Our Wonderful Weekend! (a little late in the week)

So, in the past week, we've been super busy doing things I thought we'd never get to do.  Fun things as a family that are warming my heart as the weather warms our days.  I am pretty sure that Easton will be very thankful not to have wear a jacket anymore. If there is one thing he really hates its having his shirt changed or a jacket put on.  Poor kid.  He does what my friend April refers to as the "child abuse" scream.  

Look at that face!  "NO MORE JACKETS, MOMMY!" 

One of the rare pictures of us together.  :)

We decided to take Easton for a weekend "hike" since the weather was going to be perfect!  70's, sunny, breezy...ugh.  It was magnificent.   While we were getting ready, Easton decided he'd take a snack break and work on his toes for a bit.  The boy will leave what I refer to as, "redneck love marks" on his toes he sucks them so hard.  They must taste delicious.  The little rascal has the sweatiest feet you've ever felt, for sure.  I thought that was something that happened later in life, like when they are 15, but apparently.....not the case.  Stanky, sweaty, boy feet.  Love 'em.

Delish!

Saturday, we went to Whole Foods and did a little grocery shopping.  I'm making E's baby food, so I had to stock up.   We got lunch and ate outside in the glorious sunshine.  Easton loved it.  He loves walking through the colorful produce section and grabbing at random pretty things.  It's quite adorable.

Once we wrapped up lunch, we headed out to the toy store (so he could window shop), and on to the baseball fields for Daddy to do a little work.  Rik is a baseball coach at a high school so his job is never done when it comes to field maintenance and the like.  After that, we headed on over to walk the Walnut Street Bridge and strolled around Coolidge Park.  It was busy and crowded with families playing football, having cookouts, playing in the fountains.  It was awesome!  Easton was amazed by all the hustle and bustle.

Gotta protect those baby blues!

By the time we headed on back across the bridge, he was pretty wiped out. He'd been going strong for about four hours with no nap.  He was so cute doing his best to stay awake.  He lost the battle about halfway to the car. 

Sunday, we did a lot of the same.  We went downtown and had ourselves a little picnic at the ball field while Rik mowed and watered the field.  It was beautiful again so we lathered up in sunscreen, threw on hats and just chilled out in the outfield on a blanket.  He loves grass on his feet.  It's so amazing to see things through his eyes.  Sounds, sights, smells...they are all new to him and he's amazed by it all.  Birds singing can keep his attention for 15 minutes straight.  That's amazing for this fella!

"I think I'll take a nap!"  My sweet little buddy.

We met Rik's parents for lunch at this sweet little pizza joint that has always been a favorite of ours downtown.  They adore Easton and it was nice to see them.  Rik's Dad always takes lots of pictures!  I love it.

We had dinner at a friends house and enjoyed a nice game of wiffle ball.  Rik got "trucked" by a 9 year old boy and may or may not have ended up on his butt staring up at said 9 year old.  Hilariousness.

We haven't done much else this week.  I've worked every day during the day and so it wasn't really until yesterday that I was able to get E back outside for a little R&R.  He decided he'd go ahead and start sitting up by himself for extended periods of time yesterday.  He sat up for a solid 5-7 minutes before falling over!  I must admit that I was quite proud of him.  

"I don't need your stinkin' help! I'm a big boy!"

Easton turned 5 months old Monday and I can't believe it.  He's growing up too fast and I just want to slow it down so I can enjoy every single second.  I don't want to miss a thing.  I'm cherishing every second of every minute of this journey.  

Till next time,

Shannon

We're Still Here!

Well, hello there!  It's me again.

So much to say and so much to update with Easton, but goodness.  Let me start by saying that I have NO idea how some of you stay on top of blogging.  I mean, if I have a second free, I sit in relative silence for a few and then usually tackle the housework that never seems to end.  :)  I've missed you all though and truly, I appreciate all of you checking in on me/us!

I suppose I'll update you about Easton and what's been going on with us.  Our son is adorable, stubborn, alert, happy, observant, feisty, hungry and most of all, hilarious.

We are still nursing and that's going as well as can be expected when your son has the attention span of a gnat and can't seem to stay latched on for more than a few sucks before quite literally yanking his head backwards to look around for something new.  He hates the thought of missing anything.  My nipples have requested a vacation.

Easton is a long, lanky fellow.  He was a little pudge but now that he has worked out the jumper, he has trimmed down a bit.  He is 15 1/2 lbs and is 26 inches long as of his four month appointment one month ago.  I believe he is even taller now b/c all of his clothes are too tight length-wise.  He wears 6 month clothing comfortably, but now and then, I squeeze him into a 3 monther if I am in the mood to show off his stellar physique.  Or if I want him to wear jams.  Do you remember jams? They rocked in the 90's.  He is clearly a fashion icon already.  Lil' trendsetter.

He rolled over from his belly to his back very early.  As in before he was 3 months old.  On Feb 5th.  It was crazy weird.  Once he did it once, it was a non-stop thing.  He HATED tummy time.  He is getting more tolerant these days in his older, wiser age.  He is almost going from his back to his tummy but he still seems to have trouble with the arm being in the way.  I have a feeling once he realizes what he's doing is putting him on his tummy, he will never do it again.  Our son is stubborn and set in his ways.  FOR REAL.

He ended up with colic pretty bad for a few months and that, paired with acid reflux, made one fussy little boy.  We had our days, trust me.  Thank goodness, those days are mostly a thing of the past.  I'm thankful for every single one of those days, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not glad they are mostly a thing of the past.  I remember someone telling me that once they turn 4-6 months old, it would pass and thinking I'd never make it that long.  Look at me.  I made it.

He just suddenly started sleeping through the night one night and going to sleep on kind of a schedule.  We thought about doing some type of strict schedule but it was never right for us.  He was noncompliant, his belly made it even more miserable and when it came down to it, I wanted to feed him  based on when he was hungry and needed to eat.  That to me was more important than having him sleep through the night very early.  I'm all for it and had hoped it would work out for us, but honestly, it just didn't.  I'm hoping that we're starting to get our own routine down now that he has pretty much made for himself in the past month or two.  So far, he is pretty happy now that his tummy and such feel better.

He started cereal a little bit before he was four months old b/c he was starving every two hours it seemed, sometimes sooner.  It started at about 3 months and I did everything I could to make him wait, then to accommodate him but finally, I decided to call the doc.  I knew my milk supply was fine but he was still hungry.  He was also starting to stare longingly at us while we ate and so I knew it was ok to ask the doc.  She said go for it.  They recommended feeding him from a bowl and spoon instead of cereal in the bottle.  We tried, it didn't work.  We tried again a week later and he was ALL OVER IT.  He was even grabbing the spoon and jamming it into his own mouth.  Poor chunker.

I've given him vegetables in the past two weeks.  He loves peas and carrots.  Not so much green beans. He enjoyed his Japanese sweet potatoes and apples.   That's all he's had so far.  He only had green beans once and since then, we've decided to stick to peas, carrots and apples for now.  I only give them to him once a day and even then, not every day.  I am terrified of causing him to be seriously constipated.  So far, that only happened once and it ended with him suddenly and delightedly pooping in my hand for about a solid minute between diaper changes.  Who knew poop could cause such joy? Especially when you catch it in your hand?  Ok, back to food.  What do you all know about Baby Led Weening?  Have I already screwed up by feeding him from a spoon?

Luckily, I was able to spend the first 3 1/2 months at home w/ the little scrip scrap.  Now, I'm working part time and it's been great.  I pump while I'm there and so far, he's only had to have a few emergency formula bottles, but I'm ok with that and he has been too.

To wrap this up before he realizes I'm not solely focused on him, I will share some pictures with you that you missed if we aren't hooked up on instagram.  :)  I'm @shannononthefly if you want to follow me there and catch up on some seriously adorable shots of my little guy, my dogs and pretty much nothing else.

I'll write again soon.  Getting over the hump is always the hardest part!  :)  I hope you all are doing well.  I will do my best to catch up with all your blogs now too!  I've missed you all.

One month old!

Two months old! (What a difference!)

Three months old!

(Four months is still on the camera! BOOOO MOMMY!)

Some time at the park on a cold day! Brrrrr!

Hey there, ladies....

A little baseball, of course.