Baby & The No Good Very Bad Day.

Holden got his 4 month vaccinations last Wednesday. This time around definitely did not go any better. It took the nurse forever to come back in with the vaccinations after the initial checkup, so his mood went from content to bored and then agitated in the 20-30 minutes it took to prepare them.

Just when I finally got him calmed down, she came in. Poor, poor baby. He screamed and his little face turned bright red. It just breaks your heart and all you can do is pick up your baby and cuddle and hold him and tell him it's OK when it really isn't. When he stopped crying, I laid him down on the table to put his clothes back on when I noticed splotchy red patches on his thighs around the injection sites. Not. Good.

The nurse said she saw them there before she gave him the shots, but I think she was lying to cover herself because she neglected to say anything about it to either Alex or I. Anyway, we called the pediatrician back in and she thought it might have been caused by a common ingredient in the vaccinations. We ruled out the oral rotavirus vaccination, because the rash was local to the site of the shot. The odd thing here was that they were for completely different illnesses. She checked his breathing, and that the rash wasn't on any of the rest of his body. She also told us to watch him and to let our next pediatrician know what happened before he gets boosters again at 6 months. (She is retiring as I mentioned before).

The blotches faded within an hour and he was completely normal otherwise, so I hope that it wasn't anything serious. Perhaps it was from the sterilizing agent they use to swab the site of the shots, or just from his crying and being flushed. Either way, it was pretty alarming. I hope it doesn't happen in January when he gets the boosters.

After the doctor, I went to get a new tag for my car. I came home to a very upset baby and hubby. Alex said that he went to wash his hands before picking up Holden, setting him on the couch for just a minute. Before he knew it, Holden had rolled off the couch! He has gotten so strong now that when he is upset he can turn himself completely around on any surface he's laying on. I should have told Alex that he can really roll now. Holden was fine, of course, but it stirred us up a lot, especially Alex. My mom reassured us by telling us how she left my youngest brother on the bed once while she did a quick chore and he fell off the bed. Nevertheless, it was not a very good day for Mister man.

Besides being really sleepy for the rest of the day, he slept really well and was happy as a lark the next morning. The world is a much better place without people sticking you with sharp objects!

P.S. Holden is now 25" long, and weighs 15 pounds! He is almost smack dab in the middle for percentiles of weight and height.

Travelin' Man.

A lot has happened to little Holden since my last post! Weekends to visit grandma (both of them!) have become a frequent habit! The past few weekends have been quite the adventure for our little man!

Last weekend, Grandma Kim and I and my long time friend Katherine took a trip to the zoo to see the new penguin and tiger exhibits! It was pretty sunny and windy, so we bought Holden a hat.

Looking at the Peguins with Grandma Kim

He was pretty observant! But napped for a good portion of the time. We saw turtles, penguins, and a large tiger! I don't have the picture yet, but I will post it very soon!

This weekend, we had Holden's pictures professionally taken. We didn't get a smile out of him until (go figure) after the photos were taken. But they came out pretty cute! We will get them back in a few weeks.

Then, we went to Night of the Living Zoo! There were TONS of people there! Holden was probably one of the youngest babies there. But we all had fun. He looked so cute in his bumble bee costume!

Bumblebee blows kisses

Holden had his own little pumpkin bucket and got lots of candy! Of course, he thought mommy and grandma should have it, since he can't eat it just yet! ;) After that, mommy was very tired after Holden kept her up the night before, so grandma and aunt Cheryl took him to fun night with them! He had a great time and slept very well after such a big day!

This week, I have to take my sweet little bee back to the doctor to get more shots. Not really looking forward to that! But, I am excited to see how big he is now! I would bet he weighs about 15 pounds.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures! Stay tuned for more Holdy adventures!

First Time Away!

Holden did great while spending the weekend with grandmother and grandad Thomson! I am so proud of him. While away at the wedding, Alex and I missed him! Of course, I have never been away from him for longer than 4 hours, so I probably took it harder! I thought about him the whole time we were away! Good thing I had my cell phone full of baby pictures!

Holden and Daddy

Lately, I have been looking at him and marveling at how big he's grown right before my eyes! It's hard to believe he was only just under 7 pounds when he was born. We are making all sorts of new sounds now. I like to think that he is talking to me! He is especially happy when he first wakes up in the morning.

The night we got back from the wedding, the heater hadn't yet been turned on. We asked the downstairs neighbor if she had the thermostat down there. She said no. Alex went downstairs and turned the pilot light to "on". It helped at first...then...nothing. So, we opted to take Holden in bed with us so that he wouldn't get too cold. Go figure, the maintenance guy let himself in to her apartment the next day and turned up.... the thermostat. I swear, sometimes I want to punch her. I'm dreading having to go the entire winter with her in control of the temperature. I hope I don't have to go down there every time I need her to turn it up!

...End rant.

Watchin' the Chiefs game

While at the wedding, there were a few babies there, which many me miss Holden more! One of the moms was so sweet! She had a 6 month old boy. Holden looked bigger than him! We might have a big kiddo on our hands! I can't wait to see how much he weighs when he goes to the doctor next. He'll go in on the 27th to get another dose of his vaccinations. Our pediatrician is going to be retiring, so we will have to find another soon. I wasn't too attached anyway- I've only seen her once, and I don't like how the clinic is set up.

I wasn't able to pump as often as I should have while gone and consequently, my milk supply has dropped really low. I have been pumping like crazy in hopes that it will return. For now I have been feeding him formula. I hate it. As much as I wish my boobs would go back to their normal size, I love that breastfeeding makes me feel connected to Holden. I feel good knowing that he is getting nutrition from me as well as antibodies and other good things! (Even though my immune system is not the greatest... I have been sick with a cold for the last few days.)


Grandma Kim bought him two new fleece footed pj's and a mobile! He really likes the mobile. One of his favorite things to look at has been ceiling fans, so we thought a mobile would be an ideal toy! Success! Grandmother Thomson bought him some fleece pj's, too! So spoiled!



We've got to start thinking about what to tell Santa to bring Holden! He will be 5 months old. Any suggestions?