Week in Review ~ 4/28

I didn't keep up with what we did this week, and we didn't do much that was noteworthy.  Here are some highlights:

-Sam either slept really well or really bad.  Some days he would nap for over two hours at a time, multiple times a day, and some days we were lucky to get thirty minutes.  One night he slept from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. and has also gone 5-7 hours as well. I tried our Dr. Brown bottle Monday for 3 feedings to see if it helped with the stomach noise I was hearing, but it did not.  I can hear the formula hitting his stomach, and it will remain rumbly quite a while after a feeding.  We started oatmeal in his bottles (per the pediatrician) on Saturday to see if that would help with the reflux.  That meant we were back to our Playtex Drop-Ins since we already had nipples for cereal.  We stopped the cereal Sunday night because his gas had increased so much.  Those bottles did not see to help with the stomach noise either.  They are easier to wash but a pain to measure out, so I'm hoping we can stay away from them.  Sam has his 2-month check next Monday but I'm hoping we can get him some relief before then.  He will go for hours at a time during the day without any good sleep.  Hopefully we can figure out if it's reflux, stomach issues, or both.  Both Avery and Sam have me to blame as I was a reflux baby with projectile vomit.

-I managed to do a good bit of unpacking/putting away this week.  I got all my china unpacked and into my china cabinet.  It was nice to unpack pieces that I hadn't even opened after the wedding.  I also got my Christmas china put away in an empty kitchen cabinet.  The garage is looking much less packed, and I am hopeful that I will park in there before long.  We still have one storage unit to empty, and much of that is garage-type items that will probably be in my way until Ned gets some type of building outside.

-I have been enjoying the Dateline series putting kids and teenagers to the test with strangers, cheating, driving issues and more, and all were related to peer pressure.  It literally takes my breath away to think of all we must teach and instill in Avery and Sam with no guarantee that they will listen or obey.  Sleep issues and whining are tiring now but will pale in comparison to these issues one day.  I can already see that Avery has exited the "bubble" and is influenced by her buddies.  My first indications were talking about the Grave Digger and saying "butt."  Clover Lane had a fantastic post about parenting...deciding when to stand strong, when to hold your tongue, and when to find a middle ground.  It concerned her daughter a lot which I of course relate to Avery.  There are so many lessons I want her to learn, but many of those lessons will come from mistakes, hurt feelings, and hard times.  It can still take getting my feelings hurt to learn a lesson at 29, so I'm preparing for an uphill battle with her.  I know we'll go through many similar and many different circumstances with Sam, but for now he just smiles at me like I'm the best in the world, so my mind can rest easy about him in my bubble awhile longer.

-Avery was home Thursday, and in addition to the duck adventure, we did Play Doh, played her Roll & Play game, colored, and had all sorts of other fun.  We're taking a trip with the group from Jen-Jen's this week, and I'm excited to have some special time with her.

-I came to the conclusion this week that I'm getting old when I realized how excited I was about a new vacuum.  Our current model is Ned's old one and even new was never anything to get excited over.  A vacuum was not something we wanted to add to our spending list right now, but I just can't see running that massive thing over our floors.  The deal was sealed when we got a Lowe's coupon, then realized Bed Bath and Beyond had them on sale, then realized Amazon's regular prices were just as good.  I researched and read reviews as I always do, and now it's just time to order so I can stop sweeping.

-We had our first "take the baby out of the restaurant" Friday night when we went out to dinner for Mimi's birthday.  Sam hadn't slept well all day, and I had initially sent Ned and Avery without me.  The restaurant was loud and he would have been fine, but I had had enough as well at that point, so we retreated to the car for a bottle.  In almost 3 years of parenting and lots of eating out with Avery, we've only had to walk her around a restauarant at the beach once or twice after a long wait.  Further proof that no two are alike and that life turns on it's ear again with the addition of another child.

-Avery and I made a grocery run Saturday morning, then she colored while I made Coca Cola cake.  It is delicious, and now I won't feel so bad if I'm too full at Cracker Barrel to eat theirs.  The cake was for dinner at my parents'.  It was nice to get out and have a good dinner of fried fish and yummy sides.  Avery had her second night of going to bed late