If it's hot out tomorrow, I think we'll take this travel tub outside and make it James' new pool. How fun is THAT?! I love this thing. I got it at Target for $9.00 - but they also sell them at Walmart here in Canada.
Our dear little kitten DJ went to Heaven today. She has been sick on and off since she wandered into our lives almost two years ago. She was a sweet little stray, and we kept her. Since then, we have had to make numerous trips to the vet with her because she seems to constantly get sick - even though she got all her shots shortly after we adopted her. We finally decided we could no longer afford to take her to the vet, so this time when she got sick we just hoped she would get better on her own. We set her up in our laundry room, and for the last few days she has remained in there. She lost bladder control, and soaked her little kitty bed (which Ryan lined with a towel). Poor little gal. When I got into the house this morning after being away, DJ was throwing herself madly around our basement and screaming. It was completely heart-wrenching. I took a towel, and threw it over her to calm her down. She finally laid down, and I was able to keep her calm. I petted her for a few minutes, and she quietly died. She was a fun little kitty, and a friend for Puss, we'll miss her.
What Would YOU Do? James' current 'schedule' goes as follows (most of the time)... he is up for the day anytime between 6:00-7:00am, but sometimes as late as 8:00am. He eats every 4 hours, and gets a little cereal in the morning, fruit in the afternoon, and veggies and fruit in the evening. He naps usually for about an hour in the morning, around 10:30-11:00. He may take another nap in the morning, but usually not. He then naps from about 2:00pm until 3:30-4:00pm. He is usually up then until bedtime, which is 8:30pm. He goes down to sleep no problem. He is then up every four hours (usually 12:30am, and 4:30am) to eat, and goes down no problem after that. (Unless he has gas, and he often has gas.) He's then up again for the day. This isn't a HORRIBLE schedule, but it isn't great either. What would you do if this was your kid? I have tried to let him cry - VERY briefly - but I couldn't handle it. It's too hard for me. I need a different approach to help him sleep better. Any suggested tactics?
Seems the cats like James' toys almost as much (or more) than he does! Lately he has really been taking notice of them, and reaches out to touch (actually more like grab) them as they walk by. They are in serious trouble once he is mobile!
Last night was one of the best we've had in weeks! I am crossing my fingers, knocking on wood, and of course, PRAYING that this might be the start to a better sleeping trend. James took a long 2 1/2 hour nap from 4:00pm - 6:30pm yesterday evening. We finally woke him up, because we were worried that he might sleep too long! We kept him up until 9:00pm (he usually goes down between 7:30 and 8:00). I gave him some oat cereal, and a 6 oz. bottle. We've also been giving him Ovol during each feeding, starting at bedtime, as he seems really gassy at night. He finished off the bottle, and went down to sleep at 9:30pm. He woke again at midnight, fussed a little bit, and then went back to sleep without any help. The next time he woke up was at 3:00am. Ryan fed him, and then he slept until 6:30am. He stayed happy and talked to himself in his crib until I went in there at 7:00 to get him. I was greeted with the cutest toothless grin. It was great!
Happy five months Jamesy babes! 
Today Ryan and I attended Springs Church with his parents. It was a good service, with the usual loud, exciting worship, flashing lights and fanfare. James went to their Nursery babysitting service, which was a little nerve-wracking for me - but it was a nice break, and he did stunningly well.
The last few days have been a little tough around here. It all started on Tuesday, when I went to my first "Mommyrobics" class. It starts at 9:30am in the city, and that totally screws up James' nap schedule. The class was a lot of fun though. I am doing it with my friend Jeryn, and I'm looking forward to the next one this coming Tuesday.
JAMES KENNEDY
Age: Four and a half months
Height: 24 inches
Weight: 15lbs 1oz.
Occupation: Drooler, Pooper, Screamer, Smiler
Loves: Toes and Singing
Hates: Bananas
James and his new buddy Soren in their matching Bumbo seats.
So, the latest news is that James has weaned himself. He simply just refused the breast, which has caused my milk supply to plummet, and thus he is now a formula-fed baby. I am only a tiny bit disappointed, but honestly, I'm quite content. I now feel a lot more freedom, and we have been out and about a lot more. I am happier, James is happier, and daddy can help with the night feedings - so it's actually pretty great. He seems to like the Similac Advanced formula with Omega 3 & 6 - which I am using because I had a free sample of it, and 3 coupons worth $5 each. The last two cans I bought came with 2 free cans of the premade stuff, so that was a bonus.
Happy four months Jamesy-babes! We love you!
Okay, so how many times does God have to literally smack me "upside the head" in order to finally surrender my problems to Him? Last night after putting James down to sleep (after a bath, a big 6 oz. bottle, no swaddling, and with his favourite blankie), I read my chapter for Bible Study in Joyce Meyer's book "Battlefield of the Mind". It was a completely perfect chapter, and basically I want to re-write it here for you to read. It was Chapter 4 I think, called "Little by Little". In a nutshell the book is about renewing your mind, and learning to think positively. The statement that stuck out most to me in this chapter was something like, God does not condemn us, even when we make mistakes. He does not want me to feel guilt, anger, failure, etc. I need to say to myself daily "I'm going to be fine - today will be a GREAT day". I put this phrase on a post-it note next to the microwave. I want to think this way every day, instead of getting all anxious about the "bad" day or "bad" night I'm about to experience. Needless to say this chapter was exactly what I needed to hear, and I spent a long time in prayer about it last night.
Well, I wish I had some great news to report - but I don't. Sleep is still not something that anyone seems to be getting around here. My little plan worked for two nights, and then James caught on and now he just cries and cries until he gets fed. My hubby isn't a big fan of me always asking for advice on my blog, but here is my question... should we just suck it up, and say, "Alright, so James eats 3-4 times at night, big deal"? Or should I/we be taking continued steps to finding out if there is something that we can do to help him sleep longer? The consensus about "sleeping through the night" seems to be about 50/50. Some say their babies slept through the night at this age, others say not to even think about it until he is a year old. All I know is that I'm a mommy who needs sleep, and I'm not getting it - and the anger gets vented at everyone around me. I feel like I have a million questions, and naturally, no one can answer them because "all babies are different". Is he uncomfortable at night? Too hot? Itchy? Is it the formula? Should I try soy? Seriously, my brain hurts. I'm still thinking maybe I need to get back on the anti-depressants, as it would seem that all these "problems" started shortly after I went off of them. *sigh* I just want to be a happy mommy for James!
James has this uncanny ability to sense change - and then make the change before I get a chance to implement it! After a few more nights of sleep-deprivation, and sheer exhaustion I just couldn't do it anymore. I realized that I was going to have to push past the blurry veil of information that I had in front of me, and just formulate my own plan of action. First, I had to rationalize the situation. James was not waking up because of hunger (he has gone at least 8 hours without eating in the past). He was likely not waking up because he was itchy (I lube him up every night with enough lotion to moisturize the Sahara). I took every possible idea that came to mind, and decided whether it needed to be dealt with. I also decided that he doesn't have thrush, but rather has been frustrated by the slow let-down (sometimes non-existant let-down), hence his terrible eating as of late. Well, what did I want to do about it? I decided I would start pumping, and give him a combo of breastmilk and formula in the bottle, as he seems to be taking the bottle just fine. Secondly, I decided I would play soft music in his room so that it wasn't completely quiet anymore. Thirdly, I decided that I needed to try and introduce a more rigid "schedule". I have never been one for putting such a young baby on a specific schedule, or forcing them to go certain amounts of time without eating. However, when it comes to the nighttime, I need to get rest - so it was time to teach James that he needs to sleep at night. My game plan was as follows:
James in my homemade t-shirt sling.
"Mmmmmmm... prunes!"
James in his NEW Excer-Saucer!
Fun with Daddy & Grandpa Kroeker
Grandma Plett
Beating up Buzz Lightyear.
I'm exhausted, which is likely why I can't seem to keep from crying today. Last night was just... useless. I wish James was like a car - we could just take him in to the "shop", plug him in and a computer would tell us what was "mechanically incorrect". He went to sleep at my parent's place WAY too early, just before 7:00pm and we let him sleep until 9:00pm when we left. He fell asleep in his carseat again, so we just put him in his room for the night. He woke up at 12:00am very angry, and he didn't nurse well. The rest of the night is a blur, I was up crying, my husband rocked James for hours, it just SUCKED. Honestly, I can almost understand why some babies end up with Shaken Baby Syndrome after a night like that. So, this morning I opted for the suppositories, thinking it was merely constipation. He pooped almost instantly, but it really wasn't very hard. I would describe it much like soft ice cream from the machine. Anyway, he had a few more smaller poops, and then that was it. Today he is back to nursing badly, on and off, on and off, and unhappy and crying at the breast. He is happy if I just give him his soother! Is this teething? My milk supply seems low too - I tried pumping, and got a piddly 1.5 ounces after pumping both sides, and I do think I had a let-down. HELP ME! I just can't think anymore, and I feel so stupid that I can't help him sleep better. He has napped well this afternoon, so I did get a little rest. We'll see what tonight holds. It can ONLY be better than last night. I think we might try putting him in his carseat to sleep. I don't like that idea at all, but it's better than no sleep. If you have any insight, please share... otherwise, please keep us in your prayers as I try to keep my sanity, and figure out my "weirdo" son!!! Sorry for the vent, again, but until the nights get better I think I'm just going to be moody.
Here is a little run-down of what my night was like last night (it's been about like this for the last 2 weeks, give or take one or two night)...
So many of you are asking what I've been doing with James, that I'll just post about it instead of making a comment. As far as James' laundry goes, I used Ivory Snow from day one with all of his stuff. Everything got washed in it - and I never used fabric softener in his clothes. I do use fabric softener in our clothes, however, if it is contact dermatitis then it wouldn't make sense that it was a reaction to fabric softener, because our clothes almost never touch his ENTIRE body. In fact, the parts of him that do touch us are the parts with the least eczema. That is why I'm now going to use this Tide Free for Sensitive Skin to see if it a reaction to the Ivory Snow.
Hey everyone - how are you? There hasn't been anything really going on around our place lately, but I thought I'd give you a little James update - those are always fun, aren't they?! James is doing great, but I've been playing detective lately, trying to find things to help with his eczema. The itching seems to now be waking him up at night (or so I have concluded), so he's been nursing up to three times a night. I know it's not that he's that hungry, because I've been loading him up before bed. First, he gets some rice cereal, then I nurse him, and then he gets some formula on top of that. He still wakes up after 3-4 hours after all of that, so it has to be something else waking him. So, I've now purchased some dye free/fragrance free Tide for his laundry. I've also bough some colloidal oatmeal bath, and some heavy duty dermatological moisturizer and I'm hoping all of this will help to relieve the itch, and help him to sleep. Other than that, he's active as ever, and happy as can be. He's getting cuter, and more fun every day - and we are just totally loving him!
You are all invited to attend James' baby dedication this Sunday, March 11 at our church at 10:45am. If you are unsure of where that is, please email me for directions. We would love to see you there, and have you stand behind us as we commit our son to the Lord, and promise to teach James in the way of Christ.
My great-uncle George passed away this week after a long battle with cancer. I didn't see him often, but he was like a father to my mom - and much like an uncle to me. I was sorry that he did not get to meet James, but he did get to see me close to the end of my pregnancy - and told me I was "a most beautiful creature". I will miss him. I prayed that our Baby Plett would be among those to greet him at Heaven's gate. I'm a little jealous that Uncle George will meet Baby Plett before I get to! Here is his obituary as it appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press. We are all very thankful that his suffering is over, and in many ways we are celebrating the fact that he has now gone Home. Please pray for my great-aunt Donna, and the kids, David, Dana (a stepdaughter) and her husband Stephané, and Reid (a stepson).
