Birthday Boys – 32 and 5 months

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Today was AJ’s 32nd birthday and also Alex is 5 months old.  We got ready for the day by Brooke and I making AJ a ‘big one’ chocolate cake.  We made him 4 layer super chocolate cake that Brooke picked out the decorations for his cake and it ended up looking like a volcano which AJ loved.  AJ got to sleep in and then have blueberry pancakes for breakfast which was quickly followed by blissful hours of the house to himself while I took Brooke and Alex to a bounce house.  AJ really wanted to go out to dinner as a family to Smokey Bones.  It was the first time Alex was in a restaurant during his challenging part of the day and he gave his Daddy the birthday gift of letting him eat his dinner before we had to leave quickly and accidentally leaving bib, burp cloth, and Brooke’s water bottle behind.  Luckily the nice waiter, with small kids of his own, tracked us down in the parking lot.  AJ seemed to have a really good day. Happy birthday!!

 *And YES, Alex is wearing Brooke’s old sleepers because my children don’t wear their pajamas out of the house and Alex says REAL men aren’t afraid to wear pink!

Oatmeal!

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Today I started Alex on oatmeal.  We had tried rice cereal before and he didn’t like it and I wasn’t too excited about him eating in general because he was so young.  Alex made very unhappy faces and didn’t seem interested.  After AJ and I talked about it and he got closer and closer to his 5 month birthday I began to feel better about trying earth’s best oatmeal instead.  It is powdered and can be made thin like rice cereal. Well it was a hit!  Here are pictures of him eating it for the first time!  Also since it tastes better it can be mixed with water instead of breastmilk which means not having to pump two extra times a day, yea for everyone!

1/22/15 update- Alex has been ‘eating’ for almost a week now and loves it.  He is taking down 3 tbsp of oatmeal powder a day.  Also we started him on prunes as a necessity and  he ate 2 oz on top of his oatmeal.  Last night he got homemade apples, prunes, and oatmeal for dinner.  Next week I am going to start to make him other first foods- pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, and if he can get regulated out a bit- bananas.

Brooke’s Birdhouse

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When Papa was here over the Christmas holiday, he and Brooke started working on a birdhouse together.  Unfortunately, they didn’t get to finish it during his stay here.  Brooke finished it the other day though and loved painting it a variety of colors.  She even painted the inside.  Now we wait for spring to see if any little bird decides to take up residence.

Winter Playtime

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We have had a few cold days with daytime highs in the 20s and 30s.  It has been so consistently cold that this morning the lake in our backyard was iced over and the ground was frozen.  Brooke had some fun playing outside with us (Alex did too but we didn’t get his picture), and then while Brooke was napping Alex had some fun with us indoors.

Jekyll and Hyde

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Alex has been playing a game of Jekyll and Hyde for the last two and a half weeks where he is a very happy agreeable baby who naps well during the day and then cries inconsolably for 4-6 hours at night.  At this point we’ve tried it all: swing (borrowed from a friend), bouncer, holding, swinging, swaddling, 3 different noise machines, lavender baths, infant massage, nudity (his not ours), gas relieving poses, medication (for pain, gas, congestion -you name it we gave it), fresh air, driving him around in the car, and double feeding.  Today we took him again to see Dr. Mink as this started a bit before his 4 month birthday to see if there was anything else we could do.  We’ve got a couple more tricks up our sleeves now and hopefully those will work for us so we can all get some much needed sleep soon.

[All pictures of daytime happy Alex]