Samson is Two Months Old!

Cute Sam Moment of the Week: Right on cue, when he hit 2 months yesterday he started smiling in response to a smile. Sam, you are so snuggly and sweet, we just adore you.

Cute Gavin Moment of the Week: We are heading out the door last weekend and Gavin asked me if his outfit was cool. He then asked if I looked cool, and I said "I don't know, do I?" He replied, "No, Mom, you look pretty!". Just when we are at our wits end with that kid, he knows how to get me.

It's so funny to see the personality differences cropping up already. Gavin, I wouldn't say he cried enough to be considered colicky, but he cried A LOT and had to be paced A LOT. But he hardly ever cried when he had good reason to (i.e. shots). Sam on the other hand barely ever cries, definitely when he is hungry, sometimes when he is tired or his tummy hurts. Well, he cries in the car (can't figure that one out, good thing day care is so close!). But he definitely screamed when he got shots today, poor kid. He weighed in at exactly 9 pounds, and is climbing up the growth chart to the 5 percentile. Early Access come Thursday to start tracking his development, but the Dr. has no concerns. He actually commented on how strong Sam's abs and legs are!

Gavin continues to be a handful with his temper outbursts. For the most part he has been so good and so sweet, but then once or twice a day something sets him off and total meltdown/screaming/chaos ensues. We never give in, so I am not sure what this is all about. Hopefully it is just a phase.

I have taken some pictures recently, and will get them posted soon.

The Amby Bed has arrived!

So, I didn't do a very good job testing it out last night because I ended up falling asleep on the couch with Sam. But after he ate around 12:30, he finally dozed off at 1:30 and I put him in there. He slept without a sound until 4. Two and a half hours is totally a record, and I didn't hear him stir once!

We had a fun weekend, Sunday we met friends at the mall for a playdate, and then I took the kids to Costco. I was impressed that I survived 4 1/2 hours out of the house with two kids!

Gavin's behavior has been crazy erratic lately. I think he is a very sensitive kid and he just internalizes all his emotions at school and has been totally melting down when he gets home. There is never anything big that went wrong, he's just so touchy. Yesterday he wanted to run out to the car while I was still talking to Sam's sitter and his teacher told him not to. Cue 15 minutes of him screaming and refusing to put his seat belt on. But once he finally did and we got home he was great the rest of the night. I have a feeling he is going to be one MOODY teenager when he gets older!

I've been bad at pictures, but I will try to take some soon. Life is a little hectic with work and kids and everything right now. T-ball starts a week from Saturday with Gav's first practice! Games start the 18th, saturdays at 2:45 if anyone wants to come watch him.

It's Reflux

Now I wish I would have taken Sam in earlier. The Dr said he has classic reflux symptoms (including spitting milk out his nose which he has done a few times!). I never connected the dots because he wasn't screaming in pain right after eating, which is what one of the nurses in the NICU told me was THE symptom when I asked about it in the NICU when he was spitting up so much. Apparently within the range of "normal" pooping schedules, he can go as infrequently as once a week, as long as it is still soft. He thinks what I perceived as discomfort trying to go may actually be related to the reflux. So we shall see! I also asked if he had a higher risk for malrotation since Gavin had, but his risk is still small. We wouldn't start scanning his GI tract unless the spitting gets worse or the reflux medication does not work. Big Sammy continues to gain about an ounce a day - 8 lbs 1 oz and a whopping 20 1/2 inches long!

7 weeks

Cute Sam moment of the week: The first was when Chad was holding him, and I peeked over at just the right time, and Sam lifted his head, looked up at his Dad and smiled the biggest smile. The second was when I got him home from day care on Monday and held him and he just stared at me for the longest time like "I'm so glad to see you again".

Cute Gavin moment of the week: Monday Gavin went in to the baby room to check on Sam at day care. The teacher said Gavin just stood by his crib and asked how he was doing and told him how much he missed him.

Poor little Sammy probably has reflux. In addition to his pooping problems, now he is spitting up (a lot) at every feeding and last night he started acting VERY uncomfortable every time he ate. And he is not a baby that typically cries a lot, up until the last couple days he has been very content. We are seeing the doctor this afternoon and will keep you posted.

I'm very excited because a friend told me about this Amby bed that is kind of a hammock bed that is supposed to be excellent for babies that have reflux, colic, are restless sleepers, short nappers, preemies, and prefer to sleep being held. So far we have all but the colic on that list. I managed to get one on e-bay, and I can't wait for it to get here to see how it works because I have read tons of good things about it. Something has to work out soon, because right now it's Sam and I sleeping on the couch together. But at least I can sometimes block Gavin on the way to our room to climb into bed with Chad!

6 weeks old

Samson is 6 weeks old today! Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions I have been receiving:

What are you calling him? We are not those picky parents that require you call him by his full name or anything. I call him something different every time I talk to him! The most common names are Sam, Samson, Sammy. Some of his other nicknames are Sam-Sam, Samurai, and Sammer. Due to the Roewe gene, I have also been known to call him Gavin!

How much does he weigh? I have no idea! He seems to be eating well, and I could try to weigh him at home, but I would rather not know at this point. He seems to be getting heavier, and I don't want to start obsessing on the scale and forcing a certain amount of food into him. He's definitely stretching out as well, the newborn sleepers are going to be too short before too long!
Are his eyes still blue? Yes, but remember he's not even supposed to be born until this Sunday, and then babies eyes can typically be blue up to 6 months. Although I would be thrilled if they stayed this deep blue like Grandpa Joe's. We're hoping he gets Chad's beautiful hazel-y eyes.

Where did he get this hair? My family hasn't seen Chad's baby pics, but Chad had this lighter complexion when he was a baby as well.

Gavin is super excited because his hair is long enough to spike. He loves his new "spikesy" hair as he calls it. His reward chart seems to be working well, he has been a pretty good kid lately. Even sleeping in his own bed 5 out of the last 7 nights! The time change has been hard to get used to, and he has been sleeping in way too late, it is going to be ROUGH getting back into the early morning routine next week when I get back to work. I figure I will need to get up at 5 am in order to get everyone out the door by 7. If I could just get Sam trained to sleep a 5 hour stretch between 12 and 5, that would be perfect.

pictures, etc

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. This is my last week home with Sam, and I am going to be so sad to be away from him, but am definitely ready to get some structure back in our life. Sam is still having problems in the #2 dept, some days the prune juice seems to help, but today he has been awake most of the day, and seemingly uncomfortable most of the time. Poor guy! He's also not sleeping well at night, he's just no comfortable on his back. I am sleeping on an air mattress on the floor of his room in an attempt to get him sleeping in his crib and in a night routine before I go back to work. So far we are not very successful. I also called the lactation specialists regarding his throwing up every time he tries to nurse (I've been trying every few days as i am SO sick of pumping throughout the night). They gave me some things to try.

Gavin has been a pretty good boy, and we have a reward chart up now to work on some of the things that have been an issue. It seems to be helping, although the excitement has waned from the first day. He's a very sweet older brother and can't wait for Sam to go to school with him. Since he has been so good lately, Chad took him to a place called Recess Go Bananas on Saturday - an indoor play area where there are inflatables, rides, etc, and he played for 6 hours! He's still doing really well at school and seems to enjoy it.