G-Y-M-B-O, G-Y-M-B-O!

MEET GYMBO (AKA kind of scary clown)

March Mommies and Babies (minus a few)

From L-R

Nancy & Dylan, Me & Spencer, Kelly & Carter, Kerri & Miles, Krissy & Nicholas, Laurie & Macey

Today Spencer and I and some of our friends did a free Gymboree Play and Learn class. It's hard when they are this age to time feedings and naps just right to make sure they want to play during the class but all in all it was a great outing for us. Spencer loved the stimulation! You might ask what you do in a Gymboree class for babies this young????????

We sang songs, gave baby massages, played with flashlights to help with eye tracking, tummy time to make the babies stronger, and even played some peek-a-boo with the big parachute. I am not so sure we will be signing up for any future classes just yet as we can do a lot of the activities at home but it certainly gave me some great ideas! Although, it was really fun being around all the other mommies and babies!! Gymboree has a Groupon special coming out on Monday so if the price is right we may jut sign up!

Here are some pics from our Gymboree class:

Spencer all ready to start his first class!

Chillin with GYMBO

All the babies playing

All tuckered out after class! Didn't even make it to the car :-)

Spencer Meets the Bumbo

So Spencer has been getting stronger and stronger and his neck control is getting to be so good so I thought we would try the bumbo this morning. Why not, right? It's a little early for it but we had fun trying it out! I think it will be a few more weeks before we really enjoy sitting and playing in it! But here is a sneak peek!

10 weeks! Well, Almost 11

Long Live the TOOTHBRUSH!

So our darling little Spencer has started to rebel against napping. Fabulous! I could not be more thrilled :-)





Listen, I CANNOT complain at all because Spencer has been a great little sleeper thus far and is sleeping through the night but this is new territory for us during the day. As a friend told me today with parenting, no comes out unscathed! We may all have different challenges but we all have them.



The days of 2 hour naps have seemed to have ended with this baby. Within one hour of going down for a nap he wakes SCREAMING! Almost like he is in pain. Originally this started with his afternoon naps but now EVERY nap he takes, we get screaming within 1 hour. This has been going on for about 2 weeks now and we even took him to the doctor because we were concerned it was his reflux. After our doctor was not convinced it was reflux she told us to listen to Spencer for cues.





Lets be honest, I may follow a schedule, I may let my baby "cry it out" but I would never deprive him of anything he needed. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I am not against going back to a 3 hour feeding schedule as opposed to pushing it to 3 1/2 or 4 hours but to be honest I just don't want to give him a bottle every time he cries. So, there is the debate.....do I feed him because that is what soothes him or do I let him "cry it out"???? The doctor says let him cry for 10 minutes. Mom's on Call says 20-25 minutes. This solution is hit or miss. Sometimes he goes back to sleep, sometimes he is inconsolable. Even when I do pick him up to console him after "crying it out", he wants nothing but to scream. Could it still be reflux pain? Colic? ughhhhh can't they just tell us???





Yesterday, I tried it all. I tried the swing, the bouncy seat, the playmat, my shoulder, shushing, cradling, swaddling, not swaddling but the only thing that worked was the toothbrush! I put Spencer in his car seat and I turned the toothbrush on and wouldn't ya know it, he fell asleep and napped through to his next feeding. And lets face it, when we are out and about, he does great and sleeps through not needing a bottle but in his crib at home, it's not happening. So is it really hunger?

On a good note, Spencer still loves his play time. He is so alert and happy which of course makes me feel better after a screaming fit :-) I find myself cherishing this time even more than before because I hate to see my boy unhappy.

So, hooray for the toothbrush yesterday but it cannot work forever. So, any suggestions?

Spencer napping with his toothbrush!

Another Weekend of Celebrations! Family, Friends and Fun!

Couldn't have asked for a better weekend. It was jammed packed with family, friends and FUN!

Friday night we celebrated a belated Mother's Day dinner at our house with Cheryl, Dad, Annie and Hubbell! It was a great evening with yummy food from the grill and everyone got to visit with Spencer (who cares about us these days......I have learned we are chopped liver).










On Saturday we celebrated our God Daughter Marin's 1st Birthday (and her cousin Molly's 1st birthday too)! I cannot believe she is already ONE!!!! It has been a crazy fast year and I cannot help but think before we know it we will be celebrating Spencer's 1st Birthday too! LB, Danny, Jake and Marin are "family" and we so enjoy celebrating special occasions with them and their families! Happy Birthday sweet Marin Rose! We love you!








After a quick nap at home, we headed to Trey and Katy's for our first Crawfish Boil! I did not know what to expect but I wish I had taken pictures of the 42lbs of Crawfish they had! It was crazy but cheers to the host and hostess for a fun-filled night and SPICY food :-) We got to see so many of our friends that we have not gotten to visit with since Spencer was born! Speaking of Spencer, he got to come too and saw two of his friends Brooks and Nicholas. It's a great feeling to know we are ALL welcomed to join the party and all the babies were on their best behavior :-) The rain moved the party inside after a bit but we had a blast. I think we stayed out the latest we have in 6 months arriving home at a whopping 10:30!!






Sunday was our day to get a bunch of errands done and we got out early to conquer our list! After another day of running around we all crashed around 4:00pm and were in for the night. Yay for great weekends!

Well, Maybe not.....

Just as I said I was going to get him, he stopped! Okay, maybe this will work but "crying it out" is not easy! Stay tuned :-)

Crying it Out

Ugh....I hate this part of being a mommy but I do believe it is important. Right now as I write Spencer is "crying it out".

It somehow never gets easier listening to him cry. But we are going on our second week on our new schedule and we are not making much progress so I must use self restraint and do it. I have been following Moms on Call to the tee for Spencer's schedule and we have done great thus far but this transition is not going so well. I am starting to think he is just not ready for 5 feedings a day and I need to go back to the old schedule that had 6 feedings until he is. The Moms on Call schedule calls for a transition anywhere from 8-16 weeks. We are only at 10 weeks and I am starting to feel like we are just jumping the gun. Spencer slept 10 hours last night so I cannot complain and he ate at 6:45 this morning so I am letting him "cry it out" for 20 minutes until he reaches the 3 hour mark. Then, if he is not settled, we will feed every 3 hours today and go back on our old schedule tomorrow. Sigh......the joys :-)

Okay so he's still crying (breaking my heart) so it's time to go get him....3 hours it is!