7.5 Months and a New Schedule

Sawyer was showing signs of wanting to eat more, so we decided to add lunch to his schedule. This boy loves to eat! We also dropped his mid-morning bottle. He is growing up so fast!! 

New Schedule (as of last Saturday 1-26-13)
6:45 or 7 am: 8 oz bottle
8:30 am: Breakfast (1/2 jar Stage 2 fruit with oatmeal)
9-11 am: Nap/Playtime
11:30 am: Lunch (1/2 jar Stage 2 veggie with rice cereal)
11:45-1: Nap/Playtime
1:00 pm: 8 oz bottle
1:15-3 pm- Nap/Playtime
3:00 pm: Snack (puffs or Baby Mum-Mums)
3:30-5:30 pm: Nap/Playtime
5:30 pm: Dinner (1/2 jar Stage 2 veggie with rice cereal, and sometimes part of a banana mashed)
5:45-7:30 pm: Nap/Play/Bath
7:30 pm: 8 oz bottle
8:00 pm: Bedtime (sleeps until 6:30 or 7 am)

Before too long, we will probably increase his food to a whole container of Stage 2 fruit and veggies for breakfast and lunch. I will also introduce him to the Stage 3 foods at dinner (probably just half a jar to start with). They are a little chunkier, and I know he needs to get used to the textures. I don't have any pics to update this week, hopefully I will get some this weekend.

Sick Weekend #2

Before I get started on last weekend, I wanted to give a Sawyer update. His antibiotic is definitely working and he is almost 100% better. He still has a little bit of a runny nose, but his cough is gone. He is back to being his old, cheerful self again! His appetite, which he never really lost, is in full speed. We have started giving him more snacks, which he loves! He enjoys puffs, baby mum-mums, and mashed bananas. 
I started feeling a little stuffy Friday afternoon, but woke up full-on yuck Saturday morning. As the day went on, I started feeling a little better, with the help of daytime cold meds. We took it easy most of the day and night, with the exception of a friend's birthday party in the afternoon. Sunday morning I was feeling pretty terrible. Sawyer and I stayed home all day while Will went to work. We watched tv and napped. He was such a good boy for his sick mama! After Will got home, I got to rest a little more while he watched Sawyer. Will was not feeling great himself. He had the same allergy/cold symptoms going on as well. He handled it a lot better than I did! I am so thankful to have him around! By this point, the daytime OTC meds weren't really helping me. I decided I needed to stay home from work on Monday to get more rest/meds. Will took Sawyer to his mom's for the day for me to get better. I slept late and got some well needed rest. Once I got up and moving, I cleaned the house a little, and did some other chores. I went to get Sawyer about 2 in the afternoon. I was feeling pretty decent at the point, and I missed my boy! I have been gradually feeling better the last couple of days. Hopefully I will be good and well by the weekend. We don't need 3 sick weekends in a row!

Here's a fun video of Sawyer on Sunday while I was laid up on the couch: 

Sick Baby...

In all of Sawyer's 7 months, he has never once been truly sick...until this past weekend. He has had minor cold/coughs, but they have been attributed to seasonal allergies/weather changes/teething. This weekend/week, he has been full-blown sick!! Thursday and Friday of last week, his coughing and congestion picked up. He woke up from his nap on Friday feeling hot, so my mom gave him some Tylenol. I picked him up from her around 3:30. When we got home I checked his temp- it was 101.8! That's high for him. The only time he has ever had a fever before, it never got over 100.5 or so. We continued to monitor his temperature through the afternoon and evening. Giving him Motrin or Tylenol every 4 hours. I checked him in the middle of the night, around midnight. His temp was 102.1. That had me a little concerned. I called our pediatrician's on-call nurse. She told me to give him a tepid bath to help cool him down. After an hour of watching him, I checked his temp again, it was 101.1. So then we all went back to sleep. I continued to monitor him every couple of hours during the night. Saturday morning, I went ahead and called our peds office and requested an appointment during their weekend hours. I took him in at 11 am. The doctor, not our normal one, checked his ears, throat, chest, etc. She said his ears were fine, but his throat was red. She tested him for strep and the flu, just to be safe- both were negative, thank goodness! She attributed his red throat to sinus drainage. She said the cold was viral and sent us on our merry way. We were to continue to monitor his fever and treat with Motrin/Tylenol. When we got home, I checked his temp again, and it was 102.8. After more meds and a good nap, it went down significantly. By Saturday evening, he had very little fever, if any. Sunday and Monday, we continued to take it easy and rest. Sawyer was still fussy, but acting more like himself. He had no fever, but still had a runny nose and minor coughing. I think his teeth were bothering him more than anything! He has 3 coming in all at once (2 up top and 1 on the bottom). I'm glad I had the day off from work on Monday for one more extra day of rest- we all needed it! During the night on Monday and Tuesday nights, he coughed a good deal. We had elevated his crib and turned on the humidifier full blast. Based on how he was acting the last couple of days, he did not seem like he was getting any better. He was snottier and was coughing more last night and this morning. We decided to take him back to the peds to see our regular doctor. My mom took him this morning at 8:40. His chest was clear. His throat was still a little red. Dr. B. also checked his ears. Looks like Sawyer is developing an ear infection in his right ear. If we would have waited until tomorrow to take him in, it would have been full-blown. This is his first ear infection ever! Glad we made it 7 months without one. Dr. B. prescribed amoxicillin to treat the infection, and says he should be feeling better by Friday. Let's hope so...Will and I are tired of the fussy, cranky baby that has taken over our sweet boy! I am flat worn out! While Sawyer has been sleeping relatively well, minus the coughing, I, on the other hand, have been waking up through the night to check on him. All in all, he has been handling not feeling well pretty good. He has been taking his bottles and eating his fruits, veggies, and cereal really well. He has wanted to be held, but not cuddled. He will play by himself independently for only a short period of time. Here's to hoping we are back to normal by the weekend!

Updates

I haven't had a chance to update on Andy's progress since his kidney transplant last week. Will and I went to Charleston Wednesday and Thursday of last week to be with him and the family during his surgery. The doctor's started with Allyson, Andy's donor, at 7:30 in the morning. Just as they were pulling her kidney out, they started Andy's surgery. Everything went very well and we were able to see Andy around 4:40 in the afternoon. He rested for the evening while we all went out to eat to celebrate the successful surgery. By the time we got done with dinner, Andy and Allyson were both in their own rooms. We visited for a bit then headed over to my aunt's house to spend the night....we were exhausted! Thursday morning we got up and headed back over to the hospital to spend time with Andy before going back home. Meanwhile, Sawyer was spending time with my parents in Columbia. This was the first time we had left him overnight. I was a little nervous about leaving him, but he did wonderful (my mom and step dad survived as well)! We spent the morning with Andy before visiting my sister at the art gallery where she works. Beautiful pieces! We stopped by the Tanger outlets and had lunch before going home to get our boy. Andy is recovering very well. The doctor's are very pleased with the surgery and his output. 
We went back to Charleston on Sunday to visit Andy again. We took Sawyer with us this time because his Uncle Andy, Aunt Katy, and Nana wanted to see him! Andy has been released from the hospital and is staying at a nearby hotel for the week. He will have daily labs and other check ups to make sure everything is working as it should be. He may be able to come home by this weekend! 

The Varns came to visit too!

Andy is well loved! 

After we got back from Charleston Sunday afternoon, we had the chance to visit with my aunt, uncle, and cousin from Virginia. They were in town visiting before taking my cousin Bekah back to the University of Tennessee. So glad to see them!! We hadn't seen each other since my wedding almost 3 years ago, and they hadn't met Sawyer yet either! 

Great Aunt Janet and Sawyer

Cousins!

So glad to see Aunt Janet and Cousin Bekah!

7 months!!

Our sweet Sawyer boy is 7 months old today!!! Again I will say I can't believe how fast these last 7 months have gone! Sawyer has such a wonderful personality and disposition. He is very friendly and interested in new people. He hasn't shown any inclination of stranger anxiety yet. We just love him to pieces!!

I'm over this photo shoot!

Done!

7 month facts:

* Weight: around 16 pounds I think- we haven't been to the doc in a while, thank goodness! We won't go back until his 9 month check up unless he is sick. 
* Length: probably close to 27 inches
* Wearing size 6 month clothes 
* Wearing size 2 diapers, size 3 during the night
* Bottles: 7 am (8 oz), 11 am (7 oz), 3 pm (7 oz), and 7:30 pm (8 oz)
* Naps: He usually sleeps a total of 3-4 hours during the day
* Nighttime sleep: Sawyer goes to bed around 8 pm and sleeps until 6:30 or 7 am.
* Breakfast, he has baby oatmeal and a whole Stage 1 (or half a Stage 2) fruit (8:30 am)
* Dinner, he has rice cereal and a Stage 1 (or half a Stage 2) vegetable (5:30 pm)
* Snacks: We have introduced Sawyer to Gerber puffs, and he loves them! They are easy for him to gum and they dissolve. I bought him Baby Mum Mums, but we haven't tried them yet. 
* 3 teeth on the bottom, 4th tooth (on the top right) is coming in, maybe working on a 5th tooth on top as well- he is much grouchier this go-round with the teething
* Sits well on his own if placed in sitting position
* Loves playing in the exersaucer, johnny jump up, and playing on the floor with his toys
* Rolling over (goes both ways, but prefers tummy to back)
* Sucks the index and middle fingers of his right hand upside down- no paci at all

100th Post!

Today I noticed that I have written 99 posts...why not make it 100! I don't really have anything exciting to report, but I thought I would check in anyways. Tonight we are going to dinner for Andy and Allyson at a local restaurant, Yesterday's. We are celebrating Andy's kidney transplant which is taking place on Wednesday next week. Andy is Will's younger brother, I believe I have mentioned him before. Back in the Spring of 2012, he was diagnosed with kidney failure. His kidneys were only functioning at like 10%. He has been on dialysis since then. In November, he started testing to find a matching donor. His fiance Brittany's friend Allyson stepped up and got tested to see if she was a match. Well, she is a match and is willing to donate one of her kidneys to Andy. They go in for surgery next week at MUSC in Charleston. Please keep both of them, their families, and doctors in your prayers. Andy will be down in Charleston for a couple of weeks following surgery to monitor for infection and rejection of the new kidney. Will and I will be back and forth visiting him and the rest of the family. So, my 100th post goes out to Andy and Allyson and the kidney games!! 

Keep up with Andy and his progress on his CaringBridge site:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/andytevepaugh

Christmas Vacation recap

I returned back to work yesterday after 11 glorious days home with my family. We had the most wonderful, fun filled Christmas ever! It was so neat to experience it through Sawyer's eyes. He was amazed by everything, a little overwhelmed at times.

Our holidays in pictures:

We started off the weekend before Christmas with a visit with Santa at our favorite breakfast spot, Just Us. 

We went over to Will's parents on Sunday the 23rd for Christmas with the Varns...look at me, I can sit up by myself!

Christmas Eve at my dad's farm outside of Camden 

Christmas Eve after church at the Utsey's 

Christmas morning at our house...

Christmas morning at my parent's house

Christmas Day at the lake with Will's grandparents

The day after Christmas in Traveler's Rest at my aunt and uncle's house

William Alexander the bear, Sawyer, and Lady

Weekend at Edisto- December 28-30

I love rocking on the porch in the sun!

Playtime with Jace, my parent's dog, at the beach

New Year's Eve at our house

Happy New Year!

New Year's Day at Congaree Hunt Club

Well, that about sums it up....what a special time of year! Looking forward to what 2013 has in store for our family! I'm sure it will be a wonderful year full of great adventures and tons of new memories!