about 8 hours a night.  We try to put him down about 8ish, but lately it has been later because he has been getting a second wind.  He takes one really good nap during the day for about 2-1/2 to 3 hours and then a cat nap or two.  He usually takes a nap on our way back home when we take walks.

I keep getting really sad because I am realizing how fast he is growing.  I think back to the hospital and try and remember every detail of him because I am so afraid to forget.  I also keep tearing up because I love him so incredibly much.  He is the reason I was born, to be the best mother I could possibly be to this little boy who has stolen my heart.  I feel like I have been searching for this kind of love my entire life.  Between Thomas, my hubby and Precious I feel so complete.  Now if only all of our families could live in the same state, I would be on top of the world!  :-)

Where's Precious?

We were looking for Precious the other day and found her hiding in between the sheets. So sweet!

Go Orioles!

Could he be....

any cuter?

No More Swaddle (at bedtime)

About 2 weeks ago we finally started to put Thomas to bed at night in a sleep sack instead of a swaddle. It is funny but even the smallest milestones are bittersweet for me. It is awesome because he is growing up, but sad because he is growing so fast. He seems to really like the freedom of moving his arms all over the place (mostly at the top of his head or sides). He also ends up moving all over the crib at night now. Sometimes he ends up doing a full circle. Funny thing is that he is so long that he isn't going to fit much longer when he ends up the short way.  Ha Ha

Ok, so I am really not ready for this one. He has been falling asleep on his side. I flip him to his back, but he turns right back onto his side. I even flipped him 3 times one night. LOL Gotta let him grow I guess. :-)
** Mittens are because his hands get so cold!

First Wedding

In early September, Randy's buddy Greg from JMU got married to the love of his life, Caroline. They were married in Corolla, NC.  It was absolutely beautiful and Caroline was stunning!  They were married right by the water and the reception was under a tent by the yellow building below.  Thomas wasn't feeling that well due to his reflux and our car battery died (welcome to parenthood, right?  LOL)  but, it was SO nice to be able to go to our friends wedding and to be able to hang out with some of Randy's college buddies for the evening.

The bride is Caroline, a friend of ours. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the bride and groom. I realized that after the wedding and was truly bummed. I guess when you have a new baby, taking pictures isn't always on your mind unless they are of him. :-)

He actually wasn't feeling that well because his reflux was bothering him. Poor little guy. It was a long day too. We left our house at 12:30pm and got home at 12:45am.

Auntie Jaclyn got him this cute outfit.

They had a whole pig roasted and the caterers encouraged people to grab a piece.
Thomas and daddy couldn't turn that down.

Daddy cool and baby cool. When we first got there we put him in his tux. Unfortunately it didn't stay on long due to the heat and I didn't get a picture of the entire tux. :-(  I will put him in it again and post a picture. He was too cute! Our buddy Tom got him the tux. Thanks Tom!

Misc Pics at 3 Months

Thomas and Daddy having a conversation

Had lunch with my friend Rachael. He was so good and tired! In fact pretty much as soon as I started the car to leave he fell asleep. Maybe I should take him out at that time more often. LOL

On one of our morning walks. What a smile!
Don't you just want to give him kisses? I do and I do.  :-)

Randy took this picture because he said that I looked like a stereotypical mom.
No offense to all the mothers out there. He said he could see me chasing Thomas
as he walked out the door!  LOL  

This is Randy taking Precious out with Thomas in the bjorn. We cover him because he is under 6 months so we can't put sunscreen on. I wish I could have gotten a close up because Thomas was just staring at his daddy so lovingly. It was so precious.

Uh Oh

Blurry picture (because he is moving :-)) but look at his head.  He is now using his neck and picking up his head.  Gotta strap him down from now on.  LOL

Aren't these pants cute?  They are grey cargo pants that
he got from Bela (grandma Sonia).  He looks so grown up!

Playtime

I am so excited!  Thomas is starting to grab his toys and play with them!  Now I can put him on the floor and we can play with his stuffed animals and toys.  The bear that you see in the top picture laughs and he loves it (got it from Nana).  He also has a frog that laughs and kind of hops, but it scares all of us.  LOL  He sounds like a scary clown laughing at a haunted circus.  Ha Ha  The first time I turned it on for Thomas he cried, now he just stares at it.  It's so fun to see his little personality come to life.  Love it, love him!