Like father, like son

How much does Mitchell look like Jacob in this picture? It's amazing. There was a brief time that I thought he looked just like my sister, but he's starting to resemble his daddy more and more.

Jacob is hoping Mitchell's also shares his hobbies. He likes to take Mitchell down into the basement that he's working to finish and "show" Mitchell the progress that he's made. Here they are in one of the framed out walls.

Ray Charles

For the very first time, Mitchell made me literally laugh out loud so hard that I had tears streaming down my face. We have been spending a lot more time outdoors lately, which he is a big fan of....EXCEPT when the sun gets in his eyes. He squints and turns his face from side to side. Jacob and I decided to buy him some baby sunglasses to see if he liked them. We tried them on for the first time tonight when Mitchell was sitting in his bumbo seat. He started arching his back and throwing his hands in the air - he serioulsy looked like Ray Charles! After a few seconds, he calmed down and just started looking around the room in his new shades. We got a big kick out of it! I'm not sure how long these will actually stay on his face - time will tell.

Four months old!

Mitchell is 4 months old! All books seem to refer to it as the "golden age". He is getting more and more fun every single day. We had our 4 month check-up at the pediatrician today. Here are his stats:

Weight 19 pounds, 8 ounces - greater than 97th percentile

Height 26 3/4 inches - 95th percentile

Yes, he is a biiiggg boy! :) She recommended not starting rice cereal until he's 5 1/2 months old (mid-June), which was fine with us since he's obviously getting plenty of nourishment as it is! We'll start fruits and veggies after our 6 month appointment.

This is the life.

Look at this picture of Mitchell...now picture him 30 years from now in a hottub rather than a baby bathtub, with a cocktail glass sitting next to him. Ha!

I'm not sure why I'm obsessed with bathtime pictures - but there is just something irresistable about a clean baby...so here are few more pictures for your viewing pleasure. There are a few people that admit to only looking at the pictures anyway (cough, Aunt Kel, cough). :)

Spring has sprung!!!

Here's a picture of Mitchell and I taken in our front yard before I head off to work. We are so happy that spring is FINALLY in full swing! The people that lived in our house prior to us apparently spent every spare minute gardening because there are flower beds EVERYWHERE in our yard. They are beautiful, but honestly, they've fallen a bit off of our priority list the last couple of years so we haven't been able to keep them in their pristene condition. Each year we try to promise ourselves that we'll do better....but have yet to actually follow through. Maybe this is the year!?!?! :)

We sweat; He sleeps :)

We have been scouring garage sales trying to find a jogging stroller. Jacob thought he'd get a lot of use out of it while he's on leave (we'll see about that!). We finally found a cheap one listed on Craig's list, so Jacob picked it up last night and we gave it a try this morning. Here is a picture of Mitchell after our morning jog. He almost always falls asleep when we go on walks/jogs. This jogging stroller seems to suit the whole family - as you can imagine, Tex is extremely fond of walks. Our poor kitty - maybe we can put her in the basket down below and see if she likes the ride :) HA!

The house next door was was up for sale and the new neighbors started moving in this weekend. We were so curious to see who might move in...we were hoping for either a really nice, young couple (everyone else on our street is fairly old) OR a very dependable middle aged couple with three daughters 16, 13 and 9 - so we'd have babysitters for LIFE! Well - we got neither. It's two 20-something guys - roommates. :( We jogged past them this morning as they were moving in their mini-fridge (just screaming barely out of college frat boys.) They probably wonder what the heck we do for a living, since we were jogging at 1oam on a Wednesday. Jacob said, "maybe they'll think we won the lottery." If only we were so lucky!

1 day home with daddy = 1 call to pediatrician

Jacob would probably kill me for blogging this - I guess this'll be my test to see if he ever reads it :) Jacob started his paternity leave from work on Monday. He called mid-day to tell me that he found a TICK on Mitchell! While he was attempting to munch on grass on Sunday afternoon, I guess a little insect thought he'd munch on Mitchell :( I felt so bad because I was the one that had given Mitchell a bath on Sunday night and I hadn't noticed anything. I was really starting to feel like a bad mom! Jacob was awaiting a call back from the pediatrician to tell him how to treat the tick, but I never heard back from Jacob and figured out why when I got home from work....apparently it wasn't a tick afterall because the little spot was gone the next time Jacob looked. Can't blame him for being overly attentive! MUCH better than the alternative!

"SUN"day earns its name

We returned from Oklahoma to find PERFECT weather in KC! We layed Mitchell on a blanket in the yard and spent some time in the flower beds. He kept rolling himself off the blanket and picking up grass blades and trying to put them in his mouth. Mitchell has become more and more aware of his surroundings lately. Jacob said it perfectly this afternoon. He said "It's almost like you can see his brain learning." And you really can! I was drinking a bottle of water this afternoon while I was holding him similar to how Jacob is holding him in this picture above. I set the water bottle on the table in front of us and Mitchell reached out to grab it (not unusual). But then he honestly tried to drink it! He brought the cap up to his mouth and fussed until we tipped it up for him. Of course, it spilled all down his front - but that's okay :)

I know that water bottle story doesn't sound like anything amazing...but to Jacob and I it was. We are just slowing starting to realize how special it really is to be a parent. This little thing arrives on earth and it literally can barely see anything, let alone comprehend what anything is. I still remember the day that I could tell that Mitchell could really see his mobile. Now, all of the sudden he is starting to realize what things are used for. I just can't wait to see all of the lessons this little guy has in store for us.

Oklahoma!

Jacob and I took Mitchell on his first trip to visit Mitchell's grandparents (Karen and Rick) and his great-grandparents in Sapulpa, Oklahoma (near Tulsa). Mitchell did GREAT on the four hour car ride! We tried to time it perfectly so that he was ready for his first nap of the day when we got into the car. It paid off because on both trips (there and back) he slept about 3 of the 4 hours! Here is a picture of Mitchell and his Granny Karen. Jacob's sister, Katy, met us there for the weekend too. We had a big family gathering at the great-grandparents house on Saturday to introduce the new family member. Mitchell is still taking naps about every 2 hours, so we made a cozy spot for Mitchell to nap in his great-Gpa's big walk-in closet b/c it was dark in there. Understandably, he struggled a bit falling asleep, but he finally did take a short nap. He was a happy camper when he awoke, in fact he had created a game for himself. Jacob witnessed him swinging his legs back and forth making the pants hanging in the closet move back and forth and then just starring and smiling at them. Why do we invest in these pricey toys, again?!?!?

The bank Rick works at helped spearhead a project to build this playground/park in downtown Sapulpa, so we took Mitchell to try out the swings and bouncy horse. He is still a little too young...but we had fun trying. Maybe he'll enjoy it a bit more next time!

Giggle box

I promised a while back that I'd try to get a video of Mitchell's little laugh. It's just adorable (of course, most of what he does is adorable to me!) I apologize that it's so dark! I should've turned the lights on before filming, but I was trying to hurry and capture it before he got stage-fright. If you can't see, at least you can hear. My cold has made my voice a bit raspy, but yes, that is me tickling him.

Oh - and a quick update on my last blog - Mitchell slept until 8:45am yesterday! Can you believe Jacob's luck????

Our happy, healthy baby seems to be slowly returning :)

Mitchell was still a little congested yesterday, but overall seemed to be breathing A LOT better than he was this weekend. Hopefully he will continue to improve. Unfortunately, I think I caught the cold from him :( Now that I know how terrible it feels, I really feel bad for the poor guy!!! No wonder he hasn't been his normal smiley self!

I stayed home with Mitchell on Friday and Monday, so Jacob is taking his turn today. Mitchell hasn't been sleeping the best (probably because he can't breathe!), but it sounds like he must be making up for it today because it's 7:45am and he is STILL SLEEPING. He hasn't slept in past 6am for as long as I can remember! Jacob claims that he had a "talk" with Mitchell about how he needs to start sleeping in later for the next 6 weeks while Jacob is on paternity leave. We'll see about that... :)

Double ear infection and RSV :(

When I called the doctor on Friday, they said that if he started to sound like he was wheezing that we should try to bring him in. When Mitchell woke up this morning, he was most definitely wheezing :( I called right away, but they couldn't squeeze him in until 11:45 (which was a little stressful because I had a baby shower at our house at 2pm!) My sister, Kelli, is in town this weekend (hence the picture above) and has been a lifesaver the last couple of days. She watched Mitchell all morning while Jacob ran errands and helped me get the house and food ready for the shower.

We were only at the doctors for maybe 30 minutes. Based on his quick exam, it was pretty obvious that Mitchell has an ear infection in both ears AND RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). Ugh!!! He gave us a prescription for amoxicillin. The kind we got is an orange flavored liquid that Mitchell tries his hardest to spit out!

Although every kid is sure to hate his parents at some point in his life - I think we may have reached that point early in Mitchell's life. Between the saline spray up the nose, constant nose sucking and shoving amoxicillin down his mouth - I'm pretty sure he thinks we were put on earth to torture him.

And to top things off - we can't send him to daycare this week (or atleast the first few days)....which was his last week anyway, since Jacob's paternity leave starts next week. Obviously, I wish he wouldn't have gotten sick at all....but if he had to get sick, it would've just been tooooo convenient for him to get sick when Jacob already planned to be home!

Snotty, yucky mess :(

Yes, that describes Mitchell's current state. It has come on slowly, but his first cold is now in full force :( I wish you could just teach a baby how to blow his nose! He is soooo congested that he can hardly even eat :( We called the pediatrician and we're doing everything they recommended: 1) squirt saline solution up his nose and suck it out (he HATES it!!!! Can you blame him?) 2) elevate one side of his bed so that he's sleeping at an incline; 3) put a humidifier in his room. They said it'll take 10-14 days to run its course and will get worse before it gets better. I sure hope this is the worst that it gets. I'm staying home with him today - I made it 7 years at the firm without one single sick day....I didn't even make it 3 weeks as a working mom! Keep your fingers crossed that he's back to his old smiley self by Monday :)

Royal's Opening Day

Royal's Opening day used to be one of my favorite days of the year....I think I'm going to have to come up with a new favorite! It RAINED and was COLD!!!! Ick! We had our co-workers over to our house again this year for the pre-game kegs and eggs party, which was fun. Mitchell was almost as popular as the keg :) He had a great time getting passed around. Someone was constantly talking and playing with him....he liked that! Mitchell has been making more and more sounds lately. I should retract that statement. He has always made LOTS of sounds....but lately the sounds have become more like talking and less like crying :) Here is a litte video of one of our "conversations" this afternoon.




My dad was going to watch him while Jacob and I went to the game, but he called this morning and said he wasn't feeling too hot and didn't want to pass whatever he had onto Mitchell. So Jacob went to the game and Mitchell and I stayed home and played this afternoon (which was fine with me since the weather was so crappy anyway). Jacob put Mitchell's exersaucer together yesterday, so I got a little video of Mitchell playing in it. He is getting to be such a big boy now days - so much less baby like. Look at him practically standing up in it!

Hammock time

Jacob and I spent the weekend trying to get the house, deck and yard ready for the Royal's opening day party that we're having on Tuesday. We were working in the yard today, enjoying the nice weather (it was around 70 degrees!). Mitchell fell asleep, so Jacob laid him in our hammock for a quick picture opportunity. (Don't worry, we didn't let him fry in the sun. We moved him into his bed for the remainder of his nap.) Isn't life rough?!?! I would've killed for an afternoon of laying in the hammock :)

Mitchell has a little Royal's jersey for the party on Tuesday. I'm sure I'll have pictures to post. He is going to be at the party, but is not going to the game with us. My dad and Sherri offered to babysit, but the forecast is calling for 50 degree high and 70% chance of rain on Tuesday :( I may not end up going to the game anyway :( We've had BEAUTIFUL opening days for the past 5 years, so I hate to see the streak end this year. Ugh! :( Keep your fingers crossed!

I love our daycare :)

Top 10 reasons that I LOVE our daycare arrangement!

10. They have WAY more toys than we do! We're slowly building our supply, but this way Mitchell gets a little variety.

9. She always says "He's such a good baby!" I know it's not always true...but it still makes me feel good. Can you imagine picking up your baby and having his babysitter say "he was awful today" - talk about making you feel terrible!!!!

8. She's not annoyed when I call to check on him during the day. Although I'm calling less and less these days because I know he's doing fine.

7. Lindsey packs cookies in our diaper bag sometimes :) When I reach into to get his dirty laundry for the day, I'm sometimes pleasantly surprised to find a little bag of homemade cookies for Jacob and I. Yum!

6. She washes Mitchell's bottles for me. I know this seems like such a small thing....but it's one less thing I have to do when I get home! I leave her the new bottles for the next day when I drop Mitchell off, and throw the clean bottles that she gives me into my purse for work the next day. It is great!

5. I had a really cute little outfit on Mitchell last Friday because we were going to the Home Show right after work. Mitchell soiled his t-shirt and instead of changing him into his plain little onesie that I packed in his diaper bag, Lindsey dug out a t-shirt of her boys' that she had packed away. She knew I wanted him to look cute that day. Isn't she nice?!?!?

4. Jacob and I carpooled on Friday. When we went to pick him up in the afternoon, Mitchell was down for a nap, so Lindsey uncorked a bottle of wine and Jacob and Mark (Lindsey's husband) drank a few beers. WOW - our version of "Friday happy hours" have really changed!!!

3. Mitchell is sooo cute with her two little boys. He smiles at them constantly and watches them wherever they go. (Xavier is 2 and Isaac is 1)

2. She's been working with him on tummy time, reaching for objects and self soothing during nap time. All of them seem to be paying off. Mitchell is SOOOO much easier to put down for a nap and for bedtime now! It might just be his age, but I think it's also because Lindsey has been working with him.

1. I don't feel guilty for leaving Mitchell during the day. I know he's with someone that will take VERY good care of him, and he's always so happy when I pick him up!

I love my play gym :)

Mitchell has been able to use his hands to grab things for the last month or so. He really enjoys his play gym...I try to hang different toys from it to give him a little variety (that's what one of my books told me to do anyway). Here is a little video of him in the play gym. I didn't catch him at a very smiley time. I'll have to get another one soon. He is still FULL of smiles. His laugh is still completely unpredictable and infrequent...but so worth the wait.