Just Peachy

So, over the past few days, we have dealt with our first fever and a SECOND tooth breaking through!

I have been dreading having to take Joey's temperature rectally. I even bought an ear thermometer so I could avoid the rectal stuff for as long as possible! However, the day after Joey's vaccines, he was super hot to the touch. I took six ear temperatures throughout the day and they were all right around 100 F. Once that happened, I new it was time to pull out the big gun...the rectal thermometer! I was hoping that I would never have to do that to my son. He, nor I, really did not enjoy this at all. Luckily, his temp was only 99.9 F, so no doctor visits for us, but this was all still very stressful.

We wake up the next day, and fever is gone! Woo hoo!! Oh, but wait, we're not out of the woods yet. Joey has a second tooth breaking through! Didn't the first one just cut this past weekend?!?! No rest for the weary, huh?

Today has been a very rough day for Joey and me. I know he's in a lot of pain because this hard enamel object is ripping through his tender young gums. I'm in a lot of pain because my baby boy is crying out in agony all day long! Why aren't babies just born with teeth? Seems like it would be a lot more humane...

I never thought that I would be one of those parents that always posts what is going on with their child on Facebook. For some reason, I decided to post our teething hell today. Do you know what happened? I got an overwhelming amount of advice and tips to help us out! It was wonderful! Tips like give Joey Hyland's Teething Tablets, a cold wet rag, a mesh bag with ice/frozen fruit, Benadryl, and even some whiskey! Most of these were great tips that we are using right now (just to clarify, we are NOT using the whiskey tip...even though I think I could use some whiskey right now)! So, note to self, post every speed bump on Facebook...I may just get some really good advice! :)

Did Someone Say Shots?

So, when we went in for Joey's 4-month appointment (which yes, was way after he turned 4-months old), we were not able to get his vaccinations because they were out of one of them. They told us to call back this week to see if they got the shot combo in. I called this morning, and unfortunately, they aren't going to get this shot in until NEXT MONTH!! Are you kidding me?!?! So, in place of the combo shot, they were just giving the shots individually...meaning that since this shot was a three-in-one shot, they were just giving three separate shots in place of the combo. That means that Joey had to get five needle shots and one oral! Oh man, oh man! Vaccines already kind of freak me out. I know that they have torn apart the theory that the MMR vaccine can cause autism, but I'm still nervous. What if these vaccines can cause autism, or something else? However, I know that vaccines are so important because they stop crazy illnesses and diseases from plaguing our society again. As a parent, though, I seriously stress out about these decisions that I make now and how they will effect Joey in the future. So...freaking...stressful.

Joey looking at the phone while we were talking to MeeMee!

Then, having his way with MeeMee! Haha!

Anyways, we went and got the shots today and Joey screamed and cried as soon as the needles touched his skin. What happens to a mother that sees her baby crying in pain? Why, she balls like a baby herself! Oh geez! I cried longer than Joey did! I'm sure I looked like quite a sight.

On a lighter note, Joey's hair has started to change colors. When he was born and up until the last week or so, his hair has been red. Well, all of the regrowth is more of a brown. If you look at these photos close enough, you can see that Joey has a brown Mohawk! All of his new brown hair is on top, and his old red newborn hair is right above his ears! Ahhh, our little trendsetter.

Hanging Out with the Fam

We such a great weekend with the new tooth, first solids, snow, but the very best part of the whole weekend was that Michael was off! Michael has worked every single day, 12-16 hours a day, for the past three weeks. We have really missed him and were so ecstatic when he got to stay home with us! :)

We really didn't do much, but just hang out with each other. However, we did take a little excursion to Beach Lake (a hike I went on with my Mom group a couple of weeks ago). Part of the trail.

Daddy and Joey

Suiting Michael up for the hike!

Beach Lake

One thing that I love about Alaska is that no matter how large this state is, you can always manage to run into someone you know! We ran into our friend Leland and her family. James is her little boy that Joey plays with sometimes. They seemed really happy to see each other.

We had so much fun with Michael and really hope that he will get a couple of more weekends off so we can spend time with him!

It's Only September...

One of the last things to add to our Sunday Funday was SNOW!! Yes, it snowed up here and it's only September! The snow only stuck on the mountain tops, but it was pretty crazy to see.

I know you can't even see the snow falling in these photos, but Joey and Michael don't get too hang out that much, so we took a lot of photos of them together and what better place to share these photos than on this blog! :)

Pearly White

As I was feeding Joey some banana this past Sunday, I felt it! I thought I felt it a couple of months ago, but I lied. I REALLY felt it this time! Joey's bottom left tooth has broken through!!

Please observe the little yellow arrow in Joey's mouth. Hello, tooth!

I know it's super hard to tell in these photos, but I will continue to try to get you Joey stalkers a good photo of the new tooth!

Ba-na-nas!

Holy cow, this past Sunday (September 26, 2010) was a crazy day! I have a lot of photos from our day, so I'm going to break this up into a three-part post.

Joey has been showing quite an interest in the process of eating. The doc gave us the go ahead last week to start solids, so we decided to give it a whirl. We were going to start with oatmeal cereal, but as I was eating a banana the other day, Joey was going, well, bananas! Heehee

So, I scraped a little 'nana off with my fingernail, mushed it up in my fingers, and let Joey try some!

He seemed to like it! I can't believe he can start eating real foods! Crazy, crazy, crazy!

Like Father, Like Son

So, Michael doesn't really get to spend too much time with Joey because he's always working. However, when he does get to spend time with Joey, he ensures that he is teaching Joey some amazing-must-know-can't-live-without-it-life lesson.

Daggers

Joey had his 4-month wellness appointment yesterday!

He is doing great and right where he needs to be! He weighs 15 lbs, 1 oz. He is 25 3/4 inches long! He is in the 50th percentile for both height and weight! Goodbye "robust" and "husky"!

The doctor also said that we can start Joey on rice cereal and pureed veggies!

He was super excited about this! He has really been showing an interest in the food we eat, so I guess this is the perfect time to start! We are going to wait until Michael can be home to start the rice cereal, though, so he can enjoy this "first" for Joey!

The rest of the appointment was pretty uneventful, which is a good thing. Well, except for one thing... I had to hold Joey's legs down while the doc was examining him, and do you know what happened? That little booger cut me! With his toe nail! Haha! (The little red scratch on the side of my nostril in the above photo is the wound). I guess it's time that Momma trimmed those nails!

Hikin' it up!

This past Sunday, while Michael was working (again), April, Joey, and I met my friend, Amy, for some outdoor fun! When April first got here, she went on a hike with me and some of my friends. Unfortunately, April was unable to complete the hike. Well, April has become quite the little hiker since she first got up here in July, so we decided that she needed to conquer this mountain before the snow comes. So that's what we did!

Of course, Joey had to sport his hiking gear and sun protection! Joey says that the sun burnt look is not his thang!

After awhile, Joey did what he normally does on our hikes...pass out! We got a quick photo of the sleepy head before we covered him up.

If you look really closely, you can see Mt. McKinley/Denali in the background! (it's the mountain to the right of the power line).

After that hike (which we ALL completed! Go April!), we took the dogs to the dog park.

Joey liked watching his pups swim and play with all of the other dogs!

He also sported a new look for the dog park.

Joey also likes to wear his Carhartt overalls and Robeez for hikes, too!

Sleep Update

It has been one week since we started the sleep schedule training. Before I give the update, I did want to clear a few things up. We never intended for Joey to sleep through the entire night without him waking up...yet. First off, he is only four months old. Secondly, he is still nursing. All we really wanted out of this sleep schedule training is to get Joey on, well, a schedule, and to get him out of our bed!

I would like to announce that we have accomplished both! Joey is sleeping in his crib in his own room! He is also "sleeping" for about 12 hours (this is not 12 hours of consistent sleep, he does nurse a couple of times a night, but he does go back into his crib after each feeding)! He also has a real bedtime, 730 PM, now.

This training was no walk in the park, though. This has actually been the toughest thing we have ever done as parents, thus far. Listening to your child cry for hours seriously hurts the heart and soul!

Michael and I failed the training the very first night! After 30 minutes of non-stop crying, we took Joey out of his crib and he slept with us! Ugh! However, the second night, we stood strong and left Joey in the crib...for all 1 hour and 50 minutes of his crying spell! The third night was the same way. After about 2 hours of crying, Joey finally fell asleep in his crib and stayed there all night long! I do have to get up about 2-3 times a night to still nurse Joey. Since there are three adults that live in this house, we may start using some bottles and taking turns on the night shift. I'm only getting 2-3 hours of sleep at a time and that is just not cool.

The 4th, 5th, and 6th nights, Joey fell asleep at right around one hour! Then, these last two nights, Joey has only been crying for 20-30 minutes!! YES!!!! I really hope this is working (I don't want to say it is and jinx it). I must admit, it is very nice not to have Joey in our bed anymore. I did bring Joey into our bed at 2 AM the other night because I was falling asleep nursing him. Once he was in our bed, I remembered why we were doing this training again! Joey is a kicking fool!

We will continue on with our training and, hopefully, Joey will lay down and not cry one of these days. I also must admit that it is nice to have a "schedule". Now that we know what time Joey needs to be in bed, it has actually been easier to do things. Plus, now I know that once he falls asleep, his is out until around 2 AM. This is perfect for when Michael and I want to go out. I'm not so worried about Joey being a little butthead and driving April crazy! :) Once we get this going to bed thing down, we may start on sleeping through the entire night! You should only break one habit and begin another at a time, if you want success.

(P.S.-I know none of these photos correlate with sleep training, but I have no photos of Joey sleeping. I am way too afraid that I would wake him up and have to hear hours of crying again. I love this blog, but not that much! So, instead of just having another post with a lot of me yakking, I thought I would include some random photos for you Joey stalkers!)

It's Fall

This past Saturday, Joey, April, and I joined my Stroller Strides lady friends and attended the Pyrah Farm Fall Festival. This is an annual festival that is held at a "u-pick-it" farm.

We've had a lot of fog up here lately which makes the days very blah! But I guess I would choose fog over rain.

This festival was mainly designed for children...yes, I am becoming a parent because I am now excited and attending these sorts of events. The kids could ride on a saddled hay bail.

Sit on a tractor...

Pick out a pumpkin...

Play some games and go on a hayride!

Joey, as well as all of the other kids, had to bundle up because it was chilly!

We all had a really good time, despite the cold, dreary weather.