Fletcher 10 Months

It seems impossible that Fletcher is already TEN MONTHS old. I mean, he just got here, but also he has been here forever. Oh, the mom feels.

This age is so fun. You can see his little personality really starting show. He actually laughs at us now and makes the funniest faces. He is learning and figuring out new things all the time which is so cool to see. And he is starting to try to say words, which mostly all sound like "da."

This age is also really challenging. I can tell that he is starting to test us a little. He is into everything. Especially loves opening cabinets and drawers. We have started to tell him "no." Sometimes he will look right at us, laugh, then promptly go back to doing what he was told not to do. Yikes, what are the toddler years going to be like? He has also started those really fun 5:30-6pm cry-whining-irritated-at-everything-don't-put-me-down episodes that I have heard a lot of other parents talk about aka "the witching hour." How is it that those line up perfectly with making dinner?

MONTH HIGHLIGHTS

This month brought us a week off of work to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, New Year's Eve spent at the river, figuring out how to play peek-a-boo, waving (at everything), Dad's 31st birthday, snow day, 40 weeks in vs 40 weeks out, first signs of epic dance moves, first time throwing up and a high fever, big boy car seat, introduction to the sippy cup and water, JuJu's birthday and starting to point, mostly with a fist.

at the river with Wade, Aunt Jules, and Aunt GiGi!

40 weeks and 2 days out vs 40 weeks and 2 days in

Jared did a lot of research and ultimately decided on the Britax Marathon Click Tight. Fletcher likes this one much better.

FAVORITES

Activity: taking Dad's hat off, wagon rides, knocking over block towers, playing sous chef while mom and dad make dinner, watching his dogs, and waving. Favorite things to wave at, his bookshelves and the dogs.

Food: blueberries, strawberries, cheese, tomatoes, and dried snap peas or black beans

Toy: his remote. Yes, Jared took the batteries out of an old remote so Fletcher could play with it and he loves it.

Fletcher now gets so excited when we go outside to open the garage because he knows that is where the wagon lives.

DISLIKES

Activity: car rides, diaper changes, getting dressed, 6pm and being left out of anything.

Food: avocados, bananas, and spicy chicken sandwiches (parent fail)

no, Jared is not yelling at him. He is mocking Fletcher's fake cry because Jared wouldn't let him knock down the tower he was building...

TYPICAL DAY

Eating: five, 5-8 ounce, bottles, 3 "meals" and two snacks per day. We are dropping a bottle this weekend since he is starting to eat more food.

all meals should be consumed sans clothes

Pumping: still pumping three times during the day. Planning to start weaning in mid-February! Supplementing with formula more now so enough breastmilk can be frozen to get us to the 12 month mark!

Sleeping: still great, thank goodness! Naps at daycare are still not the best, but we did end this week with several 1-1.5 hour naps! When he is at home he has two naps that last about an hour each. His nighttime sleep has always been good. In bed by 7:15/7:30pm and wakes up 6:30/7:00am.

I absolutely love the way this sweet boy sleeps. Always on his belly. Usually with his little bottom up in the air and his ankles crossed. Too precious!

PICTURES FROM THE MONTH

last bath of 2016 was spent in a red claw foot tub with a lightshow courtesy of Uncle Thomas

twins met mom at the mall for some shopping!

remote=love

berry messy. #momjokes

some rare, non-sick, snuggles before bed time

this boy is so happy in the mornings. love walking into this big ol smile!

looking like a little man

sous chef reporting for duty

throwing that sippy cup back

Fletcher video chatting with Dad in the airport before he took off to Buffalo, NY for a work trip

realizing I gave birth to my husband's twin

celebrated JuJu with a belated birthday lunch at H-Street Kitchen

bringing your 10 month old to your college campus is a little surreal

chair highlights. can we talk about that right hand?

Sick Baby

We started off Thursday as usual. We went to get Fletcher up and ready for the day. But noticed there was puke all in his crib. Joy. He looked at us like nothing had ever happened even though he was covered in it. His little footed pajamas were soaked. Not sure when this actually happened but I assume he slept in it. We didn't hear any unusual noises on the monitor and he definitely didn't cry. I thought it was maybe a fluke so we got him in the bath and planned to take him to daycare. While we were getting him dressed he threw up again. Ok, so no daycare today. He threw up one more time that morning. Besides the three morning episodes he was acting completely fine, didn't feel warm, and was eating mostly normal considering he blew his guts out.

looks like a kid who figured out to play hooky from school

Friday morning was a different story. He was in a good mood just didn't want to finish his morning bottle, which is pretty normal from time to time. I took him to daycare and everything seemed fine. Until daycare called and said we needed to come get Fletcher. He had a 101.4 fever. Great. Jared went to get him since I had stayed home the day before. No throwing up this time. Just clingy and very sleepy. He took several naps and fell asleep on our chests. Something he hasn't done since he was itty bitty. When he went to bed he was at 102. No, I did not give him any medication. Just lots of love and rest. Slept through the night no problems.

Saturday was heartbreaking. He woke up hot as fire. His temperature still at 102. Not wanting to eat. Just wanting to cuddle and sleep. Not going to lie. I enjoyed those snuggles. It also felt nice that his mama was so comforting to him.

the first time since he was a newborn that he has just fallen asleep (no rocking or coaxing) on my chest. be still my heart.

I broke down and had Jared call the nurse line at our pediatrician office. The doctor on call wanted to see Fletcher just to make sure it wasn't anything serious. His temp was 102.7 in the office. She said everything looked great with him (eyes, ears, nose and throat) but she was concerned about his grunting. She said that sometimes that work of breathing can lead to decreased oxygen. So she talked me into giving him some Tylenol even though I pushed back. She had good reason though. Overall, she said there wasn't much to worry about and she was really happy with his demeanor in the office. He is such a ham whenever we are there. Her prescription was popsicles and snuggles. We could get on board with that.

Next stop, Whole Foods, for some sugar free fruit popsicles. The kid has never had sugar and this illness was not about to change that. The Tylenol from the doctors office started to kick in around 2 and Fletcher (and us) a false hope that he was feeling better. Gee, wonder why I wanted to hold off on that. He crashed shortly after. Refused to drink a bottle but did enjoy some popsicle. He didn't not want to leave our side for the rest of the afternoon. He laid so still on my chest and drifted in and out of sleep until it was time for bath. When we got him up we realized he was burning up. We took his temperature and it was 104.1. Truly, I got a little panicked. Especially because he was acting a little lethargic. But, I still didn't give him any medication. We walked him around and gave him some more popsicle. His mood changed a little. We started his bedtime routine as usual and he was happy as a clam in the bath. Thankfully, he sucked down 9 ounces before passing out for the night. He didn't sleep as soundly as the night before but still slept 7:45pm-7am.

Sunday morning he woke up with a huge smile. Jared took his first ever rectal temp (way to go hubs) and it was only 99.0! Woohoo. With the loss of the fever came a whole lot of congestion. . Hey, I will take that over the scary fever. The congestion made him not want to drink bottles all day. So, I looked up saline nasal flushes for babies online because I was little worried about him not eating for almost a third day in a row. I took these saline flushes I had from when I worked in the hospital and shot 3 up one nostril and 2 up the other. So much snot came out, Fletcher was screaming bloody murder, and Jared was video taping the whole thing (because we are awful parents). It actually worked though! Fletcher was able to drink his next bottles without problem. Still decreased appetite for solid foods. I was happy to get some fluids in him.

so.much.snot.

Hopefully we are in the clear with this yucky virus. I stick to my decision of not giving him medication. I have read a lot about how fevers are actually good for babies and help them fight the infection stronger and will tend to get better sooner.

This weekend was one of the most challenging I have had as a parent yet. Second guessing yourself, feeling helpless, and watching your child in pain is awful. I am thankful for a supportive husband that let my granola ass avoid giving our 104.1 febrile child Tylenol. He really trusted my judgement. He of course was so great with Fletcher all weekend. Really don't know what we would do without him.

Snow Day and Birthdays!

The weekend before last, January 7th, was a snow day here in North Carolina. It was also Jared's 31st birthday! I am an awful wife and did not even get him a gift. Literally, nothing. #wifefail I blame the holidays and the impending snow and being crazy busy at work and having a baby. Is that enough excuses? I haven't made myself feel better about it. I really have never not done anything for his birthday. Truly, I just couldn't top last year's big 3-0. We had planned to do a joint birthday celebration with Alyson at some local breweries, but of course the snow ruined that. So, we hunkered down at home for his big day instead.

We started the morning with a breakfast request from the birthday boy, pancakes! Fletcher had blueberry and strawberry, Jared had chocolate chip and I had plain.

I am not a big fan of snow. North Carolina is just not equipped to handle it properly. Also, the "snow" we get isn't the same as it is in other states. We get mostly ice which causes everything to shut down and then you're cooped up inside all weekend. So not fun with a 9 month old and a stir crazy husband. Since this was Fletcher's first snow we tried to make the best of it, even if it was 30 degrees out.

We stuck Fletcher in about three layers, socks on his hands, and put on dad's too-big-fuzzy-boots from New Zealand that he had when he was kid. He could barely move his arms and looked like the kid from a Christmas Story. It was too cute! I think he was mostly confused about why he had to have so many clothes on. A little irritated about not being able to move much. But, he had fun taking this wagon all around the neighborhood.

 

Luckily, Jared was able to make it out that evening to get to Ba Da Wings so he could have his birthday buffalo wings. Finished the day with baking brownies. Yum.

The NC State vs Carolina basketball game was rescheduled to Sunday due to weather. We got our butts kicked. It was beyond embarrassing. So, overall, not the best birthday weekend for Jared.

The following weekend we finally made it to the breweries for Jared and Alyson's birthday celebration. My mom and Uncle James came over to watch Fletcher for us. We went to Neuse River Brewing first followed by Nickle Point Brewing. It was some much needed adult time out.

First Christmas

Before I even got pregnant I knew Christmas would be big discussion between Jared and our families. You see, both our families are big on Christmas. Since all of Jared's family (except Charli Kay) live in Texas, that has meant a lot of traveling over the past 9 years and too many 5 am Christmas morning flights for me to make it home to my family for Christmas day. I knew when Jared and I decided to have a family we were going to want to make some holiday traditions of our own. One major one for me was waking up in our own home on Christmas morning. This meant not traveling to Texas or Wilmington. It probably sounds silly, but that first Christmas morning together, just the three of us, was just how I envisioned it and something that I will remember forever. So the tough decision to not travel was worth it.

Prepping

Having a baby this Christmas made the whole season feel so magical. I am sure each year will get better and better especially as he learns the meaning and his imagination grows. 

We went to the tree farm to cut our own tree. I thoroughly enjoyed the 1.5 hours we spent looking for the perfect one. Jared on the other hand, knew we would go with the first one I picked 5 minutes into it. He was a great sport and let me have my fun walking up and down the rows of trees (several times). I loved our tree, even if it ended up being just a baby pine in our living room.

We took Fletcher to meet Santa in Wilmington with my mom. He wasn't impressed. He just stared at him and remained in complete shock until we left Santa's village.  I secretly kind of hope one year he just loses it like some of the other children we saw there.

Jared and I tried to do a little more outdoor decorating since we wouldn't be traveling this year. It didn't come out exactly how we imagined, but I like to think we had fun putting them up. You'd have to confirm that with him though.

Christmas Eve

This was the first Christmas Eve in 31 years that Jared was not with his family in Texas. I know it was tough for him. We did our best to keep it low key since in years past it is an all day sprint to see and spend time with everyone. We started the day at Layne and Emily's where Emily gifted Fletcher the best gift ever, his Junior Wolfpack Club membership. It came with so many fun goodies and definitely something we will be using. Then we ran a few errands before stopping by to see my brothers and letting Fletcher wear Wilbur's reindeer antlers.

We went to the 5:30 Christmas Eve service at our church. It surprisingly wasn't as crowded as I was anticipating. Nothing like the Easter service. The nursery was super full but Fletcher did great..

Once home from church we tried (and failed at) some self timer pictures. Ate Grandma Sandy's famous chili for dinner. Then Jared read us The Christmas Story from our family bible.

After bath time, we helped Fletcher put out cookies and milk for Santa (aka ourselves). He was trying so hard to steal a cookie before bed.

After he went down. We got to play Santa, something I have been looking forward to for so long. Once all the gifts were set up, we curled up on the couch with our cookies and milk wine and bourbon to watch Christmas Vacation.

It was my favorite Christmas Eve yet.

Christmas Day

Like I said, Fletcher's first Christmas morning is something I will remember forever. It truly was just how I had imagined it with just the three of us. I will never forget that sweet innocent face lighting up when he saw the living room. Granted, at 9 months he wasn't entirely sure what was going on.

We took it slow and opened gifts without a hurry. Fletcher's big gift from Santa was his wagon. Jared had so much fun picking this thing out. Of course it has all-terrain tires that you have to pump with an air compressor. Its pretty legit. The rest of the morning was spent pulling the wagon around the cul-de-sac and eating Irwin Family Breakfast Casserole.

Jared started a tradition with Fletcher this year that his Uncle J did with his boys growing up. Each Christmas Fletcher will get a tool from Jared to build his collection. This year, he got his very first toolbox!

My mom and brothers came over in afternoon to finish opening gifts with us. Fletcher had fun playing with his uncles. But I think his second favorite thing next to the wagon was playing in the cardboard boxes. Yes, it is true what they say, don't spend money on gifts. 

Next Christmas Fletcher will a year and 8 months. Which is bananas to think about. I am sure it will be pure chaos and we will love every minute. I am so glad we took it slow this year and soaked in all the sweet little moments. The day seemed to last forever and it was so much fun.