Happy Halloween!

Mitchell had a great first halloween!!! He loved dressing up as a spider. His costume was so puffy, however, that he could not fit in his carseat. Because of that, we had to dress and undress him at each stop. This became rather tiresome for him and for us, so by the end of the night, he was just a skeleton!

Mitchell decided after he woke up around 2:00pm that day, that he did not want to take a nap again. He did not want to miss seeing everyone and the action that was going on around him. He was really good considering he was awake until 8:30 that night! 6 1/2 hours awake for a 5 month old with few tears is a wonderful feat! He finally had enough and passed out in our arms. We would definitely call his first halloween a success!!!

Mitchell loves solid foods!

He loves his cereal!

Well, it has been almost three weeks now and Mitchell has really liked eating solid foods. He was a little unsure of the cereal at first, but now that he knows what to do with it, he is eager to eat. We have introduced carrots and those have become a big hit! He loves them so much that he literally screams and gets mad when you don't feed him fast enough. I'm beginning to wonder when it is appropriate to start teaching a child patience...

Anyways, we will be going to green beans next with the hopes that he loves them as much as he does carrots. Maybe by Thanksgiving, he will have a whole buffet of vegetables from which he can choose!

Meat and Potatoes!

Well, it looks like Mitchell will not have to wait any longer to try out solid foods! His doctor feels like he is ready to start taking in more than just formula. We are starting him out slowly on cereal for two weeks and then going to try out one vegetable a week. We are waiting at least a week in between veggies to make sure he doesn't have an allergic reaction to anything. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he won't show signs of allergies once he starts eating solids.

Mitchell has also officially broken the bottom gum line with teeth. When he lets us look under his tongue (a difficult feat), we can see his white tooth sticking through! The doctor assured us that it wouldn't be long before he'd be wanting meat and potatoes because he's a growing boy!!!

4 months and counting!

I can't believe a month has already flown by since my last post! As you can probably tell, we've been pretty busy this past month. I have started going back to work so it has been an adjustment at home. Mitchell is really enjoying his babysitter and loves being around the other kids during the day. I miss him so much, but I can honestly say it feels good to be back to work.

The transition from Hendron to Sharpe has been fairly easy, although I do still miss my HLOE friends. My new job has already taught me so much more about the world of education and it really has me wanting to dive in and challenge myself with learning new teaching strategies. I know that I made a great decision to take this new job and I feel good about what's in store for me in the future.

Brad continues to remodel the duplex that we own and he hopes to have it finished by November. It looks wonderful and I continue to be impressed by what he can do. We'll definitely post some before and after pictures when it is complete.

But enough about us and on to Mitchell...

Mitchell has grown so much over the past month. He now weighs almost 17 pounds and is close to 26 inches long! We will be going for his 4 month appointment in about a week and we're hoping that our doctor will let us put him on solid foods soon. He can now roll over from his stomach to his back. We were very excited when he started doing this on the day he turned 4 months old. He has also started noticing himself and us in the mirror. He gets a big grin on his face when we hold him in front of the mirror and he sees us! Mitchell has also figured out that he can successfully reach and grab things that he wants. Right now, he is fighting congestion and we are giving him breathing treatments three times a day. When we are giving him these treatments, he is constantly reaching for the tubes to pull them out of his way! Mitchell continues to sleep through the night and has made it very easy to transition back to work. He is easy to get dressed and fed in the morning and is usually very happy to do so.

We will try to post more often, it has just been kind of crazy this past month with all of us coming and going in different directions!

3 Months Old!!!

It is so hard to believe that Mitchell is already three months old!!! He is changing so much and continues to hit new milestones each week. Since our last post, he has already done so many new things. We can honestly say that he is now sleeping through the night. He takes his last bottle around 9:00pm and sleeps until 6:00am. We are so excited because this will help out tremendously when I go back to work after Labor Day. Mitchell is also very particular about where he sleeps now. When he is ready for a nap he wants to be laid down in his crib. We still want to rock him and hold him sometimes until he falls asleep, but he won't let us! He cries until we put him in his crib and as soon as he is laid down, he falls asleep! This holds true almost 90% of the time. It makes it great at bedtime, but difficult when we are visiting friends and family and he's ready to go to sleep!

Mitchell is also very eager to sit and stand up now. He will frequently grab our fingers and strain to pull himself to a sitting or standing position. He does not like to lay down when he's awake, he wants to be sitting or standing like a big boy! Because of this, we have found a new toy that he has taken interest in because he is able to stand up to play in it.



Mitchell has also developed the first signs of a tooth! We could hardly believe it because he is still so young, but he has one little point of a tooth barely sticking out over his bottom gums. Consequently, he is drooling alot more these days!

It is hard to believe how quickly Mitchell is developing. I am almost sad to go back to work because I feel like I'm going to miss so much! However, we are very excited about Mitchell's babysitter and the opportunity he will have to interact with other kids. We will try to continue to keep you updated on the many things that Mitchell is doing!

My new toys!

Mitchell has been paying attention to music and lights for a while now, so we decided to buy him a playmat that would keep him entertained. He really enjoys laying under the lights and music. He will coo and squeal along while trying to grab the animals that are hanging over his head. He has also grown very fond of one of his puppies. Each time he sees it he gets a big smile on his face and starts kicking his legs! We are having so much fun finding things that entertain him!

Gone Campin'

Mitchell had a good time visiting his Mawmaw and Pawpaw Lundy last weekend at the campground. They pushed him around in the stroller and kept him entertained.

It's been two weeks...

Well, it's been two weeks since Mitchell has started on Nutramigen AA and so far, it seems to be working. We are noticing less fussiness and upset stomach and he seems to be fairly happy most of the time. He still has his occasional colicky nights, but at this point it seems to be much better than before. Even though his special order formula is expensive and difficult to obtain quickly, we are ok with it as long as we have a happy baby!

On another note, our household is undergoing another change as I have taken on a new job. I will now be working at Sharpe Elementary as the 3rd-5th grade resource teacher. I am very excited about my new opportunity as well as the fact that I will be less than two minutes from Mitchell's babysitter. Please keep us all in your prayers as we continue to adjust to all of the new changes each day!!!

Emma loves her cousin!

Emma is always so happy to see Mitchell! She always wants him to have a bottle and loves to help Gran take care of him. Although she can't exactly pronounce his name correctly (it comes out "itchell"), she still shows him how much she cares about him by showering him with kisses and attention!!!

Ok, so maybe we spoke too soon...

So once again, it's back to the drawing board for the formula. We are now moving on to Nutramigen AA which is supposed to be completly free of any and all milk and/or soy proteins. We have noticed that when switching to different formulas, Mitchell will do great for about a week or so and then an allergic reaction starts to form again and of course, with each formula he's reacted in different ways. We are hoping this is our final switch, because we honestly don't know where to go from here. So, we'll have to keep you posted on how this formula works, although we'll be hesitant now to say for at least two weeks how he is truly responding to this. We tell ourselves many times that we are lucky that he is very healthy other than these allergies, but it is still hard to see our baby boy hurting so much. Please say a little prayer for Mitchell and his new formula!

Mitchell is the poster child for Nutramigen!

As many of you know, it has been a struggle to figure out which formula would work best for Mitchell. As of a week, he has been on Nutramigen and it has been amazing! He is very peaceful now when he sleeps and entertains us with his smiles and coos when he's awake. His Gran, Granddaddy, and MawMaw have all commented on what a different baby he is now. We are so relieved that he is finally able to enjoy being here!!!