he's just hungry

To start with: a BIG, HUGE, GIGANTIC THANK YOU to my mother-in-law for making my life a whole lot easier with the 1 suggestion that finally worked for calming little RPG.

I am publicly posting this fully aware of the possibility of raised eyebrows and disapproving glares from some people.  (Now I've got you hooked, huh?)

Last Friday I received a text from Mom Grant (who I will refer to as "Ma" for the remainder of the post so as not to confuse her with my mom, who I call.........."Mom") telling me she had a suggestion for me, and that I should call her if interested in hearing it.  I liked this approach because she left an out for me to not call her if I was tired of suggestions (rabbit trail--because on facebook all you have to post is "Roscoe just cried for an hour" and the responses are bountiful, ranging from "that means he's allergic to milk" to "have you tried swaddling?"  While on this topic, let me say that I'm terrible about facebook status updating.  I view the majority of status updates as just that.  An update.  Not a plea for help.  So when I update with the intention of portraying humor and I receive buckets of advice, it gets on my nerves.  And Mark tells me I need to get over it.  He's right.)  So I let a whole day go by and then called Ma around 9ish.  She told me about how when Mark was a baby, he was always hungry.  He came out starving and she just couldn't keep up.  He started rice cereal at 3 weeks.  Yes, a 3 week old baby being supplemented with rice cereal.  They always blamed his hunger on the fact that she was on steroids for part of the pregnancy.  But then Roscoe had to go throw a wrench in that theory.  Read on. 

Ma advised that it'd at least be worth a shot to try supplementing Roscoe's diet with something.  We want to avoid formula at all costs just because we don't have the money to buy the organic stuff and at the same time don't feel like pumping Roscoe full of the chemicals found in regular formula.  So I got a little bottle feeder from the Grant's last Saturday.  With some experimentation, I got some organic rice cereal to the perfect consistency (very thin) for the bottle.  We started supplementing and a week later, Roscoe is a much much happier baby.

That's all it was!  Poor little guy was just hungry all along :(  Here he was crying all that time and trying to communicate that he wasn't getting enough to eat and I didn't know.  (don't get me wrong, he still has his fussy periods, but don't all babies?)  I guess Mark's hunger as a baby was due to metabolism, and that transferred to our son.  My milk supply just can't keep up with Roscoe.  I'm still nursing him, and he gets a lot more milk than he does cereal.  The cereal is just supplemental.  In fact, I really haven't cut back on how many times a day I'm feeding him, they're just spread out a little more now because he actually gets naps between feedings (for the most part).  The only feeding it's eliminated is in the early morning (2-3 am).  He sleeps better at night now, and this mama isn't complaining!

I know there are a lot of opinions out there on when to start a baby on what food, etc.  But when it comes to the decision of starting my son on cereal 5 weeks earlier than suggested and letting him go hungry, what do you honestly think I'm going to do? 

After all, this baby does look a lot happier to me.

those thoughts on community

Every Sunday night as I sit around a firepit with friends I get this overwhelming feeling that I need to blog on the importance of community and what it means to me personally.  But now I've let too many days go by and those warm, fuzzy feelings are more difficult to put into words.  Actually, my lack of words is probably due to the fact that I've had another one of those battle days with Roscoe.  He has slept for 35 minutes today.  That was one nap.  The rest was spent either eating, playing, or (the majority of it) crying.  Exhausting. 

Anyway, I'm not posting to complain, so here's a quote that is referenced every now and then at church.  It's the quote that pretty much sums up how I came to break down the walls to my heart and realize the importance of transparency with others.

"We are not hurt alone, and we will not heal alone.  Yes, God is individually transforming our hearts, but not in isolation.  We are like stones that are part of a wall (1 Peter 2:5), organs that are part of a body (1 Corinthians 12:12), or members who are part of a family  (Romans 8:15-17).  Our sin contaminates others, and our change helps to heal others.  We need the humility that is fostered in group transparency in order to receive the energy (grace- James 4:6) to continue changing.  Even the person who seems to have it all together needs the trouble of those who don't, so he is not living his life in a self-absorbed delusion.  As someone has said, the disturbed need the comfortable, and the comfortable need the disturbed."

what makes me smile

....Well, lots of things.  But right now, Mark sits across the room from me with Roscoe, who, having decided not to take a nap after he last ate, is somewhat fussy.  But Mark's talking to him and telling him stories and playing with him to distract him from the fact that he's fussy. (That was a lot of "him"s in one sentence.)

Mark's had to work a lot in the past month.  A lot.  As in, 13-14 hour days 7 days a week.  He came home before 7 tonight and HE HAS TOMORROW OFF!!!!!   It's so much fun to watch my 2 favorite guys together.  Can't wait to spend the day with both of them tomorrow.

And here you have it, Mark coaching Roscoe through how to get rid of his hiccups.

God is a giver of very good gifts.  I'm so thankful for my guys.

time with mark's family

The little dude will be waking up any moment to eat, and I'm determined to get these pictures up (since I've been trying for 2 days now).  If it's going to happen, it has to be now, or else I'll forget.

Thursday evening we had dinner with Mark's family.  His parents were happy because their other 2 grandsons were in town, so they got to get their hands on all 3 at once for the first time.  I was shocked at how good the picture turned out.  How often can you get a 2 year old, an 11 month old, and a 5 1/2 week old together for a successful picture?!  Not often according to what I've seen...

Ok, well the kids aren't exactly looking at the camera, but my expectations aren't that high.  At least none of them are crying!

That's one happy grandma!  (We still need to work on Roscoe's smile for the camera, but I'm not putting too much pressure on him...yet)

Granny getting some Roscoe lovin'

This is more like what I expect a shot with 3 little ones age 2 and under to look like.  I'm sure someone else got a better one with Granny and Papa and the boys, right?

I took so many picture of this little cutie patootie.  But rather than put them all up, I'll just post my favorite.  I could eat this little guy to pieces!

No, son.....

....that's not the correct way to use a pacifier

if you'd just go to sleep

Poor baby, as I sit here in the living room my child cries in the next room fighting sleep.  He's sooooo sleepy.  For the past 3 days he's just been a little fussy butt.  There are times of happiness and smiles (gifts of grace from God to help during the fussy times), but then he realizes he's tired and the crying starts.  Sometimes the 5 Ss work, sometimes they don't.  Gas drops, colic calm, running the hairdryer or vacuum, taking him for a ride in the car or stroller.....whatever the remedy may be, sometimes it's just destined to be a matter of letting him exhaust himself.  This may be the reason he sleeps so well at night.  Night before last I had to wake him up to feed him.  I would've let him sleep, but, well.... I needed relief.  Any of you mothers who have ever nursed a baby know exactly the relief I'm talking about.

I've been given lots of advice, and for that I am extremely thankful.  But one of the best pieces of advice is "No matter what the books or people say, you know your baby.  Trust your instincts."  I think that's so helpful because, honestly, have you seen all the advice out there on parenting?!  For every piece of advice, there's another that directly contradicts it.  For example "Your baby needs love and care and attention.  When he cries, hold him."  vs  "Your baby can't control your life and schedule.  Let him cry it out.  He'll be fine."  So for me and Roscoe, do you think the first or second piece of advice works better?  The answer is yes. 

I don't believe I'm spoiling my child one bit by holding him.  In fact, I believe that if I don't cherish this time that I have to cuddle and love on my infant son, I will regret it when he's older.  Looking at it from the infant standpoint, he spent 24/7 in the womb the whole time he was developing.  No wonder he wants comfort now!!!  There was never a time when he DIDN'T have it then.  5 weeks past birth, and he's still trying to get used to life outside of a non-stop climate controlled, swaddled, never-get-hungry environment!  If my love and comfort can help him adjust to that, I've got plenty to give.

However, I do understand that if there are things that I have to do, or if I just need a break from the deafening screams, my child will live if he has to cry himself to sleep in the cradle.  I carried him for 9 months without the ability to put him down, and I remember multiple times when I thought Can I just lay you down for a minute while I do this?  Well, by the way God designed it, now I can.  So I'll take advantage of it.

Funny thing is how quickly he can change from this......

......to this

Little buddy, if you'd just go to sleep, you'd feel a lot better.

weekend trip

My parents and I took off Friday afternoon for a quick trip to Greeneville, TN to see Mark, Candy, Lily, and the new little star Micaiah.  Of course we took Roscoe.  I doubted the dogs ability to properly babysit.  It was beautiful weather so they held fort outside.

As a new mother I'd love to think that my baby would cooperate the entire time.  I mean who wouldn't want a baby that would just sleep for the entire 3 hour car ride, peacefully wake up, patiently wait to eat, etc.....  Not so, Roscoe.  His screams can wake the dead when he's mad and hungry.  So, as we anticipated, we had to stop about 45 minutes away from Mark and Candy's so I could feed Roscoe.  Oh, for the day when we can say "No, son, we'll be there soon.  We'll eat when we get there."  (By the way, funny how 45 minutes to me now means "be there soon."  I can remember as a child when being 5 minutes away from the nearest Burger King felt like ETERNITY.)

So while I sat in the front seat and nursed Roscoe, Dad took the opportunity to take a nap on the tailgate in the sun.  (Insert here that my Dad is the most patient and easy-going man I know.  It is my goal get my temper-prone son to try to mimic his Papa.)

We arrived and there was no shortage of cuteness to pass around.  Here you have 2 newborns separated by 12 days, and a 23 month old little girl who is so cute you can hardly stand it.  Seriously, who needs TV?!  (I say that, but we all had laptops, ipods, and other forms of technology out almost the whole time.  Well, all of us but Candy.  She's the best at actually socializing and not focusing on technology when you're in a group of people.)

Here's a sweet picture of Lily playing with some hand-me-down dishes from cousins Liam and Gilly.  Lily loved her dishes.  She played with them the entire weekend.  The best was watching her with Nana and Papa.  They cooked all sorts of things together.

Something I discovered that made my day:  Roscoe loved Micaiah's bouncy seat!

Look at that goofy guy...  He would just kick and smile and look in the mirror and focus on the rattle.  The best part?  Candy said this is the cheapest WalMart bouncy seat.  Ha!  My child doesn't have expensive taste!  Yes!!!!!!!!!!!  By the way, Mom Grant, he's almost too big for the monkey outfit you bought him.  I think this is one of the last times he'll wear those little monkey feet pants. :(

He just cracks me up with his expressions.  And he looks like he's losing his hair!  He already looked like an old man, now he has a receding hairline.

A few more pictures from the trip:

Mom wanted a picture with both of the babies.  But it seemed one of them was always crying.  But babies don't always cooperate, so we decided to do it anyway, even though Roscoe wasn't pleasant at the time.

Love it.  Screaming Roscoe.  Chillin Micaiah.

A close up of the anger.  Work it, kid!

And sweet sleeping Micaiah.

Here's dad with Roscoe (L) and Micaiah (R).  It's hard to tell from this picture but Micaiah wasn't happy at all.

This picture was taken after Roscoe had been already been screaming for at least 20 minutes.  I decided to put him in the wrap and go walking around outside.  It took a few minutes, but it did work. 

I like this one of dad trying to comfort him :)

What a rough life babies have.  If only we understood.  Here I am trying to empathize.

It was definitely different taking a trip with a 5 week old.  I did make it out of the house with only 1 overnight bag, in addition to the diaper bag and my purse (of course).  For the first overnight trip I was quite proud of myself.  I guess it's easy though with a newborn since I didn't have to take any toys to entertain him.

I do regret not having gotten a picture of Candy and me with our babies.  Somehow that one got overlooked.  Guess that means they're going to have to come to SC to visit soon.  (Right, guys?)