One Unhappy Bum

Last night and today have been rough for little Milo. He had a reaction to the vaccines he received yesterday, and had a fever of 100.6 last night. Poor little guy just couldn’t get comfortable. He’s been very fussy today, too, but at least his fever went down. I’ve never seen him so unhappy and it broke my heart! I am not looking forward to all of the days and nights I know we will spend cleaning up vomit and who knows what else… but I know they are coming. I have a new respect for parents everywhere!

Oh boy… BIG boy!

What’s so funny, you ask?

Milo’s girth, apparently.
This morning was his 3-month check-up, where the pediatrician proceeded to administer three shots, a rotovirus vaccine, and his professional opinion. After weighing & measuring length and head circumference, we learned the following: Milo now weighs 18 pounds (he is off the charts for 3-month-olds), has a head circumference of 14.25 (97th percentile), and is 24.5 inches long (80th percentile for his age). All-in-all, he is very big for his age, but proportionate due to his large head (so those of you who called him a “tick” over Thanksgiving can hold your comments). Needless to say, the pediatrician warned us that obesity is not genetic (after I assured him that I was a very big baby) and though he is not concerned about Milo’s size yet, he saw a 275-pound 9-year-old yesterday who he was quite concerned about. Scare tactics? Maybe. Yes, Milo is a big baby. He is also very active, and is holding his head steady when we pull him up to a sitting position. He stands for 5 minutes at a time with no support, and pushes himself up when on his stomach. Is he headed for obesity? I highly doubt it. The pediatrician recommended giving Milo water, which I do not feel comfortable doing because I am exclusively breastfeeding. Even if we wanted to follow this advice, I doubt Milo would allow it. It is a 30-minute battle to give him a bottle of 2 ounces of breastmilk once in the morning… and he likes milk!

Well, hopefully when Milo gets a little more active, he will thin out a bit. For now, I will enjoy my little (I mean big) muffin man.

Milo’s First Thanksgiving

I guess I need to post a picture of me with Milo since Andrew has made me seem somewhat freakish to those who haven’t seen me in a while. So, here we are. Our trip to Ohio went very well, considering we left at 9pm on Tuesday night when Milo fell asleep. Andrew and I both managed to stay awake while Milo slept for a longer stretch than he ever has before: 5 whole hours! I can’t imagine him sleeping a full night through, but that will be fantastic when it happens. We arrived in Cincinnati in a record 7 1/2 hours, unscathed. Although we were pretty tired on Wednesday, we both agreed that driving through the night was the best decision of 2007.

Andrew’s brother Bill and Sister-in-Law Annie put us up (or should I say put up with us) from Wednesday until Saturday morning, which gave Milo some much-needed playtime with his cousin Reina, who is 11 months old and adorable, as you can see! Milo enjoyed playing with Reina’s toys (yes, he is standing up by himself at 3 months- at least able to lean against things for about 5 minutes at a time).
Thanksgiving day, Andrew and I watched Reina (and realized how different the game is when you have two babies rather than just one) until 2pm when Bill came home from work and we headed over to Aunt Janine & Uncle Dan’s for the feast @ 3:00. It was wonderful seeing all the cousins together for the first time with Gina-mom and Michael-dad:
And check out three generations! Gina-mom, Michael-dad, and offspring: 4 brothers, 1 sister, 3 wives, and 4 grandchildren:


The cousins doing damage at Gina-mom’s and Michael-dad’s on Friday:
We had a fantastic time just hanging out on Friday and watching the kids play together. There was wrestling, pants-pooping & toilet clogging (poor Lizzy for the accident, poor Kristin for having to clean it all up), trampoline-jumping, four-wheeling, and of course, eating a delicious meal prepared by Gina-mom. There was also the announcement that this foursome will soon be a fivesome (congrats to Ryan and Kristin)!

Then on Saturday, I took Milo to meet college friends Katie and Kasey. When Milo finally woke up for them, he charmed them with his dimpled smile and fat cheeks. It was great seeing them. Afterwards, we headed to Grandma’s house :
Again, enjoyed a great get-together with my side of the family: Mom, Jeff, my sister Krista & her husband Eric, son Charlie, my brother Jon & his pregnant wife Kelly (who just found out they are having a boy- Congratulations! Yay, another boy cousin to play with!), and Jeff’s daughter Sarah. I think I ate enough for 3 people.

We had a wonderful time, and our only regrets are that we could not stay longer and do not live closer to all these wonderful people. Milo is so lucky to have two wonderful families in his life. We love you!

Fun and Games

Another successful cousin visit! Not only did the cousins enjoy each other, the brothers (Andrew and Ryan) proved their manliness by successfully unclogging a sink drain while flexing their muscles and grunting. Much was accomplished, including more poking and lots of kisses (open-mouthed, cousin kisses… I think we have a problem)…


The introduction of mechanized baby equipment to Milo, which hypnotized our little guy with all of its music, motion, mirrors, and moving creatures above his head (really, thank you Ryan & Kristin- while Milo was zombie-ized, I have been able to get more done around the house today than I have in an entire week!)…
And the invention of a very dangerous game:
This “game” only looks good to people with as many doctors in their family as this family. Stitches? No problem, just hop up on the sink/tailgate of a truckbed/countertop! Does this look like a bad idea to anyone else out there?


Needless to say, Milo enjoyed his calm bath time with lots of smiles. Naked Milo is my favorite! He also continues to show more promise with grasping and interacting with his toys. The purple bird rattle in the background, lovingly named “Purple Birdie,” is his favorite toy to grasp and throttle, but he seems to really love to converse with his fish mobile. I love to eavesdrop on these one-sided conversations that involve a lot of cooing, squealing, and giggles. But after a while, Milo gets kind of mad that these fish aren’t answering any of his questions about the meaning of life, etc. I’m not really looking forward to the day Milo realizes that these fish are stuck in perpetual smile-land, and they aren’t just smiling at him.

Other milestones Milo has achieved (since I started this blog late for him)- “standing” on our laps, holding his head steady, following voices/objects by turning his head, and lifting his head when on his stomach. However, “tummy time” is not a favorite of Milo’s. He will tolerate this for a couple of minutes, then bury his nose face-down and start screaming like he is smothering himself. It is so disturbing, I tend to avoid doing this to him, though I know we are supposed to put him on his tummy several times a day. I don’t think he is suffering too much, though, since he is holding his head up so well otherwise. Okay, enough of this “my baby is amazing” stuff.

Thanksgiving is in three days, which means the car trip from Hell is in two… wish us luck!