I Did It!

I rolled over for Mommy and Daddy to see! Too bad they didn't have the video camera (I knew the battery was dead-hee hee hee).

Just rolled over

...And The Little One Said Roll Over...

What a day! Sammie rolled over! HOWEVER... neither Matt nor I saw it. He had just gotten of out the shower and I put Sammie on her tummy and I told her to stay there cause I was going to the laundry room. When I came back, she was on her back. I asked Matt if he flipped her, but he hadn't touched her. Needless to say, we tried to reenact it, but it didn't work. She would just roll over to her side, but not all the way to her back.
Today she also read a book, tried to eat a bag of chips, folded laundry, and held her own bottle while Daddy 'fed' her. She's getting so big so fast!

Doctor Update~ Samantha is just about 13 pounds. The pedi checked her diaper for microscopic blood spots and there was a tiny trace. A big improvement from last time! So, we are cutting soy of out my diet. Even though there is a cross protein with dairy, I didn't cut it out completely, until now. I am officially dairy, egg, and soy -free. I really hope this works. I'm not very fond of going complete vegan- Next is meat.

Priceless

This is just too cute. I have to share and thank Grandma Wells for catching these shots. What a precious bond that is forming....

(I'm wearing my Daddy's OLD shoes.... and I like it!)

Sammie- Chips, Anyone?

I got another clogged duct yesterday evening. I don't know how this is happening again, but I knew what to do. LOTS of heat and pressure and I had Sammie fix it this morning. All better now.
As for Sammie, it's nice when you figure things out on your own; not that we know why there was blood in her poop, but I started feeding her for a shorter amount of time and what do you know?!- She hasn't thrown up or spit up. I think she's getting the hang of it. She's so used to pigging out, that now when I take her off, she sort of freaks out. She'll learn. Today was a beautiful day, so after a surprisingly long nap (1 1/2+hours) we went to visit Lori and Nate. Nate was napping too, but when he woke up we walked over to the playground. Too bad Sammie is too small/young to understand how much fun the playground is, but we did get to go down our first slide! I don't know what she thought.

She's almost 13 pounds! Chips anyone? :)

Wake up, Sammie!

1-2-3-Weeee!

Full Of It

We think Sammie eats too much and that may be why she spits up/ throws up so much. She doesn't spit up during bottle feedings at Grandma's house. So, Matt thought I should breast feed her for about 7 minutes instead of 10+, and maybe more often if we have to. When we got home tonight, I fed her for 7 minutes and no spit up! Then Daddy fed her a little over 2oz and I gave her booby til she fell asleep (5 minutes)... so far so good. Now, what in the world will I do with all the extra milk I have left over?!?

Getting Frustrated

Sammie's been fussy again and very spit up-y. I haven't eaten dairy in 3 weeks and no eggs since Friday. I called the pedi, but since eggs will stay in my system for 1 week, we will go in this Friday to get checked. We haven't seen any blood in her diaper, so the doctor is going to do a swab test on Friday to double check. They are able to check for microscopic traces of blood. I really think it's either the dairy or eggs- probably eggs and I think she just has a bad case of acid reflux. The pedi says that acid reflux manifests in babies around 4 months. I hope she will ok giving us an rx for Prevacid, but she said she doesn't think Sammie should take it unless she is always fussy/uncomfortable between feedings. The problem is Sammie is such a happy baby, she's usually cheery until something hurts, fusses as it passes, then starts being cheery again. She spit up so much today! I think we went through 3 or 4 burp cloths. Tonight before bed, she really threw up on me! It smelled so bad that I almost lost it. Bleh! Well, we'll see how she feels during the week. Staying positive for our Lil' Angel.


We have been feeding Sammie a bottle before bed. She sleeps through the night and it gives her some special Daddy-time. Then we wrap her up and it's Mommy's turn to feed her for a few minutes. This morning when I heard her talking once she was awake, I saw she had broken out of her wrap. It was too funny. When I went in to get her, she was so giggly hee hee.....

There's her arm that she broke out!

Had to get out the house to take her mind off things. It worked. She's playing :)

I Can Do It

I'm a big girl now. I went to Grandma Wells' today while Mommy went to work but cousin Nate wasn't there to play with, so I hung out with my Grandma. While she was feeding me a bottle, I thought "I've done this before, I can do it myself", so I did. I'm awesome- I know :)~Sammie

Told you I'm awesome!

Need I Say More?

Sammie has been having a blast at Grandma Wells' Daycare :) She is taking a bottle with no problem now (YAY!) and interacting a lot with Cousin Nate. I'm still getting used to our separation in the morning, but it's best for us both. 

Looks like slumber party time...

Oh yeah... zzz...

So comfy

Need I say more? ~Thanks Noah :)

Oh This Girl

I went to lunch with a couple of friends from the hospital yesterday. I brought along a bottle for Sammie in case we were gone long- which we were- about 4 hours! She refused to take the bottle from me at the restaurant. I had to go to the bathroom to feed her- eww... but I stood up the whole time. Well, I wasn't going to waste 3oz of milk, so after we got home, I made her drink it. She put up a little bit of a fuss, but wound up scarfing down all of it. Matt and I ate dinner, then it was bath time, I fed Sammie again and she was out for the night. Funny thing is.... she didn't wake up for her 4am feeding! I woke up waiting for her, but nothing. 5am came and went, then so did 6am. I woke up at 7:00 for work and got Sammie up at 7:30am.. she still didn't want to wake up. The key here, if I want a total night sleep: give her a bottle!
This week is going to be my first FULL week back at work (just 3 days a week). I was sick last Tuesday with that clogged milk duct. I think Sammie is really enjoying herself at Grandma Wells'. She isn't stuck singing the same songs and playing the same games with Mommy and she get to see cousin Nate, Grandma, Grandpa, then Daddy picks her up. She sure gets her fill of love and attention! Grandma takes pictures for me during the day to see what Sammie's up to. How awesome is that?! I love it!

Grandpa and his babies

Hiya Samsies!

Not again

Sammie seems to be feeling like she did a few weeks ago. Still had some blood in her diapers, but we were positive everything was on the up. Until today, a little fussy and was spitting up more. And instead of random blood-poopie diapers, we had 2-3. I called the pedi and the nurse said that it could actually take about 3 weeks for the milk protein to leave my body. I hope that's the case and not another food to take away from my diet. I wish it it were as easy as testing a small vial of blood to give us the answer. Well, I guess we'll wait another week and see :/

Playtime before bath time. She must be listening carefully to Daddy.

Ali protecting her Sammie (not sure from what)

AHOOO

Just goofin' around with Daddy!

Today I am 3 Months!

 I spent the day with my Grandma Wells today. All by myself. Cousin Nate didn't come to play. I got a new big stuffed caterpillar from the famous book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle that we played with. I had lots of fun. After I got home, I cooked dinner with Daddy & Mommy and got to stay up late. But when it was bedtime, I still didn't want to go to sleep. In fact, I don't want to go to sleep for Mommy at all. I want Daddy to put me to bed.... even at 4:00am! I'm just growing, I guess!
PS- I don't have any problems taking a bottle anymore. I love the new Tommy Tippee ones.
~Sammie

Happy 3 months to me :)

Standin' tall & proud!

What's Going On

Everything's all better here on my end, Thank Goodness! Sammie went to Daycare Grandma Wells and is still having a blast with cousin Nate. I love hearing about her day when she gets home, which I can only imagine, but then Grandma sends pics and it all makes sense :)

I've realized that Sammie does a bunch of new stuff lately that I haven't noted:
She doesn't seem to be close to rolling over, but likes to "scoot" when on her tummy
She loves to swim in the bath- and is VERY serious about it. We think she is going to be a froggy (like her daddy)
She sucks on one or both hands
She kicks both her legs up toward her

Just this week:
She now realizes she has fingers and moves them in odd ways. I hope she picks up Sign Language!
She also realizes she has a tongue and sticks it out. She'll either keep it sticking out, or you can play with her and stick out your tongue at her and ask where her tongue is. Chances are she'll stick hers out too. It's VERY funny!

happy girl going to Grandma Wells'

Moving her fingers

rolling up

Gym time! She likes to kick those top rattles

Duct Work

Mommy's been sick. She woke up Saturday morning around 3am for a feeding and just hurt, but didn't think anything of it. But when she got up for the day, she was in so much pain. She thought she was just exhausted, so Daddy took care of me and Mommy went back to bed. After her 3 hour nap, she woke up and felt like she had the flu.... hot, chills, headache, and her body ached so bad everywhere- even her bones and joints! She didn't even realize that her booby hurt bad until later in the day. She noticed it was red. After talking with Daddy and wondering the coincidence between being sick and having a red hurt boob, Daddy looked up online that Mommy has a clogged milk duct. Ouch! Who knew that this could give flu symptoms? Online said that it could last 24-48 hours. Apparently, that was just the flu symptoms. She went to the doctor today and Dr. Rush told her that she just needs to take care of it, herself. And me too. Lots of feeding and warm compresses. Mommy said she is so happy that I am such a good girl. All we did Monday was sleep and eat. No playing or singing time for me. I didn't even fuss. AND I took 2 bottles! I'll give her a break... but just this once ;) ~Sammie

I'm a happy girl!

It's so cold. I'm bundled up tight. Like my panda mittens? Oh.. and check out my hair :0)

Oh, Saints...

Samantha slept through the night. She went to bed around 9:00, woke up just before 6am for a  feeding, then slept until 9:30am. I'd say she's back to normal. No extra fussiness. Now, I'm just wondering... is it the dairy? I've only been dairy-free 6 days and the pedi said the protein can stay in my body about 2 weeks. Hmm... I don't know. I think I'll give her a call next week.
As far as bottle feeding. Matt tried to give Sammie a bottle this morning for her second feeding. She would not take it from him. I thought we could transition her slowly. First Mommy give her a bottle, then Daddy, then someone else. After a few minutes and some sweet talking, she took the bottle from me. Later, I left to run some errands and Matt coerced her to take a bottle from him also. Tomorrow, repeat, add to it. Monday also. I hope this works.
We watched the Saints game tonight. It took up Sammie's nap time. Luckily, football is just about over so this little girl can stop watching these games! Anyway, she was a little disappointed with the game as well as Daddy...

Ugh Oh, Brees-y

Running On Empty

I woke up this morning dreading that we need to get into a new routine. Man, work again?! Yesterday just felt so temporary. Just one day. Well, as I rolled out of bed to get ready for work while letting Sammie sleep, she decided to wake up too. Luckily, she just hung out in her swing until I was done getting dressed (Matt had to work). She was very talkative and excited this morning. I told her that she was going to Grandma's again to play with her cousin Nate. She seemed excited about it. When I called to check on her hours later, turned out she wouldn't eat. She refused to take a bottle all day! So, Daddy and I need to start giving her a bottle 1-2 times a day to get her used to it- Ooops. Other than that, she had a good day. Seems like she's having a good night too. She hasn't been sleeping in her crib (see previous posts). Since there was work involved, we didn't want to "argue" with her during the week, so we let her sleep in the swing. But it's the weekend now and we were going to get her back in that crib! She must have been so tired from her long day, that first she fell asleep at the dinner table, then woke to eat, get wrapped and placed in her crib. I hope she's feeling better and starting to get used to our new schedule.

Good Morning my Sunshine!

Tummy time with Cousin Nate is very serious business

They look funny napping together :)

First Day Back

Today was my first day back to work. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I only got upset once when I found out that Sammie didn't want to take her bottle. She finally took it and I felt so relieved! Other than that, it was a peaceful day starting back. Everyone was happy to see me and I was happy to hear that Sammie was having a good time with her Grandma and cousin, Nate. Daddy picked her up when he got off work, and she was so talkative when she got home! She must be tired of hanging out with just me all day, everyday. Grandma said that she didn't spit up any and wasn't fussy at all... so hopefully she's feeling a lot better!!! Grandpa was able to watch her for a little bit today too. He had the pleasure of giving her a bottle AND changing a POOPIE diaper! hee hee hee What a lucky guy :)

Excited about my first day going to Grandma's!

Ready to leave for our day apart

Getting dropped off at Grandma's

hanging out

Reading time!

Telling Mommy & Daddy about her day

No More Brown Cow

Well, it hasn't been easy. Sunday before heading over to Matt's parent's we found some blood in Sammie's diaper. Matt called MedLink and they said to give her some PediLyte in case she was de-hydrated. Of course she wouldn't take it. Going to bed that night was tough. She did not want to be put down! She would wake up as soon as you placed her in the crib and fall asleep the second she was in your arms. We made an appointment with the pedi as soon as they opened. The doctor thinks Sammie could have a milk allergy- her intestines can't digest the milk protein and wants to fight it off. We considered this Sunday night, so I had already stopped eating dairy. The kicker is that the protein can stay in my body up to 2 weeks!!! I am sticking to a non-dairy diet and see how she is in a couple of weeks. So far the days are good. Sammie is mostly back to her usual self, with some fussiness and spit up after she eats. The horrible time comes when it's time for bed! She gets so hungry and falls asleep eating and once she gets in the crib, she cries. Monday night we had a quick hysterical colic fit, but with the help of a hairdryer, she was calm and asleep in 5 minutes! We reverted back to her sleeping in her swing since that is where she is most comfortable (it holds her upright and cuddles her).  We feel so terrible that she is so uncomfortable with all this, we are going to give her specialized formula before going night-night and hopefully that will help her to feel better and sleep in her crib again. After a couple weeks when the protein is out, I'll go back to breast feeding and see how things go. I can't believe this is all happening the same week I go back to work! I hope we can help Sammie and get some sleep and I won't be a zombie!
Although it's heart breaking to see and hear her in so much pain at night, it's pleasant to see her sleeping so peaceful...

Monday night

Tuesday night

Happy 2011

Well, after 12 hours of sleep, Sammie woke up with a sunshiny face! She was so giddy and happy this morning, but by afternoon, she was a little needy again. If this keeps up by Monday, I am going to call the pedi and see what she says to do. I don't want to go back to work on Thursday and abandon her like that. On the upside... she has a new friend we named JellyBean :) Thanks Shila for the sock monkey. Sammie took to it right away and giggled and giggled with her. It was soooo funny!

Happy New Year!

JellyBean- Sammie's new BFF

Our Beauty

They had a looong night partying together