Holy side effects

Well Nate went in for his 4 month well-check and to receive his next round of shots.  He got three shots and some sort of rotavirus thingy in a liquid form.  Let me just say, he did good when we were there but the past 30 hours have been slightly horrible!
Here's Nate getting a bath before heading to the doctor.  We can't get enough of the tigger towel photos!

Now, me trying to pose with Nate but he's obviously not really having it.  He loves bath time but despises drying/toweling off time.

We got to the doctor's office and Nate had not pooped for over a day which is not normal for him.  Once we got in the car, I noticed quite a foul smell.  Once I determined it wasn't Joe, I assumed Nate had finally relieved himself :)  Here's Nate arriving at the doctors, happy as a clam with some doody in his shorts.

Little does he know what's coming his way.  Notice his nice little blue polo shirt.  He was also wearing his little green shorts.  He's now able to fit in a few of his outfits rather than just onesies.  He doesn't fit well in his pants because he has no waist.  He's very long but not chunky, except for the cheeks.  All of his pants are really long on him because his legs are short but his torso is really long.  He wears 3 month old shirts but newborn pants.  The little outfits are kind of cute because he looks like a little boy/man so it's just funny to see him in those clothes, however, this does not last long for this little man.  If you recall the last time Nate went to the doctor, he destroyed the whole table by pooping and peeing more than 3-4 times all over the doctor and anything in his general vicinity.  Well.....he did it again!!
Here's the little bugger, contemplating multiple ways he can embarrass us.

So when we got in the office and stripped him down for his weigh in, we came to find out that he had pooped all the way up his back almost to his neck!  I had Joe change him at first and started to hear the now infamous "Joe gag" begin and knew it couldn't be good.  I got up and just started laughing.  The nurse ran to get another one of those sealable bags for hazardous waste!  Well the beastly little guy started rolling and struggling around while being changed so he got his poopy little body rolled all over the table and she had to keep pulling and ripping the dirty sheet off.  Good job Nathan James!  I guess that's what holding your poo in will do to ya.  That poor polo shirt was absolutely covered in poop!
Well, once he was clean and in a new diaper he got weighed in at 11 pounds 5 ounces.  He's also 23 inches long and his head circumference is 15.5 inches.  He's now in the 10th percentile of term babies for his 4 month age!  Then came the shots...ohh those lovely shots.  The nurse seemed a little panicked yet again and did the first 2, which of course made him holler away.  She then grabbed the 3rd one and about jammed it in his leg like she was going to jump start his heart.  I was VERY close to saying something unkind to her but thought better of it.  Nate screamed as loud as he could and calmed down in about 10 seconds with his pacifier.  The real fun happened over the next 30 hours.
Here's the champ with his war wounds.

Here's daddy Joe comforting him with a bottle once we got home.

When we got home after the doctors Nate pretty much cried on and off from 3 pm till 10 pm.  He finally went to bed around 10:30 and slept till 2:30 am then got up again around 5:30 am and 7 am.  By 7 he was a little happy for about half an hour and then irate for the rest of the day if he wasn't completely zonked out.  It's now 9 pm as I write this and he is down in his crib and asleep.  Hopefully for a good few hours but who knows?  Anyways, those side effects of crankiness/tiredness/lack of hunger are quite true!  Oh well, hopefully tomorrow he will be less cranky and hungrier so he can improve his mood.
  The doctor said he looks great!  At one point she was holding him and he was standing for a solid 20 seconds with her holding him and she got really excited and said, Whoa, look at this you guys, look at this.  We told her he'd been doing that awhile now because she thought it was the first time.  She was quite impressed with him and his strength!  She keeps guessing that he's going to be rolling/crawling/walking along with other 4 month olds instead of 2 month olds.  I'm not so sure about that and couldn't care either way really.  His hernia isn't sticking out of his belly button as much but it has kind of spread out.  I don't know how to explain it but she said there still isn't really anything they can do about it for months yet, so he just has to continue to deal with it. Not always easy because it's uncomfortable for him but it should heal soon...keep your fingers crossed.  Till next time!

Memorial Day Weekend, Breakfast on the Farm, Family gatherings, and more...

Sorry, sorry, sorry about the no blogging for a few weeks.  Some of you have kindly reminded me through email/text/phone calls to let me know of my slacking!  Due to this I will post many many pictures this blog to hopefully make up for my lack of blogs.  We went down to Monroe for Memorial Day so Nate could meet the rest of his family members and spend some time with his grandparents.  Here's Nate set and ready for his trip to Monroe...notice Joe's lovely camo decoration of Nate's handle on his car seat...classy!

Nate traveled a smidge rougher than his first time down to Monroe. He still did pretty good, he just didn't sleep the entire time.  He's awake a lot more during the day and I think he got a bit sick of sitting in his car seat for hours on end.  He still only tacked on an extra hour and a half to the trip, so not too bad.
   Nate attended his first breakfast on the farm near Juda that weekend.  For those city folks, breakfast on the farm is quite self explanatory...it's a breakfast on a farm!  I've loved it for years...not sure why because mom used to make me get up early to go but for some reason it was a blast.  A ton of people in the county go to the farm and eat the breakfast, get some ice cream, pet some animals, and that's about it.  I think since so many people in town were on farms and I never was, it was quite the new experience for me....a little different from my growing up in the Ludlow Tavern business :)
  Here's Aunt Trish, Nate, mom, dad, and I at the farm...
Nate actually was awake for some of the trip but wasn't as excited as I was...probably cause he couldn't eat the food :)
Below is a bunch of Monroe family shots.  My mom had a cookout for us on Sunday and the whole fam made it over....sorry to my aunts and all those who hung out with Nate but I did not get photos with...next time I promise!
Above is cousin Stacy and her fiancee Curt...Stacy may love her beverage more than holding Nate....kidding, kidding!
Below is cousin Nikki and daddy Joe definitely loving their baby beverages more than holding Nate.  No, actually Nikki held and fed Nathan but the picture of her with him had me in it and was not flattering so I chose not to post it...sorry Nikki, I'm just that vain.
Next is cousin-to-be Lindsay with Nate.  She will be a permanent member of the family this July and we can't wait for the big day...Nate will be staying with his Grandma and Grandpa Olson for that wedding so mom and dad can enjoy the day baby free!
And now for Lindsays hubby to be...cousin Ryan.  Now, poor Ry was set up by me for a bad picture.  I knew Nate was getting grumpy so passed him off to him, sorry Ryan!  That's Grandma Shirl in the background not wanting anything to do with angry Nate.



Poor cousin Andrea didn't get a chance to grab Nate till the end of the party due to many family members fighting for his attention, he's such a popular man!

 
Uncle Jonny came to the Ruf/Dahmen cookout and got a little Nate time in.


  
My friend Sarah came over with her daughter Taylor, Tay was not so thrilled but she was a bit excited to go hang out with friends so I can't blame her for wanting to head out!
Joe also took Nate over to see Gar, he had the magic touch with him.
  
Nate also got to meet his Great Grandma Olson and spend some time with her.  He also spent a big chunk of time with his Olson/Komprood family but all of the photos I have of that time are in my possession and I'm not be able to post because they aren't on my digital camera.  Trisha came with me to the Komprood farm to do something Joe has been trying to get us to do for years...shoot some of his guns.  I have long refused this activity but finally caved in.  I might say that we were some sharpshooters out there hitting the bullseye, a mini-gopher - it was just plastic Minnesotans, don't get angry!, and some clay pigeons.  I shot one, Trisha shot two...big deal Trisha, big deal, I did better on my bullseye so there!

Below are just some shots of Nate hanging out around the house.  First one is a bath shot...we covered him up so as to respect his privacy :)  Nate loves his bath/spa time.

  
Nate now enjoys laying on his back and being entertained by his toys that sing songs and make all kinds of noise.  Aunt Trish likes playing classical music for him...piano seems to be his favorite as he perks up for that the most.

  Tummy time is not Nate's favorite activity as you can see from the photos below.  You have to time it right...not after a full belly, or if a poop needs to happen, or just any general irritation is happening for him!


  Nate does lift his head up pretty well though from his mat.  He kicks his legs like a maniac and sometimes manages to squirm his way off of the mat.  He's close to rolling over and gets on his sides pretty easily but hasn't made it all the way over.  I think it's attributed to his amazing core strength and tendency to stretch and grow every time you move him.
Below is a trio montage of Nate's growing personality...the first is his inquisitiveness...he often gives us these bug eyes or my favorite, the one eyebrow raise.

Next, is his love for all things food related...

And finally, his little laughing/giggling/grunting/happy self

This Friday the 11th is Nate's 4 month check up with our Doctor and he'll get his 4 month shots.  He'll do another weigh in and length check so we're excited to see how he's grown. 1. Because we're happy to have a healthy/happy growing boy, and 2. Because Joe and I place bets against each other each time to see who's closer to guessing the correct weight :)  I told you I can make a game/competition out of anything.  Nate has not given us a solid night of sleeping but he is doing a better job of sleeping for more than 2/3 hours and has moved to sometimes 4/5 hours of solid sleep.  We usually get up around 1 and 5, and then he's up around 7 and ready to take on the day.
  I'll try to let you know all of those new details once we get em.  I hope this extra long blog pleases you all!

Double digits folks!

   

So Nate is at 10 pounds 1 ounce!!  We went to the doc this morning to check out his tush and he got weighed in.  This doctor met him a few months ago and was shocked at how much he's grown.  His butt is doing great.  Even though it's still a bit red it's doing great and we just need to keep it aired out as much as possible and then putting on the butt cream as often as possible.  The doctor said it's hard with Nate since he poops so often and with every little toot he has but we'll have to keep cleaning often.
  Our wonderful friends Cassie and Tom offered up their Bumbo chair so here's a few more shots of Nate in it.

  

Not always attractive faces in the Bumbo, but he's working on gaining that strength and muscles in his back and neck!

Katie and Kelly came all the way up from Madison to spend some time with Nate.  Nate was getting his hand modeling poses down so we put Katie's ring on him for a "senior" picture.

Nate very much so enjoyed hanging out with the ladies.  We later got to go to the Twins game....sorry, Brewers game for them :)  It was awesome to see the new stadium and needless to say we had a good time...maybe too good a time :)

The girls were shocked to see a comparison of one of Joe's early outfits and one of Nates....see if you can guess who's is who's?!

   
I had my doctors appointment as well and get to get off of one of the blood pressure meds.  I have to do another 24 hour urine test...basically collect my urine for 24 hours and keep it in the fridge...it really makes Joe happy...and then they test it for protein in there.  Hopefully it's continuing to go down so we shall see.  I don't think I ever updated about my MRI results for my knee but I have torn my ACL in my knee completely through again so woo hoo!!  The doctor told me I can try to strengthen muscles around it like my hamstrings or have reconstructive surgery again.  Having had the surgery 10 years ago and knowing all of the rehab that goes in to it is making me a bit hesitant.  Haven't really made up my mind yet as to my plan so we'll see.
   
This picture was Nate at the doctor's this morning.  You can kind of see his hernia sticking out down at the bottom where his belly button is...don't tell Joe that you can see it!  The secretaries at the office stopped to grab Nate when we were at the doctor's.  They know him by name and get excited to see how much he's grown so it's pretty cute.  We're heading to Monroe this weekend for Memorial Day so hopefully we run in to some of you loyal blog readers!!

How far we've come...

Comparison shots, about 3 months ago in the hospital...

Current day!  I wanted to get a shot in his red and white hat before his head was too big...we are almost at that point.  I can't blame him for not giving me a happy shot....it was about 80 degrees that day and he was quite confused why I was putting a knit hat on his head! I remember folding that seemingly giant hat a couple of times to make it stay on his tiny head and now his brains are just filling that cap up!
Smiles are coming more and more often with the little guy.  He loves his bouncy seat and especially this monkey toy that can be attached to it.  He's also starting to squack a bit more than usual.  They are happy noises kind of like he's trying to laugh.
His behind is looking much better.  He doesn't seem to be in as much pain but there is a bit of the infection still there.  We are seeing another doctor on Monday morning to check it out and get a second opinion so hopefully it will be totally gone here pretty soon.
Sleeping at night is improving a tiny bit.  Last night he slept for about 4 hours straight which is unheard of!  He's taking in his food much better and being less fussy/gassy so that has been nice.  This last one is Joe being a little overzealous to let Nate ride on his shoulders.  Maybe we'll wait a little bit longer!

More bath time

These are our attempts at getting Nate to pose after bath time....not so successful



Not feeling it

 Getting cranky...

 Exasperation and thoughts of...What's wrong with my parents?

Over it

Sooooo over it


The next day there was a bit more cooperation and attempts at smiles :)

Oh hiney...

Well tushy-gate continues.  The doctor called after taking a swab of Nate's booty and turns out it's a bacterial infection.  We picked up an antibiotic prescription and are continuing with the cream.  In the first 3-4 days it cleared up really great, but it has reared it's ugly head again!  It was wonderful being able to change a diaper for a while without blood curdling screams but we're back at it again.  I'm planning on calling the doctor next week once we're done with the full antibiotic treatment.
 Here's Nate doing some tummy time.  It turned in to a nap :)

 If his tush issue heals up soon we don't have to go back to the doc until his 4 month check up.  Not banking on that though because of the reoccurence but we'll see.  Joe's birthday was on the 12th and I got him what he loves most...a Dairy Queen cake/log!  He's actually 27 and not 5 but I had limited candles!

Later, Joe and I felt like taking pictures of Nate around the house on different things to see how he grows over time.....needless to say we were bored.  My how our lives have changed!
  Here's Nate in his crib, he loves watching his mobile go.  Nate does a much better job of laying down in his crib.  We can put him in there while still awake and he falls asleep on his own without crying!  However, he still only sleeps about 2/3 hours at a pop so there's still that fun issue.
 Nate can still get pretty fussy as well.  We're starting to feed him less amounts more often throughout the day.  Hopefully it will help his digestive system a little bit better and he won't be so fussy.
Here's Nate in his rocking chair...normally we sit there, but here's his chance.