Where has the time gone?

Holy cow, my sweet baby boy is almost 11 months old!  I was looking back at my last blog post and it feels like it has been such a long time since then.  He changes absolutely every day. 

Things he is doing now at almost 11 months is pulling up on EVERYTHING, walking around furniture.  Bending down to pick up toys and standing back up again.  He still rarely crawls the way you picture crawling.  He does this swimming frog crawl on his belly, and boy does he fly!  He does NOT sit still for a second anymore.  He is also going up the stairs now, but doesn't do it very well.  He always looks back to see if you're there and then falls back into your arms.  You cannot take your eyes off of him for a SECOND!  We put him in his walker a lot because then he can't get into things or go up the stairs. 

He has the absolute best personality, I couldn't love him any more.  He loves to play games and he laughs all the time.  He is sick today so he has been a little fussy, but he's usually very good natured (though demanding at times).  He loves watching Baby Einsteins and thinks out tablet is "his".  Sleeping through the night lasted several weeks when he was 7 months and hasn't happened again.  He went through a horrible sleep time at 9 months (right about the time we moved in with mom and dad - see below).  I think it was a wonder week plus moving to a new house.  It was horrible.  He's back to mostly just once a night, except last night he was so stuffy he couldn't sleep well, so he was up several times just crying, he didn't know why he didn't feel good, poor baby.  I think he's also cutting two molars, so I think he's sick plus teething molars = poor baby. 

Our house ended up going back under contract the first weekend we were back on the market and we got full asking price.  We moved in with mom and dad at the end of February and we are still living there.  We will close on our new house on June 13.  We are having a good time at mom and dad's and they spoil Jacob like crazy, but we are also very excited to have a house again.  I know I will miss all the help with Jacob and I will really miss my 2 minute commute (which will turn into 20+ minutes), but it feels like we've been there for longer than two months. 

Here's a pic of the house where it is right now:

 

Lots more going on, but that's all I have time for right now.  Will try to update sooner than 4 months :)

Jacob is 7 months old!

Two days ago Jacob turned 7 months old!  Time is really moving fast, I cannot believe my tiny baby boy is already 7 months old. 

Jacob is eating new foods every few days as we build up his food repertoir.  He is eating carrots, prunes, apples, peaches, bananas, butternut squash, peas, and sweet potatoes.  He has had plain yogurt a few times too, and of course baby oatmeal.  He is really eating a lot lately, about 4 ice cubes 3x a day plus 6 ounce bottles of milk every 2 to 3 hours.  The good news is that as a result of all of this food he is sleeping through the night most nights!  He will on occasion wake up in the middle of the night, but more often than not it's because he's filled his diaper and is leaking.  We have gone to overnight diapers one size up and that has helped a lot.  I'm sure it won't last forever and he'll be up soon again, but it is a great blessing right now! 

Jacob is sitting up pretty well on his own, but we still don't plop him down and walk away because he doesn't last too long and usually tumbles over after a few minutes!  He rolls all over the place, and spins too.  Last night he started crying about two hours after we put him in bed and I looked on the baby monitor and he was crying and spinning in circles over and over.  I have heard babies practice what they learn during the day in their sleep so you will often see a baby learning to crawl up on his hands and knees, but this was a first for me!  I was able to go up and give him his paci and pat his back and he eventually fell back asleep.  So even though he's not officially mobile yet, he definitely can work his way to where he wants to go!  Usually it's towards something we don't want him to have, like the fireplace hole in the floor (where you turn on the pilot light I think) or towards a dog or phone :)  What a stinker. 

He is also cutting at least two more teeth which will bring him to 7 teeth total.  The 6th has broken through and the 7th is about to.  He gets a little fussy when he's teething, but not outrageously so.  I really think the amber necklace has worked wonders.  I know Brian still says he doesn't really believe in it, but he puts it on him every day and around his ankle every night, so I think he believes more than he lets on :)  It has helped us not have to give tylenol or other numbing meds, so finger's crossed that continues on.

He is so funny with his actions lately.  He likes to roll onto his side and life his arm and leg up in the air, like a yoga move.  When he lays on his back he loves to vigorously shake his head side to side and usually gets his whole body in on the action, it cracks me up!  He also likes to shreak really loudly which scares our dogs because they don't like high pitch noises!  His favorite toy is still his jumper where he can get out a lot of energy, but he is also liking more interactive toys like some vtech toys that he got for Christmas. 

New Year's this year was nothing very exciting.  Brian worked 9-9, so we weren't planning on doing anything anyway.  The contract on our house unfortunately fell through on New Year's Eve also.  The buyers insisted on a new roof from the inspection even though we had a letter from our insurance company and a 3rd party roofer that our roof was in sound condition.  We are very frustrated to get back to square one and have showings again, but we hope the next buyers will be easier to work with than these people had been.  We had a showing New Year's Eve from some couple who called on our house last week when we were under contract.  My realtor called them back and they came and took a tour.  I guess they really liked the house, so now we're waiting to see if they make an offer.  The good news is they didn't have a realtor so if my realtor makes the sale he can cut down some of his fees so we can make a little more profit on the house.  At this point I don't care, I just want to get it sold.  I am nervous we will lose our new house as a result if we don't get our house sold in the next 60 days, and that is crushing.  We are so excited about this house, I just have to pray that God knows a lot more than I do about what's best for us, and it will definitely work out. 

In other house news, they broke ground at our new house!  I got the email the day after we went back up on the market, so it was kind of bittersweet.  We go next Friday to pick out all of our finishes in the new house and I REALLY hope we have a contract by then so I can enjoy the process more.  I haven't told my contact at Richmond yet about our house going back up on the market, I'm hoping to keep it on the DL until we are under contract again so she doesn't make us sign the addendum to penalize us more if it falls through (to break our contract when we're under contract is a $250 penalty - to break our contract if we are just for sale is a $1500 penalty - yikes!)

Our new house!

This past week has been very busy in the world of real estate for us.  We got a contract on our current house with a closing date of January 25, 2013 and we went under contract on a new house!  We are a little nervous about the inspection going well on our current house.  The new buyers got a good deal on our house, we ended up settling a little below where we felt comfortable, so we verbally agreed it would be an "as-is" price unless there is something really dangerous with the inspection (they used radon as an example).  We are worried they might find something in the inspection that will make them want to walk away.  It could be that they see too much damage to the wood floors or something else that isn't dangerous, but enough of an expense for them to fix to cause them to walk away.  The inspection was scheduled for this past Wednesday, but we had a good snow storm that day, so it was rescheduled for Monday (Christmas Eve), which is the last day they can have it inspected before their inspection period ends.  So finger's crossed all goes well with that and then we can finally get excited about the new house!

The new house we bought is actually a dirt lot!  It is a Richmond American house, the Andrew floorplan, and we get to pick all of our finishes!  I have always dreamt of getting to build a house from scratch, but never thought it would be a possibility.  New houses get expensive very quickly.  Brian and I went on kind of a whim to look at some homes that they had already built that they were selling right now.  There was one that was built that would have served us just fine, but as we started looking, we realized this lot was available in a neighborhood closer to the tech center that they are building in.  We had heard they didn't do any 3 car garages in this neighborhood so we hadn't even looked there.  It turns out, not only is this a 3 car garage, it's a way bigger lot!  Plus the prices are are a little lower, for whatever reason, so we can afford to get a finished basement and still stay within our price range.  All in all I think it will be perfect for us!  When we were touring the lot there were a lot of neighbors outside.  Many homes on our new street just closed in November, so everyone is new.  Everyone on the block has young kids or babies and is similar age to me and Brian, so we are hopeful we will have some fun neighbors to hang out with!  We both grew up in neighborhoods like that and it has always been a dream of ours to have friendly neighbors, and our current neighborhood does not meet that goal.  The home to the left just had the basement dug out and the home to the right has the foundation poured, so all of us will probably move in within a month or two of each other, which will be fun.  Our plan will be to move in with mom and dad from end of January to whenever our house is completed.  They are VERY very generous to allow us and our two little Italian Greyhounds and Jacob to move in with them (Gracie will live with Brian's Uncle Mark).  Living with my parents will allow us to save a lot of money as well to help pay for rear yard landscaping, blinds, and a refrigerator and other miscellaneous things once we move in.  

In other news, this year will be Jacob's first Christmas!  Last weekend we met John, Sommer, Emma, and Landon at Park Meadows bright and early and waited in line to see Santa.  I thought Jacob would scream or be in a bad mood by the time we got up there, but I fed him a bottle in line and when we got up to see Santa, he actually behaved really well!  I have another picture of the three kids (Jacob, Emma, and Landon) that is so cute too, but I don't have it digitally, so this will have to do.  How freaking cute is my baby?!  Jacob has three teeth on the top of his mouth all breaking through at the same time, so he has been a little congested and fussy, but really not too bad considering what he's going through!  I was worried he was getting an ear infection, because I really don't know how you tell - the symptoms are very similar to teething - but this morning he was in better spirits, so here's hoping it is just teething!  His right front tooth and the two on either side of the middle front are coming in right now.  So he will have a total of FIVE teeth!  Foods we're eating now are bananas (love), sweet potato (love), peas (like), avocado (like), baby oatmeal (tolerates), and butternut squash (doesn't like).  We are going to do peaches this weekend.

6 Months Old!

6 months old!

Jacob is 6 months old!  We just got done with his 6 month appointment, and he is doing great!  His weight is 18 lbs 2 ounces, 60%, his height is 27.75 inches, 80%, and his head is 17.25 inches, 50%.  He is surpassing all milestones except for getting up on all fours in a crawling position.  Today we saw Dr. Lisa for his appointment.  She was very good and talked to Jacob in a baby voice.  He has really liked all of the doctors we have seen at this practice so far, they are great with kids (I guess that's why they're pediatricians!)  They have advised us to - gasp - turn off the video monitor so we don't hear every time he wakes up unless he really screams.  I am not quite ready for that, so maybe we'll just turn the volume down a little bit... :)  Jacob is still waking up twice a night and she said it is completely habitual right now, he doesn't need the nourishment.  I do love my bonding with him during the night, but I am also constantly tired.  We'll see.  She also advised it's time to ramp up the solids, so we will start giving him two meals a day and some little cheerios or puffs to get used to putting solid things into his own mouth. 


He loves putting his feet in his mouth!

Poor nugget has been cranky lately.  He has had an upset tummy, constantly pushing, and much more poopey diapers.  Today while getting him dressed after his appointment I noticed another tooth was just breaking through on top right, next to middle tooth.  The middle tooth on top right (I guess his top left) is really swollen, so we'll see, but that could be why he's been extra fussy lately.  I have gone down to nursing just morning and night now.  We have had so many changes at work, it has been very busy and I was having a hard time squeezing pumping into my busy day.  My original goal was to nurse for 3 months, then 6 months, so I made it 50% to 6 months and now I'll see if I can go another month or so doing morning and night, which the doctor said gives him all the great nutrients and benefits of nursing full time. 



5 months old!

I never posted his 5 month picture, so I will attach that as well as other pictures from the last month as well.  I think from 5 to 6 months he's actually slimmed down a bit, probably from being so active!



Sitting in the Bumbo
at Grandma's house

In other news, our house is on the market!  We listed it for sale on November 21, so about two weeks ago.  We have had a lot of showings, but still waiting on an offer.  Needless to say it has been a very stressful two weeks keeping a house spotless with a baby and 3 dogs (and making it look like a baby and 3 dogs don't live there!)  Hopefully my next post will have good news on that front.

All mommy wants for
Christmas is a Silent Night!

 

Here is the first Christmas onesie picture.  We hope to go with John and Sommer to take the kids to see Santa at some point this month for the photo-op!  I took this picture at the crack of dawn this weekend when I was up with him exhausted.  That smile makes it all worth while though :) 

Cold & Flu season has arrived

The season's first yucky bug is making its way through the Mendelsberg casa right now.  Thursday night I got sick with a terrible case of stomach flu / food poisoning that kept me in bed all day Friday.  I tried to stay away from baby J which left the burden on Brian to take care of him.  I am still feeling under the weather 4 days later with nausea, headache, weakness, and exhaustion.  Brian woke up with a sore throat and headache.  Jacob woke up with snot yesterday and had several messy diapers, so I think everyone is under the weather but apparently all beating to our own virus!  Let's hope we all get well and don't pass our respective viruses onto each other. 

You sure do realize how hard it would be to be a single parent in times when you are so helpless.  Thursday night and Friday I could not have taken care of Jacob if I had to.  I would have had to have help.  Even Brian being healthy can only handle so much of being a sole provider and taking care of the house while I was sick.  We're lucky to have a pretty good routine down and we're lucky to have each other, and especially little baby J :)

Jacob is growing like a weed (what's new!)  He hasn't been weighed since his appointment, but he is outgrowing many of his 3-6 month outfits (at 4.5 months old).  He is getting stronger every day.  He is starting to sit up on his own very briefly and he'll even pull himself up to a seated position if he can grab your arm or a pillow to help pull himself up.  He's really reaching for things now too.  In his jumperoo he will reach for the toys around the jumperoo now and his feet can just about reach the floor!  When I was so sick all weekend I took a few baths for my achy body and we would put Jacob in too (might as well bathe him while we're at it).  He loved it, like a big pool for him, but warm!  He laid on his back and just kicked and kicked and smiled and had the best time.  He doesn't even get too mad when you take him out, he's just very content around the water all together!

We have started solids!  We started last week with some baby oatmeal and did it a few times, but Jacob would cry and not swallow any of it, so we took a few days rest.  We got him a new highchair a few days later, and put him in it yesterday.  He was content to sit in it and play with his toys for quite awhile (in baby language quite awhile is 30-45 minutes).  We fed him some baby oatmeal in the chair and he's actually starting to swallow some of it.  We may try avocado in the next day or two to see if he likes that any better than the oatmeal. 

Jacob's first taste of oatmeal last week, not such a fan yet!

4 months old!

On the 1st of this month, Jacob had his 4 month birthday.  Time is going so fast! 

A few days ago, he had his 4 month check-up at the doctor.  He is passing everything with flying colors.  He was in a great mood for Dr. Emily smiling and kicking his legs.  He weighs a whopping 16 pounds already!  His weight is 75%.  His height is 90% and his head is 50%.  So we have a big boy on our hands!  He got 3 injections and an oral vaccine, so my sweet boy was cranky and slightly feverish for 24 hours afterwards.  Glad to have that behind us. 

He is already rolling over from his back to his stomach!!!  This makes me very nervous as the second I put him to bed at night he arches his back and promptly flips over onto his belly to sleep.  The first few night I would go in and flip him back over, but he always flipped back over again.  It was a losing battle.  Most mama's would be so proud their baby was meeting a milestone so ahead of the curve ball, but it made me very nervous.  I have been worried about SIDS since before he was born, and SIDS risk doesn't decrease significantly until 6 months of age.  I always assumed that's about the time he would start rolling over, not at 3.5 months!  The pediatrician said as long as he's doing it on his own, he should be okay.  I am so glad we have our breathing monitor on his bed even more now.  It helps me get at least a little sleep at night, although I still wake up frequently to check the video monitor.  The video monitor and the breathing monitor are my two favorite things we have for him, they definitely give me peace with things! 

We definitely have a mobile boy now.  Last week I put him on the couch like I have always done and turned my back to load up my pump for work.  Next thing I hear THUNK followed by screams.  When I turned around he had rolled off the couch and was face down on the hardwood floors!  I felt like a terrible mommy.  I hadn't even walked away, just turned by back for a minute!  Thankfully our couch is pretty low to the ground and he was okay and calmed down after a few minutes of holding him.  We have learned our lesson.  He is either strapped in his nap nanny, swing, or if I'm right there, on the couch with pillows blocking him, but even that is not very safe anymore!  I am anxious for him to start sitting up so I can put him on the floor on a blanket or something as another option. 

 
Jacob loves grabbing his feet right now.  You can see in his 4 month picture he is grabbing it.  He is starting to really stare at his toys and put them into his mouth.  He's less into his pacifier now and more into toys in his mouth or his hands. 

He also loves his doggies.  He will follow them with his head around the room and he giggles when they come lick him.  He is also very much a daddy's boy right now.  Brian is home with Jacob 3 days a week when I'm at work, so they spend a lot of 1:1 time together.  Here is the most adorable picture I took of my two favorite boys last night.

Baby Jacob is 3 months old!

Time flies with baby Jacob in our lives.  Last Saturday was his 3 month birthday and it's amazing how much he's changed in 3 months.  Here are his birthday pictures from his first 3 months. 

Wow, every month he has changed so much!

Here are a few other recent pics that I love of him.

 

Current things Jacob likes doing is smiling and laughing, trying to roll over, sucking on his paci, being held, taking showers with Daddy, eating (drinking bottles, 4-6 oz), swinging in his swing, and going on car rides.  He has not been a great sleeper but the past 3 nights he has just gotten up once which has been like Christmas morning!  We are crossing our fingers this trend will continue. He has been sleeping in his own room in his crib for the past week and a half.  Before that he was in the cradle or pack and play in our bedroom.  It was a hard move for me, but we have enough videos and other devices monitoring him that I feel a little better :)  We are so in love with our little nugget we can hardly take it!