Another week...

Another week has passed us by, and January is quickly coming to an end. Where in the world does the time go?

This week has been pretty uneventful, which is great considering an eventful week this month has meant one of us being sick.

Monday, we took Collen to see a pediatric neurologist. Our pediatrician suggested it just to let us "talk out" our concerns with someone who is more familiar with SIDS. Turns out, she wasn't all that familiar, especially with current literature. So, I guess we kind of educated her. At any rate, it did help to have someone listen to our concerns. Collen was evaluated, vitals checked and such...including his weight, and he is now a whopping 18.2 pounds. Big boy... He is sitting up without support, but he is still working on steadying himself. That head gets heavy! He still doesn't like tummy time, but he's getting better at staying on his stomach to play some. He'd much rather sit up and play, but he can't be left alone to sit up by himself, yet. The neurologist said that we had done everything we could do as far as ruling things out. We did the EKG, which was normal, he's on the apnea monitor, we keep a close watch on him, none of the risk factors apply. So, she said that in Collen she sees a happy, bright, healthy baby (to which I wanted to reply, "That's what you would have said about Ayden, too.")

With each passing day, I do breathe a bit easier, but as a mom I know that it isn't just SIDS that terrifies me. Anything can happen, and we can lose him, too. I try not to think about it too much, but really...what parent doesn't?

We've had a lot of visitors this week! My parents came, which is always fun! They try to visit at least once a week. My mom often comes to spend the night one night a week (I always look forward to this....girl time is much needed when you're surrounded by boys!). We went to dinner with them, and my sister joined us. We had some friends over last night. I enjoy cooking for people. I used to avoid it, but now that I have the Pioneer Woman's cookbook, I am a cooking fiend!! I tried out her mac and cheese last night, and it was good. Next time, i won't use the seasoning salt though. I like to keep mac and cheese simple - don't mess with mac and cheese too much if you don't have to! Then, today, my cousin dropped by (and brought me lunch!!) with his son, who is 9 months old. I was amazed at how far apart Miller and Collen were developmentally and then also amazed at how much Collen is going to change in 4 short months. The first year is just phenomenal!

I'm trying my hand at making baby food, and it is going wonderfully! So far, I have made carrots, applesauce, and butternut squash. I made the squash today, and I have to say.....I did good. It smelled so tasty, I had to have a taste! It was scrumptious (that was the word-of-the-day on Sesame Street yesterday....haha...we watch a lot of PBS these days)! Collen thought it was good, too! So far, he has had the foods I've mentioned along with peas, sweet potatoes, and bananas. He likes all of them, except bananas, and the peas take some coaxing. My mom made his sweet potatoes a while back and froze them; that has been a god-send because we haven't had to go out and buy much for making his food, yet.

Collen is eating solids twice a day - once in the morning and once in the evening - totalling around 4 ounces a day. I think he would eat another "meal" in between those two, but I know that right now milk is still what is most important. I may phase in the 3rd "meal" at 6 months old.

I'm still working on building my supply back up. My midwife prescribed Reglan just to help give me a boost. Being sick back-to-back really hurt me, so hopefully this will help get things back in gear. For now, I'm supplementing wtih formula until everything gets back to where it needs to be.

So....that's our week. Tomorrow, we are going to work on Ayden's garden. We have had such a bitterly cold winter that we haven't been able to get out there and prune it back. I feel terrible for letting it go this long, but with Collen, it's difficult because we can't just take him out in the cold like that. Tomorrow, though, is supposed to be a beautiful day!! Jeremy's parents are also coming to visit tomorrow, so it's going to be a full day!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.