Imma shoot straight with you

I have a difficult child.

I love him dearly. His smile lights up my life and he is so fun to figure out.

But he is difficult. "Can you come take him?" is commonly heard around our house. We are still dealing with reflux issues and he is only eating about 3 ounces at a time, which means 8 times a day we feed him, and 8 times a day we get crying fits.

Everyone tells me once a baby weighs __ pounds (10-12, depending on who is talking) he will sleep through the night. Drew is a little over 11 pounds, and there is NO WAY he is sleeping through the night anytime soon.

So why do I put such a Debbie Downer post on my blog? Well, I have never heard anyone in the moment say they have a difficult child. Once the kids are older people tend to look back and say it (just this weekend Rob's mom called him the worst baby ever), but in the moment it is all sunshine and roses and cooing babies. I sincerely hope all of my friends have the easiest, happiest children ever, but if you don't, you are not alone.

Santa Claus and Other Christmas Shenanigans

First off, pictures with Santa are bloody expensive- at least they are at the Domain.  $24.95 for ONE SHOT?  But of course I paid it, because I had to have the picture.

It's not even that great of a shot.  The first several he had the pacifier, and at this point the pacifier takes up 1/2 his face, so I didn't like those.  I figured we would have limited time before he started crying after we took it away, and I was right.  This is the picture where he realizes his pacifier has been taken away.  All the rest of the shots were of his screaming.  At least Santa looks happy.

(Note: Santa did not ask Drew what he wanted for Christmas.  I was all ready to tell him that what Drew really wanted was to sleep through the night).

Christmas with a baby, even one that wasn't really aware of what was going on, was lots of fun.  Both grandmothers swore they "weren't doing too much" and then we opened about 8 presents from each of them.  He got some precious stuff, though.  I think next year he will be right in the middle of "the-box-is-better-than-what-is-inside" phase, so it could be a pretty cheap Christmas for us all!

I (Lindsey) didn't have a bad Christmas, either!  Rob was tired of listening to me complain about my iPhone and figured if he was going to buy a new one, it should go under the tree, so I got an iPhone, and a matching iPad (THAT was a complete surprise).  Vicki gifted us with a DSLR camera (better pictures to come) and mom gave me some great "pampering" things (make up, Clearsonic Mia) and money to continue the pampering.  It was a lovely holiday!

Rob is off of work this week, so I have big plans to get things done around here and be able to run some errands baby-free.  We have basically had two whole weeks all together-- that must be some sort of record!

Two Months!

Drew,

What a difference two months make!  Drew, you are 100% different than that child they placed in our arms October 18th.  You are so much more interactive now- smiling and laughing when we make goofy faces at you.  I can see that you recognize your daddy and I.  You are developing a routine and a pattern and I am quickly figuring out what things you like and what things you don't.

First, it was a Christmas miracle.  On December 23, 2010 your umbilical cord FINALLY fell off.  Well, your dad actually pulled it off.  You didn't cry or scream or anything, so I think he just hastened something that probably would have happened naturally in a few hours, but I am suddenly having flashes of you in kindergarten or first grade with a loose tooth...... 

We have learned some of your little quirks this week-- like your need for "window" time.  After your bottle around 6 or 7AM, you are ONLY happy if we put you in the pack and play in front of our open window.  You will sit there for close to an hour wide awake and completely happy, talking to yourself.  The few days that we forgot to give you that time you were perturbed the whole day.  So we always make sure to put you in front of that window!!

You also love "knee" time, where your daddy and I will sit you up on our knees and talk to you.  During that time we get some of the biggest smiles from you!

Now, the doctors say you need "tummy" time, and you still hate that.  If we catch you at just the right time (a certain amount of time after eating but before you get tired) you will tolerate it and not cry, but generally you act like putting you on your tummy is akin to dragging you over hot coals.  You do seem to have an amazingly strong head anyway.

Our biggest challenge this month has been your acid reflux.  In the middle of feeding you you would push away your bottle, arch your back and start to SCREAM bloody murder.  We went back to the doctor almost every week this month looking for a solution.  The third time seemed to be the charm when we got you hooked up with Zegerid.  We are so happy to see that you are not in pain anymore.

The other smart feeding move that we just made was moving you to level 2 nipples a month ahead of time.  We just decided to try it, and sure enough you sucked down almost 4 ounces super quickly.  We were fighting you to get down 3 ounces with the level 1 nipples, so we are sticking with  level 2 from here on out.

Your one little trick that keeps mommy endlessly entertained is the fact that you only spit up on daddy.  Not sure how it happens, but daddy gets it every time.  Thank you, munchkin. :)
At your 2 month appointment you weighed 11 pounds, 1 ounce (55%) and were 23 inches long (75%).  The pediatrician says that between 11 and 12 pounds most kids drop the middle of the night feeding.  You don't really show any signs of wanting to drop that feeding, but we are hopeful that may happen in the next little bit.  You finally have your nights and days on the same schedule, so at least you go back to sleep pretty quickly in the middle of the night.  We are most thankful for that.
And the 23 inches- that was CRAZY.  You grew 2 inches in a month. And it literally seemed to happen over night.  I bought very few 0-3 month clothes, because everyone said their kids were only in them for a short time.  But you are still in them, so I've been doing laundry quite often.  There was one particular onesie that you wore on a Tuesday, and weren't anywhere CLOSE to getting in by Friday.  Amazing.

We love you, Drewbie!

Mom and Dad

Christmas will be a bit different this year

On October 18th, 2010 Andrew Edward Callegari came into this world.

On December 18th, 2010 Edward Jerome Callegari left this world.

After battling diagnosed cancer since June (I say "diagnosed" because once he got that diagnosis we all realized he had been battling the cancer for many months before), Rob's dad passed away.  The cancer made him physically weak, but his personality was unchanged until the very end.  His sense of humor, the way he would rib his family-- all of that was exactly the same.

He had been admitted to home hospice several days before he passed, so he was at home with his family and (hopefully) at peace.  He was buried on the 21st in Shreveport, Louisiana.  Rob delivered a eulogy that was simply amazing-- it expressed the love and respect we all had for Eddie while highlighting some of the more .... memorable... aspects of his life.

Wednesday, December 15th Eddies two oldest sons, Chuck and Chris were in town, and Eddies four boys sat in the room with him and recounted all their stories growing up with Eddie as a dad.  Listening to them talk, I realized it was NOT worth it to make a bet with Eddie- he ate everything from dog food to June bugs when his boys bet him he wouldn't.  And each of them swallowed their pride and their disgusting object of choice when he did.  Every so often you would see the faintest smile on Eddie's face, and I hope he enjoyed the walk down memory lane as much as the boys did.

Drew and I drove to Shreveport with my parents, and D was simply amazing.  We only stopped once, and that was because I insisted on a Starbucks before we hit the road at 6:30AM.  I sat in the back with Drew and gave him a bottle when he got hungry, and he stayed quiet on the 4+ hour rides up and back and during the funeral.  He was a bit off schedule that day, but it was worth it to have him there and in a good mood.

Eddie, we love you and will miss you terribly.  Right now we are all so happy you are not in pain anymore I'm not sure we fully recognize the extent of our loss.  But you have touched us all, and we are sure pieces of you will live on in your namesake.

Sophie's 3rd Birthday

Yep, we celebrate the dog's birthday around here.  We had a big hubbub for year one, hat and all.

Year two may have passed with just a toy to mark the occasion. I don't remember anything, and there is no pictorial proof of a party.

But I decided we needed to make a big deal out of year 3 because Sophie had been mighty neglected for 6 weeks due to this new addition to our family.  His name is Drew-- maybe you heard me mention him?  Anyway, I went all out.

Cake.  Homemade.  Candle included.

Presents.

[Not Pictured- Singing]

Not sure how many birthday celebrations she will get after this one, but it seemed appropriate to make a big deal of this particular birthday.  Doesn't she look happy?



Guilt Treats

According to the vet, Sophie has gained 5 pounds in the last 6 weeks.

:: I can't walk you right now so.... here's a treat!:::

I'm just sayin'.

Two follow ups

1. My child was in the back seat of the car, sweetly sound asleep, when I pulled into Wendy's to order a salad.  He stayed quiet while we waited for all the cars in front of us to order.  As soon as I pulled to the microphone (and before the order-taker had spoken), he started to scream.  I swear, this kid is determined that I shall not eat.  Good thing is cute and is smiling a lot more these days!

2. This morning Drew was crying in his pack-n-play.  Sophie ran out of the room, went to Drew's bouncy seat in the kitchen, and brought him back a new lovie blanket he got yesterday.  No one will ever be able to convince me that she wasn't bringing him a toy to try to make him feel better.  She has never, from the day we got her at 8-weeks-old, picked up ANYTHING (sock, shoes, paper) that wasn't hers.  Love that dog.