It's a Mystery

So something's up with Baby Cade.  He's turning into a regular baby.  One who cries unconsolably and throws fits over...well, I don't know what he's throwing fits over.  I'm kind of freaking out a little.  For the past three days, Cade has had at least one complete melt down - crying, red faced, kicking legs...the whole shabang.  I even broke down and threw my own fit with him today.  Mostly because I have no idea what's going on.  I know this is normal for most babies, but Cade was an exception when it came to overall behavior - he never cried, much less had a complete meltdown.  Until this past Saturday that is.  So what's the culprit?  It remains a mystery.  One that I can't wait to solve.  So far, here are my leads:

• Cade had vaccinations on Thursday.  Maybe these threw him off???
• I'm on an antibiotic.  Perhaps this is causing him some tummy discomfort?
• Unfortunately, his new normal is day care during the week.  Maybe his world has been turned upside down because he's at home with me this week as opposed to day care with Ms. Debbie???
• He's going through a growth spurt and is hungry and I've missed his hunger cues. 
• And my number one theory - He's not getting enough sleep.  I have an uneasy feeling that he's been sleeping in a swing at day care.  I'm afraid he's become reliant on it to fall asleep.  Unfortunately, our home schedule is all off since I've gone back to work.  His eating, playing, sleeping rotation used to run like clockwork.  That hasn't been the case since I've been back to work.  If I can catch him right when he gets sleepy, I can rock him and he'll fall to sleep.  BUT if I miss the ten minute window when he first gets sleepy, he gets too worked up, can't get to sleep and you know what hits the fan. 

And one more piece of interesting information for my clue book - Cade is making strange sounds.  I know, it's weird, right?  He used to be very vocal and would all out scream and squeal with happiness throughout the day.  Now he's not opening his mouth and is making closed-mouth noises and puttering his lips.  Is his vocabulary growing?  Or is all of this related to the crying?  Teeth are not coming in that I can tell.  I checked thoroughly. 

Maybe I'll crack the code.  Maybe I won't.  Either way, I hope this will pass very soon.  Poor Baby Cade!  And poor Mommy too!  :)

Game Day

Cade Update:

You weigh 16 lbs., 5 oz. (75th %tile)
You are 26.25 inches long (91st %tile)
Your head circumference is in the 93rd %tile.

I knew you were tall, but I didn't think your head was that big!  :)

Today Cade had a fussy day.  He's never really fussed so much in one day.  He never broke into full-blown crying for more than a few seconds at a time, but he just seemed a little off.  Hats off to all moms of fussy babies!  We couldn't really figure out what was wrong.  He woke up more than usual last night and did not nap well today so I think he was just tired.  And I'm on an antibiotic for a sinus infection and I'm wondering if it might be affecting him in some way...maybe upsetting his tummy???  We were out and about for most of the day.  We went to The Avenues to do a little shopping and to Doc Greens for lunch.  He did great while we were out, but just couldn't mellow out at home. We made it back in time to watch Louisville in the Final Four.  Todd was pumped, to say the least.  :)  Unfortunately, they lost, but we had fun watching the game anyhow.  Hopefully a little extra rest tonight will be just what the doctor ordered for Baby Cade and he'll be back to his happy, smiley self tomorrow. 

4 Months Old

So Baby Cade, you've been in the world for 4 months now.  It sounds like such a short amount of time, but the changes you've gone through are astounding  There is nothing more incredible than watching you grow into one amazing little guy.  Here are your four month stats:

• Your four month check-up is on Thursday so I'll come back with your weight and height.
• You wear size 2 diapers and size 6 months clothing (though you'll be in size three within the next week or so and some of your 6 months clothes are too short.
• You are very tall/long...or at least you seem so.  We'll find out on Thursday.
• You still eat every 3 hours.  You eat fairly well, though lately you seem a little more interested in everything going on around you than finishing a meal.  You stop eating quite frequently to smile at me or look around.  You're still on a breastmilk only diet. 
• Nighttime sleep is great!  You sleep anywhere from 5 - 7 hours when we first put you down (usually an average of 6 - 6.5), then wake up for a quick feed and back down for 3 - 4 hours.  You're still in a basinet by our bed.  I've stop beating myself up about that fact.  You aren't napping quite so well though.  Lately, you've only been napping for about 45 minutes at a time. 
• You are still soooooo happy!  The first thing everyone says when they meet you is, "He's so happy!  Is he always like this?"  Followed by, "He's so calm and laid back."  You will sit contently anywhere we are with anyone who wants to hold you. 
• You smile A LOT!  In fact, if you're not hungry or tired, you pretty much smile at me every time I smile at you which means both of us are smiling all day!  :)
• You love to jump!  You love jumping in your Jungle Jumperoo and the Johnny Jumper (doorway jumper) that we borrowed from Olivia.  You will also jump in our laps, on the floor or anywhere else your feet touch.
• You are a rockstar at tummy time and can hold your head up 90 degrees.  I think you'll be rolling over within the next couple of weeks (front to back).  You are almost there and will easily roll over with a tiny nudge. 
• You will grab anything that touches your hands and are reaching out for things.  Nothing, though, keeps you more entertained than sucking on your hands.  You love it so much you will even gag yourself trying to fit your whole hand in!  :)  Everything you grab goes straight into your mouth. 
• You're still quite vocal and you laugh and squeal now.  Melts my heart every time. 
• You are one incredible baby boy and you are loved so very much.

Can't wait to see what month four holds.  Love you sweet baby!

So Beautiful!

Last weekend was absolutely beautiful!  We wanted to get out and enjoy the amazing weather so we took Cade to the park.  He mostly rode around in his stroller for fear of sunburn (yikes!), but we did take him out to show him all the park had to offer...the lake, geese, playgrounds, bridges, and of course all the people. We look forward to going back this summer when Cade will be able to enjoy it even more. 

Let's Go Hawks!

We took Cade to his first professional sports game a few days ago.  With his sports crazed daddy, I'm sure this was the first of many.  I was worried about being "those parents" who have their baby in a place that really isn't meant for babies.  I protested the whole weekend and insisted that Cade and I would just stay home, but Todd really wanted us to go so we did.  We had great seats; Trent and TJ were sitting right behind the players' bench.  As usual, I was worried about nothing. Cade didn't fuss a bit!  He sat contently on our laps for 3 quarters (we left in the 4th) and even managed to fall asleep despite the incredible loud craziness around us.

Day Care

This was Cade's first week at day care.  Well, it's not really a day care, but that's what we call it.  Cade is staying with a lady named Ms. Debbie who takes care of children in her home.  She has turned her basement into a mini-day care and has 6 babies total.  Cade is the youngest and the rest of the kids range in age from 9 months to 3 years.  We were referred to her from a teacher I work with and feel very blessed to have scored a spot with her.  She only keeps teachers' kids (so she has our awesome schedule - holidays and summers off) and a few of my students actually stayed with her when they were younger - parents give great recommendations.  It's such a huge relief to feel confident that Cade is in a safe, nurturing, stimulating environment with someone who will love him and who is there to not only "watch" him all day, but to help him grow and develop too.  

As with many things pertaining to Cade, I was very nervous about how he would react to this transition.  But again, as with many things pertaining to Cade, he never fails to amaze me.  He was perfect!  Ms. Debbie reports that she doesn't think he even knows how to cry.  That he only wimpered once this week during tummy time (which he's still not that in to).  He ate every drop from every bottle every time.  He's fallen into a wonderful napping and eating schedule and spent his first week soaking up his new environment and hamming it up with Ms. Debbie and the other kids.  She said that he loves to watch them and that she's nicknamed him Smiley because that's pretty much what he does all day.  I can now safely say, without being afraid that I'm going to jinx this miracle, that we have an absolute angel baby.  Thank you God!  We're hoping that the coming weeks go as smoothly as this one has.  Whew!  Jumped one more hurdle in this whole new-mommy thing and landed safely without even a scratch.  Again, thank you God!

GJ Comes to Town

I've been back at work for two weeks now.  I'd like to say it's been easy, but I would be lying.  Leaving Cade to go to work for the first time in 3 months felt like someone had ripped my heart out with a bare hand.  I held it together surprisingly well, for the first 3 hours anyway.  Until I called my mom during my lunch time to see how it was going and she said that Cade wouldn't take the bottle.  I heard him crying in the background and completely fell apart.  In my mind he was near death from starvation and his entire world had crumbled in a mere 4 hours.  In reality, it was only an hour or so past his actual feeding time and he was probably just fine.  He eventually figured out the whole bottle thing and things were smooth sailing from there. 

My class gave me a warm welcome back with a huge sign outside of my classroom, breakfast and lunch for the week, cards and a "Cade plant" which will be planted at my mom's house and will "grow up with Cade".  Their sweet gestures certainly helped to ease the sting BUT being a full time teacher, a full time mommy and a full time student is without a doubt the hardest thing I've ever done.  I've never been so excited for summer!

My mom, aka GJ, came down to help with my transition back to work. There are no words to describe what an incredible help this was. She cleaned, did laundry, packed lunches, and most importantly took care of baby Cade like an expert nanny. She's definitely a natural...no wonder I turned out so great...j/k! :) She spoiled him with lots of clothes, toys, hugs, kisses and lots and lots of love. We tried everything we could to get her to stay, but couldn't make it happen...not yet anyhow! We're hoping she found lovely Lawrenceville very appealing and will move here very soon. Like this week. Please, Mom? Baby Cade, you are one lucky boy to have a grandma who loves you so much.