rat_girl3

Tuesday marked Lucien's half birthday. There were no gifts on that day, but some over excited parents definitely went a little wild in the toy store over the weekend and Lucien still just sees Mom, Dad, and other people, toys are a big "meh".

On Tuesday we went to the doctor. Lucien received 3 more shots and got a check up, which says normal baby. His growth has slowed down. He is dropping in the percentiles, still at 75% but now on the line and a little below rather than above. Lucien's weight is 18lbs 14oz and length 27in. He is still relatively proportional.

At the end of this visit, we decided we are going to look for a new pediatrician. Our doctors are great but there is no connection, we feel like a number as often happens and the way we want to raise Lucien is nothing like what our doctors suggest. Sleep is a big issue, we are very much against ferberizing him and that is their only suggestion. Once we say co-sleeping, they look stumped and say, "well you will wean him at a year right?". On top of that we are really curious about what to feed Lucien next and were hoping to talk to them about that. Instead we get hand outs, some of which are print outs of a general website! The hunt begins.

Lucien is flourishing, he loves being outside, taking trips into the city, seeing other people, playing hard, and watching Buddy. He is a very good baby, he hardly cries and lets us get away with going to most places, including a movie! Yes we were able to sit through a matinee, we saw the Hangover.

Last weekend he spent time with Memaw. We had a laid back weekend, in the mornings we sat on the porch until 10:30, had some yummy food, went to many toy stores, two parks, and played making some cool forts.

Then last night we met up with Cousin Tom McGinnis. It was a nice night of dinner at CBC and talking about the crazy/dumb things done in Greenup KY. Makes me sad we will miss the reunion this year.

On to the weekend!

Yesterday was awesome, the sun came out, we got out of the house and I saw a lot of my little projects get accomplished. Sometimes my list that needs little check marks gets weightier than the big list of must dos.

Matt stayed home, which is always nice. Lucien enjoys the extra time with his Dad, he smiles more all day. Around 1pm we went up to Belmont Center for lunch, a stop by the Belmont Farmer's Market, and the library. (I had Season 4 of Six Feet Under to return, tough season, but it ended on a high note, get out there and live your life, NOW.) At the Farmer's Market we purchased some local pork shoulder, onions, potatoes, carrots, snap peas (now addicted to those thanks to Evan), raspberries, strawberries (our own plant is producing fruit but not very many, yet), lettuce, and honey. Matt cooked up new recipes from some of these and made a tremendous dinner. Although, apple cider vinegar is not a taste for me, so the snap peas and carrots cooked in this were left on my plate, but I was asking for seconds of the pork.

Before dinner and after our trip to Belmont Center we came home to our mail, which held my first order of photos of Lucien. All of the frames I have bought over the past 3 months are now filled as well as a photo album from my cousin Vicki. It just so happens the album she bought me is the same album my mom recently purchased for me and populated with my baby pictures. It is interesting to compare, not likenesses, but what kind of pictures we took of our babies. All my pictures thus far are "artistic" shots, whereas hers are mainly of me in a family member's arms. I think what causes this difference is both of these albums are for me.

hooray for another sunny day!

The pictures from our adventures during June are finally up. He is a bigger, wilder, more smiley boy than ever before, enjoy.

"How is the baby sleeping?"

This is a silly question, the baby is probably not sleeping very long and the parents are definitely sleep deprived. Asking this question to a new parent is like Indigo talking to Miracle Max about Prince Humperdinck, Billy Crystal's response "and thank you so much for bringing up such a painful subject. While you're at it, why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?"

This question is basically asking a sleep deprived person if they are getting sleep. What do you think their natural response will be? They are going to take all that frustration at not getting sleep and aim it right at you.

So protect yourself don't ask this question to new parents. You will most likely hear about how little sleep a parent is getting anyway, it is a pretty major issue to a new parent they are going to talk about it, unless you ask first.

Just some more silly advice from a new mom, much like that of the "don't ask a pregnant woman this" series.

Much to our surprise Lucien only weighs 18lbs. At least according to the Wii Fit. I was figuring he was up to 20lbs a few weeks ago. He is a very good boy still. We put up the jumpy chair, which he loves! He gets very excited when you watch him jump.

We are going back to giving him fruits, veggies, and rice cereal. There was a brief stopping of the food. However, me and Dad decided we needed to set some routines and stick to them. We now give him 2oz of food for dinner, with the intention of upping that in a week, then in a couple of weeks give him some food for lunch.

Father's Day was quiet, it was just the three of us. We mainly hung around all day doing nothing but being together. It was pleasant and a nice way to spend our first Father's Day with Lucien here.

What another busy month it has been.

Lucien gets more and more interesting by the day. He is a very strong stander. I have a photo of him standing on his own against the couch. This was taken with close supervision by Momma because he doesn't know how to stay standing. He also doesn't know how to stay sitting up. Falling is not something Lucien understands. Instead of holding steady Lucien, with all of his weight, will lean back to take a look at something throwing himself off balance and onto the floor. We always have to be on the look out.

Smiles happen often and are given to Mom and Dad and anybody who will smile at him, given his mood. Sometimes he is tired and not interested in anyone.

Food has become a new adventure. Our doctor has started us out on rice cereal and fruits and veggies. Lucien has tried and loved, pears, applesauce, carrots, sweet potatoes and bananas. He has not liked peas, however, I think this is because baby food peas are over cooked, once they turn brown at all they loose their sweet flavor.

We had some excitement dealing with his new diet right before the fruits and veggies were added. Lucien held off on pooping for 8 days. I called the doctor on day 6 to make sure we shouldn't be worried, they had zero concern to their tone and said apple juice cut with water should get things rolling. Two days, apple juice, prunes, and gripe water later we had a few filled diapers.

I said this on facebook, when poop is a call for celebration you know your life has changed forever.

Even with the added foods we are still intending to breast feed Lucien for at least the remainder of his first year. Of course if he can't help but bite once he has teeth this could change everything. So there won't be sleeping through the night for a while. Which is fine. I get enough sleep in general and I think Matt does too. He doesn't complain and I'm not complaining either.

Honestly if I get 5 hours of sleep I feel totally refreshed. More than that and I am groggy.

We love our little bug. He is a good baby, so calm in new situations and around other people. We are very lucky parents. His one issue is actually riding in the car. Most parents use the car to put their babies to sleep, we have to really work with Lucien to get him to stay calm in the car. He hates it. To aid in his not fussing we try to drive when it's close to his sleep times and I sit in the back.

Overall I think we have things under control. I enjoy working with Matt to come up with solutions about how to raise and take care of Lucien. We are a happy little family.

It's been a busy month. Lucien has been a champ through all of it. We dragged him to NH for a 450 attendee conference, lots of ladies ooing and aahing over him. Then we messed up his week with electricians running all over the house shouting to each other to connect wires. And finally we flew with him to NC so we could all see his Uncle Smuggler graduate from college.

April 24-26 we were in NH for my annual SCBWI NE conference. I organized the Illustrator Academy with some fabulous faculty, Chad Beckerman, Phil Falco, Gareth Hinds, and Annie Sibley O'Brien. Matt took care of Lucien during all three days so that I could go to sessions and spend some time in the Adult world. It was wonderful, Matt THANK YOU!!

Then the next week we scheduled some electricians to come the two days before we flew to NC. They removed all the knob and tube wiring from our house, YEAY!! They also had to make some new holes to reach all the wiring that was in the ceiling, but these holes came out as improvements because we now have some new lights, which are much better than our dark front door and dark bathroom hallway. There is one project they have to finish but what is done looks GREAT!

Then Wednesday morning we got up before sunrise drove to the airport and ventured on our first flight with Lucien. He fell asleep during take-off. Slept for an hour then was kept quiet with some aisle walks and feeding time for the remainder of the trip.

Once in NC we ate as many biscuits and drank as much Caribou coffee as we could. We had a good time with all the family and friends we got to hang out with. Our casual walk around University Mall with my Dad and come to the rescue Rebecca. The all included party at my Mom's where we got to introduce Lucien to many. Then the drive everywhere in Charlotte trip to see Greg graduate, which was very exciting. We almost took Lucien swimming for the first time, until we realized we had neglected to get appropriate diapers. Sunday we had a Mother's Day brunch, then drove back to Chapel Hill, where we relaxed the rest of our trip until returning Tuesday evening. Lucien was again a champ for the flight, this time sleeping the whole time.

Lucien enjoyed seeing all his relatives, snuggling in, giving out hugs, giggles, smiles, and drool. We hope to see everyone again soon.

Wrapping up, we had a doctor's appointment today, he is in the 75th percential on all counts, weight:16lbs 8.5oz, length 25 3/4 inches, and head circumference (I missed); being this proportional is very odd amongst babies. Anyway, he is slowing down on his growth rate and ending up more like his mom and dad's size. Even still being in the 75th percential there are many three month old clothes he still fits in. Those baby cloths sizes aren't very accurate. He is four months old today, sleeping a lot since he had 3 more shots, and when he's awake telling me all about what he thinks. He has found his voice! It's fun.

Our final excitement today was our walk with the new stroller, which works so well, the wheels don't ever get stuck and they almost pull themselves through grass, hills, and messed up NE pavement. LOVE IT! Next we are installing the next size up car seat. Making things less complicated; car seat stays where it is and stroller now packs up small.

As does with a baby. Every day is different, the challenge is trying to keep up.

Changes:
After some gentle pushing we decided to try using the crib for naps. After two days, Lucien took a long nap in the crib. I was able to get a lot done, however, at first I really didn't know what to do with myself. Yes we are using the crib, our bassinet was fine, it goes up to 20lbs but, since we hardly use it and the crib is set up, we put it away to give us more floor space.
We tried to leave Lucien in the crib for going to sleep at night, he woke up after just two hours. The co-sleeping works to get long stretches. We are no longer suffering from any lack of sleep and Lucien is quite a cuddle bug. Who would not want to sleep next to the little guy? I really don't care what the supposed negatives are with co-sleeping, this is what we are doing and we are sticking with our choice.

The second change is he can now use the stationary entertainment toy. He loves it. My favorite part is watching him push the buttons to make it play music. You can see the wheels in his head turning as he decides I am going to push this button. It is so cool. I have some new pictures on flickr of this and hopefully tomorrow I will have a chance to post a bunch more.

Thirdly he is becoming much more expressive. His hands get involved when he is frustrated and he talks and makes faces about the things that excite him.

As he grows we also needed some new stuff for him. With some careful planning of my day I went to Target this morning and got everything, socks that stay on, teething rings (yep it looks like there are two little teeth starting to come up, other indicator he crews on his hands or our fingers constantly), and new diapers, swaddlers brand. We were trying to be environmentally friendly and use the non-chlorinated diapers but, they were very rough so they rubbed his skin raw and they didn't hold much so they leaked more often. It was a good day, Lucien had fun shopping too, there was a lot to see.

On a side note I just finished 'Rebel Without a Cause', I hope I hear what Lucien is trying to ask and tell me and don't project too much of my own issues or desires on him. This is his life and my part is to help him lead it.

The sickness is finally lifting. Matt is still a bit under the weather, however, he went to the doctor and got some medicine. He should be all better soon.

With more energy we are working on some projects, Matt on my website to be ready for a conference on the 24th and me on a few pieces for a self-published book I am working on.

Even as we stay busy taking care of Lucien and working on our projects we are still trying out new recipes and cooking together. We tried out some new recipes Saturday morning some french toast chocolate sandwiches, lunch for the past few days a chicken salad from another cookbook, and tonight a Mediterranean Stew with Polenta. I love polenta, now. LOVE. I think I will even have it for breakfast tomorrow.

Lucien's progress: he is finally beginning to show interest in toys. He likes the towel toys, which he grasps and of course puts in his mouth. Then he has a jungle play mat, which can keep him busy for thirty minutes. It has hanging toys that he looks at and swats at, then a mirror that he looks at when he is having some time laying on his belly. Also, when the batteries are at full power it has a musical corner that he can kick to start up the music.

New pictures are up for our wonderful and yet, sadly a little weary weekend with the Freedman's. They mainly kept Matt, Lucien, and I company as we tried our best to not be as sick as we were. We are so glad they came to see us and we are happy Uncle Andy and crew joined in on Sunday.

We just got back from the doctor and dinner. Lucien is okay. The stuff coming out of his belly button is nothing more than over active healing cells that made a growth. Our doctor today was great he looked like Anthony Edwards from ER with a bow tie. He was very kind and calming for the small procedure to get rid of the growth, which was to tie a silk thread around it and cut of the blood supply. This will cause it to die and fall off. This was one of the first gross things I could not watch but, Matt could.

His cold is not yet getting better. He coughs pretty hard, last night hard enough to puke. However, he is still a pretty feisty baby. When it's lunch he will eat, not as much but it is lunch more times a day to make up for that. The crying has changed too, he does it silently! because, I guess, it hurts to cry.

Today is brighter than yesterday, he is going to be okay this is just going to be a rough month.

Lucien got a cold last week. I called to ask the doctor what we should do. They said as long as he was eating and going to the bathroom we were fine. This morning Lucien no longer found my boobs to be yummy. If you have seen Lucien eat you know when he is hungry he wants as much food as he can get. This morning was not like that, he didn't care to eat. He also coughed all night long, there was no sleep for anyone. Thank goodness for our 4 hour nap during the day, thank you grandparents. Then his pooh turned green. Although, this is normal; it just means things are moving really fast to their exit.

So, we, Lucien and me, went to the doctor this afternoon to get him checked out. This really was no fun. He got weighed, with a diaper, he is 14lbs 4.5 oz. Then they checked his oxygen levels, which took forever. The doctor listened to his lungs looked in his ears and then had him sent to x-ray. It is no fun to watch your infant get x-rayed. They had to strap him in this device that restrained his arms above his head and I had to help by holding him in this position. It was very traumatic, he screamed through all of this. Plus you don't really want your baby exposed to x-ray too often.

Prognosis is that the cold has turned into bronchiolitis. This means Lucien will be coughing really badly for the next few days and the coughing can last up to 4 weeks. When he coughs he wakes himself up, which means even less sleep for parents who were already getting next to no sleep.

I appreciate that he is gaining antibodies against a cold, but no thanks. He can wait until he is older to get those. Plus I really hope it isn't true that bronchiolitis leads to asthma. If that is true it's REALLY not worth it for your infant to get a cold. Plus watching your baby cough and cry because it hurts is heart breaking.

On a side note of AWESOME(sarcasm) Lucien's belly button is not healing. This means he either has a polyp or his intestine are coming through. Either way not what we want. Tomorrow we are going to a specialist to get this checked out.

New pictures are up from this past week. There were no posts last week because poor Lucien got a cold and he became all consuming. It is the saddest thing to hear and infant cough. He has no ability to cough anything out or to blow his nose so we have to aid him in these needs. It is an awful experience for him, he screams about it, but in the end it does help him breath.

Lucien got a bunch of Grandma and Grandpa time from the Hogans and the Girards. Grandma Hogan came in on Monday and helped me take Lucien to Houghton Mifflin so he could meet everyone. After two hours we were starving, Lucien was overwhelmed, and my meter was one minute to expiration. We will have to stop by again.

The rest of the week was filled with some home projects, enjoying delicious food in Watertown, and playing some Bohnanza. Matt and I keep getting beat by everyone we teach! It was great to see my Mom and Mark and I know they were excited to see Lucien's growth. As babies do, he has changed quite a lot since he was two weeks old. It is too bad they can't see him more regularly.

Perhaps we can fix this some with Skype, I just downloaded it this week, i will perhaps use it more often.

Today we hung out with Grandparents Girard. They helped by giving Mom, Dad, and baby a much needed 4 hour nap. We are all suffering from the same cold. The extra sleep helps out a lot.

Next weekend we will have more visitors, Aunt Liz, Uncle Adam, and cousins Robert and Luke. We can't wait!

It is proven, Lucien has the Gathy/Noel blood in him, he is a HAM for the camera.

Today he went to the doctor for his two month check up. He is only 13lbs 10oz, we were thinking he was almost 15lbs according to our not so reliable scale, and 24 1/2 inches long. Everything is going very well. He still has a granuloma in his belly button, so he had to have that cauterized again. Also, he had to get his first round of immunizations today. Lucien was very tough, he cried a little while the shots were given but, he quickly calmed once it was all over. He is such a good little bug.

For mom today: I have given my notice at work. That's right, from here on out I am a stay at home mom. It is another weird feeling. I have been working since I was 15, fulltime since I was 22. I don' t understand being unemployed. Plus, I loved working at Houghton, I really hate to leave, but staying home makes more since right now.

Today, Lucien rolled over! He rolled from his belly to his back. I was such a mom I called Matt right up, "Oh my goodness he rolled over!" Thankfully he did it again for Matt once he got home. I am guessing he will keep doing it again and again now.

Last weekend we traveled down to Baltimore, MD to see Kris and Jerrod and to go to Pat and Risa's wedding. What a unique and beautiful wedding! From their programs, to the space they got married, to the hand made origami roses for all flower arrangements. Thank you for having us Pat and Ris, I am so glad we could be there to support your marriage. It was also great to see everyone!

Aunt Kris babysat Lucien through the wedding, which was so nice! Thank you Kris! It was our first time being away from Lucien for more than 2 hours. It was very strange.

We drove down and Lucien was a champ for the rides. He asked for stops 3 times each way, which I would say is pretty amazing! If more babies were like Lucien I think more people would have kids. We are such lucky parents.

Although, what is it they say, have an easy baby, you will have a terrible toddler. We are trying to baby proof now as best we can, but he is going to figure out how to get into everything, looking forward to the challenge.

He's a happy boy! Last weekend he got to meet his Uncle Greg. We had a fun filled time together. Greg was a trooper and would hold Lucien even if he was crying and Lucien got his first pair of aviator's from his Uncle Greg.

However, more will have to be told on this later, we are getting ready for another busy travel weekend!

Enjoy the smiles :)

So almost three years ago this meme went around. I managed to full fill two people's art requests. My goal is to finish the rest by October this year. Did anyone else finish theirs?

Last weekend was great. Many descended upon Boston, Jeffy, Sophus, Sean and Kelly, AJ and Lumi, and Cameron. Us and Cameron had our first breakfast where Lucien watched us eat. After which we joined up with everyone else at Ned Devine's at Faneuil Hall downtown. Lucien remained happy with all of this, including traveling next to the Hanarino's and onto Adam's. What he wasn't okay with was Sean Graham's singing. Yep, a group more than 10, led by Sean Graham, singing Death Metal, at the top of their lungs, was a little too loud for Lucien. This was our cue to take Lucien home. He slept his second night of 5 hours.
The next morning we, more rested that everyone who stayed at Adam's, cooked a large brunch. However, the 4 pounds of bacon cooked was not enough.
Then, with the snow storm starting up our group began to disperse. By 7pm everyone had left and we felt the weight of our long but, fun weekend.
"[Carting around] a young child is stressful and unpredictable, you do whatever it takes to make it work. . . But you could say the same thing about snowboarding or touring with the Rolling Stones. 'Stressful and unpredictable' doesn't preclude fun." –Matthew Amster-Burton, Hungry Monkey

Ugh, sleep has not been Lucien's desire for a few days now. I almost wished I hadn't gotten the glimpse of five hours at all. I was really getting used to a max of 4 hours a night.

Last night Matt and I set up a schedule to help us hopefully put Lucien back into the swing of a longer night. Even if that doesn't work, it at least sets us up for the night.

During the week Matt must get at least 6 hours a night to be able to go to work. He has been getting that much sleep almost every night since he went back to work full time, but we didn't work out what he could do to help me before he went to bed. So, last night we set up a check list of to dos to be sure we are all "tucked-in" for the night. It was very helpful. What would be even more helpful now is if Lucien would cooperate and sleep for more than 3 or 4 hours.

The worst part is Lucien no longer naps for an extended time during the day, because he is getting the hang of night verse day. The longest he will nap is about 40 minutes. If I sleep during this time with him, when I wake up I actually feel worse than if I hadn't gone to sleep at all. 40 minutes is just shy of a good sleep cycle. At least I only feel bad for the first hour that I wake up, but I'm definitely tired all day. I can't wait for more than 4 hours, 5 felt incredible! To get to 6 will be heaven.

Lucien has made two breakthroughs. First he has slept 5 hours in a row twice now! Not last night. . . I blame a growth spurt, but Thursday night and Saturday night.

Then this morning he smiled twice. It was so cute.

He really is becoming more aware of his surroundings. On Saturday he watched us eat breakfast as we passed him back and forth, no crying, just wanted to see what we were doing.

I can't wait for a laugh. He is already pretty chatty, he coos and tells us things with a kind of bark. He is doing that now so I have to go.