Friday, June 8, 2018

Calvin, 4 Months

To my baby boy,
You're a third of the way to one year old and growing right before my eyes. I feel like this month has been the beginning of your many-to-come developmental milestones. This month you've found your feet, you've learned to fall asleep on your own without nursing, you're sleeping better at night, you're learning to grasp toys/objects and bring them to your mouth, you've started giggling, started sucking your left thumb, and you're making so many more sounds.

You are definitely a people-person and love to know what's going on (and that you can see me). You love riding in your carrier (as long as you're facing out), smiling at everyone (but you have a sweet spot for your sister!), and you always want to be sitting upright when you're awake. But I think the happiest you are is when you're in the bathtub! You get SO excited every single time, the whole time - kicking your legs fast and hard, flailing your arms, grinning with happiness - it's adorable! I can't wait for you to do swim lessons in a couple months! :)

Physically, you're growing so much, too. You're still in size two diapers, but they actually fit you like they're supposed to now. Your summer clothes are a mix of 3 and 6 months, and I'm guessing by the end of this month you'll completely outgrow your three month clothes. Along with your growth this month, your umbilical hernia has shrunk. You now have a regular sized belly button. :) You also have the longest eyelashes!

Sleep is something I've really been working on with you the last couple of weeks. Selfishly, I was over getting up a million times a night, and physically you're clearly not starving, so we're working on less wake-ups overnight. I know that four months tends to be a difficult time for sleep for babies, so I'm hoping this will help you. You've transitioned out of your swaddle and Love to Dream ("straight jacket or flying squirrel"), and now can sleep well in your sleep sack or just whatever you're wearing.

You're a drool/slobber mess, constantly chewing on your hands or anything you can get in your hands. Your hair stands straight up on your head and many people think we style it like a mohawk - it's all natural! :) You've rolled over, twice, from your belly to your back, but I'm guessing it wasn't intentional (or maybe you just didn't like the way it felt) because you haven't done it since. You love to be in your exersaucer and your in-between the door jumper because you can kick and use your legs.

Your adorable personality is growing daily. You're a silly boy who loves to smile at everyone. You especially like to smile and talk to me while you're nursing. Frequently, you'll unlatch just to smile or chat with me before going back for another drink -- it's super cute! This summer is going to be so much fun with you and Anna. You both adore one another and it's so sweet watching the two of you interact with each other. You love to smile and her while she talks to you or reads you books. This summer will be fun, but I know next summer will be even more exciting when you two can really begin to play together! :)

It's only going to get more fun from here and I'm looking forward to it. :)
Love, Mama

Monday, June 4, 2018

Ketchup

Hello out there! I'm still here, alive and well. I haven't posted in a while because I had been doing a lot of posting on my Colleen's Friends & Family Facebook page for Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month. Within the last month, I've finished my sixth year of teaching, did a two week round of Cipro, found out I've been approved for the Monarch Vest, and had an amazing turn out for Great Strides.

The last post about my health discussed how I was trying a not-as-strong antibiotic that was breastfeeding friendly. Well, I took it for two weeks and ended on a Saturday. By Monday, I was already feeling crumby again. I don't know if the antibiotic just didn't kick everything, or if I caught something over the weekend, but I just wasn't back to feeling how I wanted. I decided, despite the difficulties with breastfeeding, that I needed to go on Cipro. So, for the last two weeks of the school year, I pumped and dumped while at work, and Calvin got extra frozen milk I had pumped earlier while he was with the babysitter. Aside from the nasty case of sun poisoning I got on my legs, I'm happy to say that I'm finally feeling back to normal lung-wise since having Calvin almost four months ago. We'll see what my numbers look like at the end of this month.

Later this week, a Hill-Rom representative will be coming to my house to bring my new Monarch Vest and will show me how to use it! The Monarch Vest is a portable, battery operated Vest!! Which means anytime we go out of town for the weekend, I don't have to lug my machine, tubes and Vest!! I'll be sure to post pictures once I'm familiar with it and use it for the first time. I've been trying to get a portable Vest for a few years now, so this is really exciting for me. :)

Another really exciting thing to share is the success of Great Strides this year!!! Our team walked in the Champaign, IL walk at the beginning of May. This was a new site for us, but I was a little bummed to see the turn out wasn't as large as I expected. Although, our team was wonderful!!!


We had over 30 walkers and raised over $3,000!! I'm hoping we'll be able to reach our goal of $5,000 before the year is over. I want to sincerely thank everyone for making the trek to Champaign to show your support for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, everyone fighting with CF and for me. It truly means a lot to me that you show up and walk with me & my family. :)

Last week wrapped up the end of my sixth year of teaching. This was my third year teaching third grade and working with my amazing partner. I'm sad to say that she's leaving our building, moving on to bigger and better things (she's going to be a kick-ass union president!), so I'll be getting a new partner this fall.

I'm also about half way done with my Master's program - woo hoo! This summer I'm taking my fourth class (research and statistics, ew!) and will only have three left (2 in the fall, 1 in the spring) until I'm done!!! So far, I've maintained a 4.0 GPA which I'm pretty proud of! I can't thank Lindsey and Alycia enough for doing this program with me; they're definitely helping me get through this!!

So now, here we are, the first week of June. I've already worked 2 days of my summer, with 11 1/2 days of professional development scheduled -- who says teachers don't work over the summer?! But in between PD and Master's assignments will be lots of time with my babies! I can't believe that at the end of this summer Anna will be four years old and Calvin will be six months old!
Today we signed up for the summer reading program at two local libraries, enjoyed a walk downtown, went to a new park and went to Steak n Shake for lunch. This afternoon, Anna and I created a Summer To-Do List, and we are slowly filling up our summer days. I love being able to spend this time with my kids because I feel like I miss out on so much during the school year.