Y o u a r e g e t t i n g s l e e p y... or not

I have been busy the last few days, and we have been getting to bed quite late as Andrew has been working late. The other day our dog Zeke got sprayed by a skunk! So that was very eventful. Luckily he didn't get sprayed much, but we gave him a bath right away and it was midnight by the time we were all done! Needless to say I have been too tired the last few nights to post. Plus Elijah's sleeping habits have changed a bit the last couple nights. Monday night he only slept 5 hours, tuesday he slept 3 hours and then after a feeding three more hours, and last night he slept 8 hours, but he didn't go back to sleep after that feeding like he normally does. He hasn't been fussy so it's not gas or anything like that. So either his sleeping patterns are actually changing for good or perhaps he doesn't want to be swaddled so tightly anymore. We have been trying different things to help him be more comfortable. I am really hoping tonight he sleeps well!

Elijah will be three months old tomorrow and I will be miserable! People keep saying don't blink because they grow up so fast and believe me they're not kidding. All day today I have been counting the months thinking it can't really have been three month... two maybe, but three no way! Much to my dismay each and every time I counted them it proved me wrong. He is in fact three months old, and growing by the second. His personality is really starting to show and he is amazing. He laughs and smiles all the time. Whenever he is crying, unless it is because he is really hungry, you can always make a noise or a face and he will cheer up right away! He is especially happy early in the morning and at bedtime when he has his bath! He is very ticklish too! He will laugh so much if you tickle under his arms or his tummy. He has started to laugh so much that sometimes he has to catch his breath mid-laugh. It is the most amazing thing! I think he will be stubborn because he knows exactly what he likes!

*Laura May*

Would you like some sugar with your fists...

The last two days have been pretty good. Elijah has been great! No tummy aches or anything. He has really changed lately though. He is starting to really teeth now! He is awake for most of the day and he just loves to talk! He also loves to sit up on your lap and just look around at everything in the room. At night he still likes to be swaddled tight, but with his legs out. It is the cutest thing he will move around in his sleep and his arms are bundled tight so they don't go anywhere, but his feet move around so much! He always gets out of his swaddle by the next morning, but it really helps him to sleep longer. When he naps throughout the day I usually don't swaddle him at all so I have really got to see how he will most likely sleep when he's is older. He likes to sleep on his back or his side, but not really his tummy. Sometimes though, I will lay him down for tummy time and he will move around for a while and lift his head and then he will spread his legs and arms out wide and fall asleep. It is so cute!

Yesterday we went to the car show, and it was so crowded. We had a lot of fun and Elijah loved it! He was getting a bit sleepy just as we were passing a driver revving the engine of his really nice Mustang. I was sure Elijah would jump and wake up because it was so loud it startled me, but it actually seemed like it put him right to sleep which was so funny! He woke up again a little while later and he was happy as could be! He is really starting to prefer his fists to his dummie(pacifier) now, so as soon as he wakes up both his fists go straight up to his mouth, and he will actually try to fit them both in at once. It is absolutely hilarious! He is just growing bigger and getting cuter and cuter by the second!

*Laura May*

This little piggy went to market...

Today was a really good day. I didn't sleep very well last night so I slept in a bit late today. Elijah happened to be very tired too so he slept as well! Once we were up and ready we hung out at home for a while until Aunt Dona came to visit. Elijah fell asleep in her arms and he just looked so precious! Elijah's Auntie Manda made chicken alfredo for dinner and it was delicious! After that we got ready for Market night in Redlands. It happens every Thursday and basically it is a bunch of vendors that set up their booths lining one of the main streets in downtown Redlands and people swarm there. There are all sorts of things like food, clothes, jewelry, etc. The main reason we went is because Andrew was working the Chilly Rock Soda Shop booth with the owner Brad, and we wanted to stop by and say hi. I got a Mexicola which was delicious! I had never been to a market night before, but it was so much fun! Elijah loved it because there were so many new things for him to look at and it was noisy, and he loves that! The picture to the left was when we first got there, and I knew right away he was going to be happy the whole time! I will definitely go again!

Yesterday I was very tired so I didn't post, but I went back to work for the first time since Elijah was born! It was only for about an hour. The manager, Yvette, showed me how to frost the cakes. I wasn't the best at it, but I guess it's one of those things that you really have to practice to

perfect. Elijah went with me and he was pretty good, he got a little fussy towards the end because he was tired and he wanted to be out of his car seat, and I can't blame him!

I am getting so excited to see Sarah, Richard, and Alexander when they fly out from England; and Natassia when she drives from Phoenix! I can't wait to have the whole family in the same place all at once again, and now Elijah will be there too!

*Laura May*

He's testing the gripe waters...

Today was a great day. When Elijah woke up this morning around 8:30 he was so happy and he was talking up a storm and laughing. He is just so amazing! We went to the Big Cheese for lunch, and it was the first time we've eaten out in a week and a half. I have been doing meal plans and we've been eating at home since it's cheaper and way healthier. Andrew was playing at church tonight so he left around 5pm and I got there around 6:45pm. I sat in the mothers room and it was lots of fun! Baby was so good the whole time.

Elijah is already in a great morning and bedtime routine, but I have started to make his daily routine a bit more concrete now that he is awake a lot more. Basically he will wake up around 6-7am and then after a feeding he will go back to sleep till about 8-9am. Once he's up I get him dressed and ready and after another feeding I go downstairs and have breakfast. After eating I play with him and sit him up on my lap so he can practice holding his head up. Elijah loves to watch t.v. so I will put cartoons on for him for a little while and usually he falls asleep after 10 minutes or so. He 'll sleep for about and hour. When he wakes up We spend the rest of the day just hanging out, playing, and of course eating! He loves to lay in his cot and watch his mobile so I will lay him in there several times throughout the day while I do odd jobs and cleaning. In the evening he has tummy time which he either loves or hates depending on his mood. He is so funny he knows exactly what he likes and dislikes! Then around 8:30pm I give him his bath and get him ready for bed. Then I snuggle him in a blanket and sing to him or read a book before his last feeding. He falls asleep around 9:30-10pm and once he's asleep I swaddle him and put him in his bed for the night. Keeping to a schedule is so much easier than I thought it would be, it's great!

I bought some gripe water for Baby the other day and he's had it two times since. I wouldn't say he hates it, but he certainly doesn't love the taste of it! He makes the cutest face of disgust (It's like he's unsure of it) and he won't swallow most of it so I have to get a cloth ready to catch it! I haven't really noticed a huge difference from using it other than the fact that he hasn't had hiccups in the past few days and he used to get them everyday pretty much. I had given it to him because he seemed to have an upset tummy and I guess it helped a bit, but he didn't have the full amount that he was suppose to have. I think I might try a different brand. well that's it for now, and I'm off to bed.

*Laura May*

Long Time, No Blog

So Laughlin was a lot of fun and I will write all about it, but first as to why I haven't blogged in ages... As soon as we got back from our vacation we house sat for a week and had no internet access other than our phones so needless to say I wasn't able to post. Now, however, we are home and things are back to normal.

Laughlin was amazing. On the way there we had to stop 2 times for elijah and only once on the way back, which isn't too bad for almost 4 hours of driving. Once we got there we spent a lot of time in the room because it was so cool and absolutely boiling outside! Although it was so hot baby really didn't seem to mind at all! He was great the whole time. We went bowling and to the movies three times! I was really worried about taking baby in the theater, but it was a small one in the mall and it wasn't very loud which wouldn't have bugged him anyway. He just absolutely loved it, of course after a while he would either fall asleep or cry because he was hungry. I would say that with all the three movies we saw combined I probably only missed about 30 minutes of film time which is pretty

darn good! We also went shopping and Elijah got a few new shirts for when he's a bit older and of course his new hat from Gymboree, which I am so excited about. I love it and he seems to really like it too! Over all it was a great first vacation for baby and break for us!

After we arrived home, got things repacked, and left for house sitting things were good again. I really love house sitting and it was a lot of fun to have another little change of scenery. I had a lot of time to just hang out with Elijah and I enjoyed every minute of it!

Now we are back home, with no definite plans of leave anytime soon. I have been doing some reorganizing. I have moved all of our clothes from Elijah's closet into our closet which used to be where our dog Zeke slept at night. I miss having him right there, but with our baby boy here we can't have all that hair floating around. So much to my dismay Zeke now sleeps in his cage in the living room which he actually really likes! Elijah has hit a few big milestones in the last 2 weeks also. About a month ago I put a hanging toy on his car seat, and a week ago he noticed it for the first time and he was really playing with it and loving it. Today I gave him a teething ring and I showed him how to hold it and he was really trying to grab it and hold it on his own and even chew it. He may be wanting that teething ring around a lot more often because the next big milestone is that we really think he is beginning to teethe. He has a small bump on his top gum and he has been quite fussy and grumpy the last two days. He also drools a lot now (which I think is adorable) and he chews on his fists! I know he seems so young for this, but my Mum told me today that my oldest sister had 2 teeth by the time she was 3 months old so I know it's possible. It's so depressing tough, I just can't believe how much they grow in just a few weeks. He is already 12 1/2 pounds and 24 inches long!! The good thing about it though, is that the older he gets the more he likes to cuddle and I could never complain about that!

*Laura May*

Packing, shopping, and wishing I was sleeping...

So today was a busy day. I cleaned in the morning. Then we had lunch and just watched t.v. for a bit. After lunch I packed everything for Elijah and started getting things together for us. We went shopping at target for last minute things in the afternoon, and then it was back home for more packing! Elijah was so good all day and he just loved being out and about! I really wanted to buy him a sun hat and a water bottle with a fan top, but I couldn't find either of those things anywhere. I guess Target didn't get the memo that it's summer and stinkin' hot outside!! I bet i'll be able to find those things in Laughlin. I am so excited to be going on vacation! I am really tired from all the packing and stressing that I'm forgetting something, so I won't write a terribly long post today. I probably won't get internet access in laughlin so I may not post again until Thursday, but when I do I'll have lots of pics and fun things to share I'm sure. Elijah's first vacation!!!! : )

*Laura May*

A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day...

Today was a very strange day to say the least. Elijah had his apt. in the next city over and our gas light was on so Andrew left 45 minutes before our apt. to get gas, while I was getting Baby ready at home. He ended up having to go to 3 gas stations before he actually got gas, so needless to say we were a little behind schedule..15 minutes to be exact. So we show up late at the appointment, but everything goes well. We decided not to get any shots for Elijah just yet. He is growing well and is very healthy! After the appointment we decided to stop and get lunch at a delicious restaurant called Chipotle. We decided since it was packed we would eat in the car, with the air on of course as it was 100 something degrees outside. As we were just about to leave Andrew noticed that the engine was really hot. So we turned the heater on and decided once we got on the freeway the engine would cool down. At first it did, but after a little while it went well past the red and we just had to pull over so it wouldn't catch on fire or something. So there we were on the side of the freeway in a car that's so hot that we have to turn the engine off(so no air conditioning) with a very hungry 2 month old baby, and its 102 degrees outside!! That is the recipe for a panic attack! It was cooler outside the car so as it was BOILING in the car I decided I had to get the Baby out. I took him out in his car seat and held it on my lap as I knelt on the floor just outside my door. It seemed better, but with each car and semi that passed more and more dust began to fly up at us and it was going everywhere, and I could have the Baby in that!! I must have really looked distressed because within a few minutes a lovely older couple stopped to help us. They had seen that we had a Baby so they offered to let him and I sit in their air conditioned car! Andrew's Dad soon showed up and another man stopped and gave us a gallon of water for the engine. After all was said and done, and we were home and safe it really made me happy to see that there are some really nice people out there!!

Once we got home I decided to give Elijah a cool bath because he was so hot and sweaty. He really didn't like the cold!! Later that night he had a really bad tummy ache or gas and he was miserable. I think it was because my burrito from lunch had salsa! poor little darling he just couldn't get comfy so I thought we should try and give him a nice warm bath to help him feel better and it worked!! He was so happy...and then it was time to get out! He started crying again right away and he was so sad again. So I just rocked him and sang to him and he soon fell asleep. He must have been so tired from all the crying! We swaddled him a new way tonight, but I forgot to take a pic so I will post one tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will be packing and cleaning before our vacation to Nevada. I just can't wait to get there!!

*Laura May*