Look! No Mommy Hands!

That's right folks! He didn't do it for long, maybe 25 or 30 seconds, but he sat all by himself!

Drooly, isn't he! Mmmmmmm fingers!

Connor is showing more and more interest in the dogs each day, and Hattie and Sam are more sensitive to him being around, too. Kobe really could care less. He really tries to ignore Connor, even repeatedly walking in front of the stroller when we're out. Even Sam stays to the side of the stroller. Sam is to shifty to sit there and come close so Connor can touch him, but they both try. Hattie has to follow me around and go with me to check on Connor. There are some pictures of her babysitting on the Flickr page. I catch her trying to sneak kisses all the time.

Now THAT'S Entertainment!

Recently I wrote that Connor is rather stingy when it comes to laughs. He will give you plenty of big open mouth grins with his tongue tucked against the roof of his mouth. He'll laugh a little bit when you nibble his belly, but it's almost as though he isn't sure what a laugh is, like maybe it's wrong and he shouldn't do it. Well Mommy found a way to make Connor laugh.

I was doing a little housecleaning and the last several times I've vacuumed the back end has fallen off my canister vacuum. I finally got fed up and while Connor was in his Jolly Jumper in his bedroom doorway, I decided to cover the finer points of duct tape with him. I grabbed the roll and yanked off a strip, not thinking about the funky noise duct tape makes. Well considering the coffee grinder makes him cry Iexpected to look up and see a pouty lip and tears. OH NO! Connor seems to think there is nothing funnier then the sound of duct tape coming off the roll. There were giggles and squeals and out and out laughs. He laughed so hard he got hiccups!

For his 3 month birthday, I had gotten out all of his bath toys and decorated the big bath tub in our master bath. It was time for him to graduate from the baby tub I'd been given. He was out growing it lengthwise and he was soaking the kitchen every night with all of his splashing. Then on Sept 12th he got his own bedroom upstairs (1 year and a day since my first positive pregnancy test). The next logical step was getting him out of our bathroom and completely moved upstairs. So that was his 4 month birthday present. Connor got his own bathroom upstairs. He seems to like having the standard size tub. It will be really nice when he can sit up, but for now he likes sitting in his bath chair and putting his feet up on the side wall of the tub. Clever little monkey!

17 Pounds!

That's right folks! I weighed Connor the other day and he weighed 17 lbs! That means he has gained over 7 lbs in less then 4 months. He lost most of a pound the first week he was home. So he has gained back his deficit and then some. He is currently on the edge of outgrowing his 6-9 month sleepers. Don't misunderstand me. He's a big boy, but he isn't fat. He is very long. several of his cloths have plenty of room in the body, but they are just to short in the leg or the torso.

Yesterday I was going through the mail and there was a big festive envelope from the Disney movie club. Connor was being a little fussy, so I said "Here! Look! Mail for you!" and gave him the envelope and continued looking at the rest of the mail. Tom came walking over and I said absently "look, Tom, Connor got mail..." Tom said "Uhhhh, Jenn?" and took the envelope from Connor. The Ink on the front of the envelope was water soluble and his mouth, chin, tongue, cheeks, even the tip of his nose were all smeared in black. A baby wipe took it right off and I didn't get a picture, but Connor was thoroughly pleased with himself.

Some More About Connor

I've had friends do this and I have been wanting to post this for a while. We always get the question "who does he look like?" Well judge for yourself! This is Tom, Connor and Me. I know my vote! This isn't the best (or clearest!) photo of Connor, but I saw it and it reminded me of this photo of myself. To be fair I went and found one where he is in a similar position to Tom's baby photo.

I forgot to mention in my last post that Connor has already received his first international postcard (Thanks Jonathan & Ridley!) He has also had his first sets of bug bites (there are very persistent) on walks. He has been to the beach. He has been to the South Carolina Aquarium. He has gone swimming at a public pool.

We have also become frequent shoppers at a nearby kids consignment store called Once Upon a Child. I received his baby bathtub from my coworker Brittany and an Eddie Bauer play yard (and various other small gifts) from our neighbor Nancy and last week we were given a Baby bike seat from our other neighbor Ricky. We've been very lucky to get many items used. Even Connor's crib came all the way from California, it was used for all three of his Person Family cousins when they were little. The consignment shop has had some really nice deals on items I wanted and though they are used, they are by no means worn out. We got Connor a Bumbo w/tray for $20, a bath seat (looks like a little lawn chair) for $3.50, an Ultrasaucer for $25, a rocking worm (like a horse, but it's a worm) for $15 as well as various clothing for $1-3 each. It's great! We have started going there first when we want an item to see if they have one, then if they don't we go and get it new. They only thing that this hasn't worked for was our baby monitor which we bought at Target.

Our Little Man

Here we are, Connor is almost 4 months old and I haven't had a chance to update Connor's blog. I only just wrote about his birth!

First off he is fantastic and the absolute joy of my day (even if he doesn't nap so well.) All about Connor. Where to start. He absolutely loves his baths. He must have one every night and he gets all excited and starts banging his heels on the floor. He has already had dual ear infections with a ruptured right eardrum. He likes swimming in a pool even if it is colder then the bathtub (he likes that really warm). He has rolled from his belly to his back twice (but it was mostly an accident). He is only now warming up to tummy time. His nickname is booby boy, but I also call him Sugar because he's so dang sweet. He has the greatest smile. He clicks his tongue when he grins really big. He has just started blowing raspberries. He has been standing and pulling up with very little support from us for quite a while now. I think he's getting ready to cut his first tooth. He likes books and has helped to turn the pages. He likes the comics. He is very interested in the remote control and the portable phone. He is a tator tot and will actually cran his neck to watch TV when I'm changing his diaper (NO I don't use it as the electronic babysitter - usually it's just the local weather channel or toddler tunes) He has already been on his fist canoe ride (wasn't a huge hit but daddy is hoping he'll grow into it). He's had rice cereal but doesn't seem in love with it, so I've put that on the back burner for now. He gives smiles freely and frequently, but he is only now starting to laugh. He has wiggled his body 360 degrees around his play mat. Connor has also made the drive from Charleston to East Tennesse and from Tennesse to Massachusetts (20 hours!) and back again.

He is the gassiest baby you've ever met! I've actually had to defend myself because people thought it was me breaking wind - there is no hiding it when Connor is filling his diaper. He used to make the cutest face when he pood. He would crack me up so bad. I used to tell him to enjoy it now, no girl was ever going to find his bowel movements that funny again.He belches really loud, too! I told him he's a reincarnated Frat Boy. He farts and burps, shows a big interest in pizza and he's all about the boobs.

Connor slept in our bedroom from the day he came home until September 12th. It killed me to put him in his own room, but I think he is sleeping better (especially when Tom is on call) and I know Tom is. He doesn't really cry in the morning to tell you he's up, he more lays there getting louder and louder and sounding more and more urgent until you get to his crib and when he sees you he gives you a great big grin like "Oh good, you're up! Me too!" I've seen him roll from his side to his back and vice versa while sleeping. Several times I'll get up to get him and he has worked his way sideways across his crib.

He's Here!!!

Well, Connor finally decided to make an appearance and we didn't need an induction after all!
We had the Induction scheduled for Friday evening but I went into labor on my own sometime Thursday. I can't honestly say when it all started. Pretty much all day I thought I was just having bowel trouble. I was crampy and gassy and my lower back was really uncomfortable. Sometime around 6pm I took a shower and then laid on the bed and called Tom, looking for some sort of advice. It wasn't really until after 9pm that I noticed the cramps were fairly regular. I've had so many "Is this it's!?!" that I didn't get to excited. I just waited a while to see what would happen.
Of course Tom was supposed to be on call on Friday, but switched it to Thursday so he could be with me for the induction. So just as I'm getting ready for bed around 1am, he gets a page and has to go back to the hospital and he isn't sure if he's coming home. He might just stay there and work through his shift the next day. He wanted to know why I was laughing while I was brushing my teeth. I thought it was pretty funny that I was pretty sure I was finally in labor and he had to leave. He just smiled and looked sceptical, gave me a kiss and told me to call if I needed him. Off he goes.
So I laid down and the contractions were pretty regular and uncomfortable but I tried to get some sleep. I only slept for an hour and a half before I couldn't really sleep through them anymore. I would doze in between and then wake up and check the clock when they came. Sometime around 3am I called Tom and told him they were pretty frequent and regular and he of course asked me to start timing them. Then I called my mom and told her that I didn't think she and Lisa should wait until 10am to start the 6+ hour trip. I timed the contractions for about 45 minutes to make sure I had an average for Tom and then called him back to let him know they 3.5-4.5 minutes apart. He told me he would have to call me back when he figured out if he was scrubbing on the morning case!?! So I laid in bed a bit longer and then around 6am I got up and let the dogs out and sat on my exercise ball, which oddly, started slowing things down.
Tom didn't scrub in, he was told to go home and home he came. I walked around, took a shower, packed (I had most everything ready to go in the suitcase) and finished up a few chores around the house. Since I had been scheduled for induction I had been cleaning for the last few days anyway. Around 10am I had Tom call and ask if I should head in. They were about every 2.5-3.5 minutes by then and riding in the car made them every 2 minutes apart. They nice thing was they were really evenly spaced, so I could really rest and then look at the watch and know to relax and be ready for the next one before it started.
When we got to the hospital, Tom unloaded me in the lobby and went to park. Of course I got numerous offers to be taken to L&D and would I like a wheelchair (I don't really think I looked as though I was going to drop him in the lobby, I was very calm) but I waited for Tom. When we were on our way to L&D and I got a contraction, I just stopped and squatted and breathed through it and we moved on. I had several contractions at the nurses station waiting for my bed. Then they got me a room and hooked me up to the monitors and checked me. 7CM! YEAH! I WAS SO PROUD! They hooked up my antibiotics and left me to do my thing. At this point I was still proclaiming my broken arm and the time I had Pleurisy to be more painful. I walked, I squatted, I breathed. Two hours later I was 8.5cm. A couple hours later I was 9+CM but my water was still intact and Mom, Lisa & Amanda had just gotten their. So they broke my water.
Now the pain was bad. The minute they broke my water I began to have excruciating back labor, that was continuous. There were no short rests and there was no getting any position that offered any relief, and my labor stalled. They checked me over and over and it was always the same. A couple hours later (after proclaiming I was dying and being told by the attending that "they hadn't lost anyone all week" to which I told him I would have laughed if I wasn't so sure I was dying) I finally asked for the epidural. Then the anesthesiologist disappeared. I swear she had to go make a fresh batch. Then she wouldn't do it until I signed a paper. I was so drained I was begging Tom to sign it.
Once I had the epidural they plugged in the pitocin. AND NOTHING HAPPENED. We waited that way for hours. We had to play with the epidural because my left side wasn't numb and then we pushed the button to much and my right side got so numb I couldn't move my leg. Finally around 11pm I reached down felt the head and told the nurse that I wanted to get this show on the road.
There was pushing and pulling and mineral oil and lots of "stop moving the mirror!" At 11:54 I looked at the clock and decided it was up to me if Connor was going to be born on the 29th or the 30th. So I pushed for all I was worth. But it was all worth it when I looked down and saw his head and the moment I watched Connor slide from my body. With Tom gowned up to help catch him and my sister holding my hand and supporting my back, my mom taking pictures and Amanda watching wide eyed from the corner Connor made his way into the world at 11:56pm. I got to cut the cord and everybody got to hold him and then because he was 10lbs they insisted he go to the nursery for 4 hours to have his blood sugar monitored. But he was/is just fantastic! We stayed in the hospital Saturday and then headed home about 2pm on Sunday.

Um...Still Waiting

So now we are 5 days past our due date and still no baby. (sigh) I was annoyed last week when I had to make another appointment but I'm not sure if I was more annoyed or disappointed today when I had to keep it. Peanut is just very happy and doesn't want to come out. Well... TO BAD! Peanut now has an appointment to be evicted!

During my appointment today everything looked really good, Peanuts heartbeat was very good, Dr. Dempsey did another ultrasound and the amniotic fluid levels were still good, the baby is still head down. I'm still 1.5cm dilated, but she did say it seemed as though my cervix was shorter. I did have Dr. Dempsey strip my membranes today, which basically separates the bag of waters from the cervix. It made me a little crampy, but I was already a little crampy. Then we scheduled an appointment for 6pm Friday to start my induction. We have to wait for the 41 week mark to give my body plenty of time to make "it" happen (which is Friday.) The current plan is that they will admit me Friday and start working on my cervix. Once that is ready they'll start the Pitocin and probably sometime Saturday, we'll have a baby.

I'm disappointed with having an induction, but I'm also worried about the size of the baby if we wait. So, I do feel like I've given Peanut a fair shake at making this happen at his/her own pace. I also keep hearing the warning from our birthing class, the more interventions you have the more interventions you need. We'll see...Stay tuned!