My Big Boy Rolled Over!

Finally! :)

James rolled over from his tummy to his back! (Remember this post, when he rolled over from his back to his tummy on 8-16-11?) Well now he's made it all the way back around!

When we went to his 4 month check-up I told the doc how he hadn't quite made it yet... and he just looked at me and said, "Well he isn't getting enough tummy time." Yikes, thanks doc.

The reason I probably wasn't giving him as much as he needed to roll over is one of two things notoriously happened - 1) - he'd massively spit up or 2) - he'd get really, really, really pissed off.

But yesterday, in honor of his Uncle Hunter's bday, James rolled over from his belly to his back! Take that doc! :)

And, since I knew we were so close, I actually caught it on video.... Jimmy wasn't all that excited about what was on the TV in the background (RHONJ - woops)... And honestly - the TV was off for most of the day yesterday. Oh well :)

Congrats my little boy who is getting oh so big!

Note to self: ENJOY EVERY MINUTE

So ever since we brought James home, Jimmy and I have been looking onward to the future.... "Oh, I can NOT wait until he is sleeping through the night..." "Oh, I can't wait until he can hold up his head...." "That will be fun when he can play with all the cousins..." etc....

We've been doing so much of that, that I forget to enjoy him just as he is, right now. A friend from high school recently posted about this on her blog... Her little girls are 3 and 1, and she talked about wishing to go back to when they were babies to get one more little "squeeze" out of them...

So thanks Erin for posting that... From now on I'm going to focus on the present. Squeeze my little baby as much as I can and be thankful for the present! :) I'm so blessed and thankful for an amazing family, friends and good fortune. Life is so good, I'm going to just enjoy it day by day!

Sooo.. Being sick with a baby...

... is totally different than being sick without (go figure).

Although the past couple days have been pretty dern tough, including just a few moments ago... There is nothing sweeter than a sweet baby snuggled on your chest sleeping.

Today's score: James: 101, Mommy: 0

First day sans-swaddle

Sooooo yesterday at our 4 month check up, I asked the ol' doc when we should quit swaddling... He basically told me now. Eek! I have several girlfriends who swaddled until 5 months or so but today, I decided to bite the bullet.

It was tough at first but he is slowly getting better. He just isn't use to those hands being wild and free. I'm too scared to take a real pic so here is a pic of our monitor of the bugaboo...

Here goes nothing! :)

Today's firsts...

So today had two big firsts for James... His first bit of rice cereal in his bottle and his first "earthquake" or tremor.

There was a 5.8 quake in DC/VA and we felt it today while I was nursing the munchkin. I didn't know what it was so I called Jimmy and told him our house was just shaking, why?! He then told me his office did too, so we figured it was a tiny earthquake. The last one felt over on the east coast was over 100 years ago (according to Nightly News on NBC).

James is FOUR Months Old

Who knew time flies so fast when babies are outside the womb vs. in it?! :) My little guy is already over 4 months old (officially 4 months on Sunday, August 21). I figured I'd hold off on his 4 month post until today's doctors visit so I could include that info...

*Height: 25.5 (44 percentile)
*Weight: 13 pounds 8.4 ounces (14 percentile)
*Head: 41.5 cm

When James was three months he had an obsession with his tongue. He constantly stuck it in and out - kind of like a little snake.... Well now my little boy LOVES his hand... He couldn't figure out how to enjoy it the most, but over the past couple weeks, figured out he likes the pointer and middle finger of his left hand the best. :) He has a pretty great routine, which has him sleeping around 12 hours a night, which is amazzzziiiinggggg. He laughs really hard and really enjoys playing while laying on his back.

Some of the not so great things about right now - James spits up - A LOT and all the time. So for the time being I'm wearing mostly t-shirts these days, ha! He still has pretty bad cradle cap. Frannie told me a trick she heard on the Doctor's show, but I'm waiting to confirm with my doc that it's okay... I also read the same thing in the magazine but it sounds weird (pouring olive oil on the scalp then brushing it off with a comb or toothbrush? - weird, right?). And he has yet to roll over from his tummy to his back. He has however rolled over from his back to his tummy (the reason? he was trying to get a better view of the TV - homeboy LOVES the TV!).

Oh one other not so great thing going on right now -- I didn't know that you weren't supposed to introduce size 2 nipples on the bottle when you are still breastfeeding, so that has been a little challenging... On Sunday I pumped all day and gave him a bottle for every feeding which wore. me. out. Yesterday he nursed all but one feeding, so I'm hoping he'll hold out for me just a little longer.

Here is his 4 month photo shoot:

(He just LOVES those fingers!)

"Who dat?"

My little chunky munky <3 :)

Sweetness....

Daddy came in at the end of the "shoot" - he went to church... James and I played hookie since he didn't do that great his first visit and I'm a little hesitant about putting him in the nursery just quite yet.

Here is some more photos of what we've been up to lately:

One night Jimmy was working late there was a thunderstorm and Sadie was scared so she crawled in my lap while I was holding James... I couldn't really get a photo - but you get the idea.

James watched his first taste of football with daddy <3

Close up of James & Daddy watching football...

We celebrated Pop's birthday by Grandmama's pool with the whole fam (minus Uncle Hunter who according to Gracie had a "boo-boo on his back and had to go night night" :) haha)

The Cooks with the big swimmer, Gracie Grace...

Me and my grumpy lovebug :)

Gracie means BIZ-NAZ in her goggles and swimmies!

The Larson family photo...

Adeline copying Jimbo :)

Celebrating Pop and Hamilton's birthdays by the pool...

Blowing out the candles... Team work!

 

Nana & Pop and all the grandchillen'

James has been sitting in his little bumbo a bit..

He kicks around a soccer ball on mommy and daddy's bed :)

James is getting to be better friends with Sadie :)

Snuggle time with Mommy on a Saturday night in...

"I just loooove my fingers!!!"

His new little "jumperoo" toy... (Fingers still in the mouth, goodness!)

He hasn't quite figured this thing out yet, but I can tell we are going to have lots of fun figuring it out. (He wasn't quite long enough to reach the floor so we stuck a pillow under his feet and viola, he can jump!).

Busy Season Stinks!

Although this "busy season" has been way better than those of the past - we're all missing Jimbo around here. Even poor Sadie crawled in her bed with her favorite toy waiting on someone to get home from work tonight.

Big day tomorrow - James' fourth month check up! Excited to see what the doc has to say... Not so excited about the vaccines.

A year ago today...

Jimmy and I got the most wonderful news - we were pregnant! Hard to believe it has already been a year since I saw those two beautiful lines! :)

Loving every minute with out little guy!

He rolled over!

..... and nobody saw it. Whaaaa, whaaaaaa.....

So after I fed James I laid him down on his back. I was walking over to the couch to grab the remote and when I turned around he was on his belly! He did it without any coaching, cheering, etc.... and poor little guy - nobody saw him do it!

But I was so impressed, so we celebrated over some giggles.

After we celebrated, I tried laying him on his belly to see if he'd roll over the other way, but he still isn't QUITE there... We'll keep trying little man.... :)

First trip to the nursery...

So today was James' first trip to the gym with mommy, which meant first trip to the nursery.

I was really nervous but mom talked me through it, haha.. Right when we got there I sat his little car seat on the ground and the sweet woman asked, "and who is this?" And I looked at James and said, "this is James and this is his first time-" and then WHAM -- James started shrieking!

But he was fine when I got him out. It was a win win for team Larson today... I got a 2.5 mile run in (ughhhhhh) and James had a successful nursery trip! Woop! Woop!

(This pic is of him when we got home... The nursery just wore him out!)

:) love my lovebug !

First lunch date with daddy

Yesterday we were running errands and had a quick.... not very "quiet" lunch date with daddy at Moe's...

And two days ago James got to meet his Auntie Em (who is recently engaged!!!!!!!) and played with his cousins and Auntie Joykens..

("I didn't do that...???" - Adeline)



James won't be the youngest cuz.....

Exciting news!!! James will no longer be the youngest cousin!

The fabulous Cooks are now 12 weeks pregnant with a yittle baby boy or girl. Yesterday they had a doctor's appointment and everything is lookin' and soundin' great!

We are SO happy for Fran and David and can't wait to meet the little bugger come early March (or for Fran's sake, late February!)..... who knows... It could be a leap year baby??

Congrats you two... or shall I say, THREE?! :)

Milestones 2

I know I made a "Milestones" post earlier today, but there needs to be another milestone post. I just want to brag on my baby boy for just a wee-minute.... James had a FABULOUS day today.

James went down amazingly for every nap, and slept until I woke him up to feed (still on a 3 hr routine). For every nap I did our routine, I swaddled him up, sang him our song and laid him down wide awake and he was happy, and didn't even let out a whimper. He fell asleep and finally did not cry at the 45 minute mark (Last week was a tough week... For every. single. nap. my poor little boy woke up after 45 minutes, crying. I tried everything - paci, shushing, etc, nothing worked... but today... was aaaaaaahmazing!).

The only time he cried during nap time was when I laid him down at my parent's loft for his late afternoon nap... I was showing some property we have for rent connected to my parents' loft and so mom kept James while I did my thing. When I was finished, mom decided to go to the grocery store for a couple things. Well, right when she opened the door the interior doorbell rang and Max (Hunter's old dog, now Grandmommy's dog and now that Grandmommy is in rehab for a fall that happened a couple weeks ago - Sandra is keeping him and since she is at the beach this week, mom has him - whew! long story, aye?) .... back to my story - Max decided to BARK! BARK! BARK! My poor baby boy started screaming, so I ran and got him, settled him down, paci'd it up and he went right back down.

Today was such a great day with my little boy. I was a little nervous about it since Daddy is yet again in Atlanta, but since the day went so great - it is a-okay.

Also, since James is getting a little bigger and on a pretty solid schedule -- we're planning on taking a trip with daddy up to Atlanta for James' first hotel stay. This should be interesting! :)

Oh and another half-milestone -- James is *almost* rolling over.... keyword - almost... He was almost there today, I decided to video tape it, just in case.... This is what I got - please be sure to mute your computer so that you don't hear my obnoxious "I'm talking to my baby voice"... Also - be sure to take notice the straight "buzz" across the back of my little guy's head. He has rubbed a straight line across the back of his head. I sent this video to Jimmy earlier today and he called him his "balding-mullet-haired boy".... :)

Loving life....

Milestones

So I'm very surprised at myself for not documenting some of the BIGGEST milestones of James' life! Someone has been sleeping through the night for quite some time now, and this mama is so very grateful! (Thank you Babywise!) :)

James slept through the night with a dreamfeed at around 9 weeks old... We would put him to bed around 8:00 p.m. after his 7:00 p.m. feeding, then wake him up around 10pm for a "dreamfeed" and then he would sleep until 7:00 a.m.

Well on July 30 (he was 13 weeks old) we tried dropping the Dreamfeed and guess who made it?? James! We had been inching the Dreamfeed back, inch by inch. And then we finally decided to give it a try and he slept all night!

So now our little bambino is sleeping from 8:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. - what a good boy!

We also have a huge milestone to mention... I just scheduled our first babysitter that is a non-family member. I'm really nervous but she is "best case scenario." She has babysat for people we know. She lives in the neighborhood. Her mother is a nurse and is available to help her if she needs it. Is a junior in high school, so if she works out - we'll have her around for 2 years! .... but I'm still sooooo nervous :-/

It's official, Kiawah 1/2 Marathon, HERE I COME!

So remember in December this post, where I documented our fun trip to Kiawah, where everyone but me and a couple others completed a half marathon? Well, I mentioned (half-heartedily) that I wanted to do it next year (because I couldn't do it 5 months pregnant, especially being a non-runner!).

So, I'm keeping my word. I'm officially signed up, and there is no looking back now.

I've never been much of a runner... Well in high school I started running and it messed my knee all up - the doctor called it "runner's knee" although I had been running for only 6 months or so? I ran a couple 5K's and did the Cooper River 10K.... but when my knee messed up the doc told me to try to only do the elliptical (it was lower impact).

I figure enough time has passed (ha!) so it is time to give it another try. I started jogging a little while at the beach, but last night was my official first half marathon training run. Although it is REALLY SAD to say I just did 2 miles in a whopping 26:49, it was a step in the right direction. I'm going to try to track my progress so when I complete the 1/2 marathon I can think back to that slow run and smile.... but honestly - although it was super duper slow, I'm proud of it. I'll take it.

Why settle for one...

(finger) when three fit in quite nicely!

Why I'm not cut out for yardwork.....

See the pic, need I say more?

Argh... I was trying to surprise Jimbo by getting a lot of yard work done while he was out of town in Atlanta, and James was taking his naps. Well I got one big "to do" done and I was getting adventurous and headed in the backyard to dig up some monkey grass to relocate to my newly cleaned area in the front. Well, 3 stabs with the shovel and WHAM! I was in a yellow jacket's nest.... but I didn't realize it. I just thought it was mosquitoes or ants.... but then there were like two swarming in my hair/in my ear (ughhh just typing this out is making me itch and burn all over) and so I slowly realized what was going on... So I took off running, screaming, etc toward the house (Sadie is just staring at me like, "What. Is. Your. Deal. Wo'man?!")

So I get inside and make Sadie come in with me and I'm tearing at my hair, slapping my legs and then I see one on my pants... so I proceed to strip down (Sadie is still staring at me wondering when her "master" will ever act "cool"). As soon as the pants are off I start stomping on the pants... then I see one on my shirt, I slap it and kill it and then I have another one on me! Ahhhh....

So I (ooooobviously) made it out alive, but my hand is still swollen and I'm terrified of yard work. It seems as though every time I try to be all domesticated and do yard work, it ends terribly... At our old house I did yard work one Sunday Jimmy was working during busy season and ended up with poison ivy. This time I think I ended up with 7 stings? Ughhh... stupid yellow jackets!

Celebrations Galore!

Well, Sweet Baby James has been having lots o' fun lately....

Here are pictures taken after his first trip to church...

My two fav. guys :)

Mommy & James:

His Auntie Mar-Tar, aka Martha and her fiance, Jason, came to visit.

Auntie MarTar:



Mommy and Daddy got a little time out with the guys and gals.

Jimmy got to try out a new place in downtown Greenville that he has been wanting to try forever, but we haven't had the chance. I went to "Design with Wine" and painted an exquisite replica of the Liberty Bridge... strangely enough, everyone's looked exactly the same! :) I know I'm no Picaso, but it was sure fun... and it was nice being with all the ladies!

Getting started!

Frannie even came up!

We started with a blank canvas, but I took a picture after I penciled in our starting point:

Working on my sky... while ignoring the crazed-eyed Joykens :)

Us busy painting:

Joy was quite serious:

We started with just these colors and had to mix our own paint, we are soo official:

The new MRS. Costigan and Joy! (... and a little barefoot vino!)

Careful, I will paint you!

These three ladies spelled trouble in college :)

The WHOLE class:

Our group of gals:

We also threw our first little get together at the house since bringing James home. I didn't get any pictures really of the night except for two... I was a little preoccupied with making sure my guests were having fun, and my little man was cozy and comfortable! (It sure is different having people over with a baby in the house, that is fo' sho'!)

This was the most kids I've ever had at my house at once, so of course I had to document it!

Wed. night laddddies:

Gracie's birthday hat was well represented, worn by all, especially Jimbo :)

James also wore his very first outfit created by his daddy! Hahaha.... At Uncle David's 30th birthday party (pics shown on his 3 month post), everyone got to tye-dye t-shirts. Jimmy did a little onesie for James with Gamecock colors.

"Peace!" (he has two fingers up in this picture)